Saturday 31 March 2018
fiercereadsya: Do you love historical novels about girls who...
Do you love historical novels about girls who dress up as boys so they can live their best lives? If yes, we’ve got a brand new book just for you. 😍
The Beloved Wild by Melissa Ostrom
She’s not the girl everyone expects her to be.
Harriet Winter is the eldest daughter in a farming family in New Hampshire, 1807. She is expected to help with her younger sisters. To pitch in with the cooking and cleaning. And to marry her neighbor, the farmer Daniel Long. Harriet’s mother sees Daniel as a good match, but Harriet doesn’t want someone else to choose her path—in love or in life.
When Harriet’s brother decides to strike out for the Genesee Valley in Western New York, Harriet decides to go with him—disguised as a boy. Their journey includes sickness, uninvited strangers, and difficult emotional terrain as Harriet sees more of the world, realizes what she wants, and accepts who she’s loved all along.
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Friday 30 March 2018
Thursday 29 March 2018
Israeli justice minister asks: Why not segregate libraries by sex?
Oh. Oh wow. That is such a bad idea I don’t even know where to start.
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Wednesday 28 March 2018
The Tories are savaging libraries – and closing the book on social mobility | John Harris
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libraries, books, culture, conservatives, politics
Sewickley man's $37M gift to library, hospital is Pittsburgh Foundation's second largest
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foundation, sewickley, pittsburgh, suckling, gift
I was away sick for most of last week. Within the two days since I’ve been back I’ve had 4 kids stop...
I was away sick for most of last week.
Within the two days since I’ve been back I’ve had 4 kids stop by to worriedly ask me if I’m feeling better, another handful ask me how I’m doing as they picked up a laptop for class, and nearly got knocked over by a kid who shrieked “YOU’RE BACK!!!!” and launched themselves across the room to tackle me into an excited bear hug.
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librarylife, libraryland, School Libraries, school librarian, sick leave, the real life of me, i guess they missed me, lol, school life
Tuesday 27 March 2018
steelfeather: sandyferal: Am I the only one sensing a pattern...
Am I the only one sensing a pattern here?
Diversity pays and anyone who claims otherwise is either a bigot and a liar, or an idiot.
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Monday 26 March 2018
Sunday 25 March 2018
Saturday 24 March 2018
Of course we have bookshops in Nigeria. But they’re for the lucky few |Sede Alonge
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nigeria, africa, world news, books, culture
Waterstones boss condemns public library closures as a 'disgrace'
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waterstones boss condemns public library closures
Friday 23 March 2018
Thursday 22 March 2018
leatherdaddymikepence: this is the worst snap I’ve ever sent to...
this is the worst snap I’ve ever sent to anyone. my semantics class is ruining my life.
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I’ve had to take a few days of sick leave due to having a fairly high fever and a massive headache,...
I’ve had to take a few days of sick leave due to having a fairly high fever and a massive headache, but I think what bothers me the most is how disappointed the kids must be most of them don’t get library time this week (I always hear them talking to each other about how much they like the library and multiple teachers have told me their kids always get excited about library time). :/
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sick leave, librarylife, libraryland, School Libraries
Wednesday 21 March 2018
Tuesday 20 March 2018
Monday 19 March 2018
Sunday 18 March 2018
Saturday 17 March 2018
thehpalliance: Accio Books is just around the corner and we’re...
Accio Books is just around the corner and we’re sending books to develop lending libraries at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Puerto Rico and all around the world!
Help us make this magical campaign happen by donating or fundraising at: apparatinglibrary.org
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rainbowrowell: fanbows: @rainbowrowell reminding us why she’s...
@rainbowrowell reminding us why she’s our queen 👑
Sharing because I did in fact say all this – not because I feel 👑-ly
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Friday 16 March 2018
Thursday 15 March 2018
Reimagining libraries in the digital era
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national library board, easter, andrew carnegie, trends in library usage, singapore
Wednesday 14 March 2018
Tuesday 13 March 2018
Monday 12 March 2018
Ajman school to set up library dedicated to Zayed
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shaikh zayed bin sultan al, majid bin saeed al nuaimi, shaikh zayed, al nahyan family, chair
Sunday 11 March 2018
writing-prompt-s:When artists/authors die they continue their works in the afterlife. Heaven and...
When artists/authors die they continue their works in the afterlife. Heaven and hell compete periodically by hosting an award show. This time, you hosting, announce the new ‘works from life’ but at googelplexes of sequels.
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Librarian's View: Meaningful dialogue can come now
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opinion, to kill a mockingbird, the adventures of huckleberry finn, duluth school district, duluth public schools
Saturday 10 March 2018
thisaddictionissicknen: In the Valley of Gods Announcement...
We’re Ready
I was presenting an assembly for kids grades 3-8 while on book tour for the third PRINCESS ACADEMY book.
Me: “So many teachers have told me the same thing. They say, ‘When I told my students we were reading a book called PRINCESS ACADEMY, the girls said—’”
I gesture to the kids and wait. They anticipate what I’m expecting, and in unison, the girls scream, “YAY!”
Me: “'And the boys said—”
I gesture and wait. The boys know just what to do. They always do, no matter their age or the state they live in.
In unison, the boys shout, “BOOOOO!”
Me: “And then the teachers tell me that after reading the book, the boys like it as much or sometimes even more than the girls do.”
Audible gasp. They weren’t expecting that.
Me: “So it’s not the story itself boys don’t like, it’s what?”
The kids shout, “The name! The title!”Me: “And why don’t they like the title?”
As usual, kids call out, “Princess!”
But this time, a smallish 3rd grade boy on the first row, who I find out later is named Logan, shouts at me, “Because it’s GIRLY!”
The way Logan said “girly"…so much hatred from someone so small. So much distain. This is my 200-300th assembly, I’ve asked these same questions dozens of times with the same answers, but the way he says “girly” literally makes me take a step back. I am briefly speechless, chilled by his hostility.
Then I pull it together and continue as I usually do.
“Boys, I have to ask you a question. Why are you so afraid of princesses? Did a princess steal your dog? Did a princess kidnap your parents? Does a princess live under your bed and sneak out at night to try to suck your eyeballs out of your skull?”
The kids laugh and shout “No!” and laugh some more. We talk about how girls get to read any book they want but some people try to tell boys that they can only read half the books. I say that this isn’t fair. I can see that they’re thinking about it in their own way.
But little Logan is skeptical. He’s sure he knows why boys won’t read a book about a princess. Because a princess is a girl—a girl to the extreme. And girls are bad. Shameful. A boy should be embarrassed to read a book about a girl. To care about a girl. To empathize with a girl.
Where did Logan learn that? What does believing that do to him? And how will that belief affect all the girls and women he will deal with for the rest of his life?
At the end of my presentation, I read aloud the first few chapters of THE PRINCESS IN BLACK. After, Logan was the only boy who stayed behind while I signed books. He didn’t have a book for me to sign, he had a question, but he didn’t want to ask me in front of others. He waited till everyone but a couple of adults had left. Then, trembling with nervousness, he whispered in my ear, “Do you have a copy of that black princess book?”
He wanted to know what happened next in her story. But he was ashamed to want to know.
Who did this to him? How will this affect how he feels about himself? How will this affect how he treats fellow humans his entire life?
We already know that misogyny is toxic and damaging to women and girls, but often we assume it doesn’t harm boys or mens a lick. We think we’re asking them to go against their best interest in the name of fairness or love. But that hatred, that animosity, that fear in little Logan, that isn’t in his best interest. The oppressor is always damaged by believing and treating others as less than fully human. Always. Nobody wins. Everybody loses.
We humans have a peculiar tendency to assume either/or scenarios despite all logic. Obviously it’s NOT “either men matter OR women do.” It’s NOT “we can give boys books about boys OR books about girls.” It’s NOT “men are important to this industry OR women are.“
It’s not either/or. It’s AND.
We can celebrate boys AND girls. We can read about boys AND girls. We can listen to women AND men. We can honor and respect women AND men. And And And. I know this seems obvious and simplistic, but how often have you assumed that a boy reader would only read a book about boys? I have. Have you preselected books for a boy and only offered him books about boys? I’ve done that in the past. And if not, I’ve caught myself and others kind of apologizing about it. “I think you’ll enjoy this book EVEN THOUGH it’s about a girl!” They hear that even though. They know what we mean. And they absorb it as truth.
I met little Logan at the same assembly where I noticed that all the 7th and 8th graders were girls. Later, a teacher told me that the administration only invited the middle school girls to my assembly. Because I’m a woman. I asked, and when they’d had a male author, all the kids were invited. Again reinforcing the falsehood that what men say is universally important but what women say only applies to girls.
One 8th grade boy was a big fan of one of my books and had wanted to come, so the teacher had gotten special permission for him to attend, but by then he was too embarrassed. Ashamed to want to hear a woman speak. Ashamed to care about the thoughts of a girl.
A few days later, I tweeted about how the school didn’t invite the middle school boys. And to my surprise, twitter responded. Twitter was outraged. I was blown away. I’ve been talking about these issues for over a decade, and to be honest, after a while you feel like no one cares.
But for whatever reason, this time people were ready. I wrote a post explaining what happened, and tens of thousands of people read it. National media outlets interviewed me. People who hadn’t thought about gendered reading before were talking, comparing notes, questioning what had seemed normal. Finally, finally, finally.
And that’s the other thing that stood out to me about Logan—he was so ready to change. Eager for it. So open that he’d started the hour expressing disgust at all things “girly” and ended it by whispering an anxious hope to be a part of that story after all.
The girls are ready. Boy howdy, we’ve been ready for a painful long time. But the boys, they’re ready too. Are you?
I’ve spoken with many groups about gendered reading in the last few years. Here are some things that I hear:
A librarian, introducing me before my presentation: “Girls, you’re in for a real treat. You’re going to love Shannon Hale’s books. Boys, I expect you to behave anyway.”
A book festival committee member: “Last week we met to choose a keynote speaker for next year. I suggested you, but another member said, ‘What about the boys?’ so we chose a male author instead.”
A parent: “My son read your book and he ACTUALLY liked it!”
A teacher: “I never noticed before, but for read aloud I tend to choose books about boys because I assume those are the only books the boys will like.”
A mom: “My son asked me to read him The Princess in Black, and I said, ‘No, that’s for your sister,’ without even thinking about it.”
A bookseller: “I’ve stopped asking people if they’re shopping for a boy or a girl and instead asking them what kind of story the child likes.”
Like the bookseller, when I do signings, I frequently ask each kid, “What kind of books do you like?” I hear what you’d expect: funny books, adventure stories, fantasy, graphic novels. I’ve never, ever, EVER had a kid say, “I only like books about boys.” Adults are the ones with the weird bias. We’re the ones with the hangups, because we were raised to believe thinking that way is normal. And we pass it along to the kids in sometimes overt (“Put that back! That’s a girl book!”) but usually in subtle ways we barely notice ourselves.
But we are ready now. We’re ready to notice and to analyze. We’re ready to be thoughtful. We’re ready for change. The girls are ready, the boys are ready, the non-binary kids are ready. The parents, librarians, booksellers, authors, readers are ready. Time’s up. Let’s make a change.
Word.
I’m a school librarian and there’s a little boy in one of my classes who’s super duper into “girlie” things. His favourite series are My Little Pony, Powerpuff Girls, and Pinkalicious. His favourite reading buddy is a black bear stuffie in a red dress with sparkly shoes. I always make sure to be supportive of his interests and set aside any books I think he might enjoy just as I would with a girl who liked those series.
Neither he nor any of the other 300-something kids at the school I work at have ever EVER asked for “a girl/boy book” or any variation thereof.
They’ve asked for books with fairies, mermaids, unicorns, kittens, puppies, scary creatures, mythological creatures, “army stuff”, the Titanic, various superheroes, specific series, books within certain genres, and books by specific authors.
But never once have any of them asked for a gendered book.
Some of the most popular subjects for the girls at my school are: snakes, foxes, owls, spiders, “dangerous animals”, pirates, dragons, sharks, fairies, true-or-false books, Disney princesses, vampires, mythological creatures, romance, health and relationship guides, World War II, horses, and paranormal-related subjects (ghosts, haunted places, etc).
For the boys, some of the most common subjects are: pandas, owls, “dangerous animals”, dragons, pirates, guns and “army stuff”, foxes, vampires, dinosaurs, World War II, mythological creatures, knights, mummies, NinjaGo, search-and-find books, video game manuals, and paranormal-related subjects (ghosts, haunted places, etc).
Most of the boys don’t like books about spiders because they’re scared of them, while most of the girls are like “SPIDERS ARE FREAKIN’ AWESOME!!!! :D” and most boys have little interest in snakes (probably for a similar reason).
Whenever anyone complains about not knowing what they want to read the kinds of questions librarians are taught to ask are questions like “What kinds of books do you like and what do you like about them?”, “What do you find most important in a story? Is it the setting, the genre, the characters?”, “Do you prefer fast-paced books or books that take their time to tell the story?”, and “If you don’t read much, what kinds of shows/movies/tv shows do you like and why?”.
Just suggesting books based on the kids’ genders would be bloody useless.
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Friday 9 March 2018
Thursday 8 March 2018
Wednesday 7 March 2018
Northamptonshire announces 'heavily reduced' libraries plan – on World Book Day
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libraries, books, culture, northampton, uk news
Tuesday 6 March 2018
Monday 5 March 2018
Librarian hopes you’re reading 15 minutes a day - Sylvan Lake News
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sylvan lake municipal library
Drag queen story times teach acceptance, diversity at Toronto libraries
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toronto public library, story times, toronto, drag queen, tpl
Sunday 4 March 2018
bloomsburys: fun story I first became obsessed with the harry potter series and hermione in...
fun story I first became obsessed with the harry potter series and hermione in particular in yr 3 of primary school and I decided I wanted to be like hermione in every way so I started reading *lots* and working super hard in school, got a reputation for bookishness and being the smart kid that I kept up into high school and lol here I am graduating in a few weeks from Cambridge all bc I adored this clever bookworm in a children’s book series and absorbed her into my personality as a child like ???
basically long story short female role models in kids media are EVERYTHING
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just-shower-thoughts:Children draw really tall houses because they’re drawing them from their...
Children draw really tall houses because they’re drawing them from their perspective.
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rockpapercynic: I’ve been posting weekly photo-fiction to my new...
I’ve been posting weekly photo-fiction to my new tumblr, The Shortest Story, and I thought I’d share some of my favorites so far. If you enjoy this, consider reblogging or following on Tumblr, Facebook, Tapas or Instagram!
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neurodivergent-crow: wizphobe: dollsome-does-tumblr: i just read a washington post article on...
i just read a washington post article on romcoms aging poorly due to the pushiness (and oft-stalkery conduct) of the male characters therein, and it got me thinking about pride and prejudice, and specifically darcy saying, “one word from you will silence me on this subject forever.”
because, like, that’s the seldom-portrayed romantic dream in the patriarchal hellscape that is our world, isn’t it?
a dude being willing to say, “i understand if you don’t feel the same way about me, and i’ll leave you alone forever about this if my attention is unwanted.”
so simple, yet so wonderful in its basic human decency
P&P is literally my fave book
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Saturday 3 March 2018
estrelalourenco: Little magpie! The newest member of my Flipbook...
Little magpie! The newest member of my Flipbook project!
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Cricket Media, Inc. expands eBook lending to schools and public libraries worldwide with 250 new eBooks titles now available through the OverDrive platform
NPR News: Biometric Data And The Rise Of Digital Dictatorship
New story on NPR: Biometric Data And The Rise Of Digital Dictatorship http://ift.tt/2GTM7xb
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Friday 2 March 2018
By the books: How libraries are dealing with the opioid crisis
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specials, promotable
Thursday 1 March 2018
otahkoapisiakii: BLACKFEET TRIBE STATE OF EMERGENCY! We need...
BLACKFEET TRIBE STATE OF EMERGENCY!
We need food in Blackfeet Nation.
Blackfeet Nourish has been providing food for the Medicine Bear Shelter and Blackfeet Food Bank for more than six years. The month of February has been grueling. Blackfeet [Nation reservation] has been hit by blizzard after blizzard with hurricane-force winds. Many people around Blackfeet Nation are both trapped in their homes and trapped out of their homes, in shelters, and other people’s homes.
100% of the donations will go to food for the Blackfeet Nation and dispersed [by] the shelter and as directed by Blackfeet Tribe’s Incident Command Center.
Go to: http://nourishtheflathead.org/donate/ and please indicate “Blackfeet Nourish” in the message line
If you can’t donate, PLEASE signal boost! Niisiniyitaki!
This is for the members of the Blackfoot nation that live on the US side of the border, but they are nevertheless from the nation that we serve at my school on the Canadian side.
I’ll be passing this info along to our FMNI liaison, but I figured I’d share it here too in case anyone has any cash they could spare. Every little bit goes a long way; even a dollar or two can make a difference because it adds up (e.g. if every follower of mine donated a dollar the donations might not seem much individually, but it would add up to over $500, which can go a long way).
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The CRTC can protect net neutrality
It’s finally happened – the coalition of Bell and other major Canadian telecommunications companies, called FairPlay Canada, just submitted its proposal to the CRTC to censor the internet and force the end of net neutrality in Canada.
The CRTC opened a public comment period that closes in just a few weeks – and that means they need to hear from you now to stop this dangerous plan and protect free and open internet. We’ve got an example of an email you can send to the commissioners, but it’s better to write in your own words if you can. After you press send, your email will be sent straight to the commissioners at the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
This is important to fill out and send to the CRTC because Bell is apparently urging its employees to send submissions to the CRTC in favour of its internet censorship plan.
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