End of a term, end of a steep learning curve....

Well. It's nearly the end of Michaelmas Term for myself and the students at school. And what a term it's been! Although I have found the past few months challenging, a challenge is mostly a good thing. I have learned a lot of skills in my new job and now feel more confident about my abilities and this is something that can only increase as the years go by. We had some superb author visits from Caroline Lawrence, William Nicholson and local poet Martin Kiszko as well as a 'virtual author visit' with Jeff Kinney last Friday which I HAD to organise or I would probably have been beaten to death by a mob of children wielding copies of Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

It's the last week of term next week so I'm hoping to get into the festive spirit of things by decorating the Library with plenty of Christmas themed reads. I've also got some nice Christmassy library lessons planned as well so hopefully everything will go swimmingly and the term will end on a good note.

Looking forward to next term, I am hoping to get my Wiki up and running with children's book reviews. Something tells me I'm going to be doing a lot of work over the holidays!

I've been reading a lot of Ted Hughes poetry recently, and this poem has been making me want to hibernate as the days get shorter and colder. I like the comparison between what is bleak and what is safe and cosy...

The Warm and the Cold

Freezing dusk is closing
    Like a slow trap of steel
On trees and roads and hills and all
    That can no longer feel.
        But the carp is in its depth
          Like a planet in its heaven.
        And the badger in its bedding
          Like a loaf in the oven.
        And the butterfly in its mummy
          Like a viol in its case.
        And the owl in its feathers
          Like a doll in its lace.

Freezing dusk has tightened
    Like a nut screwed tight
On the starry aeroplane
    Of the soaring night.
        But the trout is in its hole
          Like a chuckle in a sleeper.
        The hare strays down the highway
          Like a root going deeper.
        The snail is dry in the outhouse
          Like a seed in a sunflower.
        The owl is pale on the gatepost
          Like a clock on its tower.

Moonlight freezes the shaggy world
    Like a mammoth of ice -
The past and the future
    Are the jaws of a steel vice.
        But the cod is in the tide-rip
          Like a key in a purse.
        The deer are on the bare-blown hill
          Like smiles on a nurse.
        The flies are behind the plaster
          Like the lost score of a jig.
        Sparrows are in the ivy-clump
          Like money in a pig.

Such a frost
    The flimsy moon
        Has lost her wits.

          A star falls.

The sweating farmers
    Turn in their sleep
        Like oxen on spits.

Ted Hughes

From www.poemhunter.com

Review: Desperation

Desperation by Stephen King

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This is the second Stephen King book I've read after Carrie and I really enjoyed it. The 800 odd pages just melted away. The story is, as the title suggests, about desperation. A tiny backwater desert town called Desperation, the desperation of a group of people put in extreme life-threatening circumstances by an apparently pre-ordained set of events, the desperation felt by religious believers as to the nature of God.

In a nutshell, it's a terrifying, well crafted story. Although there is a major element of good versus evil this is portrayed in an unpretentious manner. By this I mean that Stephen King is more about telling a good tale rather than debating the existence of God and acts of God - although these points make the book what it is. Through the group of characters, we gather different perspectives on their lives and therefore different viewpoints on the situation which makes for a vivid and detailed story world.

It's a pretty gruesome, violent story but very compelling. It's easy to be snobby about Stephen King, but really if you want a good yarn then grab one of his books!

Also, if you happen to be driving through the desert and a strange cop tries to stop you then put the pedal to the metal and get the hell out of there! *shudder*



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Review: Here Lies Arthur

Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This was a well written take on the legend of King Arthur and his knights. A very quick read but written from an interesting point of view - that of a girl called Gwyna who becomes Merlin's (spelled Myrddin) servant as he spins the legend of Arthur. A nice retrospective picture of Arthur is created which is VERY different to what we might think of him today. According to Philip Reeve it's not a historical novel, but it certainly feels like the story of Arthur has been rationalised and presented from what might be a more realistic perspective.

Very different concept for a YA book and I will certainly be recommending this to certain students who are currently indulging themselves with the legend of King Arthur! That'll teach 'em to have romantic ideals...



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Review: The Glass Demon

The Glass Demon by Helen Grant

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Slightly predictable, but still nicely written and attention grabbing enough to satisfy any YA with a taste for supernatural thrillers. I actually really enjoyed the book, particularly the German setting although the characters were a little under-developed. But, it was a quick read and the short chapters made it perfect for reading on the train to work!



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Review: The Escape

The Escape by Robert Muchamore

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This is a very popular book in the school library, and I can see why because it's exciting and actually written quite well. I'd definitely recommend it to any 12+ year olds wanting to get into a good adventure series which both boys and girls will find absorbing.



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The Wasteland, ebooks and a cool blog...

They say 'share and share alike' is one of the golden rules of the blogosphere, so when I came across this great blog by ex-paramedic Tom Reynolds I had to share it. It's brilliant. And since starting his blog, Tom has written 2 books and created the idea for Channel 4's new programme Sirens.

I came upon the blog in a roundabout way at work today whilst reading an article my boss had found in The Times about a new iPad app devoted to T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland. Basically it's a beautiful piece of technological innovation that is being heralded as 'the future of the book'. It's certainly one of a kind and very very clever. Which I like.

At the end of the article was a bunch of links sharing new advances in eBooks and that is how I came across Tom Reynolds through The Friday Project which is run by Harper Collins exploring new avenues for digital publishing.

I realise this is a kind of convoluted expression of my train of thought but I don't care! I found lots of interesting things online today!

Review: Skippy Dies

Skippy Dies by Paul Murray

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I don't think I've ever read a book like this before, especially in terms of style. I kind of liked the way that the story flowed; chapters ran into each other and joined up, the teen-aged monologues were appropriately lacking in punctuation and capital letters. The characters were all very interesting/psychopathic/broken and it was fun being drip-fed information about them until the full picture was revealed.

This book made me quite uneasy at the same time. I felt really affected by the character of Carl and for some reason absolutely repulsed during his encounter with 'The Druid'. It wasn't THAT long ago that I was a teenager and (I get this feeling when I watch SKINS also)I can't ever remember my life being so filled with sex and drugs! Hmm, maybe I was a boring teenager!

Anyway. I only gave this 2 stars (2 and a half would have been perfect) because while I enjoyed the unique style and the weaving together of all the characters and stories, I also found the parts on string theory a little boring (science is not for me) and sometimes the descriptive 'dreamscape' type scenes were heavy going and a bit too caught up in their own sense of 'dreamscape' and/or drug induced surrealism. I suspect this makes no sense really, but neither did those scenes.

It's true what it says on the blurb; this book is very dark (obviously considering the themes being played out) sometimes very funny and touching and overall an ode to life not being fair and the process of growing up and realising this. Bittersweet.



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Seriously now...Some reflection

Seen as though I started this blog as a way to record my reflections as I wend my way along that tricky path known as 'career' it seemed like a good time to write some stuff down. You know, so I don't forget where I'm at with what I like to call 'the game of trying to gain library experience in any way, shape or form'. So, what have I been up to lately?

Well, actually, work has been pretty darn interesting over the past couple of weeks and a lot of things seem to be gradually happening to do with the school library. In order of most exciting thing these are:

 1. Getting to talk and present a Prezi to the sixth formers about referencing and research skills (since introducing ourselves to them we've been inundated with requests for help which is a massively GOOD THING). I'm also designing a handbook for use with coursework and extended projects.

 2. Being allowed to build and edit pages for the new school website about the library. This is brilliant because hither to mine and my manager's time at the school there was NO online presence for the library at all. Not to say that the library must be ALL about technology, but it's important to keep up to date and relevant as otherwise we'd probably fade to nothingness within the school community. I'm enjoying this as I'm learning some new skills that I didn't have before.

3. Becoming more involved with Library Lessons in the foreseeable future working in partnership with the English Department. This is great as it validates the library's role. I am beginning to realise how difficult the job of a school librarian is. In fact, it infuriates me when people automatically respond to you telling them you're a librarian with the typical "oh, don't you just stamp books?" answer. No! As a school librarian you must constantly liaise with faculties and departments in order to promote the library's services, organise library events including author visits, reading groups and library lessons, provide exciting, appetising reading material for a broad spectrum of children aged between 11 and 18 and make sure the library is constantly updated with shiny displays, newspapers, journals, DVDs, and a myriad of other things! This is not to say that it is a terrible job. It's FANTASTIC! And challenging. But mostly great fun.

4. Hoping to get involved with the school's new VLE, Frog. This looks a lot of fun and could be used so advantageously by the library. I am looking forward to its unveiling with bated breath.

5. Oh and last but by no means least - this is the best one I think - volunteering at the local library doing IT support and teaching a 70 year old man to email his grandson for the first time! He was genuinely excited by how fast he picked up typing and couldn't believe how useful the internet can be. That made my day.

So it's going great at the moment. A full time position would be absolutely fantastic, as would an actual library of my own to manage, but in the meantime I'm determined to make the most of whatever opportunities come my way. So, whenever I feel stuck in a rut I can always look back and see that I have done things and more importantly can do things. Wahey!

^_^

Working in a school library is a different experience every day (mostly good experiences I shall add) and last week I had my very first "aww" moment. One of our lovely Y7s (and regular library user as well I might add) is leaving in a few weeks and we had the following dialogue:

Y7: Miss Smith, what are your three favourite colours?

Me: Erm, I don't know really, why?

Y7: I just wondered!

Me: Oh okay...Well probably purple, blue and yellow then.

Y7: Okay! (scampers off)

Me: Fair enough.

The next day I was presented with this lovely gift as a leaving present!

Sometimes my job is very touching.

I am a little library mouse! Hear me Roar!

Okay, so this blog kind of started off being something 'serious' which I really wanted to contain things to do with librarianship so I could remember what I'd been up to. I now realise that this is probably the purpose of a CV. Hmph.

So, it's the Easter Holidays at the moment, I'm home alone and have heaps of time on my hands. So I went to the Library (relevant, see!) and picked out lots of books I've not had time to read lately. I am currently getting into comics and graphic novels and today I picked up two. One was a Modesty Blaise which is awesome - gotta love a feisty female protagonist - and the other was The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger.

*Spoilers!*

The gist of the story is that Alexandra (Lexi) comes across the Night Bookmobile in the early hours of the morning after having a row with her boyfriend. On the bus she finds allll the books she has ever read in her entire life. I know, it's remarkable. Anyway, she gets completely absorbed by the strangeness of the bookmobile and spends nine years (seriously) of her life trying to find it again whilst filling her life with books and reading (not going to diss the girl for that). In the meantime she becomes a proper librarian as some kind of poor substitute (meh). Finally she realises that the only way she can become a librarian on the bookmobile is to kill herself. Which seems pretty extreme but there you go. So, she does and lo and behold! There she is in the library of her dreams with uncle creepy. 

I mainly picked it up because it looked like it was librarian related and could have made a good gift for bookish friends. It was not as whimsical as I thought it was going to be and in the future I shall definitely be more cautious of whimsy. I mean, I love books as much as the next person but I'm not sure if I like them enough to take fourteen Valium and slit my wrists in an attempt to get a job on a magical mobile library in a Winnebago. [insert witty joke about the current job climate not being THAT bad]. Perhaps I missed an important message in the book, perhaps I was distracted by the terrible illustrations. Either way, give it a read and see what you think. Let me know if there's a pertinent message I've missed?

Just tell me this. Would you get into a vehicle with this man?

I didn't think so.

Voices For The Library

Spreading the word...

I cannot emphasise how important it is that we protect our libraries for the sake of the communities that rely on them.

Clicky..

Have some Cute

A video of a super cute Chinchilla for no other reason than it made me smile and will hopefully make someone else smile too!

It begins...

It's been a while, but times have been incredibly busy what with moving, decorating, dissertating and most exciting - new job starting!

Following two intense INSET days, my first proper day of work starts tomorrow! First impressions of my first professional library post are good. The staff, both library and teaching, are supportive and friendly. The library itself is a welcoming and relaxing space; there is a wide and varied book stock (including some critical texts I used at university!) which I am very impressed with - it's a stark contrast to the library where I went to secondary school. You can tell that it's a place that has been built up gradually and solidly proving that librarians are extremely dedicated and enthusiastic beings. On the one hand I feel like I have to fill some very big shoes in terms of helping to maintain the library's current status, but on the other hand, I feel confident and am itching to get involved: this will be a place that will give me a great chance to grow as not just a librarian, but a person too.

The effort and passion shown by the librarians I have met over the course of this year have inspired me to be as good as I can at my job and have proved that librarianship is a profession worth preserving.

Today I feel proud and privileged to be a librarian in a great library with supportive colleagues.

My first professional post!

I got a job and a relevant job at that - which I am surprised about as I thought the interview was a disaster. It was very annoying - I was completely calm until I had to sit in front of three people and big myself up without sounding like a complete idiot. It's as a Library Assistant at a secondary school just outside of Bristol, and I am very excited even if it's not exactly the most high powered position in the world - it's my first professional role and hopefully the one that catalyses my future career. It finally feels like things are coming together - Both my husband and I have jobs in the new city of residence, flat is sorted out and old house is rented so no need to worry about that. Time to breathe a long overdue sigh of relief.

Of course, I still have my Masters dissertation to complete, but now I feel that I can concentrate wholly on that task without having to worry about finding gainful employment. Hurrah.

Feeling great, if not tired at the moment. I will probably blog more when I get started with my job in September, as more of a way for me to keep track of what I've been doing and learning than anything else. Can't wait to get my teeth into something and make a difference! This job sure wasn't serendipitous, but I can't help but feel lucky. Better dig out the old twin set and pearls...Or horn rimmed glasses.

First contact

Okay, so I started a blog. It is a modest blog. But as I'm training to be a Librarian and 2.0 is where it's at currently I thought I'd take some tentative steps towards producing something. I was also really enthused and energised by the CILIP New Professionals Conference I attended on 5 July, and the fledgling online community of new professionals who gave some really inspirational presentations made me want to 'get involved' as it were. There really is a very vibrant community out there to support newly qualified library and information professionals, and people need to know about it especially in times like this where we have to make the most out of our skills (both vocational and academic) in order to secure work and get onto the career ladder.

One key thing I took away with me from the conference was the importance of getting involved with interesting projects whether that's through employment or voluntary work in order to stay relevant and motivated. Over the past year I've not done so well on this front having wanted to concentrate solely on studying for my Masters qualification, but I get the feeling that it's no longer enough to just have a qualification - you need to have experience to carry you through above other potential job applicants. However, the ball has started rolling recently for me in terms of extra curricular activities with the first Manchester Children's Book Festival that took place between 1-4 July. I got involved in an International Readathon gathering book lovers together to read constantly for the length of the festival. And it was actually pretty awesome and I loved it; especially getting face painted, reading stories and generally pretending to be a child again. It was really rewarding to do something for other people and have fun at the same time.

I also currently volunteer at Chetham's Library in Manchester and have been doing so since March. It started out as the work placement module for my library course but seems to have mutated into a scenario where I keep turning up and they keep finding me interesting stuff to do such as blogging about book plates and cataloguing rare books - I get experience and they get free help (don't worry I get plenty of lovely cups of tea and breaks) so it's a nice reciprocal arrangement! It's a bibliophile's wet dream inside that library and inspires the kind of reverent awe reserved for cathedrals so I am quite happy to re-shelve and organise as the actual books are so interesting and there's something new to discover each week. I would love to work with special collections one day; you could say it's what I aspire to do but, tant pis, at the moment I'll take whatever I can get in order to build up experience and confidence.