Guest post by Karen Glass, Keene Valley Library Association

This week, 215 years after Mary Anning’s birth, it’s a good time to ponder Remarkable Creatures by Tracey Chevalier.   It has been several years since I read this historical fiction book about Mary Anning, yet the young woman bending over the sands and rocks on the beach, framed by cliffs of lime against a gray and stormy sky, is as clear as a painting on my wall.

 

I enjoyed Chevalier’s book; it did not have a page turning plot, or great imaginative leaps of insight, but is a rewarding book to “read” nonetheless. The story is about Mary Anning, a self-taught fossil hunter of Victorian England. Chevalier took the few facts known about Mary Anning, mixed them with names of people and the life and issues of the time added her own fiction and the result is a picture of Victorian England and the birth of the conflict between evolution and creationism.

 

Mary Anning hunted fossils to supplement the family income She found she had a knack for it.  She could see fossils hidden among the rocks.  She found the first ichthyosaur and pletheosaur skeletons. 

 

But as a woman, uneducated and poor, her discoveries were not credited to her.  She understood anatomy and knew the ichthyosaur and pletheosaur were not mutations but different species that were extinct.  This set up the great controversy of creationism.   Fundamentalists of the time, insisted God could not make mistakes and no creature would become extinct, yet science insisted these creatures were the ancestors of the fish now swimming in the ocean.  And so it began.

 

In 2010, 163 years after her death,  Mary Anning was listed as one of the 10 most influential women of science in England by the Royal Society.  Find out more about this remarkable woman; read Remarkable Creatures by Chevalier.

Blog about blogging

I recently listened to a presentation titled Blogging and Public Libraries, presented by Lauren Stokes of Las Vegas. I always puzzle over what to cover in this blog, so this was a good opportunity to contemplate that.

Stokes started her library blog as a way of publicizing the databases her library subscribes to, a way to get information about what the library has to offer out to the community. A blog can be effective at reaching people who don’t come to the library, but you have to maintain a blog with consistent posts. One of Stokes’ main objectives was to have the databases and library news available through a Google search, which I thought was clever and great. She said that if you blog consistently, with good tags and names in each post, there’s a better chance you’ll be Googled. Her advice: write short posts, get right to the point. She started blogging every day and used news stories, social media, and a general awareness as her sources for ideas.

Good advice worth following, and good information. Time to schedule regular blogging times.

Good (and cheap) conference coming in May

On Friday, May 2nd the Northern New York Library Network (NNYLN) will be hosting its 5th annual Archives & Special Collections conference.  For $10 you can have a delicious lunch at the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino (Hogansburg, NY) and increase your knowledge and ability to care for those “special” items we all have in our libraries.  The conference begins with registration at 9:30 and features presentations by 2 prominent members of the field.

The first program, “Fuzzy furry creepy crawlies,” will be presented by independent consultant Donia Conn.  We don’t like thinking about creepy crawly things, but insects and mold are dangers we all have to deal with in our collections.  This presentation will address how to identify a range of pests and mold, and how to prevent and respond to infestations on a small budget.  Sounds perfect!

The second and final program, “Historians & Archivists & Today’s Education” will be presented by Matthew Urtz.  Urtz is currently the Madison County Historian and serves in a number of conservation organizations in the state.  He will address the connection the Common Core educational standards and the demand for primary source documents to utilize in lesson plans and classrooms.  This will be especially helpful to us as we assist educators in bringing local flavor back into their lesson plans.

Here at CEFLS we’re looking forward to this conference.  For registration and more information, head to http://nnyln.org or contact NNYLN at its Canton office at 877-833-1674 (toll-free).  Don’t miss this great opportunity!

 

Let’s toot some horns

I came across a great quote in a journal the other day—

“Public libraries are local, neutral, and respected for providing information that represents different viewpoints.”

(sadly, I didn’t note to whom I can attribute this gem, so my apologies to the author)

Wow I like that sentiment.  In the same vein, let’s think about a public library’s place in its community, and how we can do more to market our libraries.

There are some good tips to be had from a recent webinar “The iron is hot: libraries as innovative and creative community catalysts.”  One of the key points made in the webinar emphasized the idea that you need to reach OUT to get people to come IN to the library.  Let people know you are trusted community agency and that you are staffed by people with talents and knowledge who are eager to share these with members of the public.

Our libraries tend to rely on “repeat customers,” our library regulars, who can be depended on to support the library and who “love their library.”  This is great but we really need to expand our appeal and support beyond these loyal users.  We need to make the library become a destination and stand out in our communities.  Educate ourselves in WHY what we do as libraries.  As Jerry Nichols has said, “People don’t care what you do, they care why you do it.”  What value does a library bring to its community?

So how can we get the word out that we’re important, that we have a lot to offer?  COMMUNICATE with people, and meet them where they are—try new things, have a people-centered approach.  Although we’re non-profit organizations with very limited resources, we need to take our examples from for-profit businesses in terms of publicizing our value.  We’re a bargain, that’s for sure, and we need to encourage new visitors to come back and to support us.  Have dialogs with local leaders and local businesses, think outside of the library.  We’re not just collections any more, we’re about connecting—with the outside world, with non-users in our communities, with supporters, with businesses, with local officials—there’s a large and wide audience for our voices.

Titles to keep track of

Here are some book titles that patrons will be (or are already) clamoring for.  These are books with movie tie-ins.  All of them are available within the Library System, a few in e-book format.  Let’s try to stay one step ahead of our patrons–

Labor day, by Joyce Maynard (published in 2009)

Monuments men, by Robert Edsel (published in 2009)–already released as a major motion picture, starring George Clooney and getting a lot of publicity

Vampire academy, by Richelle Mead (published in 2007

Winter’s tale, by Mark Helprin (published in 1983)–an oldie but goodie

Long way down, by Nick Hornby (published in 2005)

Divergent, by Veronica Roth (published in 2011)

The fault in our stars, by John Green (published in 2012)

The hundred-foot journey, by Richard C. Morais (published in 2010)

The giver, by Lois Lowry (published in 1993)–another oldie but goodie, a standard

Dark places, by Gillian Flynn (published in 2009)

Gone girl, by Gillian Flynn (published in 2012)

This is where I leave you, by Jonathan Tropper (published in 2009)–a very funny story, sure to be a good film

The maze runner, by James Dashner (published in 2009)

Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand (published in 2010)–quite a story, sure to be much talked-about

Wild, by Cheryl Strayed (published in 2012)–another good story that will be a big film

Serena, by Ron Rash (published in 2008)

 

It’s great to see some of these lesser-known works getting good attention.

“Anything and everything about food” fiction

Here’s an interesting list.  You may wonder about the inclusion of some of these titles (like, why Moby Dick?  Well, an entire chapter about chowder…) but it’s a great “must read” for people who like to read fiction about food.

50 Essential Novels for Foodies

By Emily Temple on Nov 25, 2013 10:45am

The Epicure’s Lament, Kate Christensen

The Dinner, Herman Koch

Pow!, Mo Yan.

The Book of Salt, Monique Truong

The Debt to Pleasure, John Lanchester

Ulysses, James Joyce

Cinnamon and Gunpowder, Eli Brown

John Saturnall’s Feast, Lawrence Norfolk

Redwall, Brian Jacques

The Belly of Paris, Emile Zola

Chocolat, Joanne Harris

The Flounder, Günter Grass

Gargantua and Pantagruel, François Rabelais

My Year of Meats, Ruth Ozeki

The Devil’s Larder, Jim Crace

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café, Fannie Flagg

Farmer Boy, Laura Ingalls Wilder

Heartburn, Nora Ephron

Cooking With Fernet Branca, James Hamilton-Paterson

The Edible Woman, Margaret Atwood

Kitchen, Banana Yoshimoto

Edible Stories, Mark Kurlansky

The Hundred-Foot Journey, Richard C. Morais

Moby-Dick, Herman Melville

Like Water for Chocolate, Laura Esquivel

The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen

The Food of Love, Anthony Capella

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl

White Truffles in Winter, N.M. Kelby

Babette’s Feast, Isak Dinesen

Remembrance of Things Past, Marcel Proust

Saturday, Ian McEwan

Gourmet Rhapsody, Muriel Barbery

The Last Chinese Chef, Nicole Mones

La Cucina, Lily Prior

The Food Chain, Geoff Nicholson

Bone in the Throat, Anthony Bourdain

The Cookbook Collector, Allegra Goodman

The Lives of Notorious Cooks, Brendan Connell

The School of Essential Ingredients, Erica Bauermeister

Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

Goodbye, Columbus, Philip Roth

The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien

A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

Pomegranate Soup, Marsha Mehran

Appetite, Philip Kazan

The Chef’s Apprentice, Elle Newmark

Crescent, Diana Abu-Jaber

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowling

Hunger, Jane Ward

Best of the best for 2013

From Publishers Weekly come these two “Best of 2013” listings:

Nielsen BookScan Top 20

1. Hard Luck (Wimpy Kid #8) by Jeff Kinney (AbramsAmulet)

2. Inferno by Dan Brown (Doubleday)

3. Killing Jesus by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard (Henry Holt)

4. Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander (Simon and Schuster)

5. The House of Hades by Rick Riordan (Disney-Hyperion)

6. Divergent by Veronica Roth (HarperCollins/Tegen)

7. Jesus Calling by Sarah Young (Thomas Nelson)

8. Sycamore Row by John Grisham (Doubleday)

9. The Third Wheel (Wimpy Kid #7) by Jeff Kinney (Abrams/Amulet)

10. Happy, Happy, Happy by Phil Robertson (Howard)

11. Allegiant by Veronica Roth (HarperCollins/Tegen)

12. Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg (Knopf)

13. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (Dutton)

14. Things That Matter by Charles Krauthammer (Crown Forum)

15. Doctor Sleep by Stephen King (Scribner)

16. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Scribner)

17. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead)

18. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James (Vintage)

19. Si-Cology 1 by Si Robertson (Howard)

20. Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath (Gallup Press)

Amazon Kindle Top 20

1. Inferno by Dan Brown (Doubleday)

2. Divergent by Veronica Roth (HarperCollins/Tegen)

3. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (Crown)

4. Sycamore Row by John Grisham (Doubleday)

5. The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty (Putnam)

6. Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks (Grand Central)

7. Allegiant by Veronica Roth (HarperCollins/Tegen Books)

8. Insurgent by Veronica Roth (HarperCollins/Tegen Books)

9. The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith (L,B/Mulholland)

10. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (Knopf Books for Young Readers)

11. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead)

12. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Scribner)

13. The Hit by David Baldacci (Grand Central)

14. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (Dutton)

15. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (Tor)

16. Hopeless by Colleen Hoover (Colleen Hoover)

17. Entwined with You by Sylvia Day (Berkley)

18. Never Go Back by Lee Child (Delacorte)

19. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)

20. Alex Cross, Run by James Patterson (Little, Brown)

More than just the best of 2013

Courtesy of the blog Collection Reflection (http://cdstacked.blogspot.com) comes a great list to consider at the end of the year.  Not content with the best of the year, the blog cites a list from Megan Willett.  With the help of Miriam Tuliao, assistant director of central collection development at NYPL, Megan (who is a reporter for Business Insider) offers “25 Books that changed the course of history.”

It’s a rich and fascinating list.  Here it is, sorted not by significance but alphabetically by title:

Aesop’s fables, by Aesop (believed to have originated between 620 and 560 BCE)

The analects of Confucius, by Confucius (believed to have been written sometime between 475 and 221 BCE)

Anne Frank: The diary of a young girl, by Anne Frank (published in 1947)

The art of war, by Sun Tzu (written sometime between 600 and 500 BCE)

Bury my heart at Wounded Knee, by Dee Alexander Brown (published in 1970)

A dictionary of the English language, by Samuel Johnson (published in 1755)

The feminine mystique, by Betty Friedan (published in 1963)

Hiroshima, by John Hersey (published in 1946)

How the other half lives, by Jacob Riis (published in 1890)

I ching : the book of change (origins date back to the 3^rd or 2^nd millennium BCE)

Incidents in the life of a slave girl, by Harriet A. Jacobs (published in 1861)

The jungle, by Upton Sinclair (published in 1906)

The King James Bible (completed in 1611)

Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, by Frederick Douglass (published in 1845)

On liberty, by John Stuart Mill (published in 1859)

Origin of the species, by Charles Darwin (published in 1859)

The Qur’an (believed to have originated sometime in 500 or 600 CE)

The republic, by Plato (first published around 380 BCE)

The rights of man, by Thomas Paine (published in 1791)

The second sex, by Simone DeBeauvoir (published in 1949)

Silent spring, by Rachel Carson (published in 1962)

Tao te ching, by Lao Tzu (written between 600 and 400 BCE)

The Torah : the five books of Moses (origins date back between 600 and 400 BCE)

1984, by George Orwell (published in 1949)

For more information, visit the Collection Reflection blog.  It’s reassuring to me that I recognize these titles, and have read a few (though just a few).  Many are ancient but a surprising number of them are 20^th century works, making me feel we’ve lived in exciting times.

Taking care of those odd things

I was lucky enough to participate in a webinar recently, on “Dealing with non-Traditional Library Materials,” sponsored by NY3Rs.  Wow was it good!  It’s especially relevant as I deal with our member libraries and their “special” collections of things.  Many of our libraries house great treasures in their buildings.  Some are cataloged and included in our bibliographical database, others remain well-kept secrets.  We’re hoping to uncover these treasures in the coming months (years?) and create records for all to see.

What constitutes “non-traditional?”  This discussion included photographs, oversized documents, brittle documents, scrapbooks, albums, recorded media, paintings, furniture, plastics, metal objects, ceramics, stamps and coins.  Whew.  I know many of our libraries have collections of photographs–some in albums and some loose–many of which aren’t housed in ideal conditions or labeled.

What are we supposed to do with photographs?  That’s a hard one.  Because deterioration is such a big issue with these, we need to store them carefully.  Keeping them away from direct light is a big concern, as are extremes in temperature and humidity.  There’s not a lot that can be done to preserve OLD, really OLD photographs, but handling of them should be kept to a minimum.  Taking digital images of our old and treasured photos is a good move.

Our libraries also have oversized documents and papers that won’t fit in any traditional shelving or filing.  What should we do with those?  If you have boxes (acid-free, of course), store them flat in those.  If the items are rolled and not used a lot, it’s best to keep them rolled in acid-free tubes.

If your documents have become brittle with age, or are fragile to begin with, it’s best to make a copy and offer access to the copy, keeping the original in an acid-free environment.

Scrapbooks and albums should be stored flat in boxes.  If they’re heavily used, photocopy the contents, put tissue paper between the pages and store.

Keep magnets away from all sound recordings!  That’s a good rule to follow.  Media should be stored upright, play your audiocassettes at least once a year, and don’t touch the playing surface, no matter what the media is.

I know that some of our libraries have great art.  Paintings shouldn’t be mounted on outside walls or hang near vents or fireplaces in order to keep environmental conditions relatively stable.  If possible, display them with acid-free protective backing board.

Textiles can invite a host of problems, including insects, mildew, etc.  Don’t keep them in tightly sealed cases, plastic bags or frames.  In some cases vacuuming is the best and safest way to keep them clean.

We may not consider it to be a non-traditional item, but furniture storage and use can be an issue.  The advice here is to use it as it was meant to be used–with coasters, writing pads or protective covers on writing surfaces.  Always treat light as your enemy, can clean wood with good quality wood paste.

Plastic items should be stored in the dark, in a cool, dry space that’s well-ventilated.  If you can, wrap them in acid-free tissue paper and store on open shelves or in archival boxes.  It’s important to inspect them regularly, watching for signs of deterioration.

Storage of ceramics is not as complex.  They should be washed and dried by hand and not stacked.  Treat them like hard boiled eggs, was the advice for these items.

Stamps and coins should always be handled with care and cotton gloves, handling them as little as possible.  Keep them in specifically protective archival housing–in the dark and never in the attic or basement.

I’ve offered here a little bit of information on each of quite a few types of materials.  There’s plenty of information available online.  The Northeast Document Conservation Center is our  best, closest source for help.  There is good information on the Library of Congress website at http://www.loc.gov/preservation.  We’re always happy to help our libraries provide access to these special, often rare and delicate items.

Community conversations

We all know that libraries are more than just books and readers–they are community centers and offer and use many different formats and services.  The American Library Association is working with the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation to “develop a sustainable national plan to advance community engagement and innovation and transform the role of libraries in their communities”

I applaud this–our libraries often maintain a low profile in their communities and we need to change this.  One of our libraries hosts a local legislator once a month, giving a chance for community members to have an informal conversation with their government representative.  I think this is great for the library, the community and the government.  It’s been a success and all involved have given positive feedback to the librarian.

Many of our libraries offer programs and story hours, but we need to raise our visibility within our communities.  We need ongoing financial support and we need to draw attention to ourselves as viable community centers.  How can we do this?

Excerpted here is text from “How librarians and libraries can lead community conversations for change: a conversation guide,” available online from ALA:

–Engage people in a different way: Librarians can take a leadership role by engaging people around their aspirations and the small actions they can take to get started

–Find common ground for action: People want to restore confidence that we can come together and get things done.  By convening diverse groups, libraries can help people see what we hold in common, and take the first step to restoring belief in ourselves and one another.

–Forge deeper relationships: Reflecting back the insights from these conversations gives people a sense that they’ve been heard, and is the first step to forging deeper relationships within the broader community

–Strengthen library efforts: Insights about people’s aspirations and where we could get started help the library think more strategically about its programs and efforts.  These conversations surface insights about ways libraries can be even more relevant moving forward.