Sheldon

This is absolutely the most precise summation of a particular book, or how to approach it... ever!

Highlight

Here is a video I shot of Mike Thaler reading one his very cute "Tales From the Back Pew" titles at TLA.  Meeting him was such a highlight for me, as I have long loved his Heaven and Mirth series (as well as The Black Lagoon series, of course!), and am so excited he is able to continue sharing Christian stories with young kids (and us older ones!).  Getting to participate in his reading was even more exciting.  I love how he lets the emotion of the content show for us!

TLA Awesomeness!

I had such a wonderful time at the TLA convention this week, getting many free goodies and books and meeting some wonderful authors and author-illustrators!  I met some authors I have admired for such a long time, and it was a genuine thrill to get personalized autographs and talk with these great contributors to children's, juvenile, tween and teen literature.  Here is a short list of the authors I was able to meet.  There were so many more I could not meet with due to the restraints of timing and schedules.

In the News

I love this article in CNN.  It is very informative, especially for those that think we all sit quietly behind a desk and scowl.  


Librarians, Masters of the Information Universe

(CNN) -- Librarians, information specialists, knowledge managers or whatever title a librarian might have -- their skills are in high demand. And, though you might not know it, they are everywhere.

And so in their honor during National Library Week, we enjoy the following tidbits of information.

Famous people who were librarians

FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, Casanova, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, former first lady Laura Bush and China's Mao Zedong. At one point in their lives, each of them either worked as librarian or in a library.

Librarians are techno-savvy

Librarians don't just use books anymore. Searching through tweets, blogs, podcasts, websites and more to find accurate and authoritative information has become more the rule than the exception.

At a time where anyone can Google just about anything, librarians don't just find information, they find the correct information -- and fast. The American Library Association reports reference librarians in the nation's public and academic libraries answered nearly 5.7 million questions each week in 2010.

Filmmaker's library

Even "Star Wars" creator George Lucas has his own research library on his Skywalker Ranch. Lucas started the library in 1978, and the collection is housed under a large stained-glass dome.

Librarians influence our culture and society

While clearing out old archives at the Palmer Theological Seminary in 2005, librarian Heather Carbo found a working manuscript of one of Beethoven's final compositions.

Librarians track spy info and classified intelligence

When the CIA needs to provide information to the U.S. president, they turn to their librarians. To become one of the U.S. intelligence's community research experts, a librarian must pass medical and psychological exams, polygraph interviews and clear extensive background investigations.

Librarians are heroic

Alia Muhammad Baker, the chief librarian of Basra, Iraq, removed 30,000 books from the city's main library before it was destroyed during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Their numbers are many

In 2009, there were 206,000 librarians, 50,000 library technicians and 96,000 other education, training and library workers

Librarians are behind the scenes in current events

-- Federal government shutdown. Lawmakers go to the Congressional Research Service, a division of the Library of Congress, for information.

-- The royal wedding at Westminster Abbey. The Abbey's Library and Muniment Room has a historic collection of books, manuscripts and archival material.

-- NATO no-fly zone over Libya. NATO's Brussels Headquarters houses a multimedia library with a collection focusing on international relations, security and defense, military questions and world affairs.

Warning to readers about librarians

A character in "The Callahan Touch", one of science fiction writer Spider Robinson's books, said, "Librarians are the secret masters of the universe. They control information. Never piss one off."

Good advice.

Kerith Page McFadden has a masters of library science from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and has been a librarian at CNN for the past 12 years.

National Library Week

 
April 10-16 is National Library Week
2011 marks the 25th Anniversary of NLW, a tradition since 1958.

Today's libraries can help you discover a new and exciting world. Take advantage of the free access to books and computers, homework help, assistance with resumes and job searches, accurate financial information, adult education courses, support for new Americans, CDs, DVDs, and much more.  Don't forget, your librarian is information smart and can help you find the right answer @ your library.

www.atyourlibrary.org

Sun, April 10 - Hear NLW Honorary Chair John Grisham on Jon Stewart
                     and listen to how libraries have been important to him.
Mon, April 11 – 2011 State of America's Libraries Report released
Tue, April 12 – National Library Workers Day
                     Celebrate with ALA / APA
Wed, April 13 – First Annual National Bookmobile Day
                      2011 National Bookmobile Day Honorary Chair Audrey 
                      Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveller's Wife and 
                      The Night Bookmobile, advocates for America’s 
                      bookmobiles
Thu, April 14 – Support Teen Literature Day
                      Join YALSA in celebrating the First Annual Teen Literature 
                      Day and supporting the important role literature for young 
                      adults can play in our culture and future.

Review

Because I can't imagine loving Tina Fey any more, I am SO extremely excited about getting my hands on Bossypants.  Not since Whoopie Goldberg's Book or Jon Stewart's America has a book by a comedian appealed to me this much.  I am hoping that I can get my hands on the first audio-book on order at one of my local libraries before it is usurped.  A writer, producer, actress, comedian, mom and so much more, Tina Fey truly is a super woman.  Forget Wonder Woman or Super Girl... my hero is this funny lady.  I hope I enjoy the book as much as I enjoy Fey's ingenious every-day-insightful humor!


From Library Journal:
In her highly anticipated first book, Fey hilariously covers her childhood and coming-of-age; time at Chicago's Second City; years at Saturday Night Live (SNL) as a writer, "Weekend Update" cohost, and performer; development of 30 Rock; and ubiquitous role as Sarah Palin. She gives advice on raising an "achievement-oriented, obedient, drug-free, virgin adult," how to be a good boss and what she learned from SNL producer Lorne Michaels ("Never tell a crazy person he's crazy"), and breast-feeding ("If you choose not to love your baby enough to breast-feed, you can pump"). After portraying the queasy-factor of putting in contact lenses as somewhere between a breast self-exam and losing a tampon string, Fey writes, "If you are male, I would liken it to touching your own eyeball, and thank you for buying this book." 
Verdict Of Fey's Palin debut on SNL, which was viewed by ten million people, she explains, "You all watched a sketch about feminism and you didn't even realize it because of all the jokes." She accomplishes the same feat with her book. Highly recommended. [Four-city tour; see Prepub Alert, LJ 11/15/10.]—Anna Katterjohn, Library Journal


Fey, Tina. Bossypants. Reagan Arthur: Little, Brown. Apr. 2011. 288p. photogs. ISBN 9780316056861. $26.99. TV


http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/890099-264/xpress_reviewsfirst_look_at_new.html.csp

Free Booklist webinars in April

There are several great offerings from Booklist in the moth of April.  Unfortunately, a few of these are during the week of the TLA conference here in Texas, but I have already registered to take advantage of a few, including “Tackling Tough Topics in Books for Youth” today, “Multimedia in Your Library: Innovative Learning Tools for Literacy, Languages, and More” and “Beyond Bestsellers: High-Demand Mysteries in Libraries”. Sign up to take advantage of these great topics, hosted by Booklist.  The best thing about webinars hosted by a third party moderator, you will generally get exposure from multiple vendors, publishers or participant backgrounds, rather than the one-source exposure you get from webinars hosted by a particular vendor or publisher.  Happy exploring!

TLA Conference Approaches

The deadline to register for the annual Texas Library Association is Monday April 4.  I am so excited to revisit one of my favorite towns, attend the great conference in the beautiful Austin Convention Center, spend lots of time in the Exhibit Hall getting lots of freebies, meeting numerous wonderful authors, and getting many autographs!  Perhaps most importantly, I am overwhelmed with excitement about the opening keynote by one of my absolute favorite actors and children's authors!  Jamie Lee Curtis will be the springboard for the week, and I am so thrilled about that, I would haul myself down to Austin for the week just for this part of the experience. [Can I get a "Woo!"?] 

http://www.txla.org/annual-conference