Week 16 Prompt

First, how have reading and books changed since you were a child, for you specifically? Second, talk a little about what you see in the future for reading, books, or publishing - say 20 years from now. Will we read more or less, will our reading become more interactive? What will happen to traditional publishing? This is  a very free-form question, feel free to wildly extrapolate or calmly state facts, as suits your mood!

Reading and books have changed quite dramatically since I was a child. As a child, I only found out about new books from Reading Rainbow or from my library. There was no internet, no Oprah's bookclub, etc. There wasn't a social media campaign whenever a new book was released and no notable news or media coverage that I was aware of. I couldn't wait for a new episode of Reading Rainbow that we'd watch in school, or getting that awesome book fair newsprint flyer advertising new books that would be in the school library. Now, we have so many different avenues to become aware of new books, or simply books that are good reads. From GoodReads to Oprah to a slew of different review websites, to book trailers on YouTube, the options are endless. I feel like book clubs are also more popular than when I was younger. To be honest, I don't think I heard about a book club being a thing until I was in my early 20s.

Another huge difference between reading now and reading as a child is the advent of technology -- specifically, eBooks. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined reading the newest book on a hands-free tablet or cell phone. It's bananas to even think about it now to be honest. That is some Star Trek level stuff. Audiobooks are another new technology, but they aren't nearly as impressive to me as the whole eBook revolution. They can be interactive (as is the case with a lot of children's books) and they offer useful tools like a dictionary, Wikipedia lookup feature, etc. They can be really handy and may attract new readers the way paper books don't.

I, personally, will always want to read tangible paper books, but I can see publishing companies making a big push for more eBook readers. Not printing materials will lower their costs and raise their profits, so I can see the publishers continuing to push for this new technology to overtake print books in the next 20 years. In the same way that I could never imagine reading from a tablet, I can't really imagine how much reading will change in the near future now that books are available on tablets and devices. If we change the act of reading too much, doesn't it cease to be reading a book? For example, if we added VR environments to the eBook concept, would it still be reading? Or more like playing a video game? At what point does it stop being reading as we know it and become something else?

To be honest, I'm not sure that I care as much about the act of reading in the future as I do about the next big thing. I can't wait for the next Harry Potter level phenomena to sweep the industry and get people excited about reading again. I think that Harry Potter really changed things for the industry as a whole. I think people who were bookish and read a lot were considered nerds, so having such a huge hit that created movies and theme parks made it acceptable to be a reader. I suppose adults have never really worried about reading being cool or not, but when you can influence the next generation of readers to be passionate about it, that's where the changes and innovation can take hold.

No matter what happens, I'm looking forward to seeing how the story unfolds.

Week 15 Prompt

What do you think are the best ways to market your library's fiction collection? Name and describe three ways you do or would like to market your library or your future library's fiction. These can be tools, programs, services, displays - anything that you see as getting the word out.

The best way to market a library's fiction collection really depends on the library and the community served. If the library is located in an area with mostly elderly patrons, then Facebook marketing may not be effective, but a display of large print books would work much better. Here is how I would market the fiction collection in my library:

Displays: For the library that I work in, I find that displays are the most effective.

Here are the two permanent new book displays that are the most prominent in my YA collection:

They're in a location that is really hard to miss, so that helps generate interest. I also plan on creating special displays for certain topics in the future.

Booklists: We get a lot of requests for books that are romance novels, or books that have been made into movies and the like. We have binders with booklists in several different locations of the library: one in the children's section for children's books, one in the YA collection for teens, one in adult fiction and one at the circulation desk (mainly for the adult fiction). My plan for the future is to create bookmarks with bestsellers and award winning books. I'd also like to do lists and bookmarks for certain topics like Banned Books week, the best Summer reads, etc.

Facebook/Social Media: An additional step that we take at our library is to take photos of our new book displays and post them on Facebook so that patrons can see that we've received a new shipment. We always make sure to say "New Arrivals" rather than "New Releases" because sometimes we do get older books to help develop our collection. Unfortunately, we have a dedicated social media person, so I'm not allowed to make social media posts which is upsetting. As the teen librarian, I want to cultivate an Instagram and Twitter account to post new books, quotes from books, a book to spotlight each week, etc. If I had my choice, that's what I would do to promote my collection.

African American Literature Annotation

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Synopsis

The Underground Railroad is, at its heart, a novel that shares with the reader the horrors of slavery -- but it never loses its hope. The story follows Cora, a slave on a Georgia plantation. Cora's grandmother and mother were on the same plantation but Cora is all alone. Her grandmother passed away and her mother ran away from the plantation. Most slaves that ran away were captured, but Cora's mother Mabel was the one slave that managed to escape and never get captured by slave catchers. Another young slave, Caesar, has a plan to escape the Georgia plantation and wants to take Cora with him because he knows she can do it. Another slave, Lovey, surprises them in a swamp and wants to join them, but she's captured during their first conflict on the run. The story continues to follow Cora and Caesar as they make it to South Carolina via a literal underground railroad, complete with tracks and actual trains. They think South Carolina is paradise, but suddenly find themselves in the middle of a medical experiment about syphilis and sterilization project. Cora is able to escape, but loses track of Caesar. Cora continues on to North Carolina and is forced to live in an attic. She's eventually discovered by a abhorrent slave catcher, Ridgeway. He intends to take Cora back to Georgia to be punished for her escape. On the way back, their party is attacked by slaves and Cora escapes her captor again. Eventually she makes it to Indiana and begins a relationship with a man named Royal, but Ridgeway is still on their trail. There's another recapture, another escape, and an eventual end to the story, but I won't spoil the ending for you.

Appeal Characteristics

• Richly Detailed - Colson Whitehead definitely creates a very richly detailed reading experience. Sometimes, I felt like it was driving me crazy, but that's really only because I was desperate to know what was coming next. I didn't necessarily care about all the details when things got dramatic and tense. 
• Tone: Dramatic, Disturbing, Thought-Provoking - This is not the book to recommend for someone who wants to escape reality. This is a very brutal read at times, from the story of Cora's rape, to burning a slave alive while white people watch with fine food and drinks, to Cora actually being a museum exhibit. It's appalling. The terrible reality is that you can't say that it's just a book, that it's just fiction. True, Cora isn't real, but slavery very much was and these atrocities actually did happen to people. 
• Storyline: Unconventional - The underground railroad wasn't an actual train like it is in the book, but that's not the only unconventional part of the story. The storyline moves around in interesting ways. It's linear, but interrupted at times. For example, Whitehead will leave you on a cliffhanger about Cora and then introduce a chapter about the slave catcher. There are plenty of diversions from the path. Again, this kind of makes you crazy when you're dying to find out what happens to dear Cora, but Whitehead knows how that just builds the suspense and makes you want to read on. Well played!
• Strong Female Character - Cora is the consummate survivor in this novel. Sometimes I wonder how she survives and makes it through her life but she does. It's really quite remarkable and inspiring. 

Read alikes 

  

•        Underground Airlines by Ben H. Winters - Also an unconventional story of slavery in that the Civil War never happened and slavery is still legal in 4 states. 
•        The Good Lord Bird by James McBride - The story of a slave boy who was mistaken for a girl and decides to live as a female slave since it's safer for him that way. 
•        Property by Valerie Martin - This is from the point of view of a woman who marries a slave owner, so a different perspective.  

All three read alikes have the same disturbing and dramatic tone and unconventional storyline. 

Week 14 Prompt

Prompt: Consider yourself part of the collection management committee of your local library, or a library at which you would like to work. You must decide whether or not to separate GBLTQ fiction and African American Fiction from the general collection to its own special place. Some patrons have requested this, yet many staff are uncomfortable with the idea - saying it promotes segregation and disrupts serendipitous discovery of an author who might be different from the reader. Do you separate them? Do you separate one and not the other? Why or why not? You must provide at least 3 reasons for or against your decision. Feel free to use outside sources - this is a weighty question that is answered differently in a lot of different libraries.

I would definitely fall into the category of uncomfortable staff member in this instance. I would not want to separate the LGBTQ or the African American fiction from the general collection for the following reasons:

1. Segregation and privacy - I'm kind of going through something similar with my YA collection, but with regard to high interest/low reading level books. I would really love to put the in their own section under the label "Quick Reads", but my manager is unsure of this for privacy reasons. She's afraid teens may be embarassed to browse materials in their own section. I think the same concerns apply to separating out the LGBTQ materials (not so much with African American literature). There may be an individual in your community that is questioning, or not out of the closet, and having a separate section puts that person at risk of exposure. As for African American literature, haven't we segregated enough in our history? Representation is important and it's more important to me to have a diverse collection on the shelves like it's no big deal. Again, ease of locating materials is logical, but I don't want to stand in the way of someone discovering a fantastic piece of African American literature because it's in a different section of the library.

2. Normalcy vs. the abnormal - Simply put, singling out one diverse genre from the general collection can be construed as the topic being abnormal. Having an LGBT book next to a general fiction book next to an African American book normalizes the subject matter. I read an article recently for a different class that mentions making sure your community can see itself reflected in your collection. I think having all the subjects mingling together in one general collection is the best way to ensure that your community is represented.

3.Quantity of content/Multiple genres - What happens if there's a book written by an African American author, but has no links to stereotypical African American topics? What happens if there's an LGBTQ story about a person of color? What happens when a minor character (but still significant part of the story is a person of color or member of the LGBTQ community? Where do you put these books? Where do you draw the line? Stories can fall into many different categories and it makes the most sense to keep them all in one larger, general collection.

I would, in no way, be ashamed of having a special section for LGBTQ or African American literature. Highlighting diverse books is a great idea. While the ease of finding materials in one section makes logical sense, I think that I would rather showcase exceptional stories through displays for Pride Month or Black History Month, than single them out entirely. Their permanent holdings should be in the general collection co-mingling with all of the other books.

Week 13 Prompt -- Tardy to the Party

So sorry that I'm late on this, but I did some traveling and couldn't get around to it until now. Thanks Mercury Retrograde. :)

As a young adult librarian, the very thought of people not thinking that YA or New Adult literature as legitimate literary choices hurts my heart. I can tell you that from my (limited) experience, that adults do check out materials from my section and often. Sometimes it's not about the subject matter, sometimes it's genuinely about the reading/comprehension level. I work in a rural community and sometimes the adults that come in aren't interested in adult fiction because it's just too difficult for them to get through. I read to escape and if there's some sort of barrier to that, then I won't do it. I think Young Adult literature can help reluctant readers and readers who struggle with reading and comprehension at an adult level stay engaged in the act of reading. Isn't that what we're all in this for? If people are reading then as a librarian, I'm a happy camper.

One issue that may possibly come up (and sadly in this world, you have to plan for this kind of stuff) is having adults in your teen section. The way our library handles this is that my teen section is the front area of the upstairs stacks closest to the stairs, public areas, info desk and my teen room. It's easy for eyes to watch those stacks, moreso than the adult non-fiction towards the rear of the 2nd floor. I also have two large display areas close to the stairs, so as adults get to the second floor, there are enticing areas for them to check out YA materials without having to get further into the stacks. I also keep a permanent new graphic novels display out since patrons of all ages love to read them. A lot of patrons just read them in the library and then put them back on the display.

It is my personal belief that whatever gets a person reading is a good choice. If it's a YA novel or a graphic novel, those choices are just as valid. It doesn't make sense to me to discourage a patron from reading anything, even a magazine. Reading is acquiring knowledge, learning about new views and opinions, and having experiences you may not otherwise have. I'm not going to rule out an entire genre or format just because some people may think it's inappropriate. If it's inappropriate to read a ton of YA and graphic novels -- then I don't want to be appropriate. That's also, funnily enough, the reason why I was hired for my job as a teen librarian. I'm proof that it can and will work out for you if you prefer comics/graphic novels. Ha!

Non-Fiction Annotation/Week 12 Prompt

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

Synopsis

Neil Gaiman, most commonly known for his fiction work, takes on Norse Mythology in this new work of non-fiction. The book starts where any good story starts -- the beginning. In the case of Norse mythology it is before the beginning -- the birth of our world. Two areas exist: one of poisonous rivers and icy mist and one of fire with a void (a "yawning gap") in between. In this gap, the giants were born, including the most significant player in Norse mythology -- Odin, the all-father. Gaiman tells of Odin's sacrifice upon the Yggdrasil (The World Tree) for knowledge of runes and magic, to his creation of man (along with his two brothers), to his sacrificing one eye for wisdom. Other stories involve the mighty Thor (including how he obtains his trusty hammer, Mjollnir), Thor's wife Sif (and how Loki makes her bald), and of course, the trickster Loki. There is also a tale about how the gods get their best known treasures (Thor's hammer, etc.). Just as stories begin with the beginning, they end with the end. This book is no different as it ends with Ragnarok, the end of the world and the death of the Gods. Neil Gaiman writes in a novelistic style, and includes a nice introduction of the main characters as well as a helpful glossary in the back of the book.

** I have been using the weekly Powerpoint lecture notes to formulate my annotations. Being that there is no Powerpoint for this week, I am going to combine my normal annotation format and the one described in the prompt for Week 12. If this is a problem, please let me know and I'll do another annotation for another non-fiction book in addition to this one. :) **

Author: Neil Gaiman
Title: Norse Mythology
Publication Date: Feb. 2017
Number of Pages: 299
Geographic Setting: Technically, the setting of the book is the realm of the gods and Midgard, the realm of mankind. These are the myths of the Norse people, so the areas of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands.
Time Period:  No specific date is given, but according to Wikipedia (I know, I know) the myths arose as part of pre-Christian Norse Paganism.
Subject Headings: Mythology, Norse.
Myths.
Type: n/a
Series Notes: Not part of a series.

Book Summary: Neil Gaiman, most commonly known for his fiction work, takes on Norse Mythology in this new work of non-fiction. The book starts where any good story starts -- the beginning. In the case of Norse mythology it is before the beginning -- the birth of our world. Two areas exist: one of poisonous rivers and icy mist and one of fire with a void (a "yawning gap") in between. In this gap, the giants were born, including the most significant player in Norse mythology -- Odin, the all-father. Gaiman tells of Odin's sacrifice upon the Yggdrasil (The World Tree) for knowledge of runes and magic, to his creation of man (along with his two brothers), to his sacrificing one eye for wisdom. Other stories involve the mighty Thor (including how he obtains his trusty hammer, Mjollnir), Thor's wife Sif (and how Loki makes her bald), and of course, the trickster Loki. There is also a tale about how the gods get their best known treasures (Thor's hammer, etc.). Just as stories begin with the beginning, they end with the end. This book is no different as it ends with Ragnarok, the end of the world and the death of the Gods. Neil Gaiman writes in a novelistic style, and includes a nice introduction of the main characters as well as a helpful glossary in the back of the book.

Reading Elements: This book is fast-paced and definitely reads more like a novel rather than a typical non-fiction book. You will fill like you really are consorting with the gods, or at the very least, you'll feel like you're sitting around a fire listening to a gifted story teller telling you of the gods of old. The setting is not Scandinavia, but rather the realms of the gods and Midgard, the realm of man. The characters are as well-developed as they can be, given that many of the Norse legends were lost to time. The tone is light and the way the book is written, you can tell it was intended to be read aloud. Since these stories are brief and written in such a storyteller's fashion, they aren't particularly detail oriented. This, however, does not break the spell. It is just worth noting that this is not a book for a Norse mythology scholar, but rather someone who is in it for a great story. This book is a fantastic choice for someone who is interested in the subject matter (a comic book Thor fan) who may be a little nervous about reading a non-fiction book on the material. 

1-3 Annotation: Neil Gaiman, most commonly known for his fiction work, takes on Norse Mythology in this new work of non-fiction. Stories include tales of Odin, Thor and Loki, as well as of the creation of the world, and its destruction, Ragnarok. Neil Gaiman writes in a novelistic style, and includes a nice introduction of the main characters as well as a helpful glossary in the back of the book.

Similar works:

Norse mythology : a guide to the Gods, heroes, rituals, and beliefs by John Lindow - This appears to be more fact than storyline, which may appeal to those looking for something more historical and factual.

Norse mythology : great stories from the Eddas - More great stories featuring your favorite characters from Norse mythology.

Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes - This branches out into the mythology of other regions.

Bonus recommendation: Neil Gaiman - American Gods - This book is entirely fiction, but written by the same author, so readers may appreciate the same writing style and tone. This is also about gods, old and new, which is similar to the subject matter.

Week 11 Prompt Response

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?  

Ebooks and audiobooks have definitely changed the landscape of readers' advisory librarianship. I don't think that the change of medium really changes many appeal factors, with the exception of the aesthetic ones like feel, weight, smell, etc. The biggest problem that I have with eBooks in relation to readers' advisory is that there is so much that comes out that isn't reviewed, or isn't marketed widely, so I don't know of its existence. I ran into that issue with my romance annotation for Covalent Bonds. Had I not won a copy of that eBook, I wouldn't have even known it existed. It's not really the fault of the publisher. They're small and are doing all they can, like giving out ARCs. As difficult as it is to know all about your collection and everything in it, it's even harder to know about eBook only releases and where they fit in. Access is another big issue. Sometimes eBooks aren't available for titles that patrons request or we only have 1 license for them and there's a huge waiting list. But seeing how waiting lists for actual books take much longer than eBooks, it's not quite as bad. 

To be honest, I never thought about being able to change the font and spacing being a huge issue, but it makes sense. I don't think the font or color will make that big of a difference -- BUT... when you alter the text so that the page breaks happen in different places, you'll lose the pacing and elements of surprise for sure. There are times when I'm reading and the author is building to a climax or reveal, and I have to turn the page. I always go, "okay...one more page," and I can see that draw and excitement getting lost if you're turning pages all willy-nilly. 

Audiobooks aren't hugely popular at my library, but I've listened to a few really good ones in my day. A fan made Lord of the Rings audiobook is out there and it's totally incredible. While not available for libraries, I cite example because audiobook creators need to take note. This fan did all of the narration and used different voices and accents for different characters. He added sound effects (such as swords clanging, horses galloping, etc.) and used music from the films. It's beautifully done and I think if all audiobooks were created with this much care, they'd be much more popular with everyone. Of course, they'd also probably cost twice as much. A good narrator will make or break an audiobook for sure. David Tennant does a fantastic job reading How to Train Your Dragon and the audiobook for Jackaby by William Ritter is really great too. (So sorry these are YA recommendations, but I just got hired as a YA librarian so it's kind of swirling around in my brain right now). 

I will always prefer real books to digital ones, but I read eBooks on occasion for ARCs, or just because I need something super fast and can't wait at the library/for it to ship from Amazon, etc. Audiobooks, however, are showing up in my life a lot more. There's something so satisfying about listening to books in the car while I'm driving or when I'm exercising. I can see the appeal of this format moreso than eBooks. It feels like I'm integrating reading into my life rather than just staring at another screen.