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When you come to the library, you know that you can always depend on our staff to provide excellent book and movie suggestions. From our themed lists to our in-person recommendations, we are always here to lend a helping hand. Did you know there’s also another way staff can help you find your next great book or movie?

Providing Custom Suggestions

For more than a decade, we have been providing personalized suggestions based on your reading and watching habits. Bookmatch, Bookmatch for Kids, and Screenmatch provide online questionnaires where you can tell us a bit more about what you enjoy and what you don’t like. Based on your answers, we look for books and movies we think you will enjoy.

We can’t read and watch everything, so we do a lot of work to make sure our suggestions align with your interests. When we receive your online request, words like “fast-paced,” “lyrical writing,” or “complex world-building” are useful starting points, along with the types of books or movies you mark for us. We often make suggestions within the same genre or by similar authors. Knowing what you don’t enjoy is even more helpful! If you don’t like violence or romance, we get a good idea of titles we shouldn’t recommend.

“My first step is to go through your Bookmatch questionnaire and call out any buzzwords or comparison titles that stand out to me, says Grace, one of our teen services librarians. “It is really true that the more detail you give us, the better the puzzle for us to solve! If you've used emotive words, it's so much fun to brainstorm about books that made me feel excited, swoony, terrified, etc. If you said you hated a popular author (it happens!), then we get to do some sleuthing to find out what rubbed you the wrong way. Then, I go through my scattered Rolodex of a brain and think of the obvious choices. I don't like to go obvious, but often the obvious is a great starting point when wanting to find something more recently published to recommend.”

If we are not well-versed in the genre or the author you’ve listed, we use other resources to make an informed decision. Goodreads, Novelist, Book Riot, professional reviews, Common Sense Media, and Rotten Tomatoes are just some of the sites we reference. Social media can be helpful to see what books your favorite author is talking about.

No Algorithms Allowed

“I tend to view Bookmatches as more art than science,” says advisory specialist Andrew. “I carefully read what the patron wrote, figure out what they're asking for, and do what my gut tells me. Are there any books I know of that would fit the bill? Have any of the authors the patron already likes written anything about their favorite books? I use intuition, and think in ways an algorithm couldn't.”

We can’t forget our colleagues, either. We all read and watch different things, so we often have conversations with each other about titles that stood out to us. Brenna, supervisor of advisory services, likes to lose herself in romance and memoirs, and advisory specialist Chris enjoys graphic novels and literary fiction. Youth services librarian Gudrun loves to talk about kids’ nonfiction titles, and we can depend on advisory librarian Sharon to tell us almost everything about movies and TV shows.

Our Bookmatch and Screenmatch suggestions are typically materials you can find in the library, either on our shelves or online. They can be older titles you may have missed and would not find out about otherwise.

Get Monthly Suggestions of Recent Books

If you’d like to learn more about new releases across various age groups, sign up for our New Titles email. This monthly email highlights six recent book releases in areas you choose, including romance, cooking, and graphic novels, all selected by our collection development staff. You can change your preferences at any time. 

Whether you come to us in person or receive your recommendations in your inbox, we hope you enjoy our hand-picked selections.