Banned Books Week is Here!

That's right!  It's finally here: BANNED BOOKS WEEK!!!  It's kind of like Christmas for people who like to, oh I don't know, celebrate free speech and intellectual freedom and that type of stuff.

Let's start this week off in a simple way: Let's throw down some displays.  Like this one:

 BAM!  Read Graphic Novels!  

The focus for this year's Banned Books Week is graphic novels.  So, you know...like go out and read one...or two...or THREE.

Have you NEVER read a graphic novel before?  Well, this week is the perfect week to start.  Don't feel guilty about reading a "comic book."  The art of the comic and the graphic novel have come so far.  They really aren't just for little kids anymore.  The stories hidden within the covers of a graphic novel can be some of the most extraordinary, mind-bending, thought-provoking things you've ever read in your life.  PLEASE do yourself a favor and check one out this week.  Check out this LINK for some graphic novel reading suggestions.

Here's my overly simplistic (/lazy?) method for this display: I just went through the shelves of our awesome graphic novel collection and pulled some fantastic reads. I also consulted a list of banned graphic novels (same as the link above) to make sure I got a few of those on there.

Display #2?  Check her out:

Banned Brown Bags!  BOOM!

The method behind this one, you might ask?  Well, I read over and over AND over several of the Banned Books Lists compiled by the American Library Association.  I then consulted our collection.  I tried to pick out the ones that would be of highest interest to the students, but I also wanted to throw a couple in there that they might have read, but would be compelled to re-read after finding out a favorite was banned.  Like this one:

Can you guess what this one might be?  Here are a couple of hints: It has to do with a boy and a giant peach.  ;)

Oh, and LOOK!

Proof that my displays actually work!  Kiddos checking out the subversive literature under the brown bags.  HUZZAH!

That's all for now, chickadees.  Check back throughout the week for fun Banned Books info and more info on my displays, activities, and ideas for my first Banned Books Week.  Now, go be degenerate and READ BANNED BOOKS!!!

The Lost Art of Typing

We have typewriters here.

We.  Have.  Typewriters.  HERE!

I think it should be a requirement for all students to take keyboarding.  I also think they should have to take it on a typewriter, because gosh darnit, TYPEWRITERS RULE.  I wish I had one at home.  One student came in today to use one/mess around with one.  He said his mom wrote her thesis on a PC, but his dad wrote his thesis on a typewriter. 

I used to love watching my mom and dad type.  My mom was a no-sight kinda gal.  My dad was a hunter and pecker.  It didn't matter, because I could watch them for hours.  I loved listening to the clackety-clack.  My dad used to school me on how to line up the margins, when to press ENTER, how to thread the tape, and the other fine minutia of the lost art of typewriting.  My mom, well, I just used to hand her my papers to type, because she could type super fast (and edit along the way).

There's something so calming, surreal, therapeutic, and peaceful about a typewriter...even though they're loud.  They represent great writing and great writers.  Can you imagine Papa Hemingway behind a PC!?!  No, I didn't think so.

My new goal: find a typewriter--bring it home--USE IT.   (I guess that's THREE goals, but whatever, you get my point.)  I want my kids to know what a typewriter is.  I want their fingers to be able to glide across the keys, and I want their ears to HEAR their progress, as well as their eyes SEEING it.  I want this to be. 

So, this post, although not entirely focused on Library Land, gets back to the point that libraries should buck the trend of only attaining the latest technologies and help up keep and preserve the greatest technologies, too.  We want to give credit to old and new technologies alike, uphold them, savor them, and appreciate them BOTH--old and new--for what they have to offer.  That's what I want MY Library Land to do anyway.

 

Need Laser Disc?

Yeah, we got that...Or, at least we got access to that.

That's right.  Yet ANOTHER perk of being part of the second largest library in the country (second only to those Hah-vud Bunnies): We have access to glorious laser discs.

(And, it's the CRITERION COLLECTION, y'all!!!!)

A student group is doing a project on 2001: A Space Odyssey.  They are reading the book by Arthur C. Clarke, and they want to view Kubrick's movie as well.  The student in charge of getting the movie accidentally requested the LASER DISC instead of the DVD.  Well, that meant I got to do a little joyous happy dance this morning when I got in.

I instantly had flashbacks to watching films on laser disc at my friend's house when I was in high school...and having to wait while her dad flipped the disc over to the other side.  Her dad is somewhat of an amateur movie nut, and he also belonged to the Columbia VHS/Record/CD club.  She would always have the latest and greatest movies at her house before anyone else.  (And, her CD collection was outta this world thanks to those Buy 7, Get One for a Penny deals). 

Anyway...I digress.  The point is: Libraries are awesome.  We are curators of artifacts both timely and historical.  I know not many people use VHS or laser disc anymore, but it's cool to think if one really  needs either of these items they can turn to their library for help in gaining access to them.  This is why I fear libraries becoming totally virtual.  Until it can be proven everyone is out of their VCR's or laser disc players or cassette players, maybe, juuuuuuuuuuust maybe, libraries should still be responsible for helping out the members of their community who still want access to these seemingly outdated technologies.  

Archival Wonder

As I've mentioned before, I am the grad assistant in the largest high school library in the country.  (Yeah, yeah, I know: awesome sauce for me, and I should stop going on about it!)  Because we are a smaller part of a very large university library, archival work is done here.  Specifically, archival work of Uni objects: lots of newpaper clippings, old photos, items written/produced by Uni alums, etc.  One item that was found a couple of weeks ago is dreamy...super...and tasty.  It's an old cookbook.

Not just ANY old cookbook.  One of THESE old cookbooks:

Yup, that's right, folks.  One of the old style community cookbooks.  I love them.  I love, love, LOVE them.  They tell a story of a time through food.  And the story this old Uni cookbook has is interesting, layered, and well, I'll just say it again: TASTY.

I think the thing I'm most intrigued by is the amount of "ethnic" recipes in the book.  This is testament to the fact that even in the 1960s, when appreciating other cultures was still new to some in this country, Uni was a safe place, an inviting place, for celebrating different heritages and sharing them with others.  In this instance through a school-wide cookbook.

 (Did anyone even know what tofu and lychees were in 1968?)

I think my two favorite recipes have to be "Percolated Coffee" and "Hobo Chocolate."

I also love the descriptions that include "nutritious" and "filling."  These usually pertain to items with a lot of canned goods, which are full of sodium, and using some good ole fashioned ground beef.  Oh, 1968.  I love ya!

One final point: You bet your sweet bippy I'm gonna try some of these out!  Maybe I'll start with this one for cheesecake:

 

Getting Ready for Banned Books Week

I've been planning for this since the first week of school.  It's the first big library even of the year.  I am too excited to celebrate the freedom to read in a couple of weeks.  Here are a few of websites to get you as excited as I am and to get you involved in the deviant behavior of reading banned books.

Banned Books Timeline -- Including banned/challenged books and why they were banned/challenged.  Perhaps my favorite on the list is Paolo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed, which encourages an equal collaborative relationship between teacher and student.

About Banned and Challenged Books -- Always heard about Banned Books Week but haven't really looked too much into it?  If you want more information after viewing the timeline, check out this site from the American Library Association (ALA)

First Amendment Film Festival -- Get the masses pumped up for Banned Books Week by having a First Amendment Film Festival.  My favorite pick?  Show Christian Slater in Pump Up the Volume.  That sounds like an awesome time to me!

Frequently Challenged Books -- Here are the lists you need: all the banned books you can handle!  I challenge you to read at least one.

Banned & Challenged Comics List -- This year's focus for Banned Books Week is graphic novels.  Check out this list to read some deviant graphics!

Those are just five to get you started.  Tune in next week for some display and bulletin board ideas for your own Banned Books Week decor.  And, remember: you don't have to be a librarian to spread banned books awareness!

"You're Not Cool Anymore"

At the University of Illinois' Graduate School of Library and Information Science, you meet some pretty amazing people.  People who fight for intellectual freedom, academic integrity, and well, COMICS.

I have been lucky enough to have class with Carol Tilley three semesters in a row now.  Carol Tilley is a comics and youth services rock star.  She's just amazing.  She teaches classes on media literacy, graphic novels, cataloging, and youth services.  Not only does Carol share her stories of growing up down the street from a library, serving in a high school library, and her fight to declare comics safe for everyone, she also loves to keep it real.  (And, use Ryan Gosling Hey [Librarian] Girl memes in her lectures.)

At my most recent class with Carol, she reminded all of us in the room that we're not cool anymore.  No matter how hard we try, we'll never be cool enough for the kids we help and teach.  This made me laugh, cause she's so right.  I am not cool enough for the kids at Uni, and I know I'll never be cool enough for the kids I end up teaching...especially if it's in a high school.

I've been thinking about this statement a lot today, and not in a woe-is-me way but in a bemused way.  Yes, I've been thinking, and I've come up with this conclusion: I might not be cool enough, but I AM AWESOME.  I am totally awesome, because I believe in myself, I wear dresses with Brontosauruses and banned book tee-shirts, and I carry a TARDIS lunchbox.  I am awesome, because I drink way too many triple mochas and lattes, I cook awesome food, I love my kids and husband an insane amount, and I discuss YA books with so much enthusiasm that I sometimes scare kids.  (All this girl wanted was a recommendation for a follow up for David Levithan's Boy Meets Boy, and I literally skipped back to The Future of Us and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and Will Grayson Will Grayson.  I'm pretty sure she wanted me to calm down.)

Yup, I might not be too cool, but I am awesome, and I cannot wait to share my awesome sauce brand of self with kids in my own library one day.  I just hope they forage through my old exterior and quirks to find out how awesome I really am.  ;)

Best So Far

This is THE BEST library video I've seen so far.  Oh, there will be more, I'm sure, but since I have three little kids at home right now, this is THE BEST.

So true.  So prescient.  So.  Real.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

M is for "Mentors"

These are the people I work with at the Uni High Library.

They are pretty awesome, to say the least.  With them I never know when a conversation distinguishing Bryan Adams between Richard Marx will pop up, I'll get to pour over Uni archival materials with them (like a 1968 Uni High Cookbook), or when I will be encouraged to tell the story about that time when I got pulled over in Memphis by a cop who thought I was high (and then tell that story to the students during story time).

Amy is giving me freedom to explore display space and bulletin board ideas.  She's always willing to listen to my rambling display and bulletin board ideas.  She lets me self-direct my work, and she also has set plans for me when I come in on a Monday after only four hours of sleep and no coffee and can't for the life of me think of what I should do with my time.

Paul has the daunting task of teaching me how to competently use the circulation desk hub: charging/discharging books, completing call slip requests, finding tech items for students, and all the time being patient with my constant queries.

I have had a couple of colleagues tell me that the Uni High Library isn't a "real life" school library.  I acknowledge that: the students at Uni are extremely driven, independent, and put their education above pretty much anything else (which is how they got accepted and how they maintain their placement there).  Even though it might not be the most realistic training ground, I still have wonderful mentors leading me through my time there and making it a joy to come to work everyday.

Books About BOOKS

Thanks to a quirky little website called Holiday Insights, I found out that there are a couple of interesting book-related "holidays" coming up: Read a Book Day (September 6) and International Literacy Day (September 8).  So, I had to make a display...of course.

I used the space of our smaller display area (the top of our new magazine shelf) to house this display.  It will only be up for a week and a half (before we go full-on Banned Books mode), but I still thought it would be fun to pay short tribute to these holidays I just became aware of.

Here is the short and sloppy METHOD to my display madness:
Since our fiction collection is rather small, I pulled the books that I could find.  (NOTE: Markus Zusak's The Book Thief was checked out [yay!], so it's not on the shelf...yet.  I'm nabbing it once it comes in.)  I wanted to include fiction and non-fiction, but I could only find two non-fiction titles about book/reading in our collection.  I did find a graphic novel by Audrey Niffeneger (The Time Traveler's Wife) that I wasn't aware of, called The Night Bookmobile.  Good times!  Besides walking through our collection, I also sourced books from Goodreads' Popular Books About Books Shelf.  There were SO MANY quality titles on there, that I wish we had access to more in our library!

If you know of any other great books about books, send me an email! 

Suggestions Board & Tracking Books

TWO topics for the price of ONE post!  It's your LUCKY library day!

Suggestions Board:

My supervisor wants to make sure that the students have a voice in the library, and I couldn't agree with her more.  We want to know what books they would like us to purchase for THEIR library.  There is a small bulletin board inside the library, just to the left of our entryway.  Students can see it on their out of the library.  I tried to use bold colors (again), bold print, and inviting, eye-catching borders and clip art to make the board come to their attention.

My supervisor, Amy, started this board last year, and I've only added colors to make it stand out.  I have brainstormed a different theme for each month of the year, and I will change the Suggestions Board at the beginning of every month.  (I'm super excited about this!  Oh, and don't fret: I will post pictures of them, too.)  This board was all Amy's idea...and one that I will take with me to my library.

NOTE:  Amy suggested that there should be a pencil, and it most definitely should be attached to the board.  Oh, these high schoolers and always needing to steal writing tools.

Keeping Track of Display Books:

We have no way to mark or designate which books are on displays in our catalog.  Our catalog is connected to the entire catalog of the University of Illinois (which makes Uni High's library THE largest in the country, thank you very much).  But, for the student workers, there has to be some way to know what books go where.   What could I do?  How could I communicate with them?

It's simplistic.  It's old school.  It's...a list.

I've created a list of each display and what book is on them, and I've taped the lists onto the circulation desk..  If a book comes in to shelve, and I'm not here, the student workers (we are blessed with TWO), can look at that list and know where to put the books.  I will also keep a tally of which books are checked out.  (That will just be noted next to the title.) 

Don't Judge a Book by Its COLOR

My first display!  EEK!  I love it.

We don't have a lot of display space at our library, so I feel like I made do the best I could.  It was fun hunting for books just based on color...nothing else.  Even though it was just based on color, I still managed to get a couple of my favorites in under the ORANGE setting (Harry and the Deathly Potter Hallows and White Teeth).

There's also something for everybody here: fantasy, serious lit/classics, easy/beach-type reads, scary books, translated Japanese fiction (middle WHITE book, entitled Footprints in the Snow), in addition to new and old books.  I feel like a wide variety is represented.  The only thing I didn't get on there that I wanted to was a graphic novel selection.  I had the new re-release of Kingdom Come ready to go (since it has a GREEN cover), but it was too tall for the shelf space.

Here is the short and sloppy METHOD to my display madness:
I tried to cull books that aren't on other displays (we have a rotating New Books display) and/or haven't been checked out in awhile.  For example, Footprints in the Snow looks really interesting, and it hasn't been checked out since 2006!  I'll know that this display "works" if someone checks that out.

Anyway...I hope you like it.  I did get the idea from Pinterest.  Hopefully I'll be able to contribute my own idea to Pinterest one day. 

The Art of the Lib Guide

Oh, library guides (or lib guides for short)...I'll never forget my first time.

For those of you not in the know, a lib guide is like a mini-website.  It's usually made by the librarian or library assistant for a particular class in the school.  They are actually kind of fun.  My first lib guide was on The Roosevelts, and it was a team effort.  I received a list of sources from Head Librarian Amy, found some on my own, and also used the lib guide template from a previous project assigned by the same teacher.  (One thing that makes lib guides easy is you get to use previous lib guides as templates/inspiration.) 

It was fun digging up legitimate, viable sources on the Roosevelt family(--TR, FDR, and Eleanor are the focus of the class project).  The teacher of the class met with us, discussed her goals for the project, told us the project was to be going on at the same time as the PBS Ken Burns documentary entitled "The Roosevelts - An Intimate History," and then we got to fly on our own from there.  Amy assisted me in a brief lib guide tutorial, some spacing/layout advice, and then I got to cut/paste/drop the info where it needed to go.  A team effort for sure, and it was an enjoyable one at that.

I loved looking up the resources for the students to use and creating short, concise descriptions of each one for the lib guide.  I hope the students can use the lib guide, and I hope it helps them conduct their research and gain new knowledge into this important and influential American family.

Oh, and if you're really curious (and/or bored), you can check out my first lib guide HERE.