Weeding

It's not the most glamorous job in the library, but weeding the collection is very important.  I admit, I tend to be a bit lax when it comes to weeding, and I usually only do it when one of the pages is at me, practically in tears, because the shelves are too full and she can no longer fit even one more book on them.

I've attended a few conferences where weeding has been a topic of discussion, and I've learned a lot from other librarians on the topic.  I've mixed that knowledge, and just my own bit of insight, and come up with a way that I think works well for weeding the YA section at my library.

First of all, there are some books that are just never going to get weeded while I am in control.  I don't care how dated the cover of Losing Joe's Place is, I loved that book when I was in middle school and as long as the pages are still sticking in the book, I refuse to remove it from my shelves.  Also, while not many teens are all hip on the Dumas work of art The Count of Monte Cristo they are going to have to pry that book out of my cold dead hands to remove it from my YA section.

That said, here is my advice when it comes to weeding in the library.  First of all, you have to know your section.  I run the teen section, so most of my weeding advice has been developed for a YA section.  Teens have the attention span of a gnat.  Honestly, if something is blinking, swearing, screaming out music, or flashing them, they probably don't care about it.  So, if a book hasn't checked out in 3-5 years from a YA section, then it needs to GTFO, or have a really good reason to be on the shelf.  A few years ago I found a book in the YA section that hadn't checked out in my entire LIFETIME.  Yes, the last time it had checked out was pre-1979.  Just today I pulled one book from the shelf that hadn't checked out since I've been able to drive.  Yeah, that stuff needs to go.

Second, while teens aren't as bad as us old folks, and their eyesight probably isn't failing them as quickly (although they are increasingly losing their hearing) as it is us more mature individuals, teens are not going to take the time to squint and barely be able to make out the title on a spine that is sun bleached/bent all to hell/dirty/has cloudy laminate/any other thing that is obscuring the title.  So, if you as a librarian can not clearly read the title, trust me a patron isn't going to even bother with that book.

Third, and this is a big one for me, the smell test.  Seriously, if I open a book and it smells like it's been in someone's grandma's basement for a few decades, I take that crap out of my collection.  Now, I may order a new, and not so smelly, copy, but I am not going to force my patrons to put up with someone that makes me feel like I am going to have an asthma & allergy attack.

Finally, and this should be obvious, but multiple copies!  Yes, Twilight is the haps now, and Harry Potter was HUGE a while ago.  But, if you have a book and there is not a HUGE demand for that title, and it is not part of a school required reading list, there really isn't a reason to have more than a couple of copies on hand at anytime.  Especially if your library is part of any sort of group that can inter-library loan.

Remember, shelf space is important.  Overly crowded shelves are actually a deterrent to patrons.  So, get rid of those old, dusty, non-circulating, smelly, hard to read, and multiple copied, books, and give the other books room to breathe!

Favorite Picture Books

A co-worker is currently taking a Children's Literature course.  Of course, like most Children's Lit courses, her first assignment is to bring in a favorite picture book.  While she was searching through the library's collection, and telling my boss and me about the assignment, I started thinking back to some of my favorite picture books.  It's been like two decades since I read some of these books, but they've stuck with me through the years.  Here's a run down of some of my favorite picture books.

1. The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack

My mother likes to tell me that I always giggled with my father tried to pronounce the name of the river in this book.  Apparently the name Yangtze River was a bit of a mouthful for my poor dad.

I know I had this book read to me over and over as a kid, and I remember loving that little yellow duck.  This book was one of the first things I looked for when I started working at my library.

2.  Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst

Seriously, the expression says it all.  As an adult I have some days that are terrible, horrible, no good, and all around very bad days, and I always think of Alexander on those days.  For granted, I've never gone to bed with gum in my mouth and ended up with gum in my hair.  Nor have I ever lost out on the coolest pair of sneakers to one of my siblings (mostly because I was an only child), but I was always able to relate to Alexander and his horrible day.

3.  A Bargain for Frances by Russel Hoban

Who can forget Frances, and how she learns not to let her friends screw her over?  Seriously, this is a lesson I need to be reminded of very often, and I should probably buy myself a copy of this book and read it at least once a week.

4.  Serendipity books

All of these books taught a lesson, or had a moral.  But, they were still awesomely illustrated and fun.  I've included a book from the series that I loved when I was younger, that's come under fire since I was a child.  Catundra is a fat and mean cat, who as he works on improving himself physically, also improves himself spiritually.

Yes, we need to love children, and our families unconditionally, and too many people these days have "body image" issues.  But, truth be told, being physically fit is good for you.  And being able to be proud of yourself for losing weight, and being healthy, is a good thing.  So the haters can keep on hating, but I love Catundra, and many other of the saccharine-sweet books brought to use by the most rockin purple dragon thing ever (Barney can suck it!).

5.  Helga's Dowry by Tomie dePaola

This is the first picture book that I read to myself.  I remember sitting in the elementary school library and reading through this book mentally thinking "WTF is a dowry??"  The fact that this book made me think, made me question, and made me learn, along with the fact that the book is written by the awesome Tomie dePaola made me remember this book.

6.  Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems

Now this isn't a book I read as a child, but instead it's one I was introduced to while working here at the library, and I couldn't help it, I fell in love.  The Pigeon, he is teh awesome.  I even now am the proud owner of a stuffed pigeon, his name is Pidgey.  The pigeon has many adventures, over multiple books, and he has taught me that there are still great picture books being published every year, and that a great picture book will appeal to the child that's still inside every adult.

Machete: a review

I. love. horror. movies.  Srsly love them.  In October, in celebration of Halloween, I watch a horror movie or Halloween themed show or movie every night for the entire month.

Now, you are probably wondering what any of this has to do with Machete?  Well, those of you that are familiar with the Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino collaboration Grindhouse, would know that Machete is based off of a "fake" movie trailer that was shown between the two main features:  Planet Terror and Death Proof.

So, I, being the horror movie and Robert Rodriguez fan that I am, have known about, and been anticipating Machete for awhile now.  Then I found out through the blogosphere, and elsewhere, that Rodriquez was going to take his fun, campy, movie concept and make it a mouthpiece for the illegal alien situation.  That pissed me off.  Not gonna lie.  I get it, movie makers are allowed to be political, everyone's allowed to be political, blah blah blah.

It was with much trepidation that I agreed to go see Machete with my boyfriend last weekend.  I have to say that I am glad I went.  Yes, there was some political crap in there, but the movie was so over the top that the "political" message wasn't really anything that anyone could have been very offended by.  Also, there was lots of fun blood and guts to get in the way of said political message.  Dude uses a weed whacker at one point in time as a weapon.

There are also lots of fun little Rodriquez-y things in the movie that fans of his will recognize.  Someone loses an eye, one of the kids from Spy Kids has a supporting role, things like that.  And, while I loved Planet Terror, I think in some ways this is a much more successful homage to his roots.  I could still see hints of El Mariachi in this movie, even though Machete obviously had a MUCH bigger budget, and you know was shot in English and all.

In the end, I was very impressed with the movie, and enjoyed it much more than I thought I would.

The Little Things

"My outlook is that little things are the trip. I’m very happy with very little. Maybe that’s why I have so much."
- Linda McCartney


I am not sure when, how, or where I came across this quote.  Maybe it was back in middle school when we were doing a calligraphy project.  Who knows.  What I do know, is that like many a song lyric, and other random pop culture worthless-ness, this quote has stuck with me.


In this world that is full of crap so much of the time, full of things that dissappoint (like a certain third book in a triology that shall remain nameless, and the movie Phenomenon), it's sometimes important to really enjoy the little things.  Now, for granted I am going to come across as some Tony Robbins/hippie mix that's all sunshine and rainbows, but I guess I'll just have to live with that.


For example, today I was driving downtown, the window was open, the music was playing, and the sun was on my skin.  It was awesome.  Also, coming home from work today I realized that I enjoyed coming home to my house.  I've done lots of work on it this summer, and now it is almost like living in a new place, a place that feels more like "home" than the house I've been in for the past 7 years.  


So, I guess I am advocating that people listen to the late Linda McCartney's words and appreciate the little things.  :)

Glee

In this episode, I will try to explain my reasons for loving Glee.

Yeah, I know, pretty much anyone that would be reading my blog probably knows I love Glee.  Hell, most of you also probably love Glee (the whole 1 of you that might be out there).  But, and this may come as a shock, there are actually people out there that don't dig the show.  So, I've found myself in a position of trying to explain what it is that I love about the show...you know besides Kurt being teh awesome, Brittany and her inane comments, and Puck being the most dudalicious bad ass GLEE CLUB member ever!

The thing that really gets me about Glee, the thing that makes me keep coming back, and the thing that has made me cry multiple times over the first season (aside from the introduction of Sue's sister), is the relationship Will Shuster has with the students in his Glee Club.  You see that relationship from the very first episode.  During "Don't Stop Believing" we see Shue go into the auditorium and look on the stage to watch the kids that HE inspired, trying to make something of themselves.  In that moment, he realizes he's done something good, and could be doing something great.

In the last episode, the Glee Club students sing "To Sir, With Love" to Shue, and again, I got all teary eyed.  While this may lead you to believe I am nothing but a big cry baby (which could very well be true), but I digress.  The thing that made me choke up was the fact that these characters were telling their teacher, their mentor, that no matter  how long of a time they have together, that he has influenced them in a way that will be with them the rest of their lives.

Why does this make me love Glee?  Well, because I want to be Shue!  I mean I don't want to be a man who is making a bunch of teenagers prance around a stage and sing.  I want to be someone who affects the teens, or anyone, that I work with that way.  I think it's especially poinent to me because I do work with teens.  I know I won't have a huge impact on every teen that walks through this door, or even on a majority of them, but I want to know that with at least a few of them, I've influenced them in a (hopefully positive!) way that will stick with them the rest of their lives.

That's why I love the show, because I see myself reflected in the characters, especially in Shue.  I hate to admit that I relate to the "adult" on a show, but I really do.  And hell, maybe one day my teens at the library will sing "To Sir, With Love" to me....or then again maybe not.

Mockingjay

While one of the bloggers at Forever Young Adult has pretty much said everything I'd want to say about Mockingjay, I thought I would post about it here anyways.  It's not really fair to review a book unless you've read the whole thing, but you know what?  I don't really care.

As has been mentioned before, I have a love of The Hunger Games that may border slightly on obsession, and I was all a twitter to have Mockingjay come out.  I even dragged my ass to Meijer at 1:30 am release day to see if I could purchase a copy.  No such luck for me.  I did eventually get my hands on the coveted book and started reading.  But, something was amiss about Mockingjay.  It was just different.  Some other librarians had said that they thought it started slowly, and I do know that even people who love The Hunger Games said that started slowly for them, so I worked on sticking with it.

Then, last Sunday, I really got time to sit and dig my teeth into Mockingjay.  I was going along with it, and then I just started to come across passages that made me go, eh?  I started reading some of the stuff out loud to my boyfriend, and outright complaining to him about what was happening in the story.  Then, it happened, I broke down and looked up spoilers online to see what happened in the book.

NOTE here be spoilers!

WTF Gale!?  Ok, so the whole point of the series, or the start of it at least, is that Katniss wants to save her younger sister from going into the Hunger Games, she wants her sister to live.  And in the end, her sister dies because of Gale?  Yeah, thanks, but no.  I get it, everyone was Team Peeta, and I get it, war sucks blah blah blah.  But seriously?  Oh, and Finnick, the person who gets built up to have lots of sympathy, he dies?  Thanks for that one.

Now, I can deal with the death of favorite characters.  In Harry Potter, it's sort of the right thing that Fred dies in the end (even though I luvs me some Weasley twins!), and actually I cried for George.  But, the end fits.  Mockingjay just felt like, a different world, with different characters.  I missed the awesome BFF Gale who reminded me of my best guy friend growing up, and I am mad at Collins for taking that character away from me (or trying to, I've decided to ignore her ending and make up my own).

I'll always love The Hunger Games, and Catching Fire.  I'll always root for Katniss, and cry when Rue dies.  But, Mockingjay was a bit let down for me, and I'm sorry that an amazing series ended on such a sour note.  At least I got out before I couldn't make up my own fan fiction version in my head.

The Mockingjay thing

I am sure many, if not all, if you who would read this know about The Hunger Games, and it's third and final installment that just came out:  Mockingjay.  Any of you that know me, know that I LOVE The Hunger Games, in fact, one of my tattoos is slightly based on the cover of that book.

So, why is it taking me so long to get done with Mockingjay?  I know many librarians, authors, and other readers went through that book within a day of it being released, but I've been working on it for more than a week now.

I think my problem with this book, much like the problem I had with Deathly Hallows (the last Harry Potter book), is that I don't want my experience with these characters to end.  I want to know what happens, but I am going to miss them and their adventures once I finish that last page.  So, while I want to fly through the book, I am stopped by the fact that I also *don't* want to know.  

Does anyone else feel like this?