Cathy the Librarian

I just finished the Young Merlin series by Jane Yolen, and LOVED IT! Unfortunately, its only a trilogy. I was hoping that the cover was lying and that she changed her mind and wrote more in the series. There are three books (it is a trilogy after all). Here they are:
1) Passager
2) Hobby
3) Merlin

In Passager, the book starts with a small boy of about seven or eight years who has been trying to survive in the woods for about a year on his own. He sleeps in trees so that the wild dogs don’t attack him. He’s malnurished because all he eats are berries and small fish. His clothes became tattered and fell off long ago. One day he spots a man in the forest, and listening him speak, he begins to recognize words. He follows the man to his home and after much work, the little boy begins to consider the man and his family his own.

In Hobby, things have happened that separate him from his new family. He meets up with a magician and his wife and upon finding out that the boy’s dreams have a habit of coming true, they find ways of using the boy to make money. After making a couple of dire predictions, he is separated from the couple.

In Merlin, the boy goes back into the woods. He has over the four years since leaving the forest, lost some of his ability to survive alone. After being attacked by dogs, he is saved by a wild man. After the wild man leaves, Merlin follows him at a distance, until they reach a clearing and Merlin sees a large group of other wild people. They find out that Merlin has profetic dreams and they cage him up. His only friend is a small boy named Cub, who we eventually find out is the future King Arthur.

I love the Authurian style fantasy. There is a little bit of fantasy, a little bit of history. I highly suggest this to anyone who is at a loss for things to read this summer. It is both serious and lighthearted.

First let me say I love and hate technology. I have a PDA and I use a Yahoo calendar. Unfortunately sometimes when I sync them up, I lose vital information. Today was one of those days.

I had been looking forward to this program, Gamer’s @ Your Library, which was offered through this wonderful organization RRLC (Rochester Regional Library Council). They offer lots of great programs on all sorts of topics for public and school librarians as well as administrators and others. So I heard about this program, and I thought “Great! Another way to connect with the teens!” Weeks went by and I forgot about the program.

Then I get an email from my friend Molly and she mentions that there is a program at RRLC today. I frantically look at both my PDA and my Yahoo calendar. Nothing. Then I look at my RRLC account. Nothing. Then I check out a schedule that I had given one of my co-workers. Damnit! It WAS today! So I called RRLC and they said hurry up and get here!

Sally gave me the okay to leave (she is a very awesome boss after all) and I raced as quickly as I could to Fairport. Its not exactly a ten minute drive, but I got there. In Fairport, I couldn’t figure out where the building was. I was about an hour and a half late, but I got there with a couple hours left in the program.

Unfortunately, everything was A LOT more basic than I thought it was going to be. I knew a lot of what he talked about. Color me disappointed. He went over the very basic types of games, as well as a couple of each style. I watch a porgram called XPlay on G4 TV, which reviews a lot of games and goes over the different styles. Then there was a lunch break (so I got a chance to gab with other librarians. Yippee!) Afterwards we got a chance to play all the games. We played the Game Cube, Mario Brothers version of DDR which was TERRIBLE! I also played a racing game on the Game Cube and some card games. Then I signed up for Runescape. It was interesting, but I can’t imagine playing it for hours on end, but it was cute. Someone asked about Yugioh, and he said not to have those kinds of programs at your library because fights can break out. I have Yugioh at the library EVERY WEEK and so far not one fight has erupted. Everyone is extremely polite and well mannered.
In the end, I was glad for the chance to get involved with other librarians, but the class wasn’t worth it.

I work in Hilton New York, which is like every other small village. It’s small. I grew up five minutes from downtown Rochester, so if my mom was off and we wanted to do something in the summer, there were museums we could go to or Highland Park. There was stuff we could do.

Apparently, there is NOTHING to do in Hilton except:

1. Hang out in the library complaining there is nothing to do and when given things to do by the librarian such as:
a. crossword puzzles
b. regular puzzles
c. chess/cards/checkers
d. magazines
e. comic books
f. (or, god forbid) BOOKS!
They still say that they’re bored and that reading hurts their eyes. Maybe they should consider glasses.

2. Use the Internet ALL DAY with every family member’s card because we have time out software that only allows people to use the Internet for 90 minutes, until we have to tell them to get off because they’ve been on the computer for six hours and someone else might like to use it.

3. Throw books at eachother in the teen area.

4. Swear at eachother loud enough so that the kids can hear, but not loud enough for us to hear at the front desk.

5. Call me cunt under their breath so that I know they said it, but not loud enough that I know WHO said it.

6. Toss their bikes right at the door so that other people can’t get into the library.

7. Set fires, smoke, spray graffiti and make out in the alleyway between the library and the dentist office or right in the doorway of the staff entrance to the library.

8. Walk sneakily into the non-fiction section so they can look at the Joy of Sex or whatever other sex books we have and then leave them open so the kids can see them.

9. Steal the little creamers from Wilson Farms across the street and throw them against the floor in the entry way of the library so that they explode.

10. Hang out ALL day in the library, but NEVER come to any of my programs.

Hmm. I’m going to stop there before I get my blood pressure up, plus I like lists that go from one to ten.

I think it would be great if you give me ten reasons why you can’t wait for September love teenagers.

Sigh. Summer is here and I can’t wait for fall. Not only is fall my favorite time of year, but the summer is way too hot.

Oh and there are kids and teens everywhere! They just don’t know what to do with themselves, so they make out in the back of the stacks (teens), race in between the shelves (kids), set fires and spray paint the building (teens), scream at the top of their lungs when their sister/brother beats them up (kids), and generally run amok (everybody).

There are also some good things though. Some of them are doing the summer reading program, and try to read as much as they can. When I called the kids/teens that won prizes on Friday, a couple of them started screaming for joy. On of the teens came to the library within five minutes of finding out, and one of the kids within the half hour. That makes me happy.

I have a teen writing group, and at my first meeting two teens showed up! That’s great considering I expected none. We talked about the things that we liked to write, and then we created a character. Each of us (including me) are going to write a story about the girl and then bring it to the group at our next meeting.

Finally on Friday, I had a princess/knight tea party. This was fabulous! Everyone got dressed up, including our one knight and looked great. I even got dressed up in my wedding crinoline, a deep purple bride’s maid dress I had, and a realistic wig (since my hair is too short to be a princess’). I announced all the princesses (and knight) as they came into the room. Our youngest was a year and a half and our oldest was eight. Everyone had a blast. Some of them even tried the tea. I asked everyone to bring a tea cup and most did. We ate little sandwiches and little cookies, and we did a couple of crafts. Some of the girls had so much fun, they gave me a hug at the end. I know this will be the highlight of my summer. It was the cutest thing I’ve ever done.

If I didn’t like the kids and teens so much, I’d have to say that I CANNOT wait until September. Fortunately, I do like them, so I’m safe.

I’ve been trying to get them to sign up for summer reading, and its like pulling teeth. One five year old even started crying and sobbing out loud. “Mommy, don’t make me!”, over and over. I felt terrible. So then I started telling her about the books she could read, like “Winchell Cuts the Cheese”, “Magdelina Catelina Hoopensteiner Wallendiner Hogan Logan Bogan Was Her Name”, “Walter the Farting Dog”, “Stinky Smelly Feet” and “The Truth about Poop”. By the time she left, she was laughing out loud, and her mom looked slightly green.

I don’t know why kids dread reading so much. I try and put out great fun and COMPLETELY uneducational books out there for them, but they still don’t want to read.

What DOES get them to read however, is the giant candy bars and slices of pizza the size of their heads that I’m giving away as prizes.

I have TONS of programs for the kids and teens.

For the kids:

Throughout the Summer

Kids Reading Program
June 26^th through August 4^th
Two groups: for ages 4 – 8 and 9 – 12
Come in and sign up!

Kids Knit (or crochet)
beginning July 6 at 4 pm
Every other Thursday, grades 4 – 8
No experience is necessary!

Afternoon Movies for kids
beginning July 3 at 1 pm
G rated movie every other Monday through July 31
Bring snacks, your favorite blanket and stuffed animal

Elementary Book Group
4^th Friday in July & August @ 12 pm
Attention kids in grades 3 – 6, join us for pizza and discussion!
Sign up so we have enough pizza for you.
July – read an adventure of your choosing
August – read a fantasy of your choosing

Special Programs

Injest with Nels Cremean
July 5 at 2 pm for all ages
“In Jest,” blends clean comedy, flying objects, acts of balance, absurd theatrics, and assorted fruits and vegetables.

Animal Draw with Mary Beth Dolan!
June 29 at 2 pm, Ages 5 and up and limited to 25 kids.
A funny class for younger artists!
Learn how to draw the faces and bodies of several kinds of animals.
This program includes a cool take-home workbook.

Princesses and Princes Tea Party
June 30 at 12 pm, for all ages. Space is limited.
Let us know if you have any food allergies.
Join us for a special tea party with dainty sandwiches and peppermint tea!
Make sure to bring your own tea cup.
The librarian will be in her nicest dress, and you should too!

Pirate Week

Pirate Story Time
July 11 at 10:30 – 11:00 am for ages 3 – 5
Get ready to join a group of scurvy pirates on the ship
S.S. Reads-a-lot for lots of swashbuckling fun!

Pirate Craft
July 12 at 1 pm for ages 5 and up
Heave ho and a bottle of glue is all you need to make this craft.
Space is limited, so sign up in advance!

Pirate Movie
July 13 at 1 pm
There be pirates in this G rated movie!
Bring snacks, your favorite blanket and stuffed animal.

Treasure Hunt for Kids
July 14 between 10:30 – 4:30 pm
How well do you know your library?

Princess (but Princes are welcome too) Week

Princess Story Time
July 25 at 10:30 – 11 am for ages 3 – 5
By Royal Proclamation, you are invited to listen
to wonderful stories about princesses and princes.

Princess Craft
July 26 at 1 pm ages 5 and up
You’ll be making something so fabulous; you’ll have to wear sunglasses to look at it, but don’t worry guys we’ve got you covered too.
Space is limited, so sign up in advance!

Princess Movie
July 13 at 1 pm
Which princess do you think it could be in this G rated film?
Bring snacks, your favorite blanket and find out!

Princess Ball
July 28 at 2 pm for ALL AGES!
Party on down in you’re most glamorous duds and don’t forget all your jewels!

Closing Week

Act Like a Pirate Day
August 9 all day long!
Come in any time that day, dress like a pirate, see the pirates at the library and learn how to talk like a pirate! ARR!

End of the Summer Reading Pizza Party
August 11
For all kids who participated in the program!
Pizza and games at 12 pm
Accordion Pat at 1 pm

For the Teens:

Okay so I complain. I really shouldn’t because I put all of this on myself. I want to do the programs myself, really. Then I get to really interact with the kids/teens and they get to know me. Plus I can do more programs because I spend a lot less money on them.

Oh well, I guess they’ll just have to cart my remains away in a wheelbarrow at the end of the summer.

Of course in the words of Monty Python, who sum it up best in their movie , Monty Python and the Holy Grail: (BTW, I know its long, but its funny)

The Dead Collector: Bring out yer dead.
[a man puts a body on the cart]
Large Man with Dead Body: Here’s one.
The Dead Collector: That’ll be ninepence.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn’t: I’m not dead.
The Dead Collector: What?
Large Man with Dead Body: Nothing. There’s your ninepence.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn’t: I’m not dead.
The Dead Collector: ‘Ere, he says he’s not dead.
Large Man with Dead Body: Yes he is.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn’t: I’m not.
The Dead Collector: He isn’t.
Large Man with Dead Body: Well, he will be soon, he’s very ill.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn’t: I’m getting better.
Large Man with Dead Body: No you’re not, you’ll be stone dead in a moment.
The Dead Collector: Well, I can’t take him like that. It’s against regulations.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn’t: I don’t want to go on the cart.
Large Man with Dead Body: Oh, don’t be such a baby.
The Dead Collector: I can’t take him.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn’t: I feel fine.
Large Man with Dead Body: Oh, do me a favor.
The Dead Collector: I can’t.
Large Man with Dead Body: Well, can you hang around for a couple of minutes? He won’t be long.
The Dead Collector: I promised I’d be at the Robinsons’. They’ve lost nine today.
Large Man with Dead Body: Well, when’s your next round?
The Dead Collector: Thursday.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn’t: I think I’ll go for a walk.
Large Man with Dead Body: You’re not fooling anyone, you know. Isn’t there anything you could do?
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn’t: I feel happy. I feel happy.
[the Dead Collector glances up and down the street furtively, then silences the Body with his a whack of his club]
Large Man with Dead Body: Ah, thank you very much.
The Dead Collector: Not at all. See you on Thursday.
Large Man with Dead Body: Right.

Tomorrow (hopefully): A rant about teens who hang outside the library in order to:

1. write graffiti on the walls
2. set fires next to the library
3. smoke (god only knows what)
4. make babies in the alley between the library and the next building

Me!

I can check out what sites link to me, and I just noticed that the School Library Journal website has linked to me! Well if that doesn’t encourage me to update my blog more often, I don’t know what will.

I FINISHED three books:

Runaways (2 & 3)
Little Long Nose

I read, but did not finish:

Abarat
The Summer Tree
A Dogs Life
The Ordinary Princess
Jennifer Government

I love the Runaways series, and you can read my review here.

I also loved Little Long Nose. The book itself was in a compact format perfect for a pocket. The illustrations were gorgeous although tiny. The plot was neat and made me glad that I still read children’s books.

The book is about a young boy who helps his mom at her vegetable stand. He will help people bring the vegetables to their houses and in turn will give him eggs, flowers or whatever they can manage.

An old woman comes by, checking out the herbs and vegetables and complaining loudly. The young boy yells at her for her opinions and also makes fun of her appearance. She tells him that he will regret his words, and makes him carry six huge cabbages to her house. He takes them in and she offers him some delicious soup, which he greedily eats. After that things get pretty crazy, and not in a good way.

I’m listening to Jennifer Government, and its the next book for my teen book discussion group. It’s VERY interesting. Its a futuristic book where large companies have taken over and people are basically “owned” by the company they work for. If you work for Nike, your name would become, Cathy Nike. Since I work for a government agency, my name would be, Cathy Government. The USA is the most powerful nation in the world, but the government is nearly powerless. In order to do anything, you need money. Lots and lots of money.

The Summer Tree and Abarat are both fantasy, which I must say, I’m quite partial to. I actually read The Summer Tree years ago, but its one of those books that you remember vaguely and want to read again.

The Summer Tree is a alternative universe kind of fantasy, in which some college students are transported to a magical world of kings and umm.. magic. They find themselves in a world in turmoil, and learn that they each have their own purpose to set the world right.

Abarat is about a teenager that is unhappy with her life in a hog farm dominated town. She’s tired of the desolate area, tired of the smell, and tired of being lonely. She goes off into the desert to find something interesting, and gets more than she bargained for. She helps a strange skinny man, and an ocean appears, taking her to unusual places.

A Dog’s Life is a book as seen from the perspective of a dog that grew up wild and travels in order to find a place that she can call home. The book is well-written and you truly feel like the dog is talking to you. I’ve had it for a while now, and I am amazed that I haven’t finished it yet, because I really do like it.

Unlike all the others, which I have almost finished, I have only read about one chapter of The Ordinary Princess, so I don’t think its really fair to you to even talk about it.

I really enjoyed the weekend, and even though I didn’t get to read as much as I hoped, my family knew that I was taking on this challenge, and they would call me and make sure that I was actually reading like I was supposed to. What a supportive family I have!

Okay, so maybe not extravaganza, but at least its sort of interesting. I read this blog called Momchops and she mentioned that we should do this 48 Hour Book Challenge so I took her up on it. This weekend, June 16 – 18, is the Book Challenge. I don’t have time to read normally (due to the 14 month old) but I am going to push myself to read something. Anything. I’m a librarian for goodness sake! Unfortunately, timing couldn’t be worse, because Sunday is Father’s Day, so I’ll have to spend a little time honoring the fathers in my life.

Right now here are the books that I have checked out on my card. You will notice that most are children’s and young adult books. There may be one adult book in there, but I doubt I will get time to read it.

Time out by Helen Cresswell
The ordinary princess by M. M. Kaye
Hope by LouAnn Gaeddert
Little Long-nose by Wilhelm Hauff
Falcon and the Charles Street Witch by Luli Gray
Jennifer Government by Maxx Barry
Abarat by Clive Barker
Snow flower and the secret fan : a novel by Lisa See
A dog’s life : the autobiography of a stray by Ann M Martin
The summer tree by Guy Gavriel Kay
Runaways (vol 2 & 3) by Brian K Vaughan
Teach yourself visually crocheting by Kim P. Werker

After the 48 hours are up, as per the rules of the challenge, I have to give descriptions/reviews of each book I finish.

As a side note, I’m going to post this on my kids and teens blogs and offer a prize to those who read and send me reviews of what they read. Of course I’m sure that nothing will come of it, but we’ll see.
Wish me luck!

My husband has a discussion board, and somehow, one thing led to another and they ended up talking salaries. Oh! I know. I think that some union employees in Delphi were complaining because the company wanted to decrease their wages (if it was me, I think I’d want to complain too) from $27 an hour to $16.50 an hour. Right now, I make about $16.50 an hour (or about $31,000 a year). I found an article that stated that in 1998, in a medium sized library, a beginning librarian made an average of 28,767 a year. That means that 8 years later, I’m only making about $3000 more a year than those librarians.

I try not to be upset about this.

I try telling myself that its only money and that when we die that we can’t take it with us.
I try reminding myself that I like working with kids and teens and the rest of the public (sometimes).
I try reminding myself that its a worthy cause to be a strong advocate on behalf of the youth in my town.
I think about when the kids are excited because I found them a book they had never heard of but were excited to read.
I think about when the kids are *so* excited to shake their wiggles out at storytime that they can’t stand still.
I think about when the kids want to give me a hug because they like having me around.

I *really* do try and remind myself of all of these things.

And then…

I think of the teens getting in my face and calling me a fucking bitch.
I think about the guy who hovers and won’t leave you alone.
I think of the old guy who leaves boogers on his books and asks you to put holds on fifty things and changes his mind a couple of days later and the stuff has already come, and he doesn’t want to pay the fees.
I think of the people that think I’m personally out to get them when I tell them:
*turn off your cell phone
*your children need to stop climbing on the shelves or running through the aisle
*you can’t use the internet and type a paper at the same time
*you have to pay for that print out even though you didn’t mean for 20 more pages to  come out of the printer (usually they run out of the library)
*I’m sorry I don’t know which book you are talking about that has the blue cover that is about this thick (shows with fingers extended) is about some kind of war and has the word “the” in the title
I  think of all the programming that I have to do because not only can’t they afford to pay me well, they can’t afford to hire another librarian to do either teens or children’s services, because I do both.
I think about how I have four story times, yet people complain because we don’t have as many story times as *that* library. Then, after preparing for those storytimes, only one person shows up, or sometimes none, and everyone who signed up doesn’t bother letting me know if they’re sick or dead.
I think about how people complain because we don’t have enough general programming, enough educational programs, or we show too many movies. Then I plan a poetry program and NO ONE shows up.
Alright, so I know that I shouldn’t be jealous of Jeff’s friends who are making $55,000 – $65,000 or more. I know that I should accept the fact the librarians are typically women, and women usually make less than men. I should be glad that in the next 20 years or so my undergrad and grad loans will finally be paid off. I should be glad to have a job at all! But that doesn’t make it any easier to know that a manager at Wilson Farms makes about $2.00 an hour more than I do. I’m greatful to have these people here, but what kind of message are people trying to send. I shouldn’t both having gotten a 6 year college degree when I can go to Wilson Farms with a high school diploma and make more money.

This F’ing SUCKS!…. Nevermind the fact that I drive past three other libraries on the way to get to my library.

I guess its just because I’m tired from working hard. I just can’t understand it.

Okay, I just found this article, that has updated median salaries.

Here are some of the results:
Librarians who do not supervise, make an average of $47,246
Beginning librarians make an average of $36,486

I’d say that I’m below that by quite a bit.

I am so behind in my work! One minute it was December, and the next thing I know its practically May. What is up with THAT?!? So you may ask, why do I wish it was September? Please take note of the name of my blog… As a public librarian who works with kids and teens, our busiest time of the year is the summer. I have almost no idea of what I’m going to do. Plus the NYS theme this year is Books: a Treasure. The only thing that is worse than what is for the kids is what they have for the teens. Its is all about the bling for teens, and that is so five years ago. I find the whole thing offensive.

Therefor, I’m going for the whole Jack Sparrow/Johnny Depp theme this summer for the teens. That and I’m going to try and give food away as prizes for reading books this summer. Once another teen librarian told me “Feed them and they will come”. Sure enough, it works. So that’s what I plan on doing. Food for the guys and Johnny Depp for the ladies.

For the kids I’m going to do Princesses and Pirates (and books) oh my… I figure if the girls can dress up and be princesses and the boys can act like pirates, they will come by the droves. Especially if I sweeten the pot with tiaras and eye patches.

Still, lots more planning to do, and I need to be fleshed out and ready to go before the end of May. That doesn’t give much time…. Cripes, I better get to bed. I’m exhausted just thinking about it!