Background public domain image via Pixabay;

created by Courtney Lewis using Canva Signage.

It's a pet peeve of mine when it comes to libraries, mainly because the majority of libraries (public, school, academic, you name it) have atrocious signage. The endcaps signage indicating call numbers looks like it came from the Exxon station around the corner from my house in the 1980s, where the 17-year-old gas attendant in his Metallica t-shirt would painstakingly change the price each morning using a pole and those plastic letters. Most library signs are a triumph of our Microsoft Word abilities, tasting of the 1990s even if we troop out Helvetica for our bold, colored keywords or *shudders* employ Comic Sans to show how hip and now and happening we are. The truly egregious signs utilize clip art and have one of those forbidden red circles with the slash over said clip art. To paraphrase someone else from decades long past, "Clip art is sooooo 1997."

VAASL 2015 - Is My High School Senior Ready to Be Your College Freshman? from SassyLibrarian

Busy at my new school, doing a renovation while acclimating to a new job wasn't quite enough for me - I had to also decide to do a research project about tools and techniques that, in addition to a quality information literacy program, would help students during their transition to college level research that first year. This is the preliminary data that I presented on November 20, 2015 at the Virginia Association of School Librarians in Williamsburg. I'm going to write a longer blog post, breaking down each slide that covers the elements of my talk in this upcoming week, as well as offer up the final data when the collection is complete (I've still got a few schools to solicit for participation).

Public domain image via Pixabay While I enjoyed all my sessions at the ALA Annual Conference (woo-hoo, Chicago!), the best program I attended was facilitated by the fabulous threesome of Kelly Jensen, Sophie Brookover, and Liz Burns. These outstanding librarians took time out of their busy Monday morning to present "New Adult: What Is It & Is It Really Happening?"

Public Domain Image via Pixabay Brace yourself, I'm going to compare librarians to eggs.

On the surface, I realize that doesn't make sense, but if you understand the chemistry of cooking, you'll figure out where I'm going with this. I am a cook, who not only enjoys the physical act of making great food, but who also insists on understanding why and how dishes work. In baking, eggs play the key role of binder, allowing other ingredients to not only meld together, but also to physically hold them in place while the outside forces of friction (think your mixer paddle) or heat work a reaction.

Poison Princess (The Arcana Chronicles #1)

by Kresley Cole (New York:

Simon & Schuster, 2012) The other day one of my colleagues, a psychologist and an avid reader of YA literature, walked up to me in the library and said, "If I read one more book blurb about a girl discovering her abilities who finds herself 'strangely drawn' to the local bad boy, I'm going to scream."

It always happens when the book awards are announced at ALA at the end of January, a mixed reaction of shock and gratification at the announcements depending on my opinion of the books of read, followed by an overwhelming sense of "Oh, no! I need to get on the stick and read lots more books. NOW."

The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by

Caroline Preston (New York: HarperCollins, 2011) I've been having quite a few conversations recently involving how or when independent school libraries will move over to a collection model based largely on ebooks. A lot of factors drive this conversation - wanting to remain competitive in the market, the many schools moving to a 1:1 BYOD model for computing, etc. - but administrators often seem eager to get rid of print.