Monthly Archives: January 2011

Hey Maureen Johnson- I’m a fan.

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So, in case you don’t get it from the title or the link in the sidebar —>, I am a fan of Maureen Johnson.  No.  Not the character from Rent (though I do enjoy her crazy antics as well).   I’m talking about the author/blogger/substitute vlogbrother/Queen of Twitter Maureen Johnson.  Don’t worry, Maureen.  I’m not a stalker fan, I promise.  I have read all of her books because they’re awesome and I’m working to be a teen librarian.  (You can’t be a teen librarian and not know Maureen Johnson.)  I also follow her tweets and giggle at her updates.

However, the reason I am making this fangirl post right now is because of a few specific tweets that she posted earlier today.  She was responding to a question:

“@AndreaMarsland Do you ever feel resentful towards libraries or people who lend out books because it doesn’t make you money?” NEVER!!!

“Libraries are critical to a healthy society. They MAKE readers. I HOPE people go to the library.”

“Libraries are how I became a writer. That’s where I did all my reading. Now I buy LOTS OF BOOKS.”

“True, I make money writing books. I like to eat every day. But I’m IN this business because I love books, period.”

“People have asked, “Isn’t an illegal download the same thing as borrowing from the library or a friend?” The answer is no. Here’s why . . .”

“The copy you borrow from a library or a friend is a legal purchase, which you can share. Illegal downloading CREATES a new, illegal copy.”

(I would also add that the 9,000+ library systems in the country buy a few copies each of the more popular books.  By increasing the popularity at the library, you’re still adding to the author’s paycheck.)

I think Maureen made a great statement- “critical to a healthy society.”  We talked in some of my classes that there are 3 conditions necessary to have libraries: political stability, economic stability (not riches- stability), and centralization of population (it’s hard to have a big library collection when you’re nomadic).  As libraries across the country are losing funding and closing, we blame the economic stability piece of the puzzle.  However, a lot of those places are going to have a harder time recovering without libraries offering job help or tutoring services or a place to do research for your small business.  Because it’s not just critical to have a healthy society to have libraries, “libraries are critical to a healthy society.”

So, thank you, Maureen Johnson, for hoping people go to the library.  Thank you, also, for caring about your readers and twitter followers, being adorably weird (the jars, #creaturein8A, ABBA, #nopants), and making me laugh when I read your tweets (OH- and novels… those, too!!)
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Best Fiction for Young Adults 2011

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The Best Books for Young Adults (or BBYA, since everything in library world must have an acronym) is now gone.  In its place is BFYA- Best Fiction for Young Adults.  A technicality, but an important one, since all of my YA Library professors will now have to change their syllabi.

The 2011 BFYA list is out (well, technically it’s the only BFYA list out… just saying).  The list of 99 books comprises some of the best fiction that just came out.  The books are of high literary quality but remain approachable for teens, ages 12-18.  (Sidenote- why do we only care about teens until age 18?  I realize that is when they become legal adults, but 19 still has teen in it.  12 is a tween.  19 is a teen.  Sorry, it’s something that’s been bugging me.  Sidenote over.)

There are some big name YA authors in the BFYA list of 99- John Green, David Levithan, Laurie Halse Anderson, E. Lockhart, Holly Black, and Louis Sachar all jumped out to me.  (I’m not saying there weren’t other good or famous authors- those were literally the names that caught my eye as I skimmed through the list.)  I always like it when writers I like are acknowledged as writing another awesome thing.  I feel like it’s a small victory for me (Yay!  I’m reading the good stuff!) as well as a slightly bigger victory for them (Yay!  You’re writing the good stuff!)  However, I was a little sad to see that I had only read one of the books in the top ten.  It made me a little panicked because I spent much of the fall reading from the 2010 lists (Printz Award, BBYA, Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers, etc.).  All of a sudden, I read the new list and thought, “Oh, crap.  I’m already behind, again!  I need to get reading.”  Of course, that thought was immediately followed by looking wide eyed at my big stack of homework and reading for my MLIS classes and an even greater feeling of panic.  Luckily, I was able to resolve said panic with a couple reserves at the library and a look at my mostly free month of April where I can curl up and do nothing but read like the anti-social nerd we all aim to be.

Anyway, to catch you up on your own lists, here are the top ten YALSA BFYA books:

  • Bacigalupi, Paolo. “Ship Breaker.” Little, Brown, & Co., 2010. (HAH!  I got this one done, already, and it’s double dipping because it also won the Printz Award.  Check and double check!!  Also, this is a good book.  I thought you would all like to know because even though it’s in the top ten BFYA and won the Michael L. Printz Award, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t read it until I say, “this is a good book.”  No review necessary.  My word is gold.)
  • Donnelley, Jennifer. “Revolution.” Random House Children’s Books/Delacorte, 2010.
  • Marchetta, Melina. “Finnikin of the Rock.” Candlewick, 2010.
  • Matson, Morgan. “Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour.” 2010. Simon & Schuster, 2010.
  • McBride, Lish.“Hold Me Closer, Necromancer.” Macmillan Children’s Book Group/Henry Holt, 2010.
  • Mulligan, Andy. “Trash.” David Fickling Books, 2010.
  • Perkins, Mitali. “Bamboo People.” Charlesbridge, 2010.
  • Reinhardt, Dana. “The Things a Brother Knows.”  Random House Children’s Books/Wendy Lamb,  2010.
  • Saenz, Benjamin. “Last Night I Sang to the Monster.” Cinco Puntos Press, 2009.
  • Sedgwick, Marcus. “Revolver.” Roaring Brook Press,  2010.

Happy Reading!

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Libraries > the internet

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So, one thing that keeps coming up as library funding is slashed and mutilated is that people think, “well, who needs a library when everything is on the internet?”  I put on a tough shell, try not to take it personally, and then pour my heart into library advocacy explaining why that statement is so painfully wrong.  I want to spell out some of the reasons here so I can have something to refer to next time someone tries to squeeze in a “useless library” sucker punch.

Reasons Why the Library Is Better Than the Plain Ol’ Internet

1) Just because it is online doesn’t mean it is free.  A lot of the databases, especially the scholarly articles, cost a great deal of money that your library pays so that you can get the information free.  If you wanted to access all of the information on the library databases by yourself, you would be paying thousands and thousands of dollars.  Instead, tax payers share the cost and help stimulate the economy by saving people and small businesses money.  Cha-ching!

2) Not every website is created equal.  Do you really think that the 30 year research study by Ph.Ds that has been peer reviewed and put through the ringer is the same as Uncle Carl’s conspiracy theories?  Seriously???  Information literacy (the ability to decide what information is legitimate and from a quality source) is going down, down, down, but libraries are standing up for information!  Librarians know how to do research and give quality reference information.  Don’t believe me.  Ask them yourself.  Go ahead.  I dare you!

3) The library keeps it legal.  That’s right.  I’m going there!  I know I’m from the Napster generation (well, the younger side of it), but why steal when the library gives it to you for free?  I’m not going to get preachy about why the billion dollar movie and music industries need your help.  However, authors are struggling to get their books published.  The publishing industry is hurting, but the ones getting hurt the most are the authors you love.  I could go on and on about this, but Saundra Mitchell explains it so much better.  Go read her blog post for an emotional, logical piece of wonderful that shows why you should always use the library rather than illegally downloading a work.

4) Libraries kill information overload.  Just tell ‘em what you want, what you really, really want.  There are so many sources of information out there!  Google something, and you get over a million hits.  Most people just stick to the first few pages, but what if what you’re looking for is on the fourth or fifth page?  How would you find it?  Very few people know the great search strategies that librarians know, so they would never find that gem buried deep within the vast frontier of the world wide web.  That’s where the library and librarians come in.

5) Libraries provide the internet access to some.  Yeah, I know that you don’t believe me, Mr. Smart Phone.  However, a lot of people in the world, in this country, in this city don’t have internet access without their library.  The economy sucks.  People are getting kicked out of their homes.  What?  They’re still going to have fancy laptops or iPhones?  Probably not.  What’s bigger, the thing or the thing that holds the thing?  Wait… that doesn’t make sense.  Must be something that someone just blogged about on the internet.

I could go on and on, but did I mention that school has started again?  Well, it has.  Anyway, I think that these five reasons already show the value of the library compared to simple internet access.  I could go off on the importance of literacy programs in children and the developmental needs of teens that are enhanced by libraries.  I could also talk about the sense of community or raised property values that come from the library.   And none of these things encompass the job help, computer training, books (traditional, audio, and electronic), movies, music, games, and everything else the libraries provide.  There is much more to the library than can ever be provided by just the internet.

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YA in 2011

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There have been a lot of awesome things that have already made a splash in 2011, like Ship Breaker winning the Michael Printz award and a lot of YA book bloggers making and committing to challenges.  I would love to make a challenge for myself to read so many YA books.  The problem is that to actually challenge myself, I would need to make that number ridiculously high.  I’m getting my MLIS in YA library science.  I’m already reading through the YALSA lists like crazy on top of my personal YA reading.  I would have to pledge to read 100+ books to honestly challenge myself, and I just can’t do that while I’m in school.  However, I admire people that are challenging themselves like Wicked Awesome Books or For the Love of YA.

However, beyond self-challenges, there are some challenges for YA authors out there.  My personal favorite is Likely Stories’ post called “My 2011 YA Wishlist.”  The first one- the universes made up entirely of teens- didn’t bother me so much this year.  The second one- first person, present tense- does bother me when it’s done poorly but no big deal.  But, points 3, 4, and 6 totally hit home for me.  I’m over a lot of the supernatural stuff.  There have been too many of these stories and WAAAAY too many of these are crappy.

Anyway, enjoy all of the great YA reads in 2011.  I’m psyched about Maureen Johnson’s Last Little Blue Envelope coming out in April.  Almost Perfect, Stonewall Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award winner is supposed to be a good read.  In the next three years, there are some fantastic YA books being made into movies (and some less fantastic ones).  So, there are a lot of great things to look forward to.  Enjoy!!

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