Prompt Response 16: What about the future?

Prompt:  How have reading and books changed since you were a child, for you specifically?  Second, talk a little about what you see in the future for reading, books, or publishing - say 20 years from now.  Will we read more or less, will our reading become more interactive?  What will happen to traditional publishing?

I have loved reading and books for as long as I can remember.  My Mom read to me when I was very young. She took me to storytime when I was three.  My best friends, Lori and Rory had an older sister who could read.  After storytime, she would read to us.  It was awesome!  When I went to first grade, we read about Dick, Jane, Sally, Spot, and Puff.  I have loved reading ever since.  I remember loving visits to the school library.  In second grade, I discovered Marguerite Henry, and read  Brighty of the Grand Canyon, Misty of Chincoteague, and as many horse stories as I could get my hands on.  In third grade, I continued my love of reading about horses with Black Beauty, reading late into the night under the covers with a flashlight.  In fourth grade, I discovered From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, and A Wrinkle in Time. I have spent many pleasant hours lost in good books and my life is richer for it.

My taste in literature has changed with my age and circumstances, but in every stage of my life, books have entertained and enlightened me.  From the time that my children could listen, I have read to them.  I discovered that reading to my children was just as enjoyable as reading to myself, and when they were older, we read to each other.  Reading has enriched my life in so many ways.  In addition to changes in my tastes in reading, I have learned to enjoy books in various formats.  While I still love to curl up with a good book and a cup of tea, I also really enjoy listening to books while I am driving or doing mindless household chores.  I have also spent many happy hours reading on my iPad or PC.  Even surfing the web is made possible by reading.  So while the subject and format of my reading may have changed, reading remains a constant in my life.

As far as my vision of the future of reading, books, and publishing - I see reading always being important to society.  Some have published scary futuristic visions of bookless futures, such as aldous Huxley's A Brave New World, but I do not believe reading is going anywhere.  Almost everything we do requires reading.  Checking your Facebook means reading everyone'd posts.  Google, texting, Twitter, Blogger... we're surrounded by words more than ever before.

About the future of books - there have always been those who love to read books and those who don't.  I don't think that will change.  Twenty years from now, there will still be those of us who love to read books, and we will pass our love of books on to future generations.  The format of those books may change and grow.  I tend to agree with Germano when he said, "New media does not have to succeed by defeating our historical media.  We collectively benefit from the diversity."(2010)  I think we will be able to listen to our ebooks.  When you download an ebook, you'll be able to listen to it also.  The iWatch and other wearable digital devices will allow us to answer our phone and to listen to a book whenever we wish.  We may even have holographic technology that allows us to immerse ourselves in the books's world.

I do think there are changes coming for the publishing world.  20 years from now, all (or at least most) books that are published will be available as ebooks.  I think the print book will still be around, but fewer books will be published in print.  As self publishing becomes easier, the big publisher will have to re-invent themselves to keep from becoming obsolete.  Publishing and printing books for authors might not be their primary service - editing, marketing, and other service will become more important to authors.  Publishers need authors, but as authors need publishers less, the publishers will have to provide new services.  Those are my thoughts, but I'm looking forward to seeing how it all unfolds!


Germano, W., Di Leo, J., & Wachtell, D. (2010, October 1). Fate of the book. The Chronicle Review.

Week 15 Prompt Response: Getting the Word Out

Prompt:  What do you think are the best ways to market your library’s fiction collection?  Name and describe three ways you do or would like to market your library or your future library’s fiction.  These can be tools, programs, services, displays – anything that you see as getting the word out.

I thought there were lots of great ideas in this week’s readings.  I think it’s very important to be proactive about readers’ advisory.  While I do sometimes have people ask me what to read next, it’s more common for a patron to browse the stacks.  I think having displays, bookmarks, and programming to promote readers’ advisory services is a good way to let people they can always ask for help in finding a book (or other material) to enjoy.

1) Programming

This Saturday, May 2, is national FREE Comic Book Day.  We are having an all day celebration to promote our graphic novel collection and to let people know we have graphic novels and appreciate graphic novel readers.  We will be giving away 100 free comic books provided by Buy Me Toys, have several comic book characters wandering around the library, have a table set up where people can make super hero cuffs, and have drawing contest.  After the library closes at 1:00, we are showing Marvel’s The Avengers which should be popular as the next Avengers movie opens next week. 

2) Displays and bookmarks

I think book displays are a good way to get great books in to the hands of readers who might not have searched them out.  We choose a subject and gather some books that work with the subject (such as soup books when it’s cold outside).  I really liked Sarick’s (2005) idea for the “great books you may have missed” cart.  This would be an awesome way to display some great books that my otherwise be overlooked.  At EPL we have a display entitled “what you were reading last year” which is very popular.  We also try to keep bookmarks with alternatives for people who enjoyed the current favorite titles and are looking for another book to read. 

3) Social Media

I appreciated Nann Hilyard’s thoughts on using social media for more than just announcing programs.  Static content, such as programming schedules can become boring, but personal items engage the reader.  We regularly post what the staff is reading.  Our blogger asks staff to send titles that they are currently reading.  If possible, we also include short reviews.  For those who read the blog, this helps them connect with staff, and also promotes our collection.  I think it would be a good idea for those who don’t regularly read our blog to have display of “staff reads” with books we have been reading.  This would promote the materials, and also encourage those who may not have discovered it to try reading our blog. 

Marketing our services is SO important.  There are so many wonderful opportunities at the public library that people don't even know about.  Mango Languages is available through our database subscriptions for all library card holders.  Since "Pirate" is one of the languages you can learn, every year on "Dress Like a Pirate Day" in September, we all dress and talk like pirates to promote Mango Languages.  I really do love my job!

Week 14 Prompt Response - Shelving Street Lit and GLBTQ

Prompt:
Consider yourself part of the collection management committee of your local library, or a library at which you world lFiction 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 of an author who might be different fro the reader.  Do you separate them?  Why or why not?  You must provide at least 2 reasons for or against your decision.  Feel free to use outside sources - this is a weighty question that is answered differently in a lot of different libraries.  

As far as separating African American Fiction - I would not recommend it.  I read several blogs by African American authors.  The authors and those who responded were universally against being shelved in a separate section.  Coe Booth says, "I'm here to tell you, when it comes to books, segregation is alive and well in America." (Booth, 2012)  She also mentioned that while she had reluctantly come to accept the ter, "street lit", and "urban lit" and the fact that her books would be shelved there, she was very frustrated when her books were shelved only there where their intended YA audience might not discover them.  She felt that her books were YA, not urban lit, but were shelved there because there are young black people on the covers.  Fantasy author, Nora K. Jemisin says, "Any bookstore or library which shelves my stuff in AAF has assumed that my work is automatically of interest to black readers - and only black readers - because I'm black" and later pleads,  "booksellers and librarians: Please don't put anything I write in the AAF section."(Jemisin, 2012)  So, I would not recommend an African American fiction section, as that stereotypes both authors and readers, and discourages that serendipitous discovery.

Having said that, however, I would shelve street lit together, as it is a sub-genre, based on specific element of appeal, such as subject matter, language, tone, etc.  "So, what is street lit?  In a nutshell, street lit is a fiction subgenre that spectacularly portrays many issues and situations that people living in an inner city deal with on a daily basis."(Welch, 2010)   According to Megan Honig, "In the past 15 years, the resurgence of gritty, action-packed stories of street life and survival has rocked the literary landscape."(Honig, 2010)  This is popular and should be made available to our patrons..  I work in an inner city library and we have our street lit collection shelved as "Urban Fiction."  There is a definite demand for this genre.  New books usually have several holds before they even hit the shelves.  We also have patrons who read exclusively from this section.  Because we have them shelved together, these patrons know right where to go to get what they're looking for.  Because we have this collection, they are also comfortable asking for new titles.  A problem we've experienced is buying a print title that is the beginning of a series, only to have the remaining books in the series come out in ebook only.  Not every patron who reads urban fiction has (or wants) a device for reading ebooks, and they are not happy when they like a book and we cannot get the remaining titles in the series for them.  This is very frustrating for the selector.

While GLBTQ fiction is also important for the library to collect, I would not recommend shelving it separately.  There are several reasons for this.  "The library can be an amazing resource for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or questioning youth."(Farrelly, 2007)  However, these youth, particularly those who are questioning, may not be comfortable browsing a GLBTQ section. "Second, for every (GLBTQ) reader seeking a complex literary novel, there is another who wants a sexy beach read, and a third who wants a cozy mystery."(Devon, 2007)  Suzanne Brockman writes romance and romantic suspense novels, many of which feature gay and lesbian characters.  If we have a separate GLBTQ section, do we include these and others like them?  If not, readers might not discover books with strong gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or questioning characters because they are not the main focus of the book.  "That is where we want to see the gay book going.  Readers need to see the gay character as part of the community.  That is getting to be the more realistic place."(Camacho, 2011)  I believe it is important for GLBTQ youths to see themselves in mainstream fiction.  So, instead of creating a separate collection, we need to provide discovery tools that are out where they can be seen - reading lists, bookmarks, and displays.  This opens the door for RA opportunities and lets patrons know we welcome these questions and want to help them find what they're looking for.

References

Booth, C. (2012, September 7). Separate, Not Equal; An It's Compllicated! - Book Covers guest post. Retrieved from CBC Diversity: http://cbcdiversity.blogspot.com/2012/09/separate-not-equal.html

Camacho, H. (2011). Where GLBT Literature is Going and Why it Matters. Voice of Youth Advocates, 138-139.

Devon, T. (2007). A Place on the Shelves. Library Journal, 40-43.

Farrelly, M. G. (2007). More on Serving Gay Youth. Public Libraries, 38-39.

Honig, M. (2010). Introduction. In Urban Grit: A Guide to Street Lit. Libraries Unlimited.

Jemisin, N. K. (2012, May 26). Don't put my Book in the African American Section. Retrieved from N. K. Jemisin: http://nkjemisin.com/2010/05/dont-put-my-book-in-the-african-american-section/

Welch, R. (2010). Everything Street Lit. In Integrated Advisory Service (pp. 259-286). Denver: Libraries Unlimited.

Week 13 Prompt Response YA and NA

Though this week's "genres" all seem very different, they all have in common the fact that many people don't feel that they are legitimate literary choices and libraries shouldn't be spending money on them or promoting them to adults.  Obviously graphic novels are becoming more acceptable, but I still had to fight to get my progressive library in a liberal college town to purchase a book club kit containing graphic novels.  The common belief is that adults still don't or shouldn't read that stuff.  How can we as librarians, work to ensure that we are able to serve adults who read YA literature or graphic novels.  Or should we?

Maybe the question should be, "Why shouldn't we?"  Why would we, as librarians attempt to decide what our patrons should read?  Much of what we have learned about readers' advisory has been about helping patrons find that next book, the one that they will enjoy because it has the elements of appeal that they have enjoyed in other books, not the next thing they should read.

I believe we can ensure that we are able to serve adults who read graphic novels by making sure our collection contains popular and well written graphic novels.  That might seem simplistic, but with so many graphic novels being made into movies or television series, they are becoming more mainstream, and more adults are reading them.  The graphic novel fan base is growing and we need to serve this group of readers.

The recent Pew Research Center study on Younger Americans and Public Libraries found that "Despite their relatively high use of libraries, younger Americans are less likely to say that libraries are important."(Zichuhr & Rainie, 2014)  We need these younger Americans to see that importance of public libraries.  Serving this population and making sure they understand the importance of public libraries is important to our future.  So, why not give them what they want?

While I understand the importance of Young Adults having their own place in the library, I don't agree with keeping it locked and not letting anyone else in.  We do not prevent young people from checking out "adult" books.  Why would we discriminate against our adult patrons by not allowing them to check out YA books?  I think a display of YA titles on one of the displays that usually houses adult titles would be a great way to attract attention to this collection and market it to adult readers.

There are all kinds of reasons why adult readers might enjoy YA books.  Many are very will written with timeless themes.  All of us who are adults were once younger.  Reading books with younger protagonists takes us back.  Young Adults enjoy different themes at different times in their lives, sometimes reading what our children are reading helps us to understand them better.  I remember when my daughter read Twilight, long before it became popular and absolutely loved it.  We waited at the book store until midnight when the final book in the series came out so she could have it as soon as it was released.  She did not leave the couch for a few days.  When she had finished and I asked her how it was, she sighed, placed her hand over her heart, and said, as only a teenage girl can, "It was perfect!"  It wasn't about the vampire theme, it was because true love conquered time and death. Every young girl wants to believe in that kind of love.  Some adults do, too!

Zickuhr, K., & Rainie, Lee. (2014). Younger Americans and Public Libraries. Pew Research Center.

Week 12 Prompt Response

Readers Advisory Matrix for Wild by Cheryl Strayed

1. Where is the book on the narrative continuum?

•   Highly narrative (reads like fiction)

2. What is the subject of the book?

•  Cheryl's journey after her mother's death, through despair and self-destructive behavior to     self discovery and eventual healing on an incredible 1100 mile hike of the Pacific Crest Trail. 

3. What type of book is it?

•  Memoir and story of healing

4. Articulate Appeal

• What is the pacing of the book?  
• For the most part, the pace of this book is leisurely, following her journey, articulating her thoughts.  Her hike is also an adventure and has times of suspense.
• Describe the characters in this book.  
• This is a character-focused story and Cheryl is the main character, telling her own story. Other characters include her Mom, Step-father, sister, and   brother, and people she meets on the Pacific Crest Trail.
• How does the story feel?  
• The story is vivid, bleak, inspiring, and uplifting as Cheryl moves beyond despair and finds inspiration and healing in her journey.
• What is the intent of the author?  
• To tell the story of her journey, both inward and actual.
• What is the focus of the story?  
• Cheryl's hike on the Pacific Crest Trail, alone, and the profound effect it had on her life
• Does the language matter? 
• Yes, the language is rich and evocative but also straightforward
• Is the setting important and well described?  
• The setting is essential to the book, and the descriptions are vivid
• Are there details, and if so, of what?  
• The book is filled with detail - of her feelings and actions, and the hardships and pleasures she found on the hike. 
• Are there sufficient charts or other graphic material?  Are they useful and clear?
• None
• Does the book stress moments of learning, understanding, or experience?
• The book stresses all three.  Cheryl describes her journey and the things she learned and understands because of her experiences.

5. Why would a reader enjoy this book?

1.     Reading about Cheryl's emotional journey is heartbreaking and uplifting
2.     The descriptions of the Pacific Crest Trail are breathtaking
3.     Cheryl is an excellent storyteller; her writing is elegant yet incisive

It has been a little while since I read Wild, but I really enjoyed it.  I'm excited about seeing the movie!