Posts by Cari
Read On! General Update (and puppies)
Your Library and your Library Director are busy right now! We just had our first staff training day, we’re wrapping up the information gathering portion of our strategic planning, I’m preparing for a trip to Chicago to be part of a study on library bandwidth, and my family is fostering two adorable puppies from the shelter.
Our staff training day on October 8th (when we are normally closed) was a lovely success if I do say so myself. We got a refresher course on ebooks, wifi, Google Drive, and our online resources. We also got to eat delicious snacks, feast on Remy’s, and play some fun team building games. I am so happy and lucky to work with such wonderful people.
Now that we have most of the information we need for our strategic planning, I will take this information to the Library Board of Trustees and we’ll get busy setting goals and writing a plan to achieve those goals. It has been fun to collect the information and see what library services our community use and what they value most. I am hopeful to have our strategic plan written by the end of November and to start implementing it at the beginning of 2019.
My trip to Chicago later this month will be an exciting one. Your Pryor Library will participate in a study conducted by 
Simmons College and Internet2 to determine how measuring internet speeds and capabilities can help libraries ensure they are serving the internet needs of their communities well. Only 10 – 12 libraries have been invited to participate at this stage of the study. I’m excited to be one of them!
I had forgotten how much work having a puppy is! And we have two of them! They are adorable fluff-balls, so if you’re looking to adopt a puppy (or an older dog, for that matter), call Rockin’ G. They’ll hook you up with the four-legged love of your life.
Read On! Anniversary
On Friday, I celebrated my third anniversary as the director of the Thomas J. Harrison Pryor Public Library. When I applied for the position, I told my husband, “It’ll be good practice.” Having worked at my previous library for over ten years, I knew I needed practice at professional interviewing before I started submitting my resume to larger libraries in Kansas City and St. Louis. I never expected to fall in love with Pryor or its library.
When I came for my interview three years ago, I was impressed with the library’s personable staff; I was pleased to see a budding comic book collection that held one of my favorite series; I was encouraged the Pryor Library was already on a path I believe libraries should follow.
During the interview, the Library Board was welcoming and kind. Their passion for the library and their dedication to its success was evident from the first question to the last. It was literally the most fun I’ve ever had in an interview.
After the interview, I called my husband to tell him all about it. He asked, “Are we moving to Pryor?” I surprised both of us when I replied, “Maybe.”
When I got the job offer, Phil and I gave it serious thought. We made pro/con lists. We researched schools. We looked at daycares. There were truly very few reasons not to take the position. I’m so glad I did.
In three years, I have yet to regret that decision. Even when I was commuting back and forth from Joplin, I wanted to come to work every day. I wanted to be part of this library and part of this community. It seems that the feeling was mutual – we have been welcomed with open arms.
At my first Christmas Parade as I watched the Library Board help wrangle my children I thought, “We have found our village.” Thank you, Pryor, for making this an amazing three years.
Read On! Pop Culture Libraries
I love when the shows and movies we watch or the books we read include visits to the library. It’s fun to see my profession and my passion reflected in popular culture. It’s also fun to complain about what they get wrong or preen about how some visits to the library help the heroes and change the course of the story.
My daughter loves the “Trolls” show on Netflix. Yesterday, we got to see the Trolls’ library. This library is a good example of how library collections should be tailored to the needs and interests of their community. Only in the Trolls’ library would you find so many book on hugs!
When “Stranger Things” first came out, the library community was abuzz about the portrayal of the librarian, Marissa. My biggest quibble was that the excursion into the library’s microfilm newspaper collection did not remotely reflect real life. Anyone who has searched microfilm knows that without a clear idea of dates, microfilm research takes a million years to complete.
“Desk Set, ” “Ghostbusters,” and the “Harry Potter” movies may be some of the most famous library examples in movies but they’re not my favorites.
I adore the movie “Party Girl” where Parker Posey works as a library assistant (side note:”Party Girl” was the first movie shown in its entirety on the internet). In “The Shawshank Redemption,” Andy Dufresne builds quite a prison library. It offers education opportunities and figurative escape to its patrons, which is just one reason to love that movie. In “Matilda,” Matilda discovers she is not alone through her time at her local library – a vital discovery for everyone.
These three movies are my favorite library movies because they demonstrate the hope libraries can offer to their community members. Libraries make lives better and these three movies show that fact well.
Read On! Freedom To Read
Of all the myriad documents produced by the American Library Association (ALA), the Freedom to Read Statement is my favorite. Originally issued in May, 1953 it is an incredibly powerful and fist-pumping read. It starts with the assertion: “The freedom to read is essential to our democracy” and end with my favorite line: “Freedom itself is a dangerous way of life, but it is ours.”
This week, Banned Book Week, is the week we reserve to specifically celebrate our freedom to read. Banned Book Week was started in 1982 after an increase in the number of books being challenged and banned across the nation. When a book is “challenged,” it means a member of or group within a community finds one or more things objectionable about the book and would like it removed or restricted in some way. If a book is removed from a library or school collection it gets moved from “challenged” to “banned.”
Challenged and banned books can be found in all genres and for all ages. From the Christian bible to books aiming to educate young people about sex, our society has a lot of opinions about the reading material made available in libraries and schools. The problem isn’t that people or groups have opinions about what’s appropriate reading material. The problem that libraries and librarians actively fight is when the people or groups who have those opinions attempt to force their opinions on others.
The ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom tracks book challenges from year to year. I encourage you to look at their lists. It’s interesting to see what makes the list and why. I honestly think these challenges come from a good place and with good motivation, but the challengers forget that we have the ability and should have the freedom to discern the good from the bad for ourselves and our children.