The Diversity Discussion: Some Thoughts

I have spent about 8 hours on this post and I've spent the past evening and this morning trying to get reality checks from fellow librarians. I offer to you my opinions and ask that you keep that in mind.

I got in a Twitter argument on Saturday. Or discussion. When it comes down to it, it really was a discussion because in the end, I felt heard by those I was discussing with and we had new ideas and points. It was good. Here's the Tweet that started it:

If you're a librarian, it's your job to do your job and it's your job to HELP THESE BOOKS SUCCEED ffs. pic.twitter.com/09IMeCELDy
— Kelly Jensen (@catagator) February 7, 2015

First, you can find my points under there easily, so I'm not exactly going to rehash all of those. What I am going to do is bring up the points that I've come up with since reading the Story Time Underground Facebook Group and So Tomorrow's Blog Post.

The first point is this: CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT. Since Saturday morning, I've read the Story Time Underground Post, I've read the blog post above, and I've read more twitter stuff like Justina Ireland's Storyfied post. Honestly, her posts sum up my philosophy easily.

The more I read, the more I think about how this is one singular comment posted on Twitter for all to see and here's how I see it: it is a relatively harmless comment on its own (please be patient with me before you go commenting. This is very, very complex). I say this because I understand this response. I had the same thing happen in my picture book collection when I started. Since then, I've bought more picture books with POC and I include them because of their topic, not the color of skin: i.e. moving because it is a very well done story about moving, opposites because it is a fun story about opposites, etc.

My community reads diverse books for the story.


So the answer given by others to the issue of The Crossover being a hard sell is to... hand sell it? Fine. That can be done, but sometimes, no matter the amount of hand selling, the book (and I'm talking generally here because I can think of one Newbery that appears on my weed list occasionally) is still going to be a hard sell. It goes out once or twice or not at all.

If the book (general, again) won an award, it'll stay, and maybe in 3 years, it'll be crazy popular again because I have that population and readership. In the meantime, there are over hundreds of other books to chose from.

In fact, that's part of the issue: there are so many books coming out. When it comes to diverse books, I look to content over characters. Is the book getting a favorable review? Check. Is the topic of the book something my readers would like such as a love story, fantasy, family moving, topic my parents have asked for, etc? If so, then I'll get it because my community will probably read it for the story.

From my experience, which is how I'm relating to this, I only do reader's advisory when kids or parents ask and I pick books that match their question. If there is a diverse book on that topic and it is in, I'll share it. If it doesn't match or it's not in, there are a bunch of other books to chose from.

Does that mean I ignore diverse books in my collection? No. I put them face out on displays whenever I can and let readers discover them. I will include them on books lists when I make them. I treat the books by their stories.

What I see happening is two camps: one that says librarians must promote books, authors, and particular ideas, while another says we must promote and provide to our community and what they like. Unfortunately, librarianship is not so black and white. We all fall onto a continuum of this and it depends on your readers, your collection policy, your mission statement, and your statistics.

Does this mean I don't purchase diverse books for my collection? No. I treat all book reviews equally and keep my readership in mind. Again, this is my community I'm purchasing for and I want to have what they want and what they might be willing to read to broaden the mind. Again, they read diverse books because they want to read a story.

Community is, I think, a great part of the book purchasing equation. We need to include things to broaden the mind, but also provide what they want. It's a balancing act which means some great starred books will be passed over for something that had a decent review and better suits the readers. Public libraries cannot buy ALL THE BOOKS. Gosh, if there is a library that has that kind of budget and does buy ALL THE BOOKS, I'd like to see this library. (Hold on. I think I have. How about a library in an average service community, though?)

On the flip side, a great collection is diverse and will have at least one book or item that offends someone. If you are not offended by one thing in my collection, I have not done my job. If I'm not offended by something in my collection, I also haven't done my job.

I don't love all graphic novels. This One Summer is not one of my favorites. Does this mean I'm not going to have it in my collection? NO. I recognize the merit of the book and it's getting a bunch of press so I got it. I got The Crossover after it was announced as the Newbery winner, but am I a bad librarian because I didn't buy it the first time around? I did purchase How It Went Down when it first came out because of the story. Basketball does not come up often for middle school and high school RA at my library. Baseball and football are more likely the stories they want.


Librarianship and libraries are changing. We're in uncertain times. Diversity needs to happen in books. That is true, but we also need to be careful we don't alienate our readers and each other. By this, I'm saying we need to be sure we're striking the balance between what they want and what might push their boundaries. If we make a point to get diverse books but if our readership doesn't relate to them in some way, they'll go somewhere else.

On the other hand, this is just part of a discussion I've seen happening for years: some award winners are a hard sell to the community, regardless of what's between the covers. I can think of a Newbery winner a few years ago that someone told me they tried to read and couldn't get into it. I can think of Printz winners I wasn't sure would go (one of which didn't go when it came out, but years later has found a readership). I have books I love, authors I love, but no matter how much hand-selling I do, sometimes the readers just don't find it appealing.

So what should librarians be doing: promoting books, their authors, and particular ideas, or promoting community and a love of reading? Is it our job to make particular books succeed or is it our job to make books in general succeed? Has this librarian (and I'm wondering if I have) failed for not providing The Crossover since March? I don't think so.

What I'm saying is that we need to open a dialogue about all angles of this: diverse books, our communities, what we stand to promote, the award winners that don't have a huge appeal regardless of what's between the covers, and we need to do it with an open mind and with respect to each other. Librarians are the loudest, most outspoken people I know, but seeing some of the comments that have come out of this discussion (mostly in the vein of "You're not doing your JOB") makes me ashamed of us as a profession that I have always seen as diverse, open minded, and open to discussion. Our JOBS are as diverse as the books that are out there. Our jobs are as diverse as the libraries. What is popular in one half of my state, is not popular in the other (finally attending a conference near Pittsburgh really showed me how different it is compared to Philly). This idea can even be expanded to the entire country.

Everyone is different and bringing their experience to the table. Let's have discussion and stop casting blame.

This is my philosophy of librarianship: The Five Laws of Library Science (source-Wikipedia):

1. Books are for use.
2. Every reader his [or her] book.
3. Every book its reader.
4. Save the time of the reader.
5. The library is a growing organism.

 Thank you for taking the time to read this and consider this point of view. I want to remind you this does NOT reflect my employer and this does NOT reflect the Library Association I'm part of.

The Caldecott Honor of 2015

It's on everyone's minds: HOW did a graphic novel get a Caldecott Honor? This is nothing like when Hugo Cabret won. That could be justified, but a graphic novel? A YA book no less? How was that possible?

I don't know, but what I do know is that there is going to be discussion about it for months to come.

This Horn Book blog post from Calling Caledcott raises great points and a lot of points I considered: Wednesday Morning Quarterbacking: the Process Edition.  (HT Twitter Julie Jurgen @himissjulie).

When I mentioned to my husband that there will be discussion (and crazy discussion at that) he brought up the Sandman by Neil Gaiman, issue 19 caused a bit of a stir for winning a Short Story Award:

At the 1991 awards, comic book The Sandman issue #19 "A Midsummer's Night Dream" scripted by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Charles Vess, won the Award for Best Short Fiction.^[3] The widely circulated story that the rules were subsequently changed to prevent another comic book from winning is not entirely true. The official website states: "Comics are eligible in the Special Award Professional category. We never made a change in the rules."^[4] Gaiman and Vess, however, won the Award under the Short Fiction and not the Special Award Professional category.

From Wikipedia: World Fantasy Award 

I suspect the Caldecott rules will change after this. This One Summer will be harder to explain to parents. I'm surprised it's considered a 14 and under title. I'd put it in high school range, but that's just because of the topics dealt with in the book. It is a darker story.

So this raises a bunch of questions: who is the Caldecott for? Will more graphic novels be included or will the rules change? Have graphic novels always been included? Or will it change nothing and we'll go back to the usual picture books for the next few years until the next oddball? Time will tell.

Reader's Advisory - SEPLA Workshop Thoughts and Such

For two months now I've been toying with the idea of dusting this place off. I told myself I would think about it...indefinitely because I think I have good ideas that turn out to be too much work and I only have so much time. Also, right now, I really don't need to add something into the mix.

Right now, I'm working on NaNoWriMo and am slated to reach my count by Nov. 23. (Side note:it has been so entertaining/wonderful to see librarians getting into this. I'm happy but it's like shiny and new to librarians but I've been aware of it since 2000-something and this is my second official year participating). Also, I have an orchestra concert this week which means my next two days are this: morning routine, work, hour-ish dinner break, rehearsal until who-knows-when (2-3 hours), NaNoWriMo, with Friday being the concert. (I'm pretty stoked, honestly. We sound great and it is awesome to be part of the community this way). Not to mention, we have a toddler of a 1-year old cat who thinks it is a great idea to do things to get us up between 3-6 AM.

So why now? Why did I decide, "sure, I'm going to give it another go and if it doesn't stick, I seriously need to consider giving up for good?"

I attended PaLA's SEPLA annual meeting and workshop today. Our special guest was Becky from RA for All. At this workshop/meeting, she talked about RA and how we have all the tools to be "virtual superstar librarians." She spoke a lot on "bridging the physical-virtual divide" and brought up lots of points I hadn't considered before. Some points are:

• take your RA in the the library to virtual spaces to create a seamless experience
• keep your voice the same or similar to how you are in real life (something I've been struggling with on this blog) 
• RA really highlights your backlist. The new stuff gets enough attention when it comes out; don't worry about it now.

Other takeaways I had from looking at the blog and from the workshop included blogging for yourself, that the review format I have is very similar to what was on other RA blogs, and well, I have this energy that I want to use now, but can't (not a bad thing. I just would hate to jump in only to discover I have to shift gears quickly).

I honestly started this blog because I always seem to get fellow librarians in real life (irl) saying "You know about graphic novels, can you help me with XYZ." So, I wanted to share what I read. What stopped me recently (apparently in May) is that I was forcing myself to read new stuff and was growing annoyed I couldn't read what I wanted to read that was new because of money (yes, I'm on Netgalley, but when you have a manga fix, Netgalley doesn't always work). I want to buy manga but at $10 a pop with 15 volumes to a series easily vs. my 16 year old cat with asthma (in May it was the 17 year old Orange Cat with cancer who we lost in July) vs. the car REALLY needed new tires vs. music stuff and other stuff, the comic money I had as a teen is just not there (helloooooo adulthood).

But I still read comics and I am currently, sorta on a manga kick. My original intent was to blog about whatever I was reading graphic novel-wise. More recently, I thought I had to read what was new. I also felt that I couldn't cover YA because it is so overdone (in my opinion).

Thinking about the workshop and exploring the blogs today shows me I should just go back to my original intent: covering graphic novels (and YA occasionally). Eventually, I want to cover my idea of a "core collection." I want to index the reviews by titles (OMG). I have a few other ideas too...so...

OK Go - Here It Goes Again from OK Go on Vimeo.

Cards Against Humanity (NSFW...seriously.)

We've had a bad week. We've probably been having a bad two weeks now to be honest from a list of things. It'd probably be nice if they were all tied together (as in the drama is all from one area of our lives) but it isn't and that's that.

After going back and forth with one of my best guy friends (in real life) about how we need to get together and do something fun and silly and nerdy to get past this stuff and de-stress, he finally got an impromptu party together. So last night, I finally got to play Cards Against Humanity (TM).

All right, here's the disclaimer. This game is not at all safe for work and if you decide to click and read the above link, I am not responsible if you are offended by the random cards appearing on your screen or you spit coffee at your computer because you laughed too hard or I don't know what.  You've been warned.


Cards Against Humanity(TM) can roughly be explained as (this is a quote from My Guy and is edited): "Apples-to-Apples meets Mad Libs meets..." and I've added "20 Questions" and just said it can get offensive. Basically, the game has two sets of cards. One set is questions and fill in the blank while the other has nouns, places, situations, body humor, celebrities, pop culture, and almost any and everything. The game is best played in groups. I actually first discovered this game thanks to the wonderful Wil Wheaton who posted pictures of some awesome plays on his Twitter feed.

How we played: We played it last night with a group of about 9 then 7 people and it took roughly an hour to two. One person started the game by picking from the questions pile and everyone else put in their suggestions. The person judged which response they liked best or was a crowd pleaser and awarded the question card to the winner. We played until I pulled the "Make a Haiku" card (a recommended ending to the game) and we never did determine who was the worst person. We just all agreed we have to play that again.

Now, the website says that they are sold out (major bummer because I had full intentions of buying it). I found a copy for $50 and decided against it. The creators charge roughly $25 and I plan to get it when they publish more. I'm also getting the expansion packs directly from them. Yet, if I didn't buy it how did I get it?

Enter the beauty of the Creative Commons, my stash of card stock (at home), the printer, and a very determined Guy. He spent roughly 3 hours printing and cutting them so we wound up with these:

Creative Commons License allows us to print off the PDF, remix it (hence the white cards are gray, the black cards are pinkish), and print them to play ourselves.

Epically awesome. Yes, he's a keeper. I know that.

My thoughts: One of my thoughts after playing this is that some librarian is going to hear about this and think "Oh man! What a great idea for teens! Let's get that!" My assumption is based on the huge popularity of Apples-to-Apples in the library. Apples-to-Apples in the library is fine, but there is the mature way to play and the immature way (take a guess as to which way I learned first. Let's say, immature, which includes certain cards are seen as "trump cards" and they include gems like Helen Keller and Samuel L. Jackson, not to mention you also want to make the crowd laugh, not make sense).

Read this: DON'T. DO NOT put this in your library for teens. Don't. No. I don't care how mature your teens are, they have parents who get offended by stuff (and the rules tell you it is recommended for 17+). This game has really disgusting stuff and let's just say, if you heard the winning haiku last night, it'd be embarrassing (except for the crowd I was with). I'd say that if you are trying to reach the 20-something crowd, that might not be too problematic, but take a closer look at my layouts:

Oh man, these are still not great examples, although, my friends would get a kick out of "Step 1: Keanu Reeves. Step 2: Prancing. Step 3: Profit." Just go back to the website and watch the examples for a few minutes.

Done? Good. No? The filter got you? Yeah...they swear a bit on the site.

Now, my overall thoughts. My Guy thought I'd be offended by this game. He thought, somewhere, something would offend me. We played through all of the white cards (our gray cards). Nope. Not one bit. Twice in playing, I cracked up to the point of tears. There were many times players were reading the cards out loud and just started laughing. I think every one of us reached that point at some point.

I. Loved. It. CAH was exactly the humor I needed right now.

This is such a horrible, horrible game and I am apparently a horrible person (in a very dark humor kind of way). Not the worst in our group last night, but I was in the top 3. Either way, I absolutely cannot wait to play this again. I've played Apples-to-Apples. I've played Munchkin. I love those games, but honestly, this has got to be my new favorite party game. It is best played with those who have a similar humor because it could get very awkward, very quickly. This is a much more, grown up, adult version of Apples-to-Apples, Mad Libs, 20 Questions, and all those dark humor jokes.

Play it after a tough day at the library, but avoid bringing it into the library (unless you're playing with a crowd who knows what they are getting, don't mind a lot of swearing [how did your library like Go the F--- To Sleep?] but avoid the teen crowd).

You've been warned.

YALSA Book Lists: A Rant

I'm late to this. I know I am because I kind of hoped it'd blow over when I actually wanted to see the lists again. As it should be semi-public knowledge here, I normally pick on the "Great Graphic Novels for Teens" lists that YALSA puts out. I like them. They can be a good start, BUT there's just some stuff on there that doesn't hold a teen's interest (Prime Baby [my review] is a prime example). I've tried to be involved, but only learned last year that I can actually suggest stuff. I have one to suggest for this year actually...

Well, today, I finally ran into YALSA's "block." Basically, if you have been under a rock, when you decide to take a look at YALSA's lists, you see a "Thanks for your interest blah-blah give us your information or skip all this and sign in."

I hate signing in. Mainly because for some dumb reasons my passwords hate me. Or the system hates my password. I also don't always remember my user name and/password and ALA Connect and Member Services have still left a bad taste in my mouth (basically, I asked recently why we can't get invoices. The state library association gives me one right off the bat AND I can access it for say, when I want to print it off for taxes. I asked if this could be consider and got a "no"). As if ALA doesn't get enough of my money right now.

Yeah, I could just end my membership there, but if I didn't like YALS so much, I would.

Ok, so why did I finally run into this block? I wanted to add the book lists to my resources page because it looks somewhat sparse and I haven't started looking for stuff to add yet. My first thought was "Let's check to see if that block is there."

Yes it was. What the hell?

Now read this post on the YALSA Blog.

Read it? Did you take a look at the comments?

Here we go. First, all the information about the awards is available outside of the wall, EXCEPT the actual list themselves. So, I can nominate a book without actually signing in or giving them my information (except in the process). That means non-members could try to nominate books. In certain cases, I understand that, but I'd think that should be more behind the wall than it is. I can also learn all I want about the award, see nominations (WHAT?), but not actually see what won. That is messed up logic.


"Members who want to access the lists on reference desk computers or other non-personal computers and don’t want to login with personal information can also bookmark the links for the lists and awards. These URLs are now posted in the “Members Only” section of the website." That's kinda nice, but something about this irks me. That is also somewhat messed up logic. If I want to book mark the link, am a non-member, but need it to do my job, I have to get a membership to get special links? Um...

"Fourth, several people have raised the question about whether it is worth it to ask for this information. The answer is we’re not sure yet, but we think it might be." Ok, you've been at this since February to when this was posted on May 30. Frankly, you should know whether or not this is working. I'm not impressed with the statistics.

"Fifth, some members have indicated that they are against this change because they feel that YALSA is restricting or putting up barriers to information. In fact, YALSA is doing the same thing that most of you do every day in your own libraries..." Yes, but when I want e-books from my library or want to browse my library or any library collection, I don't have to log in to do it. While I get the database analogy, it doesn't fly because it isn't true of every database or even the catalogs. I also can get that library card for FREE (the majority of the time) in order to access the information. In order to get access to these lists, I have to do what Facebook's apps basically do: get my information to enjoy it or pay a lot of money for a list.

YALSA, you are "putting up barriers to information" especially in a time of budget crunches and closures. I'm thinking of city librarians who just want to promote reading or justify the need to purchase books. The time strapped librarian who doesn't have time to fill out forms and forgets when s/he gets home because of how tired the person is.

I'm also looking at this fact, which is wrong, absolutely wrong:

• The Newbery and Caldecott List is public, but the Printz is not. And don't get into the fact that these are different divisions. I recognize that, but they are also respected awards and I find the Printz equivalent to that. If other divisions can do this, so can YALSA. Put other stuff behind the walls. Stuff that people would be glad to pay for.

By the way membership is down 3.7% according to the President's Report



Disclosure: This is a rant. I may not know all of the details and may not have read up on all of the details leading to this decision on YALSA's behalf. It may not be prudent to take this discussion out onto my blog, but honestly, others are doing it too and I restarted the discussion on twitter. I'm very annoyed about this and am just using this as a way to vent. There are great blogs out there and a very nicely written post,with more comments and links, was done by Liz B of A Chair, A Fireplace, and A Tea Cozy (link to her reaction to the update from June 5)

Things Discovered...after the majority of this was written

• The Philosopher Musician thinks that as a patron and person, lack of access to the links is uncool and that the basic list itself should be available freely as it is very basic information...SO
• He just discovered the Printz List is available on Wikipedia. To be honest, I'm kind of embarrassed that I didn't think of this first and am sorry if YALSA forces it to come down after this information comes to light.
• Also, kudos to whoever is maintaining that Wikipedia page.

Introducing My Mother.

HI MOM.

My mom got a blog. Oh noes. Not really. I'm part of the reason why she has it: to talk about romance novels and libraries. Frankly, like me, she knows a lot on that genre. She's been reading romance since I can remember and for the last 5 years or so has been seriously studying it. If you bookmarked her old page, please update it, because due to a Google Hiccup, she had to start over so...

Romancing Your Library - What your patrons wish you knew. Romance fiction for librarians.

And if we sound similar, it is seriously because I am her kid. I think we sound similar online anyway...

What can you expect in my reviews?

I'm experimenting. I'm trying to write more, especially since I'm reminded of Ray Bradbury on this sad day. Also, my other blogging gig has been revealed.

Simply put, this is my explanation about my reviews here and over there.

1. Currently, I get GNs that are of interest to me or I feel I should read because everyone is talking them up. Mainly, the talking up bit is because, well, I should know about it and generally I have to wonder, if the librarians are talking it up, is it really that awesome (lately it has been 50/50)?
2. I get books from the library, Netgalley, purchasing them (wish I had more funds for that...I miss my manga habit) and if people give them to me for free (ARCs, friends, etc).
3. I will not hesitate to rip into a book (aka give it a negative review). If you want to know what I mean, please find the review on Marvel's Pride and Prejudice. I cannot stop talking about how much that book irked me and yet it got such high praise.
4. Since I sometimes give negative reviews, please look at it as another voice out there and not that I hate your book. I truly believe that books have their readers and places and that we can't all love the same books. If we did, life would probably be boring. On the other hand, I will make every effort to find some sort of positive in the book, be it that it is suited better to school librarians, adult readers (see Prime Baby as an example), etc, or that the art is pretty or the plot was pretty good but not for me. Negative reviews should exist and I find it my duty to tell you my thoughts on the book.
5. I'm writing from both a professional stance and that of a graphic novel reader. My main reading habits include the following: comics, graphic novels, manga, young adult books, and non-fiction for grown-ups. I dabble in chapter books and picture books (but picture books are so easy to read in a few minutes and so much fun). I will probably post YA once in a while, but like non-fiction for grown-ups, it is mainly pleasure reading and to improve my RA skills. Huzzah!
6. If you want a completely professional stance, visit The Graphic Classroom. They have great professional reviews and that is where you can find my "professional voice."
7. If it looks like I have a DC slant, I do and openly admit to the fact I love Batman. He is my favorite hero and have read a lot about him (and Catwoman). I will read other comics though. Believe me. I will read almost everything in a comic format (excepting gore. No. Way. Not my style.).
8. Not every comic/graphic novel I read will get reviewed. I gotta have my mind candy and truly pleasure reading. 
9. This blog exists mainly as a place to tell my friends and family (Hi Mom!) about what graphic novels to get for their libraries since I'm seen as some expert because I read comics. Go figure.

Ok. I think that's it regarding the "Important Stuff You Should Know" about my reviews. One of these weeks I'll get into:

• Why I don't read book blog book reviews.
• Why I tend to blog only reviews and very rarely other stuff.
• Why I love webcomics and eventually web comic reviews (or web comic book reviews)
• And other mysteries as I feel I have to explain them.

What's Up. Not Much. The Sky.

I took time to think about it. I took time to look at my new project. I poked around Netgalley for new graphic novels of interest. I read some really (laughably) bad YA novels. I read some intense non-fiction books. I took some time to realize I miss this.

I also took some to talk to my mom about this blog and her thoughts. She reads way more book blogs than I do and I knew I was aiming in the wrong direction. My intent was good, but my writing, not so much. Simply put, she was really helpful and insightful (Hi Mom!).

Basically, I'm back. Regular posts return for just Sundays at the moment unless I feel that some are worthy for you to read much, much sooner. I'm also going to be a lot more honest if I loved or hated the book. I'll also point out whether you should pick it up, or what you'll need to know in order to make the best decision for your collection. Simply, I'm planning to pick up where the review journals and other librarians left off. I'm planning to try to grab titles that for some reason are missed by the review journals.

I have a different perspective on graphic novels and libraries that needs to be heard. I know many librarians love certain graphic novels and I can tell why they do, but I don't love those titles and that's from years and years of reading graphic novels for fun (my favorite example: American Born Chinese sits on many a shelf, collecting dust. I can see why librarians loved it, but honestly, it doesn't appeal to your average teen reader for the most part).

Regarding the challenges this year: HECK WITH IT. I try the challenges every year and I lose sight halfway through the year for other reasons so I'm not even bothering. I just want to give you my take on graphic novels (and other stuff) and what I think.

Enjoy!

Oh! Shiny! Something new.

If you have been following my Twitter feed, you’ll know I just spent a few days at the PALA Annual Conference. One session I attended surprised me, was not what I expected, but was also an exciting new development with graphic novels. What was this new development?

Another book award.

The Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize which is presented by the Pennsylvania Center for the Book and is brand new. Oh, it is so sparkly and shiny, and there has only been one book winning and one book honored (neither of which I’ve heard a thing about) so far.

The session, titled Graphic Novels of the Year (which never really talked about specific graphic novels of the year, mainly nominees for the award whose titles I don’t really remember), introduced Lynd Ward, an artist whose work I am now interested in “reading”, and the creation and qualifications of the Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize. I’m not going to go into details because the site has the Prize detailed here. I’m interested in seeing where this goes.

Also, I didn’t realize the PA Center for the Book had some nice resources. For example, if you’re looking for a good definition of a graphic novel, they have it as part of the prize or if you’re looking for some links or resources, they’ve got a little. I’m hoping that they add more soon resources and information soon. This page could be really useful.

Web Comics and Libraries

Here's something that's starting to bug me: Libraries and Web Comics. Basically, the titles that are in libraries are limited and I would kind of like to know why. Lately, it seems there are a lot of great web comics are coming out in book format, but are libraries picking them up? Not really. The epic exception seems to be Unshelved, which while great and is library humored, is NOT really what I'm talking about here. Unshelved will be the example to explain web comics. Basically, a comic done by an artist with or without a writer and syndicated on the Internet. Simple.

The latest web comic to make waves in library land is/was the epic Axe Cop (which, my library copy got no where fast because the binding split). Every review I saw was like "THIS IS AWESOME." Don't get me wrong, I know it is awesome (even though I haven't read the first volume but I've seen a few strips). It is entertaining and fun, but of ALL the web comics in the last few years, this is what catches everyone's eye? What about Dr. McNinja (which I need to read but hear about a LOT from The Philosopher Musician)? What about Machine of Death which is a hybrid of sorts and includes a collaboration of web comic artists, authors, and The People (not to mention is coming out with a sequel and had a blast fighting it out with Glenn Beck not too long ago)? Many artists are coming out with books and loyal fans are picking these up. But what about poor readers who can't run out and buy every book, no matter how much they want to support the artist? What about exposing readers to comics they haven't seen? What disservice are we providing when all we have are the "classics*"?

I'll tell you. Simply you are missing the 20-somethings, the 30-somethings, and maybe their kids. I don't read as many web comics as I used to but I am partial to Questionable Content (which mind you, brought you the She Blinded Me With Library Science gear), XKCD, Red String, and a few I really can't mention on my blog (epically awesome, epically NSFW). I have respect for many, many more web comics because I've read bits here and there and despite not reading them after a period of time, they are still good or have improved. Plus, The Philosopher Musician has his list of web comics he follows (and is known to go on "archive binges" here and there) and many of my friends love different web comics yet we share a love of many of the same titles.

So, what's our excuse? Tight budgets? They're indie published? We don't have the reviews to justify them in the collection? We don't want those 20 somethings in the library? Real comics are books? That's all available on the Internet; why would they want the book? Tell me why you don't have them. I really want to know.

In the mean time, tell me what collections you want me to review. I'm starting with what I have easy access to (QC vol 1, Red String vol. 1, Axe Cop vol. 1, and Wondermark), but want to find more. Got stuff your teens are talking about? Let me know. Web Comic Wednesdays will start up soon where I'll talk about web comics where either The Philosopher Musician or me will talk about a web comic turned book, or the web comic itself.

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"Classics" include such hits as Penny Arcade, MegaTokyo, Wondermark, Gunnerkrig Court, and...Unshelved

Top Shelf Comics $3 Sale - Get Them Quick!

Top Shelf Productions is having a major sale on their comics. Of course, I see the word "sale" and immediately have to look. Don't do like I did though and see the most expensive stuff first and go "they lied!" Scroll down. That's where the cheaper stuff is and at $5, $3, and $1 for some titles, this is a good deal. Technically, depending on what you are looking for, you might be able to fill in some holes or build up a quick collection or get replacement copies of. Just a note though, I doubt they are prebound, although, unless it is a skinny paperback, who cares. Owly titles in paperback hold up just fine, I've found.

Also, this is a great time to get the Owly and Friends All Aflutter picture book if you haven't yet for $10.

I know I'll be looking. My poor graphic novel collection at the library has been neglected. :(

What am I doing Saturday? Going to PAYA!

It's that time of year again! PA to YA is happening again! Hurrah! This is a great way to support PA Libraries and Young Adult Lit being in those libraries. So, be there. August 27. More information, times, and the authors who will be there available HERE. Funds and such will benefit PA Libraries.

And there are a few bonus things JUST FOR PA LIBRARIANS, which makes it more exciting!!

Hope to see you there!

Response to "Using the Living Dead to Teach Information Literacy" from Librayr Journal

From my own Twitter Account: “Good idea. Poorly excuted(sic): TOTAL disregard for Zombie Lore. (1st broken rule: building w/windows) http://bit.ly/feNhlm ”

Library Journal: Using The Living Dead to Teach Information Literacy



The McPherson College's Miller Library (Kansas) has created a Zombie Apocalypse “graphic novel” to introduce students to the library. While a great idea (commendable, really), it is poorly executed, mainly in that the story has disregard to Zombie Apocalypse Lore. With this in mind, I shared this doozy of a graphic novel to some friends the other night to get their opinion to make sure my opinions were valid. They agreed.

The issues I have with this:

Trying to hard. The introduction says WAY to much about librarians and not enough about students. The introduction is one of those things that makes me cringe for librarians. It is at moments condescending (librarians are information literate people, not you) and these are the kinds of words that turn freshmen (or those not associated to libraries) off of libraries. Don’t explain WHY you did it (although, the last bit about saving the day is good). Just publish the damn novel and see what happens or just say “This guide is for you. Enjoy!”

“Comic Book” NOT “GRAPHIC NOVEL.” (The Philosopher Musician cringed as I read this sentence aloud, after he saw bits of it the other night). 23 pages of zombie apocalypse goodness is actually print comic book-length. The comic itself is even smaller than that.
The overall dialogue. At moments it flows, at others it doesn’t. Right off the bat, it seems forced and…odd…(what is the bit about “state college?” As a PA person, I think about State College, PA). The dialogue sounds like a bad movie, but really bad, not cheesy-bad. “Oh you silly kids…” (p. 4) reminds me of Scooby Doo and readers will drop it then. After this outburst, the whole comic turns into a comic infomercial.

The librarian is psychotic. He doesn’t care that his student workers are dead (p.5)? He’s more interested in finding books about voodoo. Great. Librarians are heartless.

Breaks in Zombie Apocalypse Lore:

STAY AWAY FROM GLASS BUILDINGS. That library, as far as I can tell, would have been the first place to lose it in a Zombie Apocalypse. It’s covered in glass.*

Why zombies crave brains. Ok. I don’t know why, but the craving knowledge was cute…but it missed the mark somehow. If the factoid about zombies craving brains was included in the general story, with the students going, “OH! Zombies crave knowledge!” that bit might have been funny.

Stairs. Do not be in a place with lots of stairs. Zombies can climb them. Again, this library fails in zombie stronghold (ok, just realized that the point isn’t that the library is a stronghold, but I’m not sure they would have lasted even this long with this building).

Wait, records are by primitive humans? (p. 9) (Good sarcasm fail.) Also, the idea of using records to attack zombies is totally ripped from the movie “Shaun of the Dead.”

Lastly, in the last panel, I’m bothered by the librarian’s speech (The Philosopher Musician is bothered by his zombie-like expression). Again, I cringe for librarians because it is that kind of “we’re smarter than you and look at the trick we just pulled with this awesome graphic novel; you will know how to use the library and be the awesome students we know you are.” That’s it. It is a motivational speech, which is really fake-sounding.

All in all, I find this a novel and commendable idea. The art is fantastic and the ideas for physically fighting zombies in a library were kind of useful for people in a zombie apocalypse. I actually love the art, but the text is terrible. Too much showing, not enough telling, and not enough “guided instruction.” Honestly, his guided instruction did not even give the students a chance to deduce how to look for or find certain things. Yes, in a Zombie Apocalypse, you have a limited amount of time, but I’m sure the students could have figured out some more about zombies by applying some research skills he introduced them to (I’m a firm believer in “guide on the side”). I wanted so much for this graphic novel, but instead it falls into that category of “too much obvious lesson, not enough hinted lesson.”

I sincerely wish this library luck in getting this into student’s hands. The nerds will devour this. Graphic novel enthusiasts will devour this. Unfortunately they will enjoy this for all the wrong reasons, which I outlined above, if it even makes it into their hands.


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*In college, friends and I used to try to figure out in the event of a zombie apocalypse which building would be the best building to go to for safety. It wasn't the library.

What's Been Happening

Here's what happened
March is a crazy month for me. It seems that March is one of the few months of the year (the others being May and October for sure) that I just get hit with workshops, programs, meetings, and all sorts of obligations that I must meet (or want to meet). Generally, I chose this craziness, but this March, I almost over scheduled myself because I wasn't using the right planning calendar. Oops...

Which means, I didn't pay attention to the blog. It's sad really. I have so much "back log" review-wise you'd think I'd be ready to go, but I just don't feel like booting the computer up some days, especially after spending a day staring at the computer for various reasons. I'm going to try to change this, and also try to warn you if there seems to be some down time happening.

What's going to happen now
April is my "new leaf" month, at least for the blog. Really, I've marked May 1st as my "turn around date" for a lot (I don't believe in just New Year's Day as the only goal setting day of the year). I've just spent a few hours clearing up the back log and getting posts ready to go. From this weekend out, you'll see regular updates on Sundays. If the Sunday post was volume 1, check back on Monday for a possible bonus post for volume 2. Wednesdays in April will be a slew of "bonus" posts to hopefully make up for my March absence. I'm also going to try to prepare some bonus posts since Book Links has been focused on Graphic Novels, which is an interesting surprise (They reviewed Axe Cop of all things!).

Enjoy!

The HarperCollins Issue

"You know, the general public still doesn't know about this," The Philosopher Musician said to me last night after I brought up my continual annoyance at the HarperCollins Issue.


"Yeah. Yet another quiet battle the quiet librarians are fighting for their readers." I said quietly and in disgust.

Despite the NYTimes article, despite BoingBoing, despite the major news circuits and Twitter, I wonder how much the general population realizes is at stake. As I look for more information on this I can't help but find that these are the facts:

• HarperCollins wants to limit circs to 26 times per title (meaning if 50 people want it, 24 are shit out of luck, go buy it, or ask the library to buy more copies but suffer when it comes to other best sellers you want now). 
• Librarians are currently trying to boycott HarperCollins from not touching the books to not purchasing (no offense, but not a smart move considering they are quite the mover and shaker in publishing...or rather the publisher a lot of books. Boycotting their eBooks makes more sense).
• A lot more is at stake than I think people realize (Librarian by Day).

When I was in grad school last year, I took a fantastic course on copyright. What I remember most is how the music industry handled the whole digital issue and the possibility that the book industry is going to go in that direction as well. If you have even read a few works on copyright, you'll realize that by trying to control digital media only forces people into other, questionable routes.

What I'm asking for at the moment, is that librarians don't give into this decision. In fact, I say we take it to the public and post a huge notice on the OverDrive page. Those who use the service will see it. We also need to make it clear that something like this is only in the interest of the publisher, not the reader. This is not in the interest of the libraries. Boycotting the books will not help as the works that are popular include HarperCollins works. As it stands, HarperCollins is winning the publicity side of things, too. Of all the (top 5) book publishers, HarperCollins has the social media side down pat. I see tweets daily from HaperTeen and HarperChildren.

Since the digital age began, publishers have seen libraries as "the bad guys." What publishers often see is "$." What librarians see are people and readers. What has happened and what will continue to happen is that readers will get their books the way they've always gotten them: through the library or purchase them, and at that, either used or new. You cannot control the buyer. Please stop trying to control the buyer. This nonsense has to stop. We need the right to purchase a book and to purchase it where we want to purchase it; or, we need the right to borrow it where we want to borrow it.


PS: We can actually make a difference as OverDrive is trying to determine what to do next (I don't expect an answer overnight, but it'd be good if it were before the month is out).

PostSecret - Library Love

PostSecret, the blog, books, lectures and more, where people send in their secrets anonymously on postcards, has something for us librarians today: secrets that involve libraries.

You'll have to scroll down a little as the first four don't seem to do with books (per say), but as soon as you pass the "PostSecret Books Banner" you'll find five secrets that involve libraries, books, and how we make the world better. The secrets end at the PostSecret Community banner it seems.

And for the librarian who posted about 158.723, kudos to you for finding a book. When I was there, I couldn't find any books. Second, it gets better, but you may need to make a change...

If you don't think PostSecret helps anyone, I will tell you now, it helps me every week. I never know what gem will come along to tell me "hey, it gets better" or to help me through a tough time.\

Cybils Announced!

How did I miss the Cybil announcement? Was it not on Twitter?

Either way, the winners have been announced and frankly, this is what the ALA award list should have looked like...or at least close. These are better books. Most are what I see move on the shelves. I mean, the Newbery Winner is no where to be seen and the one title many thought should be the Newbery is here. The picture book, I think is a Caldecott runner up. The GN Cybil titles? Not ones I'm particularly enthused about (haven't read them yet so there's still a chance). On the other hand, those two got a lot of press the past year.

Either way, I'm excited for the winners. All are great titles!

Library Wars Vol. 1

Title: Library Wars vol. 1
Author: (Concept: Kiro Arikawa)
Illustrator: (Manga: Kiiro Yumi)
Publisher:  Viz, Inc (Shojo Beat)
Copyright: 2010
Price: $9.99
ISBN: 978-1-4215-3488-6
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Summary and Quick Thoughts: Iku Kasahara’s life was changed one day when, finally, a fairy tale story was published and she could purchase it. Yet this is not society as we know it today. On this fateful day, the bookstore she was in was raided and the book confiscated as it was deemed “unsuitable.” The Library Defense Force stepped in that day and took the books from the Government and one particular agent returned a dented copy of the fairy tale book to Iku Kasahara.

A few later, Iku Kasahara is training to join the Library Defense Force, but it seems that she has many, many hurdles to jump from annoyed group-mates to the tough Instructor Dojo who seems to have picked her, unknowingly, as his protégé. The first volume spends a lot of time setting up the story.
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Will Teens Like It? Library loving teens will get a huge kick out of this.
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Things to be aware of: None
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Further Thoughts: This is a story of modern day librarianship meeting Farenheit 451. In this not too distant future, some books are considered inappropriate for society by the Government and the librarians have a covert military force that helps defend the right to read. Libraries are neutral zones, where books cannot be challenged, but that doesn’t mean library users will not challenge this.

Does this sound familiar yet? Mind you, librarians don’t have a secret military force that can help in the war over books, but it is an interesting take. For a book about libraries, it seems to have the library aspect spot on down to the decimal system (although, I trust the Japanese system isn’t quite as similar as Dewey) and how busy a public library is (illustrated with the librarians in the basement running to find books).

A lot of the story in this first volume is setting up for future volumes. To me, it is clear the romantic interest lies in Dojo and Kasahara, and that Dojo is her inspiration, and he knows it. While I know this, I’m more interested in reading about the war over the books and how libraries will continue to fit into this. While I know many librarians do not read graphic novels, this is one that the librarian should pick up just to read the first page detailing “The Library Freedom Act.” It sounds very similar to one we have today…
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Bonus: ALA Great Graphic Novel 2011

Source: Library Copy.

Challenges: Wrap-up 2010 and 2011 Challenges

In 2010, I participated (sort of, I guess?) in 3 reading challenges. First, I would like to say that I enjoy the challenges (and there are a zillion out there on any reading thing you want to do). On the one hand, I'll read or listen to the books anyway, on the other hand, it forces me to try and focus on something new, such as hunting down the next fun audio book to listen to.

So, how did I do? I'm going to go from worst to best.

First, we have the Terry Pratchett Challenge. I made a valiant effort on this one, which The Philosopher Musician is happy about, but my mood for Pratchett just never aligned with us in the car on the trips to family/grad school visits. We started three audio books but I just wasn't in the mood or we talked instead (whoops?). My attempts included Good Omens, A Hat Full of Sky (I'm up to 3 attempts and I finally purchased a copy after finding it in Goodwill), and Nation¹ (The Philosopher Musician determined it would be better physically read than to listen to ["No offense to Stephen Briggs and all" - The Philosopher Musician])




Goal: 3 books
Total: 0

¹ Nation, I HAD listened to in 2009, and still think it should have gotten the Printz award over the actual 2009 winner, which was a "no one really had heard of this book." He's done a lot for reading (and now for Alzheimer's), why can't he get SOME ALA award?


Next up, we have the Graphic Novel Challenge. Even though I read graphic novels, I decided to challenge myself to a feat I've been hoping to accomplish: read my way through an ALA Great Graphic Novel list. The focus on this one was to read through at least 10 of the ALA Great Graphic Novel List of 2010. I thought I had but...

Goal: 10 books
Total: 8 books





Last and best is my favorite and probably most successful challenge: The Audio Book Challenge. Audio books are really fun. I honestly have to say that I enjoy the change of pace by letting a narrator guide me through a story (and a GOOD narrator to boot; if they annoy me, I'll look for another book). Out of all of the audio books (which I'll list for you below since the former website does not have a finished list), The Hunger Games trilogy was my favorite. I would yell out while I was listening to it. I was glued to the story, and I wanted errands to run just so I could work through another disc. I was excited to be part of the Mockingjay hype. I generally miss out on the excitement of counting down to these books, but there I was trying to determined which "Team" I was. Since finishing the books, I have recommended listening to the series often, and two of the people I recommended it to (both librarians) said that I was right, and it is fascinating to hear.

Goal: 6 audio books
Total: 8 audio books (woo!)








The list:

• 1.) Going Bovine by Libba Bray (completed March 9, 2010)
• 2.) The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart (completed April 2010)
• 3.) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (completed June 2010)
• 4.) Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (completed July 2010)
• 5.) Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith (completed August 2010)
• 6.) Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (completed September 2010)
• 7.) City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (completed later September 2010)
• 8.) City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare (completed October 2010)

And just as an FYI, I did finish the Mortal Instruments TRILOGY. I just don't know about the next book. I'll also sit down and finally read Tantalize (the book before Eternal) as I just can't do the audio of that one, which is a pity...I'm definitely looking forward to Blessed though.

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If you've read this far, kudos. I know that is a lot of text (or at least it looks like it on my small computer).

Now for this year's Challenges (aka goals)! For 2011, so far I'm doing two challenges:

The 2011 Audio Book Challenge

Goal: Fascinated at 6 Audio books again.
Aiming for: Addicted at 12 Audio books.







 
The 2011 Graphic Novel Challenge

Goal: Expert Level 10+
Limiters: 11 GNs from the 2011 ALA Great Graphic Novels List (which comes out NEXT WEEK! I hope my suggestions made the cut!)
Aiming for: as many as I can read from this list.

Machine of Death: a book (or [oh, see in the post])

(Or what to do when customers asks if you bought the book yet or they donate a copy...or five).

It all started last week (maybe before then, but last week it was on my radar) on Twitter when David Malki ! (of Wondermark fame who gave away books to LIBRARIES a while back) and Ryan North challenged the Twitter-verse and web comic fans alike to make their upcoming compilation book the number 1 seller on Amazon for at least one day, which was yesterday. Well, you can see here, here, and here (not sure that link will hold) that it happened, and it has gone into today. Impressive. Many, many kudos to the fact it is an Indie Book and it topped.

Well, today, the story just got a little more interesting. According to David Malki !'s Twitter here and continued here, Glenn Beck (of this book fame [I do not endorse this book, I just know that you may only know who he is by his book*]) called the book "an example of our 'culture of death.'" The Twitter-verse is just RUNNING with this and challenging the fans to buy MORE copies or convince more people to buy copies.

So, as a librarian do I purchase this book for my collection or not?

Non-librarians, here is the dilemma: there are no professional reviews backing this up (that I've seen) and it hasn't reached the NYTimes Best Seller list. These are two factors in most libraries when determining whether or not to purchase a book. While it is a talked about book, I find that the audience for this book will be small. The concept is different, but sight unseen, this is one of the few books I honestly can't say I'd pick up for my Library Collection. I'd be likely to pick it up if I knew that there was a huge Glenn Beck fan base in the area (Banned Book, anyone?), but a quick search of the county I work in** shows me this is not necessarily the case. A search of Worldcat also shows me that no one has purchased Machine of Death yet, and judging by what it is, libraries won't even start getting it until a month from now (if they do).


So, non-librarians, you now know why it might not be in your libraries and librarians, you are prepared if you should decide to purchase this book (due to all the suggestions) or know why you might suddenly end up with 1-5 copies of the book (guys, if you do donate, PLEASE don't donate more than 1, also, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE check with your librarians about their donation policy before donating).

I'm willing to review Machine of Death for this here blog, but I just want to warn you, I'm in a state of upheaval considering I'm hoping to move next week and am starting a new adventure shortly thereafter. If you want me to review before the end of next week, please annoy me (comment below or e-mail me at ReadsRantsRaves [at] gmail [dot] com or @me on Twitter.com/readsrantsraves) and I will get a copy one way or another.

For an added bonus, I challenge everyone to get this thing on the NYTimes Best Sellers list because then EVERYONE will be talking about it. :)
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*In fact, I'd like to go to DC this weekend for the Daily Show/Colbert Report March.

**Not for much longer. It's bittersweet.