Tag / library

by booksoverlookedblog

FFM 23: Your Librarian Believes in You!

Without in any way limiting the author’s exclusive rights under copyright, any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.

July is Flash Fiction Month! I’ll be sharing short short stories here through the month of July. More notes at the end of the story.

Your librarian believes in you!

She believes that you can read all five books for the summer reading challenge. Really, you can! You might even find a new favorite!

Your librarian knows that you can go to storytime without crying, not even once. He knows how brave you are!

Your librarian knows that you’ll be a great volunteer. They think you ask good questions and pay attention to your tasks. Thank you so much for all your hard work!

Your librarian believes that you can use the library catalog. She’ll even show you how if you have questions. And she really trusts that you’ll be able to use it to look up every. Single. Book. on your school reading list, so she doesn’t have to. 

Your librarian is excited that you’re excited to use the computers. He would also like to let you know that you are so much smarter than that scary game on Roblox, and maybe there’s an even more fun game on the computer for you to play. 

Your librarian knows how enthusiastic you are about volunteering here. They really appreciate how you try very hard. They really think that you can do all your tasks correctly and follow simple instructions, even after you’ve proven them wrong. Keep trying!

Your librarian believes…that she needs a nap.

I had a different story planned, but it’s been a hectic day. Eight days until the end of the summer reading program. I’m exhausted.

Your librarian believes that you can Show Up for Libraries! (ALA) The Institute of Library and Museum Services is in danger of losing funding or being dismantled entirely. If you have just 5 minutes, call your representative and tell them to support IMLS and libraries! Read more about Executive Order 14238, which targets IMLS and other agencies.

“When a library is open, no matter its size or shape, democracy is open, too.”

― Bill Moyers

by booksoverlookedblog

Update on Federal Funding for Libraries

A quick update to my post on libraries in the Trump administration.

Things are…not great.

On March 14, Trump issued an executive order to eliminate “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law” the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), along with other really necessary things like the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, and Minority Business Development Agency.  

Sticking to my wheelhouse, this is a huge blow to libraries. The IMLS provides grants to libraries and museums across the country. In Florida, where I live, it also funds projects like the interlibrary loan system, statewide research bases, digitization and access to state resources , and technology grants to libraries. One of these technology grants directly affects my library system and the equipment that we can provide for library programs. 

The Executive Order states that these federal agencies are required to “statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law.” The good(?) news is that IMLS has “statutory function” (aka is required by law) to provide grants to state and tribal libraries. The bad news is that the statute expires this year. This means that the fight is for reauthorization. There is hope – the statute was reauthorized during the previous Trump administration with broad partisan support. 

There’s strength in numbers. Call your U.S. Representative’s office and tell them you support reauthorization. I know calling your reps can be a bit nerve-wracking, so to make things easier, I’ve written a script:

Hi, this is [Name], and I’m a constituent from [City, State] I am calling to ask [Rep. Name] to support the reauthorization of the Institute of Library and Museum Services. Federal funding helps libraries support their communities through education and accessibility. 

[If you like, add a personal sentence or two about the value of libraries and/or museums.]

Thank you for your time and consideration. 

If you’re leaving a voicemail, include your zip code or home address. 

Some resources:
Executive Order: Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy
Every Library Institute: Understanding IMLS’s “Shall” and “May” langauges
American Alliance of Museums: IMLS 2017 [PDF]
ALA Statement on White House assault on the Institute of Museum and Library Services
ALA: Show Up For Our Libraries

by booksoverlookedblog

Your library will always be there for you. Please be there for your library.

Without in any way limiting the author’s exclusive rights under copyright, any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.

I’m writing this introduction on Saturday, January 18, on my lunch break. I don’t usually work Saturdays, but today I have a Teen Advisory Board meeting. In a few hours, a group of teenagers will come into the library and tell me what kinds of things they would like to see the library provide for them. I’ll distribute scholarship information for three local colleges, tell them about a student employee position that’s just opened up, and give them advice on how to apply and what the library looks for in a job interview. After, we’ll make cards for troops stationed abroad. Elsewhere in the library, adults and kids will be using computers to access the internet, do homework, apply for jobs, or catch up on YouTube. People who don’t have internet access at home can check out hotspots. Maybe they’ll use it to access live virtual tutoring, or Ancestry.com, or Consumer Reports – all free with their library card. And, of course, there will be books. All kinds of books: novels, picture books, biographies, travel guides, comic books, board books, cookbooks, books for beginning readers and books that read to you. 

Later this month, kids will practice reading to a licensed therapy dog. People struggling with food insecurity will receive assistance in applying for SNAP benefits. Toddlers and pre-schoolers will learn pre-literacy skills at storytime (including a bilingual storytime). Free tax assistance will be available. Senior citizens will take a class to learn basic computer skills English language learners will meet to practice casual conversations. I’ll also be running my favorite activity, a tabletop roleplaying game for teens, which has become a haven for a small group of queer teens. All of this for the low, low price of free. 

Libraries are one of the few places left where you don’t have to pay anything to be there, you don’t even necessarily need to be a member. Just come in, and we’ll try to help you. 

Libraries are magical. They are also in danger. 

For many of us in the United States, the next four years are going to be a scary and difficult time. There is so much I could talk about when we discuss the second Trump administration, but I want to focus on something that this blog has always focused on: books. Well, books, literacy, and access to information. As I have said in a previous post, access to information is recognized as a basic human right by the United Nations. In an age of rampant misinformation and censorship, this is a right that needs to be safeguarded more than ever. Public libraries are on the forefront of the battle for intellectual freedom, a battle which is only going to intensify in the coming years. 

As I’ve written about before, public and school libraries are facing intense scrutiny over the materials they have on their shelves. Book bans are on the rise, and libraries and library staff are facing threats of violence, lawsuits, and even jail time. And things are going to get much, much worse. 

The Trump administration’s plans are detailed in Project 2025. This is not a document of hypotheticals; this is a road map. And this road map leads to, among other things, a direct attack on every Americans’ intellectual freedom. 

Project 2025 aims to dismantle the Department of Education, cancel funding for public services,  support censorship, and, potentially, jail teachers, librarians, and booksellers. 

That’s not hyperbole. Project 2025 classifies any LGBTQIA+ material as pornography, including picture books like the innocent And Tango Makes Three or non-fiction books intended for education, like This Book is Gay. If that wasn’t bad enough, librarians and others who distribute “pornography” to children may be required to register as sex offenders. 

Yes, you read that right. No, this is not me being melodramatic. Conflating LGBTQIA+ media with pornography is a tried and true tactic when it comes to censoring, challenging, and banning books. 

Nor am I exaggerating the potential legal consequences for librarians. So far, Indiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Montana have passed laws that say school staff, public librarians, and museum employees could be jailed and/or fined thousands of dollars for distributing “obscene” material to children. 

Book challenges and bans are only going to become more frequent. Moms For Liberty, right-wing group dedicated to banning books, is strongly supported by the Heritage Foundation [PDF] (the organization behind Project 2025), by providing them with financial and even legal support.

The final thing I want to talk about regarding Project 2025 and libraries is not nearly as dramatic as everything else, but it is no less crucial. Federal funding for public services is going to be greatly reduced, up to and including eliminating the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Most libraries already operate on string shoe budgets, and librarians and library staff are notoriously underpaid. Cutting federal funding is going to hurt the services that libraries offer, especially in rural and low-income areas. 

There is a big disconnect between politicians and their constituents in the perception of public libraries. They are valued community spaces with something for everyone – be it Talking Books for the blind, someone to walk you through an online job application, even just a safe place to exist. There’s a lot of love for libraries. In fact, there’s more public libraries than there are McDonald’s in the U.S.

To borrow some words from The Memeing Librarian: The library will always be here for you. So please be there for your library. 

I know that libraries are not going to be on the forefront of your mind as we go into this next big challenge together. However, there are simple, everyday things that you can do to support your library, free speech, and freedom of information. 

First, VOTE! Not just in big national elections, but state and local elections as well. Local elections determine so many things in your community, like commissioners, judgeships, school boards, and funding for public services like the library. 

Get a library card if you don’t already have one, and check out books. I know this seems obvious, but it’s really important. One of the things that determines funding for libraries is the number of members a library has, as well as circulation for books, DVDs, and other library materials. Some libraries even have “library of things” where you can borrow items like tools or cake pans, or seed libraries if you want to start your own garden. My library system also lends hotspots and backpacks with educational materials based on certain topics.

Attend library programs. Like I mentioned above, statistics are everything when it comes to securing funding. Library programs aren’t just for kids, either. There’s lots of stuff for adults and teenagers. Some popular recurring programs we have for adults are film discussions, “craft and chat” events, and English language learning events. Attendance is also a good way to show the library what you’re interested in seeing for future events. Many libraries also have teen advisory boards, where teens can give their input into library programs and earn community service hours. 

Volunteer. There is always something that needs to be done, whether it’s organizing books, preparing crafts for storytime, tutoring, or corralling kids during a craft-a-palooza. You could also join a Friends organization. Many libraries also have a Friends organization, which raises money for the library. Our Friends organization has helped pay for activities and guest presenters, like theatre performances and historical impersonators. 

Donate if you are able. Financial donations are obviously the most direct way you can give, but there are other things you can donate as well. Lightly used books that someone else might want to read (please don’t give us your old copy of Windows 95 for Dummies) may be added to the library’s collection or sold in a book sale to raise money. It doesn’t have to be just books, either. Last year, someone donated a huge box of Pokemon cards, which meant that every kid who attended a Pokemon program I ran got 2 cards to take home, and a holographic card if they registered for the Summer Reading Program. 

Give the library your feedback (but be nice about it). If you liked a program, if you hate the new signage, if we absolutely need to get this book or that movie. Most libraries also have online surveys and book order requests on their websites.

Tell your librarian what you love about the library. I love my job, but it’s not as easy as it looks, and there are times when I’ve fantasized about just walking out and never coming back. It’s the little wins, like helping a patron find the perfect book or a parent giving a compliment that helps us get through the day and reminding us why we do this. 

When you take a book off the shelf and decide you don’t want it, don’t put it back on the shelf. Don’t put it at the end of the shelf. Don’t leave it next to the self check-out. Please stop reshelving the books. Please. I’m begging you.

These next four years are going to be tough. Take care of yourself, take care of your loved ones, and take care of your library. 

Some sources and further reading: 

Project 2025 and Its Threat to Free Expression, Part 1 (PEN America)
Project 2025 and Its Threat to Free Expression, Part 2 (PEN America)
Project 2025 and Its Consequences for Libraries (EveryLibrary Institute, PDF)
Red states threaten libraries with prison — as blue states work to protect them (Washington Post)
Unite Against Book Bans (American Library Association)
Banned & Challenged Books (ALA)
Trans Rights Readathon
We Need Diverse Books



by booksoverlookedblog

Librarianing 101: Keep Calm and Weed On

Without in any way limiting the author’s exclusive rights under copyright, any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.

My husband once told me, “I love how excited you get over very boring things.” Explaining the intricacies of cataloging books or reading pages of library policy would be boring to most people, but they’re not to me. I can get into unprovoked deep dives on library science and the history of youth literature, because these are things that I care very much about. But when I get going, it turns out that most people also have at least a small amount of interest in the inner workings of a library. Instead of our normal book post today, I want to give everyone a peek behind the desk and talk about one of my favorite “boring” library things: collection development. Specifically, “deselecting” materials from the collection, called weeding. 

C’mon, I know you’re at least a little curious about how we decide to get rid of things. 

But first you need to accept a hard truth: libraries throw away books. Like, a lot of books. I know how bad this sounds. Libraries are supposed to safeguard these tomes and preserve them for the world to enjoy, right? Aren’t books precious gems that need to be saved? 

Excluding things like rare first editions and other historically important books…not really. For the vast majority of books, I think that their true value is what the reader gives them. While I’m not getting rid of anything on my personal bookshelf at home, just yesterday I happily discarded a little over thirty books without a twinge of guilt. 

While this may sound cruel to book lovers, weeding is essential to a healthy library collection. There’s the matter of space, of course: no library can fit every book its users might need. But it’s also a matter of relevance. One of those books I recently discarded was a book about A.I. that was published in 2005. A.I. is a very hot topic right now, and this is technology that will continue to shape our future. But an almost 20 year old book on the topic isn’t relevant anymore. Not only is the information in the book dated, it’s also inaccurate. Misinformation is just as bad as no information, if not worse. Weeding gives library staff an opportunity to assess the collection, and to see what needs to be updated and where gaps are. It’s a critical tool in curating a library collection that best suits the needs of its users. 

I have a love/hate relationship with weeding. Sometimes it feels great, and other times it’s really tough to make the decision of what book stays and which goes. 

How do librarians make that decision? There are a lot of factors involved in deselecting materials, and it’s best to make each decision on a book-by-book basis. 

The first thing I look at are the number of check-outs a book has, and the last time it was checked out. In library terms, we call these “grubby” and “dusty” or “dead” items. 

Grubby items are books and other materials with a lot of check-outs. Popular books that get checked out a lot are going to get worn down through the wear and tear of frequent handling. I’d love to believe that everyone treats their library books with respect and care. However, I’ve seen enough books returned with stains, torn pages, and (on a memorable occasion), live ants, so I know this is not the case. The more times a book has been checked out, the more likely it’s going to return with damage, especially if it’s a book for children. But even if nothing bad happens to those books while they’re checked out, it doesn’t mean that they’ll be in pristine condition after they’ve been checked out 50 times. Oils from our hands will get on the pages, spines can become unglued, chunks of pages can come loose or fall apart for no other reason than the fact that the book’s been used a lot. Then there’s the smell. You know it: the dusty smell of old books. If you love that smell, skip the next paragraph, because I’m about to ruin it for you. 

You know what that smell is? Human skin particles. Gross, but true. 

When I have a “grubby” book in hand, the first thing I do is check its condition. I look for torn pages, markings, damaged spines, stains, liquid damage, and, for some books, see if it passes the literal sniff test. The two grossest things I look for are mold and insects. These are both really bad things to find in a book. Mold doesn’t just present a potential health hazard. It spreads fast and can eat through entire library collections in no time. Get rid of moldy books quickly, before every book around it becomes a moldy book. 

If you find bugs in a book, hopefully they’re already dead. If you decide not to keep the book, then you’ll need to clean up the insect murder scene, make sure there are no survivors, and clean the book. Living bugs are a whole different story. There are plenty of critters who would just love to eat through those tasty, tasty pages. In fact, this is where the term “bookworm” comes from! Just like mold, bugs can literally eat their way through a library. Even insects that don’t eat books can be a problem. I spent way too long cleaning a picture book full of live ants. It was gross, time-consuming, and absolutely necessary. Insect invasions can lead to all kinds of problems for library staff and patrons. Once my library had to close due to wasps in staff areas. Turns out most people do not like their coffee covered in bees.

Determining whether to get rid of a grubby book can be challenging, since they  often become grubby due to popularity. In this case, ordering a new copy is usually the best option. However, this isn’t always possible. Funding to purchase new books might be limited, the book could be out of print, or the book might only be available in a format the library doesn’t want. For example, sometimes old picture books are no longer available in hardcover, and I can only purchase a softcover copy. Paperbacks are more easily damaged than hardcover, thin, softcover picture books can quickly be lost on the shelves between thicker books. When that’s the case, it may be time to say farewell to your much-loved book. 

“Dusty” or “dead” books are the opposite of “grubby” books. These are books that haven’t had a lot of check-outs, or books that haven’t been checked out in a long time. The definition of a “long time” depends on the library, but it’s typically between two to three years. While that’s a helpful guideline to start with, it’s by no means the only thing to take into consideration when deciding to keep or weed a book. 

First of all, low check-outs or no check-outs doesn’t mean that the book isn’t being used. It’s entirely possible that library patrons are looking at the book at the library instead of taking it home. Patrons may be reluctant or embarrassed to check out books about health, sexuality, gender identity, and other sensitive topics. This is especially true when it comes to books for teens, who may not feel safe or comfortable bringing these books home, and may not have access to them at school. 

Another consideration is the number of libraries nearby that have the same title. If a book you’re considering discarding is available in 15 other nearby libraries, you probably don’t need to hang on to it. But if you’re the only library in 30 miles who has this book, you’ll probably want to keep it, even if it doesn’t get a lot of circulation. 

You’ll also want to check the content of the book. If it’s a nonfiction book, it’s important to see how many books on the topic (or a similar one) you have. If it’s children’s nonfiction, you’ll also want to make sure you have books of varying complexity. The book a six-year-old needs to do his homework is going to be very different than the book an eleven-year-old needs, even if it covers the same topic. 

The content of the book also needs to be accurate and relevant. Some topics, like health and technology, change very rapidly, and books in those areas can become obsolete fast.

Content also matters in terms of fiction. For example, if I have to choose between a YA romance and a YA novel about drug abuse, I’m keeping the latter. Romance is always popular, which is why there’s always so much on the shelf. The book about drug abuse is probably not as much fun as a boy-meets-girl story, but it is something that is present in every community and too many families. I have always believed that fiction is a safe way to learn about a tough topic, and I try to keep books that deal with current issues on the shelf. It’s also important to have a diverse collection with books that feature characters with a variety of races, sexualities, backgrounds, and ideas. 

And that, in a nutshell, is weeding. 

Well, sort of. As I said before, deselecting materials should be done on an item-by-item basis. 

 “Grubby” and “dusty” aren’t the only criteria librarians use to decide whether or not to weed an item, but they are a helpful place to start.

Keep calm and weed on.