Week 16 prompt response: Since I was a child my interests in reading and books have changed, obviously. I feel like when we were learning to read in elementary school that I wasn't so quick to catch on, but that might've just been me comparing myself to a super smart girl in my class who read constantly and not out loud. I was probably just very jealous. As a child, I chose books that featured something I was interested in, usually horses or other animals, but I also had books that were given to me as gifts. I remember receiving the Winnie the Pooh series which I sort of liked and then some other books where the morals were very clear in them. Maybe I needed guidance? (Ha!) As I advanced through elementary school and we started to read chapter books, I remember never liking anything we had to read. I only enjoyed the books that I chose for myself at the library. I remember during this time finding certain authors that I liked and reading everything my school library had b...
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Week 14 prompt response: It would be my initial reaction not to separate the LGBTQ or urban fiction books from the general fiction collection. One reason is space. Rearranging an established collection (like we have at my library) is a difficult process and takes a lot of planning and time. It can also leave shelves empty with books on carts where patrons can't browse them and therefore they don't get checked out for however long it takes to finish the rearranging of the collection. I know from experience that once a project like moving or rearranging gets started at the library, it isn't always finished in a timely manner or other changes crop up along the way. Another reason is that is does take away from serendipitous discovery like the prompt says. A lot of patrons have their certain genres or authors that they stick to religiously, but there are a lot of patrons who run out of series or a certain author's works and ask for suggestions. This is an opportunity fo...
Week 13 prompt response: I don't think adults should be shamed out of reading graphic novels or young adult books. I read both! I would say that the majority of YA checkouts at my library are by teens but I also see a lot of adults checking them out for themselves. The majority of graphic novels are checked out by adults in my opinion even though my library separates them into regular graphic novels and YA graphic novels (the two sections face each other, so if you're browsing YA graphic novels you can turn around and the regular graphic novels are right behind you and vice versa. So it's not like they're separated in order to censor, it's just by age level). As librarians we can make sure we are able to serve adults who enjoy graphic novels and YA books by making a case for acquiring those materials for the library's collection. By obtaining the newest titles in both genres, we can ensure that those parts of the collection are up to date. We can also be su...
YA Fiction Annotation: Title: Looking for Alaska Author: John Green Genre: Young adult fiction Publication date: 2005 Number of pages: 221 Geographical setting: Florida and Alabama Time period: Modern day (2005) Plot summary: Loner teen Miles Halter moves from Florida and leaves his parents behind to attend Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama, where his dad also went to school. Miles is not an unpopular kid but prefers to be on his own with his odd hobbies like memorizing famous people's last words. When he arrives at his new school, he discovers that Alabama heat is not the same as Florida heat and the kids who attend this school are not like the ones he left behind. He quickly befriends his roommate Chip, who everyone calls the Colonel, and in turn befriends Chip's friends, Alaska and Takumi. The group of friends get up to what you would expect teens in 2005 at a prep school in rural Alabama to get up to: Smoking, drinking, pranks, rivalries, mutual h...
Nonfiction Annotation: Title: Maeve in America: Essays by a Girl from Somewhere Else Author: Maeve Higgins Genre: Nonfiction (memoir, essays) Publication date: 2018 Number of pages: 245 Geographical setting: United States (New York), Ireland, Iraq Time period: Modern - author's lifetime Plot summary: Maeve Higgins is a 38 year old Irish comedian who moved to New York in her thirties after success in her native country with comedy and television. Her second book of essays, Maeve in America covers many subjects and times in the author's life. The opening essay tells of a time that was terrifying for Maeve but that most people consider a privilege - swimming with dolphins. Another essay is threaded with hope and bonding as Maeve recounts her time leading a comedy workshop in Iraq in 2016, with many of the participants travelling long hours and risking their lives to learn how to improve their comedy writing. Other essays include very relatable content like falli...