Sigh...

...no one came to my program today. And it was going to be sooooo cool. I guess no one else thought so. The Seattle Times even ran a cute little blurb on it in their entertainment section. And there I was, stewing in the heat of 9 laptops, all alone...

One person did turn up, but he isn't a teen and I think he knows I am on to him, so he never came down. Well, you can't have one person doing a scavenger hunt anyway. That just doesn't work.

Tonight is an iSchool get together. Should be fun times, although I always feel a little awkward at these things. I am fairly certain there will be a person or two I would rather not see, and that there is a person or two who would rather not see me. But there are at least two peeps that I will adore seeing, even though I already see them on a regularish basis, so not all is lost. I am bringing my book as armor though.

Zine Librarian unConference this weekend is going to rock. I know people are coming to that. Not only is it going to be a ton of fun, I will have a bit more event planning on my resume. Always a good thing. And I get to learn more about zines. I am also looking forward to it being over so I can spend more time w/ Dr. T and The Boy. Time suckage! (in the best possible way...)

I haven't done my EMP post yet, mostly because I haven't found the time to upload the photos and video I took. It was a fun show, but would have been more fun if I hadn't felt chained to my table. More on that later.

A Night of Bubbly Goodness

One of my favorite YA authors (ok, one of my favorite authors, period) was in Shoreline tonight and I got to see him. I wanted to giggle like a girl--and maybe I did a couple of times. Scott Westerfeld was as smart and interesting in person as he is on his blog. I was really impressed. The teens in the audience asked a lot of good questions and kept him talking at least 20 minutes over and he wasn't protesting at all even though this is not the first stop on his tour. One of my favorite quotes of the evening came up when he was talking about the many ways that teens are put down by society. When he was a boy he and his friends started skateboarding and a month later the "no skateboarding" signs popped up. When he was in the UK a few months ago, there were signs in the restaurants that said "we will not serve people wearing black hoodies." The quote was (and I know I don't have it word for word...) "when ten 40 year olds come into your store you say 'good for business', when ten 4 year olds come into your store you say 'how cute' and when ten 14 year olds come into your store you say 'call the cops.'" So true :( He was funny and quick, very in tune with the audience and very giving of himself.

I got a book signed by him and he wrote "Srcsmgrl, thanks for being a librarian." I like it. Much better than Terry Brooks signing "sparks of angel fire, always" in my Angel Fire East book. I have seen Terry several times and gotten a few books signed by him and it is usually something pretty corny. I don't want him to pretend to know me or anything, but I don't want to feel like a total sci-fi geek (I don't think I would make much of a groupie). I would have liked a "thanks for reading" message better. Anyhow, Scott!!!! Thank you so much. I only wish I had had a copy of Peeps or So Yesterday for him to sign... but all I had was Pretties, which is the middle book of a series. Uglies would have made more sense. I will cherish the book forever :) I think I will always be a teen girl at heart, with all the giggles and angst that goes with it.

I also ran into a school librarian that I used to work with at my old post and a teen librarian who used to work with my new boss. It was nice talking to both of them. I realized how rusty my networking skills were when my face started to feel like it was going to crack from all my smiling. Is it that I was smiling too much or that I haven't been smiling enough lately in normal life? I guess I will never know....

OMG, library reopening Saturday!!!

Accomplishments

I felt so productive and socially adept today!

At the library I got my newsletter all updated for the new month, wrote notes to the various (6) people in the community I send them to and put them in the mail bag (that is a feat, you just don't know...). I also finished with my weeding, making a list of the titles that I weeded and sent it out to my fellow teen service librarians. One branch took almost all of them, which made me happy. I don't like letting the little fellers get away from me, but it makes me happy to know they got a new home.

I also went to a meeting downtown today about selection services. It was great to hear about how it all worked and see where it happens. I learned a lot about my own job as well, which I won't go into at the moment. I enjoyed meeting AW and the rest of the staff there.

After work I went to the Spenser Shaw lecture at the Information School. The feature was Richard Peck; a well known YA author and education philosopher. I didn't agree with everything he said, but he was definitely funny and engaging. He said that parents and schools aren't taking responsibility for children learning, children only respected their own peer groups and that all of that was bringing about a legacy of illiteracy where only the "gifted" children "read." He insinuated that even these "gifted" children aren't reading the right things and that parents are allowing kids to fall into the filth of online communities.

Well, as a parent (a single parent that actually read books to my son from the time he was born--which Mr. Peck accused we single parents of being too lazy to do) I have a few disagreements with Mr. Peck. There are plenty of kids reading, I see them every day. Mark Twain isn't for everyone, but I think it is great that he is bringing that experience into kids lives. To expect children to recognize a randomly pulled bit of Huckleberry Finn upon hearing read aloud it is a little beyond expectations. There are plenty of books that I have read and enjoyed where I wouldn't recognize a paragraph of them read to me later. Huck Finn is probably one of them. I knew the one he read us because he had already been talking about Mark Twain and could put the two together--but then, I am 32 years old and I often draw complex conclusions. He did have quite a few good points as well, but they were drowned out by his negativism. I took notes though, wait...

Reading to young children is important (although I think that dad's read just as well as moms), in some cases parents and schools are not taking the necessary steps to engage children in learning and I agree that this is a problem that needs to be addressed (but rather than blaming each other, how about we work together on the problem...). Richard Peck is a great author and fills a much needed niche in the YA genre scheme.

So, overall, much over-generalization, great narrative, engaging author.

There was a reception afterward and I got a great chance to talk to some professors from the iSchool and catch up with my cohort. Some of my fellow employees cut out without gracing the reception, but they missed out. One of my school's librarians were there and we chatted for a bit. Funny story, I think I embarrassed the Dean. I was standing with one of my colleges and Harry turned to me and introduced himself. I reminded him that he had shaken my hand less than 6 months ago at the graduating ceremonies. He was very graceful and congratulated me on my position and the library system for finding such a great employee--pretty good for having no idea who I was 10 seconds earlier. I know his wife better--I had several classes with her over the course of my master's program and talked to her for a while during the reception. She wants to place a directed fieldwork with me after we reopen, which would be a great help for us and hopefully a good opportunity for some student.

Well, I have blathered on quite enough. Good evening.

Mentors and such

I should mention, to update, that I cannot have an official mentor. Being temporary makes me ineligible for quite a few things and makes many other things much more difficult (if I want a bus pass at the discount that other employees get I have to go to the 43rd floor of some building downtown). I don't mind though, this is the best opportunity ever. And hey, I have a mentor, it is just unofficial.

I have been lucky in that respect. When working for Sno-Isle I also had a great mentor. A manager that was respectful, understanding and knowledgeable. She really helped me see where I wanted to go without being pushy or dismissive. Now I have an example that is on the move. He is going places. I like seeing different perspectives to the same career. It is highly motivating.

I also enjoy the meetings with my fellow teen librarians. Hearing what is going on at their branches or at central keeps me going with my own projects.

I have added an XML link to my blog page for those of you that want to add it to your reader. If you use rss, I understand that you have to add "?alt=rss" to the end of the url. It is the blue button under the "I Power Blogger" button. I am getting good at this, and in only a few hours.