Do you remember when you first fell in love with reading? I mean the first time you truly, deeply felt that the world was not right unless you had a book in your hands? For me, I didn’t experience this kind of love until high school. My grandmother was an avid fan of Jill Churchill, … Continue reading When I First Fell in Love with Reading
One World, Many Languages
When he accepted the Oscar for Foreign Language Film for Roma, Alfonso Cuaron said that he grew up watching foreign language films like Citizen Kane and Jaws and The Godfather. Since the creation of this category in 1956, it's been pretty clear that the Academy Awards is "America first" or "English first." Though Alfonso's comments may … Continue reading One World, Many Languages
Project: Improving Access and Representation in Our Media Collection
Over the past several months, the catalogers and I have been working on a large relabeling project in our DVD collection. Previously, DVD feature films were processed with a genre label at the top of the spine and an alpha sticker at the bottom, based on the first letter of the first word of the … Continue reading Project: Improving Access and Representation in Our Media Collection
My Go-to Library Tweets
About eight years ago, I was asked to help run my library's Twitter account. We didn't have designated marketing staff, we were just starting to build our presence on social media, and I had no idea where to start. Thankfully I was working with a brilliant fellow librarian turned marketing guru who taught me a … Continue reading My Go-to Library Tweets
Taking Action: Collections Diversity & Inclusion
My library's leadership team has been talking a lot about equity, diversity and inclusion. With these discussions, I've made it one of my goals this year to lead a closer look at the library's collection to see how well we are meeting the needs and interests of our patrons at the same time as reflecting … Continue reading Taking Action: Collections Diversity & Inclusion
5 YA Books on My Holds List
Getting to order for the library's teen collection means I get an early heads up on new releases. It also means my holds list is constantly growing, as I can't help but get in line for the titles that catch my attention. Here's what I'm looking forward to reading in the next few months: Black … Continue reading 5 YA Books on My Holds List
New Year, New Website
I'm starting 2019 with a fresh new blog and website, and I'm excited to get back in to sharing about my library life! I've migrated all my old content, and I'm hoping to share more about my adventures in Cataloging and Collection Development and all my other side gigs. But first, I thought I'd take … Continue reading New Year, New Website
Board Games and Things
There's something new for checkout at my library: board games! We recently launched a circulating collection of popular and classic games, a further step in exploring the national "Library of Things" trend by lending more nontraditional items. We've had board games available for in-house use for years now, but letting them leave the library is … Continue reading Board Games and Things
5 years ago yesterday to 2 years ago today
Every so often I tend to reflect on my library journey on this blog -- especially when I'm making a big change or recognizing a work anniversary. Yesterday marked five years since I began as Director of the Oskaloosa Public Library, and today marked two years since I left that position to move back to … Continue reading 5 years ago yesterday to 2 years ago today
Death to the NEW Sticker!
If there's one thing librarians love (other than books, of course), it's stealing borrowing ideas from our peers. Last fall, the catalogers and I took a trip over to the Johnson County Library central resource library to learn how they work with SirsiDynix's Symphony. We had just migrated to this new ILS, and were hoping for more … Continue reading Death to the NEW Sticker!
William the Librarian 