Gossip Girl

I think that reading Gossip Girl was what made me want to be a teen librarian. I just devoured them. I wished that something that engaging and AWESOME had been around when I was a teenager...of course, there wasn't much YA lit when I was in middle and high school, so I pretty much just skipped ahead to the adult books. I think some kids still do this, but there are so many more appealing titles now to entice even mature readers.

Anyway, I haven't read the whole series, because I had to stop at some point to read some other books. But I'm now fully addicted to the tv series on the CW. I love some of the elements of the series that they've put in, but I also love that it's become its own entity. Unfortunately, I hate the characters of Dan and Vanessa, and I loved them both in the books. I adore Blaire and Serena, though--and in the books, I was less attached to them. Meg Cabot wrote in her blog about being annoyed that the TV version had turned the story into a morality play--especially when it comes to Serena, who certainly is nowhere near as reformed in the books as she is on the show--and while I see her point, I think that the show does need one character who is the story's moral compass. In the books, I think it was Dan. In the show, I think it's Serena. Dan comes across as sanctimonious and whiny in the TV version, if you ask me.

I know that the girls at my school are eating up the show--and checking out the books more than usual. I think it hits all the right notes, and it's SO satisfying.

My first book challenge was over Gossip Girl. A 6th grader brought it home, and her mom contacted me about it. The ensuing conversation was really hard for me, because I understood the mother's point of view (her daughter was only 11 at the time), but my own convictions couldn't allow me to agree that the book shouldn't be in the library. Ultimately, the mom dropped the challenge. When I told Robin about it, he secretly emailed Cecily Von Ziegesar to tell her what had happened. I got an email from her that made. my. year. I won't reprint it in its entirety because I feel like that's a violation of her privacy, but the part that got especially got me was this:

I'm eternally grateful for your bravery and commitment. You have my full support, and without question the support of the entire library community--librarians love Gossip Girl!

It's soooo easy to bash Gossip Girl. Hey, my fellow school librarians do it all the time on LM_NET (which I just shouldn't read...it gives me heartburn). But go ahead and apply those 40 developmental assets and see what you come up with. Sure, on first glance, it might seem like these books--and even the show, to a lesser extent--are about rich teenagers with no morals and no consequences. But that's the lazy way out. Whether girls are reading it because of the breathless drama or the fact that they feel emotionally connected to one or more of the characters, the fact is that they ARE reading about teens who think, feel, and act much the same way that they do--just, maybe, with better shoes.

Of course, deciphering all this means actually READING the books...which I doubt many of the dissenters have done.

Regardless, I will always love Gossip Girl, and I will always have the utmost respect for the series' creator...and it's pretty cool to have her email in my address book!

Starting the new year in the best way possible

On New Year's Eve, Robin and I celebrated by watching TV and folding laundry. We did get invited to a party, but after all the chaos of the holidays--driving to and from Pennsylvania and then getting right back on the road to go to Horseneck Beach for the day--we were festivity-ed out. The pets certainly appreciated our decision.

But despite this lackluster ringing in of the new year, the truth is that the start of 2008 is worth celebrating. 2008 is the year I'm starting, at the risk of sounding hyperbolic, my dream job. When I started grad school at Simmons, I thought that I would be an academic librarian. I took reference and cataloging classes and went along my merry way. Then I took Linda Braun's young adult literature and services class (a course that has now been split in two), and absolutely fell in love with teen services. It started with the literature, which I devoured, and moved into the services, which I discovered were fun, challenging, entertaining, and beyond anything I'd imagined library work to be. I took some more coursework on the subject, including Linda's awesome emerging technologies class, and then I was ready to go--I planned to apply for jobs all over the country in the hopes of getting my foot in the teen services door.

What ended up happening, though, was a little different than what I'd imagined. A fellow student was leaving her position as a private school library director and asked if I was interested in applying for her job. She told me all about it, explaining that while she had worked hard to establish a solid academic program, it would be my chance to integrate everything I'd learned at Simmons into the library--increasing teen literature and programming, mostly. I interviewed for the job and was offered it on the spot. And three years later, I feel as though I've accomplished everything that I set out to do in those first few weeks of thinking about the job. I did increase the YA collection--and with it, circulation. The library got a massive makeover this summer, focused mostly around creating a large area for reading books, magazines, and graphic novels, playing games, or just hanging out. The Nook, as it's called, is now an incredibly popular hangout that's been one of my proudest achievements! And the library has become a new center for activity, with everything from game nights to Family Guy marathons to crafting to hosting cool speakers like an ESPN reporter or a CSI officer from the Springfield Police Department, who dusted for prints and let us tour his mobile crime lab.

But now it's time to move on--which is where the dream job comes in. On July 1, I'll start as the first Head of Teen Services at the Darien Library in Darien, CT. (!!!) There are a million reasons why I'm excited to work at Darien, and one of the coolest is that I'm being allowed the opportunity to build a teen department from the ground up. The new Darien Library will open in January 2009, and with it, the new teen space. The library has been serving teens all along, of course, but this is our opportunity to increase the number of teens who know about and use the library. I have so many ideas bouncing around in my head about how to do this, and the best part is that the people of the Darien Library want to hear those ideas and help make them happen. I know that my mission is to create something really special and that's a mission I'm prepared (overjoyed, truth be told) to accept.

I've already been welcomed into the Darien Library family, and I've gotten to meet a lot of really kind, motivated people who surprise and inspire me all the time. I've found a friend in Kate Sheehan, a fellow newbie who has already invited me to visit her when we're house hunting. And I've found endless support, openness, and encouragement in Louise Berry, Alan Gray, and John Blyberg. I really could not be happier or feeling more blessed at this point. Librarians tend to live their jobs--I certainly do. And a change like this, it's a quality of life issue. I can't wait to get started.

I wish you all a very, very happy and healthy 2008! And if anyone knows a good apartment broker in New Haven, let me know. :)

Name change

Robin and I were talking about the name of this blog at some point during our loooong trip from the beginning of the cross-Bronx expressway to the end of the GW Bridge.

Since I'll be turning 30 in a few days, I needed to think about what to do with the name of my blog...and we brainstormed some ideas, some of which were not suitable for mixed company, some of which set me up to not live up to the promise of the name, and some of which were just plain dorky.

So when I mentioned to him that the blog used to be called "Futzing around the Blogosphere," he got mad at me for ever changing it from that, because apparantly, "futzing" is just one of those words that doesn't get used quite enough. (And I think the word "blogosphere" is hilarious.)

Long story to explain something really simple...but there you go. Sorry for the back-and-forth; I think I'll be sticking with this name for a while.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

teen pregnancy

I haven't seen Juno, but quick question: why is it okay--and kind of cute, judging by the previews--for the teenage girl in that movie to have a baby, but not okay for Jamie Lynn? People are calling for Nickelodeon to sever ties with her or else risk losing their audience. So it's okay in a movie--which we can walk away from with a good feeling and then forget--but not in real life, which reminds us that yes, 16-year-olds are having sex, and no, they don't necessarily know how to prevent pregnancy. (Or want to, in some cases.)

Holyoke, where I lived for a few years during grad school, has the highest teen parent rate in the state. Teen moms are a reality. Yeah, we've got to educate kids on how not to get pregnant...but we also have to help them once they do. It's not my job to tell a kid what choice to make, only to arm her with information.

Midwinter schedule so far

I have been getting so many flyers in the mail. My midwinter registration must have just kicked in and now I'm on the mailing list.

My plan so far:

Arrive Thursday. Dinner with friends. :) Start blogging for YALSA.
Friday: all-day YALSA advocacy institute
Friday night: YALSA gaming extravanganza, followed by drinks w/ Linda (and hopefully Jack from NYPL)
Saturday: Lunch with friends. :) :) Nothing else planned, so I'll probably cruise around the vendor floor and feel overwhelmed, young, and intimidated. Blog about it.
Sunday: head home.

There might be a committee meeting thrown in there somewhere, but since we're a virtual committee, it would just be a meet and greet. I'm following with interest the many conversations going on right now about how ALA should start allowing for virtual meetings. Too bad I'm really bad at tinkering with my avatar and I'm currently sporting a crop top and a bald spot in SL....

online predators vs. cyberbullies

We hear a lot about online predators and how they're a growing menace. While there have been a few sensational (and very sad) cyberbullying cases in the news lately, the topic just doesn't get as much press.

According to what I found out in my research for LIS406, publicized statistics show that 1 in 5 children are approached online by a sexual predator. This is the number that gets thrown around constantly by those who want to scare parents about social networking sites. Where does this number come from, and what does it mean?

Thanks to Benjamin Radford, I found that this stat originated in 2001 (red flag--6 years ago), when the Department of Justice conducted a report surveying teens about sexual solicitation online. The results were as follows:

• Almost one in five (19 percent) of the young Internet users surveyed received an unwanted sexual solicitation in the past year. Okay, that's bad, but break down that number a little further and you discover that...
  
• Five percent of the surveyed youth received a distressing sexual solicitation (i.e., the solicitation made them feel very or extremely upset or afraid).
• Three percent of the youth received an aggressive solicitation involving offline contact or attempts or requests for offline contact.
• None of the solicitations led to an actual sexual contact or assault.
• Adults (age 18 and older) made 24 percent of all solicitations and 34 percent of aggressive solicitations.
• Juveniles made 48 percent of all solicitations and 48 percent of aggressive solicitations.

While these numbers are still troubling, the fact is that a very small percentage of online youh received distressing or aggressive sexual solicitation, and nearly half of any kind of sexual interaction was initiated by another teen (this doesn't make it okay, but it does make it a different story than a child being solicited by an adult, in my book).

In other positive news, I found the following news item via Scott McLeod's blog:

Children less likely to encounter online predators

In contrast, 32% of teenagers who use the internet say that they have been the target of cyberbullying—"a range of annoying and potentially menacing online activities, such as receiving threatening messages; having their private emails or text messages forwarded without consent; having an embarrassing picture posted without permission; or having rumors about them spread online" (Social Networking Websites and Teens: An Overview. Pew Internet & American Life Project, 2007).

To me, this is the scarier issue. The web makes it easier to bully because it's easier to be anonymous. Bullying is an issue IRL, for sure, but parents and educators most likely have no idea when cyberbullying is happening. Are we teaching kids how to handle this? Are we talking to parents about it in the same way that we scare the crap out of them with all this sexual predator talk? Ultimately, the topic is brought up as a reason to block kids' internet access or take away their ability to use social networking sites. Which does nothing--they just use a proxy and hop right back on there, unarmed with any knowledge of what to do if they DO get solicited or bullied.

filtering

Why do I always find myself embroiled in yucky debates on LM_NET? I find that listserv to be particularly conservative, but where else are the school librarians supposed to go for quick feedback to questions?

Recently, another school librarian posted about how her students are accessing MySpace through bypass proxies. So, inevitably, librarians are spending a lot of time figuring out what these proxy sites are and passing that along to IT so that they, too, can be blocked.

And when I responded, asking if it wouldn't just be easier to let the students use MySpace, I got lots of responses:

If there wasn't porn on it I wouldn't care.

...trying to keep kids on educational tasks when they want to be continuously checking MySpace is a waste of my time. They can check MySpace somewhere else.

Of course there were some posts from people who agreed with me, too...but I know this is a fight I won't win; by which i mean I won't be able to ever convince the dissenters that social networks AREN'T porn and that they DO belong in the library.

I'm doing a project on filtering for my class; I'm presenting on it this Saturday, so I'll post my findings next week. I think that filtering is one of the biggest obstacles facing librarians today--especially those who serve youth.

facebook and myspace vs. a database

I just had a great conversation (totally unprompted by me) about the changes that myspace has implemented to make it look more like facebook. What struck me is how good this student was about noticing very small changes and features on myspace, and how attuned she was to the fact that myspace is mimicking facebook.

Of course, the whole time I was thinking, man, if I asked you anything about our new history database right now, you wouldn't even be able to call to mind what it looks like, or what it is, let alone knowing where the different buttons are for particular features.

It just goes to show you that teens pay attention to what matters in their lives and to what affects them in a personal way. And what I got out of this wasn't that she was oblivious about the history database (which is somehow supposed to matter more), but that she's actually very savvy and smart. I love that kids are aware of this stuff.

oops, i forgot to blog

There are SO MANY COOL THINGS going on right now, NONE of which I can write about. Oh, poo.

Fun things I can talk about: I started twittering, for real this time. I guess what I am discovering about myself is that I get really excited about a new piece of tech and then lose interest or forget that it's there. This may be because I don't really have a way to get online unless I'm at my desk or at my apartment, but it also may mean that I am very busy keeping up with things like...book orders. Oh, how DULL!

(Not really--I know it's not chic to still care about books as much as I do, but I can't help it.)

R. and I are flying to St. Augustine tomorrow to spend Thanksgiving with his parents. It's going to be 70 degrees there. 70. I'm hoping for a manatee sighting.

Oh, one more thing: I am going to Midwinter. Yay! I'm going to the YALSA gaming extravaganza....hopefully I'll get to try a Wii.

Not so fun: the stupid writer's strike. For an addict like me, this is not good. Maybe I should start watching Quarterlife?

Okay, have to go pack my shorts. Happy Thanksgiving!

Been a little while...

So, I got married. It was awesome, and I'm really happy.

I've been thinking about this blog a little and I think I need to start writing about only the things that really interest me. Those things, namely, are:

1. Young adult lit. Any kind, really. I tend not to read books marketed to boys (especially realistic boy fiction), but my tastes here are fairly broad.

2. TV. Yep, I am fully addicted to TV. This summer has been pretty slow, television-wise, so I've been devouring about a book a day. I know this is good for me, but I'm also super-psyched for the fall season to start up.

Um....that's about it. There are other things I care about, like vegetarian recipes, dorky point-and-click games, girly movies, knitting, celebrity gossip (although I am really trying to wean myself off of this), animals wearing outfits, abortion rights (how did that slip in there?!)...but I think it will be easiest/most fun for me to write about YA and TV.

Yay!

Okay, I want to mention three things before I head off to bed.

1. Veronica Mars. I admitted to my husband this afternoon that I have not yet watched the final two episodes because I don't want the series is over. He told me that this is unhealthy behavior. I guess I am still in denial. I heard the other day that Kristen Bell (who is probably one of my top-three favorite actresses, in part because she's an animal-rights activist) might be guest-starring on Lost this year. Now, I stopped watching Lost sometime last year because I got so sick of the stupid run-around the writers/producers were putting the viewers through. I'm still curious to see what happens, but I'm not interested in watching the journey there, since the pace is so excrutiating. However...smart move, Lost! I think there are plenty of broken-hearted V Mars fans out there who are going to tune in just to see KB on the small screen again. I might have to! What am I going to do without the sass this year? We'll see how it goes--I'll watch the first ep with her in it (if she ends up doing it) and decide then, I guess.

2. 24. The franchise lost me last year. I'm going to rent the entire first season of Heroes and then start watching that instead.

3. Stephenie Meyers books. Meg Cabot had a great post in her blog (scroll down to the August 9 entry) about how, as a feminist, she rejects the idea that a girl should have to change her entire being--her species, for god's sake--for a boy. Tooootally agree about the gross message that these books are sending teenage girls. (Full disclosure: I've only read Twilight, but I've read reviews/synopses of the other two.) But I hate Edward Cullen. I find him mean, bullying, violent, and abusive. Yeah, he's good-looking and mysterious. But does that mean that a girl--conveniently, a clumsy, incompetent one--should follow him around and let him treat her like she's helpless and take his crap just because he's hot, moody, and secretive? No! I've been in that real-life relationship and it is baaaaaad news. I know that there are a lot of romance books out there that follow this theme, but the Meyer books are super popular at my library, not to mention nationwide, and I find that troubling. Yeah, I'm going to put them on the shelf becaused it's my job to give the kids what they want, but I'm not going to like it.

That's it for now. School starts up in a couple of weeks. Yikes!

Good night.