Library people love books, and they usually tend to own quite a few. Keeping these books organized can present challenges, especially if you own a lot of them.
This article from Buzzfeed has some really unique, yet totally do-able ideas for organizing and displaying your books. Check it out and discover:
using an old ladder as a shelf and wall decoration
incorporating plants into your bookshelves
using rope lights to highlight your collection
Follow the hashtag #bookshelf on Instagram for more pretty inspiration, or check out this article that features 15 Instagram accounts especially for book lovers.
And of course, Pinterest has a wealth of bookshelf ideas to enjoy. Just be warned – you could spend a lot of time perusing all the shelving options!
Orville watches over some of the books and plants here at CMLE Headquarters. Do you have your books or bookshelves organized in an interesting display? Send us a picture!
A librarian is looking for some help identifying a book for one of her patrons. If you can identify it for her, send us an email and we will pass your info along!
“I had a patron in this morning looking for help finding a book she read as a child – This book would have been published roughly 50+ years ago. I think it would be a jFic but cannot be sure. Here is what we have to go on: The book focuses on a group of young boys. There is an older man they interact with. They are somewhat fearful of him and he serves them sassafras tea. There was possibly a tree involved in the story at some point – maybe the boys hid in it?”
We have already established that library people are extremely cool, and naturally other people have taken notice of that! Libraries and library people are represented prolifically in popular culture. Last week we talked about libraries in the comics. And we are also well represented across all types of pop culture: books, movies, games, TV shows.
Pop culture is not just for fun (though, of course that would be fine!); there are many academic areas of study looking at aspects of pop culture. The Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association holds annual conferences for people involved in pop culture scholarship from across the country, as well as smaller regional conferences.
Of course, they have a section just for Libraries, Archives, and Museums! (Disclaimer: I have presented twice at their annual conferences. And it was fantastic!!)
One of my studies looked at the images of library people in pop culture, to see what kind of images people in our profession were identifying with as part of their own professional image. If you would like to build up your own reference collection of library pop culture images, here are some of their suggestions (not in any order): Continue reading Libraries and Pop Culture: A Natural Partnership!→
As always, CMLE works to keep you informed on news around the profession. In this case, we are sharing the official American Libraries Association (ALA) stand on recent actions taken by the new administration because we want you to know what is happening, and to give you some ideas and details from your professional body. CMLE is not a political organization, but we support the values of the profession, including a free flow of information; and we always support the best libraries and the best service to our communities!
There are links you can use here to build your own advocacy skills, and of course we are always happy to help you in advocating for your library and for your community!!Talk to your legislators, and other stakeholders, to be sure your own voice is heard!
If it has been a while since you read through our professional Code of Ethics, this is a good time to do so. (We have the entire thing after the page break, for your convenience!)
Today the library profession begins Banned Book Week! CMLE will provide information to you each day this week, from September 25 − October 1, 2016.
This is the week we band together to draw attention to the issue of books and information being banned from our patrons. As a profession devoted to distributing information, and connecting great materials with our patrons, any sort of censoring of that process is troublesome to us. We support the freedom to read, and intellectual freedom, across genres, platforms, and formats.
Today we are looking at the resources the American Library Association’s website provides to us.
Do you have questions about this topic? A handy Q&A has been provided for you. Talking about censorship, banning books, and restricting freedom to read for some or all patrons can be tough. It can be hard to bring it up in your library with your colleagues, and hard to discuss with patrons. ALA provides you with some content to share and discuss, and some suggestions about spreading ideas of intellectual freedom. You can also follow the ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom on Twitter. It is filled with facts and information, as well as fun displays and activities libraries around the country are doing!
How can you get involved in publicizing banned books? Check out this information about making your own videos for the Virtual Read Out! Your library can participate, and you can bring in your patrons if they want to share in the video making experience.
Many libraries are doing interesting programming for this week, and there is a lot of great information being shared in advance. You can look at the things libraries and librarians are contributing here. And you can share the contributions from your library here.
Sadly, book challenges happen all the time, so we need to be aware of banned book information the other 51 weeks of the year. You can get involved, and learn more about the issue – before you have professional problems in your library.
Does all of this make you want to have Banned Book Week swag in your library or for yourself? The ALA has you covered! Check out all the material available, and see what you might want now, or get started planning out next year’s displays!
Intellectual freedom is a continuing struggle, and libraries of all sorts are on the front lines. You need support and information to help you in providing the best possible resources to your community, and CMLE and the ALA are here to help you!
Partnering with libraries for visioning, advocating, and educating
Orville watches over some of the books and plants here at CMLE Headquarters. Do you have your books or bookshelves organized in an interesting display? Send us a picture!
