I had a dream about the library last night--the library where I work decided to sell goats.
Only . . . none of the goats were selling.
It was winter, and one day the library got snowed in. I walked to work only to find out that somehow, the snowbound state had apparently made goats more popular.
We sold one goat . . . for 56 million dollars.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Librarians and Fashion: Mortal Enemies?
Staff smock it to Ryan
Recently I saw this article linked through one of the library email subscriptions I get at work.
It made me look around at the library a bit and notice that most librarians in my range of vision were definitely fashion flops. Having always hated fashion myself, I was comforted by this and secure once more in the knowledge that I've chosen the right profession.
However, I have to acknowledge at the same time that--let's face it--fashion gets people places. We have to dress up a little if we're to put a good face on our organization. No, we don't want to look like we're going to a formal dance and alienate our patrons that way, but we don't want to look like a sofa either.
Apparently Paula Ryan did not mean to stereotype librarians, and meant only to offer her services as a fashion consultant for work clothing--help give people a little more confidence.
Although I feel good and have more confidence when I know I look good, what I will say for myself and other librarians is that there are other things we value more than this. Our main confidence does not lie in the fact that we look great in that shirt, but in our provision of something valuable to society. And while I would rather look like a well-dressed knockout than a shapeless man-thing, settling for something in between is sometimes necessary if I also want to get enough sleep and have breakfast in the morning.
Also: some (coughmostcough) people don't have the money to buy lots of nice clothes that fit just right.
So, Paula Ryan--if you have any fashion tips that take less than five minutes and cost less than ten dollars, lay 'em on me. Otherwise, I will quietly don my decent slacks and my ill-fitting blouse, braid my wet hair, have a good breakfast and head off to work, thank you kindly.
Recently I saw this article linked through one of the library email subscriptions I get at work.
It made me look around at the library a bit and notice that most librarians in my range of vision were definitely fashion flops. Having always hated fashion myself, I was comforted by this and secure once more in the knowledge that I've chosen the right profession.
However, I have to acknowledge at the same time that--let's face it--fashion gets people places. We have to dress up a little if we're to put a good face on our organization. No, we don't want to look like we're going to a formal dance and alienate our patrons that way, but we don't want to look like a sofa either.
Apparently Paula Ryan did not mean to stereotype librarians, and meant only to offer her services as a fashion consultant for work clothing--help give people a little more confidence.
Although I feel good and have more confidence when I know I look good, what I will say for myself and other librarians is that there are other things we value more than this. Our main confidence does not lie in the fact that we look great in that shirt, but in our provision of something valuable to society. And while I would rather look like a well-dressed knockout than a shapeless man-thing, settling for something in between is sometimes necessary if I also want to get enough sleep and have breakfast in the morning.
Also: some (coughmostcough) people don't have the money to buy lots of nice clothes that fit just right.
So, Paula Ryan--if you have any fashion tips that take less than five minutes and cost less than ten dollars, lay 'em on me. Otherwise, I will quietly don my decent slacks and my ill-fitting blouse, braid my wet hair, have a good breakfast and head off to work, thank you kindly.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Odd Book Out
From time to time at the library, one comes across a title that deserves the status of . . . "huh?!"
Once a week or so I'd like to share some such title with all of you. So for this week, behold! I present to you:
Step-By-Step Brain Tanning The Sioux Way by Larry Belitz
Note: Since stumbling across this title, I've discovered that brain tanning is: "a natural method of tanning hides. After the hide has been fleshed, scraped, and abraded, a slightly cooked mixture of brains and fat from animals is rubbed into the hide."
And now you know everything you ever wanted about brain tanning.
Once a week or so I'd like to share some such title with all of you. So for this week, behold! I present to you:
Step-By-Step Brain Tanning The Sioux Way by Larry Belitz
Note: Since stumbling across this title, I've discovered that brain tanning is: "a natural method of tanning hides. After the hide has been fleshed, scraped, and abraded, a slightly cooked mixture of brains and fat from animals is rubbed into the hide."
And now you know everything you ever wanted about brain tanning.
Monday, September 3, 2007
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow...
While working full time in library tech. services this semester, I am taking two classes online through the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee--Introduction to Library and Information Science, and Library Materials For Young Adults.
To keep sane, I know already that I must practice discipline in how I balance work, school, my relationships, and my own health while working toward this degree. Still, it will be an amazing ride. If I doubted my desire to become a librarian, all such thoughts are dissolved like salt in hot water, especially after reading this article for my YA materials class:
Lessons and Lives: Why Young Adult Literature Matters
Parts of this article had me in tears. This sums up what I lived for as a child and a young adult . . . not just books, but stories. Stories that tackle hard truth, stories that manage to at once lift you into joy-filled castles in the sky and drop you onto concrete from the tops of skyscrapers. Stories of love and hope and pain, skillfully sewn with strands of creativity, pounded together with the nails of imagination.
What better vocation than to infuse the lives of future generations with such narratives? To my mind and heart, there is none, other than perhaps to write those stories myself.
To keep sane, I know already that I must practice discipline in how I balance work, school, my relationships, and my own health while working toward this degree. Still, it will be an amazing ride. If I doubted my desire to become a librarian, all such thoughts are dissolved like salt in hot water, especially after reading this article for my YA materials class:
Lessons and Lives: Why Young Adult Literature Matters
Parts of this article had me in tears. This sums up what I lived for as a child and a young adult . . . not just books, but stories. Stories that tackle hard truth, stories that manage to at once lift you into joy-filled castles in the sky and drop you onto concrete from the tops of skyscrapers. Stories of love and hope and pain, skillfully sewn with strands of creativity, pounded together with the nails of imagination.
What better vocation than to infuse the lives of future generations with such narratives? To my mind and heart, there is none, other than perhaps to write those stories myself.
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