Notes from the Printz Awards and Final Thoughts

Hi there, the Printz awards were fantastic. I always enjoy hearing speeches by some great YA authors. Writers, well, know how to write, and rarely give a bad talk. The Printz honor books are Nation by Terry Pratchett, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor the Nation volume 2 The Kingdom of the Waves by M.T. Anderson, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart, and Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan. The Printz award went to Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta. My favorite speech was that by M.T. Anderson in which he stressed the importance of writing intelligently for young people. He said that the one "taboo" that was not completely accepted by parents was that of intelligence which earned both laughs and murmurs of agreement. Unfortunately, I was sitting pretty far in the back so while I took pictures none of them came out very well. Oh well. It was great to just sit there and absorb what they had to say. I also had Jellicoe Road to read on the plane. (and saw one of my fellow passengers reading it in the waiting area. I asked her, "You weren't just at ALA by any chance?") Right now the speeches are only available on the members only site of ALA/YALSA but I'm sure they'll be available soon.
Other Final Thoughts

• Got to talk with Linda Braun, the incoming president of YALSA and a former professor of mine from Simmons. She's a great library advocate and I was so pleased that she remembered me. (she came up to me). I think she'll make a wonderful president for YALSA. If you ever have a chance to take a workshop with her, I highly recommend it.
• I missed the Bookcart Drill Team competition this year, but apparently NPR did a story on it. There is also a video of the winning team on the NPR site. It's pretty funny. I don't know where the librarians come up with this stuff.
  
• I found out yesterday that Hugh Hefner's daughter and former CEO of Playboy, Christie, spoke at the opening session of the conference. Again, thanks to Library Journal for that. They've been very informative about the goings on at the conference.
• Talked with a library science professor from the University of North Carolina in Greensboro at the Printz awards last night.
• I decided not to attend the Cokie Roberts talk as I figured it would be too crowded. I found out later that there were plenty of seats. Next time, I won't make that mistake.
• Two thoughts about the plane: I had a tag inside my checked luggage that security had selected my bag to open and search. Why does that always happen you come home from a trip and therefore have dirty laundry in your suitcase? Also, have you ever noticed that when flight attendants get on the loudspeaker, they address the passengers as "ladies and gentlemen" but the pilot addresses everyone as "folks" Notice that next time you fly.

The conference was a great experience. I highly encourage you all to go to a national conference if you have the chance. It can get pricey but it's worth it. Next year ALA is in Washington DC so it's not too far. Also, ALA Midwinter is coming to Boston in January. While the meetings are designed for ALA Committee members, look into getting a pass for the exhibit hall. If you work with a vendor you may even be able to get one from them.

Someday my Printz Will Come

Some thoughts while waiting to go out to attend the Printz awards. (The Printz award is the medal given annually to the most outstanding Young Adult book the previous year. The winner is announced at the ALA Midwinter Meeting)

• Saw a college friend of mine who's a college librarian receive an award yesterday. It's for a project involved digitizing posters from World War II.
• Went to the ALA store, today. Bought some READ baseball hats for some friends' kids, as well as a coffee mug that had the Dewey Decimal numbers for Hot Chocolate and Marshmallows. I also bought a pack of READ Wonder Woman bookmarks for a friend of mine.
• Ran into Sunny from Metrowest, as well as Maureen, the YS Consultant from CMRLS.
  
• Did a few touristy things. Last night I had dinner near Wrigleyville and walked by Wrigley Field. A game was going on so there was quite a crowd. We took our picture near the Harry Cary statue. I also went to the Sears Tower with a fellow librarian from Woburn. (It's now called the Willis Tower, but no-one calls it that). We were in line for a long time but it was worth it. I also stood on the glass botton ledge which was cool but not as frightening as I was afraid it was going to be.
• My dinner last night was with a librarian friend from Malden as well as some of her friends, including a music librarian from NYU and a librarian from the Brooklyn Public Library. They're all very involved in ALA, so it was interesting to hear about the history of the organization from those who've been there. I also always enjoy hearing about other librarians' jobs.

It's Not the Internet: It's a Window on the World (Digital Divide for Seniors)

This is a topic that was true to my heart as I feel very strongly that the digital divide is expanding. I remember a few years ago when Medicare Plan D came into being and seniors were told that all of the information was online. It was hard to help these patrons effectively.
This talk consisted of a librarian from the Evanston, Illinois, Lesley Williams as well as two employees from a product called Generations Online, an online training program for seniors. The price for libraries to partake in this program is $350 lifetime and includes opportunities for seniors to get e-mail addresses. The product is non-profit, although those who use it can only check their e-mail accounts at locations that subscribe to the service.
Evanston, Illinois has mixed income and education levels and there was definitely a digital divide. Classes for seniors at the library include mouse training, e-mail, introduction to the Internet, and practice drop ins on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings. The drop ins are designed for former class members to get one on one help on the computers, so that they don't take up spots in the class from new members. Lesley was able to recruit volunteers to help with these sessions by placing ads on free volunteer matching services. She also touted an online mouse tutorial for the mouse class from the Palm Beach County Library which she said was excellent.

Illuminating New Instruction Research

This workshop consisted of a librarian from a community college librarian, a four year college library, and a library science professor debating the merits of various studies regarding libraries. They were framed in a hypothetical situation in which a student from the community college was transferring to the four year college.
I was especially interested in the discussion regarding the article "Latino Students and the Library: A case study" (Haras, Lopez, and Ferry). The practical implications of the article, according to the workshop, were as follows, "Findings provide documentation to support the importance of teaching information literacy and the research process throughout K-12, the value of middle school and high school teachers and librarians collaborating to prepare students for research expected in college, and the need for both high school and college libraries to better articulate information literacy curricula, especially with language-minority of Latino students."
While the point of this workshop was to debate the merits of the research (The library science professor, for example, wondered if the survey was included with the article and also mentioned that information literacy and using the library are not necessarily the same), I really did like the discussion regarding the body of the article. I would like to know more about this as I believe the public library can also play a role in this, especially in Waltham.

Reference Research Forum

This was a panel of three different groups who conducted research regarding work at reference desks. I really enjoyed this panel a lot and made me wish that research was more of a commonality at public libraries.

• What WOREP Results Say about Reference Service, Patron Satisfaction, and Success, Julie Gedeon and Carolyn Radcliff from Kent State University
  

(WOREP, by the way, stands for Wisconsin Ohio Reference Evaluation Program. According to the WOREP website :

"WOREP is designed to assess the outcome of the reference transaction and to identify factors related to success or lack of success. Its key features are:

demonstrates validity--items actually measure what is indicated;
demonstrates reliability--it is possible to replicate results;
uses the natural reference center setting;
includes sufficient factors to suggest cause and effect relationships;
provides for comparability of data." (c. 2009, retrieved July 12, 2009)
What the study at Kent State showed was the level of success based on reference transactions at its library from 1984-1996 and then from 2000-2008, in other words pre-Internet reserach versus the age of high Internet use. Their results did, in fact, demonstrate a change over time. For instance, staff and patrons work together more often, now when conducting a reference transaction. The staff appears to be less busy to the patrons (interesting!), however the time spent with each patron has increased. (interesting!) The staff rated the questions the same during the two time periods, though, in other words from easy to medium. worep.library.kent.edu

• Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Tutorials (Cindy Craig from Wichita State and Curt G. Friehs from the Kansas City Public Library). This study researched whether or not library patrons (or students in the case of the study) learned better from written online tutorials or from streaming video tutorials about online datbases. The tutorials were created by librarians and were more effective than tutorials created by the database companies. The first study reviewed results after teaching 140 finance students how to use the ValueLine database. The second study surveyed biology students upon using a biology database. The students in the biology study were given a feedback form and a quiz upon completing the online tutorial. The students who used the video tutorial scored higher on the quiz questions.

• Teachable Instants in Instant Message Reference: Taking the Opportunity or Taking a Pass. (Megan Oakleaf from Syracuse University and Amy VanScoy from North Carolina State University) This study measured whether or not librarians who used instant messaging reference used the tool as an opportunity to teach patrons about library tools. Those that did were "taking the opportunity" those that didn't were "taking a pass". They surveyed 1500 IM transcripts from one academic year and used eight major coding categories. They determined tha 40% of librarians "took a pass" and found information without using the opportunity as a teachable moment. Some of the suggestions the two had for teaching during IM reference was to think aloud (important to know to share failures), show don't tell (show images for conducting the search), chunk it up (divide transaction into chunks of time), letting patrons make the decisions. The two speakers concluded with the phrase, "If the reference service mission is aligned with institutional mission (in the case of an academic library) of teaching and learning then reference transactions are instructional." And this applies to Instant Messaging.

I found these studies very interesting and how they could be relevant to us, especially the last study, since we would like to use IM reference at some point. I wish more research would be done regarding public libraries and was encouraged at that level. I was glad to see that a public librarian had participated in one of the studies. I will definitely attend the research forum the next time I attend ALA.

Inspring Young Citizens: The Library as a Forum for Engagement

I was interested in this topic because I believe, strongly that the library's function as a community center requires it to be a place of civic engagement. I liked the idea of using the library to encourage young people to become more actively minded.
The panel consisted of three authors, Anne Sibley O'Brien, Phillip Hoose, and Lita Judge, as well Kelley McDaniel, a school librarian from Maine, and Kirsten Cappy, a children's literature advocate also from Maine. Each author wrote about activism in some sort of form, and all were engaged in citizenship projects related to the books. In the case of O'Brien and Hoose, McDaniel and Cappy were involved.
Lita Judge wrote Pennies for Elephants (true story of children who raised money to get elephants for the Franklin Park Zoo in 1914) and One Thousand Tracings (the true story of her grandmother who sent food, clothing, etc. to European families after World War II). Projects included getting children to have penny drives to support a cause in which they support, writing letters to local newspaper to explain the cause, and to become interested in the news.
Phillip Hoose wrote two books about young activism, including It's Our World, Too: Young People Who are Making a Difference and Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice (the true story of a 15 year old African American girl in Montgomery, Alabama who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger almost a year before Rosa Parks did the same. She later helped take the case to the Supreme Court as a plaintiff in Browder vs. Gayle). The citizenship project for the book on Claudette Colvin included students at Kelley McDaniel's school creating "ads" for a city bus in Portland, Maine telling Colvin's story. This took much effort by Kirsten Cappy who enlisted the help of the NAACP, the Maine College of Art, as well as the local bus service. The students created ad size posters for the entire bus which came to the school and which was viewed by Claudette Colvin herself. The pictures were amazing!
Anne Sibley O'Brien wrote, along with her son, After Gandhi: One Hundred Years of Nonviolent Resistance. Her son, Perry, had no experience writing for young people and so wanted to know the audience. Anne and Perry met with some students from Kelley's library who called themselves Gandhi Publishing and gave input on the book, including helping to come up with another individual to be named based on their own research.
In addition, Kelley also has started an intergenerational study group based on concepts in Rushworth Kidder's Moral Courage in which students and adults mentor one another and read, among other titles, After Gandhi.
In order to create engagement in the library, Kelley recommended the following guidelines:

• Be informed.
• Be inspired
• Seek out new ideas
• "Develop a bias for 'yes"'

Recommende website: civilrightsteaching.org

Library Journal article

I've been reading about the ALA conference on the Library Journal website. It's interesting to read about the conference live from another perspective. Apparently, there have been a couple of controversies, as well.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6670396.html?industryid=49047
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6670397.html?nid=3604

Odds and Ends on Saturday

• Just spent a wonderful evening with two friends of mine who live about an hour away. We hung out in Millenium Park and watched the fountains. They also pointed out to me the many aspects of the Chicago Tribune building. There are several pieces of artifacts from all over the world on the facade of the building, including a brick from Yale University, a rock from Yellowstone, a piece from the House of Commons, a piece of the Taj Mahal (hidden by tents for an art festival), a piece from the Petrified Forest, and the Great Pyramid.
• I had lunch today with our Ingram rep., Cathy along with some other librarians from Massachusetts, including a Somerville librarian, the director of the Ipswich Library, and the directors of CLAMS and CWMars (two library networks). We all had talks about the differences between our places of work.
• I met a librarian from the Cleveland Public Library, today. She's a branch manager (and from my mother's hometown I later found out!). She and her staff don't have any off desk time. We talked a lot about what we do, and she really seemed to enjoy her library. I liked talking with her very much.
• My hotel room was still not made up when I returned at 5:15 which I thought was odd (and not relevant to anything). In better news, the Red Sox are now two games ahead of the Yankees.
  

Exhibit Hall

Here are the highlights from today's trip to the exhibit hall. I went with a friend of mine who is an academic librarian.

• Met Lauren Myracle, the author of the very popular TTYL series. She signed her latest book, Love Ya Bunches. She was perfectly charming and seemed very nice. She was excited to hear that her series was so popular at our library. She also gave out a a silk rose to everyone.
• Stopped at the Morningstar booth. We just finished a trial for their online product which I liked.
• Picked up a few catalogs from the Baker and Taylor booth.
• I had a long talk with the representative from LibGuides. It provides a great way of providing resource guides for patrons. I've seen it on several academic libraries' websites and also heard about it in action at MLA. Public libraries do use it and I was shown an example from New Jersey. I really like the idea of them but would take a bit of work to implement. Something to think very strongly about, though.
• Talked with a woman from a company that digitizes collections.
• Picked up a brochure from Tutor.com. I'll stop by there tomorrow for more information. Kate and I had a demonstration from them a small while ago.
• Picked up a brochure from the ALA Office for Research and Statistics, regarding "Serving Non-English Speakers in U.S. Public Libraries". Most of the details can be found in the office's 2007 report regarding library demographics.
• Stopped by the Diversity and Outreach Fair which highlighed libraries' programs for underserved populations. Tables I stopped at included the Birmingham Public Library highlighting its adult literacy program; Multnomah County Library in Portland Oregon highlighting its adult reading programs for speakers of other languages, and the Greensboro Public Library for its poetry program for seniors.
  

Effective Safety and Security Practices in Today's Public Library

Despite my joking about missing the program on baseball, I found this program to be excellent and am very glad I didn't miss it. Safety is a concern in all public places, including the library and the panelists offered great tips and anecdotes regarding safety in the library. This is obviously a topic that hit close to home as it was extremely packed. (Audience members were sitting on the floor) Panelists included Bryan Oliver, a former police officer and FBI Agent who now works as the manager of safety and security at a public library; Karen Danczak-Lyons, deputy commissioner at the Chicago Public Library; and Andrew Sanderbeck who runs the People Connect Institute and consults public libraries. Another panelist was unable to come, but she was going to speak about her experience in which she was held at gunpoint while leaving her job at the library and forced to drive two patrons around before the police caught up to them. This was a sobering way to start this session, I agree, however it also got the point across that we need to be more aware of the need for security practices at the library.
Here are the highlights from the session (I also have some handouts)

Bryan Oliver

• He highlighted the types of problem behavior, such as loitering, sleeping in the library, talking/socializing, verbal altercations, and physical altercations

• Staff often has to work alone, which heightens the risk. This is a risk even in small libraries where the public service desks are close to one another.
• Public service obligations versus dealing with some of the problem behavior. However, it's also good public service for the patrons who are not causing a disturbance to deal with the problem at hand.
• Don't judge patrons based on appearance.
• Libraries should have a code of conduct. If a library already has one, be sure to review it. Make sure it's not too specific.
• General guidelines when dealing with this situation include remaining calm, don't lower yourself to their level, don't debate with the patron, don't fight with the patron (in fact, let those who are trained to fight do that, such as the police or your library security guard, don't let patron follow you into a dead end stack.
• Remember the acronym R.A.C.E. R (recognize as in recognize the signs of danger); A (Alert the staff, security, and/or law enforcement. Ways to do this can be by using voice, pulling the closest fire alarm, calling 911 (don't wait for a higher up if you feel the situation calls for it), public address system; C (cover and conceal yourself from danger); E (escape).
• Solutions include hiring library security, prominently display staff IDs; staff training; and creating phrases.

Karen Danczak-Lyons

• The Chicago Public Library has 79 branches and they strive to train the staff as much as possible. The staff practices fire drills and evacuations on a routine basis. The staff's goals include providing a safer environment as well as better lighting. Security cameras have also been installed, recently.
• The library hires security guards from a private firm who are unarmed.
  
• Supervision is key and security is a team effort. If a staff member notices something bad is happening, he/she is encouraged to call the police.
• The Chicago Police teach an Internet safety class to the staff and public.
• Staff should be aware and make eye contact with patrons. Have visible control of surroundings.
• Encourage staff to use a code phrase which translates into, "Call the police!"
• Trust gut instinct.
• When the library has problems with younger patrons such as children and young adults, the library will occasionally involve the schools and the parents.
  
• Ms. Lyons shared some incident reports from her library and asked the audience for suggestions on how to deal with them.
• Incident #1: Man had his shirt off and was holding onto his pants yelling, "There's a snake in my pants" and proceeded to remove his pants.
• Incident #2: A reference librarian had her hand licked by a patron who said he wanted to be her dog and bite her.
• Incident #3: Patron had issue when librarians said a certain phrase because it triggered a bacteria in his brain.

Andrew Sanderbeck

• Violence in the workplace is increasing. We don't know who we get on an everyday basis.
• The Virginia Beach Library created a code of conduct policy and guidelines for the staff on behavior policy.
• Stay in control. Remember E + R = O (E events, look at it intellectually, R response, we are creatures of reaction, O outcome.) Anger causes physical change, nobody wins a power struggle.

A lot to think about.
Read here for the PLA blogger's take on this program.

Waiting for Program

Hello there, I'm at the McCormick Place West Conference Center in Chicago waiting for the start of "Effective Safety and Security Practices in Today's Public Library". To illustrate that I have professional priorities, I am attending this instead of "Pride and Passion: The African-American Baseball Experience". That's a program on baseball. I want you all to remember that. In all seriousness, that program does sound very interesting. It highlights several authors on the African-American baseball experience, including Jackie Robinson's daughter, Sharon. It also highlights a traveling exhibit on the history of African-Americans in baseball, including the Negro Leagues, the integration of major league baseball and their roles today. (Does our library want to be a stop on the tour?) There is a large display in the lobby which I took pictures of and did not do justice. And standing near me while I was taking pictures was none other than Sharon Robinson herself. I admit I got a tear in my eye. This woman's father was a hero to so many and here she was standing so close to me and the shy part of me came out and said nothing.
I just helped a very nice librarian with an issue on her laptop. It took a bit and we were both stumped but doing some searches on google helped to solve her problem. And we didn't even have to call our computer librarian!
In other news, I saw two men dressed up as the Blues Brothers walk by me in the hallway. (This is in Chicago). I'm curious what that was about, but a security guard gave them a funny look and started following them so apparently they're not part of the decor, here. I wonder if they're ALA attendees. If so, those seem like fun librarians.

More Blogs to Read

By the way, I am completely disoriented as to what city this is. For some reason, I have it ingrained in my head that I'm in Washington DC. I'm guessing that this is because a) the last ALA Conference I attended was in DC b) I was just in DC a few weeks ago and c) The Special Libraries Association, of which I'm a member, just had their annual conference in DC and I've been reading about it. Plus, there are a lot of Obama souvenirs, here, since he was a senator from Illinois and of course there were many in Washington. I think I've finally figured out that I am in fact, in Chicago.
Anyway, here are more blogs from ALA to peruse if you get bored with our library's staff conference blog:
Public Library Association Blog
Library and Information Technology Association Blog
There is also a conference wiki.
Off to enjoy the day, and so glad to see that the Red Sox are back in first place and the Yankees are in second. All is right with the world.

Greetings from Chicago

Congratulations to Jonathan Sanchez of the San Francisco Giants for just throwing a no-hitter!
Greetings from the Windy City, where it rained a good part of the day. I understand that it's lovely in Boston which goes to show that apparently I or anyone who flew into Chicago from Boston today has taken the bad weather with us. I flew in this morning on a very early morning flight in order to make the most out of the day. There were a few librarians I recognized on my flight (including a fellow Minuteman librarian), and a friend of mine originally on my flight got bumped to a later flight. Ah, the joys of flying. My shuttle from the airport was full of librarians, which was exciting. One of the librarians is an adult services librarian from North Carolina. Her library has summer reading programs for adults, teens, and children, and their kickoff party was attended by 4500 people! They also have several computers throughout the building, including fifteen that are exclusively for young adults. (10 desktops and 5 laptops). Another librarian on the shuttle bus works at the Department of Defense, which was interesting contrast to all of the public librarians riding. I enjoyed talking with her and hearing about her job, as well as the different professional associations of which she's a member.
Like any good former YA and children's librarian, I visited the Harry Potter exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry. I really enjoyed it, although the souvenirs were a little pricey for my liking. I also saw a little of Millennium Park and drove by Soldier Field (home of the Chicago Bears).
I spent the day with my conference roommate, a friend of mine who is a PhD Student in Illinois, and a former co-worker of mine from a different library. We also hung out a bit with one of my baseball fan librarian friends, who used to work for Morningstar but now runs her own Research Business and works as a reference librarian at a public library. I enjoyed listening to some of the work her clients ask of her, as well as exchanging stories and annecdotes from the public library. Her library also runs an adult summer reading program and this year's theme is books made into movies.
I'm getting tired. The early flight and the one hour time difference is finally getting to me. Tomorrow the fun begins.

Library of Congress

Before I start posting from my adventures at ALA, I just wanted to write quickly about my first trip to the Library of Congress when visiting Washington DC with my community band a few weeks ago. Did you know that anyone can get a reader card to the Library of Congress, that there is a copy of the Gutenberg bible, and some Stradivarious violins, as well as Thomas Jefferson's original library? Enjoy some of the pictures from the visit. (P.S. As you can see, I'm not the only librarian in the group! The picture in the cemetery is the grave of a historical researcher who simply wrote "Look it Up" on her tombstone)

State Library and Kirstein Branch of the BPL

On Friday, the reference staff took tours of the State House Library and the Business Branch of the Boston Public Library. It was an extremely informative day, and made us all familiar with more resources that we can offer patrons.

• The State House Library is a resource library available to state employees, as well as a law and research library for the public. Bills that are introduced in the state legislature are available in hard bound editions, and there is information on most of the Massachusetts communities. Although most of the Waltham resources are the same that we have here, this library is wonderful if one needs resources for multiple communities. This is also a great place to go for genealogists. The library is home to the Zimmer index which compiled a catalog of where to find information on a variety of names. The library also has three print versions of Massachusetts laws (we have one version), as well as a variety of other writings regarding Massachusetts law and politics. There is also a special section for the Massachusetts Book Awards, as well as any books related to politics. (I believe I spied a copy of Elizabeth Edwards's new book). While many of the reference books are open stacks, there are several books in the closed stack area. This area reminded me so much of my hometown library when I was a page. I always felt as if I were in a real library when I shelved many moons ago. There is also a large television which broadcasts live sessions of the Massachusetts House and Senate. When the courts are not in session, the television broadcasts images of artifacts from the special collections. And speaking of special collections, that was the last stop of our tour. (well, the last stop was actually when we broke the staff bathroom in the state house, but that's another story) The special collections houses a variety of archival material, including Sanborn Fire maps, and other historic maps. City directories are also included in this collection. There is also a preservation area, in which staff do their own preserving of materials which are damaged due to water, etc. The woman who showed us the special collections actually teaches library preservation classes, which would be really interesting. Some of the materials which are considered extremely valuable are kept in other places, out of reach of the elements destroying them.
  
• The Kirstein Branch of the Boston Public Library is located on City Hall Avenue, very close to the Financial District. Walking into that library was like taking a step back in time, in a good way. It looked just like a research library out of a movie, complete with tables with patrons looking at strewn out papers, etc. The downstairs area is full of nothing but directories, as well as some financial newsletters, and stock information. They have historical stock information dating back many years which is especially important for our patrons. There are historical stock quotes online, however, if a company has changed names, it is almost impossible to find information. It's good to know that we can at least refer them to the Kirstein Branch to get this information. The library houses directories of pretty much any subject. Want to see a listing of all of the foreign companies that have branches in the United States? That's there. (and quite large, I might add). Want to see a directory regarding baking or snack production? Look at The Baking Snack/Directory and Buyers' Guide. My personal favorite was Who's Who in the Egg and Poultry Industries in the United States and Canada. Upstairs was where patrons could use the Internet, as well as view copies of books on a variety of statistics and studies. There is also a career reference section, and periodicals for pretty much every industry. There were also a variety of books helpful to small business owners, which Jan pointed out would be good for our collection. One of the more interesting studies at the library was a book entitled, American Time Use: Who Spends How Long at What. There is also an extensive list of business databases. You can access many of these at home, by applying for an online BPL card. Or if you're there in person, get an actual BPL card, like Todd and I did. The Kirstein Branch also offers a variety of programs. One that really piqued my interest was "Career Wednesdays" in which counselors from Jewish Vocational Services offer free career counselling, by appointment for a half hour.

Thanks again for all of the librarians who took the time out of their busy schedules to make us aware of just two more examples of public libraries.

Cat in the Hat

Here is the picture of my colleague, Mary, from the Everett Public Libraries, and me posing with the Cat in the Hat, at the MLA Conference in Springfield (hometown of Dr. Seuss)

Demystifying Manga

I decided to solve the dilemma of what will I choose between Social Networking, 24/7 Reference, and Public Speaking, by not attending any of them but rather to attend a session on the mysteries of manga. (Manga are the Japanese comic books, for those of you who don't know). I buy the collection for the YA room (and adult manga as well for the adult graphic novel collection). I know that the teens love it and I love buying it for them. As a reader, however, I just can't get into it and so I wanted to know more about it. Plus, I was especially intrigued by this panel because a 13 year old was part of it and was going to explain what she liked about manga.
Robin Brenner, the YA librarian from Brookline who is a graphic novel guru, first gave the history of manga, including a brief history of Chinese and Korean comics. There are also different genres of manga for males and females (specifically shonen are for boys and seinen are for men, while shojo are for girls and josei are for women). Next her teen colleague, Leah, shared some insights and gave some suggestions. (For instance, James Patterson's YA series, Maximum Ride, is now a manga series). We also asked Leah what she looked for and for some title suggestions. I wanted to know if she read other types of comics or graphic novels, and she said no, that she generally preferred manga.

Getting Rid of the Reference Desk

Wow, scoring 12 runs in one inning without recording an out. Sorry I missed that.
Anyway, I went to an interesting program entitled Getting Rid of the Reference Desk which was interesting and not as radical as it may sound by the title. There were no suggestions about getting rid of reference librarians (thank goodness) or even reducing reference service. Rather it's a way to enhance reference service, by pretty much establishing one stop shopping and going to where the patrons are.
(I just saw our Ingram rep., Cathy, walking down the hall. I always enjoy talking with her. )
The first two speakers were from an academic libary, Northwest Missouri State University, and they noticed that lot of their patrons were not using reference in the traditional ways. While the foot traffic decreased, the web traffic increased. After conducting several surveys and focus groups with the students, the reference department decided to completely revamp how they do reference service. The library now, has, a one stop desk. A patron goes up to the desk and states their need, and if it requires another librarian, the appropriate person is summoned on a walkie talkie. (Librarians are on call and carry the walkie talkies, rather than being on desk. Students staff the desk). The walkie talkies work very well and are also good when a librarian is working somewhere that may not be near a phone. This also works well because the librarian on call is never seen doing work at the desk so the patron (or student in this case) does not feel as if he or she is interupting. The library also employs something called an open door system. There are buzzers by each of the office doors. If the door is open, that means the librarian is available for work with the public. If the librarian needs to have a meeting or take a conference call, he or she simply closes the door. There are forms at the desk so that students can request time with individual librarians or if they have specific needs. Students can also talk with librarians virtually and request one on one appointments with a librarian. The library does not use Instant Messaging, mainly because the hours that it would be used are in the middle of the night, not the most convenient times for librarians!
The Darien Library in Connecticut also uses a roaming reference approach. They used a renovation to try a new form of reference. Instead of a large desk, they only use a very small table, and the librarians use wireless phones and small laptops to do work. They do use Instant Messaging (more diverse clientale than an undergraduate student body), and they also organized the Non-Fiction collection so that it more resembles a bookstore. (Books are put into a Self Help section, for example).
The libraries have the following blogs and websites:
www.nwmissouri.edu/library
owenslib.blogspot.com
darienlibrary.org

Audio Books -- Beyond the Book

Although I select the audiobooks for the YA's at our library, I'm afraid I don't know too much about them beyond what I read in professional reviews. I was never much of a listener. I did always appreciate the importance of them, though, and don't understand why some consider listening to audio books cheating. Why is listening to someone read the entire book for several hours different than reading it for several hours? It's not as if someone is watching the movie instead or reading the Cliffs Notes. If someone read a chapter from a book aloud to her child every night, no one would consider that cheating.
Anyway, enough of my rant. This presentation featured Mary Burkey, a school librarian from Columbus, Ohio, who was the chair of Notable Audios for the Association of Library Services for Children (ALA division), as well as Johnny Heller, a narrator from Recorded Books. Mary called herself an evangelist for audiobooks. I had always heard the merits of audiobooks when asking a child who was learning English or having trouble reading to read along with an audio. However, there are many other ways in which audiobooks can improve literacy. For example, listening to an audiobook can improve listening skills. It also can improve vocabulary skills. When reading a word that we may not remember, we may read over it quickly, not to mention not knowing the actual pronunciation. She also made an interesting point later in the discussion regarding boys and audiobooks. There has been a lot of talk lately regarding boys as reluctant readers, and Mary theorized that perhaps this is because the voices who read aloud to them were mostly women (mothers, teachers, librarians). A male audio book narrator can make a difference.
Mary also pointed out ways to market audio books. For example, have a display at any crafts program you may do (such as the children's room Tuesday night crafts, or our recent knitting and watercolor class). Often times, patrons like to listen while doing something else. She also suggested putting displays in large print areas for those who are more visually impaired, or doing displays at the senior center. She even suggested a local health club which I thought was interesting.
Johnny Heller was a lot of fun. He read aloud from several of his audio books, including children's, YA, and adult books. He also explained the process, saying that he records about 2 hours at a time, and that he always reads the book the whole way through before recording. I loved listening to him narrate. I'll have to check out some of his performances.

Odds and Ends on the Second Day

• Just had dinner with a friend of mine and a school librarian from Ohio who is doing a presentation on audio books tomorrow morning. We had an interesting discussion on requirements for media specialists in our two states, as well as the state of libraries. I always enjoy talking with librarians in different states, for that reason. She is also a reviewer for Booklist and The Horn Book, which was also interesting to hear about.
• As of now, tomorrow I am planning on attending a session on audio books and a session called "Getting Rid of the Reference Desk" (it's not what you think). I'm debating between attending a session called "Social Software and Intellectual Freedom", Public Speaking on behalf of libraries, or 24/7 Reference because they are all at the same time.
• It's been nice running into some former colleagues, Simmons classmates, and co-workers.
• If you ever get lost in downtown Springfield, the workers at the autobody shop on Main Street with the big Cadillac sign are very nice about giving directions, especially if you're looking for the train station. (long story)
• I've really enjoyed all of the sessions I have attended so far.
• My colleague attended a session entitled "Help! I'm so STRESSED" regarding stress at work (not that any of us are) and was kind enough to bring me the handout. The speaker emphasized the effects of stress, including physical tension and anger. She emphasized the importance of identifying what causes our stress (finances, changing schedules, etc.) as well as "barriers to managing stress" (poor diet, too little sleep, etc.). She advised to set up a support system, whether it be friends, family, or co-workers as well as coping skills, and some relaxation techniques (e.g. breathing, stretching, progressive relaxation, visualization, and meditation)
  
• I think Tim Wakefield should win the Cy Young Award and that Alex Rodriguez needs to send Manny Ramirez a bouquet or candy gram for taking some of the attention away.

Have a good night!

Thursday Afternoon

This afternoon, I attended a lecture from children's picture book author, Mo Willems. I was debating between this and attending a program on dealing with difficult patron situations, but since we saw that excellent presentation by Sarah, last week, I figured I would channel the former children's librarian in me and see the author of the very adorable Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. He was a lot of fun and I'm glad that I decided to attend this. I also got some books autographed for some friends' children.
I also attended the Book Cart Drill Team Competition. (The Conference Committee wisely did not schedule this against anything else). This is pretty amusing, for those of you who've never seen this. Basically employees of a library dress up, and choreograph a routine incorporating book carts. Demco, which sponsors the event, awards money to the top three winners. (Since only three libraries participated this year, well, then all three were lucky). Entries were from Memorial Hall Library in Andover, the Nevins Memorial Library in Methuen, and the Plymouth Public Library. Andover's routine featured characters from Batman, Methuen's a dance routine from A Chorus Line, and Plymouth's a cowgirl routine done to a Shania Twain song. (They were the big winners, by the way.) I really don't know how to describe this, for those of you who have never seen it, so check it this video of this year's winner (Plymouth) at last year's MLA Conference

The World is Not Flat -- Information Literacy in 3D

This workshop was taught by Elizabeth Thomsen from NOBLE (consortium from North of Boston). I was also glad to be able to run into Dina, a former co-worker of mine from Westford. It's always nice to meet up with former colleagues.
Elizabeth basically went over some online 3D programs that are used to teach young people Information Literacy. I was already familiar with one of the products, Google Earth, but it was good to see it used in different ways. It's a great tool for teaching where we are in relation to other parts of the world. Unfortunately, Google Earth requires a fairly robust Internet speed , so I'm not sure it would work well on all of our patron computers.
She also pointed out a product called Google SketchUp, in which one can design 3D drawings. (It's really quite amazing). If a librarian wants to do a model of the library, for instance, or a model of a proposed library renovation, this is a very handy tool. Elizabeth also suggested using it to do a YA program. (I actually asked Elizabeth after the workshop how software like that could be used in relation with libraries). Even if it's not something I would use, immediatly for the library, I do feel it's important to be familiar with what software is out there, so that I can be in the know when patrons ask about it.
Elizabeth also mentioned 3D Replicators which are basically printers for 3D objects. They're very amazing, but the fact the technology exists is amazing to me. For now, one can send in a Sketchup to a company called Shapeways and receive his or her object in the mail.
You can read more about Elizabeth's thoughts on this subject from a post on her blog.

Information Literacy Showcase

This was my favorite workshop so far, this conference. Information Literacy according to the Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science, means, "Skill in finding the information one needs, including an understanding of how libraries are organized, familiarity with the resources they provide (including information formats and automated search tools), and knowledge of commonly used research techniques. The concept also includes the skills required to critically evaluate information content and employ it effectively, as well as an understanding of the technological infrastructure on which information transmission is based, including its social, political, and cultural context and impact."
For years, information literacy has been associated with academic libraries, only, but in reality it's something that all librarians should be prepared to teach. This panel consisted of a public reference librarian, a YA librarian, an elementary school librarian, and an academic librarian.
Matthew, the reference librarian from the Springfield Public Library, mentioned that there is a larger need to be proactive in teaching information literacy. While librarians used to teach information literacy 1:1 on an informal level. The librarians at his library now teach several computer type courses from basic computer classes to classes for high end databases. The name of the program is Hi!Tech @ the Library. Classes that the librarians teach include Computer Basics, Learn to Type, Internet 101, Introduction to Word Processing and Microsoft Word, Manage your Files, Great Websites You Haven't Seen Yet, Local News (using the Internet), Vote Savvy with the Internet, Excel with Spreadsheets, Database Design with Microsoft Access, and Next Reads (which teaches Readers' Advisory tools online including some subscription databases). I was especially intrigued by classes such as Local News and Vote Savvy with the Internet, which not only teaches patrons how to better search online but to be better information consumers. It also gives me something to think about if an when our lovely volunteers can't teach here anymore. Not only does this help patrons improve their information literacy skills, it also helps the librarians. Furthermore, as Matthew pointed out, it's great PR for the library.
The next speaker was Dan, a YA Librarian from Shrewsbury. He mentioned how certain YA programs can be entertaining as well as teach information literacy skills in a subtle manner. (They're also great tools for brining YA's into the library). For example, the library runs a scavenger hunt which requires the YA's to use online databases to find some of the answers. There is also a cooking contest which requires the YA's to find cookbooks in the library which, in turn, teaches OPAC skills. The library also holds a YA writing competion which is held in the same manner as American Idol. In order to vote, the YA's are required to use the library blog and website. The teen advisory board also has a branch who orders Manga and are required to use the OPAC in order to do it.
Julie, the elementary school librarian, emphasized that information literacy begins in kindergarten. She discussed great ways in order to emphasize the difference between fiction and non-fiction. (using songs, word plays, etc.). She also said that pictures are ways for early readers to learn information literacy. Older children are taught to use the catalog when doing projects for school.
Sarah Marks from Fitchburg State discussed Information Literacy at her library. She learned where her students were (on Facebook, youtube, Google, and Wikipedia. They are not on Twitter or Blogs). She emphasized the benefits of wikis, saying that it's the way of the future, and also talked about the virtues of Wikipedia. (personally I feel when used correctly, that it represents everything that is right about the Internet). She mentioned something called libguides which according to their website, offer, "General subject guides, Course guides to support faculty instruction, 'How to' guides related to various library services, Teaching library instruction and information literacy, Collaboration with faculty on research and teaching. Library Website, Staff collaboration/communication" Here is an example of Fitchburg State's History Libguide.

Author Visits part Two

Writing this while still getting over the news regarding Manny and waiting for the one children's program I decided to attend. (channeling my old days as a children's librarian to see a picture book author).
I saw two more authors at separate programs, yesterday.

• Sarah Beth Durst is YA fantasy writer, and a native of Massachusetts. Her books Into the Wild and Out of the Wild imagine what it would be like if Northborough had characters from fairy tales living in it. She discussed different elements of fantasy, including other worlds, magical beings in this world (what she called Fairies in the Coffee Pot), and people from this world going to other world (through the Wardrobe, she called it). She also mentioned why one would want to read fantasy, including escapism, empowerment, understanding, and experimentation. Sarah mentioned a lot of authors who were examples of all genres, which I appreciated. She also talked about how to start writing prompts when conducting writing groups in the library. One prompt could be to change one aspect of the real world, another would be to choose a well known story and decide what happens next. As a librarian who doesn't read a lot of fantasy, I really appreciated hearing about examples of authors to recommend to fantasy crazy readers. Sarah also made me realize that I read some more fantasy than I thought when she mentioned some authors whose works I've read and enjoyed.
• Michael Cunningham was the speaker, last night. Cunningham is the author of The Hours (think Nicole Kidman with the big nose), as well as The Home at the End of the World. He had a discussion with Barbara Hoffert of Library Journal which, admitedly would have been a little hard to follow if you hadn't read any of his books. However, he was very engaging and had a great personality. It was also interesting hearing him talk about the making of the movie for The Hours. Barbara also asked very detailed questions and seemed to know the books very well. She definitely did her homework. I was very excited to have Mr. Cunningham autograph a copy of one of his books for my mother.
  

Author Visits part One

Yesterday was the day of writers and I loved it. I always enjoy listening to writers, regardless if I've read their works. They all have different methods of writing and it's interesting to hear what works for each individual. I also enjoy when authors talk on panels, especially if they have good chemistry with one another.

• The first two authors I saw were Lynda Barry and Thirty Umrigar. Lynda is a cartoonist who has written graphic novels, such as One! Hundred! Demons! and her latest book, What it Is. Thirty, on the other hand, is a former journalist, turned novelist and professor of creative writing. Her newest novel, is The Weight of Heaven, which tells the story of an American couple of moves to India after their seven year old child dies. The conversation was moderated by Barbara Hoffert, editor of Library Journal. (what a cool job she has!) Lynda was, in short, a nut. I mean that in a good way. She was very funny and clearly seems to love what she does. She made some interesting points about the term "graphic novel", stating that most cartoonists don't like the name. However, she said whatever gets a librarian or educator to justify purchasing them, then it works for her. She did make a funny comment regarding a colleague who said that he thought "graphic novels" referred to books such as Lady Chatterly's Lover. She mentioned that her comic influences were Dr. Seuss and Robert Crumb, although she joked that sometimes Crumb could get a little disturbing. She was very pleased to hear at the book signing, that Dr. Seuss was from Springfield. "Oh that explains the Cat in the Hat picture in my hotel room. I just thought the hotel was really funky." She was also asked about the rise of females in graphic novels. (oh my god, I just took a break and went on Boston.com to catch up on news from the last two days and saw that Manny Ramirez was suspended for performance enhancing drugs. Sorry, back to our regularly scheduled programming). Thirty discussed her life as a journalist and making the transition from journalism to novel writing. She mentioned how journalism is sometimes treated as "the poor cousin of literature" (I loved that line). She also discussed writing her memoir, saying that memoir writing is a subjective retelling of the truth. I asked Thirty what she thought about the future of newspapers, which started a lively discussion. (Lynda also used to write a comic strip which was published in several papers, and which has been dropped). As a wannabe journalist, I'm always interested to hear opinions from those in the field.
  The two women had such great chemistry with one another, and seemed to really enjoy what the other was saying, despite (or I think because) of their different styles. They played off each other well. One of my colleagues told them that they should teach a writing class together. I would enjoy something like that.
  
• I'll be back with part two in a few minutes. I've just been asked to take another trip to the exhibit hall to thank the various sponsors.
  

Greetings from Springfield

Hello there and greetings from the MLA Conference in Springfield. I arrived here yesterday with some colleagues from the Everett and Malden libraries, and after some difficulties involving finding parking (hotel parking lot was full), and getting to the highway, we made it in one piece. Yesterday, was the day of authors and I enjoyed seeing them so much (more in the next post on the specifics). Seeing author programs always reminds me why it was I started working in libraries when I was 14 years old. Speaking of that, I ran into a woman who was a reference librarian at my hometown library back when I was a page, and whose kids went to high school with me. I think she was a little weirded out by the fact that I am pushing 34 and worked with her 20 years ago. No worries. She looks exactly the same as she did 20 years ago.
Springfield, incidently is the hometown of Dr. Seuss. There is a beautiful sculpture garden in the quadrangle which includes the Springfield Library and The Springfield Museum of Fine Arts. There is also a picture of the Cat in the Hat in my hotel room. And yours truly posed with a little Cat in the Hat for the Springfield library who will be using it on their Facebook page. They agreed that we can use it for our Facebook page and Flickr accounts.
In other news, I ran into some of our sales reps, including Nancy from Recorded Books, Lou who represents several of our reference publishers, and Paul who does the same. I was very excited because Lou gave me a reference set for free that I was planning on purchasing, anyway. (The bad news is that I had to schlep a four volume reference set throughout the conference hall. The good news, I now am much stronger than I originally thought.

Massachusetts Teen Librarian Summit at the Leominster Public Library

On Tuesday, April 28, I was lucky to attend the inaugural Massachusetts Teen Librarian Summit at the Leominster Public Library. I had spent a lot of time at this public library a few years ago when I attended meetings for an MLA committee, but this was my first time since their renovation. It was absolutely beautiful. The children's room was so bright and airy, and the YA room had shelves upon shelves only for the graphic novels. And don't even get me started on the lovely reference area. Me, jealous? Okay, maybe a little.
Anyway, the purpose of the day was to gather YA Librarians and to brief them on a series of topics. Workshops that were provided included Teen Behavior in the Library, Bullying, Teen Summer Reading Programs, School/Public Collaboration, and Funding for Teen Programs/Programs on a Shoestring. The last three workshops each met twice and we could only attend two out of the three, so I chose School/Public Collaboration and the Funding for Teen Programs. I really enjoyed every workshop I attended.

• Teen Behavior at the Library. The panelists were Alissa Lauzon, Teen Services Librarian at the Haverhill Public Library; Bernie McCann, Behavioral Specialist/Adolescent Mentor at the Haverhill Public Library; and Donna Johns, Librarian at Newton North High School. The three discussed different behaviors at the public and school libraries. Haverhill hired Bernie, who works at the public schools, as a behavior enforcer at the library. He and Alissa described themselves as a yin/yang with some of their beliefs in regards to teen behavior but that they work well together because of that. Interestingly, the teens call Alissa by her first name, while Bernie is called Mr. McCann (although he joked that the teens sometimes call him the "Terminator") They both stressed that it's very important to have the teens involved in any discussion regarding library behavior. Haverhill also has a policy that if you don't have a purpose in the building, then you can't be there. I think this was seen as harsh by some, but I also don't like to critisize policies of libraries where I don't work, since I don't know firsthand what the situation is. At any rate, it seems to work for them, and I liked how Bernie and Alissa balanced each other. They seem to make a good team. Donna discussed behavior at her library, and of course had some different insight. She said that she sees the school library as a bridge between the classroom world and the outside world, an image that I really liked. (side note -- some members of the reference department and I had a chance to see Donna give a Readers' Advisory workshop at Metrowest and it was very good. I highly recommend attending that program should it be offered, again).
• School/Public Collaboration: The panelists were Liz Manning (Beverly Public Library), Kira McGann (J.V. Fletcher Library in Westford, my old place of work!), Susan Beauregard and Amy Lannon (Reading Public Library), and Tricia Horan (Chelmsford Public Library). I naively did not think I needed this workshop because I do some collaboration with some of the school librarians, here. I was very wrong to think that. There is so much more that can be done. Reading has a very strong relationship with the schools. For 17 years, the library Friends group and schools' PTO groups have cosponsored author visits. Some of these authors have included Caroline Cooney, Paul Zindel, and Mitali Perkins (who gave such an excellent talk at our staff meeting, last year). Their reference librarians also were guests at a teacher in service day to show the library databases to teachers. They also consult with the school library teachers when purchasing databases which I found fascniating and such a no brainer. They've also been conducting 6th grade tours for the last 23 years, which inspired me to consider thinking about those again. (Incidentally, they give cookies at those, too, and recently changed to hyop-allergenic cookies from a bakery called, "Home Free". Unlike some staff I know, they apparently were not given a hard time by their co-workers for changing the cookies. ahem) The library also sells some of the summer reading books for a discounted price as a fundraiser for the library. Interesting concept.
  The Chelmsford Library also does some great programs with the schools including reserach nights in which the middle school libarians and some teachers come to the library in order to help students who are doing research for a large project. They also coordinate something called a Read-In, in which high school students read out loud to younger children and are shown how by the YA librarian.
  The Beverly Library also works very well with her school librarians, and she includes them on all her e-mail lists. She also makes regular school visits and collaborates on the school summer reading lists.
  The public library in Westford has a program that has only grown since I've been there. Back in my day, the children's librarian, library director, and I met periodically with all of the media specialists, as well as a reading specialist. In addition to productive meetings, this was also a way to get to know the other librarians on a personal level. (We usually met for tea. I loved it). Because of this, I was able to visit the schools and talk about the YA summer reading program. The group has now grown to 13 members, and the members have written a joint statement which appears online.
• Funding for Teen Programs/Programs on a Shoestring This session consisted of four librarians who broke off into small groups. Unfortunately, (late) lunch was announced in the middle of this session so I was only able to visit with two of the small groups. I met with Brandy Danner from the Wilmington Public Library and Eliza Langhans from the Marlborough Public Library. Brandy discussed what to do when you have low attendance at your program. (Don't give up. Why was there low attendance? etc) Eliza discussed what she referred to as guerrilla programming. Because she was having trouble with teens attending advanced planned workshops, she does a lot of last minute programming with teens who are there such as trivia contests, etc. I would have liked to have been able to talk with these two more as I feel both of these are relevant to our YA programming.
• Bullying/Cyberbullying: The panelists were Ellen Miller from the Worcester County D.A.'s Office and Shawn Weld, School Adjustment Counselor at Sky View Middle School in Leominster. This was my favorite panel of the day. (albeit one that made me extremely glad that I am not a teenager.) It will be really hard for me to do this panel justice and I'm sure you're all sick of my writing at this point. Ellen shared some good websites as well as some disturbing statistics regarding cyberbullying, including via text messaging. Shawn's presentation was how his school reacts to bullying and troubling situations between two students. In some cases, they conduct peer mediation (although usually when two friends have a falling out) which are positive ways of dealing with the problem. In many cases, it's hard to know who is the bully. At any rate, I think we all learned that regardless of how we work with kids this age, we all share a common goal of wanting them to be safe and respect one another.

Okay, that's it. Stay tuned for updates from MLA. Any of you going?