What’s in a Word? Guest Post

My community grocery store prominently displays a small selection of art created by students at our local primary school.  The engraved plaques beneath the frames read:  “This art presented by an Inspiring Artist.”  I cringe every time I pass the display.

According to a recent study from the University of Michigan, and relayed on NPR’s “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me” radio program, extroverts are less likely to be bothered by small grammatical errors, whereas introverts report being more significantly annoyed.  Additionally, those likely to be bothered fell into the “curmudgeonly” personality traits as measured by the Big Five Personality Test.

Guilty as charged.  I have found myself editing in red pen poorly worded business flyers that misuse homophones and flagrantly disrespect the grammatical rules of a literate, educated society.  If cleanliness is next to Godliness, then with proper grammar we ascend to Nirvana.  I don’t actually do anything with my edits, mind you.  But I do become peevish when people publish poorly written English.  There are rules, people.

So I’m a curmudgeon when it comes to grammar.  Does being right bring me any happiness? Not really.  Just the opposite.  Dr. Richard Carlson’s classic advises us “not to sweat the small stuff.”  My yoga instructor guides me similarly.   And in no religion are grammatical errors a sign of the End Times, so maybe I can relax at bit.

Maybe the difference between an inspiring artist and an aspiring artist is in the eye of the beholder.  And these eyes are choosing to see the happier side of grammar.


Guest post by Rebecca Cannon, a GLISA member from Tyler, TX, who will graduate Fall 2016.


References

Carlson, R. (1997). Don't sweat the small stuff-- and it's all small stuff: Simple ways to keep the little things from taking over your life. New York: Hyperion.

Wait Wait Don't Tell Me [Radio Program]. (2016, April 2). Chicago, Illinois: National Public Radio.  Accessed 4/15/16 from http://www.npr.org/2016/04/02/472716926/panel-round-one

Boland JE, Queen R (2016) If You’re House Is Still Available, Send Me an Email: Personality Influences Reactions to Written Errors in Email Messages. PLoS ONE 11(3): e0149885.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0149885 accessed 4/15/16 from
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0149885

Just Too Busy to Celebrate National Library Week, But in a Good Way: Guest Post

Our local primary school library (and media center!) was too busy to celebrate National Library Week. When I realized suddenly that, as the PTA Library Liaison, I might have organized something to celebrate, I couldn’t figure out how. Because, really, the library was just too busy working…as a library.

Our library and its adjacent media center are like the kitchen in a house with its doors flung open. There are always lots of busy, boisterous kids who want a book and a snack and who need to tell you something truly important.

Teachers, administrators and staff make full use of the library by hosting meetings, requesting resources, discussing solutions for tricky teaching situations, hosting book clubs and running Skypes with authors. The library invites impromptu conversations that spark ideas or resolve questions. Perhaps it’s the library’s location, literally in the center of the school. However, it’s more likely that the happy chaos is due to the librarian’s (media specialist!) emphasis on community among the stacks.

In fact, this week our school hosted its annual Silent Auction, a fundraiser months in the making. Parents, teachers and students collaborated in creating art for auction and succeeded in raising the funds required to continue several important projects. The event is held…in the library.

And so, National Library Week was overlooked. Not because we don’t love our library. Rather, because our school library is so central to the academic, social and community life of the school that it was over-run with purpose. Honestly, I think that’s the best homage to libraries that a community can pay, especially on National Library Week.


Guest post by Rebecca Cannon, a GLISA member from Tyler, TX, who will graduate Fall 2016.

Zombies in the Library: Guest Post

I’m on a personal fitness improvement mission and have incorporated the library into my routine. In the past, I would arrive early and use this time to prepare myself for the day’s challenges, i.e. surf Facebook. Now, however, I use this time to walk all four floors of my library, in and out of each and every stack. It’s amazing what titles seem to catch your eye as you walk by and what floor soon becomes your favorite one to walk through. Today, my mind slipped into auto-mode and I found myself contemplating zombies. Yes, you read it correctly…zombies.

I admit that I enjoy a good zombie flick but what is it about zombies that has captured the world’s attention? There are movies, World War Z is a personal favorite, television series such as The Walking Dead, and trashy novels featuring zombies in every genre possible being published every month. All my personal zombie research led to my question of the day. If a zombie apocalypse occurred, what floor of the library would I want to be confined to for a long period of time?

My office is on the lower level (read: basement but everyone knows Texas does not have basements) and is very large and roomy, close to the restroom and most important only has one window and a door that locks. The drawback? The books shelved on this floor are A-D763 and that means I would only have access to philosophy, psychology, theology, and the teensiest range of history for my reading enjoyment. I’m ruling out the main floor as it has too much glass, no restrooms, and is the circulation and reference area. Spending my days reading Ulrich’s or looking at Who’s Who in America might have me opening the door to the zombie horde. The third floor has definite possibilities as D-N are shelved here. I like history and love looking through art books but would definitely have to skip the law section. This floor also has a kitchen and a restroom which add to the positive side although odds are that nothing would work in the kitchen but it does have a locking door. The final floor, the fourth floor, houses the P-Z range. Although it does have a glass wall along the inner wall, the idea of spending my days reading my way through the great literature of the world makes this a risk I could accept. Additional positives are a restroom and two study rooms with locking doors.

My decision is made. When the zombie hordes arrive on campus, I will make my way to the fourth floor, barricade the stairwell doors with tables, and read until rescued. How about you?

Where will you be if zombies invade your library? 

Guest post by Deborah Hathaway, a GLISA member who will be graduating in August (whoohoo!). Check out more library posts on her blog, Musing from Within the Stacks.