The Tall One Knows!

There’s a semi-regular patron at the library where I intern. She is learning English and is usually in search of books with very short stories or essays to read, so that she can work on her comprehension without having to follow a long, complex series of thoughts. The last time I conversed with her was probably two or three weeks ago, at least; I don’t remember much of the conversation other than that she didn’t like the last book we’d found for her, and I helped her find another.

When I was at the library last week, a colleague asked me about this patron. Apparently she’d come to the desk with a question about something relating to writing. Unfortunately, because the patron's English is still fairly basic and her accent is pretty strong, my colleague couldn’t understand what the something was; only that it was a three-syllable word. The patron couldn’t write it down or spell it, but just kept repeating the word more loudly. As my colleague admitted defeat, the patron said, “The tall one knows! The tall one knows!”

I stand four to six inches above almost all of the other reference staff, and I’ve begun to develop a relationship with this patron, so the referent of this statement was fairly clear. Thus my colleague approached me.

…and I have no idea what on earth the patron was talking about! Admittedly I don’t have much to go on; if I’d actually been there I might have been able to suss it out. But I honestly don’t remember our previous interaction in great detail. I don’t remember precisely what we talked about. I’m now a little petrified of the next time I encounter this patron, because I really do want to help her but I’m not sure I’ll be able to! I joked that they say wisdom is knowing what you don’t know...

Above all, however, I am highly amused at my new appellation. It has a certain ring to it, doesn’t it? I am… The Tall One. She Who Knows.

Read Something! _The Forest of Hands and Teeth_ (Carrie Ryan)

The Forest of Hands and Teeth

CARRIE RYAN
2009
310 pp.
YA / Horror

Summary
Mary chafes against the demands of her life. Despite the dangerous Unconsecrated who lurk beyond the village fences, she longs to escape her isolated home in search of freedom. When, impossibly, an Outsider comes to the village, Mary's hopes of being able to embark on a new life rise. But the outsider's presence soon becomes a threat, and Mary's escape from the village comes at a high price. Now Mary and her companions are alone in a hostile world. Will they survive, or fall to the Unconsecrated? And will Mary ever find the freedom she seeks?

Appeal characteristics

• Characterization: Independent-minded, teenage, female main character
• Characterization: A few chapters mostly about the characters and their relationships alternate with a few chapters of heightened action or suspense
• Frame (?): First-person narration
• Frame (?): Romantic elements/subplot
• Frame (?): Mysterious elements (but the mysteries are mostly never resolved
• Frame: Extensive worldbuilding
• Pacing: Short chapters -- 5-10 pages each -- often ending on a revelation or cliffhanger
• ??: Not very much detailed description of things outside of the main character's feelings and thoughts (visuals, etc. often just get a few words to a couple of sentences)

Other notes

• Contains death and violence, though not described in extensive detail
• My Noting: Books entry on The Forest of Hands and Teeth: http://notingbooks.com/users/hbackman/readings/5709-The-Forest-of-Hands-and

Readalikes

• I Am Legend? (I've never read this book, so I really have no idea)
• The later Harry Potter books? Both take place in a fantasy world connected to, but unlike, our own (though HP is present-day and Forest is set in the future); similar emphasis placed on characters and their relationships vs. events; similarly dark; similar protagonists (teens, to some extent with the world of the book revolving around them, faced with life or death choices); semi-similar endings that are happy but not quite fully fleshed out or satisfying (yes, that's a subjective judgment, but I couldn't help myself -- these books frustrated me in remarkably similar ways)

Recap/Update

I promised an update on my job interview!

Overall, I think it went pretty well. I was articulate and had some good answers to the questions I was asked. I put together a pretty decent flyer for the MS Publisher test without feeling too rushed to finish it. I am a little concerned that I didn't say as much as I could have about my qualifications. Sometimes the director would make a comment that paralleled something I'd been planning to say later or talked about the importance of a qualification I had, and while I often tried to indicate that I really agreed or that I had the qualification in question, I think I held back a bit more than I should have out of concern about sounding sycophantic. In retrospect, that was a bit silly. But what's done is done, and in the future I'll be more prepared for that kind of situation.

Of course we also spent a bunch of time talking about the job. And oh boy. The job sounds great. If I were hired, my primary responsibility would be to work on getting the community more strongly engaged with its library. I would also be doing some reference, meeting room scheduling, etc. -- but most of the job would be program planning, outreach activities, and the like. Anyone who knows me should see how this is a great match. To begin with, it ties directly into the whole reason I want to work in public libraries to begin with: my deep interest in how libraries can work with their communities to create mutually beneficial relationships that strengthen the community while ensuring that its needs are being met. I have been itching to get into a position where I can have a major impact on library-community relationships. This particular library is an especially good place for me because it's in a city that is recovering from an economic downturn, in part by rebranding itself as a cultural center. There are tons of opportunities  in that kind of situation for a library to meaningfully weave itself into civic life.

The position also offers a bit more responsibility than the typical entry-level job might, which would also be good for me. It is a bit of a step up from the amount of responsibility I've previously held in jobs and extracurriculars, but I feel ready to grow in that way and confident that I would respond well to the challenge. I think with a little free rein to exercise creativity and initiative, I can really start to put together some great things for anyone who employs me. And at this library, the director seems open to ideas and very supportive of her employees. I think it would be a nurturing environment in which to work, and just the kind of situation that would help me to create and implement my best ideas.

The job would offer plenty of opportunities to take some initiative and run with my ideas, and really have some impact in a vital area of library work. The people I met seemed nice (the circulation worker who I asked for directions to administration gave me a huge smile and cheerfully helped me -- big points for good customer service!), the location is fantastic, and I think it would be a great opportunity for me to grow while accomplishing concrete positive results. And it plays right into many of my strengths -- my interest in this specific area of library work, my ability to organize and multitask, the analytical and management skills I learned in classes at SI, my creativity and strong initiative. I just hope that I got all that through in the interview!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I make the next cut! If I do, the director will call my references, and my references are very strong. I think I've got a good shot at the job if I make it to the next stage.

For now, all I can do is be patient. If all goes as planned I should hear something quite soon. Send me thoughts of good luck!

Progress on the job front... and with MS Publisher

I haven't actually posted about this yet for some strange reason. It must be a very strange reason, in fact, because it's exciting news.

I have a job interview!

It's for a community librarian-type position in a public library about half an hour away from where I grew up. From the job ad, it sounds like there will be opportunities to do things I love (e.g. planning programs and services, some reference desk work) and also to gain skills in areas where I'm ready to grow (e.g. supervision/management, overseeing larger programs/projects). It's not 100% clear, but I'm also hoping that there will be opportunities to really go out and engage with the community and figure out their needs and how to bring them into the library.

I am excited and nervous and just want the next week to hurry up and get over with so I can have this interview! But I still have a lot of preparation to do. I have to go back over my notes on the library and do some additional research about the city it's in. I also need to practice, practice, practice interview questions and make lists of experiences and achievements that would make good examples to use when answering questions (I tend to forget specific experiences way too quickly, especially under pressure). I need to come up with one or two more good questions of my own to ask.

And I need to keep practicing MS Publisher. I've been told that after the interview I will have 30 minutes to make a flyer in Publisher. Apparently that's an important skill in this job. I have some experience with Publisher, but not tons, so I've spent the past few weeks getting some practice in whenever I can. I needed some inspiration for practice flyers to make, so I've been basing them on books I've read recently. I've made three so far:

• One based on Eye of the Red Tsar by Sam Eastland
• One inspired by The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
• One inspired by The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

(The last one is a .png because the computer I was on did not have the necessary add-on to save Publisher files as .pdf, and since it was a library computer I couldn't install anything on it.)

The interview is on July 8 -- I'll try to update soon afterward to reflect on how it went...

Read Something! _Eye of the Red Tsar_ (Sam Eastland)

Eye of the Red Tsar

SAM EASTLAND
2010 
278 pp.
Historical Suspense

Summary
Introducing Pekkala: a man with a near-photographic memory and an ironclad determination to do the right thing in any situation. Under the Romanovs he was the Emerald Eye -- the Tsar's infamously incorruptible chief investigator, accountable to no one but himself, with the authority to question or arrest anyone -- even the Tsar. Now he is a prisoner of Stalin's regime, sentenced to labor in a remote gulag.
But the state has need of Pekkala still. Released from the gulag, he is tasked with a final investigation: find the bodies of the Romanovs, their rumored still-living child, and their hidden treasure. If he scores this coup for Stalin, he will finally be free. But Pekkala is not the only person seeking lost treasure, and there are those who wish to ensure that the truth of what happened to the Romanovs is never known. Can Pekkala find the answers before he loses his life?

Appeal characteristics

• Plot: 2 (2.5? 3?) plots are semi-interwoven throughout the book. One plot deals with the characters in the present, and the other deals with Pekkala's backstory, including a romance.
• Plot (?): There is a mystery, but much more time is spent on character development than on unraveling the mystery
• Characterization: Character-focused book; much of the novel is about the main character, his past, and his relationships with others
• Pacing: Pacing is fairly slow for a suspense novel/thriller; generally, a major event happens every few sections, with a lot of slower filler dealing with character development and backstory
• Pacing: Pacing increases markedly at the end; the book shifts more toward an emphasis on plot than characters, and the characters are put in increasing physical danger
• Frame: Periodic moments of levity/humor break up the more serious tone of the rest of the book

Other notes

• The mystery is fairly predictable for readers who are attentive to foreshadowing and hints. Readers who enjoy mysteries that force them to solve puzzles, as well as readers who don't like it when the main character(s) remain clueless for some time after the reader has already figured something out, may not be good matches for this book.
• My Noting: Books entry on Eye of the Red Tsar: http://notingbooks.com/users/hbackman/readings/5638-Eye-of-the-Red-Tsar

Readalikes

• Sherlock Holmes? (I have sadly not yet read any Conan Doyle so I don't actually know if this is a match at all...)
• Child 44 (Tom Rob Smith) -- similar setting; both are thrillers/suspense novels; pacing, focus on characters vs. plot, and general content are quire different; level of suspense in Child 44 is much higher and is sustained throughout the book; Child 44 deals with the ethical issues related to working for a totalitarian state whereas Eye glosses it over; Eye is much better written, stylistically (the phrasing and flow are more evocative and less awkward)

Reading

I used to be an obsessive reader. I would have two or three books going at the same time. Every spare moment would be spent reading. My parents would admonish me to set the book down at the breakfast table, worry that I would crack my head open coming down the stairs because I would read while walking around the house. (Years later I put that skill to good use to get homework done while walking to class at Stanford.) I always seemed to need another bookcase in my room, and that was for books on top of everything I read that I got from school for assignments or checked out of the library.

Then I got to college. Homework assignments were much more time consuming there than at my high school. I had brought books with me to read, but I found that between academics and my extracurriculars, I didn't have much time for pleasure reading. And once I started my English major, I was reading for school constantly. I loved my major (and chose it because of the extent to which I loved books), but reading became homework, and I wanted to do something different during my downtime. This feeling only got more intense as I progressed through my BA and earned a MA as well. I loved reading, but I already did it constantly for school -- I didn't feel the urge to read for leisure anymore.

After I graduated and started my MSI, I slowly began to read for leisure again during vacations (there was still no time during the school year!). Mostly I was reading from the bookshelf-sized backlog I'd acquired during the past five years, but occasionally a different book would slip in. Still, since I only really had time for pleasure reading on vacations, I didn't get much done.

But now. NOW. This is definitely one of the ways in which being temporarily semi-unemployed is a blessing. I have so much time to read! I have started devouring books again like I used to -- not three at a time anymore (I stopped that when I realized I couldn't keep all of the plots straight at once!), but with the old easy rapidity. And here in Ann Arbor I am half a country away from that daunting loaded bookshelf, so I feel remarkably free to choose my reading materials. I am trying to select books from a broad range to reacquaint myself with what's out there, especially what's new. So far I've gotten through both Persepolis books, two thrillers set in Stalinist Russia (hopefully a blog post on those is forthcoming), a book of poetry, and Joy Luck Club, among others. And lined up I have a work of modern literary fiction, a horror novel, a YA book, Tinkers (whenever I get far enough up in the hold queue at my library), and The Passage (ditto the note on Tinkers). Going to my internship is dangerous because right now I don't have much desk work, so I spend a lot of time reading book publications like PW and the New York Times book reviews -- which just gives me more things I want to read...

It feels so good to be getting back to reading for pleasure like I used to!



(You will see reviews of some of the books I read on this blog, and you can find notes on many of them as well at my noting: books page.)

Read Something! -- _Child 44_ (Tom Rob Smith)

Child 44

TOM ROB SMITH
2008
439 pp.
Historical Thriller / Suspense
Sequel: The Secret Speech

Summary

Leo Demidov is an investigator for Stalinist Russia's State Security Force. Idealistic and loyal to the state, he has always performed his job well. But a botched case, a scheming underling, and doubts about the system he's always worked within put Leo's family, career, and life in jeopardy.

Exiled and demoted, Leo discovers a series of murdered children who begin to form a disturbing pattern. In Soviet Russia, crime is officially nonexistent. But Leo knows he is on the trail of a serial killer. He and his wife must work against time and the State to find the murderer before he strikes again. And as they get closer to the killer, they approach a revelation about Leo's past that will change the face of the case entirely.

Appeal characteristics

• Characterization: Plot-focused book; character development does occur over the course of the story but typically happens for plot purposes
• Characterization: Characters' motivations and internal states are generally not explored beyond the superficial
• Characterization: Some minor characters, but they largely matter only for their relation to Leo or the case
• Frame: An atmospheric book that strongly evokes the feeling of living in a totalitarian society
• Frame?: Explores questions of morality and ethics -- what is worth doing in the name of the greater good? What if you begin to doubt that the greater good is truly good?
• Pacing: Fast-paced plot -- something big happens in each chapter
• Pacing: The magnitude (significance, dangerousness, ...) of events increases swiftly toward the end of the book, along with the pace
• Plot: No substantial subplots
• Plot: Happy ending
• Plot?: Possibility of a sequel is left open (though there are not substantial loose ends)

Other notes

• There are some disturbing scenes, including moderately explicit torture and murder.
• Plausibility is somewhat sacrificed to the needs of suspense and thrill in later chapters (especially the twist regarding Leo's identity); readers who have trouble suspending their disbelief may take issue with the last quarter to third of the book. (The storytelling is quite compelling, however, and may enable readers to gloss over the improbabilities while they are still reading.)
• My Noting: Books entry on Child 44: http://notingbooks.com/users/hbackman/readings/5621-Child-44

Readalikes

• Nineteen Eighty-Four (George Orwell): similar strongly evoked atmosphere of repression and totalitarianism, with a few characters who dare to covertly or semi-covertly resist an oppressive government; similar plot arcs in terms of how the main character develops (from agreement/collaboration to uncertainty to disagreement to arrest to release...)?; Nineteen Eighty-Four does not have a happy ending and is generally much more hopeless in tone
• Further reading listed at the end of Child 44 in an appendix -- these books are nonfiction, used by the author for research, and provide a further window into the time period and subjects covered in the novel for those who are interested in learning more
• Eye of the Red Tsar (Sam Eastland): similar subject matter (disgraced investigator in Stalinist Russia investigating cases that have been or are being shrouded in secrecy by the state), similar concern with the main character's past; however, all other elements of style and tone are very different -- Eye does not concern itself with the repressive atmosphere or with the ethics of working for the Soviet state, is much more interested in the characters than in the case they're solving, emphasizes its main character's past much more than Child 44 (in Eye it is integrated through the story rather than a twist), is (frankly) better written stylistically (author has a better grasp of language, imagery, style that flows instead of jerks along)
• [ETA 7/27/10] John Grisham books? I have not read any Grisham but the Novelist description of his appeal suggests similar interest in ethical conflicts, similarly idealistic characters wrestling with whether they should go against the system, similar fast pace. Grisham notably does not have explicit sex and violence; the more disturbing elements of this book might present a barrier to enjoyment for some Grisham fans.

Well hello there.

(note: this post was actually written about a week ago and didn't actually make it to the site until now... oopsie.)

It's been a while, hasn't it. My goal is to post here at least once per week, but I confess that between doing all the work for my last month of school ever and trying to get a job at the same time, I haven't had a lot of time for much else. Now that I'm done with school, hopefully I will get going on this blog again.

Yes. I said it. I am done with school. This is an odd sensation after 20+ continuous years of being a student, and I don't think it's quite sunk in yet. The next step is to find full-time employment. I'm sure you will be hearing about that in future.

I suppose I've still got one school-related commitment (other than going to graduation!) -- this Saturday is the last ALA Book Club I'll be running. We're holding it at a local restaurant and it looks like turnout will be pretty good. The book we're reading is interesting. It's called The Design of Everyday Things; it's basically about how designers should consider how people might make errors in using an artifact, and design accordingly to make use easy. It seems like a straightforward principle, but I think everyone can think of times when "good aesthetics" have actually made something less usable. The book itself is actually more psychology than design. It's a fun little throwback to my college days, when I was almost a psychology minor. Since the book was published in the 1980s the science is slightly out of date, but only slightly. (For instance, the author says that neural network and schema theories are still not widely accepted, and I'm fairly sure that by now they are well-acknowledged in the scientific community.)

It's interesting trying to come up with discussion questions for a nonfiction book. I haven't Googled yet, but I think it's fairly likely that no one will have discussion questions for this book online. That puts me somewhat on my own. But I think I'll do okay -- hopefully people will just be talkative!

Assuming

This post is going to be fairly short, because I am on the reference desk for six hours on Wednesdays, which leaves me pretty much braindead afterward. But a big ol' lesson whacked me upside the head today, and I thought it was worth recording.

At one point tonight, a phone call came in. The patron had a fairly heavy accent and the connection wasn't the best, but I heard enough of his initial request to realize that he had a question about his eligibility for the Earned Income Tax Credit.

Uh oh, I thought, tax question. I explained that I couldn't give him much aid with this, as librarians are not tax professionals and cannot make judgments that might leave them legally liable for an error. Instead, I offered the TeleTax(?) number, and then (as the conversation progressed) another number I found that he could use to talk to someone at the IRS for live tax help. However, he was not satisfied. He kept saying that he had been told to call our number, and that we should be able to help him. I kept trying to explain that librarians cannot interpret tax requirements for our patrons. Finally, because he clearly wanted me to do something more, I told him I could read off precisely what was written about the EITC on the IRS website, which should be the same thing as was somewhere in the instructions he had.

I read the paragraph about eligibility over the phone, and he thanked me. He'd gotten precisely the information he needed from that.

Afterward I realized I had made the fundamental reference mistake: I had not fully understood what the patron wanted and had not conducted a reference interview to figure it out. Instead the keyword "taxes" had set off all sorts of red blinking lights in my brain and I'd gone on autopilot. I'd assumed that I could not help the patron, and tried to refer him away.

It was a rookie mistake. But I suppose that all of us make beginner-level mistakes now and again, regardless of experience level. Sometimes we need a wake-up call. This was mine. I'm trying to think, now, about the other, subtler assumptions I might make in a reference transaction. What else might I be missing by unconsciously assuming instead of asking?

I was lucky this time, because not only does this anecdote provide a learning experience, it also belongs in the Annals of Great Patrons. The gentleman on the other end of the phone was clearly frustrated. He'd been referred to the library by 211 and now I was trying to refer him elsewhere again. But even though I could tell he was not happy, he kept his voice level (if insistent), clearly telling me why he was frustrated and what he wanted me to do to help fix it. He never raised his voice or directed any negative remark specifically at me. And after he'd gotten the information that he needed, he was quite congenial and even thanked me sincerely. In retrospect, his patience and good humor were remarkable. It's unfortunately too common for irritated patrons to make one feel like something less than a full person. I have never had a frustrated patron make me feel, in the end, so much as though I have been acknowledged and respected as a complete person -- mistakes and all.

Donor-Centered Fundraising and Librarianship

My program requires students to take at least one "cognate course" outside of the School of Information as part of their degree.* To fulfill this requirement, I chose a course in grantgetting and fundraising through the School of Social Work. It was a great choice -- the professor is fantastic; I'm learning things that I know will be very useful in public library work, particularly in later years when I begin to take on administrative roles; and it led to the opportunity for me to write a real grant proposal for the library where I intern (we're still waiting to hear from the funder... it's nervewracking!).

Recently we were assigned the book Donor-Centered Fundraising by Penelope Burk. This book proposes a new paradigm for fundraising based around conscientious, regular, two-way (informing and listening) contact with donors. Burk argues that rather than trying to recruit new donors again and again to make up for attrition, fundraisers and development officers should work on building relationships with donors by staying in regular contact, thanking them personally, and keeping them informed of the results of their donation, among other things. She argues that it is much better spend time on building these relationships and using the stronger connections to move donors "up the ladder" to higher and higher donation levels than to spend the time constantly recruiting new, low-level donors. The book is aimed at nonprofits in general; public libraries are obviously in a different situation from many nonprofits because we are funded largely with tax and other public dollars. But I have been thinking about how Burk's philosophy could be applied in libraries. I am particularly interested in smaller libraries which almost certainly will not have their own development staff.

One might ask: when there is a Friends of the Library, might they not be more appropriate fundraisers than library staff? I'm not sure that in all cases they would. My understanding of how Friends groups and libraries interact, financially and otherwise, is still rudimentary. However, I would think that even if a library has a strong Friends group, there might still be situations in which it would like to solicit donations to itself rather than to the Friends. Furthermore, library staff can support donor-centered fundraising initiatives regardless of whether they are headed by the Friends or by the library.

How? To my mind, the key is this: A good library is already in the business of building strong relationships with our patrons. Good libraries listen to what their patrons want and need, and provide responsive, relevant services and resources. Good librarians try to build rapport with the people with whom they interact. I have had the opportunity to work with and at some excellent libraries, and the most striking common factor among almost all of them has been the ways that many of their patrons felt connected to the library on a personal level.

Building this kind of relationship, where the (potential) donor connects with the organization in a way that feels personal and meaningful to him/her, seems to me to be the core of Burk's donor-centered philosophy. I do not know whether the libraries I have in mind fulfill the specific tenets of the strategy (e.g. contacting donors quickly and in a way that feels personal, keeping donors updated on the impact that their money and the program/service it has funded is having, cultivating donors no matter the size of their original gift). But whether they do or not, I believe they've already come closer to creating a donor-centered atmosphere than many of the nonprofits Burk describes. (Perhaps this is in part because libraries' potential donors are the same as their service population?)

We all know that when community members feel good about their library, they have the potential to be active supporters. But people often need a nudge to move from appreciation to action. How can libraries leverage the strong relationships they build with their patrons to get their supporters to act to the benefit of the library? To use a phrase I've often seen and heard while taking this class, how can libraries ethically and effectively "make the ask" to their patrons? Is it better to target specific patrons who are known to be particularly strong supporters? Should the library make a blanket request on its website or in its newsletter and hope that some people will be inclined to respond? And when supporters respond to "the ask," what mechanisms need to be in place to ensure that they are communicated with at the (potentially time-intensive) level that donor-centered fundraising requires, or at something as close to that level as the library can possibly get?**

What is also interesting to me is that many of the principles of donor-centered fundraising seem as though they can be applied to supporters who, for instance, offer their time instead of their money. Could we use similar techniques and ideas to move volunteers "up the ladder" in terms of the time and energy they commit to helping the library?

It is in fact somewhat surprising to me that this book needed to be written at all. So much of what it advocates -- communicate in a timely fashion, and in as personalized a way as possible; keep supporters up to date on the organization's activities; etc. -- seems like common sense and common courtesy. That is part of why I think libraries are ahead of the game. As service organizations, we've been following constituent-centered philosophies for a while. It just seems to me that we haven't quite figured out whether or how to effectively connect what we're already doing to our need to secure continuing support in times of economic difficulty.



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* This is actually a requirement that comes from Rackham, the University of Michigan's Graduate School, not from SI in particular. SI is soon becoming its own school external to Rackham, like other professional schools at UM, but I really hope that they keep this requirement -- it is a fantastic opportunity for students to broaden their knowledge in an area relevant to their careers but not directly within the domain of SI.

** Burk does not ask for perfection, but rather advocates gradual uptake of the principles and practices of donor-centered fundraising for those who do not have the time or resources to pick up the approach wholesale (as I am sure most libraries, particularly small libraries, do not). She suggests that while some increase in resource investment will definitely be necessary at the outset, eventually the increase in funds obtained through donations will offset the greater time requirements. Of course, this somewhat presumes that the organization can hire development staff. If the entire fundraising operation must be conducted by volunteers or by other library staff, the issue of how much time is available in which to perform these activities becomes even more pressing.