Much to Say

Its September 16th and I haven't posted a new blog in a few weeks.  Since the UK, life had a month to calm down and now has gone into full swing.  So let me compartmentalize:

LSC courses:
At school this year, I am taking LSC521(public library services) LSC535(Youth and Children Services) -for which the post before is for- and my PFE- an internship.  The first class is pretty calm, my first big assignment is to evaluate a community by some standard economic questions.  Next will be to craft a paper on digital literacy.  I hope for this to become easier in that my work at Cranston(where I am doing my PFE) is giving me hands on experience with how digital literacy courses go.  So far we have taught Word and basics.  Lastly, is 535 and this class has a lot to do.  I have two assignments for the 27th and the previous post is part one of one of them.

Jobs:
Cranston Public Library PFE, one other paid internship, Government Publications cataloger/barcoder, and Newport from November onward.

Social:  ALA has started up again.  Better still, Kim is glad to have me back.  We had a very anime evening last night and we made plans to costume hunt- she's going as Sailor Jupiter and I am going as Velma from the Mystery Team/Scooby Doo.  I already have the shoes!  I've made a few new friends already and I hope for us to get a trivia team up and going.  There are a few local places and one place they like in Mystic that seem promising.  So far the trouble is picking a night for going(my roommate and I have quite opposite schedules and a lot of the same friends).  So we'll see where that goes.

Book/Movie:
I am currently reading a lot for school, but in my spare time I am reading This is a Book by Demetri Martin & Micro by Michael Crichton.  Film wise, I've been on Netflix a lot because nothing in theatres looks fantastic that I haven't already seen.  I'm waiting for Thor2.  And TV-wise, I just finished Orange is the New Black(which was SO good and I still don't know why!)  and(god help me) American Horror Story.  I can only handle an episode a day and when I watch I literally hug my pillow tight!  My friends have talked this one up and its really making me question their judgement ;)

That's really all for now.  I have no renaissance faire stories to share as I won't be attending this year. My friends from years passed aren't the party I want to go with anymore and my current friends are busy in Maine or with school.  I would love to pop up the first weekend of October(before friends and family arrive) but going alone could be odd.  Ah well, I will have to keep busy with other awesome thing and get friends to go with next year.  On the plus side, when bestie and her sister-in-law come up we are going apple picking and I am taking them around to some awesome local eats!

Youth Services Librarian: Philosophy

Christina Dufour

Children and Youth Services, LSC535

Lauren Mandel

Part I

September 27, 2013

• ·       Who does a youth services librarian responsible for?

To discuss what Youth Services are, we must first define who is “youth” is within a library.  Based on previous experience within libraries, a youth can be defined as “children in a community from ages 0 to 12 or 14” (Fasick & Holt, 2013, p. 6).  This group is classified within the same age for public, school, and special libraries.  They encompass pre-schoolers, young school-goers, and, in some cases, young adults.  As a result, a youth services librarian may maintain items such as “boardbooks, picture books, books for beginning readers, chapter books, graphic novels, nonfiction and reference books, foreign-language books, historical children’s books, parenting and teacher books for adults, and…other learning materials” (Fasick & Holt, 2013, p. 13).  In addition to materials, youth services also require programming and social activities.  These are typically events put on by the youth services librarian and other staff and they seek to engage several opportunities children may not normally have.  The events may seek to engage any of several social types- parent and child interaction, child to child interaction, outside of school education, and recreational activity.  As for programming, the library may use a book club, a movie or game night, homework help, author visits, and more.

• ·       What importance does a youth services play in the library and the community?

Youth Services are important to society at large because the youth eventually turn into adults and adults into elderly people.  By making a positive impact on a child, the librarian may be able to influence his or her later decision to return to the library.  The librarian has the opportunity to convince him or her the library is a valuable resource- in his or her adult years this could be very important to the future of the library as it would gather the users that will in turn use and fund the library.  Positive interactions and positive influences, while making an impression on a child’s library visit, are key.  At a young age, he or she may not realize what a great resource the library is, but he or she can remember it as a place of enjoyment.  On a similar note, the librarian may be creating a positive atmosphere or fun event that the child may not have had the chance to do outside of the library.  In some cases, children bring parents or guardians with them who may look around the library and decide to come back in the future.  These parents or guardians could also take up an interest in the library, volunteer or join the Friends of the Library (or a library equivalent).  Youth services have several pros in librarianship and, one could argue, no cons.

• ·       How I see myself as a youth services librarian.

As a librarian, I feel I have much to learn about the younger patrons.  Some aspects, such as which programs work and which ones do not, will be learned on the job.  But I do know that I want to be the librarian who creates a space for children to go where they feel safe, valued, and engaged.  To be there for the youth and to offer a wide variety of services is a start.  I hope to be able to offer programs that engage (socially and mentally) each age group as appropriate without neglecting one.  However, it’s not all about the children, their parents or guardians have to be accounted for: I hope to create a space where they want to learn together and can be creative.  In listening and having chances for adults and children to give feedback, there is a lot of opportunity for positive outcomes.  Lastly, while there is typically one staff member for the children's area, I would like to give staff of my library the chance to be involved.  There are department heads for a reason, but there may something that other staff members observe that -try as I might- I might oversee.  Ultimately, the aim is for a positive experience that makes the youth want to use their library both now and in the future.  

Works Cited:

Fasick, A.M., & Holt, L.E. (2013). Managing children’s services in libraries.  Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.

True Blood S06 Theories

Over the years, I have watched this show.  Season to season.  Being a librarian-student, I some day want to read the books.  However, the issue seems to be the same as Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead- differing plot lines, character deaths, etc.  From what I hear, the book and show differ largely.  So, I'll watch the show.  Whenever HBO decides to release the next season, I pray they get back to more episodess a season.  This whole pretend-we're-GoT-let's-do-ten-episodes thing is annoying!  Anyways, If you haven't caught up to TrueBlood season 6, don't bother reading for here in lay spoilers!

3...

2...

1...

Here's my first theory:  Eric isn't dead.  If I have learned anything from comic books, and other HBO goodies, it is that when you do not see a character die, chances are they are not actually dead.  How could Eric escape his sun-capade?  Pam left really early on and she too can fly.  The chances of her finding Eric in Sweden are there.(Funny touch btw!  Also thank you HBO for 30:44!!)  So, I am going to wait and see how this one turns out, but I have faith my favorite is coming back- he picked his progeny for a reason!


My second theory is about Tara.  She is in trouble.  Theory one, physical trouble: Her mother has given her Hep-V.  Why?  Because she truly isn't okay with vampires and we never did see the test results of the whole carrier issue.  Thus feeding on her mother was a bad idea.  Theory two, emotional trouble: If this isn't the case and her mother truly means well, I suspect that her mother's coming clean is the calm before the storm- the storm being the Hep-V infected that are approaching Belfleur's.  I suspect that one of them might kill her mother, just to throw sh*t at Tara again, because that's what always happens in this show.  Even Pam left, though that sort of relationship flittered a lot this season.  

Theory three:  Warlow died to easy.  Yes he ended up being the villain(I was really dissapointed in that, I thought they had a chance to be a good couple.  However, that being said, Alcide makes a fantastic boyfriend and I am okay with this!)  In the six month shift(which was a total cop out, but I get it- a lot's changed and not every human gets along anymore) where did the grandfather go?  Back to fairy world?  There's something iffy about that.  For such a baddie, killing Jason & Sookie's parents, he sure died easy.  Even Russell and the Rev. lasted longer and look at the bad things they did.  I'd say to keep an ear to the wind.

Theory four: Jason is going to fuck up his relationship.  It's the first time he seems to be happy in one.  I also think letting blondie go was a REALLY BAD idea!  I suspect she will come back to find Jason and may kill his new lover.  Not the case?  My next best bet is that we find out more about her, something sinister maybe?

Odds and ends:  I didn't see enough Lafayette this season.  I would like this to change in season 7.  

I also want Andy's fairy lover to come back- unless of course she died too.  I was a little unclear on that fairy killing spree Warlow did.  Was that fairy bar where all of the fairies reside?  What about the ones Sookie escaped from a few seasons back?  The ones in paradise/the canyon?  It just didn't make sense that all the fairies were gone when Warlow was fulfilling royalty.  Maybe it's just me.  

Willa.  I think I like her.  I think she will cause trouble.  Maybe not.

Sam's baby will also be a shifter.  There's a good chance.  But I am not sure where I see that line going.  I am just glad Sam and Sookie didn't get together.  We're up to like four lovers, right?  Bill, Eric, Alcide(x2), Warlow, and Sam sorta counts?  Oy vey.


Anyways, just a few thoughts after finshing TrueBlood this week.  I wasn't realy for it to end yet and I have no idea where BonTemp is headed!!

Summertime and the livin' is breezy

To the tune of Barenaked Ladies Three Weeks: It's been three weeks since the England trip.  Turned my head round and I was comin' back.  

I could try to keep going with that silly verse, but my point is that it feels like just yesterday I had airport troubles(to the tune of a 9 hour delay between two airports) and then was uploading photos of my trip to Facebook.  I know everyone in my class has had work or school since returning- I haven't heard much from LH or AG especially(sad!)- and I myself have lost track of summer.  It's August 25th, with just over a week left before I moved back into my house in Rhode Island and already I have attended one wedding, one night of karaoke, one night of a 90s cover band, several girls nights(complete with popcorn!), had a few bottles of Pumpkinhead and Octoberfest, gone to a drive in movie for Despicable Me 2, several movies(Red 2, We're the Millers, The World's End, etc.) and so much more.  In the remaining week, I hope to visit my friend's camp, attend a fair, finish packing, finish my 15-20 page paper(yes, even I still have a little left.  But mostly the bibliography and like a page, so that counts for something) and drink plenty of pumpkin iced coffee.  

In the time that I have been back, I have shared many a story from my travels.  I have way to many photos- no one person(minus myself) has seen them all.  Paris contains almost 200, Scotland almost 600, and Harry Potter holds almost 700.  I think...  Many people love hearing my story about how I went on a date with a Scottish guy.  And I am glad that I did, I think it has given me some confidence and level of assurance that I didn't have before.  In fact, I have been chatting with a nice guy this month and find myself not thinking too far forward.  I miss London, there was so much to see and everything was very close- everywhere I have gone this summer has been 15-90 minute drive away.  Except Moosehead Lake, that was almost 4 hours.  But very fun and the kayaking story deserves to be told.

So it was out first full day there, out of three total days, and BC and myself decided to go kayaking.  Now while I don't own my own kayak(yet) I absolutely love it.  I only ride single, the doubles remind me too much of canoing- which I hate with a passion.  So we head out, I in the single and BC in the double, and go to a small island slightly off our shore.  We "park" and look around, BC asks me "where do you want to go next?" to which I look further from where we are and spot a nice island with big green trees and some landing rocks.  I say "how about that island?"  BC doesn't protest and we head out.  And we paddle.  More paddling.  We had some footage between us so neither one of us was sharing their idea that this island seemed a little too far and that the travel on the waves seemed much too easy.  We got there, eventually, but couldn't park because the waves were almost crashing our boats to the rocks.  So, we tried turning around and found the waves were pretty sizable.  We had to paddle a lot harder.  We went to the shore, on the opposite side of our camp, and discovered we must have been at least a mile or two from the camp.  With the large waves, it took us a lot longer to paddle back.  Apparently BC was swearing, again we were at a distance due to paddling, but I was the least of our worries that week(her grandmother is a little schedule happy and it got on her nerves).  However, it has been deemed that I am not to pick where we go again- hopefully this just means kayak-wise.  Its definitely one of those look-back-and-be-funny tales.

This year is going to be a busy one.  I quit Dunkin in May, before the summer hit, so that when I left for England I had two graduate assistanceships, three classes, and one of which is an internship.  When I came back in August, my boss from the spring told me my schedule was too busy to work for her.  So, I went down to one graduate assistanceship.  I am quite excited about this one because I like the people I work for and the project is cataloging- which I will have proper training and therefore learn tons by.  I am also excited for my internship, on digital literacy, which kicks off in my first full school week.  The classes might prove a challenge, but they pertain to public libraries and I want some class principles as well as first hand experience.  I have an interview lined up for a part-time library when I come back as well as communications with a public library I worked at last year on Sundays.  Needless to say, I am keeping a better daily planner this year.  I don't even want to think about spring, when its comps season and graduation.  Jinkies!

For now, I am going to eat grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, Octoberfest, and blueberries.  Ahh, summertime in Maine and the livin' is breezy.  I always hope for a breeze anyways, it keeps the mosquitos away!

British Studies: Day 14

As I have mentioned several blogs earlier, we have attended the V&A.  While I did not get to attend the David Bowie exhibit, I did today get to see the Beatrix Potter archive at the Blythe House.  It is a storage facility of the Victoria and Albert and as such is quite old- it use to be a post office and savings bank.  By the 1970s it was computerized and taken for storage and increasingly they wanted to increase their reserves.  The V&A originally kicked off around 1837 when schools studied design and the subject became large, thus the British Archive formed with a collection valued around 52 pounds.  In 1851, there was a great exhibition and the public was allowed to attend.  In 1851, a South Kensington branch began and then the suite we were at today.  It really started because of ambitious curators who were acquiring a wider selection of material- sculpture, paintings- and by the 1860s-1870s they became "one capacious handbag."  Textiles, wood, metal, illustrations, and more.  The archive and registry holds records of management roles, staff records and documents, freedom info, data protection legislation, and in the old schools of archive they were taught records with management practice.  So IT, records, database, and collaboration.  Nowadays, they face challenges such as print/electronic records, as was decreed the thing to do and thus more print has ensued, and the cataloging of the archive online.  Record retention is something archives has in their veins and the online catalog allowed the public to see what is available even before it is properly cataloged.  We were show a few books, including a 19th Century registrar with a request from Queen Victoria for a stain glass repair, as well as correspondence of William Morris's tapestries.

Peter Rabbit Illustration.

Alexia , an archivist of arts and design, talked to us about the importance of design to the collection.  They were set up in 1978 and with a lack of records of design and new design courses being offered with people needing research, they began collecting British-based artists & designs, making sure not to step on other cultures designs.  So they have clothing, furniture, textile, and other styles handy.  the collection does not, however, include fine art or architecture.  They aim for 5-15 items a year to collect, with 2 staff members to do so, and mainly do this from donation or gifts.  There are 400 individual archives, which can be seen in print and the online catalog- interestingly enough they are in a consortium.  Alexia showed us an interesting fashion designer of the 1920s named Lucile, the prints were lovely, and another example of fashion from the 1950s where they predicted 1980s trends, which included knitwear.

Francis talked to us about Beatrix Potter, as she is a specialist of children's literature and has her MLIS.  There are 100,000 Potter items.  The 1920s man collection came from a husband and wife team, Enid and Leslie Linder(of whom Andrew Whiltshire talked extensively about his family's connection and the importance of these two to the Beatrix Potter codex, a written piece that Leslie translated and crafted the history of the famous author) and how the collection changed houses a few times before settling.  Since the Linder's play a large part in the collection, there are a few of their books and personal effects here as well.  Parts of the collection are on long term loan, such as the Peter Rabbit Letters(from the states).  The most impressive was a 1901 copy of Peter Rabbit.  Growing up with the stories, it was great to listen to an in-depth history of their finding.  There was also an interesting Alice in Wonderland adaptation/reimagining and over 2000 botanical studies, such as butterflies beneath microscopes.  Andrew Whiltshire was able to shed light on the interest of the Linders on Beatrix Potter, often draw by the wife and the overall works being purchased quickly(they had plenty of money to do it), and thus his theory was that their work on the gathering of the collection and the codex inspired works such as The Tale of Beatrix potter by Margaret Lane, Letter to Children from Beatrix Potter by Judy Taylor, Tales of Beatrix Potter ballet, and Miss Potter starring Ewan McGreggor.


Then this evening I spoke on behalf of the class.  I hope to post my speech soon, but as it is almost 11:20, I will need some sleep before Cardiff tomorrow.

British Studies: Day 13

Today's post will be a brief but studious one.  In the morning, we ventured to Middle Temple Library(which isn't far away from a DaVinci Code scene) and met Ms. Slattery.  This library is known as one of four Inns of Court.  There is Middle, Inner, Lincoln, and Gray, all of which work together to accomplish their needs and collections.  Each have their own special subject- Middle focuses on Law with a specialization for American law.  In 1641 they received a donation of books that started the library from a Robert Ashley, whom the building is named after.  We received a small history of how law libraries of the Inns began, around the 19th century there was a surge in law publishing and by 1861 the library was built, however nearby ones went through bombs but thanks to a Sir Edward(the last name I missed) their concrete was reinforced for protection.  They have a displays of arms, a display of armor, a display of the Molyneux globes, and several royal rooms- including the smoking room or Prince's room, and the Queen's room.  The Queen's room and Princes room are both elegant in their own fashion, the first brighter than the second but the second with comfier chairs.  The library doesn't throw books out unless they are not under their jurisdiction, in which case they are deselected and offered/sold elsewhere.  On the 3rd floor there was a US law collection, here no food or drink is allowed(unlike the first floor) and it holds an association with the Carnegies.  I am getting the idea that this guy liked libraries and had a lot of money.  Either way, his son studied at Middle and eventually took his learning home.  On this floor one would find classrooms, American textbooks, West Law US subscriptions, and financial records.  The classrooms are called advocacy suites and hold pros and cons- pro, more people, and con, people cannot always access their materials since the suites are lined inside and out with the books.  Thus being shut inside for a period of time. 

Dozens upon dozens of law-related books!

There is no classification system here, most of the items are, however, in subject booklets that are readily available.  There is an online catalog for online objects only, though it cannot collect online, and an ILL can be done through any of the four Inns to another.  Slattery began as a rare books librarian at Middle and is now the senior librarian, though she began as a librarian of the Canadian Government.  There were all sorts of fun British law terms, like a bencher, and it held many fascinating   items and locals- such as the Judgement of Soloman painting which was collected due to an argument of law, and Middle Temple Hall which had double banner beam roof, oak structures, a head table with planks floated down the Thames, and all sorts of activities are done there.  Speaking of events, the first performance of Twelfth Night was done there(see masks, plays, balls, and revels) as well as the 3rd Harry Potter release and in the Princes room a scene from Bridget Jones Diary(see Colin Firth) and other shows.

For lunch, we attended the Old Bank of England, where Sweeney Todd was pointed out to be a real man that operated around there.  Somehow, I ate a meat pie, but really tentatively and not much.  My classmates and I played some witty games and had a real get together.  Just before this, it was decided that I was to speak on behalf of our class at the Symposium tomorrow.  So while I met my personal goal(to speak there with an awesome idea) I am going to spend the hours travel crafting an outline for a five minute chat so I don't sound daft.  By afternoon, I went to the Westminster Reference Library where I saw their collection, asked a few details about it, and gathered some information of further places to contact and further my research, such as the University of Minnesota and the Portsmouth Library.

Tonight, I am headed to Camden once more, with LH, K, & AG.  Something about Macbeth and funny dressed men.  Oh nightlife of England, how strange you are!

British Studies: Day 12

Being in London forces one to learn their directions quickly.  Also, undergrounds at 8:30-9am are nuts.  This morning JD and I, my Scotland travel mate for the mini holiday, needed to purchase our unlimited passes.  In doing so, we left at 8:30 promptly, purchased them at Waterloo, bought coffee/bagel, and were waiting at our respective crosswalk(the one facing the station) and began waiting by 8:50 for our group.  Now, as I said before, there was tons of foot traffic and we were watching down the sidewalk, where we have always crossed at, for fifteen specific women.  By 9:15, these women did not come.  Beginning to grow frantic(it has been days since we went towards the British library so we didn't exactly remember how to get there) we doubled back to the courtyard to make sure no one was waiting for us.  They were, in fact, gone.  Luckily, JD has a data plan and can Google Maps like no tomorrow.  We figured that we had to connect from Waterloo(walking there once more) and to Euston, then a brief walk.  We did that, no problem and a few minutes before ten.  When we got to the area for the British Conservation Library(the behind the scenes of the British Library) no one was there either.  At this point I checked my phone, it has had shoddy reception/receiving abilities the whole trip(until seemingly this week) and I had a missed call from a classmate, telling me we had missed them in Waterloo.  This evening, we discovered, they had crossed to Waterloo several crosswalks up, thereby blending into the foot traffic we had been ignoring on the far side.  Like I said, quick moving.

Either way, we had made it and while people had no idea where were were suppose to meet our group, this was solved when we met them in the front entrance of the British Conversation Library.  Here our tour guide was Robert Brodie, the leader of the team.  He began by pointing out the architecture of the facility, north facing with much natural light, and no pipes.  They have a display here with many type face tools of which are impressive to have since they originally were headed for America on the Titanic.  Their photo center has a special water system that allows pure water- calcium and CO2 or something- and can hold many items at a time.  To work on a piece, one must enter a bidding and estimating process, this allows 66% of the collection, and items won in bidding might contain a 350 hour project.  There are teams used for this time, as they figure how long(estimate) and is sent to the head of the department where they give options that dictate the outcome of their proposals.  There are minimum interventions, high profile phases, frequent requests, and digitization that affect these proposals.  Typically they work in pairs.  Robert over sees some people himself.  Having taken a history of books and printing course, this was all fascinating to see up close.  They have special boxes for different items, office records and geneological items make up the bulk of the collection, and then we saw examples.  One such example was an office record with a decorative and practical look.  It had a spring back, marble pages, and if you rip out a page it leaves an opening.  Quite noticeable.  Another example was of a leather bound book that was rebound but used the original leather pieces.  Life the leather, reline the book, add new leather, put in the old, and set it.  Here they left the original innards, some manuscript notes that were in both front and back covers, and the work was from 1649.  If a work needed sewing, there are many different types of Japanese paper, including shusi and kuzu-shi.  

A nice entrance.

Our second guide was Chris of the PACCAR finishing department.  It takes years to learn this skill, of which much patience is involved and much knowledge of heating elements, leather/cloth reaction, and type face mishaps.  Their job is no freehand, but rather comes with specific instructions for typefact and gold from the others.  They use a stone to heat the type and a souffle looking item to cool it, so that the type doesn't punch through the leather.  Gold foil melts easiest but the spine must be washed first and then clamped down.  Gold leaf is used for leather and gold foil for cloth, which is interesting.  It has to be cut to size, the gold is cut on a cushion, and then pasted with an eggwhite glue to the area of the book.  The tools used vary by style and as Chris has worked at more decorative places before, he is quite good here.  Francis, a conservator, was very nice as well.  I asked if the Illuminated Manuscripts with gold gilded pages come here and indeed they do.  I am not sure what the process involves, but I imagine it is more time taking then other areas, however they told me that the works pretty much keep them selves up.  

That's gold foil.  On K's finger.

And don't worry, I am doing research in here.  I tried to see a document from the British Library(featured in their display Crime Fiction A-Z) today, but the readers card process was a little more technical then I anticipated.  Turns out, my drivers license does not have my current house address and I need to return later this week if I am to learn nothing about the display.  On the upside, I have an appointment scheduled with the Westminster Reference Library for tomorrow to discuss their huge Sherlock Holme s collection.  I am very happy about this.

In the evening, I hopped on a tube to Euston, a train to Watford Junction, and a "knight" bus to the Warned Brothers Harry Potter J&K stages.  Let me tell you, I haven't been able to afford going to Harry Potter World, but I know this was ten times better.  I can't wait to upload photos, as there are at least a thousand, but it was fantastic.  I went with a great bunch- thank you, you know who you are- and had the experience of a lifetime.  I was able to sit in/on Hagrid's motorcycle, walk acrros the bridge of Lupin(my favourite character) and Harry in that touching scene,, pose with chess pices that were larger than me, see the special effects of the cratures(oh yes, Aragog too), and drink Butterbeert with a souvenir cup to boot!  I think I will be reliving moments of this for a long time.  If you can g, do so.  Spend the money, it is highly worth it.  Make sure to have some time, bring some friends and just take it all in.  I did and it is the best night of the trip, I think this is safe to say.  And, as you have read by now, I have done quite a bit.  

LH & I, stealing a ride in Hagrid's motorcycle!