The experience of being recommended a book by a librarian you've never met — through a note on a display, a recommendation card, an institutional 'staff pick' shelf — is underappreciated as a reading experience. The librarian has chosen this book for an imaginary you, a general reader, and the choice tells you something about what the library thinks its readers are.

The best library recommendation displays I've encountered are from small branch libraries in neighborhoods with specific character. The recommendations there are for the actual readers who come in, and they tend to be braver and more local than the centrally-curated displays at large branches.

A library that knows its readers is a library that is part of its community. The recommendation display is a small but accurate indicator of whether that relationship exists.