Week 16 Prompt The future of books

When I was a child, my mom took me to the local public library.  I remember reading a hundred books in the summer and another hundred books during the school year.  These books had to be mom approved, so they had to wholesome books, like Little House on the Prairie books.  I read all of those books and I also loved biography books about presidents.  The only fiction books I remember reading were C. S. Lewis books, the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  I also read Mark Twain books.  Today, I read anything and everything.  I still love to read biographies, but I also read fiction books.  In my opinion books have gotten more interesting than they used to be, but my range for reading has increased also.  I like to know what someone was thinking and why they did they things that they did.  I also like comics because I need to laugh and get into the stories, like Luann.  I have learned a lot from other people's experiences and I have really learned a lot from this class.  Today, I also like to look at picture books and maps.  When I look at art or a photograph, I think about the story behind the painting or the photo and sometimes there is a story in the book.  I have pictures of guys from World War II and they are very friendly toward each other.  The guys were not looked at as gay because gay just meant happy back in those days.  I must say, now we are overwhelmed with media, books, things to read on the internet or watch on the computer we hardly have time to relax and smell the roses.  When I finished ninth grade my supervisor gave me a Rand McNally Road Atlas and I used to study those maps for hours.  I imaged traveling to all the states and visiting historic places and parks.  In my imagination I have been everywhere, but in reality I have been to 35 or the 50 states, plus Mexico and Haiti. There have been times when I feel like I have missed out because I was restricted in my reading as a child growing up in a very religious home, but I have tried to make up for lost time.  I still have a lot more books I want to read.

The future of books is a little scary, if you only like books that you can touch and feel.  There was a time that I was against eBooks and audio books, but now I get it.  One problem with physical books is that they can be damaged.  I had to buy a book from the library last week because it damaged in transit to the library.  When a person gets a books on their computer or e-reader they don't have worry about returning the book or the book becoming damaged.  I have also become overwhelmed with some many books that I don't have time to read or even places to put them.  When you have a book on the computer or e-reader you save a lot of space.  You also don't have to visit the library.  I see more and more people reading books and checking out books without going to the library.  In 20 years, I believe this will more popular than it is today.  Today's babies will be young adults in twenty years and they will use the latest technology and not  need to read books so much.  Reading for them will be more interactive because they will be into the latest gadgets. The older generation will be the ones at the library because they are still used to checking books out.  As far as the young people today, I don't see them reading much in 20 years.  I believe books will still be published in 20 years, but not as much as they are today.  I have noticed as far as textbooks for library science that we using less textbooks than I did in classes that I took in the past.  I believe this trend will continue.

 I am truly amazed how my views of reading, what to read and the future of reading has changed since I took this class.  I didn't read much before this class, but watched more TV.  I hope from this class I can show people how amazing it is to read a book and let the book go into your imagination.  This is so much better than waiting till the book comes out in a movie.  It is also better than watching mind numbing sitcoms or reality TV.  My goal in life right now is not just to get a great job, but also to convince people the importance of reading.  If a person has a hard time reading or poor eyesight they can listen to the book and this will be great also.        

Week 15 Prompt

When I think about the library that I will work at in the future, I think it will be in a city that is not too large, possible Fort Wayne.  There are many ways I can market the library's fiction collection.  I will go over three ways that I think will be very effective.

1.  Having a great looking display for your books is very important.  Making a first impression is great for the patrons to look at the books.  This has been very effective in many libraries.  It will be good if someone takes a picture of the display and posts it on Facebook.  This is will show those that are on Facebook that we have some awesome fiction books.  The books may be books that hasn't been read lately, but people will read.  The book display can be themed.  Mother's day is coming.  We can have fiction books about mothers and there are many fictional books on mothers.  The books can cover many genres, like mystery, romance and historical fiction.  There are many movies based on books, that will another great display.  Having a librarian blog about the books on display will be another way to get people interested in the books.  When you have people talk about the display people will read them.

2.  Having a program about a book the author wrote would be great.  The author could talk about the book and other books they wrote.  It would be great if there are local authors that could come to the library.  This will get people interested in their books and other books similar to theirs.  This would also be great for writers to ask them questions and the general public can understand what goes into writing a book.  There also be refreshments served.  If you can't get an author to talk about their books, the librarians can give a program where they talk about books.  They can also have booktalks on the libraries blog.  It would be great for people to see the videos the librarians made to get people interested in the books.  This could also be posted on Facebook and people will talk about the program or the books.

3.  Having the librarians make bookmarks and book annotations about the fictional books that they like will get the books noticed.  This can also be marketed on Facebook, the libraries website and on their blog.  This will take some doing on the librarians part, but it will be very effective because the library patron will see that the librarians took the time to explain the book.  Since the librarians have many various tastes they will cover lots of genres.  There should a bookmark and an annotation of each genre in the library.  This should be at the front desk or right when you walk in.  There should be a great reveal, with sign and posts on Facebook and the website.  The object is to get people to read or listen to the books, whatever it takes.  

These ideas have worked at many libraries.  The object is to get people interested in books because it opens up new worlds and new ideas that they never thought about before.  As librarians we help many people expand their knowledge and realize that there so much out there to discover and learn.  You can compare the library to the Discovery Channel because you are always learning something new everyday.

Reference:
Saricks, J. (2005) Promoting and marketing readers' advisory collections and services.  In Readers'               Advisory Service in the Public Library.  Chicago: ALA Pp. 136-160.

Week 14 Prompt

This is the scenario:  I am part of the collection management committee at my local library or a library I would like to work and I must decide whether or not to separate the GLBTQ fiction and African American fiction from the general collection to its own special place.  Some patrons have requested this, yet many staff are uncomfortable with the idea, saying it promotes segregation and disrupts serendipitous discovery at an author who might be different from the reader.

First thing I must consider where am I located.  If I considered being a librarian in San Francisco, I would separate the books because of the large GLBTQ population.  Oakland has separate section for African American books and GLBTQ  books in their collection development policy.  I would like to look at the needs of my local Allen County Public Library.  I do not believe the books should be separated at the main library, but the branches can decide for themselves.

Here are the three reasons for not separating the books.
1.  We must consider books that are under two different genres.  I just read Rainbow Boys and that book is GLBTQ and young adult.  We would not want to separate this book into a GLBTQ section because the young adult person would be comfortable searching i n the young adult section for this book.  The young adult has many interests besides their sexual orientation, so they need this book with the other young adult books.  Their are also books that are both African American and GLBTQ and where do you put those books.

2.  We must also consider the ease of finding the books.  When a person looks for a book and finds fiction and the authors last name, this helps them find the book.  If the patron needs to know if it is the African American section or the GLBTQ section, it makes it awkward an harder for the person to find the book.  We need to please the people that come to the library.  We can explain to the people that want the books separated that this is not a good policy.  The patron and pleasing them is very important in the library.

3.  We must also consider what is best for the library staff.  When a new person starts at the library, they need to get introduced to where the different books are so they can find them easily.  It will be much easier to find the fiction books, it they are just separated by author.  I have been helping out at a library that has the paperback books divided and I think it makes it harder to find the book.  The African American section is called urban and you can usually tell by the title.  Some books are harder to tell what category they belong to.  Let's make it easier on everyone and keep them together.

My belief is the main library shouldn't separate the African American and GLBTQ books, but if there is a special library for these books that is fine.  In Fort Wayne, we have a special library for GLBTQ books that has thousands of books.

Reference:
oaklandlibrary.org/system/files/collectiondevelopment.pdf

GLBTQ Young Adult Annotation

Author:  Alex Sanchez

Title: Rainbow Boys

Genre: Young adult, coming of age stories, GLBT fiction, realistic fiction

Publication Date: 2003

Number of pages: 233

Geographical Setting:  Washington D.C., Whitman High School

Time Period: Late 90's to early 2000's.

Series: Rainbow Trilogy, 1

Plot Summary:  This is the story of three high school seniors.  Nelson is out of the closet, while Jason and Kyle are coming out of the closet.  Jason is basketball star, with a girlfriend and an abusive father.  Kyle is secretly in love with him, but Jason falls for Kyle after awhile.  He is scared because he saw Nelson and Kyle being bullied.  He helps them in the end.  Jason is introduced coming to a Rainbow Youth meeting for young gay people.  He has the hardest time accepting himself.  It is interesting how their lives get interwoven together.

Subject headings: Coming out (sexual orientation), first loves, friendship, gay teenagers, high school seniors, high school students, high school, homosexuality, Interpersonal relations, new experiences, schools, self-acceptance in teenage boys, teenage boys, Triangles (Interpersonal relations).

Appeal:
Storyline:  Character driven, issue-orientated
Tone:  Angst-filled, funny
Writing style: Conversational, Dialogue-rich

Read a-likes by NoveList

Fiction works

The perks of being a Wallflower
by Stephan Chbosky

 Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe
by Benjamin Alife Saenz

Sloppy Firsts
by Megan McCafferty





Non- fiction books

Raising my rainbow: adventures in raising a fabulous, gender creative son
by Lori Duron

Please stop laughing at me: one woman's inspirational story
by Judee Blanco

Coming out: telling family and friends
by Jaime Seba

Week 13 Prompt

My belief is that adults should be able to read anything they want at the library and not be ashamed.  A lot of adults like cartoon books like Garfield and Scooby Doo, so I would think they would also like to check out other graphic novels that are like cartoons.  The graphic novels that were talked about in our reading is in the young adult section in a library close to me.  I have seen the Japanese manta books and they looked very interesting.  Adults shouldn't be afraid to browse in the young adult section, but if they are we can put the book on hold and they can pick it up at the hold area.

I am so glad for the new movies that also promote books geared to young adults.  I am sure young adults and adults alike, find these books interesting just like the movies.  I didn't get into the Twilight series, but I know a lot of people did.  Now divergent, like the hunger games can not be keep on the shelves, so I am glad for e-readers.  We need to get people reading, so I have no problem if adults want to read young adult books.  I also think we can learn about young adults when we read books like, Perks of being a Wallflower.  This book is more realistic than the twilight series books.  I also know adults who read the Harry Potter books as well as young people.  The movies often get people to read, which is great.

Just recently, I have noticed the urban fiction, by accident at the library.  I was looking for an Amish book for a friend and a Stephan King book for someone else.  I saw close to those books, the Bitch series talked about in our readings and the women looked liked prostitutes, so I could see why some people will not want these books in the library.  These books are like life in the inner city, so I can see how they will appeal to young people and adults.  In the nearby library these books are in their own section called "urban" or African American.  Some show like Wired on HBO popularized these books.  I hear about crime, gangs, drugs on the news all the time, so I don't care to read or see it, but I will not stop another person from reading what they want to.  These books are advertised as new books for the library at their website.

"Sales figures and the growth of the street publishing industry show that street lit is a publishing phenomenon, but little data exist on who reads street novels.  Anecdotal evidence suggest that many of street lit's readers are in similar demographics to the authors' young working class, African American, often female. Many articles have also been written on urban fiction's popularity with teenagers.  Without formal research, however, it is difficult to determine how broad the genre's appeal is.  Do readers in rural eras find street lit meaningful?  Older readers?  Latino readers?  Asian readers?  White readers?  Readers from the Suburbs?"  Megan offers some great suggestion.  "If your library is located outside a poor or working-class urban area, don't assume that street lit is not for your collection.  But a few titles, market them, and see what happens.  You may find interest you hadn't expected, or you may reach members of your community you didn't know were there." (Honig p. ix)

The point is to get people to read, whether they are adults or young adults.  Let them read young adult, street lit and graphic novels.  They can all learn something.

Reference:  Honig, Megan. (2011). Introduction. In Urban Grit:  A guide to street lit.  Santa Barbara:  Libraries Unlimited.
        

Young Adult Annotation

Author:  Stephen Chbosky

Title: The Perks of being a Wallflower

Genre:  Young adult (Grades 9-12); books to movies; coming-of-age stories; diary novels; realistic fiction

Publication Date: 1999

Number of Pages:  213

Geographical Setting:  Pennsylvania

Time Period:  1991-1992

Plot Summary:  Charlie is a freshman in high school, in Pennsylvania.  He writes letters to an unknown person with a lot of thought and feeling.  He tells the story of his freshman year of high school with his ups and downs.  He deals with divorce, suicide, death of an aunt and his anxieties.  He has two best friends who are seniors, Sam who he has a crush on and Patrick, who is gay.  He goes to their parties and someone calls him a wallflower because he like just there.  He falls in love with Samantha or Sam, but dates another girl.  Patrick is secretly dating the quarterback Brad, but the dad find out and ends the relationship.  Charlie helps his friend deal with the breakup.  Charlie learns a lot about life and growing up in his freshman year.

Subject headings:  Child sexual abuse victims, gay teenagers, high school students, letter writing, teenage boys and teenagers.

Appeal:  Pace - Fast; Storyline: Character-driven; Tone: Angst-filled, bittersweet, emotionally intense, funny.

Read a-likes by  Novelist

 Eleanor Park by Rainbow Powell
Set over one school year in 1986 about two-star-crossed misfits who fall in love.

Love, Stargirl
Stargirl was moping after being dumped by a boyfriend in Arizona, writes "the worlds longest letter" to Leo describing her life in Pennsylvania.

Please Ignore Vera Dietz
by A.S. King
Vera Dietz has a best friend whom she secretly loves, betrays her and then dies under mysterious circumstances.



Nonfiction

Logan Lerman:  The perks of being an actions star

Emma Watson:  from wizards to wall flowers
by Nadia Higgins

Outsider fiction
by Steven Offinuski

Prompt - Reader's Advisory Matrix

The Reader's Advisory Matrix for My
Son, beloved Stranger, By Carrol Grady

1.  Where is the book on the narrative Continum?  This book is highly narrative and reads like fiction.

2.  What is the subject of the book?  Carrol's son tells her that he is gay and her reaction is the subject of the book.

3.  What type of book is it?  It is memoir in story form.

4.  Articulate appeal
     What is the pacing of the book?  It is a fast paced book.
     Describe the characters of the book.  The names have been changed, but mother's name is Kate, and her husband is Michael.  Danny is their boy and Angela is Danny girlfriend and ex girlfriend.  Angela's parents are also in the book.
     How does the story feel?  The story feels like the mother is in anguish over her son being gay, but she gets through it and tries to comfort others.
    What is the intent of the author?  The author is trying to show other parents of gay children that it is okay for your child to be gay.
     What is the focus of the story?  The focus of the story was the mother's feeling about having a gay son, how she dealt with it and her story.
     Does the language matter?  The language does matter.
    Is the setting important and will described?  The setting is not really important.  You know it is snowing, they are missionaries, father, husband Michael is going to Argentina.  They live in the nation's capitol.
    Are there details and if so, of what?  There are details of their home, snow and their son coming home.
    Are there sufficient charts and other graphic materials?  There are no charts and other graphic materials.
    Does the book stress moments of learning, understanding, or experience?  The book stresses the mother's learning experiences about her son coming out to her and her experience.  It took her a while to deal with it.  She meet with another parents of a gay daughter who went through similar experiences.

Why would a reader enjoy this book?  1.  Personal experience 2.  Tone  3.  Fast paced.