Books I gave up on...

So I'm probably the worst librarian in the world when it comes to reading books that aren't my "cup of tea". I typically read one full book for every 25 that I check out and read 1/4 to 3/4's of..because of numerous reasons really. It just depends. Here I will begin to list the books I'm returning to the library today, because they've been in the back of my car and for whatever reason- I couldn't bring myself to finish them.

I Don't Want to Be Crazy by Samantha Schutz
A "teen book"- nonfiction. Written in verse, Samantha chronicles her experience with Anxiety disorder as a teen and young adult at college. I really liked it to start with, but for some reason stopped just about halfway through. Pretty good, but not good enough.

Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Teen Fiction. I really wanted to finish this one because I want to read the sequel that came out recently. But for some reason I couldn't get all the way through it either. It was well written, convincing, and scary. I may try it again sometime, I don't know.

Maxed Out by James D. Scurlock
Adult Nonfiction. The book the coincides with the documentary about Credit Card Debt and Predatory Lending in America. I didn't get far into this one before just renting the documentary. the documentary was really good- depressing yet made me feel like I wasn't alone, or nearly as bad-off as many of the poor victims of predatory lending. Brought up a lot of good talking points with my roommate and boyfriend, who watched the movie with me.

Spark by John J. Ratey
On second thought, I'm going to try to keep going with this one, which speaks to the findings that correlate better brain functionality and intelligence to fitness and exercise. I like this one. Might buy it for myself.

Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
Recommended by an artist neighbor. Liturgical format. Adult/Teen fiction. Story about a fictional town where they begin outlawing different letters from sentences and general everyday use. Didn't get far in this one, but liked the idea behind the story.

Confessions of a Carb Queen by Susan Blech
Adult Memoir. Written by a woman who lost over 200 pounds. Too much talk about food and her feelings, though I'm sure that's the point. Made me think that I need to get more organized and start focusing my efforts on getting-things-done rather than sitting around and waiting for things to magically happen for me. Interesting read, but couldn't finish.

Inside Out: Portrait of an Eating Disorder by Nadia Shivack
Teen/Adult Memoir in Pictures/art. Incredibly disturbing. A woman chronicles her life through pictures she drew of her personified Eating Disorder (ED) and how it affects her life. I read most of this one, but I'm not sure if it counts since it's mostly pictures. Very Very good. Teen girls should read this.

And now for the book that I'm thinking about before bed, as my eyes are burning with the desire to sleep but my brain wants the story to keep going:

The English American by Alison Larkin
Adult Fiction. Story of a 28 year old American-born and British-raised woman who seeks out her biological mother, who's located in Georgia. I. can't. stop. thinking. about. relaxing. with. this. book. What is my obsession with England?! London!? I particularly like this so far because the main character has red hair and is (obviously) adopted. I think I secretly wish I was adopted by my parents and somewhere in London my birth parents are waiting for me to contact them for tea.

Web 6.0

?

I don't know- I feel like the buzzword for the social web, "Web 2.0" or "Libraries 2.0" has already expired. Since I first heard the term, I've had to update my iTunes software 5 times. Java's installed a buttload of updates. There's been the release of the iPhone, then the newer cheaper iPhone. My mom's gotten a Myspace page and also a Sony Reader. I'm so proud of her tech-pertise that I don't even get annoyed when she asks me for Quicken tech support even though I've never used the software.

This summer we pushed comments on our Teen Blog as a way to get points in the Summer Reading Program, and as a result generated hundreds of comments from real teens (go figure) who were reading our posts. I've received numerous Pieces of Flair on Facebook and I've finally caved and signed up for a LinkedIn account. I haven't been good about posting my pictures to Flickr (because I refuse to spend money to get more-pictures-per-month) but I religiously post them to my social networking pages and Snapfish, so I know they're out on the web should my computer decide to kick the bucket. I've watched all of the bloggers I subscribe to complain about the ALA conference in Anaheim and make READ posters. I've Tumbld, Tamed, SimplyHired, and finally started contributing to the Columbus Underground forum. I regularly consult web comics for some brief relief from the reference desk and circ work that needs done.

I've found my house in Google Streetview. I've signed up for an online exercise social network that I inevitably couldn't keep up with. When I need some background noise I just open Musicovery.

And most recently, I attended a presentation with Michael Stephens where he encouraged the people at Columbus Metropolitan Library to Learn and Play. His presentation and enthusiasm is definitely contagious. One of my favorite bloggers- to see him in real life (IRL?) was pretty cool and it was neat to watch everyone around me somewhat awestruck by his iPhone and Twitter facts (I still haven't signed up for Twitter- only out of self-preservation because I realize the kind of addictive personality I have and I don't know that I couldn't set limits with the tweeting.) Even I was awestruck by the gorgeous pictures and motivating sentiments towards how people use the web, how we (libraries) should be altering our services to include user-generated content...and more and more and more.

But there has to be a new name for it all. Period. End of story. Saying Web 2.0 to encompass all things social about the internet is just silly at this point. My iTunes software is at 7.7. My Adobe update is at 7.0. Even Internet Explorer is up around 7 these days. Microsoft Office 2007 is completely different from 1993-200whatever the last update was. Web 2.0 sounds like Netscape to me at this point. It needs a new name. Something newer, shinier and something that reflects the changing aspect of the social web. It's changing. We can't call it the same thing. Or at least, we shouldn't be calling it the same number.

What's the point?

Technology is advancing far beyond where we can keep up. (Think-- not unlike American Public School System?) I think libraries are FINALLY getting the picture that in order to be relevant in this day and age, you must understand how to reach people. Our insatiable need for immediate gratification is causing our users to satisfice information from a random Google search or Wikipedia entry and cite it in their undergraduate papers. Nobody knows what Electronic Resources at the Library are. I haven't had ONE PERSON ever tell me- "Oh Yea, Gale Databases? I access those at home through your website all the time...."

We need to call Web 2.0 something else. It's time. It should definitely be Web 4.5 or something by now. And YES we should be changing to fit the technological needs and desires of our users. OF COURSE we shouldn't be caught up in administrative red-tape. Duh!

And I'm a little disappointed that people are just now starting to learn about and appreciate the tools that I've been using for a long time- years in fact. I'm not that special. I just was told in Library School that I have to know how to use these things. I was told that understanding these new tech tools would not only help in the field of librarianship, but if I DIDN'T learn these tools, well my chances of finding or keeping a job would be slim to none. I thought this was something I was required to do.

I want to learn new things. I'm constantly hitting refresh on my feed reader so I can hopefully find a Grad Links post from someone in an MLS program who can show me something new, something different. It seems like this technology (that , as I mentioned, has been around for a while) is just now getting the recognition of being useful.

In order to be relevant and useful I think we need to not only learn about what's out there now, but FIND OUT WHAT'S HAPPENING NEXT. I want to know what's next. I want it to be something I can afford. Hell, maybe something FREE. I want to talk to colleagues about quirks in Gchat and Google Reader and have them know what I'm complaining about. I want someone else to show ME what's new. I'm tired of being the "tech guru"-- I'm not a tech guru! I just know how to use Office 2007 and I keep current using tools that have been available since 2005 or prior! So someone, anyone, show me something new. Tell me about the next big thing. I'll give you $5 if it's not run by Google. (haha.)

Alright enough of my ranting. I should start trolling on the internet to FIND the next big thing.

just stopping by to drop a note...

So now that the library I work in has been open for a few months, we have our "regulars" that see me every so often outside of the library in the area surrounding the library (i.e. the shopping/strip mall). They call me Library Lady. I don't mind it.

Things here have been pretty good- SRP winding down, I'm getting handed some cool projects and opportunities that I'm excited about. This week was not only productive, but made me feel good for numerous reasons. I've felt like I've honestly helped people, and my friendly interpersonal skills have helped to temporarily sedate an otherwise grumpy old man. My teens are RSVPing to the Volunteen thank you party next week. I'm grateful that they're looking forward to it. And earlier this week one of our Network Administrators called me a "whiz" (aka genius) because I responded properly to a PC that was Out of Order. See?! Lots of pickmeup things happened this week.

It doesn't hurt that tomorrow's my birthday and I'm going to go on a date tonight with the boyfriend, who I'm falling madly in love with in that gooey sickening way that makes your stomach flutter. I'm sure that has something to do with the positive attitude this week. But I'll take it.

More to come......

Summertime ...and I'm ready for a vacation

Again, I'm terrible at this blog. I have another one that I post on more frequently. But it's time to update this one.

Recent Reads:

Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life by Steve Martin
I really liked this, and started reading it right before a trip to Anaheim for a conference. Since Steve (we're on a first name basis) grew up in Anaheim, it was neat to read about his first job at Disneyland and then about his younger years as a struggling magician and comedian. I really liked it. His voice and writing always is very calming to me. Good stuff.


Home: A Memoir of My Early Years by Julie Andrews
I think I started this one after watching the fireworks at Disneyland during my trip, since (in typical Disney Fashion) Julie Andrews narrated the firework/music extravaganza that we watched while there. I particularly liked this because she talks so much about London, living in England, and what it was like to grow up in a far-from-perfect family situation back in the 40s and 50s. She goes into detail about the Blitz, which I found fascinating, and her experiences on the London stage. I really liked this book.

Currently Reading:

I Don't Want to be Crazy by Samantha Schultz
A memoir written in verse by a young adult about her experience with Anxiety Disorder as a teen.

When you are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
Just all around fun.

The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler
Only a few pages in, but already like it alot.

The Summer Reading Program is almost over, and summer is starting to wind-down a bit which is great if you ask me. It means things will quiet down at work, football season is around the corner, and I just scheduled a vacation! Going to visit my boyfriend's sister and kids, which will be a blast, and we're hoping to get to the beach at some point since they live in South Carolina, my favorite state.

Things in the library world have been good- I still really like my job and particularly the people I work with. I'm so lucky and I think that all the time, though sometimes I have to remind myself when I'm looking at the OSU football home games and see how many of those saturdays I'll be working.

It's just frustrating right now because all of my loans (from grad school) are just running my life. I am constantly stressed about money, the cost of gasoline, and wondering how other people do it- when they have to make even less money than me. Sometimes I feel like I'm just running around in a hamster wheel of bills, and I wonder if I'm ever going to own anything besides my car (which will officially be mine in 9 months).

Oh, and this is a nice reminder of where I was just a year ago today.

I think that exercising will make all these things better-- well I KNOW it will. I just have to find the motivation to get started again. I used to have a team of people I played volleyball with and they all gave it up for softball (losers). I miss my volleyball nights during the week and my tennis in the mornings....that kind of thing. Though even sports costs a little bit of money. Okay now this is just getting depressing.

In other news I'm very excited because my parents bought an old speedboat and I want to go home soon and "go boating" with my sibs. I'm also turning 30 on August 3rd and I'm excited to celebrate that with the boyfriend and my parents.

Today there's a festival in Grandview called the Lazy Daze of Summer and I love festivals-- particularly ones within walking distance of my house. So that's my plan for this afternoon. :o) Again, I'll TRY to post more often...we'll see how that goes!

Lapse in posting....Negative Nancy

Well I feel like a failure in many ways today. Let me begin by saying that I've MEANT to post more often. I doubt anyone is really even reading this, but I really truly meant to post more often. And I meant this to involve more than just my pithy and inconsistent reviews of teen books. So in that regard, I feel like a failure. Let's talk about other things that made me feel like a failure today:

Well there was a scheduling mixup regarding a school visit I am slated to do NEXT friday, while the school thought I was supposed to show up today. So even though that's not really my fault, I feel awful that a group of elementary students and teachers were likely waiting on me to show up when I had them scheduled at a different time-- next week. Sigh. Feel like a disappointment.

Tonight was supposed to be my first teen program, which is a Yoga program. I thought it would be cool to have something for teens to "unwind, relax, meditate" etc., since finals are right around the corner. I got a yoga instructor to agree to come and do some very basic introductory poses and teach a bit, then was planning on making healthy smoothies (brain food) and also creating desktop zen gardens. I had everything in place until....I check the program registration sheet and no one's registered. Which I guess doesn't matter because my yoga instructor had to cancel due to a death in her family (obviously a valid excuse). But I'm bummed. Discouraged. I feel stupid. I was looking forward to it. I'm still gonna stick it out...have some board games, snacks and whatnot. Maybe I'll even create my OWN desktop zen garden. I'm here until 9pm tonight regardless.

So ho-hum I had a nice long weekend vacation last week and managed to finish a book, and start a few others.

Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
A supposed non-fiction account of a girl's experience as she becomes seduced into the world of hallucinogenic drugs in the 1970s...this book was amazing. Certain names/places were changed or just not included in the book. The main character begins the journal like any other 15 year old girl, concerned about friends and boys and family. Very soon after the beginning of the book, she reveals that at a party they play "Button button who's got the button" with LSD. Basically there are 14 people at the party, and 10 hits of acide. They have 14 Coca Colas, but only 10 of them are laced with LSD. Though the main character doesn't realize it at the time, her soda is one of the drug-laced drinks, and she quickly begins her trip. The trip doesn't last just through the party, as she spirals into a world of what begins as infrequent drug use and ends up leading to a complicated and devastating way of life. This was an excellent book, and many believe it's a "classic" of teen lit.

I'm also reading Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer, which is really really good so far. And also have started Airhead by Meg Cabot and The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho.

I believe I'm finished with the initial trauma that is program planning for Fall. I've planned many things- for both teens and adults, and hopefully at least one person will show up at least to one of each of the programs.

Now I suppose I culd get started on different details- the "devil is in the details," right? But the detail of what will end up working never really fall into place until the week before or the week OF the program. So that tends to make things interesting.

Part of me wishes I could do my own "marketing" for these program. I wish I could design my own fliers and distribute them as I wish among popular teen hangouts and throughout the library, where I know they clamor around computers and giggle at YouTube videos. But alas, that is the responsibility of another department. And after all, part of being successful at anything is learning to pass-the-torch when your part of the work is through. God that sounded hokey. How did this blog end up so hokey?

I've started reading Cures for Heartbreak-by Margo Rabb. I didn't mean to be halfway through it by now- just reading bits and pieces on breaks and lunches in my car, but I'm already halfway done. It's the type of book that makes you want to call the people you love and tell them they're never allowed to die. If you've never encountered a book like that, well this is it. Sounds like some self-punishment, sure- but I tend to veer towards depressing topics and realistic fiction (as I've mentioned earlier) so I can't really help my tendency to dive into incredibly sad books.

So I also started the book Doing It by Melvin Burgess- another one I picked up purely because of the cover and the title alone. So far I'm not that impressed, but the beginning might be choppy, I don't know. I'll give it a few more dozen pages before it ends up on my halfway-read-then-stopped shelf on GoodReads. Yea. Bad habit.

So someone on a YA message board recently posted that she was being pressed to do more book-related programs with Teens at her library. And I started thinking about the programs I'm planning, and wondered if I wouldn't eventually be "persuaded" to do the same. I'm thinking perhaps I'll just have related books on whatever topic I'm doing (yoga, henna, DIY stuff, etc.) available at the programs, so at least the books will be there to peruse. Yea. That's a good idea.

I'm super excited that my friend from UIUC is coming to visit tomorrow. We'll probably end up in a pub talking about Community Informatics and Google until my boyfriend tells me he's fed up and would like to go home to play Diablo II while I continue to drone on with my friend talking about the field of LIS and the unfortunate sub-field of Law Librarianship in between adult beverages. I will never understand the appeal of Law Librarianship. Ick. (Figures I wouldn't like it- seeing as those people get paid more than public librarians. I tend to only enjoy things that pay about as much as a Waffle House manager makes.)

At any rate, yesterday I had more than 6 Reference Questions. WOOO HOOO! Finally! People I could do things for- people I could teach how to use our electronic resources-- I gave out at least 3 sets of instructions on how to access our databases from home.

I am a nerd. Noted.

on finishing crap/just so-so books

I just finished the Westminster Abby book, and promptly started in on Lock and Key- the new Sarah Dessen novel.

Westminster Abbey by Micol Ostow
Well, I picked this one up for obvious reasons-- my complete obsession with any and all things British. The story sounded "cute" but I pretty much knew ahead of time that the book would lack any real good storytelling or writing, which it did. I WAS pleased with the incredibly detailed account of Abby in London, which was like revisiting all of the touristy spots all over again. But the shallow plot: girl gets in trouble with parents for going behind their backs to "see" her boyfriend, she finds out he's been cheating on her, breaks up with him. Parents then suggest she study abroad in London for 10 weeks to get her thinking less about boys and more about....I don't know, schoolwork?! Falls for a Brit named Ian, ex-boyfriend James comes to visit, blah blah blah... Yawn. But the description of St. Paul's cathedral was pretty good... I would recommend this series only to people who enjoy guidebooks and have obsessive tendencies with particular countries other than this one....


Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
It's just been Ruby and her mother, living together in a tiny apartment, since her sister Cora moved away to college. Ruby and her mother share not only the apartment, but also the same name and the same red hair. But Ruby Sr. leaves much-to-be-desired as a mom: she comes home late, if at all- craps out on her delivery job (so her daughter ends up picking up the slack), drinks, smokes, and pretty much blocks herself off from the outside world most of the time. When she disappears one day, Ruby keeps living in the craphole apartment, drying her clothes on a clothesline in the kitchen, drinking occasional beers and just takes care of herself. She doesn't tell anyone that her mom has left, and doesn't really see a reason to bother. When someone finally reports to social services that Ruby's a minor and has been living on her own, her long-lost sister Cora shows up to take her in. Only a few months away from turning 18, and with so much time having passed since they last lived together, Ruby and Cora do not see eye-to-eye from the beginning. Though they grew up together, Cora's new life with her husband, great house, "new money" are all vastly different from what Ruby's used to. Upon moving in with her sister, Ruby now has to deal with a new (and much preppier) school, new friends, new routines- and obviously a new relationship with her new family. As she grapples with these issues and comes to terms with her new living arrangement, Ruby reluctantly connects with the new people in her life, and finds out that she's not the only person that has been hiding some deep dark secrets.

This was a good book, but I was a little disappointed. It wasn't as riveting as I expected it would be, though the characters were believable and the storyline was good. Perhaps it just wasn't the story I was in the mood for. Sometimes that happens. I don't "mesh" with certain books at certain times. Mostly I was just happy to be finished with it, since it was so LONG. (haha. It was a teen book, it was only long by teen standards I suppsoe)

And at the Library....
I started program planning for fall. I've got some fun things on the horizon, one that MIGHT be a peanut butter program. I know people are allergic to peanuts, but if the program says Peanut Butter Lovers Only, I mean-- they should get the point right? Also planning some Teen Tech night stuff and a Writers' Workshop for teens. Hopefully I can plan all of this stuff and also get some things on the books for our Adult patrons as well. I have a feeling I may over-book myself. Hahaha. Witty librarian joke.

I am off this weekend, and one of my classmates from UIUC's Leep program is coming to visit (from Chicago) and I'm incredibly excited. I'm going to take her to at least 3 libraries before we go to a pub and dish about all the exciting things that happen to her in her super-cool-life as a law-librarian in Chicago, and I'll tell her all the crazy stories I have about working in Central Ohio. I wonder who will win THAT competition....