One last time — at least for now.

June 30, 2012 |

I didn’t want to talk about this again. Despite my best efforts to try to remove myself from what I started, I can’t, and the truth is, I own it and I’m okay with it. What I hoped would start a conversation did. It’s been a grueling few days, and I made the conscious decision to not follow the blog posts that popped up, the Twitter conversations that emerged, the civil and not-so-civil comments left on my original piece. I didn’t need to further explain myself or my thoughts. I couldn’t have been more clear where I stood.

But I want to point out that this isn’t a new conversation in the least. This has been going on for a few years now. The fact it’s getting attention now, though, signals to me that maybe we’re ready to start figuring out a solution.

I can’t talk a whole lot more beyond that because I know there are wheels in motion to make change happen. Actual, real change. It feels like I — we — have finally been heard on this issue.

What I wanted to do was round up all my old posts on this topic so that new readers and those who stopped by thinking this was some sort of plea for attention understand that it was not. Or that those who are new readers know this is a charge I’ve been championing for a while now. If you want to think about this like a book, I’ll phrase it this way: here’s the back story. They all go together. They all make where we are right now, at this strange tipping point, make a little more sense.

Something I’ll add, too, just because I think it’s something worth stating — people grow and change and adapt in whatever it is they do. Who I was as a blogger and a librarian in 2009, when this blog started, is different than who I am as a blogger and a librarian now. You become more mature the longer you do something and you become more attune to yourself and to what and how other people are going to react. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t make it very long.

2011:

BEA 2011 in Review: It’s Not All About the Books
“That’s not to say there aren’t legitimate bloggers who aren’t professionals, because there certainly are, but rather, there are some bloggers who are clearly only in it for free stuff.”

I linked to a Publisher’s Weekly article in this post about the YA Buzz panel, wherein the discussion of grabbiness comes up.

Library Journal cited me, too.

2012:

On Being Critical
“Being classy is responding appropriately, no matter what the forum. Being classy is not firing off a blog post about it without thinking through everything and figuring out a way to state my opinion without devaluing or belittling the opinions of others. Being classy is giving myself room to cool off when someone tells me I have no idea what I’m talking about. Being classy is not diving into drama to create more of it.

Being classy is being critical.”

Librarians, Bloggers & The Lines Between
“I like to think of the book world as a type of eco-system. We all grow and thrive when we allow one another to do so. This means feeding and keeping one another in check. It means being respectful and thoughtful every step of the way. When you’re contributing the good, you get the good back. When you’re not, you’re only harming your environment.”

On ARCs, Ethics, and Speaking Up
“[T]he value in an ARC is the value in what it does for the book. An ARC and a book aren’t the same thing — the ARC precedes the book, and the ARC can help push sales of the book through early buzz. That’s why they exist and why bloggers have become part of the publicity machine. If you’re truly invested in helping promote books and reading, then you promote the purchase of the book, and you work toward halting the buying and selling of ARCs.”

Competition, Envy, and the Fine Print

“It’s our responsibility as bloggers to stand up and choose whether or not we participate. It’s our responsibility to decide whether or not we’re going to let ourselves get anxious or nervous about them, too. It’s our responsibility to speak up and speak out.

We blog because of the freedom it allows us. The only way to keep it free is to remember we have the right to say no thanks and we have the right to step out when we’re not comfortable with how things are going.”

Who Are We and What Do We Do?
“When a valid and important topic worth having a dialog about emerges, so often it devolves, turning into mud-slinging, rather than discussion. Drama, rather than discourse. Having all of these tools at our disposal to have these conversations turn into means for guessing, assuming, devaluing.”

You Can Like What You Like
“We live in a world where the louder you are and the more you talk, the more perception of power you have. Where the more you produce, the more you’re valued. It’s unfair, but it’s true. We’re a world that focuses heavily on the notion of product and of end result and one that shies away from thinking about or exploring process in and of itself. We want a tangible outcome, a defined start and finish. In being this way, so much of the beauty in the act of doing something is overlooked and devalued. So often we chide ourselves if our process to do something takes a long time or requires more than we expected. Rather than allowing ourselves or others to allow the pleasure in the act of doing, we reward based on the result.”

Truth: Blogging is Hard
“Just like an author worries about how their book will do when it’s out in the world, I worry about what I write and post right here. It’s not the same but it is the same. It’s sharing a part of yourself and your thinking and even if it’s something you’re passionate about and love doing, it’s still work. It takes effort and sometimes you wonder and worry about whether it’s worth it at all.”

The single tweet that launched a post:

The ARC stops here
“I do not for a second believe that ALA should be entirely closed off from those who aren’t librarians. I think it’s an incredible convention for those who love books and reading and knowledge and literacy and technology and the many other facets of librarianship interest that exist. It’s valuable for so many people, including teachers and bloggers and those who are simply readers.”

So to that end, I hope the story makes a heck of a lot more sense now. I have been overwhelmed with response, and I just can’t respond any further than suggesting that the responses already exist here. The belief this isn’t a legitimate concern has me mulling over even more bloggable topics, including belittling professional interests and speaking as an expert on a topic when you have no clue what the topic being discussed even is.

I have avoided reading posts and comments, but I want to do something in this space. I want to say my post was never meant to be an attack on the girls who made the video, and I’m repulsed by anyone who did that. It was meant as an example of the behavior that’s been going on for a long time. I am impressed by their response.

Like I said, people learn and grow. And within days? Those girls got it. I’m impressed as hell.

Will I say more on this? Maybe. But what I want clear is that this time, I was heard. In two days, there were over 10,000 hits on the blog. Thousands of Twitter replies. I hit a nerve that went well beyond my control — but you know, there it is.

The ARC stops here

June 28, 2012 |

I mentioned in my last post I didn’t see a lot of bad blogger behavior regarding ARCs at ALA. But as soon as I posted my piece, I did a search for “ALA book haul” and stumbled upon a video made by a pair of bloggers showing off what they picked up at the conference. This video, which ran nearly 22 minutes long, was a stream of book after book after book after book. Twenty-two minutes of showing off the books picked up at ALA. Badges of honor earned by trekking through the exhibit halls at a professional librarian conference and making sure to plan, to schedule, to arrive at different publisher booths at just the right time to snag what was sought (or not — it doesn’t always matter what the book is, just that it’s a book and it’s there and it’s free and it’s from ALA).

I watched the entire video, both fascinated and appalled. Fascinated because that was a hell of a lot of books for two people — one copy for each of them — and appalled because of the same reason. This wasn’t promoting the books picked up. It was bragging.

On Sunday of ALA, I had a little free time to do what it was I wanted to do at the conference. After what was an overwhelming opening night of exhibits on Friday, as well as an overwhelming few minutes in the exhibit hall on Saturday morning — overwhelming due to the sheer number of people, the crowds, the inability to move at all down an aisle — I poked my head into the hall and saw it was much calmer. I decided I’d walk around and pick out the few things I was really interested in reading.

Let me back up for a second: on Friday night, during the frenzy, I approached one of the publicists and asked about two books on display. I asked if it was possible to get copies or if they’d be available during the show. Note that when I approached them, I had my single tote bag with two other books in it. I was told they’d be available “sometime later at the convention” and was brushed away. No time frame. No commentary about the books themselves. As much as I walked away frustrated for being dismissed, because I did, I also felt bad for the publicist who did that to me. She was clearly overwhelmed and struggling to avoid being trampled by the hordes. I looked like anyone else at the convention, so she couldn’t know that I was a librarian (AND a blogger). She couldn’t know or take a second to find out that I was on a committee and had to spend most of the open exhibit hall hours in meetings (or preparing for a presentation). She didn’t have a second to stop and talk to me at all. I made a note to myself to come back later and ask again, when things would be calmer.

When I went back on Sunday morning, I approached the same publisher, but a different publicist (one I knew and who knew me well). I asked if she could hook me up with the books I was interested in, and she said was more than happy to. But when she looked through all of the cabinets, she couldn’t find copies of the titles I was interested in. She felt bad for it, and she took me cabinet by cabinet, asking if there was anything else I might be interested in. The bulk of the cabinets were empty. Lucky for me that because she knew me, she took down the titles I wanted and said she’d send them along to me after the show.

It seems wrong that on Sunday morning of ALA — only a day and a half into the exhibit hall hours that ran through Monday afternoon — the cabinets at one of the publisher’s booths were almost empty. This isn’t a small publisher either. This was one of the big six.

But as I watched the 22-minute long video earlier, I saw both books I was interested in showed off by both of the girls. They’d won them! They’d fought hard, they’d stalked the booths, they talked to the right people or pushed the right people out of the way. Whatever the deal, those two non-librarians were able to get the two books I’d wanted from the publisher but was unable to get.

I’m a paying member of ALA and of YALSA and of PLA and of ALSC, and I attended the conference because I had committee obligations this year. Because I’m working. Because I was giving a presentation to librarian colleagues. Money is incredibly tight right now because I’m not working a regular job. I paid out of pocket for my memberships in both associations, as well as for my plane ticket, my hotel room, my transportation to and from the airport, around Anaheim, for my meals. I don’t get reimbursed. Every penny I spent at ALA was a penny I couldn’t spend on other things. Something I’ve talked about before, in what was probably the most personal blog post I’ve ever shared publicly, was the notion that librarianship is a very selfless profession. And it is — librarians go out of their way not only to give back to their field but also to reach out and share with as many people as possible. Librarians work on committees to select the best books of the year in any number of categories. They work to read and promote books among their patrons. To help create their collections. ALA for most librarians isn’t at all about the free books. It’s about working. The books are a part of the whole, and they’re a very small part. Just consider that a committee like mine meets from 1:30 – 5:30 on Saturday and Sunday. That leaves just the morning hours free for perusing the exhibit hall, and even then, those hours are juggled with any number of other responsibilities, meetings, presentations, and so forth.

I understand completely why publishers schedule out their ARC distributions at ALA. I get it. There is only so much space in the booth, some books sit in storage until later on, some are held until the author is on site to do a signing. And I also get that it is impossible to get everything I’m interested in getting. I’m not entitled to it nor do I believe I should be.

The video I watched of two non-librarian professionals coming to a book event was 22 minutes long.

In thinking about how librarianship is a giving field, a selfless field, there’s something really uncomfortable for me in admitting that sometimes, there are ARCs I would really want to pick up at ALA. Even though I’m not working right now, I still need to stay on top of my game with what’s publishing so that when I am working again, I can jump in and be fresh, knowledgeable, prepared to not only develop the best collection I can, but also to book talk and get the titles into teens’ hands. But really? I don’t think there’s anything selfish in saying point blank that there are ARCs I want for myself to read for myself and to blog about for myself. As much as it makes me feel weird and egotistical to say this, I will: my stats and my reviews are solid. I know what the hell it is I am doing and what I’m talking about. Even though I am adamant that I have not sold a book — because selling a book requires that I’ve had the book and got money for its sale — I know my posts and reviews have some influence on getting the word out about books, particularly those lesser-known titles. I want to pick up books at ALA that interest me, that I will be able to get the word out about. I want to have conversations with the publicists at ALA and tell them what it is I am interested in and get their feedback on what’s coming out I should know about. They’re the gatekeepers to knowledge I want in the same way that I am a gatekeeper to the audience they want that knowledge (and product) shared with.

While it’s true I could ask the reps via email for titles anytime, I really don’t LIKE doing that. Likewise, it’s impossible to keep up with the contacts as they change so often and at times those changes mean that I’m treated less-than-kindly by overwhelmed reps who have no idea who I am from anyone else (and I say that because I think I’ve earned my cred as a blogger and shouldn’t be treated the same way someone who “just started” blogging is treated). I want to converse with the reps at ALA. I want to be handed a book, dammit, and I don’t think that I’m being selfish in believing that at my own professional conference — one I am paying a lot to attend as a librarian who is working — I should be able to do that.

Moreover, librarians who are working as part of a committee don’t always get boxes of titles sent to them for consideration. Many of the books they read and talk about come from titles they find via ALA conferences. So while the very librarians who are at ALA working to make the lists of best books work, they’re losing out on the opportunity to discover additional titles for consideration that are available in the exhibit hall. They’re missing out on the chance to talk with the publicity folks. And yes, sometimes titles that end up on an awards list come from the books picked up at a booth in the exhibit hall. Not from a box of books sent to the committee for consideration.

Librarians are missing the chance to pick up a book that they want to read. For themselves.

I do not for a second believe that ALA should be entirely closed off from those who aren’t librarians. I think it’s an incredible convention for those who love books and reading and knowledge and literacy and technology and the many other facets of librarianship interest that exist. It’s valuable for so many people, including teachers and bloggers and those who are simply readers. But know I say this, too, with the mind of a librarian: I want knowledge shared and spread and disseminated in a manner that’s accessible to the most and not the least. It’s an utterly selfless profession and one that gives and gives.

The video I found today, if I can remind you, was 22 minutes long. A laundry list of the books these two bloggers — non-librarians, non-professionals — picked up at ALA.

It’s not going to be easy to find a solution to this, but something needs to be done. I do not for a second believe that all non-librarian/non-teacher/non-ALA members who blog are bad people. What I am saying, though, is those few rotten apples are spoiling this for EVERYONE, and they’re spoiling it for people who are working hard, who should be able to treat themselves to something they are interested in, be it an ARC or be it having a second to talk with a publishing rep. Anyone can get into ALA’s exhibit hall for a mere $25 and some people are abusing that opportunity, taking it as their chance to pick up and carry home as many ARCs as possible. They’re taking away from the folks who are not only spending gobs more money — gobs more of their own money — to attend a professional conference but who are attending it to work to make the profession what it is. To award those books. To spread the word about the things that are coming out. To develop as professionals in librarianship. This is something that needs to be dealt with and it needs to be dealt with at the convention organizer level. That means it needs to be dealt with BY the American Library Association, which works to serve the needs and goals of their members, librarians and library supporters who pay for membership. Who pay for voting. Who pay to have their thoughts heard. Who pay to attend this convention in so many ways.

This isn’t about what you do with your ARCs when you’re done. This isn’t about the “noble causes” bloggers are picking up books for. This is about what the goals of the ALA convention are. What the goals of the publishers are in attending these conventions and distributing these books.

My solution — and note this is my solution and mine alone — is that bloggers/non-professionals who pay the minimum amount to attend the convention be limited to one day attendance at the end of the convention. That they be allowed to attend but that their attendance is after librarians and other professionals using this convention to develop as such have the opportunity to get what it is they need and what it is they want out of their own convention. If they choose to pay the full conference amount or are themselves members of the organization, then they can have full access just as anyone else does. I don’t think this is hard and I do not think it’s at all unfair on any side of the equation. Those who would find this disagreeable are part of the problem.

As a librarian, I know what my influence is, and as a librarian who blogs, I know this even more so (I don’t need to mention in this space the over 500 responses I got within an hour when I tweeted the question of what authors would feel like knowing their book went into the hands of a non-librarian at a librarian conference — it’s not about showing off or bragging but rather that people are listening). I don’t for a second believe I’m being selfish. I believe I’m allowing myself to be a professional librarian. I believe I’m also allowing myself an opportunity to do something for me. And since I’m paying for it, I think I deserve it.

A 22 minute video showing all of those books picked up at ALA by non-librarian bloggers.

I’m a voracious reader and blogger, but even I can’t get through that much. All I was hoping for was a pair of titles from a publisher and the chance to talk with a few others about the things they were most excited about. But I didn’t get the first and I had to fight to get the second.

Blogging as professional experience

May 30, 2012 |

Blogging takes a lot of time and effort and for some, it becomes almost a second job. But as much as blogging comes from a place of passion, the skills required to be a good blogger are pretty marketable. They’re the kinds of skills that schools and employers (and others!) look for. Because so many see blogging as a hobby though, they don’t consider what the tangibles of it are, and they don’t talk about it as part of their professional experience.

I’ve been asked before and I’ll say it as someone who has been on the hiring side of the table: if you are a blogger and it’s something you work at — something that you invest your time and energy into — you absolutely should include it on your resume, in job applications, in your cover letters, in your interviews, or in any other capacity where you are discussing your relevant skills. Your blog is probably the biggest portfolio you can show off.

It can be challenging to step back from the act of blogging and translate into words what you’re doing and what skills are being employed. Blogging can be intensely personal, so thinking about it as something professional and marketable can be a little tricky. But you can!

Communication

Whether you’re blogging by writing or blogging via video, you’re communicating your thoughts. You’re editing your words into coherent sentences and organizing your ideas into ways that make sense. Blogging is practicing effective communication skills and doing so for a readership outside yourself.

Blogging also enhances your ability to describe and distill complex information. How do you explain what happened in a 300 page book? How do you point out what made the point of the book work or not work? This requires a lot of logic and a lot of higher-level thinking to do. Whether or not you write a good review or a critical review, you’re putting a lot of thinking into the content and expression of those thoughts.

In addition to being able to point to the actual writing (or video), those who blog also have an opportunity to talk about communication via readers. You respond to comments and follow up. You also maintain communication with those who you work with, if you’re working with publishers or authors on different promotions. These seem like little things when you’re doing them, but they’re evidence of understanding the importance of two-way conversation and engagement.

Expertise

Whatever it is you’re blogging about, the longer you do it, the more you become knowledgeable about the topic, whether or not it’s your actual background. It helps I’ve got experience as a librarian and my education is in teen services, but that doesn’t make someone whose education is something entirely different but who spends free time investing in something like YA lit less knowledgeable on the topic. The expertise is just through a bit of a different lens.

The more work you put into blogging about a topic, the more you’re educating yourself. If you’re researching post ideas, staying on top of trends and influences in the field, making contacts with people in your interest area and allowing them to share their expertise, attending industry events, you’re furthering your knowledge on a topic area.

For book bloggers specifically, expertise is demonstrated through review writing, too. The more you’re able to discuss why a book did or didn’t succeed, the more you’re expressing expertise and knowledge of writing and story telling. If you talk about a book’s appeal factors or what similar books in the field are, you’re also showing off your understanding of the field.

Expertise sets you apart because it’s knowledge that isn’t always easily trained, and if it’s something you’re learning about because you’re passionate, then it will show through by virtue of your blogging about it. But more specifically, by being knowledgeable on a specific topic such as YA books (or picture books or middle grade books or adult books — you get the idea), you’re acquiring reader’s advisory skills, sales skills, and pitching skills.

Networking

A big aspect of blogging is networking. Good networking skills come through strong and effective communication and they play a huge role in developing expertise. When you attend industry events or make contact with people who are important in your world, you’re growing your expertise.

While the notion of networking can feel a little cold, it doesn’t have to be. I like to think of it less in the sense of trading business cards in hopes of getting somewhere and more in the sense of getting to know people and establishing actual connections with other people. It’s not about acquiring or achieving influence but rather sharing and interacting in meaningful ways that leave you and the other person with something you didn’t have before you conversed.

One of the biggest and scariest aspects of blogging — at least for me — is reaching out to someone new and communicating with them. It’s weird to reach out to someone who you do not know and try to open the lines of conversation, be it because you’re interested in interviewing them or because you want to talk with them about their book (even if I love a book, rarely do I ever actually reach out to the writer and tell them that because it is hard to put yourself out there like that!). Fortunately, social networking has made networking much easier in some capacities.

Events at places like BEA and ALA are all about networking and establishing and growing relationships. These are networking events, not “book” events. It’s through these you get the chance to practice your networking skills and it’s through these that networking can end up paying off for you (and the person you’ve made a connection with — remember, networking shouldn’t be cold and unfeeling).

However, there’s a fine line between networking and name dropping. When talking about networking your focus should be a willingness to reach out and meet new people, to establish connections, and create meaningful partnerships with others. Building relationships with other people is huge — especially in many service-oriented jobs — so it’s a huge asset. But don’t name drop, unless you’re asked specifically.

Your network is yours and yours alone, and it can be a huge benefit to you. And if you’re doing it right, it benefits the people in your network as much as you.

Public Relations and Publicity

If you’re doing any sort of blog tour or cover reveal or other publicity-driven promotion on your blog, then you are honing another skill set. But beyond those things, if you’re working with publishers or authors or third party marketing/publicity agencies, you’re helping out on publicity campaigns. Sometimes this means you have creative control and sometimes it means you’re following a specific request.

In either case, you’re minding deadlines, following a schedule and routine. But more than that, you’re taking part in spreading the word through your blog and through whatever other social mediums you use to publicize your content.

Bloggers who have review, contest, or any other policies are also practicing their PR skills. Writing these requires considering what your blog is about, defining your interests and audience, and delineating what you do and do not do (including things like whether or not you respond to all emails you receive, whether or not you participate in blog tours, and so forth).

Sharing your blog’s content, even if it’s all your own and not a part of a bigger campaign, is still publicity. You’re putting your work out there and spreading the word about what you’re doing. This is an important skill. You’re thinking beyond your own building (your blog) and finding new ways to reach readers.

Technology

Something so obvious but easy to overlook is that blogging requires using and learning technology and tech skills. Aside from becoming familiar with the ins and outs of a particular blogging platform, you’re learning how to best use the platform to your advantage. You learn how to tag and organize content, how to present it, how to optimize it for search engines. You also learn how to design for a digital platform and keep an eye to the mobile platforms through which people reach your site. If you pay attention to stats, you know how to use analytics, too. Depending on whether you do your own hosting or not or how much you’ve put into your blog’s appearance, you probably have a handle on a number of different web languages, too, including html and css. If you’re a vlogger, you’ve got a wealth of skills relating to using recording tools, editing tools, and you’re learning how to produce good quality video for web consumption.

Then there’s anything you do to promote your content online. If you use Twitter or Facebook or Pinterest or any other tool, you’re learning how to use the tool and how to use it to spread your content (and hopefully communicate beyond that to include networking). If you host contests, you likely use a third party program to use it and depending on how you write or schedule your posts, you may be an expert at cloud services like Google Docs. There are any number of other ways you’re using technology or learning new tech skills while blogging.

Highlighting These Skills

First and foremost, own what you do. Be proud of the fact you put work into a blog and that you invest not only your time, but also your mind and your heart. Once you are confident in who you are and what you’re doing, you’re more willing to talk about it with other people in a way that’s not self-defeating or belittling of it. It’s easy to consider what you’re doing “just a blog.” It’s not — it’s much more.

This sounds obvious, but it’s not: share your blog address. You can put it on your applications, on your resume, in your cover letters. How you choose to do it varies, but the key is to have it down so that other people can find your work.

When asked about what you do with your blog, talk about it openly and without shame. For whatever reason, many feel shame and embarrassment about being a blogger, but there’s never a reason to feel that way about something you love doing. Especially if it’s something that provides you legitimate marketable skills.

Use professional language when discussing your blog. The words and concepts are all there. You don’t have to invent anything new for what you’re doing — instead, think of how what you’re doing fits the skills required for a job, for a scholarship, or for other opportunities.

Highlight your achievements. If you’ve served on a Cybils committee, had your content shared on a big-name platform, started a feature that fills a niche in the blogging world, share that information. It says a lot about you as a person if you’re an active, engaged member of a community — as much, if not more, than if you’re operating in an echo chamber.

Things to Keep in Mind

Use your name. If you want to talk about your blog professionally, then look the part.

Mind what you say. If you are using your name and talking about your blog professionally, then always think about what you’re posting. Never post something you’ll regret. Remember that your name is attached to it.

Don’t be shy. It’s easy to hide behind your blog, even if it can be one of the biggest assets in setting you apart. But you do it, and if you’re proud of it, show it off. Blogging is a huge undertaking and huge responsibility and it shows a willingness to commit, to engage, and to devote yourself to a passion.

Play fairly. If you don’t own something, don’t take credit for it. Give credit where it is due and always ask before you simply take.

Sell your skills. I’ve outlined a ton of things I think about in terms of what blogging brings professionally, but there are plenty more and they can vary by blogger, depending on what you’re doing and how you’re doing it. Never undersell the knowledge and skills you acquire on your own.

Your blog is your portfolio. It is something you can point to, show off, and talk about. It is a tangible product. Make sure you’re producing a quality product. If this is something you want to point to as a professional tool, then make sure your blog works for you and not against you.

Believe in yourself. This above all else is what will take you furthest.

Make sure you check out the rest of the posts in this week’s unconventional blog tour about blogging — where you’ll learn even more about how to be professional with your blog.

On Blogging: An Unconventional Blog Tour

May 27, 2012 |

One of the best parts about blogging is getting to know other bloggers and not only getting to know them, but actually learning from them. Every blogger brings something different to what they do, be it by the way they approach writing or reviewing or by virtue of having a background or experience outside of blogging that influences them.

It’s from that thought where Liz and myself starting thinking: wouldn’t it be neat if a bunch of bloggers tackled a topic about blogging — ethics, politics, practices, etc. — that allowed them to really share the knowledge or background they have on those topics?

Welcome to an unconventional week of bloggers talking about blogging!

Over the next five days, ten bloggers will be tackling a host of different topics through the lenses of their own expertise. We’re hoping this is not only helpful for new bloggers, but also seasoned veterans and anyone who interacts with bloggers or wants to be better about interacting with them. Check out the schedule below for participants and the topics they’re talking about. As posts go live this week, I’ll come back and link them up here.

We hope this is an opportunity for an open and honest discourse on blogging, but we also hope it’s educational and enlightening. Feel free to jump into discussions this week. We’re all eager to talk about these issues and share our knowledge as best we can.

Monday, May 28

Pam Coughlin (MotherReader) on Playing Nicely

Colleen Mondor (Chasing Ray) on Author-Blogger relationships

Tuesday, May 29

Liz Burns (A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy) on Audience and Writing for Readers

Ana and Thea (The Book Smugglers) on Maintaining Independence and Integrity

Wednesday, May 30

Sarah Moon (Clear Eyes, Full Shelves) on Finding Your Voice

Kelly Jensen (STACKED) on Leveraging Your Blog as Professional Experience

Thursday, May 31

Sarah Bean Thompson (Green Bean Teen Queen) on Conference Professionalism

Kim Ukura (Sophisticated Dorkiness) on Objectivity vs. Transparency

Friday, June 1

Sarah Andersen (YA Love Blog) on Community and Accountability

Kate Hart (Kate Hart) on Giving Credit Where Credit’s Due: Citing Your Sources

Here’s an opportunity. Let’s not screw it up.

April 6, 2012 |

I’m a staunch advocate of guys reading. Early in my career as a librarian, I had the extraordinary opportunity to hear Michael Sullivan speak about boys and reading, and it really changed a lot of my views about how to reach male readers (you can read those posts about seeing him here, here, and here). The biggest take away from hearing him and my guiding principle when it comes to collection development, reader’s advisory, book lists and displays, and other general book/reading promotion is to avoid letting these things be tampered by my own biases. I like certain books and genres, and there are certain books and genres I don’t care for. But seeing the library and the reading world is not all about me and my beliefs, I know I have to remove my own lenses. I have to look out for the kinds of books that don’t interest me at all because to be effective and to reach readers, I have to remember it’s not about me. This sometimes means that I am going to read and advocate for books that have a certain male appeal to them. And I’m okay with it — I embrace it actually, since it helps me gain perspective into other people and how to reach new people.

This week, School Library Journal posted a piece about a school that addressed this very problem of guy reading. The solution this para/librarian duo took was to develop a boys’ reading cave, a space where guys could feel comfortable in the library (with additional links from Liz Burns worth reading here). It’s stocked with books that have a particular boy appeal aspect to them.

From the outside, this looks like a great idea. For boys, especially those who are at the tender grade levels these kids are at, reading IS a problem. By third grade, boys tend to be behind their female counterparts in reading, so by developing a space in the library that has a collection of books with great boy appeal and that feels safe to them because it is their “own” space, the library appears to have solved a problem. And I do applaud them for taking the effort in addressing their boys, especially because they had boy input on the project from the start.

This project is troubling to me, though. But before I delve into why, let me start with a couple other things.

If you’re going to be a reading advocate, whether as a librarian or as a teacher or just because you love books period, you have a huge sense of responsibility. You need to understand that readers have different needs and you need to understand you have readers and you have “non readers.” You need to understand that not every book is going to reach everyone.

I’m always particularly troubled when I see librarians talk about moving away from books and reading because that’s not what their teens want. It bothers me when librarians — especially those in public and school libraries — talk about how their teens don’t want books. That they want programs and space to do things, not read things. While it’s entirely valid that teens want a space and NEED that kind of space in their communities, this attitude is belittling to those teens who are readers. Teens who are readers aren’t always the loudest ones who come in the library. They’re not always the ones who come and visit their librarian. But it doesn’t mean their needs aren’t as valid or as worthy. It just means they approach their library in a different way.

It means you have to reach out to them differently. It means you have to continue keeping your knowledge of what’s out there up-to-date, and it means you need to keep your collection fresh. It means you do a lot more “passive” marketing — you make book displays to promote different books, you write shelf talkers (where you write book recommendations on cards and stick them on book shelves), you make book lists and have them available in your teen area, and you make the effort to reach those teens in ways that are going to be different than the way you reach teens who use their libraries for a creating space, for programs, and so forth. It is a lot of work, and it never gets easier!

Cutting your readers out entirely from your library plan? You’re letting your own beliefs overtake your job. You’re creating a biased and unwelcoming space for an entire segment of your community, whether or not it’s your intention.

In creating a “boys cave” at the school library, this duo has done precisely that. I do not in any way believe this was intentional, but it happened, and it’s getting the sort of push back from the community it deserves. Read the last statement in the story. Lynne Hanes, when asked about whether the library would offer up a special space for girls states “[P]art of my concern is that girls will check out books from a boys’ area, but I’m not sure how many boys will check out books from a girls’ area. We don’t want to restrict books.” Even though there have been “boy” books pulled into this section, girls aren’t restricted from checking them out. But the belief is that by creating a “girl” books section, no boys would be welcome. In other words, girls will be interested in “boy” books but boys won’t be interested in “girl” books.

There are two issues going on here: first, the gendering of books and second, the gendering of space.

Books do not have genders. Yes, there are books with particular boy appeal and particular girl appeal but I don’t believe anyone sets out to write a book with the intention of making it one thing or another. And as I talked about in previous posts about guys reading, boys do tend to like different kinds of books than girls. It’s not hard and fast, and there are no rules, but they have some different tastes and preferences. When you’re building a library or you’re advocating for books, being aware of those things (which are based primarily in psychology, in behavior, and maybe most importantly, in the way we socialize boys in our culture) helps you make sure you’re meeting some of those interests. It should be a way to guide you away from your personal biases and a way for you to see how diverse people’s interests and passions are. But it’s not a set of rules or a blueprint.

While I applaud the idea of having books pulled that have appeal to boys, it needs to be approached in a way that is not exclusionary. The way it’s being done here is exclusionary, even if girls are allowed into the boys space to borrow them. These books are being labeled as boy books, rather than what they really are. They’re books with certain appeal factors, and these appeal factors don’t stop at gender lines. Books on boogers and the gross aspects of the human body have mega appeal to boy readers. But they also appeal to girl readers. Instead of pulling them out of the general collection and tossing them in a boys section, why couldn’t they be pulled out into a display or into a special area and be called a “gross books” area? Besides being more accurate as to what the books are and being much more appealing to readers, here’s an opportunity for boys AND girls to bond over their interest in something in a shared space in the library. Books that have strong, fast-paced plot lines with male main characters that are certainly going to appeal to boy readers can be pulled together and labeled as “action adventure!” Not only is is accurate but it appeals to both boys and girls in the same space. I bet if you clicked on my book lists linked above, you’ll notice I DO have a book list geared toward boys. But I also have a book list for girls, too. If you’re going to offer one, you absolutely must offer the other.

Gendering books makes books safe or unsafe spaces, and it only goes further when the library itself is divided into gendered areas. Going back to the comment from one of the boys wishing for a “no girls” sign in the “boys cave” is hugely problematic and gets to the root of why developing this space is troubling. This library is furthering the belief that there are places that should be for boys only or for girls only. But worse, because this library only has a male space, it’s sending a statement to girls that they don’t matter. That their needs aren’t as valid or important. Because girls have always had the library as a space for them, and they’ve always had books that meet their needs. Because girls are always readers and will continue being readers, whether or not you do anything to help them find books or feel safe.

What a load of shit.

Even if the intention was to build a space that feels safe to boys, those good intentions turned the tables in making a certain area unsafe for girls.

I’m not going to blame this particular staff for what they’ve done because I do believe they think they’ve done something great here in addressing a problem. Rather, I’m going to put it out there that the bulk of problems we see (or don’t see) in advocating for reading is the result of our own shortcomings. It’s the result of us not taking off our own biases and thinking about how to approach things on a grander level. It’s the result of forgetting that the library, the classroom, the act of reading does not belong to us alone. It belongs to a far greater community, one made up of boys and girls and those kids who don’t associate themselves with one gender or the other. If we segment off books and if we segment off spaces and declare that reading belongs to one group or the other, we’re participating in a dangerous game. We’re gendering everything in a world where gender is nothing but a construct we’ve created.

Isn’t the reading world about breaking apart constructs? Isn’t the reading world about letting people find what they need, no matter who or what they are?

Shouldn’t the library allow this to happen by being a safe and inviting space for everyone and not just one gender or the other?

via http://unicornbooty.com/blog/2012/04/05

More than that, though, shouldn’t we, as advocates of reading and of reaching those who are or aren’t “readers” be more open minded? Shouldn’t we be the founts of knowledge? Shouldn’t we be the ones seeing the need before it arises and meeting it in a non-biased manner?

I’ve always seen the library (and the classroom and the reading world more wholly) as belonging to everyone. Part of what makes these places safe is that they ARE where anyone can find their niche. It is absolutely our responsibility as advocates to not perpetuate constructs. It’s our job to break them apart.

It’s not an issue of whether or not solving problems is hard. It’s an issue of whether or not we’re willing to put in the true effort to do it in a way that empowers everyone, rather than belittles them.