Collection Reflection

Links are back!  I'll let you decide if it's "with a vengeance"... This is your brain on books: 10 things that happen to our minds when we read . Are you voracious reader? If so, here are 100 essential sites just for you ! The next E.L. James will be a few shades less racy . Apocalypse Wow: In These Teen Books, the End Comes First .  10 of the most divisive authors in recent history . (According to Flavorwire. Do you agree or disagree with the list?) 10 sexiest books of all time . (The usual suspects. I think people need to update their go to lists...) Discovery 101 (featuring Heather McCormack) . The  Audie Award nominees are out ! I like how they have a category for Fantasy and  also  one for SF. Just for Fun: Trailer for In the Flesh , a new BBC zombie series . (I hope, for the sake of the zombie lovers, it hits the states soon.)   Another "50 years of Bond" tribute video:

Happy Monday! Reader's Digest files for bankruptcy . It turns out that Bookish is really good at promoting the content of the three publishers behind it , maybe not so good as a discovery tool. James Patterson advises more dads to read to children . In case you missed it, SF author John Scalzi on his Personal History of Libraries . From Salon ,  Edward Gorey's strange, curious world . How do we feel about reading "difficult" books ? From NPR,  LGBT characters in graphic novels . Tor answers your publishing questions . From Booklist , Marketing and Reader's Advisory: Notes from the Field . Just for Fun : Emoji Dick : "Emoji Dick is a crowd sourced and crowd funded translation of Herman Melville's Moby Dick into Japanese emoticons called emoji." Create your own pulp covers at the Pulp-O-Mizer :

Thursdays are the worst days. Discuss. Amazon and the "Big Six" sued over DRM . Even Mark Twain has a shirtless picture on the internet . Why libraries should be the next great start up incubators . Havana Book Fair Feeds Cuba's Hunger for Literature . Your next Kindle could be in your car . (I love the idea of car connectivity for Audible or AMZ cloud player...or Spotify!) but a Kindle in the car? Accident bait? The Shocking Truth: Book Buyers Minds of Their Own . (As someone who buys a lot of books, personally and professionally, I can say this is very true!) 39th annual Saturn Award nominations announced ! Libraries, readers, and the future of publishing . Four things Jane Austen actually teaches us about love . 2012 Nebula Award Nominees . (Awarded in 2013. This is confusing...) Just for Fun: How about a vampire timeline?   That's fun, right? Edits of the 2013 Inaugural address . (I would have thought BHO would use a red pen!) Infogra...

Happy Wednesday! Stop Apologizing for What You Like to Read ! (Sound advice.) Beyond visible: LGBT Characters in Graphic Novels . The teen poetry online revolution! In defense of George Orwell . Clerks 3 to return as book first, then film .   Literary snooping: Flavorpill staffers snap their bookshelves . (I love this!)

Happy Monday, er Tuesday! Trends in materials budgets and circulations , via Library Journal . How crime fiction has moved on . Why do teachers think YA books about vampires are trashy ? (Good question!) Penguin acquires a new erotic fanfiction series (featuring a submissive librarian) . (E.L. James said she enjoyed them, so...) 9 musicians who have broken into the literary world . The Feminine Mystique , 50 years later . Smashwords hits 200,000 titles . Comic and graphic novel sales were on the rise  in January. Longlists for the upcoming Carnegie awards in fiction and nonfiction . Small objects reveal "The Real Jane Austen" . . . (OR DO THEY?) Adult Books for Teens: Historical Fiction . Just for Fun! A blogger plans to read and review every bestselling book of the year since 1913 . The Oxford Comma Debate . Some of the world's worst book proposals .

Happy Monday.  Have some morning links! A new, six hour mini series of Tolstoy's War and Peace coming to the BBC . Who has the best book covers. UK or US ? (This is a book by book judgment, IMO) Introducing a new library ebook ordering system . 10 Contemporary novels inspired by Shakespeare . (I love every list like this that exists.) 25 Writers on the importance of libraries . People freaking out about NYPL spending $1M on ebooks . Over 3 years.... Just for fun: 10 obscure punctuation marks that really should get more play .  Infographic:  Why Americans love Die Hard .

We gave ourselves the day off for Valentine's Day. Happy Friday! Another Publisher has a Serious Problem with a Librarian's Blog Post . Eric Carle will release a new picture book this fall . Rita Meade ( @screwydecimal )  found some gems while she was weeding the nonfiction collection. What will end up being the iconic images of this decade? From the Telegraph , more talk about sex in YA fiction , aka "New Adult." Sarah Jones ( @lieberian ) talks about ordering Young Adult items across several branches . If you work with teens, she's looking for tips on what's popular in your libraries right now. The many faces of Pride & Prejudice . (Book covers, and only just a small sampling.) Penguin/Random House merger gets the good housekeeping DOJ seal of approval . Just like John McClane, the inspiration for the Die Hard movies will live forever (despite what the title says) . Something Old, Something New:  Ancient Beowulf Manuscript now Availab...

Following my own advice from yesterday's  post on collection maintenance , I checked in and organized all the young adult graphic novels (with the blessing of the YA librarian). Leaving aside the manga for another day, I estimate that we have over 400 YA graphic novels (on the shelf). Upon checking them in, I found: 19 items marked "missing" 3 items marked "lost" 4 items with holds 2 items with notes/cataloging problems 2 graphic novels from the adult collection 1 YA paperback 1 item marked "display" I also pulled out several items to potentially move to another part of the library (e.g., a Garfield collection that could go live with the other Garfield collections). The process took less than three hours, for which I was also on desk. Right after I finish these tasks, I always have a strong urge to hover protectively near the section and put things away as soon as people use them, but I also know (in my rational moments) that a messy colle...

So, you've ordered the books, and they're on the shelves! And you weed them occasionally. Maybe you even weed them on a set schedule, instead of when the shelves are overflowing and the pages start pleading with you to do something about them! Aside from weeding, here are some steps I recommend doing as frequently as possible to make sure that your collection looks presentable and is represented accurately in the catalog. As always, I recommend approaching your collection in manageable chunks, which for this exercise should be 1,000 items or less. If you're low on time, run a list of the items in one part of the collection that have "trouble" or out of the ordinary statuses: missing lost or lost and paid billed claims returned in process repair in transit Go through (or send a minion, if you are lucky enough to have minions) and look for these trouble items. You'd be surprised how many of these items are actually sitting on the shelf where they...

Happy Wednesday! The Guardian tells us the best books for Valentine's Day . Ebooks easier on the eyes for the elderly.   (What I've suspected, but nice to see an actual study representing that.)  Steampunk Romance primer . The Paris Review talks "Love in Amish country ." Oliver Twist 's new, well, twist . Just for Fun: The Top 10 lesser known criminal slang terms . (Strawberry!) 

Happy Tuesday! Erotica: Full Frontal Shelving . (Katie Dunneback talks erotica in libraries. Yay!) A national digital library endowment? "Sorry I pooped on your shoe" A Westminster reading list . (Ha!) Women in Horror: In celebration of Great Women Horror Authors . Downton Abbey fans star in a new novel . (Reality novels?) And the Grammy for best Spoken Word Album goes to...Janis Ian . The 5 biggest literary badasses . (I love that Lord Byron makes the list!) Would YOU pay to browse books?  (Here's a hint: No.) Does it matter to you who really writes your romance novels ? Just for Fun: A new Game of Thrones preview: Chaos.

Happy Monday! Although seniors may find reading easier on an electronic device , they are also among the least likely to want to read on an electronic device... Macmillan has settled with the DOJ  re: price-fixing, leaving Apple the last fruit standing. The Grinch will be back as a 3D animated feature . Just...no. First look photos from The Winter's Tale (from the Mark Helprin novel)  For Many Students, Print is Still King . "Think of this as the era of "print-plus," when the most popular textbook option remains a book—often printed and bound, sometimes digital—plus whatever extras and enhancements professors and students are willing to pay for." (With a discussion of my beloved Norton anthologies, which [unlike my college days] now have bonus electronic material.) From Heroes and Heartbreakers: Urban Fantasy 101 . A good list of fundamental titles. Are these the 50 most influential books by women?   Former Secretary of State Clinton to write n...

Happy Thursday! Do YOU live in one of the country's most literate cities ? (We're still as literate (or not) as last year.) Anne of Green Gables meets Lucy Ewing circa 1981?   In defense of the new cover of The Bell Jar . Jessica Blair unmasked as dapper 89 year old gentleman . (*love*) Fantasy series charted by increasing page count . (Ha! Yes) Dr. Seuss was, himself, a cat in a hat . Just for Fun: The 10 most incompetent space captains in the universe . (Captain EO!)   Zero Dark Knight Thirty .

Happy Wednesday. Happy Links! Bridget Jones returns in November . The Douglas County Libraries in CO have been keeping tabs on the real cost of ebooks for libraries. Here's their spreadsheet of costs for February bestsellers . Best Love Stories by First-Time Authors . Reader's Advisory from Book Riot: Where to start with Isaac Asimov . Also from Book Riot, Should Ebooks be Pay-As-You-Go ? YALSA's 2013 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Readers . Over at Stacked, Kelly and Kimberly canvas YA Science Fiction . Amazon wins broad patent to create marketplace for "used" digital content . So watch out. Just for Fun : I may have to get my child the Little Librarian Pretend Play  set. Edward Gorey with his favorite cats .

Happy...Tuesday? It is Tuesday, right? If you order library materials, please consider taking this survey on collecting sex materials for libraries . Virginia Tech study finds that "chick lit" harms body image .  Paula McClain discusses The Paris Wife . Five Best Books from 2013 Superbowl . A digital pop up book.  (I am very intrigued by this idea....) Do libraries need ebooks? AMC options Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow .  The full Oprah interview with Ayana Mathis , author of The Twelve Tribes of Hattie. A trio of "self-published" bestseller lists for the week . The Millions on making books into movies . The NYT on re-releasing nonfiction books when the facts may have changed . When Customers Need Comfort Books . Library books: the perfect prescription ? In the UK, "Those suffering mental health issues will be given written prescriptions to visit their local library to read a selection of 30 approved texts." Just for (Morb...

Happy Monday.  Have some news: Are ebook borrowers also ebook buyers? (You know, it doesn't matter how many times we answer this question...) Did he or didn't he? "Extensive research reveals Hemingway probably didn't write famous 'six word story'" . The Globetrotting Bestseller List: Best-Selling Books in 10 Countries Around the World 10 Bizarre Fairy Tale Adaptations . (Love this list!) English Literature's 50 key moments from Marlowe to Rowling . Agatha Christie was investigated by MI5 over Bletchley Park mystery (Trust no one...) Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy is heading to the big screen (More books, more films.) Mercy (based on the short story Gramma from Stephen King's Skeleton Crew ) and Reclaiming History: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy by Vincent Bugliosi both heading to the big screen . Matched by Ally Condie headed to the big screen . 19 Absurd zombie books we should all read . (Except me....