HOLIDAY GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK.  It's really just old magazines we need to get rid of, but still...we made a pretty sign and a pretty fan out of them.  The holiday season means weeding out old magazines here at the Uni Library.  A few of them will go to the Undergrad Library Collection, but most will stay here for giveaway.

 If I was a student here, I'd be so excited!  You see, back in the day, I LOVED making collages of all my favorite heartthrobs.  I used to troll the teen magazine selection--Seventeen, Sassy, YM--at my middle school library for hotties of those magic years, 1991-1994. Here are just a few of the covers that I VIVIDLY remember swiping photos from:

If my middle school library had done this annual giveaway, I wouldn't have had to my besties, Sandi and Cori, surround me in the Edison Middle School library and cough really loud when I ripped out pictures of the likes of Antonio Sabato, Jr., Sean Astin, Eddie Furlong, Christian Slater, Ethan Hawke, Robert Sean Leonhard, and Leonardo DiCaprio.  Too bad the librarian didn't make it easier, and less guilt inducing, to get these pictures.  I still feel kind of guilty...but it was also kind of fun livin' on the edge!

Dashing December Displays

They're dashing for a couple of reasons.  Number One, I just wanted to use a form of Dasher in my title.  Number Two, December is short around these here parts, so they won't be here for long.  And, Number Three, I had to find a way to triple alliterate the title. 

Author Spotlight was a no-brainer for December: the fair Miss Austen, without a doubt.  It is her birthday month, after all.  I took her original works with the newest covers (paperbacks in permabound), and then I pulled other Austen-esque titles: some non-fiction works about her works, one of the graphic novel adaptations, and a few of the recent fiction works inspired by her life or works.  (I still need to read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.  The day I created this display, I came home to find that my father had actually brought me that exact title for me to read, for a friend had given it to him.)  I had lots of fun--AGAIN--creating info slides to put up around the display, too. 

Because we had already spotlighted two males for author of the month, I knew I wanted to do a female for December.  When I started looking in our collection, and before I had remembered December was Jane Austen's birthday month, I noticed a lot of the female authors in our collection have written trilogies.  Trilogies are too small for an author display, and when I brought this up to my supervisor she said, "Why not do trilogies for Christmas...Like the Twelve Days of Christmas, but Twelve TRILOGIES?"  Um.  Yes.  That's why she's in charge.  She makes my ideas so much better.  (What will I do without her??)

And, so, Twelve Trilogies for Christmas display was born.  Some of the trilogies are rather established, like the Inkworld Trilogy or the Bartimaeus Trilogy, and some are rather new, like Lisa McMann's WAKE Trilogy and Jeff Sampson's Deviants Trilogy.  This display had books flying off of it faster than any other yet.  Marie Lu's Legend Series was checked out within the first few days.  Other quick check outs included selections from Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games (no shocker there) and Marisa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles. The best part was fitting them into the display space.  I got to experiment with lay out, book stacks, and still keep the display pleasing to the eye.  Finally, I did make one sign to give students a little bit of reason why all of these random series were stacked up together.

The first semester of displays have been pretty great, I think.  I've tried to keep them interesting, eye catching, and always focused on different types of books.  I may have fallen short of that last goals a few times, but with winter break coming up, I have a few weeks to think of and create new displays for the new year. 

Jealous

It's the end of the semester, and there are some major projects going on here at Uni.  While working in the library I see groups of students sitting around and discussing/studying Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.  Earlier in the semester I saw students toiling over (and gagging over) Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.  Students are also working on Banned Books Projects, reading texts of their own choosing.  I've seen Lord of the Flies and To Kill a Mockingbird among others.

 All I can think is, how lucky they are.

How lucky they are to be discovering these great works for the first time!  I remember the first time I read each of those novels, and they changed by life.  Before those, I had read Christopher Pike, Paul Zindel, and Roald Dahl...lots AND lots of all three.  They kind of WERE my reading life.  And, there is nothing wrong with these three great YA authors and others like them.  They are fantastic, entertaining, and made me that covert reader with the books in my lap during class.  But, Hawthorne, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Shelley, Dickens, Bronte, Wharton...they are the ones that sent my literary heart through the roof, and kept it in the clouds of epic words, devastating romances, and gritty realism, and may my heart never find its way back down to the dark doldrums of life without great classics.

*sigh*  I think I need to discover a new classic over break.  You know what?  I've never...read...Jane Eyre.  I know.  I can't believe it either.  I think I know my new assignment for this holiday.  Maybe if a classics kindred spirit sees me reading that for the first time while having a coffee break in the 'Bucks, they'll be jealous of me.

P.S.  Want the tee-shirts I've "advertised"?  Check out Litographs:Books on T-Shirts.  You won't be sorry.  Well, your bank account probably will be, but not you! 

Holiday Wishes

Even though this is a library blog, I can still talk about some holiday wishes.  Actually, I should make that holiday WISH. 

My holiday wish is to have time to read.

I know that sounds silly.  I'm a graduate assistant in a LIBRARY.  I am getting my master's in LIBRARY science.  I talk about, write about, think about books all day.  But, I don't really get a chance to read them that much.  I am busy at work, in class, taking care of three awesome babies, and writing papers.  When I'm not doing those things, I would really like to spend time with my wonderful husband.  Finding the time to read shouldn't be a struggle, but it is.  

I have a stack of books next to my bed that is almost impenetrable.  It's also close to toppling over.  Everyday I work here I find more books I want to read.  Every time I go on Good Reads I find more wonderful books recommended by my friends, and then I get sucked into their Listopia section, and I'm just toast.

I've never really thought about my own mortality until recently.  As the list of books I want to read gets longer and longer AND longer, I'm more aware of my lack of time on this plain.  I'll never get to read all of the books I want to read.  That is probably the most singularly depressing thought I've ever had.  I don't like that fact.  In fact, I HATE that fact.

Oh, my.  This was supposed to be upbeat, right?  I mean, I'm supposed to be writing about my holiday wish.  Let me see if I can turn this around.

OK...My holiday wish, or GOAL, is to read three books of my own choosing with absolute joy and abandon.  I will choose whatever I want: horror, graphic novels, contemporary literature, young adult...the sky's the limit.  Knowing me, my choices will probably come from this Good Reads list, "Food on the Cover."  I am so into books that center around food these days!  I don't know...it's a recent obsession.  Memoir, YA, picture books, adult fiction...if it has to do with food, I'M IN.

These books have a really good chance of making my holiday read list:

I hope to report back in January and tell you that I've accomplished my goal! 

It's That Time of Year

Yes indeedy.  It IS that time of year.  So many commitments: final papers to write, books to read, presents to wrap, things to do...but life would be boring without a little stress to keep you on your toes, no? 

All of sudden November's over, and December's already in its ninth day!  Since my last post, we've celebrated Thanksgiving, an anniversary, and two December birthdays at our house.  I've been busy around the Uni Library, too.  (Maybe too busy?  I really need to finish a couple of papers, but I keep finding things to think about/do in the Dragon's Lair.) 

Our monthly bulletin board and circ desk have been updated:

There's been another successful Game Day:

MORE new books have been put on overflow display:

 Awww, SNAP.  One's already gone.  Nice.

Another newsletter has been published detailing our December events, AND two displays have been created (more on those later).  PHEW!  THAT'S A LOT! 

 Oh, it's still so much fun, guys.  I'm so, SO lucky to be working at this library, if only for a year.  I get to stretch my creativity with bulletin boards, dream up displays that I hope will get students' attentions (and draw them into more pleasure reading and less studying...MUWAHAHA!!!), I get to hone my research skills as I help students learn theirs, and I get to learn and work with consummate professionals, like Amy and Paul.  This is the sweetest graduate assistantship EVER, and I'm VERY thankful for it during this time of year (no matter how busy I get!).

I Think I'd Die

I have a new dream.  It's lofty...OH SO LOFTY.  But, I can't get the image out of my head.  What image you might ask?  This image:

My new dream is to have David Tennant lead storytime at my future school library.

On Wednesday, the Unofficial David Tennant Facebook page posted that he visited his sister's school earlier this week.  He praised her life's work of assisting and teaching students with special needs.  They then posted pictures of him with the students at the school and reading to them in the assembly room.

There are so many things here going on that makes my head want to explode.

1.  His sister is a teacher for students with special needs, and he praises her.  He knows what a hard, yet rewarding, job this is.  Swoon.
2.  He chums around with the students.  His sister said many of her students absolutely adore Doctor Who, and he made their dreams come true.  Double swoon.

3.  He said his sister asked him to visit, and he still has to do what his older sister tells him to.  Adorable.
4.  He led storytime.  I'll type that one again: HE.  LED.  STORYTIME.  Brain officially BURSTING!

I kind of want to write him an impassioned plea to come visit my school next year, wherever that may be, and beg him to lead storytime.  I have to start crafting this letter now.  Too bad his latest show, Gracepoint on FOX, is bombing in the ratings.  He might be hesitant to visit the States again.  I'll just assure him he'll receive a very warm reception when he arrives at the library.  I need to make this happen.  And, he needs to wear that Mr. Cool tee again.

Just a Regular Day

It's just a regular old day here at the Uni Library, and a day in which I get some more awesome practice at being a future librarian.

The Subbie (grades 7/8 combined) Group is doing a project on Banned Books before the semester is over, and a student came in today needing some help on finding information on Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho.

So, I got to spend the morning talking with her about American Psycho, looking up primary source documents on the furor that American Psycho caused, and helping her navigate online books and request articles from campus storage.  So, all in all, just an awesome morning.  I even got to exercise biting my tongue as to why a 13-year-old shouldn't be reading that violent, drug- and sex-induced satire.  Yay me!  On that note...

As a librarian I am all for not banning books, freedom of speech, and freedom of access, but if my kid wanted to read American Psycho at 13, we would have a discussion about appropriate book selection for one's maturity level.  Part of the project the Subbie Group is doing is completing research BEFORE they read the book as to why it's been banned, and then they have to present a convincing proposal to their parents as to why they should be able to read it.  Before the student gets cleared to read the book, they must present a signed copy of the letter from their parents saying it's fine for them to it.  This is ingenious, and I wish I would have thought of this as a former teacher.  I would like to read this student's letter about American Psycho, because she really, REALLY wants to read it.

In my research this morning I was also reminded of the London musical adaptation of the book starring Whoniverse's Matt Smith, which has a score by 90s one hit wonder, Duncan Sheik.  I have to get my hands on that recording.