Response to "Close the Libraries"

In response to this article: http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2014/07/18/close-the-libraries-and-buy-everyone-an-amazon-kindle-unlimited-subscription/  I wrote:

Libraries are about information. I'm an American librarian who works in Texas. Daily, we teach individuals how to use computers, software, tablets and yes, even smartphones and Kindles! As librarians (and media specialists as they're called in our schools), we engage daily in bibliographic instruction that includes the use of technology to access library information--but our instruction is not limited to that. Unlike teachers and peers, librarians are specifically trained to manage information and to find information of all kinds efficiently. Librarians are the most qualified professionals to evaluate information sources and teach how to effectively use the massive amounts of information we have.

Librarians are actively engaged in teaching literacy: several different kinds of literacy actually. We provide traditional literacy activities (storytime, book clubs, language learning, etc). We provide civic literacy--teaching individuals the skills they need to pass the citizenship exam or programs for teens that bring them into contact with the government (Teen Advisory Boards). We also provide technological and practical literacy. People learn to use computers, how to build a web-page or even how to code an original video game. Individuals who visit the library are able to access and learn how to resources such as circuitry, video editing, 3D scanners and printers. Programs vary from library to library, but all libraries attempt to engage our visitors with a sense of wonder and then give them the tools to work with the awesome technology that is available today.

Cutting costs is what you're addressing in this article. However, the cost of cutting access to literacy building (tech and traditional) is priceless. A society without skills is a society that cannot be productive or creative. Literacy is important, as Dale Carnegie -- a capitalist's Capitalist knew! Librarians are about books and the literacy skills all people need to know in order to function as productive, creative and vital citizens.

Oh... and as an aside, I have no problems with free markets. I want people to use bookstores and buy books from Amazon. Heck, I do! Interestingly enough, people who buy books are often the biggest patrons of libraries!

Cake pops: attempt #1

I am determined to make really cool and cute cake pops. So far, I am not succeeding...In this batch, I tried mixing cake and frosting to create the little Angry Birds. I used candy corn for the beaks and chocolate for the eyes. I used food coloring and chocolate powder for the one that was supposed to be the black bomb bird. However, I really felt that they turned out too sweet. But here's the attempt for the record. I think this project could be a great teen/tween program. Teens could be challenged to create all kinds of characters or shapes. The mix can be prepared ahead of time and it's not expensive to work with.

Augmented Reality Shelf Reader: A dream come true

Yesterday, while doing some research about mobile technologies, I stumbled across this video. It describes an augmented reality (AR) technology that is being developed in Oxford, Ohio. As a person who has always disliked shelf reading (though I do like to shelve), I am in love with this. Automatically, the device shows you if a book is out of place! Check out the coolness below:

This technology app is being developed by Matt Hodges and Dr. Bo Brinkman who demonstrates the technology.

Slideshare presentation: WorldCat User accounts how-to

I was visiting my Slideshare site to get a link for another presentation I'd added there and I was shocked to see that 148 people had viewed my presentation and I'd just added it last week! I was really excited--148 is a lot of people to me. I feel like a rock star... LOL. :)

This slideshare is a powerpoint (or PDF) that shows anyone how to create a WorldCat account so that they can create bibliographic lists, keep notes, save tags and keep track of their information and reading. WorldCat's online and more social site lets users read reviews from Goodreads and from WorldCat itself. Users can rate books and can also share, export and remix their content in many interesting ways. This presentation is pretty nuts and bolts... it really just scratches the surface of what can be done, but you should be able to make an account with no problems afterwards! Check it out:

Using WorldCat from Susan Barnum

BRLA Fall 2012 Convention

Today I attended the Border Regional Library Association (BRLA) Convention at the Rio Grand EPCC campus. BRLA is an organization founded in 1966 for the promotion of library services in the El Paso, Las Cruces, NM and Cd. Juarez area. It was also co-sponsored by REFORMA and TxLA. The conference was short, lasting only until after lunch, but was enjoyable. I saw many people that I have worked with in the past that I hadn't seen for a while and a few newer faces, too.

I attended two workshops, a District 6 meeting of the Texas Library Association (TxLA) and had a great lunch with an inspiring keynote speaker.

My first workshop was about bullying, especially how it related specifically to young people who are LGBT and Latino. This was interesting and presented some information about different resources that I wasn't aware of already. A few things that I learned that I thought were interesting were that bullies and the bullied are both more likely to have problems later in life. It seems obvious that those who are bullied would have problems, but those who are the bullies have problems, too. They're different problems, but no less serious. I was also surprised to find out how many Hispanic families are accepting of LGBT-identified people. There is also a resource for Christians who identify as LGBT that is accepting of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. This is a good resource for anyone who lives in a traditional or religious community.

Here is a list of the resources I learned about today from the first workshop:

• Trevor Project: Suicide prevention and help for LGBT youth. Includes chat feature for young people who aren't comfortable calling someone on the phone for help. Also has a youth-friendly social media space.
• It Gets Better: Videos and testimonials from adults reminding young people that things do get better, especially when you are out of high school!
• Believe Out Loud: Christian web site embracing LGBT people.

For a full list, open this PDF from the presentation.

The next part of the conference for me was the District 6 meeting. El Paso, TX is part of District 6 in TxLA. The President-Elect, Dr. Yvonne Chandler was at the meeting and it was Cheryl Feldman's last meeting as District 6 president. Dr. Chandler talked about upcoming TxLA plans and Cheryl encouraged us all to keep promoting libraries. We voted on various positions, and I'm now an alternate representative! 

My next workshop was about UTEP's special collection's department archive project. UTEP has been restoring and making their many archival images available online. The process that each photo and negative goes through is painstaking and sensitive work. The staff estimate that if each photo from the collection was lined up end to end they would reach the moon and back! The image collections can be found online here.

We were served a great lunch and then listened to the keynote speaker, Luis Herrera, who recently won Librarian of the Year from Library Journal and was appointed to the National Museum and Library

Services Board by President Obama. In his speech, he discussed how libraries should have a digital vision of the future and that librarians need to become experts in using new technologies. He said that libraries provide a needed access to eLearning that some people would not have access to otherwise. Herrera also discussed how libraries and librarians are digital "culture keepers" in our society in the sense that we archive and save information for future generations. He said librarians are "problem solvers" and at the end, he challenged each  of us to share our library "story." Luis Herrera shared his: one of his worst summers was when he and his brothers lost their library books. During this time, there used to be library "police" who would come to your house and try to get the lost books back. He says he lived in terror every time he heard a knock on the door!

Great conference!