Many responses from NOPL’s recent Community Survey voiced that they wanted more book recommendations. There are many ways to find your next read, but did you know that your local library has a few online tools to help? Amanda Roberts, NOPL’s Creative Director, explains the many ways NOPL can help you find your next great read.
What should I read next?
By Amanda Roberts
We’ve all been there; you’ve finished a fantastic book and want another. Maybe you’re looking for a book similar to the one you just read, or perhaps similar to the author. Whether you’re stuck in the online search or lost in the bookshelves, you’ve come to the perfect place for help, the library.
Northern Onondaga Public Library (NOPL), is equipped with the tools and staff to help you find your next great read quickly. We have adult and children’s librarians that know the collections at each branch. Inside the library, we can take the time to learn what you like and show you the items we have in-house. We can also assist you with catalog searches, placing holds, getting items transferred from other county branches, and finding those unique books that are only available with Interlibrary Loan (ILL) services, a.k.a—requesting items from out-of-system libraries.
But let’s say it’s the middle of the night, and you want to find your next great read now. Not a problem. The library offers online tools available 24/7 for cardholders to use to find that next book. The process may be lengthier without a librarian, but you’ll be browsing authors and new books in no time. If all else fails, start a Shelf Help reading recommendation questionnaire, and we’ll contact you in the morning.
If the next book you need is the newest book on the shelf, we recommend visiting our New Arrivals web page to see all the newest books arriving weekly. There you’ll be the first to see the most recent purchases to hit our shelves. In addition, you can select items for more information and place holds before the waitlist gets too long. If you like fresh books but monitoring a webpage is too much, sign up for our Wowbrary subscription, where you’ll receive this list every week in your inbox. It’s free, customizable, and winning everyone’s heart.
Of course, new books are always exciting, but if you’re looking for something in particular, keep reading.
To find “read-a-likes,” we recommend our online resource BookBrowse. BookBrowse is an online magazine and website that provides book reviews, author interviews, book previews, and reading guides. BookBrowse is independent of publishers, so it’s not selling you a book; it’s simply a way to guide you through the noise. It may recommend books outside of NOPL’s collection, so if you need help, let us know.
To get started, visit BookBrowse and find the search box at the top of the page; select book or author, and fill in the search box. For example, if you select “author” and fill in “Stephen King,” a list of authors with similar names appears. You would then choose “King Stephen” from the list and go to his author page. Within the page, you’ll see a biography, a list of books, and read-a-like books by title. You can also search with a book title; select “title” at the top and input a book title into the search box. For another example, input, “Bag of Bones.” There you’ll see a selection of books with similar titles, select the one you’re looking for. Once selected, you’ll see a page with a book summary, media reviews, and read-a-likes. One of the best features of this resource is the Reader and Critic Opinion scores, so you don’t have to go anywhere else for “star” quality ratings.
If you dabble around BookBrowse, you may find some excellent guides to help you along the way, such as a Young Readers (YA) page, Best of the Year, or a search by genre, setting, time period, or theme. There are also author interviews, a top picks list, and book discussions to join, although NOPL has book groups too.
If you don’t know what to read next, New Arrivals, Wowbrary, Shelf Help, BookBrowse, and contacting a Librarian are all the tools you need to never feel lost when looking for your next great read.
