Promotional Flyer Reflection

In creating this week's assignment (a promotional flyer for library programming or an event), I pretty quickly narrowed it down to Teen Read Week. I felt I could explore this year's theme, "It's Written in the Stars...READ!" with a sort of "teaser" flyer. If this was an event I was organizing for my library, each individual event would get its own promotion as the week itself got closer, and I would stick to my star background theme.

I used Canva for both a printable and digital flyer, though in reality, I'd stick with Canva just for digital use and/or if I needed a template. In the past, my design process has consisted of me sketching something out on paper, maybe printing out some text or graphics, then cutting and pasting the whole thing together. Obviously, this creates issues for repeating the process in the next month or year when a similar event happens (or if I am not around to recreate the promotional item), but if I am in charge of creative promotion, my talents lie in physical design - it's not that I'm digital design averse, I just have more skill in freehand design. The more I work digitally, the more intuitive these programs will feel, but I'll always enjoy creating with my hands.

Of course, I can (and do) start any digital work on paper, then do my best to translate it onto the screen, which is what I did here. I knew I wanted a starry background with text literally written "in"/onto it. I started with fewer stars, and put text inside, but that looked disorganized and was difficult to read/follow on the page. Instead, I made a path of stars across the page with the text over it, and I made an acrostic out of the main text. For the printable flyer, I kept the background white, with muted stars. The digital version has a black background, since I felt that would pop more onscreen.

I'd change a few things about this flyer in later versions (after more digital practice). Namely, I'd lean in to my acrostic more. I went back and forth on keeping it subtle, so you'd see it if you were looking, versus making those first letters larger/setting them apart in some way so it was obvious that "READ" is written in the stars, and after sitting with the design for a bit, now I wish I'd made it more obvious. I'd also play around more with the type - picking out fonts is both my least favorite and least exercised skill (again, since I prefer hand-lettering), but I'm sure I could create more contrast in the size or type.

What I truly appreciated about using Canva was the ease in which I could decide how to publish. I could download it as a PDF for printing, I could download it as a JPG or PNG for use online, and I could even embed the flyer straight to social media. Sharing a handcrafted flyer in all those ways would be difficult and look less professional, which means I'll be practicing lots more to bring my digital design skills up to speed!

The Marrow Thieves

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've thought about this book a lot since reading it a few months ago. It's a YA dystopic sci fi novel, but with cultural depth and historical significance. It's beautifully written, with characters I cared about, and the futuristic story line stays close enough to our current reality that I had no troubles suspending any disbelief.

I was especially pulled in by Dimaline's descriptions of Indigenous culture - its familial structures, rituals, and history - paired with protagonists' social and political commentary in their dialogue and actions. Many parallels can be drawn between the history of North America, the (continued) atrocities committed by colonizers and white supremacists, and the bleak and dreamless future of the book.


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Wiki to Sites Reflection

The closing of Wikispaces has put pressure on groups to move their online content elsewhere, this class being no different. Since I've worked with Google Sites in previous classes, creating my own resources for traveling on a budget and YA adaptations of "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen, I was happy to use it for a larger scale project.

Our first task, organizing the current wikis and their links, helped the project feel much more manageable. Once broken or outdated links were discarded and "like" topics were grouped together, there were much clearer parameters of the amount of information we were working with. The broader topics gave us more flexibility to group items, and since there are only six of us in the class, it was easy to divide and conquer.

Next came the testing of various curation tools, previewing how they might look live on the site, and working through what we wanted our final product to look like. We decided early on to use only a few curation tools, though we eventually landed on using just Pearltrees with a few modifications here and there. That made it easy to keep everyone on the same page and troubleshoot as we went along collecting our links, embedding into the site, and organizing collections.

The final organization of the page was a bit trickier to decide on, but after throwing around a few ideas - even broader categories, one mega page, random groups - matching each Pearltree collection to one of the class modules made the most sense. I learned a lot about how the embedding works on Google Sites, and how to group/ungroup items, which will be helpful in future uses of the platform.

Altogether, the process of creating a class site was simple - it helped that as a class we were willing to try things out, suggest ideas, and stay flexible - and the collaborative capabilities and intuitive controls of Google Sites ensured a quick transfer of class resources.

Quitting Books

We've talked about the concept floated in this article here before, how so many people struggle to quit reading a book they aren't enjoying. I'm here once again to remind us all that finishing a book you don't like isn't some sort of virtue, and it doesn't mean you have more perseverance or that you're "gritty" - it just means you've been conditioned to "stick it out" for some bizarre reason.

There are too many AWESOME books out there to suffer through the ones that don't get you. Even if it's a popular, best-selling, everyone-loved-it book - not every book is written for every person. AND THAT'S OKAY.

And what if you find yourself in a rut, where no book is pulling you in? I just recently went through a reading drought and let me tell you, I'm so glad I quit those five books in a row because then I stumbled upon the 6th and I was back. Sometimes books meet us in the wrong time or season of our lives. We might try them again later, but until then, we've got to move on.

If you find yourself hating everything you try to read, my suggestion is to pivot. Switch it up from fiction to nonfiction. Dip into something completely foreign to you, be it memoirs, graphic novels, science fiction, audiobooks, or even your typical genre, but by an author you've never heard of. Ask your librarian for translated books for something literally foreign. Adventure into the YA section, or the children's section - I've found that short and sweet children's fiction is sometimes the best palate cleanser, and a good "refresh" on reading.

Whatever you do, please don't agonize over a book you don't like.

Day of Tears

Day of Tears by Julius Lester
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

How this book is not required reading is beyond me. I'm mad that I didn't read it until my late 20s, though I'm grateful to have experienced it at all. Day of Tears is part historical fiction, part theatrical biography. Narrated by a cast of (mostly fictional) characters and centered on the largest (real life) slave auction in history, plus the consequential events of those days, it forces readers to grapple with the reality of slave ownership, the duplicitous relationships and the lies people told themselves and others to survive.


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Kyoto (Part 2)

On Sunday, our final full day in Kyoto, we continued our theme of walks and temples (and food). Up first, Ginkakuji, (or the Silver Pavilion). The leaves and the landscaping were impressive.

Armed with a few hot buns and rice balls, we continued on our way down the Philosopher's Path.

Temple 2 of the day was the Heian Shrine, built in 1895 to commemorate the 1100th anniversary of the founding of Kyoto as the capital of Japan.

Snack #2: a cappuccino and some pastries from the farmers' market nearby.

Not a temple, just baseball practice!

Our third temple was Nanzenji, which features aqueducts! We were able to walk along the top of them, and saw lots of backyards.

Following the Sunday crowds got us to Yasaka Shrine. We saw a wedding here, which was beyond cool to essentially be a part of - they processed through the open area of the shrine and everyone there formed the processional line.

Snack #3: a ham&cheese sandwich and chili cheese dog, plus...

 Temple #5 of our day was Kiyomizudera, with its waterfall and breathtaking views of Kyoto.

We visited our final temple of the day, Benzaiten Chokeiji, briefly before going to the nearby Gekkeikan Okura Sake Museum. It's small and off the beaten path, but the sake barrels outside show passersby what it's all about. At the museum, we started off with three sake samples, plus some plum wine, then buzzedly wandered around to view all the paraphernalia and try some of the sweet spring water.

After all that walking (and snacking), we decided to end our day with a solid (and solidly American) meal: burgers and beer. Kyoto, you were a success.

Brochure Design Process

I learned several things in the process of creating an informational brochure for a fictional library. I went in thinking I knew exactly what I wanted to create, how I wanted it to look, and which design platform I would use. I quickly realized that the process of creation was going to take a bit longer than I thought, because it turns out design websites don't have direct access to my brain.

After a few disappointing attempts using Lucidpress, I switched over to Canva. I'm sure I could've worked with Lucidpress (or any number of free design sites) and got what I needed from it eventually, but Canva felt more (that is, quickly) intuitive to my design process.

A word on my design process...it's most definitely not streamlined. I'm both a visual and hands-on learner, which basically amounts to me making multiple physical, but crappy, drafts of something before putting a final copy together. I like to see my design in action (plus I truly enjoy the art of crafting), which meant for this project I first had to create a few mini-mock-ups (tri-folding half sheets of paper) to work out which text sections would go where.

Another thing I learned/navigated was the tension between content and creation. Once I got going on Canva, I was ready to pick out fonts and colors and create striking contrasts...only I didn't quite have my content ready. I needed the images and text to carry on with the design, but the design was, admittedly, more "fun" to play around with.

Eventually I had a working brochure, and I can definitely see the use of this kind of product in a library. While I may be a Millennial, I still like to have paper copies of certain informational things, and I'm certainly not alone there. Libraries may or may not already have templates for brochures like the one I created, but either way, it's helpful to know I could jump in and update an existing brochure or create a new one (once I have all the necessary content and I've artsy-fartsy-ed my way through a few paper drafts, that is).

Monster

Monster by Walter Dean Myers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Steve writes about his experience on trial for robbery and murder both in his notebook (as a journal), and as a film script. Through flashbacks, we see that Steve was involved in the film club at his school, which both humanizes him and strengthens his authority as “screenwriter” of his own life. This narrative style also helps to separate Steve from his own story. He can simply tell/show the story, without comment, and “watch” what is happening to him without having to process it directly.

Clearly Myers knew what he was doing, but I appreciated this format - both as a reader and a writer. I could see plenty of teens getting into this style. It’s a quick read that doesn’t get bogged down with too much description, focusing instead on the characters’ actions and what they see when they look at Steve.


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On Blogging

I'm taking two internet/technology classes this summer, one where I'm creating my own website and another more focused on using technology/apps as programming tools in a library. Both classes have me thinking about the future of this space. That I'll keep reviewing books and restaurants and movies and recapping my travels isn't the question, but I'm considering a platform switch, or a linked site that would house my blog along with my other internet-based creations.

Nine-ish years ago, when I first started writing here, Blogger was the easiest/quickest option for my needs. Since it's a Google product, I don't need a separate login, and I can import photos from my Drive super quickly (especially when I'm working from my Chromebook, which is sadly un-update-able and therefore not long for this world...but that discussion is for another post).

I might explore other blogging platforms or website options and decide this space is still the best (most convenient, simplest, does what I need it to do), but even then, I think it's due for some upgrades: cleaning up old links, refreshing the design, reorganizing a few of the pages. Stay tuned for new things in the future!

Media Literacy, Intentionally

[As I make my way through grad school, I've had lots of opportunities to think about and reflect on various articles and readings for my classes. Below is a quick reflection on the necessity of staff development time in preparation for media literacy instruction.]

Media literacy, as many websites will inform you, is the ability to read and understand various forms of media, and from that, the ability to create new media in various forms (print or digital, text-based or image-based). It assumes the "reader" has a level of creative and critical thinking skills that allow them to access a material and interpret meaning from it. Seeing a TV commercial and understanding how it was developed or why it convinces consumers to purchase a product is media literacy. Analyzing online resources to determine which ones are reliable and relevant is media literacy. Participating in social media is media literacy.

It's clear from these examples and others in the article "Media Literacy, Powerfully..." that media literacy is a life skill, and one that must be fully integrated into school curriculum - not a brief unit separate from other content learning, or something that students learn on their own, through trial and error. Media literacy must be intentionally discussed and taught throughout a child's education. It also has a place in public library programming, where media users of all ages can practice and improve along with trusted information professionals (that is, librarians themselves!).

In order for our teachers and librarians to be able to teach and share the skill of media literacy with students, they must first be comfortable with the content, and with how they will present the content to students and library users. To this end, teachers, school librarians, and library staff need designated development time to ensure all instructors are on the same page and ready to commit to consistent media literacy instruction.

During this time, educators across several grade levels or library staff working with various departments can collaborate, scaffolding instruction for students of all ages. Media literacy education can be intentionally planned and integrated into all classes and programming, ensuring that new content builds on previous lessons and students are given the time and space to both view and produce media.

Media literacy doesn't happen overnight, and neither does media literacy education. Dedicated staff development time ensures future generations of media consumers and creators will be informed consumers and creators.

Summer Chillers

Heat wave got you trapped indoors? Pick up a thriller chiller to cool yourself down this weekend.

Audiobooks: (previously reviewed for Audiobook Month)

My Sister Rosa by Justine Larbalestier
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A child psychopath + teen angst, all read by an Australian narrator? Yep, I was into this YA thriller. It felt like Che was speaking directly to me, confessional style, and I loved all the drama he was spilling about his sister and her messed up friendships. Because of Che's personality, the narration came off as caring and empathetic as opposed to whiny or too gossipy - I really felt as though Che was working through how to best take care of his sister (or conversely, how to care for those around her). Sid is a great love interest, and one of my favorite secondary characters, and Rosa herself was written so well I'm grateful she's fictional.

Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This one kept me guessing. I was shocked and surprised, and the reverse-chapter format kept me on my toes. We start on one of the final scenes of the book, only to count down from there, going further back in time with each chapter. Comparisons to The Talented Mr. Ripley are apt, but as a YA novel read mostly by teens, Genuine Fraud has a slightly different audience. The audio was well done - I appreciated the use of accents!

Short Stories

Slasher Girls & Monster Boys by April Genevieve Tucholke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This collection is wonderfully diverse, yet consistently creepy. Each story managed to thrill and chill me in a matter of pages, and I loved guessing each story's literary/pop culture inspirations. The authors represented here are some of the best!

Through the Woods by Emily Carroll
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I think horror works well in short story form - we get just enough to care about a protagonist and then to be terrified without having to invest in a whole novel. It turns out horror also works well as graphic shorts. Graphic as in the visual arts, but also as in explicitly illustrated. Don't worry - there's nothing NSFW here, but I was delightfully creeped out by several of the folktale-esque stories included in this collection.

Novels

Erebos by Ursula Poznanski
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For fans of Ready Player One and Warcross, Erebos shows readers a world where a computer game influences the real lives of teenagers in one city. This mystery-thriller was a slow burn with plenty of world-building (both on- and offline) and a few red herrings along the way. It was interesting to put myself in the places of the characters, and I also appreciated the thoughtfulness of the details of secondary characters and subplots.

The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I heard this book described as Orange is the New Black meets Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and honestly, that fits so well I don't even want to try to describe it another way. The story had me from its opening line and did not let go until the end. I was horrified, entertained, and ultimately satisfied by the gory conclusion. This one is not for the faint of heart.

The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This story is uniquely disturbing. I was super down for the paranormal elements, and loved the sense of lurking doom and tension throughout. Black Swan and Orange is the New Black comparisons aside, The Walls Around Us is smartly written and executed, with no lull in the action or weak link in the narration (which is shared by two of the protagonists).

ANIMUS by Antoine Revoy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A haunted playground in Kyoto, Japan seems to hold the key to the mystery of missing schoolchildren. Sayuri and Hisao, themselves children, follow the clues they discover to find their missing classmates and to hopefully return "Toothless," the boy haunting the playground, back to where he belongs. Echoing the atmosphere of the story, Revoy’s illustrations are haunting and fantastical, and I was stunned by the ending. (This is one I am forcing my husband to read just so we can talk about it!)


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