These skill pathways are meant to be a companion to the Readers’ Advisory Competencies. This list offers practical, flexible ideas for demonstrating your learning in real-world settings. These aren’t requirements, just options to consider. As a reminder, you can read more about the definitions of each level here. 

Demonstrate Skills in Advisory Philosophy & Strategy  

• Core level (Awareness and participation)

  • Familiarize yourself with your library’s strategic pillars and organizational objectives that relate to literacy, reading, and RA
  • Read an introductory article or watch a short video on the core tenets of Readers' Advisory  
  • Reflect on how your role directly or indirectly contributes to the library's reading culture and share this reflection with your supervisor 

• Advanced level (Application and improvement)  

  • Write an article on an RA topic for your library website or a professional publication
  • Deliver a presentation on an RA topic for colleagues or a professional audience 

• Expert level (Leadership) 

  • Write a proposal for a new or expanded advisory service at your library
  • Track and report on the outcomes or impact of advisory services
  • Track circulation metrics as they relate to readers’ advisory
  • Serve as a mentor to other staff who are interested in growing their readers’ advisory skills 

Demonstrate Skills in Story & Media Knowledge  

• Core level (Awareness and participation)

  • Read a book in an area/genre you are not familiar with, try to identify relevant story elements on your own, then compare against a tool such as NoveList
  • Read through the genre guides found in NoveList, especially in areas where your knowledge is not strong
  • Read an introductory article or watch a short video about story elements such as genre, appeal, and theme
  • Practice finding items in the library’s catalog using advanced facets such as genre and subject
  • Practice describing a favorite book or movie using professional appeal language rather than opinion 

• Advanced level (Application and improvement)  

  • Attend a training session on a readers’ advisory topic, such as a webinar or conference session, and write up your takeaways
  • Create a short guide or cheat sheet for colleagues on a specific genre, appeal factor, or RA tool
  • Contribute annotations or reviews to your catalog, website, or shared internal tools
  • As practice for understanding individual readers, write a profile of your own reading, watching, and listening preference using the language of appeal, genres, themes, and formats   

• Expert level (Leadership) 

  • Have your team fill out a personalized reader profile to uncover their reading preferences and use the profiles as tools for practicing reader's advisory recommendations
  • Serve on a book award or selection committee at your library or as part of a state or national group 

Demonstrate Skills in Collection Awareness & Insight  

• Core level (Awareness and participation)

  • Know the physical layout of the library’s collections, noting how genres, formats (e.g., graphic novels, large print, audiobooks), and age categories are shelved
  • Know the library’s digital resources and how customers can access and discover their content
  • Explore available customer alternatives for access, including Interlibrary Loan (ILL), reciprocal borrowing, and digital resources 

• Advanced level (Application and improvement)  

  • Practice the “No, but...” customer service technique to offer alternative borrowing pathways when a requested item is unavailable
  • Volunteer to help with a weeding project at your library
  • Conduct an informational interview with your collections team about their priorities
  • Write up a gap you’ve noticed in your library collection with a recommendation for how to fill that gap 

• Expert level (Leadership) 

  • Audit a section of the library collection and suggest ways to improve discoverability, author diversity, appeal, etc.
  • Develop a plan for reorganizing your library collection using a different method, such as by genre
  • Create a community survey to learn about their reading needs 

Demonstrate Skills in Fostering Reading Culture  

• Core level (Awareness and participation)

  • Complete a reader identity profile for yourself  
  • Share your results with a coworker and discuss how your identities intersect or differ
  • Role play conversations related to the different types of reading
  • Participate in a staff reading challenge or book program to experience reading engagement from a reader's perspective
  • Ask colleagues what they are reading/watching/listening  

• Advanced level (Application and improvement)  

  • Map out the “reader journey” in your library and identify moments where advisory could be strengthened
  • Share insights with colleagues about ideas you’ve heard about being implemented at other libraries, maybe shared through email or a staff newsletter
  • Deliver a presentation on reading culture and submit it to a conference
  • Ask colleagues what they are reading/watching/listening 

• Expert level (Leadership) 

  • Research the different reasons why people read and recommend ways that your library could better support those different reasons
  • Develop a mystery shopper exercise at your library to evaluate advisory service from the user’s perspective
  • Participate in external town/city/statewide reading initiatives or committees
  • Ask colleagues what they are reading/watching/listening 

Demonstrate Skills in Relational Advisory  

• Core level (Awareness and participation)

  • Practice approachability techniques, including welcoming body language and conversational phrasing that makes it easy for readers to initiate contact
  • Shadow an experienced colleague during live advisory interactions and reflect on the communication strategies observed
  • Learn the 3 primary open-ended RA questions ("Tell me about a book you enjoyed," "What kind of mood are you in?", "Is there anything you want to avoid?") and practice using them in simulated scenarios
  • Practice warm hand-offs: learn how to guide a customer gracefully from your workstation to an RA specialist or Customer Service staff member when deeper assistance is required 

• Advanced level (Application and improvement)  

  • Learn how to deliver a concise book-talk using key hook factors (e.g., a "3-keyword" project)
  • Create practice prompts and ask your team to answer them (or answer them yourself) to simulate real advisory interactions
  • Develop and practice with role play scenarios to help your team build confidence and refine their approach to helping readers
  • Develop and test a new way to ask advisory questions, then reflect on how it changes the interaction 

• Expert level (Leadership) 

  • Write up guidelines for your team on approachability, for example welcoming body language and communication that makes it easy for readers to engage
  • Collect and summarize patron feedback related to advisory interactions
  • Coordinate displays (or similar title promotion projects) at a system or branch level 

Demonstrate Skills in Promotional Advisory  

• Core level (Awareness and participation)

  • Assist in creating or maintaining physical and digital promotional pathways (e.g., reading challenges, newsletter templates, or book lists)
  • Give a short, informal book talk during a staff or team meeting
  • Assist with physical display maintenance (e.g., refilling empty display shelves, face-out book placement) during daily routines 

• Advanced level (Application and improvement)  

  • Design and complete a pathway-style project, such as creating a book display or curated book list
  • Create a themed “starter kit” for a certain type of reader (for example, “for people new to mysteries” or “quick reads for busy people”)
  • Create a short blog, video, reel, or digital feature highlighting book recommendations and share it on social media
  • Write a detailed plan for a patron-facing program that incorporates books 

• Expert level (Leadership) 

  • Write a strategic plan for promotional advisory goals throughout the library
  • Write a proposal for an improvement to the library experience that supports readers (such as signage or layout)
  • Coordinate with collection development colleagues on shared goals for promoting the collection 

Demonstrate Skills in Tools & Trends  

• Core level (Awareness and participation)

  • Explore a professional readers' advisory resource (e.g., NoveList) alongside mainstream reader networks (e.g., Goodreads, BookTok) to see how different audiences evaluate books
  • Act as a "champion" for a specific genre, format, or tool, and share regular updates with the team
  • Set up a bookmark folder on your workstation for key RA lookup tools (e.g., catalog, NoveList, Fantastic Fiction) 

• Advanced level (Application and improvement)  

  • Research a specific trend you’ve noticed about RA and share your findings.  
  • Consider opportunities to publish what you wrote so that you contribute to the professional knowledge base
  • Attend a training session on a readers’ advisory tool and write up your takeaways
  • Subscribe to publisher newsletters and social media accounts to maintain awareness of trends 

• Expert level (Leadership) 

  • Teach a class on how to use an advisory resource or tool
  • Create a program for patrons to introduce them to the advisory tools available at the library 

Demonstrate Skills in Collaboration Across Teams & Organizations

• Core level (Awareness and participation)

  • Shadow a different department to learn how their specialized services or programs can be cross promoted to readers
  • Identify an upcoming library program or community event and assemble a 5-title reading list that connects directly to those topics 

• Advanced level (Application and improvement)  

  • Participate in an internal committee or task force focused on improving reader services at the library
  • Contribute to local reading lists such as staff picks, local observance recommendations, or community partner reading lists
  • Participate in creation of new collections or definitions of core collections 

• Expert level (Leadership) 

  • Partner with another department (youth services, outreach, etc.) to intentionally integrate advisory into their work
  • Develop partnerships externally (e.g. with local schools or organizations) on joint initiatives related to reading
  • Participate on a state or national level task force related to reading