The Perfect Gift for that Stereotypical Librarian.

And by stereotypical librarian, I mean by "older" in life, going through a certain physiological change, experiences hot-flashes... You catch my drift.

I found this gift in my Christmas stocking last month.  I don't really have a need for it at home, so I brought it into work.  My cubicle has become a bonus storage area for me.  Everything that I don't have room for or need at home goes straight to work.

One of my circ coworkers saw the fan and I could feel the jealousy.  I told her that she is more than welcome to borrow it if her own personal fan at her desk conks out.  She actually might be the only person who isn't complaining about this Polar Vortex thing.

After staring at the fan for a few days, I couldn't leave it alone.  I had to modify it.

Presenting Harry Pumpkin

Slow, rainy Friday at the Library

Why not dress up the mini pumpkin from the info desk.

The Marginalization of Librarianship.

Let me preface this post by saying that I'm not saying that this is happening at EVERY library.  I do not have a finger on the pulse of the nation-wide public library realm.  Granted, what is going down in my library is only known to those in the system, so who knows what is really happening in any neighboring library system.

Also, your library might be on the right track and has not given up on real librarianship and maybe your MLIS school isn't selling out to fill in the seats.  Good for them, honestly, no sarcasm in that statement.  It is just that those seem to be the minority in the library world and no one seems to care that the profession is being sabotaged from within: library management and library schools.

There has been some debate within my library system about the shift to hiring paraprofessionals.  This is just one of the many issues at my library.  The justification for not needing Librarians is that the job has changed and patron needs have changed.  B#llsh*t, the job only changed because the positions have been marginalized to glorified paper jam clearers.  There is so much more to librarianship, but admin can't see it because there aren't any numbers to justify it.  It is easy to say that degreed librarians aren't needed when you limit what a librarian can do on the job.  Just to be clear, I am in a paraprofessional position, I am not saying that my coworkers in the same position cannot do the job.  It has gotten to the point where these positions could be filled with anyone with enough training.

I believe that this affects what library schools teach or don't.  Let's be real, public libraries are the biggest employers of librarians and MLIS schools reflect this.  Unless you are taking a specialized course related to school media or archives, the public library is the "course du jour" for lectures.  Personally, I saw a strong disconnect between what professors taught and what actually happens at the public library.  In fact, in my reference services class, I honestly believe that that professor had never worked the information desk.

And then there is the ALA who absolutely DOES NOTHING while this all goes down.  Sure, maybe they'll jump on the latest bandwagon of whatever is in the media spotlight in an attempt to get some attention thrown their way.  But overall ALA sucks.  You would think that they would have a heavily vested interest in fighting for librarianship.

While I'm on a ranting rage, library marketing SUCKS.  The library only seems to be concerned about the patrons it currently has, what about the potential ones that make up the majority of tax payers?  Every year it's a survey about "What can the library do better?"  And every year the responses are always the same because the only people who take the time to do the surveys are current patrons.  Why not engage the people who say that libraries are pointless and are a waste of their money?  Why not prove them wrong, sure some can be convinced while others will remain staunch to their own biases.  I have tried bringing this up but it falls on deaf ears, sure my peers at the branch level agree with me but try talking to upper management and you'll find them in their ivory tower.

And another thing about upper management, they too have a strong disconnect about what actually goes down in the branch.  How are they to say what duties should be done at the branch level when they only base their decisions purely on numbers?  They also cannot grasp the fact that each and every branch is different.  "Same ish, different library" holds true, but each branch has their own way to deal with said ish.
The amount of cronyism and yes-people-ing that goes on in management and admin is disgusting and one of the reasons why so many people are looking for outside jobs.  The only way to get promoted is to drink the Kool-Aid.  A true Good 'Ole Boy system.  Voice an opinion that goes against the mainstream and you're met with fierce retaliation or being ignored for the rest of your career.

It is incredibly sad to see the system implode upon itself and not be able to do anything.  By the time fall rolls around, I will have worked for the library for 7 years.  I love the library and I have worked with some amazing people.  I cannot even imagine what the library will be like in the next 7 years.  Library management seems to be "leading us" in the wrong direction and it worries me that other libraries might follow this trend.

Library Cinemagraph

I have a new found fascination with making cinemagraphs.  A couple of weeks ago, there was a weather prediction for one day of snow.  The night before, I charged up my digital camera and placed it near my door to make sure I wouldn't forget it.  I got to work 30 minutes early, as usual, and set up my T3i on my Gorillapod and placed it on a book cart and started taking videos of everything.

The amount of snowfall was perfect, enough for it to stick but not enough to close the library.  Before I knew it, it was time to open the branch.  My first hour was on the desk and we only had our handful of morning regulars come in.  Within that first hour the snow really started to come down in big flakes.  My supervisor came out to the desk and said that he would cover the desk while I shot some more footage.  I felt creepy taking footage in the library with patrons around so I made my supervisor pose in one of my shots.

I was excited to get home and work on it.  This turned out to be my favorite one.

Tax Season '13, So far so good

Almost there, almost there... I can almost add another notch to my info desk tax season veterancy status.  When I was working circ, I could always point disgruntled tax-paying patrons to the info desk, not anymore.  Thankfully, I don't have to listen to/get bitched at about "Why aren't the tax forms here yet!?!?" (Thanks Obama! I kid, I kid).

I would consider this the halfway point through the tax season.  There's always a steady stream of slackers who come in past the filing date looking for forms, heaven forbid we should ever run out of 1040's by May 1st.

OverDrive: You can't polish a turd

My branch circ manager asked for my help when she was redoing her circ manual.  She couldn't get a screenshot of the OverDrive online support form on a single page.  I took it upon myself to improve upon the image.  I knew she noticed it when I heard a laugh come from her cubicle; this image is now in the official circ desk manual.

People are trying to build up the excitement over the "new and improved" Overdrive interface which is supposed to arrive at our library soon.  There really isn't much you can say or tell me about it to change my opinion about Overdrive (a complete suck-fest).

My supervisor is mostly worried about the Cloud aspect of it.  I personally think the Cloud has its advantages but also its fair share of disadvantages, like not having your stuff with you at all times.  Overdrive tries to make it seem like it's the greatest thing ever and that it will work perfectly and seamlessly when you're not connected to the internet.  Psshhh... I'll believe it when I see it.  I can't wait to explain to patrons that they cleared their browser cache which is why they can't access their e-books ("What's my cash have to do with my computer?") .

OverDrive is a textbook example of how crappy things can get when there's a monopoly.  Doll it up all you want, try to make it look pretty with more pictures and flashy UI, but underneath all of it, it is still the same old crappy OD we've come to expect.

The Library Comic Episode 2: The Library aka Public Tech Support.

With Christmas, excuse me -- the holidays, around the corner, I am bracing myself for the onslaught of newly acquired e-reader induced questions at the info desk.  Last year, the Kindle won the question competition, it wasn't even a fair fight.  My bet this season, the questions will be more varied among tablet/e-reader manufacturers.

The download process has not changed since last year, but I do know that some of my info coworkers are not the most tech savvy and still struggle when it comes to these reference queries.  They also like to hit my extension and call me out from the backroom to help them out so I have to mentally prepare myself.  If you thought some older librarians were hardcore Luddites, some of these patrons that come in make them look like Steve Wozniak.

There are certain times when fielding particular tech questions from patrons can be difficult.  Patrons have asked me for my personal recommendation on everything from doctors, printers, tablets, cell-phones, and automotive body shops.  Don't worry, I stick to "The Librarian Code" and remain unbiased.  Although some patrons don't get the hint when I tell that even though that "e-reader/tablet" they found at their local pharmacy bargain bin while waiting for their prescription fill, might seem like a great deal.  They'll end up paying more in the long run when their tablet fails in a couple of months.  I always tell them to go to a store and play around with all of the tablets to see which one they like best.

The library system I work at also has a no touching policy, which means hands off the patron's electronics you dirty, dirty minded people.  The system doesn't want to be in any way liable for any damage to patron's stuff.  It can get pretty frustrating when patrons can't quite maneuver their touch-pads and you're standing right next to them telling what to click on in order to log in to the library's WiFi or walk them through the whole e-book download process.  If it is this hard assisting patrons who are physically in the library, imagine what it's like trying to help patrons over the phone.  Remote desktop access must relieve stress in IT departments, they can see and control what the end-user sees instead of running down the script of questions, "Is it turned on? Is it plugged in?  Is the power on?  Did you try turning it off and on?"

My first comic, presenting 'The Library'

Since no one has read this blog in its entirety, its okay -- I couldn't finish 50 Shades of Grey, let me say that I go through these creative phases.  From using discarded library books as a medium to clay sculpting (as minor as it was), I get into these moods and I can't shake them until I actually go through the process.

Late one night a few weeks ago, I'm just about to go to sleep when I say, "Hey, I want to do a comic strip about the library."  Yeah, I know there's already one and it's pretty damn funny: Unshelved.  But who is to say that the current state of library-related comics is already saturated that and I'll do as I damn please thank you very much.   I mean, what's Coke without Pepsi, what's McDonald's without Burger King, what's OverDrive without... exactly!  Now may I present to you the first, of who knows how many, "The Library" comic strip.

Please excuse any grievous formatting issues, this is a first for me.

Yes, we did have someone call in to see if they could bring their cat with them to vote.  My supervisor didn't even hazard any form of response.  I guess he wasn't up for getting into an inane argument with a stranger so he just gave them the number to the elections board.  Mr. Huffle-Puff deserves to have his voice heard!  I mean, how else is our caller supposed to make the right decision on the ballot if their cat isn't there to lend a paw.

Publishers' Most Wanted: The Public Library...

Money Talks, BS Walks... Time to ante up...

First off, <^>(-_-)<^> middle finger salute to all you stingy-ass, stubborn, myopic publishers.  You all are acting like a bunch of jackasses.  What the hell has the public library ever done to you, except give you money and support?

You get all pissy in the digital age just because you think you'll lose millions of dollars in revenue if you sell an ebook to a library.  The publishing world is evolving and you're trying to fight the change.  So print is slowly losing ground to digital format, it's all new to you, but take a note from the music industry.  They've made the physical to digital transition and they haven't gone bust.  I remember when CD's used to sell for over $19.99 and singles used to cost $4.99.  Now single songs cost .99, let's be honest, CD-buyers were screwed over because most of the songs on a full-length CD were crap anyways.

So you think a fair compromise would be to give libraries copies limited to 26 loan periods.  I have seen copies of books that have checked out over 125 times that are in still excellent condition.  The other option is to pay over 100% the physical book price for the ebook one.  Who was the genius who made that decision?

I find it hard to believe that digital editions carry the same manufacturing costs as print.  If they really do, then you're doing something wrong. You know libraries across the country have been battling budget cuts for several years now, but yet you insist on strangling every dollar out of them.  Have you ever considered that libraries would purchase MORE digital copies if prices were reasonable?  And selling more copies at a lower price could help the bottom line better than selling a lot fewer at a hyper-inflated price.

I'm just saying, you can't keep doing this forever.  Something's gotta give and you act like you don't really need or care for libraries' business.  I can't wait til more authors and independent publishers step up.  See what happens when the paradigm shift comes and libraries turn their backs on you.

Good Guy Library Patron and their Donations.

Every weekend I work, I find myself inundated with donations dropped off during the day.  It seems that my branch's local community treats every weekend like "Spring Cleaning" season.  Some patrons don't even bother parking properly, they just pull up to the front of the library, ignoring the yellow curb and numerous signs saying not to "Park or Stand."  They block part of the sidewalk and entrance road while they bring in their boxes and bags of donations.

Bad Patron, Bad..

Some don't even bother bringing them in to the library, they just drop them off in front of the branch and leave.  I guess it is our fault because our sign only says not to drop off donations IN the book drop, it says nothing about dropping stuff off OUTSIDE of the book drop...

I was surprised when a patron came in with a stack of National Geographic books and first asked me if the library would have any use for them.  I checked the ILS and told him that we could actually add them to the branch's collection.  He seemed very grateful that they would serve a purpose and then asked if the library would want or need his 15 year collection of National Geographic Magazines.  I know how sentimental some people can be with their collections, so I tried to put it nicely that the library didn't need it.  He replied, "Do you know who would want them then?  I've asked local schools, Goodwill, other libraries."  I didn't want to be that guy who had to break it to him that his meticulous collecting was all for naught, I could only tell him, "Hmmm, yeah, I'm not sure who would want them then."

But seriously though, some donations are pure crap, either completely outdated items.  Or literal crap, people treat book slots like their personal garbage bin.  Sometimes you will find gold, a newly released book with hundreds of holds in mint condition.  We'll take what we can get with these nonstop budget cuts, the collections budget has really taken a hit.

Public Libraries for Learning or Entertainment...

Now I'm in the Mood for some Tacos...

The library branch that I work at, was recently remodeled.  Besides all the, "Wow, it looks so much better," comments, I have also received several comments about the current state of the collection compared to the previous branch's.

Some comments echo one of the biggest arguments about public library collections: "What happened to all of the nonfiction books?  The older library used to have a lot of good reference and research items, now it's all this best seller fiction crap."  "Why aren't there more copies of (so-and-so  title of the latest NYT fiction best seller)?" or "Why doesn't the library have more blockbuster movies on DVD?"

I am a "gamer,"  I have an Xbox 360 and a Wii, I built a custom PC which could handle modern games but I doubt that I even use 1/10th of its potential.  I say gamer in quotes because I don't play everyday nor do I spend hours gaming when I do.  And I will be one of the first people to question whether public libraries should carry video games.  Video games are damn expensive and what are the main motives for libraries to carry them?  Fluff up the door count and circ stats, so that when it comes time to hammer out next year's budget the library can plead its case about how many people plodded their way into the libraries and how many times the latest abomination of 'Modern Warfare' was checked out.

On the flip side, patrons who come in expecting the library to have 'The North American Council of Professional Development for Sub-Saharan Lawn Mower Manufacturers' and getting upset that we don't have it are asking just a bit too much.  The public library does have a good coverage of nonfiction and scholarly materials and subject matter, but constrained budgets be damned, they cannot obtain everything on everything.  There's nothing more the public library wants than to get more people coming in by carrying items people want.  Sometimes patrons will pull the tax-payer card: "my money pays for these books, it should carry the books I want."  Yeah, yeah, play that fiddle -- I technically pay part of my own paycheck.

The Library isn't perfect, and they do try their best, but when you're dealing with the public, you cannot please everyone.  And despite all the patron bitching about the library's collection, the current collection is the same as before the renovation, if not there being a little more materials in every genre with all the new shelving.  I guess it really all depends on if you view the shelves as half full or half empty.

The Rules of the Library #4: Fans, Fans Everywhere.

Rules of the Library #4: Fans, Fans Everywhere.

They don't call it the "Greying of the profession" for nothing.  With older coworkers in every branch, a lot of them experience hot flashes on the daily.  Usually being the lone male in the library, I have heard way too many jokes and references to menopause from my coworkers.  That usually isn't the worst of it, it's the jokes about Viagra and their husbands which I usually cringe at.

Right at your hoo-ha

It is not uncommon to hear the whirring of fans at the info desk, circ desk, and the backroom.  This is all year round too.  The circ manager stopped asking my opinion if "the branch is too hot" during the winter months --- "Wait, your opinion doesn't count!"  I'm sitting at the info desk, all layered up, and she's across the way at the circ desk with a fan blowing at hurricane speed.  I don't know if fan salespeople exist, but if you do, hit up your local library and you can send your children to college from all the sales.

No one cared about '50 Shades of Grey' until the media told people to.

Damn Sheeple!  Think for yourselves... Don't fall for the hype.

First off, the marketing team behind the 50 Shades books are pure geniuses.  They turned a trio of books filled with utter nonsense, into one of the most talked about  and read books in recent history.  If I was a billionaire, I would hire those people to run a nationwide campaign on using "Please and Thank You."  When I refer to the media, I am not talking about any reliable news networks, I am talking about those morning talk shows with those gabby hosts.

The only thing worse than the attention saying how "great" these books were, was the attention received from stupid libraries that said they wouldn't carry the book.  For all my hatred for these books, I do believe that libraries should add them.  You'd think the ALA would have a firm stance on libraries that declined to stock these books, since they love them some Banned Book ish.  But no, they pretty much turned all soft and said, libraries can do whatever they want, stop asking for our opinion.

For those claiming that 50 Shades are out-right "erotica" are highly confused.  The sex scenes, if you choose to call them that, seemed to have been written by Steve Carrell's character in 'The 40 Year Old Virgin': (obligatory NSFW dislaimer)





"I dated this girl... for a while, and she was really a nasty freak.
She just loved to get down with sex all the time.
She was like, any time of day, she was like: "Yeah, let's go. I'm so nasty."
And I'd be nailing her. She'd be like: "Oh, you're nailing me. Cool."
She loved to dirty-talk. Totally into it.
She'd be like: "Yeah, let's screw, let's... I wanna f**k."
God, it was so dirty.  She'd be like, "Me so horny, me love you long time."
You know, when you, like, you grab a woman's breast
and it's... And you feel it and...
it feels like a bag of sand when you're touching it."



Oh yeah, that's so urro-teak...  This is a disservice to those who actually write erotica.

I don't want to cause public panic or outbreaks of people shouting in the streets, "But what about the children!?!???"  But what if I told you that right now, there are millions of these poorly written smut-books sitting on the shelves in every library right now??

Okay, these are probably better written than '50 Shades'

Libraries chose to fall back on their trusty "Collection Development Plans" when it came to denying shelf-space to this trio of trash.  It's probably been a long ass time since they actually looked at them.  Libraries seem to be too busy trying to reinvent themselves as the "cool and hip" place to be, instead of working on their core principles.  Of course the media picked it up and that just further pushed the hive-mind agenda, the same rules apply to trolls, don't feed them.  Just let them starve from all the attention they aren't getting and we can all move on.  The libraries ended up caving in and bought the books anyway... pathetic.

I'll have an El Derecho, yes, I know that Guacamole is extra...

So my past week has been fun.  I was watching 'Brave' with my friend on Friday night when the movie cut out 4 times during the last 10 minutes, kind of ruins the climactic ending.  Similar to the ending of a close March Madness game, the last minute on the clock ends up turning into 5+ minutes.  Some lone high school kid working at the movie theater came in after the third film outage to tell the packed house, which was full of little kids, that it was because of power surges and to expect more delays in the movie.

There were tons of debris on the road and I had to take numerous detours.  On Saturday, I assumed work was cancelled, but I couldn't call or check emails because the whole damn network was down.  The day was ridiculously hot, thankfully my sister never lost power so I spent a couple nights there.  Driving around without any stoplights at major intersections is hazardous to your health.

Seriously, douche, if you didn't learn what to do
from the cars that went before you, your license should be revoked.

Okay, I know it does not happen often, but for those out there who don't know: whenever you come across a downed stoplight, you're supposed to treat it like a four-way stop.  That applies to everyone, including that ass who thinks they're above the rest of society and blows right threw them.  If I were in charge of the DMV, I would put that question in the license renewal exam and anyone who fails that question, automatically has to take a special driving course.

Two winters ago I dealt with the power going out during a blizzard.  It sucked because I was stuck in the house because the roads weren't plowed.  But one redeeming thing about power outages in the winter is that you can add more layers, you can only take off so much in a summer power outage.  The heat just saps your energy, in the cold you just want to hibernate.

As of right now, I still don't know if my branch has power back yet.  If not, I'll have to call around to find a branch willing to take in this branch-less refugee.

There's Always Money in the Banana Stand...

It's been 6 months since graduating and still no full time librarian job, but this was expected.  It took my friend a little over a year after getting her MLIS, so that is what I am marking on the calendar as desperation day ground zero.  My parents have mentioned going through their network to see if they have any possible leads or connections.  If that isn't awkward/embarrassing/sad enough, one of my ex-girlfriend's offered to take a look at her company to see if there's any relevant positions for me.  She recently texted me out of the blue because she had a dream about me and asked how I was doing, obviously not so well in the job department.

I'm contemplating starting up eBay/Amazon/Craigslist hustling again, but the profit margins are no where near the same with increased seller fees, PayPal fees, and shipping costs.

Now on the occupational back-up list: Baked Goods.

Limited Edition Nike Fondants:
Two-Tone Pink/White and White/Red Color way

This past weekend my mom held a baby shower for my sister (her first baby--woot!) and she asked my friend if she could make cupcakes for the event.  For what I lack in the cooking skills my friend more than makes up for it and I wasn't going to let her slave away by herself.  Although, my "helping" usual involves taking orders, cleaning stuff up --- usual my own mess, and other non-technical procedures such as placing those sugar pearls on the frosting.  I did make 1/4 of the booties shown below.  I think they turned out pretty well considering I had a hand in it.

48 Shades of Diabetes

It's just an MLIS, really...

A couple of weeks ago, my family went out to dinner to celebrate my graduating from Library School.  Yeah, it's a couple months late, but I was more nonchalant about it, much like the whole grad school thing, because it's just an MLIS.  To be honest, I almost felt guilty for celebrating such a non-event.

Last week at work I came across The Grad Cafe website for grad students and they had a forum for prospective MLIS students.  I know that I have a completely different outlook on librarianship and MLIS's, but is it normal for people to apply to more than one library grad school program??  I know that's the thing to do for undergrad programs but for library science graduate programs!??!  What a waste of money on application fees.

Not only do people apply to more than one school, but they also apply to schools across the country.  The school I went to is nearby.  If by some reason I wasn't accepted, I would have gladly taken an online only degree program.  No sense in moving somewhere, anywhere, for an MLIS.  Here's how it will probably go down, genius applies to a handful of schools, genius moves across the country to attend a "top rated MLIS school," genius gets degree, genius cannot find any local jobs, genius applies to library jobs all over the country, genius ends up moving somewhere else to take a library job that pays incredibly low wages.

EVERYONE gets accepted into an MLIS program.  There are only a couple of reasons why a college wouldn't accept someone's money, sorry - I mean application.  I guess if someone has a horrible undergrad GPA and even worse GRE scores, maybe, just maybe a school would say no.  I read that some schools only accept a certain number each semester.  Why -- I don't know, colleges love easy money and it doesn't get any easier than the MLIS department.  Seriously, you don't need anything special to give an MLIS lecture.  In reference to the BCG Matrix, they are the cash cows of the universities.  So as you can see, EVERYONE get accepted into an MLIS program.

Not only does everyone get accepted but everyone also gets the degree. 
"YOU GET A DEGREE! YOU GET A DEGREE! YOU GET A DEGREE!"
 All you have to do is pay the price tag.  Now, I know that just because I don't know of anyone who has dropped or failed out of library school does not necessarily mean that it hasn't happened.  But c'mon now, who knows someone who has?  And if anyone has failed out of library school, there probably is some special program, much like a witness-protection, that will relocate said failure and give them a new identity for fear of a life of mock and ridicule.

Getting an MLIS has to be the easiest graduate degree to obtain.  It's like getting an Xbox Achievement for inserting the game disc and starting the game.

MLIS schools pump out degrees like an automated assembly line.  To keep the cash flow coming in, they have to keep them moving.  Why would a college care if there already is a flood of MLIS holders out there and not enough jobs?  They already have your money, they don't owe you anything more than that piece of paper that says you're some certified info-hustler.

Anyone who claims that they went to a "Top Ranked MLIS School" should be forced to read every single romance novel written.  Their argument has no solid ground, the difference between one MLIS school from another is minimal if even measurable.  They all use the same textbooks, they all offer the same courses, they all tell you to read the same horrible "library research," and they will all tell you the same ALA spiel.  Do you really think that just because you went to the "#1 Rated MLIS School" you can copy-catalog better than another?  Or that it'll put you in top consideration for a position?  Sucker....

To those that want to argue that there is some prestige in an MLIS degree, I must say that you are highly delusional.  There is no "prestige" or "honor" with the degree.  Hey, don't be mad at me, I'm just as disappointed.  These library schools have no standards.  If they did, they would not allow every single applicant into the program.  If they did, not everyone would pass every class.  If they did, not everyone would walk away with a degree.  Of course, if a library school were to have any standards and reject people, those rejects would just go to another school and pay for the degree.  So no library school will up their standards because doing so would negatively affect their cash flow. 

Just because someone pays for the courses, does that mean they deserve ("earn") the degree?

Brace Yourselves, Summer Reading is Coming...

Yesterday's staff meeting was the last one before SRP starts, so the Info meeting was all about it: book lists, book talks, signing up, youth volunteers, etc.  It was the first time we ever used the whole allotted time talking about Info related stuff, I mean, there never really is anything "new or radical" in the public library world.

It was also talked about during the all staff meeting.  I just want to take the time out to say thanks to my coworkers who volunteered me to take the meeting notes... punks.  "That's what you get for coming prepared," said my coworker sitting next to me as she was playing Angry Birds on her phone.  I'll just botch the notes when I type them up so they won't choose me again.

It was agreed that the teen poster looked like an ad for Apple and the theme: "We Own the Night," seems completely unrelated to SRP so they will not be posted.  And it appears that I'm the only one who finds the guitar playing bats NOT cute.  Yet another example of horrible library marketing.

Tangent Warning:  Theon, wtf!?!??  You quickly have tied Joffrey as the #1 person I love to hate.

The Digital Quicksand, the new Digital Divide...

From the Bibliotecher Dictionary:

Digital Quicksand: the false belief that just because an item (book, journal, article, audio) is available in electronic format, then it must be available instantaneously and free of cost to the user.

If it wasn't bad enough people are trying to close the Digital Divide, there is now a new technology-borne problem on the horizon.  Yeah, it isn't that serious but it still exists.  Unfortunately, in this world of "need it now," people have the tendency to get upset when they cannot get what they what right then and there.

Countless patrons came strolling in after Christmas with their newly unwrapped e-readers wanting to download all those books they wanted to read but never had the time, to only walk away dejected and sometimes pretty upset.  "What do you mean there's a wait list for an ebook??"

Yes, there are holds lists for ebooks.  And yes, the library did not do a good job about letting the public know about how e-book borrowing works.  Well, that might be because libraries, themselves, did not know and still do not since they pathetically take whatever Evil Overdrive gives them, which is just a puppet of publishers.

I try to explain that the library has no real control or say in the matter, well, they do have a say, they could say, "Eff this," and not deal with e-books at all.  But librarians are way to passive-aggressive to do anything about it, so they'd just probably vent about it on their blogs.

What the hell is so great about '50 Shades of Grey'

More like 50 Shades of Ish

So the library has finally placed orders for 50 Shades of Grey.  It's only been requested by patrons every day I've worked for the past three weeks.  Last week, I finally decided to see what the buzz was all about.  Patrons always come up to the desk and tell me what I should read, I've followed through on a few recommendations and have not been disappointed.

One thing about me, I don't like to NOT finish a book once I've started reading it.  But 50 Shades of Grey is only going to be the second book I've stopped reading, the first was The Elegance of the Hedgehog, came off as really pretentious to me.  50 Shades of Grey is just a story with terrible writing with a terrible characters and plot.  Put simply it's literary smut, just because there isn't some Flabio on the cover, don't be fooled.

**Spoiler Alert**  Take one young, inexperienced female with low self-esteem who does not think she looks good, add one extremely rich, wunderkind, who looks like a male supermodel with a permanent Photoshop filter turned on, who gets whatever he wants and somehow only wants said-female and blammo, you end up with a bunch of ish.

All I know is that the people behind the marketing of this book series are pure marketing geniuses who could convince a slug to invest in salt.   Here's a great drinking game for this horrid, horrid book: you take a shot every time a character "murmurs."  You will undoubtedly end up in an alcohol-induced coma only a quarter into the book and you can thank me later when you wake up in hospital without any memory of the book.