Pop Goes the Library

Sophie & Liz Signing at ALA

2009-07-03T08:21:00.001-05:00

The following authors will be signing at the Information Today, Inc. booth [#4525] on

Saturday July 11 from 1:00 — 2:00 p.m.

Tasha Squires, author of Library Partnerships: Making Connections Between School and Public Libraries

Pop culture mavens Sophie Brookover and Elizabeth Burns, authors of Pop Goes the Library: Using Pop Culture to Connect With Your Whole Community

Save Ohio Libraries

2009-06-28T10:03:00.003-05:00

As reported many places, including Library Journal, the Governor of Ohio, Ted Strickland, has proposed a budget that slashes library funding in half.

The blog The Library is Now Closed has updates of the situation and actions being taken.

Save Ohio Libraries is also a great source for information.

A lot of library and librarian blogs and twitter accounts are involved with doing what they can; and for those of us outside Ohio, that involves letting people in Ohio know we care and are supporting them.

For those outside Ohio: of course, it can happen in your state, your county, your town. If Ohio is successful, other government entities will see this as a way to save money. "Penny wise, pound foolish" as the saying goes. So what can you do now? Let Ohio libraries and librarians know you support them; and start, now, getting your data, information, and stories together to be able to show the value of libraries and librarians to your community. New Jersey's Snapshot Day (Snapshot: one day in the life of New Jersey libraries) is an excellent example of such a resource (and no, I'm not just saying it because I am a Jersey librarian).

Note that I say libraries AND librarians. Because a building with books is just a warehouse; a collection of books that is based on someone else's donations is just a book swap; and volunteers cannot do what a librarian can.

Don't Blame Kate

2009-06-20T15:07:00.001-05:00

I'm sure it doesn't surprise readers that one of my TV shows is Jon and Kate Plus 8. J&K is what I call "easy watching" TV; I don't have to think too hard, I can do other stuff, and gosh darn it the kids are cute! And I love shows about large families.

Yes, Kate could be nasty, but I'm sure if cameras were following me around all the time my TWOP name would be Elizabitch. And yes, Jon can be too laid back, but man, with that many kids you don't want to be too hyper. And now this season, as anyone who reads People headlines knows, the usual marriage tensions escalated to rumors of divorce. No comment from me, except that it's heartbreaking, and it's no one person's fault.

Remember the Louds? In what some call the beginning of reality TV, PBS did a documentary called An American Family about the Louds. They (and America) got more than the bargained for when Pat asked Bill for a divorce; and son Lance's being gay? This was 1973. Groundbreaking.

Also groundbreaking has been the The Up Series (Seven Up / 7 Plus Seven / 21 Up / 28 Up / 35 Up / 42 Up / 49 Up) series; following Neil's mental health issues has been devastating and illuminating.

The question of children acting -- or being used -- has always been with the industry. Until actual actors aren't needed in order to make films and TV shows, children will be needed on stage, film, TV. Go back to pre-film days, and most of the great stage families had the younger members acting since (and before) they could walk. But some shows take the illusion one step further by having the viewer think they are "really" watching a "real" child's life, not too unlike the Gosselins.

Ozzie & Harriet Nelson used their own names, their own sons, and their sons' names for their TV show. It was a TV show, clearly, but it gave many people the illusion that they were watching a "real" family. Many people still believe that Desi Arnaz, Jr, played Little Ricky on I Love Lucy, in part because of Lucy/Lucy and in part because in Here's Lucy Lucie and Desi, Jr. played her children (but with different names.)

So, what other early documentaries have given too-uncomfortable (and not planned) looks into the darkness of life?

Crossposted at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy.

Gwyneth Paltrow, Your Library Director

2009-05-15T06:30:00.000-05:00

A few months ago, the New York Times had an article, Martha, Oprah ... Gwyneth? on Gwyneth Paltrow's website Goop.

Ah, a chance for me to be snarky, I thought. I mean, Goop? From a person who named their child Apple? A person like Gwyneth telling a person like me how to live my life.... she has a personal trainer, a chef, a rock star husband, etc., etc. Because blogging and librarianship aren't in the same tax bracket as movie star, we don't have much in common.

Sophie rightly said to wait and read before unleashing my talents of critical discourse, er, snark.

So after briefly looking around the website and not getting why Gywneth is doing this, I signed up for the weekly email newsletter (also available at the website).

Ahem.

I still have no idea why Gwyneth is doing this. And it doesn't matter.

Because her newsletter is brilliant. And it's something that every library could, and should, be doing. Who knew? Gwyneth's Library Lessons could get added to her Goop website.

Once a week, the newsletter comes in my inbox. Each week, the topic is different: "See", "Do", "Make", "Be." There is a breezy, short, friendly intro from Gwyneth. Gwyneth doesn't hold herself out as the expert; so the main part of the newsletter is from others. This past week, it was "Party Jams", lists of songs to play at parties from various people in the music industry. Another week, "Five Minute Do-Overs", all DIY, by various make-up people.

Gwyneth isn't pretending to be the expert; she's bringing the experts to her readers.

And isn't that what libraries do? We are not the experts. But we help connect our patrons with information from experts, whether the information is found in our materials, or via the Internet, or from the programs we offer.

Why not use the Goop newsletter model for weekly library newsletters from the Library Director? Just as Gwyneth writes the intro, so, too, could your Library Director. Content can come from various people. Fitness tips from the health teachers and coaches at your local schools. Staff members could contribute favorite recipes from the books on your shelf. Health ideas from the local hospitals. Auto maintenance from local auto shops. Information on colleg applications from the local guidance counselors or college admissions people. With a wide variety of people contributing, no one person or department gets overwhelmed and burnt out with the responsibility. Keep it short and sweet, with a couple of library materials referenced, whether it's books, DVDs, games, or databases. And, like Goop, all also posted on the library website.

Yes, it would be easy to mock Gwyneth and Goop and the newsletter. But it's much more productive to be inspired.

Congratulations, Melissa Rabey!

2009-05-02T08:37:00.000-05:00

The 2009 YALSA Election Results have been announced; and Melissa Rabey is on the Printz! Congrats, Melissa!

NJ Statewide Children's & Teen Author Conference

2009-04-30T09:03:00.001-05:00

For those of you who live in or near New Jersey:

The NJ Statewide Children's and Teen Author Conference will be held on Friday, May 8, 2009 from 9:30 am until 4 pm at the Woodbridge Public Library. Registration is due tomorrow BUT THERE IS STILL ROOM; the registration form and other contact information is located here (it's a PDF).

Cost: $30.00 if you are a member of NJLA or NJASL; $45 if you are not; and $15 if you are a student. That includes not only the all day event, but also a light breakfast and lunch. If you're a teacher, yes, you can get CE credits.

The authors:

Laura Ruby; Marc Tyler Nobleman; Peter Brown; Lisa Greenwald; and Benedict Carey. Copies of their books will be available for purchase and to have signed.

Cross posted at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy

See Sophie and Liz B Sign Their Names

2009-04-22T20:14:00.001-05:00

And we do it well. We've had years of practice.

Are you going to the NJLA Conference next week? You have not one, but two, opportunities for the Sophie & Liz B show (the short version and the long version.)

The short version: Sophie Brookover and I sign our book, Pop Goes the Library: Using Pop Culture to Connect With Your Whole Community on Tuesday, from 3:30 to 4:30

The long version: Our presentation Wednesday, from 11:30 to 12:20:

Pop Goes the Library: Public Relations Tips & Tricks to Connect with Your Whole Community "If you buy it, will they come? What do you do with the popular materials your patrons request? Get serious about marketing and promoting your pop culture collections! Learn about internal as well as external marketing, create a PR campaign for local stakeholders, and develop & execute a pop culture advocacy plan to make your collections and programs really POP @ your library!" Sophie Brookover, Eastern Regional High School, Voorhees, NJ; Elizabeth Burns, NJ State Library, Library for the Blind and Handicapped.

See you there!

I Wish I Was Their Librarian

2009-04-17T20:59:00.000-05:00

April Madness

2009-03-30T08:33:00.003-05:00

You've heard of March Madness; get ready for April Madness!

April Madness? What is that?

OK, I am the only one calling it that.

It is School Library Journal's Battle of the (Kids') Books. The Morning News and Powell's Books have been doing a Tournament of Books for five years now; and as Tea Cozy readers know, I've posted a time or two this year's inclusion of a YA book in the ToB.

In a nutshell: just as with March Madness, there is a bracket where sixteen books go one-on-one against each other. So the first round contains eight "book v book" rounds, with each round having an individual judge determine who "wins". That leaves eight books for a second round, with a new set of judges; four books for the third round, again, new judges; leading up to the last and final round.

The judges? Authors; with Lois Lowry being the final judge. Full details are at SLJ; including a BoB blog; a twitter account; and a handy-dandy printable form to use at your library, school, or office to for your BoB pool. Oh, and you can get the books at The Flying Pig bookstore, at a 30 % discount.

Where The Music Is

2009-03-20T06:00:00.001-05:00

Whatever else you may think of Jimmy Fallon and his entree into late night host-dom (and actually, I think he is okay. Not brilliant, but okay, which is fine for now), the dude wears great suits, has some seriously awesome music going on. First of all, The Roots are his house band, which is cool for several reasons:

The Roots are from Philly, which, living as it does in New York's shadow, needs all the cultural visibility it can get;
The Roots flat-out rule. They are tighter than skinny jeans and way, way more flattering to everyone's figure. Yes, even your size 2 teenage daughter looks better when listening to The Roots.
Questlove, the Roots' drummer, wears a pick comb in his 'fro at all times. This will never not be cool, although due to the complex calculus of cool, it is only cool for Questlove to sport this look.

Anyway, The Roots are versatile and they both rap and rock, and I think it says something pretty great about Jimmy that he hired a house band that is several [hundred] times more professional & entertaining than he is. I think he's also shown impressive depth of musical knowledge & passion with his musical guests on the show. Thus far, musical guests have included Glen Hansard (of Once fame, singing the wonderful, slightly obscure R.E.M. song "Hairshirt"), Santigold, the Virgins, Ludacris, Public Enemy, and on Wednesday night, hipster dreamboats Vampire Weekend, playing a brand-new song off their as-yet-lacking-a-release-date second album:

Like Conan before him, Fallon is using his position as a late-night host to promote not just whoever has a new album coming out, but artists he is personally passionate about, which is great for those of us purchasing or handselling music in a library setting. As he provides lesser-known acts (and classic acts wanting to reach a new audience, such as Public Enemy) with a national venue for their work, he makes it easy for us to do listener's advisory. Because his show is archived at the show's website and at Hulu (not to mention YouTube), it's easy to say to a patron, "oh, you missed Glen Hansard's performance? Let me pull that up for you -- it was lovely! If you like it, you may be interested in the Once soundtrack, some of his work with The Frames, or Green, which is the R.E.M. album this song originally appeared on."

When I hear colleagues fretting about the Internet putting us out of a job, I think about the kinds of cross-media connections we can make for our patrons, and teach them to make for themselves, and I think there may be a future for us, after all.

2009-03-19T19:01:00.002-05:00

As mentioned earlier, Melissa Rabey, who contributes to Tea Cozy and Pop Goes the Library and the YALSA blog, as well as has her own blog, Librarian by Day, is running for the 2011 Printz. Melissa is a teen librarian at the C. Burr Artz branch of the Frederick Co. (MD) Public Library and will be sharing her expertise in historical fiction to the YALSA Genre Galaxy preconference in Chicago this June. And, she has YALSA experience on several committees, including Popular Paperbacks and Organization & Bylaws.

Liz B: Tell us something about yourself.

Melissa Rabey: In some ways, I think I'm more interesting because of the things I can't do. I'm unable to snap my fingers, and I can hardly whistle. To hear me sing is to wish for me to stop--quickly.

Yet I think this lack of ability has actually helped me. I spend a lot of time contemplating ideas and talking them over with others, so I don't make snap judgments.

I'm determined to help other people get a chance to sing their own song--just like the Mama Cass song says.

And although I can't whistle while I work, I do try to stay positive and proactive, and not just at work.

Liz B: Name one YA title, published pre-1998, that would have made an excellent Printz Award winner.

Melissa Rabey: I know that there's lots of people who would support either Rats Saw Godby Rob Thomas or Weetzie Batby Francesca Lia Block as the best answer to this question. And both of those books are fantastic examples of the quality of young adult literature.

But there's another book, one which has stuck with me ever since I read it: Eva by Peter Dickinson. I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it, but the plot twist in this novel still gives me the willies, five years after I read it. In addition, the language and characterization in this novel are rich and compelling; without this, an interesting idea would fall flat.

I think the best books have two aspects: what they're saying and how they're saying it. I feel Eva succeeds on both counts, and therefore would have been my pick for a Printz Award, if this award had existed in 1989.

Liz B: What has prepared you to read for the Printz?

Melissa Rabey: Over the last nine months, I've been consciously preparing for the Printz Committee. I started a blog to review teen literature and have started posting at Liz Burns' Tea Cozy blog. At my blog, I evaluated the Morris Award shortlist as a way to practice my analytical skills. I served on the Maryland Author Award committee, reviewing the works of young adult authors with Maryland ties in order to select a winner. In this period, I've strived to read more books in general, and to read these books in a more critical manner.

Yet I've also been preparing for the Printz committee ever since I became a teen librarian. I've always sought to be aware of the important and/or popular books published for teens, and to read as many as I could. Through my service on Popular Paperbacks, I learned how to manage a reading workload and discuss books with my colleagues.

I feel that this mix of conscious and unconscious planning has me as ready as possible for the Printz committee. I don't know if anyone is really prepared for the amount of work that's involved in the Printz committee, but I think I can do a good job. I hope you believe that, too.

Liz B: What's your area of pop culture expertise?

Melissa Rabey: I seem to be an expert at nitpicking historical inaccuracies in movies and TV shows. I understand why history gets changed to create or enhance drama--or at least, what's seen as drama. I feel that if you can't see the tragedy, the humor, the entertainment in historical fact, you've got an unusual definition of drama. It's for this reason I haven't watched any of The Tudors : it's a marvelous time period, full of sex and fights and political wranglings, yet all that isn't interesting enough on its own, apparently. But if, in the end, a show like the Tudors gets people more interested in history, then I can't really complain all that much.

Liz B: I guess I should confess now that I've never read Eva. Oh, well, I better start reading! Thanks, Melissa!

As a reminder to all YALSA members:

Here's the official YALSA slate

And video interviews with the candidates, including Melissa

The Election category on the blog with all Election information

Cross-posted at Tea Cozy.

Congratulations All Around

2009-03-18T18:26:00.003-05:00

So much joy & excitement in the world of Pop!

First, Carlie Webber: Mover & Shaker. Great write-up, awesome photo, so, so proud to know her. Please go congratulate her at her other blog, Librarilly Blonde!

Second, welcome, welcome to John & Shai Klima's second baby, Mr. Easton Cade Klima! I'm not sure if John would want me posting a photo of the young man here (though there is one at the blog post linked above), but I can tell you he is cute, and everyone is healthy. Yay for the growing Pop Family!

Third, our very own Melissa Rabey is on the ballot for the 2011 Printz Committee. If you are a member of YALSA, please consider voting for her, because she is made out of awesome. Seriously: unflappable, passionate, knowledgeable, kind, and thoughtful. I am telling you, Melissa is what you're looking for in a Printz Committee member, but you don't have to take my word for it. Read her blog, Librarian By Day, and see for yourself!

Thematic One City, One Book in Alameda

2009-02-25T05:53:00.005-05:00

Alert reader and Friend of Pop Lisa Schmeiser let me know that the Alameda Public Library is doing something very cool with their One City, One Book initiative, known as Across the Pages: instead of just one book, they've chosen a theme for everyone in the community to enjoy: Mystery! They've got movie nights, murder in the library games (one of which is a fundraiser), Q&A sessions with mystery authors -- something for everyone, in other words! I love that one of the teen events features mega-popular anime Death Note, and the all-ages events include classic films like The Maltese Falcon alongside new ones for children & families like Nancy Drew. What a nice mix of new & old, and what a thoughtful combination of programs for the entire community! It fits in perfectly with the Alameda Free Library's goal, "to bring Alameda together through books, reading, and the sharing of ideas and experiences." Bravo!

Kate McClelland and Kathy Krasniewicz Memorial Service

2009-02-21T07:29:00.001-05:00

The drawback of being on Facebook and Twitter is that I sometimes think I've written about something, only to discover that no, it was part of a FB/Twitter conversation

In January, after the ALA Midwinter Conference, ALSC members Kate McClelland and Kathy Krasniewicz were killed in a car accident on their way to the Denver Airport. The New York Times wrote a beautiful article about the two women; the ALSC blog collected memories of the two women, and posted other updates.

Kate McClelland was the vice-president/president-elect of ALSC. Following ALSC rules, Thom Barthelmess was appointed to be vice-president/president-elect.

If you've clicked through any of these links, right now you're realizing what a loss this is to these women's families, friends, library, and the profession.

Perrot Memorial Library in Old Greenwich, Connecticut is holding a Memorial Service on March 20. Full details are at the library blog.

Cross-posted at A Chair, A Fireplace, & A Tea Cozy.

Friday Fun: It's Everywhere!

2009-02-20T11:38:00.001-05:00

Do you ever feel like discussions of pop culture are everywhere? Sometimes in the least expected places? When I realized that even my local newspaper has a pop culture blog, I started thinking about how pop culture isn't so frowned upon anymore. I think it's because people have realized that pop culture is culture, first and foremost. Thousands of years ago, we had shared stories that were told around fires and in town squares. Now, our stories are from TV, movies, and books, as well as the lives of the people who appear on our screens.

Rachel Maddow has a pop culture segment every night on her show called "Just Enough"--just enough pop culture to allow her out in public, in Rachel's own words. We have academic resources on pop culture, such as Greenwood's Pop Culture Universe (as consulted on by PGTL's own Sophie). And every day, it seems like there's a new blog that talks about all the different ways culture is intersecting and becoming more based on popular works.

I think this is all about how pop culture isn't sneered at in the way it used to be. Yeah, sure, if you're reading Perez Hilton or Gawker to stay on top of the exploits of starlets, there might be a little derision. But with how complex and engrossing television series have become, with how transporting movies are, with how fanatical fans are over their favorite books . . . is it any wonder that pop culture is now just culture? And I'm happy that this is happening.

What do you think? Am I all wrong about this?

Our Students, Ourselves

2009-02-17T12:00:00.001-05:00

This post was co-written with Erin Downey Howerton of schooling.us (Erin's is the first-person voice in this post) and Liz Burns of Pop & Tea Cozy, and cross-posted at the YALSA Blog. Erin is the school liaison at the Johnson County (KS) Library. She is a member of YALSA and AASL.

Librarians' hearts were aflutter today as the New York Times reported on school librarians in their Future of Reading column. Motoko Richs' article "In Web Age, Library Job Gets Update" features a day in the life of Stephanie Rosalia, a librarian at Public School 225 in Brooklyn. The piece marvels at how she does not simply stamp books and shush students, but rather teaches information literacy. It rose quickly to the #1 slot as today's most emailed NYT article.

My Twitter network was quite active as we traded links to various responses, and, regrettably, the comments on the article itself. Most dismaying was comment #24 from "suenoir," a reader who identified herself as a school board president from King County, WA and who felt that school libraries & librarians are superfluous in the face of the Internet and public libraries. She commented:

"If teachers used the public libraries, imagine what could be done with the space now occupied by the library. What if it were a music room? An engineering lab? Students have access to a librarian at public libraries, they do not have access to so many other resources."

This commenter appears to be affiliated with the Highline Public Schools (Susan Goding, board member, used the email suenoir@hotmail.com in her campaign information which is easily available online). Goding's district indicates that they enroll in excess of 17,000 students, and one of their secondary facilities reports that they see an average of around 100 students a day in their media center for regularly scheduled classes, not including students using the library who are not specifically scheduled for instruction. That's an awful lot of students to absorb at a local public library branch!

This article served to remind us in the library community that our patrons do not always easily or readily understand the differences in purpose between different library types. They may think of us all as interchangeable widgets, able to help in any library we might find ourselves in. This is not so. I had a great email conversation with Liz Burns and Sophie Brookover of Pop Goes the Library on just this topic:

Sophie: This article made me stand up and cheer, right at the breakfast table (because that's where I read it, after a friend posted it to my Wall on Facebook). Stephanie Rosalia is a perfect example of what a great, properly trained and enthusiastic school librarian can offer, which a public librarian cannot: just-in-time learning opportunities for students that relates directly to what they are learning in the classroom every day. She is exactly the kind of school librarian I want to be when I grow up.

edh: Yes, we public librarians often have very little contact with teachers at individual schools despite robust outreach efforts. I know some patrons get the mistaken impression that we're not concerned with student needs.

Liz: Public libraries don't ignore students; far from it! But a public library's main mission is not to be geared towards students. It's a system geared towards the entire public. Yes, that includes the homeless; teens; seniors; young mothers; people using the Internet; and students.

edh: I loved how the article and video demonstrated Ms. Rosalia's ability to incorporate all sorts of content in her school library. She's obviously deeply involved in the curriculum and learning process in her school.

Sophie: School librarians remix and mash up content from all sorts of sources -- online, print, audio, video, and more -- every day, all with a view towards matching the right content with the right kids at the right time. Public librarians do this every day, as well, but to be a great public librarian is to be a fantastic generalist. To be a school librarian is to be what many of us are called these days, a media specialist. As a media specialist, your area of specialization is your school's curriculum. You are aware of a wide body of resources, but you home in on the materials that meet the specific needs of your students' assignments.

edh: Absolutely! I am not entirely sure that the school board member who commented on the article understands the distinction between our libraries' functions.

Liz: Saying "use the public library, there is so much more we can do with school resources and money" is like trying to have one's cake and eat it, too. Because while sometimes there are actual joint libraries (with appropriate funding and staffing), more often shutting the school library does not result in additional funding being given to the public library. So there is an addition of students needing instruction, books and materials for reports, but no funds to purchase those additional books or to hire the needed staff.

edh: And some public libraries have restrictions on the materials they can buy – collection development policies can prohibit us from purchasing the books and media that would best address student learning.

Liz: And that's aside from the loss of the librarian as teacher. When will those students be able to go to the local library? Students get transportation to schools; they don't have the same access to public libraries. Those students with parents who have the transportation and time will benefit from school libraries; those students whose parents don't have ready access to cars and who work while the library is open, won't be able to use the public library. I've been in libraries where there are a good number of local kids who use the libraries; and just as many kids who don't, because they don't live close enough to the library to walk or ride a bike safely. Public libraries may be full of students; but can one imagine that if they are filled WITH school libraries available, how overwhelmed those libraries would be WITHOUT school libraries?

Additionally, public library budgets are being cut. What would your school do when the public library cuts hours, staff, and the materials budget? Open up the school library? By that time you'd have a dearth of materials missing from the years it was closed.

edh: That's just for materials designed to support academic assignments – imagine all the great fiction titles you would have missed out on in the intervening years. The public library alone is not enough to supply a student with the choices they need to read widely for enjoyment.

Sophie: A good school library should absolutely have high-appeal leisure reading. After all, AASL's Standards for the 21st Century Learner are fully 25% about the pursuit of personal and aesthetic growth, and with that in mind, I've sunk a large proportion of my own school library's budget into high-quality, high-appeal books for my students to read for fun. I've been lucky enough to have the unswerving support of my school's English Department, many members of which have brought hundreds (yes, hundreds!) of students to my Library Media Center for booktalks and reader's advisory, all in the service of year-round independent reading assignments. This collaborative effort has been so successful that I plan to continue to develop and promote the LMC's fiction and nonfiction collections for leisure reading.

There are so many opportunities for school librarians to collaborate with public librarians to provide even better services and collections to our students, but I think it's very important, as Liz said, for school and public librarians to spend some serious time educating the general public about the different missions of each institution, as well.

edh: Yes, letting people know about what we do in different libraries is imperative. I find myself also recommending special libraries to students who have a very specific or advanced assignment. We're lucky to have special libraries in the Kansas City area that will lend freely to the public and assist students with individual disciplines. The Midwest Center for Holocaust Education library is great for students looking at Judaism and World War II, and the Linda Hall Library has a special collection just for aspiring teen scientists among their more esoteric materials. Access to only one library is never enough! If it takes a village to raise a child, it also takes a variety of libraries to educate them into adulthood.

Liz Burns on the Printz Process

2009-02-15T07:01:00.003-05:00

Our very own Liz Burns is guest-blogging at ForeWard Magazine's blog, ShelfSpace, this month. Her first post is a typically insightful look at her experiences being a member of the 2009 Michael L. Printz Award Committee. Since I'm on YALSA's Nominating Committee again this year, I will be using Liz's entry as a "here's a glimpse of what you can expect" point of reference for potential Printz candidates.

What's In a Name?

2009-02-13T18:02:00.007-05:00

Does "library" matter?

My alma mater, Rutgers SCILS, has decided to remove "library" from its name and become SCI.

A meeting with current students, alumni, etc. is being live blogged at SCILS or SCI.

Personally? I'm both embarrassed and appalled. To me, this is a loud "libraries and librarians don't matter" -- tho, Rutgers will still accept tuition from those who want an MLIS degree. Our money is good; who we are and what we do? Not so much.

About eighteen months ago, Amy at Library Garden said we should "pimp ourselves" -- be loud and proud about our MLS/MLISs.

The library news is full of bad news: libraries closing, hours cut, staff reduced, budgets cut.

And what does SCILS do? The opposite of being proud; instead, they back away from the l-word.

I wonder, if our professional schools don't want to promote libraries, does it matter? Should we just toss the towel in, say it doesn't matter whether or not we are librarians? It doesn't matter if we work in libraries? Heck, if it doesn't matter, why do we need an MLS or MLIS? Maybe we should all go back to school for this type of degree, if libraries don't matter.

Edited to add: The Annoyed Librarian addresses the name change. Her point? Or at least, what I think her point is? That the professors at universities teaching library science aren't librarians: "The permanent faculty at library schools aren't librarians. What they research and teach has only the most tenuous connection if any to libraries or librarianship." So the name doesn't matter, because what goes on at "library school" has nothing to do with libraries; and Rutgers has a captive student audience who won't go elsewhere, no matter what the name is.

Friday Fun: Book Covers

2009-02-13T11:12:00.003-05:00

One aspect of book production that can get the short shrift is cover design. Everyone's heard the platitude that you can't judge a book by its cover, but if that were true, why would publishers put so much effort into creating their covers? I have a only slightly secret crush on Chip Kidd, who is my favorite book designer (you can see some of his work here) as well as being an entertaining author.

But there's a lot of other imaginative people out there, like Pablo Defendini (who is also very passionate about electronic books) at Tor Books. Pablo doesn't have as much online as Chip, but here's a great example of a print he designed for Cory Doctorow's Little Brother.

Now, there are some other things I've been seeing online that also deal with book covers. A little old now, but here's a blog post from Joseph Sullivan's Book Design Review from November of last year, showcasing some of his favorite book cover designs from the year. While I'm partial to the cover for Harry Harrison's Make Room! Make Room! (better known to many people as the movie Soylent Green), the cover for The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction is just amazing.

Pursuant to that, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction is part of Penguin's (through their UK office) Great Idea series. There are three series, and the link takes you to the first one. Each is twenty books, and they comprise everything from Karl Marx to Seneca to Thomas Hobbes to George Orwell. I think each and every one of these books has great cover design. They are small, hand-sized editions, and if someone wanted to buy all three series for me (a bargain at just under 300 pounds) I would love them forever.

On the more fun side of things, blogger Spacesick recently created a whole bunch of book cover mock ups, taking popular movies and creating 1960s style book covers for them. I don't know if I can pick a favorite from these. Every time I settle on one, the next one catches my eye.

For practical purposes, you can always create displays of books designed by the same person/design team. That would take some research, but could be well worth the results. Alternately, you can pick out similarly themed book design, and put them together under a "Judge This Book by Its Cover" display. For programming items, you could have people design new book covers for their favorite book. Or take a book with bad design and redo it. The possibilities are endless!

Coraline

2009-02-09T06:10:00.000-05:00

Coraline is based on the book of the same name by Neil Gaiman. The movie theatre I saw it in was only 2-D, not 3-D; I'm hoping to be able to watch and enjoy the 3-D version.

The movie is animated stop action, and it's a thing of beauty. Great colors, wonderful scenery, it's just an amazing work of art. The OtherMother is deliciously creepy, especially when she's imitating a child's version of what a Perfect Mother would be.

I'm usually quite easy about books that have been turned into movies. No, really. I understand that what works well in a book doesn't work well in a movie; and that to tell a story visually requires change. I also understand the need to cut (or expand) a story to make it fit a movie format.

That said, ultimately, I was disappointed by how the story was adapted into film.

Spoilers! Spoilers! Spoilers!

The movie introduced a friend for Coraline called Wybie; and while this lessened Coraline's isolation (an important part of the book), it did give Coraline someone to talk to and interact with. The book has long stretches where it is just Coraline and her thoughts; having a person there, instead of just Coraline, makes sense. So I understand why Wybie was added.

What doesn't make sense is that Coraline, while spunky, is dumbed down. And part of that dumbing down shows at the end, when Wybie (the boy) rescues Coraline. Coraline's well-plotted defeat of Other Mother gets turned into a spur of the moment event that requires The Boy to help save the day.

OtherMother and her OtherWorld are wonderfully realized; but it's exaggerated a bit too much, such as putting the retired actresses (Miss Spink and Miss Forcible) into stripperesque costumes.

This is a don't-miss visual experience; but in terms of story-telling, the book remains far superior and has a much more appealing Coraline.

Blossom Dearie, RIP

2009-02-08T21:08:00.004-05:00

Oh, MAN. I'm so sorry to hear that one of my all-time favorite singers, Blossom Dearie, has died at the age of 82. I'll post more later, but here she is performing her classic "I'm Hip":

NY Comic Con Talk Follow-Up

2009-02-08T20:08:00.007-05:00

This afternoon, I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel with Fuse #8's Betsy Bird & Matt Bird (her lovely & knowledgeable husband) on Graphic Novels: A New Literacy for Libraries, School, and Home. Betsy recorded the talk and I'll post a link here to the podcast when she makes it available for download.

I made 40 copies of my handout, and we ran out, which is both good & bad -- good to have 45 folks snapping up our materials, good that they thought enough of them to leave with them, rather than crumple them up into a ball, to be deposited on the floor. (Better still that we had so many attendees after our room assignment was changed!) Still, 40 handouts and 45 audience members meant that several of those delightful audience members went without. So, for them, and for those of you who couldn't attend but are interested in the materials we provided, here you go! Betsy is planning to post her handouts at Fuse #8; I'll link to the post once it goes live.

Teaching Literary Devices with Comics, a lesson plan written by Nancy Frey and Doug Fisher, from the National Association of Comics Art Educators;
Basic Comics Terminology, a handout contributed by Matt Madden and Jessica Abel (also from NACAE);
My handout of links & articles, re-organized & updated!

UPDATE: I vanquished my FTP issues and the link for my handout, above, now works. Huzzah! Thank you, alert reader Inkwell Bookstore, for noting the problem.

Lux Interior, RIP

2009-02-05T05:40:00.002-05:00

The LA Times music blog reports that Lux Interior, co-founder and lead singer of seminal psychobilly band The Cramps has died at age 60. Full obit here. If you've never heard of the Cramps (indeed, my own knowledge of them extends not much farther than rocking out to a few great singles on various compilations and an appreciation for Poison Ivy's unique fashion stylings), here's a lovely, succinct analysis of why they matter:

The band's lack of a bassist and its antagonistic female guitarist quickly set it apart from its downtown peers and upended the traditional rock band sexual dynamic of the flamboyant, seductive female and the mysterious male guitarist.

[...]

The band's influence can be clearly felt among lauded minimalist art-blues bands, including the Black Lips, the White Stripes, the Horrors and Primal Scream, whose front man, Bobby Gillespie, allegedly named his son Lux.

Pitchfork has a nice obit, as well, featuring some great live clips, including their 1984 performance in a mental institution.

Allmusic's analysis is delightful, as well:

[...] the Cramps celebrate all that is dirty and gaudy with a perverse joy that draws in listeners with its fleshy decadence, not unlike an enchanted gingerbread house on the Las Vegas strip.

Yes!

Allmusic's entry on the Cramps is particularly useful if you're looking to offer some listener's advisory to distraught fans (or to folks who'd never even heard of the Cramps before but are curious about their sound). Check the list of Moods & Genres -- if you click "trashy", for example, you'll be brought to this page, which lists similar moods, trashy albums highlights, and top trashy artists. It's so well organized and so browse-friendly that it's easy to get lost in there, but what a wonderful time you'll have!

Bust out the crushed-velved blazer (in black with blood red piping, please) and black eyeliner, folks, while you put together a display to honor Mr. Interior featuring but by no means limited to:

All of your trashiest rock biographies;
CDs by Iggy Pop, White Stripes, Elvis, and other artists you find on AllMusic;
Movies by John Waters;
Maybe some pink flamingos (you know, the ones for putting on one's lawn)?

Other ideas? Put 'em in the comments.

NYC Comic Con Talk!

2009-02-03T15:30:00.000-05:00

So, I lucked out, big-time, by being paired up with uber-blogger Betsy Bird and her husband, graphic novels expert Matt Bird for a workshop on graphic novels called Graphic Novels: A New Literacy for the Library, Classroom and Home.

Betsy's posted the program description at her blog, A Fuse #8 Production, which makes my life oh, so easy:

Elizabeth Bird, Sophie Brookover, Matt Bird

SUNDAY 2:45-3:45 ROOM 1A23

The explosive growth of graphic novels continues in the public library world and is now being felt in the classroom. Is it a legitimate reading format? What is it about these books that make them worthwhile reading? How can graphic novels help you meet your state’s core curriculum content standards? Graphic novels present a new opportunity to engage readers and these three talented presenters will show you why these books work for the teacher, the librarian and the parent.

Elizabeth Bird: is a children's librarian at New York Public Library's main children's room at the 42nd Street location. She has served on the Newbery committee, written for Horn Book, reviews for Kirkus, and currently publishes the blog A Fuse #8 Production on the School Library Journal website.

Sophie Brookover: is the Library Media Specialist at Eastern Regional Senior High School in Voorhees, NJ. She is an avid reader of graphic novels (forced to pick just one recent favorite, she offers two: Sidescrollers and Y: The Last Man), and is the co-author of Pop Goes the Library: Using Pop Culture to Connect With Your Whole Community (InfoToday, 2008).

Matt Bird: Matt Bird is a writer and lifelong comics enthusiast. He will receive an MFA from Columbia University in May. His new graphic novel project is The Gentleman with artist David Baldeon (Blue Beetle) and inker Steve Bird (Robin).

If you're going to be at NYCCC, please drop in! This is such an exciting time for graphic novels, particularly for those educators scooping GNs up in their warm, brilliant embrace.

Friday Fun: Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble

2009-01-23T01:34:00.003-05:00

I recently had the pleasure as serving on the jury for the Independent Games Festival, and out of all the games I played, the one that I spent the most time with by far was Keith Nemitz's Indie breakthrough Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble. It's a single-player RPG based in a 1920's high school, disguised as a board game. You choose a girl to play from a set of characters, then attempt to build a girl gang through threats, intimidation, taunting, and leveling up. Your gang then attempts missions such as uncovering suspicious school accidents, finding the school's hidden still, electing a horse mayor, and other shenanigans.

Each of the 12 playable girls have different starting stats for popularity, rebellion, glamour, and savvy, and they play mini-games such as Taunt, Fib, Expose, and Flirt... not the most positive activities, but remember, these are DANGEROUS girls, and they're in trouble. It's like when Kit Kittredge turned 14 and started smoking in the conservatory and piercing her hat with safety pins.

Most of the minigames use the four card suits as tokens or icons, giving the whole experience a parlour-game feel that fits in beautifully with the 20's setting. The story sucks you in and the constant promise of leveling up one of your gang or learning new taunts teasing Bully Girl in the gymnasium makes you forget the underlying unusualness of playing a solitaire RPG that's pretending to be a board game on a computer.

There's a free demo available, plus a gameplay video on youtube, and firsthour.net has a walkthrough of, well, the first hour of the game. Check it out and enjoy!