Vacation Library
Posted August 13, 2015 by Alison Mitchell
My family is on vacation, somewhere we go every summer, and when we’re here, we (of course) frequent the fabulous local public library. My kids love the children’s room — in addition to a great collection and lots of cozy places to read, it has a corner with a bookcase of board games, another corner with a bin of dress up clothes, and innovative programming. I love the friendly staff and collection that’s just different enough from our library at home to be interesting. I find it pretty hilarious to see how our borrowing changes while on vacation. The other day, my kids wanted a movie, and I said yes (at home, I definitely would have said no to Shrek the Halls in August). Last summer, I ended up checking out practically an entire shelf of DIY books, somehow inspired by being away from home (my talents run more to knitting and sewing — DIY never works out that well for me). We also get many books from the “local interest” section, something we don’t…
Age and Maturity
Posted August 11, 2015 by Hayley Botnen
It’s my birthday on the 14th. I’m turning 25. It feels weird. It’ll be my first birthday celebration without either my family or my best friend. I have friends to celebrate with. Awesome friends who I am so glad to have in my life. We’re going to the Museum of Science and then finding food somewhere. That is my birthday plan. Growing up, I loved throwing birthday parties. Having a birthday in the summer meant that it was hit-or-miss for whether people would be in town to show up, but it also meant that I could throw my party basically any day. I would spend all summer planning my birthday party. When I was in my late teens, I worked at the Fair in my hometown. It happened to fall on my birthday every year. So every year I would work on my birthday. I started a tradition for myself to get a caramel apple on my birthday. I don’t know where to get a caramel apple in Boston. It’s weird to grow-up. I don’t…
Future Librarian?
Posted July 28, 2015 by Alison Mitchell
Last week, my kids came to visit me at work. I think all kids get a huge thrill out of seeing where their parents spend time when they’re — gasp — not actually with the kids, but I really can’t imagine many better workplaces to visit a parent than the children’s department of a public library. The girls had a great time. My almost-7-year-old formed an immediate bond with one of our high school pages, and they had a lovely time reading Officer Buckle and Gloria together. Both girls went to Story Time, and even though it happened to be Toddler Story Time, they enjoyed the songs, books and craft project. They were happy, I was happy. It was a good visit. The best part of the visit, though, might be the fact that my 9-year-old organized the library’s entire Erin Hunter collection. She arranged the books by category (Warriors, Seekers, Survivors), then subsection (Dawn of the Clans, Omen of the Stars, etc.), and then book order. For those of you who are not familiar…
A Bit About My Summer Classes
Posted July 27, 2015 by Samantha Quiñon
As we head into the end of July, we at SLIS are entering the final week of the summer term. This is my second year taking summer classes, and they are a lot of work (classes are condensed), but worth it (six credits in six weeks). I definitely recommend them. This semester I took Collection Development (LIS 453) and Evaluation (LIS 403). Evaluation sounds vague, I know. It’s mostly about how to evaluate and assess various aspects of your library to meet user needs and justify funding, along with the various research and data collection methods that exist. The classes complemented each other well, as Collection Development had a large part devoted to evaluation of a library’s collection. I’m working on final projects for both courses now. For Evaluation, I have to write a research proposal including literature review, and for Collection Development I have to write a collection development policy with demographic data, budget allocation information, deselection guidelines, a gift policy, and collection priorities. (Mine is about 35 pages total, single-spaced, but that includes…
Happy Birthday Trebek: An Ode to Trivia
Posted July 23, 2015 by Alexandra Bernson
Wednesday, July 22nd was a very important day because it concerns a very important man… at least for me. It is the day that Alex Trebek, host of Jeopardy, turned 75 years old. The first person I knew who was also named Alex, I grew up watching him host Jeopardy. To this day, I love that show and become glued to the TV if I stumble upon it. I have been tempted to buy cable solely so that I could watch Jeopardy every night at 7:30pm. Alex Trebek and Jeopardy are most likely the reason for my love of knowledge and trivia, which itself is most likely the reason why I am pursuing library science. A general knowledge of everything tends to come in handy in this line of work! And doesn’t Mr. Trebek look amazing for 75? But to return to the subject at hand: trivia. Now, when I say I love trivia, I don’t think you really understand. I LOVE trivia. It makes me so excited. If I know I’m going to trivia…
Summer Reading
Posted July 20, 2015 by Jill Silverberg
It’s hard to believe that just a few months ago, the city of Boston was still blanketed in snow, my apartment was a frozen tundra, and I was elbows deep in school work. Even though school ended for me back in early May, it still feels like just yesterday that I would spend a solid twelve hours a day on the Simmons campus working on final papers and projects. Fortunately for me, days like that are now simply just fond memories and hilarious anecdotes. And with the 2014/2015 academic year now a thing of the recent past, I’ve finally had the opportunity to do something that I only really get to do during the summer months: leisure read!!!!!!!! I don’t joke around when I tell people that I am a blbliophile. I REALLY love books. However, not even my love of the written word is enough to find time to read a book for fun while also working on all the reading and other academic responsibilities that require my attention during the school year. While…
Summer Laziness
Posted July 15, 2015 by Hayley Botnen
How is it already halfway through July? I thought summer was going to be less busy than the school year, but between my internship and the classes I was taking, I feel like it’s been really busy. Maybe it’s also the fact that it’s summer. Summer, to me, means lounging. It means reading. It means going to movies and hanging out in places with AC on the hot-hot days. I went to a concert last week which was fun. I want to go to a baseball game. Summer means a lot of things, but maybe being productive isn’t necessarily one of them. I’ve been trying to work on my novel this month (for Camp Nanowrimo), but it’s hard work when it’s sunny out and it’s hot in my apartment. It’s easier to read things other people have written. It’s easier to see one of the so-called blockbusters in a cool theater. The best part about being a future librarian? Even the things I use to be un-productive are weirdly productive. It’s important for me to…
One School, One Book?
Posted July 14, 2015 by Alison Mitchell
I recently finished The Martian by Andy Weir for “Somerville Reads”/One City One Book, and it was fabulous. Actually, I’ll admit that in the beginning, I thought it was just OK. However, right about the time I thought “I don’t think I can read 300 pages of this,” the perspective of the story changed, a whole bunch of new characters were introduced, and it really took off. Excellent, excellent book. Seriously — more than one night I’ve fallen asleep imagining that the characters were real people and wondering how the United States would respond if the situation in the book really happened. (Side note: I’ll get to continue my fantasy with the characters, since the movie version of the book is coming out soon — starring Matt Damon!) Anyway, back to the point. My family has really enjoyed One City One Book here in Somerville. A few years ago, my husband won a Vietnam War-era trivia contest based on when we read The Things They Carried. Last year, we read Dark Tide, and our local…
Outside the Box
Posted July 2, 2015 by Alison Mitchell
Between working in a public library children’s department, getting my master’s at SLIS, and hanging around with my kids and their friends, I spend a lot of time talking about, thinking about and witnessing children reading. For eager readers, there are limitless options for books to read, stories to write, and vocabulary to learn. For more reluctant readers, it might help to think outside the box. Lately, I’ve seen hesitant readers fall in love with the following: Poetry. Specifically, Shel Silverstein. His poems are short enough to not be intimidating, and interesting enough to encourage kids to stick with challenging words. Drawings help pull readers into the text. And– bonus! — people of all ages find Shel Silverstein hilarious. Graphic Novels. Even though there are plenty of Early Readers with the same number of words on a page and pictures to help you follow the story, something about the graphic format really captures reluctant readers. I love anything published by Toon, and, for older readers, Raina Telgemeier’s fabulous books and El Deafo by Cece Bell….
Happy 150th Birthday, Alice!
Posted June 30, 2015 by Jill Silverberg
It’s almost hard to believe that it has been 150 years since Lewis Carroll’s Alice fell down the rabbit hole and tumbled into the weird, mad, and impossible world of Wonderland. Since its publication in 1865, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has not only become part of the literary classic but also a figure that squarely represents the innocence of childhood. Considering its age, it’s understandable that there have been quite a few interpretations on Carroll’s -or Charles Lutwidge Dodgson’s- most famous character. Indeed, the metaphorical journey of Alice has almost become as iconic as the girl herself. So, in honor of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland turning the big 1-5-0, I’ve compiled a top five list of Alices. But before I reveal the list, let’s get some things out of the way. This list and its ranking has been created based on my own personal opinions. So yes, expect some biases For the sake of simplicity, I’m only sticking to Alices from direct adaptions. There are simply too many Alices from works that are allusions or influenced by Carroll’s novel…