In My Spare Time

There are many of things I like to do in my spare time: sleep, sleep and more sleep, just kidding.  Seriously, one of the things I really enjoy doing is reading the blogs written by other librarians.   When I find myself logging onto these blogs, I eventually add them to my google reader page and read them from my desktop or Blackberry. 

One of my favorite blogs is Crazy Quilts . This blog is written by Edi Campbell, a high school librarian in the Indianapolis Public School System.  The focus of her blog is to provide information to improve the literacy of teens and preteens of color.  Along with reading interesting reviews of books, I enjoy reading the articles about scholarships, library news, interviews and trends in technology.  My favorite posts are the 'Sunday Morning Reads' and pictures of her beautiful quilts.

 

Let me say that I found her blog by accident.  About two years ago, I decided to start quilting after attending a interesting University of Chicago seminar about the history of African-American Quilts.  I wanted to continue the tradition of my great-grandmother Odessa who made quilts in her modest northern Louisiana home.  I found the Crazy Quilts blog and immediately bookmarked it on my computer for future reading.  Let me tell you, I was excited!  I finally found a blog that discussed books that appeal to people of color.  Unfortunately the quilting had to be put on the back burner due to the demands of work but logging onto the site has become a weekly practice and I've passed the site to the librarians I support.

I was shocked when I was recently approached by Edi to be interviewed on her blog.  I had one of those, "Little ole me moments!"  Check out her post, "Going to ALA" and become a follower of her blog. 

Thanks again Edi!

PHAT Fiction at the ALA Conference

Hey y'all, I will be serving as a moderator for the PHAT Fiction presentation at the American Library Association's annual conference in Washington, D.C. this summer.  The session will take place on 6/28/2010 from 10:30AM to 12:00 PM.  I'm really excited about this opportunity.  It's such a blessing that I will be meeting advocates and writers of this genre that quote during my workshops I conduct.  Please see the workshop description listing below:

Phat* Fiction: Engaging Hip-Hop Literature in the Public Library (*phat=popular, hip and tempting fiction)

Why should librarians identify and purchase urban fiction? While book reviews, publishers’ lists, and patron requests drive much library purchasing, mainstream publisher’s omission of hip hop imprints often means patrons are not finding what they want to read on library shelves. This presentation will be both an exploration of the impact of hip hop publishers and authors in public libraries and a comparison of racial, ethnic and regional aspects of urban fiction presentation.

Speakers: Coe Booth, Author; Kimberly Boyd, Librarian, Chicago (Ill.) Public Schools; Paula Chase-Hyman, Author; Kia Dupree, Author; D.L. Grant, San Antonio Public Library, Asst. Mgr., G. W. Carver Branch; Megan Honig, New York Public Library, Teen Collection Specialist; Christopher Lassen, Brooklyn Public Library, Children's Librarian; Vanessa Irvin Morris, Author; Amy Pattee, Simmons College GSLIS, Faculty; Susan McClelland, Reader’s Advisor Librarian, Evanston Public Library; Tachelle Wilkes, Author


http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/pla/plaevents/plaatalaannual/index.cfm