librarian

atthequillsmercy

NYCC 2023 Recap

Once again, I managed to make it through all four days of the con. I’m in the last picture as Loona and my kid is the bleach eyes guy from Call of Duty. Not many people recognized who I was but it was really cool when they did.

While I did cosplay, I was there for work. I found it both cool and sad that there was so many panels and discussions around book bans and challenges. On the upside, this means that for all the noise, there are more people against bans than for them and the respect for librarians and educators deal with all this is clear. It can feel like our job is thankless sometimes and it was so nice to hear that there are at least some people out there that have our backs.

I did manage not to spend a ton of money; which is good since I’m stretched to the limit these days. But, I am pumped and redoubling my efforts to put out tons more content and goods!

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The Return of Finally Watched It: “The Public”

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When I heard there was a movie about librarians coming out, you KNOW I had to get my hands on it as soon as possible. But the only places it was playing on the big screen were too far away and it took forEVER for the film to get a distributor. But we finally managed to get a copy on DVD and I sat down to watch it with my kid.

As far as depictions of our jobs go, this is pretty spot on. We get our fair share of strange questions, drunks, homeless people, and yes, even the naked ones. I will give this movie all the praise in the world for the acting as well; all very awesome.

However, the way it ended was very Hollywood. I cannot imagine a sit-in by the homeless and mentally ill resulting in the police raiding the building assuming the librarian is crazy and holding people hostage would end with singing in the real world. But I’d much rather that ending because reality is horrible enough.

I completely got how this movie portrayed the media and politicians twisting information before it reaches viewers and this is sadly also very true. Happens all the time. Overall, I thought this was amazing and I can’t wait to watch it again.

MAKE SOME NOISE!

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atthequillsmercy

I love this…

Every so often, I end up being in my graphic novel section at the same time as patrons. Today, I happened to overhear a couple of young guys talking about books we don’t have and me being nosy as shit, I asked what they were looking for. At first I got the stock why-is-this-woman-talking-to-me response (you know, like when a sales associate keeps asking if you need help and all you wanna do is get one thing and get the hell out without talking to anyone) but when I said, “I’m always looking for patron suggestions.” holy CRAP, did their eyes light up! They were surprised I was able to get so many and started excitedly naming things they’d like to see. Heck, I even got one of them to jump for joy. How often does a librarian get that?

For a second, this unassuming lady was a hero to these guys. I love my job. 😉

 

 

atthequillsmercy

Comics? Libraries have that!

So, I get sent to career day at the local high school (because I’m fucking awesome, that’s why) and I get to chatting with this pretty nice kid about comics. Of course he’s a Walking Dead fan and it was refreshing (as it always is) to have an intelligent conversation with a young person about something we both enjoy.

I was gonna make a post about the horrid way the teenage girls dress in public but I thought I’d skip that.

(Parent’s please make sure your teen daughters stretch pants are opaque… PLEASE!)

What bugged me about that convo with that kid was what he said towards the end: “I didn’t know libraries would have such things.”

Not to sound like a total pretentious ass (or insane fan girl) but if we can stock umpteen copies if Fifty Shades of No Plot, we can CERTAINLY have a comic based on one of the hottest shows on TV right now. At the very least that because no librarian, no matter how much they hate comics, can deny there’s a demand for those.

So, let me put it out there right now to the 50 or so people who read this blog: Libraries have comics. Good comics. Fucking awesome comics. If they don’t? They can get some for you.

For gods sakes, people, FREE COMICS! ALL THE TIME!

Get thee to the library!

atthequillsmercy

Thinking Back…

Man, I can’t believe how fast this year went. This time last year, I wasn’t even sure if I would have a job and now I’m managing the pages and running the house all on my own. 🙂 I’m selling more books, got another in the works, and I am honestly still shocked my reviews are popular enough to keep getting more books sent to me. 😉

I’ve come pretty far this year; even when naysayers said I would never make it. Every moth gets a little better.

I look forward to even better things in the coming year! 😀

atthequillsmercy

Sandy Library Losses…

So, we finally got to the stage where we are all doing inventory to see what was lost and what remains of our collection. I completed the inventory of my graphic novels on Monday and it was pretty depressing. We lost entire series’ of comics and the dvd’s along with them (I shelve the TV series and moves with the comics they’re based on for easy finding). The worst was not being able to replace the out of print ones.

Luckily, things like The Walking Dead series (which we lost a decent chunk of) were really easy to replace since they’re so popular right now. But some Green Lantern, Zatana, and Gunsmith Cats are out of print. 🙁 And Kick Ass volume 1? Really, Marvel? With volume 2 , a Hit-Girl prequel AND a second movie in the works, there’s just  no excuse for that. Start printing more of volume one PRONTO!

All in all, considering some libraries were completely wiped out, we were lucky to only lose about 15% of our collection on the first floor. Re-ordering has been a strange, eye-burny trip of reams of paper and way too much time staring at a computer screen. But, by the time we open, we should have most of the materials back on the shelf.

It’ll be good to see people in here again. I’m almost excited to open. 🙂

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AWESOME NEWS!!

Thank the gods, I am not completely unemployed! 😀 We are still on the payroll an we will continue to be so as long as they can. So for the time being I don’t have to completely freak the hell out about money.

I’m still going to keep writing and posting as many stories as I can while I’m out and or course cleaning. I’ve already cleared away enough trash to make the garbage men give our house strange looks… XD But hey! Less clutter! 😀 And school is hoping to be open on Wednesday so things are getting back to a sort of normal here.

One day at a time, people.