'Your Next Great Read' is a readers advisory service provided by TCCL. Using an online survey, our patrons tell us about their reading preferences, interests, and history, and our library staff put together a list of authors and titles tailored to their responses. As opposed to a quick on-the-spot recommendation while interacting at a service desk, YNGR allows our staff to spend time reading reviews and researching books and authors for matching appeal factors. Our large team also often allows us to match a patron's survey and a staff member with at least some shared reading tastes. With this, we create a multi-page document listing books and authors we believe the patron may enjoy, along with our reasons for the selections.
Inspired by a similar library resource provided in Williamsburg, VA, TCCL started YNGR in 2011, and staff have since created hundreds of individual reading guides for our community. When the service started, it was for ages 16+, but it popularity led us to offer a YA version after a few years. We are currently working on adding children's version.