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Something Different Every Day

January 11, 2010

Fragments

So many wonderful blogs, written by thoughtful, insightful, people, bringing out all sorts of interesting points about books for children and young adults. I love them, and the best of them model the respectful analysis that excellent books deserve.

But those same people are the very ones who used to spark intelligent conversation about books in a larger forum–child_lit, adbooks, yalsa-bk, CCBC, and others. No one could possibly argue that people shouldn’t exercise their critical and literary muscles in whatever form they choose. But if we don’t find a way to lure those bright, interesting people into continuing to add their thoughts and participation to the listserv communities instead of trying to lure people to each individual blog, we lose something as a group.

Likewise, when each year brings a new children’s or young adult prize, that’s a great thing. It means that a group of judges focus on some particular thing, such as nonfiction for young adults, and with their expertise can weigh apples to apples and come up with a great result. But I think realistically speaking, it also means that the value of the big prizes becomes diluted. I love the book awards, and I can’t keep track of them all anymore. The groups who award prizes also begin scrambling a little for turf, and start trying to make each prize a little narrower, a little more specific….and a little less grand.

It just feels like everything is becoming increasingly fragmented. I guess that is the opposite of having things controlled by a small group, which is almost surely a good thing, but I wish we could work toward making sure the conversations don’t all split off, either virtually or at conference, into dozens of tiny rooms without coming back together somewhere, sometimes.

posted by Susan at 1:38 pm | Comments (1)

November 20, 2009

Under construction

My youth services department has been under construction for 500 years, give or take.  Along the way, I have learned a few things which I thought I’d share with anyone feeling foolish enough to want to attempt a library construction project of their own.

I’m starting with the most important thing:

1. Be willing to be annoying.

This is not the time to be nice, to be flexible, to be accommodating, to be respectful of other people’s busy schedules.  This is the time for you to nail down, preferably in writing, every single detail about your project.  This is the time to clarify, to ask questions, to make sure that you understand something thoroughly and that everyone else sitting at the table understands it the same way too.  If people start to look irritated that you’re asking about another detail, then you’re on the right track. People never looked irritated with me, and so lots of mistakes got made on my project.

2. Be willing to work with people who annoy you but are good at their jobs. Everybody brings different skills to a project. One person might be extraordinarily detail-oriented; another person might be a great big-picture person. One might remember to think about where you need a data-line and another might be excellent at remembering that once a year you are building something that needs a lot of room.  If you opt only to work with the detail-oriented person because they are congenial but the big-picture person bugs you for some reason so you don’t bring them in soon enough, you will be hurting yourself in the end.

3. Double-check everything. Don’t assume that if you have wooden bookcases that they will be replaced with wooden furniture, because you will end up with metal furniture that way.  There is a reason I know this.

4. Ask to see pictures of everything, especially if you are not a good visual person.

5. Be willing to be annoying when the things are delivered, if they aren’t right.  They are going to walk out happy while you are stuck with something that doesn’t quite work, if you don’t check everything out thoroughly at the time. The company wants a happy customer, and this is your only chance to get things right, so don’t look the other way when something isn’t installed correctly or wasn’t built properly to begin with.

6. Don’t confuse being annoying with being unpleasant.

I’ll bet if I ever get moved into my new office, I’ll have some more tips to share. Anyone else have some construction thoughts they’d like to pass along?

posted by Susan at 11:07 am | Comments (1)

November 13, 2009

I miss Sharon

Like most of the people reading this, I miss Sharon Ball. Sometimes it takes me completely by surprise.  I’ll be driving up Milwaukee toward NSLS and all of a sudden remember, “She’s gone!”  And then I think, “That’s impossible.  How can that be?”

Premature death is always a shock even after long illness, and when the person was as alive as Sharon was, it is all the more startling. I still hear Sharon’s voice and laugh so clearly in my mind. NSLS has a wonderful staff, and they serve their librarian patrons very well, but Sharon was the person we went to for everything.  Considering hiring someone? Run your names by Sharon.  She’d never badmouth anyone, but she certainly could steer you clear of someone that wasn’t going to be a great fit for your situation.  Need help on writing a grant?  Sharon knew ALL about it.  Just need a sympathetic ear when things were tough in your library?  Sharon would sympathize and make you laugh.

When Holly Jin of Skokie organized Sharon’s retirement gift of a bag with a Wordle word cloud on it, the words people suggested that meant Sharon to them were so telling–warm, kind, generous, gracious, listener, advocate, friend.  Sharon was all of these and more.  So I just wanted Sharon’s friends and colleagues to know that we still remember your loss–we always will.  And we will treasure our memories of a very wonderful woman.

posted by Susan at 5:16 pm | Comments (0)

April 26, 2009

Why you should attend the Sutherland

I swore to myself last year after attending the annual Zena Sutherland lecture at the Harold Washington Library that I would hound my fellow NSLS youth services people to go next year.  And here it is next year already!

Here’s why you should go:

1.  Christopher Paul Curtis is the speaker this year.  A great writer, an excellent speaker, talking about some of the books kids love the most–The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963; Bud, Not Buddy; Elijah of Buxton–don’t you immediately remember those characters, those voices?

2. The speaker is introduced by the inimitable Roger Sutton.

3. You’ll get a chance to network.

4. It’s at Harold Washington in a beautiful space, and it’s downtown Chicago at night, which is often magical.

5. The food at the reception afterward is fantastic, and it’s easy to get a chance to chat with the author.

6. It’s free!  Just RSVP at 312-747-4780 or go online at www.chipublib.org/eventsprog/events/sutherland/sutherland.php

7. What, you want to know when it is?  Fine.  It is on Friday, May 1 at 7:30.  You should go!

posted by Susan at 4:30 pm | Comments (0)

April 17, 2009

Hunting for Poetry

Back in 2001, I was inspired by the CTA’s project where they posted poems throughout the transit system for people to read as they ride.  I thought it would be a very cool thing to plaster the Youth Services Department at the Niles Public Library with poetry.  But I knew that without some incentive, many children would walk past the poems without reading them, and so began our annual Poetry Scavenger Hunt.

On April 1st, I come in early and hang up 40-50 poems throughout the Youth Services Department, with a couple more spilling over into the Young Adult area outside the door.  Each poem is typed out in a distinctive font (one that hopefully matches the poem’s style) and mounted on colored paper and laminated.  Some of them are in clear view and easily found–others are tucked away and only the more determined searchers will find them.

Throughout the month of April, children can fill out a form where they write down the first line of each poem as well as its title and author.  They also have to write down their favorite poem.  If they find 20 poems, they can come collect a gel pen…so they can write their own poetry, of course!  Some of them manage to do it a second time.

Then beginning April 15, the second phase of the poetry hunt begins, where any child who has completed part 1 can answer specific questions where you must find a particular poem to get the answer.   The prize in past years has been a notebook…so they can write their own poetry, of course!

It’s a very low-key, low-maintenance program that never fails to bring me joy, so I wanted to share it with everyone else who works in Youth Services and loves poetry too.  Here are some pictures from this year’s hunt.

posted by Susan at 4:49 pm | Comments (5)

January 27, 2009

Yay! It’s the ALA Awards!

The morning that the ALSC/YALSA Youth Media Awards are announced is one of my favorite days of the year!  In past years, I’ve watched the streaming video and enjoyed it immensely.  But this year was even more fun being there in person, hearing the cheers for my committee’s picks.  SO MUCH FUN!

I have to say that I am very proud of the work the Geisel Committee did this year!  It’s really odd to be on a committee with such a short history–this was only its fifth year.  But that was also a cool thing, because it made you examine very carefully what the criteria for the award were, what fit, and what didn’t.  I learned a lot about how children learn to read and what gets in their way.

We picked another Elephant & Piggie book for the gold medal.  It’s the nature of easy readers that every once in awhile, a very strong series comes along and magically hooks kids into reading, and we are privileged to be living in the time when Elephant & Piggie does just that.  Our Honor books make a very nicely rounded group of books: A picture book (One Boy), a nonfiction book (Wolfsnail), a very traditional easy reader (Chicken Said “Cluck!”, and a graphic novel (Stinky).  And yet I can assure you that balancing the honor books was not part of the criteria–we just picked the books that we thought worked the best on every level for new readers.

Calling the authors was fun too!  One author had never heard of the award, but was pleased nonetheless.  Mo Willems of course HAD heard of the award, and made this charming and funny response, date-stamped because he (and Trixie) were sworn to secrecy until the awards were announced.

Being on a committee like this is a ton of work, and incredibly rewarding.  I highly recommend joining ALSC, filling in those volunteer forms, and attending conferences.  It enriches you personally and professionally, and it enriches the library you represent, too.

posted by Susan at 7:05 pm | Comments (0)

December 17, 2008

Top Ten of 2008

Here is a link to my Top Ten Books of 2008 for children and teens.  The list was due in mid-October, and of course two months later, I’ve read many other fine books.  It really makes me wonder how valid anyone’s Top Ten truly is.  For me, it’s a snapshot of what I had read so far that I loved, but also wanting the list to have some balance between the different ages, styles, authors, and even publishers.  Without taking anything away from any of the books on my list, which I stand by as wonderful choices, here are some others that could just as easily made it onto this year’s list:

1.  Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd.  I didn’t hurry to try to read this because I knew I really wanted to include Dowd’s London Eye Mystery, but this one is at least as good, it turns out.  What an astonishingly well-woven story.

2.  The Underneath by Kathi Appelt.  This is a strong contender for the Newbery, with its gorgeous use of language and amazing reworking of the selkie tradition in folklore.  I listened to it instead of reading it, an especially nice way to appreciate the lyrical passages.

3.  Wave by Suzy Lee.  What a satisfying depiction of the way a child interacts with the ocean!  Since my fellow Top Ten-er Dave already included it on his list I didn’t put it on mine, but it’s a huge favorite.

4.  The Little Bit Scary People by Emily Jenkins.  Children are so often frightened by people and their eccentricities, and this playful reminder of how even scary-looking people might kiss their cats and dance with their children is likely to help kids not to judge quite so quickly.

5.  Impossible by Nancy Werlin.  This lush, romantic, and very smart novel about generations of women who give birth at age 18 and then go crazy is a great choice to offer the Twilight crowd, and a great introduction to a very fine young adult author.

That’s just a few more favorites that happen to strike me tonight!  I have a feeling by the time I’ve finished Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book, that would make the alternate list as well.  You may notice that the second Octavian Nothing isn’t on my list, but that’s no reflection on the book.  Instead it means that the first one was so heart-wrenching that I keep chickening out and picking other books to start instead!  It has been an incredible year for young adult novels.  The other significant omission are any of the books that might be eligible for the Geisel Award for the best book for beginning readers.  I’ll have more to say about those in late January.

posted by Susan at 7:08 pm | Comments (2)

July 23, 2008

Flat Stanley

We have had a lovely visit with Flat Stanley here at the Niles Public Library. Stanley is about 2 1/2 feet tall and, as expected, flat.

I think we all enjoyed participating in a collaborative project, and think it would be fun to work more with other libraries on things like this. We all work so hard on our programs and displays and materials that it’s a shame not to share them more!

Here are some of the adventures Flat Stanley got into:

Playing the Summer Reading Game

Digging in the sand and looking for I Spy objects

Stanley is ringing the gong for another Summer Reading finisher!

posted by Susan at 3:17 pm | Comments (0)

July 20, 2008

Dr. Horrible and the world today

It’s a funny thing to be a youth services librarian who’s been around awhile. On the one hand, you are in full-dinosaur mode, insisting that at least SOME portion of storytimes be devoted to actual, you know, stories. And on the other hand, it’s a thrilling time to be part of a transitional time where story is being conveyed in such a variety of ways, especially for older kids.

This past week, Joss Whedon of Buffy and Firefly fame notified people that his three-part online series Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog would be released. I heard about it from several different sources, from Buffy fans and YA authors and people who get excited about seeing media used in different ways. And it was wonderfully original and fun, and of course one of the most fun things is being in on something at its inception. If you happen to spot this on Sunday, you can still watch, but after that, you’ll have to pay for it. Its blend of music and video, and the unexpectedly hilarious comic timing of Neil Patrick Harris made it something to remember.

And there’s the John and Hank Green vlogbrothers.com, where recently John was dared to go find one of his Young Adult novels in a store and sign it. He couldn’t find his own, so he signed his good friend Maureen Johnson’s book instead. This was followed by a video log of a young woman (Marion–how perfect is that?) ditching her teleconference to find that book and buy it, and recording her experience, followed by John’s brother Hank turning it into another video. It’s a very fun time to be in Youth Services! People are getting excited about books and story in a different way from before.

I hope that those of us working on the younger end of Youth Services as well can keep in mind how important books and stories are, so that when I am beyond middle-age and well into geezerdom, I will still be applauding the creative efforts of people working to communicate with people of all ages.

posted by Susan at 7:10 pm | Comments (0)

July 12, 2008

There was a little turtle…

He lived in a box. He swam in the river and he climbed on the rocks. He snapped at a mosquito, he snapped at a flea, he snapped at a … at a … at a … WHAT?

Ever have one of those brain freezes during storytime? You are doing a finger play you have been doing for, you know, 25 YEARS, and suddenly you lose one of the words completely. This is me at the Rise & Shine Storytime on Thursday, in front of some 40 people. I flag down another librarian who happens to be passing by and say “Hey, Ms. Shelley! What is the turtle snapping at?” Ms. Shelley has no idea but suggests throwing in “dragonfly” and we go with that. The parents are mildly amused by the whole thing, and the kids of course just think the snapping motion is funny so they don’t care.

And that’s both the good news and the bad news about getting older. In my early career, I would have DIED of mortification over this. Now that I have reached a certain age, it just made me laugh. So that’s the good news–I no longer lose sleep over looking ridiculous. I now realize that I probably look ridiculous a fair amount of the time to someone, and who cares? Not me.
The bad news is, I’m going to need to begin preparing for my storytimes more thoroughly again. As you get older, the part of your brain that goes off and retrieves information does lose brain cells, and it’s just going to get harder. Reading Martha Lear’s Where Did I Leave My Glasses? was both reassuring and sobering as it confirmed that Yes, you really don’t remember things nearly as well as you get older but No, that doesn’t mean you have Alzheimers. So I’m going to begin working on some techniques now to help me as I age and the facts take longer to bubble up.

A minnow, by the way, is what the turtle was snapping at. A minnow. Remember that!

posted by Susan at 1:56 pm | Comments (0)

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