SLIS Ideas Blog

Blurry pic of the CADL Director,
Marcia Dievendorf, and I

Just submitted a blog post for the SLIS Ideas Blog about my practicum experience at Caro Area District Library! When it's published, I'll be sure to share the link here. A big thank you to Janet for acting as my editor!

In the mean time, you can check out an earlier post I did for the blog:
Mein Kampf Case Study

The 940s

I've kept this blog free of politics with the exception of library funding issues and my recent announcement of non-partisan candidacy for Watertown Township trustee -- the latter has been kept to a bare minimum. However, I recently spotted this image making its rounds via Facebook (a friend shared the image via the page, Being Liberal) and I couldn't resist sharing. I think it's a great point...

I find it not only disgusting and disturbing that someone could even make a comparison, but feel that those who make such statements are minimizing the atrocities committed by the Third Reich. Regardless of your political affiliations, there is simply no comparison and the subject is certainly nothing to joke about...

Further (and the main reason for sharing this), anyone that compares a U.S. President to the infamous dictator with a toothbrush mustache smacks of ignorance and cannot be very knowledgeable in 20th century history. I strongly encourage them to visit their local public library (it's free) and do some reading up in the 940s. While they're in the 940s, they should also read up on Stalin -- who murdered an estimated 20 million people. Once again, there is no comparison.

Use Libraries and Learn Stuff.

/end rant

Other posts I've made about Hitler:

Mein Kampf: Case Study

Meeting Mein Kampf

Mein Kampf

Mein Kampf

The American Library Association runs a listserv called ifaction which is short for Intellectual Freedom Action. Recently, via the listserv, Erin Sommerfeld shared an interesting article on Mein Kampf which was originally published in The Chronicle of Higher Education: Defusing Mein Kampf by Paul Hockenos

Other posts I've made about the infamous Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler:
Mein Kampf: A Case Study
Meeting Mein Kampf

Mein Kampf: Case Study

For LIS 7790 - History of Books, Printing, and Publishing, each student was required to complete a case study for the course. Because of my research interest in 'censorship and intellectual freedom during the Third Reich', I chose to study the infamous Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler.

I was invited to contribute to the SLIS Ideas Blog and thought that the Mein Kampf case study would be perfect as the book is quite controversial yet quite a lot of people are not familiar with the work and its inherent creepiness. So with the help of my good friend Christie Williams, I made some minor revisions to the case study by making a more definitive introduction and conclusion. I then recorded the audio, found public domain photos, pieced the whole enchilada together, and published the vlog via YouTube.

Without further ado, you can view my case study in vlog format by visiting "Ideas from the School of Library and Information Science" or more directly via the embedded video below; however, I strongly encourage you to take a moment to please check out the fabulous Ideas Blog and browse the other postings from fellow students and SLIS faculty:

Note: If you hang out until the very end of the vlog, you'll find a list of sources in which consulted for the project -- great reading, if you're interested in the topic! (I highly suggest Hitler's Mein Kampf in Britain and America: A Publishing History 1930-39 by James J. Barnes and P. Barnes)

Case Study Presentation

Image courtesy of Papiersammler.com
Mein Kampf: Volume I and Volume II

Last night, I gave my live case study presentation of Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler for LIS 7790 (The History of Books, Printing, and Publishing). At the beginning of my presentation, I included a disclaimer that I should probably share here, as well, for clarification purposes,

"I am neither a fan of Herr Hitler or a supporter of the Nazi Party or any associated political ideologies. I selected this topic because I have always been intrigued by World War II and more recently, censorship and intellectual freedom issues during the Third Reich. With that said, this is a sensitive and controversial topic -- as they say on TV: 'viewer discretion is advised.'"

Worth noting, I feel that my presentation went quite well; however, what I really want to note (and remember) are the kind words and compliments my fellow classmates expressed after the presentation. It was both heartwarming and gratifying -- I'd like to say 'thank you.'

An Account of Fahrenheit 451

Notes before reading...

• This piece was developed for LIS 7790 with Professor Gordon B. Neavill: History of Books, Printing, and Publishing.
• This piece is available for download (PDF) by visiting my dropbox account: An Account of Fahrenheit 451 

For the Three Js:

Jaema, Janet, and Jarod

While all books tell a story, every book typically has a back story that details the unique account of its origin; Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is no different. The development of Fahrenheit 451 was neither a straight or direct path, but rather involved a series of short stories – some that were published in pulp and slick magazines and others that were stored away in a three-ring binder. Each piece brought Bradbury closer to the final product, but none as close as The Fireman in 1951 which later morphed into Fahrenheit 451. Surprisingly, when Fahrenheit 451 was complete, Bradbury was struggling with a title for the novella. When the 40th anniversary of Fahrenheit 451 occurred in 1993, Nancy Pate, a book critic for the Orlando Sentinel, shared the story of Bradbury's struggle which ultimately resulted in the book's name.

Wanting to know the exact temperature at which books burned, Bradbury called the chemistry departments at several universities, all to no avail. He also asked several physics professors, none of whom knew the exact temperature. It wasn't until he called the nearest fire station that Bradbury got the answer he was looking for – and the title for Fahrenheit 451.

The compelling topic of Fahrenheit 451 is a journey through magazine archives, American history, and the life of a very creative and ingenious man.

Biographical Sketch
In a northern suburb of Chicago – Waukegan, to be exact – Ray Douglas Bradbury was born on August 22, 1920 to Esther Moberg Bradbury and Leonard Spaulding Bradbury. The Bradbury family continued to live in Waukegan until 1932 and then briefly located to Tucson, Arizona where Ray described his time in an interview with Wayne Johnson (1980) as being, "...one of the greatest years of my life because I was acting and singing in operettas and writing, beginning to write my first short stories." In the preface to the Match to Flame: The Fictional Paths to Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury elaborated on this time:

When I was twelve, my folks traveled with me and my brother out to Tucson. Every night when we stopped at a wayside motel I hit the ground running to the nearest library to see if they had the Oz books, or some of the Edgar Rice Burroughs Martian stories, or even stories by H.G. Wells. In many cases these books were not present, because they were not considered intellectual enough and not bright enough to be passed on to children.

I learned at that time that there were certain controls on libraries and during that time I learned the tragic facts about the burning of the libraries in Alexandria two thousand years ago. I know it's hard to believe that a twelve year old would be hurt by this knowledge, but by that time I was such a library person that it sank deep into my mind that this was a terrible thing to have happen in the history of mankind. Then, when I was fifteen, Hitler burned books in the streets of Berlin.

Just a year later in 1934, the Bradbury family permanently relocated to Los Angeles, California where Ray later graduated from high school and began selling newspapers in order to pay for a typewriter. In the early years of Bradbury's career, much of his work was featured in pulp magazines such as Weird Tales and Planet Stories – the term "pulp" is derived from the low-quality paper that was used in producing low-cost publications primarily for the working class. Naturally, as time progressed, Bradbury honed his craft and was published in what is commonly known as "slick" magazines, or those that are printed on a higher quality, glossy-type paper, which are sold for a premium in comparison to the pulp-variety. Bradbury's stories could be found in periodicals such as Collier's, Charm, Mademoiselle, The Saturday Evening Post, Maclean's, Esquire, Harper's, McCall's, Life, and even Playboy. Genre-specific publications such as The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (commonly known as F&SF) and Galaxy Science Fiction also featured Bradbury.

Development of Fahrenheit 451
After working in magazines and even a few short story anthologies, Bradbury published – Dark Carnival, The Illustrated Man, and The Martian Chronicles – but could no longer ignore the subject of book burnings, a topic he had a passion for since he learned of the destruction of libraries in Alexandria. It was this interest that led to the development of a series of short stories that evolved and coalesced into something much bigger – Fahrenheit 451. It was in the limited edition book Match to Flame in which Bradbury stated that earlier in his career he often credited The Pedestrian as the direct progenitor of Fahrenheit 451; however, he amended his sentiment and cited a collection of short stories, many of which had never been published, as the origins of the novella. The stories are as follows: The Reincarnate, written in 1942 - 1943; Pillar of Fire, written in 1947; The Library, written in 1947 ; Bright Phoenix, written in 1947 - 1948, which was developed from Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright; The Mad Wizards of Mars, first published in 1949, and later in 1950 as The Exiles; The Pedestrian, written in 1950, which helped to create The Fireman; Carnival of Madness, published in 1950, also known as Usher II developed from a 1946 piece titled The Castle; The Mechanical Hound, a fragmentary piece with an unknown date; Bonfire, written in the late 1940s; The Cricket on the Hearth, written in 1951; The Garbage Collector, written in 1952; The Smile, written no later than 1947; Where Ignorant Armies Clash by Night, written in 1947; and Long After Midnight, written in 1950, and later renamed The Fireman.

It is certainly worth noting that in March of 2010, a small Michigan specialty publisher by the name of Subterranean Press published a book that is more affordable for the masses, A Pleasure to Burn: Fahrenheit 451 Stories, which consists of polished versions of the stories that were included in Match to Flame – sans the essays, facsimiles, sketches, and notes. A Pleasure to Burn included three additional "bonus" stories: The Dragon Who Ate His Tail, Sometime Before Dawn, and To the Future.

Unlike many authors who write their stories at home or in a cafe, such as Stephen King or J.K. Rowling, Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 on a rented typewriter in a university basement. In 2000 when Bradbury was recognized by the National Book Foundation with the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, he provided an amazing account of the process:

So when it comes to a novel like Fahrenheit 451, I don't know how many of you know, but I wrote it in the library, the basement at UCLA. This is 50 years ago. I had no money to rent a proper office. I had a large family at home and I needed to have a place where I could go for a few hours. I was wandering around the UCLA campus and I looked down below and I listened and down in the basement I heard this typing. So I went down in the basement of the UCLA library and by God there was a room with 12 typewriters in it that you could rent for 10 cents a half-hour. And there were eight or nine students in there working away like crazy, so I moved in there one day with a bag of dimes and I began inserting dimes into the machine and the machine released the typewriter and you'd have half an hour of fast typing. I ran upstairs in between sessions.

Can you imagine what it was like to write Fahrenheit 451 in the library where you could run upstairs and feel the ambiance of your beloved writers; and you could take books off the shelf and discover things that you might want to put in your book as a quote and then run back down and finish writing another page. So over a period of nine days I spent $9.80 and I wrote Fahrenheit 451.

Just after Bradbury completed Fahrenheit 451, he was approached by the editor of Playboy who was looking for a story. At that particular time, the magazine was just getting started with its first edition being published in December of 1953. Prior to the novel being published by Ballantine, Bradbury claims to have sold it to Playboy for $400. The story was subsequently serialized and published in the second through fourth issues of the magazine thus giving new meaning to the ever-popular line, "I like the articles."

Publication of Fahrenheit 451
Tracking down the publication history of Fahrenheit 451 proved to be somewhat of a challenge as the majority of publications concerning the novella focus almost exclusively on literary analysis. Fortunately in 2011, a forward-thinking graduate student at Indiana University by the name of Amanda Kay Barrett produced an impressive and stunning descriptive bibliography for Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 – which just happened to be reviewed by Jonathan R. Eller, chair of the English department, and co-editor of Match to Flame: The Fictional Paths to Fahrenheit 451. The following paragraphs will summarize Barrett's findings in order of edition.

Fahrenheit 451 was first published in 1953 by Ballantine Books which is now an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. The so-called first edition of the book -- which included the controversial expurgated "edition" – had a total of seventeen issues; one issue was actually bound in asbestos, and five Canadian printings for a total of forty-seven printings that ran well into 1977. The second (1954) and third (1957) editions were published overseas in London by Rupert-Hart Davis, The Science Fiction Book Club, Corgi-Transworld, and Panther-Granada.

In 1967, New York-based Simon and Schuster published the fourth edition of Fahrenheit 451. Two editions, the fifth in 1968 and the sixth in 1972, were published in Canada by MacMillan and Fitzenry and Whiteside respectively. The seventh edition in 1976 was published exclusively in London by Grafton-Collins, Flamingo-HarperCollins, HarperCollins, and Voyager-HarperCollins. The conglomerate Ballantine / Random House / Del Ray published the ninth (1979), tenth (1981), and eleventh (1981) editions of the novella. In 1982, The Limited Editions Club of New York published the twelfth edition.

London-based Collins Education / HarperCollins published the thirteenth edition in 1985, which was subsequently reprinted in 1989, 1991, and 1994. Once again returning to domestic soil, the fourteenth edition was published in 1988 by Ballantine / Random House which consisted of nine issues that ran into August of 1996. Printing of the fifteenth edition (1988) returned overseas; however, this time by Chivers Press in Bath, England and it was set in large type. The sixteenth edition (1991) was published by Easton Press in Norwalk, Connecticut which had three issues running to 2000.

The remaining editions of Fahrenheit 451 were published as follows: seventeenth edition (1993) – Simon and Schuster as well as Quality Paperback Book Club in New York; eighteenth edition (1994) – Buccaneer Books in Cutchogue, New York; nineteenth edition (1997) – G.K Hall in Thorndike, Maine; the twentieth edition was titled Fahrenheit 451 and Related Readings (1998) – McDougal Littell / Houghton Mifflin in Evanston, Illinois; twenty-first edition (2005) – Long Beach Public Library Foundation / Angel City Press in Long Beach, California; twenty-second edition (2005) – Graham in Los Angeles, California; twenty-third edition (2005) – Angel City Press in California; twenty-fourth edition (2008) – Wheeler Publishing in Detroit, Michigan; and, last but not least, the twenty-fifth edition (2008) which Barrett labeled as the "Banned Books edition" was published in the United Kingdom.

Despite much resistance from Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 was released in e-book format in November of 2011. In interviews over the years, Bradbury has adamantly expressed disdain for the e-book movement and stated that they "smell liked burned fuel." According to Italie (2011), Bradbury's long-time agent, Michael Congdon, stated that the rights for the book were soon going to expire and "a new contract wouldn't be possible without e-book rights... He understood and gave us the right to go ahead." In press associated with the release of the e-book format, cumulative publication statistics have been cited at over ten million copies sold and translation in more than thirty-three languages. Impressive.

Reception of Fahrenheit 451
Fahrenheit 451 was published during a very unique and tense time in American history, the infamous Cold War. The effects of the Cold War were broad and far-reaching, even touching the library and information science field as well as the publishing industry with challenges to materials that were written by communists, thought to be in favor of communism, or deemed "subversive." In July of 1950, Ruth Brown, librarian at Bartlesville Public Library in Oklahoma, was terminated from her long-time position due to two periodicals on the library’s shelves: New Republic and Soviet Russia Today. According to Robbins (2001), while overseas libraries were purged of specific materials, Dan Lacy, who had worked for the Library of Congress and made the transition to the American Book Publishers Council, diligently worked to prevent a "black list" of authors from entering the scene on American soil.

Some interpreted the publication of Fahrenheit 451 in 1953 as a direct result of the political culture and McCarthyism. In fact, while attempting to track down the publication history of Fahrenheit 451, it was challenging to move through the superabundance of literary analysis available – most of which asserted that the novella was indeed based on the premise of governmental censorship. A survey of the cataloging information located on the book's verso found the following subject headings: state-sponsored terrorism—fiction, totalitarianism—fiction, book burning—fiction, and censorship—fiction. In November of 2000, Bradbury gave an acceptance speech when he was awarded by the board of the National Book Foundation with the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. It was in this speech that Bradbury touched on McCarthyism and Fahrenheit 451:

...But, later Ballantine Books came along and they wanted me to add some material to it so I wrote another 2,500 words. That was during the Joseph McCarthy period. He was giving a bad time to a number of people and I wrote the additional pages to Fahrenheit 451. I still needed some extra income because my family was growing, and I tried to sell it to various magazines who were afraid of the subject matter because Joseph McCarthy was making such a ruckus in the country.

In a 2007 LA Weekly article, in which Bradbury was interviewed, clarification about Fahrenheit 451 was offered for the masses:

Fahrenheit 451 is not, he says firmly, a story about government censorship. Nor was it a response to Senator Joseph McCarthy, whose investigations had already instilled fear and stifled the creativity of thousands. This, despite the fact that reviews, critiques and essays over the decades say that is precisely what it is all about. Even Bradbury’s authorized biographer, Sam Weller, in The Bradbury Chronicles, refers to Fahrenheit 451 as a book about censorship. Bradbury, a man living in the creative and industrial center of reality TV and one-hour dramas, says it is, in fact, a story about how television destroys interest in reading literature.

Karolides, Bald, and Sova (2005), capture the very essence of the novella in their summary, "One of a number of dystopic novels published after World War II, the work portrays humans as having lost touch with the natural world, with the world of intellect and with each other..."

Even the Russians had it wrong. In 1961, Bradbury partnered with librarian and intellectual freedom writer for the ALA Bulletin, Everett T. Moore, for an article about Fahrenheit 451 which closed with an interesting tidbit about an unauthorized translation. Moore wrote:

Mr. Bradbury adds, in passing, that the Russians, thinking he had written an exclusive criticism of McCarthyism in the U.S.A., pirated Fahrenheit 451 a few years ago. Published and sold in an edition of some 500,000 copies, the authorities suddenly discovered he meant tyranny over the mind at any time or place. "In sum," he says: "Russia, too. The novel has now gone underground, I hear. Which makes me, I gather, the clean Henry Miller of the Soviets."

Aside from the turbulent political climate in which the book was published, Fahrenheit 451 has experienced controversy on its own. According to Sova (2006), in 1967 when producing an edition of Fahrenheit 451 targeting high schools, Ballantine Books censored over seventy-five passages due to concerns over language and eliminated two scenes without notice to Bradbury or adding notation to the copyright information on the verso. Unfortunately, the expurgated edition of the book ran for a total of ten printings and later became the only available edition when Ballantine ceased printing the "adult" version in 1973. It wasn't until 1979 when an observant friend made Bradbury aware of the expurgated edition which was then subsequently rectified with the publisher after years of printing and book sales. After the debacle with Ballantine, Bradbury added a long coda that launched into the issue of censorship and which is known for the highly quoted passage:

In sum, do not insult me with the beheadings, finger-choppings or the lung-deflations you plan for my works. I need my head to shake or nod, my hand to wave or make into a fist, my lungs to shout or whis­per with. I will not go gently onto a shelf, degutted, to become a non-book.

Since 1980, the unexpurgated "adult" version has been the only "edition" available for sale.

The controversy didn't end there. In 1992, Joan Dann, an eighth grade English teacher at Venado Middle School located in Irvine, California, less than an hour away from Los Angeles, issued copies of the book Fahrenheit 451 to students which had portions of the text blacked out. A Seattle Times article stated that the Dann claims to not have blacked out the text in the books, but rather over the years, has asked students to cross out obscenities as they have read the novella. The article went on to offer administrative perspectives:

"I don't think that we should go through a book and mark things out," Venado Principal Bob Bruce said. "It won't happen in the future," said Irvine Unified School District Superintendent David Brown. Did Brown sense the irony involved? Yes, he said. "It's huge. That's what the book was all about."

Certainly worth noting, Fahrenheit 451 is not among the works cited on the American Library Association's "Banned and Challenged Classics" list or the "Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 1990 - 1999" list. However, strangely enough, the novella landed itself in 69th place on the "Top 100" for 2000 - 2009 in between Always Running by Luis Rodriguez and Harris and Me by Gary Paulsen. However, on a more positive note, Fahrenheit 451 was recognized on The Modern Library’s 100 Best Novels (The Reader’s List), as well as achieving acknowledgement from many other prestigious literary establishments.

Over the years, Bradbury has remained in the headlines and has been recognized for his prolific and successful career spanning many different mediums including film, television, and radio. In 2000, he was awarded by the board of the National Book Foundation with the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters as well as the National Medal of Arts in 2004 presented by President George Walker Bush. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America changed the Nebula award to the Ray Bradbury Award (The Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation). Columbia University, in 2007, awarded Bradbury Pulitzer Prize Special Citation. Also in 2007, the School of Liberal Arts at Indiana University opened The Center for Ray Bradbury Studies with Match to Flame co-editor Jonathan Eller as director. Bradbury has loved his career as a writer and in a 2009 interview with the New York Times, he said the following, “Children ask me, ‘How can I live forever, too?’ I tell them do what you love and love what you do. That’s the story on my life.”

With renewed interest in dystopian fiction, courtesy of books such as The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and The Maze Runner by James Dashner, yet another generation is becoming acquainted with the novella Fahrenheit 451 -- which is still very much alive after fifty-eight years of being solely in print. While releasing the novella in digital format might align with the horrors portrayed in Fahrenheit 451 and conflict with Bradbury's wishes, it insures the survival of the literary masterpiece for generations to come. May Fahrenheit 451 live forever.

Sources

• American Library Association. (2012). Banned and challenged classics. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedclassics

• American Library Association. (2012). 100 most frequently challenged books: 1990 - 1999. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedbydecade/1990_1999

• American Library Association. (2012). 100 most frequently challenged books: 2000 - 2009. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedbydecade/2000_2009

• Bradbury, R. (2012). Fahrenheit 451. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

• Barrett, A. K. (2011). Fahrenheit 451: A descriptive bibliography. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1805/2677

• Bradbury, R., Albright, D., & Eller, J. (2006). Match to flame: The fictional paths to Fahrenheit 451. Colorado Springs, CO: Gauntlet Publications.

• Bradbury, R. (2000, November 15). National Book Award Acceptance Speech. National Book Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.nationalbook.org/nbaacceptspeech_rbradbury.html#.T3YDfdVli8B

• Bradbury, R., Albright, D., & Eller, J. (2010). A pleasure to burn: Fahrenheit 451 stories. Burton, MI: Subterranean Press.

• Froomkin, D. (1992, April 10). Damn! Eighth graders get burning example censorship. The Seattle Times. Retrieved from http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19920410&slug=1485728

• Italie, H. (2011, November 29). Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury finally out as an e-book. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/29/ray-bradbury-ebook_n_1118574.html

• Johnston Boyle, A.E. (2007, May 30). Ray Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451 misinterpreted. LA Weekly. Retrieved from http://www.laweekly.com/2007-05-31/news/ray-bradbury-fahrenheit-451-misinterpreted/

• Johnson, W.L. (1980). Ray Bradbury. New York, NY: Frederick Ungar.

• Karolides, N.J., Bald, M., & Sova, D.B. (2005). 120 banned books: Censorship histories of world literature. New York, NY: Checkmark Books.

• Modern Library. (2012). 100 best novels. Retrieved from http://www.modernlibrary.com/top-100/100-best-novels/

• Moore, E.T. (1961, May). Intellectual freedom. ALA Bulletin, 55(5), 403-404. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/25696150

• Pate, N. (1993, September 26). Temperatures rise when books banned. Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved from http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1993-09- 26/entertainment/9309240065_1_fahrenheit-451-censorship-bradbury

• Robbins, L.S. (2001). The overseas libraries controversy and the freedom to read: U.S. libraries and publishers confront Joseph McCarthy. Libraries & Culture, 36(1), 27-39.

• Sova, D.B. (2006). Banned books: Literature suppressed on social grounds. New York, NY: Facts on File.

• Steinhauer, J. (2009, June 19). A literary legend fights for a local library. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/20/us/20ventura.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=bradbury&st=cse

Bradbury Medley

Over the past few days, I've had a number of friends and colleagues inquire as to how I am doing. (Thank you for asking.) Here's the update:

While I seemed to have regained some of my energy and the sinus infection seems to be pretty much cleared up, my lungs are still exhibiting the crackle sensation and sound characteristic of pneumonia...and I'm still coughing...a lot.

My follow-up appointment is on Thursday morning and I was already told that I'll be having another chest x-ray.

Today, I spent the majority of the morning and afternoon working on my term paper for LIS 7790 (the history of books, printing, and publishing). My topic: the history of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I downloaded, via iTunes, The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond and jammed out while writing. Despite still feeling like klunk (a reference to The Maze Runner), I have thoroughly enjoyed this paper and am excited to submit the final product to Dr. Neavill within the next few days. I'll likely share something here, too, as I learned so much about the book!

Here's a fact: In 1967, Ballantine Books published a censored and expurgated edition of Fahrenheit 451 without Bradbury's knowledge or adding notation to the copyright page on the verso. From 1973 - 1979, only the expurgated edition of the book was available until an observant friend alerted Bradbury. Thankfully, since 1980, only the "pure" unexpurgated edition of the book has been available (Sova, 2006).

Further thoughts on the SLIS listserv before putting the issue to rest and moving on...
I'll cite it again and again and again.

V. We treat co-workers and other colleagues with respect, fairness, and good faith, and advocate conditions of employment that safeguard the rights and welfare of all employees of our institutions (ALA Code of Ethics).

Five points to think about before responding:

1. Is it True?
2. Is it Helpful?
3. Is it Inspiring?
4. Is it Necessary?
5. Is it Kind?

As I've stated to my classmates, there is already enough negativity in the field at the moment with the economy being what it is and library budgets subsequently being decimated coast to coast. It is one thing to discuss the SLIS program and the direction it should be taking...or the direction students should be taking in order to prepare themselves for successfully entering the field...and something completely different (not to mention off-topic and unethical) to bash students...even the unmotivated.

What I'd, personally, like to hear instead:
...tell me about what inspired you to become a librarian...do you still like your job...what do you wish you knew more about...if money was no object, which workshops or classes would you take...what do you wish you'd done differently, if anything...what's your favorite part of the job...least favorite part of the job...where do you see the field in 10 years...what are your thoughts on OverDrive and the Penguin situation...do you go to conferences...have you ever dealt with a challenge to a book or item before...what's on your professional bookshelf...what is your board like...what review sources do you prefer...what is your professional wardrobe like...what was your first job...did you do a practicum...what was your favorite class...what's your dream job...

I've had a very long day and tomorrow is going to be even longer. Gute Nacht, meine Freunde.

My First Negative

I amended this vignette, from the original, due to length.

Vignette:
A patron who resides out of a library's primary service area inquires at the desk about purchasing a library card for borrowing privileges. When the staff members offers a completely different service to the patron (an internet access card) on two occasions during the conversation, the patron begins to feel frustrated and misunderstood. The patron attempts to explain again; however, this time she provides several examples of how other libraries handle the same situation. (E.g. Library A charges $40 a year, Library B charges a one time fee of $10, and Library C charges $50 a year)...and the inquires about the library's policy.

After conferring with another staff member, the situation gets straightened out and the paperwork is started. At the close of the paperwork, when the patron is asked to print her full name and then provide a signature, the staff member begins to question the patron's signature. Here is the dialogue:

Staff, "You need to have your last name included."
Patron, "I have already included my full name, but this line is asking for my signature."
Staff, "Your signature needs to show your last name."
Patron, "Do you want my legal signature?"
Staff, "Yes."
Patron, "Well, (Insert Name), this is my legal signature. I can verify it with two forms of photo identification: my driver's license and my passport, from the U.S. Department of State. Do you want me to change my signature for this library card?"
(The patron points to her signature on her driver's license and begins to pull out her passport.)
Clerk, "OK. Nevermind. Sorry."

_______________________________________________

Seriously?! I completely understand that not all libraries offer services to out-of-area patrons. If that is the case, then just SAY SO and don't waste my time:

"JC, our policy states X. No dice, sister."

I am not one to get upset or easily frustrated and I certainly do not like to blog about negative things or "critique", but this particular situation could have been handled countless other ways. It went beyond a simple policy statement of: "yes" or "no." I found the staff member challenging my LEGAL signature, which was accepted by both the Secretary of State and the United States Department of State, to be beyond inappropriate. This staff member was being downright difficult. (Was she having a bad day? Perhaps. Was she confused and then tried to make-up for it by being on a power trip? Perhaps. Is she a good person? More than likely. Everyone has a bad day now and then.)

What if I was not a bibliophile and willing to trudge through her bureaucratic nonsense? A plain-Jane patron likely would have walked away and someone else having a bad day might have made a scene instead of playing along as I did.

I was entirely tempted to pull out my ALA card and show her the Code of Ethics on the reverse side -- specifically highlighting the first principle:

(1) We provide the highest level of service to all library users through appropriate and usefully organized resources; equitable service policies; equitable access; and accurate, unbiased, and courteous responses to all requests.

I resisted my temptation and proceeded to appease her with kindness. 

Reflection

Many people are, frankly, intimidated by librarians for a variety of reasons but mostly stemming from a previous poor experience.

This particular individual is NOT a professional librarian; however, the majority of library patrons would not know the difference. Here is why: In a rural public library, the reference and circulation desks are often combined. This particular staff member might act as the gatekeeper of information.

If she had problems dealing with a simple transaction that consisted of knowing BASIC library policy, and failed miserably, how does she handle reference questions? My guess is this: ultimately she is likely to turn people away from the library and that is very sad. If I was of the more timid variety (haha) or even if I had a child with me, I would have likely gave up and walked away.

Everything happens for a reason: I learned from this experience. Every person brings a different set of skills and background to the table (or desk). What might be a weakness, public service, for this particular staff member, might be made up for by her keen attention to detail while placing orders with vendors or processing materials. As a future library director, I need to be aware of staffs' strengths/weaknesses and place them in positions that support their skills and talents. 

Out of curiosity, I called two libraries from the parking lot and inquired if they issue cards for patrons residing outside of the library's primary service area. I received clear and concise answers. One agency even took it a step further to give me another option: State Library Card. 

Conclusion:
Patrons should always be treated with respect and provided the highest level of service; however, with library funding as tight and scarce as it is, patrons need to be reminded of the library's value. If they are walking away feeling frustrated, it might be what they remember when stepping into the voting booth. Make it a positive experience!

It is completely OK to not know the answer. Do not, I repeat: DO NOT, try to be a know-it-all. I ask questions all the time! Know your limits and ask for help, if necessary.

If you see a co-worker, new or seasoned, floundering or looks to be confused, offer to help rather than standing in the back behind a glass window watching/listening. ALA Code of Ethics: (5) We treat co-workers and other colleagues with respect, fairness, and good faith, and advocate conditions of employment that safeguard the rights and welfare of all employees of our institutions. Despite being being jerked around, I treated my LIS colleague with respect and kindness -- unfortunately, I was not shown the same courtesy.

And, for the love of books and all things literary, know your agency's policy (or keep a copy nearby to thumb through, if in doubt -- great idea for new employees)! Example: When I managed a NFP, I printed out the policy/procedure manual, placed it in a binder, and added tabs to the different sections. The manual was kept in a visible and accessible location for staffs' perusal. And, guess what? It was used! 

Note: In my twenty-two-some years of frequenting libraries solo, without a parent/guardian, this is my very first negative experience. 

Motivation Case Study

Library Journal article: What's My Motivation?

My stance:

By way of the case study reading (see article above), I felt as though the Library Director, Mary Lawless, was incredibly reactive rather than proactive during the transition process. While I understand that each person has their individual differences and personality which in turn gives them different perspectives, Mosca’s reaction demonstrated that she did not understand the organization’s interim goal: the library operating rather than shutting off the lights and closing the doors. If Lawless had spent a little time laying some foundation work with her staff, such as clearly explaining the organization’s financial crunch, developing a game plan for the additional responsibilities, consistently employing recognition and positive reinforcement with her management-style, perhaps the Mosca-situation might not have occurred because the “unknown” would have already been answered. “Fear of the unknown” is how I chalk up Mosca’s behavior behind her interruption.

Professor Walker, in response to a fellow student's question, stated: “...you are attempting to answer the question ‘why should I?’ when anyone in that Library could be the next person to be laid off.” In her lecture, Professor Walker provided an example in which an employee proclaimed that she, being Beth Walker (the supervisor), was responsible for motivating her. Walker’s reply was along the lines of “she is not responsible for motivating the individual person, but for creating an environment that is conducive to motivation.” I feel that Lawless has not provided an atmosphere conducive towards employee motivation.

In this specific situation, which is certainly reactive, I would first focus on “damage control” -- putting out the fire which, in this case, it would be Mosca’s interruption. The article describes the feeling behind the interruption as, “The anger in Mosca’s voice grew as she went on.” Mosca used the word “we” a great deal when presenting her views. Immediately, I would give each employee individual praise in front of the group, thank them for their patience and then move onto “knowledge is power” (briefly explained in my first paragraph) which is part of appropriate crisis intervention. Before jumping into the game plan, I would discuss staff support, the importance of knowing your limit, and methods to prevent burn-out. 

Laying out a game plan would come next which includes clearly defining the end result (the goal) and how each person plays a part (roles, duties, responsibilities) in the larger picture. After laying out the game plan, I would then open the floor for a Question and Answer session. Closing the staff meeting, I would remind staff of my open door policy and schedule a special meeting for department heads to discuss staff support. By scheduling the meeting in front of the entire staff, the subordinates know that I am making an effort towards creating a better environment.

Incorporating ideas from a fellow student's experience, Lawless should use the agency’s intranet to create a “financial crisis” page that would contain the following elements: updates, seniority lists, facts/figures, a transcript of the Q/A session (from the staff meeting), and a discussion board. Last but not least, Lawless should follow-up with each employee, individually, to give them an opportunity to ask questions and share their concerns.


And I leave you with one of my favorite scenes from the Harry Potter movie series...

Feeling the Pinch

Odds stacked against libraries as cities feel pinch | detnews.com | The Detroit News

Highlights from the article:
"We can't take these people on as refugees," said Southfield library director Dave Ewick. "My heart goes out to Troy residents. But I can't give them for free what my people are paying for — they need to realize how valuable a library is and pay for it."

The Baldwin Public Library, which has served Birmingham for 104 years and maintains service contracts with Beverly Hills and Bingham Farms, will not offer any services to Troy residents, since a reciprocal relationship will no longer exist, according to its website.

"The residents of Birmingham have told us they don't want us giving away services," said Baldwin library director Doug Koschik. In Berkley, the board raised the nonresident library card fee to $125 from $50, effective April 1, to fall in line with other facilities and minimize the rush, officials said.

"We're getting several calls every day from Troy residents," Berkley library director Celia Morse said. "They're clearly shopping around, and we don't want to put ourselves in the position of being the bargain. … I'm not really in a position to handle a large influx of new users."

A 2010 Harris Poll for the American Library Association found that 94 percent said libraries "improve the quality of life in a community." Nearly two-thirds of adults had used their library in the past year, the report added.

My stance:
While I moved away from the suburbs six years ago, I must admit that I feel unplugged from the "suburban library world"; however, conducting library visits for graduate school, I have found libraries in the Thumb area of Michigan to be practically synonymous with community centers. Every week, I am visiting a rural library to study for class and observe my surroundings -- utilization is not even a question or a doubt in this area. Patrons are always found browsing the stacks, perusing periodicals, and interloaning materials. Through observation, I have found it almost rare for a public computer to be unoccupied as many people are using the computers to search and apply for jobs, conduct research for a class paper, apply for assistance, download tax forms, research genealogy, and connect with friends/family.

How many library cards do I have? Two. Since I utilize Bad Axe Area District Library and its services at least once a week, I found it appropriate to apply for a card to "pay my way" like any citizen residing in that district. The difference: because I was a non-resident, I paid an annual "membership" fee. In all actuality, I will likely end up with more than two cards since I patronize multiple libraries across the area in order to study and observe.

One of the two classes I am taking this semester is "Library Administration and Management" and a recent assignment required me to reduce the operating budget of an academic or public library (my choice) by 25%. Putting it in those terms sounds simple, right? Sure. Taking a moment to imagine what the end-result would actually look like was a bit intimidating. Would quality be so low in which patrons would stop coming to the library? Possibly. What line item gets cut, frozen, or *gasp* eliminated? It was definitely a balancing act. (Thank you to Professor Robert Holley (lead) and to Beth Walker, my course instructor, for this practical and very real assignment.) 

Let's face it: librarians are certainly not getting rich -- beyond the salaries for staff, the library, itself, costs money to operate. Many of my readers are in the LIS field, but to those who aren't, please take a moment to think about some the costs involved with operating a library: utilities (electricity for lights and to run computers for patrons), collection development (subscriptions to magazines, the best-seller that you want you to read, books on gardening, antique tractors), licenses for databases (the database used for genealogy research costs money), grounds maintenance (snow shoveling, etc), maintenance agreements for the OPACs (online public access catalog: what you use to look up materials), processing and cataloging costs to make new materials available to patrons (or fees paid to the cooperative/consortium to cover)...and let's not forget the cost of internet that is always readily available for use. It simply adds up.

*deep breath*

Confession: I must admit that I had a very difficult time taking a stance on this issue because the issue itself contradicts a firm belief that I have held: access to all. My heart breaks for those who lost their library, but at the same time I am very much angry and disgusted by the lack of community support.

(A special thanks to Joy and Charli for sharing the article.)