Banned Books Week
Posted September 30, 2015 by Jill Silverberg
After recently looking over ALA’s ‘Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books’ from the past two decades (1990-1999 & 2000-2009), I realized that I have read quite a few so-called banned/challenged books in rather short lifetime. Some of the books on these two lists were notable for due to their reputations as being banned or challenged: Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume; Blackboy by Richard Wright; American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis; Brave New World by Aldous Huxley; and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Others came off as bit of a shock: In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak; Harry Potter (series) by J.K. Rowling; and Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey. Yes, even Captain Underpants has been challenged for its content. While it is certainly true that there is a stark difference between a book being ‘challenged’ [an attempt to remove or restrict materials] and ‘banned’ [to completely remove materials], either act is a case of enforced censorship. Although ALA acknowledges that books that are challenged are usually done so with best intentions in mind, whenever I hear about a book that has been challenged -often within the context of…
Family Reading
Posted September 29, 2015 by Alison Mitchell
As a mom, and as a librarian, I’ve never underestimated the importance of family reading. We read all the time! But twice recently I experienced the importance of reading out loud to kids. This summer, my husband grabbed a bunch of chapter books from a “free” box on the street. One was Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, which I remembered fondly from my own childhood. I gave it to my 9-year-old, who is an advanced, eager reader. For whatever reason, she couldn’t get into it, and she was super upset. I said I’d read it with her, which turned into me reading it out loud to both kids, which was great. What a super book, with all sorts of vocabulary and concepts to discuss. I’m taking Children’s Collections this semester, and had to read 37 picture books for one class meeting. Sure, I could have sat down at the library where I work and read them all in an hour, but instead I checked them out, brought them home and read them…
Thank you, Boston! – Boston Calling September 2015
Posted September 28, 2015 by Alexandra Bernson
Between a full-time job, a part-time job, and graduate school, I don’t have much time for vacations. So this weekend at Boston Calling, a music festival at Government Center, I decided it was time for a little three-day holiday. Throwing my budget out the window (gulp!), I prepared to enjoy myself as much as could while surrounded by young amorous undergraduates in the first throes of their first semester romances. I’m not much of a music festival person. My brother loves them: Bonnaroo is his mecca and it seems like he’s always planning another trip and collecting more amazing experiences as he dances to any and all types of music and musicians. Despite his many efforts, I’ve never attended any of those massive, multi-day fests full of music, drinking, and other miscellaneous vices. I love music but I’m a fuddy duddy: I like to enjoy it at home or in small venues rather than while being jostled to and fro by sweaty, drunk, painted people. But I couldn’t resist Boston Calling: it was right in…
Orientation Day
Posted September 26, 2015 by Amy Wilson
Taking the train from Lechmere to Simmons A few weeks ago, I took the day off work to go to Simmons’ campus for the SLIS Orientation. It was a really exciting day, and I came away questioning all my choices (in the best way) and wondering how I will ever learn all those acronyms. Luckily, at the end of the day I had an hour bus ride to New Hampshire to mull things over. Orientation Lesson One: I arrived at Orientation early, because (1) it’s what Hermione would do, and (2) I needed to stop by the Registrar. I still have undergraduate loans, so I have been trying to get those all set before I begin paying interest on my un-subsidized graduate loans (un-subsidized means that interest accrues while I am in school). My undergraduate loans are subsidized and Perkins (both Federal), so you’d think it would be simple, but the loan websites are not very clear on how to defer payments – many forms and little instruction. Until Leslie Knope becomes President, this is…
A Favorite Fall Outing
Posted September 25, 2015 by Katie Caskey
The sun is shining, the breeze is crisp, I’ve broken out the heavier scarves…it’s official! Fall. Is. HERE!!! And very few cities do fall better than Boston, with the glorious leaves, the bustling crowds, and, my personal favorite, the Copley Square Farmers Market. Held every Tuesday and Friday from 11:00am – 6:00pm in Copley Square, the market features well over 20 vendors selling everything from watercolors to watercress. Last week I ventured over to the market after my weekly trip to the library (which is conveniently right across the street), and as I wandered around I was struck by the rich variety of produce and farm goods the area has to offer. Some of my favorite tents included a lady selling artisanal cheeses made from her goats’ milk, a local greenhouse with some stunning bunches of sunflowers, and a bakery and bee farm selling homemade whoopee pies and locally-harvested honey. But my favorite find of last week was the biggest, sweetest honeydew melon I have ever seen! It was the size of my…
Mixing Introversion and Group Projects
Posted September 24, 2015 by Tara Pealer
I come from a family of extroverts. They’re loud, they’re fun, and they’re friendly. They’ll stop to talk to you on the street. They’ll have a conversation on the train with a stranger. They’ll do their best to make you feel included. I’m an introvert. (Buzzfeed keeps insisting that I’m an ambivert. But it also once sorted me into Ravenclaw when I’m Pottermore sorted as a Hufflepuff, and huffle-proud of it. So I question the legitimacy of their quizzes.) I don’t believe that you should ever talk to someone on the train, unless you know them. I know that the tried and true New Englander way to say hello to someone on the street is to barely make eye contact and keep walking as you say “Hi-How-Are-You-I’m-Good.” Of course, I’m not alone in this in the library profession. A majority of LIS people are introverted as well, though there are a good deal of extroverts who are wonderful to be around. In my 401 Foundations class, we discussed how the Myers-Briggs test can be used…
Was it the Right Move?
Posted September 22, 2015 by Alison Mitchell
I’m over 40. I have two kids and a husband. Our lives are busy and messy and crazy and good. And last year I made them busier and messier and crazier and better by starting my master’s at SLIS. Is it hard? Yes. Was it the right move? Definitely. Going to school and working (I work part-time in a public library) and parenting and keeping the house from falling apart is a challenge, I won’t lie. But I love being a librarian, and love that the SLIS program is preparing me for actual library work. It’s a practical degree — every class I’ve taken includes real life, relevant information that I can apply immediately at work. It’s a fun degree — classes and projects are interesting. The program is a lot of work — much more than I expected at the beginning, and every semester I have to remind myself that I’ll have a lot of reading! A lot of assignments! A lot of group projects! Even more group projects! A how-on-earth-could-I-have-another-group-project amount of group…
Here Comes the Sales Pitch
Posted September 21, 2015 by Alexandra Bernson
If American libraries and archives were a business, I might just be their best salesman. Not that I’m a particularly good salesman and not that I’m actually making any money for it. But I find myself talking about libraries and archives all the time to total strangers, so much so that often it feels like I’m stuck in the middle of a cold call. As a second-year student gradually pushing her way through to glorious graduation in May, my life has centered around learning about and working in libraries and archives for over a year. In that year, I’ve learned that libraries and archives have the worst marketing and public relations teams on the planet and absolutely no one has any idea what a librarian really does or what libraries offer. Further, the word “archivist” usually inspires quizzical looks that I’d like to document in a series of photographic portraits for future exhibition at the BPL. Other than the shhing, sexy librarian stereotype, the world of library and information science is virtually unknown to popular…
Guest Blogger: Katelyn Duncan
Posted September 20, 2015 by Katie Olivo
Katelyn Duncan is a former Spanish & Italian literature student who stumbled upon librarianship after realizing she wanted to balance her fondness for academia with her love for helping people. During her five semesters at Simmons, she took courses focusing on reference and academic libraries and worked in the SLIS Tech Lab as well as a small college library. In March 2015, she became the first Simmons student to go to South Korea as part of a dual degree program to get a second master’s in LIS from Yonsei University in Seoul. We’re delighted to have her share a few posts with us this semester so that we can all learn about her dual degree program at Yonsei University! ——————- When I first came to Simmons in summer 2013, I knew I wanted to take advantage of international opportunities if I could. I thought that would mean participating in SCIRRT (the LIS student group focusing on international librarianship) and attending one of the short summer study abroad sessions in Korea, France or Italy. What I never…
Welcome!
Posted September 19, 2015 by Amy Wilson
I’m Amy, a first semester student at Simmons School of Library and Information Science. I live in Somerville and work full time at a law firm, in addition to attending evening classes. In the past year and a half, my life has changed in many ways. It began last winter, when I very hastily applied to Simmons School of Library and Information Science. This is not to say that my decision was hasty, only that the process went very quickly. I had been sitting on the decision for a long time, and realized in the middle of January that if I applied by February 1, I would qualify for a scholarship. I had told people all along that I was thinking about it, but honestly, I wasn’t. I was enjoying my life as a non-student and didn’t feel any rush; however I also realized that if I didn’t make up my mind, another year could slip away. I knew that my deposit wouldn’t be due until May, and there was no harm in applying while I…