 From Blood and Ash
Jennifer L. Armentrout I want to fall into this book. I want to get into a groove so badly. Unfortunately, after an initial burst, I've been so tired every night that I fall asleep after only a few pages. BUT I've been itching to get into the meat of the story. The first few chapters have been mostly world building, but they're great. I thought the choice to throw the leads together on the first few pages was rather interesting. It started things off with a blast and now it's back to a simmer of anticipation. Now I just need to stop being droopy-eyed long enough to speed through this one. *Books shared here are affiliate links for Bookshop.org
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 Heads up, I'm about to go on a tear about the firing of Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress. She was in the ninth year of a ten-year appointment. She was the first professional librarian to hold the position in decades. Her leadership transformed the institution to help it keep up with the rapid changes of the information landscape. Dr. Hayden is an exemplar of what it means to be a librarian. Also, as a woman of color, her leadership of a white-dominated field cannot be overstated. Her visibility and openness made what I do for a living far more visible to the communities we serve all over the country. Her firing is a travesty. I was heartened to see others in my field rally around her through petitions, calls to congress, and many think pieces. There was no reason to fire her - despite what the White House claims. The White House assertions are willful misunderstandings of what the Library of Congress and libraries in general are for. I'm glad those in my field are forcefully calling out this disgraceful action and demanding her reinstatement. Why is this important? Well, the library of CONGRESS serves CONGRESS. It's a part of the legislative branch, not the executive. The president has no say over LOC or any of its subunits - like the copyright office. More importantly, LOC is charged with being the warehouse for and preserver of knowledge. A new head - who answers only to one man with zero respect for actual truth - will do incalculable harm to the collections and actions of the institution. The truth is the truth. It should be protected and not warped to suit one petty little man's grievances. LOC is charged with providing ACCURATE information to Congress. The Congressional Research Service goes deep on any topic or question asked. Any change to the reality that is shared could irreparably damage foreign relations and policy decisions. Furthermore, what any congressional office asks LOC is kept private. While librarians may not have the legal protections of a relationship like attorney-client privilege, we do take privacy seriously. Hell, I have worked with some students for years and I still don't know their names. It's not my business. I'm here to get you access to what you need without prejudice or judgement. That is the only way that people can feel comfortable asking us difficult questions. So I was damn proud when the persons the President appointed as replacements were rebuffed by library staff at the door. While the law is on the library's side, I believe that our professional ethics also demanded such action. You do not send a fox to work in a hen house. The collections and work of LOC are too important. 
 I spent the morning drafting a video for a work thing. I found some great music to use in the background. It's lilty and boppy and made me dance in my seat as I worked.
Here's what else made me smile this week:
I read a lot of books with my kiddo. Kid Reads is a biweekly look at what we've enjoyed recently.
I've decided to streamline somethings and that means changes here. I'm going to be sunsetting my weekly The Now post. My hope is that this will make it easier for me to find time to write some longer pieces and essays about things I'm thinking about.
Thanks for reading! It's finals week at my university. Each day is a complete unknown. It could be incredibly busy or I could watch tumbleweeds roll past the desk. There is no rhyme or reason as to what each day could look like. But, one morning, I did get to go really into the weeds with a student who was trying to citation chain articles. She was working on a lit review and needed a lot of metanalyses and the like. She came to the desk with one article and was trying to figure out where to go from there. I told her all she needed to do was point out which citations she was interested in. I could then work citation by citation to help her track down each piece. She thought she had to figure that all out by herself. Since she's interested in grad school, I told her to sit by the desk and watch me work. That way, she could learn all the ways librarians try to track down known items. Spoiler alert - it's a lot of browser tabs. Would it have been faster and less messy to do this on my own? Yes. But was the student grateful she had some new things to try on her own? Also, yes. That was a 45-minute reference transaction, but it's exactly what we're there for. 
 Since I'm working at our branch campus today, I needed our kiddo to get out of bed on time and out the door early. Luckily, she was ready to go rather quickly. It was raining and the umbrella slowed her down a bit, but I made it to this office with about 10 minutes to spare.
Here's what else made me happy:
 The Diamond Eye
Kate Quinn I started this book because what I wanted to read was not yet available from the library. I figured it would be a decent novel to tied me over. So far, it's fine - but since it's not what I'm in the mood to read, I'm having trouble connecting to the story. I've enjoyed Quinn before so I suspect, once I warm up to it, this will be a great book. *Books shared here are affiliate links for Bookshop.org  Final exams start today. I'm doing as much cheerleading as I can to motivate our students. I'm quite excited that I get to use my coworker's fluffy kitty in some of my work. She's slowly becoming a bit of a library mascot.
Here's what else I'm working on:
Each of these books came recommended to me in some fashion.    You can see my complete TBR list on Pinterest.
*Items featured here are Bookshop.org affiliate links. |
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