I’m back from SPX, and finally getting around to writing my con report!
First and foremost, the show was awesome. I was there two years ago as a complete nobody, and people remembered me this year. SPX always feels like a family show to me—once you’ve gotten acquainted with some of the people, they’re your friends. Whether you next run into them online or at another con or even next year (or two years later!) at SPX again, they’re still your friends. The good cheer and friendliness really sets the tone for the whole show—it’s not a show of Exhibitors and Attendees; it’s a show where a bunch of comics fans and friends get together, sell some things, buy some things, and connect again after another year. It’s a great experience and a lot of fun.
On a professional level, I still had a good time. I spent Friday looking around all the rooms, making a list of which books I wanted to buy for the library, and talking to people. There were some publishers I’d hoped to see who weren’t there (NBM, Slave Labor), but a few others I hadn’t expected who were there (Oni). So I’ll still have to order some of NBM’s adaptations of various literary works and some of Slave Labor’s titles, but I was able to pick up Blue Monday and Scott Pilgrim, and also ask about Alison Dare. (Answer: yes, it’s being reprinted, and should be available to order in a couple of weeks.)
It wasn’t just about the big publishers, of course; this was the Small Press Expo. I got to meet Dave Roman and Raina Telgemeier (my love for whom I’ve already documented, but now that I’ve met her in person, I still adore her), and they are two of the nicest, sweetest people in comics. I can’t imagine anyone not liking either of them. I talked to Andy Runton for a bit about the attention his Owly books have gotten and the circulation they get in libraries. I talked to Jim Ottaviani at length a couple of times over the weekend about libraries and librarianship, the inability to make goth circulate in my teen collection, Extreme Terrain marathons, dinosaurs, and my near-failure of high school chemistry. We shared a room with Bryant Paul Johnson, whom I’ve met but had never really spoken to before. After a weekend, I’ve decided that he’s one of the smartest, most articulate people I know, and I’d be happy to introduce him as my friend. (He also did all the art for Bone Wars: The Game of Ruthless Paleontology, which I’d be overjoyed if someone bought me.)
These aren’t the only people I talked to, of course, but they were some of my longest conversations. (If you weren’t mentioned, it’s not personal, but know that I enjoyed talking to everyone I met!) Many of the conversations I stood near were shop talk among creators, and I didn’t have much to contribute, but every time the conversation turned to me and I threw out some library-related factoid, people wanted to know more. I thought that was very interesting—that people who aren’t librarians want to know about my selection process (short form: I like it, or someone asked for it), the circulation of comics, my thoughts and the general library views on trades vs pamphlets, the value of face-out displays, genres, and age levels. I got to prattle on at length about things important to me! It was a nice break (for me) from all the creator-talk, since I don’t have anything at all to contribute to those discussions, and it is, after all, All About Me.
And finally, the moment we’ve all been waiting for: the list of things I bought for the library. I spent less than I’d anticipated (the lack of Slave Labor and NBM helped with that, as well as Drawn & Quarterly’s suggestion that I talk to their marketing person about getting books for the library, rather than buying them at the show), and will order some other titles later out of different funds, but on the whole, I’m happy with the books I picked. Approximately sorted by publisher, the titles are: • Flight, v.2 • Blue Monday, v.1-4, Chyna Clugston-Major • Scott Pilgrim, v.1-2, Bryan Lee O’Malley • King (a biography of Martin Luther King, Jr), Ho Che Anderson • Why Are You Doing This?, Jason • You Can’t Get There From Here, Jason • Night Fisher, R. Kikuo Johnson • Never-Ending Summer, Alison Cole • Salmon Doubts, Adam Sacks • When I’m Old (And Other Stories), Gabrielle Bell • American Elf, James Kochalka • Owly : Just a Little Blue, Andy Runton • Mother Come Home, Paul Hornschemeier • Jax Epoch and the Quicken Forbidden, v.1-2, Dave Roman and John Green • Suspended In Language : Niels Bohr's Life, Discoveries, And The Century He Shaped, Jim Ottaviani • Dignifying Science, Jim Ottaviani • Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards: A Tale of Edward Drinker Cope, Othniel Charles Marsh, and the Gilded Age of Paleontology, Jim Ottaviani
I’ve only read about half of what’s on this list, but so far, Bone Sharps is my favorite. I think anyone who knows me (or is just an astute reader of the blog) knows that I am secretly a nine-year-old boy, and I’m excited about anything with dinosaurs. (See also: Bryant’s game.) Aside from that, Bone Sharps is a fascinating book, full of paleontology, conspiracy, competition, and rock-throwing assaults. And the art is gorgeous. How can you go wrong?
The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requires internet access to be filtered if it’s in a place where children can see it (i.e., anywhere outside one’s home), and gives federal funds to libraries installing filters.No, it does not take funding from libraries without filters—it actually pays libraries for filtering.According to the ALA, “The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) designates federal funding for libraries that install filters on all its computers. Libraries that do not accept federal funding do not have to install filters.”
Specifically, CIPA says that libraries need to filter Internet material that is (a) obscene, as that term is defined in section 1460 of title 18, United States Code; (B) child pornography, as that term is defined in section 2256 of title 18, United States Code; or (c) harmful to minors, as defined below:
HARMFUL TO MINORS.--The term “harmful to minors” means any picture, image, graphic image file, or other visual depiction that--
(A) taken as a whole and with respect to minors, appeals to a prurient interest in nudity, sex, or excretion; (B) depicts, describes, or represents, in a patently offensive way with respect to what is suitable for minors, an actual or simulated sexual act or sexual contact, actual or simulated normal or perverted sexual acts, or a lewd exhibition of the genitals; and (C) taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value as to minors.
The full text of CIPA is available from the ALA’s web site.(Warning: this is a 17-page PDF, but it says the same things over and over, specifically in defining what it restricts.)
I admit that I can’t make heads or tails of a lot of the legalese that’s been written about the act, from the actual text to the court decisions surrounding it.I’m bothered by what I do know about it, and I haven’t read anything that makes it sound to me like it’s a good idea.I think the whole thing is disrespectful of a patron’s rights (the ALA guarantees the same level of access to all patrons regardless of age, among other modifiers), and I think it really limits libraries’ ability to provide informational service to patrons.The ALA doesn’t approve of it, either, and fought it all the way to the Supreme Court on the grounds that it violates the first amendment.Unfortunately, the Supreme Court came down on the side of We Know Better Than You, and CIPA has been ruled constitutional.
There is a section written into the CIPA that says adults can ask that the filter be disabled, as a way of getting around the first amendment issue of censoring free speech.At our branch in particular, we can turn off the filters for our own computers or for adult patrons, but not for anyone under age 14.If information that a child needs is blocked, we’re told that we can unblock OUR computers and print it for them, but we can’t actually unblock the kids’ computers.
Not only can we not unblock the children’s computers, thanks to CIPA, we need to start carding kids to use the computers.We have to look at each kid’s library card and see if they have the sticker on it that denotes parental permission to use the internet, and with only two of us in a busy children’s room, we really have spare time to do this.On the one hand, it means that kids will actually have their library cards with them when they want to check out books, and that fewer kids will be allowed to use the computers (at least until they bring their parent with them to get the permission added).On the other hand, this means there will be lots of whining when we don’t let the kids on, when they’ve always been able to get on before, and WHY do they need to bring their card and/or their parent, etc.
Logistics aside, lots of things make me twitchy about CIPA.First off, I don’t like the term “protection,” as if the internet is a Big Bad Monster just waiting to corrupt children with one wrong click.Yes, it’s great to require parental permission, and it would be better if the parents would actually stay with their kids.But a government-sponsored “protection” plan seems like the wrong way to go about it.If anything, it seems like it would make things worse, as parents become complacent that the filters will protect their children from everything questionable.Second, I don’t like the vague “harmful to minors” thing, where everything has to have Value or Redeeming Social Importance.Entertainment isn’t good enough; every internet site a child views must have “serious value” of some sort or another.Third, if the federal government is going to bribe libraries to filter internet access, how long before they start making collection demands?Would we have to pull The Truth About Poop , or does it get a pass because it’s a more biological interest in excretion than a prurient one?
CIPA, for me, raises more questions than it answers.All I can do is wait to see how it plays out.In the meantime, though, I’m relieved to know that the Supreme Court takes such an interest in protecting children from anything that lacks serious value.It sure would be a shame if children were afforded the same rights to access information as anyone else.
Okay, so I haven’t blogged much lately. There’s been a lot going on; I just haven’t taken the time to write it down.
I’m still doing the Pre-school Story time, which has gotten a lot smaller since school started. This past week I started with four kids (three of them siblings), so I ran it as a by-request story time. This sort of thing is good, I think, since it forced me to mix up my repertoire a bit. Each kid got to pick a song, and they picked what order to read the books I’d picked. By the time we finished we had eight kids and four parents, but it’s still a much smaller (and therefore, more manageable) group than the 20-25 I’d gotten used to.
School is back in session, so the “I need one of these forty-eight titles on my summer reading list and why don’t you have them because I need them now” questions have stopped. Now we’re getting a lot of “I need help with my math homework” questions, which we’re about equally unhappy with. I’m not a teacher. In fact, nobody who works here at the library is a teacher. I speak only for myself, though, when I say I’m not a teacher because I’m bad at teaching. Last year we had a homework tutor work-study person from one of the area colleges, but there’s been no mention of getting another one. We do have a worker from AmeriCorps, and he’s trying to start up a Homework Help club, but so far, no takers. We just need to point all homework questions to him, I guess.
Teen Read Week is coming up, and we don’t have the staff to spare someone (me) to do actual programs, especially since the summer programs tanked so spectacularly. So instead we’re doing more passive programs—the mystery I wrote up over the summer that got no use, some “vote for your favorite titles” booklist-creation type thing, stuff like that. The kind of programs where I can just put out a flyer and wait for the responses to come in. And give out prizes, for the mystery. The theme this year is “Get Real” (ALA picked it; not me), so I’m thinking of putting together a display of realistic fiction and non-fiction, and get the teens to write up a blurb about their favorite “real” book under the guise of voting for a favorite. (I would announce whatever book gets the most responses, but then I’d compile the other titles into one booklist. I need to make up a new one anyway.) We’ll see how this goes.
Our amazingly generous Friends group has donated $1000 to be used for new teen books. I’ll be going to SPX this weekend and spending some of it on new graphic novels, but I’ll be doing that in two passes—the first round to see what I want to buy, and a second round to actually buy it, once I’ve prioritized, determined what can be ordered through our distributor (Baker & Taylor), and added up my total. My current ordering list (.xls) is here. (For those who are nosy, yes, Sheet 1 is the list of all the books I’m thinking of buying with my thousand dollars; Sheet 2 is just the comics.)
That same Friends group is also donating money for the children’s collection, $700 of which will be used for creating a kids’ Graphic Novel collection. We’ll be taking some of what’s already here (one of the Little Lit books, Avi’s City of Light, the TinTin collection) and buying a whole bunch of new stuff. My current list (also an Excel file) is here. Suggestions are welcome! (I’ll probably add a couple of Archie books to this list, too.)
A patron came in recently, and we were talking about these really cool dinosaur toys, where you dig bones out of the rock. I expressed interest, and the patron invited me to his house to see the models. And have lunch with him. And meet his mom. I told him that things were moving a little fast for me, but he’s come to the library since then and asked again.
This may be the first time I’ve been hit on at work. I know it’s the first time I’ve been hit on by a four-year-old, but attention is attention, and I take what I can get.
Since I haven't said anything for a while, I wanted to be sure to blog this.
First and foremost: Despite being almost 20 years old and out of date, The Baby-Sitters Club is still very popular. I recently donated my old stash to the library, and they've been flying off the shelves. Granted, I've been taping up the spines as I see them come back, because after 15 or so years in my parents' attic, they're pretty brittle. Regardless of their condition, they've been a very popular addition to the collection.
Second: RainaTelgemeier is so very much the right person to do this. Her art is just so perfect for capturing the mood of these books, especially the sections that deal with the actual baby-sitting. Raina draws children so wonderfully, so expressively, that I can't think of another artist who would be as well-suited to this project.
Third: I'm planning on buying these for our upcoming children's GN section. Yes, this is something we're going to be working on very soon, thanks to a generous donation from our Friends group to the Children's book budget. The popularity of graphic novels in the YA section has encouraged more people to ask about comics in the children's room, and therefore we're encouraged to buy a whole bunch. That's my new pet project, and I'll be working on putting together the first order list this week. (I'm open to suggestions, though be aware that a lot of my choices are already on the Booklists page under "Children's Graphic Novels.")
In just 6 weeks, we already have 2 copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince sitting on our shelves, waiting to circulate. The hold list is a thing of the past, despite the five or six hundred names on the list on July 16. It speeds things along, have 397 copies in the system.
Incidentally, there are Dewey Subject classifications for “Potter, Harry (Fictitious character)” and “Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Fictional place)”.
Other books have been rolling in, as well, including a handful of titles we’d ordered for the summer reading lists. They came in yesterday, which was the day after many area schools had opened. In other words, too late for them to be useful. I’m sure they’ll still go out; after all, we’ve had several students in the past few days looking for summer reading titles, hoping to read them over the long weekend before the test. A librarian from another branch asked how many copies of the movies were being requested, and until she asked, I hadn’t realized it, but—none. The kids who slacked on their summer reading for months are now desperate to get it done, and they’re not asking for the movie versions. I don’t know if this means that our kids are more diligent than those at other branches, or if they’re not thinking so deviously.
I’m excited for the start of a new school year again. The questions we get are more interesting, for starters, and while we’re fielding more questions in a day, it’s more constant, instead of these huge slamming rushes followed by a dead afternoon.
The latest start date of all the schools is Wednesday. Not a minute too soon.
