May We Suggest?

Do you ever have a hard time choosing what to read next? Or maybe you’re just not sure what TV show to binge. We can help with that! FVRL offers a variety of services to help you find just what you're looking for.

My Reading Adviser

FVRL has an amazing service called My Reading Adviser. All you have to do is fill out a quick, easy form, and a specialized staff member who loves suggesting anything from our catalogue will get back to you within a week with a list of items just for you. You can request any topic and any format — TV shows, movies, novels of any genre, non-fiction from any subject, music and audiobooks. Really, anything that is available from the library is something we can provide a list on, curated specially for your preferences.  

You may ask yourself why not just use AI? The reason is this: Not only are we offering staff expertise and experience but also personalized suggestions from another human being. It really brings the human connection back into library service, same as you would get in person. 

An added bonus of using My Reading Adviser is that it takes the pressure off staff and customers in terms of finding something on the fly. We can really sink into your request and get you a decent list of items to choose from. A key feature is that you can specify something you don’t want to see in your picks (like books over 300 pages or no violence against animals, for example). 

One of the things I love most is that you can reply to the email with feedback and get more suggestions from the same reading adviser or a different adviser as time goes along. We welcome returning customers as much as first-time customers. 

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ReadRadio Podcast

FVRL also has a fabulous podcast series called ReadRadio. Each podcast is a short talk about books and things we love from the FVRL collection. It covers all sorts of genres and subjects. It’s mainly staff sharing hidden gems from our collection. 

The best part of listening to a ReadRadio podcast is knowing that whatever is being podcasted about is something that the staff member has personally loved and wants to share. FVRL is full of passionate and talented staff and our podcasts really let customers experience that from the comfort of their own homes, cars or wherever you listen to podcasts! 

We also have Kids' ReadRadio. These episodes are geared towards kids who want to get some inspiration about what to borrow next. They can also be a wonderful tool for classrooms or homeschoolers as well as busy families. The Kids' ReadRadio series would make a great road trip listen — but be prepared for demands to put things on hold next time you’re at the library! 

NextReads Newsletter

Another option you can use for choosing what to read next is our amazing NextReads newsletters. Choose from a wide variety of different genres and get monthly newsletters that highlight items in our collection from each genre. I love getting them in my inbox each month, and I always find new things to check out. I love that they always include hot new titles as well as ones we may have missed in the past, and there is always a decent amount of Canadian content. 

Connecting With Our Customers

My favourite part of my job is getting to share books I love with people and connect them with the perfect book (or movie or TV series or whatever). It fills me with joy to record a new podcast or answer a Reading Adviser email. I just love any opportunity to talk about books and things from the library, and I know my fellow FVRL colleagues feel the same way. Check out my Reading Adviser profile to see what I’ve been reading lately or check out any of the Reading Advisers profiles for a glimpse of what they have been enjoying. 

Each library service we offer is totally free. Booklists, personalized emails, newsletters and podcasts — everything is completely free and only require a library card and access to email or a device that connects to the internet. Pop into any FVRL library with a piece of ID and you can get set up with access to millions of new things to borrow. 

Sally is a staff member at Maple Ridge Public Library and co-chair of the FVRL Readers Advisory Team.