Mobile Libraries

If you don't mind (and since I have very few readers, I don't think that you will) I am going to veer away from my usual book reviews for a moment.

A week or so ago, I needed to go to the library to gather some research materials. Normally I would use my teaching privileges to have the library pull the books for me and hold them at the desk, but they had postponed that service for the winter holidays. Thus, I used the library catalog to create a list of items that I wanted and then prepared to go to the library to do the work myself. I was going to print this list, but could not find a way to do this without printing summaries, images, and such that would equal about 20 pages. Because that was not very cost efficient or environmentally friendly, I really did not want to do this. No worries, though. I have a fancy new iPhone that will allow me to access this list on the go... so I saved these items to my e-shelf for future access and waltzed off to the library thinking that I would look at the list from my cell phone and pull the books off the shelf based upon that list. Sounds like a simple plan, right? Wrong.

I arrived at the library as planned. I accessed my e-shelf as planned. I even saw the list of books as planned. But, what I didn't notice before I planned this expedition was that the list did not include call numbers and you could only see the details of one book at a time, which took a long time to download on a mobile device. I thought to myself, "This is ridiculous. There has to be an easier way." So I promptly walked down to the 2nd floor and visited the reference librarian. Fortunately, since the university was not in session, I didn't have to wait in line to visit her. And I asked: "IS there a better way to do this?"

"Of course there is," she said. "There has to be."

So we sat down together and looked at the list of books I had gathered on my account, trying to find a way to view the list online, with call numbers, which seemed to be the only piece of information that any list didn't include. After about 20 minutes of sitting at that desk with no success, we both admitted (temporary) defeat. I needed to find my books before it got too dark to walk home, so we just decided to call it quits. I ended up just jotting down the call numbers of the books on a scrap piece of paper and using that to track down my books.

A few days later, I received an email from a reference staff member. The reference librarian that I had spoken to (and I wish I could remember her name so that I could give her credit) had not stopped working on my problem after I left. She had continued searching for a method of printing a list of call numbers long after I had left the building. I don't know if it was just a slow night or if she really cared that much but I do give her a big kudos for continuing to try to solve the problem even when the patron in question would probably not be back to find out the results.

Anyway... I received an email from the reference desk that provided me some detailed instructions for creating a list with call numbers. It was a 10-step process that would ultimately send the results list to my email. However, my big problem with that is that I saved all of my searches on the new "catalog" screen that the library has adopted. Technically, Primo is not a catalog, but is just a shiny new user interface that looks like it actually came from this century. I was using this catalog when I found my results and, thus, any results that I found were saved on my e-shelf there... which apparently is not the same as the e-shelf on the "classic catalog"... the only place where you can save a simple list with title, author, and call number.

Now, I know that all catalogs are different and all libraries are different, but I still think there has to be a better way to do this. The world we live in is becoming increasingly dependent on mobile devices and we libraries should adapt our technologies to fit the needs of the community at large. And instead of the responsibility of this being placed on individual libraries, maybe we could create a consortium (of sorts) that would allow us to pool our catalog records (oh, wait, we all ready have one of those!) into one program that would work on a mobile device. We could create an app that would allow you to specify your location and search the available materials at that location. You could star your selections and it would automatically tell you the title, author and location of that book in the collection. We could even make it so that our app could sync with our personal library accounts on the web so that we could load the information from our computers and have it automatically appear on our phones and vise versa. Wouldn't that be grand?

I don't know. I am not a web designer by any stretch of the imagination, but it feels like this template is already out there in some form or another, so somebody should be able to adapt it for libraries.

Or is there something like this already out there? Food for thought.

The Name of this Book is Secret

I recently read a young adult mystery titled The Name of this Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch.

My first instinct is to tell you that this was a fabulous book and then suggest that you read it if you enjoy mysteries. It was a highly entertaining book, and I do recommend it. However, I do have to warn you that this book has a rather complicated plot. Let me tell you a bit about it so that you can see what I mean (fyi- the rest of this post may contain spoilers):

Two middle-schoolers, Cass and Max-Ernest, discover a secret code hidden in a box of smells. (The box of smells is literally a box full of liquids that smell like different things.) They discover that an old man had developed a secret code by combining those smells in certain combinations. They follow this code, and a mysterious journal left in the old man's house, and discover that there is apparently a whole group of people in the world who have synesthesia, which means that their senses are mixed up (i.e. they see smells). Apparently, these people have been trying for centuries to discover a formula for immortality, something that will cause them to stay young forever.

The scientists who have been trying to discover this formula are so close. All they need is that box of smells ("The Symphony of Smells"). The only problem is that Cass and Max-Ernest have hidden that box away and they are determined to stop these wicked scientists from having their way.

Thus, Cass and Max-Ernest launch a big investigation into these ancient scientists and end up in more danger than they could imagine.

The whole story is told by a third-person narrator who frequently steps out of his role as storyteller. The narrator, in fact, spends the first few pages of the book warning people away from it. This book is too dangerous, he says. Once you know the secrets it contains, the "bad guys" might come after you as well... which, of course, only made me want to read it more. There are several more interruptions in the story line in which the narrator gives similar warnings, which I think is a good way to keep the reader interested, in this instance.

Anyway, I have now droned on about this book for a while. I repeat that this is an excellent mystery for young readers, but be forewarned about it's complicated plot.

The Best?

I hadn't planned to post anything this week, but after reading this book, I just thought I had to make a comment. And, as you know, I usually only comment on the good books that I read, but I am making an exception in this instance

I just finished reading In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak. I decided to read this book because it was on a list of the Top 100 Picture Books from School Library Journal. Why it was on this list (#18!!!), I may never know. Because I read it and I just don't agree.

The book, for those of you who don't know, is about this little boy named Mickey, which I guess reminds the author of the word "milk." Mickey is sound asleep in his bed when he hears some loud noises. Somehow he falls out of his bed... falls down, down, down... coming out of his clothes... and falling into the hand of the cooks in the night kitchen. These cooks place the naked child in a cake batter and start mixing him in because they need milk. The still naked child escapes into the bread batter and rises to the Milky Way to get milk for the cake. He gets the milk, everyone celebrates that we will have cake in the morning, and Mickey goes home and back to bed.

Does nobody else find this story more than a little disturbing? First, why did the boy have to lose his clothes in the story? Was that at all necessary to the plot? Second, doesn't anybody else care that the cake these people would be eating had come into contact with naked skin? Maybe my germophobe tendencies are just a little too strong because that grosses me out. And, yes, I know it is just a kids story and it was a dream sequence and I am probably taking this too seriously, but I do believe that this was the most disturbing picture book I have read in a while.

And let me just be clear here: It is not the nakedness that bothers me. Not at all. It is the nakedness next to food that creeps me out. In my mind, these two things should not be mixed... in fact, they should never come into contact with each other, even in theory.

What made people nominate this book for the top 100 picture books? I just don't understand.

The House on the Gulf

Want a good mystery? One that leaves out the sex, drugs, and rock, and roll? Well, look no further! The House on the Gulf (2004) by Margaret Haddix is the book for you!

Britt’s brother, Bran, has scored them the deal of a lifetime. He has arranged for his family to stay at someone’s house over the summer… and get paid for it. It’s called house-sitting. They stay in the house for this family and keep thieves from breaking in while they are gone. Pretty sweet deal, right? Mom is going to get to finish school, they won’t have rent to pay, they will actually be making money. It couldn’t get any better.

Except, of course, that something doesn't seem quite right about the deal. Bran is very secretive about the whole thing and he won’t let either Brit or their mom talk to the owners of the house. Is there something strange about this situation, or is it just Brit’s imagination?

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

I just finished reading The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman last week. This book is very good, as you have probably already heard. I mean, it has been awarded several awards and appeared on several best-books lists over the past year. But I am going to post my own review anyway because I think it ties in nicely to a certain upcoming holiday, but also because the author has recently appeared in the news (and LOTS on twitter).

So... The Graveyard Book.

A young child is hunted in the night by a man named Jack. Jack kills the boy's parents and everyone who lived in that house... but the little boy escaped, quite by accident, and wondered over to a nearby graveyard. At that graveyard a few ghosts decide to protect this young baby from the man who is trying kill him. Then they proceed to give the boy another name, Nobody, and they give him the freedom of the graveyard, a power that helps him walk through walls and become invisible to humans. What a power!

Well, Nobody grows up in this graveyard with an old, kindly dead couple for parents and an otherworldly being as a godparent. He only gets to go to school for a short time because it is too dangerous for him to be out in the human world. He is still being hunted by Jack the killer, after all.

And Nobody has to find a way to be free of this killer if he ever wants to live outside of the graveyard. This would be the great rising action of the book.... and I won't tell you what, exactly, happens to Nobody and/or the people of the graveyard. I do want you to read the book, and I am horribly afraid that you won't do that if I tell you too much about it. But this would especially be a good book to read and display for a Halloween theme, as that holiday with ghosts and goblins is fast approaching.

And, for all of you Neil Gaiman fans, Mr. Gaimain has started a twitter-book. You can check out all of the details from Entertainment Weekly, but basically, he has undertaken to write a book using tweets from fans who post to the storyline. That is a pretty gargantuan task, if you ask me, but it should be interesting to read in then end. Or, heck, follow it on twitter as it posts by searching @bbcaa on twitter.com. You are sure to enjoy the experience.

The Mediator

So, ok, I know I haven't posted in the longest time. For that, I apologize. I am letting my readers down. But I am about to tell you about a series of books that you will love so much that you will forgive me, no questions asked. :-)

The Mediator series by Meg Cabot is an excellent mystery series for those of us who love a little element of the supernatural in their books. My first thought was to comare this series to the Twilight series because a normal girl falls in love with a dead boy. But I don't think that comparison would hold up with too much analysis. The main character, Suze, is a much stronger female character, with not nearly so much simpering and sighing as Bella seemed to give off. And, of course, Suze could see ghosts while Bella was completely normal. Still, I think that this series is almost as strong in my mind as that ever-infamous vampire romance that we have all come to know and love.

The first book in the series is The Mediator: Shadowland. This is where we get introduced to Suze, a typical high school girl who just happens to have this special gift/talent for seeing ghosts and helping them move on to their next destination. Think Jennifer Love Hewitt in the television show Ghost Whisperer. Anyway, Suze is moving from New York to a small town in California because her mom has gotten remarried. For the first time in her life she meets another mediator, anothe person that can see the dead: Father Dominic. And she also happens to have this really cute ghost from about 100 years ago who lives in her bedroom. Needless to say, her life is changing.

Each of the 6 books in the series have Suze trying to "mediate" ghosts who are becoming increasingly more violent. Each book features a different ghost, in a different situation, but since Suze has moved to this new town, it seems as if all of the ghosts she encounters are of the violent variety. Except, of course, for the very cute ghost who just happens to share a room with her. Suze must kick quite a bit of ghost butt to try to get these supernatural beings to go on to wherever it is they go when they move on from this life. The butt-kicking variety of mediating doesn't sit well with Father Dom, though, and Suze does try to maintain a more peaceful style of mediation, but that just doesn't seem to be her style. The scrapes she gets herself into are very interesting to read about.

Overall, I give this series a two-thumbs-up and I recommend that you read it as soon as you can get your hands on it. By the way - a digital copy is available for checkout from the Tennessee Regional E-book and Audio Downloading System at http://reads.lib.overdrive.com/.

"About Me" - It's now true!

For those of you who have been following my blog (which I know is not many), you know that my "About Me" profile has said I was a fictional public library for a long time. I had to create that profile for class and it stuck to my personal blog for a while.

Well... That problem has now been corrected! The "About Me" profile is now really about me. Just wanted to let you know about that update. :-)

The Hunger Games by Susanne Collins

Title: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Publication Information: New York: Scholastic Press, 2008
Age group: ages 14 and up
Topics: survivor skills, television programs, interpersonal relations, contests
Notes: This book is very reminiscent of the show Survivor on television, in that the children/teens in the novel have to fight their surroundings, and each other, to survive the Hunger Games. And the event is televised, just as is Survivor.

Summary- Katniss volunteers to go to the Hunger Games in the place of her sister. These games are really a fight to the death and Katniss certainly doesn't want her sister to have to face this situation. So Katniss and Peeta from District 12 are forced to go to the Games and represent their district. If they lose, it means death. If they win, they live and get more food and prizes for their community. They train for the games and are released into the arena, with hundreds of hidden cameras watching their every move as they battle the elements and each other, each person wanting to be the only one left standing. Some form alliances, others stand alone. But each must fight the Hunger Game.

Book Talk- Read page 150-151 “A boy, I think from District 9…Somehow I know the girl will not pursue me.”

Katniss and Peeta must compete in the Hunger Games. The games are meant to keep them suppressed, to remind them who is really in control. They must win or die, must sacrifice others for their own safety, all for the entertainment of those in the Capitol. They are given a brief training period, a brief reprieve before they are set loose on one another in the stadium, but how can they form friendships? How can they trust one another? They must kill each other or be killed themselves. There is no escape because the Capitol must have a winner. They must become monsters, animals, living by instinct and brute force. Who will be the winner of this ultimate game, the Hunger Game? To find out, you will just have to read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

Personal Comments- This book was excellent! I began it in the evening and ended up staying up until 2:00 in the morning to finish it! However, I was a bit disappointed in the ending, because it was left open in obvious anticipation of a second book. I suppose I will have to go buy that book now.

American Born Chinese

I just finished reading American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. This is a graphic novel that was winner of the Printz Award.

I have to say, as I began the novel I really didn't think I was going to like it. I have never read a graphic novel before, but I tend to prefer words to pictures. I really didn't know how I was going to do with this new format. However, as I got further and further into the book, I realized that I was actually enjoying this just as much as a regular novel. Go figure.

The artwork of this graphic novel was very cool. Simple, clean frames. Subtle colors. Filled with "curved lines" (as Christopher Dean Myers once said). There were scenes that were quite complicated, but some of them appeared easy enough that I could draw them if I wanted. I was quite impressed.

So the story follows two main characters. Jin Wang is an Asian boy who wants to fit into the American culture. The Monkey King is a monkey who wants to fit in with the other deities in the universe. Both of these characters want to be something more than what they are (or should I say, something other than what they are?). They deny their true form, their true selves in order to try to be like everyone else, but only when they realize how cool they really are and embrace their identities do they find happiness.

I know, that was a vague plot description, but you will seriously have to read the book to figure out just how good it was! :-)

Book Review: Hero Type by Barry Lyga

WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

I just recently finished reading the book Hero Type by Barry Lyga and, I have to say, I was quite impressed. I had heard about this book at the YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) conference last semester, but hadn't really paid too much attention at the time. I bought the book immediately, but it sat on my shelf for several months before I picked it up.

Anyway - this book is about a boy name Kross who, while following a girl he has a crush on, just happens to save this girl's life. He is made out to be a local hero, with the news asking for interviews and the mayor giving him the key to the city, but only he knows the truth. He knows that he was only in the right place at the right time because he was doing the wrong thing. And this is a secret he must live with.

This is not the only struggle in young Kross's life, however. When he gets a new car, the mayor slaps on a couple of "support our troops" magnets. This really upsets his veteran father, who demands that he throw them away immediately. Kross does just that, but the local news crew, unfortunately, takes a picture of him doing it. He immediately becomes the most hated person in town, the boy who doesn't believe in America.

Thus Kross takes up the battle to "educate" those around him. Taking a magnet off of your car does not mean you are not patriotic. The magnet is only a symbol, just as is the flag of our country.

What follows is a battle of epic proportions...

So guess what? I am not going to tell you any more about this story. If you wish to find out exactly what happens to Kross, you will have to obtain your own copy of the book and read it for yourself! :-)

Storytime: The Cremation of Sam McGee

"About Me" - not really!

Just so you know, the "About Me" portion of this blog is not actually about me. I had to create another blog about a fictional library for a class assignment and, unfortunately, blogger will not allow me to have 2 separate profiles. Very annoying.

Anyway, just wanted to let you know that I have NOT turned into a fictional public library overnight. Hopefully I will be able to delete that blog after a couple of weeks.

A Lecture on Blogs

This is a short lecture for beginning blog readers and writers. The library mentioned in the podcast, as well as all contact information, is completely fictional.

TLA Conference

OMG! I just realized how incredibly long it has been since my last post! I am sorry I have let my readership down! I will try to remember to write more often, even when I feel I have nothing to say.

Anyway, I went to the Tennessee Library Association Conference this week (it was held in Nashville, TN this year) and I would like to talk a bit about that today. I have to say that it was a great experience. I met lots of great people, learned lots of new things.

I think the most interesting lecture that I attended was the Intellectual Freedom Breakfast on Thursday morning. It was SUPER early (I had to leave at 6:00am to get there) but the food was great and the lecture was interesting. Angela Maycock, the Assistant Director of the ALA's Office of Intellectual freedom, spoke about censorship and challenged books. Apparently the two most common reasons for a book to be challenged are sexuality (especially homosexuality) and religious reasons. This really isn't surprising, but it is still crazy to hear it confirmed by an expert. She also revealed this year's most challenged books, but I can't tell you about those yet, because I don't think that the list has been officially released yet. However, I did write some of the titles down for my own benefit. (I find that when someone tells me I can't read something it only makes me want to read it more.)

Another really helpful session that I attended was about screencasts. I believe the session was called "Casting for patrons" and was taught by two librarians from the Brentwood Library named Maria Sochor and Wendy Cornelisen. These two ladies spoke of their experiences creating screencasts for their patrons and staff. I have been interested in doing this myself, especially right now when I am working on a couple of projects for school where it would be helpful to have a visual record of what I am doing. It seemed, from what they said, that it would be a much more complicated process than I originally assumed. They said their first time using the technology took them about 10 hours to make a five minute video!!! However, I still think it would be useful for my project purposes because I wouldn't have to have anything quite so fancy as the one they did (and I wouldn't have the money to purchase the software that they used anyway).

The best poster session is a tie in my mind. There were two posters that really stood out to me (thought to be fair I don't think that I saw all of the posters). The first poster that stood out to me was about cookbooks and cooking events in libraries. I believe Maria Sochor was the presenter and she had some excellent suggestions for programs in the library such as cooking showcases from local restaurants and the like. I was very impressed, additionally, with the way that her poster was organized and put together. The second poster that I think really stood out was that of Sarah Searles and Sarah Copeland (two fellow UT SIS students). They were presenting a readers advisory sort of network that would allow you to find similar books and follow book trails (in fact, I believe that the network was called "Reading Trails"). Kudos to these two presentations. :)

I think that the lectures and posters discussed here were probably the best at this conference...or maybe I should say that these were the ones that I found to be the most useful in my situation. Of course, I attended many other sessions because I was "session monitor" for most of them, but these were the ones that I found most helpful at the moment.

Oh, and I bought a somewhat dorky librarian jacket that says "Read" on it (I couldn't resist). And I won a free book for sticking around til the end of the conference. Those things were pretty cool as well.

A Story for Class

Budget Cuts

What do you do when you have many employees and an ever decreasing budget? A local business has gained my admiration with their efforts to decrease spending and save jobs. While some of the measures are a bit extreme, the results might be extended employment in the fact of an economic crisis, so it might just be worth it.

The saving money campaign of this business began with subtle signs beside the elevators, pleading with workers and customers alike to take the stairs and save energy. So, ok, I took the stairs (at least half the time). What the heck? I could stand to get into shape. So, even though I thought I was going to die by the time I reached the 7th floor, I still attempted to take the stairs when I could. I can do my part.

Next, they decreased the heat. This I did not take so well. I like being warm and I REALLY hate winter so the thought of possibly being cold sort of upset me. But, because I know the limitations of the budget, and because I have no say in the matter, I went along with it. I simply started wearing a jacket and even putting my winter coat on over it when necessary. In the grand scheme of things this really isn't all that bad.

Then I noticed that the offices of the building were dark during the day. Were they closed? Had their hours changed? NO! The employees there had been urged to turn off some lights on sunny days in yet another attempt to save money. I wonder how much money such a thing could really save. But at least they haven't yet started forcing the patrons to use such measures. Customer service still reigns supreme. And as long as they could still see the papers on their desks without too much trouble, what could it hurt?

Still, I wonder what will be next. Will the staff have to resort to using ancient typewriters instead of computers in order to save a small amount of money? Will offices be combined so that they can shut off portions of the building and not have to worry about heating those at all? At what point will they have to stop trying to do patchwork savings and start sacrificing big things? I honestly hope it never comes to that. With the current job market I know that this business is honestly trying to save the jobs of its employees by making cuts where they can. I actually admire them for it! And, honestly, the employees seem to be happy with the efforts and genuinely glad just to have their jobs. I just really wish that circumstances would not force such measures.