ALA Midwinter 2015: Discussion of ‘diverse’ books

Image credit: Angie Manfredi on Twitter

The American Library Association Midwinter Meeting is taking place in Chicago, Ill. From my remote perspective in Ashland, Oregon, I tuned in this morning via “live-Tweets” centered around the event hashtag, in time to follow a “Diversity League” panel discussion of diversity in Young Adult literature.

Bellview library books, retrieved from public library

Sackful of books ready to go back to Bellview library

On two occasions during the last seven days, I retrieved Bellview Elementary School library books that had been returned by borrowers to Jackson County Library Services’ Ashland library.

‘Platinum Rule’ and measuring stick for ‘normal’

Among links shared with readers as Religious Explorations administrative coordinator for a Unitarian Universalist church, here’s a thought-provoking post from DRESara at The Children’s Chalice. She identifies a flaw in the Golden Rule, that it “presumes that I can use myself as the measuring stick for ‘normal.’” DRESara suggests that instead, people observe the “Platinum Rule,” to “Treat others the way they would like to be treated.”

Library yarn bombing promotes ‘common read’

Image source: Lawrence Public Library on Facebook

An image added to the timeline this week at Yarn Bombing @ Your Library has extra significance for me, as the installation served to draw attention to a community’s “common read.”

#LibChat library Q-and-A’s curated with Storify

During #LibChat (a weekly Twitter-based chat among library professionals), I used the Storify social-curation platform to group users’ question-and-answer posts. The finished “stories” can be found on the splash page for my Storify account.

‘Nick and Tesla’s Robot Army Rampage’

Eleven-year-old twin sleuths Tesla and Nick return for the second book in a series that combines fast-paced action-adventure with hands-on science experiments.

In Robot Army Rampage (Quirk Books, 2014), the twins investigate local burglaries while continuing to delve into circumstances behind their parents’ abrupt disappearance.

Who is behind the local break-ins? Is the twins’ uncle’s attraction to a fellow scientist destined for a broken heart? And if the twins’ parents study soybeans for the government, how could their first date have involved writing a prize-winning paper in the field of laser science?

Oregon School Library Standards adopted by education board

One of the more noteworthy events to happen this week in the realm of school library services, was an action by the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) to adopt Oregon School Library Standards.

My blogging history and purpose of my blogs

Part of the time I might have spent blogging this week was spent considering my past history as a blogger and the purpose of my two blogs, Cynthia Parkhill: Library Assistant, Volunteer and Advocate and Librarian on a Bicycle.

Bellview library: Reader’s choice award nominees

Beverly Cleary Children’s Choice Award nominees, 2014-2015
from Cynthia M. Parkhill

The highlight of a recent book order’s arrival at Bellview Elementary School library were Beverly Cleary Children’s Choice and Oregon Reader’s Choice award nominees. I’m encouraging students to start reading titles now, and to cast their votes in March.

‘Evil Librarian,’ on my want-to-read list

If I have a weakness for a fiction “type,” it’s for books with main characters who are librarians.

From a review by Pamela Thompson among her Young Adult/high-school picks, Evil Librarian by Michelle Knudsen (Candlewick, 2014) takes its place on the list of books that I want to read.

Shortly after a new librarian shows up at Central High School, students begin walking around in a “zombie-like” daze. The protagonist, Cyn, and a guy she likes, Ryan, team up to take-on the “evil librarian.”

In her review, Thompson calls the book “Enticingly evil, freshly funny, winsomely wry, and eerily entertaining.”

‘Expectations Stations’ in Bellview library

My ‘Bobcat Ticket’ badge from last year.
‘Be Safe. Be Respectful. Be Responsible.’

One of the professional highlights to my week was giving “Expectations Stations” reviews in the Bellview Elementary School library.

My co-presenters were Educational Assistant Doug Werner and child development specialist Diane Berry. The three of us emphasized that Bellview library is a place where “We are Safe, we are Respectful, we are Responsible.”

Specifically, the presentation included library “do’s” and “don’ts,” book care and alternatives to the “don’ts.”

Religious Explorations: Recent posts

Here are recent posts to social media in my professional role as Administrative Coordinator for the Religious Explorations program at a church in Ashland, Oregon, the Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. When curating these items, I look for resources and commentary that strengthen constituent families.

‘The Word Exchange’ by Alena Graedon

Books that my husband and I read aloud together hold a special place on my “currently-reading” list.

The Word Exchange by Alena Graedon (Doubleday, 2014) occupies a category whose past luminaries include J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books, Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath and numerous science-fiction and fantasy series.

As The Word Exchange opens, a woman named Ana explains that her father disappeared from the “Dictionary.” And her statement is doubly true.

Library work: My first 500 hours

Shelving books during move-in at the new Middletown library

When I added up my time spent in professional and volunteer capacities, I discovered that I’d logged the first 500 hours in my library service career.

Library coursework officially completed

Cynthia M. Parkhill, a Calistoga native, has earned her Associate’s degree in Library and Information Technology from Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo.

During this past semester, Parkhill completed additional coursework for certification of specialization in library service to children.

Parkhill and her family live in Ashland, Ore., where she works part-time as a library assistant. She has many fond memories of regular visits to the Calistoga library.

Submitted to the Weekly Calistogan
and Calistoga Tribune

Library support staff highlighted in OLA Quarterly

In its quarterly journal, the Oregon Library Association gives special attention to library support staff. In a Dec. 15 blog post, the OLA's Support Staff Division summarizes and higlights articles to be found in the December 2014 edition.