Article by Marylaine Block about bookstores and libraries

Ex Libris--an E-Zine for Librarians and Information Junkies -- issue 201

Someone on one of the listservs I receive posted this article about the differences between bookstores and libraries and what libraries can learn from bookstores. I found it interesting and really like Ms. Block's suggestions for library promotion.

One of the things that still makes me want a real library job is the opportunity for promotion. (One of the others is collection development - I enjoyed every second I spent selecting and ordering materials at my last job). I get excited and inspired just thinking about displays and marketing reading. Far too many libraries simply stick the materials on the shelves and do almost nothing to entice users to, well, use them. In fact, some libraries, including the public library I now frequent, act like my unquenchable desire for books, books, and more books is troublesome. Sigh.

My perfect librarian job would have this title: Collection Development and Promotion Librarian. I would select and order materials, create materials displays, do some public relations and marketing, develop special events and programs, and, for good measure, do a children's storytime every once in awhile.

Unfortunately, I have never heard of a job like this anywhere.

The bridge

...And here's me on the wooden bridge that crosses the creek.

The creek

We thought this was a nice picture of the creek on the trail near the mountain house.

The view

This is the view from my grandparents' back porch. It was foggy when Matt took this picture, but you can sort of see the mountains in the distance.

Quick update

I haven't posted in awhile, so I thought I would put up something quickly. This weekend was Fall Break for school here, so with a bit of a long weekend we visited my grandparents outside of Asheville NC. More about that later (see pics).

One of the interesting things I did this weekend was cut my own hair. Saturday I was just tired of the length and didn't want to look for a decent salon, so I did it myself. I have to say, this is one of the better haircuts I've ever had.

Matt and Mo on Rabun Bald

Here's us at the observation tower. Note our matching hats. We're so cute. The view is more impressive.

Rabun Bald

We hiked to Rabun Bald on Saturday, a height of 4996 feet. From the top, you look down on the mountains. It was a two mile hike, but the view was amazing.

Pretty leaves

It's gorgeous in the mountains. We're already too cold for our Florida-conditioned bodies, but it's worth it for the leaves.

Going to the Dillard House

Very exciting update today. It's about food, which is one of the things in my somewhat monotonous life that I have to look forward to.

Last Friday I got Thai food. This Friday I get SOUTHERN HOME COOKING! Which means - REALLY BAD FOR YOU!

Do I care? No. We're going to the Dillard House to eat (according to their website) :
~Fried Chicken ~Country Ham ~Prime Rib ~BBQ Chicken~Potatoes au Gratin ~Green Beans ~Creamed Corn~Steamed Broccoli ~Glazed Carrots ~Harvard Beets~Ford Hook Lima Beans ~Tomatoes/Onions ~Cole Slaw ~Melon~Yeast Rolls ~Cornbread ~Cobbler a la Mode

YUM! The food is served family style, so you can eat as much as you want. To make it even better, Matt and I are eating with a dozen or so ladies from our church in Florida, so we are guaranteed to have fun.

Tomorrow we'll be fat, but tonight we'll be happy.

Tallulah Gorge #2

Another view of Tallulah Gorge and larger falls. If I remember correctly, Tallulah Gorge is the largest gorge east of the Mississippi River.

Tallulah Gorge #1

We went to Tallulah Falls Gorge this weekend with my parents. There are several waterfalls in the gorge - this is the smallest, Bridal Veil.

subbed again today

Well, since I don't have anything else to talk about...

I wanted to put up some pictures from this weekend of the scenery and the cat, but I worked today! Funny how now that I'm home during the day going to "work" for a few hours (10-3) seems like a big deal. I subbed in three high school art classes and have concluded that being an art teacher is a cool job. Watching the students work today to express themselves individually within the confines of a uniform project was inspiring.

Also got to eat lunch in the dining hall. I love salad bars. Whoever invented them was a smart person. It's too expensive to have the variety of fresh salad stuff at home that an institution can provide. And the cafeteria honey mustard dressing is fantastic.

Something I do not love - self-checkout. Actually, I guess I have a love/hate relationship with self-checkout. It's great when you only have a few items and you just want to get out of the grocery store fast. Today the lines at Ingles were uncharacteristically (that's an 8 syllable word) long so I did self-checkout even though I had a whole weeks worth of groceries. I don't think it was any faster than the long lines and I had to bag everything myself. Maybe it works better with two people.

The parents are coming!

This weekend we're not leaving town, but we are having visitors! It's the first official visit (they're spending the night) for my parents to the new home. I'm really excited and have been having fun cleaning things up and making sure everything is nice for them.

We're having Thai food tonight!

And they are bringing the dog!

What's going on

Recently in the life of Mo:

* Taught the cat to fetch. Seriously, it's really cute. He has this one catnip toy, a purple frog, that, once thrown, he will retreive and return to the feet of the thrower. Much fun.
* Redecorated the bathroom. Who knew Wal-mart had cute bathroom decor? Most of it is hideous, but there was a nice coordinated set that I purchased some pieces of today. We now have a new shower curtain, shower curtain holder things (what are those called?), soap dispenser, toothbursh holder, and light switch cover. It's really quite impressive because it coordinates with the bedding that we purchased at Target.
* Made a weird pumpkin dessert. Not brave enough for pie, I tried a cold pumpkin thing that Matt likes, but I am not so crazy about. If I make it again, I will not use the giant can of pumpkin.
* Made the yummiest macaroni and cheese ever. Here's the recipe (it's really bad for you):
2 cups cottage cheese (I used low fat)

1 cup sour cream

1 beaten egg

a few dashes of salt and garlic powder

4 cups cooked macaroni

2 cups shredded sharp chedder.

Mix it all up and bake at 350 for 1/2 hour.

* Picked out a new child to sponsor through Compassion International. I have been sponsoring a boy named Danny in the Phillipines for several years now. Matt also sponsors a boy in the Phillipines through World Vision. We wanted to do more, so now, for only $28 a month, 5 year old Justine in Uganda gets food, schooling, health care, and other necessities, along with exposure to the good news of Jesus. If you are interested in releasing a child from poverty in Jesus' name, please check out Compassion.

6:52 p.m.

I just noticed that the ladies' room here in the school library smells like frozen yogurt. I have never encountered an institutional restroom that smells like a food I would now like to eat. Props to the housekeeping staff. I wish we had a TCBY here in northeast Georgia. I think the closest one is an hour away.

Can you tell there's not much going on here? All day I've been looking forward to Gilmore Girls, for the funny, zingy dialogue. I have also been looking forward to the VP debate, although I'm pretty sure that will not include any funny, zingy dialogue. I am pretty sure Edwards will smile and Cheney will glower. Then again, maybe Cheney will smile and Edwards will glower. Should be interesting.

1st century Judaism and Jesus

One of my blog readers requested my suggestions for learning about first century Jewish life. I wrote my college thesis about women in the first century, so I know a little (very little - scholars seem to have a lot of conflicting opinions) bit about this. Here's some quick suggestions:

For the beginner - The Jesus I never knew by Philip Yancey. Yancey recounts his personal experience with learning about Jesus in the context of his society.

For a scholarly, but still accessible, treatment - try some of the books by N.T. Wright, a well-respected British scholar.

If you want to be challenged, try The historical figure of Jesus by E.P. Sanders. Sanders is interesting - a Jewish scholar of the New Testament.