DOCSLIB.ORG

Book Clubs As ‘Everyday Activists’ Julie E

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Book Clubs As ‘Everyday Activists’ Julie E View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Tennessee, Knoxville: Trace University of Tennessee, Knoxville Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 5-2014 The eopleP Who Do ‘This’ in Common: Book Clubs as ‘Everyday Activists’ Julie E. Tyler University of Tennessee - Knoxville, [email protected] Recommended Citation Tyler, Julie E., "The eP ople Who Do ‘This’ in Common: Book Clubs as ‘Everyday Activists’. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2014. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/2778 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Julie E. Tyler entitled "The eP ople Who Do ‘This’ in Common: Book Clubs as ‘Everyday Activists’." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in English. Amy J. Elias, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Kirsten Benson, Janet Atwill, Stergios Botzakis Accepted for the Council: Dixie L. Thompson Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official student records.) The People Who Do ‘This’ in Common: Book Clubs as ‘Everyday Activists’ A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Julie E. Tyler May 2014 ii Copyright © 2014 by Julie Elizabeth Tyler All rights reserved iii To the trifecta. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I thank my dissertation committee and other faculty at UT for their encouragement at all phases of this project. The contributions from each committee member—Amy Elias, Kirsten Benson, Janet Atwill, and Stergios Botzakis—made this project a stronger interdisciplinary undertaking. In particular, I thank Amy Elias and Kirsten Benson for co-directing this project and for their genuine investment in my success and well-being. I thank my parents and sisters for the love, prayers, and support throughout my time in this doctoral program, making sure that I was doin’ alright, in the wonderful way that families do. I thank my best friends, Whitney Jones, Deidre Garriott, and Sarah Welsh for their beauty and brains, unfailing love and good humor, and for their professional collaborations and spiritual support. My friends at KnoxLife church, Janie and Turner Howard: thank you for cheering for me on as I “finish the race.” My fellow dancers in the SalsaKnox and EvoZouk communities : thank you for the great moves and tunes. Lastly, I thank the members of the Books-N-Wine club who generously offered their time to participate in this project and who welcomed me socially into their close-knit community. With their fascinating and authoritative knowledge on book clubs and the experiences of reading, this project has a promising future. v ABSTRACT This study of the Books-N-Wine club in Knoxville, Tennessee participates in a growing body of research on reading communities. Since the 1980s, researchers have investigated book clubs as social-intellectual phenomena whose history dates back to eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Intersecting with the development of the public sphere and even fueling concrete social movements, book clubs comprise a “shadow tradition of literature.” Current research suggests that contemporary clubs continue to advance this “shadow tradition” and have the potential to teach and transform their constituencies. Several areas remain unexplored in research on book clubs, including the ways in which particular categories of clubs are identified and described, the ways in which clubs operate in specific contexts, and the research methods that yield the most useful data. To produce new knowledge on book clubs, this study is framed by theories from multiple disciplines as well as popular publications on book clubs, and investigates one club in Knoxville through observations of meetings and interviews with individual members. Findings suggest that Books-N-Wine is a situated, contextualized practice, exhibiting significant participation, on the part of its members, in other spheres. It is possible that this book club and other ones are comprised of “everyday activists” who negotiate among themselves the values and behaviors for use in domestic, professional, and other counterspheres. Findings also suggest that researchers must reflect on their impact on the clubs they study and should address a crisis of terminology that emerges when describing the phenomena they discover. In addition, because book clubs are complex practices, studies are best informed by multiple, rather than singular, disciplines and by published material that book clubs themselves produce. This study concludes by recommending that the study be extended in the following vi ways: (1) refining its theoretical and methodological underpinnings, (2) expanding the case study design to a study that compares several clubs, and (3) extending the time frame for collecting data. vii PREFACE This dissertation details a case study on a book club currently in its fourth year of operation in Knoxville, Tennessee—the Books-N-Wine club. Comprised of five core members, with occasional attendance by other readers, this club’s accomplishments have social, intellectual, aesthetic, and political significance that researchers and book club practitioners alike may find illuminating. Even though Books-N-Wine’s website is easily found online, these important accomplishments may very well go unnoticed by others. This club does not promote itself actively in the community, and, as is customary with many book clubs even in the age of social media, this club maintains a relatively private and insular practice. At the beginning of my interactions with this book club, I built relationships with its members that were as congenial as they were professional. Members kindly welcomed me when I arrived at meetings. They graciously offered their time for interviews to share with me their perceptions of and reflections about the club. During the six consecutive meetings that I silently and (in)visibly observed, I often longed to join the club’s lively and thought-provoking discussions. I wanted to be in the club. Members’ candid and insightful comments about the reading selections corresponded to the value they ascribe to the life of the mind. Their range of emotional expressions showed their willingness to be vulnerable in the presence of others. Their deliberative dialogue, points and counterpoints demonstrated commitments to expanding their worldviews. Simultaneously, their witty humor and occasional disdain for reading selections revealed their capacity for irreverent attitudes towards traditional cultural values. Above all, their interest in each other’s daily life showed that within the safe space of the host’s home the well- being of friends trumped even the most intrepid explorations of a good book. viii Over time and in the midst of the markedly unsocial aspects of conducting this study— hours spent in transcribing, coding, writing and rewriting—my relationship with members of the Books-N-Wine club evolved. As I expressed interest in the details of their personal lives, members demonstrated their enjoyment of my presence beyond surface-level hospitality, expressed curiosity about the progress of my work, and assured me they were “rooting” for me. One member’s observation highlighted additional dimension to this relationship, that our interactions during meetings and interviews prompted more self-awareness of his involvement in Books-N-Wine. It was like “holding up a mirror,” he said. I, too, experienced heightened self- awareness beyond what a researcher normally experiences navigating the field of someone else’s turf. These social and emotional experiences of self-reflection as part of the research process correspond to several outcomes of this study that were interesting and unexpected. While I was recruiting the members of this club as participants in my study, they recruited me as a participant in the club. We all became researchers of each other, the selected literary texts, and of ourselves—gathering different data through different methods of course—but nonetheless cooperating on a complex social level than exceeds mere observation. Cultivating these levels of reciprocity and mutual self-disclosure, as many qualitative researchers have noted, are important actions for establishing trust and cooperation. Each party shared his or her life as others shared and more importantly because others shared. Each party valued his or her contribution to this project and to the success of the book club itself. We became, as this project’s title suggests, “The People Who Do ‘This’ in Common.” ix TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ................................................................... 1 Background .................................................................................................. 1 Statement of the Problem.......................................................................... 6 Purpose Statement...................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Book History in Australia Since 1950 Katherine Bode Preprint: Chapter 1
    Book History in Australia since 1950 Katherine Bode Preprint: Chapter 1, Oxford History of the Novel in English: The Novel in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the South Pacific since 1950. Edited by Coral Howells, Paul Sharrad and Gerry Turcotte. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017. Publication of Australian novels and discussion of this phenomenon have long been sites for the expression of wider tensions between national identity and overseas influence characteristic of postcolonial societies. Australian novel publishing since 1950 can be roughly divided into three periods, characterized by the specific, and changing, relationship between national and non-national influences. In the first, the 1950s and 1960s, British companies dominated the publication of Australian novels, and publishing decisions were predominantly made overseas. Yet a local industry also emerged, driven by often contradictory impulses of national sentiment, and demand for American-style pulp fiction. In the second period, the 1970s and 1980s, cultural nationalist policies and broad social changes supported the growth of a vibrant local publishing industry. At the same time, the significant economic and logistical challenges of local publishing led to closures and mergers, and—along with the increasing globalization of publishing—enabled the entry of large, multinational enterprises into the market. This latter trend, and the processes of globalization and deregulation, continued in the final period, since the 1990s. Nevertheless, these decades have also witnessed the ongoing development and consolidation of local publishing of Australian novels— including in new forms of e-publishing and self-publishing—as well as continued government and social support for this activity, and for Australian literature more broadly.
    [Show full text]
  • Books Beyond Bars
    Books beyond bars The transformative potential of prison libraries The human right to education is particularly important in the prison environment, as prisoners often come from disadvantaged socio-economic and educational backgrounds. This publication explores the extent to which prison authorities fulfil their societal mandate to rehabilitate and reintegrate inmates by enabling them to use prison libraries to pursue their right to education, access relevant information or simply enjoy reading a good book. Reading and using a prison library can open up a world beyond prison bars, allowing prisoners to forget for a time the harsh reality of prison life and empowering them to choose their own reading materials in an otherwise extremely restrictive and regulated environment. Providing access to relevant books and information, including easy reading materials and in various languages, is crucial for prisoners’ personal development. This publication takes a closer look at selected examples of prison library systems around the world, outlining best practice and possible challenges, thus demonstrating their transformative potential as informational, educational, cultural and recreational meeting and learning spaces. Lisa Krolak Books beyond bars The transformative potential of prison libraries Lisa Krolak Published in 2019 by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, Hamburg © UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning The UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) undertakes research, capacity-building, networking and publication on lifelong learning with a focus on adult and continuing education, literacy and non-formal basic education. Its publications are a valuable resource for education researchers, planners, policy-makers and practitioners. While the programmes of UIL are established along the lines laid down by the General Conference of UNESCO, the publications of the Institute are issued under its sole responsibility.
    [Show full text]
  • Bibliotherapy for the Inclusive Elementary Classroom Kate-Lynn Dirks Eastern Michigan University
    Eastern Michigan University DigitalCommons@EMU Senior Honors Theses Honors College 2010 Bibliotherapy for the Inclusive Elementary Classroom Kate-Lynn Dirks Eastern Michigan University Follow this and additional works at: http://commons.emich.edu/honors Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Dirks, Kate-Lynn, "Bibliotherapy for the Inclusive Elementary Classroom" (2010). Senior Honors Theses. 237. http://commons.emich.edu/honors/237 This Open Access Senior Honors Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Honors College at DigitalCommons@EMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Senior Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@EMU. For more information, please contact lib- [email protected]. Bibliotherapy for the Inclusive Elementary Classroom Abstract In my life, music and reading have brought me great joy and escape. To disappear from the world I would read a book, and to deal with stress I would play my piano. Entering Eastern Michigan University from high school I was very interested in looking into the Music Therapy Program. I had worked with students with special needs at my past elementary school and had recently welcomed a baby cousin into my family who was born with severe Cerebral Palsy. I had experienced firsthand the healing power of music with adults and children, and I wanted explore this major. After auditioning, I discovered pure Music Therapy was not my true dream because teaching was my passion. I decided to use music therapy in the classroom and my path was set for elementary education. However at the end of my third year, while choosing a topic for my thesis, my advisor mentioned Bibliotherapy and without even knowing fully what it involved, something in my soul screamed “Yes” and that became my Senior Honour Thesis Topic.
    [Show full text]
  • PDF File to Download
    BIBLIOTHERAPY AND PURPOSIVE READING MODELS FOR SENIORS DEVELOPED BY THE PROJECT „FEEL BETTER WITH A BOOK: READING FOR WELL-BEING AT AN OLDER AGE” (NPAD-2016/10321) 2016-2017 Content About the project ............................................................... 2 Project partners: ................................................................ 3 Introduction to bibliotherapy and purposive reading ......... 4 Description of purposive reading and bibliotherapy models developed during the project „Feel better with a book: reading for well-being at an older age” (NPAD- 2016/10321) ...................................................................... 9 Useful links: ..................................................................... 30 About the project Rapid changes of modern society force people to adjust to new situations. A great deal of elderly people desire to integrate better and improve quality of their life, but unfortunately face many difficulties. Learning at an older age can help overcome those challenges and it is universally recognized that reading is one of the most accessible forms of learning for the elderly. The most effective is purposive reading or bibliotherapy. It is a method which uses reading to reinforce what is already good and healthy within a person, makes it easier to adapt, and weakens influence of negative environment. Reading sessions can be held in a variety of venues, such as libraries, hospitals, and elderly care homes. The fact that all partners’ countries face similar challenges has encouraged organizations
    [Show full text]
  • Bibliotherapy and Graphic Medicine
    This is a preprint of a chapter accepted for publication by Facet Publishing. This extract has been taken from the author’s original manuscript and has not been edited. The definitive version of this piece may be found in Bibliotherapy, Facet, London, ISBN 9781783302410, which can be purchased from http://www.facetpublishing.co.uk/title.php?id=303410&category_code=37#.W0xzl4eoulI. The author agrees not to update the preprint or replace it with the published version of the chapter. Our titles have wide appeal across the UK and internationally and we are keen to see our authors content translated into foreign languages and welcome requests from publishers. World rights for translation are available for many of our titles. To date our books have been translated into over 25 languages. Bibliotherapy and graphic medicine Sarah McNicol, Manchester Metropolitan University 1. Introduction While most bibliotherapy activities focus on the use of written text, whether in the form of novels, poetry or self-help books, in recent years there has been a growing interest in the use of graphic novels and comics as a mode of bibliotherapy. The term ‘graphic narratives’ is used in this chapter to include both graphic novels and shorter comics in both print and digital formats. The chapter explores the ways in which graphic narratives of various types might be used as an effective form of bibliotherapy. It considers how the medium can be particularly effective in supporting important features of bibliotherapy such as providing reassurance; connection with others; alternative perspectives; and models of identity. It then draws on examples of bibliotherapy collections from different library settings to demonstrate some of the ways in which graphic narratives are currently used in bibliotherapy practice, or might have potential to be used in the future.
    [Show full text]
  • Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow Bob Holley Wayne State University, [email protected]
    Against the Grain Volume 24 | Issue 5 Article 37 November 2012 Random Ramblings- The Difference Between a Great and a Good Research Library: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow Bob Holley Wayne State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/atg Part of the Library and Information Science Commons Recommended Citation Holley, Bob (2012) "Random Ramblings- The Difference Between a Great and a Good Research Library: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow," Against the Grain: Vol. 24: Iss. 5, Article 37. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7771/2380-176X.6340 This document has been made available through Purdue e-Pubs, a service of the Purdue University Libraries. Please contact [email protected] for additional information. Oregon Trails the rent, feed, clothe, and shelter the family, and and fairly compensate those who sell stock set aside something for a rainy day and not just to the bookseller. Scott Givens rates Premier from page 89 those plying their trade in Oregon. on both counts. What impressed me most about what he bought from me was what totally unorganized. But this gallimaufry Scott Givens deserves the sobriquet Book- man, for it is clear, when conversing with him he selected and what he left in the box. He is organized along broad subject areas and left books that he either had enough of alphabetically by author within those clas- and exploring his store in Albany, that he has that love of books that is sometimes or knew he couldn’t sell. The ones he sifications. They are kept in good order by bought were books he knew he could an enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff who described as a mania, a madness, even sell and esoteric books that he was were busy shelving and re-shelving during my a disease.
    [Show full text]
  • Play, Literacy, and Youth
    Children the journal of the Association for Library Service to Children Libraries & Volume 10 Number 1 Spring 2012 ISSN 1542-9806 The PLAY issue: Play, Literacy, and Youth Sendak, Riordan, Joyce: Read More About ’Em! Making Mentoring Work PERMIT NO. 4 NO. PERMIT Change Service Requested Service Change HANOVER, PA HANOVER, Chicago, Illinois 60611 Illinois Chicago, PAID 50 East Huron Street Huron East 50 U.S. POSTAGE POSTAGE U.S. Association for Library Service to Children to Service Library for Association NONPROFIT ORG. NONPROFIT Table Contents● ofVolume 10, Number 1 Spring 2012 Notes 25 Instruction, a First Aid Kit, and Communication 2 Editor’s Note Necessary Components in the Sharon Verbeten Mentoring Relationship Meg Smith Features 27 Beyond Library Walls Improving Kindergarten Readiness SPECIAL FOCUS: in At-Risk Communities Play and Literacy Kim Snell 3 We Play Here! Bringing the Power of Play 30 Newbies and Newberys into Children’s Libraries Reflections from First-Time Betsy Diamant-Cohen, Tess Prendergast, Christy Estrovitz, Newbery Honor Authors Carrie Banks, and Kim van der Veen Sandra Imdieke 11 The Preschool Literacy And You 37 Inside Over There! (PLAY) Room Sendak Soars in Skokie Creating an Early Literacy Play Area in Your Library 38 An Exploratory Study of Constance Dickerson Children’s Views of Censorship Natasha Isajlovic-Terry and Lynne (E.F.) McKechnie 16 A Museum in a Library? Science, Literacy Blossom at 44 The Power of Story Children’s Library Discovery Center The Role of Bibliotherapy for the Library Sharon Cox James
    [Show full text]
  • Bibliotherapy : Background, Application and Research
    University of Northern Iowa UNI ScholarWorks Graduate Research Papers Student Work 1999 Bibliotherapy : background, application and research Carla Marie Eich University of Northern Iowa Let us know how access to this document benefits ouy Copyright ©1999 Carla Marie Eich Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/grp Part of the Counseling Commons, Education Commons, and the Other Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Eich, Carla Marie, "Bibliotherapy : background, application and research" (1999). Graduate Research Papers. 589. https://scholarworks.uni.edu/grp/589 This Open Access Graduate Research Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Work at UNI ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Research Papers by an authorized administrator of UNI ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Bibliotherapy : background, application and research Abstract This paper examines bibliotherapy in several aspects. Bibliotherapy is using books to help with client's problems or for developmental adjustment and growth. Bibliotherapy has a long history, dating back to early man. However, it was not until this century that scholars began studying it further. In 1949, the process of bibliotherapy was developed which is discussed in this paper. Research support for bibliotherapy has been mixed and speculation as to why is also discussed. There are many limitations of bibliotherapy which are important to consider if a therapist is interested in bibliotherapy. This
    [Show full text]
  • The Informed Victorian Reader by Christie A. P. Allen a Dissertation
    The Informed Victorian Reader by Christie A. P. Allen A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (English Language and Literature) in the University of Michigan 2016 Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Daniel S. Hack, Chair Professor Lucy Hartley Professor Adela N. Pinch Associate Professor Megan L. Sweeney Acknowledgements I would like to thank my excellent committee for the help and support they provided me in imagining, researching, and writing this dissertation. First and foremost, I’m grateful to my chair, Daniel Hack, for patiently reading and rereading my work over many years and for offering unfailingly helpful feedback. I have benefitted immeasurably from Danny’s expertise, as well as his ability to see the potential in my ideas and to push me to refine my arguments. I would also like to thank my readers, Adela Pinch, Lucy Hartley, and Megan Sweeney. Adela’s practical advice and optimism about my project have sustained me through the long process of writing a dissertation. I am grateful to Lucy for always challenging me to consider all sides of a question and to take my analysis a step further. I appreciate Meg’s thoughtful feedback on my chapters, and I will always be thankful to her for being a kind, conscientious, and resourceful mentor to me in my growth as a teacher as well as a writer. I appreciate the many other readers who have helped make this project possible. Kathryne Bevilacqua, Julia Hansen, and Logan Scherer offered feedback and moral support in the very early stages of dissertation-writing.
    [Show full text]
  • Book Club in a Box TITLES AVAILABLE – NOVEMBER 2019 (Please Destroy All Previous Lists)
    49-99 Book Club in a Box TITLES AVAILABLE – NOVEMBER 2019 (Please destroy all previous lists) FICTION, CONTEMPORARY AND HISTORICAL After You – by JoJo Moyes – (352 p.) – 15 copies Moyes’ sequel to her bestselling Me Before You (2012)—which was about Louisa, a young caregiver who falls in love with her quadriplegic charge, Will, and then loses him when he chooses suicide over a life of constant pain— examines the effects of a loved one’s death on those left behind to mourn. It's been 18 months since Will’s death, and Louisa is still grieving. After falling off her apartment roof terrace in a drunken state, she momentarily fears she’ll end up paralyzed herself, but Sam, the paramedic who treats her, does a great job—and she's lucky. Louisa convalesces in the bosom of her family in the village of Stortfold. When Louisa returns to London, a troubled 16- year-old named Lily turns up on her doorstep saying Will was her father though he never knew it because her mother thought he was "a selfish arsehole" and never told him she was pregnant. (Abbreviated from Kirkus) The Alchemist – by Paulo Coehlo – (186 p.) – 15 copies + Large Print "The boy's name was Santiago," it begins; Santiago is well educated and had intended to be a priest. But a desire for travel, to see every part of his native Spain, prompted him to become a shepherd instead. He's contented. But then twice he dreams about hidden treasure, and a seer tells him to follow the dream's instructions: go to Egypt to the pyramids, where he will find a treasure.
    [Show full text]
  • Bibliotherapy Intervention Exposure and Level of Emotional Awareness Among Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders
    Cleveland State University EngagedScholarship@CSU ETD Archive 2010 Bibliotherapy Intervention Exposure and Level of Emotional Awareness Among Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders Elaine Harper Cleveland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/etdarchive Part of the Education Commons How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! Recommended Citation Harper, Elaine, "Bibliotherapy Intervention Exposure and Level of Emotional Awareness Among Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders" (2010). ETD Archive. 125. https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/etdarchive/125 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by EngagedScholarship@CSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in ETD Archive by an authorized administrator of EngagedScholarship@CSU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. BIBLIOTHERAPY INTERVENTION EXPOSURE AND LEVEL OF EMOTIONAL AWARENESS AMONG STUDENTS WITH EMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS ELAINE HARPER Bachelor of Arts, Psychology Case Western Reserve University August 1989 Master of Education, Severe Behavior Disorders Kent State University August 1993 Submitted in partial fulfillment for requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN URBAN EDUCATION: LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT at the CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY May 2010 This dissertation has been approved for The Office of Doctoral Studies, College of Education and the College of Graduate Studies by ________________________________________________________________
    [Show full text]
  • A Recommender System for Informal Bibliotherapy
    A recommender system for informal bibliotherapy Jatin Aswal Nisheeth Srivastava [email protected] [email protected] Dept of Computer Science, IIT Kanpur Kanpur, UP, India ABSTRACT from sufficient psychological distance. This allows them to think of We present an online system that recommends web-based reading possibly solutions, which they eventually realize might also apply passages to users based on free long-form text-based elicitations of in their own situation [9]. how they’re feeling right now. The system combines natural lan- Thus, effective bibliotherapy requires insight into the patient’s guage processing techniques used to extract users’ intent with an condition, and the ability to recommend readings that the patient is information retrieval system to yield relevant and useful narratives likely to find relatable in their current condition. Since this is acom- for users. An eight week long user study found that most people plex and sensitive task, the assistance of a trained psychotherapist who used the system reported better mood at the end of their in- is generally advised for formal bibliotherapy. teraction with the system. Interestingly, our study also discovered It is unlikely that the role of a human therapist could be replaced greater user engagement with randomly recommended narratives via algorithmic recommendations in formal bibliotherapy for formal than with narratives selected for users based on their written de- mental health treatments. However, bibliotherapy is not always for- scriptions of their own mental states. These observations could mal. The friendly neighborhood librarian’s suggestions for a book constrain the future design of self-help recommender systems.
    [Show full text]