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As librarians contemplate the growing complexity of their institutions and the demands on their time, they often wish they could get back to books and reading, and have the chance to suggest books to library users. That used to be so much fun. It felt so good to feel like you were keeping up with the publishing world and your favorite areas of literature, and it felt even better to keep track of your readers and hear their thanks when they were pleased with your suggestions.

All personnel in libraries are key to good service. The visibility of library support staff and their important positions of initial contact with library users make their efforts especially crucial. Training programs for support staff often include discussion of the library mission, how library resources connect with users, how to communicate with library users, and how library service can be enjoyable. When managers plan staff training and continuing education programs for support staff, readers' advisory is a very good topic.

Browsing rooms are those alluring spaces in the college or university library where the reader may shut out the flood and clamor of information. Here the imagination and personal interests of the reader are nurtured. Today's browsing rooms are vestiges of the 1920s and 1930s, developed in an era when academic libraries vigorously promoted recreational reading interests of students. As repositories of works chosen from the main collection for their ability to uplift, relax, and stimulate the student reader, the browsing collection in the college library of the 1930s was itself the embodiment of readers' advisory, that Cadillac of public library services.