Sleep... Or Lack Thereof

It is 1:30 in the morning as I write this. I should be sleeping, but thank goodness I don't have to work until noon tomorrow. Things are keeping my mind too busy to let me drift off.

Our Summer Reading Program concluded last Friday, with the final party taking place on Saturday evening at the local YMCA. We rented out the entire facility, which was then closed to the general public, and filled the space with library families for 3 hours. They could swim, play in the gym, climb around in the playhouse, play air hockey or pool, or use the climbing wall, bounce house, or inflatable obstacle course we had rented for the event.

We only had 1 major complaint, so I think it went pretty well. I sat behind the welcome desk with the teen librarian to take tickets and give directions, and you would not believe how many people thought I worked for the YMCA and were asking me membership questions. They were astonished to discover that I was not, in fact, a YMCA employee, but a librarian. Apparently my disguise consisting of jeans and a Pride & Prejudice t-shirt was effective (Affective? It's late; my grammar skills have declined.). 

With programming on hiatus for the rest of the summer so that we can plan everything for the rest of the year, I have been taking time to do some software training for the other main aspect of my job: Interlibrary Loan. Over the past 2 days I have spent a solid 4 hours participating in OCLC WorldShare instruction webinars. They have made me the crankiest staff member afterwards, but they will be highly useful once the old ILL module is disabled and retired at the end of the year.

4 more work days and then it is time for this librarian's 5 day vacation. And house move, but I'm trying not to think about that. I do look forward to being able to unpack and no longer be living out of boxes.

Time for attempt 3 at falling asleep.

YA is Most Certainly not just for Teens

I'm going to comment on this, but first I need to simmer down.

http://dft.ba/-notcool

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Ok. Now that I have let this sit for a few days, here's my take on it.

This article was published in the "Room for Debate" section of the NY Times. Mr. Joel Stein seems to believe that by reading young adult books, I am embarrassing myself. Mr. Stein, it is you who should be embarrassed; embarrassed for thinking books written for children and teens would be anything but complex. He, like many others, seems to be taking the younger populations for granted, and belittling the great works of fiction that today's YA authors are writing for our children and young adults.

YA authors take risks. They delve into things that make us uncomfortable. As Patricia McCormick, author of Sold, a YA book about sex trafficking (Sex trafficking for YA! That is beautifully written!) wrote in her article "Authors Taking Risks Isn't Kid Stuff",

"Here are a few audacious books you won’t find in the adult section of the library. A Holocaust memoir narrated by Death. A novel written entirely in electronic messages. A historical novel in prose poems. A murder mystery in screenplay format. A 550-page novel in pictures and words that may or may not have been written by an automaton... Young adults are willing to accompany an author just about anywhere -- to a dystopian future or the ancient past -- but they will not tolerate anything extraneous or self indulgent."

Yes, these things are located in the Children's or YA sections of our bookstores and libraries, but am I ashamed that these are the sections where I spend 90% of my time?

Absolutely not.

Mr. Stein, you say you do not know if the Hunger Games delves into problems of identity or self-justification, but let me say, you are missing out. It is so much more. More than a dystopic love story written for hormonal teens, but a commentary on society and where we are heading. (An interesting take on the Hunger Games, by Mr. Hank Green, brother to author John Green, can be found here.)

Feel free to stay up on your high horse with your "3,000 years of fiction written for adults," because then my lowly and embarrassing self who lives down here in YA land won't have to deal with you.

Oh Library, How I've Missed You.

I started an internship at my library this week. A few things it has made me realize (or, actually, remember):

1. I've really missed my job. Shelving just isn't the same. I've missed helping people.

2. My love for public libraries only continues to grow.

I love public libraries because of the questions that get thrown at you when you're working the reference desk, and even when you're not. People will ask you questions about anything! Which makes my job so much fun.

Today was my first day back on the reference desk where I was actually allowed to answer questions, and not just observe.

My first question, via phone, was an easy one (and one we public librarians get constantly for the first 4 or 5 months of the year):

"Do you have tax forms? State and Federal?"

Question 2: Also via phone was from a woman who wanted me to locate a book for her. When I couldn't find it after several minutes of searching, I took her information and told her I would do some more research and call her back. It turns out that the book she wanted didn't actually exist, but instead was an online internet archive hosted by a university. When I called her back to give her this information, she was surprised, but even more surprised when I had a web address for her and explained what it was she would be looking at.

This was followed by many more tax questions. Which will not end until the end of April. And this is how many librarians feel by the end of tax season:

I then was approached by a woman who pulled out a letter. This letter was from 1902. She wasn't sure what language it was in, but she wanted to know if we could help her translate it. Through trial and error (and some reference interviewing) we discovered that the letter was in Swedish, and we sent her off with a Swedish dictionary, and I told her about online translation sites, such as Google translate.

Followed by tax questions. Lots and lots of tax questions.

This has been day 3 in the life of a new library intern. Who has greatly missed her job, and looks forward to heading back on Friday for another round.

"Tell Me About a Book That You Liked."

My title quotes the super librarian that is Nancy Pearl. (If you don't know who that is, the librarian action figure with "super shushing action and OPAC accessories" was inspired by her.) (also, if you want to get me a present, this is a great idea. *hint*hint*)



Anyway, this is one of the many things I learned during my YA Materials course this summer.

"Tell me about a book you liked" is a way to get a patron talking about a book that they actually enjoyed, and allows you as the listener to discover what types of stories this person will most likely enjoy the most. Do they focus on character? Plot? Language? Setting? These are what Ms. Pearl calls the "doorways" into literature. And asking this question (well, more like, speaking this phrase) is one of the best ways to aid a patron while doing readers advisory. It is a way to best connect a reader to a new book, and to help a reader discover a book that they will enjoy because by asking this question, you ask the reader to describe the characteristics of the book that they liked, not just the plot.

We don't want to read the same story over and over, which will happen if we do book recommendations on plot summary alone. We need to get down to the meat of the book, how the book is written and uses words, what the characters are like, where the stories take place, any many other factors other than basic storyline. If we discover what aspect of the book the reader enjoyed, we are more capable of connecting them with a book that has similar characteristics, and will be a book that the reader will enjoy because of those characteristics.

I know that readers advisory is going to be one of the portions of my job that I will really enjoy. I love the puzzle of connecting the patron with that perfect book. I love the looks on patrons' faces when they come in and say, "I'm looking for this book... I don't remember what it's called or who wrote it, but I know the cover had a ______ and was [insert color here]... and is about _____..." and I actually know what book they are talking about. It doesn't happen all the time, but when it does, I love the look of astonishment.

By connecting readers with books through this simple phrase, we are able to open doorways to literature for them that they may not have found otherwise, and we may even open doorways for ourselves in the process.

I'm always looking for new reading suggestions. So, can you tell me about a book that you liked?