Don't Be Part of the Problem, Be Part of the Solution

I cliche* -titled this entry in reference to the churning world of copyright issues. It's clear from the readings and Linda's podcast that there's no end in sight to the ever-changing definition of what constitutes Fair Use. And copyright laws get violated in schools all the time. But it's almost comforting, in a way, to realize that's it's not the constantly mutating landscape of technology that's growing this unwieldy monster, it's (as usual) people.

Yes, some people will always find a way to rip off other people no matter. So that's why I say, yes, it's important to have the basics of copyright law down cold, but not just because our positions in the school library obligates us to do so. I feel it's necessary to inform students and peers about what I know through the filter of ethics and morals. That's how I'm going to combat the inevitable eyeball rolling. The ethics of the matter have existed as long as civilized society.

It's sort of analogous to why we wait at a red light at a deserted intersection in the middle of the night. What would happen if we as a society stopped following the conventions of our society? Even if we felt our actions were not immediately adversely affecting anyone. The whole system that is our society would be in jeopardy eventually. Plus, we wouldn't want to get caught!



*Ready to rename this blog The Cliche in The Library after this class -- What can I say? I just love working with themes!

What I Did Over Summer Vacation

I took an excellent technology course that opened up so many possibilities for my career as a school librarian. I spent my class time hours (and hours) communicating, sometimes commiserating, with a bright bunch of dedicated school library students. Thank you all for your intelligent analysis and contributions. I feel so empowered with the ability to not only evaluate new technologies for schools, but now have in place a collection of resources to bolster future plans and projects. What an amazing feeling to know I have all those resources stashed away on my Del.ic.ios pages…this is starting to sound like a bad speech given by a bland CEO who’s attempting to be earnest, so let’s just end this abruptly.

One more thing before moving on, would we not all agree that this class has caused us to lose our digital accent?

What I Don't Know Could Fill a Barn

First of all, this entry will be like the last, a goulash of thoughts I've had while doing classwork for this week, followed by the big finish of my reactions to the articles we read for the week.

So, about that barn...I say this phrase all the time, and it's always going to be true, no matter what. I have no intention of actually trying to fill it or anything. In this instance, I'm referring to meta-sources, so to speak. I've just realized that not only is it important to have lots of good sources for the school library, it's vital to know --as fast as possible--what's good and why it's good.

Yes, most of this comes from experience and interacting with peers, once you have some. And this program helps. Now I know about kidspiration, for example. Clearly Linda-a professional with loads of experience, thinks this product is the best visual learning tool available. But what about when I'm on my own? I was working on the catalog criteria assignment, checking out the Springfield Township site. Accessed the web links, found a link to Squeak software. Was curious. Sure, finding it here was an endorsement of sorts, but what about a nifty review site--in this case, for open source.

I flopped around on google for awhile, looking for software review sites. I got a result for this.

While I was happy to find this collection of reviewed sites, I couldn't find a reviews for the software.

All this to say: Linda, what's your opinion about reading software reviews--and if you do that sort of thing, where do you go, or what do you read? Do peer journals like SLJ suffice?

Moving on, or rather, seguing to the Data, Data article.
Initial reaction: Federated searching sounds clunky, and dated. Like something we all used in 1996 or thereabouts. So I tried it. I still feel the same way--and besides, many of the top results for my searches were sponsored ads that were not relevant enough to be on the first page.

However, the final 'graph, which described the "one-click access" to a multitude of sources was the most interesting and useful part of the piece. I think it will always be important to show students that there's more information beyond a simple Google search. That alone could make having a meta search engine option on the school's website.

The Tag/Folksonomy piece articulated my misgivings about tags. I just feel so unwilling to trust another individual it seems! I guess because I have a hard time coming up with tags I would find useful for myself--they always seem so obvious that I actually get suspicious of the simplicity--I just can't believe someone out there is doing it properly. I'm fearful of going down yet another rabbit hole in the web, using tags to find information, instead of a search engine.

But I suppose that's the point, there is no *proper* tagging protocol. I checked out West's reference to Cory Doctorow (...how I learned to stop worrying and love the mess) the link didn't help much, but the title alone actually helps. Just stop worrying about, I says to my inner control freak;tags are helping people find information they want and need. Case closed.

Comments on the Valenza article later.

Open Book

Had a revelation tonight--too big for Twitter, but it's really not a layered concept like a typical blog entry, either. Sort of jumbo-junior sized. But I wanted to share the musing, as it cleared up, for me, a mindset that seems common amongst this class.

While checking out google reader, I found myself reading Librarian in Black -- a blog I started subscribing to when someone else in LIS 460 mentioned it (Thanks! I love it). Every entry seemed useful and exciting to me. Even though it's written by a public technology librarian.

It reminded me of a thread last week -- on the wiki discussion, I think, about feeling like you are missing something, wondering how one would ever know they were getting the right information, and furthermore, getting all that there is to get.

And I realized it's because of my newcomer status--that I am literally an open book when it comes to this profession. Everything's interesting, every bit of information has the potential to help me on the job. I have no way of knowing what to filter, what to stash for future use, what to ignore. I'm racking up del.icio.us tags at a rapid rate, and so on. At this point, I'm depending on my memory more than any of these tools, to pair up the ideas and the applications/tools. That can't be good!

So, what's the solution? I think I found it in Linda's comments to a previous blog entry. It was about my future library website. I think I will apply her advice/suggestion about creating the website to my library's mission statement. Knowing this can be very generalized, I think I need to make some very specific objectives in the mission statement.

I need to create my own structure, set my own perimeters--this will help me identify information I need on the web. Much better than being such an open book.

Back to Basics and Brass Tacks

I'm pleased that the course is focusing on nuts and bolts technology this week. All the social networking web 2.0 is fantastic, of course. We all agree that knowing about Web 2.0 tools makes the school librarian valuable, not to mention alluring and oh-so-with-it. But we still need to talk to the (often) cranky tech person about prosaic things like servers, wonky lap tops and all manner of equipment failures. Reading through the wikipedia definitions of computer terms reassured me that this class was not going to be just about the newer social technologies.

Something I’ve just realized about most of the social networking tools we are playing with and learning about: Classroom teachers will likely require training (workshop, seminar, break room pitch?) before anything in the way of wikis or del.ici.ous gets implemented. I suppose that’s been said in various ways, but that’s the blunt reality, isn’t it?

My Two-bits on the readings for this week:

The RFID article:

First of all, when I was initially skimming it I thought I read that the Vatican was tagging children in Denmark amusement parks. Okaaaay. My opinion about RFID in libraries: put this one in the Monitor It file. It’s important to understand what it is, and how it can be used in libraries. But this stuff’s expensive, it’s most likely to happen in large public libraries, not school libraries. But I took note of the “not if, but when” comment at the end. I just think the When is not any time soon.

Streaming Video Article:

Hurrah, at last we are we are talking about a technology currently used in school libraries, that teacher’s already know about and use. And everyone seems to like it! Except that kid who didn’t get out of his homework just for being sick. (from the second page: “and a student who missed the lesson could view the video at home while sick!”). Loved the collection of streaming sites. The Academy library has a safari montage streaming service Yay. Sadly, there was “some kind of power surge” according to the outgoing librarian, and now it’s broken. Boo. So, one of the first things I get to do when I begin the job is get that streaming service back up. I think it’s been out of commission for some time. I feel like if premium library services like streaming video appear, and then drop off because they got broken and didn'tt get fixed quickly, then you lose your teacher’s mind share as a good resource.

Finally, couldn’t help but be hopeful for increased use of streaming services—it will cut down on the amount of junk ( in this case VHS cassettes and DVDs ) generally in the world, not to mention on my library shelves.

Invisible Access article:

Had a little song pop into my head as I read this one: Dream, Dream, Dream by The Everly Brothers. My first reaction was: Well, huh, this schooldistrict has money that they are willing to throw at this school in order to immerse it into all these technologies. I don’t have that and neither do most schools in the U.S. Mercifully, that initial reaction was followed by a more pertinent take-away for this article: This school has something more valuable than financial assets. It’s the communal nature of this group – they way the entire school is dedicated to education through technology, that makes these programs successful. Granted, it is a tech school, but still, I think changing the mindset of an entire school, staff and students, is more potent than having a huge budget to buy more tech toys.

Image is Everything

First of all, I appear to be trending toward bankrupt clichés for my blog post titles. So be it. Expect further post titles to inquire about missing beef and mental calculations performed beyond the bounds of a shape consisting of four even sides.

Whatever. My post title was inspired by the Valenza blog entry about school library web sites. Valenza asks how the sites are changing, but with so many Live Web/Web 2.0 applications emerging, I'm asking myself this: Just what is the purpose of a school library website these days, anyway?

Here's what I think: It's best used as a marketing tool for the school. I think nowadays, more than anything, a school library website should be beautiful. Really. Here's a link to my ideal elementary school website. It was made by a colleague (and Simmons alum!) from Marlboro Elementary School. My friend used Wordpress to make the Marlboro site. It's not on the district's server. I plan to model my Academy Library site on what the Marlboro librarian did.

Compare that site to this. I spent only about ten minutes with Google getting the URL for that random elementary school. Sure, there's current information and links and such, but the design--blech. And it's so typical of any elementary school website, with it's clunky graphics, moving images and presentation of information that isn't so much useful as it is symbolic, or representative, of the school. Valenza describes it as a "lack of purpose." So well put, really.

And I think many school library sites have never had much of a purpose, and therefore, years later, not one member of a school community -- students, staff, or parents -- have any expectations for, or make any demands on, the School's library site. How many users are really going to consult the school website to find out if there will be tater tots or tossed salad on the menu the next day? Honestly, what kind of expectations do you expect visitors to have when you offer useless information like cafeteria menu links?

So, I aim to change expectations of what kind of information a website visitor will find, and most importantly, how that information is presented. Most folks from this area of Vermont would expect Marlboro Elementary to have the website that it does. It's a tony community with highly educated citizens. Very mud and caviar. But I doubt anyone would expect Academy School to have such an elegant website. That's just not the school's reputation. Another grammar school in town has an OK site. But then again, this school is smaller than Academy and has more of what I call the Viewers Like You crowd.

But guess what? Academy’s going to get an elegant website from me. I really believe the school's image will change when I update the website. And of course, it won't just look pretty. I will have resources and links galore for students doing homework. But ultimately, it's most important to create a website that will increasingly be many people’s first impression of the school, and we all know, you only get one chance to make a first impression!

Cliché’s Rock!!

Better Living Thru Technology

I consider this just a place-holder post of sorts. Since I am re purposing a blog from last Springs Young Adult Literature class, I felt I needed to get a little LIS 460 starter post rolling.

In other words, don't consider this wheedling entry to be anything relevant to the class beyond my initial impressions of all the software installations and account set ups. Even though many of these applications were new to me, they were at least very familiar. Haven't used Twitter, but Linda gave us a peek last semester, same goes for Skype. Should have started using Google Reader looooong ago. Looking forward to not only getting exposure to the completely new, but also gaining mastery of the already familiar. I really feel like the second life event towards the end of class will test my tech prowess -- kind of a grand finale of sorts.

Finally, I truly hope to create a tech innovation proposal that I will actually use in my new job. Maybe it's too simplisitic for this class, but a first-year goal for me will be to get classroom teachers to collaborate on a wiki. I am not sure if I should create one wiki for each grade, or just one Academy School wiki. Right now the district uses a webCT-type tool called First Class. It's just a bunch of list-serves relabeled as Conferences. Haven't used it yet, so I don't want to judge, but I already know that teachers would not be able to archive classroom units and related materials on First Class.

I was reading an article a few weeks ago about how Wikispaces was giving away free acounts in order to promote teachers using wikis. I dashed on over there and managed to squeak in. (can't figure out if 100,000 is a little or a lot to give away). Anyway, I plan to set up the type of wiki I think will encourage the staff at Academy School to give wikis a try. At the very least, it's a way for me to organize materials and information.

However, I do not want to overwhelm the staff and get some kind of reputation as a person who just throws confusing new technologies at them. They'll just see me coming and run the other way. Or worse, run to the Principal's office and complain about me.

I'm wondering if I should choose between a wiki and social bookmarks? I love the idea of setting up delicious pages for each class. As I'm noodling about on the web, I tag articles and sites I think would be useful for the teacher's curriculum. But again, I'm wondering if using both would be redundant. But then again, maybe being redundant is a the norm for this institution. After all, it is called Academy School.

Last Catch

So here's the last entry, filled with well-deserved praise for Linda's syllabus and class discussions. Well done, everyone. I have said it in class, but maybe not assertively enough, I absolutely loved the blog aspect of this course.

We had obligatory webct postings in other classes, but somehow those were onerous, and this was delightful. I loved how reading all the posts before the next class would sort of organize our discussions;let us all get a jump-start on what we wanted to discuss. Three hours once a week isn't much, this really stretched it out, kept the class alive through the week.

Like all good classes, I have become infused with new insights and information that have changed me. I'll become a different librarian-- a better one -- I think because of the way my outlook has been tweaked by this course content. I think the elegant thing about this class was how one simple idea, one so obvious that I think it would have been overlooked for ages without this class changed my attitude about library books for young people. We all know what it is:
Just ask. Ask kids what it is they want to read. Then give it to them. Ta Da!

There are many details and codicils to this simple revelation, but ultimately, that's how good library service starts everytime: asking, then listening.

Thanks, everyone. I'm glad we still have a few classes left.

Three Faces of E

Reading the identity articles this week reminded me of an earlier dialogue our class had about our function and identity as librarians. It was the week we discussed V for Vendetta. Myself and a few other students were appalled by the violence and questioned the book’s suitability for teen readers. Keri-Ann and I realized we felt especially repulsed because we are parents of young children. I can only paraphrase what Linda said at the time, but it was something along the lines of: “It shouldn’t matter that you are a parent when providing library services to teens. At that point you are a librarian.” And I can see this comment in the context of the all the multiple identities that we all have throughout the day as described in the "Face in the Mirror, the Person on the Page"piece:

“When I turn from a conversation with a faculty colleague and open the door of my classroom, I reconstruct my identity as a teacher. (The people in the classroom are, in turn, performing for me their identities as my students.) Consequently, I have not a single identity but multiple shifting identities determined by culture and context, and they are sometimes in conflict with one another.”

I like so much in this passage. The first two sentences comfort me, because I realize that being a librarian, having that identity will be in part shaped by the patrons I interact with. Me, the parent/wife/mayor of happy town (my three main identities) will shift into the librarian identity and create a wholly new persona/subset of myself.

I’ve been troubled by thinking I need to marginalize or negate parts of who I am in order to be a good librarian. I cannot change the parts of myself that do not seem to correspond to being a librarian. Reading the last sentence in this passage, realizing that identities will conflict comforts me. It’s better to have them conflict than be forced to disappear – because I don’t think that’s possible.

White Liberal Guilt Alarm Goes Off

While taking a break from the collection development assignment, I trolled over to the YALSA blog. I saw Linda’s post about Freedom Writers. I’m just as excited as ever to see the film, to wallow in the glory of a big-budget bio-pic about someone beating the system. Yeah!

But then a commenter posted this. Huh. I was a little chagrined that I didn’t pick up on this myself. Back in my UCSC days (in the late 1980s) I would have been all over the White Rescuer meme. I recall seeing Mississippi Burning back then and walking out of the theater thinking: only Hollywood could make a movie about Klan terrorism and tell it from the perspective of two white men. And like the blog post title, sometimes I think these movies attempt to assuage what me and my friend’s back at UCSC called white liberal guilt. “See, the underserved are really not so very underserved, right? Someone’s helping them, right? Can I go back to reading my Baudrillard now? Okay, great.” I'll probably never lose my ability to identify that.

But Linda’s point was valid for our class—that adults can make a difference to teens. I plan to watch this movie and be inspired on that level. I’m also grateful for having read the Deldado essay before seeing Freedom Writers. I worry constantly about losing all kinds of perspective, and that this in turn will make me a lousy librarian. I’ll just be some overly idealistic (c’mon, you know with me it’s a definite threat!), unconnected librarian who is not able to analyze the content of all kinds of media and make good choices for my patrons.

I realize this is a blog post comment in the guise of an actual blog post, but I know most of us seemed excited to see the movie, so I thought I would blog here in case anyone missed Linda’s post.

Collective Identity

“Identity” could be my favorite Developmental Asset. I’ve certainly enjoyed focusing on it this week. I could make an argument that it’s the most universal. Depending on one’s socio-economic status, a teen will have -- or need -- varying degrees of experience and support with some of the other assets. But most likely, every teen will explore the issue of personal identity during the entire span of teen years.

Born to Rock provided a smorgasbord of identity issues, and not very subtle ones, either. Goths! Republicans! Gay Teens! I appreciated that. (I kind of struggled the week we discussed Lord Loss as a constructive use of time.) I realize, since this issue is so huge, that perhaps it’s like shooting fish in a barrel, finding teen books with identity themes. But really, Born to Rock was a poster child of sorts for identity issues. I realized that another book I mentioned earlier in the semester, Black Swan Green would also support this asset. Linda opined that she would not necessarily recommend it to a teen, but I never got a chance to check back with why. I was discussing it last night with my husband, because he just finished it. We were talking about the character Jason and how much he struggled in the book. Again, because I am awash in all things identity this week, I realized there are many great examples of teens attempting to hang on to, form, or get rid of their identities. Jason alone has three: poet, cool/popular kid, class whipping post. But when I mentioned to Bob that my instructor would not recommend the book, he suggested that maybe it’s because the book takes awhile to get going…like Anasi Boys, I realized. So maybe that’s why?

I think it was last week that I mentioned my experiences in the South Carolina High School- how there was self-segregation in the cafeteria, and just in general throughout the school community. I honestly felt sure, just based on some vague notion about how I feel our society now reacts to racism, that this scenario would be radically different today. Well, not only was that notion not confirmed by Linda’s observation, this story on cnn.com today illustrates that society changes more slowly than I thought. But it does change.

Which brings me to my blog entry’s title. Reading a story about an integrated prom made me realize that teens – as well as adults—in society, are also working on changing our collective identity. What a radical shift for this community, to see themselves as one group. Well, at least some of them do. Notice the so-called White Prom did take place, under the very weak excuse that it was “already planned”. Still, this is a radical shift for this school’s community. Maybe next year there really will be just one –collective – prom.

Just So Inspired, O Best Beloved

Did anyone else notice the heavy overtones of Kipling’s writing style from the Just So stories? I went to the acknowledgments as soon as I finished reading chapter seven “In Which Fat Charlie Goes a Long Way”, expecting to find a nod to the storyteller, but alas. But then I realized, hey, Kipling was probably just rehashing oral tradition folktales. But still. Gaiman’s in print and so’s Kipling, he should have given him a nod. But then again, writers are usually heavy readers, and it’s likely he just absorbed that style, possibly from just having have those stories read to him as a child.
Check out this passage from Just So Stories:

In the High and Far-Off Times the Elephant, O Best Beloved, had no trunk. He had only a blackish, bulgy nose, as big as a boot, that he could wriggle about from side to side; but he couldn't pick up things with it. But there was one Elephant—a new Elephant—an Elephant's Child—who was full of 'satiable curiosity, and that means he asked ever so many questions…
One fine morning in the middle of the Precession of the Equinoxes this 'satiable Elephant's Child asked a new fine question that he had never asked before. He asked, "What does the crocodile have for dinner?" Then everybody said, "Hush!" in a loud and dretful tone, and they spanked him immediately and directly, without stopping, for a long time.
By and by, when that was finished, he came upon Kolokolo Bird sitting in the middle of a wait-a-bit thornbush, and he said, "My father has spanked me, and my mother has spanked me; all my aunts and uncles have spanked me for my 'satiable curtiosity; and still I want to know what the Crocodile has for dinner!"
The Kolokolo Bird said, with a mournful cry, "Go to the banks of the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever-trees, and find out."

All of the Just So stories take place “when the world was new”, which is the same “land” that Charlie traveled back to. That’s a direct lift from RK. I know all of this probably raises a kind of “eh” reaction, especially if presented in the “WELL! I am just shocked at Mr.Gaiman’s temerity!” kind of way. Let’s face it, there’s not much of an upside to defending Kipling. However, guided readings/book talks would be wise to point out the parallels for those good old curriculum connections to English and history classes.

Actually, I think it would just be good to point out to high school readers as an opportunity to learn more about Kipling!

T.V. Turn-off Week: A Constructive Use of Time?

I thought our on-going discussion about CUOT could use a new wrinkle. Here it is: What does TV turnoff Week mean now that television has so much competition for those teen eyeballs, hearts, and minds from social networking sites? TV Turn-off Week promoters advocate a one week cessation of television in order for TV viewers to possibly develop, or rekindle, other activities that involve more social interaction or physicality. There is no one clearing house of TV Turn-off week information (it was started by Adbusters in 1995). In all the sites I perused, I did not come across much comment about online screen time. But I can tell the paradigm is shifting, because although the URL for one site may be tvturnoff.org, the site title reads: The Center for Screen-Time Awareness. My thoughts on this: Just give them time. Within a few years, The Center for Screen-Time Awareness will perhaps have a new name for this week-long experiment, something like Screen-Time Turn-off Week.

I noticed that all TV Turn-off sites mostly present research promoting the decision to read over television viewing more than other non-TV activities. Yet they also all have information about how TV is a passive activity, and makes you fat.

Sadly, I don’t burn a lot of calories reading. Do you? I’ll tell you what makes you fat, education. Undergrad years give you the freshman fifteen, and don’t get me started on what graduate school has done to my derriere. So much sitting around and reading…but this is a cheap shot and I know it. Even worse, it’s a digression, not a good idea for the blog format. I’m stopping now, promise. But I couldn’t help notice the TV Turn-off advocates were kind of contradicting themselves somewhat with their advice for non-TV watching activities.

I am also wondering about TV Turn-off’s relevance in light of a book I ‘ve been reading, Everything Bad is Good for You by Steven Johnson. In his book Johnson discusses how recent TV shows have more complicated story threads to follow, and are therefore more challenging. (Obviously there’s more to it, but this isn’t a book review.) Johnson presents a through argument that watching TV today is no longer the waste of time it once was, say, 15 years ago when TV Turn off Week first launched. Does the latest addition of computer activity give new life to a phenomenon that was in danger of becoming obsolete in the face of increasingly enriching television offerings?

Which leads to another subject, our TV viewing assignment. I chose the Gilmore Girls. I used to watch the show in the late ‘90s. My friend owns all the episodes, so I must say this colored my choice more than anything. (I mentioned in class about my GG fan friend. Here’s a link to an essay he wrote for all fans. Anyway, Gilmore Girls caught my ear while channel-surfing one night. I paused on the show long enough to hear Lorelei say some funny line like “Yeah, it’s a nice house if you like Edith Wharton as a decorator.” I was surprised— did I just hear a WB show make an Edith Wharton joke? Indeed I did. I started watching from then on. Johnson describes this type of TV show as an intelligent show, rather than a show that makes you intelligent: “The intelligence arrives fully formed in the words and actions of the actors onscreen. They say witty things to each other, and avoid lapsing into tired sitcom clichés, and we smile along in our living room, enjoying the company of these smart people.”

To me, shows like this are an example, underscored by similar comments in Steven Johnson’s book, that our culture has been experiencing an overall improvement in the quality of many goods and services. TV is just one among many. I think what I call the “sink or swim” mentality(as opposed to the lowest common denominator mentality) really started with The Simpsons. Each episode was loaded with often obscure cultural references. The show did, and does, nothing to help you figure out the origin of these references—figure it out yourself, or just enjoy the yucks on the surface, which isn’t that bad an alternative.

My personal example of the new quality standard is Starbucks. Say what you will about the ubiquitous nature of the chain, I find it amazing that a decent cup of coffee only became available to us all so late in the last century. I’ve heard lots of complaints about Starbucks coffee, but people, we are splitting hairs here! Complaining about Starbucks is just another example of the new quality in our everyday lives. Starbucks has nothing on Peets or Torafazione, two other chains on every corner in San Francisco. But before Starbucks, you maybe had a good local, corner café, but other than it, was Denny’s or the 7-11 for the rest of us saps. Now a five dollar cup of coffee is everymans right!

Peep Secret

After reading Peeps: A Candy Coated Tale by bits and pieces all week, who can blame me for peep-azizing my words at every chance? It’s infectious! The book is using a humor model that gets its laffs (strictly opposed to laughs, mind you) from pounding one conceit over and over. In this case, it’s inserting or overlaying the word peeps into text already familiar to the readers.

Do I know how to sell a book, or what? Thanks, Eileen, what a way to make a goofy book that only wants to be consumed at the same rate as the eponymous candy (i.e. limited) sound as dry as an animal carcass in Death Valley. It’s always death to overanalyze why something’s funny. And this book was funny – spotty in parts, but a hoot, overall. It’s a great example of a library book, in my opinion as well. Gimmicky hardbacks are not a good value, especially humor. They get dated so quickly. Then they just rot in your house.

Do we even need to discuss why this book would be appealing to teens? It’s got a bright, textural cover that sparkles, it’s spoofing our media, celebrity-obsessed culture, and there are pictures of CANDY on every page. Here’s your go-to for a resistant reader, at least while it’s still popular…

Now Postsecret appears to have some staying power. Except at Brooks Library. Despite the catalog’s claims to its availability, it is, sadly, not actually on the shelf here in Brattleboro. And I was so excited that for once my local public library had something I needed for this class. I spent a lot of time at the blog and at amazon.com reading reader comments. Being only able to read the blog made me wonder if perhaps I wasn’t reading the primary text, after all, since the project started online and the book is a best of the web selection.

Could this be the first example of text being online first and then becoming a book? It certainly is a good example of the case for online format as opposed to a book. The blog gets updated all the time and it’s free. The book’s content doesn’t change and it’s…not free. But it looks better on the coffee table!

Anyway, back to the staying power of this phenomenon. This concept is endlessly fascinating – there’s no limit to the amount of secrets that can get posted. It’s very timeless, too. I think it would have been popular in any era. It reassures readers who find others with similar fears and concerns. It makes us realize how similar we are to one another.

“The World is So Full of a Number of Things….

...I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.” This little two-line poem from Stevenson’s A Garden of Child’s Garden of Verses has been an increasingly current refrain in my head as we get deeper into our course syllabus. Now that we are halfway through, I feel like checking in on what we have talked about, in terms of what teens like to read and do, and what it means. First of all, I think I am reminded of the Stevenson verse because it’s clear that these days, not only are there many, many new ways to express yourself, use your time, and just generally entertain yourself, they all tend to be interesting, remarkable, and stimulating.

Youtube, Myspace, blogs and blogging, online gaming, digital media content, not to mention the explosion of young adult literature titles in a number of genres presents an enticing smorgasbord of diversions for everyone in western society. And they feel permanent. I don’t think the next generation will say (as they start looming a new rug or something) “Remember when everyone spent so much time online writing essays and sharing photos?”

This is no CB Radio, folks. And that’s why I think there’s resistance from some parts of our society (in our case, school librarians) who feel threatened by the torrent of new ways to amuse and educate oneself. Personally, I don’t feel the need to get involved with all of these new media right away. I’ve often told myself: “I’m also not going to make it to The Louvre today, either.” It’s a combination of too much of a good thing and not enough time at the moment to explore it all. I think folks who get anxious about where all these new entertainments will fit in should remind themselves of two things: 1.that they don’t have to participate, but 2. those who do are not necessarily missing out on an opportunity to translate a little Greek.

The word Quality keeps coming up. Quality time, quality reading. First of all, who defines quality? I checked out Mary Bell’s link to the newspaper article about teen reading on the rise, and the parallel rise in the quality of teen books. (Thanks, Mary. Here’s a website I found because of the article you posted. I also added it to the resources page on our wiki.)

The article opined that the quality of young adult books in the 80s and 90s was dictated to by corporations and big chain stores. Not surprisingly, this was an era of low-quality literature. Think Goosebumps and Sweet Valley. Personally, looking back on this era, I think our mainstream culture was at a low point, and these kind of books were a product of a society generally going slack-jawed. Previously, editors and librarians were the gatekeepers of young adult books and both maintained a different, higher standard. They defined the entire genre of young adult reading. But speaking in only the broadest of terms, it seems that most material that made it past these guardians of taste was often unappealing to the target audience. And to add further injury, there wasn’t much of it, either!

It can never be a bad thing to have many, many options when it comes to reading. We need light-n-breezy books, as much as we need the made-you-think books. It’s not an either/or equation. Having Goosebumps in the collection does not mean that The Odyssey has to go.

I think school librarians need to support classroom teachers by finding ways to present “canon fodder” in more appealing ways. Sell the sizzle, not the steak. If a student thinks Wuthering Heights is boring, someone forgot to pump them up by telling them how creepy the Moors are, how dark, handsome and wild Heathcliff is…c’mon, we have mild necrophilia in this book, and kids think it’s boring? We cannot blame the book, or the uninterested reader for this one.

So many wonderful books get tossed aside because they are being introduced in such stagnant ways, with such useless requirements like pop quizzes and unoriginal essay assignments. On both sides of this quality vs. junk debate, both parties are misguided about the other’s value. Instructors and school librarians who dismiss so-called junk reading seem to feel it’s necessary because it threatens the existence of established classics, and those who don’t like classic/canon fiction think its dull because there’s no one to present it in a way that would help teens find out why its so wonderful. And then, just to make it extra fun, sometimes junk is truly worthless, and canon fodder is truly boring.

I realize this blog entry has been very broad and general. I think I used to feel threatened by what I perceived to be low-brow reading material but after my children’s lit class last semester, and now this class, I don’t think it’s an either/or issue like I used to.

Lord Loss-I Read It With My Eyes Shut

First of all, this class, with its reading syllabus, has really facilitated my understanding of what it means to be a teen librarian, in terms of reader’s advisory services. A bland overstatement, to be sure, and an obvious one at that, but recall my reaction to V for Vendetta. I was disturbed by the violence and questioned whether teens should bother reading it, because I felt the plot was too complicated. It’s not that I don’t think either of those things anymore, but now I realize there are other ways of perceiving a book’s value for teens, and furthermore, my personal values take a backseat to what teens value and desire in a young adult fiction collection.

Also, I had simply forgot that teens love horror fiction. My own teen years was when I did all my Stephen King reading, between 14 and 17 or so. I loved it all, from The Shining to The Dead Zone, King wrote about people I understood in frightening scenarios that wouldn’t let you go. I still think about It and The Stand sometimes, so vivid were those plots and characters. So, I approached reading Lord Loss with a much different perspective than I had V…also, it was a book, so I was able to read it oh-so-quickly. And I did read it very gingerly as well, skimming violent descriptions and jumping ahead to read the ending before returning to rest of the book. I always do that with assigned fiction reading that doesn’t personally interest me.

Which brings me to the only point I want to make about this book: I realized that I won’t have to always actually read genres of books I no longer care for just to be a teen librarian who can respond to the needs and interests of all my patrons. There’s Wikipedia and the like for background/plot spoilers, which makes for faster reading of any title or genre that you want to get a handle on. I don’t have to wallow in each and every book to get the salient points about the characters, plot, and writing style. I feel I have a firm enough grasp on Lord Loss to recognize when a patron would enjoy the book.

Also, another thought I had while reading this book: I plan to make sure I read the first book of any popular horror genre series, and after that, just check in with the patrons who are its most ardent fans and find out how the rest of the books are.

I love the Largo Teen Room...I Swear!

During my spring break visit with the in-laws at their winter retreat in Largo, Florida, (near Tampa) I checked in on the class blogs because yes, by the middle of the week, I was sort of getting antsy about what was going on in my real life. I got inspired by Baily’s blog post about the teen room she visited in Arizona. It reminded me that I should see what a Florida library had to offer its teens. I was actually expecting a lot, because I read somewhere last year that many of the top public high schools in the U.S. are in Florida, and in particular, the Tampa Region. To me, it seemed that if one public service was flourishing for this age group, that other public services like the library would be as well.

And as it happens, the city of Largo has just built a new library. Now I knew I had to go see it since I wanted to confirm what I predicated I would see: a Borders/Barnes and Noble-inspired public facility. I was not disappointed. The brochure I got had an introduction from the library director that expressed her hope that the new library would become “the living room of the community.” Judging by my impression, the building design affords this town every chance, from the café set up at the main entrance to the large amount of sofas and sitting areas placed throughout, the Largo Public library was inviting and relaxing as any carefully created living room.

But! (there’s always a but). My first impression of the outside of the facility was marred by the jarring sight of a police officer taking away a young person in handcuffs. My mother-in-law, always a sucker for the salacious, asked some kids sitting on a bench watching the proceedings if they knew what was going on. They said they heard from someone else that this person was being arrested for trespassing. I refused to inquire so that’s all I know. But it seemed a sad sight, and not a very welcoming one.

Upon walking in and spying the previously mentioned café, I saw two pierced and eye-liner-ed emo kids (a boy and a girl) sitting at a table. I introduced myself, explained why I was visiting, then asked them if they liked the library, and the teen room in particular. They said they loved both. However, when I asked them if they felt welcome there, they said, “No, we get yelled at a lot.” Then they both said they don’t care, they come anyway. I admired the pluck, but not knowing exactly why they were getting yelled at, I didn’t commiserate. Maybe I should have asked, but I didn’t feel like taking up anymore of their time. Turns out I would get a possible clue later, anyway.

On to the teen room upstairs. By anyone’s standards, this is a fantastic-looking teen room. It was spacious, affording lots of different social scenarios: cozy, private areas with bean bag chairs, a meeting room, a work room behind the circ desk, a bank of six PCs with flat-screen monitors (all being used at around 4:30 on a Monday), tables with stools. The color scheme was a royal purple with different shades of brown throughout for contrast color. Very Starbucks-like. There were lots of Manga posters (Fruits Basket!) and photo collages of past Teen Room events.

I met with an assistant named Elaine. She was very proud of the new room and gave me a tour. The Teen Room runs lots of programs, the average attendance is about 20 kids, which impressed me. I later got a possible clue about what the teens get “yelled at” for when Elaine mentioned it had been a hard day, attitude wise with the kids, and that she had thrown out ten kids for “cussing.”

This teen room had a two large shelves loaded with Manga, and a wire rack loaded with PG-13 and under movies. Both items had a yellow sticker with YA written in red. There was also another four-sided wire rack holding pocket-size paper backs. The rest of the teen collection was just outside the physical teen room space, near the reference space.

This seemed like a good use of space-the popular Manga and YAL paperbacks inside, the permanent collection nearby.

As for Overdrive content, it’s clearly early days for this library. The teen room assistant confessed, abashedly, that she knew nothing about it. I went over to reference and asked if she had any teens requesting instruction, or otherwise expressing any interest in downloadable content. She said in her experience that had not been any. Then I looked at the available Overdrive content at the library’s website. There were a total of seven titles, only three were fiction, the rest were language instruction. It was not clear at all why these were exclusively young adult. So, there you have it, not a lot of demand, perhaps, because there’s practically nothing available that’s labeled Young Adult. There were 94 titles in the adult fiction, however.

I will bring the brochure and other materials from the Largo Public library created to keep teens posted about library events just for them. I will also bring in a six-page publication created entirely by teen patrons, Metro Largo.

1-800 I think I just killed someone

I just finished Paranoid Park and wanted to write my impressions down while the heavy fugue of the novel was still in my head, in the air, so to speak. This book really had a Hitchcockian “Strangers on a Train” kind of flavor. Some average schmuck suddenly finds his life turned upside down when he meets a sinister stranger. This is that kind of schadenfreude-type escapist fiction: “Thank god that’s not me! ” But of course that’s the whole point. No, it’s not you, but what if it was? Oooo, the delicious thrill of voyeurism, safe in your own bed!

And he was so terribly alone. There was absolutely no one he could go to. Our society just doesn't have an 800 number for everything. I really put myself not only in his place, but in the place of an adult that he might confide in. I couldn't decide which situation would be worse.

Maybe this was just weak character development on the author’s part, but I feel like this event is the most interesting thing that’s happened to this nameless kid. (I’m correct aren’t I? Did anyone else notice his name being used? Very Rebecca no?) He’s so bland, everything in his life is so ho-hum. Even his parent’s divorce, while emotionally affecting to a certain degree, is still being accepted without much fanfare on anyone’s part. Reader’s don’t even find out why his parents are splitting up. Just your basic white, upper middle class divorce, folks, nothin’ to see here…
Of course, the reader finds themselves rooting for him, caring about his anguish. But did he do the right thing, for society and for himself? I didn’t want him to get in any trouble for what happened, at all. One could use the phrase, “Get away with it”, but there’s no getting away, or doing away, with what happened. He’s a different person now. Traumatized and challenged with finding a way to live with it. He’ll never know if would have been any easier because he made the choice to keep it to himself. This ending reminded me of another recent homage to Hitchcock, Woody Allen’s Match Point. Just what did that antihero really get away with? Both characters are left knowing they are going to have personal demons camping out in their psyche for the rest of their lives.

Vanity, Thy Name is MySpace!

I heard a report this week about the rise of narcissism among college students. Right away, I connected the study to the Teen Content study we read for class this week. The Pew report didn’t give much analysis to all the data presented. The nut ‘graph: Blogging, Content creation and music downloading is on the rise. Teenage girls lead the way in use. Except with music downloading. But girls listen to more music. Okaaaaay. What does all this all this mean for teens? How are their lives changing because they have shifted their focus away from whatever it was they were doing before they started blogging, downloading music and creating content?

And what's the effect? I really wanted to know. I realize that all these Internet activities are fairly new so maybe we won't know for a few years yet. But consider the data that Jean Twenge presents. An excerpt from the CNN.com story:

"Twenge and her colleagues examined the responses of 16,475 college students nationwide who completed an evaluation called the Narcissistic Personality Inventory between 1982 and 2006.
The standardized inventory, known as the NPI, asks for responses to such statements as "If I ruled the world, it would be a better place," "I think I am a special person" and "I can live my life any way I want to.

The researchers describe their study as the largest ever of its type and say students' NPI scores have risen steadily since the current test was introduced in 1982. By 2006, they said, two-thirds of the students had above-average scores, 30 percent more than in 1982."

In addition, here's an excerpt from an intro to the NPR story that ran on the mid-day show Day to Day:
"In their study, researchers trace the phenomenon back to the "self-esteem movement" that began in in the 1980s. And, they say, young people's self-regard is fueled by current technologies such as MySpace and YouTube."

This report really got my attention, because it speaks directly to one of my main rants in life that I would like to share with any teen patrons I might have in the future: the stop thinking you have to be rich and famous rant. I instigated a little background research and in doing so, seem to have found my ideological kindred spirit. Postman's book Technopoly from 1992 is just what I was looking for to articulate my beliefs on technology and culture.

I’m not trying to be merely negative about new technologies for the sake of it. I just would like a bit of room to question new/emerging technology. Our society has a welcoming attitude about new technology that can be a bit overbearing. I was surrounded by cutting edge technology when I lived in San Francisco. I found most of the services and hardware I encountered to be just a solution in search of problem that wasn’t actually there.

So what will I say to the teens in my library who love blogging and myspace? Beware of becoming your own personal art project. The goal here is always looking outwards, sharing, and connecting.

If only Look-Look Could See This

I mentioned last week that I would have three teenagers in my home when I arrived from GSLIS classes.

Big surprise, when I greeted them, they told me they were bored. My TV-less/small child dwelling/Vermont home was a drag. They were thrilled when I handed them the People Magazine I borrowed from Linda. They were clinging to shiny cellphones. They asked me for a computer with Internet access.

I didn't see them until dinner time. When my six year old remarked that one of them was eating off a plate he had designed himself she responded "it's very gangster." That's a compliment, right?

Anyway, after they left I saw what they left in their address history. It's pretty interesting. I don't know much about myspace, but it seems like there's auxiliary services for it.

Looks like they took advantage of their quiet evening to do a little housekeeping on their myspace pages!

"Any Idiot Can Face a Crisis...

it's the day to day living that wears you out." That's a favorite saying of mine by Anton Chekov. I was reminded of it while reading Tyrell by Coe Booth this week. I found myself comparing Tyrell's and his mother's reactions to the stressful crisis they both found themselves in during one cold week in winter. What kind of choices do you make when tragedy visits your family? Depends on who you are. If you are emotionally stunted like his mother, you might tend and remain inflexible, just waiting for something to happen to you, or for someone to do something for you. So much became clear when Tyrell recounted that his mother had been with his father since she was fifteen – “ah, so that’s where the self-absorbed irrational whining is coming from.” She has’t really matured much despite all the opportunities. In their family, the mother is reserving the right to act like a fifteen-year old, which negates Tyrell’s rights to be a teenager.

If I had this book in my library (when I have this book in my library?) I would guide discussions around Tyrell’s reactions to his circumstances. This is the universal message for any reader. The novel offers so many ways to support the YAL developmental assets. Really challenging ones, too, regarding developing one’s character. Tyrell is a terrific read, because like all good YAL novels, you get a character that allows you think about yourself and grow emotionally from having exposed yourself to his life and world.

I have no doubt that if Tyrell heard Chekov's observation he would respond with a "true that." But without realizing it, Tyrell is following another credo that's more applicable and useful for his life. The motto for the U.S. Marines is "Adapt, Improvise, Overcome". As Tyrell proves, following this formula is a safe bet for anyone who wants digging out from all kinds of adversities.

It’s not necessary at all to be able to correlate exactely Tyrell’s particular circumstances with one’s own in order to learn from them. Reader’s shouldn't’t finish Tyrell and only experience gratitude that maybe their lives, -- despite all its own complications -- are not as gritty and stressful. Everyone’s problems are valid. Comparing lives does’t really help anyone grow or change. However, following his example of not exploding, not going against his principles, not caving in to pressure the next time something happens in your life that’s unexpectedly shitty would be a great way to prove to yourself that you have absorbed the higher lesson in this novel.

Congrats Nick and Nora!

A favorite kid-lit blog (brought to my attention last semester by Kerri-Ann) announced the Cybils winner list. The bloggers have spoken, and they love Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist.

Now that I have a new post going, I would like to add that I look forward to being more familiar with all the awards given out by ALA and others. I looked at the YALSA page and browsed some of the lists. The Alex awards are a clever idea.

I recently read one of this year's winners, Black Swan Green. And even though it is about a teen, I'm not sure if I would have thought to recommend it to one. But of course, I realize this would be a great novel for a sensitive kid struggling socially at school.

This novel takes place in England in the early 1980s. Like my previous post mentioned, I lived there at the same time. (The time frame is no coincidence. My sister and I are ruminating on writing a screenplay that depicts our childhood during this time, so we are reading various materials that depict this era to help remind us of all those little details one forgets. )

Mitchell's writing is spooky, poetic and just generally lovely. The time frame lends itself to the story, (colored by mentions of popular music and Thatcher's government, ect. ) but anyone could relate to Jason's personal triumphs and failures throughout one year living in Black Swan Green. We have either already gone through it, or we need to know that we will survive it!

It's got a bit of everything. Some passages are funny, but over all, this is no Adrian Mole. The atmosphere is somber and tense most of the time, and very, very internal. Could be particularly good for a kid who gets picked on a lot.

"A Penny for the Guy?"

That’s what English kids used to say on Guy Fawkes night, going from door to door, collecting money for charity. I wonder if they still do. Well, here's my two cents on V for Vendetta.

I lived in the UK from 1979 until 1983-roughly the same era that produced V for Vendetta. While reading their novel it was fascinating to look back on that time and see it from the perspective of Alan Moore and David Lloyd.

Knowing what I do about this era, I think the best curriculum connections for this comic novel would be in a history class -- to read this book in the context of how much fear Europeans had for what would turn out to be the last hurrah of the cold war. I was there, and believe me, I cannot say I have personally witnessed so much human effort to thwart a government's actions before or since.

It was such a frightful time in so many ways -- there was a real threat of nuclear war that no one could deny. And living in Europe instead of America at the time gave me such an unvarnished exposure to this threat that our government was helping to create. I lived there because my father was in the military. On the day Russia invaded Afghanistan he was told to "go home and wait for orders." I stayed up all night praying World War Three wasn't going to start. And apparently, I was not being overly dramatic. Just look at the time on Doomsday Clock for 1981.

In addition to the Cold War fears about the planet blowing up, there were homegrown fears to contend with right in London, where I lived. The IRA was also going full throttle at this time. Letter bombs at post offices everywhere, bombs going off in public places, assasinaitons and hunger strikes in cell block H. Now, obviously, these were dark days, but honestly, overall I think they were some of the happiest time of my life. If there's one thing I know about kids, they are resilient.

But looking back now, it's easy to see how the author and artist were inspired and compelled to write V For Vendetta. This world is dark and frightening, and reflects many fears of adults in society at the time. There's so much brutality and violence in this book. I feel like a guided reading would be most helpful to a teen. Not only do I think American teens would need help understanding the context and the cultural references, I think group discussions about the disturbing images would be most helpful.

Personally, I had a hard time with the artwork. I found the characters either looked too similar, or their expressions in certain panels changed them too much and they didn't look the same. (ex. Evey after her fake prison confinement)

I frequently consulted the wikipedia entry and this site to get through it, so I'm sure young readers might need support with following the plot as well. And, the ultimate reason why this book should be read under the guidance of an instructor or librarian: V the character is custom-made for discussion and debate! Is he a hero or a villain? What does this story mean today for modern readers--how do we see V's actions in light of our modern society's struggle with terrorism? Characters like V appeal to the American zest for lone gunmen and vigilantes and freedom fighters--but I worry about American teens, esp. males being V for vulnerable to complicated ideas that no adult is explaining to them.

Last week, while discussing the teen romance books, I mentioned in class that sometimes these books are not welcome by parents because they fear just having them in the library will give their children ideas. Well, I snicker at that premise when it comes to sexual content, but I just cannot when it comes to violence. I do worry that reading about, and seeing violent content will harm children and young adults. I was disturbed by some of the images in "V" and wish I had not seen them. (ex. human torso's hung on meat hooks)

I plan to find some information on the connection -- if any -- to violent behavior in teens and exposure to violent content in books. I started thinking about violence (and what was acceptable) in children's and young adult fiction last semester, and heaven knows I probably will continue to for some time.

That is all. Librarians Prevail.

Two Teens Walk into a Bar...

In honor of the time frame in Nick/Nora, I read the novel in one sitting. I felt just as tired (but pleased and happy) when I closed the book after midnight as they did when Nora jumped over that turnstile. Kind of like I created my own *sense around* experience or something.

And you can never go wrong when a love story ends with the pair hopping on a train . Lucky Jim, anyone? A top favorite of mine by Kingsley Amis.

Some thoughts on the book, in terms of its place in the current realm of YAL:

Were the two main characters straight-edge, I wonder, in order to make the book less controversial, or was it more of a plot device? One just would not have the stamina to stay out all night AND be coherent if they drank too. Just look at Caroline. N/N could not end with them passed out in a van, right?

Cohn gets credit for being edgy and realistic enough to depict teenage drinking, but not via any characters that readers will emotionally connect with.

Cohn did a fantastic job including homosexual teens interspersed with the heterosexual main characters. I appreciated how blended this world--with punk music connecting them- was.

As for Seventeenth Summer--(by the way, Maureen Daly just died last September) I was struck by how similar these four characters were as far as their depth of feelings for one another. Just goes to show that either way, adults should take teens seriously no matter what kind of relationship they are in (in terms of how sexually active they are). It's all legit, and all very, very real.

I think the main differences in two novels have more to so with the language. 17th Summer was so languid and sensual with the intensively descriptive passages depicting nature. Especially in the beginning, when Angie has begun to realize how different she feels--and how it must be because she is in love for the first time.

Reminded me of a Noel Coward lyric about a man describing how he was falling in love:
"Something very strange is happening to me/every cat I see seems to be purring/
and every single leaf/ on every tree/seems to be aware/of something in the air

N/N was also very internal, but used sparser language. But then again, although both books have limited time frames, Daly's takes place over a long hot summer, but Cohn's is just one brief night in Spring.

Both were lovely first time reads for me, personnaly.

Another Antidote

In addition to Adbusters--which can be quite strident, I would also plan to have Stayfree in the periodicals collection and in any online resources at any HS library I ran.

It's funnier, it's younger, it's completely media related.

Adbusters Will Save Us All

Ah, Merchants of Cool. I battled revulsion on several fronts while viewing this documentary.

Revulsion one: The disingenuousness of Dee Dee Gordon and to a (only slightly) lesser extent, Jimmy Iovine while they justified their careers. But I felt very vindicated and relived when I read the teen transcript. They quoted my thoughts which smelt down to this: Just admit you do this because it pays a lot of money!

Then, go ahead and prattle on about Dylan and Lennon and how Eminem is just a continuation of their legacy. I would actually be in a more receptive frame of mind to their insights once this very real fact was aired and addressed. Please don't hide behind phony pragmatism. It just makes you look like a clueless a**hole, instead of just a garden-variety corporate tool a**hole.

Revulsion Two: I hated seeing how other Americans place their priorities --choosing to spend their precious time on such ultimately useless pursuits as screaming in the streets while snotlicking drunk or making sure they have on the right outfit and makeup before stepping outside. I'm not saying we should be spending every weekend on a habitat for humanity project, but clearly, many of the young folks filmed in MOC spend most of their time and efforts on activities that don't support the positive development of their character.


This to me was the most insidious revelation about MOC. Everyone knows teens are so vulnerable--playing up on their fears about beauty or sexual attractiveness--just so you can sell sneakers and carbonated corn syrup. To Todd Cunningham of MTV I ask, Sir, have you no sense of decency, at long last?

I once read some musing by Jack Keroac--can't recall the title it came from, but the general idea has stayed with me. It's another example of the feedback loop Rushkoff identified in MOC. To paraphrase, he wrote about laying in bed one morning, hearing all these other people rushing off to their jobs, so they could get money to buy more doodads.

It's our love of possessions, and doodadery that's crippling our society right now. We have what me and an old friend long ago identified as "poverty of the soul". Many Americans seem convinced that they need a lot more money than they actually do. Most paychecks are allocated to buying more crap. More. Useless. Crap.

If I end up working in a High School library, I truly hope I can offer Adbusters to the periodicals collection. Because after watching MOC one is left with a "well, what now?" frame of mind. Is this acceptable, to allow big companies to dictate teenage behavior --encouraging that behavior to constantly be acting out its basest desires? Reading Adbusters will allow teens to truly deconstruct the intricate maze marketers have created and perhaps get themselves extricated from the feedback loop that currently has many of them entwined.

The Young People Like It....

Back in the day (sometime in the 90s) I used to say this title phrase (snarkily) while referring to myself or my peers when discussing books, movies, and music. It was a catchphrase among some folks I hung out with.

Now I have no cause to say it, because I just don't know what those mysterious modern teenagers like. Not only has it been too long since I was one of this tribe, too much has changed anyway for my memories, dim ones at that, to have any effect on connecting with this current generation of teenagers.

Looking at what appears to be popular on Myspace, Youtube or social networking sites doesn't help. I check out something that's very viral on these sites, and most of the time, I just don't get why they think it's so funny. And I wish I did, because sharing a sense of humor is the best way I know to connect with anyone quickly.

My ambition for this class is find out what's actually of interest to this age group. Not what the mass media thinks they like. I don't trust what I see in movies or television shows to show me who these people are.

But if I know anything, the mock-ups of teens the entertainment industry consistently throws our way gets the biggest guffaws from the real thing. I know I cracked up watching Beverly Hills 90210 --but did this generation laugh at The OC, or just dig it? I get a sense this generation is more earnest and literal. They certainly live in darker times. I wonder what this cultural climate does to one's sense of irony?

Obviously I believe good literature, both classics that might (initially) make them groan, and popular books that accurately depict their worlds with all its concerns, will be my best chance to make that connection. But, sadly, I find myself in a feedback loop. Identifying those titles brings me back to my original quandry-what will the young people like?

But hey, I guess it' s my lucky day-- I have convieniently enrolled in Young Adult Literature this semester-a whole semester to figure out what's boring, lame, and useless, and what's not.

I certainly hope The Catcher in the Rye still has some currency. I would love to help readers see the humor in this book. I read it when I was sixteen (and like others, reread it many times), but it wasn't until later, upon a random reread in my '30s that I realized how funny, funny, funny ol' JD can be.

My blog title refers to Holden's revelation to his sister Phoebe about his 'crazy" fantasy job:
After his precocious sister corrects him on the actual words to the Burns poem --"It's If a body meet a body coming through the rye!" Holden explains:

"Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around -- nobody big, I mean. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff -- I mean if they're running and they don't look where they are going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all."

Well, that's how I see my job as a school librarian. Kids are running around all over the place, metaphorically, and if I give them the right book, they won't go off the cliff.

Standing on the edge,
Eileen Parks