Become a Library Power User

The library offers more than you might realize, and you don’t need special training to take advantage of it. Library Power User is a blog series that spotlights helpful features across our catalog, website, app, and databases to make it easier to find books, movies, and information. Each post focuses on simple tools and tips that help you go beyond the basics and start using the library like a pro.

Discover Your Next Book with Lists

On the hunt for something new to read? Sometimes the best recommendations come from other readers. One of the catalog's lesser-known features is Lists, a social discovery tool that lets you search hundreds of compiled bibliographies on just about any topic. They are all user-generated and can help you find something you might not have considered on your own.

So What Are Lists?

Just as the name implies, Lists are reading guides created by people who love sharing recommendations or making connections between media around a particular theme, genre, or interest. And they aren't limited to books, either! They can include movies, music, audiobooks, and other materials found in the library catalog.

There are several types of lists, including:

• Genre Guides: These are recommendations within a particular genre, such as historical romance, psychological thrillers, or fantasy.
• Topic Guides: Highlighting materials related to a particular subject or interest, from gardening and genealogy to true crime.
• Top Picks: Thumb through a user's favorite titles in a particular category, such as their favorite books of the year.
• If You Liked...: Find read-alikes and other recommendations based on specific books, authors, or series.

Some lists also include annotations explaining why a particular title was selected, giving you a little extra context into what makes it worth checking out, or how it's related to the subject.

Find Recommendations from the Library Community

What's also fun about the List feature is that it can connect you with a much larger community of readers. Clark County Public Library uses a catalog platform called BiblioCommons, which is also used by public libraries throughout North America. When librarians and patrons create public lists, those recommendations can be discovered by users at other participating libraries. So you can benefit from the expertise of librarians across the country, as well as recommendations from readers with interests similar to your own.

How to Search for Lists

Finding lists is easy!

At the top of our website/catalog, find the search bar and change the search category to List using the drop-down menu.

Enter a topic, genre, author, or keyword that interests you and review the results to see what other readers and librarians have recommended. For example, you can try searching for "haunted houses," "cozy fantasy," or "authors like James Patterson." Displayed results default to relevance, so some of the first few pages may have your keyword in the title. And just like a regular catalog search, you can narrow your results using the filters on the left on the search results page.

Want recommendations from librarians? Look for the Creator Type filter to narrow your results to lists created by library staff. You can also filter by list type, genre, topic, and other tagged categories. When you find a list that catches your interest, click on it to review the recommended titles.

Keep in mind that these lists come from libraries across the BiblioCommons community, so not every title will necessarily be available in our collection. Fortunately, the built-in search tools make it easy to check our catalog for availability or explore other borrowing options, such as our digital library or interlibrary loan services.

Power User Tip 💡

Found a list you enjoyed? Show your appreciation by clicking the heart icon next to the list's title! Liking a list helps other users discover recommendations worth exploring. If you particularly enjoyed someone's recommendations, why not follow them? Following other library users is a great way to discover new books, movies, and more from people who share your interests. You'll see their latest activity, such as newly published lists, ratings, and reviews in your account's newsfeed found on the Dashboard.

To follow someone, simply hover over their username and click the Follow button that appears.

Another Way to Discover Lists

You don't even have to search for Lists directly to find them! When you're browsing the catalog, you may find staff-created lists featuring related titles among the search results. These lists can appear based on the book you’re viewing, your search terms, or recommendations specifically selected by the library.

You can also discover Lists while browsing a title’s details page. Scroll down past the user reviews, and you’ll find two sections highlighting lists that feature that title: one featuring lists created by library staff and another featuring lists created by members of the BiblioCommons community.

They can be especially helpful when you’ve just finished a book you loved and are looking for something similar to read next. One great book might lead you to an entire list of others worth exploring!

Create and Share Your Own Lists

Want to make a few of your own? Anyone with a library card and an online catalog account can create a list. You can organize titles around any theme or idea you choose, add personal notes, and decide whether to share your list with the community.

You'll need at least four items to publish a list, but you can save an unfinished list as a draft and return to it later. You can also add short annotations to individual titles. These are a great way to explain why you recommend a particular book, what readers might enjoy about it, or how it connects to your list's theme.

And if you're not quite ready to share your recommendations with the world, that's okay! You can keep your lists private or make them accessible only to people with a direct link.

Power User Tip 💡

If you simply just want to keep track of books you plan to read, the catalog's For Later shelf is a better place to save them. Click the For Later flag to add it to your shelf. There is no item limit, so this is a far better way to organize your TBR materials.

Your Next Read Is Just a List Away!

The next time you're searching for something to read, watch, or listen to, why not let another library user point you in the right direction? Lists make exploring the library catalog a little more personal, and a lot more fun.

And that's what using the library like a Power User is all about!