Posts by Cari

Speculative fiction genres – fantasy, science fiction, horror, etc. – are my preferred areas of reading. Recently, I read a quote from Neil Gaiman (a personal favorite) that helped me understand why I’m drawn to these stories. He said, “a world in which there are monsters, and ghosts, and things that want to steal your heart is a world in which there are angels, and dreams, and a world in which there is hope.”

Much of what I read and watch in these genres include a heavy dose of hope mixed in with strange worlds, magic, terror, and fantastical creatures.

Fantasy books, movies, and video games tend to present a story where a seemingly ordinary person must save the world from an unfathomably dark and powerful evil. Many times victory depends on a journey and a gathering of friends who offer their support and skills to the hero’s task. Discovering hidden strengths, forming lasting bonds, and overcoming evil are all hopeful themes for me.

Science fiction works are similarly built, but there’s more technology and a lot more traveling through space (and sometimes time). Many times, the hope I find in these are themes that affirm Life isn’t the same for everyone (and that’s okay); we are all truly connected; the universe is vast and wonderful, but all species we encounter are basically like us in their core.

The hope in horror is both in the survival of the main character and the comfort of feeling afraid while I am in a safe, controlled environment. It’s like the thrill of a roller coaster. You’re convinced that Death is waiting for you at the bottom of that hill or that this will be the time the cars detach from the rails, but you also know you’re perfectly safe along the ride.

It may be that I find hope in these genres because I’m looking for it, but I don’t think I’m alone.

When my husband and I were dating, I found a giant spider in his apartment while he was at work. Like anyone would, I put a cup over the spider and left it where I found it. When Phil got home, I told him, “I don’t know if you read the fine print of dating me, but it clearly states you get to deal with anything that has more than two legs. There’s one upstairs.”

Now, many years later, when we find a spider in the house, we carefully identify it and relocate anything that’s not dangerous to humans. I’ve come a long way and it has taken some deliberate time and effort. Mostly, my journey took the path of deciding to research and learn about the object of my fear.

Learning about spiders inspired my family and me to happily work our way through the Pryor Library’s wildlife books (found in the 500s in nonfiction). We’ve learned about spiders, reptiles, amphibians, fish, birds, insects, trees, and wildflowers. We’re even citizen scientists now and record bird sightings with the Cornell Lab’s “Merlin” app.

All this information doesn’t keep us from being cautious around (or even freaked out by) dangerous things – wasps will always be treated like the stinging jerks they are – but our habit of researching and learning about things we encounter in our world has changed our initial reaction to things from outright terror to cautious curiosity. Each member of my family feels more confident when we encounter something strange and potentially scary because we know that the more we learn about it, the less scary it becomes (wasps notwithstanding).

If you’d like to learn more about something in your world, let us know. We’re happy to help! Call us, email me (reratc@pryorlibrary.org), or come by. We’ll help you find good, trustworthy information or get you in touch with experts who can.

I always loved the beginning of the new school year when I was younger. It was like the January New Year in a way – a fresh start. I’d set goals, color code my classes with notebooks, and vow not to procrastinate on my assignments. Much like New Year’s resolutions, about halfway through the first semester, I’d abandon all goals, codes, and vows to wing it the rest of the year.

I got through school fairly well, so it must not have been too bad of a system. Of course, now that my kids are in school, I’m trying to teach them better habits. If our progress continues at this rate, we’ll have some really organized students from my family line in a few generations.

The Library is getting into the Back to School spirit by planning for our Fall block of programming that begins in Sept. Covid makes things complicated, so everything you’re about to read may change as the situation with Covid changes.

As of this writing, our plan is to offer one in-person storytime each month and one in-person teen night each month. We’re planning to host everything outside and do everything we can to make the events as safe as possible (like having masks available for those who want them). Events for adults are being discussed, but nothing is set in stone yet. Again, Covid makes things tricky.

What is set in stone is that our perpetual book sale is coming back! Look for it later this month in the vestibule on the South (Graham Ave.) side of the building. We’ve been saving books up all summer, so you’ll want to come check it out. Paperbacks are $0.10; Hardbacks are $0.25; DVDs and other media are $0.25.

The money we get from book sales goes back to the Library to pay for events, new books, and other Library needs.

In Staff news: Be sure to congratulate Jordan on his latest step to becoming a pilot!

Now that Summer Reading is over, conference season begins. I’ve been to a number of library conferences in my time as a librarian. Library conferences are great ways to learn about new trends in library service, ways to improve existing processes, and meet others library staff.

In-person conferences all work basically the same way: days or weeks before the conference, attendees get a list of all available sessions/classes to begin the process of planning what they will learn and when. There is always time built into the schedule for attendees to go to the vendor hall so vendors can network with libraries, sell their wares, and give away the coveted library swag (free books and tote bags are super popular in Libraryland).

In the age of COVID-19, in-person conferences are more complicated. Last September, I attended my first virtual multi-day conference. I had no idea what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised. Because all the sessions and classes were pre-recorded, I was able to “attend” more than I would have if the conference had been face-to-face. Because I got to stay in Pryor, it was also a lot less expensive than a face-to-face conference would have been.

The downside, of course, was that I didn’t get to truly meet anyone at the conference. When my family and I went to Florida this summer, I was reminded how much I love talking to other librarians about what they’re doing in their communities, what challenges they face, etc. when we visited the downtown Tampa library. Face-to-face interactions are incredibly valuable and I miss them.

The cost-effectiveness of online conferences is hard to beat, so I’m torn between wanting to meet and learn from other librarians in person and wanting to save our library money. I’m hopeful the post-COVID era will find a balance.