QR Codes

I love doing Reader's Advisory.  I really enjoy talking with patrons about what they're reading and what else they might enjoy or even about books they did not enjoy.  However, I am just one person and there are only so many hours in a day where I can sit at the reference desk or roam the stacks helping patrons find books.  For times when I am not there, I want the patrons to be able to find books anyway.  That's where my passive reader's advisory comes in.

I have already created book lists online in our system's OPAC, which can help patrons find the books they want.  There are links to these lists on our library's webpage. Unfortunately, this method assumes that the patrons 1) visit the library's website and 2) know to click on the links to the lists.  It's likely that many of them don't do that, or don't do that often. To be fair, the time when a patron might need a read-alike will be when s/he is browsing the stacks, not necessarily when s/he is at home looking through the OPAC (and how many people who are not library employees or library school students do that, anyway?).

But many of my patrons do have some variety of smartphone, and they do usually carry it with them when they are in the library. Thus, I created QR codes to lead my patrons to those very same lists.  I used an online QR code generator, saved the codes as picture files, then placed them on squares with words that described the list they led to. I printed them out so that the QR codes had a white background (to make sure the contrast was great enough that they could be read), but I backed them with colorful paper so they would be attractive.

The last thing I needed to do was place them in the stacks. I taped the cards to shelves near books that were similar to those on the list.  For example, I put the humorous list near the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. The codes have only been posted for a few hours, so we'll see how well they work. I'm excited to be able to observe patrons using the codes, and I do hope it helps them more easily locate more books they or their child would like to read.

Professional Development

Way back when in caveman days when I was a teacher, I learned how important it was to continue to improve myself and keep up-to-date on pedagogy and technology, etc. etc. The same rings true for me now as a youth services librarian.  But what exactly do librarians do in order to continue to develop professionally?

1. Online classes:  ALA offers more than a few online classes on various topics, as do its subsidiary organizations.  As I type this I am taking a course on helping children with disabilities in the library, a course that is offered through the Association of Library Services for Children (ALSC). 
2. Webinars: Webinars are like a one-shot class, and often they are free as well. Some of them deal with library-related topics and some are previews of upcoming titles. 
3. Professional journals: School Library Journal, Library Journal, Booklist, Hornbook, Publisher's Weekly - all of these organizations have professional journals that librarians can read.  This is in addition to all the ALA-sponsored journals.
4. Websites and blogs: This is where I get most of my information, since websites are (usually) up-to-date and also allow me to read them at the same time as one of my peers, thus preventing me from waiting oh-so-patiently for the person ahead of me on the list to finish whatever journal happens to be circulating among the staff.
5. Books: How could I neglect books?  The good news is that there are tons of books related to being a librarian and becoming a better librarian; the unfortunate news is that many of those books are VERY expensive.  I usually borrow mine from the library when I can, or I ask for them as gifts.  Occasionally, if the expense is worth it, I can ask for our library to purchase a copy.
6. Conferences: ALA holds two conferences annually; most state library associations hold an annual conference, and some of the ALA subsidiaries have their own conferences as well.  It can be cost-prohibitive to fly halfway across the country to attend a conference, but it is a worthwhile experience once in a while. 
7. Networking: This is sometimes accomplished through the websites, blogs, webinars, classes, and conferences.  I love talking shop with other librarians and finding out what they're doing at their libraries, especially if it's something I can take back to my own library. 

These are the main things I do to keep up professionally.  What kinds of things do you do? Do you have any websites/blogs/books/articles that you find especially helpful? 

Telephone Conversations

I was recently scheduled to work our library's combined circ/reference desk for part of an afternoon.  One of my jobs at said desk is to answer the phone, which I don't really mind doing as long as I can be reasonably sure I'll know the answer to the person's question. Since about 75% of the questions have to do with our hours, I can handle this job.  Today, however, I got a question I honestly couldn't answer.  Actually, it wasn't even a question:

Me: Anytown Public Library. This is Jenni; how can I help you?
Patron: I'd like the mild wings with ranch sauce.
Me: Um, this is the Anytown Public Library.
Patron: Oh. [Pauses] I'm, I'm really sorry.
Me: No problem; have a nice day!

That was definitely my favorite question of the week.  My favorite all-time phone question, though, happened when I was still in library school:

Me: Anothertown Public Library. This is Jenni; how can I help you?
Patron: Well, we're in the middle of a Scrabble game, and we have a disagreement about a word. We wanted to see if you could tell us if it's actually a word or not.
Me: Sure, no problem.  What's the word? [Begins to pull up dictionary.com]
Patron: It's T-U-R-D. Is that a legal Scrabble word?
Me: Well, according to the dictionary, it's a legitimate English word, and it's not an abbreviation or a proper noun, so I'd say yes, it is a legal word.
Patron: [to someone else in his home] I told you it was a word; the librarian just said so!

If there's anything to be said about working in a public library, it's that it is never, ever boring.

Subject Signage

Libraries are filled with signs.  There are signs designating particular areas of the collection, signs describing upcoming events, signs sharing reminders of rules and procedures.  One of the things I noticed about our juvenile nonfiction collection was the lack of signs.  There isn't even a sign that designates where exactly the juvenile nonfiction begins.

Also I've noticed that a majority of the questions I handle at the children's desk have to do with locating a particular item on the shelf.  I don't mind getting up and showing people the area where the book is at all, but it would be nice for our patrons to have the option for a bit more independence in their browsing.  Thus I created signage for our juvenile nonfiction.

Each sign has a clear, readable font with large letters with accompanying pictures for kids who are not yet reading independently. I printed the signs on cardstock, printing on both sides to they'd be readable from either approach, and had them laminated.  After that, it was just a matter of sticking them in the shelves where they go and letting the patrons know.  My conversations usually go something like this:

Patron: I'm looking for a book about papercrafts
Me: Well, let me show you where we keep our crafting books.  Our crafting books are right here, in this area, and they start with that sign there.  The papercrafts are on this shelf.
Patron: Thank you!

When possible/helpful, I also let them know the Dewey range for the book. I don't ever expect patrons to have Dewey memorized; I certainly don't myself.  But I do want them to know that nonfiction books are in numerical order by subject and that there is some sense in the groupings. The signs, though, ensure that popular sections - like the dinosaur books - are always easily find-able for those who want them.

Wild Things

Bird, Betsy. Wild Things! Acts of Mischief in Children's Literature. Candlewick Press, 2014.

This book is the combined work of Betsy Bird, Julie Danielson, and the late Peter Sieruta. Chronicling the history of children's literature, the authors draw upon their extensive knowledge as well as exhaustive research (the bibliography itself is over twenty pages long) and present the seldom-seen side of children's literature: subversive messages hidden in books, the censorship/banning process, and what to do when Madonna writes a picture book. This book is a treasure trove of trivia for librarians and bibliophiles, and I was really disappointed when I discovered I was on the last page, so this book is definitely begging a revisit.  I would recommend this book to any current or aspiring children's librarian or literature/language arts teacher.

Craft Programs

I didn't make this exact one, but I made one just like it with different paper.

My family's Christmas tree is covered in ornaments, but most of them are not the stereotypical round glass ball type. Most of our ornaments are handmade, simply because my wife and I both enjoy crafts and Christmas ornaments are fun and easy to make.

We have ornaments made out of beads on pipe cleaners. We have ornaments made out of sequins pinned to Styrofoam shapes. We have crocheted ornaments, plastic canvas ornaments, ornaments that were made by melting plastic into metal frames to make "stained glass." We also have origami ornaments.

When we began planning our December crafts at my library I knew I'd want to do some origami.  It's deceptively simple to do, most people enjoy it and also already have experience with it, and it could easily be molded to fit any tradition. The ornaments I made at our "Ornament-igami" program have been placed on our Christmas tree, but they could just as easily be used for any holiday.

To prepare for this program I decided on two different ornaments I would demonstrate.  Both of them are fairly simple and would be easy for me to show someone else or to pull up a YouTube video of someone making them.  The square papers used for origami could be used for any number of shapes, though, so I wouldn't limit my patrons' creativity if they wanted to make a different shape.

All I needed, aside from directions for my two types of origami, was a lot of origami paper. I wanted shiny paper, patterned paper, and two-sided paper, in addition to the basic solid-colored origami paper most often used. I set these papers out, and once people started arriving, I gave directions to those who wanted to learn how to make the two shapes I had made and circulated among the others to make sure everyone had what they needed.  After that, the program pretty much ran itself.

I liked this program because it was flexible - patrons could make whatever they wanted - and because it required very little in the way of language skills.  A person who spoke another language could easily demonstrate how to fold a shape, and the directions I had pre-printed involved mostly pictures. This made this program ideal for just about any age, which is a good thing since our "tween" crafts usually draw people from age 8 up to age 80.

Passive Programming

In addition to regular story times, movie nights, and crafts, my library also regularly has some sort of passive programming available.  This program is usually a craft or game that patrons can do at their leisure whenever they happen to be in the library.  In the past, we have used all of the following for passive programs:

• Build with LEGO bricks
• Play a board game
• Help color a giant table-sized picture
• Complete a simple craft

One of the nice things about passive programming, from a staff standpoint, is that it is exactly what it's called: passive. There's no instruction, very little supervision, and it can be set up at the beginning of the week and then taken down whenever it has outlived its usefulness.

Our passive program this week involves holiday Mad Libs. I remember thoroughly enjoying these word puzzles both as a student and also when I was a teacher. I also remember from teaching that it's silly to reinvent the wheel, so I checked online and found numerous examples of free printable Mad Libs that may not have been created by the people at Looney Labs, but are still enjoyable and simple.

For our passive program, I made copies of six different puzzles, putting each on a different color of paper, and also set out instructions that offer a "refresher course" for those who may have forgotten the difference between an adjective and an adverb.  The sign is set on a table along with the stacks of puzzles and some of the ubiquitous golf pencils that float around my library and settle into desk drawers. 

I enjoy these types of programs because I am helping encourage a lifelong love of reading and learning in my patrons, and because this is an educational activity that also happens to be fun. We can't circulate books of Mad Libs since they are meant to be written on, but this way I can share the concept with my patrons and they can discover that this is another way to have fun with words. 

What kinds of passive programs do you do at your library? Which are your favorites? Which are patron favorites?

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The holiday season is upon us, and has been since early September when I started seeing strings of Christmas lights and holiday wreaths being sold at our local big-box store.  I like my holidays kept separate, but even a Scrooge like me must admit that we are now into full-blown retail-enhanced holiday madness.

My library has not escaped this onslaught. Our Christmas picture books, which for most of the year are carefully hoarded on a special shelf accessible only to librarians, have been put on display.  There are at least twelve tinsel trees scattered throughout the stacks. The endcaps are full of books about gift-giving, crafting, and cooking. Someone even created a "book tree" topped with an origami star made out of weeded book pages and surrounded by twinkle lights.

But what about the other traditions? We are instructed to say "Happy Holidays" to patrons and fellow staff, which is great since it allows me to wish everyone a wonderful season of giving and anticipation of the new year without having to guess which religious tradition they may choose to follow.  And I do live and work in a large cosmopolitan metropolitan area. I am surrounded by nearly as much diversity as I saw when I lived and worked on the island of Guam.  But my library seems to be drowning in Christmas, and even our holiday books are mostly, if not completely, Christmas-themed and not celebrating Hanukkah or Bodhi Day or Kwanzaa or even Christmas as celebrated by those in the Eastern Orthodox religion.  There are so many beautiful cultures and celebrations we are missing, and that makes me sad.

My younger sister's birthday was Wednesday, and when we were kids, there was a rule in our house that the Christmas decorations did not go up until my sister had been able to celebrate her birthday. My mom wanted to make sure that my sister's day was a special one and didn't want it to be swallowed up by Christmas.  And now I'm trying to figure out how to do the same in my library, to acknowledge the different traditions and cultures of my various patrons without letting their special days be swallowed up by the behemoth that Christmas has become.

For those of you in public libraries, how do you do this? Do you put up no holiday decor, or only secular decor, or do you find a way to celebrate all winter holidays?

Library Bingo Redux

Those of you who have been following my blog know that I created a library bingo program for the middle school where I worked last winter. This bingo program helped give the students something to do during the winter doldrums and greatly increased the use of our library as well as circulation.

Now I am working at a public library in the youth services department, and when we were deciding what to do over the winter holidays to keep the children reading and learning, I immediately thought of my library bingo program.  Obviously, the previous card I had created needed to be modified a bit before it could be used in a public library setting, but the idea is still the same: during the month of December, when many children and teens are not spending time at school, we will have the library bingo cards available. Anyone is allowed to participate, from parents who will read to their six-month old each night to sixteen-year olds who are reading from the young adult and adult sections.

One thing I made sure to emphasize was that all types of reading count: reading aloud to someone else, being read aloud to, listening to an audio book, reading an ebook, reading a physical book - all of these are valid forms of reading, and I'll not prohibit someone from counting their form of reading simply because it isn't the most common or popular form.

I also made sure to balance the squares on the card so that a book is required for many of them, but there are also many squares where another library activity - such as checking out a DVD or visiting the website - counts as participation.  The book descriptions are also intentionally vague. When I did this program at my middle school library, one of the squares said "Read a book with a green cover." I had kids who used The Giving Tree as their book and others who used Christopher Paolini's Inheritance. I made no judgmental remarks either way; both books have green covers, and therefore both books count.

One of the benefits of this type of flexibility is that the same bingo card can be used for young children, middle grade children, and teens. There's no need for me to make separate cards and color code them by age level.

When patrons have finished two bingos, they will be allowed to choose a free bookmark. After completing the entire card, they will earn their choice of a free book from our collection of prize books.

I'm hoping that this program will allow parents and children a fun way to interact with the library and give some focus to their winter holiday time, especially if they choose to spend that time at the library.

My new and improved winter reading library bingo card can be downloaded here.  Feel free to borrow and use for your own library as you will.

Evil Librarian

Knudsen, Michelle. Evil Librarian. Candlewick Press, 2014.

Cynthia's best friend, Annie, has a crush on the new librarian. But Cynthia thinks there's something off about him. Every time Annie is with the librarian, she seems to be spaced-out or in a trance. Cynthia soon discovers that the librarian is actually a demon who wants Annie to be his demon bride so he can become king of all the demons. Somehow, Cynthia needs to convince Annie of the truth, save Annie and her classmates, and also design the perfect chair for her school's production of Sweeney Todd.

This book took a while to "hook" me, but once it did, I was flipping pages as quickly as I could. The tie-in with Sweeney Todd and the discussions of theater will delight any theater nerd (which, sadly, I am not), and the discussions Cynthia has with the demons will delight fans of paranormal works and anyone who reads books just because they have the word "librarian" in the title. This one would be easy to book talk, especially around Halloween.

Recommended for: young adults
Red Flags: violence, discussions of occult practices
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

Read-Alikes: Drama Queens in the House, Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians, Another Faust

Children's Readers' Advisory

When I was in library school, I took a class on adult readers' advisory. This class was actually really helpful in determining how to recommend a good book to an adult who has finished a book and is looking for a read-alike suggestion.  The problem with this class is that it was for adults, and adults are typically more articulate than children as far as being able to explain what they liked about a particular book.

Kids, on the other hand, are more difficult to recommend books to, especially if you're going off of just one book instead of the last five or ten books they happened to check out.  I find that my patrons don't take three out of every five books I recommend, but that only means I have to recommend more books.  This is also a good place to mention how important it is to know your patrons. I have fielded questions like the following:

• Do you remember that book you told us about two weeks ago?  Do you have anymore like that one?
• You know that book you had on your desk? The one about the girl with the hair?
• Can you recommend me a book? Not a stupid one; you know what I like. Is there any new book that's good?

All of these were actual conversations I had with actual children, and in all the cases, I eventually was able to find what it was they were looking for.  It took a bit of questioning and guessing; the second question led me to guess Alex Flinn's Towering, then Marissa Meyer's Cress, and finally Shannon Hale's Rapunzel's Revenge (which was the book the child was after).  Most adults like to stick with a particular genre, but a kid who likes to read, say, the Origami Yoda books might not know why she likes them - is it because of the Wimpy Kid-esque illustrations, the silly story, the school that resembles her school, or because she just likes everything Star Wars? Maybe she just picked them up because the author's name begins with an A and she picked up the first thing she saw on the shelf. Or maybe she only reads green books, or books that are a part of a series, or books that are not a part of a series. 

The bottom line is this: to recommend a book to a kid, you've got to like talking to kids, you've got to know the kid you're talking to (or be willing to ask lots of questions to get to know that kid), and you've got to know lots of different books, or at least have access to Goodreads or some other internet "cheat sheet." I did pretty well finding books for the kids at the middle school where I worked, but now that I work with people from birth through age eighteen, I have a wide range of books and authors to keep on the top of my head. 

People are more likely to read a book when it is recommended to them by someone who knows them, and kids are more likely to develop a love of reading if they experience a lot of books they love to read.

Libriomancer

Hines, Jim. Libriomancer. DAW, 2012.

From the Goodreads page on this book: "Isaac Vainio is a Libriomancer, a member of the secret organization founded five centuries ago by Johannes Gutenberg. Libriomancers are gifted with the ability to magically reach into books and draw forth objects. When Isaac is attacked by vampires that leaked from the pages of books into our world, he barely manages to escape. To his horror he discovers that vampires have been attacking other magic-users as well, and Gutenberg has been kidnapped.

With the help of a motorcycle-riding dryad who packs a pair of oak cudgels, Isaac finds himself hunting the unknown dark power that has been manipulating humans and vampires alike. And his search will uncover dangerous secrets about Libriomancy, Gutenberg, and the history of magic."

This book warmed my geeky little heart. A libriomancer is able to reach into a book and bring out an object from the story - they do this to protect people and kill vampires or other bad guys. The libriomancer we follow in this story is a sci-fi/fantasy fan, so he's obsessed with Dr. Who and Star Wars and all the other important things. :) And he has a fire spider as a pet. And it eats Jelly Bellies. There's just so much to like about this book - all the literary and media references, the fantasty elements, the fast-paced action, the fire spider (I think I want one, but it might give my cat heartburn). If you are a bibliophile, a sci-fi fan, a librarian - you simply must read this book.

The Library Card

Spinelli, Jerry. The Library Card. New York: Scholastic Press, 1997.

This book contains four shorter stories of kids whose lives are changed by a small blue library card.  Mongoose chooses the library instead of grafitti and learns fascinating facts about blue whales. Brenda discovers her personality again when the TV is turned off and she has to rely on the printed page for entertainment. Sonseray uses the library as an escape from his home in a car under the bridge. April meets a friend during a bookmobile carjacking.

This book is hilariously entertaining and makes me want to visit the library every day.  After all, you never know what might happen there...

This Book is Overdue!

Johnson, Marilyn. This Book is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All. New York: Harper Collins, 2010.

I was intrigued by the title and the subject matter of this book, but what really grabbed my attention was the cover.  A superhero librarian in a cape is blasting out of a pile of books.  I like books, I'm going to be studying library science in just a few months, and I've always wanted to wear a cape in public. 

The author of this book immersed herself into the world of librarians, specifically the changing technological world of librarians.  She explored the changing role of the librarian while telling all sorts of stories of meeting librarians in cyberspace on Second Life, reading librarians' blogs about things they find in the library, and spending time at some of the biggest and smallest libraries in the world.  I found this book to be fascinating, entertaining, instructive, and enjoyable.  I'd keep it for myself, but I checked it out of the library, and I'd rather not incur any late book fines.