Is it so easy to forget Librarians?

I was recently asked to be a part of a panel of school librarians, local authors, and booksellers about finding appealing books for tweens.  That 6th-7th grade age range can be tough, there can be such a fine dividing line between an older YA title and a tween book.  I am very excited about this opportunity.  The thing that I was struck by though when being asked was that the school librarian who contacted me, in describing the make-up of the group, at first never mentioned librarians.  Two local authors that I know very well and who have come to speak to my teen groups, recommended a me for the panel.  Why didn’t a school librarian think to ask the public librarian?  Why would a librarian – especially one who specializes in childrens and young adult literature – be left out?  Shouldn’t they especially be included?

This morning I was watching the Today Show and there was a feature on great books for family bedtime.  Who presented this segment?  A bookseller.  Now, I am sure booksellers know their clientele and what is hot right now on the book market.  But, what are the motives behind pushing these books to families?  Would a Librarian be a better choice?  Librarians LOVE to give recommendations and share their expertise when it comes to book choices for kids and families.  But, would the Today Show even think of asking a Librarian to do such a piece?

 Just something I’m chewing on…

Looking for outreach opportunities?

Today I visited a local elementary school’s afterschool care program to promote the library and to spend some time with the kids.  What a fabulous place to connect with kids that you might not normally see at the library.  We think of the library as an afterschool hot-spot, but these kids do not have a means of getting there.  So, my advice – take the library to them!  We read aloud, had a book discussion, created a puzzle project, and even played some BINGO.  If you are looking to increase your outreach statistics and looking to connect with more kids and promote your library and literacy, contact elementary school afterschool care programs – there are so many kids awaiting a new face and new activities!

Heaven and Hell in YA fiction

Interestingly enough, the last 2 young adults books that I read included both the devil and Jesus in them.  The first book, Repossessed by A.M. Jenkins (a Printz honor book) included as its main character, the devil.  He takes over the body of a high school boy in order to experience (and enjoy) life on Earth.  It was definitely a fun twist to what could have been the usual boy-likes-girl-who-is-out-of-his-league story.  Next, I read Chris Crutcher’s latest novel, Deadline.   In this story, the main character is dealing with an aggressive form of leukemia and only has one year to live.  During this year, he has mystical experiences and dreams that include conversations with one “Hey-soos” character.  This novel has A LOT of heavy themes crammed into it: (which isn’t that unusual for a Chris Crutcher book but I thought it was just a little TOO much) pedophilia, incest, life-threatening illnesses, prejudice and racism and more.  Again, I can’t help but notice the juxtaposition of the two novels and reading them back to back made the reading experience a bit quirky.

Chocolate + Teenagers= SUCCESS!

Last night, I hosted my first BIG teen event – a Teen Chocolate Party.  I had 27 teenagers come to this party!!!!!  It was so much fun and was a total success.  I have to thank Gretchen Ipock, a YA Librarian at the Upper Darby library for her suggestions, materials,  and ideas as well as a number of ideas that I got from other online and print resources about YA services.   27 is a huge number for a teen program.  I was just in meetings last week where we discussed that if you can get between 10-15 teens at a program, that is a successful program.   I have to thank one of our faithful teens for posting the event on her Facebook page and inviting her friends to come – it worked!  We also had some new faces who had seen our publicity elsewhere.  We’ve definitely ramped up our publicity for this age group. 

Activities for the party included: Chocolate trivia, M&M Bingo, Oven Mitt challenge (unwrap Hersheys kisses with oven mitts), chocolate taste-testing, candy bar guessing, contests for building towers with toothpicks and marshmallows, and more.  Prizes were awarded – mostly in the form of chocolate and books

Quote of the night from 11th grader Carson, “I admit, I  was a little skeptical about coming to the Library for something like this…but I’m coming back!  This was fun!” and then he offered to vaccuum for me! 

 Success!

Pajama Day!

Today I got to visit a local synogogue’s preschool program and celebrate Pajama Day with the children and teachers.  Now, this is the best part of my job    I was invited a few weeks ago after I was told that this preschool can no longer make field trips to our Library.  I wore my froggy slippers and took my teddy bear and I fit right in with the kids who came with blankets and stuffed animals in tow for the program.  I was there for about 2 hours and got to interact with approximately 80 children. What a fun program!

Recommendations

So let me recommend some good books since that it is what I yearn to do…most of these were published in 2007.

For toddlers: I’m not Cute! by Jonathan Allen.

For preschoolers: Whopper Cake by Karma Wilson and Will  Hillenbrand – the kids CRACK UP at this one!

For elementary school age: A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban (I reviewed this book for School Library Journal and really  was hoping it would be starred!)

For young adults and adults as well: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie.

For adults: Then we Came to the End by Joshua Ferris, The Maytrees byAnnie Dillard, and the Post Birthday World by Lionel Shriver.

Computers and the written word

Sometimes I wonder if I work in a computer lab or a Library…don’t get me wrong, I truely believe in the need of computers in libraries, but sometimes I spend all of my time on the ref desk helping people navigate the Internet, print things out, create Word documents, etc.  I wish someone would ask me for a reading recommendation some time

Future book

“Today, I helped a 77-year-old woman create a personal ad on cupid.com” – wouldn’t that make a great opening line of a book?  I think so.  This happened a few months ago.  First I thought it was rather cute that this woman was still interested in romance and was looking for love.  But, when she started bossing me around and yelling at me, telling me to get her pictures off of the computer (her son had set up pictures for her profile and apparently, she did not approve them first) she started to get a little hard to deal with.  I tried explaining as best I could that I couldn’t make the pictures disappear from the site and I tried to explain to her how to view male profiles in the area (this was my first time encountering this website so I was learning the ins and outs of it as well)…she just kept asking me, “where’s the men?  where’s the men?”.  All in all, a comical experience and I have to say, I do hope she finds some romance.  You have to give it up for a 77-year-old who is trying Internet dating.

My rant on tax forms!!!!

So I deal with many a patron who are so upset because we do not have allllll of the tax forms.  We carry the bare essentials – basically 1040s.  If someone needs one – federal or state – we are happy to go to the irs website and print it out for them.  The catch – it’s .20 cents per page to print.  They are very upset when they have to pay for their tax forms – and I don’t blame them!  If they have to file taxes, the forms should be made readily available in a number of places FOR FREE.  Not everyone has Internet access or a computer for that matter.  Senior citizens especially may not be computer savvy enough to download IRS tax forms but yet, it is assumed that everyone will.  It’s a shame. I feel so bad for those who get upset about having to pay for tax forms.  Unfortunately, we can’t give out free paper either…it’s a vicious cycle.  If only the post offices still carried the darn forms…

Library or Beauty shop?

Today a woman asked me to put her wig on for her behind the reference desk…she gave me the hairnet and told me to put it on…need I say more?  How far does “good customer service” go?  Is this in my job description?