A few months back I had the awesome ability to go to Seattle to visit my friends. I asked if we could take a trip to the library so I could get some pictures for my Libraries Around The World Photo Extravaganza. The library is absolutely amazing and really big. They have a very neat way of displaying their regular stacks called the Spiral. You can walk down all three floors of book shelves in a gradual decline rather than traversing the stairs. Enjoy!
Monday, November 22, 2010
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Amazon has it easy
I have been following a certain story about censorship at its most dividing. Here is a good article on it. If you are not going to read it, you need to know that Amazon was selling a "how to" guide for pedophiles and people didn't like that. Being the librarian-in-progress that I am, I am forcing myself to really figure out how I would deal with such an outcry at my own library.
Amazon has the liberty of being a business and thus able to decide what it does and does not sell. I am not surprised they pulled it. Pedophilia is something that most people, regardless of political or religious background, consider the lowest form of sexual depravity. Amazon has a reputation to uphold and realizes how bad this could be for their PR. We have seen the power of Twitter and internet calls for action and its not pretty.
But what if this wasn't a private business but a public library? How much do I let my own hatred of child abuse interfere with my duty to uphold the code of ethics I have read a million times in my classes? I don't think I could buy this book simply because its controversial like I plan to do with most books that get coverage as being "worthy" of banning. (I plan to have so many copies of Uncle Bobby's Wedding and direct everyone to this blog post if they give me crap about it.) If a patron specifically requests The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure then yes, I would probably obtain a copy for them. I think having the option of the library owning an ebook version would help reduce my fears of someone suffering child abuse seeing the book and having mental problems because of it. I'm okay with offending people who are simply ignorant but not with offending people who have been through a traumatic experience. If its not within browsing range, I'd feel on more solid ground with my own morals and thus able to argue down irate patrons more easily.
The over used example of "would you lend out a book on how to make a bomb" wasn't a real problem for me. I was already pretty passionate about censorship issues before taking librarian classes and was a little surprised at how my classmates could find issues with the freedom of information. Now I get it. This was difficult but I'm still beholden to my patrons as a whole and will base all my decisions on the well being of the entire community, not just on my feelings.
Amazon has the liberty of being a business and thus able to decide what it does and does not sell. I am not surprised they pulled it. Pedophilia is something that most people, regardless of political or religious background, consider the lowest form of sexual depravity. Amazon has a reputation to uphold and realizes how bad this could be for their PR. We have seen the power of Twitter and internet calls for action and its not pretty.
But what if this wasn't a private business but a public library? How much do I let my own hatred of child abuse interfere with my duty to uphold the code of ethics I have read a million times in my classes? I don't think I could buy this book simply because its controversial like I plan to do with most books that get coverage as being "worthy" of banning. (I plan to have so many copies of Uncle Bobby's Wedding and direct everyone to this blog post if they give me crap about it.) If a patron specifically requests The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure then yes, I would probably obtain a copy for them. I think having the option of the library owning an ebook version would help reduce my fears of someone suffering child abuse seeing the book and having mental problems because of it. I'm okay with offending people who are simply ignorant but not with offending people who have been through a traumatic experience. If its not within browsing range, I'd feel on more solid ground with my own morals and thus able to argue down irate patrons more easily.
The over used example of "would you lend out a book on how to make a bomb" wasn't a real problem for me. I was already pretty passionate about censorship issues before taking librarian classes and was a little surprised at how my classmates could find issues with the freedom of information. Now I get it. This was difficult but I'm still beholden to my patrons as a whole and will base all my decisions on the well being of the entire community, not just on my feelings.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Banned Books Week!
It was several weeks ago, I know this. I have been busy lately with LIS homework, helping a friend at an art show and not going crazy with my new condo. You'll just have to deal with it.
Here are the pictures from my work's Banned Books Week Celebration! Woo!
The whole display.
Close up of display.
Erin did the toothpicks.
The whole library.
We had lots of people come by!
Most people liked looking at the lists to wonder why certain books were banned or challenged.
Erin relates to a student why Brown Bear, Brown Bear was placed on the challenged list.
The chocolate cake was the first to go.
We were super happy with all the students that dropped by to get some cake and discuss why books are banned and challenged. It was probably mostly the cake but Erin and I had a lot of fun putting it together.
Here are the pictures from my work's Banned Books Week Celebration! Woo!
The whole display.
Close up of display.
Erin did the toothpicks.
The whole library.
We had lots of people come by!
Most people liked looking at the lists to wonder why certain books were banned or challenged.
Erin relates to a student why Brown Bear, Brown Bear was placed on the challenged list.
The chocolate cake was the first to go.
We were super happy with all the students that dropped by to get some cake and discuss why books are banned and challenged. It was probably mostly the cake but Erin and I had a lot of fun putting it together.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Introduction
I do not expect anyone to read this blog. I've started it mainly because I was asked to for a class. I plan for this to be more of a journal where I can write out rants that need to come out so I don't bother my friends and family about it. I'm going to write out an intro as my first post so I can focus on things I want to talk about at some point and as a point of reference in case any bored internetgoers stumble upon my blog and want to know why I am so random in my topics.
The whole reason I had to start this was because I have started a graduate program in Library and Information Science. Yes, I want to be a librarian when I grow up. Nearly everytime I tell someone that, I get asked "what do you learn about in your classes?" Well, obviously, if I knew that, I wouldn't need to go, now would I? I do intend to talk about some of the issues that come up in classes here. I am a person who doesn't talk very often in class so I will use this as an outlet.
I currently work as a Library Assistant for a medical school. This has had a ton of ups and downs. My bosses are enthusiastic about helping prepare me for library school and my new profession. Sometimes they are a little too enthusiastic but that happens to everyone, I'm sure. Being in a medical setting has challenges of its own as I am very squeamish. My boss, Erin, has a new favorite game called "Freak Out Liz With The New Derm Book". We recently had a really exciting event at work and I have lots of pictures to share with you (you being whatever weirdo decides to read this blog on a regular basis) in my first non-introductory post. I plan for my work environment to be a good place to practice real life librarianing and I plan to blog all about it.
In my personal life, I am a reborn nerd. I used to be pretty concerned about being popular and worried that I read too much for people to like me. I have since found people who like to read fantasy and sci fi too so I'm not so self conscious. I have also met a nice boy who has introduced me to roleplaying games and so I'm trying that out for a while. We'll see how my not liking to talk in front of people will get along with my dream of being in a fantasy book irl. Should be interesting. I'll let you know if I do anything stupid or blogworthy. Anyhoo, I am really enjoying hanging out with my new and old nerdy friends and this will probably lead me to blog about the importance of book clubs and how awesome it is that Neil Gaiman wrote an episode of Doctor Who.
Speaking of my reading too much, I recently read The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. Not only does it describe my dream job, (I won't ruin it, in case you haven't read the end yet) but it also has these fantastic descriptions of old libraries all over the world. This lovely book has given me the traveling bug and I would love nothing more than to visit as many libraries as I possibly can. I plan to start locally but each time I go to a new library, I will take pictures and post them here as well as my impressions of the library. Hopefully, I'll get to some really cool ones rather than the small ones here but each library is important to someone so I want to include as many as possible.
I think thats about me in a nutshell. Between being a student, full time almost-librarian, and gaming with my nerd friends, I am going to be hugely busy in the next few years but you know what? I'm pretty excited. Each day is something new and exciting. I am learning something new each and every day (My dad would be so proud!) and it makes me want to share it. I've never been a gleeful writer but I am finding more and more that I have this crazy burning need to write. So thanks Library School Professor for giving me an excuse to finally start a blog.
The whole reason I had to start this was because I have started a graduate program in Library and Information Science. Yes, I want to be a librarian when I grow up. Nearly everytime I tell someone that, I get asked "what do you learn about in your classes?" Well, obviously, if I knew that, I wouldn't need to go, now would I? I do intend to talk about some of the issues that come up in classes here. I am a person who doesn't talk very often in class so I will use this as an outlet.
I currently work as a Library Assistant for a medical school. This has had a ton of ups and downs. My bosses are enthusiastic about helping prepare me for library school and my new profession. Sometimes they are a little too enthusiastic but that happens to everyone, I'm sure. Being in a medical setting has challenges of its own as I am very squeamish. My boss, Erin, has a new favorite game called "Freak Out Liz With The New Derm Book". We recently had a really exciting event at work and I have lots of pictures to share with you (you being whatever weirdo decides to read this blog on a regular basis) in my first non-introductory post. I plan for my work environment to be a good place to practice real life librarianing and I plan to blog all about it.
In my personal life, I am a reborn nerd. I used to be pretty concerned about being popular and worried that I read too much for people to like me. I have since found people who like to read fantasy and sci fi too so I'm not so self conscious. I have also met a nice boy who has introduced me to roleplaying games and so I'm trying that out for a while. We'll see how my not liking to talk in front of people will get along with my dream of being in a fantasy book irl. Should be interesting. I'll let you know if I do anything stupid or blogworthy. Anyhoo, I am really enjoying hanging out with my new and old nerdy friends and this will probably lead me to blog about the importance of book clubs and how awesome it is that Neil Gaiman wrote an episode of Doctor Who.
Speaking of my reading too much, I recently read The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. Not only does it describe my dream job, (I won't ruin it, in case you haven't read the end yet) but it also has these fantastic descriptions of old libraries all over the world. This lovely book has given me the traveling bug and I would love nothing more than to visit as many libraries as I possibly can. I plan to start locally but each time I go to a new library, I will take pictures and post them here as well as my impressions of the library. Hopefully, I'll get to some really cool ones rather than the small ones here but each library is important to someone so I want to include as many as possible.
I think thats about me in a nutshell. Between being a student, full time almost-librarian, and gaming with my nerd friends, I am going to be hugely busy in the next few years but you know what? I'm pretty excited. Each day is something new and exciting. I am learning something new each and every day (My dad would be so proud!) and it makes me want to share it. I've never been a gleeful writer but I am finding more and more that I have this crazy burning need to write. So thanks Library School Professor for giving me an excuse to finally start a blog.
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