Read Something! LOVE AND REVOLUTIONARY GREETINGS by Laurie Levinger

LOVE AND REVOLUTIONARY GREETINGS: AN OHIO BOY IN THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR
Laurie Levinger

Nonfiction / history / biography

Laurie Levinger never met her uncle Sam, though his pictures were in every house she lived in growing up. Sam died in 1937 in the Spanish Civil War, to which he had gone as one of the three thousand Americans who joined the International Brigades fighting Fascism. In 2001, Laurie's father gave her a box of letters and other memorabilia about Sam - and Laurie's journey to discover who her uncle was began.

Love and Revolutionary Greetings is the story of a young man, idealistic and courageous, who fought and died in an attempt to create a better world. It is the story, too, of Sam's mother, of the family he left behind, and of one of the great convulsions preceding World War II. Levinger has edited an affecting collection of first-hand descriptions of the war and its aftermath - mostly Sam's letters and his mother's written attempts to understand his life and his fate, but also primary source material from others who were in the war and Laurie and her family's own thoughts about Sam.

Readalikes:

• World War II Remembered by the residents of Kendal at Hanover? - also first-person stories of wartime

Read Something! A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ by Walter M. Miller, Jr.

A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ
Walter M. Miller, Jr.

Science fiction / postapocalyptic fiction / literary fiction

In the centuries after nuclear apocalypse, human society rebuilds itself almost from scratch. Told in three sections, each set several centuries after the previous story, A Canticle for Leibowitz shows us the lives of three men in the Order of Saint Leibowitz, an order of monks dedicated to preserving what books and papers remain of the civilization that existed before global thermonuclear war destroyed much of human society and precipitated a violent backlash against the educated, technologically advanced culture that had made nuclear weapons possible. As Miller brings the reader into the hearts, minds, hopes, and dreams of relatively ordinary people, and as the world moves from a dark age through a new renaissance into another technological era, the unavoidable question looms: will humanity avoid its past mistakes?

Warning [and spoiler warning]: This is not a happy ending.

Readalikes:

• Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban - similar post-nuclear-apocalyptic Dark Ages setting, questions of what society would look like after a nuclear holocaust, themes of history repeating itself
• Miller wrote a sequel, Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman.
• 1984 - similar for sheer bleakness

Read Something! THREE PARTS DEAD by Max Gladstone

THRE PARTS DEAD
Max Gladstone 

Fantasy / thriller

Kos Everburning, god of fire, is dead. Without Him, the great city of Alt Coulumb, dependent on his powers, will soon die as well.

Tara Abernathy left the Hidden Schools in fire and lightning, expelled post-graduation in a great battle with her former professors. Despite her irregular method of departure, she's caught the eye of the prestigious firm Kelethras, Albrecht, and Ao, and now she's an entry-level associate tasked with finding out who killed Kos, how, and why. Soon Tara, her only-somewhat-human boss, and their temporary assistant, the chain-smoking priest Abelard, are avoiding assassination attempts, chasing vampires, fending off attacks by gargoyles, and uncovering a web of intrigue that brings them before the reincarnation of Justice Herself to argue their case.

This is that too-rare work of speculative fiction that combines carefully detailed world-building with well-realized characters who feel like real people. Add a thrilling plot with plenty of twists, turns, and adventure, and Gladstone's debut novel (!) is a winner. This book has it all: murder, magic, intrigue, treachery, power, love - and I'm eagerly awaiting the sequel, coming in October 2013.

Readalikes:

• The book jacket invokes Zelazny, Gaiman, and Grisham. I haven't read Zelazny and I'm not sure I concur with Grisham (the legal thriller aspects are there, but I don't really know that it's the same), but Gaiman's writing seems to have a very similar atmosphere/feeling to it.
• Might be a good stretch for mystery/thriller readers who could be induced to read something in a more fantastic setting.

Read Something! AFFINITY by Sarah Waters

AFFINITY 
Sarah Waters

Historical fiction / literary fiction / horror

Surfacing from a deep depression brought on by her father's death, Margaret Prior takes a family friend's advice and volunteers as a "lady visitor" at Millbank, a women's prison, where she hopes to become a positive influence on some of the inmates. In those dreary surroundings she meets the spiritualist medium Selina Dawes, sentenced to Millbank after a seance gone wrong resulted in a woman's death. Margaret and Selina are drawn to each other, but does Selina really talk to spirits? And what really happened in her past? Alternating passages from Margaret and Selina's diaries bring us closer and closer to the truth of the night that drastically changed Selina's life - and to a night that will forever change Margaret's. This is a dark, psychological novel about loss and grief, and about living in a world into which one will never quite fit neatly.

Slight warnings for mentions of attempted suicide, some nonexplicit but non-"vanilla" eroticism.

Readalikes:

• The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters - similar slightly spooky atmosphere, unreliable narrators; both stories are deliberately vague as to the reality of the ghosts/spirits (at least for most of the narrative); both set in Britain in times past; both very focused on characters' psychology
• "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman - potentially unbalanced female narrators, similar time setting, themes of entrapment/imprisonment and haunting, atmospherically similar
  

I'm published on the ILA Marketing Committee blog!

I seem to be writing for other blogs much more than I'm writing for this one! As of this morning, I have a post up on the Illinois Library Association Marketing Committee blog about cultivating staff buy-in. You can find it here.

Read Something! DEAR CREATURE (Jonathan Case)

Dear Creature
JONATHAN CASE
Graphic novel, pulp, horror, romance

Summary 

This quirky, absurd mashup of romantic comedy, "B" horror flicks, and Shakespeare has to be read to be believed. Grue, a mutant horror from the deep, has discovered Shakespeare through a series of cola bottles cast adrift with the Bard's plays inside. Inspired, he renounces his flesh-eating ways and sets off in search of a lady love. Hilarious and sweet, this book will keep you hanging as you wait to see how Grue's quest for love will turn out. Don't miss the appendix, "An Invertebrate's Guide to Iambic Pentameter", in which Grue's Greek chorus of sarcastic crabs explain the poetic meter using the immortal phrase, "Ba-donk a-donk a-donk a-donk a-donk."

Appeal Characteristics

• Visuals: dramatic use of black and white
• Visuals: generally realistic art (although Grue is depicted less realistically)
• Visuals: fairly clean art, but panels are sometimes hard to decipher due to being very busy and not having shading
• Frame: silly/absurd tone
• Frame: main character is the character who is usually the "bad guy"
• Frame/plot/characterization: characters and situations are mostly stereotypes drawn from "B" movies/pulp horror
• Plot: romance/lovers who the world wants to keep apart
• Plot: happy ending
• Plot: loose ends are all tied up at the end
• Plot: plot is not very fleshed out and often relies on pointers/gestures to conventions and stereotypes of a typical pulp horror story
• Pacing: moves fairly fast; each chapter presents a new challenge to Grue's quest

Readalikes

• ???

I'm on Programming Librarian!

I was recently asked to write a post for the Programming Librarian blog about a cool program we do with the local art museum. It went up earlier this week - you can read it here, if you're interested.

PLA 2012 session notes: Get Involved: Powered by Your Library -- Successful Engagement of High Impact Volunteers

Following are my notes from the "Get Involved: Powered by Your Library -- Successful Engagement of High Impact Volunteers" session at PLA 2012, held on Saturday, March 17 at 8:30.

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Statewide volunteerism campaign in CA: "Get Involved powered by your library"

- Aim = get high-impact volunteers and make them advocates

- Volunteer recruitment aimed at baby boomers, who are different from senior volunteers

- Goals: train public libraries in recruiting and engaging skilled high-impact volunteers, position libraries as centers for civic engagement, help people find opportunities that match their skills and interests

Baby boomers and volunteerism

Why should we care?

* Lots of them (77 million)

* Most educated and financially secure generation in history

* Volunteer at higher rates than past generations did at the same age

* Nearly 2/3 of Boomer non- volunteers want to get involved but don’t know how

* Have been in workforce & have professional skills they want to share to make high level of impact

Right now, ages 48-66 – not silver-haired

Different from senior volunteers

* More physical ability than previous generations; 4 of 5 expect to work past 65; "feel younger"

* View retirement very differently -- see second half of life as a source of social and individual renewal, not as a time to just rest and relax

* Think some of their most important contributions lie ahead

* Not simply extending the years of working and volunteering -- looking to add deeper meaning

* Different perception of aging -- don’t want to be called “Seniors,” “Retirees,” “Elderly” or “Older Adults”

Attracting baby boomers

Offer flexibility and a wide variety of options, including virtual volunteering

Engage their skills and expertise

Show them impact on mission -- how will their work make a difference?

Provide clear expectations of time, tasks and training

Go beyond volunteer management – look at engagement in meaningful ways

See Get Involved: Powered By Your Library website for resources (library.ca.gov/lds/getinvolved.html?)

Idaho is now coming in on this project

VolunteerMatch created search widget that gives back multiple results – library opportunities, then literacy opportunities, than general opportunities near your zip code

Last 2 or 3 years, 27% increase in volunteers in California

General insights/thoughts from putting this in practice

One library no longer collects applications for generic volunteers, only for specific positions

High impact volunteers have leadership roles, may train and supervise other volunteers

Putting volunteers in teams helps in case of turnover (volunteers often have unpredictable time commitments)

Interview volunteers extensively and basically treat them like job applicants

Volunteer management software exists

Lessons

A good job description is key

- Make it very clear what skills and commitment you're looking for

For high impact volunteers, this is a real job

- Approach them personally to recruit them

- Professional level interviewing

- Look for a good fit, and give them a chance to say no

- Remain flexible

Communication is critical

- Trust your volunteers, keep them in the loop, facilitate networks, share successes and outcomes

- Feedback matters (from patrons and staff)

You can still  have volunteers doing more rote tasks – high impact volunteers don't exclude your having more traditional volunteer work

Make it fun, and include the volunteers in the process

PLA 2012 session notes: Engaging Customers in an Online Environment

Following are my notes from the "Engaging Customers in an Online Environment" session at PLA 2012, held on Thursday, March 15 at 8:15.

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Three basic levels of online engagement

1) Social media as primarily a promotional tool – one-sided

2) Online engagement: customer-focused communication

- have conversations with them on topics they’re interested in

- quality more important than the number of people you reach

- personalizes the organization, shows you care about what customers have to say

3) Customers feel comfortable starting conversations with you and others in your network

Have an online strategy and policy

Strategy = road map – where you’re going and how you’re going to get there

Policy = rules of the road

Include: goals and measurements, strategy for publicizing your online presence, an exit strategy (how do we handle it if we decide to leave a social networking site?)

First, survey the online environment and your current presence on social media (whether deliberate or inadvertent)

Metrics are more than followers; consider interactions and responses

Think carefully about how many platforms you can support (don’t overextend)

Who can post? Do you need a coordinator/moderator?

Make sure your branding is consistent across sites

Legal considerations

This is still a fuzzy area; talk to your lawyer

Look carefully at sites’ TOS documents

Finding your voice

Think of your library as a character/persona – what would its personality be?

If you have many people posting, sign tweets with the poster’s name?

“columns” on Facebook – a staff member posting regularly on a given topic

Engaging customers online

Go to meetups and tweetups locally and talk up your social media

Try to use Trending Topics hashtags on Twitter

Create and use your own hashtags

Surveys, questions, staff columns

- first person to answer correctly gets a prize (to be picked up at an event IRL?)

- Make sure you’re being authentic (“question of the week” fizzled out b/c it was too formulaic)

Being engaging = sharing personalized info – share inside information (statistics?) – have exclusive content for followers

Hey girl, let’s jump on a meme

- Andy Woodward got Old Spice guy to talk about libraries

- library created video of Old Spice guy

- failblog.org – Memebase category

Listening to the crowd – sometimes the conversation isn’t happening in your feed/on your Facebook page/etc

- set up Google Alerts

Platforms

Look for what your patrons are using (and how it correlates with demographics)

Initiate/develop partnerships w/community organizations

Friend potential partners with your personal account, and communicate with them that way

“Like” local organizations

Measuring success

Stop if you aren’t meeting objectives, or if it isn’t interesting to you anymore

Look at other organizations to establish baselines

Online book club for teens done via Ning chat (Ning also offers message boards) – but Ning is now paid service

“Where in the world is the bookmobile?”

* Library has laminated cutout of bookmobile; staff take it on trips and post photos, asking patrons to guess where the bookmobile is

Pinterest

Create booklists (covers link to reviews?)

What’s next?

Facebook app letting people reserve and check out books

One library shares “how to” videos from YouTube – start creating them?

Giving patrons the opportunity to create content, or finding content they’re creating and promoting it

Make your personal use of social media professional – connect with other librarians etc. through your personal accounts

Q&A

What if you’re doing “everything right” (asking questions, etc) and people still aren’t engaging/answering?

* Find a couple of people to engage regularly – it breaks the ice – maybe even staff?

* Promote sites in person to make people feel a more personalized connection to your social media

PLA 2012 session notes: Building Your Base (& Your Budget)

Following are my notes from the "Building Your Base (& Your Budget)" session at PLA 2012, held on Thursday, March 15 at 4:15.

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Speaker is from NY's Mid-Hudson Library System

You can't just sit back and see what happens in library votes – you need to actively tell supporters you need them to vote/act/speak up

MHLS created campaign structure to get the vote out

* midhudson.org/vote – Public Library Vote Toolbox (works for general advocacy to boards, etc. too)

When a vote fails, who voted no? Who actually came out to vote? Do you know them? What are their characteristics/what are they like?

* The day after a no vote, you have to get right back to convincing them

Garnering support has to happen year round

Start "inside" – know who is using the library

* What are they into?

* Where do they live?

* What do they do when not at the library?

"Magic Quadrant"

* Most important = heavy library users, registered to vote – supporters – ensure that they vote

* Heavy library users not registered to vote – supporters – get them to register and vote

* Registered voters who don't use the library – neutral/potential supporters – reach out to them

* Try to figure out who they are, and segment the market

2 basic tenets: Tweak what you're already doing, harness others to work for you

Don't avoid publicity b/c you couldn't handle popularity – if you can't handle the demand, make an argument to your community that if they want x, this is what it costs/will take

1) Gain more supporters and goodwill

* Do this even among current users, who may not know about all services/have all background info, etc.

2) Create and build a sense of loyalty

* Don't aim for everyone and don't aim to make them all weekly users – just make sure they understand your value

3) Work smarter, not harder

* Be as simple as possible

6 basics

Regular communication w/current users/supporters (not just when you need something)

Consistent effort to gain new users/supporters

* Yearly townwide mailing?

* Include the VIPs in town

Increased visibility in the community

Proactive communication with community leaders

Strategic thinking about everything you do

* How can you add a value-added message to everything? Programs, services, etc

Practice word of mouth marketing

* Know what you want to say

* All internal constituents – staff, trustees, etc should be saying the same thing at the same times

* Tried this system-wide with Mango, doubled usage in a few months

* Everyone should have some little factoid for grocery-store-line conversations

* Prep a packet in advance including talking points, a video, etc. to help train/prepare people

4 steps

Choose

* Choose a group – who isn't using the library?

* Think lifestyles rather than demographics

* Who is ready to hear your message and help out?

* ESRI tapestry segmentation chart: http://www.esri.com/data/esri_data/tapestry.html -- freely available, describes many market segments very specifically [note: I requested a copy of this poster in late March and I haven't heard a peep since]

* Go where the people already are

* Take advantage of already extant communication networks

* Find social groups that don't have a high rate of library use

Explore

* Learn about chosen groups to tailor your message to their needs and perspectives

* "Stalk" them online? (Facebook pages etc)

Contact

* Be genuine

* Investigate their communication network, get in touch, explain what you're doing

* "why do you want to talk to us?" "because you're members of the community and we want to serve our community"

* Ask what they need

Partner

* Reach out, show and inform, market, educate

* Think about repackaging – talking slightly differently about what you have to communicate its appeal to a particular group

Toolkit: midhudson.org/byb

How to do this in an online environment

Website = fundamental landing point for online searching for info about your library

* Needs to load fast, have info easy to find

Keep an eye on online reviews

Find local groups with Facebook pages, promote your stuff through them (with permission)

Think backwards – start with them and work from there