I always hate it when I hear someone's intimidated by the librarians. I know some of my fellows can be, well, not so nice, but for the most part, I think people are intimidated by the "Hollywood librarian" and not reality.
It's so good he's got others around him reading. That makes a huge difference no matter what the age.
I know! That's why I wanted to make sure to take him from "I don't know where to go" to "Let's ask one of the nice people who work here."
I may have also given a preparatory mini-lecture on how most librarians are passionate about connecting people and information, and how the only librarian I've ever met who wasn't terribly nice turned out to be just really, really serious about making sure I got what I was looking for.
It was such a good day, although it hurts to think of how much more we have to work on. And that's one more person who doesn't believe the Hollywood librarian stereotype any more!
The two librarians I know who are still rather offputting are stuck in the past of being primarily a resource center for homework with pleasure reading second. None of that audio/video or computer nonsense!
I hear complaints about that library quite often, which puts me in an awkward place because one of my friends is on the library board there. Another library seems to always get directors who'd be perfectly fine banning books they didn't like. I'm not sure if that's by accident or design.
Let's just say me adding stuff like graphic novels labeled me the wild and crazy one of our region. ;)
If you don't mind me asking, how old is your student? The only ones I see are high school kids with special circumstances, such as having to meet a tutor, but they're not allowed on the school campus. I know the tutor who serves the area, and she lets me have a pretty free reign with taking them through the library to see what catches their eye. We're both solidly in the "As long as you're reading!" camp.
Oh, he's much older -- in his fifties. Never went to high school, and had ways to do what he needed to at work... and then lost his job and can't get another one with his current skills.
Our library system is fantastic, with a whole range of programming for youth, and multilingual/multicultural outreach. Actually, even in the hick town where I went to school (think Brokeback Mountain), the library runs an art house cinema program, and tons of people who hate Culture go to all the shows.
I knew a man who was a friend of my father's who, I learned after his death, was functionally illiterate. His son was a classmate, and later on, I worked with his daughter who was a few years older and told me about how her father "had ways" of getting around reading. He knew some words to get by, but anything new (especially technical terms) he couldn't skate by easily
( ... )
It's so good he's got others around him reading. That makes a huge difference no matter what the age.
Good job!
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I may have also given a preparatory mini-lecture on how most librarians are passionate about connecting people and information, and how the only librarian I've ever met who wasn't terribly nice turned out to be just really, really serious about making sure I got what I was looking for.
It was such a good day, although it hurts to think of how much more we have to work on. And that's one more person who doesn't believe the Hollywood librarian stereotype any more!
Reply
I hear complaints about that library quite often, which puts me in an awkward place because one of my friends is on the library board there. Another library seems to always get directors who'd be perfectly fine banning books they didn't like. I'm not sure if that's by accident or design.
Let's just say me adding stuff like graphic novels labeled me the wild and crazy one of our region. ;)
If you don't mind me asking, how old is your student? The only ones I see are high school kids with special circumstances, such as having to meet a tutor, but they're not allowed on the school campus. I know the tutor who serves the area, and she lets me have a pretty free reign with taking them through the library to see what catches their eye. We're both solidly in the "As long as you're reading!" camp.
Reply
Our library system is fantastic, with a whole range of programming for youth, and multilingual/multicultural outreach. Actually, even in the hick town where I went to school (think Brokeback Mountain), the library runs an art house cinema program, and tons of people who hate Culture go to all the shows.
We all need librarians and libraries!
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