We know that libraries provide a wide variety of outstanding services to their communities, but books and readers' advisory remain at the heart of libraries. And while library staff always aim to give their users top-notch readers' advisory, sometimes, for various reasons, they may need a little help offering great recommendations to users. 

We spoke with NoveList users about what we could do to help them in their mission to provide outstanding readers’ advisory experiences. We learned that many libraries would appreciate additional real-time readers' advisory support for their staff and patrons, allowing them to expand and enrich the user experience. Based on your feedback, we've created a new service, BookChat, to do just that.  

What is BookChat?  
Staffed by NoveList experts, BookChat provides on-demand book suggestions and readers' advisory help and can be added to your NoveList Plus subscription. It allows library patrons and staff to connect directly to one of our BookChat Specialists to help them with whatever recommendation assistance they need!  

How can BookChat help you?  
BookChat is staffed during nights and weekends, providing recommendation help during hours the library is closed or has fewer staff scheduled. 

For those patrons who may not want face-to-face interaction, the text-based help they get via BookChat can give them ideas for what books to check out from your library.  

For those users who are in a hurry, our BookChat Specialists provide quick answers when and where they need them.  

If your staff wants to chat with someone about a genre they may not be as familiar with, or a reader at home needs help with a unique recommendation when the library is closed, the BookChat experts are happy to help.  

Our BookChat team 
We're proud to have a team of BookChat Specialists with experience and passion for providing exceptional readers' advisory. With decades of experience working in school, public, academic, and special libraries, they know first-hand how to help library patrons and staff.  

Our team has worked with readers of all ages and across genres. What are some of our Specialists' favorite genres and topics? Fantasy, romance, horror, graphic novels, literary fiction, picture books, YA literature, diverse reads, and more! And while each Specialist has a wide range of knowledge, we also work as a team to ensure we can help every BookChat user no matter their question.  

Because we have experience working in libraries, we understand the need to support library staff members and connect patrons to their local library. Nothing makes us happier than giving patrons another reason to use your library.  

Interested in learning more about BookChat?  
Read the press release here. Visit our product page for more information and FAQs. And take a two-minute tour here:

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Yaika Sabat is a Senior Readers' Advisory Librarian at NoveList. She is currently reading Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell.