Hi everyone!
We're continuing to work on the library's entertaining non-fiction section. The work is happening in irregular spurts, however. We seem to alternate between a few days in a row where nothing is done because the library's senior staff members are really busy and a day of steady activity and progress.
As it stands right now, we've pulled entertaining non-fiction from roughly three quarters of the library's non-fiction collection and as I've said. What's next?
1) Pulling entertaining non-fiction from the remaining quarter
Paula, Sharon and I are working on it as time permits, and are mostly pulling things to be considered as entertaining non-fiction.
2) Going through the books we've pulled to return some to the general non-fiction section
Part of the idea behind an entertaining non-fiction section is that *any* book pulled from the shelves should be entertaining and hard to put down. In an ideal world, we'd set the bar high enough that if a patron borrows an entertaining non-fiction book on a subject he/she has even a minor interest in, the book won't be returned until that patron has read it cover to cover.
3) Changing the shelving location in Evergreen
At present, all the entertaining non-fiction books are still listed as general non-fiction in Evergreen and in our online catalogue. Once we've finished selecting the books that will become our entertaining non-fiction collection, we'll be creating a new category for them in Evergreen, and switch the books over to it. So when you search for entertaining non-fiction items in the catalogue, the search results will point you in the right direction.
4) Labeling the entertaining non-fiction
As I've posted about previously, I created a label we'll be using on the spine of all entertaining non-fiction books. It's distinct and very identifiable even at a distance, and will help the library staff to keep the entertaining non-fiction on its own shelves.
5) Ongoing maintenance
Like with the library's other collections, we'll actively work on developing the entertaining non-fiction collection over time by buying new items and weeding old and unused ones.
I know I'm heavily biased folks, but I'm excited about establishing this collection. I've worked here for nearly four years and have seen many of these books arrive at the library, but I still find myself wandering by the entertaining non-fiction shelves thinking "I'd like to read that book," "This book sounds interesting," or "I need to remember to borrow this book!"
What's more, I think you'll do the same.
Showing posts with label non-fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label non-fiction. Show all posts
Friday, May 11, 2012
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Entertaining Non-Fiction Coming Soon!
It's been a while, but here I am again to tell you about something exciting happening at the library.
When Paula Coutts joined the library in late 2010, she told Sharon and me about a section in a library she'd used to work at: ENF - Entertaining Non-Fiction.
We'd never heard of it, and Paula started to explain. Non-fiction falls into two broad categories: informative, and entertaining. A book that contains recipes, instructions on tying your shoes, or general facts falls into the former. The book may be interesting, and probably does contain valuable information, but is generally read for the purpose of learning rather than for enjoyment.
Entertaining non-fiction is different. It's still non-fiction, and is still based on facts, but it's not boring. Most of them tell a story and draw the reader in. We've spent chunks of time over the last few months (the last few weeks in particular) pulling entertaining non-fiction books from our shelves so that they can be grouped together with a new, easy-to-see label added to their spines:
When you see this label, it means that the book should be entertaining, not just informative. Here's a sample of the books we've pulled to create our entertaining non-fiction collection (thanks, Elliott, for picking most of these out to highlight!):
Lager heads - Paul Brent
Anyway, the ENF collection should be interesting, so please keep an eye out for it!
When Paula Coutts joined the library in late 2010, she told Sharon and me about a section in a library she'd used to work at: ENF - Entertaining Non-Fiction.
We'd never heard of it, and Paula started to explain. Non-fiction falls into two broad categories: informative, and entertaining. A book that contains recipes, instructions on tying your shoes, or general facts falls into the former. The book may be interesting, and probably does contain valuable information, but is generally read for the purpose of learning rather than for enjoyment.
Entertaining non-fiction is different. It's still non-fiction, and is still based on facts, but it's not boring. Most of them tell a story and draw the reader in. We've spent chunks of time over the last few months (the last few weeks in particular) pulling entertaining non-fiction books from our shelves so that they can be grouped together with a new, easy-to-see label added to their spines:
When you see this label, it means that the book should be entertaining, not just informative. Here's a sample of the books we've pulled to create our entertaining non-fiction collection (thanks, Elliott, for picking most of these out to highlight!):
Lager heads - Paul Brent
- Fascinating history of the competition between Molson and Labatt in Canada, including the origins of Molson's "I Am Canadian" ad campaign and the ongoing competition for new products (dry, draft, and ice beers, etc.)
- The story of an African boy who built his own working electricity generating windmill from spare parts he scrounged.
- Describes the planes and pilots that fly for Buffalo Airways, an arctic airline, and the challenges they face in the frosty skies.
- Explores the stories of the legendary Sasquatch and the people who've searched for it for years.
- Still wondering what shaped a man like Bin Laden? Wonder no longer! This book talks at length about his family and its origins.
- The author was revealed to have exaggerated/falsified his stories and was ordered to repay money to his charity, but the stories about establishing schools in Afghanistan still resonate strongly.
- The legendary Canadian author describes the settling of Canada's west with a series of stories about Canadians of all walks of life.
- When the stresses on the Earth are all released at once, what will happen? According to this book, a storm of epic proportions!
Anyway, the ENF collection should be interesting, so please keep an eye out for it!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Failed Blog Posts
I've spent the last half hour or so trying to write a blog post about our latest new book list.
A few patrons have noted that the list contained around three times as many non-fiction books as fiction books. I was going to explain why in a lengthy post, but the answer boils down to me saying "Stuff happens." Our book suppliers ship books out to us as they get them in stock, etc., and sometimes that means we receive shipments with many more non-fiction books than fiction books, or vice-versa.
There. That's all I actually needed to write. But I've got an inflated sense of my own self-importance, and don't think I should be writing blog posts like that. I want my blog posts to be epic, thought-provoking, and stellar examples of good writing. How can I possibly achieve those goals with a three sentence blog post?
In any case, after I gave up on the two previous attempts to write that entry, I looked under the "Edit Posts" tab. There were five saved draft blog posts that I had never deleted. Two were blank and two were failed first attempts at posts I eventually completed.
The final draft blog post in that folder was one I attempted to write called "The Next Five Years." In a few weeks, the library board and senior staff members will be meeting with Andy Ackerman to create a strategic plan for the next five years. Before I started here, the library created a vision pathway which looked to me like a childish drawing full of pie-in-the-sky ideas like a brand new library building with a built-in theatre for presentations (among other things).
I believe our strategic plan will be a little more concrete than the vision pathway. As part of the preparation for it, I had to answer a bunch of questions about the library's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (to which I wish I had answered "me", "not enough of me", "cloning me", and "meteors" respectively). At the end, I had to write down one goal for the library in the next five years.
While there are many worthwhile goals we could strive for, I settled on a fairly simple one: to double our annual in-library visits by 2015. We had approximately 56,000 visits to the Tumbler Ridge Public Library in 2010. If Tumbler Ridge grows as many people expect, we expand our collection, and we continue to offer excellent programming, I think this is a reachable goal.
I think that wraps it up for this blog post that was built on the ruins of others. Perhaps next time I'll have a topic worth writing an epic, thought-provoking post about...
A few patrons have noted that the list contained around three times as many non-fiction books as fiction books. I was going to explain why in a lengthy post, but the answer boils down to me saying "Stuff happens." Our book suppliers ship books out to us as they get them in stock, etc., and sometimes that means we receive shipments with many more non-fiction books than fiction books, or vice-versa.
There. That's all I actually needed to write. But I've got an inflated sense of my own self-importance, and don't think I should be writing blog posts like that. I want my blog posts to be epic, thought-provoking, and stellar examples of good writing. How can I possibly achieve those goals with a three sentence blog post?
In any case, after I gave up on the two previous attempts to write that entry, I looked under the "Edit Posts" tab. There were five saved draft blog posts that I had never deleted. Two were blank and two were failed first attempts at posts I eventually completed.
The final draft blog post in that folder was one I attempted to write called "The Next Five Years." In a few weeks, the library board and senior staff members will be meeting with Andy Ackerman to create a strategic plan for the next five years. Before I started here, the library created a vision pathway which looked to me like a childish drawing full of pie-in-the-sky ideas like a brand new library building with a built-in theatre for presentations (among other things).
I believe our strategic plan will be a little more concrete than the vision pathway. As part of the preparation for it, I had to answer a bunch of questions about the library's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (to which I wish I had answered "me", "not enough of me", "cloning me", and "meteors" respectively). At the end, I had to write down one goal for the library in the next five years.
While there are many worthwhile goals we could strive for, I settled on a fairly simple one: to double our annual in-library visits by 2015. We had approximately 56,000 visits to the Tumbler Ridge Public Library in 2010. If Tumbler Ridge grows as many people expect, we expand our collection, and we continue to offer excellent programming, I think this is a reachable goal.
I think that wraps it up for this blog post that was built on the ruins of others. Perhaps next time I'll have a topic worth writing an epic, thought-provoking post about...
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