CLA Conference 2009 Exhibit Hall - BookScanner

I got a chance to visit the exhibit floor of the California Library Association Conference. With the economy and the rapid changes in the industry I was surprised to see as many vendors as I did.

However, I didn't see e-book device vendors. I did see examples of e-book readers so I was able to view some of the well know devices like the Kindle and the one from Sony.

This is a short video that I recorded on a scanner system that could make a lot of sense to an academic library. This is just for demonstration purposes only, no endorsement is intended or implied.



Maybe this is the sign of the times. I was shocked to learn that the bad apple kind of students have been tearing pages out of reference books and flat out stealing materials.

Maybe a device like this could be set up so that those less than ethical students would not have access to the actual reference book but could acquire the readings that they need for class via a .pdf document.

Now knowing bad apples they way I do I wouldn't necessarily expect that they would pay for their readings. These are the kind of folks that would talk a friend into paying for them with the promise of paying them back later. (Cough!)

Another idea was that this could replace the photocopy machine. Since many students have access to e-mail, USB devices and other recordable media the student or staff member could scan the material and load it into the USB device or save as a .pdf

This could be the same amount of money used to charge for a copy but you wouldn't have the paper and the repair costs associated with the copy machines. Now don't think that the copy machine folks haven't thought about this because there are copy machines that can scan to .pdf and have the document e-mailed to the user.

Well, it is a though. But if you were looking to buy the library a holiday gift I'm thinking this would not be necessarily turned down.

First Days - Part II

I did not foresee that I would face frustrating days the last two weeks at my library aide job at the elementary school following my last post. I thought my last two weeks which is now stretching to yet another week would be a much smoother ride. Unfortunately, that has not been the case and has made it rather difficult for me to post further on this series. Overall, I still love my job even though it has its moments.

I had wondered before if I should post first about the pros or the cons of this job. While I do want to encourage people to consider working in elementary school libraries as a potential first library job, I realize it may not be a good fit for all. One thing I've come to realize is that you really need to have a passion about your work to get through the tough times. But one could say that about any job.

I figured I'd just be dealing with collecting books and lost book fines along with getting the library in order for the following school year during this last month. In addition to all that, I've been dealing with finding out our school district was getting the brand-new Alexandria automated system to replace the supposedly outdated and soon-to-be obsolete Athena system. I found out about our training days the morning it had begun as I arrived to work. Due to not being kept in the loop, I missed most of the training even though I attended the second day. Everyone from the high school libraries were in attendance but most of the elementary school library aides were not in attendance either day.

It made me wonder about how important they regard their elementary school library aides. We are expected to single-handedly run these libraries on little hours and funds in retrospect to the high schools. We are the stepping stones as we serve the K-8th grades. Shouldn't we be regarded with more importance?

I later found out that the principal of our school had been informed at least two weeks in advance but he failed to let my immediate boss or me know. What happened to direct communication, I wondered. Even at the elementary school, the communication process seems to fail time and time again. My immediate boss asked the office to let her know when the new Alexandria system arrived so she could put it together. Since they didn't let her know and I assumed she knew it had arrived, our new library system has sat in the library in unopened boxes for at least a week now. Not that I have time to familiarize myself with this new system amidst all the piles of unshelved books!

So that brings me going in next week at least two days to finish my work up on my own time. I've tried my best to get as much done in just the ten hours a week they gave me this year. But it's not been an easy task and usually I end up putting in more hours unpaid. It's virtually impossible to do all I need in that short stretch of time. They realize that but still that doesn't solve the problems at hand. I realized going in most of what my job would entail of me. It's what you don't foresee that can throw you for a loop. Remaining as calm as possible is not always an easy feat though I've done my best to do so these past couple of weeks.

This isn't quite the next post I had in mind when I started this series. But perhaps this will give you a honest glimpse into the reality of being a school library aide. This isn't the last of the series so stay tuned for the pros and more cons. Hopefully, that won't deter you away from these much needed libraries.

Missing in Action

It didn't seem that much time had passed since I last posted. But lo and behold, it's been over a month. For those of you that haven't seen me around, I've been busy with my other 2 part-time jobs, 3 classes, starting up two new programs at a local library, tackling grad school applications and more.

For the first month of this semester, I've been working extra shifts here at the PCC Library. In the past due to my schedule, I wasn't able to work extra shifts especially during the first two weeks of the semester. Since I was finally available, I felt I should help out as needed. I've also put in extra time at the elementary school library as well this past month or so due to our bi-yearly Scholastic Book Fair and Open House.

Even though I'm taking "fun" classes this semester, they've still been taking up a certain amount of my time. Two of my classes, Art in Childhood Education and Beginning Acting, are directly related to library programs/activities I'm getting involved in now. One of the new programs I'm starting up is an ASL (American Sign Language) storytime at one of the Pasadena Public branches. Right now, I'm teamed up with a library tech that does a family storytime on Thursday afternoons to get some on-the-job training as a volunteer. Eventually, I'll move into my own spot which will be an actual ASL storytime in the near future hopefully. It is also my hope to go to a couple of other local libraries and start up similar programs in whatever free time I still have.

In addition, I have been developing a Deaf Book Club program which will meet for the very first time next Saturday morning at the same Pasadena Public branch I'm doing storytime at. It's been a bit more work than I anticipated but I'm very excited about this new program and am enjoying the work thoroughly. Unlike the storytime which is a weekly event, this will only be a monthly event.

Last Sunday, I was able to participate in a One City, One Story event for the first time ever as I arranged to get a sign language interpreter for the finale program at the newly opened Pasadena Convention Center. I will confess that it was no easy feat getting this to happen. In the end, it was one of my friends who is studying to be an interpreter who volunteered to do the honor. I am hoping that all these things are just the beginning of what I hope for the future for the deaf/HOH and disabled within the library community. One has to start small even for big dreams.

Last but certainly not least, I've been tackling library graduate school applications as well. Between taking the MAT test, writing essays, gathering up recommendations, studying up for the GRE, it's been a whirlwind of activity to say the least. God willing, I get in at least one school. But as one of my former instructors said to me recently, "So many doors are opening up for you right now. Even if you don't get in right now, it would be a disappointment but not detrimental. And you can always apply again." So true! One thing I've learned so far is if you really want this, you can't give up that easily. This may not be an easy road but it's been one of my most enjoyable journeys so far which I don't anticipate ending anytime soon.

Stay tuned for more regular postings in the next week and an upcoming blog event to get more interaction happening here!

Intellectual Freedom and Teens Video at YALSA Blog

Over at the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) blog there is a video about how intellectual challenges affect teens.

Joseph Wilk of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and Katie, a teenager who blogs at the library talk about how challenges to a book or material can affect teen patrons.



There are a few minor quibble with the video. It is not captioned. In this video, it would have really helped because it was hard to hear Katie. I had to crank up the volume to hear the good points that Katie made concerning access to book with subjects such as drinking, drugs and sexual activity.

One of the points that she made was that if a book is written for teens and it contains the kind of things that teens might encounter who are you protecting by challenging the book?

To be fair, this was the first video. I hope the YALSA blog continues to try video blogging. It can be a great way to engage their population about how the library can serve their needs better.