El grupo neozelandés Haunted love firma esta canción titulada “Librarian” (“Bibliotecaria”) en la que la cantante nos dice que quiere ser bibliotecaria y por qué. Una letra sensual, un video lleno de humor, en el que las bibliotecarias se “enfrentan” a un usuario bastante maleducado que les saca de sus casillas.

El video es un clásico para cualquier bibliotecaria de pro. Esperamos que también los usuarios lo disfrutéis

“Until we have the confidence in the worth of what we do, rebranding will remain superficial”.
I wrote this in June 2006 with NE in mind. When I re-read this three years later, I found this extremely relevant to NLB. Fancy terminology, superficial innovation, a blind charge towards “professionalism” – these are all signs that the librarians feel threatened, and none of these will address the root problem.
We have to talk frankly, without believing in too much of the propaganda, without fear that criticism means absolute irrelevance (that slippery slope argument).
We also have to avoid the ostrich response, by not collecting the data, denying the data, or playing the numbers.
This will not happen overnight.
What we do will change things only one step at a time, but let’s not rush things to meet artificial deadlines. There’ll always be improvement projects. Circumstances change, and none of our work can ever be perfect to begin with.

To me, the notion of translating has always held laborious connotations. A flashback to those green and white Latin textbooks with miniscule charts of conjugations and tenses. Translation equaled time-intensive research and required at least one or two dictionaries in addition. It was what the traditional librarian embodied: someone accustomed to getting lost in the stacks scouring ancient and obsolete volumes, meticulously searching for exact meaning.

I recalled Saturday haircut nights with Garrison and A Prarie Home Companion.Dad would cut his sons’ hair  to the segment where the host tried to make librarians sexy again. I dreamed of a world where librarians were no longer old maids loudly “SHHHH”ing laughter and joy from children. Instead a world where the women behind the reference desk were svelte temptresses who just so happened to spend their days aroused by Joyce and Wilde. 

And then you showed up with your sleek and smooth battery-operated translator with the plug-in charger. It translated paragraphs of cyrillic into standard American English nearly instantaneously. In fleeting seconds your glossy machinery boiled down a string of memories, preconceptions and fantasies and encapsulated a transformation.

You popped it closed and slid it into your back pocket. “Happy Defender of the Motherland Day!” -AR

For the last few years, I have been bemoaning the fact that a fellow Hotlibrarytech has an awesome display case in his library and I don’t.  It is a lovely glass curio cabinet.  I confess, I  have been coveting my neighbor’s display case. 

The curio cabinet was stored in his library, but apparently never used.  When he started at his new school, there the cabinet sat, dusty and unused.  But being the ”HLT” that he is, he saw its potential.  These photos are from Halloween when he fills it with leaves, spiders, webs, scary books and even has a raven statue to sit on top.  The raven wears a sign that says, “Nevermore.”   Is he clever or what? 

Recently I stood in the lobby of my library eyeing the three empty glass display cases that are mounted to the wall. 
Basically I gave my self a good talking to….Okay, so the cases don’t have lighting in them…fake votive candles can fix that…so it isn’t free-standing in the middle of my library…I can always use that space for another specialized bookcase/display….the gears in my brain started turning and I got busy. 

Flash back – A few years ago, I had a display in the cases for Read Across America Week to honor Dr. Seuss’ birthday.   I added the library’s collection of Dr. Seuss’ books along with a stuffed Cat In The Hat and a Read Across America hat. My boss and I added our own Read posters featured our children, reading. The display was up for…a while…actually a very long while….”How long have you been seventeen?” 
If there were Bulletin Board police, I would have been cited. 

But, you see I had lost my “Creativity Muse”. 
The next school year, for nearly ten months, the cases housed the Honors Spanish class project of “Day of The Dead” displays.  At the end of the year the cases were emptied. 
There they sat, covered with dust and fingerprints  until one weekend during the summer I had an epiphany. 
Actually, I cleaned out my son’s room, and took his Dr. Seuss’ collection of books.  We had well over 35 titles and from what I understand, there are a total of 75 available from the good doctor.

 
I added my son’s books along with 3-D artifacts…the yellow Seuss border was stapled to the shelf edge. 

The 3-D items that I added to the case, I either had, or  purchased them at Michael’s, JoAnne’s or the 99 cent store.  There are stuffed animals…the small Cat in the Hat was actually a cat toy.  Seriously, whatever you do, don’t tell my cat.  I hot glued 10 artificial apples together for Ten Apples Up On Top.  There is a large foam “A” for the ABC book and I managed to find a T-Rex for the Berenstain Bears and the Missing Dinosaur Hunt. 

Do you see the Green Eggs & Ham game in the lower right hand corner?  That belonged to my son. 
Don’t be envious.  Playing that game was like watching the Neverending Story - there is no conclusion. 

The center section is covered with black paper and edged with a new READ border found at Michael’s.  For the lettering, I used the Cricut Expressions machine and cut 4 – 7 inch letters out of white cardstock….(the same ream we used to made Turkey hands.)  Bragging – the photos are my boss’s children, my nephews and my son. 
I especially love the photo of my son, he is reading to his baby cousin on the kitchen floor of Great Grandma’s house. 

Next, I added my collection of fall/Halloween picture books at the bottom of the display.  Some are brand new; some  have been in our family for years.  If you have young children, you must pick up It’s Fall by Linda Glaser and illustrated by Susan Swan.  Don’t miss Fall Is Not Easy by Marty Kelley.  Also pictured is Goodnight Goon by Michael Rex, a parody on the famous book Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. 

During October, I added plastic jack-o-lanterns, two little LCD ghosts from Pic N’ Save, and lots of silk fall leaves.  The leaves were $1.99 at Michael’s for a 50 count package.  I absolutely love it when students stop and point out the books that they read as young children.

 Now it is November:  I have had these two mini Beany baby squirrels for years and never knew what to do with them. 

                                                                                                                                                           One of them cozies up quite nicely with The Kitchen Window Squirrel by Harold S. Longman, illustrated by Nola Langer.  (Glad I didn’t send that book to Rosie O’Donnell when she used to complain about squirrels on her talk show.)   Thanksgiving books join the fall picture books.   If you haven’t read Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende &
Harry Devlin to your children, borrow a copy from your local library. 

The basket holds the rest of the artificial apples not used for Ten Apples Up On Top.  Pinecones are an easy decorating accent….actually all I have to do is walk around my campus and find dozens…of course, I could also find live squirrels, but I doubt they would be very cooperative or  sit nicely in the display case!

Here are photographs showing the many efforts staff and students went to in order to support the Children In Need charity on Friday 20th Novemeber 2009. A lot more went on around the college but as I’m an Assistant Librarian I was only able to photograph those who came into the Library.

Myself as a Medieval Pagan maiden, Sue as Red Devil and Terry as a Vampire Cocktail Waitress.

Two students dressed up as homeless people complete with cardboard pleas.

Student Jailbirds asking for a donation in order to play a guessing game.A Pudsey Bear, Another Jailbird and a Fairy

A student who adores modern vampire books dressed up as a vampThis student is an example of what excellet and artistic face painters we have.

Years ago when I was first starting out, I couldn’t think of what to do for high school holiday bulletin boards.  With elementary boards you can have such cute themes…but the high schoolers don’t always appreciate cute little animals dressed in snow gear. 
My students and I put up a Christmas tree that was donated by a previous tech.  When she left the job, she didn’t want to take the tree with her.  I dutifully put it up every year, but between you, me and everyone in Cyberspace….it’s a pain in the to assemble. 

So – what to put up for December? 
I started with a background of black paper and added a cute Mary Englebreit poster that we had bought.  In case you cannot read it, the quotation is:  “A Book is a present you can open again and again.”
Then I was stuck for the rest.  I looked over to my desk where the Christmas cards I had received from faculty and student clubs were displayed. 
Perfect. 
Students love to be included on bulletin boards.  I added Christmas cards from the cheerleaders, the boy’s basketball team, ASB, the Special Ed department gathered around the afore mentioned tree.

The motif on a few of the cards was that of snowflakes….a fairly safe decoration for a high school that resembles the UN during the Peace talks. 
Do you remember cutting out snowflakes from white paper in grade school?  I do.  The teachers would hang them from the ceiling and add them to the bulletin boards….little did I know at the time…3rd graders were free labor. 

Go to Google and type in:  “mini snowflakes” – click on this link:  www.papersnowflakes.com/miniflakes.htm 

You will find hundreds of different snowflakes for your students to cut out. 
The library assistant who helped with this project this year was disappointed when she was finished.  She really had fun discovering what each snowflake would look like like when she was done cutting them out.
I attach the flakes to the board with just one staple so that it sways a bit when someone walks by. 
Makes it look a bit like it’s snowing.   
(My reader in Denver has just uttered the phrase…”HA! you don’t know what snow is!”) 
I just realized that this example looks a little skimpy on the snowflakes…my apologies. 
More photos of the snowflakes next week.

That's what we're here for

Patron: “I am looking for a globe of the earth.”
Librarian: “We have a table-top model over here.”
Patron: “No, that’s not good enough. Don’t you have a life-size?”
Librarian: (pause) “Yes, but it’s in use right now.”

The purpose of the reference interview is for the librarian to determine what the patron needs.  When a patron walks up to the desk and asks for help, sometimes they are not clear on what they are looking for.  They ask for X when what they really need is Y.  It could be that they are being vague because of the nature of the subject or they themselves don’t understand the assignment their teacher assigned them.  A good librarian should ask several questions so that they know what exactly the patron is looking for.  The librarian is not trying to be nosy but rather be clear on what the patron really needs.

Some patrons are uncomfortable walking up the desk and asking for help.  They may feel that the librarian is asking too many questions and feel uncomfortable at the intrusion.  By asking questions, the librarian is simply trying ferret out what the patron needs and not be intrusive.

For example I had a patron ask where the medical books were located.  We have lots of books on the subject so I asked if there was something specific they were looking for.  The patron looked a little uncomfortable so I said that I just wanted to make sure that we had what they were looking for so that I could send them to the correct location.  Then the patron says that they need more information on STDs.  At this point I don’t need to ask further questions because I can give him a general area where he can look for books on the subject.  But by this point the patron feels more are ease and tells me exactly why they need a book on gonorrhea.  Well I didn’t really need to hear the whole life story but it did help me narrow down the search and get an exact call number for them.  Sometimes it’s hard telling them to stop, that they are sharing way too much information.

I remember another instance where a student came in and said he needed a book.  Ok so far so good, we have lots of those.  After more prodding he said it was a book for his English class and the author was dead.  Well now, that does help but still I needed more information.  So after about twenty minutes of Q&A turns out he needed The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne.  And since he waited to the last minute we didn’t have any copies available for check out.

The reference desk can be very intimidating for patrons, either because they are embarrassed about the subject or confused on what they need.  So what they first ask for is not what they really need.  It is the job of the librarian to clarify what is needed so that the patron can have a successful experience.  Some interviews may take longer than others or the librarian may not need to ask anything because some patrons don’t have a shy bone in their body and tell you their whole life story without any prompting.  Either way, the reference interview helps

On the next installment I am going to rant…I mean talk about holiday decorations and the library.  Is it needed?  Do patrons care whether we decorate the library?

Laura Guevara – Resident Librarian, LL-Publications

I’m a day late (busy week!) with my Friday post, so the Caturday post will be up later tonight!

There’s a new wiki project for librarians exploring their roots and routes.  I thought I’d add mine as well.

Library Roots

Since I was a teenager, I’ve been the person people turn to and ask about information.  Even in the grocery store, I’ve been the one folks as where something is.  On the bus, I’m asked if I know where a stop/event/place is.

So, naturally, I went to law school.  Yes, I had no clue I wanted to be a librarian.  In law school, after some life-changing events, I decided I didn’t want to be a practicing attorney but then what would I do with my JD?  Hmmm….

A friend turned me onto the idea of being a law librarian.  I love doing research, I’m organized, and I like helping people, so why not?  Immediately after earning my JD I started my MLIS degree.  Being a law librarian seemed like a natural fit for me.  I could do research, I could help people, and I would put my JD knowledge to use.

Library Routes

Going into library school, I had a one-track mind: law librarian.  I even landed a student reference desk shift at the university’s law school library.  Then, in my second semester of library school, I started conducting research for law professors under the supervision of the “real” law librarians.  Also in my second semester, I started doing freelance research for a local, small law firm.

I started applying to law librarian positions in the spring and summer.  I only ever heard back from one.  But the more freelance and professor delegated research I did, the more I loved pure research.

I had two areas of interest in law school: urban planning and privacy.  Checking the job postings, I ran across one for a transportation consulting firm looking for a part-time market researcher.  Believing I was over-qualified for the position,  I applied anyway.

It’s my first “real” library position and I love it!  I get paid to read, research, and write about transportation projects in the United States.  Of course, it’s a *bit* more involved than that, but I feel like I’m making a contribution to the company and urban planning.  It’s a pure research position, which I enjoy.  I’m not sure where this position will take me, but I enjoy what I do everyday.

This week “5 Questions” were answered by Jackie Ranaldo, Readers’ Services librarian.

On your nightstand now:

I am always reading and listening to more than one book at a time.  That seems to be the trend with many of us at the library.  Maybe it’s a “Librarian” thing …

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger (Contemporary Fiction/Ghost Story)

Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill (Historical Fiction)

Heartsick by Chelsea Cain (Mystery/Suspense)

I Love You Like a Tomato by Marie Giordano (Italian-American Fiction)

Favorite Childhood book:

Caps For Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina – A fantastic little children’s book about a peddler who carried large stacks of men’s caps to sell.  One day a monkey in a tree started stealing all his caps.  I used to love reading this book with my mother.  Most kids would point to the tree and try and tell the peddler about the monkey … not me … like a child watching Blues Clues, I used to think characters in books could hear me … I would never tell the peddler about the clever, little monkey …it was like our own little secret.

Favorite Author of All Time –

Would have to be a toss up between John Steinbeck and John  Cheever.

However, in terms of contemporary fiction, I am a huge Adriana Trigiani fan.

Book you feel you should read but haven’t yet  —

There are two that I know I should read but haven’t quite gotten to yet—

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

Favorite line from a book –

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view–until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.” ~ Atticus Finch character from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

Interestingly enough, I strongly believe that is what reading is all about.  Books give the reader a unique opportunity to “climb inside someone else’s skin” and see the world from another point of view.  I believe great literature has an amazing opportunity to teach tolerance and compassion, simply by experiencing another’s story through words.

The Volunteer Manager of a library needs to know just about everything they can about the library, how it works, who does what and where to go to for the answers. The Volunteer Manager has their hand right on the pulse of the people and the staff and establishing good relationships with both is key to a successful volunteer program. We have quite a few volunteers who shelf for us, so you won’t be surprised to see me out there shelving away to better understand how to train, what it’s like on the front line and ways to improve how volunteers can help us. I won’t have a volunteer do anything I haven’t already tried. When we noticed a lot of gum on our sidewalks, I got a paint scraper from our facilities department and went out there and scraped it up. When I went to sell it as a volunteer opportunity, I told them it was the worse job in the world but it needed to be done! Before you know it, I had a couple teen guys out there scraping away with gloves and scrapers.

Our job as Volunteer Manager is to get help to support our staff. By doing this, we need to make sure we know what the needs are and how it can be accomplished. I want the volunteers to do a good job, THEY want to do a good job. By knowing the library and all that is involved, everyone will feel more comfortable with volunteers helping under your guidance.

The Train Reader has gotten off her train for a while.

Not literally, of course. She still jostles for her spot on the morning train everyday.

Anyhow, she’s back.

And in her usual habit of attempting to down three to four books at a time – which can be rather futile sometimes, she has made an accidental observation of the similarity in the choice of profession for the protagonists in two of the books she is currently reading.

Henry DeTamble in Audrey Niffenegger’s best-selling The Time Traveler’s Wife and Georgy Jachmenev in John Boyne’s latest novel The House of Special Purpose are both librarians.

Yes, librarians.

And they are oh so romantic.

Or at least that’s what The Train Reader can tell from whatever she has read so far. She’s halfway done with Henry’s adventures and non-chronological love life – now at Book II: A Drop of Blood in a Bowl of Milk; and at the third chapter 1979, where Georgy is recounting his trip with his cancer-stricken wife Zoya to a Finnish harbour town called Hamina.

Are librarians a subject of writers’ fantasies, she wonders?

Trivial, huh?

Maybe that’s what happens to your brain when you have your personal space crowded out first thing in the morning.

Now it’ll be interesting if someone in Shusuke Shizukui’s (雫井脩介) 2006 novel Closed Note (クローズド・ノート) turns out to be a librarian too…

The Train Reader will find out in due course.

She’s still at Chapter 1.

Well first off I’m feeling up and down due to arguments with partner – we never seem to agree to disagree and I’m usually potrayed as egotisticle, selfish, self centered, childish, disrespectful, unreasonable liar. SO the less said on this matter the better really.

I say Vikings and Vampires as that is what us Librarians are turning into tomorrow for Children in Need. I’m going to be a viking maiden and my boss Terry is going to be a Vampire Cocktail Waitress hehehe. We’re going to make a right pair but it’s going to be so much fun to be in cloak and medieval gown again.

Library changes because I’m flinging myself fully into my Librarian role now as I have been making lots of small improvements in the Library that will hopefully help students and make it more appealing to the few that don’t regularly come in. I’ve introduced us to Twitter @HuddnewcollLib, begun setting us up a Facebook page of our own, regularly announcing any new books added to catalogue, introduced a reccomended list thats distributed around the Library and on Blackboard for students to access when online. Also began putting up ‘Brand New’ signs on new books on shelves and ‘New Edition’ on new Journals/Magazines in the hope of promoting them better to students. Still trying to get them to use the Library blog as so far only I have put any content in it hehehe but hopefully we’ll have someone taking the first step.

Also even better than all of this is my new PC! Due to arrive any minute today. I’m so excited about it. Not only does it have massive memory but also a good graphics card so it will have no problem stored all my pictures (3000 odd) and the massive WOW file plus WOW play will be super smooth and lag free. Can’t wait for the end of the day to fiddle with it.

In my writing life I’ve dropped my ghost story ‘As Old As Houses’  for a while as I feel I might actually re-write it too much. Although having said that my former creative writing tutor Michael Stewart has given my 5th draft the once over and says its a lot better and stronger since the first draft. So at least I’m doing something right.

I just need this rising temperature I feel to go down. I don’t want it to turn into Swine Flu not before my big dress up day anyway.

Clinical Librarian

What is the clinical librarian service?

The Clinical Librarian Service is part of the Trust library service at Salford Royal Foundation Trust.  The specialist service is designed to support staff in the delivery of evidence-based practice, clinical governance, high quality patient care, education and training, lifelong learning and research.

Who can use the clinical librarian service?

The Clinical Librarian Service is available to all NHS staff working in the hospital or on placement within Salford Royal.

What does the clinical librarian service offer?

• Searching the evidence to support healthcare
• Literature searching
• Clinical query answering service
• Literature search skills training
• Help with information retrieval
• Journal club support
• Current awareness – advice on how to keep up-to-date
• Critical appraisal and evaluation of health information

Where is the Clinical Librarian Service based?

At the point of need this could be ward rounds, clinical meetings, audit meetings.

The Clinical Librarian Service can visit your workplace, present to your team a demonstration of the library services and health information resources available to them.

How can I contact the clinical librarian service?

Contact Bernadette Beisty ext 61933 or email bernadette.beisty@srft.nhs.uk

anna karenina

the other day i was at my work – i am a public librarian – and a guy came to pick up the stuff he had reserved – he has downs syndrome and has a hard time communicating and he reserves audiobooks – anyway he was picking up a few things and one of the things with his name on it was anna karenina. so of course i thought well, this is a mistake but it turns out he likes lots of different things and he had reserved anna karenina in addition to other things. how did i know what he would get out of the library just becaause he has downs syndrome?

My Uncle

Simon Aldfrid, my uncle, was a librarian. The best part of having a librarian uncle is that you don’t really have to go to the library to know Charles Dickens or Mario Puzo. Simon Uncle was more than a library himself. He believed that he belonged to the Angles and Saxons. Angles and Saxons had their roots in Germany. They migrated to Ancient Britain in the 5^th Century. And was later conquered by Normans when Hitler rose to power in Germany. Simon Uncle says that his people were forced to serve the British Army and later they were deported to India when East India Company handed over the wealth, power and integrity of the Nation to the Queen. Simon Uncle belonged to that mixed race of Angles, Saxons, Normans and finally Indians.

When Simon uncle belongs to that race, so do I. And he told me I should have at least 3 children and they should each have three and so on. When he said this, his eyes slid an inch and he fell into a trance.

I am Godwin Aldfrid, nephew of Simon Aldfrid.

The Ghosts

Godwin in ancient Angles literature means “a Friend of God”. I never had the chance to be-friend god. But I heard about the Ghosts.

I joined the school where Simon Uncle was the librarian. I was glad that he would be around. I met new friends and learnt to see the life fresh. This was a boarding school. I was happy about it.

There was a difference in my friends at primary school and those at boarding school. In my primary school, parents of my friends would sympathize with me, as I had none. And they made sure that their children are taking a note to realize how lucky they were to have parents. I always ended the conversation saying I have my uncle. In the new Boarding school, there were no parents. But a few confused minds.

There I learnt about the Ghosts. They were some frustrated Dictators re-born as senior students. They were supposed to be the guardians of hell. They were 2 and none really knew them. But they were everywhere. I began seeing them at night. And a friend said my bed is stinking of urine. I was hurt and spend lesser time in bed.

Obvious end of the Mystery

I go to Library when there is nothing to do. I loved to see Simon uncle overseeing the places where each author is supposed to sit. He knew what is there and where it is. He just knew everything my little brain could think of.

When I entered I saw his assistant, all smiles. He is Solomon. And thinks that Angles and Saxons really existed and that they were the supreme race on earth. It sounded like if they were not, he would loose his job.

“Where is Uncle?”

“He is inside with his favorite children.”

Well, I am his favorite. I thought. I could feel my chest pounding until I saw them sitting across a table and Uncle was talking about some thing. May be its Angles and Saxons.

They were 2 of them and were all ears to my uncle. The first guy was lean, terribly lean. He wore a heavy metal bangle on his hand – too heavy that his right side was always low compared to the left. His long fingers told me he could be an artiste. The second guy was dark and bald. He wore an attitude on his face – too much to let Uncle stop and think if this guy knew it better. His physique told me he could be an athlete.

Uncle looked at me. He smiled. Stopped his lecture. And called me to him.

“Well, Godwin. These are my children.”

He pointed to the artiste. “This is Jubith” and then he pointed to the athlete. “This is Sreejith”

Both gave me a cold look. The question was obvious.Who the hell are you?

“And this is my son. Godwin.” Uncle smiled at me. They did not care. May be its just because he calls every one his children. I wished to tell them that I really was his child. I stood close to my uncle.

They got up. Smiled at my Uncle. Gave me that cold look again. Walked out.

“They are good children. Just not the best.” Uncle smiled. Nobody got the certificate except me. And I knew why. I was either Angles or Saxons.

Arun Kumar ran in breathing heavily. Seeing Simon Uncle, he slowed his pace and tried to walk normal. Uncle did not seem to notice. I got up and went near him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Did you see them?”

“Who?”

“The Ghosts”

I felt my throat dry.” No. Where?”

“Arey yaar. They just walked out.”

I was confused.

“They were two. One guy had a heavy metal bangle.”

They are good children. Uncle’s voice echoed and trailed off.

The Crime

I was in 8^th class now. 2 years were long and eventful. It is Diwali and we are all waiting near the parade ground for Ragesh. He had promised us a gift on Diwali. He had said that we would celebrate the day “King Size”. What was that? May be he will come riding in a chariot and take us all to a palace where they served great non-vegetarian food.

He came late. There were no Chariots and he looked like a thief. He gathered us all under a rock and opened the cover he hid under his vest. It was a bottle. A bottle of Beer. Some one said, “WOW”. I felt like a moron sitting under the rock holding the bottle. Everybody drank from the bottle.

I was a team player. I joined the team.

It was dark now and the fireworks blessed the place from heaven. Diwali was in the air and people were gathering in the parade ground to have a glimpse of it.

Ragesh was talking some crap about how-he-got-the-bottle stories. He was blabbering about his local contacts. Everybody was on a high. And everybody got a turn to boast about something. Everybody listened to the speaker with utmost patience. And silently nodded when the speaker concluded. We made no noise to catch the attention of people around. Someone pointed at me. It was my time to boast.

I had nothing in this world to boast about. Except the supreme race I come from. But no one would be interested in that except Simon Uncle. I decided to cook up a story.

“I met the Ghosts.” Immediately I had all the attention, focused.

“I saw them stealing a book from the library. They realized I have seen it when they were walking out. If I tell my uncle about this, they are gone. They pleaded to me. I said I would consider.”

There was a silence. They could not believe what I said. But soon all were glad and clapped their hands loud. I became a Hero. We did not mind the noise. Everybody was relieved of the frustration they were carrying since the day they joined the school. A rocket went up to burst into wonderful flowers. In the light of the fireworks, I saw 2 men standing behind the rock. Their face was barely visible. But the heavy metal that hanged down a fragile hand reflected colors that came from the Sky.

I could feel my sweat running down the forehead. I fainted and collapsed.

MI Room

I opened my eyes. I could not open it fully, though. It hurt. I knew something has happened. The fan had n number of leaves and it looked like it was a complete circle – Like a stretched Kimono. The colors were just the shades of Grey. I am familiar with this place. This is the Medical Infirmary Room – fondly called MI Room.

I could see Simon Uncle sitting next to me holding hands. His eyes were full. I tried to move my hand, I could not; neither could I move my legs. There was something terribly wrong.

“None of your friends stood for you.”

It took some time for me to understand what Simon Uncle was talking about. Was he continuing something that he was talking before I opened my eyes?

“But I can’t leave my son behind for some ruthless…” The sound faded away or maybe, I was not interested. He might talk of the racial supremacy now.

I could see the shadow of the Ghosts in the night lit by Diwali. The heavy metal glare hit my eyes sharper. It felt like I will faint again.

“… And I got them suspended from School. The Ghosts are no more.” It sounded more like an echo.

What did he just say now? Suspended. Did I de-fame the Ghosts? With obvious fear and not love, my eyes were full. My hands and legs hurt worse. There was a hot liquid that was going down my stomach. It accumulated and begged to be free. I did not know what to do. I did not know how my friends would great me. Definitely I would not be given a war hero’s welcome.  I would be labeled a Complaint Box. I did not want to do this. God, I did not want to. Why did you name me as your friend, when you never cared to listen to me?

I could see a pair of eyes coming closer. It was the doctor, examining.

05^th May 1998

Simon Uncle decided that I would join another school. He was thinking of finding another job too. He started to hate the school. Now the Dickens, the Puzo and the Grisham would not have a person to govern them. They would wander like lost dreams all over the library and might escape their imprisonment into the school and might go to meet Simon Uncle in his new job.

But things were clear. I am quitting the school. I walked along the bathroom side corridor of my house. Nobody really cared about me after I was discharged from the MI Room. I realized that everyone loved the Ghosts and it was just not the fear. I wanted to tell something to myself, as no one else cared to do that. So I said

Whatever, my role in this play is over, its time to quit, its time to escape.

I entered the Trunk Room. This is where we keep our boxes when we first enter the school. We enter it again only to take the boxes & leave. I was leaving.

The Trunk room is dark and darker as you get in. I did not care. I saw my box. It should be heavy. I tried to recollect what was there inside it. It is been long – long 4 years. The box was on the top of 4 other boxes, all piled up together. It fell making a huge noise when I tried taking it down. Dust flew away choking me to gasp for breath. It was not normal for any one to enter the trunk room alone. But I was alone since the day we celebrated Diwali.

When the box fell down it revealed a window that had been shut since the box came in. The air around enjoyed the new get away that was discovered. And the light showed up brightening the trunk room. A massive shadow passed over my figure. I turned back to find none.

Huh. I was relieved.

I took the trunk that had fell down and carried it out. It was heavy. But I could manage to drag it along. Suddenly the door shut and I was surrounded with darkness. The window I discovered was far and the light from it formed a white thick line on heavy dark metal boxes. I was growing weak on the knees. The hot liquid that I felt when I lied in the MI Room accumulated again and it slowly started to slip free. My shorts were wet.

A matchstick was lit. A yellow flame grew strong and beautiful and I saw the person holding it.

Sreejith.

He lit a cigarette. Smokes replaced the flame and it all died away. Darkness returned.

I stood like I was expecting him all the while. The box that I was carrying slipped down and the hot liquid flew stronger between my legs. And then I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was from behind. I did not have the courage to look back. I did nothing. Then across the fabric I wore, I felt the metal bangle. The sweat started coming back. I felt like I was slipping into a darkness that was worse. Suddenly I could see many – all like in an X ray. Simon Uncle, His Speech on Angles & Saxons, His Library, My friends at Day School, their Parents, My friends here at Boarding, Jubith, Sreejith and then there was nothing.

I belonged here

It was snow white around. And there was nobody else. It should have been 3 – 4 years since the trunk room incident. I don’t remember what happened there. Whenever I try to do that, a pain hit my head. Then I would stop and think of better things. I felt there is a membrane around me that I did not have when I was at Boarding School. The best part of this life was there was breeze all around. There was music. Not the kind of music I use to hear at School Mess. This was quiet, a music that was everything – it was more like the chanting of a mantra. The Aum. I never knew what it was. No one ever told me what it was. Now I know. I could see the water, the air, the earth, the fire and the sky with in me. I felt like an Intellectual. I was never hungry and I never felt taking a leak. I tried to turn my body and I could see the world spin. I could see clouds everywhere, but no human beings. This was absolute tranquility. This was where I belonged. This was heaven.

On 5^th of May 1998, I was killed.

From Grinnell College’s Scarlet and Black Newspaper, October 31, 1952

From the age when librarians could publicly lay the smack down on unruly patrons:

I wish there was an amazing story to tell filled with adjectives and similies and other abused aspects of communication- but there isn’t.

I said ‘no’.

…in the worst way possible.

We’re sitting in a cafe having lunch on a Friday a few weeks back and the waiter arrives:

“What would you like?”

I reply: “I’d like the grilled haloumi burger with extra olive paste and can you bring water for the table? Thanks. I’m not sure what my FRIEND would like.”

And if that wasn’t clear, we also had a DTR* during the meal.

Sigh, one day that guy who makes me feel like this…

…will come to me. But probably not today… or at least any other day in the next three years. Sigh.

*Defining The Relationship

Do remember when you were in school and it came time for November’s craft?  I do. 
We made turkey hands.  The teacher helped cover those little hands in brown tempera paint and we pressed our hand to a white paper plate.  After it dried we added the face and feathers.  Some kid’s turkeys were more elaborate than others; some of us were crafty, even back then. 

One year, I decided that my student assistants were NOT too old to make turkey hands.  Surprisingly enough they did not do the “teenager eye roll” thing at me. 

I went to Michael’s and got fall shades of Delta Ceramcoat paint and white card stock that I had since my greeting card making days.  The students mixed up paint on a paper plate and dipped their hands in it.   Then they made their “print” on a piece of white cardstock.    After they were dry, they traced around the finger “feathers” with a bright color marker and wrote their top five favorite books along each feather/finger.  It was fun to see which books were my student’s favorites.  I used the Creative Memories large oval template cutting system to cut off the excess white cardstock.  The boys prints didn’t have much to trim! 

The bulletin board was covered with brown paper and accents of yellows and oranges. 

I discovered a cute fall border in one of the storage drawers for the edge of the bulletin board. 
Pilgrim mice…does it get any cuter? 

Typed a quick font title on my computer. 

I put the cardboard cut out turkey in the center of the board. 
The turkey was purchased at Hallmark in 1983….really, I’m not kidding, maybe you can see it here for yourself….

I placed the title above the turkey cut out…my student’s turkey hands went around the the cut out.
My students were very proud of their turkey hands.  They would bring their friends into to the library and point out their hand print.  Of course, they were secretive about it….didn’t want Mrs. Hot to know they really loved the project. 

 This student  is serving in Iraq.

This one is in nursing school. 

This one is going to graduate from CSUF soon - she wants to be a teacher.

I enjoy looking at the hands every year. 
Sometimes my little turkeys even come back to the nest to visit. 
Makes me proud to see how far they’ve come. 
Happy Thanksgiving.

To everyone who is looking for Christmas bulletin board ideas – I see all those Google search item terms…I know you are looking for fresh ideas for the coming month and holiday. 

Let me finish presenting my Bulletin Boards on a Budget at CSLA next weekend, and then I promise to share several Christmas ideas with you!

Here’s a wonderful story about some overdue library books, and how the anonymous borrower redeemed his/her honor 50 years later.

Jill Jacobson, Readers’ Services librarian tells a little about her reading life:

What’s on your nightstand right now?

This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper

What book would you most want to read again, for the first time?

Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence

Earliest book you remember? Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

Book you fell you should have read but haven’t? Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

You like to read books about? Family relationships, “Women’s” fiction.

Materials Sorting Maching

COST
I’m not sure what it cost them (I was afraid to ask) but I was doing a little math in my head as we went through it. The costs seemed to be- the sorting machine itself, book drop interfaces, RFIDs, self-check, RFID printers, construction/installation, staff training, and ongoing power, supplies, and support/maintenance costs. These are the costs that I would expect and nothing out of the ordinary and the savings typically come from the reduction in staff which was my second concern.

STAFFING
Our tour guide was the Circulation supervisor and she explained that this system did bring in a large reduction in staff time. I was unable to see the savings in action this day because we were on the tour the day after a holiday and more staff were called in for all the extra returns, but typically I was told that there was only one person in the back room managing the system with occasional pages to do the detail sorting and shelving. Also, I noticed that because they also had Self-check stations the front desk was only staffed by one person. So, from what I could tell, for a circulation of 1.5 million and only needing one paraprofessional in back, one on desk, and a handful of pages shows a fairly significant savings over the long run. This reduction in staff was mostly because the system actually works! Which is was my third concern.

THE SYSTEM WORKS!
As we were in the processing room with the machine we got to see it working first hand. To my great surprise, the machine actually worked! The books were dropped in the book drop, instantaneously taken off the patron’s record and taken on a conveyor belt were it was rough sorted into 11 different categories depending on where it belonged in the library. For example, one cart was for books in the adult non-fiction area from 0-100, the next for 200-300,

Self-Check Stations

THE PATRONS

Book Drop Interface

So have I had my faith redeemed in RFID and Automated Materials Handling? Maybe… However, I still think that these systems require a lot more work than the vendors tell you they do, not all of them work as well as MVPL’s, and I would be concerned that libraries who use these systems with significantly smaller circulation numbers won’t see the savings that the systems could bring. So I still recommend a fairly high level of caution when thinking about adding one of these machines to a library. Its shiny, its new, it doesn’t always work, but for MVPL, and our library system’s installation of the same system, I’d say we are very potentially making a great decision and definitely making a good well-researched decision. Way to go team!

Mountain View Public Library

The first concern is the cost of such a system. In my last library we used the 3M system for RFIDs and automation. The RFIDs cost $0.46 each (we had 180,000), the RFID readers cost a few thousand each (we had almost 20), the RFID printers were rented and still cost a few thousand. These costs don’t include the costs for the servers, wiring, installation, security gates, self check-stations, and software maintenance charges that total some number beyond my comprehension. At that library we didn’t have, and therefore I didn’t include the cost of a fully automated sorting system and all items fell through the bookslot and into one bin.

The second concern is that, in my experience, these systems don’t require less work from staff at all. We were told that, as the items fell through the bookslot, they would automatically be checked-in and all we would have to do is sort the items and put them back on the shelves. However, this was not case. Items in the bookdrops were only checked-in 60-65% of the time requiring all items to be re-checked manually and sorted for holds and ILLs by hand. Also, metallic items such as anything with a CD, or metallic and reflective paint would not be scannable with the RFID system. Our library system also had a second building that wasn’t RFIDed. This is a similar problem found in library consortiums where items can be returned between library systems and different brands of barcodes or RFIDs are used that aren’t compatible. In relation to the amount of work required by automated systems is how much work staff is still required to do. Generally, the items still need to be pulled that are on hold or ILL, they still need to be

My third concern is; how well does the sorting machine actually work? I’ve been to a few libraries that use an automated sorting system that simply doesn’t sort the items in a way that’s even remotely effective. The items are misfed, mislabeled, and missorted to such an extent that the librarians have simply stopped using the system. The complaints from the poor folks who are stuck with these machines are long and plentiful and filled with stories of what could have been better done with the hundreds of thousands of dollars that were spent on the non-functioning machine. Of course the vendors promised the world to these sad librarians and I’ve actually heard the vendors say at conferences that staff will never have to touch a book again! In fact, I’ve had to stop spending time in exhibit halls at conferences because I’ve angered too many venders by my questions that lead them to admit to the Music Man like lie they just blatantly made to the group of librarians who surrounded their shiny new machines that would solve every library problem ever created and sure to come.

My final concern surrounds the ease of use for the patrons who are forced to use this machine. As the librarians are already frustrated with many of these systems, the patrons forced to use them oftentimes have the same experience. Many times the system has a new set of rules that patrons must learn, the system doesn’t work intuitively or consistently, and the end result is that the patron makes a mistake, the machine doesn’t work and the patron gets blamed, feels stupid, or simply doesn’t want to learn. And honestly, who can blame them? They already have to learn how to use ATMs, different self-check systems at grocery stores, smartphones, computer programs, different computer platforms, and the list goes on.

As a side story – I was recently talking to a library director at a conference about their RFID system and she made the comment that items need to be returned one at a time through the bookdrop for it to work but patrons were putting in more. Someone asked how they make sure that items are put one at a time through the bookdrop and she simply said “oh, we made a sign.” I asked her how that worked out for her, and she said…(I’m not kidding)… “it’s a really nice sign that’s made out of brass and engraved” and then looked at me as if that settled the problem and answered my question. I’m not sure that it did, but I gained a lot of insight into how that library works with that statement.

Luckily, I found that the Mountain View Library’s system solves almost all of these problems and is, as a library building, a very beautiful and functional space. Perhaps, one day renewing my faith in library vendors and automated systems. I will be blogging about how this whole thing SUCCESSFULLY!!! works in the days to come.

Outside of LMU library

Information Screen

There isn’t much to say about the materials in the library and the way in which they are organized as I felt it was fairly standard. Nor were the staff spaces (with one exception, that I will explain later) out of the ordinary. However, I was very interested in the working spaces for the students that they had created, what worked, what didn’t, and how the students adapted.

Reference Desk with two screens

The large table workstations and study carrels themselves were one of my very few complaints. The tables lacked any data and power ports and students who were using their own laptops or other technology were unable to plug those tools into the space that they were working in without an excessive amount of effort. The study carrels were small and didn’t allow for students with multiple books, laptops, and notebooks that many students are using for class work. I didn’t notice very many students using these spaces, but did notice the way that the students had adapted to the spaces and created some of their own workspaces as in the photos below.

Student at work

Student at Work

My favorite feature of the library was the study rooms that were built around the edge of the second floor. These spaces were enclosed, with a table and four chairs designed for group work and students could reserve the rooms

Study Room with Whiteboard walls

My other favorite feature of the library was a staff or faculty workspace. This area contained many of the latest and most advanced research technologies with some of the older technologies blended seamlessly together. The entirety of the walls was coated in the same dry erase material that the student study room walls were made from. There were also a number of projectors and interactive equipment that encourages collaborative work in the space.

Overall I was very impressed with the building. Aside from the few complaints here and there that seem to stem from the construction of new buildings and the uneducated faculty and deans about the uses of libraries in the new millennium I feel that the library is a successful addition to the college campus and has potential to lend itself to many of the changes in the ways that people and students or faculty use libraries that are coming in the next 10-20 years at least.

I still have difficulty believing that one of my blogs got over 100 viewers. I’m a little stunned. But, not one to leave a challenge hanging, Libraryman has requested some constructive criticism and I’ve actually been thinking about this off and on for the past few days. The following are some suggestions from a younger generation to, according to Evans and Ward in Management Basics for Information Professionals 2nd Edition, the whopping 60% of librarians age 45 and older:

-The Subtitles
The color chosen for the subtitles was a yellow without any kind of border which makes them difficult to read, especially against the bright color pallet chosen for the rest of the video. Having watched numerous fan-subbed Anime shows, my suggestion would be for white subtitles with a black border to maintain contrast when against lighter colored backgrounds and overall makes them more legible.

-Flashing Images
As I mentioned earlier this week, the images were flashed at a rate too rapid to really process and caused me a fair amount of aversion. My suggestion would be to slow down the rate of change a bit so that the viewer doesn’t feel… well, the only word that comes to mind is “assaulted.” The intro with the flashing primary colors was probably the most severe bit of it, but more on that in a moment.

-The Post-Production Magic
Showing off the technical abilities of a library professional aside, I honestly feel that an honest, low-budget production could have maintained the fun intended for the program while alleviating the side-effect of embarrassing and, quite frankly, insulting those who want to keep the library a fairly professional thing. I would personally much rather see two guys singing a cleverly written song in some mundane location without the over-the-top animated effects. As I mentioned before, it seems as though it’s trying too hard and that father-trying-to-connect analogy is just too appropriate for the feel I got from it. If, instead of the flashy colors and animations, I had seen two librarians singing an honest song, I’d be more moved than any amount of amateur post-production magic could ever squeeze out of me. Which brings me to my next point…

-The Song
I did a quick Google search and discovered that David Lee King was a musician. I’m not certain how that career went (obviously not ideally if he wound up as a librarian [no offense, just an observation D: ]), but I feel that perhaps a tad more collaboration could have been done on the musical front. Now all of this is personal preference obviously, but I would have preferred a song with… I don’t know, a little more substance? Music is so unquantifiable. I guess I would prefer a little more Molly Lewis and a little less After-School Special. Again, it was just a feeling of trying too hard. Something honest, clever, funny (if possible), and unassuming would, I feel, do a lot more.

And finally…

-The Look
The whole website just seems… gaudy. 1980s (and not in that “retro is coming back” way, either). As always this is personal preference, but something a little more sleek and professional can still be fun. It doesn’t need to be flashy and day-glow and covered in crazy patterns to be wacky and eye-catching. I guess I can’t chase away the feeling that the look more portrays a backyard clown act than a intelligent and clever feel, which is something I’m certain David and Michael are more than capable of pulling off.

Overall I guess it comes down to individual tastes. I sort of took the video as an affront to the senses and felt a little talked-down to because it seemed childish. Regardless of anything else they said, wolfshowl does make a point that there is a sect of librarianship which is struggling to turn it into a legitimate profession with all of the respect and (patron/librarian)privilege it deserves. Not to mention the fact that with the rapid emergence of new technologies, the group of people best suited to keeping up are those who have been living with it the whole time: Us. Gen X. And, even though we’re a minority in this profession, we’re going to stay one if a video goes viral which turns the entirety of the Library Profession into the butt of a joke.

But, I understand that you’re not catering to us. You’re catering to the 60% majority out there and, not that I understand it, maybe this is the kind of thing they need. Maybe this is what it takes for them to “get it” and move with the times. But catering to one group alienates another, and I think it’s been made pretty clear that, regardless of how many people enjoy it, I wasn’t alone in my reaction to the video. Not to mention the fact that this information isn’t just valuable to current librarians, the patrons and users should know that there’s an initiative out there to update the library so that they understand that we are just as, if not more, knowledgeable than they are.

By my nature, I’m a moderate. I feel that there’s a reconciliation to be reached with projects such as this in the future. As has been made evident in videos I’ve watched for class, librarians are a motley bunch of people with diverse talents which can be put to use. I also believe that there can be fun without embarrassment, laughs while maintaining an air of professionalism. Because, as I’ve told my friends in the past, you may have a gold bar, but if you cover it with dog shit nobody’s going to touch it.