1 The Reader and the Librarian

This paper explores the experience of reading from the reader’s perspective, drawing on research conducted by Louise Rosenblatt and Catherine Sheldrick Ross. Rosenblatt’s transactional theory of reading is described and contrasted with contemporary library practices, and these different approaches serve to exemplify the poles of what she calls the efferent-aesthetic continuum. Library educators and practitioners tend to reside at one end of the continuum and emphasize goal-oriented searching with pre-defined needs and specifically articulated questions; at the other end we encounter the complex cognitive, emotional, imaginative, associative and experiential transactions that engage pleasure readers. The medium of the book is briefly examined, as are the purposive skills that can emerge from the practice of reading for pleasure. To better serve readers, the largest body of library users, it is incumbent upon the library profession to understand the detailed processes and characteristics that constitute the reading experience