Force-fed satisfaction

It seems very rude to force things on people, but I'm learning - and working on - doing just that. Because sometimes that's what you have to do in order to satisfy. For most people, if something seems too complicated, or if they think they would be wasting your time by asking for help, they will just pass on whatever it is they wanted to do. If you insist, however, that they go ahead and request the book or create the account, etc., they get what they wanted, learned something new, are incredibly appreciative, and ultimately leave with a good feeling about the library.

Does your library have members?

In the most recent American Libraries newsletter, there was a link to a blog post about a talk at the recent American Library Association convention. "Patron" or "Customer"? Consultant Makes the Case for "Member". What a brilliant idea! That way everyone is part of a club. No one wants to be patronized, and we all know that customers are not always right, especially when they habitually claim that their late items were actually on time. It's a simple idea, but I've never heard it before, not even when we were discussing it in library school. Members have cards, and people who aren't members are guests. They pay dues in the form of taxes.

Gender bias or gender difference?

I am so sick of people talking about gender bias, especially regarding management. I'm sure it happens here and there, but overall we're pretty much equal as far as employment goes. In the library world, most of us are women. Yet a much larger percentage of library directors are men. Why is that? Are people still so sexist they have to hire a man to do the job? But wait: how many women vs. men apply for management postitions? Men just tend to be more ambitious. That's how it is. Many women have no interest in having power.

Regarding salary (in)equity, I believe that men are generally more daring when negotiating salaries. I also believe that they are more proactive in asking for pay raises, if applicable. There are differences between the genders. I don't know about you, but I'm glad we aren't all the same.

Photo courtesy meganpru

We read banned books

The most challenged book of both 2006 and 2007 is a children's book based on a true story of a couple male penguins raising a chick from an orphaned egg. The book is And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell. It must be a terrible book if it's been challenged more than any other for the past two years, right?

The library I work for is in a conservative community, so they never even purchased the book to begin with. After thinking about it for a while, I finally ordered the book through ILL (inter-library loan) from another library that saw value in adding this wonderful children's book to their collection. I was surprised it was as good as it was. It was so sweet, I almost cried. What on earth could be wrong with it?

What a good book to teach children about different families and about adoption. Oh no, they're gay! People really piss me off. Kids everywhere are not getting the chance to read this book that's destined to become a classic. Why? Because their parents are homophobic. This really happened, people! Get over yourselves and realize that homosexuality is perfectly natural. For goodness sake, don't teach your children to hate!

I bought my own copy, and I recommend that everyone else buy at least one copy. Buy one for family, buy one for friends. 

Note: The library where I work has bought a few copies since this post. They are shelved in the "Parenting" section.

Classify by discipline, not subject

While looking through this book I cataloged at my internship this morning, I had an epiphany. Let me begin by saying that they don't really teach the Dewey Decimal Classification System in library school anymore. We briefly covered it in my cataloging class, but it wasn't enough to learn how to build numbers. Recently, this problem has been a big topic among catalogers and library schools. That's the most important reason for an internship- to learn this stuff and get practice. Anyways, this book explained that the DDC is arranged by discipline, and not by subject. At first they sound the same, especially since we say "subject" for the classification numbers at work, but there is a distinct difference. "It is the mode of discussion that is scientific, not the subject." Since the mode of discussion for theology books is "scientific," they are cataloged as nonfiction. Otherwise they would have to be fiction, of course.