Rule of 50 and other Pearls of wisdom.

I had to write a biographical sketch for school on a figure in the library world, and I chose Nancy Pearl. What a cool woman. Nancy was the director of the Seattle Public Library and has written books on reader's advisory. She calls herself a promiscuous reader and I think that is a noble form of promiscuity. Her rule of 50 is such: Give a book 50 pages and if you don't like it, don't continue. If you are over the age of 50, subtract your age from 100 and that is how many pages you should read before deciding to continue. I like this idea. I also think that if you've had a library book out for months and months and haven't been reading it, it's obviously not engaging you, so return it. I have many books begun but they're jut sitting there with their bookmarks in them. I'm in school, but I've had these books out since waaaaay before then, so I can't use that as an excuse. Even reading a page a day is doable, but I'm just not. So I will be reading more promiscuously from now on.

Also, Nancy is the model for novelty store Archie McPhee's librarian action figure. I myself own the deluxe model.

More about Nancy Pearl.

Ex libris,

Marissa

Excellent service, that monorail kitteh.

I got this on I Can Has Cheezburger and, although I am more of a dog person, I love the lolcats. Especially library-related ones.

Ex libris,

Marissa

Happy Banned Books Week!

Freedom to read is so important. Therefore, I wanted to post the most frequently challenged books for 2007. Here they are:

1. “And Tango Makes Three,” by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
Reasons: Anti-Ethnic, Sexism, Homosexuality, Anti-Family, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group

2. “The Chocolate War,” by Robert Cormier
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Violence

3. “Olive’s Ocean,” by Kevin Henkes
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language

4. “The Golden Compass,” by Philip Pullman
Reasons: Religious Viewpoint

5. “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” by Mark Twain
Reasons: Racism

6. “The Color Purple,” by Alice Walker
Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language,

7. “TTYL,” by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

8. “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” by Maya Angelou
Reasons: Sexually Explicit

9. “It’s Perfectly Normal,” by Robie Harris
Reasons: Sex Education, Sexually Explicit

10. “The Perks of Being A Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

For more information about ALA's Banned Books Week, go here. In the meantime, go read, and be thankful you can read whatever you like.

Ex libris,

Marissa

Kudos to library clerks!

I thought this article was awesome. This observant library clerk noticed some fishy activities and the offender was caught. :)

Also, I joined ALA and I feel all official now!

Ex libris,

Marissa

Just because we have comfy chairs doesn't mean the library is your living room.

I was working the circ desk today when a woman and her daughter came up, obviously shaken. They said that this creepy dude had been following them around and they were afraid he was going to follow them to their car. He had been crouching down to look at some books, but it became evident that he was...ah...pleasuring himself. In the stacks of the public library. Gross! I didn't get to speak to anyone else about it until a little later because we were so busy today. I feel bad. He basically got away with it. But I will not forget his face, creepy pedophile mustache and all. YOU HEAR ME, CREEPY DUDE? YOU WILL BE VANQUISHED!

Ex libris,

Marissa