I haven't blogged about libraries yet because it's a topic so near and dear to my heart that it's hard to keep it short and manageable. And, sniff, I'm still smarting from a hurtful blow that happened nearly a year ago.For reasons not quite clear to me (except that it had nothing to do with me), I was moved from the library where I worked for the past 13 years -- a library I'd rescued from something akin to a coma and nurtured back to health -- to a library in a different school with an automated card catalog but, alas, hardly any books. A lot of people said, "Well, that's nice. You'll be out of that basement. You'll finally have an automated catalog instead of those cards." People who don't understand libraries didn't get it. The computers aren't what makes a library wonderful and special. It's the collection -- the books. Books and literature are the reason I went into library work and over the years I'd built up one great collection. No bragging, just fact. I read book reviews and a wide variety of professional journals to cull out the cream of what was published each year. A lot of those books -- like Ted Hughes's book, The Iron Giant, or Barbara Cohen's book, The Carp in the Bathtub -- are out of print now and can't be easily or inexpensively replaced.
The library they put me in has a lot of junk -- every Goosebumps book, every Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew etc. but few books of real substance. No books on the Civil War and few of the award winning books. Not even a thesaurus. Certainly no Iron Giant. I've nicknamed the collection "Series Are Us". The previous tenant was more obsessed with computers than books and so, sadly, this is her legacy to me and the children of the school where I now work.
Anyhow, above is a photo of my old library that I took before I left on my last day and took my plants with me. Yeah, I know it was in the basement and had those ugly pipes running through it (it was an 85 year old school) but I loved that collection! And that library was bigger than it appears in this picture.
So, now I'm sort of starting all over again. The PTA donated over $3,000. to help rebuild the collection. It was very generous of them but I'm afraid it's going to take many years as well as thousands of dollars to bring it up to snuff. Still, hope springs eternal. And it is spring, right?
5 comments:
It sounds like that library needs you Stella! $3000 is a start. I got some catalogs from the conference and it really hit me how expensive books are if you need to but in quantity. Have fun choosing some good new reads for those kids. They deserve it.
I'd love to send a copy of my book for your library, btw.
Oh, see there you go Heather. Self promotion comes naturally to you. ;-)
$3,000 doesn't sound like much, but it's a start. Enjoy your project. Is it possible that the fun is in building the list? Once you have it established, maybe it's not nearly as exciting.
Well, it's a theory ... although to translate that into terms I'd understand ...
I know you spent 13 years writing that novel and then lost every copy in the flood, but you can rebuild it, can't you? ------> okay, no I don't like the feeling of that. Not fun.
Sorry Stella. I hope it all works out for you.
Thanks, Heather. I'd love a copy of your book but I will buy it. Can I order it through a jobber do you know? A company like Follett or Bound-To-Stay-Bound? Brodart? If not, let me know the address of your publisher so we can send out a p.o.
I'm sorry this post is so whiny sounding. It's just frustrating to build up a great collection (my husband even glued the card catalog drawers back together for us) only to be dumped into an abysmal one. Three thousand doesn't go far these days but I did get an additional $2,500. from the district for my book budget. We've had so many budget cuts, including cuts to our books and supply budgets, that's it's going to take much longer to rebuild the library. If our PTA continues to help out though, maybe I'll make some headway. Anyhow, I guess I needed to vent.
Stella, you sound like the librarian every child needs to have around. How hard for you to have to leave the one you've built up, but you are going to do wonders at the new place.
Good luck!
Thanks, Becky. Now if I can just increase our budget! For the past few years the only money we've received is our $6.00 per student allocation from the state -- hardly anything. If the PTA continues to help, however, maybe I can do something. It's frustrating working with a crummy collection.
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