Children’s programing at Winter Institute 15, which took place January 21–24­ in Baltimore, included nuts-and-bolts sessions designed to help booksellers sell more books—from board books and middle grade through YA—as well as create a welcoming space, particularly for LGBTQ kids and their families.

Cathy Berner of Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston, Mariana Calderon of Second Star to the Right in Denver, Susan Kusel of [words] Bookstore in Maplewood, N.J., and Ariana Paliobagis of Country Bookshelf in Bozeman, Mont., participated in a panel/workshop cosponsored by the ABA and the ABC Children’s Group. Titled “Training General Booksellers in Kids’ Book Sales,” the session was designed to help general store staff feel more comfortable selling kids’ books. We’ve gathered some of their suggestions, along with ones from attendees:

• “The important thing [in selling a picture book] is to read it with the parent. You should look at the parent’s face and see if it will work for their child.” (Calderon)

• Graphic novels can help struggling readers, because they combine visual literacy with words. The category has grown significantly in sales in recent years. (Paliobagis)

• When talking with parents to find out what book they want for their child, try using a “reference interview,” a library term for a conversation between a librarian and a library user. The same process of asking questions—What do you like to read? What have you read recently that you enjoyed?—can help uncover what book a child or parent actually wants. (Kusel)

• Consider modifying those interview questions by saying to the parent, “Tell me more.” This helps avoid yes or no questions, which aren’t always as productive for getting the information you need to pick a book. (Kate Rattenborgh, Dragonfly Books in Decorah, Iowa)

• When customers are looking for a book for a baby shower gift, ask questions about the parents and what they do for work and what they enjoy. The shower is for the parents. (Calderon)

• To familiarize staff with the children’s section, encourage them to read a picture book every day or at least twice a week while they’re working on the floor. These books are quick to read; there’s no reason for staff to take them home. (Paliobagis)

• When a new middle grade or chapter book comes into the store, check Edelweiss for comments from other booksellers, if you haven’t read it yet. (Calderon)

• Check Common Sense Media to see if a book’s content is appropriate, but be sure to use your own common sense in evaluating it. When reviewing last year’s movie adaptation of Little Women, for example, the website only gave it two stars because of teen drinking. (Kusel)

• If a parent is looking for a book with a child, give three books to each of them. (Kusel)

• To turn browsers into buyers, try handing them a book. (Paliobagis)

• Similarly, for people who come to storytime but don’t buy books, try holding storytime on the floor and leaving a stack of books for them to look at. You can also try placing a book in a child’s hands. (Calderon)

• To increase storytime sales, if you carry stuffed animals, tell the kids to grab a “friend” during storytime. (Suggestion from the audience)

• If a child can’t understand five words on page one of a book you’ve handed them, it will be too hard and they won’t enjoy it. Suggest, “Let’s get an easier book.” (Kusel)

• If a parent says that their child can only read level 2 books, that’s not necessarily a good indicator of what the child can read. Level 2 doesn’t mean the same thing across publishers. They may be able to read level 2 for HarperCollins titles but not Penguin Random House. (Kusel)

• Booksellers can try a similar workshop with their staff to the one the panelists set up for attendees to role play different scenarios. Each table in the room had paper bags with slips of paper that they could draw to describe the child’s interests and age and comments made by the customer.

BrocheAroe Fabian of River Dog Book Co., an online bookstore based in Portland, Ore., led a workshop called “Brain Exchange: Creating a Welcoming and Open Space for LGBTQ+ Youth.” Both Fabian and other booksellers shared ideas on what it takes to make a welcoming store, along with suggestions for selling more YA:

• If you only want to have a gender-neutral bathroom, try to open your bookstore in a retail space that doesn’t exceed 1,500 square feet.

• Provide the same amenities in male/female bathrooms: same size mirror, changing table, and menstrual supplies.

• Put up a sign suggesting that customers use the bathroom they are most comfortable using if there are male/female bathrooms.

• Include LGBTQ titles in endcaps, and shelve LGBTQ titles in the sections in the genre or category where they fit, especially for teen books.

• Train staff to recommend books without outing or embarrassing anyone.

• Bring openly LGBTQ authors for school visits.

• Host authorless events with LGBTQ themes.

• Include LGBTQ books with other book club selections.

• Set up a teen advisory board.

• Establish a YA books for adult readers book club, and make queer content available to people aging out of teen advisory boards.

• Let teen readers select galleys from your stash. Ask for their opinions and offer them gift cards in return.

• Include LGBTQ books in your general marketing plans and in donations to schools and libraries.

• Make sure teens feel safe: when they purchase a book, make it clear that their parents will not be notified regarding titles or subject matter or provided with any other information that might violate their privacy.

• Encourage staff to wear a small rainbow pin or other symbol to demonstrate allyship.

• On applications for store jobs or for the teen advisory board, ask the applicant for their preferred pronouns.

• Identify books that have won LGBTQ awards, like the Lambda Awards.