by Amy Pridgen
Has a student ever asked you this question: “Would you help me find the book about the boy”…? Sometimes it is about a girl, but usually it is about the elusive boy. The student continues, “You know, the book you read to our class two years ago.” I call the request for the “book about the boy” my weary query. It is the most frequently asked question from students and teachers alike. It must be handled with a strategic plan or this query will tax your mental energy and leave you mentally exhausted (not to mention leaving the student frustrated and hopeless!).
In graduate school, the professor of my reference course covered a section called “The Query.” During this phase of the course, we learned how to take an extremely vague question and transform it into a book or resource with a precise title the student (or teacher) could check out. The weary query begins as a question with little for a librarian to go on and, with some investigative attention, can magically become a treasure hunt through a librarian’s vast mental storage of literary information.
I have found that the best approach to the question in question is to apply a series of QUESTIONS in order to extract the vital information needed. I begin by asking the student to tell me more. What is the boy’s name? Does he have a friend, or dog, or family, or adventures, or live on the planet Earth? Did I ever read this book to your class in the library? Did your teacher or friend or someone else read it to you?
Sometimes you have to dig deeper and ask more bizarre questions. When a student asked me for a book about the “mean guy,” I asked the student if he remembered why the guy was so mean. The student replied, “I don’t really know…but he was green.” (Have you figured this one out yet?) In continued to question him. What sort of mean things did he do? “Oh, he stole everyone’s Christmas presents.” Of course, it was How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Other times you will exhaust every investigative path. This is the time to ask the simple questions. What color was the book? Was it a picture book or a fiction book? Was it a new or an old book? Did I read it to your class recently? Sometimes simplicity is just the ticket!
What exhausts me about the query is how much is expected of the librarian by students. They assume you have read EVERY book in the library, know EVERY title, author and plot, know what books EVERY child currently has checked out (and has EVER checked out) as well as what they are REALLY trying to ask you. (Perhaps the college should have required a course called Student Mind Reading 101???) Yet, if students expect we “know” books, perhaps we should all be reading more children’s books ourselves.
Sometimes students just need to know the title of the book they already returned. They want to take an Accelerated Reader test and forgot to write the title down. In the process of trying to put the book in their hand, it finally becomes clear that the mission has changed! Be careful to figure out exactly WHAT the student needs. Is it the actual book or just information about the book? Many times I just simply ask, “What is it you need? What are you working on? What are you going to do with this information? This can save everyone time.
I am (not so subtly) teaching my students to be exact about what they ask. They do not always ask for what they really want. For instance, a student asked, “Where is the Titanic located?” I replied, “It sank many years ago in the Atlantic after being hit by an iceberg.” “Where can I find Abraham Lincoln?” I replied, “He is currently buried in a cemetery after his untimely assassination at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C.” “Do you have Arthur’s underwear?” I replied, “Of course not! He has to wear it to school. Why would I need his underwear?” Of course, my favorite question is “ Do you have any snakes in here?” I replied, “Heavens no! I never allow snakes in my library! I’m very frightened of most reptiles, dear!” Needless to say, my students construct their questions more carefully these days. They are sure to include the words “a book about” somewhere in the question. This process has helped to create a continual comedy zone and keeps everyone on his or her toes!
What questions do you hear from your students? Are you able to
decipher the query and provide what the student really needs?
If not, try revising the current process you use. Perhaps you
can transform the “weary query” into the “best
quest” for anything under the sun!
