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How to Advertise Fiction in the Library

 I think that some of the best resources that a library has to advertise its fiction collection are the librarians themselves that work with the collection. Many fiction collections are already high quality, with vast and varied collections that service all kinds of different reader needs. So, what is the best way to get patrons to come and interact with that collection? How do libraries reach members of the community that haven't been to the library before? Some may think that patrons prefer to use Internet resources or social media for their recommendations, or using the digital library services on offer. This is a perfectly fine way for them to interact with the collection, but there are opportunities that librarians can become a guide, or even a quasi-salesperson, for those patrons by offering conversation. The public library is not a business, so to blanket apply business practices would be a mislead gesture, but there are elements of customer service and salespersonship that
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Separating Urban Ficiton and LGBTQ+ Fiction

If I were in a position of choosing between separating Urban Fiction and Queer Fiction from the rest of the general fiction section of the collection, my first instinct would be to reject the idea. Especially if it was prompted by patrons feeling "uncomfortable" about having these works housed in the general adult collection. This pressure does feel as though it is coming from a place of prejudice and segregation.  Urban Fiction may commonly contain overtly explicit themes, but these themes are also commonly found in other parts of the general fiction collection. Sexuality is prevalent in romance and relationship fiction. Visceral violence is easily found in detective and war fiction. These other genres are not separated from the general collection due to these themes, nor the identity of their authors, so we are left to wonder what exactly it is about urban fiction specifically that makes these patrons uncomfortable. And yes, the works are indeed fiction and not indicative o
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Week 13: Adult Readers and YA

 I wouldn't be me if I didn't reference Star Wars at least once in my writings. In 2007, at mega convention Star Wars Celebration , in front of thousands of adoring adult fans of the franchise, creator George Lucas answered a very serious question about the inception and inspiration of the first film. His response: "It's a film for 12 year olds." While some may take this as a damnation, and an open infantilizing of those adult fans, I believe (and I believe Lucas himself believes) that this is a strength of the film. Yes, the Light Side and the Dark Side are very cut-and-dry morality, and the film relies on classic adventure tropes and basic hero's journey structure of fantasy, but it is due to these things that the film has such a timeless quality to it. Youths may view it and feel a sense of belonging and identity, while adults can feel reinforced and nostalgic of those very same things. Adults can remember and identify with the same struggles of morality t
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Young Adult Book Annotation: More Happy Than Not

I chose to annotate More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera for my Young Adult selection, and the annotation is up here ! This was a delightful novel with science-fiction appeals, with procedures of memory manipulation and induced amnesia. I admittedly struggled at first reading the novel, attributed to my "cringe" reactions to the teenage vernacular and drama. That's not the novel's fault, it's mine, and I think it may be a shared experience a lot of adults may have in reading YA fiction meant for another generation. I've got a lot of memories of my own teenage years I'd like to excise from my own brain that haunted me before bed that the novel forced me to recall, and I don't think I'm alone in that. The science fiction appeals maintained my interest fully; I love a narration that can layer upon itself or misdirect with unreliability, which this novel succeeds at. Embrace the cringe, and enjoy the ride.
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Non-Fiction Matrix for Devil in the White City

  I chose to make my non-fiction matrix for the novel The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America (2003) by Erik Larson. The novel is a dramatic retelling of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, and the simultaneous true-crime horrors of H.H. Holmes, based in Chicago at the time. 1. Where is the book on the narrative continuum? This novel is presented in a highly narrative style. 2. What is the subject of the book? The novel tells two simultaneous, seemingly unrelated stories of the main event designers and architects of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, switching back and forth with the life and exploits of H.H. Holmes, prolific serial killer. They intertwine as the Fair attracts people from all over the world, and unknowingly, to Holmes's "Murder Castle". 3. What type of book is it? While the book draws from official documents, records and newspapers for its material, the narrative presentation highly dramatizes
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The Island of Sea Women Annotated

 My annotation for historical fiction is up here ! I chose The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See, from 2019. This was a fascinating book about a culture I didn't know existed, but became enthralled by! Through various life circumstances, the women of the island came to be the workers and fishers while the men stayed ashore to care for the children. These haenyeo divers developed a long and lived culture, that through the course of the novel, faces changes, exploitation, and political threats over the course of Japanese occupation, the Korean civil war, and modern day. Framing this narrative through the fictitious characters and their changing relationship brought in elements of relationship fiction, and gave an emotional depth and bitter nostalgia to the passage of time.
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The Appeals of eBooks and Audiobooks

 I love The Lord of the Rings . But as a fan, I feel like I have to own up to a particularly embarrassing confession: I have never read the books. I have tried on multiple occasions to hold Fellowship in my hands and let myself get carried away to Middle-earth, but the very robust and grandiose verbiage that gives the series its depth can be its own roadblock. Though I haven't read the books, I have listened to them on audiobook at least 3 times through in my lifetime, with surely more to come. This I think is one of the great strengths of an audiobook. Not only are they convenient for multitasking, but great audiobooks with effective narrators (and perhaps even sound effects and music) can bring a book alive like a spoken-word tale. The emphasis and drama in the reading can help give the punch needed for climactic scene, or the subtle whispers of something meant to be unheard. If overdone, yes, the narration can be too cheesy (or way too lifeless and dry) for the listener to cont
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