Zadie Smith on Libraries

"Well-run libraries are filled with people because what a good library offers cannot be easily found elsewhere: an indoor public space in which you do not have to buy anything in order to stay. In the modern state there are very few sites where this is possible. The only others that come readily to my mind require belief in an omnipotent creator as a condition for membership. It would seem the most obvious thing in the world to say that the reason why the market is not an efficient solution to libraries is because the market has no use for a library. But it seems we need, right now, to keep re-stating the obvious. There aren’t many institutions left that fit so precisely Keynes’ definition of things that no one else but the state is willing to take on. Nor can the experience of library life be recreated online. It’s not just a matter of free books. A library is a different kind of social reality (of the three dimensional kind), which by its very existence teaches a system of values beyond the fiscal."

Zadie Smith, in the New York Review of Books. Via Bookshelf Porn

I love this quote and thought it was timely since our Library District here in Portland just passed - hooray! Our library is already good, the district gives more stability and with that the opportunity to be great. Despite the protestations of some, Amazon + Starbucks is not a replacement for the public library. I'm so glad voters in my city feel the same!

little rattlesnakers

FIRST THING FIRST: but you know, weeks later - I love this Janelle Monae video! It's so like a dream with the strange happenings, hallways, extraordinary locomotion, people appearing/ disappearing, striped shoes, dancing nurse, and mirror-faced mysteries. However, the dream-time clincher (in my humble opinion) is walking through walls and appearing in a totally new but hyper-real environment. None of which conveys how much fun it is to watch - it makes me so happy. I'm pretty sure I first saw this on fluxtumblr a couple of weeks ago; I'm positive I've watched it a bunch of times.




THIS AND THAT UPDATE:

night garden update: I still want one. I took the garbage out at 11:11 pm (forgot! again!) and wandered past some roses and they just smell so lovely. I know it sounds weird, but they do smell different at night. Wonderful portland summer garden times have yet to come, since it's not even 60 degrees and has only not-rained twice in the past month, but… maybe one day. Night gardens traditionally have white/pink/light colored flowers, which traditionally are more fragrant, so that's what I want in my imaginary night garden. I guess I need a bench or something too. It's like a completely different world, even though it's the same old stuff as the day garden. If this were an 80s sitcom we would all have a special moment here at the end of our show about night gardens where Alex P. Keaton or a Cosby kid or one of the girls from the Facts of Life realizes that we are all extraordinary given the right setting. Bill Cosby would then appear in a PSA after the Very Special Episode to remind us that the best kind of night garden experience is one where you're high on life and transported by natural beauty and not the kind where you're hallucinating unicorns because you've been eating the datura or other vespertine.

life in the stacks update: The other day a woman and her 4 or 5 year old son came into the library to pick up some holds. I told her where they were (he had already raced ahead), and she told me that they were fairly new to the library and that her son was SO EXCITED to place holds, and was SO GODDAMNED EXCITED when he found out that his book was in and waiting for him - he had told her "I can't sleep, I'm so excited." Aw! Cute story about a young book lover in the making, I'm thinking. Two minutes later I look down the aisle to check on them and he is wailing, inconsolable. It turns out that the book that was ready was, in his words, "wroooooonnnggg." Tragedy! I guess she didn't read the email or maybe they're notified by phone (which doesn't give titles), and it was a dumb grown-up book for her and not the much anticipated book of his dreams. This honest misunderstanding was no consolation to Young Sir - now he wouldn't have it to read on the car ride (to Vacation - this book had clearly been a carrot dangled in front of him for something). His life: ruined! I felt bad for the little dude, but they went to the kid's section to find something that hopefully would patch over his heartbreak.

fantastic photos update: I love Sandra Juto's photographs, but I especially love her city pictures. She's been posting a series from Berlin that's fantastic.

I know it starts with j

Today I worked at one of the larger library branches with a girl named Jessica. Normally I wouldn't mention this, but it was funny because Jessica and I are about the same age, both have longish dark hair and dark eyes, both were subbing today, and of course have a J name of similar length. One of the regular staff members at the branch couldn't keep us straight, even though we've both worked there separately on many occasions. It was just TOO MUCH -- she was mortified at her mistake so I only corrected her twice; it obviously distressed her to keep getting it wrong. I didn't care, and I don't think Jessica really cared either. (You get used to these things with a name like Jennifer/Jessica. I actually love having a name I share with MILLIONS. it's like a disguise! I have an unusual middle name though, so maybe I'd feel differently if I was one of the many Jennifer Lynns I went to camp with.)

Speaking of getting the name not quite right, one of my favorite patrons of the day was this guy in his 90s who came up to the circ desk and said: say, can you tell me if you have this book? I think it's called Shanghai.

I started to type that in, but realized there would be a million titles that come up from that search, so I asked him if he knew the author's name.

him: no, but he wrote another book.

me: do you remember the title?

him: peking.

me: (HILARIOUS!) out loud: I bet they can help you with that at the reference desk.

later on he came back to the circ desk and told Jessica (!) that they did help him find it, and it wasn't Singapore, it was Saigon!

me to Jessica: didn't he say it was Shanghai when he was up here before?

Jessica: yes, yes he did.

my other favorite patron was an 8 year old girl dressed all in purple. She came sidling up to the desk, half shy, half bold. "can you tell me if you have a book on the shelves?"

Me: maybe, what are you looking for?

Twilight.

I'll look, but I'm pretty sure those are all checked out. Do you want me to put it on hold for you?

No.

(in the meantime I find the book in the catalog and show her the picture.) Is this the one?

No, it's the scary one with vampires and stuff. the dvd just came out.

That's this one.

oh. you don't have it?

We don't have it right now, I'm sorry! (and I really was)

I guess a lot of people like scary things to read, don't they?

I agreed and tried to send her to reference so they could find her a scary series we have sitting right on the shelves (I'm sure there was SOMETHING she would have liked, and this kind of problem is the kind librarians live to solve), but we got busy and I'm not sure if she made it over to the ref. desk. I hope she did!

kitchen sink news

weather: It sounds like some kind of crazy chime-ringing, oh-auntie-em house-moving, tree-shaking windstorm outside my window right now, but I think it's fake. I mean, it sounds like all those things, but since it's dark I can't really tell. Maybe there is localized huffing and puffing trying to blow my house down and it's as still and smooth as glass down the street! (maybe I should have taken drugs for this headache sooner, before I got to Weather Conspiracy on the brain chemistry dial.)

library: My favorite patrons this week have been, without question, 8-10 yr. old girls checking out their Nancy Drews and likewise. There have been a lot of them for some reason. They either have their library card READY TO GO on top of their neatly stacked pile of books, or they have their library card in their WALLET, which is obviously a point of "I practically have credit cards!" pre-tweener pride. (although a few of these girls have gotten ready to check out and the card is not where they were expecting it! This is so traumatizing to their library going book toting crime solving organized selves -- I always try to find something to do on the computer so that they can regain composure and remember that it is in their backpack pocket and not in their wallet after all.) Anyway, I like it when kids come up to the counter to check out their own stuff. Some weeks it's kids with manga or comic books, but this week it's been a lot of the titian-haired girl detective.

I have a lot of favorite patron types, now that I think of it. I'm also very fond of: 1) kids who are obviously dragging their non-reader parent or guardian there so they can get their weekly library fix. (and the guardian who brings them)
2) anyone who checks out an actual book with pages! (although I must note to non-reader parents or guardians and others that the library is not just for books. But books are awesome.)
3) I also love it when someone who hasn't used the library in years, or maybe ever, comes in and gets a card and CHECKS STUFF OUT. I mean, that's what we're there for!

Working the way I do at various branches all over town, I can tell you that anecdotally at least, people from every socioeconomic stripe use the library. Everyone makes the same excuses when stuff is late, too! The wording may change (I've heard "I was in jail" and "I was in europe" and "I was on tour" as reasons why something was desperately late), but the basic human reasoning remains the same: I don't think I should have to pay. People are funny!

I have lost track of where I was going here. oh, right. Hugh Jackman.

The Oscars: I liked it! I like Hugh Jackman a lot already -- he's so charming and talented and seemingly comfortable with himself. He's in a lot of bad movies, but I can't even hold that against him. (Yes, I have seen Van Helsing!) So, if you take Hugh Jackman, to whom I am already fondly disposed, and you set him up with an opening number that he pretend designed in his pretend garage out of fake pretend garage props? I'm pretty much helpless. The resulting opening number made me laugh a lot, but it wouldn't have worked if he wasn't giving it his all. I also liked the reconfigured stage and how the acting awards were distributed. By having previous winners say something specific about the nominees (my favorite: Shirley MacLaine to Anne Hathaway), it seemed more like actors celebrating their work and less of a "who has the best 'happy to be nominated' face" reality show. I know it was a little rough in spots, but I think doing it this way added continuity and a sense of community, which makes total sense for such a collaborative medium.

Lest you think that I am predisposed to love everything that crosses my line of vision, I have to say... (and I'm surprised to find the thought in my brain)... I think I'm getting Beyonce fatigue! I love her, but it seems like she's everywhere. Everywhere is too many places! She's gorgeous, but what the hell was up with her red carpet dress? It looked like a spandex bordello curtain. And she really needs to lay off At Last. I mean come on! I know she sang it in Cadillac Records and it was therefore fair game and maybe even relevant, but she JUST sang it at the inauguration, and Etta James is still drawing breath! Let Etta James have her song, Beyonce! You've got enough, you don't need that too.

Anyway, I certainly understand people who miss Billy Crystal, but I don't think the days of that kind of Oscar telecast are coming back. It's time to move forward. While this year's broadcast was far from perfect, I think it was a long step in the right direction. After it was over, I thought "I want to watch more movies!" which certainly hasn't been the case the past few years.

Here's the youtube of that opening number. I agree with Heather Havrilesky -- it was "a scrappy, bizarre masterpiece!"

traveling brain itch

I have the brain itch again!

It's not the exciting or exotic eureka! brain itch of many good ideas, just regular recipe drive myself crazy brain itch. You know the kind where you can't settle down and actually do anything because Oh My God, my brain itches!?? Like that. I wish I could blame it entirely on the stress of the election or the economy imploding or my byzantine work circumstances or the change in season or various other reality cudgels, but I think those things just ACCENTUATE some natural state of agitation that travels around the world like a virus, persecuting the innocent and absentminded. Fair warning: by the time I can talk about the brain itch, its effect is lessening. You might be next!

One thing that helps is crossing things off of a list, and one of the things on my list is getting the stuff I have checked out from the library down to under sixty items. (it is currently holding strong at 76. This is INSANITY.) Some of this stuff I've been holding onto because I think "I want to post about this!" -- so I'm going to try to do that in the coming days. (ha ha! No, really! It could totally happen!! )

Unrelated, OR IS IT???: I have spent some time this evening sorting out my goodreads ratings. I was using three stars for almost everything, which rendered three stars almost worthless. Sometimes half stars would be handy. Anyway. I'm coming to embrace "it was okay" (two stars) as a perfectly reasonable rating. I have also noticed a weird thing where I'm really reluctant to give a 5 star rating unless it's an art book or maybe poetry. What's up with that? I guess I shouldn't be surprised since I do the exact same thing with itunes/ipod ratings. (one star is an emergency DELETE THIS ASAP code, but otherwise things fall into the 3-4 star rating. As with books, this is not particularly helpful.)

oops. gotta go to bed. brain itching less already. (blog post was on list! now I just have to change my sheets (also on list) and then I think I will actually be able to go to sleep.)

jangly ribs: the musical!

The moon, which is either full right now, full in a few hours, or full tomorrow night, is busy singing this weird Rogers and Hammerstein/Gilbert and Sullivan Some Enchanted Evening/ Modern Major General mashup. It's making me LAUGH but geez, moon, come on! Cut me a break. I blame this phenomenon on the following: 1) the moon is actually doing this. (it's obviously singing, and it looks like show tunes from here) 2) too much light opera in the workroom today (so funny! I was working in another area, but I could hear random bits of singing and shrieking laughter every time the door opened.) 3) jangly ribs cause hallucinations.

About that jangly rib issue: this is a self diagnosis, OBVIOUSLY, athough I expect it to catch on and soon there will be ads for Jangly Rib Syndrome Medication that air during prime time. (I think the medication should be m&m's or maybe frozen cherries.) I have this problem, see? Every time I wear a necklace with a pendant, the pendant ends up on one side or the other -- it never hangs in the middle! These are short necklaces, so it's not like I'm trying to be cute about some boob issue ala Thoroughly Modern Millie and her beads that won't lay flat. I gave this some serious thought today at lunch and decided that my ribcage must be off kilter in such a way that pendants can't stay centered. I'm crooked! Then I decided that maybe my ribs just jangle around in my chest when I'm not looking like coins in a pocket. From there it degenerated into a quickly abandoned theory featuring a small creature playing xylophone (or perhaps vibraphone!) on my ribs from the inside, which knocks pendants off center. I feel that this would also explain migraines, but it is a little too twilight zone to investigate seriously. So jangly ribs it is! "Doctor, I've got the rib jangle, and I'm afraid it's serious."

In library news, I think my favorite patron of the last two days was a little boy I helped yesterday. He was about six and had a towel stuck in the back of his t-shirt to make a cape. He came up to the desk practically VIBRATING with inarticulate excitement because he had found a DVD on how to do magic tricks. I think it's probably going to be a tough time for any rabbits, hats or slow-moving cats who cross his path in the next three weeks.

Speaking of weeks, I've had a pretty great one! More on that soon. I just had to post now in the hopes that by REPORTING on the moon, I could get it to shut up long enough to fall asleep. (oh, lord! you try to tell it that since it's an inanimate blob of space rock with no arms and no legs it doesn't get any choreography. I've had this argument before and I'm not having it again! at least not tonight.)

what's your call number?

During a recent library training meeting for on-call staff, the woman running the meeting started with a round of introductions. Not my favorite activity, but as someone who has been working on-call for a while, I'm used to it. This time she found an excellent twist that actually revealed information in a gentle but effective way: she had us give our names, how long we'd been with the library, and then our call number, i.e.what part of the library do we go to first? FUN! I liked this because of course it IS revealing, but it's not something that boxes you in forever. (it also involves a small bit of dewey decimal library nerdery, but no one seemed to have a problem with that.) She started us off by saying that she loves the YA (young adult novel) section, because there are so many great titles now and there weren't that many when she was a kid. We went around the circle -- one woman was a 580's girl (I'm a birder!), someone else 650's (small business), someone else doesn't read books (!!!) and instead just uses the library for media, another woman said that she should know but couldn't recall the call no. for her own book (many published authors in the MCL!), and so on. I was 800's (lit. and poetry) and GNs (graphic novels), but of course that's just the FIRST place I look. Anyway. As ice-breakers go, it's not bad.

park updates: They are putting new bark chips down on the main path around the perimeter of the park -- this is good because it's been raining a lot, the path has gotten muddy and previous bark chips had broken down so much so that the weed-dampening fabric was showing through. It hasn't been spread out yet, and today was just mountain after mountain of bark mulch right in my way. I must confess that my first bad-mood thought was that this was a metaphor for how everything I want seems to get a little further away and inconvenient just as I approach it, but fortunately I snapped out of it just in time to laugh and walk around pile after pile (AFTER PILE). I mean, that's some weak-ass manufactured drama right there!

There is one tree at the park that has particularly graceful above-ground roots -- like pretty feet or something, I suppose. Anyway, earlier in the spring someone (not me!) placed camellia blossoms all around these visible roots -- rings on fingers, bells on toes, flowers in hair. Camellia season ended and I didn't think much more about it, but last week I noticed that someone had put smooth river rocks in the hollows of the roots of this particular tree. Lovely! (this area is blessed/cursed with many, many, many smooth rocks that come up whenever you put a shovel to the ground. Thank the missoula flood.) I took it as a tribute to something, but I'm not sure what. Spring? Trees? Some secret that I don't know? They were gone today, so I know someone is tending to it, not just a hit and run tree be-decker. Oooh -- speaking of acts of guerilla beautification, I love this story of stealth civic gardening.

PROBLEM SOLVED! mostly: Lately I've been having a beach ball issue on my new computer. I need to figure out what it is, because it is (of course) driving me crazy. The trouble compounds itself; sometimes the only way to get out of THE PROBLEM is to force quit my computer. Usually, it's no big deal (especially since I've learned that one of the programs I'm likely to have open and be using automatically saves things even if I haven't), but one of the areas affected is my journal program. I keep an electronic journal, which I generally open up in the morning and write in it off and on all day. I use it for lists, My Deep Thoughts, etc. and whatnot. Usually I remember to save, but sometimes I don't -- yesterday I lost everything for the day. (it wasn't a particularly high-volume day, but still.) Anyway, I got the bright idea that maybe, just MAYBE, there was some sort of auto save feature, and lo and behold, there WAS and I have turned it on! Hooray! So while I still have the bigger problem of "why does my lovely new computer torment me so?", I solved the element that was most likely to make me incoherently agitated. (I use MacJournal, which I LOVE! I'm on an ancient free version, but the new one looks really nice and maybe I should upgrade.)

weather report: right now there is some sun, but it has been raining FOREVER. It is june, and the high is supposed to be somewhere in the mid-60's today. I don't need it to be sunny for months on end (although I would only complain a little!), but I could do with a few days of sunshine. Plus, we don't need the rain!! As I learned while touring the Grand Coulee Dam (more on that soon), the columbia river is full! Full to the top! and all the places where they normally divert water when the river is full? Also full! And the snow hasn't even started melting yet in Canada. Basically, our tour guide informed us that we are in perfect flood conditions, very similar to those of the big Vanport Flood in 1948. (today's blog theme: mighty floods of history! and, as always, my many neuroses.) Anyway, this flood news served as a great diversion to asking some tough questions. I was so distracted it didn't even occur to me to ask, but my sister got in the car after the tour and said "damn! I meant to ask about the fish!" (it turns out that at the Grand Coulee Dam there is no accommodation for salmon. They probably have a "distract the hippies with tales of their city flooding before they can ask about fish" policy in place with their tour guides. It was still a very groovy tour.) Anyway, the point of all of this is that I would very much like for the SUN TO SHINE, for at least three days in a row. Is that too much to ask? I hope not.

what Sam said to Bobby applies to us all

Yesterday I was working at one of my all-time favorite library branches and had another experience of Serendipity By Bookdrop. The day after a holiday closure is always busy -- circulation is no joke in this system -- things have to keep moving or the door will be blocked by incoming materials and we'd have to read our way out of it! I was in the work room surrounded by big canvas bins full of books and dvds and cds -- I really do love this part because I get to see everything, even if it's just for a second. Anyway, I saw a familiar pair of eyes looking up from the bin and fished out Sam Cooke's SAR Record's Story 2 disc set. Woo hoo! Nobody had a hold on it so I brought it home, but not before I read the following on my break. This quote is Bobby Womack recalling what Sam told him about the utility of reading:

Sam was always into reading. He read black history a lot, he read Aristotle, he read the New Yorker and Playboy magazine, I mean he read all the time. Everywhere he went he would look and see where he could get a book--he didn't care what it was about, he would get something! He was just so locked into it, and I would say, When does this guy have time to write? But he was telling me,"'Bob, if you read, you gonna write much easier. You can say what's on your mind, because you're not interpreting, you know what I mean?'" He said, "'That's the only way you can grow. Otherwise you're going to write love songs for the rest of your life. But everything ain't about love. If you in a situation that you thought was supposed to be a certain way, you can write in a way where it's like an abstract painting. You can say things direct to people, and they can accept it. Because of the way you put it."