Summer Reading Programs

Today I'm unabashedly tooting the horn of my library and other libraries around the country.  With summer just a couple of days away, summer reading programs are about to start or have already started.  My library began registering kids, teens, and adults for our program this past June 1st, and we're still registering readers.

The library staff and I are always excited about the summer reading program.  Quite naturally, we're happy to see more people of all ages reading.  We value reading as an activity that's entertaining, enriching, and educating.  Often, people don't have as much time as they would like to have for reading, but summer vacations at home, on the beach, in the mountains, or wherever give people more time to relax with a good book.

It's great to see adults enjoy the books they choose, but it's especially great to see young readers just being introduced to the library become giddy about getting their first library books.  Some are so enthusiastic about getting their books that they don't want to relinquish them for checkout.  I sometimes have to reassure the kids that they'll get their books back in a moment.

I absolutely love seeing young readers march back into the library all smiles and full of pride when they turn in their reading logs.  They have a real sense of accomplishment that they did something good and fun.  They may not realize it, but the reading they're doing is improving their vocabulary, their spelling, and their writing, as well as their overall thinking and reasoning abilities.  Reading is putting them on the fast track to doing well in school and later in life.

So, if you want to help develop your kids' reading habit or support your own, go to your library and take part in the summer reading program.  At the risk of sounding cliche, you'll be glad you did.

Busy taking reading blogs at the perch.

 

Fifty Shades of Dull

Sitting here on the perch I see a lot of books, and I mean A LOT of books.  So I learn what's popular with the patrons firsthand.  Sometimes I get curious when I see a book going out so many times, and when that happens I usually end up reading it to see what my patrons find interesting.  Like my patrons, I too am a reader with her own personal tastes and opinions of books.  With that in mind, what I have to say next is simply my own personal impression of a particular book; I do not mean to influence anyone's decision to read this book or criticize anyone's opinion of this book.

I recently read E. L. James' Fifty Shades of Grey, the popular "it" book of the moment.  I'd like to summarize this book for you, but honestly I find that a rather difficult task because despite its 500 plus pages there's not really much of a story to summarize.  To put things simply, girl interviews boy, girl and boy are attracted to each other, girl finds out boy is into kinky sex, girl still wants boy even though he gets high from causing her physical pain.  O...kay...?

Maybe it's just me, but I have a hard time understanding why there's so much buzz about this book.  Sure, there's the obvious shock value and BDSM going on, but beyond those things, I don't see much else.  I enjoy reading fluff like the Twilight series (which surprisingly was the inspiration for Fifty Shades of Grey), but fluff for me has to have some substance, even if it's only minimal.  Other than a lot of sex scenes (that get ho-hum after reading the first few), repetition, mundane writing, and little character development, James' book is a shallow read that made think, "What did I get out of those 500 plus pages?"  If anything, I was amazed that any woman would want to be with a man who wants to hit and hurt her (I don't care that the man is obscenely rich and has his own private jet).  That's not sexy to me; that's just plain abuse.

One library in Florida pulled Fifty Shades of Grey from its shelves claiming it didn't fit its selection criteria only to return it to the shelves due to high patron demand.  As a librarian, I feel this book deserves to be offered in libraries like any other book.  Just because it's not my cup of tea doesn't mean that I don't want other people to read it if they choose to do so.  To not offer it would be to censor it, and censorship is definitely not what American libraries are about.  Library patrons have the right to read whatever they like; that's one of the beauties of living in the United States and enjoying the freedom of speech.

And if you have your own opinion of Fifty Shades of Grey, I'd love to hear from you.

Pondering the mysteries of the universe on the perch.

The Benefits of Bibliotherapy

Many of us read books for pure enjoyment, entertainment, or interest in a subject.  Some of us read books for therapeutic reasons, otherwise known as bibliotherapy. 

At times you may be going through a rough spell, whether it's a divorce, the death of a loved one, or a serious illness in the family.  Other times you might feel like you're the last single woman on earth or the only nerdy guy around who doesn't have six-pack abs.  We all want to feel that there are other people around who have experienced what we're experiencing, that we're not alone in this thing called life.  We want to see that there are people just like us out there and learn how they handle predicaments.  This is at the heart of bibliotherapy.

The whole purpose of bibliotherapy is to make yourself feel better about yourself and your outlook through reading books.  You may possibly find helpful fiction through a friend, librarian, television program, or on your own.  You may also find some useful non-fiction, self-help books through a therapist, counselor, or some other professional to help you understand and deal with a situation you're facing.

And bibliotherapy is for everyone.  It's not something that's reserved strictly for adults.  Many teachers and schools are using bibliotherapy to help young children and teens with different issues, from expecting a baby brother or sister to bullying.  It's a way to address a subject and bring it out into the open, making it easier for youngsters to discuss what they're feeling.

Bibliotherapy is a growing area, and there are some great websites that have bibliotherapy book lists on various topics:

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

The Guardian

Library Booklists

VA Bibliotherapy Resource Guide

Whether your bibliotherapy is entertaining or deep, may it be enlightening and spiritually uplifting!

Positively yours from the perch.

The Internet Public Library

I'm sure you've all missed me when I was off the perch nursing a cold last week.  How you managed without a new blog post from yours truly is a mystery to me.  Happily, I'm back with a new post to brighten up your day!  Please remain calm; don't get too excited.

As some of you may know, from time to time I tell you about interesting websites for your research, enrichment, or amusement.  Well, the website I'm sharing with you today covers all three of those categories.  It's the Internet Public Library (a.k.a. IPL2) and there are adult, teen, and child versions of it.

What's so special about the IPL2?  If you've ever felt flabbergasted searching for information on the Internet and weren't sure if some websites were trustworthy, the IPL2 is there to come to your aid.  The website is put together by library information students as well as other library and information professionals who have combed the web for sites that are dependable. 

If you know what you need, you can just type keywords in the search box and you'll be given a list of reliable links to websites and articles included in the IPL2.  If you just want to have some fun and browse around, you can check things out by subject or you can get links to newspapers and magazines  around the world.  Personally, I get a kick looking up trivia information on states through the Special Collections.  Can't stump me if you ask what is the state with the lowest population density!

So, check out the IPL2 if you have a school project to do or just want to kill some time.  You'll be glad you did. 

Brushing up on trivia on the perch.

The Issue of Overdue Library Items

I'm questioning myself, "Do I really need to talk about keeping track of library items and returning them on time?  People should know that if they borrow something from somebody or someplace, they need to return it eventually."  Unfortunately, I do need to talk about returning items on time since there are a number of people out there who don't. 

Generally, I find that library patrons fall into 3 groups: the on-timers, the slightly late, and the incredibly overdue.  The on-timers return their library whatnots on time.  All of us on the library staff love the on-timers.  The slightly late return their things a few days up to a week late because of a family emergency, broken down car, something unexpected, or honest forgetfulness.  They are all apologetic and more than willing to explain why they couldn't return their items on time.  Sometimes they even bring us cookies to make up for their lateness (FYI, my favorite is chocolate chip).  Then there's the incredibly overdue, the ones who haven't returned their library materials in two months or in two years (I kid you not).  Patrons in this category often have lost the items and don't want to face the music or have (seriously) moved out of state and can't be reached.  There are, however, some belonging to the incredibly overdue who actually do return their items, for which we are grateful.

It's not always an easy task to get the incredibly overdue to return items.  Just ask my colleague, who regularly handles these patrons.  She psyches herself each time before making phone calls to notify patrons of their overdues in an ever-so-pleasant way.  Sometimes the patrons take the news of their delinquency well, while others do not. 

Since our library doesn't charge fines, we rely primarily on the kindness of our patrons (and some polite badgering) to return materials.  Other libraries charge fines or even report their patrons to the police, who in turn jail some offenders.  In the Middle Ages when books were rare and painstakingly made, curses were put on anyone who "stealeth, or borroweth and returneth not" a book, having that person "be struck with palsy, and all his members blasted."  I don't know the statistics of returns during that time, but with curses like that, I would assume they were pretty good.

Believe me when I say that we librarians don't enjoy hunting down people to have our items returned.  We just want our materials back so other people can enjoy them and get use from them.  A library's items are meant to be shared among everyone; they're not exclusive to any one person.  Please return your library materials on time.

Diplomatically yours from the perch.