Work of Challenge Day begins now

"Be the Change" jar
at the Record-Bee

The "Be the Change" donation jar for Challenge Day at Clear Lake High School was on the table next to my desk on Monday morning, its cloth cover partially torn off the jar's opening. My co-worker Greg DeBoth gave the sad news to me when I passed him in the parking lot: someone had stolen the money out of the "Be the Change" jar; he'd found the jar outside next to the dumpster.

I felt deeply disappointed in whoever stole this money. It wasn't just a collection of bills and pocket change; this money was supposed to help "Be the Change"  for Challenge Day. As someone who'd endured bullying and rejection throughout my time at school, it was vitally important to me that students at Lake County schools enjoy a climate of acceptance that was denied to me.

Library work: I’d love to incorporate graphic design, journalism

I would love it if my experience in journalism could be somehow incorporated into my work as a library professional: such as producing a library newsletter or working for Library Journal.

I created a letter­-fold brochure for members of my congregation to inform them about the lending library.

Through social networking, I promote a “book of the month” for the UUCLC Lending Library. I also write columns in my local newspapers that express support for the public library.

Composed for my studies toward an Associate of Science degree in Library/Information Technology

School libraries keep up with emerging technology

“[S]chool libraries also share with academic libraries the responsibility for promoting information literacy” (55)

— Libraries in the Information Age
by Denise K. Fourie and David R. Dowell

Library media centers appear to be particularly geared toward keeping abreast of emerging technology, which, in my opinion, would make them an excellent place to work if a library professional wanted to continually update her own information literacy.

Public libraries: Services and roles

“The mission of the public library is to meet the needs of its particular community” (43)

— Libraries in the Information Age
by Denise K. Fourie and David R. Dowell

My public library contains historical resources specific to Lake County: copies of government ordinances, history books, etc. It also includes work by Lake County authors, many of whom have donated copies of their books to the library system.

Public library service boundaries becoming blurred

“Public libraries serve a wider range of needs and objectives than most other libraries” (42)

— Libraries in the Information Age
by Denise K. Fourie and David R. Dowell

It's certainly true that, unlike school and academic libraries, which served me only for as long as I maintained an affiliation with the school in question, I have relied upon public libraries for my entire life.

Libraries do more than warehouse books

Cartoon image created with Bitstrips and added July 13, 2016

“[T]hose who see themselves as the keepers of books will be shelved themselves, and those who demonstrate that they can help solve other people’s information, imagination, and inspiration problems will always be in demand” (39)

— Libraries in the Information Age
by Denise K. Fourie and David R. Dowell

Each week when I pull hold requests at the Lakeport branch of the Lake County Library, the lion’s share of patron requests are among fiction and non­fiction books; however, library patrons are also requesting DVDs, audio CDs and books on CD or cassette.

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson (Candlewick Press, 2006) is the first in a a two-volume series available through the library.

The story is set on the North American continent just before the American Revolution.

The lead character is a slave who receives a classical education, not knowing he is the subject of an experiment to gauge the capacities of his race and not knowing that society considers him to be another man’s property.

The book sheds an interesting light on a paradox of U.S. history: that while some settlers pursued freedom from the British crown, they were determined to keep their fellow human beings as property.

Originally posted to the Facebook page of the Lake County Library