Miss Jackie Becomes a Librarian (Or, How I Left Publishing and Learned to Love the Library)

It might seem strange to some people that after having a "career" in publishing for almost ten years I decided to jump ship. I say career in quotations because it wasn't really going anywhere, to be honest.
I knew that working in a library was my first love, but I had a different set of priorities back in the day.

My first library job was at my undergraduate university. I was still working in retail during my first year at school. It didn't help my grades, as the job wasn't exactly sympathetic to studying and exams. I saw in the summer that the library was hiring. I applied, not sure whether I would hear back or not. A few weeks later, I did! I had my interview, and was hired that day. My supervisor was amazing. She taught me everything I needed to know. I was a student worker in Access Services, which included the circulation desk, inter-library loan, and the reserve room. The summers were quiet, but I would shelve books and shelf read. I would listen to music and do my thing. Occasionally I would work the desk and check out materials. I loved it. Best of all, the library understood exam weeks, papers, and everything else associated with school. I made friends, got to know professors who came in-and started to listen to all library-related talk.  I loved the library so much that I worked there four years as an undergraduate (it took me five years to graduate-oops). My final year at school I left the circulation desk for the reserve room. I just needed a change and something a bit quieter while I really hit the books to graduate. But in all that time, I considered the library my second home and my second family. I still talk to some of the people there today!

It was a sad day when I graduated and I couldn't work there anymore. I was intent on getting my Masters in English, then going on to a PhD so I could be a professor. I remember talking to a friend in the English program. She wanted a Masters as well, but was going for Library Science. It mystified me, as she had never worked in a library before-nor had she ever talked about any interest in libraries. She went her way, and I went mine (she is now a very well known librarian in my state. And even though we lost touch after grad school, I wonder if our paths will cross now that I'm in the same field as her again).

I was disappointed in the Masters program I was enrolled in. While I was supposed to be working on my thesis, I was hired back at the academic library-this time not as a student worker, but as a university assistant. I loved working in the technical processing department, doing copy cataloging and checking for book errors in the system. I was six credits shy of my degree when my mother unexpectedly passed away. I lost the will to return to school. Now needing money, I focused on getting a job instead. I found one as a production editor for a very small independent publishing company. I stayed for 9 months. It just wasn't for me. I had ideas and plans, and no one at the company supported me. After that job, I would move on to two other positions in the publishing world, for eight years. I was unhappy, underpaid, and overworked. I needed a change, and left the publishing world behind, never to look back. I decided to focus my time and energy on going back into the library field.

I was lucky to get two part-time jobs right away, both at public libraries. I gained experience in Tech Services, cataloging, working the circulation desk, and children's services. I worked as a clerk, (and still work there one or two days a week now), and then got hired as a children's assistant at yet another library. At this point, it only seemed natural to get my degree in Library Science. I knew I would never truly do what I wanted to do without that education.  The best thing about working in the library, though? I LOVE it. It's fun! I was able to conduct story times and read to children, plan a superhero program, do crafts with the children, and other things. I absolutely love talking to patrons about books. I go home with a smile on my face. It's a rewarding job, and I like helping people. What could be better than that?

I'm now working as an assistant in a high school media center, and while it isn't what I plan to do permanently, I'm gaining experience. I am fortunate that it is a full-time job in a nice school district. However, I do miss the regular patron interaction and planning programs as a children's assistant. But, I am still happy at the end of the day. My tears have stopped, and I can finally be a person who says, "Yes. I love my job."

On Banned and Challenged Books

Recently, a high school in the next town over from me in Connecticut removed the book The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky from the school curriculum. The book will remain in the library, but after one parent complained about the content, the school board decided to remove it. Cases like this make me angry, as it seems such a senseless and uneducated thing to do. When one parent objects out of an entire class, is it fair to deny the rest of those students that book to read? Why can't the one student read something different?

We are in an age now where teenagers are exposed to everything through TV and social media. Is anything in The Perks of Being a Wallflower any worse than what they might watch on MTV or the news? Is it better to shelter teenagers, or have them read "real life" young adult novels?

I became extremely interested in the act of banning and challenging books is schools and libraries after I started working as a children's assistant. I knew of Banned Book Week, but after putting up a display with commonly challenged books I started following the stories more closely. I was amazed at some of the children's books that are challenged or banned. Books such as Captain Underpants, The Giver, And Tango Makes Three, and almost every Judy Blume book. I believe in the freedom to read, and to expand the minds of young people. That is not to say that familiar and great classics such The Great Gatsby and To Kill a Mockingbird  should not be taught, but that times are changing, and perhaps the reading lists should reflect that. In the high school I work at, Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak, a book about sexual assault and bullying, is required reading by freshmen.

That is not to say our library doesn't have its challenges. We have to tread lightly with certain books, especially manga and comics, for "mature content." The Walking Dead collection was taken off the shelves, and certain manga titles I donated from my own collection were not fit for the shelves. When I questioned my supervisor on this saying, "But we have Gone Girl and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," he understood my confusion. He pointed out that "the parents can't see pictures of what is going on in those books-if they look over their child's shoulder and see a zombie attack or sexual content in The Walking Dead, they will complain." It confused me, all right. Parents will only pay attention to pictures, and not words in some cases?

It bothers me that parents would want to shelter their teenagers from "real world" problems and issues, such as mental health, drugs, or sex. If they can't read about it in a well-written young adult novel, is it better they are exposed to it through MTV or reality TV or movies? The books in the high school aren't exactly Fifty Shades of Grey. They are intense, intelligent, and worth reading.

In conclusion, I was happy to read that people were protesting the removal of the book from the curriculum. Do I believe it will be reinstated? Sadly, no. But it makes me happy that people are taking notice and expressing their disappointment, and fighting for their right to read. Articles are below if you are interested in reading them.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2015/0319/The-Perks-of-Being-a-Wallflower-is-taken-out-of-classrooms-at-a-Connecticut-high-school

http://www.myrecordjournal.com/wallingford/wallingfordnews/7048470-129/groups-protest-wallingfords-decision-to-remove-the-perks-of-being.html

On the Social Media Thing...

My experience using social media goes back to my undergraduate days, when I joined LiveJournal. LiveJournal was just what it implied-an online journal or diary. It could be entirely private, it could be public and shared with friends. I kept up with it for almost five years, when it seemed to drop off the face of social media. When I attended graduate school the first time, back in 2004, everyone was using Friendster. I was entirely confused about the concept-it just seemed like a way to add people to a list and keep in contact with them. You didn't really write journal entries, or post anything fun. It almost like Classmates.com, the website to keep in touch with old friends from school.

After my initial confusion of Friendster, I found out about Myspace. I joined Myspace in 2005 and it seemed like a fun website. I used it mostly to follow my friends, post quizzes and memes, and post videos. It almost seemed like an online journal of sorts. But then...I kept on hearing about my friends and co-workers talk about Facebook. I had resisted Facebook for a long time. I just didn't want to get involved. Most of my friends were on it incessantly, and kept on bugging me to join. Well, I caved. And that was basically the end of my Myspace page!

I still have my Facebook page (along with Twitter, which I talked about in an earlier post) but it is a private page. I only friend people I actually know and am comfortable with. I don't post as much as I do in the early days, but it's still fun to keep up with my friends.

There are two forms of social media I just never caught on to: LinkedIn and Tumblr. I never got the hang of LinkedIn, nor did it ever suit my job searching or networking needs. Tumblr always confused me. Any time I would go on a Tumblr page it would have a bunch of animated gifs. I didn't see the point. Libraries are using it more and more now, so I'm willing to take another look at it.

I think one of the things that annoys me about social media is that it can contain too much information. I do not like the idea of "checking into" places. Nor do I need to know when a friend of mine is visiting every Starbucks on the Eastern sea board. You want to eat at McDonald's? Good for you! But who else cares? Not this person. Twitter has the same kind of drawback, where people will feel the need to "live tweet" events. Some things I understand, like an award show (especially if people can't watch it at the time) or sporting event. But then there are the people who live tweet every step of their day, or every line from a t.v. show. That's when I gently hit the greatest invention Twitter ever came up with: the Mute button. It lets you quiet people without unfollowing them. Genius!

I believe overall the best part of social media is that it really has let me connect with people from my past. I studied in England as an undergraduate, and made friends with a bunch of fantastic people. After we fell out of touch through email, I found them again on Facebook. The same goes for people I went to school with as a child. That being said, I'm still a believer in old-fashioned communication, and I get together with friends as often as I can. Facebook is great for long distance, and Twitter is even better for people you share interests or hobbies with, but might not necessarily have a long last friendship. So far now, I'm one with social media, and curious what the next big thing will be.

MUVE and Gaming

This semester I learned what a MUVE is. Well, technically I kind of knew what a  MUVE (multi-user virtual environment) was, I just didn't know the actual definition. While I don't really engage in them myself, I know of Minecraft, a very popular MUVE. My friend's son is obsessed with the game, and brought it with him when we went out to lunch recently. He showed me his world, how he built it, and what he could do with it. I was impressed because it really gets people involved and is creative. I think they are a great idea for libraries and offer something other than a traditional video game. Any kind of game that gets kids thinking and being creative is always a positive thing.

Even though I don't play Minecraft or traditional MUVEs, I am still a gamer. I've been playing games since my father brought home our first system, when I was around 5 years old: The Intellivision. As the years went on, the consoles got more sophisticated. My father introduced my love of video games, and when he bought a Nintendo, I thought nothing could ever beat that. That was until he came home from working in New York City late one night and had a very special game with him. A game we had seen advertised, and came in a special gold cartridge.

image courtesy of ign.com

No other game franchise would endear itself to me like the Legend of Zelda. I still play all of the games in the series, to this day. Although I would classify myself as a Nintendo super-fan, I do also have an Xbox 360 and a PS3 in my house. I play everything from role playing games to puzzle games to platformers. I tend to stay away from first person shooters, as the genre has never done anything for me. Another favorite series of mine, is Animal Crossing, which could be described as a MUVE-light. In Animal Crossing, you are a human who creates a village occupied by...animals. You can fish, celebrate holidays and birthdays, and build. The game takes place in real-time, so it reflects whatever the date is on your gaming system.

There is a video game club that meets at the high school media center where I work, and the turnout has been great. I love that it is more "mainstream" to see video games in libraries now. One of my goals is to buy a Wii U system for the media center, and have the kids branch out by playing with clubs from other schools in the area, and try to attend meet-ups and conventions. 

If I am so lucky as to become employed as a children's librarian, I would love to start up a video game club if the library doesn't already have one. Games like Mario Kart, Smash Bros., Guitar Hero, and others have a way of bringing teens together and creating a fun environment for them. 

Social Media

Facebook vs. Twitter

I've had a Facebook account and a Twitter account for a good many years now. I enjoy both of them, but I tend to keep my Facebook more private. I have a very small circle of friends on my Facebook account, and use it for posting pictures and the various status updates. My twitter is not a private account, and I follow and am followed by many people I don't know personally. I like that I can write a longer or more updated post on Facebook, but sometimes the 140 character limit on Twitter is just what I need. Both are fun and easy to use, but I definitely spend more time on Twitter and have more fun with it.

I believe both Twitter and Facebook are great for the library industry, as I follow the ALA, Library Journal, individual authors, and many more involved with library science. I always get up to date information on the industry and important news and articles. However, there is also a lot of fun things to do with both Twitter and Facebook, as the IUPUI Twitter account let me know that they would be attending the Indiana Comic-Con.

Since I am a big nerd, this made me extremely happy. When I was at New York Comic Con, I visited the ALA booth and chatted with the representatives there about school and my library career. I love that libraries are branching out and reaching out to "nerds" like myself by visiting Cons and talking to people.

The IUPUI Facebook page has the more "social" feel to it. Right away you see other people's pictures, who comments, etc. I did enjoy the article they linked to about 3-d printing and pancakes. :)

Both have pros and cons, but I've felt that using Twitter has helped me more in my chosen profession. I've met people in the library industry, and just became more aware of what is going on and who the important people are. Twitter is my "fun" medium, where I can express myself more freely and be casual, where I tend to be a little more formal on Facebook. I have toyed with the idea of making separate Twitter accounts (do people really want to hear me talk about books and video games?) but for now I will keep my one account.

Book Review: The Bunker Diary

I just finished reading The Bunker Diary, by Kevin Brooks. The book is a YA thriller/suspense, at around 200 pages. I had read good things about it, and knew that it won the Carnegie Medal. Not that winning awards necessarily means I will enjoy the book, but I usually take it into consideration as a whole. I also read there was some controversy surrounding the book, and that just drew me in even more. I'm a bit of a moth to a flame when controversial YA books get published.

The Bunker Diary is the story of Linus, a 16-year old runaway who lives on the streets of London. Linus is not a typical runaway; his father is a rich and famous cartoonist, and he ran away to leave his father and his world behind him. One day while trying to play good Samaritan, Linus is drugged, locked in the back of a van and deposited in a bunker.  As the days go on, more people are deposited in the bunker with him: Jenny, a 9-year old girl, Fred, a recovering drug addict, and so on.

The story is told from Linus' point of view, and I was engrossed the entire time. I wouldn't say I "enjoyed" the story, as it is hard to like a story of this kind. I was with it until the very end. There are many questions regarding their kidnapper (who is he? What is his motive? Is he even real or a figment of Linus' imagination?) but we never learn anything of him. What frustrated me the most was the absolute savagery of the story. It just seemed to not have a point in the end. Is it a cautionary tale to avoid talking to strangers? For such a short novel, the characters are drawn out and we start to care about them-perhaps too much, as my mouth was left hanging open at the very last page of the book. Take caution: this is not a feel-good read.

Welcome!

Welcome to my first blog post. I'm Jackie, and I'm in my first semester of my MLS program at Indiana University-Purdue. For the past few years I've had a couple of part-time library jobs: working in cataloging and technical services, a clerk, and as a children's assistant. I've always loved working in libraries, and it just seemed to make sense to finally go back to school and get my Masters in Library Science. I'm currently a library assistant in a high school media center, but I hope to become a children's librarian when I am finished with school. This blog is partly for a school assignment, but I think I have a lot of things to talk about.

Besides loving books and reading, I also love comics, anime, cartoons, video games and travel. I have a 12-year old miniature dachshund, Charlie, and I live in Connecticut. I love reading juvenile and YA, but I'm pretty open minded about what I'll read.

My first assignment was to create a nifty little Voki, so please enjoy it below. I also plan on including book reviews, tales from library school, stories about work, and other musings. I am also on Twitter @JacksBee. I don't strictly stick to library talk, though, so be prepared for anything unfiltered.

In the meantime, remember the wise words below: