Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Born on a Blue Day
I'm reading Daniel Tammet's memoir, Born on a Blue Day which is excellent, but I won't review it here because I'm not yet finished. Mr. Tammet is an autistic savant, the subject of a documentary called Brain Man and came to my attention because of the profile on 60 Minutes a few weeks ago. His book is a rare look inside the mind of a person with Asperger's syndrome. Reading the book led me to his website Optimnem Blog which is not only an extension of his book in some ways but also his online store which sells language learning resources that he writes. He also wrote a very nice defense of libraries in this post, Libraries are Important. I like his succint way of expressing himself. By strange coincidence, the post was in response to an article by London Times journalist Helen Rumbelow, which had set me off into a rant in this blog a while ago. My reaction to Rumbelow's own rant was much more emotional than Mr. Tammet's. He writes very clearly and logically and makes an excellent case for libraries.
Reference Librarians finds answers to local mystery in minutes!
A patron called the BHPL Reference Department yesterday to ask us to find the name of a chemical plant located near the Passaic River in Berkeley Heights in the 1960's. After answering her question with some questions of our own, (we don't do this to be annoying, it's called the "Reference Interview") she divulged that there had been an explosion there that she remembered from her childhood when she lived nearby. After some fruitless googling, the online Historical New York Times was searched and instantly up popped an article: "Jersey Chemical Plant Damaged by Explosion," dateline July 19, 1966, Berkeley Heights, NJ. Bingo, instant success, a welcome experience for librarians, and apparently for the patron too. She told us when we called back that she was amazed it took us only a few minutes to find what she and her family had been looking for for years. Much mutual admiration of modern research resources ensued.
The point here is not to pat our own back exactly, but to express some frustration that people don't turn to librarians in the first place. While it may seem perverse to turn a successful patron interaction into an occassion for nagging, here it is: don't wait decades, call the Reference Department. It might take a few minutes, hours or longer, but we always try to get our, no - not man, our facts.
By the way, it was the Millmaster Chemical Company's Berkeley Chemical Department at 11 Summit Avenue. It exploded at 3:05 AM and calls from miles around came into local police stations. No one was hurt. The chemical being produced was "classified" information according to the article in the Dispatch from July 21, 1966. Our patron was awakened in her crib by the noise, she was three years old and still remembers it.
The point here is not to pat our own back exactly, but to express some frustration that people don't turn to librarians in the first place. While it may seem perverse to turn a successful patron interaction into an occassion for nagging, here it is: don't wait decades, call the Reference Department. It might take a few minutes, hours or longer, but we always try to get our, no - not man, our facts.
By the way, it was the Millmaster Chemical Company's Berkeley Chemical Department at 11 Summit Avenue. It exploded at 3:05 AM and calls from miles around came into local police stations. No one was hurt. The chemical being produced was "classified" information according to the article in the Dispatch from July 21, 1966. Our patron was awakened in her crib by the noise, she was three years old and still remembers it.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
More on Bill Bryson
The Guardian's Book Blog ran a piece praising Bill Bryson, which apparently is a risky thing to do in some literary circles.
"How I learned to stop worrying and love Bill Bryson "
"Bryson's crimes against art are to be easy, popular and a thoroughly decent sort. Oh, and he's always cracking jokes.
I realise that what I'm about to say may strike some readers as the literary equivalent of being entranced by Status Quo or nursing a passion for Jacob's Creek wine. Certainly (and shamefully) it's only recently that I have stopped sneering every time I hear this writer's name. But that's all changed now and I'm proud to state it openly: I like Bill Bryson"
Liking Bill Bryson may not be such a problem for average American readers as it is for British book reviewers who have "standards" to uphold. My online book group just finished reading and discussing Bryson's latest book, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, a memoir. Everyone in this group is part of the baby boomer generation, born in the early fifties. His recollections of growing up in the fifties in DesMoines, Iowa rang a bell for all of us. Literally, we had quite a discussion of what kind of bells and whistles our parents used to get us home by dinner after a day of unsupervised outdoor play in the neighborhood.
Here are some of our memories:
" kids [were more] independent and less scheduled. My father had an old US Army gong, probably WWI vintage, God knows where he got it, that he used to clang to get us all home for dinner. It was kind of embarrassing."
"My father (ex-marine) had a bosun's pipe, a form of whistle, that was very distinctive and also very embarassing! By age 10 or 11 my friends and I had a "roaming radius" of about a mile and a half in any direction from our houses, by foot or by bike."
"My mother had a two-tone whistle she did – and she could do it today and we would all come running. Our next door neighbor had a simple whistle which she blew in different codes depending on which kid she wanted. We all knew each others parent calls – and we all knew who needed to go home. "
" in Gladwyne our lunch and dinner call was the firehouse siren at noon and 6 pm. In Ardmore, we had to be home by the time the church bells finished ringing at 6 pm."
"We had an honest to god boater's FOG HORN to bring us home! It looked like a New Year's horn only was made of metal that my mother painted blue and made a much louder noise! One toot - time to come home. Two toots - hurry Three toots all at once - emergency, get home at once. I think my brother has the fog horn but I can't imagine any kid being far enough away to need one now."
That's the problem, no one would need any of these bells, whistles, horns or church bells these days. Kids are scheduled, tracked and on the electronic leash known as a cell phone.
"How I learned to stop worrying and love Bill Bryson "
"Bryson's crimes against art are to be easy, popular and a thoroughly decent sort. Oh, and he's always cracking jokes.
I realise that what I'm about to say may strike some readers as the literary equivalent of being entranced by Status Quo or nursing a passion for Jacob's Creek wine. Certainly (and shamefully) it's only recently that I have stopped sneering every time I hear this writer's name. But that's all changed now and I'm proud to state it openly: I like Bill Bryson"
Liking Bill Bryson may not be such a problem for average American readers as it is for British book reviewers who have "standards" to uphold. My online book group just finished reading and discussing Bryson's latest book, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, a memoir. Everyone in this group is part of the baby boomer generation, born in the early fifties. His recollections of growing up in the fifties in DesMoines, Iowa rang a bell for all of us. Literally, we had quite a discussion of what kind of bells and whistles our parents used to get us home by dinner after a day of unsupervised outdoor play in the neighborhood.
Here are some of our memories:
" kids [were more] independent and less scheduled. My father had an old US Army gong, probably WWI vintage, God knows where he got it, that he used to clang to get us all home for dinner. It was kind of embarrassing."
"My father (ex-marine) had a bosun's pipe, a form of whistle, that was very distinctive and also very embarassing! By age 10 or 11 my friends and I had a "roaming radius" of about a mile and a half in any direction from our houses, by foot or by bike."
"My mother had a two-tone whistle she did – and she could do it today and we would all come running. Our next door neighbor had a simple whistle which she blew in different codes depending on which kid she wanted. We all knew each others parent calls – and we all knew who needed to go home. "
" in Gladwyne our lunch and dinner call was the firehouse siren at noon and 6 pm. In Ardmore, we had to be home by the time the church bells finished ringing at 6 pm."
"We had an honest to god boater's FOG HORN to bring us home! It looked like a New Year's horn only was made of metal that my mother painted blue and made a much louder noise! One toot - time to come home. Two toots - hurry Three toots all at once - emergency, get home at once. I think my brother has the fog horn but I can't imagine any kid being far enough away to need one now."
That's the problem, no one would need any of these bells, whistles, horns or church bells these days. Kids are scheduled, tracked and on the electronic leash known as a cell phone.
Garden State Book Awards announced
The Children’s Services Section of the New Jersey Library Association announces the following recipients of the 2007 Garden State Children’s Book Award:
EASY-TO-READ BOOK: LOOSE TOOTH by Lola M. Schaefer, pictures by Sylvie Wickstrom
EASY-TO-READ SERIES BOOK: SECOND GRADE RULES, AMBER BROWN by Paula Danziger, illustrated by Tony Ross
FICTION, GRADES 2 - 5: THE LAST HOLIDAY CONCERT by Andrew Clements, cover art by Brian Selznick
NON-FICTION, GRADES 2 - 5: ACTUAL SIZE by Steve Jenkins
The Garden State Teen Book Awards have also been announced and are are posted on the NJLA website.
EASY-TO-READ BOOK: LOOSE TOOTH by Lola M. Schaefer, pictures by Sylvie Wickstrom
EASY-TO-READ SERIES BOOK: SECOND GRADE RULES, AMBER BROWN by Paula Danziger, illustrated by Tony Ross
FICTION, GRADES 2 - 5: THE LAST HOLIDAY CONCERT by Andrew Clements, cover art by Brian Selznick
NON-FICTION, GRADES 2 - 5: ACTUAL SIZE by Steve Jenkins
The Garden State Teen Book Awards have also been announced and are are posted on the NJLA website.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Ruth Harrison, Reference Librarian
A Prairie Home Companion features a recurring character, Ruth Harrison, Reference Librarian. Here is the link to the website with the script from the most recent show and also a link to the audio version of the skit. It's also possible to get podcasts of Garrison Keillor's monologs: the News from Lake Wobegon.
And now the news from Berkeley Heights Library Reference Desk where all the librarians are above average and none of them are as recalcitrant and regressive a luddite as Ruth Harrison, we hope.
Let's go through the reference department mail together, shall we? A plea for BHPL to purchase Key Signifier as Literary Device for only $99.95 by "the academic who coined the phrase at the 2005 international society..." Pretty sure that's too esoteric and academic for a small public library, especially for the price. Into recycling it goes. The Brookings Institution Press catalog, nice cover photo of the Tidal Basin with the Jefferson Memorial reflected in the water. Think I'll wait 'til the books get reviewed by an impartial source, pretty academic stuff, and pretty sure won't miss any bestseller by....recycling the Brookings. Next! Manila envelope marked "Time Sensitive Material." Looks like junk mail, but upon opening, turns out to be two packets of bookmarks from the Internal Revenue Service advertising the IRS website. Hmm. The binders of photocopiable forms and many other forms have not yet arrived, but we do have those all-important bookmarks. Come get them while supplies last. Next, more junk mail which turns out to be a bright purple desk planner to advertise a printer that will make promotional items. Unfortunately the library limits itself to inexpensive pens and pencils with our website and phone number on them. And so on. Junk mail, if you toss it without a peek, it might be important, if you take the time to open it, you often have wasted time. What to do? It's a gamble, a toss of the dice; an instant triage of cost/benefit of one's time is required for each piece of mail cleverly disguised to look as though it might be important.
And now the news from Berkeley Heights Library Reference Desk where all the librarians are above average and none of them are as recalcitrant and regressive a luddite as Ruth Harrison, we hope.
Let's go through the reference department mail together, shall we? A plea for BHPL to purchase Key Signifier as Literary Device for only $99.95 by "the academic who coined the phrase at the 2005 international society..." Pretty sure that's too esoteric and academic for a small public library, especially for the price. Into recycling it goes. The Brookings Institution Press catalog, nice cover photo of the Tidal Basin with the Jefferson Memorial reflected in the water. Think I'll wait 'til the books get reviewed by an impartial source, pretty academic stuff, and pretty sure won't miss any bestseller by....recycling the Brookings. Next! Manila envelope marked "Time Sensitive Material." Looks like junk mail, but upon opening, turns out to be two packets of bookmarks from the Internal Revenue Service advertising the IRS website. Hmm. The binders of photocopiable forms and many other forms have not yet arrived, but we do have those all-important bookmarks. Come get them while supplies last. Next, more junk mail which turns out to be a bright purple desk planner to advertise a printer that will make promotional items. Unfortunately the library limits itself to inexpensive pens and pencils with our website and phone number on them. And so on. Junk mail, if you toss it without a peek, it might be important, if you take the time to open it, you often have wasted time. What to do? It's a gamble, a toss of the dice; an instant triage of cost/benefit of one's time is required for each piece of mail cleverly disguised to look as though it might be important.
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