Miscellaneous Monday - The Power of Books

A couple weeks ago, while the hubby and I were out and about town, I received a text message from my dad’s cell phone.  I wasn’t certain it was from him, as my mom will sometimes text me from his phone instead of her own, depending on which is handier at the moment. The text asked about a book:

The princess and the goblin. A book. Started to read in the second, maybe third grade. Never got to finish it, had to turn it back in to the bookmobile. Could never find it again. Have u ever heard of it?

The name sounded familiar, but I wasn’t certain.  A quick search on amazon brought up a Victorian fairy tale by George MacDonald.  It is available as a free Kindle book (The Princess and the Goblin). I texted the info back and within moments my phone started ringing.

Photo from Morguefile.com

My dad, who recently celebrated his 59^th birthday, told me that he had started reading this book when he was young – perhaps in first grade.  The bookmobile would visit the Catholic school he attended.  Either the nuns at school or his mother at home had given him a fear of returning a book late, so he returned the book without finishing it.  Being a young child, he didn’t realize that he could renew the book or request it so he could check it out again.  Fast forward over fifty years and he is still thinking about the story and wondering how it ends.

How amazing is that? 

In libraryland we often talk how important books are in a child’s life.  We are asked to find books that a patron read and loved as a child, but can no longer recall the title or author.  My dad’s story is just one example of how the written word can stick with a person throughout his life.  Dad told me that over the years he would think about this book from time to time, wishing he could read it to the end. 

Miscellaneous Monday - So, You Want To Be a Youth Librarian

I’ve wanted to do a post that takes the reader on a journey through my typical day at work. There are two reasons I have yet to do this. 1. I have found that I don’t really have the time to take photos for the post. 2. The few times I started a list of activities I was doing that day, I was soon so busy that I wasn’t able to write everything down. Usually the list was abandoned within three hours.  

 I am one of the lucky few who can say I love my job. I am a librarian. More specifically, I am the Assistant Manager of the Youth Services department at my library. I’m sure most who read that will just see the librarian part and assume I get paid to read books all day, with the occasional craft thrown in (if they noticed the youth part). My job is so much more than doing crafts and reading books.  

 While it is true that there are times when I do read on the job, usually I am reading picture books I have chosen for storytime. As for crafts, more often than not, I quickly put together a sample that will be used during a program. The library field often requires Master of Library and Information Science degree to be titled a librarian. I obtained this degree knowing that I would be required to do much more than read books and complete crafts.  

 So, what else do I do? I have many tasks to take up my time. Here is a sampling of those duties:

• I research and prepare book lists, called bibliographies, for children of all ages.
• As a youth librarian, I plan and present programs for children aged 3-18, though not all in one program! Conceivably I could plan and present programs for infants and toddlers as well, but we have others in my department who usually do those.
• I order books, magazines, and audiobooks for teens for four of our seven locations. At one time I ordered those materials, as well as CD-ROMs, DVDs and music CDs for children aged 0-14 for five locations.
• I attend conferences, workshops and webinars. Sometimes I even present at these events. Topics are of a wide variety, including readers’ advisory, database training, programming on the cheap, early literacy, and violence in the workplace. I’m expected to be an expert in most things related to youth. This goes beyond children’s and teen literature and includes cognitive development, education, literacy, trends, and interests.
• The library is part of a community, which means it is important, as a youth librarian, to have a presence in the community. I visit schools and daycares, and facilitate their visits to the library. I must know what is happening in the communities of which our system is part – local, regional, state and national. For example, when a school closes its library doors, or drops art from its elementary curriculum, we strive to fill the gaps.
• In keeping with being involved with the community, I serve on the board for a local chapter of a national literacy organization. Others in my library are active in local business associations, Kiwanis, Rotary, and similar organizations.
• I maintain the youth collections. While I am directly in charge of the teen collections at four locations, I also help with weeding the children’s collections that my staff members maintain. This includes doing an inventory of materials, checking to see that the items are on the shelf and pulling those that need to be replaced and/or withdrawn.
• I help to maintain the bulletin board and display decorations at one branch. This might not seem like a lot, but the bulletin board is the length of the children’s department…about one third of the building. It’s freakin’ long.
• At all locations, reference and readers’ advisory questions take up a portion of the day. At some locations the questions often seem non-stop. Is your child looking for a book to read? Does little Taylor have a project due at school? If you visit my library when I am working, I will be there to help. If you are a teacher, I will help you find materials to use in the classroom.

These are just a few of the activities that fill my work week. I attend meetings, deal with staffing issues, observe others’ programs, answer emails, write grants and even assist at the circulation desk from time to time.  

 When I get home from work, or during my lunch breaks, I use the time to read books, blogs, journals and other professional resources. I listen to audiobooks in the car and on my iPhone. Most of the books I read are written for people under the age of 18. These can easily be considered work related activities, but I very rarely do them on work time. Luckily, I enjoy this part of my field.  

 So that, in a nutshell, is what I do as a youth librarian.

Miscellaneous Monday - Five Fun Youth Party Themes

As a youth librarian, I am always looking for fun program ideas.  I’ve noticed that a lot of our programs would make fantastic children’s parties.  Here are five fun ideas that go beyond the traditional party themes. (Links are to my Pinterest boards for those themes).

1. Superheroes

A great theme for preschoolers through tweens.  Design your own superhero, complete with logo and mask. Hold a trivia contest and run an obstacle course.

2. Supernatural creatures

This is sure to delight tweens and teens. Trivia, snacks, crafts and a zombie apocalypse drill.

3. Spa Day

Give manicures and pedicures, make jewelry, lip gloss, bath salts and more, sip mocktails from fancy glasses. Tween and teen girls will have a blast.

4. Upcycled Crafting

Upcycling is all the rage! Crafts made from materials that would normally be recycled or thrown away, such as egg cartons, bread tags, floppy disks, and cereal boxes.

5. Mad HatterTea Party

Show a whimsical side with a tea party inspired by Alice in Wonderland.  Giant tissue paper flowers, brightly colored sweets, and a game of “flamingo” croquet.

Miscellaneous Monday - First Book and Summer Slide

This was originally posted on my Ama Reads blog. 

For the past several months I have been a part of a Local Advisory Board for First Book.  This organization is important to me not only as a youth librarian, but also as someone who very nearly became an English teacher.  When you throw in the fact that I cannot remember a time when books were not an important part of my life, it is understandable that I would want to be involved with First Book.

A non-profit organization that provides access to new books for children in need throughout the United States and Canada, First Book strives to alleviate the illiteracy issue plaguing our nation’s poorest residents by partnering with organizations, classrooms, and other groups in the community.  In addition to providing books, First Book raises funds to use for grants.  If you work with children in an area with a high level of poverty, you may be eligible for a grant through First Book. 

As school lets out children are susceptible to Summer Slide.  While this is an issue for all youth, it is especially so for those in low-income areas.  With little or no access to quality books or even computers, these children are at a disadvantage. Over the summer months, children in low-income households fall behind an average of 2 months in reading. Thankfully most libraries have free Summer Reading Programs that can help alleviate the educational divide, but unfortunately, many children may never step foot in a library. 

This is where First Book can help.  For instance, the local chapter of First Book has a program called Food for the Brain Campaign in which they visit a number of community meals and nutrition sites and give new, free books to the children attending, providing those from low-income households with reading materials.  By going to where the children are and giving them books First Book helps to fight Summer Slide.  

Want to help support First Book?   Local Advisory Boards are made up of people from all walks of life - teachers, librarians, business owners, retirees, parents, grandparents... anyone can volunteer.  They can use donations of funds or of time, whether ongoing or only once.  Check out their website to search for a Local Advisory Board near you.

Miscellaneous Monday

A year ago I treated myself to a subscription to Ancestry.com. On some of my family lines, I got to the point that in order to go back any further I needed to, as the saying goes, to “jump the pond”. With that in mind, a few months ago, I upgraded my account to the full access subscription. I now have access to the records in the database from all over the world. 

Shortly after upgrading my sub, I talked my Canadian friend, Sharon, into letting me research her family. We both were then sidetracked by other interests. This past week, however, we returned to the researching fun. 

What a lot of fun it is! Perhaps it is the researcher in me, but every time I find a new link, I get excited. It doesn’t matter if that person is related to me; when I discover information or people I didn’t previously know, my internal self does a happy dance. 

Alright. I may have been known to do fist pumps and exclaim aloud on occasion. 

Grandma Ethel's birth record

 It doesn’t take much information for me to get started. A few names, dates and locations are all that is needed to start on the path to more. Like with my friend Sharon. She didn’t have much to give me at first. She told me her parents’ names and dates, and those of her grandparents, but she wasn’t certain of some of the info. For example, she thought her grandma Ethel was born in Russia. With a little searching, I found a birth record for someone with the same name who was born in Ontario, Canada. She fit the other criteria: parents born in Russia, family was Jewish, and born around the right time. After asking her father about it, Sharon informed me that I had the right person! 

It is amazing to me. After 23 years (that’s nearly 2/3 of my life!) of doing genealogy, I am still as excited by the work as I was when my friend Jessica’s mother first introduced me to the field.

Miscellaneous Monday

Blurry photo of Uncle A with his treats.

My month of giving started a bit early.  On Thanksgiving eve I baked cookies and made some candy for my mom to take to one of my uncles.  Every time Uncle A saw me he would ask where his cookies were.  Mom delivered them on Thanksgiving and snapped a blurry photo of him grinning while holding the goodies.   Mom also delivered a box of goodies (of the non-edible variety) to a cousin for her two youngest.

I haven’t really been keeping track of my random good deeds.  That’s not the point of the project.  I can share some of the things I’ve done.

• Made banana cakes and took slices to three departments at work (well, two were actually branches where I was working that day).
• I also took a plate of banana cake slices to a local pizza restaurant.  My staff and I have our meetings there about every two months.  We have lunch and then discuss whatever work things we need to go over at that time.  We are rarely there less than 2 hours.  The owner of the restaurant also donates coupons to be used as a Summer Reading prize.  So I figured it would be nice to show my appreciation.
• Gave a woman and her granddaughter a coupon from my Entertainment book.  I was seated near them and heard the younger one order an appetizer.  The coupon was for a free appetizer with the purchase of two entrees.  They were surprised and delighted.
• I also gave a couple of coupons to a coworker.  She and her husband like to go roller skating, so I passed along the coupon I had for their local rink.  As they are both gluten free, I also passed along a coupon for a pizza place that I know offers a GF pizza that they both enjoy.
• The hubby and I choose a child’s wishlist from a giving tree and purchased several items. Thus far this has been the most expensive act of giving.
•  I pulled two cards from another giving tree and will be donating a $10 gift card for both Walmart and Giant Eagle (a grocery store in our area). 
•  Sponsored a Night Night Package with ProjectNight Night. This idea came from The Bloggess.
•  Gave several coworkers Gold Canyon air fresheners for their cars.

I’ve few other ideas mulling in my head, but haven’t yet put them into action.  There is still time, since there is still three weeks until Christmas.

Miscellaneous Monday

At a recent crop I decided to make a few cards instead of scrapbooking. I made five cards that night.

I am going to another crop this Friday night.  My big plans are to make Christmas cards.  Once upon a time I made Christmas cards every year.  That was when I sent out over 100 cards - and had them all ready to be mailed by December 1!  I know.  That's just crazy.  Well, my list has gotten a lot smaller (as postage prices have increased) and this year I plan to make about 50 cards.  I might not mail all of them, but I will have them in case I want to!

Miscellaneous Monday - Family History Searching 101 - Continuing the Search

You have your list of names, places and dates and you’ve collected some of the family stories. Now what?

As I mentioned in a previous posting, your local library or genealogical society can be a great help. Perhaps you can’t get there just yet. What can you do?

Go online!

Some states have vital records – birth, marriage and death records – available to view online. The years may be limited for a variety of reasons – loss of records, to help prevent identity theft – but you can still gather a lot of great information.

Look for the Social Security Death Index. You can often find birth and death dates by searching the SSDI.

Check your library’s online databases. Some databases can be used from outside the library. If there is a genealogy or newspaper database, you have a wonderful resource to use.

Speaking of newspapers – many recent obituaries are now online. You can find a lot of information from an obituary. The person’s parents’ names, his birthdate and place, his death date and place, names of spouse and children (and sometimes children’s spouses and their children). Usually an obituary will list where the person worked, what school she attended and community groups in which she participated.

These are just a few of the free resources available online. There are many others that cost money. I have been doing genealogy for nearly 25 years and I started paying for a subscription for an online database only six months ago. For many years I used the database through the library. This was great…until I wanted to do more research from the comfort of my couch.

Miscellaneous Monday - Family History Searching 101 - Where to Begin

Today's miscellaneous post is about searching for your roots.  I've been working on my own family history for over 23 years.  Yes...I was a tween when I started, thanks to a friend's mom teaching me the basics. 

NOTE: I wrote this post for a content site called Bubblews, where I have also shared some of my other blog posts.

Want to know more about your family history, but aren’t sure how to begin? Here are a few tips to get started on your search.

My dad ran off to be a cowboy at a very young age.

• Write down the information that you know. Names of your parents, grandparents, spouse(s), children, siblings. Dates and locations of births, marriages, divorces, and deaths. 

• Take note of family stories. Have you always been told that your great-great-grandfather died of alcoholism in a nearby county jail? Write it down. It might be a folktale, but it could very well be the truth! 

•  Talk to other family members. They might tell you that they don’t remember or know much about the past generations. Chances are you will both be pleasantly surprised by what they remember once you start asking.

• Go to the library or local genealogy society. Many will have an expert available to help you with your search. Arrive armed with your notes and you will quickly be on your way to finding your family’s past!

Miscellaneous Monday

It has been over a month since I we brought Luna home.  The Hubby mentioned this weekend that he thinks that Spike’s body is changing.  Spike’s midsection seems more solid.  He still has a bit of a pouch to his stomach, but he doesn’t feel quite like the Fat Puppy that Hubby likes to call him. 

"Treats, please?"

I’ve noticed it too.  Or thought I did, at least.  So much so that I weighed both of the kids a few days ago. Little Miss Luna Belle weighs 17 pounds.  Spike still weighs 27.4.  So he hasn’t lost any weight, but we think he might have gained back some muscle.

It makes sense.  I’ve been feeding both of them a mixture of dry kibble and homemade, protein-rich food and Spike has been getting a lot more exercise by playing with his little sister.  He has been on a joint supplement for about a month.  I still notice some nights he is a bit stiff, but I think that has decreased as well!  

Last week’s home cooked meal was different than the previous weeks.  I must really love those pups.  I bought some slices of beef liver and boiled them with some brown rice, carrots, frozen peas and frozen green beans. Good gods! That sure does stink!  I also browned some ground sirloin.  When it was finished cooking, the liver “soup” went into the food processor.  I added some oatmeal (made with the rest of the liquid in the stockpot), cottage cheese, and the ground beef. 

While it was cooking I had made the kids a quick meal of scrambled eggs, pumpkin, ground beef, cottage cheese and oatmeal.  Spike wasn’t too sure about that.  I’m guessing he isn’t a fan of pumpkin.  Such a fussy eater!  He did eat it, though.  My guess is that he didn’t want Luna to have any.

The leftovers of the pumpkin mixture were added to the rest of the food. Neither dog has complained about their food since!

I made this over a week ago and still have a bit over a quart left.  I froze several quarts that night and have been pulling out a container as needed.  One quart is usually enough for about 2 days (2 meals a day).  They also have some kibble to nibble on throughout the day - about 2 cups worth total. 

Ever since I started processing the homemade food into more of a pastelike consistently, Luna hasn’t had another regurgitating episode.  I really do think the issue was because she would eat her food so quickly.  Between switching to a partial kibble diet and processing the food, she seems to be cured!

A note about the regurgitating issues.  The day Luna was spayed, her doctor did an x-ray of her chest and esophagus to make sure she was OK for surgery.  At that time the veterinarian was able to see that Luna does not have something called megaesophagus, something that we had discussed as being a possibility for the regurgitating.  When I took Luna for her follow-up appointment, we discussed it again.  Her doctor agreed that it was likely due to eating her food too quickly.  So I am not diagnosing and correcting a medical condition for my dog on my own.  I am stating my observations after discussing the issue with the appropriate medical professionals.

Miscellanous Monday

September has been filled with all sorts of excitement. 

The month started off with vacation.  It was mostly a stay-cation for me, but extra special because my friend Sharon, who lives in Canada, came to visit for a week. We went to a scrapbooking crop, shopped a lot, got manicures and just had a relaxing and fun time.

Then, on September 10 my sister in Texas gave birth to Madelynn Joy.  Madelynn is my parents’ first grandchild. She is absolutely beautiful! 

That same evening, the hubby and I added our own bundle of joy to our family.  Spike got a little sister named Luna.  One year old and full of energy, we found this Boston terrier beauty through a Facebook group that hubby and I belong to.  Luna and Spike are still adjusting to one another, but overall they have been getting along well. 

On Saturday, Spike and Luna had a playdate with their furcousins Murphy and Bennie.  We found out that Luna can run like crazy and that she loves rawhide type treats.  Sunday was spent mostly sleeping – especially Spike.  Poor guy doesn’t bounce back from playdates as well as he once did. 

Both of my furry babies have a vet appointment on Friday.  Hopefully they will get clean bills of health.  Since we have a new baby in the house, I have been doing some research on dogs.  I’m also trying to slowly change their food from an all-kibble diet to a healthier, fresher food diet (2/3 cooked food, 1/3 kibble).  Any recommendations for recipes are welcome!  I now know that Luna enjoys cottage cheese, but isn’t fond of carrots.  Spike will eat cottage cheese, but he really LOVES semi-cooked carrots.

Keep an eye out for photos to be posted later this week!

In not so fun excitement, this weekend was spent dealing with plumbing issues – again – in our house.  This time it was the kitchen/laundry room (they share a common main pipe).  This is far from the first time we’ve encountered issues.  Looks like I can’t use the garbage disposal without issues arising. Bah.  Humbug.  Thankfully the hubby and his dad were able to get it fixed.