Considerations of Theoretical Bases for Readers' Advisory Services

Advising readers has received renewed attention in public libraries, library associations, and programs of library and information science. Writing of their belief in readers' advisory services Saricks and Brown note, “Readers' advisors and proponents of the service subscribe whole‐heartedly to the philosophy that reading, of and by itself, has intrinsic value.” In her essay on new directions for readers' advisory services, Ross characterizes readers' attitudes toward books as providing a “special kind of pleasure that cannot be achieved in any other way,” and summarizes several studies that examine the role of reading in people's lives.