Buy handmade

If you find yourself looking for gifts now or in the future, consider checking out this site which encourages buying handmade items. It has a pledge you can take which means you'll buy handmade items for people, and request that they do the same for you. Besides avoiding lead in toys, buying handmade supports creative crafters and looks oh-so-chic. Support craftivism!

Mmmmmmm... lip dubs

I was messing around with Twitter and found someone in our fair city who was talking about posting more stuff to Vimeo, so I popped over to look at it. (Well, it was that or sweep the floor-- what would you do?)

The real plus appears to multiple privacy settings so users can decide who will (and won't) see their vids. I don't know if I'd ever find myself using it-- we're comfortable with our public family blog Talk About it More-- but this lip dub of a bunch of cousins who got together over the holiday was kind of cute.


Lip Dub : Lollipop from Cameron Christopher on Vimeo.

Bookmarklet goodness

Librarychicken reminds me how to do this every now and then, and this time I'm going to write it down so I can refer back when I forget, because it is that awesome. So sayeth librarychicken:

"On http://www.acpl.lib.in.us/acpl2.html at the bottom there are links for both Firefox search plugins and bookmarklets. You highlight words on ANY Web page and it will search our catalog for that. You can do it with keywords, subject terms, and titles/authors (though it actually performs everything as a keyword search). I hope you like - spread the word!"

This is better than chai, friends, and that's saying something.

It's 10:00, do you know when Diwali is?

OK, it's almost December and perfect strangers everywhere from the gym to the grocery store are talking about the upcoming holiday season. But dear readers, this is no made-up story-- I have friends who don't celebrate Christmas-- just like many other people in our community.

Imagine for a moment going through a December day in our town without the common bond of Christmas. Those lights, the gooey treats, the sparkly window displays of bright, shiny goods, the jaunty music being piped in overhead-- none of it is for you. Imagine going to your local library for a moment's respite from the holly-jolliness of it all only to sit beneath a North Pole bulletin board and look down to find your child coloring a reindeer.

I have never been a believer in holiday programming in public libraries. While I do believe these programs can inform, educate, entertain, and culturally enrich our community, I believe that there are already plenty of other free local outlets for that type of activity, and I could never begin to cover the scope of holidays that are celebrated by our area's population. To try to do so would be ludicrous. There are plenty of other ways to get people into our library, highlight our collection, and pique my interest as a programmer.

I am, however, a staunch advocate of cultural programs. The one I've immersed myself most fully in is our Day of the Dead program-- one that still elicits smiles, grimaces, or stony silence from many staffers. While this is, in actuality, a Mexican holiday, it is programmed from a cultural perspective and every year I study more to try to make our celebration more authentic and educational. Well over 500 people were in attendance in this, its fifth year of observance at the Main Library. This Friday I'll visit an exhibition at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago. It promises to be awesome!

I can get so worn down when the staff or the public put up a wall and don't want to understand about Day of the Dead. They sometimes have preconceived notions which they feel entitled to keep beyond any logical reason. It is this sense of entitlement to Christmas and other mainstream Christian (even secularized Christian) holidays which I think keeps us from being thoroughly sensitive to the needs, and even the lives, of others who are not exactly like us. Having friends who don't celebrate the same holidays as me helps me remember that, but it doesn't necessarily help me with sensitivity or professionalism. It's up to me to work on it.

But as I prepared to write this post I had to admit that my own logic was biting me in the ass. If anyone's culture should be able to be represented at a public library, that means anyone's. Most of the mainstream population in our area does celebrate Christmas in some way-- either "Santa Christmas" or "Jesus Christmas" as I used to inquire as part of my reference interview on the way to the holiday materials at Children's Services. Since the personal creativity of the programmer is held mainly inviolable at our institution (and that's a good thing), any tasteful program should be met with favor.

It would be interesting, though, for people to leave comments about any cultural programming they've done over the last five years or so. I look forward to reading them!

Secret shopping the library, sort of

As you probably know, I still work at the library in a part-time-on-call status. I spend most of my time at home with two darling daughters now, though, so the greater part of my time at the library is spent as a patron these days. I think the blog might be a good place to try to get a discussion going about this in-house kind of topic-- or at least offer some food for thought for anyone who's still reading.

I believe myself to be in a sort of "secret-shopper" mode at our library. I wouldn't think this, except that since leaving full-time status, staffers have made comments either directly to me or within my earshot about my parenting methods, my politics (because of my clothing) and my choice of library materials. Not people I know well-- I could have (perhaps) understood that. It bears mentioning that friends in my playgroup have come to me with similar issues, leaving me to try to "explain them away".

I am not bringing this up on the blog for any sort of redress-- when I felt it necessary I already took it up with department manager/s in question-- but I'm as concerned about the library's public image as the next guy (or gal). If these gaffes are happening to me and to my peer group, then how widespread is the issue?

Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide, Wild World

My kids are loving this CD/DVD set and so, quite frankly, am I. Keeping this fact to myself to keep the rest of you from placing a hold on it would be greedy. I put a purchase request in for it awhile back-- just long enough ago for it to have felt like a pleasant surprise when it arrived.

Now, if you know our family very well, right now you are saying, "I thought your kids didn't watch TV, you big... TV WATCHERS!" And it's true. We do try to live by the AAP recommendation that kids under two eschew TV as much as possible. And beyond that, we also limit the amount and type of media that our five-year old consumes until she is old enough to be able to deconstruct the media messages which bombard today's youth. I mean, really-- I get sucked in by marketing sometimes, and I think the fact that it's used so relentlessly on kids is merciless! But we do watch a small, selective amount of programming with our kids from time to time.

The DVD portion of Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide, Wild World, which has been aptly described by the New York Times as "Dr. Seuss meets 'Yellow Submarine'", is actually a string of animated music videos that explain how Gustafer Yellowgold came to Earth from the Sun and lives here now with sundry strange friends. When we watch it together, it gives us a great springboard for discussion (or dance), and Fiona calls the separate songs chapters, so it's very easy to turn off at virtually any point when we need to move on. What's more, the lyrics are below each frame in the Weston Woods-esque animation. It's quite a lot of fun.

Holy cow! In linking for this post, I've just noticed that the new Gustafer Yellowgold album, Have You Never Been Yellow?, just won the Fids and Kamily Awards this year! I think I feel a materials request coming on...

Accidental angel or outreach librarian?

I've been selected to be someone's stand-in godmother because the real deal is in another country and can't come home for quite some time. So yesterday I found myself standing in the middle of the Christian bookstore in my hometown looking for that perfect gift that said, "I am honored to be your stand-in godmother but am not trying to hog the spotlight from your actual one, sweetie."

While I debated my options, another woman nearby hailed a sales clerk. "Ma'am, I need your help," she began. "Next month I am supposed to read to a class of five-year olds. I want to read a story about Christmas, but it has to be secular-- it's in a school, you know-- but I want it to have a message. My presentation is supposed to be twenty minutes long. Do have any suggestions for me?"

The salesperson began rifling through the display, asking questions and assessing book length and number of words on the page. I was surreptitiously watching her selections and wincing. But after all, how many secular choices would one expect to find at a Christian bookstore? She loaded the woman up and invited her to sit down with the picks to read and assess them at her leisure.

They were still poring over the bookshelf when I could stand it no longer and inserted myself into the conversation. "You say you're reading to five year olds? I'm sorry, I couldn't help but overhear. I'm a Children's Librarian. If you're reading to kids that age you don't have to read one story aloud for that entire period of time. In fact, I advise against it-- especially if you're a guest and unaccustomed to the group." I went on to quickly explain how movement, songs and fingerplays can both break up and enhance a storytime. Both women blinked in surprise. The clerk stopped paging through a wordy wonder to digest my presence.

The customer proceeded to ask me if I had any Christmas "message" books to recommend. "Oh, I wish I had internet access so I could get to the library catalog," I said. "I've been up to my elbows in Thanksgiving materials lately. I don't know the holdings of the library here, but there would certainly be plenty of options for you there as well as staff to help you narrow down which books have the stories you actually want and need. Public libraries have both religious and secular choices for all ages. For free!" As soon as it came out of my mouth I realized that as true as it was, it probably didn't sound very pro-bookstore.

The salesperson gave the book in her hand to the customer and said very graciously to her, "Well, there are are angels all around us. One finds you right when you most need one. Yours just did!" and then she went back to scanning the shelf. Feeling like I may have already said more than enough, I melted back into the baptismal gifts.

Later, as I headed to the register to check out, the customer spotted me again and sidled up beside me with a large pile of books in her arm. "Oh! How'd you do?" I asked. As it turned out she couldn't find a single title that seemed secular enough for public school. I helped her reshelve them.

Over the course of our conversation she indicated that she didn't have a library card and didn't seem terribly inclined to go get one. But out of the blue she placed me from my days as Outreach Librarian and bookmobile driver at the extended care facility where she works. This amazed me beyond belief as I haven't worked (or lived)in my hometown for around five years now. I left the store with her reference question and business card.

While I think I blew some aspects of that encounter, there is a woman in the world who has a higher opinion of libraries and librarians than she did previously. It is conceivable that she'll even opt for a library card once I present her with some viable options, although the immediacy and permanency of a bookstore seem to be her current mode of operation.

Public libraries are not serving this woman inside or outside their brick-and-mortar walls, but she lacks some of the typical barriers. She is:

• volunteering for a school (time)
  
• purchasing books (expendable income)
  
• communicating with me via email (technical skills)
  

It is possible that Outreach has done what library buildings and library technology couldn't do for that woman-- given her answers right where she is.

Facebook: networking I never expected!

OK, I have yet to delve into MySpace. I already have an account languishing "out there" somewhere, and I can't remember which email account I used to set it up, much less what my password is, so I'm letting that perk in the back of my brain for awhile to see if it'll come to the surface before I simply scrap it and start over.

I DO, however, have something to share regarding Facebook! I was at an evening library function-- the meeting where interested parties rank Newbery titles according to our own tastes and criteria-- when the topic of Facebook came up in terms of "must try".

Of course I went home and set up an account post-haste. I really enjoyed it in a way that I hadn't yet gotten into MySpace yet. Thus far I have found it to be more streamlined, less cluttered (though there ARE plenty of extras for it) and more user-friendly. And I used it pretty regularly until I got my wisdom teeth pulled; at which point my whole life sort of crumbled into a messy puddle which I'm still trying to mop up.

Anyway, part of my Facebook profile indicates my enjoyment of children's music, librarianship, and zerberts. Those things are all true, and they're not things I worry too much about virtually anybody knowing about me, so they're posted there. I was, however, stunned to get a friend request from a Robert Burke Warren.

"OK, who the *&!@* is Robert Burke Warren?" I asked myself as I checked him out. Turns out he's Uncle Rock, children's singer and songwriter from New York. He found, via Facebook, that I enjoy children's music, and wrote me personally to introduce me to his work. He also noted that I'm a children's librarian, and let me know that he does concerts. He offered to send me a CD for myself as well as one for my library. (So heads up, CHI, that's on the way to you).

Now THIS is networking! I already knew about Uncle Rock from reviews I'd read elsewhere. I first head about him when I discovered the song "Picnic in the Graveyard" on YouTube while preparing for our library Day of the Dead program years ago. But this... this was the other way around. Uncle Rock discovered ME! Facebook, and other social networking sites like it, truly do have the potential to bring people together in new and useful ways. (And also gives people across the globe a chance to play Scrabulous together as well, I'll admit it).

Make a list, check it twice

As much as I hate to jump onto the "talking about the gift-giving craze before I select a turkey" bandwagon, I feel compelled to share the fact that the TRUCE (Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children's Entertainment) Toy Action Guide is available and ready for free distribution! Get it while it's hot!

According to the Campaign for a Commerical-Free Childhood, "the Toy Action Guide is an invaluable resource - particularly at this time of year - for parents, teachers, or anyone concerned about the commercialization of children's play. It contains information on how to select toys that promote positive play and reduce the influence of harmful toys on children. There is a list of TRUCE's 2007-2008 recommendations for "Toys for Healthy & Creative Play." You will also find a list of "Toys and Toy Trends to Avoid," such as toys that lead children to spend more time with TV or other media, and/or let the screen take control of their play.

"The guide also includes tips for making toys more environmentally friendly; resources for anyone with concerns about the toy recalls; and suggestions for "Shoe Box Gifts," an alternative gift idea that promotes play around themes with common objects often found around the house."

The old saw says that it's not easy being green, but there's no need to feel Grinchy with the TRUCE Toy Action Guide at hand! I love the shoe box gift suggestions, and think I'm going to have to make one as a new sibling gift long before Turkey Day arrives.

It's all zooglobble to me... and I absolutely love it

Have you read the blog Zooglobble? Well, have you? I don't think it's enough to leave it in my blogroll. I have to put the actual words right here to give you a chance to consider some thoughts by Stephan Shepard, married father of two from Phoenix, Arizona and consumer of vast amounts of children's music. His reviews, along with the Fids and Kamily Awards that he's a part of (creator of?) help me know what music to put on hold or request at the library for my own DDs. This post, entitled "More Joy", is from November 6th of this month:

In case you haven't checked out Offsprung's forums, cheekily called The Playground, it might be worth a little time. For example, this thread (noted by loyal reader Katy) unearthed a video on YouTube for "My Children, Be Joyful," by the Canadian band Rock Plaza Central. (Well, if "unearthed" is the verb for a video featured on YouTube's front page and with nearly 300,000 views.)

The video takes entirely unrelated footage from the Canadian television show Nanalan, which, I gotta say, looks suspiciously like a little show called Jack's Big Music Show. Or vice versa. Anyway, the song builds up to a frenzy (la la la's, violins, and, like, a dozen horns) and the frenetic puppets somehow fit perfectly. And, yeah, it's joyful.

Not bad for a song from an album (Are We Not Horses, released in the States this year) that is "all about robotic horses. Robotic horses who think they are real horses. For real. Caught in a battle between good and evil. Between angels and humans. And after eradicating the world of the angels, wondering if they fought for the right side." Yeah, that might not be so much for the kids. Or maybe. I don't know. I kinda want to find out, though.

By the way, if you want to get the track for free, head on over to the band's Myspace page to download it and three others.

What songs are bringing you and your family more joy?

Instant messaging revisited

Goodness, I don't need to roleplay an IM reference transaction with someone to do my 2.0 homework. I DO these transactions regularly-- real ones-- with librarychicken!

Imagine the scene: Fiona, who is currently totally jazzed about Scaredy Squirrel books, draws a huge, complicated map using paper and markers that features our own backyard squirrel, Truck Legs. Like our literary friend Scaredy, Fiona employs the use of a map with lots of circuitous arrows.

She shows it to me. Bursting into laughter, I exclaim, "Easy, John Madden!" Of course, then Fiona needs to know who John Madden is and what he has to do with her lovely squirrel route. I try to explain, then sit down and the computer to attempt to find an illustration.

At our house, sitting is an open nursing invitation, so suddenly I'm typing one-handed. I check the little Messenger icon in the lower right of my screen; and sure enough, our library's IM reference is on-duty.

Yessssssssss! Not only does Fiona get to see one of these drawings in action, I even learn that the device Madden used is called a telestrator.

So, just in case the library needs a shot in the arm for this service, just knowing how to do reference does not necessarily make it easy to do at all times and places, and I am very, very pleased with the the service I have received since going to part-time-on-call. IM reference rocks! (As does librarychicken, of course).

More about Flickr

So, to be truly able to say I did all my homework, I should share with you that I have indeed set up a Flickr account, and our library is now one of my contacts so I can follow the new photos loaded there. I browsed new/popular tags, commented on photos, uploaded my own photos to my own new account, and blogged about it. End result? I really hope someone will give me a Flickr pro account for Christmas. I've been good!

Now I'm almost sorry I have the Flickr bug, because it allows me to share more photos than our baby book blog, Talk About it More, does. Far away relatives (that's all of them) can follow Fiona and Nora's growth more closely. But in order to do it right, I'd have to go back and Photoshop all the photos I might want to share to have a ghost of a chance of being able to fit even a fraction of them into my free monthly quota. (Part-time-on-call does have drawbacks).

Also, I have only been including photos of our daughters, ourselves, and people whom I have asked persmission or know to be comfortable with Flickr technology, and I'm even more vague when tagging. (We did find other sisters named Fiona and Nora through the wonder of Flickr tagging--whoa!) Am I morphing into a worrywart? Will I someday own 200 cats?

The Golden Compass

Has anyone else been re/reading The Golden Compass to be prepared for the December 7th movie release, or even just the controversy surrounding it? Does anyone else think the related snopes.com article doesn't seem especially neutral or balanced? I use that site for neutral, reliable debunking in a reference context from time to time. I am not wondering about the debunking in this case, just the overall neutrality of the piece.

I linked the book title above to Commonsense Media's book review, but since it's not in theaters yet, there's no movie review available there yet. I notice the Commonsense book review doesn't mention anti-Christian themes.

Want to know more? Fortunately, our library has (or has ordered) a number of interesting books about Pullman's series, as well as the series proper.

• Dark Matter : Shedding Light on Philip Pullman's Trilogy His Dark Materials
• Killing the Imposter God: Philip Pullman's Spiritual Imagination in His Dark Materials
• Navigating the Golden Compass: Religion, Science, and Daemonology in His Dark Materials
• The Science of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials

Twitter this

I've talked to a lot of people who are lukewarm about Twitter. It remains to be seen, once I use it for awhile, whether or not I'll like it much, I suppose. But it was actually pretty easy for me to remain open-minded about Twitter despite so many people being a-twitter with bad buzz because I heard an NPR segment this May that briefly described the technology, and described some more colorful ways of using it. For instance, Twitter holds enough characters for Twitter haiku!

Also, I just noticed on one of my favorite websites, Parent Hacks, that some beleaguered parents are using Twitter in lieu of blogs-- or even baby books-- to document the milestones and minutiae of babyhood. You can Twitter one-handed!