1. Did you know that the shade queens over at the “Stand Out and Be Outstanding: Fearlessly Leading Your Library Career” Conversation Starter (all gifs aside, this looks like a great panel) made this very shady graphic about the current Conversation Starter rankings? We feel a Vitamin D deficiency coming on. Meanwhile, a library shoe war has erupted on Twitter, the parameters of which I don’t understand, suffice it to say that Patrick wears dad sneakers. Are you, noble tumblarians, going to let them sashay away with the top Conversation Starter slot? SHANTE NO WAY. We are five votes away from overtaking them and anyone can register. Vote Tumblarian! (Shade gif via healthscireflib.)

    Did you know that the shade queens over at the “Stand Out and Be Outstanding: Fearlessly Leading Your Library Career” Conversation Starter (all gifs aside, this looks like a great panel) made this very shady graphic about the current Conversation Starter rankings? We feel a Vitamin D deficiency coming on.

    Meanwhile, a library shoe war has erupted on Twitter, the parameters of which I don’t understand, suffice it to say that Patrick wears dad sneakers.

    image

    Are you, noble tumblarians, going to let them sashay away with the top Conversation Starter slot? SHANTE NO WAY. We are five votes away from overtaking them and anyone can register. Vote Tumblarian!

    (Shade gif via healthscireflib.)

  2. thelifeguardlibrarian: pcsweeney: LOL!!!  I did not create this! I swear.  One of the other folks on the panel made this happen. HAHAHA! But to vote on your favorite Conversation Starter at ALA (ours) use this link http://connect.ala.org/node/201661  OH WELL NOW IT’S ON Vote TUMBLARIAN here. PC Sweeney is throwing some serious shade. Girl. Clearly, vote Tumblarian.

    thelifeguardlibrarian:

    pcsweeney:

    LOL!!!  I did not create this! I swear.  One of the other folks on the panel made this happen. HAHAHA!

    But to vote on your favorite Conversation Starter at ALA (ours) use this link

    OH WELL NOW IT’S ON

    Vote TUMBLARIAN here.

    PC Sweeney is throwing some serious shade. Girl.

    Clearly, vote Tumblarian.

  3. Come on folks! We are too good to stand for this. Tumblarians are legion. Vote for our Conversation Starter and come talk with Tumblr superstar Rachel Fershleiser, Darien Library’s Erin “Laser Fingers” Shea, Lifeguard Librarian Kate Tkacik, and your humble Library Journal tumblrer at ALA Annual in Chicago! Anyone can register to vote through ALA Connect, so take a sec to sign in and vote us up!

    Come on folks! We are too good to stand for this. Tumblarians are legion.

    Vote for our Conversation Starter and come talk with Tumblr superstar Rachel Fershleiser, Darien Library’s Erin “Laser Fingers” Shea, Lifeguard Librarian Kate Tkacik, and your humble Library Journal tumblrer at ALA Annual in Chicago!

    Anyone can register to vote through ALA Connect, so take a sec to sign in and vote us up!

  4. Hi friends! Are you a librarian working at either Queens Public, Brooklyn Public, or NYPL? Email me! I want to ask you about ~Tumblr.~ Most sincerely, Molly / Your LJ Tumblrer

    Hi friends!

    Are you a librarian working at either Queens Public, Brooklyn Public, or NYPL? Email me! I want to ask you about ~Tumblr.~

    Most sincerely,

    Molly / Your LJ Tumblrer

  5. shhh! no running in the library!: Tumblarians and Archivist: Question →

    transformativetidbits:

    Do any of you fantastic Tumblarians or archivist or technical specialists work on small or large scale digitization projects designed for web delivery? Specifically, I’m looking into still image (maps, paintings, letter, etc.) file format standards and compression guidelines (best format for web delivery: do you create a low res JPEG image?). Do you have a specific reference guide or tool you use to determine the specs you wish to use in web delivery? 

    I’d appreciate any nod in the direction of a useful guidebook/textbook/reference for mass digitization projects, especially if it can be found online. Thanks a million!

    (I’m not studying archives or technical services—I do E-Government—so I’m a bit lost on where to even start. Any help, and I mean ANY, would be much appreciated. Also, if you could signal boost, I’d love you forever).

  6. Our own Erin Shea, aka darienlibrary, debuts as LJ’s second memoir columnist today. Check out her first column! In it she gives a star to Elizabeth Scarboro’s My Foreign Cities: Conceived from a New York Times “Modern Love” column, this entrancing story of a woman’s marriage to Stephen, a man living with cystic fibrosis (CF), should not be written off as merely a memoir of disease. When Scarboro met her future husband at 17, she struggled to make a life for herself while faced with the challenge of loving someone with a constantly looming expiration date. While Scarboro, her husband, and CF are the three main characters, the story truly shines as the two try to navigate their twenties bouncing between the Bay Area, Boulder, and Boston during the 1990s. VERDICT This book squeezes a soul-encompassing marriage into the events of just one decade, and Scarboro manages to tell—with strength and grace—her all-too-short love story in less than 300 pages.

    Our own Erin Shea, aka darienlibrary, debuts as LJ’s second memoir columnist today. Check out her first column! In it she gives a star to Elizabeth Scarboro’s My Foreign Cities:

    Conceived from a New York Times “Modern Love” column, this entrancing story of a woman’s marriage to Stephen, a man living with cystic fibrosis (CF), should not be written off as merely a memoir of disease. When Scarboro met her future husband at 17, she struggled to make a life for herself while faced with the challenge of loving someone with a constantly looming expiration date. While Scarboro, her husband, and CF are the three main characters, the story truly shines as the two try to navigate their twenties bouncing between the Bay Area, Boulder, and Boston during the 1990s. VERDICT This book squeezes a soul-encompassing marriage into the events of just one decade, and Scarboro manages to tell—with strength and grace—her all-too-short love story in less than 300 pages.

  7. Danablr: Anatomy of a Library Author Event →

    thedanaash:

    Tumblarians, help me out here. I reached out to the ALATT facebook group earlier about planning author events in libraries and got some interesting answers. It seems like the biggest concern among everyone is drawing a decent crowd, which is fair. How disappointing is it to spend so much time planning and marketing to have a low turnout?

    Now I’m trying to figure out how it all works, step by step. It seems like you 

    • get contacts somehow - either through the Center for the Book or a state humanities council or going to an author website
    • ~insert mysterious event planning here~
    • market the hell out of it, which includes cool protips like 1. encouraging public school classes to visit if it is a teen/YA author 2. discussing the author’s most well known work in book groups before the event 3. lots and lots of press and word of mouth promotion 4. making sure it isn’t at a terrible middle of the day time
    • hope for the best
    • if all else fails, target local history groups because they will travel in packs

    Any thoughts? Additional steps? Things that work? Things that don’t work? Anything to make it easier to plan this stuff?

    Thanks!

    I know our own darienlibrary is a bona fide expert at author events.

  8. Tumblarian update--help! →

    thelifeguardlibrarian:

    It’s update time again. I’ve seen lots of new names going by. Who would like to be included/removed/updated?

    You know what to do!

  9. Self Publishing Collection Development?

    libraryjournal:

    Has your library started collecting self published titles? (Or do you know someone or someplace that does?) Email bhoffert@mediasourceinc.com! Library Journal wants to talk to you, but not in a creepy way.

    FRIENDLY REMINDER. If you are someone who does this, or know folks who do, HIT US UP.

  10. Let the LW Valentine’s Day Crush Nominations Begin!

    thelifeguardlibrarian:

    librarianwardrobe:

    It’s that time of year again! Form with the guidelines is below (or access it here). Nominations open Jan 31 and you have one week (until Feb 7) to make your choices. Those being featured will be posted on the blog with pictures and a brief interview on Valentine’s Day (see last year’s post, for example). Problems or questions, contact libwardrobe@gmail.com. Have fun!

    Last day to nominate your librarian crushes <3<3<3

  11. fggtlibrarian: Hey, Librarians of Tumblr…. Are you? You can always find LJ at @LibraryJournal and me specifically at @mollitudo. You?

    fggtlibrarian:

    Hey, Librarians of Tumblr…. Are you?

    You can always find LJ at @LibraryJournal and me specifically at @mollitudo. You?

  12. Self Publishing Collection Development?

    Has your library started collecting self published titles? (Or do you know someone or someplace that does?) Email bhoffert@mediasourceinc.com! Library Journal wants to talk to you, but not in a creepy way.

  13. Looking for Librarians with Audiobook Experience!

    LJ needs librarians to share their successful audiobook promotion methods great & small for a feature article. Contact MRogers@mediasourceinc.com for more information.

  14. My favorite thing about the redesign, frankly, is our new About page!

    My favorite thing about the redesign, frankly, is our new About page!

  15. books: jasonwdean: Shucks, guys, I appreciate you all. Nice to know someone is enjoying my posts about Neat Things I Have Cataloged! I love watching people get excited about the awesome orgs and publications that reblog them! Me too. Me too.

    books:

    jasonwdean:

    Shucks, guys, I appreciate you all. Nice to know someone is enjoying my posts about Neat Things I Have Cataloged!

    I love watching people get excited about the awesome orgs and publications that reblog them!

    image

    Me too. Me too.