The Adult Reading Round Table: Chicken Soup for Readers' Advisors. (Readers' Advisory)

Abstract

If there is one person other than Joyce Saricks and Duncan Smith to whom the renaissance in readers' advisory services can be attributed, it is Ted Balcom, the now-retired director of the Villa Park Public Library outside Chicago. Ted is well-known for his work with adult book discussion groups, and his book, Book Discussions for Adults: A Leader's Guide (ALA, 1992), is one of the first professional books on the topic ever published. He was also active in the creation of the Adult Reading Round Table (ARRT), which is still going strong and still serves as a model of independent, self-help, in-service training for public librarians needing to know more about readers' advisory services. I have spent countless hours on the lecture circuit telling other librarians to replicate ARRT in their own regions, since it is so deceptively simple and successful, but other than single programs or workshops, I have yet to see anything approaching it. In the hope that my pleas may once again reach welcoming ears, and because the profession needs to have ARRT documented for the sake of future librarians, I asked Ted to write the history of the group for this column. In his usual self-effacing manner, he has made something brilliant seem very easy to do. I hope that his article finally convinces others to try to do it.--Editor In July of 1984, a group of adult services librarians working in the suburbs of Chicago decided they'd had enough, and they weren't going to take it any more. What upset them was the lack of continuing education available on both the national and local level relevant to their specific area of librarianship: readers' advisory service for adults. If the professional associations don't provide what we need, we'll create it for ourselves, they concurred. And so the Adult Reading Round Table was born. Originally an informal committee of fifteen members, a full-fledged organization soon developed, and today, seventeen years later, the round table still flourishes, with a membership numbering more than two hundred. The concept these librarians came up with was simple and straightforward. Members of the group would be librarians and other library workers interested in developing readers' advisory skills and in promoting literature and reading for pleasure. Anyone could join, but most members would come from Chicago-area libraries. Joyce Saricks, head of literature and audio-visual services at the Downers Grove (Ill.) Public Library, was one of the organizers. She remembers, We wanted to sponsor practical programs at which our members and guest speakers could share ideas for bringing books and people together. The steering committee felt that attendance could be maximized by holding the programs in months with five Wednesdays--on the fifth Wednesday. That way, the programs wouldn't have to compete with meetings that were already regularly scheduled. It was decided to set the time of the programs in the late afternoon, again to enhance the attendance level (it was hoped more people would come to the sessions if they didn't have to take off all or most of a workday). A decision was made to hold the programs in restaurants or banquet halls, rather than in libraries, so that a meal could be part of the experience. The formal program would begin after a short social time. And during dinner, there would be an opportunity to exchange ideas and continue discussion with tablemates. The steering committee is a group of volunteers that changes periodically as some members resign and newcomers ask to join. From the outset, they placed a strong emphasis on the practical nature of the programs--they wanted them to be something that would give attendees information they really needed and could put to immediate use. Consequently, they chose to focus on three types of programs during a year's time: 1. Genre or literature studies, led by knowledgeable librarians and other subject specialists 2. …

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