Image by Bogeskov. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Common’s licensing.
A few weeks ago, we had a spirited conversation after a fire drill about risk, and how far an employee should be expected to go when a college student will not vacate the university library during a fire drill. And what about if there had been a real fire? Should library staff be expected to risk their lives for patrons who will not comply with announcements to vacate the building? Needless to say, there were feelings expressed, and some with passion too! Let me tell you a story about risk and passion…..
I read a story about a children’s librarian in Queens (Miss Susan) who made a promise for her summer reading program. If at least 300 children registered and read at least 4,000 books over the summer, she would read a story to a live alligator! In past years she has made other outrageous promises too, made good on all of them, but this one topped the previous ones! Well, you guessed it, Miss Susan read “There’s an Alligator Under My Bed” by Mercer Mayer to Wally, a female alligator. Read the full story and please be aware that after hearing the story, Wally had no comment!
On October 5-6th, from 9-6 pm, you can join hundreds of book lovers. Sift through rows and stacks of materials on the hunt for missing pieces to your personal and/or professional collections.
Tip: If you plan to attend on behalf of your library, consider bringing a helper to watch over your finds. Also, if you intend on making several purchases, bring a cart to do the heavy carrying so you can keep your hands free.
Photo by mkh marketing and retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons license.
Publisher Weekly posted an article titled Teenage Tweetland, YA authors and publishers reach out to young readers where they live: online and on their smartphones which discusses the use of social media in relation to the publishing industry. What makes this post so interesting are the multiple perspectives/voices being projected; the young adult, the author, the publisher, etc.
A large sector of young adults use social media such as Twitter (20+ million), Goodreads (8+ million users under 30), Tumblr (22+ million users under 18), blogs, etc. to identify titles to add to their reading lists. Publishers themselves are posting upcoming book lists and must reads derived from data collected from sites “liked” or reviewed by their target audience. In addition, authors are engaging their readers by sending tweets not just about the finished publication but during the characters development process to heighten anticipation and ultimately entice continued readership. Simone Elkeles, author of Perfect Chemistry, states that she spends about 25% of her time writing and 75% of her time directly interacting with her fans. Authors like Sundee Frazier find it daunting to engage in social media platforms stating, “I’m not the sort of person who can just fire off tweets. My first priority is writing my stories.”
This highly personalized and direct marketing creates a digital dialog with readers-especially young readers who are confident and enthusiastic about technology. It also creates a feeling of being connected, albeit virtually, using a system that has been known to inversely foster physical isolation. This type of connection between writer and reader is becoming a growing expectation opposed to a preference. I suspect the key is finding a medium that works. As Patricia Post indicted in her editorial, From the Director, CMLE has recently begun to engage in various forms of social marketing (this blog) with our target audiences (libraries and library professionals) to acknowledge that libraries are key stakeholders in the ever present cycle of information development, access and sharing. Click here to read the full article (May 2013).
Tattoo World Day3! Photo by gnikoner and retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons license.
Tattoos have been in existence for centuries, connecting to most cultures across the globe. Today, in the United States, tattoos and the art of tattooing has become extremely fashionable. The images and thoughts they portray are akin to finger prints-unique, customized and relatively permanent.
Just for fun this week, CMLE links it’s members to images of 50 Incredible Tattoos Inspired by Books (link).
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