Posts

Books, a (very) short history

The main way that reading has changed since I was younger is through ebooks. I think that this is a good thing overall, allowing people that can not find the time to go to the library to have a large selection of books always on hand. Additionally, it is easier for people to fit reading in when you have five minutes of downtime if the book you are reading is on your phone. I think people read more of what they want because it can be concealed easier, allowing them to read things that they find embarrassing without having to announce it to the rest of the world. I think the world is going to become more and more electronic as time goes on. Paper books will exist in some form for the rest of my life but I think that ebooks will become the standard. As it is now more and more books are being released exclusively as ebooks or very limited print runs. With being stored electronically, books can be preserved forever at almost no cost. Additionally, I would not be surprised if books started...
4 comments
Read more

Showing Everyone Your Fiction

I am not sure if these are the be all end all best but these are three things that have worked well in the library that I work in: 1) Book Clubs - This is one of the ways that books got a lot of attention at my former library. Not only does this have patrons become aware of books that are in the library, it has them read them as well. This was used very successfully to promote several authors that were prominently featured at the library. 2) Clever Displays - This one is a little harder because I would need to come up with something that pique people’s interest. Just putting an assortment of books out that had a theme did not tend to attract many people to look at the display, let alone check out the books from it. However, when the idea behind the display was more “unique” it drummed up a lot of attention. The better displays were pairing books and their movie adaptations and having a blind date with a book. 3) Bookmarks - Bookmarks were the single best marketing tool at my former...
5 comments
Read more

Breaking out books

Based on opinions that patrons at my former library voiced I would break out a genre collection for these. Reasons for this 1) Patrons often ask for specific genre sections - This was a constant request. Patrons wanted the library to feel more like a bookstore with genre labels rather than having the entirety of fiction in order by author's last name. 2) There is not as much Urban and LGBTQ fiction in many libraries - Because these are smaller sub genres it is much harder for someone that is looking for it to locate books in these genres. Additionally, they might need to traverse much of the library to look at the couple of books they are checking out. 3) They are able to discover books within the genre they are trying to read in - There is an argument to be made that breaking out genres will make it more difficult for people to accidentally discover a book in a different genre. While this is true, I don’t think this happens super often. I can only speak from my experience but...
1 comment
Read more

LGBTQ Annotation: After the Parade by Lori Ostlund

Image
Synopsis (Spoiler free): Aaron is a middle aged man who decides to leave his emotionally manipulative partner and set out for a new life in San Francisco. However starting over is not as easy as Aaron hoped. Before he can truly start over he must confront the person that he is and all of the events in his life that made him into that person. Pacing: The pacing of this book focuses heavily on flashbacks with more time being spent of Aaron's childhood or even stories of his time with his partner rather than in the present. This means that the main story moves at a very slow pace. That being said the flashbacks are mostly self contained stories that are interesting to listen to. Storyline: This story has strong themes of being an outsider and trying to find one's place in the world. While Aaron is homosexual, he is fine with that fact about himself making the story revolve more about how other people treat him because of this. Ultimately it is used as another way that he...
6 comments
Read more

Graphic Novels

Graphic novels are something that I am very interested in, both personally and professionally. At my previous job I was in charge of starting and maintaining the adult graphic novel section. In my personal life, I read about as many graphic novels as I do regular books in a year. But even with these experiences, I do not have special insight into how to be able to serve patrons that like these materials. The thing that I did while developing the collection was to treat it like I did every other section of the library. I had a budget for it and I would do my best to get titles that I think the patrons would enjoy. I think it is our role as librarians to make sure that all patrons are served equally. We should not be cowed by the opinions that some patrons do not think that those books are worth reading. They same was said about science fiction and fantasy books for a long time and now they are one of the few genres that are almost always broken out from the general collection. The other...
1 comment
Read more

Non-Fiction Prompt

Imagine: How Creativity Works by John Lehrer 1. Where is this book on the narrative continuum? Highly fact based (most stories are to frame the idea that each chapter is discussing) 2. What is the subject of the book? Creativity and the psychology behind it. 3. What type of book is it? An exploration study of how the brain is creative. 4. Articulate appeal What is the pacing of the book? It is a quick read with each chapter being an independent topic. Describe the characters of the book. N/A How does the story feel? N/A What is the intent of the author? To teach the reader how the brain views creativity and how they can be more creative in their own life. What is the focus of the story? The antidotes in this book focus on creativity and how it is expressed differently in different people. Does language matter? Not particularly but it is an easy read. Is the setting important and well described? The setting is not important other than that it is...
2 comments
Read more

Books vs. Electronic Resources

Ebooks and audiobooks are a part of our landscape. What does the change in medium mean for appeal factors? If you can't hold a book and feel the physical weight of it in your hands, how does that affect your knowledge of the genre? How about readers being able to change the font, line spacing, and color of text - how does that affect pacing and tone? How about audiobooks? Track length, narrator choice, is there music?  For this week, I want you to think about how ebooks and audiobooks affect appeal factors - also think about appeals that are unique to both mediums. Please feel free to use your own experience and that of your (anonymous of course) patrons. I look forward to reading these! Ebooks and audiobooks have been growing in popularity in the past few years, or at least it feels that way to me. When I listen to podcasts or go to the library, I am now bombarded with advertisements for audible or new ebook apps such as Overdrive or Libby. But are these resources really be...
9 comments
Read more