If you’ve been following this blog for any length of time, you may recall that I have sort of a love-hate relationship with what we here in the library like to call “Reader’s Advisory.” Don’t panic — I’m not going to rehash that whole thing!
Yet I had the coolest Reader’s Advisory experience here at the public library the other day, and now I’m dying to know if other librarians have experienced this, too. I’m going to call it “Librarian’s Advisory.” Here’s what happened: Continue reading
Wow, last night at the library I got my first reference question about… sex! I’ll give you a quick breakdown of the “reference interview”:
Patron: “Do you have any books about the human body?”
Me: “What aspect of the human body are you interested in? ”
Patron: Blank stare, shuffles awkwardly.
Me: “Are you looking for something like a general medical text?”
Patron: “… Yes.”
So, we head over to the 613s, and as we’re walking, the patron says: “Actually, I didn’t want to embarrass you in front of the other librarians, but I’m looking for books on sex.” Wow, ok! Continue reading
I’m so stoked to have this new job in the Circulation department of my new public library! It’s a very different experience from my position in Adult and Teen Services at my last library, which dealt mostly with library programming, education, and community outreach. This very different kind of library work is an eye opener, and I think it will make me a more well-rounded librarian when all is said and done. For starters: I never really realized before how physical library work can be! I’m not going to lie — I’m a pretty athletic lady. Yet my quads are literally ON FIRE after 5 1/2 hours of squatting to shelve books on the bottom shelf! Also, repetitive alphabet recall can be surprisingly stressful on the brain. There’s also a lot to learn about the politics of the sorting room. But I think my favorite part about working in circulation is the amout of face-to-face interaction I get to have with our library patrons at the check-out desk.
Sure, library work will always be about education and community building in my heart. But for now it’s also about getting materials where they need to be so that patrons can find what the heck they’re looking for, which might be a little bit more tedious, but is just as important. And even when it feels tedious, it somehow still manages to feel less tedious than my well-paid cubicle job from a few years back. I sure do ❤ my public library!
Well, it’s official: the Iowa City Public Library 2009 Carol Spaziani Intellectual Freedom Festival has come and gone. What a great month of events! I just want to say “thanks” to everyone who organized, presented, and attended the festival.
Be on the look out for a PATV / ICPL production of the IFF Remix event, remixed by presenter Tack-Fu himself. Also, shout out to presenter Kembrew McLeod, whose documentary “Copyright Criminals” will be airing on PBS in January, and presenter Pirate Radio, whose original radio drama “Citizen Q” premiers in Iowa City THIS SUNDAY, Oct. 18 at 11:oo pm on 87.9 FM.
Thanks also to fest co-sponsor University of Iowa School of Library and Information Science (SLIS), who did a couple of very awesome write-ups about the events “Public Libraries, Budget Cuts and Intellectual Freedom” and “IFF Remix“!
So I feel like it’s been the Intellectual Freedom Festival Channel over here lately! That’s ok, though, because I’m pretty keen on intellectual freedom.
Tomorrow is our second-to-last IFF event at the Iowa City Public Library (at noon in Meeting Room A), and this event is especially distinctive as it was conceived of, planned, and executed by Yours Truly.
So. . . . ! Tack-Fu is bringing his old 8-track to show us all how sampling is done creatively. (He was also making Kanye-Crashing-the-VMAs jokes during our email correspondence, so I honestly have no idea what to expect.) Pirate Radio will be there with bells on to tell us about how and why they broadcast original radio dramas and nightly bedtime stories without a license from the FCC. Kembrew McLeod from the U of I Communications Dept. is coming to wrap it all up by discussing ways that high license fees and legal intimidation make it harder for ordinary citizens in a democracy to “write” and “speak back” in multi-media contexts.
I’ll be there eating brownies. You could be there, too. We’ll all be eating brownies together.
I’m so excited I can hardly stand it – the Intellectual Freedom Festival kicks off this Friday at the Iowa City Public Library! The Fest is co-sponsored by the University of Iowa Library and Information Science Student Organization (LISSO), and the U of I Obermann Center for Advanced Studies.
What is Intellectual Freedom?
Intellectual Freedom is a basic human right, defined by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. The American Library Association affirms Intellectual Freedom as a basis for our democratic system and recognizes the important role libraries play in Intellectual Freedom issues. To be responsible citizens who have the ability to self-govern, we must be well-informed. Libraries provide information, ideas and resources in a variety of formats, enabling an informed citizenry.
Rachel Smalter Hall 