Meghan Kowalski
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  • Resume
  • Presentations & Publications
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What I've Been Reading: May 22, 2025

5/22/2025

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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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The Weekly Wrap: May 18, 2025

5/18/2025

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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.

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  • It's rude that you would call me out this way. [The Ringer]
  • This is why I made a subscription tracker in a spreadsheet. [NYT - may be paywalled]
  • How to write useful wine tasting notes. [Wine Folly]
  • Why prescription drugs are so expensive. [Your Local Epidemiologist]
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  • Is Finland happiest by comparison only? [The Daily]
  • The power of short wave. [The Divided Dial]
  • How medical disinformation spreads. [StarTalk]
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  • Verdana is best. [@silly_goose_science]
  • A Simple Favor is a wild movie. I don't know what genre it falls into! There are moments of comedy, lots of drama, and a bunch of mystery. This movie only works because the leads, Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively, commit to the bits. The plot is pure chaos with way to many loops. But, it was a fun nonetheless. [Amazon Prime]
  • The Husband opted to rewatch Eureka as his late night show. I forgot how zany that series was. I know it's pure science fiction, but the setting and campy plots are enjoyable. [Amazon Prime]
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  • I brought out a recipe from our deep archives. Vegetable stir fry with noodles is a snap to throw together on a weeknight. I made things even easier by using a bag coleslaw mix instead of prepping my own veggies. Plus, I love working with bricks of ramen noodles. [Budget Bytes]
  • For my lunch meal prep, I mixed up chickpea chopped salad. This was close in flavor to the many other Greek-flavored chickpea salads I've made. Your supposed to serve this with pita chips but our store was out. The crunch would have been a nice addition. [Eating Well]
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Just Good Things: May 16, 2025

5/16/2025

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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:
  • Had dinner with a family we love
  • All of our happy students at graduation
  • Winning TWO faculty awards
  • Lavender body butter
  • Won an iPad in a work raffle
  • Felt really confident in a new dress
  • Metro luck
  • Kiddo doing great with balancing on her bike
  • Started laundry before the machines got busy
  • Snacking on crispy wonton strips

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Kid Reads: May 15, 2025

5/15/2025

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I read a lot of books with my kiddo. Kid Reads is a biweekly look at what we've enjoyed recently. ​
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The Secret Invention
Thea Stilton

Our kiddo is still adoring the books in the series. Lately, she's wanted the ones set at Mouseford Academy. These lean more mystery/high school drama. There's one character who is set up to be the bad guy in every book. I don't love that the set-up is forcing girl characters into "mean girl" role. Kiddo, however, seems to be taking away that the best thing to do is be kind, which I do like.
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Blog Update

5/14/2025

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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!
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The Weekly Wrap: May 11, 2025

5/11/2025

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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. 

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  • The trend towards squeeze. [TASTE]
  • I was SSSSed once. It wasn't too bad. [WaPo - gift link]
  • This speaks truth about school spirit days. [The Atlantic - gift link]
  • This health misinformation is killing people. [Your Local Epidemiologist]
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  • For the love of fan fiction. [Culture Study]
  • It's a privilege to pee. [Planet Money]
  • Emojis and the law. [99% Invisible]
  • AI is very, very thirsty. [Short Wave]
  • Why people love Warren Buffett. [The Daily]
  • No. There is not a plastic spoon in your brain. [Science Vs]
  • The philosophical essence of tariffs. [Planet Money]
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  • I caught myself going deep on these fun music arrangement videos. [@jimlapbap]
  • We wanted to watch season two of The Hot Zone but decided to restart with season one. That season came out in May 2019. It's about an Ebola-like virus that hits a monkey facility in suburban DC. Let's just say the final episode calling for the government to prepare for an outbreak speaks even louder now. We've learned nothing. [Amazon Prime]
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  • We've been trying to cycle more salads into our meal planning. This week, that meant tossing together strawberry bacon salad. Since I cooked the bacon the night before, this came together in about 10 minutes. I know bleu cheese is a strong flavor, but it provides essential oomph to this recipe. [Sally's Baking]
  • When I made the sauce for the sweet and spicy gochujang chicken bowls I thought, "This is WAY too watery." Ye of little faith. When it hits the hot pan, it cooks down and thickens quite nicely. The husband said the leftovers made a delicious burrito the next day. [Ambitious Kitchen]
  • The best thing I ate this week was my meal prep. I made cold tahini noodles with vegetables and I wish I whipped up a double batch. It was so tasty and refreshing. I opted to omit the peanut butter from the sauce, but I wish I had topped my servings with the called for handful of peanuts. I will be making this again - sooner rather than later. [WaPo]
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Just Good Things: May 9, 2025

5/9/2025

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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:
  • This new pope joke
  • Shade at the playground
  • The laundry room was empty when I needed it
  • Managed to miss the worst of the rain while walking
  • Met Gala pictures
  • Made a new salad recipe for dinner
  • Kiddo asked us to move the laptop so she could "have dinner" with grandma and grandpa during FaceTime
  • Banging out a presentation slide deck in one hour
  • Dance workouts

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What I've Been Reading: May 9, 2025

5/8/2025

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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

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The Now: May 7, 2025

5/7/2025

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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:
  1. Speaking Proposals: For some reason, a lot of presentation proposals are due in May. I've already sent out four and I've got a few more to go. I don't expect all of them to be accepted but, if even half are, I'm looking at a pretty busy 2025-2026 academic year.
  2. Summer Webinars: We ease up on how many webinars we host during the summer. But, I get to focus on more fun and general interest subjects. This summer, I'm putting on sessions about taking better pictures, managing your camera roll, promoting yourself online, and college productivity tips. I've handled all the logistics and now I'm in promotion mode. That will kick-off into overdrive once finals are done.
  3. Doctor's Appointments: I really need to schedule a slew of those "you're getting older and probably should" doctor's appointments. I've got a list, I just need to work through it one by one. Let's see how many of these I can knock out this summer.

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Now on My TBR: May 5, 2025

5/5/2025

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Each of these books came recommended to me in some fashion.
Y​ou can see my complete TBR list on Pinterest.
​
*Items featured here are Bookshop.org affiliate links.
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