Librarians and Books

One thing that professors like to tell new library science students is that "loving books" isn't a good reason to be a librarian. I can see their point: so much of what so many librarians do on a day-to-day basis has nothing to do with the content of the books themselves, at least not in the way that most people mean when they profess their love of books. Librarians might be leading technology instruction; they might be cataloguing materials; they might be answering obscure reference questions. Basically, library school professors would have it seem like loving books and reading is about as vital to the library profession as it is to working in a machine shop. That is, it's not that necessary, and it's not that helpful.

I'm taking a readers' advisory class this semester, though, and our first lecture of the semester opened with a rather prescient statement: library schools don't provide their students with sufficient background in books. I guess this statement refers more to librarians who end up in public libraries, where a good amount of time on the reference desk--usually a shared responsibility--is spent in a readers' advisory interview. You know, when a person comes up to the desk and asks for a suggestion of what to read next? True, you don't need to love reading to know how to adeptly answer such questions; all you really need is a firm grasp of the readers' advisory resources. But I would venture to guess that a librarian who loves and thus knows about books will be able to negotiate this service so much better. It would seem to be very relevant for a librarian to love books.

So I've been thinking about this discrepancy, about the tension between "loving books isn't enough" and "you don't know enough about books." I do love books; I don't think that will come as a surprise to anyone. But that's not the only reason I want to be a librarian. In fact, it's not even the main reason. My loving books does seem like it'll lend me a slight advantage as a librarian, though.

Maybe what library schools need to do is encourage love of books along with the whole host of other necessary librarian skills they promote. It wouldn't be so difficult to shift that tone from "loving books won't help you" to "loving books, plus these other skills, will help you help patrons." That's what it's all about in the end, right?

Six Items or Less

I previously mentioned the shopping diet that recently achieved quite a bit of publicity. The project, Six Items or Less, has received more attention as of late--so much so that the creators are launching another "cycle," as they call it, later this month. Check out the website for more information, and consider signing up (I did!).

Now to figure out my six items...

Concerning the full sensory experience of reading a book

For those of you out there who vehemently defend the book because of how much more it offers than simple words on a page, I thought I would share a tidbit from Robert Darnton's The Case for Books: Past, Present, and Future:

"In a recent poll taken at a French university, 43% of students queried considered smell to be an important aspect of a book and refused to buy the electronic edition."

(cited in "Books and Literacy in the Digital Age" by Ralph Raab in August 2010's American Libraries)

Thinking about library programs

As I get ready to begin my semester-long internship in the children's department of the library in town, I've been thinking quite a bit about library programs. I didn't really go to programs at my hometown library as a kid; what with organized activities, neighborhood friends, and an active reading life at home, going to the library for story hour and other programs never really was in my schedule. That means I'm going into this internship as something of a library program novice. I helped with a few over the summer as a volunteer, but that's about it.

To help myself prepare, I've been reading a bit about some library programs, in public library children's departments in particular, that seem to be successful and worthwhile. I find two of them really intriguing:

1) Children reading to therapy dogs -- You've heard of seeing eye dogs, canines specially trained to aid the visually impaired. Therapy dogs are somewhat similar in that they've been carefully trained to perform specific tasks. Therapy dogs are used in all sorts of situations, from inpatient rehabilitation centers to public libraries. When therapy dogs are added to a library's program schedule, it seems that it's almost always in the children's department. It would seem that children who are struggling or shy readers see marked improvement in their reading when they "practice" by reading to a therapy dog. These pooches pay attention, see, and they don't judge if a child stumbles over words, reads slowly, etc. My library offers a program like this one; I'm looking forward to sitting in on it this semester.

2) Raising a Reader -- It's been suggested time and time again that exposure to books in a huge indicator of children's future success. It makes a lot of sense, then, for libraries to adopt some sort of program wherein young children take home a bag full of books every week or two. With the help of such programs, books become a part of the homelife of every child who participates. The child also gets to know the library as a safe space in which he or she can always find more books. I really like the idea of having programs in place that set up children to be readers and library users. I saw a similar program in the UK this summer, and am happy to see that similar programs are in place in the US.

What about you? What are some library programs that you particularly like/remember liking as a child?

Gnocchi Quiche

Look, I know I'm not a food blogger any more. I enjoy not having the stress of cooking a new recipe every week, hoping it turns out, and sharing it with you. In fact, since I've stopped food blogging, I think the quality of my new recipe trials has improved (sorry to not share...). Something about the pressure being gone...

But I have to relapse just a little bit and talk about food today. Not food I made, but food I bought. You see, there's this great little French restaurant here in town, Le Petit Cafe. Their food had been beyond delicious each time I've been there. Last fall, they started having a little window from their kitchen open up during the hours the nearby farmers' market is open. Sometimes, even though I've eaten breakfast before leaving my house, I cannot walk by that window, with the morning's menu on a little chalkboard, without getting something to eat. Today was one of those days.

Gnocchi quiche. That's what I got this morning. I perhaps might have taken a picture of it to share with you, only I ate the thing before I had a chance. It was just too good to divert my attention, even for 30 seconds. You see, this restaurant has the best quiche anyway. The best quiche of anywhere (could be that the proprietors and cooks are from France...). And today's was practically sublime.

Into their regular rich, smooth, creamy, eggy quiche base, today they added wheat gnocchi. These gnocchi are so perfect that the only thing you taste from them is texture. Have you ever tasted texture? Wow, it's great. They sprinkled the top of the quiche with a bit of Parmesan cheese, adding a salty, savory quality to the whole thing. It was perfection.

Moral of this story: if you live in the area, get down to the farmers' market and make a stop at the window of Le Petit Cafe. And if you don't live near here? Well, I guess you'll just have to be jealous.

Some interesting statistics on alternative types of reading

Audiobooks: Studies show that stroke victims who listen to audiobooks show increased improvement in brain function.

E-books: Surveys of e-reader owns suggest that the majority of such people read more once they have purchased an e-reader than they did before.

*Look beyond the traditional books and see what other resources your library has to offer!*

Playlists

I've had a thing for mixed cds for as long as I can remember. I absolutely love getting mixed cds from people (even when accepting said cds could be considered poor judgment). I think that a lot of the appeal of getting a cd of music deliberately and thoughtfully compiled by another person stems from the fact that I am not very good about finding new music for myself.

You see, I know what I like when it comes to music. The problem is, I don't know how to describe what I like. If I hear it, I'll be able to tell you if I like it. Sometimes, if a particular song is playing during and event or at a place that I enjoy, I like the song just because of the association with good times. Sometimes I'm really attracted to lyrics. But really, when it comes down to it, if I like it, I like it. If I don't, I don't. Can't really explain it better than that.

So, yes, I love getting mixed cds because, inevitably, my friends do a much better job at finding music I like than I do. I love the thrill of hearing something new. I love wondering what's going to come next after one song ends. I love it all.

My love of mixed cds is perhaps reflected in my appreciation of really good playlists. Some people seem to think that iTunes and the ease with which it allows average folk to arrange music playlists is ruining music. I am very much not one of those people. I am continually impressed by the amazing and eclectic playlists one meets with on a regular basis nowadays: at restaurants, at parties... and at picnics.

Picnics like the one that went on outside of my new house today (I moved! To a house!). The neighbors had some folks over for pizza and beer on the lawn, which in and of itself is probably nothing out of the ordinary on a large college campus. What about it was completely awesome, though (aside from the fact that it was a picnic, and I love picnics)? The playlist.

There were great mellow, indie rock, and pop-ish tunes at the beginning, when people were arriving, mingling, and just getting into the picnic vibe. Then there was some amazing piano jazz and thirties-sounding stuff while they were eating; great background music to small groups of people chatting and chewing. Now we're at the stage of the party when everyone has moved inside (mosquitos, boo). And to go with, there's total "house party" music: a good amount of bass-thumping hip hop, 80's-sounding rock, and a few choice songs that have turned into impromptu karaoke. (It's not creepy that I've been hearing all of the music. The walls at my new house are not soundproof at party volume.) I love it! I don't yet know these neighbors, but I am already super impressed by their playlist.

If I could choose to hone only a handful of skills over this last year of graduate school, the art of the playlist would definitely be one of them.