WHAT?
A book club! On Twitter! Where we read and discuss books to help us with our professional development in library land!
WHERE?
On Twitter, using the same hashtag we use for our chats! #LISprochat.
WHEN?
We'll announce the upcoming book in the last chat of the previous month and then have the discussion on the last Monday of the month regardless of whether it's a normal #LISprochat day or not.
WHY?
For a few reasons, Leigh and I thought it would be fun to have a book club. I mentioned that I was giving myself a new reading goal to try and read 1 professional book a month, and this is a good way for me to motivate myself to meet that goal through accountability!
April 2018 Book Selection
The
chat will take place on
Monday, April 30, 2018, at 8:30 pm. In recognition of the annual Creative Commons Global Summit on April 13-14, and World Book and Copyright Day on April 23, I thought I'd pick a relevant book.
Title: The Boy Who Could Change the World: The Writings of Aaron Swartz
Editor/Author: Aaron Swartz
Publisher: New Press
Date Published: 2016
No. of Pages: 359
In his too-short life, Aaron Swartz reshaped the Internet, questioned our assumptions about intellectual property, and touched all of us in ways that we may not even realize. His tragic suicide in 2013 at the age of twenty-six after being aggressively prosecuted for copyright infringement shocked the nation and the world.
Here for the first time in print is revealed the quintessential Aaron Swartz: besides being a technical genius and a passionate activist, he was also an insightful, compelling, and cutting essayist. With a technical understanding of the Internet and of intellectual property law surpassing that of many seasoned professionals, he wrote thoughtfully and humorously about intellectual property, copyright, and the architecture of the Internet. He wrote as well about unexpected topics such as pop culture, politics both electoral and idealistic, dieting, and lifehacking. Including three in-depth and previously unpublished essays about education, governance, and cities, The Boy Who Could Change the World contains the life’s work of one of the most original minds of our time.
June 2018 Book Selection
The
chat will take place on
Monday, June 25, 2018, at 8:30 pm. During our chat on Leadership back in February it was suggested that we might like to read a book on leadership in libraries for LISprochat Reads, so we will!
Title: "Leading from the Middle," and Other Contrarian Essays on Library Leadership
Editor/Author: John Lubans Jr.
Publisher: Libraries Unlimited
Date Published: 2010
No. of Pages: 298
In "Leading from the Middle," and Other Contrarian Essays on Library Leadership, John Lubans, Jr., argues for democratic library organizations with shared leadership and decision making by leaders and followers. His book distills 15 years worth of leadership essays to advance a theory of a collaborative and empowering leadership, touching on such subjects as teamwork, empowerment, "followership," challenges, values, coaching, self-management, collaboration, communication, and techniques and tools.
Lubans's 36 essays draw new and insightful perspectives on leadership from disparate realms: travel, sports, music, retail businesses, and airlines. All of the essays have been edited and revised for this book and many have been extensively updated with new material and epilogues. The essays flow from the author's experience as a manager/leader, his teaching of the topic, and his research into and experimentation with organizational leadership. Insights and suggestions are tempered by a candid reflection on successes achieved and mistakes made.
August 2018 Book Selection
The
chat will take place on
Monday, August 27, 2018, at 8:30 pm. June marks the start of Summer Reading in a lot of libraries, so I thought we'd look at a book that could apply to that AND help us all broaden our own reading horizons.
Title: The Readers' Advisory Guide to Genre Blends
Editor/Author: Megan M. McArdle
Publisher: Editions
Date Published: 2014
No. of Pages: 209
Genre fiction has always been a complex mixture of themes and elements. The increasing popularity of genre blends, or fiction that straddles the traditional labels, means greater pleasure for readers but a greater challenge for readers' advisory. In this informative and entertaining book McArdle gets library staff up to speed on these engaging titles, showing how such crossover fiction appeals to fanbases of multiple genres. Complete with booklists, summaries, read-alikes, and thorough indexes, this guide *Covers suspense, fantasy, historical fiction, horror, mystery, romance, and science fiction, as well as non-genre titles that don't neatly fit into any categories *Offers guidance for shelving, displaying, and marketing genre blends *Shows how to make the most of online discovery tools in cataloging these titles *Includes Blend MVPs, a section of spotlighting several popular authors who regularly move between genres, and a useful bibliography of additional resources Providing a unique look at how common genres are often combined, this guide will open up new worlds of fiction to readers' advisors and those whom they serve.
