Librarian Gwen Kalavaza. Courtesy photo 
Librarian Katy Korkos. Courtesy photo 
Librarian Veronica Encinas. Courtesy photo Need a good book? We’re glad you asked–suggesting reading recommendations is one of our very favorite things to do! A new service from the Los Alamos County Library System, called “My Librarian, has just been rolled out on the “We Suggest” page of our catalog, at losalamoslibrary.org.
You’ll find six eager members of the Library staff who are ready to send you recommendations. Actually every single person who works at the Library likes to make book recommendations, but this service is starting out with just these six.
Librarians love reading- and we’re eclectic in our tastes.We don’t just sit around reading the classics, either. As you might imagine, one of the things that inspires people to go to work in a library is that they love to read.
If Nordic crime fiction is your thing, Eva Jacobson would love to expand your reading pleasure by suggesting some of her favorites. She also enjoys reading anything about design, cooking, and running.
Liza Rivera describes her style like this: “Start with a full shelf of picture books and graphic novels. Add a healthy dash of folklore and history. Fold in fantasy, science fiction and any related genres. Top off with a sprinkle of positive psychology, humor and pop culture. Ask me if any of that sounds good!”
Veronica Encinas, the White Rock Branch manager, loves books about adventure, discovery and science history, with a little historical fiction thrown in. Her favorite books include Michael Crichton’s Pirate Latitudes and Alan Hirshfeld’s Starlight Detectives: how astronomers, inventors and eccentrics discovered the modern universe.
Katy Korkos likes books about social engineering, creativity, art and social sciences like anthropology and linguistics. Her favorite novels are those by A.S. Byatt, Annie Proulx, Margaret Drabble, Haruki Murakami, Tom Robbins and Iris Murdoch.
Bernadine Goldman like to learn something when she reads, so she prefers biographies and histories, along with anything about Canada and the West. She has recommended books like The Map Thief, Curse of the Narrows and The Warmth of Other Suns.
Gwen Kalavaza enjoys high fantasy and urban fantasy, women’s fiction and romance, tempering that with self-help books and books about spirituality.
Recommendations for books for kids and teens are still available the old-fashioned way- by asking Angie and all of the other Youth services staff. There is also a display of recommended books available for checkout right by the front door at Mesa Public Library.
Just go to the “we suggest” page on the library’s website and click the “Get Suggestions” button- you’ll see a picture of your librarian with her favorite types of book. Click on the picture, or copy and paste the e-mail address into your e-mail.
Tell us what the last great thing you’ve read is, which authors you adore and which ones you hate, and which format you prefer (for example books on CD or large print) and we’ll come up with some suggestions. We’re also really happy to see what you suggest to us- we’re always looking for the next good book ourselves.
For more information, go to the library’s website at losalamoslibrary.org.
