Sutherland Shire Libraries Staff News

Inclusion - make it real

Penrith NSW Nov 1, 2019

Presented by EarlyEd.

Chris Newett and Ingrid Micallef attended this workshop in order to gain some more understanding of Inclusion best practice to support The Cubby storytime and The Calm Corner.

The Australia Council has released a fact sheet on the reading behaviour of Australians based on research into the Get Reading! campaigns from 2008-2012.  You can read the fact sheet here.

Barb

Whether it's books. movies, music or sporting legends, if you want to start an argument, publish a list. The latest in a long line of literary pot-stirrers is Esquire magazine's online slideshow 75 Books Every Man Should Read (actually a reposting of the list from 2008).

What makes this list especially provocative is the sole inclusion of one female writer. To remedy this, short fiction publisher Joyland responded with 250 Books By Women All Men Should Read. You can listen to an interview with Joyland's publishers about their list on The Bookshow.

What do you think of the lists? As librarians giving reader advice, do you have a tendency to recommend male writers to male readers? Are blokes harder to recommend for? Is it all sexist guff this 'books for blokes' caper?
In the spirit of Joyland's cheeky riposte, and to flex your readers advisory muscles, I have a question for you:

What book by a female author would you recommend for a male to read?

To start us off, I will post two suggestions below - one for adults, one for teens.

Thought staff might be interested in what's happening in the world of eBook publishing. It seems one of the big publishers, Harper Collins, has instucted libraries it will be selling eBook licences that expire after 26 loans. They also want to have a say in who has the right to borrow a library's eBooks, wanting libraries to tighten up their membership policies.

Libraries are understandably up-in-arms about the whole thing. Have a look at comments from the Library Journal, and a librarian's blog which has lots of other interesting links.

Barb

If you'd like to challenge yourself to a different read over the holidays, you might want to check out Inside Story's Best (Overlooked) Books 2010. It does come with a disclaimer that they weren't all necessarily overlooked, and they weren't even necessarily published in 2010, but they were the books read by Inside Story contributors during 2010.

It's a pretty eclectic mix and mostly a bit high-brow for me, but it may be just the list you're looking for.

Barb

So many books, so little time
Over the last nine months some staff have been participating in the 2010 Librarians Reading Challenge set up by the NSW State Library. It was surprisingly fun, challenging and eye opening, as we were encouraged to try read genres of books outside our comfort zones. Have a look, it makes interesting reading! So now I thought we should try an adaptation of this in our library service. The idea is to feature a different book genre/theme each month in the library. Each branch of the library nominates a staff member to write a book/ movie review or annotation/s of the featured genre of the month. This gives everyone the opportunity to share their favourite reads with everyone. It also means that the busy, reserved and shy ones amongst us need only contribute 3-4 times over the twelve month period. I will email out the list of the proposed selections for the next 12 months, to each branch, so that you can find your favourite genres and get reading! You may even like to challenge yourself and read outside your comfort zone. The genres initially included are those which the library have identified and created genre spine labels for. Of course, anyone is welcome to write a review of a book/ movie or add a comment to the checkmeout.blog at any time.

With the holiday season approaching now is the optimum time to get reading. So
here are some tips to help you to read more.

1. Get a good book. Follow Nancy Pearl's Rule of 50 which states “If you still don’t like a book after slogging through the first fifty pages, set it aside. If you’re more than 50 years old, subtract your age from 100 and only grant it that many pages.”
2. Turn off the T.V. The ratings are over until February, 2011 anyway, do you really want to watch those reruns…again?
3. For the library students, finish TAFE/Uni first, then read as much as you can before the next semester starts.
4. Listen to an audio book. This way you can maximise your time and multitask.
5. Join a book group. This way you will read at least one book a month, and may be inspired to read even more.
6. Write a list of 12 books you have been meaning to read, but haven’t. With the holiday season approaching, now’s the time to set a goal of getting them read.
7. Ask Santa for an e-reader or an i-pod. (Sony e-readers are compatible with Overdrive) and download as many books as you can. Then read them.
8. Have a set reading time, even if it’s only 15 minutes before you go to sleep.
9. Make it a habit to carry a book (or e-reader) with you everywhere.
10. Make it a New Years resolution to write a blog on “checkmeout” about some of your favourite titles. This way, you are letting everyone know that you committed to reading, and letting them know what you’re reading.
11. Don’t reread old favourites, find some new favourites.
12. Read new books, old books, fun books and make-you-think books. Read more than one book at once.

Happy reading
Monique