Libromancer's Apprentice

Since February is ending, the time has come for me to take down my Blind Date with a Book display (or for a co-worker to ask "do you mind if we take it down for you?"). I've never done a display quite like this one, and it was a learning experience.  Not everyone liked the display idea, and that was to be expected.  Of course someone was going to find the idea silly, or corny, or whatever they felt.  But largely the patrons who expressed an opinion loved it.  First off I learned that nice, decorative wrapping jobs take longer than I expect.  Next time around I might do plain paper wrapping.  I am undecided if I want to stay with the short summary of the book or go to keywords, but keywords written in marker would work well on plain paper.  Either way, food for thought. The first week and a half of the display the books largely remained untouched.  Then I was not at the library for various reasons from the 14th-18th and came back to find that a...

I want to preface this by if you have the time to dedicate to the sheer volume of information Warren Ellis shares, I highly recommend tracking him down via his website or other social media page and follow him (I follow him on Goodreads).  At least I recommend this if you don't mind creative and liberal use of profanity (after all, he did write Transmetropolitan).  I find him creative, highly intelligent, and he finds the most unusual... snippets of cultural phenomenon (I really am not sure how to put it).  I have seen the speculative events and technology in his comics become eerily close to truth years after his publication, and I have seen the more bizarre snapshots of modern day life woven into his fiction such as in Crooked Little Vein ). So, Ellis came across " Download Wristbands " - which is a neat physical vector to distribute digital media.  The first time I encountered an artist exploring this vector was about two years ago at a Steampunk convention, E...

Cold Days (Dresden Files #14) / Jim Butcher ( Powell's Books ) "For years, Harry Dresden has been Chicago's only professional wizard, but a bargain made in desperation with the Queen of Air and Darkness has forced him into a new job: professional killer. Mab, the mother of wicked faeries, has restored the mostly-dead wizard to health, and dispatches him upon his first mission - to bring death to an immortal. Even as he grapples with the impossible task, Dresden learns of a looming danger to Demonreach, the living island hidden upon Lake Michigan, a place whose true purpose and dark potential have the potential to destroy billions and to land Dresden in the deepest trouble he has ever known - even deeper than being dead. How messed up is that? Beset by his new enemies and hounded by the old, Dresden has only twenty four hours to reconnect with his old allies, prevent a cataclysm and do the impossible - all while the power he bargained to get - but never me...

We celebrate "I Love My Library" all throughout February with a variety of activities.  Past years we had free DVD rentals, but we no longer charge $1 to borrow a DVD so we don't have that as a special treat anymore.  The whole month we have variously themed activities and events, including a benefit concert, movies, "food for fines" (donate canned/dry goods for a food pantry collection and we forgive fines), cake & punch, and other activities. Some how a "Blind Date with a Book" display photo found its way to my Facebook wall, and I loved the idea.  Even better, when I brought it up at work everyone else also loved the idea and I was given permission to go ahead and put together a "Blind Date" display. My first step was to get staff input on titles.  I specifically did not want new or current best sellers, either of which are likely to be in popular enough demand that our copies would likely be out, on the holds-shelf, o...

I'm not going to lie, I absolutely love library gear and assorted trinkets.  Which is why it is totally awesome when my friends forward awesome stuff they've found to me.  On the other hand, I'm also pretty horrible at actually purchasing things online because I procrastinate like crazy before doing it. A friend sent me a link to an "Evil Librarian" patch, so I figured I might as well share some that I've come across.  The moral of this story is I LOVE geeky library things, and always want people to let me know about fun stuff they find in that realm. Evil Librarian Patch : I'm not evil, I'm just drawn that way This one I'll probably purchase in the near future, its low cost and pretty damn awesome.  Seems that with shipping it will be about $6.40 at current conversion rates.  I need to poke around on the site and see if there are other goodies that I'd like first though. Mini Book Necklace: So, it is totally out of my p...

Sexy Feminism : A Girl's Guide to Love, Success, and Style / Jennifer Keishin Armstrong , Heather Wood Rudulph ( Powell's Books ) "Not your mother’s feminism! A humor-filled action plan for an accessible, cool, and, yes, even sexy brand of 21st-century feminism A Mariner Original Paperback Feminism can still seem like an abstract idea that is difficult to incorporate into our hectic, media-saturated, modern lives, but Jennifer Keishin Armstrong and Heather Wood Rudúlph show how the everyday things matter. In an age when “concern-trolling,” “slut-shaming,” and “body-snarking” are blogosphere bywords, when reproductive rights are back under political attack, and when women are still pressured to “have it all,” feminism is more relevant than ever.  For many young women the radicalism of the Second Wave is unappealing, and the “do me” and “lipstick” feminism of the Third Wave feels out of date. Enter Sexy Feminism . It’s an inclu...

I'd be lying if I said I didn't love snow days.  I've loved them since I was a kid, not only because of the day off but because I love playing in the snow.  So we've got to shovel a bit, that's fine.  To be honest, I could use the extra exercise.  Am I worried about a power outage?  Possibly not as much as I should be, but the leaves are off the trees this time of year and we've had some big storms take out a bit of the deadwood in the past few years. For some reason today it struck me quite how lucky I am.  I am gainfully employed.  I may have very tight constraints on my funds, but I do make enough to pay for rent, groceries, and the various unavoidable bills. Libraries all across the state are closing early today and will be closed tomorrow.  Considering the snow we are due to get, and the hazards associated with too many people on the roads while they are trying to clear them (a problem with early closings), this makes sense. Last Octobe...

At this point, my taxes are pretty easy to do, so largely filing my taxes requires me to finally stop slacking off and just do them (actually, thanks to years of having to file early for the FAFSA that generally happens somewhat early regardless).  I generally get a nice refund too, which is generally split between student debt and my savings, with maybe an expense I've been putting off also taken care of (one year I got a pair of Birkenstocks for my "big" tax refund purchase).  So really, I don't find filing a hassle to get done. I've worked full time in a library for these past few tax seasons, and it has taught me to dread tax season.  I manage to largely forget how much I dread it in between, but once it starts the memories come flooding back. Tax instruction booklets aren't being sent to as many homes anymore, though mine showed up in my mailbox today.  Increasingly libraries are becoming the place to get your forms and instructions.  Yes, everything...