The 180-turn of Banned Books Week

If you're a long-time reader, you may recall that last year, my Banned Books Week attempt to educate my community on the subject was ignored.  Going into this year's recognition of censorship and the freedom to read, I was feeling a bit down.  I wasn't going to make a display or anything.

And then I made a post on my library's Facebook page.

"Psst ... next week is Banned Books Week, when libraries and bookstores across the country celebrate our freedom to read, and our freedom from censorship.
"Will you read something dangerous, such as John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" (challenged and restricted many times for profanity) or the "Harry Potter" series (frequently challenged/banned for featuring the occult)?"

Wouldn't you know it, the local TV station called to set up an interview.

Lesson: Always be careful what you post on Facebook.  You might find yourself scrambling to throw together a book display for a television appearance.

This time, our display case was in use by a private collection, so I made a larger display on the table in one of our meeting rooms, plus a smaller display on a table in the kids' area.

Introductory sign

Information and graphs

More information people could peruse

We own half the books on the 2014 Top Ten list.

And so, with a more prominent display and TV coverage, I actually got people discussing Banned Books Week.  The highlight of discussions may have been when the city police chief came and asked if we had the Anarchist's Cookbook (for the record, not only do we not, but I also couldn't find a library copy in the entire state).

No parents or children commented on the smaller display, but I did see a teen study it.

Did you have a good Banned Books Week?  Read anything special for it?

Service and therapy dogs: an out-of-the-box presentation

Happy summer reading programming, everyone!  Are the librarians out there surviving?  If you're a patron, are you taking advantage of the awesome things happening at your local library?

Having gotten in my first full year at my current library directorship - and a very good year it was - I decided to step up my game a bit.  First, with my advisory board's blessing, I implemented an adult summer reading program.  Similar to other local libraries, I made it a summer reading raffle - people could enter a raffle for books they read or listen to, to win prizes from local businesses.  Overall, the businesses I approached were very generous.  And nearly all of them were in the small city where I work, which is of course an added bonus.  People have mostly been interested in this.  I'll have the first drawing for a prize on Monday.

Second, I mass-distributed flyers about the classic summer reading program at the local elementary school.  The assistant principal is a cousin, so it was easy to get a head count.  There has been a slight uptick in children signing up for the program, which rewards every hour (or fifty pages, for chapter book readers) read with a prize, and program completion with Pizza Hut Book-It! coupons and a free book.

But the best thing so far is what I want to tell you about today: a completely innovative, out-of-the-box idea for a presentation.  Feel free to use it.  It may be a little difficult to pull off, depending on how a particular local demographic may be, but please, if you like the idea, have at.

This year's summer reading theme is, "Every Hero Has a Story."  This is wonderfully broad; it can incorporate superheroes, community heroes such as firefighters and police officers (or teachers and librarians), veterans, and those who help animals.  Some other local libraries have booked the animal welfare shelter, the raptor rehabilitation center, and other really neat venues.

I went a little more personal.  My father has a service dog.  While many people in the community know enough to ask before petting the service dog, I realized that it's important to educate people on what a service dog is and does.  Furthermore, a lot of people confuse service dogs and therapy dogs, since they both go to places you don't typically see animals (schools, libraries, hospitals, etc.).

This is my father's service dog, Anthem. He takes care of my father in many ways.

Getting the resources together was fairly easy.  My dad was cool with it; mind you, he's not your average veteran with a service dog.  A lot of other local people with service dogs would not be comfortable addressing or being in a crowd.  If you want a service dog and his or her handler to come and talk at your library, you may want to find someone who has a service dog for diabetes or seizures, or even a guide dog for visual or aural impairments.

My community is also blessed with a great organization, Superiorland Pet Partners.  They have quite an assortment of teams who do everything from hospital visits to reading programs at schools and libraries.  During exam week at Northern Michigan University, they even go to the university library to offer comfort for the students while they study.  It's an amazing group of handlers and pets.  I emailed them, and quickly found myself with someone to help coordinate my event.

I had a few new nonfiction books on therapy and service dogs in the library collection, which I was prepared to read.  Initially, I was hoping to have the presentation on the lawn outside - my assistant is allergic to furry creatures - but it rained that day, so it was held inside.  A little cramped, but it worked.

I had a turnout of five handlers, six dogs (one service dog and five therapy dogs), and thirty attendees of all ages.  For my library, that's awesome.

After everyone was settled (including the news crew from a local TV station), I made opening statements, then had each handler introduce himself or herself and their dogs.  Some stories were shared.  Then I sat on the rug and read Tuesday Tucks Me In, the children's book by Luis Carlos Montalvan.  The children had the opportunity to pet or cuddle the therapy dogs while I read this wonderful book that illustrated a day in the life of Tuesday, the service dog, and Luis, the disabled veteran he does so much for.  I highly recommend this book for a presentation like this.  Kids and adults alike gleaned a lot of information about service dogs from it, and it was both funny and moving.

I read the story.  Bijou is in the chair behind me, and Roxy is in the foreground.

When the book was finished, I turned the floor back over to the handlers.  They had many stories to share.  We also took questions.  Some community members attended because they were curious about service and therapy dog certification, and what a person needs to be qualified for a service dog.  I believe they went away with a lot of good information.

If you want some key points, here they are:

• Service dogs take care of one person.
• Service dogs are highly trained.  Anthem and his litter mates, for example, spent the first 18 months of their lives in training, before being placed.
• You need a prescription for a service dog, and the dog needs to take care of at least three medical issues that could not be otherwise met.
• Therapy dogs provide comfort to many people.
• Therapy dogs need to be certified to enter places such as hospitals and other medical facilities.  Superiorland Pet Partners does regular training, evaluation and certification.
• To be a certified therapy dog (at least around here; laws and regulations may differ regionally), the dog has to be owned by the handler for at least six months, be at least one year in age, and pass an evaluation.  Dogs are reevaluated every two years.

 Every hero has a story - and not all heroes walk on two feet.

Which library? Rot & Ruin graphic novel

Last month, the trade paperback of the first graphic novel of the Rot & Ruin series by Jonathan Maberry came out.  I read and enjoyed this story from between books 2 and 3, but was faced with a very tough question: Where on Earth do I put this?

While I do love graphic novels, and they are great for people who don't have much time to read (library directors, high school students) or for reluctant readers, there is an issue that rears its ugly head over them: they have pictures.  Yeah, obvious, I know.  But that fact raises two problems: they are discounted as not being literary enough (baloney; see also my discussion of Maus) or parents debate whether children should have access to them.  To read about violence and other questionable topics is one thing.  To have them visually portrayed is another.

I have installed the complete novel series of Rot & Ruin at both of my libraries.  The question I faced was whether I could put it in the school library, or if it should just go into the public library.  People would get access to it somewhere.  But, where?

There's not a terrible amount of blood or gore, especially considering that it's a zombie novel.  But it is a zombie novel, and what's at stake in the plot is creepy and unnerving.  Would it be appropriate for the school setting?  It's for teens, like its parent novel series, but I do have students that start reading it in sixth grade.

After some ruminating, I decided to loan it to a particular freshman.  He's a great patron, and I knew he'd give me honest answers on whether it was okay to have in school.  Toward the end of last school year, he'd been asking if we could carry A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin; he was reading the first one at the time.  I said no, that it wasn't appropriate for school, and that I like my job.  When I saw him in the fall, he had finished A Game of Thrones, and honestly told me that he now understood why I couldn't have it in the school library.

So, I handed it to him one morning, explained that I wasn't sure which library to put it in, and told him to read it and let me know what he thought.  He loves the series, and was thrilled to have the opportunity.  When I saw him at lunchtime, he was partway through and gushing about how great it was.

Last Wednesday, he returned it, and I asked him about it.  He gushed more about it, and told me how a friend was interested in it, too.  Not too keen on the art style, but he loved the story.

"Do you think I can put it in this library, or is it a bit too mature?" I asked.  He thought about it, then said that he thought it okay.  Not much violence or gore.

"Would you let your little brother read it?" I asked.  His little brother is in fifth grade.

"He's not like other fifth graders," he replied.

I laughed.  "True," I agreed.  "But do you think it would be okay for fifth graders to read it?"

"No, Miss (Librarian), but I think sixth graders could handle it," my student determined.

And thus, I have taken his advice and added it to the school collection.



It's a good idea to find outside sources when considering collection development.  Get the opinions of your most fervent patrons.  I know you consider what they like and what gets the most checkouts, but don't be afraid to hand them something new, or even an advanced reading copy, and find out what they think.  It's worthwhile.

What They Don't Teach You in Library School: Tax Forms

As anyone who has gone through a master's program in library (and information) science knows, the degree focuses a lot on theory rather than practicum.  Don't get me wrong, an MLS or MLIS is highly valuable, especially if you're in cataloging/technical services.  Or, if you're unfamiliar with services and reading materials for a particular age group, I definitely recommend taking a course for that age.  The syllabus for a class on children's or young adult literature will be a treasure trove of modern and classic books.

For everything else, there are real-life experiences.

You'll never have a class on how the IRS provides the general public with free tax forms at libraries, for example.  Or all the problems that come with it.

Every year, starting in January (and somewhat in December, for the over-zealous taxpayers), you'll get questions about where the tax forms are, and why aren't they in yet.  This will be in person and over the phone.  And you'll just have to be sympathetic with vague answers for a while, because the IRS will never keep you informed as to when they're sending out the forms you requested back in July.

If it's like last year, you might hear eventually, either from the IRS or on a library list-serv, that tax forms are delayed because of massive changes to the tax laws.  And then you'll be waiting into February, with patrons and non-patrons alike breathing down the back of your neck on a daily basis, wondering if they'll get tax forms in time to file.

Or you could have a disaster like this year.  The Internal Revenue Service's budget got cut.  So what did the IRS cut out of its budget?  Nearly all those tax forms people are waiting for.  Brilliant.

You'll get the 1040, the 1040A, and the 1040EZ, as well as Publication 17 (the tax guide) and the reproducible package, if you ordered it.

You won't get any of the instruction booklets for the 1040 forms.  You won't get any of the supplemental forms, not even the 8965, for Health Care Exemptions.

You are going to either have to help people find the forms they want online and print them off, or help them make copies once the reproducible sheets arrive.  And that, of course, will cost them money, because most libraries do charge for printing.  No one is going to be happy about the idea of printing off the more than 100-page document for 1040 (regular) instructions.

Prepare for complaints, as you've never had before.

Which brings me to my anecdote on the subject.  (Swearing ahead.)

Last week, none of the tax forms were in yet, though we had heard that the Michigan forms would be on their way be February 6, and the 1040A and 1040EZ should be shipping soon.  I was considering putting up a sign stating this.

A man I hadn't seen before came in.  (You get a lot of unfamiliar faces at tax time.)  He asked for tax forms, grumbling about needing the form for the stupid Obamacare stuff.

I explained that the forms weren't in yet.  A bit of conversation occurred, about when they would be in.

And I made the mistake of saying that many of the forms wouldn't be sent this year, and that people would have to print them off.  I was about to suggest that he contact his legislators, when he reacted.

He didn't just get angry.

"FUCK OBAMA!" he roared, and tore out the door, attempting to slam it behind him.  Thankfully, a wide-eyed young man was right behind him, and he caught the door and eased it shut.  I think the windows above the door might have shattered otherwise.

My coworker in the billing office stared at the man as he stormed out the doors of the city hall building, then looked back at me.  I shrugged helplessly.

The janitor also raced up, mop in hand.  Bless his heart, I think he would have walloped the guy if he'd given me any additional grief about the tax forms.

"So, uh, do you have any tax forms?" the young man asked, after he'd quietly closed the door.

"Ask him," I said with a little laugh, pointing out the door.

I quickly put together a sign about how tax forms were coming soon, and complaints could be directed to our Congressman and Senators (with their phone numbers).

I also wrote to them via their web sites myself, urging them to get the IRS to send libraries before one of us poor librarians gets hurt.  Because seriously, if someone in my nice little town can get that worked up over tax forms, what's going to happen in a big city?

What has the Moonlit Librarian been up to?

The other night, I went to a Chinese buffet with some friends.  The fortune cookie I received at the end of the meal read, "Give yourself a day off - at least give yourself a relaxing evening."

Even the fortune cookies know that I need a vacation.

I do tend to drop off the blogging map around November anyway, because of National Novel Writing Month.  I participated again this year, and made it to 50,000 words again.  Maybe I'll do something with my writing this time.  It needs to be finished and edited (possibly entirely rewritten, as it may do better in first-person narrative instead of third-person limited), but I'm keeping my hands off it for now because I'm not feeling much love for it at the moment.

And the calendar year is the end of my fiscal year.

I feel like my previous director position had training wheels on it.  Despite serving a smaller population, it had a larger budget because it actually has a millage to support it.  It was also its own entity.  My current library is a city library (though it also serves a township), and falls under the city budget.  Most of my budget is decided by the whims of the city council, and also, my money doesn't roll over to the next fiscal year.  Spend it or lose it.

I found myself with more money than expected at the end of November.  Oops.  So I had to carefully figure out how to spend it, while knowing that it was probably too late to make an order with our main vendor.  We do most of our ordering through Baker & Taylor, but they have a tendency to take their sweet time sending books to libraries.  For example, Tom Clancy's Full Force and Effect was released December 2.  It came in the mail to the library a couple days ago.  So I didn't want to order from them, because the merchandise might not arrive until after the end of the year, and thus not be part of this fiscal year.

On the bright side, this meant ordering from some small vendors I like, and also buying some local authors' books at my favorite book store.

I've also been very busy with programming at both libraries.  First, I introduced a story time for all ages at the public library.  It's been well-attended, mostly by children between the ages of 2 and 6 years, and their moms.  However, my generic story time has apparently not been good enough for mothers with babies; they have started demanding a baby story time.  I initially tried pointing out that the larger libraries that are only five miles away to the east and west offer them.  "That's too far."  Seriously?

So, I have to create baby story times.  This has had me in a panic, and even given me honest-to-goodness nightmares.  I like to say that I enjoy children as long as they're potty-trained and literate.  But also, in doing research into baby programming and early literacy, I've discovered just how important not only reading to infants but also talking, singing, and playing is to their future literacy.  I feel like I need an early childhood development degree to do this!  No pressure or anything, to create quality programming.

Something that I can be proud of myself for, at least, is how I've stepped up my teaching at the school library.  There are a couple of classes that I've started focusing on, for two reasons.  One, they are at a good age to learn how to use a library and develop lifelong skills in navigating a library and performing research.  Two, these classes drive me insane and tend to leave the library looking as though a tornado struck.  If you teach them, you can direct them toward correct behavior.

I found a Dewey Decimal Bingo game online, and adapted it to an appropriate reading level.  Made it a bit more generic (590 for wild animals, rather than 599.774 for foxes, for example), and included pictures of books actually in the library.  I've been playing it with these classes for the past two weeks, and they love it.  I'm also seeing them check out books from the subject areas highlighted in the game.  It's awesome.


I do intend to use the next two, slower weeks to catch up on some reviews.  My partner will be out of town, and I do have the days of the actual holidays off.  Maybe I can actually heed the fortune cookie and relax.

The ignored Banned Books Week

Over the years, I've had a variety of experiences during and responses to Banned Books Week.  Last year went amazingly well and generated a lot of interest, mostly to the positive.  (Though a particularly colorful patron saw the note that Scarlett behaves immorally on the cover of Gone with the Wind, and gleefully announced to the library that "She's a slut!" before my staff ushered him out.)  Another year, I had a presentation backfire when I discussed The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and its challenges in history with a middle school class that was reading the book; they decided that it should be banned.  And then there was the time I made a display in the school library, and a few books, including 1984, walked off and were never seen again.  Hopefully the students that pilfered them enjoyed the reads?

Then there was this year.  The public library has a display case, which I filled with information and fiery images.

 

Prior to Banned Books Week, "It's Perfectly Normal" was kept in the staff room, available only upon request.

Side view of the first sign.

I shared plenty of data.

Side view of "It's Perfectly Normal" and information.

I also made a display of banned and challenged books in the YA and children's sections.

YA books

Children's books

How many people showed interest in these displays?

One staff member, my new clerk, who eagerly read through the material and found it all interesting (including how many have been made into movies).

Not one patron said anything or took note of the displays.  No one gave the case so much as a glance, despite its prominent position between the new releases and circulation desk.

Honestly, it's a little hard not to take it personally.  I love Banned Books Week a lot.  I put a lot of effort into research, planning, and implementation.  It's also difficult to not give in to grumbling about the sorts of people that don't care about censorship.  But really, this library serves a fairly older population, that just likes a quiet library to browse at and check out print books.  This sort of display attracts far more attention in a high poverty, rural, anti-government setting, like my previous library.  Different demographics want different things.

So, to put a positive spin on my ignored Banned Books Week, this was a learning experience.

Why can't I write Dragon Con off as a business trip?

This was my second excursion to Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia, and both times, I have asked myself, "Why is this not a business trip?"

Perhaps it's because of the Kilt Blowing.

But seriously.  I always learn so much that is relevant to library science at Dragon Con.  Last time I attended, in 2009, was a few months after I went sent by my job to Computers in Libraries.  In all honesty, I learned more at the sci-fi/fantasy geeky convention than the business one.  I even took better notes at Dragon Con.  :P  In my combination notebook/autograph book, I have scribblings from such things as, "YA Lit Track - Religious Themes in YA" (2009), "YA Lit Track - Faeries and Fairy Tales" (2009), "High Fantasy in YA" (2014), "Fantasy Lit Track - Fantasy for Gamers" (2014), and "Writers' Track - Writing for the GLBT Market" (2014).  Valuable information?  Heck yes.

My library science degree, and continuing education, has covered such matters as copyright.  There was a panel on Copyright 101 at Dragon Con, which was an excellent refresher for me and an enlightenment for others.

Need to know about the publishing industry?  My partner and I found out so much from the various panels we attended - things that weren't covered in his college writing classes, even at the master's level.  I even learned a lot about small presses (strangely, in the "Writing for the GLBT Market" panel).

How can you help aspiring writers research science to make their science fiction realistic?  Thanks to the YA Lit Track panel about "Writing Science in Science Fiction YA," I can tell you that if you research leading experts, you can then try contacting them via Twitter.  Many scientists would love to talk to writers about their passions.

And, of course, I got to meet authors.

L-R: Jonathan Maberry, Faith Hunter, Alex Hughes, Susan Griffith, Clay Griffith

For the most part, the authors I met were so amazing.  I managed to talk to Jonathan Maberry before a panel, and have him sign some books for my libraries, and he knew who I was.  Squee!  (Thank you, sir, that means a lot.)  Stephanie Perkins is sweet.  Chelsea Quinn Yarbro is regal.  Todd McCaffrey is jovial.  And Laura Hickman rocks my world - did you know that she A) introduced her husband and fellow author Tracy Hickman to D&D, or B) she introduced story to the D&D modules?  Inspirational!

And the author-librarian relationship is symbiotic.  I love meeting authors, and most of them love meeting librarians.  I took to jokingly calling my autograph book my shopping list.

Todd McCaffrey said it succinctly.

Janny Wurts' note was touching.

If you get to go to Dragon Con, you might not be able to call it a business trip, but it's certainly worth it.

Bonus picture: Janny Wurts plays the bagpipes and leads the parade.

A Moonlit guide to some vendors - freebies in the 200s

As a small town library director, I have to look at ways to save money on materials.  Really, it's something every librarian with a budget must do.  Regardless of how big a library you work in, no matter how good the millage is (if you have one), there will always be a lack of money to buy everything you need or want.

Where can you get the best bang for your buck?  Who is giving out freebies that you can't resist - and which free books should you just quietly stick in your book sale or free bin?

Let's start off with the freebies first.

Bridge Publications, Inc.
http://www.bridgepub.com/
Types of materials offered: All of L. Ron Hubbard's nonfiction materials, in print, audio, and visual formats

L. Ron Hubbard was a prolific, influential science fiction writer, who also founded the most recent major religion, Scientology.  Regardless of what one might think of that religion, any well-rounded public library should have at least Hubbard's basic works on Dianetics.

If the library somehow does not have this or his other works, you're in luck.  Without any prompting, Bridge Publications will just send random materials to libraries.

On the other hand, the library is also likely to receive some of Hubbard's lesser known works.  Last month, my public library received two copies of Clear Body, Clear Mind.  The accompanying letter even included a suggested Dewey Decimal Classification, how nice.  I brought a copy home to peruse it before deciding what to do with it.  My partner read through it in a matter of hours, mostly chuckling at it.  But in the end, this book is no laughing matter.

The levels of niacin Hubbard recommends you take would kill you in a horrible way.  That's ironic, seeing as this book is about removing toxins from the body.

This is one gift horse I will look in the mouth.  The books are set aside for the book sale.


Quest Books
http://www.questbooks.net/
Types of materials offered: World religions, philosophy, science, and more

Quest Books is an imprint of the Theosophical Publishing House, part of the Theosophical Society of America.  This might also raise some eyebrows, but Quest Books looks to promote the study of world religions, philosophy, science, the arts, and more.

A few weeks ago, I received a four-page catalog from the publisher, offering up to 30 books free, of my choice, with the only cost being postage to mail the catalog back.  I checked the interlibrary catalog system to see if other libraries owned some of these works (several do), then went online to see if there were any negative reviews of the company and this service (nothing found in a cursory search), and how well the books did in reviews.  Then I selected 15 books - I didn't want to be greedy - then copied the flier and mailed the original back to the company.

Taking that bit of time was totally worth it.  A few days ago, I received a large, heavy box from Quest Books.  It was filled with all fifteen books, no surprise invoice, and even dust jacket covers for the hardcovers.  Thrilling!

I feel like I filled some gaps in the collection with quality materials, which cost the library no more than a postage stamp.  Take a look below.  We didn't have any biographies of the Beatles, gasp!  (I'm no fan, but I recognize their importance.)  This doubled our materials on post-traumatic stress disorder.  And new materials on New Age are always welcome.

 

If you receive an offer from Quest Books, take it.

Autographed books in libraries

I'd like to give you, my dear readers, some food for thought for the day.  Please weigh in with your thoughts and experiences on the subject.

I love getting books autographed by their authors, to place in my libraries.  I've never given it a second thought, until now.  Patrons are often thrilled to see the authors' scrawl on the title page.  It doesn't matter the age of the reader.  Young and old alike are excited to see that the writer took the time to put their John Hancock on the pages of this particular book, often with a note specific to the patrons of whichever library it's at.

Now, as you may know, I'm going to Dragon Con in less than two weeks.  (Squee!)  One of the authors who will be there is Jim Butcher, author of the Dresden Files series.  I want to get his autograph, of course, but I also interlibrary loaned Storm Front, the first in the series, so I know a bit and don't have to be a total doofus when I get to meet him.  After receiving the book, I emailed its home library's director to get permission to have it autographed.  The reply surprised me.

"I am afraid it would get stolen. Sad world we live in."

That's something I've never considered.  Yes, library books get stolen all the time, or they simply don't get returned.  Does having the author's signature in it make it more susceptible to theft?

After a quick check of my records from the school library, my experience tells me "no."  There are currently three books signed by an author that have not been returned.  Out of probably 40-50 autographed copies.  Not bad.  Probably about on par with the rest of the collection.

How about at your library?

Never proposition your potential employer.

Sexual harassment in libraries has been a bit of a trending topic, ever since the American Library Association had its annual conference in Las Vegas.  Apparently attendees were not on their best behavior, which even included a speaker at the conference.  Another blogging librarian, Magpie Librarian, ran an online survey afterward to bring awareness to what a problem sexual and other forms of harassment are at conferences.  Check out her results.  The stories are interesting.

I was not at the conference.  But that doesn't mean I cannot contribute to the online discussion of how librarians get harassed while on the job.


A little over a month into my current job as director of a small-town library, my evening/weekend circulation clerk resigned.  Therefore, the job had to be posted, and applications started pouring in.

One day, I helped an older man print off some PDF forms from his email.  (This is an extremely routine thing, ever since emails started offering previews - which you cannot actually print from - of documents within the email screen.  Whoever designed the email clients to do that, be it Gmail or Yahoo or whatever - that was an incredibly bad idea.  It is the bane of library staff everywhere.)  Afterward, we were making small talk.  As is pretty typical, he asked about my background in libraries.  It came up that he had been part of his high school's library club way back in the day, and he helped the school librarian by shelving books.  I asked if he would be interested in applying for our opening, and when he showed interest, I handed him an application.  No big deal.

Until the next day.

He came back to the library, application in hand.  I was going to direct him to hand it in next door, at the billing office, when he started talking.
"I am going to hand this in, but if you interview me, I have to be able to ask you out."  Or something to that effect.
I leaned back, away from him, and said, "I have a boyfriend."
That did not dissuade him.  In fact, he continued on, that my boyfriend didn't have to know.
"No."
At one point, he even touched my left hand and made a comment about my lack of rings, and that I was still available.
I shot back, "Give me a month."
"Blues Fest?"
"No, Dragon Con in Atlanta."
(I really hope we can find something small, round, and shiny at the vendors there.  Heh.)

Obviously, I will not be interviewing this man.  There are plenty of other applicants, including one with actual library employment experience.

Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy books. Same difference, right?

As promised in the last post, I will now share what I bought for just under $200 at the local bookstore.

If you are a librarian with a small budget, it is very important to have a good relationship with your local bookseller, especially if he or she carries used books and gives discounts to libraries.  I am especially blessed by Snowbound Books, particularly because I worked there while pursuing my MLIS.  The people there don't cut my any extra-special deals - I get 20% off books I'm buying for either of my libraries, but do have to pay tax if the library isn't directly paying the store for it.  However, they know that if I say the book is going in my library, it will end up in my library.

And so it is with this lot.  Many are used, but some are new.  Some are ones I've read and know are good; others are award-winners or are popular; and still others are gambles.  Let's take a look at what I have to add to the public library's collection.

 For adults

A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin

It's a used copy!

Before I bought this, and my partner donated A Feast for Crows, the library somehow did not have any of the series.  Gasp.

For children

Dork Diaries 6 and 7, by Rachel Renee Russell

Diary of a Wimpy Kid 1, 2, 6, and 8, by Jeff Kinney

These fill gaps in the collection.  All are hardcover, which was a must because they get used so heavily.  I did review the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid back in July 2011.

Battle of the Labyrinth by Percy Jackson

Flush by Carl Hiaasen

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli

Calumet Copper Creatures by Johnathan Rand (reviewed Oct. 2012)

More gap-filling goodness.  Maniac Magee was my favorite book as a kid.  I must have read it around 50 times.

For teens/young adults

 Zombies!

Rot & Ruin (Reviewed July 2011)

Dust & Decay (Reviewed Nov. 2011)

Flesh & Bone (Reviewed Sept. 2012)

all by Jonathan Maberry

These are paperback, and when the fourth comes out in that format, I'll also get that.  Hopefully in time to go in my suitcase to Dragon Con so I can Mr. Maberry sign these!  Squee!!

Maximum Ride

Books 1 and 2, by James Patterson

$4 apiece, used, before my discount.  And it's James Patterson, that prolific and popular author I've never read anything by.

A little Scott Westerfeld

Leviathan

My middle school boys love this author, especially this series.

Movie books

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (Review coming soon)

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

People love reading books and seeing the movies.  Granted, they'll never read the books again once the hype dies down (save for Harry Potter), but we must strike while the iron is hot, and actually not rely on interlibrary loans for every hit title.

Post-Apocalyptic

The Big Empty and Paradise City by J.B. Stephens

These are the first two books in a post-apocalyptic YA series that I haven't heard of.  But, they're used, someone might like them; why not give them a chance?

Award-winners

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi (Reviewed Dec. 2011)

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz (Reviewed Sept. 2013)

Looking for Alaska by John Green (Audiobook reviewed Sept. 2012)

These are great books.

Miscellany

Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien

The Shade of the Moon by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Burned by Ellen Hopkins (Audiobook reviewed Oct. 2013 with its sequel)

Kiss Me, Kill Me by Lauren Henderson

Here we have a hodge-podge to round out the purchase.  The first is historical, the second post-apocalyptic.  The last two are contemporary.  I think it's a nice mix.

I have read and plan to review The Fault in Our Stars, and as you saw, there are several that I already reviewed.  Are there others in this group you think I should also read and review?

Update: Before I had a chance to catalog these, a donation of Divergent came in.  So, I brought the newly purchased copy back to the store, and Dana let me exchange it for a book of equal value.  I bought Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride.  Dana has been having about that book to me for years, so now I'll finally read it and add it to the library collection.

How to create a YA section out of thin air

As I previously mentioned, I have quickly moved to create a YA/teen section at the library where I am now the director.  How did I do this?

I asked the system administrator of the library cooperative to generate a report for me that would show me what books of my juvenile fiction collection were held in the YA sections of other libraries within the cooperative.  She is a very magical woman, and was able to do this for me.  From this list, I gathered up all the books, weeded them for age and condition, and put together a section of nearly three hundred books.

Here are the stacks of YA books, waiting to be labeled and reshelved.

Next, I had to create a space for this section.  In an ideal world, I would have come up with a whole new shelving area, where teens could hang out and enjoy their own space.  However, that cannot happen.  So, I needed to move the juvenile section around.

And since I was moving that section around, I figured I should weed that section, to make more room both for new books and for the YA section.  So I emailed the system admin again, and she made a dusty shelf list.  Before she sent it to me, though, she called me up and explained a little problem.  See, if she went only based on when books were last checked out, I would be clearing out a major chunk of the section.  By limiting the list to only books that had never circulated since automating in 1997, and limiting further to only books published in 1985 or earlier, I'd only be deselecting about 700 books from the section.  Ouch.

Put another way, I was weeding anything that hadn't been checked out in nearly 20 years, and was about my age or older.  Of this old material, I kept anything by major authors, or were prize winners, or just struck my fancy ...

And what is more fanciful than this?

This weeding of the juvenile section was going well, until the picture books I was finding in the section began piling up.  And of course there was no room in that section for more books.  Once again, I asked for a dusty shelf list, this time writing a story that was along the "if/then" statements of a book by children's author Laura Numeroff.  It got a laugh, and perhaps one of the fastest dusty shelf list generations ever.

So now I have my evening clerk working on the project of pulling the books on the picture book list.  I rearranged the juvenile fiction section, weeded the juvenile paperback section for condition, and put everything in its places.  I feel very accomplished!


Then comes the problem of maintaining the section.  I am serving a population of 7,600+ people with a library that has a materials budget of $5,000.  The library has a McNaughton lease-to-buy subscription of five books per month, and a few Junior Library Guild packages.  The previous director would also buy five books and a couple audiobooks on CD each month from baker & Taylor.  Beyond that ... donations, and whatever can be bought with what's left of state aid at the end of the year.

If you're interested in library science, let me just disenchant you a moment and make it very clear that if you don't have a millage supporting the general services of the library, and you're at the mercy of a municipal government, you're not going to have much of a budget.  And that's even if you have a good city manager, as I currently do.

So what do you do?  Look to your own pockets and go shopping.  Next time, I'll show you what I managed to get for under $200 at the local bookstore.  You might be impressed.

Finding peace

Greetings, dear readers, if there are any of you still following this blog.

I did not mean to step so far away and not write anything for so long.  But, as they say, if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.

I also spent a month on books 3-5 of A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, and did not get much reading done for this blog.  Those were great, and I wait with baited breath for the sixth.

This past month, I have made what will hopefully be my last shift in jobs.  I am now the director of the public library I began my post-MLIS career at.  I am thrilled to be back there.  Many patrons remember me - or, they knew my grandparents or know my dad, since he grew up in that town.  And I'm able to keep my gig at the charter public school, which is excellent.

Already, I have made incredible changes to the public library.  It's on Facebook, and the web site has been updated.  I created a YA section, and weeded the juvenile fiction section.  And I've only been there three weeks!

Look, a young adult section!

I have found my happy place.  Now let's get back to reviewing books!

Banned Books Week!

It's my favorite library time of year again: Banned Books Week!  This year, it's going amazingly well for me.  On Monday, before the small public library opened, I created a book display.  It had the Top Ten Banned Books of 2012, each with the rationale for banning and challenging.  Impressively, the library has nine out of ten; only And Tango Makes Three is not owned.  I also put together various books for the rest of the display shelving, and some face-out books above the shelves and on some tables.  The face-out books had slips of paper on them, with information about their challenges.

On Tuesday, my staff told me what a hit the display was.  I was shocked, because I honestly didn't know how it would go over in a small, rural town with an aged service population.  But a high school teacher checked out two young adult books to discuss censorship, and the books themselves, with his classes.  Patrons - and staff members - were intrigued by the reasons on the books, and wanted more!  So I labeled the rest of the books on display.

Here are some pictures of Banned Books Week in my little library.  I'm so pleased at the reception it's received.

Top Ten Banned Books of 2012
Several are checked out!

The key to a successful Banned Books Week is to celebrate the freedom to read.

The note on The Witches declares that Roald Dahl is a misogynist.

Classics are often banned and challenged.

The Call of the Wild

The Call of the Wild was burned in 1929 in Italy and Yugoslavia for being "too radical."

There are some wild women in books.

Harriet will teach your children to spy, lie, and swear, while Scarlett behaved immorally.

Children's and young adults' books are frequently called into question.

Remember, read freely and responsibly, and you and you alone are responsible for what you read.  Not other people.  And you have no right to tell other people what they can and cannot read, either.  Only minors in your care are subject to your views.


I have been reading some books greatly appropriate for this week, and will have to review them by the end of Saturday!  Stay tuned for a double feature of Burned and its recently published sequel, Smoke, by Ellen Hopkins, and a review of the audio version of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (one of 2012's top ten), written and read by Sherman Alexie.

One week as director, solo

After about a week and a half of training, the former director left and I took the reins of the small public library I am now in charge of.  How has it gone?

Pretty well, overall.  I have dealt with a variety of new and different things.  If you're not in the business, I hope this is interesting and informative to you.

• How many librarians does it take to change a light bulb?  Within minutes of the former director's departure, we had to call the township's maintenance people due to a faulty lighting outlet in the bathroom.  It was fixed the next morning, after the maintenance man had to call the electrician to take care of it.
• Meetings.  The library is in the process of moving and expanding.  I attended the township's zoning board of appeals meeting, where we were granted all variances and other such things, and learned of a neighbor's concerns about our expansion.  A week later, I was at the library board's special meeting to discuss these matters, and to view and discuss the building plans with the architects.  There are many steps in creating a new home for the library.  The next step is to take the plans to the planning commission.
• Ordering supplies and books.  This is pretty mundane stuff, but a lot of that is still new to me.  I'm pretty good at being frugal.  The one surprise here is how quickly the office supplies arrived after I ordered them.  I called in the order on Wednesday, and most of it appeared on Thursday!  This is pretty amazing, especially being in the middle of nowhere, Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  If you're in the need for office supplies for a business, might I suggest Quill?
• Staff scheduling.  This wouldn't be an issue if the interlibrary loan (ILL) delivery system weren't changing its delivery schedule.  On the one hand, the company is giving all the libraries that had been on a 2 days/week schedule an extra day free (and boosting 4 days/week to 5, at larger libraries), to see if that makes ILLs faster and easier.  On the other, it completely throws staff schedules for a loop when it shifts from Tuesdays/Thursdays to Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays.  And we were only notified Wednesday, with the change going into effect next Monday, July 1.  Ack.
• Auditors aren't as scary as some people think they are, so long as all your money is accounted for.
• There is always someone higher than you, even if you're the boss.  In this case, I answer to the library board.  And at least for now, they want to know pretty much everything I do.

I have not had much time to read lately.  Hopefully I'll get some reviews written in the near future, though.

Back!

If I still have any readers: Hello!

I'm sorry if you've missed me.  I had some work-related issues crop up regarding my blog, and did not feel able to update at all.  Plus I was busy.

Now, however, I have left that job, and have started a new one.  I am now a library director at a small town library.  I'm still keeping my job at the charter school, crazy though that may be.

I hope to post reviews soon, and tell you all about this new chapter in my life, as I continue to be a librarian moonlighting as a librarian.

How to make a librarian happy: Feb 2013 edition

The Scholastic book fair went well, despite being held for a shorter duration.  Let me showcase the books the library got, through donations and Scholastic dollars.  It's a good haul.

As always, the titles of the books are linked to Goodreads for more information.

Donations

National Geographic Kids: Everything Dolphins

Ripley's Believe It or Not! Special Edition 2012

The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine

Mush! Sled Dogs of the Iditarod

Titanic

The Titanic series by Gordon Korman (It came with a poster!)

Deck Z by Chris Pauls and Matt Solomon

YA sequels

Beautiful Darkness and Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

The Fire and The Kiss by James Patterson

More sequels

Confectionately Yours: Sugar and Spice by Lisa Papademetriou
Dork Diaries: Tales From a Not-So-Smart Miss Know-It-All by Rachel Renee Russell
Nancy Clancy: Secret Admirer by Jane O'Connor
Beware the Ninja Weenies by David Lubar

Bargain books

Ravenwood by Andrew Peters

Agent Amelia: Ghost Diamond! by Michael Broad

The Truth about Truman School by Dori Hillestad Butler

Scholastic nonfiction

Disasters

World War II

Animals

Wild Age by Steve Parker

Everything You Need to Know about Snakes and Other Scaly Reptiles

Various nonfiction

Basher History: U.S. Presidents

Scary Science by Shar Levine

Strange Mysteries of the Unexplained by Oliver Doyle

More animals

 National Geographic Kids: African Animal Alphabet by Beverly Joubert

How to Draw Angry Birds

101 Animal Records by Melvin and Gilda Berger

I Love Horses and Ponies by Nicola Jane Swinney

Middle grade/YA novels

Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life by James Patterson

Kissed (three books in one) by Cameron Dokey

Graphic novels

No DC, unfortunately.  Only Marvel.

Thor 

Marvel Adventures Hulk: Misunderstood Monster

Series chapter books

Rainbow Fairies Special Edition: Brianna the Tooth Fairy by Daisy Meadows

Magic Tree House 43: Leprechaun in Late Winter by Mary Pope Osborne

Picture books

Fancy Nancy: Ooh La La! It's Beauty Day by Jane O'Connor

Norman Bridwell's Clifford Collection

I'm sure the students will enjoy these books!