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The first in a new series: Cool Site of the Day will be devoted to any website I find that I feel is worth sharing. Librarians are supposed to know about cool sites, right? As we say in the Upper Midwest: “You betcha!”
The Ripples Project provides short, inspirational quotes combined with relaxing music (which can be muted if you prefer). It’s kind of like yoga class without the stretching. Adobe Flash required. For non-Flash quotes, click here.
The Ripples Project site was found courtesy of The Third Chair, a counseling service for college students and other young adults, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
It’s actually a conference table, and I spend much more time cataloging the holdings of the Museum than answering questions for patrons, but the room is turning into a delightful special library. Please come in and visit! The hours of the library are: Tuesday–Friday, 1:00–4:00 PM.
www.gramonline.org
In case you didn’t realize it, I love books. I am fond, some would say “overly so” of the printed word, and of all things related to it. (Thanks Dad!) I was a very early reader. It was no surprise to my family that I eventually chose to study librarianship. So, in the interest of providing you with resources related to books (such a wonderful gift, any time of year!), I will use this space to offer relevant links. Enjoy!
- Random House: features – great stuff here from a major New York publisher. This site includes information on their bestsellers, reading guides, gift books, signed editions, blogs & podcasts from authors and editors; available in Spanish also. Divisions include Crown, Knopf, Bantam, Ballantine, and many, many others.
- HarperCollins – another major New York publishing house with multiple divisions, including Harper, Avon, William Morrow, and others. The site offers information on books, bestsellers, authors, blogs, etc.
- Macmillan – site for the US branch of this international company offers information on new titles, award-winners, author tours and events, top sellers, and news on diverse topics for a wide-ranging audience. Publishing divisions include St Martin’s Press, Picador, Tor, Henry Holt, Farrar Straus & Giroux, and more.
- Indiebound – information on the book & publishing industry from the point of view of independent booksellers. Great resource for locating a bookshop in your area that is not a “chain” store. Not that there is anything wrong with the chains! but my personal preference is to shop where the staff know my name and interests, and where I am able to support a locally-owned enterprise.
May all of your evenings be quiet, and none of them without a book in your hands. Happy holidays from your personal librarian.
Off-topic from the usual conversation, but this seemed appropriate today. No answer is necessary, rather the point of the exercise is to think about the query. You have the right to remain silent.
Do we regard our time, talents energy, money, material possessions and other resources as gifts from God to be held in trust and shared according to the Light we are given? How do we express this conviction? What are we doing as individuals and as a Meeting to use and thereby perfect our gifts? How do we encourage others to use theirs?
In other words, I finally relented and joined FaceBook. The service is somewhat creepy from a privacy standpoint, but the fact that I have been able to re-connect with people I have not seen in decades is significant, akin to putting on a favorite flannel shirt.
There are trade-offs to everything, and risks in living every day. All I know is that if you never try, you will never know if you can succeed.
Which side are you on? That is, in the grand debate about weapons and war, protecting national interests, keeping the world free of terrorists or communists or “things that go bump in the night” — well, which side are you on? Have you thought about it? Do you have a gun? Do you think you need one? What about your neighbor — does she need one? Where does it end? The International Day of Peace is coming up. I hope you’ll be inspired to do something, even if it’s just to pray for peace.
The New York Times today has an inspiring article on a Catholic priest who has been protesting nuclear weapons for thirty years. Father Carl Kabat has protested with the Berrigan brothers and others, and spent years in prison for his actions.
Isn’t it obvious that for so many years the judges and magistrates have been putting the wrong folks in jail? I don’t think our country needs the weapons we have (large or small caliber), nor do I believe we should be pouring money into one military operation in a foreign country after another, especially when it is obvious that we cannot deliver on our promises. Afghanistan is a disaster! Which side are you on?
Meanwhile, conditions in these United States are not great. In some places they are downright terrible, economically: areas of Michigan have 80% employment. People like me are worried about keeping basic government services going, such as the State Library, which seems like a Very Basic Government Service. You knew I’d bring librarianship into this somehow, didn’t you?
Should we pay for guns or bread? Guns or books? Guns or clothing? Guns or flu-shots? Should we pay for guns? Tell me, which side are you on?
I recently connected with an old friend from high school courtesy of my LinkedIn account. That was a swell surprise. It is almost hard to remember life before the world wide web or the internet, although I know it existed. I don’t like to think of life without it now: for one thing, my business model depends upon the Internet! Does yours, too?
Living in Michigan is akin at times to living between parallel worlds. In one world is the past: anachronistic, out of balance, nonsensical. The other world is the future: bright and lively, enthusiastic and curious, with equal opportunity for all. Which world are you in? More to the point, do you live in the Michigan that intends to cut the state budget for libraries by 35% in 3 weeks? I certainly hope that I do not.
New friends: my investment advisor is an absolute dear, and smart as a whip, too. We had a fabulous conversation last week that carried on for a couple of days, and gave me much to consider, specifically in the realm of locating green (as in: socially responsible) investment vehicles. I suspect it has been done before, but not to the extent that he would like. So I have several books to read and a good bit to research.
In other news: I have returned to reading books for leisure. The book that brought me back was the enchanting Guernesy Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. I just might try to tackle my TBR pile which has been accumulating for oh-so-very-long! Of course I kept buying books… leopards do not change their spots! I was a bookseller and book collector for many years before I became a librarian.
And so summer ends, quietly, with books, friends, and hope for a better future.
The title is something of a misnomer, but if I hadn’t been, to put it politely, deeply involved with my graduate studies in librarianship in 2005, I believe that I would have found Etsy much sooner than today.
Before I became a librarian, I was well on my way toward establishing myself as a fiber artist. One of my felted wool pieces (titled “Brown sheep, white sheep”) was accepted in the West Michigan Area Show at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts in 2006 — of the 130 works in the Show, only 5 were fiber-related, so I felt very gratified and honored to be recognized.
Since that time, however, my life has of necessity focused on libraries and librarianship. I now also take medication which calms me, albeit at the expense of my (crazy, but creative) artist within. Life is filled with trade-offs like these, and we all encounter examples of “it’s not FAIR” regularly.
Still, it is a delight to find Etsy, especially the Pounce feature, which enables the site user/viewer to see recently listed storefronts which have never sold anything, or storefronts which just had a sale — either way, it’s a random surprise. Another fine feature is the Shop Local link, which enables a registered user to search for and/or locate shops in her area. The Grand Rapids, Michigan area has 100 recently updated shops, offering hand-made items ranging from jewelry (oh, the variety!), to knitted hats for babies, nuno felted scarves, bamboo fiber training pants for young children, photographs, candles, soaps, clothing, paintings, cards, blank books, dyed wool, dyed yarn, hand-spun / hand-dyed fibers, and even vintage fabrics. This is amazing. I am very pleased to see what a wide variety of artisans we have in West Michigan, and I’m sure this is only scratching the surface. After all, I’m not in there. Yet. Maybe when I upload a few of my fiber pieces I will also include librarian services…
At any rate, this looks like a brilliant way to showcase the work of diverse, talented people who have just a few commonalities: their products are hand-made, locally-made, and generally affordable. What is not to love?
The folks over at Web Worker Daily posted a reasonable list of how to use Facebook for business. I think it could be useful if you are into social networking, especially as a business owner or promoter.
My friend Jessamyn West wrote a few months ago about library vendors who use Twitter; she also describes how she uses it in her work life (home alone most days, but Twitter gives her a connected feeling). It is possible to access Twitter in multiple ways: through various apps (applications) available for your computer or cell phone (especially the iPhone) or by using a browser and going directly to Twitter’s homepage. {edited 9-14-09} I find that I am using it more than I used to, and I am not as selective as I used to be about who I allow to follow me. I can’t imagine they find it very interesting, for one thing! But if someone gets a nugget of decent info from my Tweets, well, good for them. I’m glad to help.
In case you hadn’t heard, the State of Michigan is on course to dismantle the Department of History, Arts and Libraries, including the State Library. Jack Lessenberry, a great journalist at Michigan Radio, offers a solid opinion piece on this, and why it is a bad idea.
And in other disastrous news this week, six inches of rain fell in Louisville, Kentucky in a 3-hour period. Massive flooding at the main branch of the Louisville Free Public Library caused over a million dollars in damage: total loss of 3 bookmobiles, thousands of new books, 40 new computers, offices, work areas and conference/meeting rooms. Please send whatever you can to assist the disaster recovery fund that has been established. Mail your check to:
The Library Foundation
301 York Street
Louisville, KY 40203
Thank you. Libraries are places where we are all free to go to learn, read, and explore. We need them more than ever.
If it’s housekeeping at work, does that mean it is really work-keeping? Something to ponder.
Today I renewed my memberships in the American Library Association, Reference & User Services Association ($76.00), and Michigan Library Association ($45.00). Truthfully, I haven’t gotten much out of ALA, but to get RUSA I have to be in ALA first, and I have found that to be useful. I did not make much use of my MLA membership last year, but that was probably because I was feeling burned about the tenure-track post I’d walked away from. I actually have a huge amount of respect for the very hard work that the staff and volunteers at MLA perform: advocating for Michigan’s libraries, especially now, is a challenge. They need all the help they can get (including my money, time, energy).
I’ve been working, slowly, on updating my resumé so that I can apply for a part-time position that would still enable me to work from home, but in collaboration with others. I would love that sort of work: now I need to pull together the proper words to express that thought. How does one say, properly, technically, that one is perfect for a job, without sounding totally snooty? Yes, I thought it might be tricky.
Meanwhile, I continue to learn new tricks with the iPhone. The built-in camera and digital video recorder are fantastic. This is so like the future! Thank you, Apple! Everyone should be so lucky.
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