Click here to read it.
I am happy not only to share what I do for horror promotion specifically but what all of us library workers do to help readers every single day.
Thanks for asking Sadie.
 |
| click here to read the interview |
Friday, February 28, 2020
Women in Horror Month Interview with Me
I'm in Nashville at PLA but due to the work of past Becky and horror reviewer extraordinaire Sadie Hartmann, today I can bring you this interview she posted with me on the Cemetery Dance website.
Click here to read it.
I am happy not only to share what I do for horror promotion specifically but what all of us library workers do to help readers every single day.
Thanks for asking Sadie.
Click here to read it.
I am happy not only to share what I do for horror promotion specifically but what all of us library workers do to help readers every single day.
Thanks for asking Sadie.
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Unboxing Videos At Your Library Featuring Pell City [AL] Public Library
Back in May I wrote a post entitled "Why Aren't More of Us Doing Unboxing Videos at Our Libraries?" From that post:
One of the best things about this blog is that I can write a post one day and someone out in the library world finds it at a future time, the time when they most need to find it. I can help people in real time or in the future. I take this fact very seriously because I realize it could be a blessing or a curse.
Take for example this past Monday when the Pell City Public Library in Alabama reached out to me from a library, far away from me, about a post from 9 months ago about their unboxing videos after coming across the post above. They are very proud of their purposefully goofy unboxing videos which you can view here.
And I would agree they they are goofy, but that is because they are enjoying themselves and illustrating how fun the library is with their excitement. They truly love sharing each title as it comes in, even if they know nothing about it.
Unboxing videos are an excellent way to get your community excited about your collections, drawing them in across the physical virtual divide, and making the collection the star. Your enthusiasm is contagious and will draw patrons in to give some of the books a try, books they mightn't have know you carried without seeing the video. Sure they know you have the newest best seller, but do they know about some of the excellent smaller releases that your collection development people are adding on a regular basis?
Well, if you posted an unboxing video, your patrons would see every title, without them being already sorted by fiction/nonfiction or kids/teens/adult or even by format. We understand the breadth of our collections because we see the entirety all of the time; however, the average patron only knows about the items they encounter when browsing in their preferred section of the building.
Again, why aren't more of us doing these?!?!?! And don't say you are two small-- both of these libraries I have put a spotlight on are tiny. Also don't tell me you don't have the time. Are you opening the boxes of materials you are receiving? I am going to go out on a limb and say that is a yes for 100% of you. [Okay it's not a limb, but that is my point.] Well, when you open them, set up a camera to film it. There are no good excuses here to not do this.
An added bonus in Pell City, they film the videos in different parts of the building showing off their spaces too. They make a point to mention where they are in the building. You don't have to only unbox your books in the hidden back rooms of the library.
Thanks to Pell City Public Library for reaching out. If you are doing unboxing videos, please let me know. I want to showcase your work.
...What is an unboxing video? Well, they are videos where people open something new to advertise it in some way. Here is an article from last Fall in the New York Times that explains it and talks about why people really love them.
The other day I realized that this would be perfect for libraries. We could open up boxes of new materials as they come in and show them off to our patrons. Not only would this increase interest, it is also a wonderful way to showcase the breadth of our holdings. And it bridges that physical virtual divide perfectly-- showing people online what we have in the building and getting them excited to visit us.
So I went out in search of libraries who are doing unboxing videos and the only public library I could find who does these regularly is Hatfield [MA] Public Library. Click here to see their extensive unboxing video playlist. These videos are great because they do them regularly. It looks fairly low tech. They literally film themselves opening the boxes that come in, remove the items and talk about them. Sometimes it is nothing more than looking at it and reading the cover copy. And most importantly, they are having a lot of fun while doing it. Their excitement for every item is infectious.
A viewer cannot help but get excited to checkout one of the items. It is such a great advertisement for what we have in our collections. And, it shows the tax payers what they are getting for their tax dollars. It is a powerful marketing tool in many ways.Click here to read more from that post.
One of the best things about this blog is that I can write a post one day and someone out in the library world finds it at a future time, the time when they most need to find it. I can help people in real time or in the future. I take this fact very seriously because I realize it could be a blessing or a curse.
Take for example this past Monday when the Pell City Public Library in Alabama reached out to me from a library, far away from me, about a post from 9 months ago about their unboxing videos after coming across the post above. They are very proud of their purposefully goofy unboxing videos which you can view here.
And I would agree they they are goofy, but that is because they are enjoying themselves and illustrating how fun the library is with their excitement. They truly love sharing each title as it comes in, even if they know nothing about it.
Unboxing videos are an excellent way to get your community excited about your collections, drawing them in across the physical virtual divide, and making the collection the star. Your enthusiasm is contagious and will draw patrons in to give some of the books a try, books they mightn't have know you carried without seeing the video. Sure they know you have the newest best seller, but do they know about some of the excellent smaller releases that your collection development people are adding on a regular basis?
Well, if you posted an unboxing video, your patrons would see every title, without them being already sorted by fiction/nonfiction or kids/teens/adult or even by format. We understand the breadth of our collections because we see the entirety all of the time; however, the average patron only knows about the items they encounter when browsing in their preferred section of the building.
Again, why aren't more of us doing these?!?!?! And don't say you are two small-- both of these libraries I have put a spotlight on are tiny. Also don't tell me you don't have the time. Are you opening the boxes of materials you are receiving? I am going to go out on a limb and say that is a yes for 100% of you. [Okay it's not a limb, but that is my point.] Well, when you open them, set up a camera to film it. There are no good excuses here to not do this.
An added bonus in Pell City, they film the videos in different parts of the building showing off their spaces too. They make a point to mention where they are in the building. You don't have to only unbox your books in the hidden back rooms of the library.
Thanks to Pell City Public Library for reaching out. If you are doing unboxing videos, please let me know. I want to showcase your work.
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Follow PLA 2020 and RA for All Schedule
PLA begins today in Nashville and starting tomorrow I will be there too.
But even if you are #PLALeftBehind, many attendees, myself included, will be Tweeting about the conference using #PLA2020.
Click this link at anytime, whether you have a Twitter account or not, in order to see what is going on. I was not there last time in 2018 [due to a family trip that overlapped, not the snow] and I spent a lot of time using that conference's hashtag to stay in the loop. I took quite a bit away from that conference and managed to communicate with a few new people I didn't know, all from Twitter. Do not under estimate how much you can learn from afar.
Also, those of you who are there in Nashville, you cannot be everywhere. Even attendees can learn from the sessions and meetings they are NOT at by checking in with #PLA2020 periodically.
Now as I said, I will be there Thursday- Saturday myself, so let me give you a sense of what to expect here on the blog during that time.
Thursday, I have a post all set to run about Unboxing videos.
Friday, a Women in Horror Month interview I did with the venerable horror magazine, Cemetery Dance, will run on their site and on both blogs.
Monday, sign-up for HWA's Librarians' Day will go live at 9am central and I will have a post about it. [Click here for the EventBrite link to preview the event.]
That means that my PLA recap posts will not start being posted until Tuesday [at the earliest].
However, while I am at PLA, I will be tweeting regularly and using #PLA2020. When I am in a session, I tweet the entire session as one thread so that it is easier for me to pull up the notes for each session at once. So, if you want a sneak peek as to the recap I will be posting later next week, use the hashtag over the next few days. But when I post the summaries on the blog, I will have direct links to each thread of my notes and some commentary on overall thoughts.
And with that, this post goes back to its beginning, so I think it is. time for me to go. See some of you in Nashville, in person, soon.
But even if you are #PLALeftBehind, many attendees, myself included, will be Tweeting about the conference using #PLA2020.
Click this link at anytime, whether you have a Twitter account or not, in order to see what is going on. I was not there last time in 2018 [due to a family trip that overlapped, not the snow] and I spent a lot of time using that conference's hashtag to stay in the loop. I took quite a bit away from that conference and managed to communicate with a few new people I didn't know, all from Twitter. Do not under estimate how much you can learn from afar.
Also, those of you who are there in Nashville, you cannot be everywhere. Even attendees can learn from the sessions and meetings they are NOT at by checking in with #PLA2020 periodically.
Now as I said, I will be there Thursday- Saturday myself, so let me give you a sense of what to expect here on the blog during that time.
Thursday, I have a post all set to run about Unboxing videos.
Friday, a Women in Horror Month interview I did with the venerable horror magazine, Cemetery Dance, will run on their site and on both blogs.
Monday, sign-up for HWA's Librarians' Day will go live at 9am central and I will have a post about it. [Click here for the EventBrite link to preview the event.]
That means that my PLA recap posts will not start being posted until Tuesday [at the earliest].
However, while I am at PLA, I will be tweeting regularly and using #PLA2020. When I am in a session, I tweet the entire session as one thread so that it is easier for me to pull up the notes for each session at once. So, if you want a sneak peek as to the recap I will be posting later next week, use the hashtag over the next few days. But when I post the summaries on the blog, I will have direct links to each thread of my notes and some commentary on overall thoughts.
And with that, this post goes back to its beginning, so I think it is. time for me to go. See some of you in Nashville, in person, soon.
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Books Set in New Orleans for the Final Day of Mardi Gras
Fat Tuesday is one of those holidays that has transcended its religious roots. I mean take me for example, I am Jewish but we are cooking up a NOLA inspired dinner tonight at home.
But there are so many more great options. Here are a few other recent lists of books, fiction and nonfiction, for adults that are not just about Mardi Gras [or Katrina] and cover all the genres:
Your patrons are probably aware of Mardi Gras, but the literature of New Orleans goes so much deeper than this one event.
Now would be a great time to put up displays with fiction set in NOLA that doesn't have anything to do with this one celebration. Your "Mardi-Gras Hangover Display"-- great New Orleans reads for the rest of the year. Your patrons have New Orleans on the mind, why not suggest a book go with it?
It is when we anticipate their interests that we make the biggest impact on our patrons. We. surprise them by "reading their minds" when we suggest the perfect book for the moment via a display, online list, social media post, m etc.... This is an opportunity for meaningful impact you don't want to let pass you by.
Thankfully there are many lists out on the inter-webs to help you.
First I want to point you to one of my favorite reads from last year, We Cast A Shadow by Maurice Carlos Ruffin. Set in an alternative, dystopian NOLA centered on a father who wants to turn his son white. Here is an excerpt from my review:
Also our narrator [nameless] is the key to whether or not you will like the story. Yes he is not a great human, makes bad choices, and is fairly unreliable, but he is also extremely compelling. Ruffin inhabits him and in turn, he captivates the reader. The strong narrative voice here leads the reader though both the plot and the emotions. It was awesome. And, it had a very satisfying ending. Often in these books [especially debuts] where there are many lofty ideas, it doesn't come together. No worries here.
Ultimately this is a book that makes a strong statement about the state of race relations in America right now through an Alternative History lens with obvious satire, but does it all in a package that was also an enjoyable, compelling, and satisfying story.Now out in paperback and being singled out for many awards, Ruffin's novel is a great option for speculative fiction readers, those who want to look at social justice issues but still have an entertaining story, and would make a great book discussion book for any group.
But there are so many more great options. Here are a few other recent lists of books, fiction and nonfiction, for adults that are not just about Mardi Gras [or Katrina] and cover all the genres:
- From Electric Lit: 7 Books Set in New Orleans That Go Beyond Mardi Gras
- From Book Riot: Articles and lists with #New Orleans tag
- From Lit Hub: Articles and lists with the New Orleans tag
- I like this 2016 list in particular: Beyond Mardi Gras: A New Orleans Reading List
- Goodreads crowdsourced lists of books about or set in NOLA
- Don't forget to run a key word search in your own catalog to find even more titles.
Monday, February 24, 2020
Resource Alert: PLA Galley Guide
This week is the every, other year Public Library Association Conference in Nashville. As with all library conference, Library Journal puts together a Galley Guide, a list of all of the ARCs you can expect to find at the conference.
Here's the thing though, these guides are actually more useful to those left behind or to access and consult after attendees return. Why?
Click here to read my explanation from a last round of Galley Guides last spring. This post is about how and why Galley Guides are an excellent RA and Collection Development resource.
[Side note: please, if you are going to PLA don't be that person who has 6 bags of ARCs that you lug around.]
And click here for the 2020 PLA Galley Guide and get a jump on what books everyone is going to be talking about by reading about them today. Your colleagues who are running around and grabbing them frantically may posses the books in hand, but you will actually know what the books are about and why your patrons might enjoy them.
I will be there in Nashville from Thursday to Saturday and will have even more about some of the buzz early next week.
For now, whether you are Nashville bound OR #PLALeftBehind this is a resource that is useful to all.
Here's the thing though, these guides are actually more useful to those left behind or to access and consult after attendees return. Why?
Click here to read my explanation from a last round of Galley Guides last spring. This post is about how and why Galley Guides are an excellent RA and Collection Development resource.
[Side note: please, if you are going to PLA don't be that person who has 6 bags of ARCs that you lug around.]
And click here for the 2020 PLA Galley Guide and get a jump on what books everyone is going to be talking about by reading about them today. Your colleagues who are running around and grabbing them frantically may posses the books in hand, but you will actually know what the books are about and why your patrons might enjoy them.
I will be there in Nashville from Thursday to Saturday and will have even more about some of the buzz early next week.
For now, whether you are Nashville bound OR #PLALeftBehind this is a resource that is useful to all.
Friday, February 21, 2020
Using Awards Lists as a RA Tool: Bram Stoker and Nebula Edition
This is part of my ongoing series on using Awards Lists as a RA tool. Click here for all posts in the series in reverse chronological order. Click here for the first post which outlines the details how to use awards lists as a RA tool.
Yesterday, the finalists for two major speculative fiction awards were listed-- The Bram Stoker Awards and the Nebulas.
First up, The Bram Stoker Awards, the full ballot of which you can access here. Below I have posted the information about the award, including the link to the website with easy access to every finalist list and winner going back to 1987 as well as the Novel category. The horror blog has the full ballot, here.
The 2019 Bram Stoker Awards® Final Ballot Special Internet Mailer
Yesterday, the finalists for two major speculative fiction awards were listed-- The Bram Stoker Awards and the Nebulas.
First up, The Bram Stoker Awards, the full ballot of which you can access here. Below I have posted the information about the award, including the link to the website with easy access to every finalist list and winner going back to 1987 as well as the Novel category. The horror blog has the full ballot, here.
THE 2019 BRAM STOKER AWARD FINALISTS
The 2019 Bram Stoker Awards® Final Ballot Special Internet Mailer
The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is pleased to release the Final Ballot for the 2019 Bram Stoker Awards®. The HWA (see http://www.horror.org/) is the premier writers organization in the horror and dark fiction genre, with over 1,600 members. We have presented the Bram Stoker Awards® in various categories since 1987 (seehttp://www.thebramstokerawards.com/).
The HWA Board of Trustees and the Bram Stoker Awards® Committee congratulate all of those appearing on the Final Ballot. Notes about the voting process will appear after the ballot listing.
2019 Bram Stoker Awards® Final Ballot
Superior Achievement in a Novel
Goingback, Owl – Coyote Rage (Independent Legions Publishing)
Malerman, Josh – Inspection (Del Rey)
Miskowski, S.P. – The Worst is Yet to Come (Trepidatio Publishing)
Murray, Lee – Into the Ashes (Severed Press)
Wendig, Chuck – Wanderers (Del Rey)
Next up... the Nebula Awards. From their website announcement:
2019 Nebula Award Finalists Announced
February 20, 2020
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA, Inc.) is pleased to announce the finalists for the 55th Annual Nebula Awards, including the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation, and the Andre Norton Award for Outstanding Young Adult Science Fiction or Fantasy Book. The awards will be presented in Woodland Hills, CA at the Warner Center Marriott during a ceremony on the evening of May 30th.
2019 Nebula Award Finalists
Novel
Marque of Caine, Charles E. Gannon (Baen)
The Ten Thousand Doors of January, Alix E. Harrow (Redhook; Orbit UK)
A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine (Tor)
Gods of Jade and Shadow, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey; Jo Fletcher)
Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (Tor.com Publishing)
A Song for a New Day, Sarah Pinsker (Berkley)
Novella
“Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom”, Ted Chiang (Exhalation)
The Haunting of Tram Car 015, P. Djèlí Clark (Tor.com Publishing)
This Is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone (Saga; Jo Fletcher)
Her Silhouette, Drawn in Water, Vylar Kaftan (Tor.com Publishing)
The Deep, Rivers Solomon, with Daveed Diggs, William Hutson & Jonathan Snipes (Saga)
Catfish Lullaby, A.C. Wise (Broken Eye)
Novelette
“A Strange Uncertain Light”, G.V. Anderson (F&SF 7-8/19)
“For He Can Creep”, Siobhan Carroll (Tor.com 7/10/19)
“His Footsteps, Through Darkness and Light”, Mimi Mondal (Tor.com 1/23/19)
“The Blur in the Corner of Your Eye”, Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny 7-8/19)
Carpe Glitter, Cat Rambo (Meerkat)
“The Archronology of Love”, Caroline M. Yoachim (Lightspeed 4/19)
Short Story
“Give the Family My Love”, A.T. Greenblatt (Clarkesworld 2/19)
“The Dead, In Their Uncontrollable Power”, Karen Osborne (Uncanny 3-4/19)
“And Now His Lordship Is Laughing”, Shiv Ramdas (Strange Horizons 9/9/19)
“Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island”, Nibedita Sen (Nightmare 5/19)
“A Catalog of Storms”, Fran Wilde (Uncanny 1-2/19)
“How the Trick Is Done”, A.C. Wise (Uncanny 7-8/19)
The Andre Norton Award for Outstanding Young Adult Science Fiction or Fantasy Book
Sal and Gabi Break the Universe, Carlos Hernandez (Disney Hyperion)
Catfishing on CatNet, Naomi Kritzer (Tor Teen)
Dragon Pearl, Yoon Ha Lee (Disney Hyperion)
Peasprout Chen: Battle of Champions, Henry Lien (Holt)
Cog, Greg van Eekhout (Harper)
Riverland, Fran Wilde (Amulet)
Game Writing
Outer Wilds, Kelsey Beachum (Mobius Digital)
The Outer Worlds, Leonard Boyarsky, Megan Starks, Kate Dollarhyde, Chris L’Etoile (Obsidian Entertainment)
The Magician’s Workshop, Kate Heartfield (Choice of Games)
Disco Elysium, Robert Kurvitz (ZA/UM)
Fate Accessibility Toolkit, Elsa Sjunneson-Henry (Evil Hat Productions)
The Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation
Avengers: Endgame, Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely (Marvel Studios)
Captain Marvel, Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck & Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Marvel Studios)
Good Omens: “Hard Times”, Neil Gaiman (Amazon Studios/BBC Studios)
The Mandalorian: “The Child”, Jon Favreau (Disney+)
Russian Doll: “The Way Out”, Allison Silverman and Leslye Headland (Netflix)
Watchmen: “A God Walks into Abar”, Jeff Jensen & Damon Lindelof (HBO)
The Nebula Awards will be presented during the annual SFWA Nebula Conference, which will run from May 28th-31st, 2020 at the Warner Center Marriott Woodland Hills and features programming developed and geared toward SFF professionals. The Awards Ceremony will be held on the evening of May 30th. On May 31st, a mass autograph session will take place, which is free and open to the public.
The Nebula Awards, presented annually, recognize the best works of science fiction and fantasy published in the previous year. They are selected by members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. The first Nebula Awards were presented in 1966.
The Nebula Awards include four fiction awards, a game writing award, the Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation, and the Andre Norton Award for Outstanding Young Adult Science Fiction or Fantasy Book. SFWA also administers the Kate Wilhelm Solstice Awards, the Kevin O’Donnell, Jr. Service to SFWA Award, and the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award.
The Nebula Finalist Assistance Fund exists to help defray the costs of travel to the Nebula Conference for Nebula Award finalists (including Norton, Bradbury, and Game Writing finalists) who would otherwise be unable to attend. Donations may be made at: www.sfwa.org/donate — choose Nebula Finalist Assistance in the drop down menu.
For more information, please email pr@sfwa.org.
Thursday, February 20, 2020
Genre Crash Course in Historical Fiction
One of the best resources for the current state of each genre are the LibraryReads-NoveList Crash Courses. I have a link to the archives with access to each recording on my constantly updated "Becky's Favorite Free Genre Resources" page which you can access directly here or anytime at the bottom of my Ten Rules for Basic RA Service page.
So far they have tackled:
Michael Santangelo is the Deputy Director of Collection Management at BookOps, the technical services collaboration between the New York Public Library and the Brooklyn Public Library. Since starting as a children’s materials selector in 2005 for Brooklyn, he has had various positions working with collection development and technical services. He is currently the co-chair of ALA’s Public Libraries Technical Services Interest Group and is on the LibraryReads' Board of Directors. He reads in many genres and books published all around the world. Besides reading, his newest favorite pastimes are going to movie revivals, visiting friends up and down the East Coast, and daydreaming on the subway.
So far they have tackled:
- Science Fiction on January 15, 2019
- Crime, Mystery, Thriller on March 19, 2019
- Fantasy on May 21, 2019
- Romance on July 17, 2019
- Horror on September 24, 2019
Next up....Historical Fiction. See below or click here for details and to sign up. I generally miss the live webinar but I alway sign up so they send me the recording.
I have learned something from every single one, even the horror one. Everyone should watch these to get up to speed on the current trends, hot authors, and best practices when helping fans of the genre.
Do you have a go-to strategy for helping historical fiction readers? Whether your readers are fans of family sagas or shady ladies, let NoveList and LibraryReads break down the best historical fiction has to offer your readers — from Biblical fiction to World War II and everything in between.
Join us as they cover:
- Why readers love historical fiction and how libraries can ramp up their collections
- How historical fiction developed, including classics, newcomers, and awards to know
- Subgenres and trends
- NoveList insider information on genre headings, appeal terms, and more
We welcome anyone interested to stay for an additional 15-minute training to share search strategy tips and learn where to access genre-related information in NoveList.
Wednesday, March 25, 2020 from 2-3pm Eastern
Optional NoveList training from 3-3:15pm Eastern
Optional NoveList training from 3-3:15pm Eastern
 |
| Click here |
By submitting your personal information, you acknowledge that EBSCO Information Services will collect and process your information in accordance with its Privacy Policy, including the categories and purposes of use for such information as described here.
Panelists:
Michael Santangelo is the Deputy Director of Collection Management at BookOps, the technical services collaboration between the New York Public Library and the Brooklyn Public Library. Since starting as a children’s materials selector in 2005 for Brooklyn, he has had various positions working with collection development and technical services. He is currently the co-chair of ALA’s Public Libraries Technical Services Interest Group and is on the LibraryReads' Board of Directors. He reads in many genres and books published all around the world. Besides reading, his newest favorite pastimes are going to movie revivals, visiting friends up and down the East Coast, and daydreaming on the subway.
A former lit instructor and medieval scholar-turned-RA Librarian, Kimberly Burton brings in-depth knowledge of genre fiction -- plus a passion for helping readers discover stories they’ll love -- to all she does at NoveList. She loves a great list (who doesn’t!) and develops Recommended Reads book lists, Book Discussion Guides, and other innovative RA content throughout NoveList databases. An omnivorous reader, Kimberly especially likes medieval fantasies, historical fiction, gothic fiction, and supernatural horror. Her first crush was Sherlock Holmes (more recently supplanted by David Rose of Schitt’s Creek). She enjoys true-crime TV, making art, and petting cats. Kimberly is a former ACRL fellow and current NCLA member.
Moderator Halle Eisenman leads the Editorial Content Team which oversees the creation of the lists, articles, book discussion guides, and all the other amazing and informative content you can find in NoveList. Prior to working at NoveList, she spent a dozen years working for a public library system in a variety of roles, but no matter what her job title, her favorite part of any day was suggesting books to patrons. When not at work, Halle can often be found walking her dogs (they get lots of exercise when she’s listening to a particularly riveting audiobook), binge-watching TV shows aimed at teenagers, baking, or sitting on her back porch with a book. She is currently serving on the RUSA CODES Reading List Council.
Wednesday, February 19, 2020
Identifying Ability Diverse Titles for Adults
On my recent travels I was asked a very good questions by a library worker [paraphrased]:
Let's start with that language question. The least ableist term that has been standardized by NoveList as a search term in their database is "ability diverse." This allows for physical and neural "disabilities" to be considered together. The term "disabilities" is not preferred because of its inherent othering of those who are not "abled."
Ability diverse recognizes that there is a spectrum of how humans live physically and mentally.
There is also an argument for including protagonists with "chronic illness" in the ability diverse conversation. As someone whose only ability diverse issue is that I need glasses to survive [arguably the most normalized "disability], I defer to others on what should be included. My privilege is not trustworthy here. But again, in Novelist, you can search by "Chronic Disease" Whether or not you agree about including chronic illness in the ability diverse umbrella, it is important to recognize both as experiences that are marginalized in our literature and, especially, its promotion
As usual, the children's sphere of librarianship is ahead of the curve in helping library workers identify the very best of these titles for kids and teens with the Schneider Family Book Award:
But in the adult world we don't have anything more than keyword searches in NoveList and Google [although in this case you have to search specific disabilities if you want to find titles, which again feels wrong] and some limited book lists starting to be created by our peers [links coming].
Book Riot has also included this list at the end of the article:
There are many people in every community, your community, your neighborhood that would love to see representations of any ability diverse experiences in your collections, displays, and suggest reading lists. But we cannot simply put these titles on display together. They are not a genre! It is a frame, the experience of a character, but these books encompass every genre. And, genre appeal factors will be the largest deciding element, for most readers, as to whether or not they would enjoy the book.
Instead, we need to have lists and include keywords in our catalogs to allow for discovery but also, we need to normalize all experiences by including all voices in every display. Find a way to include books like these in your displays, displays that aren't only about the ability of the protagonist.
And finally, we need to work together to crowd source books for all readers, titles that represent the experience of all humans across the world, not only the white, heterosexual, abled bodied ones. Make lists and share them far and wide. Make them easy to find with a Google search using terms like "ability diverse." We can help more readers together than going at it alone.
I am trying to make lists of books that feature characters with disabilities but every time I try to do searches for these books I feel icky, like I am doing fetish searches. How can I identify these titles easier and what controlled language should I use?"I have also been asked this question in different ways where people have asked me about what is included in the term "disabled."
Let's start with that language question. The least ableist term that has been standardized by NoveList as a search term in their database is "ability diverse." This allows for physical and neural "disabilities" to be considered together. The term "disabilities" is not preferred because of its inherent othering of those who are not "abled."
Ability diverse recognizes that there is a spectrum of how humans live physically and mentally.
There is also an argument for including protagonists with "chronic illness" in the ability diverse conversation. As someone whose only ability diverse issue is that I need glasses to survive [arguably the most normalized "disability], I defer to others on what should be included. My privilege is not trustworthy here. But again, in Novelist, you can search by "Chronic Disease" Whether or not you agree about including chronic illness in the ability diverse umbrella, it is important to recognize both as experiences that are marginalized in our literature and, especially, its promotion
As usual, the children's sphere of librarianship is ahead of the curve in helping library workers identify the very best of these titles for kids and teens with the Schneider Family Book Award:
Schneider Family Book Award
About the Schneider Family Book Award The Schneider Family Book Awards honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.
Click here for the Schneider Family Book Award Manual (PDF)
Bibliography of Children's Books about the Disability Experience (pdf)
Click here for the Schneider Family Book Award Manual (PDF)
Bibliography of Children's Books about the Disability Experience (pdf)
However, yesterday, Book Riot alerted me to a possible new resource-- The Berbellion Prize. From the excellent article about the prize which includes some analysis on its possible limitations:
The Berbellion Prize is a new award for an author whose “work has best spoken of the experience of chronic illness and/or disability.” It will be awarded for the first time in February 2021 for a book published in 2020, with a cash prize of £600. The judges have yet to be determined. Jake Goldsmith, the author of the disability memoir Neither Weak Nor Obtuse, started the award to promote disabled voices, which so often go unheard. The prize is named after W.N.P. Barbellion, whose diary The Journal of a Disappointed Man, published in 1919, chronicles his life with multiple sclerosis.Author of the article, Margaret Kingsbury goes on to discuss the proposed award and the literary landscape for ability diverse woks in general. Please click through and read her piece.
Book Riot has also included this list at the end of the article:
If you’re looking for more books with disability representation, check out these lists:
This is yet another area where our patrons' representation is not reflected in our collections, book lists, and displays. Kingsbury also links to the CDC's page illustrating how disability impacts American citizens. The numbers are staggering; however, I suspect they are not inclusive of all "disabilities," so the number is probably much higher than 61 million affected.
There are many people in every community, your community, your neighborhood that would love to see representations of any ability diverse experiences in your collections, displays, and suggest reading lists. But we cannot simply put these titles on display together. They are not a genre! It is a frame, the experience of a character, but these books encompass every genre. And, genre appeal factors will be the largest deciding element, for most readers, as to whether or not they would enjoy the book.
Instead, we need to have lists and include keywords in our catalogs to allow for discovery but also, we need to normalize all experiences by including all voices in every display. Find a way to include books like these in your displays, displays that aren't only about the ability of the protagonist.
And finally, we need to work together to crowd source books for all readers, titles that represent the experience of all humans across the world, not only the white, heterosexual, abled bodied ones. Make lists and share them far and wide. Make them easy to find with a Google search using terms like "ability diverse." We can help more readers together than going at it alone.
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
Library Reads: March 2020
- I post the list and tag it “Library Reads” so that you can easily pull up every single list with one click.
- I can remind you that even though the newest list is always fun to see, it is the older lists where you can find AWESOME, sure bet suggestions for patrons that will be on your shelf to actually hand to them right now. The best thing about Library Reads is the compound interest it is earning. We now have hundreds and hundreds of titles worth suggesting right at our fingertips through this archive OR the sortable master list allowing you to mix and match however you want.
- You have no excuse not to hand sell any Library Reads titles because there is a book talk right there in the list in the form of the annotation one of your colleagues wrote for you. All you have to say to your patron is, “such and such library worker in blank state thought this was a great read,” and then you read what he or she said.
- Every upcoming book now has at least 1 readalike that is available to hand out RIGHT NOW. Book talk the upcoming book, place a hold for it, and then hand out that readalike title for while they wait. If they need more titles before their hold comes in, use the readalike title to identify more readalike titles. And then keep repeating. Seriously, it is that easy to have happy, satisfied readers.
Also, the Library Reads Board has also started another great book discovery and suggestion tool for you, a monthly What We're Reading column. This means there are even more library worker approved titles, new and old, for you to choose from.
So get out there and suggest a good read to someone today. I don’t care what list or resource you use to find the suggestion, just start suggesting books.
Also, please remember to click here for everything you need to know about how to participate. And click here to see a database of eligible diverse titles sorted by month.
