Occupy Your Bookshelf

I've been thinking of ways to support the Occupy Wall Street movement. I would love nothing more than to join their ranks and camp out, but between finishing school and juggling various jobs, I haven't had the opportunity.

I have been very impressed with the role that librarians have been playing, with the creation of Occupy Libraries in various cities. The OWSLibrary in Zuccotti Park has over 4500 titles, the OccupyPortland library has close to 800 title, and even OccupyMaine has a library with about 50 titles.

While I don't have any books to contribute, I did want to at least make a recommended reading list intended for protesters, participants, observers or anyone who is curious about the movement and and its mission. The list is long, about 50 titles, but Occupy Wall Street is a growing movement that is bringing attention to the economic inequity in our country - a multifaceted and often confusing issue.

I have the list broken up into four categories: The first category contains books that speak to economic and social theory, philosophy and history; the second looks at how our economy got to be where it is; the third contains books that deal with activism and possible alternatives economic models and the final category contains a bit of everything. I put out a call on Facebook, Twitter and Google + asking folks what they might recommend for an #OWS reading list, and some amazing titles were shared and I wanted to be sure that they were included.

I'm very happy with this list. I feel that there is something for everyone. I understand that it contains material that is pretty left of center, but that's where #OWS tends to hang out. Do you think anything is missing from this list? Is there anything that seems out of place? Please leave a comment and share your thoughts!

Without further ado, an occupy reading list:

I. Getting a Good Foundation: Theory, Philosophy and History

Title: Introducing Economics: A Graphic Guide

Author: David Orrell

Illustrator: Borin Van Loon

Year: 2011

Publisher: Totem Books

Title:  Introducing Capitalism: A Graphic Guide

Author: Dan Cryan

Illustrator: Sharron Shatil

Year: 2005

Publisher: Totem Books

Title: The U.S. Congress: A Very Short Introduction

Author: Donald A. Ritchie

Year: 2010

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Title: Citizenship: A Very Short Introduction

Author: Richard Bellamy

Year: 2008

Publisher:  Oxford University Press

Title: Democracy: A Very Short Introduction

Author: Bernard Crick

Year: 2003

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Title: One-Dimensional Man: Studies on the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society

Author: Herbert Marcuse

Year: 1964

Publisher: Beacon Press

Title: Civil Disobedience

Author: Henry David Thoreau

Year: 1849

 Title: A Modest Proposal

Author: Jonathan Swift

Year: 1729

Title: Non-Violent Resistance (Satyagraha)

Author: Mahatma Gandhi & Bharatan Kumarappa

Year: 1961

Publisher: Schocken Books

Title: Empire

Authors: Michael Hardt & Antonio Negri

Year: 2001

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Title: A People’s History of the United States

Author: Howard Zinn

Year: 2003

Publish: HarperCollins

Title: Once in Golconda: A True Drama of Wall Street 1920-1928

Author: John Brooks

Year: 1999

Publisher: Wiley

Title: Devil Take the Hindmost: A History of Financial Speculation

Author: Edward Chancellor

Year: 2000

Publisher: Penguin

Title: The Essential Chomsky

Author: Noam Chomsky

Editor: Anthony Arnove

Year: 2008

Publisher: New Press

Title: The Strawberry Statement: Notes of a College Revolutionary

Author: James S. Kunen

Year: 1969

Publisher: Random House

II. What happened: Context of the Economic Recession and the Current Distribution of Wealth in America

Title: Meltdown: How Greed and Corruption Shattered Our Financial System and How We Can Recover

Editor: Katrina vanden Heuvel

Year:  2009

Publisher: Nation Books

Title: Third World America: How Our Politicians Are Abandoning the Middle Class and Betraying the American Dream

Author: Arianna Huffington

Year: 2011

Publisher: Broadway

Title: Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress – and a Plan to Stop It

Author: Lawrence Lessig

Year: 2011

Publisher: Twelve

Title: With Liberty and Justice for Some: How Law is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful

Author: Glenn Greenwald

Year: 2011

Publisher: Metropolitan Books

Title: The ABCs of the Economic Crisis: What Working People Need to Know

Authors: Fred Magdoff & Michael D. Yates

Year: 2009

Publisher: Monthly Review Press

Title:  The Great Financial Crisis: Causes and Consequences

Authors: John Bellamy Foster & Fred Magdoff

Year: 2009

Publisher: Monthly Review Press

Title: Confidence Men: Wall Street,Washington, and the Education of a President

Author: Ron Suskind

Year: 2011

Publisher: Harper

Title:  When Corporations Rule the World

Author: David C Korten

Year: 2003

Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Title: Screwed: The Undeclared War Against theMiddle Class – And What We Can Do About It

Author: Thom Hartmann

Year: 2007

Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Title: Death of the Liberal Class

Author: Chris Hedges

Year: 2010

Publisher: Nation Books

III. Moving Forward: Activism and Alternatives

Title: Social Movements: An Introduction

Authors: Donatella Della Porta & Mario Diani

Year: 2010

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Title: The Art of Protest: Culture andAdctivism from the Civil Rights Movement to the Streets of Seattle

Author: T. V. Reed

Year: 2005

Publisher: University of Minnesota Press

Title: Political Sociology: Power and Participation in the Modern World

Author: Anthony M. Orum & John G. Dale

Year: 2008

Publisher; Oxford University Press

Title: Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassrootsand the Rise of People-Powered Politics

Authors: Jerome Armstrong & Markos Moulitsas

Year: 2006

Publisher: Chelsea Green

Title: Rules for Radicals

Author: Saul Alinksy

Year: 1989

Publisher: Vintage

Title: Hell No: Your Right to Dissent in 21st-Century America

Authors: Michael Ratner & Margaret Ratner Kunstler

Year: 2011

Publisher: The New Press

Title: Agenda for a New Economy: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth

Author: David C Korten

Year: 2010

Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Title: The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City

Author: Kelly Coyne

Illustrator: Eric Knutzen

Year: 2010

Publisher: Process

Title: Toolbox for Sustainable City Living: A Do-It-Ourselves Guide

Authors: Scott Kellogg & Stacy Pettigrew

Year: 2008

Publisher: South End Press

Title: Education for Critical Consciousness

Author: Paulo Freire

Year: 2008

Publisher: Continuum

Title: The Power of Nonviolence: Writings by Advocates of Peace

Editor: Howard Zinn

Year: 2002

Publisher: Beacon Press

IV. Miscellaneous

Title: Earth Odyssey: Around the World in Search of Our Environmental Future

Author: Mark Hersgaard

Year: 1999

Publisher: Broadway

Title: Steal This Book

Author: Abbie Hoffman

Year: 1995 (25^th Anniversary Edition)

Publisher: Da Capo Press

Title: The Poetry of Pablo Neruda

Author: Pablo Neruda

Editor: Ilan Stavans

Year: 2005

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Title: Of Being Numerous

Author: George Oppen

Year: 1968

Publisher: New Directions

Title: Dreaming the Dark: Magic, Sex and Politics

Author: Starhawk

Year: 1997

Publisher: Beacon Press

Title: The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

Author: Naomi Klein

Year: 2008

Publisher: Picador

Title: The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot

Author: Naomi Wolf

Year: 2007

Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing

Title: A Taste of Power: A Black Woman’s Story

Author: Elaine Brown

Year: 1993

Publisher: Anchor

Title: Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches

Author: Audre Lorde

Year: 2007

Publisher: Crossing

Title: The Lorax

Author: Dr. Seuss

Year: 1971

Publisher: Random House

Title: The Story of Ferdinand

Author: Munro Leaf

Illustrator: Robert Lawson

Year: 1936

Publisher: Viking

Title: Sing a Battle Song: The Revolutionary Poetry, Statements, and Communiqués of the Weather Underground 1970-1974

Editors: Bernardine Dohrn, Bill Ayers & Jeff Jones

Year: 2006

Publisher: Seven Stories Press

Title: Underground: My Life with SDS and the Weatherman

Author: Mark Rudd

Year: 2009

Publisher: William Morrow

Things I love: Literary Noir and Portland, OR

There is so much that is amazing about this book trailer, and in turn about Portland...

Wire to Wire Trailer from Juliet Zulu on Vimeo.

First, Wire to Wire, which was recently reviewed in Publisher Weekly, looks like an amazing book.

Second, Tin House is becoming a tight little publishing house. Based in Portland and New York, their literary magazine has published such authors as Sherman Alexie and David Foster Wallace. And the books they are coming out with are (in my humble opinion) pretty cutting edge. I was transfixed by Brian DeLeeuw's In This Way I Was Saved, and I am looking forward to reading Wire to Wire. I feel that with current changes happening in the publishing industry - with a centralized focus on eReaders - we are going to see a lot of exciting things coming from small, independent publishers. But only if we buy their books.

Third, and most importantly, the opening coffee house scene was filmed in my favorite diner, City State. Just a few blocks from my house with the best egg scramble in Portland, good taste is not hard to come by in this town.

library school, examined

My first post is up at Hack Library School. It is part of the "Hack Your Program" series, with all of the contributing writers (and some guest writers) sharing their experiences in library school. Please click on over, and after reading it feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Speaking of library school, I can't wait for it to be over so I can read this book:

Watch the full episode. See more PBS NewsHour.

Outreach never ends...

This is the third post in a series celebrating National Library Week.

Today is National Bookmobile Day! While I have never had personal experience with bookmobiles - I grew up in a pretty compact town, with little need for one - I have always been in awe of them. I think they're amazing services, especially for rural libraries, with excellent outreach and marketing capabilities. And they don't even have to be motorized.

In the 21st century, there are two ways for users to interact with their libraries: physically and virtually. Bookmobiles are just one amazing example of physical outreach to our communities - but how do we outreach to our virtual communities? By utilizing the same technology that has made so many of our users deem libraries irrelevant: social media.

Murray Library (UT) has incorporated an amazing blog feature right on their homepage, creating virtual reader's advisory. Initiated by a senior librarian who wanted to really encourage all library workers to become involved with readers advisory, the feature is simple but well implemented. Each post includes a well written review, clicking on the image takes the user straight to the catalog record and if the user enjoys the staff member's review, they can click on the reviewer's name and see what else they recommend. And it's not just books that are reviewed - the blog offers music reviews with YouTube videos of the featured artist. Even if their users are never interacting with librarians in the library, this is a great way for them to interact with the organization when they log on to check out books.

And then there are the "traditional" social networking sites: Facebook, Twitter, etc. While libraries are still figuring out the bast way to put them to use (with some having better results than others), individual librarians are certainly all over social media. I was having a conversation with a classmate this weekend (@overgeeked for those of you on twitter) about how twitter seemed pretty irrelevant before we were in library school. But now it seems necessary. We have these tools whose primary purpose is to share information - how can we, as information professionals, not be a part of that?

Bookmobiles have always seemed to be a part of libraries - reaching patrons outside of libraries certainly has. Now that librarianship and information services are becoming much more nebulous, its time to start adapting and start realizing that adaptations are going to be a regular part of the game.

photo credit: New York Public Library, 1938, via The Commons

Protrait of a book as a library item

I just checked out a book today.

I know, when you work in the library field, that may not be the most exciting piece of news. But I started thinking about the journey this book took the information within this book took before and after it reached my hands.

The book in question is Sarah Silverman's Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption and Pee. I think it's going to be an instant classic.

The story of how I ended up checking this book out has a very logical beginning: Facebook. One day, not too long ago, I was chatting, via Facebook wall, with my friend Liz. Liz, an amazing individual, has been living in New Hampshire the past few years. Which is kind of unfortunate.

(sorry Liz, it's true)

Don't get me wrong - I love New Hampshire. It's my home state, and I'm proud enough to be from there to have the outline tattooed on my ankle:

(It says "The Shire" underneath. And yes, it's there forever)

BUT, for a hip, intelligent individual in your mid twenties, the granite state is kind of a boring place to live (Right, Liz?) However, we were talking about New Hampshire's more positive attributes - such as it's export of comedians - mainly Adam Sandler and Sarah Silverman (New Hampshire is a great breeding ground for fart jokes). As we were discussing our mutual appreciation for Sarah Silverman, Liz mentioned her new book. In my excitement I went ahead a placed a reserve for it at my local library.

Luckily, I was one of the first to place a reserve. Even though the library didn't own a copy at the time I placed my hold, within a few days the reserve list swelled to over 150 holds. As I picked up my book today I thought about that fact. Granted, the library owns almost a dozen copies of this book, but this title is going to spend the first few months as an item in this library circulating. It's not going to sit on shelf (other than the hold shelf) for a patron to come in and browse. That idea simply struck me funny.

In fact, browsing the shelves at Multnomah County Library kind of sucks. It's because all the good books aren't in the library but are in circulation. It's rare, when I request a book, to see its status as being on the shelf. In order to get a book in your hands, it seems like you need to do a little Internet research first - read a review of it online, or have a friend recommend it to you through a social networking site. Then, after a few clicks, you place it on reserve from your libraries Online Public Access Catalog and (depending on the popularity of the item) after a few days or weeks... BOOM! It's yours.

Thinking about the life cycle of a library book makes me think about those libraries who are doing away with their books. The most recent case I've heard about is Stanford University's Physics and Engineering libraries. Another case, reported back in September 2009, involves an elite New England prep school removing all of their books from their library and turning it digital.

I think one of these libraries is appropriately removing their books and the other is not.

In the case of Stanford, both of these libraries are primarily research based, and the information these patrons are gathering will mostly be available online, anyways. Not to mention that Stanford is already having space issues (as reported in the article), so if you have to choose one library to free up shelve space, science libraries would be at the top of my list.

In the case of the private high school, I think their efforts of revolutionizing their library could end up being counter productive. These students are still developing their academic and research skills, and the interaction with physical print is a great benefit to their development. Here is an article from the Chronicle of Higher Education that proves this belief. Print is more conducive to a variety of learning styles, whereas reading from a screen is not.

I know this post is getting a little bit too big picture (welcome to my brain), what started as a post about a silly comedienne's memoir is now spinning out of control into the ethos of educational theory, so I'll try and draw this tangent to a close. I just think it's interesting to look at a book, which is fast becoming a controversial cultural artifact, as a library item. In one case you have a library that is responsible in its removal of books, another library that is irresponsible in theirs and a third, highly regarded public library, that requires you to log onto a computer to gain access to the books that can't be found on their shelves (which is the majority of them).

For those of you who wonder what types of things we deal with in library school, I hope I gave you a little something to chew on.

This blog post is overdue!

It's amazing how life doesn't ever seem to slow down. My to-do list over the next few weeks is starting to get a little daunting. Between now and the first week of March, I'm moving into a new house, traveling back east to visit family and friends (and meet my very first nephew!), finishing up special projects for work at the library and for various volunteer gigs, and staying on top of school work.

Praise the lord for the internet.

I did want to take a moment for a post here at Dewey's Not Dead - I just read the most amazing book and I can't stop talking about it.

This Book is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All by Maryiln Johnson

For those of you embedded in library industry, you've probably seen blog posts and tweets about this book everywhere (I would put some links up here, but there are way to many and god created Google for a reason). For those of you not as involved in libraries, don't fret, the book is so good that you'll enjoy it, too.

Finally, in an age where so many people think libraries are no longer necessary in a functioning society, Johnson comes riding in like a knight (what's a female knight? knightess?) in shining armor, proving again and again that libraries (and librarians) will not only be necessary in society, but will also be among the technological vanguard leading the revolution.

Here are my favorite parts of the book:

The first being the detailed account in which a few mild mannered New England librarian fought the U.S. Government's flagrant disregard of the constitution. The days following September 11th, 2001 and the passage of the patriot act were pretty scary times, but it was relieving to know that librarians had (and still have) our backs.

The second? Second Life. Who knew that librarians would be some of the largest embracers of this virtual world? There are huge communities of librarians there, running impressive virtual libraries. It was pretty fun to read about them - especially the passage that describes an actual (virtual) re-creation of the Mad Hatter's tea party from Alice In Wonderland. Librarians are so cool. Weird, but cool.

Of course, the book brought up some pretty serious issues as well. One passage described the effort of New York Public Library to transition a research branch into a circulation branch. The library's board of trustees mean well - this will allow for more of the general public to access the library's resources, but Johnson describes how there are serious concerns that irreplaceable materials (and staff) of that branch's research collection could be lost.

Because of this book I am pretty excited about checking out both radical reference and the NYPL website (it sounds like they are doing some pretty exciting things with digital content).

I don't want to go into too much more detail, otherwise there would be no reason for you to read the book (and I have way too much other stuff to do). As my childhood hero LeVar Burton always said "You don't have to take my word for it!"

a blogger reviews books about blogs...

Rough day at the bookstore last night. Customers were cranky, managers were cranky and coworkers were cranky, which left me at little cranky, too.


However...

A customer made my day about an hour before we closed when I asked her if she needed any help. She said yes, she needed a good book to read. A bookseller's favorite type of customer; someone who is genuinely interested in your opinion. Granted, she ended up shooting down most of my recommendations (as she had already read them), but ended up leaving with three I had suggested. She went with Home by Marilynne Robinson, (the new release of Pulitzer prize winning author of Gilead; this is a required recommendation at my store, but one I can stand behind), The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perotta and my personal favorite of all the suggestions I shared with her: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. Ask any bookseller, librarian or good friend you know and they'll all say the same thing: having someone accept a book recommendation is like receiving a really good hug. Or a fresh baked cookie. Anything that leaves you with a warm fuzzy.

Which leads me to the purpose of this post...

I've had a few friends talk to me about my blog and their aspirations to start/resuscitate their own blog. Having just started this venture, I didn't have a whole lot of advice to give, as I am attempting the whole learn-as-you-go paradigm. But one thing that I can share are a few book recommendations that have inspired the development with this blog. So if anyone out there wants to start a blog or is curious about the whole blog phenomenon, check these out from your local library:

The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging by the Editors of the Huffington Post and Arianna Huffington

This is the first book I picked up during my journey of becoming a blogger, and I was skeptical of reading it at first; it seems a little cheesy and a bit too self-promoting. After a few pages, I really got into it and I feel like it offered some very solid advice, especially on ways to develop content and strategies for getting your blog read. Much like a group blog, a lot of different voices are represented in the book, all offering unique perspectives. It also covers a lot of the basics of blogging and resources for getting started (if you are so inclined), so this is a great one to pick up and look through

Bloggers on the Bus: How the Internet Changed Politics and the Press by Eric Boehlert

This is a great narrative of how the Internet, and specifically blogging, affected the 2008 presidential elections. Ripping off Timothy Crouse's title, this is a fascinating look at the reach blogs are having in today's society. A great read for anyone interested in blogs, electoral politics or contemporary American Society

Blogging Heros: Interviews with 30 of the World's Top Bloggers by Michael A. Banks

I'm in the middle of this one right now, and discovering it's another great source for advice. Each blogger that Banks interviews dispenses their personal experiences with blogging, the various rewards they have gained while blogging, as well as their frustrations with the blogging venue and their hopes for the future. And at the end of each interview, Banks quickly summarizes each tip the blogger shares, reinforcing the advice they offer you. Again, great if you want to start blogging more or if you just want to read some one's prospective who has been doing this since the dawn of blog.

So check out these books if you're so inclined. But, in the words of LeVar Burton (r.i.p. Reading Rainbow), you don't have to take my word for it...