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NYPL's Holiday Gala is really fun! A $40 donation gets you two tickets and all the other benefits of being a Friend of the Library. Free access to information is a right, not a commodity. NYPL's provided the largest digital divide initiative in a public library setting, in the country. We do good things. Come party with us.
From 365gay.com, this great article featuring Jessamyn, as a representative of all the librarians out there who defend free speech and protect open access to information.
Today we went to Happy Happy Happy and talked to Joe (of Joe and the Magician). He was listening to old-time radio shows on the internet, of the hard-boiled detective variety. I mentioned that when I was little, I used to listen to the Cinnamon Bear show on the car radio with my dad, which I haven't thought about in years. The Cinnamon Bear is a children's show from 1937 which follows twins Judy and Jimmy who lose the Silver Star from the top of their tree and have to find it with the help of Paddy O'Cinnamon. I'm not sure, but I think the show inspired Cinnamon Bear candy, and even if you've never heard of the show, the words "cinnamon bear" make everyone's eyes light up.
Last spring, this 13-year old boy, who was in the 4th grade, who was really sweet but always looked a little bored, and would just sit by the information desks wanting someone to talk to (we tried to get him to read, but he really didn't want to), decided he liked to play chess.
We have a lot of these kids-- they're as attention deprived as my grandma, and just really need something to do. Also like my grandma, they get into trouble when they're bored (grandma stories deserve their own posts-- check back next week).
A few weeks earlier I'd decided that chess would make a great program because there didn't need to be any preparation time. From our point of view, it was just a matter of putting a staff member in the community room with a bunch of chess boards to encourage honest and fair games, and keep peace. Cost-wise, we borrowed the chess boards from another branch, and so the only price was an hour of staff time. Considering we regularly got 15-20 kids playing, this worked out to something like $1/kid/hour (see librarydust.typepad.com for a discussion of our low salaries), which seemed well worth it.
So, this 13-year old came to the chess program and really loved it. After a few weeks I watched him play, and noticed he was castling, which we hadn't taught them. He explained that he read about it in one of our chess books! And then said he'd finished reading all our chess books in the children's and adult's rooms! We put some on hold for him, from other branches.
It warmed this librarian's heart. The kid is in 5th grade now, and still asks to borrow a chess board every day when he comes after school.
When I got to my branch a year and a half ago, there was a giant hole in the adult room's ceiling. We had a ton of water damage from the leaking, and there was crumbling paint, peeling plaster and dust bits. On the other hand, it was a beautiful branch, built in 1936, with two fireplaces, built-in wooden book shelves and a pretty nice layout. I was completely appalled that a historic, beautiful building was so damaged from flooding.
The long story involves lots of email, visits from upper management, calls to union reps, and a lot of hard work by the staff and our branch supporters and advocates.
When I first started asking about the roof, one of my fellow branch managers explained she first noticed a leak in her branch when she was pregnant with her first child-- the kid had just turned eleven. She said not to hold my breath.
So, I'm completely proud of my first accomplishment (and all the hard work from my staff and everyone else who sent in their letters and email and advocated on our behalf)-- the roof work started this week! In six weeks, come on up to the Bronx and visit!
Thursday November 17th at 7pm, at the South Court Auditorium.
We're selling captured roaches and pieces of flaked linoleum in exchange for a contribution towards a new kitchen. We can't stand it anymore. Because you know tiny kitchens in NYC are barely tolerable, and because you love your friendly librarians and want to donate to our efforts... we promise to start a kitchen blog, like the marathon blog, only this time we'll really write in it. Like the first marathon, where we actually posted every day.
On that note... we planned to keep a marathon training journal for Chicago. We even started it. But we didn't actually follow any plan-- we just tried to run 3-4 miles 3-4 times a week, and then a long run once or twice a week. Sometimes we substituted yoga or a bike ride for a run, and sometimes the long run was 6 miles, and sometimes (well, only once), it was 18 miles. There were no hallucinations this time around, though I admittedly cried a little around mile 22 of the Chicago marathon.
For the first half of the marathon we ran behind this guy who had a shirt that said, "It's my birthday and I'll cry if I want to," and I think I was just looking at it too long. But it was unusual for me. I didn't even cry when I got my belly button pierced in college. I also didn't cry for the first marathon. I did cry at the end of Gregor the Overlander, but only because it's one of the best books I've ever read.
Jenny's now-retired librarian colleague once said, "A day without sour cream is like a day without sunshine." I feel similarly about nutritional yeast, especially now that it's getting dark earlier and earlier, and there's no mood-enhancing sunshine. The B family vitamins in nutritional yeast keep me happy and glowing all day long.
I love nutritional yeast sprinkled on popcorn, served as a side-dish for mac n' chreese. Nacho chreese dip is amazing and nutritionally complete. Served with guacamole and mango salsa, there's not just sunshine, but rainbows and love and I HEART NUTRITIONAL YEAST.
Jenny: It's too bad hallucinations are non-transferrable. If you could harness their power, you'd make a lot of money.
"There's really a difference between two people who are married or have a civil union and two people who are individuals," Mr. Van Der Tuin said. "They are not a couple. They don't have joint assets or joint income or legal obligations to each other. They're asking the co-op to make a legal commitment to them that they're not willing to make to each other."
From a NY Times article about a co-op board who refused a couple's application.
In NY, LGBT couples still can't get civil unions, and even in states with civil unions, or even marriage (MA), these marriages are not recognized in all states. This case was a straight couple-- how are co-op boards treating LGBT couples? What if it's not that you're "not willing" to make the legal commitment, but are barred from making it?
I heard the best story a few nights ago-- "When I told my mom I was getting married, she asked-- Why would you want to get the government involved in something so important as who you love for the rest of your life?"
At work, consultants and the newer upper administration refer to staff in charge of branches as "Branch Managers", instead of "Supervising Librarians" or "Branch Librarians". It seems it's a bit of an issue. Some staff really like having "librarian" in their titles, but it sounds like most other systems have switched to "Branch Manager" titles.
It makes a lot of sense that we'd care so much how we're described, since that's what we're all about-- metadata and all. I'm still undecided on the issue myself.
On a completely unrelated note, Jenny and I just finished rewatching all seven seasons of Buffy, and damn! that's some good TV.
There's a ning app for Kate's favorite game! Sure, it's a little like kitten war, and not quite the same as who would you save from drowning, but it's still strangely addictive.
We've got a few super cute little black and white spotted kittens (probably about 12-16 weeks old) in my library's neighborhood. They're homeless, friendly and winter is coming. We've been feeding them and playing with them, so they're good with people, good with other cats and well-fed. If you have a good home that needs a little bundle of kitten wonderfulness, please let me know! If you're in the NY area, I'll even give you and/or the kitten transportation. Just promise to spay/neuter your choice of kitten(s).
When I think of the large public library system where I work, I think of buildings that are never open, leaky roofs and that post about how our salaries are so low it's insulting.
How can we change our organizational culture, to make us communicators and innovators and shift our image back to the cornerstone of democracy and ideas, from the place that's never open, with the crumbling plaster and paint chips?
I know I'm mixing internal organizational culture with how we're viewed by the world, but I'm not sure how this distinction even works in such a service-driven organization. Our staff is a huge part of our service. Our perceptions of our workplace will be our users' perception of our workplace.
I wish we had a blog on our intranet, and I wish we were encouraged to use IM at work.
Inwood neighbors: Inwood Peace Yoga has been here a full year! Come celebrate this Saturday.
Inwoof, because my neighborhood loves dogs. NY Press agrees with our dog friendliness and calls Inwood the Best Manhattan neighborhood for dog owners.