bunkermentality

Absence

2012-01-12T11:14:00.000-08:00

Ahem. I officially declare this blog on hiatus. Alas. I have all kinds of ideas about things to write, but for now at least, there's no time. These days much of my energy is goes to Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and others.

I hope to revive this blog again soon. Wonderful things are happening!

Why do kids need library cards?

2009-07-09T11:07:00.000-07:00

Recently I posed a simple question to friends, colleagues, and co-workers: Why do first grade students need library cards?

You see, we're developing publicity materials for the Pima County Public Library's campaign to get every first grade child in our county a library card. Last year we gave out 5,600 cards, which was about 50%. This year we want to do better, thus the new publicity.

Anyway, the responses were immediate and WONDERFUL. I figured I'd share them here...

From Facebook friends:

Because opening wide the door of your imagination and curiosity is always more fun when you have your Very Own Key. --Eileen Tuuri

They feel special and important to have a library card. --Patti O'Brien

Get 'em hooked young. --Gene Spesard

It establishes al relationship between the child and the library. --Mary Monkoski

To teach responsibility and to initiate a love of reading and learning. --Leticia Lozano Garcia

Because some homes don't have or can't afford to buy books.... and to encourage reading for pleasure rather than always "for school." --Trish Drasnin

They can go to the library and check out books. Heaven! --Sherrie Baltes

So the kids make their parents take them to the library. "Mommy mommy take me to the library please!!!!!!" --Clarisa Barcelo

As soon as my kids could print their names (about age 4) I let them get a library card. It became a rite of passage for the younger ones, who saw the older ones with their very own cards - and didn't have to use mom's to check out books. --Malena Acosta

So the parents don't get assessed a late fee when we forget to return the child's book on time. :-) --Gina Anstey

Because too many of them don't have [school] libraries and library time in school any more! --Christine Dykgraaf

From Twitter:

[Having a card gives children] an early understanding of how we work and their role in borrowing books --@MegCanada

Having a library card - with their name/signature on it!! - makes 1st graders feel important and grown up. --@bphuettner

Because it is their "passport to the wonderful and quite unpredictable world of books!" - Mr. Dewey, The Pagemaster --@bel_hobbs

There is no better way than a library card to instill love of reading and sense of community responsibility/sharing. --@AZpress

Library card = access to entertainment & information of their choice. How often do kids have control over their world like that? --@sangofairy

Responses from PCPL children’s librarians

The library card is FREE.

Having a card reinforces a first grade child's pride in their new reading skills.

The library has free books, music, and movies for every interest.

Reading makes your brain bigger!

The library card is good at 27 libraries all over Pima County, plus the Bookmobile.

The whole family is welcome at the library.

Free computers (children's card provides higher security access to internet).

Online access to live homework help, and high quality information for children's school projects.

You can find out how to protect yourself from zombies.

Good readers do better in school.

Books are friends forever.

You'll be as cool as your friends or family who already have one.

You'll have something to put in your wallet.

To be like big brother/sister.

To learn about cool things.

A library card gives you access to books when the school library is closed (evenings, holidays and summer vacation time).

From teachers (I saved the best for last!):

I encourage parents to take their children to the public library because they enjoy choosing their own books, and it sparks their interest in learning to read. --Teacher from Drachman Elementary School

If a parent were to ask me why their child should get a library card I would have to tell them because the love and passion for reading happens at a very young age. As a child I remember that my first joys of reading came from picture books. If we can get children excited about books at an early age they are more likely to continue reading as adults for enjoyment...this will make them much smarter individuals and help them become more efficient learners in higher grades. Individuals that read have a larger vocabulary and can articulate much better than those who do not. Being an efficient reader will ensure that your child will excel in other areas of school because reading bridges all those subjects together. --Teacher from Oyama Elementary School

I tell parents many things but the first thing I say is that a library card allows a child to have access to books at their reading level at any given time during their development. They don't have to wait to become fluent readers to enjoy great books, the library has a great selection for any reading level. This will encourage their child to enjoy reading as they progress in their development. Another reason is that the library gives a child control over their book choices. They don't just have to read what I assign or books their parents buy. They choose, they control their adventures! --Teacher from Maldonado Elementary School

To have a larger variety of books to choose from more than [the school] library selection. --Teacher at Tucson Hebrew Academy

One of the best reasons for a child to have their own library card is, in my opinion, to give them the excitement and sense of ownership over their own reading. All teachers know that if you can get a child excited about reading the skills follow almost effortlessly but, let's face it, reading is hard when you first start learning! Getting their own library card and being able to choose books from so many available gets the kids excited about trying it out.

When the reading is their own idea, no one has to remind them to practice. The value of excitement in reading will follow them all the way through their education, giving them innate knowledge of facts, grammar, spelling, and a zillion concepts and ideas. It's almost too good to be free! --Teacher at Agua Caliente School

* so that their parents can check out books
* so that they can come and play on the computers
* so they can look at BIG pictures
--Principal of Tucson Academy of Leadership & Arts

Our First Grade Card Campaign

2009-03-26T10:08:00.000-07:00

One of my largest projects during the school year is to coordinate the library's efforts to get all the first graders in the county signed up for library cards. 2008-2009 was another successful campaign!

482 classrooms participated, out of 646 possible in the whole county (up 13%)

282 classrooms sent us applications (up 11%)

5,569 students either got cards or reported that they had cards (up 26%)

158 classrooms were eligible for grand prize drawing (up 82%)

More information on the campaign can be found at my library's website: http://www.library.pima.gov/lrgs/

Come to the Tucson Festival of Books!

2009-03-08T10:31:00.000-07:00

The Arizona Daily Star interviewed me and Steve about our book last Wednesday for an article in today's paper. Danielle did a great job, and Fred took some lovely photos!

Article "Librarian/writer's Harry Potter knowledge is voluminous"

Steve's talk and our booksigning: Sunday, March 15th at 2:30pm, Catalina Ballroom of the University of Arizona Student Union

Signed copies of the book available at: Kids Center, 1725 N Swan Rd, Tucson, AZ

Tucson Festival of Books

List of exhibitors in attendance

Come to the Book Festival next weekend! Karen Cushman (Catherine Called Birdy), Gail Carson Levine (Ella Enchanted), Richard Peck (A Long Way from Chicago), Charles de Lint (Widdershins), J.A. Jance (Cruel Intent), Diana Gabaldon (Outlander), Luis Alberto Urrea (Hummingbird's Daughter), Richard Shelton (Crossing the Yard), Gregory McNamee (Moveable Feasts), and over 350 more authors and illustrators will be speaking and signing their books.

Other friends speaking, storytelling, and/or signing: Marge Pellegrino, Martin Rivera, Lynn Bevill, and Liz Danforth.

Flash coolness at the Newseum website

2009-01-29T16:13:00.000-08:00

Jen just sent me a link to the Newseum's webpage where you can see the day's front pages WORLDWIDE. To quote Jen, "Oooooooooh!"

What's the top news in LA? What is Phoenix's banner compared to Tucson's? What do newspapers look like in Italy, or South Africa? Mouseover the city on the map and the front page appears on the right. I love how easy it is to browse the news coverage!

Too bad it won't work on my iPhone.

Rock Band Tournament pictures

2009-01-29T15:52:00.001-08:00

We've posted the photos from the countywide Rock Band Tournament on our Flickr account, and it looks like it was huge fun!

First Place: Holistic Bumblebee (Nanini branch)
Second Place: The Delusions (Flowing Wells branch)
Third Place: Three Dudes and a Chick (Wheeler Taft Abbett, Sr. branch)

You must watch this (Story Town performance)

2008-11-21T16:19:00.000-08:00

Waking Beauty Performance at Story Town 2008

Some more of the best of libraries!

I just watched this video of PCPL staff dramatizing the picture book Waking Beauty by Leah Wilcox from last weekend's Story Town, and I'm still chuckling!

The Waking Beauty Players:
Sleeping Beauty: Deanna (South Tucson Library)
Prince Charming: Aaron (El Pueblo Library)
Fairies: Thania (Valencia Library), Maya (Santa Rosa Library), and Fabiana
Narrator: Lupita (Mission Library)
Filmed by Steve Shull

Please do yourself a favor and watch this. You will have a good feeling inside all day.

P.S. The wind noise dies down fairly quickly.

Library Afterschool Program Recognized by White House

2008-11-14T08:28:00.000-08:00

This morning at the White House, Pima County Public Library's afterschool program called Word Journeys was recognized as one of the top 15 programs in the nation, awarding the us the prestigious Coming Up Taller award. Program Director Marge Pellegrino and one of the program's teen volunteers from Amphi High School attended the awards ceremony and received the award from First Lady Laura Bush.

Marge and I have known about this since July and it has been a little bubble of joy for both of us -- and very hard to keep secret!

Word Journeys hires teens from Amphi High School to mentor elementary school children afterschool during the school year. Each week the high school students help plan a workshop based on a picture book story that includes, writing, art, and oral interpretation, and includes explorations of the library and its treasures.

For the last two years children and teens from Tucson's Somali Bantu refugee families have been included in the program, children who were born in the refugee camps and had known nothing else. Their English skills have improved so dramatically that fourth-grader Hawa told me she bravely defended Obama's tax policies when her school teacher told the class that Obama would raise everyone's taxes. She was very proud to have voted in the library's recent "Kids Vote" election.

Local coverage:

Other coverage

Coming Up Taller is an initiative of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, along with the Institute of Museum and Library Services, National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities to showcase cultural excellence and enhance the availability of out-of-school arts and humanities programs to children.

Update: Marge just called, and they were interviewed after the ceremony by the local affiliate for Fox News! So cool. A representative of one of our recent funders was also there, someone from the Arizona Commission on the Arts.

And here (above) is the first ceremony photograph!

More to come, I'm sure.

Voting coolness

2008-11-07T10:42:00.000-08:00

Our library had a contest where anyone under 17 could make a 3-minute video encouraging people to vote. The deadline was election day, and we got nine entries. Three of them are amazing. Take a look! "Why Vote" Video Contest.

Riikka's new book is out! In Finland (alas not U.S.)

2008-09-30T23:38:00.000-07:00

Well, on a cheerier note, my friend Riikka tells me her new book is out in Finland, the sequel to her first story, Nokikätkön ritarit ja Kuuhiisi, or The Knights of the Sooty Nook and the Moon Troll. The new book's title is Vaahteratuvan väki ja vaarallinen peto, I have no idea what that is in English. Yet. Riikka tells me that a copy is on its way.

So, to celebrate I scanned the picture she drew of Arrow when she was here last March.

A plot summary and list of chapters for Riikka's first book can be read here.

UPDATE: I posted about Riikka's new book on my other blog by mistake! Here's the link: madam-pince.blogspot.com/2009/06/on-mood-wolves-and-drawing.html

Banned Books Week resource

2008-09-26T10:03:00.000-07:00

How did the Nazi book burnings fit in to the larger pattern of suppression of free speech that began in 1933? Why were books and libraries attacked? Who created the blacklists? What books were destroyed and why? How it was part of the Nazi party's campaign to forcefully promote their narrow idea of "German-ness" and "patriotism" to the German people?

Many years ago I did an exhibit for University of Arizona Special Collections entitled "When Books Burn" about the Nazi book burnings of 1933. The site looks very dated (my web design skills c.2001), but it shows how the book burnings and library raids of May 1933 were part of the Nazi party’s plan to silence all dissent. The translations were written by Dr. Roland Richter, a retired Professor from the UA Department of German who specialized in the literature of the 1930s. To my knowledge it was the first time the documents and speeches had been translated into English.

Hitler was appointed Chancellor in January 1933, the first book/publisher/library suppressions happened in April, the book burnings were in May and by July a law was passed making Nazi Socialism the only legal form of political expression in Germany. Seven months was all it took, and the suppression of books and “cleansing” of libraries were key pieces of the plan.

They’re nasty reading, but take a look at some of the Nazi book manifestos. Are they similar to what you read and hear about today?

The site also has lesson plans created by UA Librarian Louise Greenfield.

Flam Chen goodness

2008-09-22T17:43:00.000-07:00

I was able to talk to Flam Chen performers for the first time last week at the Mission Library's 30th anniversary -- once I got over my awe at seeing them close up, at least. They're a bit larger than life, as you can see on the left.

And now I find that they have posted videos of their performances online at vimeo. Take a look at my favorite, a performance piece featuring firedancing and creatures called "Kokapis" with live drum music from the Dambe Project. Flam Chen's website is being redesigned, but their MySpace is active: www.myspace.com/flamchen

For the video, picture people gathered on the grass in front of the old library on the UA Campus (now the Arizona State Museum) on a sultry evening in late June. The day has started too cool off and then they light the burners and the drums start...

Radiance from Flam Chen on Vimeo

80s flashback

2008-09-12T22:05:00.000-07:00

I have been spending way too much time on a site that collects videos of 80s music. The range is huge: punk, new wave, pop, rat pack, glam, goofball, and a lot of European stuff I'd never heard of (and I lived in Germany in the 80s!). I don't listen to oldies radio stations so it had been years and years since I've heard most of this music, and wow, most of it doesn't hold up.

Still mesmerizing: Traci Chapman, Club Nouveau, Eurythmics, Fine Young Cannibals, Sade, Don Henley, Bangles, Grace Jones, Herbie Hancock, Neil Young, Nirvana (90s, I know), U2, World Party.
Soooo period: Duran Duran, Falco, After the Fire, INXS, Madonna, Love and Rockets, MC Hammer, Psychedelic Furs, Stray Cats, Kraftwerk.
Surprises: Clannad, Concrete Blonde.
They were better live: B-52s, The Police.
Vid disappointing but I'd put it on my iPod: Bananarama, Blondie, Golden Earring.
Still strange: Cameo, Joe Dolce, Divine, Mr. T, Plasmatics, the Residents.
Gratuitous Gene Kelly fu: ELO.
I liked them??? What was I thinking?: Billy Idol, Billy Squier, Dead or Alive, Quarterflash, The Romantics.
Ewww (you've been warned): Adam Ant, Apollonia 6, Culture Club, Lipps Inc.
Raw then, seems contrived now: Dead Kennedys.
No, no, no, no, even after all this time: Chris De Burgh, Hall & Oates, Wham.

Boue's Big Day

2008-09-07T22:18:00.001-07:00

Boue's Big Day
Originally uploaded by BILLBINNS

When we get home DH always tells Arrow he's a good boy for guarding the house all day, but I know *this* is what he's really doing! If it weren't for the fact that Arrow disdains the sofa this pooch could be his clone. The time lapse video is only about 1 minute long. Too funny.

A Walk with Arrow

2008-07-21T21:34:00.000-07:00

Every night we walk our dog Arrow, but some nights are more fun than others! Tonight we watched the sun set, kissed Oz, saw new blooms on the teddy bear cholla, watched Mike and Jo repainting a street sign, met Robbie and Barb, watched a coyote lope down the road, and watched the rest of the sunset. We're pooped!

A Must-Read Article in the New Yorker

2008-07-16T16:53:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading "The Lion and the Mouse: The battle that reshaped children’s literature" by Jill Lepore, from the July 21 issue of The New Yorker. I heartily recommend it to anyone who loves children's books.

Lepore's account of the appalling history of early children's services alone makes the article worth reading, but from there it goes on to report on the conflict between Anne Campbell Moore, NYPL's influential children's librarian and the author E.B. White. When you evaluate a new children's book, are you a Miss Moore, or an Ursula Nordstrom?

The article make me wonder: When did I form my ideas about what makes a good children's book, and how to recommend them to others? Was it when I was in the 5th grade and learned that my grandmother (a former teacher who graduated c. 1914) had thrown out all 44 copies of the Nancy Drew series that I had devoured the previous summer? Was it when I was in the 6th grade and listened in frustration to a salesperson at the old El Con Bookstore flounder about when asked for a good book for a 12-year-old? (It was my first reference question, and I talked him into The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.)

At any rate, I really enjoyed this article because it made me think about and remember why we do what we do.

I need to read Stuart Little again.

Good night Giraffe?

2008-07-02T00:38:00.000-07:00

Do you suppose that Dutch giraffe read Peggy Rathman's book Good Night Gorilla?

2008 Reading Rainbow Contest Winners Announced

2008-06-11T18:42:00.000-07:00

The 2008 Reading Rainbow Young Writers and Illustrators Contest winners have been announced!

You can now read the story that moved me so much, Adam Pace's story, Sweetcakes [pdf], which won in the Kindergarten category.

Congratulations to the winners, and to all of the young writers who sent in such excellent writing!

Word Journeys, an afterschool program

2008-06-11T18:19:00.000-07:00

One of the things I get to do in my new job is to help with the special programming that my library is involved with. Many of these programs are targeted to specific populations, and so are not always visible to the community. Word Journeys is one of those programs.

Word Journeys is an arts and humanities afterschool program taught by the inimitable Marge Pellegrino, and run in conjunction with the Amphitheater School District. Every Thursday this school year, Marge helped teens from Amphi High School put on a multidisciplinary program for children from two area elementary schools. Three of the teen mentors and half of the younger children are recent immigrants to Tucson: Bantu refugees from Somalia.

The teens plan and setup the weekly workshops, encourage the younger students, model listening and participatory behaviors, journal, and reflect upon the week's experience. Each workshop includes a story, a writing springboard, and time for sharing, as well as time for mentors and mentees to explore the library via books and targeted activities. The photo on the left is from this year's big celebration for which the children created displays of their writing and artwork, and took turns reading from their favorite project. I have more photos on my library's Flickr account.

Much of the intensity of Word Journeys comes from the long-term relationships that this program fosters, along with projects designed to elicit heartfelt responses to the eternal questions of humanity: How do I have compassion for others? Who am I in the world?, and How can I make the world a better place?

I love my job.

Reed and Ruby on YouTube!

2008-04-20T22:16:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this isn't library-related, but my nephew Reed starred in a movie on YouTube! His dad Brick and his sister Ruby also have roles. I love how perfect his timing is when he says "I'm the boss." Oh, and there's a funny outtake after the credits.

Great job, dooood!

Judging for the Reading Rainbow writing contest

2008-04-16T07:20:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure Monday of reading the Kindergarten entries for our local PBS station's Reading Rainbow Young Writers and Illustrators Contest. I can't discuss the stories (there are 2 other kindergarten judges, and we need to come to consensus about the rankings), but WOW.

What was amazing to me was how well most children have already absorbed what makes a story, and how illustrations enhance one. The art media used for the illustrations included crayon and marker, of course, but also watercolor and crayon resist. Many stories had a strong pattern to them, and weren't just a series of disconnected statements. I was also delighted by how often the stories clearly showed close observation of the world around them. How the sunset reflects on water, how rainbows move when you try to find one, how desert dust devils look, and on and on.

Bravo to all of the contestants! You did very well indeed.

Winners of the 2007 contest are viewable here: Arizona Public Media. The 2008 winners will be announced in May.

Homage to Marge

2008-04-09T17:06:00.000-07:00

One of the inspirational people I work with is Marge Pellegrino, the author of My Grandma's the Mayor, and several other books for children. Marge is the founder and director of our Word Journeys program, an ambitious after school workshop where high school students mentor elementary school students in writing, art, and speaking skills.

Marge's Word Journeys projects are deep ones. They're designed to elicit heartfelt responses to the eternal questions of humanity: How do I have compassion for others? Who am I in the world?, and How can I make the world a better place?

The format of the workshops includes a reading, listening, and writing exercise, a paper craft or sculptural activity related to that exercise, a treasure hunt for relevant and meaningful items in the library, and finally a time sharing the work. After the younger students leave, the teen mentors write and share their thoughts, impressions, and feelings.

For example, after listening to the book For Every Child, mentors and children discussed how each of the basic human rights of children made them feel. The students were asked to translate those into a cause and effect with similes, for example: "When you keep me safe, I feel warm like a barn fire on a cold night." Each student created a collaged quilt square; when they were through, their square was tied to every other child's in the group to make the "quilt."

Another workshop used the book On the Day You Were Born by Debra Frasier to set up an activity that asked the students to create a story and image about the day they were born.

This year Marge suggested that we try something new. She proposed that half the teens and half the younger children be from Tucson's growing Somali Bantu refugee population. By doing this she hoped not only to include the children, but also to build bridges in the schools between "mainstream" children and the Somali kids, who often feel isolated in the classroom and on the playgrounds.

Why an homage to Marge today? Tomorrow we celebrate the end of the seventh year of Word Journeys at a party at the Woods Branch Library. The children will do presentations to everyone about one of their projects, and I will present Marge (shhhh!) with a plaque that commemorates our selection as a semifinalist for the White House's 2007 Coming Up Taller Award.

Another reason for this homage is her recent Op Ed for the Tucson Citizen entitled "At age 40, Woods Library defines 'home'" that perfectly describes what is so exciting about today's public libraries. Here is an excerpt:

Over the past 40 years, Woods has come to look a lot different, inside and out. The programming and offerings have kept up with the ever-changing technology and the diverse population that flocks to this fourth-busiest branch in the county.

People from 39 countries, from every continent except Antarctica, call Woods their branch.

Inside, high school mentors work with elementary students in literacy activities. Homework Help invites children to find help they might not be able to get at home.

Moms network and learn from each other and experts. Neighborhood groups hold meetings.

Anyone can come in and spend time on a computer, or browse the collection, the magazines, check out a movie.

It's a place for lifelong learning, a place from which parents sometimes need to drag their children because they don't want to leave.

[...]

From the fresh flowers on the desk to the library associates who can call neighborhood kids by name, Woods is a bright spot in the neighborhood.

Come celebrate Woods' 40th anniversary from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 19.

Let's get Excited (and Realistic) about Web 2.0, a presentation by Jen Maney

2008-03-31T15:31:00.000-07:00

Ya hoo! Jen wrote Saturday to say that her talk "Let's get Excited (and Realistic) about Web 2.0" at the Public Library Association conference went very well. She did a dry run for it last month when the two of us talked to a regional meeting of the Arizona Library Association in Safford, so I knew it was funny, focused, and insightful.

Today Michael Stephens has posted about the panel on the ALA TechSource blog. Take a look!

A visit from Riikka Jäntti

2008-03-29T10:55:00.000-07:00

Last week we had a visit from Finnish author and illustrator Riikka Jäntti. Riikka is the author of Nokikätkön ritarit ja Kuuhiisi, or The Knights of the Sooty Nook and the Moon Troll, a fantasy story where a squirrel named Chip and her friends Toivo the hedgehog and Iris the mouse save the world. Well their little corner of it. The friends discover that greedy thugs are planning on stealing a hidden crown that protects their village, and form a secret society called the Knights of the Sooty Nook to stop them.

While she was here we made an English summary of her story (two more are planned in Finland, the second one will be published shortly), and here is the list of chapters. It makes you want to read it, eh? I really hope she can get it published in the U.S. and U.K.!

Chapter One, In Which Chip the Squirrel and Toivo the Hedgehog make a new friend.
Chapter Two, In Which the Secret Society is Founded
Chapter Three, In Which Big Brother has Guests
Chapter Four, In Which they go Berry-picking at Ratham Manor
Chapter Five, In Which We Hear the Legend of Mouse Hill
Chapter Six, In Which Everyone Disappears
Chapter Seven, In Which Lord Ratham Speaks
Chapter Eight, In Which Big Brother has Second Thoughts
Chapter Nine, In Which it is Nearly Autumn

I was able to show her Tucson at its most glorious. The weather was in the 80s, the sun shone every day, and the wildflowers were blooming all over the place. Riikka is spending a month traveling around America and recording her experiences in a delightful sketchbook journal.

Here are more images from her book:

We meet Mem Fox!

2008-03-29T10:11:00.001-07:00

On March 5, 2008 our library put on a day-long event named "Creating a Community of Readers, Starting at Birth," where we engaged the parents, teachers, business people and politicians of Pima County in a conversation about what we can do to improve the literacy rate here. Mem Fox was our keynote speaker, having traveled all the way from Australia! She was wonderfully funny and insightful and a real kick in the pants. I am on the left, then my boss Gina, children's librarian Julie and seated, the inimitable Mem.

For my part, I co-taught a shortened version of our "Ready to Read" class so that the attendees could see some of the programming the library is doing out in the community. Ready to Read is a two-day S*cceeds-certified class on literacy and early brain development that we offer to daycare and homecare centers.

Our Motheread program at the Jail

2008-02-09T16:04:00.000-08:00

I have been co-teaching Motheread with Frederica Torres at the Pima County Adult Detention Center for nearly 6 months now and I love this program the more I do it.

A typical class starts with a get-to-know-you period. We encourage the women (and men, we do Fatheread classes too at the Jail) to come to all 8 sessions, but often there are new faces as the prisoner's situations are pretty fluid. So we start by asking everyone to tell the group their name and their kids' names. Most of the women are moms, but some are also aunts, sisters and grandmothers. Sometimes this is an emotional time as the women remember the children they are separated from. Some of the women have college degrees, but most never finished high school.

Then we pass the week's storybook out. Even though we're working with adults, Motheread uses children's picture books -- and it really works well. Then we read together. Everyone who wants to read aloud takes turn reading a page, until we're done. When we're through, we discuss our impressions of the story and its illustrations. Often the women will notice things I didn't observe, even after careful reading. Did you notice that the troll under the bridge in Paul Galdone's Three Billy Goats Gruff was chained to the bridge? The Troll didn't choose to be there, under the bridge threatening passersby, he was chained there.

The books are chosen carefully to be ones that work on many different levels and have messages of family, community, compassion and decision-making. Some of the titles we've used are The Runaway Bunny, Cherries and Cherry Pits, A Chair for My Mother, Grandfather's Journey, In My Family, The Tale of Rabbit and Coyote, and Abiyoyo.

The middle part of the class focuses on how the women can use the book with their children. We share storytelling tips and information about early literacy and child brain development, with an emphasis on the six skills of early literacy.

The last part of the class is a writing project of some sort. For example, the week we read from Carmen Lomas Garza's book In My Family, we wrote about a food memory. When we read Sandra Cisneros' Hairs/Pellitos, everyone drew a self-portrait and wrote a descriptive paragraph about their hair. When I get back to the library I type their stories up, decorate them, and print them in color.

After the class is finished the women have a short crafts time. Typically we will bring die-cuts and colored paper, and the women will make stationary for their kids, cards, or write letters. We are prepared with large envelopes, and the book we read in class, the die-cut crafts and the writing assignment from the week before that I have decorated. These envelopes are checked for content and mailed to their children.

The last class is very special. We bring a digital recorder and record the women reading aloud to their children, and we send that on a CD in the last packet.

For the women (and the fathers in Fatheread), the classes are an escape of sorts and a chance for positive contact with their children. For Frederica, Ella, Dawn and I, we hope we've weakened the cycle of illiteracy and crime just a little bit. It feels very good.

There is more information on Motheread at the official website. Our program is funded by the Pima County Public Library and the Pima County Child Abuse Prevention Council.

National Book Award nominees for young people's literature

2007-10-12T00:46:00.000-07:00

The National Book Award nominees for young people's literature have been announced:

Sherman Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
(Little, Brown & Company)

Kathleen Duey, Skin Hunger: A Resurrection of Magic, Book One
(Atheneum Books for Young Readers)

M. Sindy Felin, Touching Snow (Atheneum Books for Young Readers)

Brian Selznick, The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Scholastic Press)

Sara Zarr, Story of a Girl (Little, Brown & Company)

And I have only read the Selznick! I have some reading to do.

Rowling adopts a greyhound

2007-10-08T16:17:00.000-07:00

Wow! I never expected this! The Herald (Glasgow) is reporting that author J.K. Rowling has adopted a 4-year-old retired racing greyhound. In an interview, kennel owner Celia Fernie says...

At the bottom of a cheque for £1000 was the signature millions of Harry Potter fans would die for. "When I looked at the cheque I couldn't believe it. The first thing I noticed was the amount she had made it out for," Mrs Fernie said yesterday.

Photos here: www.greyhoundrescuefife.com

I ran to tell my greyhound Arrow the news, but since I disturbed his nap (and it wasn't walktime) he wasn't very interested.

What a Mom says in 24 hours

2007-09-29T13:05:00.000-07:00

This is making the rounds of the blogosphere, so you might have seen this already: "Momsense," or what a mom says in 24-hours, set to the William Tell Overture. The performer is Anita Renfroe.

New Rockfellow family website, new content too!

2007-09-20T22:28:00.000-07:00

I have re-launched my Rockfellow Family website in a new location, and added two exciting new ways to study this pioneer family: a zoomable Google map of all of the locations mentioned on the website as well as some from John A. Rockfellow's book Log of an Arizona Trail Blazer. All of the ranch-related waypoints were mapped in person during visits to Cochise County.

And more importantly, I am pleased to announce that the Cochise County Historical Society has granted me permission to reproduce Jonetta Holt's Fall/Winter 2006 article: "Settling in East Cochise Stronghold Canyon." [PDF-74 pages]. This article represents Holt's extensive research into the families that settled the Cochise Stronghold and includes maps, timelines and copious photographs. Her sources include interviews of surviving settlers, platt maps, land use records, diaries, and much more. Settlers profiled in the article include Rockfellow, Walter Servoss, Lucinda and John Henry 'Red' Warren, Richard Shaw, Herbert S. Buckley, H.L. Kegans, former Cochise County Sheriff Harry Wheeler, Lee and Bea Shilling, and others. Thank you Jonetta, and CCHS!

On hiatus

2007-06-05T22:21:00.000-07:00

Perhaps you've figured it out, but this blog is on hiatus. All of the action is over on my other blog right now.

Some quick news: I am changing jobs from being the children's librarian at a branch library to working for our Youth Services Dept. I start at the new job on June 25th.

Presentation: Blogs as Content Management

2007-03-07T08:55:00.000-08:00

When I installed WordPress blog software on the REFORMA Tucson server I only intended to use it for a news page. However, I quickly realized that the program was flexible enough to use for the whole website, and that it opened the door to a whole new approach to how members can contribute to our presence on the web.

My presentation about the new REFORMA Tucson Chapter blog and using blog software for website content management will be Thursday, March 8th at the University of Arizona Library's Info Commons computer classroom (ILC 112A). It will be in combination with the regular REFORMA meeting, so the meeting will be from 6:30-7:30pm and my presentation will be from 7:30-8:30pm. Free parking is available in the "Cherry Avenue" parking garage on the east side of Cherry. [Map of library location]

My presentation is intended to be a teaching session for REFORMA members who (we hope!) will be adding information to the website, but anyone interested in seeing powerful blog software in action is welcome.

First I will introduce the "back end" and show how easy it is for someone to contribute to the website or update information without the need for special software or knowledge of HTML. Then I will show how the blog software was easily installed, configured and customized on our server.

I hope there will also be time to discuss additional possibilities, because I believe that they go beyond blogging to uses for the creation of websites for personal portfolios, small organizations, and even management of projects in the classroom.

Cybils Awards Announced!

2007-02-14T22:47:00.000-08:00

The Cybils Awards for 2006 have been announced! This is a wonderful list! Kudos to everyone involved!

From their press release:

The awards cap five months of activity by roughly 80 volunteers, who plowed through 482 books nominated by the public at the Cybils blog, www.cybils.com . The contest grew out of a comment on a blog post last October and rapidly gained traction in the tight-knit community of librarians, teachers, homeschoolers, parents, authors and illustrators, dubbed the "kidlitosphere."
The idea was to find books with literary merit that kids couldn't put down, striking a balance between the highbrow Newberys, for example, and the populist Quill awards.
Any children's or young adult title published in English in 2006 was eligible, and anyone could nominate a book.

Blogging class open to REFORMA members and SIRLS students

2007-02-11T19:12:00.000-08:00

At last week's REFORMA meeting we decided that sometime in March I would teach the members how to do input on the new website; somehow that morphed into teaching about how I installed it too, and opening it up to SIRLS students. So here were the steps...

Obtain server space configured for Unix
Purchase a URL and hook it up with the server
Make sure you have an FTP utility (for uploading)
Download WordPress and unzip it to a folder on your hard drive
Go into your server space admin panels and create a MySQL database (really easy)
Begin configuring your WordPress files (follow WP instructions)
Upload the files to your server space
Run the installation script
Begin exploring your WP admin panels and start personalizing the site
Pick a theme that works with the content you plan and customize it if need be (I made a new banner)
Copy text over from old site, seeking out "plugins" as needed (I added widget and calendar plugins)

New REFORMA Tucson website launched!

2007-02-11T18:06:00.000-08:00

I've launched the new version of the REFORMA Tucson Chapter website! We're still waiting for the new logo, but I think it still looks pretty nice. The whole website is now converted to WordPress, a free software that is intended for blogs, but which I am using here for the whole enchilada.

Why? Searchability, calendar software, archiving, the ability to post comments, and accessible code, but most of all because REFORMA Tucson members can all participate in this website. If they have news to announce, if they have an event to add to the calendar, if they have a correction to make, they can post it themselves -- without an HTML editor.

Many thanks to my new co-webmasters Adriana Rendon and Paula Maez for their help and support on this project. What's next? We are working on adding a photo gallery and a wiki.

Will Sherman article: Why Libraries are Important

2007-02-07T14:38:00.000-08:00

Will Sherman (degree tutor.com) has published a list of "33 Reasons Why Libraries and Librarians are still Extremely Important."

I am always a bit surprised when people suggest that libraries have no future because my library is busier then ever. As much as I get a thrill when I discover a new digital resource, I believe that people will always need people and face-to-face contact, and that this is a huge strength of the library: a human voice when you phone, an expert who finds you more than you expected to find, and a place where anyone can go and access information and entertainment with no electronic interface necessary.

Plus, the book is still an incredibly successful technology.

A note to degreetutor.com: please don't make it so difficult to find out the credentials of your writers.

Book slang

2007-01-21T09:19:00.000-08:00

This made me chuckle for some reason. Found this new slang for print media on the Urban Dictionary:
URL: Treeware

Smells like Christmas

2006-12-24T08:16:00.000-08:00

My house finally smells like Christmas. Really smells of Christmas. Am I baking cookies? Not yet. I am making an elk weinbraten with my grandmother's recipe. Actually, my Aunt Norma's recipe. Norma had the foresight to shadow grandmother as she cooked and note the measurements and tricks grandma used; otherwise her cookery would be lost, because she used neither recipes nor measuring cups.

Weinbraten is essentially a piece of meat that you braise in an aromatic bath of wine, onions, bacon, pickling spices (cinnamon, cloves, mustard, bay leaf, etc.), brown sugar and wine vinegar. For hours. Did I tell you how wonderful my house smells?

Grandma learned to cook from her mother who had worked as a cook for some nobleman before she was married, so her recipes are also a true piece of German history. Here is how to make your own house smell like a German Christmas:

Auntie Norma's Weinbraten

1 silvertip beef (sirloin tip roast) or rump roast, washed & patted dry and then larded with hickory-smoked bacon
2 onions, sliced
2 Tbsp. dark brown sugar

Pour some oil in a pot and cut 3 slices of bacon into parts and fry.
Put in the meat and brown on all sides.
Slice in two onions and cook over med. high heat.
Make sure meat is browned on all sides and remove from pot.
Lower heat to med. and add brown sugar and stir with the onions till the sugar caramelizes.

Add:
½ bottle of dry white wine
1 c. wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. whole juniper berries
salt to taste
1 Tbsp. Pickling spices, making sure it includes bayleaf
Browned silvertip beef

Cook SLOWLY -- 3 hours on low heat on top of stove.
Taste and add 1 beef bouillon cube.
Keep adding wine as you go and before the roast is finished you should have used the whole bottle (not in you -- but in the pot).
Refrigerate for 2 days.
On the day of serving, put the braten in the oven -- covered -- at 275° or lower and cook slowly for 2 hours. If liquid is lost, add more wine.
Take the meat out and thicken the gravy with flour or cornstarch. Add 2 Tbsp. currant jelly for flavor.

Serve with potato dumplings, and red cabbage or weinkraut. Use the same wine as was used in the cooking.

Bake some Christmas cookies today!

2006-12-19T22:23:00.000-08:00

I just got a note from one of my sister's old school friends who had stumbled upon the website I created 4 years ago to collect our family's recipes. She said it made her "go back in time to your wonderfully cozy, wonderful-smelling, family kitchen." Cool.

So, in case you need a tried and true recipe for a yummy Christmas cookie, here is one of my family's favorites...

Cinnamon Nut Diamonds

Sift and reserve:
2 c. sifted all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon

Blend in a large bowl 'til light and fluffy:
½ lb. softened butter (2 sticks or 1 c.)
1 c. light brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. ground walnuts or pecans
1 egg yolk

1) Add the butter to the flour mixture and mix well.
2) Spread onto greased 15x10x1" pan.
3) Brush with 1 egg, slightly beaten (just egg white is OK too).
4) Sprinkle with nuts and push into the dough.
5) Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes (30-35 min. at sea level) until deep brown; do not undercook.
6) Cut into 2" diamonds, cool.

NOTE: A pizza wheel makes a handy cutter. These cookies are very brittle, but they hold together better the longer you bake them.

Free wikis for communities

2006-12-19T18:38:00.000-08:00

BBC News is reporting that Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales is "launching a service offering free tools for people who want to build community websites." It is named Wikia.

There are, of course, some criteria and limitations: your wiki must "have a large potential audience and be likely to attract enough editors to maintain the wiki," and in most cases you are unable to be selective about who can contribute.

Interested? Information on starting a wikia community is provided here.

Find the nearest mailbox

2006-12-19T18:34:00.000-08:00

One of the questions we get all the time here at the library is "Where is the nearest mailbox?" Well, now there is a website to help: Mailbox Locator can list mailboxes by zip code or by city. It's ugly but it works.

Publisher: YOU

2006-12-19T17:17:00.000-08:00

I was intrigued by a recent blog article (Kevin Kelly: Cool Tools) about how easy it is to print your own books using online publishing houses. Costs are surprisingly reasonable: at Lulu, a 100-page paperback (black and white only) will cost about $7 each to print.; color adds another $13-18 to the cost. For color, however, Kelly recommends Blurb, where he says a 100-page book of photographs costs $39.

What uses can you think of? Family stories or a scrapbook? Wedding photos? Records of Harry Potter conferences? Heh. What have you always wanted a book of? What could you promote better with a book?

Alternate realities: HDR images

2006-12-18T22:56:00.000-08:00

I'm not really sure how they work, but HDR (High Dynamic Range) images are enthralling and a little spooky. They remind me in a way of the old stereoscopic photographs or hyper-real paintings in the way that the "pop" you into another reality.

Take a look at the collection of them on Flickr. I read about this a while ago on Lifehacker and have been meaning to post because they're so surreal.

The image here is from "the Grotto" from "Stuck in Customs" flickr photostream.

Blog of book marvels, a digital curiosity cabinet

2006-12-18T22:15:00.000-08:00

No, that's not a colossus from Burning Man.

Someone identified only as "peacay" (PK?) is posting digital images of 15th - 19th-century book illustrations on his blog, BiblioOdyssey. The range of images is part of the fun: Spanish zodiacs, 17thC caricatures (see left), Norse Eddas, fashion lampoons, emblemata, theater sets, and on and on.

Give your eyes and imagination a joyride; this is an exceptional collection of historical book art.

Google launches new search engine for Patents

2006-12-17T23:07:00.000-08:00

Google has created their own search for patents and it is much easier to use than the USPTO version.

Have you ever looked at a patent? I find the diagrams on the old ones to be quite beautiful. I went looking for patents from my grandfather Honorino Pereira but no luck. On the other hand, my great-great grandfather Samuel L. Rockfellow witnessed 2 of them. Here is one.

Making my list and checking it twice

2006-12-17T22:47:00.000-08:00

I am having too much fun with a new list wiki that Amazon has created, and wondering how libraries could use it. They have named it UnSpun (beta).

The interface is smooth and pretty intuitive -- lots of Ajax so things fade nicely in and out as you write or save.

List sampling:
Most Powerful Character in the TV Show "Heroes," Favorite Quote from Your Mom, and the Best Things about Public Libraries.

Scratch your librarian/geek/listmaking itch and check it out. I am happy to say I created the first 3 lists for Tucson, AZ and one entitled "Best Book to Read a 3-Year-Old Child before Bedtime."

Another Cochise County pilgrimage

2006-11-26T19:20:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving we took a trip to Cochise County. Ever since we found the hotel where my grandparents met in 1917 (and discovered that it is still in business) we have been wanting to go for a visit. But we went dirt-roading first, visiting the old Butterfield Stagecoach Station on the northern edge of the Dragoon Mountains, then drove into the mountains to check out Dragoon Springs. The Station was essentially a stockade with 10-foot unmortared stone walls and two teeny (5x5') rooms. It was really only used for 2 years due to the Civil War, Apache raids and the success of the Pony Express.

The temperature? 75 degrees (23.8 Celsius). What a lovely day!

Dinner at the Hotel Cochise was down-home delicious. The dining room was filled with local folks, the owner Carla's kids and a trio of bikers who had made the trip from Phoenix.

More photos can be seen on my photogallery at Flickr.

Here is my Aunt Margie's account of how grandma (Julia) and grandpa (Allan) met:

In 1917 Julia met a young man on the steps of the Cochise Hotel. Her father didn't want to introduce her and told her he was "some Eastern chap from Harvard." Brother Philip arrived late for his train and in his hurry his suitcase fell open with everything falling out. The young chap sprang to help repack and the introduction followed. Of course Allan proceeded to court Julia.

Powerpoint and audio of our "Library 2.0" Presentation

2006-11-24T17:23:00.000-08:00

The PowerPoint slides, audio and handouts from our presentation "What is 'Library 2.0' and how practical is it for real-life libraries?" at the Arizona Library Association conference are now available on the web.

The talk is basically a snapshot of were we are as a Emerging Technologies committee, along with great advice on communication and planning from Jen Maney and Missy Martinez.

I'm really happy with the quality of the audio; it was brand-new equipment and it worked very well. We were a little worried that we didn't really have a lot of projects launched that would could talk about (not as many as we thought we would), but the talk was well-attended and the folks I spoke with thought it was useful.

Don't let the pigeon get any rest

2006-11-18T16:17:00.000-08:00

I will write soon of my experiences at the Arizona Library Association conference, but today I am still buzzing with pigeon energy and 'tude. You see I performed the book Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus with two other librarians twice today at "Storytown." The second one was a blast -- it really clicked. Pigeon is very unlike me so it feels like my id coming out or something to be so "in your face."

Now I am heading off to the reception for the SIRLS Graduate Symposium. Michael Stephens was the keynote speaker and I hope to get a chance to say hi even though I missed his talk.

Happy birthday, Allan!

2006-11-10T21:50:00.000-08:00

My little bro turns 40 today! Happy birthday Allan!

Terrific book: His Majesty's Dragon

2006-10-19T22:06:00.000-07:00

I just finished His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik, and it was just terrific! If you haven't heard of it before it is high dragon fantasy set during the Napoleonic wars. I loved McCaffrey's Pern books, Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles, and Eragon; Novik's books share some similarities but ultimately feel quite fresh because of the historical context and because the dragon Temeraire is such a delight. I also loved the character of Laurence. He is the perfect Regency hero: intelligent, sympathetic, loving, and (of couse) stuffed with honor. Begin your love affair with a dragon. Read this book now.

Video (file under: designer humor)

2006-10-15T20:18:00.000-07:00

Take a look at Etched in Stone, an animated movie for the Veer font and graphics house, directed by Cheshire Dave. Clever and funny. If I say anything more I will spoil the plot.

Quilt for a Cause raises over $120,000 for cancer research

2006-10-15T16:23:00.000-07:00

Joy, memory, time, skill, tradition, warmth -- quilts are all these things. This weekend Quilt for a Cause had its culminating auctions and raised over $120,000 for research on women's cancers. I had so much fun that everyone is getting a quilt for Christmas this year!

I was impressed with how well planned everything was, and how many hands made quick work of everything. Perhaps because quilters are used to working together?

I am happy to say I had a small hand it in too, though I am not a quilter. I designed the website, which included the first photo gallery I have ever created.

Speaking of our Potter party...

2006-10-13T16:49:00.000-07:00

Thania and Steve sent their photos to me and so now I have a complete set of photos from this year's Harry Potter party. Gosh, it was fun! If you spot a Molly Weasley (wearing an apron) in the photos, that's me.

This made my day -- heck, it made my month!

2006-10-12T17:06:00.000-07:00

This letter the editor from one of my library's patrons appeared in the 10/3 Tucson Citizen.

Librarians spellbind as superprofessionals

I'm old enough to remember 15 years ago, when the Tucson library system was so antiquated, you couldn't even get a printout of what you had checked out until the items were overdue!

Boy, have times changed. I now get more bang for my library tax bucks than for any other service this community provides.

Whether I walk into the Columbus branch to research a car purchase or order the latest sci-fi book for my children, I'm surrounded by state-of-the-art technology and quirky professionals whose prime directive is to get their customers the info and entertainment they're looking for, free of hassle or charge.

The job of the librarian has changed so much over the years that "multitasking" is putting it lightly.

One minute they're throwing Harry Potter parties for the kids; the next, helping patrons with Internet access and researching questions from the most esoteric to the mundane.

Libraries that used to be half-empty now teem with users, and the librarians do an incredible job of making everyone feel welcome.

The other day, my 9-year-old told me she wants to grow up to be a librarian. I can't think of a better job for contributing to society.

I just hope those extra tax dollars are going to pay these superprofessionals the salaries they deserve. Every penny toward that end will be well spent.

Delightful new photo in family gallery

2006-09-01T23:06:00.000-07:00

My aunt Margie sent me a delightful photo of my great-grandfather that I had never seen before. He is dressed up and equipped just as he was in 1879 for his prospecting surveys across Arizona! His comments, written to my uncle on the back, are quite droll:
"Three old prospectors in the Tombstone celebration of October 1929.

At left, Mr. Reeves, Center your grandfather, whiskers and all.

The burros are packed just as he traveled on a four hundred (400) mile trip fifty years ago. The rifle he carries is a Sharps 45-70" purchased in 1879 and a splendid shooter yet it has been used on nearly everything that walks in Arizona except human beings. Come out sometime and try it."

If you want to view the photo in more detail it is on my flickr account. Click on "all sizes."

Surely canst go, girl

2006-08-05T21:53:00.000-07:00

I was going through old e-mails and I found one with my old signature:
"Surely canst go, girl.
The Hoke, the poke — banish now thy doubt
Verily, I say, ’tis what it’s all about."

It is from a 2003 entry by Jeff Brechlin to the Washington Post Style Invitational (a weekly contest) where people were told to write directions for something banal in the style of a famous writer. If you haven't figured it out already it is the Hokey Pokey as if written by William Shakespeare. Here's the full text:

O proud left foot, that ventures quick within
Then soon upon a backward journey lithe.
Anon, once more the gesture, then begin:
Command sinistral pedestal to writhe.
Commence thou then the fervid Hokey-Poke,
A mad gyration, hips in wanton swirl.
To spin! A wilde release from Heaven’s yoke.
Blessed dervish! Surely canst go, girl.
The Hoke, the poke — banish now thy doubt
Verily, I say, ’tis what it’s all about.

Harry Potter posts moving to new blog

2006-07-23T17:45:00.000-07:00

I have decided to keep a separate blog for my posts about the Harry Potter books, my work at the QQQ and the Harry Potter Lexicon -- lest they take over. The new blog, "Madam Pince's Potter Pages" is located at http://madam-pince.blogspot.com/

Harry Potter and the HooHaa about Deaths in Book 7

2006-07-19T21:52:00.000-07:00

Early on in a recent interview Jo Rowling teased us with this statement:

Jo: The final chapter [of Book 7] is hidden away, although it has now changed very slightly. One character got a reprieve, but I have to say two die that I didn't intend to die ...
Judy: Two much loved ones?
Jo: Well, you know. A price has to be paid. We are dealing with pure evil. They don't target the extras do they? They go for the main characters, or I do.

Now everyone is guessing -- who got the reprieve? Which two did she decide to kill? What made her change her mind? And what will happen to Harry?

So people have begun asking me again if I think Harry will die. My answer is always "No." Here's my take on it: Rowling has said numerous times that one of the main themes of the books is Death. But it isn't really Death, it is how the living deal with the death of loved ones and with our own mortality. And the living don't deal with death by dying; we figure out how to come to terms with it and continue on. Put another way, dying is evasion, it is not resolution.

I see Harry as a stand-in for Jo herself, written as she came to terms with her mother's early death: "The Mirror of Erised is absolutely entirely drawn from my own experience of losing a parent. 'Five more minutes, just, please, God, give me five more minutes.' It'll never be enough." (BBC "Harry Potter and Me," 2001) So for me it just doesn't work for Harry to die. He needs to finish his parents' battle, yes; but he won't really cancel out Voldemort's poison by dying with him. He won't truly overcome Voldemort until he is living his life fully. I don't see how Rowling would have found Harry's death emotionally satisfying knowing that she planned the books in the years immediately after losing her mother.

Another point was recently made by James Krasner, Professor of English and British Victorian literature at the University of New Hampshire (link).

“There's no way Harry will die,” he says. “Harry won't die largely because these are comic stories, like Dickens' novels, in which good has to win.”

“Whenever an author's books become very popular in his or her lifetime, as is the case with Rowling, a tug of war starts between the author and the fans about who the characters really belong to. Rowling, like Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock Holmes), is trying to assert her control. She’s reminding us that Harry is her character, not ours; she can kill him if she wants to. Doyle actually did kill off Sherlock Holmes, but Rowling won’t go that far because she cares about Harry. Conan Doyle was really sick of Holmes,” Krasner says.

I think he makes a great point here. If you read as many interviews of Rowling as I have it really rings true that Rowling is asserting her independence if the face of well meaning fans and blundering interviewers. Well, that and she likes to tease us.

What do you think? This link will take you to a poll on the fansite HPANA.

Harry Potter: Wanted dead or alive
Vote now!

Favorite roses

2006-07-16T15:16:00.000-07:00

Right now, my favorite rose is Reine des Violettes, a Hybrid Perpetual that has fuschia/violet colored blooms, hardly any thorns and a true-rose fragrance. Even the foliage is fragrant so when I deadhead it my hands smell seriously wonderful.

However, some of my new roses are going to be contenders. Tradescant is blooming its head off in the 100+ heat, bearing deep red blooms that are textured like butterfly wings. And Pat Austin (above) isn't stingy with its glowing orange/yellow/blush flowers.

Container gardening in the desert

2006-07-15T20:48:00.000-07:00

When I had my open garden this spring people were surprised that many of my roses were in pots. Ever since then I have wanted to write about my observations about using pots in the desert.

CONS: It is true that roots dry out and get hot faster for plants in pots. Additionally, our winds here in Tucson have knocked over many of my larger roses and damaged their canes and root systems. And finally, potted plants must be re-potted every 3-4 years when the soil line shrinks because of loss out the bottom and compaction. That isn't a problem with small plants but it is not fun to pull a 10 ft. rose out of its pot. Some gardening books will also tell you that you need to fertilize more often and that it is impossible to mulch but I have not found this to be true.

PROS: Pots allow you to move a plant that needs more protection from the wind or sun, as well as to control the quality of its soil more easily (our native soil is dreadful for roses). Re-potting lets you check the health of a plant's root system: I have discovered crown gall and grub infestations during the repotting process. And finally, if you have large aggressive trees it is easier to protect the plants from root competition. Many of Tucson's most experienced Rosarians (Les, Terry, Lou and Judy) also keep their roses in pots, so I am in good company.

Here's what I have developed as "best practices" for my yard:

About the pots
Use light-colored synthetic pots of good size. True terra cotta is lovely but it is too porous and dries out too easily. I have my cacti and succulents in terra cotta and my roses in plastic or foam pots.
--New roses are in pots that are 6-8 inches across.
--Mature miniatures and patio roses are in pots 8-12 inches across.
--Standard roses and climbers are in 20-24 inch pots.

I learned the hard way that the cheapest pots that the hardware stores sell (thin plastic usually colored beige, green or terra cotta) sun-rot in about a year. They're just not worth the money in the long-run. On the other hand, all of my foam, thick plastic or double-walled pots have lasted for 7 years and counting.

About the soil
I like Uni-gro potting soil which doesn't have a whole lot of pricey additives, but just the right amount of peat and vermiculite. To this I will add triple super-phosphate and occaisionally epsom salts to aid root growth. I try to get a soil line about 1 inch from the rim to allow for mulch.

To protect from tree roots and cut down on sow bugs and crickets many of my roses are slightly raised above the ground on plant trivets. An added plus is that the antelope squirrels and lizards love the cool shade under the roses.

My garden is totally organic, and it gets better every year. Every year I notice more lacewings, crab spiders and lady bugs and fewer aphids and white flies. Most of the damage to my roses these days is caused by pack rats and quail (quail eat the young growth but only in the spring when they are laying their eggs). We trap the rats and tolerate the rest.

Our library's website has been launched!

2006-07-06T00:36:00.000-07:00

Check it out: Tucson-Pima Public Library.

Jen and Natalie have spent months doing the conversion from the old site. I hope you can get some rest now!

Gold Rush backcountry trip

2006-07-05T23:43:00.000-07:00

Just back from a long weekend exploring Prescott and the Bradshaw Mountains. The weather was absolutely perfect: cool, cloudy days, light rain showers, and evenings that got down to the low 60s. Just the tonic we needed in the middle of a Tucson summer!

Today we took the Senator Highway through the gold rush country, driving down the road that the stagecoaches traveled from Prescott to the mining camps in the Bradshaw Mountains. Most of the towns have left no trace; it is likely the stones and lumber were scavenged and used elsewhere. We drove through Palace Station (1875), Goodwin (1882), Bradshaw City (1863), Crown King (1888), Cleator (1901) and Bumblebee (1879).

At Palace Station the stage coach stop is still there, a simple log cabin with a huge apple tree out front. At Goodwin I found 2 building foundations and something even more precious: a rose bush that I think was part of a settler's garden. At first I thought it was the wild mountain rose, Rosa woodsii, but then I realized that the thorns were all wrong and that there was also mint growing nearby. I dug up two pieces that had suckered and we'll see if they survive a Tucson summer.

Crown King was a real hoot. It was the site of Arizona's richest gold mine and so prosperous that by late 1897 it had a post office, a company store, several saloons, two Chinese restaurants, and a feed yard. We expected it to be fairly modern and all commercialized, but it was the real thing! Crown King still has the state's oldest standing saloon and brothel, today a saloon and cafe. I was tickled by the sign on the door: "Friday and Saturday nights: Dogs cannot be in the Saloon after 8:00 p.m. due to prior dog fights / bites. All other times they must be on leash." We had our dog Arrow with us and he was totally welcome inside, as were several local dogs: Atlas, Scruffy and Kisses.

The road back to I-10 took the path of the 1890s railroad (Murphy's Impossíble Railroad, aka Prescott and Eastern Railroad) so I tried to imagine taking the trip by train. At least it kept my mind off the roughness of the dirt road =).

The trip took a lot longer than we expected: 6 hours (including our picnic at Goodwin) to Crown King and 2 hours from Crown King to the highway. All on dirt roads, but some of the prettiest scenery I've seen in a long time.

8/2: My "Goodwin Mystery Rose" has rooted! Yeah!

First paragraphs

2006-06-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

Are these books you've read?

I was the youngest of three daughters. Our literal-minded mother named us Grace, Hope, and Honour, but few people except perhaps the minister who had baptized all three of us remembered my given name.

My father still likes to tell the story of how I acquired my odd nickname: I had come to him for further information when I first discovered that our names meant something besides you-come-here. He succeeded in explaining grace and hope, but he had some difficulty trying to make the concept of honour understandable to a five-year-old.

I heard him out, but with an expression of deepening disgust; and when he was finished I said: "Huh! I'd rather be Beauty."

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I Didn't Know How Long I had been in the king's prison. The days were all the same, except that as each one passed, I was dirtier than before. Every morning the light in the cell changed from the wavering orange of the lamp in the sconce outside my door to the dim but even glow of the sun falling into the prison's central courtyard. In the evening, as the sunlight faded, I reassured myself that I was one day closer to getting out. To pass time, I concentrated on pleasant memories, laying them out in order and examining them carefully. I reviewed over and over the plans that had seemed so straightforward before I arrived in jail, and I swore to myself and every god I knew that if I got out alive, I would never never never take any risks that were so abysmally stupid again.

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12TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER
I am commanded to write an account of my days: I am bit by fleas and plagued by family. That is all there is to say.

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It was little more than three miles from the Wall into the Old Kingdom, but that was enough. Noonday sunshine could be seen on the other side of the Wall in Ancelstierre, and not a cloud in sight. Here, there was a clouded sunset, and a steady rain had just begun to fall, coming faster than the tents could be raised.

The midwife shrugged her cloak higher up against her neck and bent over the woman again, raindrops spilling from her nose onto the upturned face below. The midwife's breath blew out in a cloud of white, but there was no answering billow of air from her patient.

The midwife sighed and slowly straightened up, that single movement telling the watchers everything they needed to know. The woman who had staggered into their forest camp was dead, only holding on to life long enough to pass it on to the baby at her side. But even as the midwife picked up the pathetically small form beside the dead woman, it shuddered within its wrappings, and was still.

"The child, too?" asked one of the watchers, a man who wore the mark of the Charter fresh-drawn in wood ash upon his brow. "Then there shall be no need for baptism."

His hand went up to brush the mark from his forehead, then suddenly stopped, as a pale white hand gripped his and forced it down in a single, swift motion.

"Peace!" said a calm voice. "I wish you no harm."

The white hand released its grip and the speaker stepped into the ring of firelight. The others watched him without welcome, and the hands that had half sketched Charter marks, or gone to bowstrings and hilts, did not relax.

The man strode towards the bodies and looked upon them. Then he turned to face the watchers, pushing his hood back to reveal the face of someone who had taken paths far from sunlight, for his skin was a deathly white.

"I am called Abhorsen," he said, and his words sent ripples through the people about him, as if he had cast a large and weighty stone into a pool of stagnant water. "And there will be a baptism tonight."

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The temperature of the room dropped fast. Ice formed on the curtains and crusted thickly around the lights in the ceiling. The glowing filaments in each bulb shrank and dimmed, while the candles that sprang from every available surface like a colony of toadstools had their wicks snuffed out. The darkened room filled with a yellow, choking cloud of brimstone, in which indistinct black shadows writhed and roiled. From far away came the sound of many voices screaming. Pressure was suddenly applied to the door that led to the landing. It bulged inward, the timbers groaning. Footsteps from invisible feet came pattering across the floorboards and invisible mouths whispered wicked things from behind the bed and under the desk.

The sulfur cloud contracted into a thick column of smoke that vomited forth thin tendrils; they licked the air like tongues before withdrawing. The column hung above the middle of the pentacle, bubbling ever upward against the ceiling like the cloud of an erupting volcano. There was a barely perceptible pause. Then two yellow staring eyes materialized in the heart of the smoke.

Hey, it was his first time. I wanted to scare him.

Toads go "Maaa"

2006-06-08T23:43:00.000-07:00

The 2 days of rain mean that the spadefoot toads have emerged from underground and are mating. It sounds like a combination of the sound of a whoopie cushion and a lamb bleating.

I had a nice afternoon in Nogales, Son. with my sister-in-law and her daughter. I found a sweet Talavera platter for my sister and a killer silver necklace for me!

Wet stuff

2006-06-07T20:09:00.000-07:00

Rain! Honest-to-goodness rain! And here June is usually our driest month. It has rained the last 2 afternoons and I am leaving the windows open because it smells so good.

We spent a lovely morning at the Desert Museum. We went early in the morning and were rewarded by seeing many of the animals that are usually hidden in the shady areas: wolves, mountain lions, javelina, bobcats, and box turtles. But the highlight was watching a baby hummingbird from 2 feet away as mama bird fed it nectar and fruitflies. The baby's head was smaller than my pinkie nail and the nest was about an in-and-a-half wide. It's just one of those things that you feel honored to see.

I also bought a squeaky toy in the shape of a chili pepper for Arrow and Rosie.

Cochise County weekend

2006-05-29T20:17:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a long weekend in Cochise County. Sunday we made sort of a pilgrimage to places my grandmother's family frequented when they lived in the Stronghold and Tombstone: Cochise Hotel, NY Ranch, and Dragoon. We also visited great grandpa's grave in Willcox. We stayed at the Triangle T Guest Ranch, a mixed success because the new owners are still ironing the bugs out.

The Cochise Hotel was a lovely surprise because it is in such good shape. They still take guests and serve dinner. Their website shows the interiors and we have vowed to stay there. I was impressed that unlike other "frontier" hotels there doesn't seem to be a speck of pretension or polyester lace.

Then today we decided to see someplace new so we went to the Muleshoe Wilderness area in the Galiuros (north of Willcox). It was beautiful place with strong contrasts: moonscapes with just volcanic rocks and yucca to the lush, verdant canyon floor. In a few minutes we went from bosque was so thick you couldn't see into it in places -- to endless grasslands. Six springs run year-round at the Muleshoe so it is a miracle of a microclimate in the middle of the desert. We saw whitetail and mule deer and countless birds. The caretaker at the Nature Conservancy center told me that there were no non-native animals: 4 types of unique fish, leopard frogs, bear, bighorn sheep, mountain lions, coatimundi, foxes, and birds, birds, birds.

Trip photos!

LibraryThing and tags vs. subject headings

2006-05-18T22:01:00.000-07:00

When I discovered LibraryThing last fall it was the beginning of a torrid love affair. The interface! The virtual library shelf! The community of readers! But most of all I fell in love with tagging. How empowering it feels to be able to develop my own access points to my book collection!

Pretty quickly I started wondering if this was something that could be applied to library catalogs -- for example, what if library members could create their own tags for their reading history. Yeah. Well I'm definitely not alone.

Abby at LibraryThing posted what promises to be the first of many blog entries where she compares tags generated by LibraryThing members with subject headings in the Library of Congress format. Take a look.

Pandora. Nice.

2006-05-14T23:21:00.000-07:00

What fun! I just discovered Pandora, a website that plays music for you based upon its analysis of the songs you like. So far it is a delight, and like the best of radio: some familiar music, but also lots of songs that I would not have otherwise heard. And when I typed in 'Leon Redbone' it didn't say "Who?"

Played recently: "Cuddle Buggin' Baby" by Eddie Arnold, "Love is Alive" by Joan Osborne, and "Keep on the Sunny Side of Life" by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Nice.

Me and my Arrow

2006-05-11T21:41:00.000-07:00

One of the bonuses of having my greyhound Arrow (besides nose kisses, a sweet nature, and his general goofiness) is the joy of watching him move at speed. Even his walk is a kind of happy bounce that lifts my heart every time I see it. But what really gets me is the moment when he is in the yard and he sees me by the door, both ears go up, and he does the Rin Tin Tin thing bounding over anything in his way to come to my side. Power, speed and joy. What a combination.

SIRLS students hit the blogosphere

2006-05-11T08:50:00.000-07:00

Library School students at the University of Arizona have started their own blog! Nice work. LSO - SIRLS CHAPTER

Public libraries as local image archives

2006-05-10T13:23:00.000-07:00

I noticed something cool on the Ann Arbor Library website, and the more I think about it the more I like the idea. I would go so far as to say I had an "Aha!" moment.

What they've done is created their own photo gallery that community members can upload to, up to 10 photos per week.

What do they show? Street fair and parade pictures, Ann Arbor-related ephemera, old postcards, theatrical productions, etc.

They are using Gallery 2.o software, a free opensource gallery system that is housed on Ann Arbor's servers, though I can see several advantages to having a Flickr account instead.

I love this idea because it works on so many different levels:

The library is *creating* content
The content is unique to the community
Uploaders and viewers are investing a bit of themselves in the library
Historical, documentary value, not just entertainment

Link: Picture Ann Arbor

Sacred cows

2006-05-09T21:51:00.000-07:00

Michael from LibraryCrunch has an interesting editorial on two sacred library cows, Dewey Decimal and Spine labels.

I have always thought that we junk up the covers and spines of our books too much. At my library some paperbacks have more than half the spine covered with the label. Grrr. At least we're not pasting the gawd-awful blank strips for due date stamping anymore, but I grumble to myself everytime I see gorgeous or minimalist cover art with a barcode right over the title or artwork.

I have hopes that processing costs and new security technologies will result someday in fewer of these intrusive labels on covers or spines. When I worked for Borders they had their location/barcode labels pasted right over the printed barcode on the back; I thought that was an elegant solution.

I am less sure that Michael's how-to-do-away-with-Dewey idea would work (too simplistic for even a medium-sized collection), but I definitely have a love-hate relationship with the Dewey Decimal System. Particularly with the way it handles folklore. How much more useful would it be to have them arranged by the originating culture! I believe Dewey arranges then according to whether or not there are animals in the story, which is useless to anyone browsing the collection. He is right that it can be a straightjacket to marketing your collection.
Library Crunch: Spine Labels and De-Dewefication

Jackpot

2006-05-09T18:13:00.000-07:00

Well, we found a typewritten manuscript today for Log of an Arizona Trail Blazer with John Rockfellow's own editing marks on it, so we're in business! We also found a map that he made marking all the places that were important to him, and folder after folder of typewritten anecdotes. Most of them are in the book, but some are new! I will start scanning and indexing the book tonight.

And I found a small quail nest with 5 eggs this morning in one of my rose pots. Keep them safe, Mrs. Quail!

"Brainstorm Trust"

2006-05-07T22:45:00.000-07:00

I uploaded a lot more family photos and ephemera today, including some political doggerel (c. 1934) I found when we were going through papers at my grandparents' house in 1976. Grandpa was a staunch Republican so most of it is devoted to skewering F.D.R. There are also some really sweet pictures of my dad as a kid.

Predator spring

2006-05-07T08:19:00.000-07:00

No that's not a movie, that's my backyard. Tucson is deep in a drought and my yard isn't full of quail families and baby cactus wrens checking for yummy bugs this year.

Around December, a pair of Cooper's Hawks moved in and made a charnel of the earth under one of our mesquite trees. Squab legs & carcasses and woodpecker feathers now decorate my yard. Animals are vulnerable this year because the desert is so parched that you can hear it crackle. Now cats or bobcats and snakes have moved in and I am finding pieces of ground squirrel amongst my roses. A few weeks ago we hosted a king snake, and last night we saw our first baby rattlesnake. And not one family of quail.

We're all praying for rain.

Lisa's Lip-tickling Library Chili

2006-05-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

Wish me luck! I am going to a chili cook-off today, representing my library branch at a 29th St. Neighborhood festival. I made a killer pot o' red last night that I have named "Lisa's Lip-tickling Library Chili." Chunks of beef, bacon, onion, garlic, 3 kinds of chiles, 3 kinds of beans, and 2 secret ingredients. This is good stuff.
Later edit: No prize, but we had fun anyway. Cheyenne's family all went back for seconds and thirds and proclaimed my chili the best in the room!

Managing change

2006-05-07T07:38:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking of writing people blogging about web 2.0 and Library 2.0 and asking how they recommend that a library system manage technological change. I don't just mean buy-in by library staff and administration, I mean -- How do you decide what is worth focusing time and attention on? How do you do that and not get distracted by everything new? But how do you focus attention and still remain open to other new ideas that may be even better? You see, I'm suffering a bit from what Pete Cashmore calls 'startup fatigue,' but is just plain information overload.

Log of an Arizona Trailblazer

2006-05-03T22:00:00.000-07:00

I have my great grandfather's book, Log of an Arizona Trailblazer, on my mind a lot lately. A year ago we discovered that the original homestead for his NY Ranch was still standing.

We recently got permission from the land owners to try to protect the building, so now the fundraising starts.

This week Jonetta and I will start our research for a critical edition of the book. We plan to meet at the Arizona Historical Society's library to see if we can find the original manuscript. Its a treasure hunt with white gloves on!

Website for the Rockfellow family and the NY Ranch