Eating at the library?

Of course. Everyone does it. Walk through the library on any given day and you will see patrons snacking on packaged things like a candy bar or peanut butter crackers. Often, library staff will have an event in their breakroom or a celebration, like our volunteer luncheon, in the auditorium. Food is part of the library. Heck, we even had a coffee bar in here for many years that served cookies, muffins, and sandwiches!

So why not take two of the typical functions of a library - book clubs and food and combine them? This article from the Columbus Dispatch talks about an Ohio library that has done just that. They have a cookbook club that taste-tests recipes from the library's cookbook collection!

What do you think?

Bicycle Book Delivery

Oakland Public Library's effort

I think this is just fantastic! This article talks about libraries that are bringing mini-collections of books to book-poor areas of their cities and towns by bicycle.

Hutchinson, KS is an extremely bike-able town, size-wise. I'm not sure what we'd do in winter months here, but you could easily bike a trailer of books to Third Thursday or to a city park or a community center with very little effort. I think even an out-of-shape old man like me could do it!

The article seems to indicate that most of these libraries are using targeted collections for the event or area they are visiting with their pedal-powered bookmobiles. This seems like a great way to do some major good will in one's community while helping a literacy issue that just doesn't go away - the inability to get books in to some people's hands simply because of a lack of availability or access.

Book Challenges - What tops the list?

 ISO 3864-1 prohibition sign via wikipedia

Public libraries are places for contemplative study, for entertainment, for meeting and sharing of ideas. Not just some ideas, not just some points of view, but as many of each as possible. Public libraries are meant to represent the views of ALL people in their communities and therefore any individual using one may run into ideas that are in opposition to his or her own.

This is NOT a bad thing. This is a good thing. Libraries are "safe" venues to be exposed to other view points and other ways of thinking. What's harsh, crass, or offensive to one person may be matter of routine to another. To "not be offended" is a dangerous and increasingly common reason for blocking, censoring, and otherwise trying to suppress ideas that run contrary to one's own. It is generally attempted and justified in the name of sparing the "innocent" from a perceived harm if an idea is shared.

Here's a good summary of a portion of this years American Library Association "State of America's Libraries Report" concerning works that are challenged most often:

http://boingboing.net/2015/04/14/ya-graphic-novels-books-by-p.html

In some ways this might not be a surprising list, but it is a never ending battle that librarians fight on your behalf. Bottom line is that we believe you know best what is appropriate for you and your children. This is why we, as librarians, encourage learning with , reading with, and visiting the library with your children.

Science Fiction Discussion: Ender's Game

The SF Discussion Group met at Hutchinson Public Library in September to discuss Orson Scott Card's novel, Ender's Game. The discussion was a rare one for our group - we all liked it and agreed that it was a good one! It is another novel that is quite a bit different (like our July pick, Enemy Mine) than its big screen version. If you've seen the movie but not read the book, I would highly recommend picking up a copy.

The novel is about war, military tactics, and expansionism, centering on the character Ender Wiggin and his rise through the ranks of the International Fleet.

Interestingly (at least to me), the novel has been included in the Professional Reading List of the US Marine Corps for its depiction of how and why military forces do what they do.

It is a Hugo (1986) and Nebula (1985) Award winning novel.

E-books and reading

This is something I have long wondered about: will e-books ever "eclipse" print books as the medium of choice?

So many different types of media have come into the mainstream and then become "just another option" or simply faded away when superseded by another medium.

This article from the New York Times seems to indicate that the frenzy for e-books might be cooling. That might mean that at least in libraries e-books, like any other new media, will simply be assimilated into the collection. I personally think that the more ways we can have to share ideas with each other, the better.

I could be smug and say, "I told you so!" and that I thought e-books were a fad or something. But I would be lying if I said that I really thought print books were never in danger of disappearing. There have been moments, especially with the sustained media frenzy over e-books, that I thought the tide had risen too high for print. And, of course, print still might disappear someday. The information about sales in the NYT article seems to indicate though that print books, book stores, and libraries might still have a place in society and an important one at that.

CREEEEAK! (flutterflutterflutter)

Damn bats! Always with the bats in here! Phew! Dusty too.

In defense of a Liberal Education by Fareed Zakarias a compelling read. I liked it a lot, not because I hold a liberal arts degree (majors in English Lit. and Psychology), but because something is being lost in our society - critical thinking. There is a lot of talk about the importance of technical education, engineering and the like. No doubt these are very important to our collective success. However, a successful engineer needs to be able to tell a compelling story, sell an idea, think laterally at times and most importantly enjoy learning.  If we've learned anything in the past 2 decades it's that you have to continually learn new skills, change with the technology, and be mentally flexible to succeed. A background in the liberal arts provides you with the skills to survive the ever-changing world we live in..

Give Zakarias' book a read.

Teens and Reading

Lots of interesting food for thought in this Nielsen survey: Nielsen Books and Consumers U.S.

The teaser is that despite their growing up with technology as much a part of their lives as anything else, teens lag behind other age groups in ebook purchasing. There are a number of reasons posited for this seemingly strange result. Among them are obvious ones, such as teens are much less likely to have credit cards with which to buy econtent. I think this is a bit of a stretch though, considering every teen I know uses a parent's card or gift cards to Amazon or iTunes for digital content. Another theory is that teens share a lot of books and that is MUCH easier to do with a printed book than with econtent. This seems more plausible to me. It makes me wonder though what more we could be doing as a library to cater to the reading tastes of teens. How can we be more responsive in our collection development and reach out to these younger readers in the same way we've traditionally reached out to other groups of readers.

Tarzan, John Carter, and Julian?

This month, our science fiction discussion group jumped in to the way-back machine and read the first part of Edgar Rice Burroughs' "The Moon Maid". This is a future history story of Earth Burroughs began in 1919. It is pretty safe to say that we agreed this particular story has not stood the test of time. Burroughs didn't spend much time thinking through any of the science, even of his day, around physics, planetary science, etc. The image I had in my mind of the story's narrator was that of the "Great White Hunter" or European gentleman explorer on a trip to some "savage" land like Africa and reporting his observations of the savage peoples he encounters through the thoroughly prejudiced eyes of a man of his time. I guess for me it ended up being more like a fantasy adventure story or western-like story that happened to take place on the moon.

On the plus side, we had candy and cookies and a good discussion of the future reading list!

If you are interested in joining us in 2015, please contact me at gwamsley@hutchpl.org. We have the first 3 months worth of books lined up, but all bets are off after that. each member will be bringing 4-6 suggested titles, we'll combine them in a list and vote on what to read to fill out 2015. Also, at least one choice should have a movie version to go along with it. Finally, we are open to considering a different meeting time if that helps grow the group. Currently, we meet the first Thursay of each month at 7pm.

Next month - Alan Moore's Watchmen

Author Visit - Laura Moriarty

We had a fantastic turn-out last night (10/9/14) for visiting author Laura Moriarty! About 70 people packed the auditorium to hear Ms. Moriarty talk about her writing process and her book, "The Chaperone". It was a great program - thanks Laura!

Renewed interest in bibliotherapy?

I read a lot about reading. Really, it makes more sense than it sounds. I am obsessed with the idea that early reading - pre-school reading - is the key to success in school more than just about anything else. As I read about reading though, I come across many articles about other uses, focuses, etc. This is one of those from Smithsonian Magazine: Doctors are now prescribing books to treat depression.

This is no new idea, in fact it was an old idea when I studied counseling psychology in college. Intuitively it makes sense to me that reading would help if one felt totally isolated from those around her or him. It might even "trick" you into coming out of that inward-spiraling cycle that is depression.

eBook Sales Decline?

That seems like an exaggeration to me, but the numbers show a dramatic slow-down in the pace of sales increases. This article from Slate by author Robert Rosenberger is a fascinating read. From the article, the most plausible speculation as to why this is happening is the rise in tablet computing. The dedicated ereader has fallen by the wayside as tablets have become more affordable. Compared to a dedicated ebook reader, tablets offer a tremendous variety of things to do BESIDES read.

So, are people simply reading less altogether? The article doesn't delve into this much, but I can tell you that while foot traffic in our library has never been greater, paper book circulation has declined over the past 12 months. eBook circulation here is still in its infancy due to the slow growth of the collection and the ridiculous tactics of big publishers and their treatment of public libraries.

Public library problems aside, the notion that reading at length is declining is a very scary prospect. Will Rogers, I think, gave us this thought about reading / learning:

There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.

I hope the Slate article does not turn out to mean that the latter group is growing - that's not a good thing. But I wonder what this means for all the money we've been pouring into ebooks.

The Stars My Destination - SF Book Discussion

The HPL Science Fiction Book Discussion group met April 4th to discuss Alfred Bester's classic The Stars My Destination. This mid-1950's novel is frequently cited as an influence on the SF cyberpunk movement. The work is also known by its UK title, Tiger, Tiger! after the first line of William Blake's poem The Tiger.

Bester is perhaps better known for his novel, The Demolished Man, which received the first Hugo Award in 1953. The Stars My Destination is, in a nutshell, a story that starts out all about revenge and ends up with personal growth. Now our group is composed of individuals with strong opinions about SF and as I have learned, a fairly high bar to be impressed.

To our last two books, despite high acclaim for the titles, our group responded with a resounding "meh". Concerning Bester's book, the general consensus seemed to be summed up by one member's comment, "I at least wanted to see how it turned out". Damning with faint praise? I don't think so. I think we dare to want more from an author. This story explores fascinating themes; following the ramifications to society of a human evolutionary step, "jaunting", to its possible conclusions. It is worth a read. Despite its age, it is easy to see why this book is often considered a precursor or major influence on the cyberpunk movement of the late 20th century.

Our group will meet again on May 2nd to discuss another SF classic, A.E. van Vogt's SLAN. If you would like to join us, contact Gregg Wamsley at (620)663-5441 or gwamsley@hutchpl.org

We've been "MacMillan'd"!

Maybe that's not the catchiest phrase, but public libraries have been graced with the possibility of "buying" and circulating ebooks from one of the Big 6! This should be great news, right? It is not terrible news, but it fits in the grand scheme of things at about the "meh" level.

First, it is a pilot project. Second, the titles are from the backlist of MacMillan's Minotaur imprint which publishes mainly crime/mystery fiction. Third, the titles will cost libraries $25 each and have a "shelf life" of 52 circs or two years, which ever comes first.

In other words, we get to circulate to you, our patrons, old titles you may already have read and unlike old PAPER titles you may already have read, they won't languish on our virtual shelves - they'll automatically weed themselves in two years!

Maybe I should be more worried, sooner rather than later human librarians will be obsolete.  We are being replaced by publishers who are cutting out the middle man.  Don't worry though, the business men will look out for culture and history.  They'll make it all available to the individual, I'm sure...for a low recurring monthly payment.

Libraries vs. Publishers

The article I have linked below (Thanks, Robert!) was sent out on a library email list. It is, as is often the case, far more eloquent and clear than I could ever be in arguing what the future of public libraries and ebooks should be. Where I get angry and rant, the author of this Forbes article, Mr. Vinjamuri, is clear and reasoned.

I agree with him on almost every point, both about the failings of the "Big 6" publishers and the missed opportunities and failings of public libraries in their responses. Regarding public libraries, this is the major issue of our time. Nothing else will influence what I do for a living and what you use as a patron more than the outcome of the book's transition from a paper to an electronic medium.

If you are interested in the ebook brouhaha and the future of public libraries, please read this article: Why Libraries Matter: And How They Can Do More, by David Vinjamuri, contributor at Forbes magazine.

EBooks, the "Big 6" and Libraries

What? You can't read that.

A fellow Kansas librarian posted a link to this Forbes article about ebooks and the friction (or lack of - you'll understand if you read the article) between the so-called Big 6 publishers and libraries.  The author advocates for a different pricing model for libraries than what is currently being offered.  Quite correctly he calls out both the publishers and libraries for wrong-headed notions about how this all should work.

FINALLY!  Someone with a much wider readership agrees with me!  :-)

Honestly, the whole trumped-up fight is hurting the readers and the vast majority of authors who are not what is considered "best seller" authors.  I, for one, embrace the idea of thinking outside the box to find a solution.  The purchase-and-lend model may not be the best process for ebooks.  Maybe it is charge-per-use or maybe it is something entirely different.  Maybe it is a combination of the two, because the ability to publish, host, lend AND sell ebooks is not beyond libraries with easily obtainable technology.  Why couldn't libraries help less well-known authors by publishing their works for them when they can't get contracts with big publishers?  Why couldn't libraries also license bestsellers from the big name authors through their equally big name publishers?

Let's get down to business here, folks.  I've got reading and literacy to promote.

SF Book Discussion

We've wrapped up our 2012 science fiction reading here at HPL.  In our SF Book Discussion group, we rounded out our 6 apocalypse-themed selections last evening with Douglas Adams' classic, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

I, for one, enjoyed re-reading the book, which I first read some time in the 1980s.  The things that stood out for me were the facts that the Hitchhiker's Guide was an ebook, Douglas Adams' sense of humor still resonates with me, and that I hope his estate got residuals from Amazon for describing the original Kindle and from Yahoo! for creating the Babel fish - a species of creature that translates one language to another for its host.

In reading up on the book and the series, I was surprised to find that the story had been retold in so many different ways and through so many different media.  The book, I believe, was based on a BBC radio series, but there have been movies, a TV show, stage plays, a series of sequels, and so many editions of the book, it's amazing!

Our SF book discussion group has decided to continue into the new year, meeting monthly and ranging out into fantasy as well as science fiction.  We've generated a list that we are mulling over and would gladly consider others from new members.  We're looking at classics in the genre as well as new and authors from all walks of life.  If you'd like to participate, please contact me at gwamsley@hutchpl.org and I'll add you to the email list.  We meet the first Thursday of each month 7 pm at the library.

As we move toward the end of this 400-year cycle of the long count calendar, just remember the sage advice offered by the Guide:

Ebooks - It's been a while since I griped

We have been working very hard at HPL on physical projects involving real shelves, books, and other stuff outside the Internet world.  I know!  Shocking, isn't it?

<rant>During that time I have been watching the "Big 6" publishers continue to treat libraries as their enemies in the ebook world.  And while I am sure that no one pays much attention to my little blog, let alone my rants, I feel remiss for not railing on a daily basis about this ridiculous state of affairs.

Honestly, where does Simon & Schuster think avid readers find out about new authors?  Where does Penguin or Hatchette think new authors get a try and then a following?  Who do they think spends 24/7 thinking of ways to get more people involved in more reading?  And I mean thinking of more ways to get EVERYBODY reading, regardless of means.  I love book stores.  Book stores do some of this.  But they have to stay alive by selling the most popular.  Who helps them with that?  They promote books and authors.  LIBRARIES promote reading and readers.  Apparently though, we're the enemy.  We're going to suck away the meager revenue stream from the big publishers.  Honestly, if that's what they believe, then they are the enemy of readers.

Ebooks "last forever", so how can we make libraries ever buy another copy?  Library patrons will just borrow the library copy whenever they want to read.  Hmm...why not ask us to work out a plan?  No?  You'd rather just turn books into licensed content and sell it and choke off any potential for growth?

Here's the crux of the problem (besides the lure of filthy lucre).  From ALA:

Why are e-books treated differently than print books?

As content migrates from physical to digital forms, the typical access model shifts from
purchasing to licensing. Digital music and online journals represent examples of this shift from the last few decades; e-books represent the latest form of content to make this transition. As licenses are contracts, libraries receive the rights articulated in the agreements. The usual ebook license with a publisher or distributor often constrains or altogether prohibits libraries from archiving and preserving content, making accommodations for people with disabilities, ensuring patron privacy, receiving donations of e-books, and selling e-books that libraries do not wish to retain.

They key is in that paragraph.  Control over the content (contract vs. purchase); the "purchaser" - you, me, a library, no longer "owns" that thing we thought we bought.  Thus, no one can loan it, resell it, or collect it.  But why is that ownership so important?  Collections like those created by libraries are important not just for preserving the past but for creating new ideas and inspiring new stories.  Writers and researchers create from what is available to them.

Too bad the big publishers won't work out a deal.  Libraries want to participate and are willing to pay to play.  Too bad they are so focused on preserving a possibly already-lost corner on the market.  That old chestnut about catching more flies with honey than vinegar is going to come back and bite them.  Libraries could help them flourish in the ebook age and I'd wager we as a group would strike a bargain on almost every issue in that quote above.  Will it happen?  I doubt it.  And everyone - you, me, authors, publishers, and libraries will be the poorer for it. </rant>

NASA to the Rescue!

I am a space exploration nut.  I admit it.  I have long read about astronomy and love a good Hubble Space Telescope picture as much as the next guy.  I have also read a lot of science fiction and enjoy a good trip-to-an-alien-world story from time to time.

So of course, NASA is one of my favorite "things".  I have a little bit of a love/hate thing for NASA because I don't always agree with their priorities and I often think they do a terrible job of selling their biggest assets - wonder, imagination, and most of all, the future.

As you may or may not know, HPL has spent the past year promoting tongue-in-cheek style, a series of programs with the theme of the "end of the world".  Our "Are You Prepared?" series has featured useful self-help lunch and learn programs about disaster preparedness, growing your own food, and more.  We've been showing movies with apocalyptic themes every 2nd and 4th Monday of the month.  We even started a science fiction book discussion group and spent our first year reading examples of apocalyptic fiction!  In fact, we'll be discussing A Hitchihiker's Guide to the Galaxy, our "final" novel before the end of the year, on December 6th at 6:30pm - please read it and join us if this sounds interesting!.

But back to NASA.  Our good friends at the space agency have a beyond 2012 answer page to assuage everyone's fears about the supposed end of the world.  Give it a look, it answers a huge number of the purported "end of the world" myths that seem to be swirling around.

Author Visit!

NYT best-selling author Jennifer Chiaverini was here at HPL last night (Nov. 6).  Everyone, including the author said something to the effect of ... "Are you sure?  It's election night."  We said we were sure and when I arrived at 6pm here is what the auditorium looked like:

About 50 people had taken seats

By 6:30 when Mrs. Chiaverini began her presentation, the auditorium looked like this:

The tiny blue dot in the upper left is Mrs. Chiaverini!

Mrs. Chiaverini had kind things to say about Hutchinson.  She and her husband stopped by our wonderful Kansas Cosmosphere.  Her husband Marty (who was traveling with her) is an aeronautical engineer and I think they were both fairly well impressed by our little town's big museum.  Mrs. Chiaverini gave an entertaining talk and very graciously took questions and signed autographs for about 45 minutes.

Autographs with a smile!

I think it was a great evening.  Annette Smith, Ruth Heidebrecht, Tina Stropes, Barb Scott and many other Friends and staff have my appreciation and thanks for a job well done!  Many thanks go to our Friends of the Library group for sponsoring the visit!

Bookworm Brew cookies pretty well picked over!  YUM!

Science Fiction Book Discussion Group

We started a new activity this year to go along with our "Are You Prepared... for the END?" series of programs.  Our Science Fiction book group was themed for this first year - all books about an apocalypse of some sort.  We started with One Second After which explored the devastation that an EMP would cause to the USA.  We followed that with the classic, A Canticle for Leibowitz, then the collection of short apocalyptic fiction, Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse in June.

For out August Discussion, we switched back to novel format with another classic, George R. Stewart's Earth Abides, wherein a plague has wiped out mankind (for the most part.)

Our latest discussion, on the 4th of October, was about the 1985 Larry Niven / Jerry Pournelle novel, Footfall, with an alien invasion theme.  At our discussion, I think we agreed that we had been depressed just about enough having spent the better part of the year reading about the many possible ways the end of mankind might be achieved.  However, we haven't made it past our tongue-in-cheek "deadline" of December 21st of this year, the end of another cycle on the mesoamerican long-count calendar.

Sticking with our theme, we've decided to round out the apocalyptic year with Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  This book spawned a series of sequels, a radio program, film and stage adaptations, a video game, comics, and much, much more.  While the Earth gets blasted to make way for a galactic freeway, the adventure thankfully doesn't depend on the doom-and-gloom reality of the other works we've read.

Which brings me to the end.  Well, not really the end so much as the beginning for the rest of the SF book group's existence.  We will meet monthly in 2013 and read a variety of SF and fantasy - titles TBD.  If you read this and are interested in joining (and we would love to expand the group), contact me directly at gwamsley@hutchpl.org.