Booked up

March 31, 2009 at 5:35 pm (nonfiction, professional development, reader's advisory, religion, reviews, social justice, traditional library services)

Literally AND metaphorically.  This past week has been the usual blend of alchemical-wonderful, but there’s also been a lot of reading going on.

I review for both LJ and the SRRT newsletter, which is an interesting exercise in contrasts.  LJ’s short, severe 175-word limit forces me to be specific, whereas with SRRT’s 500-word relative ramble, I can be a bit more poetic about a book. For LJ I review fiction, which guarantees my degrees in English and the time spent learning how to read a text critically will never go to waste; it also really forces me to think about library budgets, appeal factors, etc. and make sure my review gets packed with the sort of helpful details a selector in a hurry might need. For SRRT the focus is on non-fiction works that somehow address social concerns. This somewhat selfishly allows me to praise wonderful books I am already reading anyway, and that might not get many reviews in the professional or popular press. 

Due to an overcrowded plate, I actually just turned down a review opportunity from SRRT, which disappoints me beyond belief, because I was going to review Sarah Miles’s Take This Bread, a memoir in which a lifelong atheist with a background in political and social justice work experiences a radical conversion based on the principles of actually feeding the hungry, as opposed to just talking about it (or, heavens forbid, forming yet another committee or study group about it). If you have ever said the words “liberation theology” out loud; live or work in a community where hunger is a critical issue; belong to a faith community that would like to be more active in feeding the poor; or wonder how on earth anyone managed to reconcile faith and action in a hands-on practical way, you should read this book.

I’m still slowly making my way through that package of galleys from Rory Litwin, which is fitting given that the first book I’ll review here is all about why reading slowly is a darned good idea. You might be asking yourself, though, why we’re bothering with book reviews anyway, since newspapers are dying and nobody reads anymore, and besides, won’t Google scan it? The answers to those questions will also appear in the review. For a sneak peek at topic to come, click here.

ETA: I nearly forgot to mention that I’ve also contributed a review to Litterbox Magazine, a new local online literary journal that will go live tomorrow (I’m telling you today so you don’t think I’m joking. :) ) The book I reviewed, Literature and War, is another example of the kind of book that doesn’t get nearly enough ink, and the kind of assignment that lets a librarian fulfill his/her ethical obligations while discharging her/his professional ones.

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Personal, political, inaugural. Also, professional reading.

January 21, 2009 at 9:36 am (Learning 2.0, Library 2.0, ethics, intellectual freedom, news, nonfiction, personal, philosophizing, professional development, reviews, web resources)

Yesterday some of my peers and I paused to stand shoulder to shoulder with our patrons and watch the inauguration ceremony. It was a beautiful moment, amplified by the fact that those physically present at the event were joined by both in-person and online gatherings all over the country. Participation and interactivity were the order of the day, and anybody who couldn’t be present or wet-wired can already watch the video on YouTube. O brave new world!

One passage from President Obama’s address feels especially pertinent/relevant to libraries this morning:

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends–hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism–these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths.

There you have, in a nutshell, a testament to librarianship. We have an arsenal of tools for providing information. We support, with our collections, programs, services and staff, the best and highest values a democracy can offer. We toil, quietly and not-so-much, in the service of something greater than our individual selves. And I’m confident that librarians of all stripes–special, medical, public, academic, bloggers, pundits, vendor-folks, technomages, futurists, dreamers, leaders, managers, and infinite hybrid variations of said types–will be able to put aside their differences and work together in support of our new president’s goals, which are really the ones we never lost sight of.

Why not aim high, if you’re bothering to aim?

On a more practical front, I’ve been trying to clear the decks and tie down the loose ends before I vanish to attend Midwinter conference in Denver. This has meant meetings, spreadsheets, number-crunching, and a lot of time in the book order room. I will probably still take work with me, but that’s a post on work-life balance for another day! For now, a quick recap of 2009 professional reading so far:

    Mobilizing Generation 2.0, Ben Rigby. This is the book you want if you need to either justify 2.0 dabbling to your boss, or explain it to co-workers who are not entirely convinced.  Rigby explains how emerging technologies can benefit a non-profit and provides specific examples of how various organizations have used blogging, Twitter, and other tools to advance their missions.  You’ll find the companion website here, and those hankering for quantifiable data will be interested in the social network ROI calculator created by Care2, and highlighted in Rigby’s text.

    Future Savvy, Adam Gordon.  The author admits right out of the gate that futurists get heckled a lot for being wrong and/or non-methodical.  The rest of the book goes on to make a case for GOOD forecasting, and explains how organizations can do that.  Very, very, very interesting!

    Out Front With Stephen Abram, Siess & Lorig, comps. I am just now getting around to this because the wait list for our copies has been quite long. Quality inspiration and leadership advice, however, is worth waiting for, and I’m encouraged that so many of my colleagues have read this too. Good fodder for an unconference, I’m thinking.

    Leading With Kindness, Baker & O’Malley. The theoretical underpinnings of the leadership and management I see around me every day.  When it comes to leadership, the kinesthetic approach trumps the readerly, I think.  However, the more books about the human element of leading people we have, the better.

So, there’s that. I’ll be blogging Midwinter, of course, recaps rather than live sessions. If you’re going, and would like to meet, please ping me. If you’re not, I’ll do my very best to report on things I think would be useful and helpful to you. What might those things be? Feel free to leave a comment and let me know.

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Professional Reading – Dec. 2008

December 15, 2008 at 6:46 pm (Blogroll, Learning 2.0, Library 2.0, blogging, humor, nonfiction, professional development, web resources, wikis)

Still working on that post about failure. Does that mean I fail at failure? Hee.

Seriously, keeping up with professional reading can be a challenge. It is, however, a worthwhile one. What I really like about the books I’ve been reading lately is how they work hand-in-glove with 2.0 technologies, as opposed to setting up a “print vs. digital” dichotomy.

So, without further ado, here’s what I’m reading:

The book: Pop Goes the Library.

See also: the blog and the wiki, which help keep the print version up-to-date (I’m still buying this one – so useful!).

Bonus: Carlie Webber, the librarian who led me to the profession in the first place, contributes to the PGTL blog. Perhaps that makes me a touch biased, but so be it. Also, because without YA librarians adult librarians would have no future, you should check out Carlie’s other writings at Librarilly Blonde.

The book: Born Digital.

See also: the companion site, as well as the Digital Natives parent project.

Bonus: Uses the phrase “musty old card catalogs” twice within the first chapter! Okay, I’m a touch nostalgic. However, if you really want a great book on understanding today’s digital generation, this will more than suffice.

The book: Tribes, Seth Godin.

See also: Seth’s Blog.

Bonus: The opportunity to see how the new technologies and opportunities look from a non-library standpoint, plus an excellent chance to get over your fear of marketing and promotion.

Warning: These books and resources will challenge you. I can’t say I agree with everything I’ve read so far, but that’s as it should be. It’s vital that people are producing content that forces libraries to wake up and shape the future. Reserve your book, or click your link of choice, today, and let’s keep the dialog going….

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PaLA Conference – Tuesday

November 11, 2008 at 7:58 pm (conferences, databases, innovation, leadership, nonfiction, philosophizing, presentations, professional development, reader's advisory, social justice)
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The day’s not quite over yet, but I wanted to ring in and give you the highlights. Right now I’m really excited and inspired about the library profession, in spite of the challenges ahead. Here’s why:

 

  1. A meeting of the Electronic Resources Roundtable, of which I am a member.  The outgoing chair is working with the incoming chair on ways the roundtable can be more active.  I volunteered for the planning board, which will do a lot of virtual work, and pitched an idea to one of the other attendees who, like me, likes to write!  So, stay tuned for updates and innovations from us…
  2. Nonfiction readers’ advisory.  Barry Trott’s session was excellent – I’ve had the privilege of seeing him before, but those who haven’t can at least get his handout here (scroll down to Tuesday).  Nota bene:  NO slideshow / powerpoint.  Nothing wrong with presentation software, it’s true, but it’s refreshing to hear a really good public speaker who can engage an audience sans props.
  3. The exhibits!  I am returning home with several leads on electronic resources, and just plain cool things, to share with the other librarians.  One of these is Generations Online, an extremely inexpensive way to help seniors learn to use the internet easily.  Given that service to seniors is a CLP priority, and the need is definitely there throughout the county, this could be huge!
  4. Norma Blake!  2008 Librarian of the Year, y’know.  She talked about the future of libraries, navigating change, and ways organizations can make that possible.  Good communication and transparency were chief among these.  She also declared that you can teach people job-specfic skills, but you can’t teach a good attitude.  Spot on!  I think the next step, though, is examining servant leadership, and ways libraries can bring out the best in their existing staff.
  5. The PaLA annual meeting.  Those of you who nodded off at the word “meeting” would have been impressed and inspired by what took place there.  Allegheny County was well represented by award-winners and office-holders.  Special props go to former classmate Colleen Miles, who is setting the world on fire at the Upper St. Clair Library!  For her efforts, she was named the 2008 Best New Librarian in PA, a well-deserved honor!
  6. I was also greatly moved by  the brief statement issued by Alexia Hudson, whom I had the pleasure of meeting earlier in the conference.  Alexia, a former Emerging Leader herself, spoke on behalf of Philadelphia’s libraries, and requested that discussion of the impending closures be put on the next PaLA board meeting agenda.  I did not know, and was distressed to hear, that the closures are targeted for areas that serve predominately minority populations and also do not have access to school libraries.  This, in my opinion, is unacceptable, and I applaud Alexia for taking the initiative in instigating further discussion and action.

And while we’re on the topic of leadership, I’d like to point out what might be obvious,  but never hurts to repeat:  we are the librarians we’ve been waiting for.  Colleen, Alexia, Erin, Kelley, Bonnie, Karen, Charity, Holly, and ALL the young PA librarians, including yours truly (though I suspect I am older than most of you!).  It falls to us to decide how library world is going to be.  We need the help and support of our more experienced colleagues, and belief in ourselves, to transform the obstacles ahead into opportunities.

And if you think that’s overly sunshiney, wait until you hear my other lofty goal:  all the librarians from Lackawanna county who received awards were extremely kind and supportive of each other, exchanging hugs, giving standing ovations, and applauding wildly.  I would like to see Allegheny County’s librarians showing each other that much love and support in our efforts.

See?  This is what happens when you send alchemists to professional conferences.  I’ll leave it to you to decide whether those funds were well-spent.

For now, though, I’ve got to get ready for the awards banquet, and get packing.  I’m taking an early flight home tomorrow so I can do some last-minute preparation for the talk I’m giving at the library school tomorrow night (my fabulous boss will be the co-presenter, and temper my post-conference zeal nicely, I imagine).  It’s for Barry C.’s Adult Resources and Services class.  The topic is databases, and I’m thrilled to be able to talk about what we do, as well as some of the changes coming over the horizon at CLP.

Until we meet again….

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PaLA Conference – Monday

November 10, 2008 at 7:58 pm (Learning 2.0, Library 2.0, conferences, humor, innovation, leadership, nonfiction, philosophizing, professional development, reader's advisory, web resources)
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Day two of PaLA has been fun and educational! For my morning session, I attended What’s New in Library School, and was inspired by the presenters. It’s only been four years since my own library school experience, but there have been a lot of changes in a short time. Most useful here was the description of what it’s like to take classes online; most inspiring was the brief discussion of information ethics. Employers seeking librarians will have a talented, intelligent crop from which to pick!

Today’s poster sessions included one from fellow Emerging Leader Erin Dorney, who blogs at Library Scenester. Her library is a combination academic-public one, which is intruging, and her poster was about her efforts to promote her library in her capacity as Outreach Librarian. Very cool!

This afternoon’s pick was difficult: Bary Trott and reader’s advisory, or more Web 2.0? Given that there will be a second RA session tomorrow, specifically focusing on non-fiction, I opted for the Web 2.0 option (it’s okay to fangirl fellow librarians – stalking, however, is not cool. :) .

At any rate, Three Approaches to Web 2.0 Teaching sounded promising, and was. The evaluation of Web 2.0 tools for creating subject guides, in particular, was helpful for those of us just beginning to explore this area. Given that many of our own patrons require instruction, though, the entire session inspired me to think of different ways to design and teach courses that would help everyone in my service area, staff and patrons alike, develop some new skills.

I was especially intrigued that wikis trumped blogs at Cabrini College for instruction delivery. The presenter pointed out that their blog didn’t receive many comments, which only fuels my ongoing philosophical debate over whether blogs really facilitate conversations or provide entertainment / enlightenment. Is anyone studying this? Hm.

So, here I sit, contemplating dinner and thinking about all the great people I’ve met today, between sessions, and at lunch, etc. There are so many different ways to be of service as a librarian! Listening and gathering information will, I hope, help me be an effective contributor to the Emerging Leaders project to which I’ve been assigned: we’ll be continuing the work done by a prior year’s workgroup, revisiting the marketing plan for LibraryCareers.org. Given my track record for recruiting people to the profession (one more, and I think I get steak knives from Pitt), I think it’s a good project fit. People just don’t know how amazing and diverse librarians and library work really are. It might not be very “traditional,” but anything I can do to help ameliorate that definitely strikes me as worthwhile.

Tomorrow will be an early-start, action-packed session-fest, so stay tuned…

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Professional reading

January 3, 2008 at 4:41 pm (Library 2.0, RSS, nonfiction, professional development, web resources)

It’s official – happy 2008!  Right out of the gate I’ve been juggling multiple projects, about which I’ll report more when I have more complete, accurate information for you.

For the moment, I’ve been trying to steep myself in professional reading of  2.0 mindset.  At the moment, my text of choice is Blogging and RSS: A Librarian’s Guide. Hopefully this will shed some light on the question of whether or not there’s a way to create RSS feeds in-house with a minimum of staff time/effort, be it by public service staff or IT.

Another possible aid in that vein is described in this blog post by our former, but not forgotten, Coral E. The long comment thread details different users’ experiences with Dapper; if you prefer playtesting to reading, you can check out Dapper yourself here.  I’m especially intrigued by their claim that you can use it to turn any website into a Facebook application.

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Reading suggestions for a snowy Saturday

December 15, 2007 at 4:23 pm (Library 2.0, blogging, fiction, nonfiction, philosophizing, reader's advisory, reviews)

Having completed my Meebo feasability study, I’m between 2.0 projects at the moment. Next week I’ll dive back into RSS, and I really want to finish my blogging plan. Of all the 2.0 initiatives we could pursue, I think it’s the easiest to implement, and the best possible use of the least possible amount of staff time.

For now, though, it’s a slow, snowy day at the reference desk, and we haven’t talked about books for a while. Ergo, I give you some readerly suggestions for your weekend.

  • For the foodies, Laura Schenone’s The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken details the author’s search for her ancestor Adalgiza’s infamous ravioli recipe.  Part cultural history, part confessional, Schenone’s prose is warm and accessible, and her search for order, structure and stability (in life, as well as in ravioli) are bittersweetly compelling.
  • Prefer your family dramas fictional?  For madcap adventures in a warmer climate, try The Hummingbird Wizard, by Meredith Blevins.  The Szabo women don’t mess around when it comes to their men, and they certainly don’t let a little murder stand in their way.  Hapless Annie, her adversarial mother-in-law, Mina, and her boozy, bluesy, sister-in-law Capri try to solve the murder of a man all three of them loved, in different ways, and for different reasons.  Snarky, sexy, and funny as all get-out.
  • For a more complex fictional adventure, you might like the linguistically complicated, dreamlike atmosphere of The Labyrinth.   Catherynne Valente builds a sumptuous world in which a woman (perhaps) tries to find her way out of (possibly) a labyrinth (maybe).  Steeped in uncertainty, this lush, complex train of symbols reads more like an epic prose poem than a novel.  That’s not a complaint.
  • If Valente’s work left you a little dazed and confused, you might want to turn to Joan Gould’s work for a little clarity.  Spinning Straw Into Gold examines the various phases of women’s lives, and explicates the fairy tales (both classic and contemporary) that can hold the clues to navigating through each stage.  Who knew getting married was a bit like being a selkie?  What’s a selkie, you ask?  Pick up this book, and find out.

If my book picks aren’t your cup of tea, check out what other CLP staffers are reading this month. Book picks are one area where I think a blog would definitely be an asset in our library system – think of how many employees we have, and how diverse their tastes are. We could offer the public a little something every day. Just one more 2.0 dream to have as the snow comes wafting down…

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Net(work) Effects

November 5, 2007 at 4:47 pm (access, nonfiction, professional development, reviews)

We lost network capability on both staff and public computers for a few hours today.  The look of disappointment on patrons’ faces when I told them the internet was down?  Palpable.

Ironically, I’m currently reading Net Effects, a collection of essays and articles compiled by Marylaine Block, who has carved out a great niche in library science for herself – if you’re not subscribed to her Neat New Stuff newsletter, you’re missing out.

But I digress: Net Effects is, as its subtitle promises, dedicated to managing technology in a way that upholds the traditional principles of library service: quality collection development, respect for the book, and training for both staff and patrons are just the tip of the iceberg here. Browsing the companion website, above, should tide you over quite nicely while you wait for your copy of the book to arrive.

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Friday mashup: sights, sounds, and spiritual reading

October 26, 2007 at 4:43 pm (Flickr, Learning 2.0, nonfiction, religion, traditional library services, web resources)

Film and Audio also has a LibraryThing!  Thanks to Amy E. for the link; its permanent home will be the “2.0 Dabblings” sidebar.

Speaking of sights, my next experiment will be Flickr.  I’ve reserved a camera for Tuesday 10/30, so if you’d rather not be photographed, you might want to avoid me!  It would be great to get some shots of people at their desks, though, to demonstrate how hard we work (and how much fun we have doing it). 

On the Friday book tip, religious non-fiction.  I’m very interested in what William James aptly called the varieties of religious experience, so I tend to read a lot of non-fiction from myriad faith traditions.  This week’s selections include:

  • Heart of Flesh, Joan Chittister.   Argues that the Catholic church must subscribe to feminist principles, using rhetoric grounded in the gospels.  Also contains multiple anecdotes from the author’s life and work as a nun deeply involved in social justice projects.
  • The Tent of Abraham, Chittister et. al.  Muslim, Christian, and Jewish explorations of the Abraham story, as presented in Bible, Torah, midrash, and Koran.  A great deal of the text is devoted to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and argues that any solution to the problem must take into account the idea that Jews and Muslims share both geographic and scriptural roots.
  • Goth Craft, Raven Digitalis.  Overview of the overlap between Goth and Pagan subcultures; serves as an introduction to both, while espousing the importance of exploring life’s darker aspects in a safe, sane manner.  Discusses both Wiccan and non-Wiccan Pagan traditions.
  • Anger, Thich Nhat Hanh.  The noted Buddhist outlines constructive strategies for dealing with anger.  Arguing that the emotion should be dealt with as mindfully as any other, he explores healing both the angry person and relationships that have been damaged by anger.  Many anecdotes describe events at Plum Village, Hanh’s main community.

Many people come to the library for answers to life’s larger questions, so I think it’s good to be well-versed in a variety of things.  Do you get many inquiries about religion/spirituality at your workstation?

Today marks a full six weeks of work in Reference Services.  I’ve learned a lot, initiated a lot of ideas/projects, collaborated with great people, and received administrative support for a number of things I’d like to try.  Thanks to everyone who’s helped me so far – I’m really looking forward to what we can all accomplish together in the weeks to come.

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Time flies on Fridays

October 19, 2007 at 5:28 pm (blogging, collection development, conferences, ethics, intellectual freedom, nonfiction, professional development, traditional library services)

I’ve really been hopping today, juggling projects so I can leave for the ASIS&T conference with a clear desk/conscience! You’ll be hearing more about that next week when I blog from the conference.

For the weekend, though, an ethical question to ponder: how many copies of Mein Kampf does a large public library system need?

Have a great weekend, everybody.

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