Sneak Peek: The Boy Who Was Raised by Librarians

Despite having been out of college for five years, my mom still occasionally sends me care packages of goodies since we still reside 800 miles apart. Usually, she's sending me something I've requested or that she's told me about, but she always fills the box with other little surprises.

In my most recent package containing some Target shoes I couldn't find at the crappy NYC Targets, she included this picture book—The Boy Who Was Raised by Librarians by Carla Morris, illustrated by Brad Sneed. She babysits my 2-year-old nephew twice a week, and library visits are part of their routine. Apparently, they were reading this one together, and she realized that it's my story and decided to share with me.

The Boy Who Was Raised by Librarians is about a boy named Melvin who grew up as a frequent library patron, bonding with the librarians as he researched for school projects, discovered new books to read, and attended library events. And who can guess what career path he chose by the end?? It's a cute story and a good tool for inspiring that library love all of us bookworms hope our future progeny possess! Just wanted to share with you all.

Sneak Peek: Farm Anatomy by Julia Rothman

It's no secret that I really want to live on a farm. I don't want it to really be a working one, because frankly, I'm too lazy for that—utmost respect for all working farmers. I just want to be surrounded by nature and know all the little details about plant and animal life that my mom seems to know. (How does she know these things?? She can ID any flower in about 3.2 seconds.) And I want at least two pigs, two goats, two sheep, two horses, and two chickens (so they can each have a friend, obviously). And lots of cats and a farm dog. And some owls.

I saw this book on display in the Workman booth at PLA, and it was just so awesome that I came home and special ordered it from my local bookstore, WORD. It's like a guidebook to rural living, and soon I'll be able to tell you how to make maple syrup and what kind of apple it is you're eating. The only thing it lacks, to me, is a quick guide to common flower and tree species, but I guess that's not specific enough to a farm. Oh well!

I'm sharing some photos I took of the illustrations, because I think they're wonderful. I hope you do too.

Judy Blume on NPR, and helping the YA audience

“I’m afraid today everybody thinks the sexiest, smartest thing to do is write for YA, and I worry about the middle grade readers, because if they don’t learn to love books when they’re middle graders, when are they gonna learn to love them?”

This, in a nutshell, is why I want to be a youth librarian.

Early on in my quest for Master Level Librarian (aka grad school), I was mostly undecided about where to focus in the public library realm. First off, MLS programs are incredibly expansive. Do you know how broad the library field is? Technical services, records management, digitization, preservation, archives, academic libraries, School Media Specialist, and yes, public libraries. I've known, since day 1, that I want to work where the people are. I love books, and I want to share that, not be closed up alone in a room with them. This pretty much leaves academia, public libraries, and school libraries, but academia bores me and it seems to me primarily information retrieval. I want to be an information guide and promote a love of reading, and I want the diversity of a public library.

Once you get in a public library, though, it's still divided—adult services, children's services, YA services. Do I go Adult where I can share what I myself enjoy reading? Do I go Children's because they're so cute and inspiring? Or the YA group that is probably the most challenging and the most reluctant?

Here's what I've decided. If adults are in the library to read, then they're readers. You just hit a point in life where you're either a reader or you're not. And kids have people encouraging them to read from every angle. Parents reading to you at home, read-alongs in class at school, summer reading programs, Accelerated Reader requirements—things that just encourage you to READ, doesn't matter WHAT you're reading. Then you hit the middle school/high school years and it just seems to drop. You're done with programs like AR; you're done with class visits to your school library to pick out some books; you're given six books you must read for English class that are usually "classics" and therefore pretty boring. And because you have to do it, you don't want to do it. So you start to resist reading. It's not fun; it's boring; books suck. You Google everything, and books are outdated. You develop poor research habits based on what's quickest and easiest, not the most thorough or accurate. Maybe, by some act of divine intervention, you'll pick up reading again in a few years before your adulthood habits and priorities are solidified. But most likely, if you lost interest once, it's gone.

And that's why I want to work with this fragile and underserved group. Yes, YA is the rapidly-growing hot reading genre, but you can't just produce the material. Spending time with teens, teaching them good research strategies and habits, inspiring in them a life-long quest for knowledge and love of learning, using their individual interests to motivate them—that is what I think teens need, and that's where I want to help.

Bookish Things at the Renegade Craft Fair

When a friend from book club told me last fall about the Renegade Craft Fair that happens in Brooklyn every June, I put it on my calendar immediately and have been looking forward to it ever since. It happened in McCarren Park this past weekend, and I opted for the sunnier of the two days (Sunday) to take a stroll and browse.

I LOVED this craft fair. Lots of talented artists peddling their wares—jewelry, clothing, prints, hand-sewn goods. Prints are my weakness at these sorts of things, and if I had unlimited funds, my apartment walls would be covered to the point where I'd need to institute monthly showcases of my collection by rotating art! However, here was my problem: I went stocked with cash, but whenever I saw something I wanted, I would hold off on buying in case I saw something I wanted more. It’s a case of either come home with EVERYTHING or come home with NOTHING. And I came home with nothing besides a collection of business cards so I could check it all out later. Oh well.

I loved so many things—which I've summed up on my Tumblr in case you want to see more—but here are some bookish things I thought you guys might love as well.

And if you're lucky enough to live in or around San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, or London, you can check out the Renegade Craft Fair for yourself later this summer or fall!

Book Jewelry from Peg and Awl. I'd kill for a neck full of these! They also have journals made from antique materials. [Etsy]

Library Card Notebooks from Kelso Doesn't Dance. They also had lots of notebooks made out of old Golden children's books but I can't find those online! [Etsy]

Bookish notecards from Jacqueline Schmidt. Birds and books are two of my design favorites! Browse to find a number of bookish prints. [Online shop]

Art of the Ideal Bookshelf

I stumbled upon these little gems during my daily interactions with the internet. Ideal Bookshelf is an ongoing project by artist Jane Mount in which she paints sets of books. There are cooking sets and Typography sets and children's book sets...a set that can be really representative of the individual or just be someone's favorites. You can even commission her to paint your favorite books through her Etsy site.

Very cool. I'd love to fill a reading nook with these paintings.