Starfire and I wish you Black Cat Appreciation Day

Every day is Black Cat Appreciation Day when you share your home with a cat as wonderfully loving and intelligent as Starfire.

Born April 6, 2009, Starfire joined our home in July 2011. She brought an essential feline life and energy to our lives.

This sleek, healthy, 4-year-old cat is a very different creature from the half-starved adolescent of two years ago.

When she looked at me with her enormous round eyes, I imagined Starfire pleading with me to help her.

Voting now open for YALSA Teens’ Top Ten

Voting opened today for the Young Adult Library Services Association’s Teens’ Top Ten. Teen readers can cast as many as three votes among 28 nominees, books that were published between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2012.

Voting will be open through Teen Read Week, Oct. 13 to 19. The winners will be announced on Oct. 22.

The nominees were chosen by Teens’ Top Ten book discussion groups in libraries. Part of the appeal for this YA fiction reader is to see books I’ve read and enjoyed among 2013 nominees and the 2012 list of winners.

‘Behind the Kitchen Door’ is UUA Common Read

The Unitarian Universalist Association’s Common Read selection committee has chosen Behind the Kitchen Door by Saru Jayaraman (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2013) as the 2013-14 UUA Common Read.

Again, it seemed only natural to pass word along, given my attention to the “common read” when administering a lending library for a lay-led UU community.

“The book reveals how restaurant workers live on some of the lowest wages in America and how poor working conditions — discriminatory labor practices, exploitation, and unsanitary kitchens — affect the meals that arrive at our restaurant tables. ... Behind the Kitchen Door invites Unitarian Universalists to intentionally consider their practices in restaurant dining.”

Paper.li: Auto-curating can’t mimic editor’s touch

At ALA Think Tank, an open Facebook group, a member asked about the pros and cons of using Paper.li, a “custom newspaper” publishing site, to keep abreast of professional news.

I shared my perspective as someone who advocates the continuing importance of the information professional — the journalist and the librarian. (From the Grumpy Cat meme, blog readers can glean an insight into whether I believe Paper.li has earned the name of “newspaper.”)

Study examines autism risk factors for bullying

A survey by British researchers has determined that children with autism who have strong support networks are less likely to be bullied in school.

As related by Michelle Diament at Disability Scoop, the study asked 722 teachers and 119 parents of children on the autism spectrum about the children’s experience with bullying. The children ranged in age from 5 to 15.