Fanzines From the ALA Expo Floor Part 2

Before blogs, before the Internet as we know it there were fanzines. The great news is that there are still fanzines being produced. On the ALA Expo floor was an exhibit of some of the publications.

Fanzines are small publications that focus in on a particular topic or niche subject area. They can be handwritten, assembled from found materials, photocopied or professionally produced.

The topics can range from surviving the workday after a bender to a catalog of every Tonka toy made. Whimsy or dead serious in content. Sometimes explicit. Sometime reveling in the mundane.

I remember finding fanzines on the floor of record stores next to the free alternative newspapers. That was one method of distribution. Another was mail sharing or trading. Fanzines could also be sold for subscription.

It was hit or miss. There could be one issue or seven or 130. It depended on the person. There are still a few folks producing fanzines in the U.S. but other countries are continuing the tradition.

 It was kinda cool to find this spot of creativity at the conference.

No Love Lost at the Library

It's Valentine's Day and I've managed to drag myself out of the house into the library. I've been coming here most of winter intersession and expected today to be the same as most of this past month, pretty empty. So imagine my surprise to be lucky enough to find an empty computer terminal.

Everywhere today it's impossible not to see signs of Valentine's Day. Many bemoaning why is this holiday once again upon us. So thinking in terms of a librarian-to-be, I decided to make this my research topic of the day before settling down to my studies. I did a little research last week to see if we had many books in the Shatford library on this topic when constructing a book display. As expected, a search didn't yield many on this topic so I had to get a little creative in my search. My favorite book that I'd discovered awhile back when doing other book displays was:

Kissing: everything you ever wanted to know about one of life's sweetest pleasures by Andrea Demirjian, so I had to add this along with the other books on making home-made greeting cards, the history of chocolate and more. For film lovers, you may be interested in picking up The great romantic films by Lawrence J. Quirk. A classmate had picked up an ARC copy of And the rest is history : the famous (and infamous) first meetings of the world's most passionate couples by Marlene Wagman-Geller at ALA's Mid-Winter conference. This book is not on display as I will admit the ARC copy is not very picturesque at all, but it did prompt me in finding some books on famous couples. In my search, I found interesting books on Antony & Cleopatra and Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo. If you're interested in the history of Valentine cards, take a peek at The Valentine and its origins by Frank Staff.

Here's an interesting and amusing article I found, Valentine's Day : From ancient saints to candy hearts that sheds a little light on the history of this holiday. This is my tribute to this holiday whilst wearing my "Librarians Have a Heart" t-shirt that I snagged at ALA's Mid-Winter conference in January.

Penguin Books Amplified Version of Pillers of the Earth

In the library technology program there is an on-going challenge to define what is a book. The meaning is evolving. There are audio books, books in electronic form and now, according to Penguin Books, amplified versions that will continue to stretch the definition.



One thing to consider is the source material. The original book from author Ken Follett was made into a television series. The amplified book contains the original text of the book, photos and videos from the television show, a full music score and extras.

From a fan point of view this is terrific. There can be total immersion in the world of the story and the creation of the book and television program. From a writer/author point of view I think I'd start to freak out a little.

Is It Still A Book?

The original book is contained in the media presented so yes, it is still a book. For certain types of fiction this is going to be fantastic.

For other non-visual or more introspective types of fiction there is going to be increasing problems to convince a mainstream publisher to give those types of books a chance in the marketplace. Not every fiction book can lend itself to a television or movie version.

There are books that are truly a one-to-one type of communication. My concern is that those books will not easily be printed or digitized.

What then? How will those books be published and by whom? Can print and electronic books co-exist or are there more changes to come. Stay tuned.

At Your Local Library - Adult Summer Programs

Think library summer reading programs are just for kids? Think again! Check out your local library and see what's happening.

At Pasadena Public Library, check out the Adult Summer Program where you can make Simple Summer Salad Suppers to take home on July 31st, meet other yarn lovers at Yarn Projects from the Heart interested in knitting or crocheting for charity on July 24th and August 28th, and the 12th Baseball Reliquary, Shrine of the Eternals Induction Day 2010 hosted by PCC Library Tech Program alumni, Terry Cannon.

It's not too late to sign up for I (S)cream for Books Adult Summer Reading Program at Alhambra Public Library. The reading program runs till July 31st. For every week, you can earn an incentive prize with a chance ticket for the grand prize.

At Arcadia Public Library, the theme is Water Your Mind: Read. Registration is online till July 24th with the program running till the end of the month. In addition, there is a Themed Movie Night on July 14th at 6pm and an Introduction to Ikebana on July 28th at 6:30pm.

So if you're yearning for those childhood library summer reading days, stop on by your local library and see what they have for adults these days. You just might be pleasantly surprised.

One City, One Story 2010

If you haven't heard yet, this year's One City, One Story taking place in Pasadena is Alan Drew's novel, "Gardens of Water." There are various events taking place this month all over Pasadena. Even though we're partially done with this month, there are still many events left to catch. Take a look at the Calendar of Events to see what's happening. One can catch a Turkish cooking demonstration on Saturday, March 20 at the San Rafael Branch Library at 11am. If you're interested in participating in a book discussion of Gardens of Water, check the Calendar of Events for various dates and locations. You can also see a compiled list of all the events on the Shatford Library's website as well.

This Sunday, March 14, you can spend An Afternoon with Alan Drew at the Pasadena Convention Center from 3:30-5:30pm. Unfortunately, I probably will not be in attendance but I highly recommend going if you can. I was in attendance for last year's One City, One Story 2009 final event, An Afternoon with author Luis Alberto Urrea. I thoroughly enjoyed that afternoon listening to Luis Alberto Urrea talk about writing "The Hummingbird's Daughter."

In addition, Alan Drew will be on campus tomorrow, March 12 at 9am in the Creveling Lounge located in the new Campus Center. For other related events to be held on the PCC campuses, check out the schedule on the Shatford Library's website.

Last year was the first year I ever participated in a One City, One Story event and it was exciting as a sideline participant. This year, I will be an active participant in a One City, One Story event of the adaptation of "Romeo and Juliet" based on Alan Drew's novel, "Gardens of Water" here at Pasadena City College. When I started getting back into theatre again, little did I know I could and would be able to combine these two passions of mine together. I'm very honored and excited to be a part of this year's One City, One Story. Show times are at 8pm, Thursday, March 25-Saturday, March 27 and at 2pm Saturday, March 27 in the Little Theater (C-106). Admission is free but seating is limited to about 100 people. Free tickets will be distributed starting 45 minutes before the show starts on a first come, first serve basis.

If you haven't yet read "Gardens of Water," I highly recommend it. Alan Drew captured my attention from the first page of his novel. Right now, most of the copies here at Shatford Library are checked out. If you attend this Sunday's event, you can buy the book and meet the author as well. A win-win situation that I'm still considering myself. If you've never taken part in a One City, One Story before, you're missing out on a great series of community events. So take the plunge, and dive into an incredible experience awaiting you.

Bringing Shakespeare to Life

Check out the front page of this week's edition of the PCC Courier (Thursday, September 24, 2009) for the "Shakespeare in the street" article. Currently, this article is not online so you'll have to pick up an actual copy of the Courier to read it. I'm still including a link in case it is put online at a later date. While it may not be library related, I was told it is literary and PCC related. And as a current student at PCC and participant in this performance, I should share my experience.

While my main focus of study is library science at the moment, I've been indulging in my love of theatre arts since last spring. It was hard to pass up the chance to be involved in this unique performance of Shakespeare short scenes done in the intersection of Raymond Avenue and Colorado Boulevard in Old Town Pasadena last Saturday evening. (This was in conjunction with the Armory Center for the Arts' 20th Anniversary Celebration-Installations Inside/Out (Jane Mulfinger: Autonomony is No Longer Possible or Interesting.) In the middle of the street, I'm sure you asking yourself. Yes, in the middle of the street! Though we rehearsed for a few weeks at PCC in the Little Theater and the parking structures, nothing could really prepare us for performing in the crosswalk as we never rehearsed there. I was nervous and excited all at the same time. One of the reasons I was excited about doing this is I was able to incorporate American Sign Language while saying my lines as well most of the time. Being a part of an innovative theater performance doing Shakespeare was definitely a chance of a lifetime. Originally, I figured it was great that it was just a one time deal since it wouldn't take up a lot of time but after our performance was done, I was saddened that we probably wouldn't be doing it again. Keeping fingers crossed since there may be a chance that we do it again in the future as our main organizer is hoping we will.

We did two runs (a full one and a shortened version) of our program which consisted of 21 shorts from short scenes of Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet and A Midsummer's Night Dream along with sililoquies and phone monologues. It was fun getting to play different parts from Adriana of The Comedy of Errors, a witch from Macbeth, Gwendolyn from Hamlet and more all in one evening.

Any chance to bring literature to life is wonderful. I think that may be why I'm so drawn to the possibility of becoming a children's librarian. One has a perfect excuse to read or quote outloud and bring wonderful stories to life however you can.