Secret Shopper Showdown

Yet another blog confession: I have never gone into the public library and asked for help finding a book.  I know this might seem like odd behavior, but I prefer to keep my reading habits somewhat private, and I do a lot of my own research before choosing books, so I don't think anyone else would help me more than I already do.  I have to say that this experience did not make me feel differently.  I may be a harsh critic, but I think my secret shopping was pretty awful.  I didn't find a good book, and, worse, I felt judged about my reading preferences.  Well, here goes.  All names have been left out to protect the (not-so) innocent. I color-coded the interview so it would be easier to follow.

I started out my interview by walking straight up to the information desk.  It was centrally located and very well-marked.  There were not any reading lists available, but there was some information about their current reading programs.  There were three library workers standing around the desk and talking.  One (TL) walked away when I approached the trio.  The librarian (L) behind the computer asked if she could help me and the other librarian (OL) stood next to me during the interview. 

L: Can I help you with something?

Me: Yes, I need help finding a book.

L: Do you have a certain book in mind?

Me: No, I kind of need help with that too.

L: (deep sigh, laugh, and grimace to other librarian) Fiction or nonfiction?

Me: Fiction. I actually like zombie books. (I laugh to lighten the mood.)

L: Oh no. Hmmm. Zombies. (Starts typing on the computer.)

Me: I recently read a book called The Remaining, but I think it's only an ebook.

L: (Looks at screen and gets a slip of paper) Well, here's what I have on vampires.

Me: (I interrupt) No, not vampires.  I like zombie books.  Really anything apocalyptic works for me.

L: Oh yeah, shoot.  Not vampires.

Me: What website are you using?

L: Fantastic Fiction, but it's being weird for me, so it might not work.

Me: (Trying to get more questions going) I've read a lot of YA zombie books, but I'm looking for more adult books.

OL: Do you like "The Walking Dead?"

Me: I love it!

OL: Have you read The Governor books?

Me: No, but are they graphic novels?  I don't like graphic novels.

OL: No, they are actual books and are really great for fans of "The Walking Dead."

L: I should have written down the books I set aside for you (talking to the OL).  (To me) She loves zombie books.  Well, here's what I found (hands me the slip of paper).

Me: Where do I find these books?

L: In "F".  It starts over there (points to a large section of the library to my left). If you don't find any books that you like, come back and let me know because it means we should buy more books like that.

Me: Okay, thanks.

TL: (To L) Did she ask you about zombie books?

L: Haha. Yeah.

TL: (Grimace) Better you than me.

I walked away with my tiny slip of paper.  My confidence wasn't great, and I felt awful about my reading choice.  Who knew reading books about zombies was so terrible?  If she had bothered to ask, I would have told her that I like survivor stories. I especially liked that The Remaining had a military aspect to the story.  I like a lot of action and well-developed characters, but I wasn't asked anything past my saying zombies.  I would have loved the name and author of "The Walking Dead" books, but I didn't get that information.

Looking at the suggestions, they were all over the place.  She had Jim Butcher and Patricia Briggs - both fantasy authors, but not zombies.  I can, however, kind of see the connection between those two and my genre.  The third author was Margaret Atwood.  I absolutely cannot see how she fits into the zombie genre.  The last author was James Rawles. He was actually a good (but accidental) choice because he writes survival books from a military point of view.  I wasn't give any titles, so I wasn't sure what book to look for.  This might have helped me with which Atwood book to look at, but I'm not sure about that.

After looking through the book choices (about five minutes), I walked back toward the desk to tell her I didn't find anything.  The desk was empty.  I stood there for a minute and then decided to leave when no one came back.  Overall, I left unhappy.  I'm not sure I will ask for help again in the future.  It did give me a great view of what I shouldn't do to other people in my own library thought.  So I did learn something :)