I Want a Truck Book

It has been a whirlwind of a summer and every time I sit down to write a post something else needs to be done: books need to be cataloged; laundry needs to be folded; corn needs to be husked. But today is the day!

You might be reading this because you managed to attend our presentation at ALA "I Want a Truck Book." I had the pleasure of sitting on a panel with Gretchen Casserti from Darien Public Library and Debbie Cooper from Stark County Library on using different cataloging systems with the zero to 5 set. This was such a great experience! Often, as a professional, you wish for the time to examine your practice in a thoughtful way. Writing this presentation really helped us begin to articulate what exactly we have done and why we created Metis. If you want to check out the slides you can find them on slideshare. I've also posted my original intended speech here but if you've ever heard me speak you'll know that what actually was said wasn't really the same as what I wrote. It does have all of the same points and helps to explain the slideshow.

We've been working this summer on writing a FAQ, a how-to workbook, and reproducing our labels so that other libraries can use them. Hopefully, you're going to start seeing some of this posted here soon. As always, if you have any questions please send us an email.

The Joy of Metis

A couple of my favorite things about our new category system Metis, are the proud independence and literal joy I witness daily when students begin their search for books to take home.  

Today for instance, a second grade girl called out, “Andrea, will you help me find a book?”  Answering her with my standard reply, I said, “Sure Alice.  What kinds of books do you like?”

“Funny!” she declared emphatically.

“OK, so where do you think you could find a funny book?” I asked.

Confidently, she pointed to the humor shelves.   Within moments she picked up a book called Spooky Riddles and started reading out loud…seemingly, to whomever would listen: “What yard will kids never play in?” she bellowed. 

She grinned as 4 other students came toward her quietly and curiously, waiting for the answer.  “A graveyard,” she roared. This triggered not only a stream of laughter, but also a desire for everyone else to pick up his or her own joke book.  While the other students took turns cracking each other up with their own jokes, Alice made her way back to me and questioned privately, “Andrea, what’s a grave yard?” 

Ahhhhh…the joy of independent browsing.