I don't know everything, but...

 I'm getting in the shower this morning and I'm hit with the weirdest old thought process...  What's better: a divorce or a death? Sharing kids with an ex or having sole discretion? I'm not delving into that today, but I'm in the weirdest situation in my marriage.  It's hilarious. Lots of people live in separate places through the course of their relationships.  I never thought that'd be my reality, but Surprise!  Mine turned out to be like that. After months of him staying in hotels, he got his own place.  There's more to it than that, but that's the boil down.  Now, we're in this cool situation where we see each other about 1/2 the week and trying to carve out time for togetherness is now a challenge again; at the very least, it has to involve intention... that is actually something everyone could benefit from.  I hate it.  My first husband died and we were rarely separate... I never thought I'd be alone. Then I went through the whole datin...

Yesterday, I was contacted by an old friend that wanted to ask a sensitive question of me.  I'd like to think that I'm an open book and I said yes without hesitation, just interest. The friend wanted to know about my stillborn Caleb because she'd just learned that her niece had miscarried twins.  She wanted to know what my advice was on walking through that experience and if I had any tips or regrets on things to do. I can't have those conversations without tears, but it's not painful in the way you might think. When driving away from the hospital after Caleb had been released to the funeral home, I was broken, but a couple things were clear... ....telling my husband that this event wasn't allowed to tear us up because I wasn't willing to lose any part of a relationship after losing a baby. .... feeling completely empty because you spend months carrying a baby and then it's just gone.  In late-term pregnancy, everyone can tell you're expecting...

There are many hard things about being a book lover, but one of the hardest things is that you expect everyone else to love them too.  Getting lost in the stacks, wandering the shelves, reading a dozen summaries before selecting a title that has to go home with you... I guess I just assume that everyone has that capability. They don't. They judge books by their covers.  They put them back because the character has a weird name.  They don't even touch them because they look too long. The list goes on and on. When thinking about marketing the collection, my most basic advice is: Show off covers.  When possible, let your patrons see the cover, not just the spine. Put your hot, new titles in their own spot.  Our patrons always start there. Take a tip from bookstores and stick bookmark recommendations or flags on titles. Change out your displays with catchy or funny themes. Play games with titles and challenge your patrons to explore your collection throug...

I don't know everything, but I like to pretend I do. On the topic of LGBTQ, banned, or otherwise "questionably" characterized books, my response is very uniform: buy a sticker, mark the book, put it on the ding-dong shelf with books of that same reading level.  Some libraries in my area have moved to a subject grouping for their children's books.  I feel that this can be very helpful for small hands that know what they want to read about, but might not fully understand the traditional organization by author and they benefit from subject grouping.  I'm not even a little interested in implementing that at my library.  I'm not a coddler-- I'd prefer to spend some time helping kids learn the discovery of searching for books and navigating the system.  To the parents that are upset that books like I am Jazz  are on our kids' shelves, let me publicly state my belief that your child reading about differences won't make them transgender or gay or bi-sexual...

No. The simple and truthful answer is NO. Literature is art.  Literature is beautiful and diverse and nuanced.  If this class has brought anything to resounding light it is that the many genres have common elements, but are diverse in nature and appeal to different people in different ways. That is beautiful. Much like every snowflake is different, every written work offers something new (even ding-dong Twilight that was then changed up to 50 Shades of Grey that was then twisted into the eye-twitching Crossfire series by Sylvia Day-- yes, I said it.). I can reference the ALA Library Bill of Rights ; I can talk about the Freedom to Read statement , but I don't have to.  These documents back up what my mentor taught me, "If you know of a couple patrons that would enjoy a title, buy it." What I LOVE about my job is that I get a true hand in shaping my community and stretching their minds.  Not only by purchasing materials that might challenge their beliefs and...

Mcmanus, K. M. (2017).  One of us is lying.  New York, NY: Delacorte Press. Goodreads. (n.d.).  One of us is lying.  Retrieved from  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32571395-one-of-us-is-lying?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=EzaBwA0tg5&rank=1 Goodreads. (n.d.). Books similar to One of us is next . Retrieved from  https://www.goodreads.com/book/similar/64239187-one-of-us-is-next Wyatt, N., & Saricks, J.G. (2019).  The readers' advisory guide to genre fiction  (3rd ed.). Chicago, IL: ALA Editions.

T HE READERS’ ADVISORY MATRIX FOR: MAUI REVEALED: THE ULTIMATE GUIDEBOOK , BY ANDREW DOUGHTY 1.       Where is the book on the narrative continuum? o     Highly Narrative (reads like fiction) ✅    A mix (combines highly narrative moments with periods of fact-based prose) o     Highly fact-based ( has few or no narrative moments) 2.       What is the subject of the book? This is a detailed travel guide on the   island of Maui, written by a long-time resident. 3.       What type of book is it?    A travel guide. 4.       Articulate Appeal What is the pacing of the book? Despite its 311-page length, this book is a relatively quick read, mixing quick tips with interesting tid-bits.  It’s easy to hop around, making selective reading easy. Describe the characters of the book. The main characte...

By nature of the beast, this discussion couldn't be more timely.  Holy crap. Our entire world has been turned upside down in the last month or so and I, for one, am running a completely different library than I was a month ago.  Namely, I'm pushing eBooks like it's my sole job, I've doubled the number of eResources that my library offers, and a TON of new, free downloadable services are now readily available.  Although this current need wasn't the primary message of our readings for the week, the emerging necessity of these mediums for our patrons is undeniable.  A bit behind the times due to my community's lack of tech-savvy (thus, their lack of interest in downloads), we only began offering Overdrive/Libby in December of 2019.  With the pandemic, we added Hoopla last week and are providing links to a number of other hands-off resources at this time. Though an older article, Vinjamuri's "The Wrong War over eBooks: Publishers vs. Libraries," gave...

Read Between the Wines... my kind of Book Club My very first experience in a book club was one I was bullied into.   I was a new English teacher at the high school I’d graduated from and they wanted me to attend.   One, I couldn’t say no… these were my new co-workers and I’m an English teacher, for goodness sakes!   Two, I really wanted to say no… these women were teachers that I was a student under; I really didn’t want to try to sound smart surrounded by all the woman that used to be responsible for my grades {terrifying!}.   It went well, I stayed silent, and I never returned, but blamed my busy motherhood on my inability to stay after and participate. As an adult, many opportunities have emerged for me to participate in book clubs, both as a leader and as a participant. It hasn’t been a consistent activity, but effort has been made.   I attended a book club as an add-on activity through my MOPS group that was basically a trainwreck (Seriously, nothing...

Just wanted to share a tiny display we dreamed up today.  I'm so excited about it because it makes me giggle AND we didn't get it off Pinterest! :) What do you think? "Our leprechauns want to Spring some luck o'the Irish on you!! Take one home today!

I don’t know everything, but I do have a lot of deep-rooted opinions.   I feel that a lot of humans in 2020 are accustomed to finding information on their own and are less prone to ask for assistance.   I feel that plenty of people will follow the direction that they’re given.   I believe that one bad experience can often cloud an opinion and result in an unjustified, poor Google review.   I believe many people are mentally taxed and need a break so gentle nudges are appreciated.   I believe that the bulk of humans walking around these days needs entertained constantly due to their regular stimuli and this poses an interesting task to every business out there to stay interesting and relevant.   As a library director, these opinions coupled with my mission to push materials and stay a relevant, useful tool to the community means that I employ a lot of passive readers’ advisory at my branch.   Yes, patrons will often ask me for recommendations and I’m ...

Controversy and libraries are excellent friends.  My perspective on that is that I'm to remain neutral on the controversies surrounding materials and let my patrons be the judges.  This weeks' readings reminded me of the scandal of the 50 Shades of Grey books and my hesitation to buy them.  My chosen direction was to not purchase them until they were requested and the article I read about the series in American Libraries  somewhat backed that decision up.  At the time, I worked with two women in their mid 70s who were both highly conservative.  Imagine my laughter when the more reserved of the two left me a note, requesting the titles, touting their popularity, and speculating on how well they'd circulate due to the media buzz.  In stitches, I ordered the series, knowing she had NO IDEA what she'd just asked me to do.  Correctly so.  Her blush and embarrassment were priceless; the first patron to check them out brought them back within 15 mi...

Dear Boss,  I know that Valentine's Day is behind us, but if you're serious about getting a circulation bump in our stagnant reads, I think I have an idea.  What about treating the books like hot dates and wrapping them up for check out??  I've seen other libraries do this thing called, "Blind Date with a Book" where the titles are wrapped up in wrapping or butcher paper and labeled with just a number and a brief synopsis.  This could be just the genre or a little paragraph teaser to strum up interest.  We could even make it a little more interesting by including chocolates with the check-outs or hold a drawing for a date night for those who participated.  I also thought we could pair up popular movies with books that patrons might like... kind of an, "If you  liked _____, you should put your nose in this," display.  If you'd like me to head this up, let me know.  I think it might be wise to wrap up some kid books too since we all know child...

Galbraith, R. (2013). The Cuckoo’s Calling. New York, NY: Mulholland Books. Goodreads. (n.d.). The Cuckoo’s Calling . Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16160797-the-cuckoo-s-calling?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=RqotMb7flr&rank=2 Wyatt, N., & Saricks, J.G. (2019). The readers' advisory guide to genre fiction (3rd ed.). Chicago, IL: ALA Editions.

Reviews… I love reading reviews before buying materials because it gives me some opinions (both good and bad!) about something I might purchase for the library, but haven't read.   It’s handy when patrons want a recommendation because I can’t physically read everything, but I can give them some general idea of what readers thought and they can form their own opinions.   I might be booed for sharing that I rarely read Kirkus.   It arrives and I let it sit on my desk for a couple days (or hours) before tossing it.   Shhhhhhh … Here’s the thing, my book budget was around 6k last year.   I spend 1.4k on a youth subscription.   Kirkus will review so many books that I can’t even consider buying, so it gets overwhelming and feels pointless.   Does that make sense?   Same is true for ebooks.   I read the reviews for myself, personally, but I’m not involved in the purchasing of those titles so there hasn’t been much point, professionally.   Add...

Brown, S. (2019).  Outfox.  New York, NY: Grand Central Publishing. Goodreads. (n.d.).  Outfox.  Retrieved from  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43211810-outfox?from_search=true&qid=onTcayXAn8&rank=1 Wyatt, N., & Saricks, J.G. (2019).  The readers' advisory guide to genre fiction  (3rd ed.). Chicago, IL: ALA Editions.

By: Robyn Carr KIRKUS Style Review Growing up, the Hempstead family lake house was the setting of love and joy until tragedy struck and ripped the fabric of their family apart.  Now, twenty-nine years later, the baby of the family calls them all back to reconnect, find out what happened that summer, and try to stitch the pieces back together before it's too late. The Hempstead sisters did the thing close sisters dream of growing up: they married brothers, they had all daughters, they retreated each summer to the lake house to reconnect and let their six girls run wild in the summer sun.  Everything was beautiful and steady, right up until the unthinkable happened- one of the girls drowned.  Broken, the sisters parted ways to never return.  The daughters, with their family divided by pain, split as well to branch out independent of the steady framework that had supported them. The house sat empty and neglected, falling apart just like the girls until cancer-str...

In college, I wanted to make some extra side cash and a popular job at the time {that I thought I'd get rich at [eyeroll]} was being a secret shopper.  You logged onto a website and saw opportunities in your area with specific instructions: go here, ask this, do this, return this, etc., then get paid for the write up. Sadly, I never made much money.  This experience was the the same LOL!  Being a patron felt strange and unfamiliar.  Walking into a library and having some idea of what I want or enjoying perusing is usually such fun for me so putting on my game face and asking for assistance felt entirely false.   That said, t he value of having a person who can be our right-hand escort through a collection really can’t be measured.   Not every patron feels that they need this service, but sometimes we “just want to talk to a person!”   This current time period is so unique in that we don’t want to interact with people, but sometimes you just want a hu...

1. I am looking for a book by Laurell K. Hamilton. I just read the third book in the Anita Blake series and I can’t figure out which one comes next! Circus of the Damned is what you just finished? Great!   We’re looking for The Lunatic Café next. 2. What have I read recently? Well, I just finished this great book by Barbara Kingsolver, Prodigal Summer. I really liked the way it was written, you know, the way she used language. I wouldn't mind something a bit faster paced though. Can I recommend Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens?   It has a lot of emphasis on the south and scenery, but a fun storyline that keeps evolving.   The voice is very authentic.   3. I like reading books set in different countries. I just read one set in China, could you help me find one set in Japan? No, not modern – historical. I like it when the author describes it so much it feels like I was there! I haven’t read a novel set in Japan, personally, but Shogun: A Novel...