No matter how aware you are of them, inevitably when you are charged with buying non-fiction for your library, your personal preferences will creep through.
We had a discussion at work recently about the biases of our current and past librarians and here's what we came up with as some of the biases over the years (aka “there wasn't a book in this category that the librarian couldn't pass up”)
– business books – cookbooks – technology books (guess who?) – parenting books (guess who part two?) – military history books (guess who – part three? Hint: I'm replacing a guy who volunteered to go to Afghanistan) – political books – new age books
I think there was only one librarian who we couldn't really peg as showing any noticeable bias in his buying – though we think he's the one responsible for buying “The Joy of Sex” as a branch perm for each of our locations so that sort of trumps any biases anyone may have!
(Some of the stories I've heard about this book at the branches: some librarians keep it behind the counter, not out of censorship but out of fear of it being stolen or “abused”. One found it moved to the children's section. One found it in the humour section. One moved it to the top shelf even though it was supposed to be on a lower one. And I'm sure there are tons of other stories like that.)
I'd also add CafePress to the list although I'm not sure how good of quality their stuff is – I've never ordered from them but have heard mixed reviews. Hmm, Cafe Press allows you to create your own designs. Maybe I should start a sideline? In that case, I'm sure their quality is top-notch!
I'm getting so many tabs open in Firefox that it's time for a patented Jason Hammond Link Dump. (That sounds awful. I should come up with a better name for it!)
Ask.Reddit's ways in on the Five Saddest Songs I don't know what I'd put on my Top 5 but here's what popped into my head for #1. 1. He's A Good Dog – Fred Eaglesmith (I couldn't find an authentic Fred version so this is a link to a fan cover. Loses some of the impact without Fred's gravelly voice but gives you a taste anyhow. Hmm, maybe I should just finish the list with four other sad Fred songs.
MacLean's has a story about living libraries where patrons can borrow “types” – policeman, Arab, homosexual, Atheist, etc. – for half hour conversations. (via Toni Samek on the CLA listserv)
A graphic comparing Barack Obama and John McCain's tax relief plans
“Digital Ghosts” – the Toronto Star looks at what happens to your online presence after you die. Fits perfectly with my interest in “Digital Footprints” which is the same idea but when you're alive or dead.
In other news, I just heard I have an interview next week. Wish me luck!
It was timely for me because, although I'm in a public library setting, I'm in the midst of a major weeding project so I've had occasion to look at the usage statistics for over a thousand books in the last couple weeks.
I'm happy to report that it is extremely rare to find a book that has never been used. Slightly more common are books that haven't been checked out since the early 1990's (which is when our system automated) and unfortunately quite common to find books that haven't been checked out since the late 1990's to early 2000's (which corresponds to the emergence of the Internet in the consciousness of the general public which is my best guess for this decline/shift in reading habits.)
On a semi-related note, does anybody know of an organization or method to dispose of a large number of weeded books short of the perennial “LIBRARY BOOK SALE – ON NOW!!!” As always, AskMetafilter has a couple suggestions (I'm only linking to one thread because I can't find the other one that was on the same topic that I saw last week.)
We were at our family farm last weekend for a family reunion. Shea was standing with Pace and one of my aunts. “What's that?” the aunt said pointing at a tractor. “Track-ter!” Pace said. “Oh, he's really talking, isn't he?” said the aunt. “Uhm, yes” replied Shea who had never heard Pace say this word before.
So, here's a quick list of the words he knows in rough order that he said them… – da-da (this is apparently the most common first word for infants) – mama – numa-numa (for milk. That's also one of the few signs he's picked up so far though we aren't working him hard on this skill.) – doggie – ooh-ooh-ooh (when asked “what does a monkey say?”) – moo (for “what does a cow say?”) (On those last two, Shea says she read that animal noises count as “words”. She's read a lot more parenting books than me so who am I to argue?) – hi (not very often but he has said it – or something that sounds like it – on occasion) – hot (this is his “key” word in that he says it ALL THE TIME since we said it so much around the campfire where his grandparents have a seasonal site. Now he (sort of) gets the concept and points at stoves, pots, fires on TV and says “HOT!” while holding his hand up in a stop motion) – dirty (and points to the garbage can) – he also babbles something that sounds like “Lordy Lordy Lordy!” which I think is hilarious – was he born in the deep south?
That's about it I think. Our son is quickly approaching the vocabulary of a really smart gorilla. There's no stopping him now!
I didn't get a chance to do a post on Friday so this will be my late Friday Fun Link.
I thought it was somewhat appropriate after a weekend of explaining to relatives why we would ever name a child “Pace”. (Okay, it wasn't that bad but one relative did continually refer to him as “Chase” – I suspect because “Chase” is a name she's heard before and therefore found acceptable whereas “Pace” is just a bit too out there!)
