Children’s Literature in Museums!

According to this article mainstream museums and college art courses in the U.S.A. are taking children’s literature (and illustrators of children’s literature) seriously.  It validates the great work of these writers and illustrators and also the opinions of children – who can understand and relate to the illustrations and may even have more to say about them than most adults.   Thank you to the Kids Lit for sharing this article and validating my love for the writing and illustrations in Eric Carle’s “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”, Ezra Jack Keats’s “The Snowy Day”, Maurice Sendak and Leo Lionni books too.

Red Carpet?

While reading feeds I came across this post on Tame the Web.  Basically the post is about an airline where premier customers get routed across a red carpet while regular customers do not.  The red carpet seems to be there more to make premier customers look special or different from the regular customers.  The post asks us to consider if we do this in libraries.  My thought is that library cards are like this.  People who have a home address and ID get to take the “red carpet” route and get a library card within the library whereas people who recently moved and don’t have updated ID, are living in a shelter, working or going to school or some other circumstance aside from home ownership in the area that qualifies them for the card have more trouble getting a library card.  Library cardholders where I work are entitled to 2 hours a day on the computers but non-cardholders get only a 1/2 hour a day.  That is probably harder to swallow than watching people walk across a red carpet.  Also access to interlibrary loan materials is only available to library cardholders.  One other thing is that library cardholders can access multimedia such as DVD, VHS films, but non-cardholders do not have access.  There is no viewing station in the library and they are unable to take these materials home.  One other thought on this is that I advertised a library program in the library and got enormous feedback and then the advertisement was placed in the newspaper and the program was filled the day it went in the paper.  Anybody who had not been in the library or had not visited our website was unable to register for this program – talk about red carpet treatment.  I wish there was an easier way to make the processes more equal and accessible to everyone.

Advertising – Lickable Ads

Stephen’s post on Library Stuff lead me to  this article (Marketers Salivate Over Lickable Ads: Magazines Try out a Tasty Strategy; Overcoming the ‘Ick” by Suzanne Vranica Feb. 13, 2008 edition of the Wallstreet Journal page B3).  I can’t help but wonder how quickly this ad will be tasted at our library – Ew! Disgusting! I think it is really gross to have advertisements like that in magazines that you can find in libraries and doctor’s offices.

Still, the idea of giving people a taste of a product or service through advertising is interesting.  I wonder how libraries could do this?  Do posters for library programs provide a taste of the program through visuals (pictures and words)?  What about library websites?  Definitely something to ponder.

Consolation by Michael Redhill

I never realized how much was out there about Consolation, a book by Michael Redhill.  This happens to be the best thing I have come across to date.  A map of the plans for the City of Toronto in 1858 with the places in Consolation marked on the map with yellow dots and real historical places marked with red dots.   You can zoom in and you could create your own tour of the city and the places discussed in the book!

Speaking of tours…  you could download this mp3 and go on a walking tour which begins at King and Jarvis and ends at the Air Canada Centre.  This walking tour is about 45 minutes long.

Toronto Public Library has a BookBuzz page with information on the novel and Michael Redhill has his own blog about the novel and another about his life in France over the past year.

I think this sounds like a really great book club.  I love the ideas and the creativity involved.  I had no idea that TPL ran online book clubs of this nature – I might just take part as I finish reading this book!

Press Releases

I haven’t written a single press release in library school yet I find myself writing numerous press releases on the job. My experience writing press releases over the past year has taught me KISS (Keep It Simple Silly). Keep language simple. Consider who is your audience. What level of language is the newspaper written in? Wordiness should be avoided. Frame everything in the positive.

What type of articles does the newspaper write? Is your story suitable to the audience of this newspaper? Does it seem likely that they would write a story about your event?

Make the story/event interesting. Write a hook. Tease the local media (but keep it truthful – be very careful about exaggerating). Grab their attention in the first 10 words – tell them why they should keep reading.

A press release consists of a hook (one or two sentences) then the substance and a conclusion with who to contact. Keep press releases up to one page in length. I find that the local newspaper is looking for stories, but they don’t want to write the same thing over and over. Find a way to make your event new and interesting. Make contacts with your local newspaper. Thank them when they run a story. Even when it isn’t written perfectly. Ask them when it is best to submit press releases – what are their deadlines? and then work with them.

I think this is a helpful post on writing media releases: http://media.socialchange.net.au/using_media/How.html

What I am Reading

Professional Reading

digital imaging: a practical handbook by Stuart D. Lee
-although this book is published in 2001 and some of the technology is out of date, the book has some great questions to ask when beginning a digitization project. I don’t agree with everything the author says – especially not the idea that microfilm “under correct conditions will be readable (using very limited technology) in hundreds of years.” (6) since taking a course on archives and preservation I have become aware that microfilm has been made with all sorts of materials and that the objects themselves generally last much longer than the microfilm. In fact, we have microfilm at the library where I work that is already showing signs of deterioration (and it is not even 50 year old microfilm)

Feliciter (a journal of the Canadian Library Association
- I especially love the pictures from the movies in Paul McCormick’s article “Preserving Canada’s Cultural Heritage: The National Film Board”. It makes me want to see more NFB movies.

Access a journal of the Ontario Library Association
-I just received my copy today and can’t wait to read through the articles!

Personal Reading

Consolation by Michael Redhill
- a friend of mine recommended this book. It is the Toronto Reads book, though I am not sure it would appeal to all Torontonians. So far the book is suspenseful and it jumps back and forth to different periods of time and locations in Toronto. It has me hooked. Some of the conversation in the book is not great when read aloud since names are repeated an awful lot in a way that doesn’t happen when conversing out loud – a friend (not the friend who recommended the book to me) pointed that out to me when I was reading a passage out loud. Still, despite that criticism it is a page turner of a book and I am really enjoying it and love that I am learning about Toronto’s history from the book too.

a long way gone by Ishmael Beah
- I am not far enough into this book to comment. I understand that Beal has been criticized for getting some dates wrong, but that doesn’t matter to me in my reading of this book. I want to understand the politics and the personal side of what happened. The parts of the book that I have flipped through and read are described in such detail that I know this book is going to be a disturbing read, but I think it is a necessary read to understand what is happening in the world outside my fortunately cushy place here in the western hemisphere. Maybe this book will help me find ways I can help out more and maybe it will help me to understand where some of the people coming into the library are coming from.

Thinking about Literacy…

Back in December while walking around in a bookstore in High Park I found a copy of Literacy Journal and couldn’t resist buying it.  I really enjoyed reading the articles on literacy and how it takes theory and practice together rather than looking separately at each.  I think that this is great since it allows both scholars and literacy practitioners to understand and talk about literacy.

I know this post is a little late, but I just found out that Literacy Journal is available free online and that you can access many of the older editions including one on numeracy!  I still prefer the paper edition, but I would like to read some of the articles from past editions and you may too.  If you are interested check it out at:  http://www.literacyjournal.ca/readers.html

More thoughts on Adult Literacy and the role of public libraries

I just ran into this website and read this backgrounder.  I had no idea that libraries back in 1995 did not feel that it was their place to get involved in adult literacy and I am really glad to see that things are changing so much.  The library where I work is trying to get a grant to help with literacy for adults – especially those who are learning English as a Second Language.  We are attempting to build our collection but need funding to meet the needs of our community.  We need people to volunteer to run literacy groups and are unable to staff them at the library, however we can provide library space.  I hope that in the future there will be more recognition for the role which libraries can play in adult literacy and more opportunities for libraries – especially public libraries – to work with literacy organizations.

What can libraries do right now – even with very little funding?

1.  Work towards sustaining and motivating existing learners through library tours, outreach programs (ie. class visits), book clubs.  Maybe you can even allow people to submit book reviews to your library website.

2.  Reach out to new learners with library programs and events.  Right now I am working on an astronomy series.  It is not based on books and reading and will instead follow more of a learning circle model.  I will make books and resources available to anyone interested and promote other library programs at this event like our FREE film night.  Also, when someone asks a question and has trouble figuring out where to find an item or choosing an item pay close attention to why they are having difficulty.  There could be many reasons including difficulty using technology for online catalogs, difficulty figuring out key search terms or it may be something else.  Often we assume that all of our patrons can read and write English, but in a community that is growing and where not all speakers are first language English and not all persons in the community graduate from high school, you may find someone in your library stacks who is not able to read well (or at all) but who would like to learn.  Why not refer them to a service to help them with reading (if that’s what they would like) and find a better way for them to access the information they need (i.e. books on tape/cd, video, dvd)?  You could even help that person to use the accessible computer station too (JAWS software will read out anything on the screen and this will help adults who can not read print to navigate a larger number of available resources).

3.  Develop partnerships with literacy organizations in your community.

4.  Advocacy!

Some of the challenges we face in implementing an adult literacy program include funding, library capacity (building space and accessibility, staff training and staff availability), also collections (we need appropriate materials at the right level – beginner readers are not beginner thinkers).  I hope that public libraries and literacy organizations can start to work together to develop literacy programs for adults.  Public libraries have a lot to offer that may enhance the programs which literacy programs offer including collections, staff who know the collections and community space.  Community literacy organizations can help libraries to see ways which we need to change to be more accessible and friendly to those who have difficulty with written communication.

Changing Roles

As the title of my blog “from librarian to cybrarian” foreshadows, I am experiencing a change in my career.  When beginning this blog I never envisioned becoming a Librarian Archivist, but at the moment it feels like a dream come true.  I will be responsible for heading up a digitization project of 25,000 photographs in the archive at our library.  This will be a great challenge, and I am looking forward to it.

There will still be a number of library programs that I will be running until the end of June.  I hope to make the transfer of my role as smooth as possible for everybody at work.  I will definitely miss my role in adult programming but I am looking forward to this new role and the challenges and learning experiences that it will bring.

If any of you know of any articles or contacts on digitization projects of this nature I would appreciate if you would let me know.  In the meantime I will continue blogging about my projects!

A Key Literacy Event in Your Library…

I am taking a course on adult literacy this term and have been thinking a whole lot lately about literacy and literacy events.

One of the first literacy events that happens at the library is for a person to get a library card.  Just how hard is it to get a library card at your library?  Think about it from the perspective of someone with low literacy skills and also from the perspective of a person with blindness.

At the library where I work, a new library client must fill out a paper form with their name, address, and phone number and sign to indicate that they agree with the cardholder policy.  They also must show a piece of government issued identification with name, address and photo OR 2 pieces of identification (which could include letter mail).

Having to show identification can be very intimidating for some cultures and could be a barrier in itself.  Also, it can prevent homeless persons (who refuse to use shelters) from obtaining library cards and people new to the area with insufficient identification.

Another barrier is that people have to obtain the library card during the hours of the library.  Even though they can fill out a form to apply for a library card online, they still must attend at the library and show identification in order to obtain a card.  This can be a barrier to people who are shut-in unable to leave their home due to disability or unable to make it to the library due to issues with transportation.

Still, an even larger barrier is having the form itself when it is not really necessary.  A text-based application form is a real barrier for people with text difficulties and is not all that necessary in the scheme of things.

The library where I previously worked did not use paper-based application forms to obtain library cards. IShow your identification – hand it over to the person at the desk, they fill out your name, address, phone number into the database and then the patron signs the library card and gets there ID back along with information about the library (some of it verbal along with a text based brochure).

A paper form creates a sense of legality about having a library card and importance of holding the card and keeping it safe. One other thing with a paper form is that people can fill it out, then look around and come back later for a card – they don’t have to wait. So, essentially it is more convenient for many library users (but potentially embarrassing and barrier causing for patrons who have difficulty with print). Additionally, it allows the overburdened staff in circulation to put together library cards and input information as they have time – making service more immediate for people checking out books.

For legal purposes, there is really no need to have the form since on the back of most library cards – ours included – it says that you agree to the library cardholder agreement and then you sign to indicate this. Thus, having no paper agreement, just signing a card in a sense gives more power to the patron – especially when they have difficulty reading print. Still, it is not empowering unless someone takes the time to explain (and even read) to the potential cardholder the agreement before they sign it – if they want to hear it – or give them a general run down.

I have heard the argument that libraries dispense with library cards altogether. It is an interesting idea but would people return books? When would they return them? How would/could we get them back? What about movies, games, books on tape? Some items are really expensive, others irreplacable – allowing people to take out items without any agreement may mean that more items go missing. I would like to know and compare statistics with a library that has done that.

I think it would be rather difficult to convince even the most liberal managment and forward thinking library boards to do this.

How do libraries balance the importance of empowering patrons with the goal of balancing and providing access to materials for everyone?

I am curious about what others (from library land and from the rest of the world) think.