The RTG committee wants to thank the NHLA Conference committee for a fabulous 2 days! Our "READS-TO-GO Wants to Know" session was well-attended and provided us with much to think about. We hope everyone's questions were answered, but if not, feel free to email me directly (dmayr@library.windham.nh.us).
I want to apologize for my ineptness in showing attendees how to find a list of RTG kit titles on the NHU-PAC. It seems I was in the NHSL catalog and not the NHU-PAC! Duh!
To find a list, go to the NHU-PAC and type READS-TO-GO [kit] into the "title contains" search box. (You can also do a title search in the ILL screen). This should bring up all the titles. You can also type in READS-TO-GO without [kit], but you will get a few extraneous titles.
It was suggested by attendees, that if you want to borrow a kit you should call or email the host library before putting in a request through the automated ILL system. Many kits have holds, so the host libraries will tell you how they want to handle the request.
We received many suggestions of titles to be included in the future book discussion kits--many thanks! Christine Tarrio was the winner of our "Rewards" prize.
There was a suggestion that The Time Traveler's Wife be a kit. It already is! The kit is held by the Dover P.L.
Other suggested titles do not fall within our guidelines. For instance, The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay. This book came out in 1989 and does not qualify as current. Another suggestion was Deep Economy by Bill McKibben. This title is current, and it is discussable, but there is no demand for it. If a group wants to use it, then there are 70+ libraries that own the title. Our mission is to provide kits of titles that are in high demand. The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson was suggested also. This title is a young adult book, and goal is to provide material for adult readers.
I will write more about RTG in the days to come! --Diane Mayr
