Never forget Banned Books Week

In 2000, I packed my life into two suitcases and joined the Peace Corps.  Though it has been a decade now- I have never forgotten the lessons of freedom that I learned while living and working in Estonia.  My former colleagues did not always have the right to read.  They did not always have the permission or the access to all the books that we sometimes enjoy without blinking an eye.  For them my small collection of commonly banned book titles is ever more meaningful. 

Banned Books Week is my reminder to never forget.  Celebrate your right to read.  Hold it dear.  Because some of us will never forget the rights that were taken from us and some of us are still fighting for the right to read. 

ALA Banned Books Week

#ala10 conference and ALA membership

I am not at ALA10.  I spent a good part of my weekend cleaning baseboards and scraping wallpaper.  This weekend was an associates degree in sweat equity.  Sure, I combed the listings of programs at ALA.  But this year was unlike any other.  This year I made a huge change to my ALA membership.  In years past I have shelled out the dollars for many divisions such as ALSC, YALSA, NMRT and ACRL.  This year I had to decide between continuing to pay toward the divisions or putting the money directly into a local cause I hold dear to my heart.  It was a tough decision.  I felt terrible about not being able to give to them all.  I opted for the local cause. 

Next year I hope to renew all my divisional memberships.  But I had to examine each one closely and truly it came down to content and knowing exactly where my money flowed.  I love my work and my field.  My only solace this month was that the programs I support locally go hand in hand with area literacy initiatives.  I'm not at #ala10 this week.  I am working and loving my work as always.  I feel very lucky, I do.

2010 Horizon Report

This week's techie material in my sights is the 2010 Horizon Report.  I always tackle these kinds of things in three stages.  Everything gets the speed browse, then the "highlight certain points" read and finally the read to apply the information to my day to day work in public libraries. 

Library with Heart

Over a year ago, I stopped blogging. I felt like I had nothing to say. Maybe I got my mojo back in July. It happened at ALA in Chicago. Lot's of people go for inspiration and I was with them. There were many meaningful moments and sessions. I made some new friends, contacts and learned so much. One session that I keep coming back to was Michael Stephen's Libraries and the Heart. Shortly after I returned to my community a new door opened so to speak. And now I spend a good amount of time trying to get and keep the heart in our libraries. This is a heart with our digital natives in mind.

Splash page

Lately I have been producing these pages for library users and I do not know what to call them. In library school they may have been tagged as "pathfinders" but these are not that sophisticated. Basically users come in looking for a splash of information on an array. They want a little bit of print, database article and some web links on a topic. They usually start looking for a book but then we get to the reality that often times a topic is the most current in electronic or web site form. Anywho! What do you call these? Do you use a standard template? I also like to make them live docs so that person can add or alter as needed - like a "pretend" version of open source

series haters converted

Some of us avoid books in series. We are impatient and short on attention. We barely made it to the last book of Harry Potter because it simply took forever. You know who you are. It's okay. I too am a one in your series hater club. The only thing closer to series love that I can conjure is my loyalty to handful of authors. I pretend that their single titles are a part of some universal book series. I applaud the following authors for keeping me focused through an actual series- Stephenie Meyer, Philip Depoy and Jerry Spinelli.

I salute the series reading masses and hope one day to join your ranks. In the meantime I need some new material from the following authors- Craig Thompson, Adam Rapp, Jeanette Walls, Pete Hautman and Barbara Kingsolver.

reading augusten burroughs

I am an Augusten Burroughs fan. I like his writing so much that I do not even recommend him to the average library user. This is because I am completely selfish and vulnerable. I am afraid to even offer him up because their possible rejection or lack of interest in his writing would crush me. I save Augusten for just the right person. There are twenty some memiors, non-fiction, edgy/unorthodox fiction titles that folks will espouse and I hand them Augusten in full confidence. I want them to mourn, gasp, laugh out loud and sulk when they read his stuff. I want them to get him. Can I get an autographed book for this glowing review of Augusten?