It's almost Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is definitely one of my favorite holidays. All the wonderful aspects of getting together as friends and family without all the pressure of giving gifts. But Thanksgiving is also wonderful because you get to really think about what you are thankful for. This year my list is numerous. I am thankful for...- My parents for all they do for me and for generously allowing me to come home after graduation since I don't have a job.
- My amazing friends for not giving up on me whenever I disappear or whine about not having a job.
- The opportunities I've had this semester to gain valuable library experience.
- A career path that will provide me with lots of personal and job satisfaction (once I actually get a job :) )
- My professors for being so willing to write recommendations for me and to give me advice whenever I ask for it.
- My readers! Those of you who are out there (lurkers or not), I'm grateful that you find me interesting enough to read!
I am also thankful for the little things, like the fact that I have some place to live, something to eat, and people to love. I know this year, especially with as bad as the economy has been, there are a lot of people who don't have that. I'm very fortunate, I think.What are you thankful for this year?
I was driving to work this morning, listening to the radio (gotta love Christmas music in November!) and low and behold, there was a story about libraries! You can also read it here.In 1959, a student at a Phoenix, AZ high school checked out two books from the school's library. His family moved to another state before he could turn them in and the books were packed along with the rest of his stuff. 50 years later, they have been returned to the library with a check for $1,000.00. The former student, who wanted to remain anonymous, sent the check to cover overdue fines at $0.02 a day, which adds up to over $700.00 for both books. The extra money is in case the fines have increased over the years. The librarian said that the money would go to buy more books for the library and the two returned books would go back on the shelf.I thought this was such a cute story. Not sure why the books are being returned after all these years, but this former student could have done a lot less than send the books back with such a large check. With the holiday season fast approaching and more news every day about the tough economic situation for libraries, doesn't it make you feel good to know that there are nice people out there?
E-Readers are rapidly becoming the hottest new way to read a book (you know without actually holding a book). I've actually used Amazon's Kindle and really liked it (I was shocked too). It's light, but not too light, and can be held with one hand, but seems to be more comfortable if you hold it with two, just like a book. The regular font is a good size and "turning the page" by clicking a button didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. If I had $299 I might consider buying one, mostly because books are a good deal cheaper (especially new hardcover releases) and are delivered immediately to your device. So no waiting around for books to come in the mail (and no pesky shipping charges). Sounds pretty fantastic, right? Maybe not. The more I started thinking about starting to save up for one, I realized that I had really cut back on the number of books I buy new. I'm a big fan of used bookstores, especially the ones that offer credit for books I turn in, PaperBackSwap.com, and of course, my local public library. The only time I've bought new books recently has been for a new release that I knew I was going to want to keep. So in the past 3 months or so, I've bought 2 brand new books. Everything else has been from the used bookstore, found used online (through Amazon Marketplace or Ebay's Half.com), traded in on PBS, or checked out from the library. So why should I buy a Kindle? Seems like it would be a waste of money. But wouldn't it be great if I could check out e-books at the library? I can have my e-reader, buy books for it when I want to, but still check out others. I didn't think this had happened yet until I discovered Sony's E-Reader and their partnership with Overdrive, which is a global distributor of digital media (audiobooks, ebooks, music, videos, etc) to libraries and schools. According to this press release, its a quiet deal, but a fabulous one. Patrons can download ebooks onto their Sony device from the library's webpage and then the books are "returned" (they disappear) after a set amount of time. Hopefully with some good marketing, this will expand beyond major city libraries (NYPL has already jumped on board) and be available to everyone who has an e-reader no matter the library. While this seems to just apply to those in possession of a Sony device, hopefully all e-readers will participate so everyone can have equal access.Do you have an e-reader? If you knew you could "check out" ebooks from the library and download them onto your device, would you do it? Does that make you more likely to want to purchase an e-reader? Tell me what you think!
I subscribe to a lot of food blogs and this morning I came across this wonderful blog post about library-themed ice cream from Ben&Jerry's. I would love to see one of these flavors in the freezer section next time I buy ice cream. I think this is another great way for libraries to remind people of their availability and gain new patrons. Especially with the economy not being so great at the moment, libraries are an excellent resource for those job hunting or just looking to save a little money by checking out books, movies, and video games rather than buying. Hopefully by reminding people about the library through ice cream we can continue to preserve the existence of the public library. I know this seems a little silly, but it's fun! What are your thoughts on library-themed food?
While at a session on Library 2.0 at ALA Conference last week, one of the speakers brought up an interesting point about how the library is dying. At first, I really disagreed with him. Library stats are on the rise, especially with the recession, right? People are discovering it's more economically to check out a book than to buy one. The honest answer is yes, but not enough people are learning this fast enough to really make a difference. One only has to look Amazon's revenue to know that isn't the case. Books are still being bought, albeit at much lower prices. People aren't thinking they can hop over to the local public library to find an old movie to watch tonight; they prefer to wait for Netflix to drop in their mailbox rather than leave the house. No one thinks about the resources of your local public college or university, instead they jump on Google and find the Wikipedia page for whatever research they need to complete. Who is thinking that the library is a great place to go to find the latest Wii game? So what can we, as librarians, do to prevent the death of the library in the face of all this digital awareness and sheer laziness that has taken over our society? Is the death of the library preventable or are we just waiting the inevitable? I don't know if the library, at least the public library in it's current form, can survive. But right now I believe our best option is advertising what we have. Let the people in community know what's out there and how they can take advantage of it. Have a great collection of genealogy records that no one uses? Speak to a local group about sponsoring a "find an ancestor" day or something to that effect in your town. Publicize the event to the extreme via your website, your blog, your Twitter, whatever you use. Don't have an updated website, a person to blog, or a Twitter account? No fear, this is the perfect opportunity to establish one. But even the best websites, most insightful/informative blogs and Tweets go unnoticed if you don't advertise them. Make sure everything that carries your library's name on it has your website. Make sure your website is clearly labeled and consistently updated with news and events. Create a facebook page; anything to get your name out there and people in your library. Tons of people don't use the public library because they don't know what's available to them. I bet there are a lot of people in your community who don't know they can check out video games or schedule a personal research consultation. They probably forgot that you have a ton of books/articles/magazines on job hunting, resume writing, and interviewing techniques. More than likely, there are a good number of elderly in the community who want to get online, but don't know how. They aren't aware that you teach (or could if you had enough people sign up) free classes about using the computer and the Internet. These are all ways to reach an underserved population. The public library will die if we continue to only serve the serious readers and moms with small children. Reach out to others in your community; plan events and blog about them. Post pictures on your website. Have contests and drawings for patron of the week that offer good prizes. Do anything and everything to keep people from going the easy way and turning to the Internet as their only source of information. If we try hard enough, maybe we can keep the library around for a while longer.
I think that this as good of time as any to mention some of the many, many library-related blogs out there. There are a ton out there; for more take a look at The Top Fifty Librarian Blogs. These, however, are my favorites:
The Inspired Library School Student - a library student (like me!) who blogs about school, libraries, technology, etc.
Annoyed Librarian - not everyone likes this anonymous blogger, who is so popular the blog has been moved to Library Journal. She's sharp and insulting, but has great comments on the current goings-on in the library world.
Closed Stacks - a good mix of information on libraries, books, and technology with just enough personal stuff to keep it interesting.
The Society for Librarians Who Say Motherfucker - a great livejournal site for venting. Members of the livejournal community can post their frustrations with patrons, co-workers, whomever, or just share their library-related problems with the rest of the group. Pretty interesting and humorous...a good way to relieve stress.
A Librarian's Guide to Etiquette - a funny blog with short, almost Twitter-like posts. Most are really fun and lighthearted, offering "advice" to librarians.
Librarian Avengers - a fairly personal blog demonstrating the awesomeness that is a librarian.
Library of Congress Blog - the one and only!
A Library By Any Other Name - run by a public school librarian, a busy blog with lots of good information on school media.
Librarians Matter - another great blog on life as a librarian and libraries in general, run by an Australian academic librarian.
ACRLog - the official blog of the Association of College and Research Libraries. A great place to read about the latest happenings in the academic library world.
I hope you have as much fun checking out these blogs as I had finding them. Enjoy!!
It feels like all I do these days is work. Go to work in the reading room, go tutor my athletes, do homework, clean the house, work, work, work. I was under the impression it was summer, but maybe I got it wrong? Or maybe this is just what it means to be a grown-up? Always working, always having something to do, somewhere you have to be. Maybe now is good practice for the rest of my life.Some people don't think that being a librarian is hard work. Another fellow librarian blogger, the always witty and sharp Annoyed Librarian, implied a few weeks ago that librarianship isn't stressful, isn't all that difficult. In the year I have been in library school, I can say that is 100% absolutely untrue. This is a very hard job. It is customer service and manual labor; problem solving and managing; crisis prevention and menial paperwork. Being a librarian, no matter what kind of library you work in, combines all these tasks. My job right now, even though it is small, has given me more insight into all the duties of a librarian than I could ever learn in the classroom. I work in a very small library (also called a reading room) for the College of Communications. My biggest tasks involve fixing the copier and checking in the enormous amounts of newspapers we get everyday. It may not be glamorous, but, hey, someone's got to do it. Because the reading room is so small, it's like working in a microcosm of an academic library. I see all the stuff that goes on in a larger library, from stealing newspapers to kicking the copier to falling asleep on the couch to doing actual work, but in a much smaller space. It has taught me so much about being a good librarian.
I think the most important skill I've been developing is helping patrons more successfully. It's different from working in a bookstore, because you aren't just helping people find a book to buy, you are assisting them with school work, solving their research questions, putting that perfect piece of information in their hands. I didn't really realize just how different it is until I started working here. It is incredibly different, but it's so much better and so much more rewarding. So maybe checking in newspapers, shelving books, putting paper in the copier, and explaining how to print for the 100th time in a day isn't all that glamorous or doesn't even seem like all that much work, but let me tell you, it's a ton of work. And it's good work. Being a librarian is a great job.
