Support an Increase and Oppose Any Cuts in State Aid to Local Public Libraries.

In all honesty, I know 50 books isn’t that impressive, but whatever. I made my goal with a little more than 3 months to go.

Maybe 10 more before the end of the year? We’ll see…

The above quotation is from “This Book is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All” by Marilyn Johnson and it definitely tickled me. While not a writer myself, I can definitely appreciate/understand the comparison and sentiment.

I must remember to share this with one of my good friends who is both a librarian and writer. Though I might need to watch my back, I don’t think she’s written in awhile…

About 2 weeks ago I went with 2 of my friends up to the University of Maryland for an open house of their Library Science program. The trip ended up being unexciting (mostly me and my friends being snarky with one another) and the open house did not really amount to much. Most of the information given I had already read on the website. Only thing I learned was that they are hoping to get admissions decisions out by the end of the month. So hopefully in less than 2 weeks I will know whether I can escape living with my family in pitiful ham country.

One day I will get back to posting reviews and/or taking part in various blog memes. Right now, I just do not have the time.

Other news, my nerves were peaked to say the least at work last week. For Teen Tech week, my branch manager at Branch #1 asked me to create instructions on how to create both Facebook and Twitter accounts. Since it’s been quite awhile since I created either account for myself, I had to go through the process of creating new accounts in order to write up the instructions. So I created accounts for our system and thought they could be valuable resources for our system in order to communicate with our patrons, keeping them updated on the goings-on at the library as well as allow them to get more out of their library experience. Well, after having spent hours setting up the accounts, filling them up with information, tweeting about new books coming in, etc. my branch manager got cold feet and said we needed to ask for permission from our home branch since I was trying to make the accounts speak for the whole system. Well, they decided that there was no way we (meaning me mostly) could be consistent in our content, and that collaborative efforts never work out, so at this time there is no way we could possibly keep up accounts for the system, nor would we be able to keep accounts going for our particular branches. [Fiery rage] We have always had this issue with our home branch. They are against innovation or changing things in general. Things must stay the way they have always been. It is beyond frustrating. I told my supervisor (separate from my branch manager at Branch #1) that I was done with dealing with our home branch. This isn’t the first time that I, or others in fact, have attempted to help out the system, or improve services for the system, to help both us and the patrons, and then consequently been shut down. Our administration does not know my capabilities and cannot tell me that I will be incapable of maintaining anything. Ugh. Did not want to rant this much about the subject. I could continue, but I will save you from that. I need to just chalk it up to poor management on their part, and realize that is likely to be something that I will encounter often in my career. Needless to say, after this episode I am even more desperate about getting to graduate school and being able to find a better full-time position, one that will grant me the responsibility and/or authority to try new things. One can always hope.

I have some recipes I need to type up, so I shall go now with my weak promise to attempt at updating more often.

À bientôt.

Life has been plodding along, not terribly exciting, but definitely not the worst it could be. I am working 5 days a week now with my local library branches. I am constantly doing extra projects so I’m a tad exhausted. Like: shelf-reading, inventory, weeding, and deleting the entire reference section OR shelf-reading, weeding, and deleting the WHOLE library. (Remember I work at 2 branches for my local system) I have created a few displays and occasionally have to deal with fun reports like “patrons with $25+ account balance” or “CDs eligible for rotation”. While I am still currently working on all of those projects, I have come up with a new one to occupy myself and give me a break from shelf-reading. I had a patron last week come in and ask me for suggestions for her tween son who hasn’t enjoyed fiction until Harry Potter. I was able to come up with a few but I sounded rather clueless and I was not able to say much more than “they circulate often”. So, I am trying to get better at reader’s advisory. I am starting with Juvenile and Young Adult mainly due to the recent encounter. Eventually I will try and get into adult fiction advisory as well. A leading figure in teen, and boys especially, reader’s advisory, Michael Sullivan’s blog has been some help in determining popular series. I also got ideas from the Young Adult division of the American Library Association. I think reader’s advisory would be a lot easier if I had some role in collection development, but unfortunately that is the domain of the branch managers in my system.

In other news, I was also caught up with studying for the dreaded GRE because I became serious about applying for graduate school. I ended up with a 1010, 540 Verbal 470 Math. Not great, and I just realized that while I needed 1000, the school was pushing for at least 500 in both. Oy. Not promising in the least. I am applying the University of Maryland-College Park; one of the closer schools that has a MLS, and plus it is outside of DC which is where I want to be anyway. I hope I get in, I’ve already spent $240 just to be considered with the application fee, the GRE fee, and the fee for college transcript being sent in. Ridiculous I tell you. I am still finishing up on my application, all that remains is my 500 word essay that answers a few questions. I have it written minus a conclusion, but then I read some grad school essay tips and freaked out thinking that my essay was too general or boring. A friend of mine is looking it over, but I will probably feel tense until I receive my acceptance or rejection letter =/

Hopefully I will be able to update a little better than every 2 months now. But no guarantees.

I have finished two books since I last wrote: The Book Lover’s Cookbook by Shaunda Wenger and Janet Jensen and Dracula’s Heir by Sam Stall. I’m still typing up the recipes I found in the cookbook (in a recently found free mac recipe program on the web, love it!) It’s currently still marked with a few dozen post-it notes, haha. Dracula’s Heir is an “interactive mystery” that a coworker of mine had placed in a Vampire end-cap display. It was interesting, and cute. Interactive because it has pull-out photos and letters that you use to piece together the final mystery.

I forgot to mention, but I also found out that I’m going to be an “uncle” for the third time. “Uncle” because not true blood relation, but the children of one of my best friends from high school. Jenifer and her husband Joey currently live in Indiana, which is completely unacceptable as it is too far for me to spend time with them and spoil my nephy-poos, as I like to call their 2 sons, Ethan and Sean. So this will be baby #3, his or her ultrasound photo shows you that the pregnancy is still early; I believe Jenifer said s/he was over an inch long at the moment and she’s about 2 1/2 months pregnant, around 10 weeks I believe. They’re hoping for a girl, as evident by the fact that they’ve already agreed on a girl’s name, but not a boy’s name, haha. We’ll see, got about another 2 1/2 months to go before they know the sex. But I’m so excited, just wish I could see them more!

That’s all for now. Going to type up some more recipes and hoping to rearrange my room tomorrow (these are the thrills of recent graduates working part-time and living with their parents). Oh, and my Dad apparently just finished his final exam for his online Psych course, and most likely will be getting an A, so yay him! Means his company will reimburse him for the course (he’s working on his bachelor’s degree in Nuclear engineering (I think) and has most of the requisites done through his jobs, now working on all his electives).

Alright, definitely going now, toodles!

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about books on your wishlist….

Last week we talked about keeping a wishlist. Why not pull out that list and show us some of the books you’ve been eyeing?

Like a lot of people I have both a TBR pile and a wishlist, though apparently I differ in what constitutes both of those piles. My TBR pile is composed of books I have bought, received, swapped, etc. and haven’t yet had the opportunity to read. My wishlist is composed of books I’d like to read or own. I’m planning on only posting 5 books here, but knowing me, I might do more. Here goes:

Undead and Unwed – Betsy the Vampire Queen “Undead” Series by Mary Janice Davidson. I’ve heard really great things about this series from my patrons at the library, sounds like just the series to comfort me while I wait for the next Sookie Stackhouse novel!

Homework for Grown-Ups: Everything you Learned at School and Promptly Forgot by E. Foley

Even though I’m only 22, I know I’ve forgotten tons of information from grade school, and this looked like an interesting read to see how much I’ve forgotten.

The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

I loved Zafon’s The Shadow of the Wind, and this looks to be another great book from him.

Script and Scribble: The Rise and Fall of Handwriting by Kitty Burns  Florey

As I’ve mentioned before on here, I’m a bit of a pen and handwriting nerd, so this book is right up my alley.

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

Since I love Augusten Burroughs’ memoirs, my friends constantly tell me I need to read David Sedaris. I just received his first 2 memoirs via PaperBackSwap the other day, so hopefully I shall get to see what all the fuss is about soon.

The Humanure Handbook: A Guide to Composting Human Manure by Joseph C. Jenkins

Back when I was a shelver at UVA, this book passed through my hands and I was immediately intrigued. I’m environmentally-inclined and have genuinely wondered why human manure has never been composted, recycled, etc. Though I’m sure few others share my curiosity in this matter, haha.

Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough and Michael Braungart

Another environmentally-themed book. I became acquainted with Mr. McDonough by watching one of his lectures on TED.com Ideas Worth Spreading, a great nonprofit that posts videos of lectures and talks from the greatest minds on the latest in technology, entertainment and design. I loved McDonough’s speech, and then discovered that he was a big time architect, as well as a professor of architectural design at my own UVA! Very intelligent man with wonderful and creative ideas on how to more intelligently design more environmentally friendly buildings and products.

After going through my list, I noticed that I mostly posted non fiction books, which I find amusing because there is a ton of fiction I want to read, but apparently these NF titles caught my eye more for posting than the other titles. Interesting. What books do you have on your wishlist(s)?

I’ll admit, I was a little disappointed with this book. First, not much happens in the first 2/3 of the book, 2 deaths and that’s about it. A lot was stuffed into the last third, and it was pretty intense. So many people die, and the introduction of the faeries into the series is over – what was the point? I would love for them to stay in the story, but Harris has sealed them off which I find highly disappointing. I agree with others that the novel was a tad rushed. Harris usually explains developments a lot more than she did here, but now everything seems to be a blip and “oh well”. Also Sookie is not as strong of a character anymore; she’s confused, she dwells too much, in all honesty she’s becoming more like the Sookie portrayed by Anna Paquin in True Blood, which is not a good thing, at all. I really hope Harris does a lot better with the next book, I love this series too much for it to just fizzle out into the ranks of other mediocre fantasy/vampire literature.

Never thought I’d say something that critical of a book from this series. I’ll concede to Harris, though, the Sookie Stackhouse series is not the only thing she writes, and a mediocre book pops out from time-to-time. Just a warning though: Do not disappoint me with the next book Charlaine, I will be most displeased!

I know, kind of a piddly review, but can’t really figure out what more to say about this novel.

The Art Thief by Noah Charney

NB: Maybe one of these days I will actually do a meme on its appropriate day; right now I seem to be averaging 2 days late. Mostly due to me not reading blogs every day.

Do you keep a book wishlist, either on paper, Amazon/etc, or via a book database site (Shelfari, GoodReads, LibraryThing)? If yes, do you share this list with others (especially coming up to Christmas)?

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Musing Mondays post, or share your opinion in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks.

I am obsessed with lists and organization, whether or not that has been obvious through previous entries, I am unsure. So, I have multiple, yes, multiple, wishlists for books. I have wishlists on PaperbackSwap and BookMooch in order to actually use those websites to swap out books that I no longer want for books that I do want. I have a large list on Amazon, which I have shared with friends and family (though I have the sneaking suspicion that nobody utilizes it). I use LibraryThing as a means to catalog books I’ve read, books I own, books I haven’t read, etc. and a wishlist. I use LivingSocial primarily to catalog every book I have read, regardless of ownership, though the the wishlist function is available. AND (I know everyone who reads this is wondering “how many lists are really necessary for this guy?!) I keep a slightly outdated list on Evernote, along with a separate list of books and authors to look out for at the library in the future on the off-chance that I hit a point where I have no books in my To Be Read pile. Oh, I also have an application on my computer called Librarian Pro in order to catalog the books I own, as well as track books I lend out to friends. I get no end in grief from my friends for being nerdy enough to have bought a librarian program, mais c’est la vie.

If anyone wants to friend me on any of the sites I mentioned, following are the links to my profiles:

PBS: http://tr.im/Agag

BM: http://tr.im/AgaN

LT: http://tr.im/Agd0

LS: http://tr.im/Agdf