#please do support your local library by borrowing from them if possible | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

thepoisonroom · 4 years ago

Text

if your library doesn’t have an item you need, you can submit a request for them to purchase it! note that this is mostly true for public and academic/university/college libraries; school libraries don’t regularly offer this option, though you can speak with your librarian to learn more about what you can do.

submitting a request doesn’t guarantee they’ll purchase it 100% of the time, but it’s a good way to express your needs, and libraries often use this information to identify areas where their collection and services are lacking and create acquisitions plans! this is an especially useful option if you want:

a new or upcoming book! identifying highly-anticipated releases helps libraries make decisions about ordering books, developing collections, and planning outreach/programming

a translation or format (e.g. large print, braille, screen-readable e-book, audiobook on CD or tape, audiobook on playaway) that you need to access the work.

purchase requests are a great way to encourage your library to buy upcoming books that you’re excited about! this is a really good option for supporting authors, especially when you can’t buy the book yourself. read on for more info. keep in mind also that most libraries have privacy policies that protect any identifying data about patrons, including what individuals check out and what they request. if you’re not sure what your library’s policy is, check their website or contact their reference desk (see below).

if your library doesn’t have a book you want, there are a few options you can and should explore before jumping to a purchase request:

see if it’s available in alternate formats through other library tools! many libraries subscribe to publisher databases or ebook/audiobook borrowing platforms like overdrive. the items available here will not always be listed/discoverable in your library’s catalog system.

request it through interlibrary loan (ILL) or outerlibrary loan (OLL)! these are both commonly used terms for requesting items from other libraries. different libraries use these differently but most should offer one or both.

contact your library’s reference desk to see if they can help you find another way to access the thing you want! you can often get in touch with a librarian directly online; it’ll usually be listed as “ask a librarian chat” or something similar. most libraries will also answer questions over the phone or email, in person or will have a “contact us” web form you can submit.

so if you’ve checked out your options and you’re sure you want to purchase request, the process is pretty straightforward! my local public library’s website has this handy little link right at the bottom, but it’ll usually be listed as “request a purchase” or “recommend a purchase”

[image description: this image shows a list of links in black text on a grey background. The list of links is titled “Popular services”. The services listed are: reserve a computer, check your email, recommend a purchase, outerlibrary loan, ask a librarian, computing and wireless, reserve meeting rooms, email newsletters, and curbside pickup. The link that says “recommend a purchase” is circled in red.]

most libraries will have a webform that you fill out with item information that’ll look something like this:

[image description: this image shows half of an unfilled web form written in black text on a white background. The first field says Title above it. It is a textbox. The next field is a textbox titled Author/creator. The third field is a textbox titled Publisher. The fourth field is a textbox titled Date of publication. Below the textbox it says “Use the format YYYY-MM-DD (e.g., 2018-12-25)”. The fifth field is a textbox titled ISBN. Below the textbox it says “Please do not include any spaces or hyphens in the ISBN. The final field is titled Type of material. It has single-selection buttons for two options: Adult and Children’s/Teen.]

[image description: this image shows half of an unfilled web form written in black text on a white background. The first field has the title Format above it. It is a dropdown menu with the option “CD - Music” selected. The next field is a textbox titled Subject. The next field is a textbox. Above the textbox are the words “Where did you hear about this title?. Below the textbox it says “Give specific sources if possible. It might help us find more great materials”. The final field is an expandable textbox. It is titled “Additional comments”.]

the key things to remember when filling out the form are:

be specific if you need a specific format, translation, or edition!

not sure if the format/translation you want exists? use worldcat.org to find out! their search engine has this handy “view all formats and languages”/”view all editions” option that lets you see what might be available. it’s not guaranteed to be exhaustive, but it’s a good starting point. note that worldcat categorizes books (incl. ebooks) as distinct from audiobooks. clicking this button on a print book listing will show me only other print and ebook formats, and clicking it on an audiobook listing will only show me other audiobook formats.

[image description: This image shows a worldcat.org search result listing for the book We Had a Little Real Estate Problem by Kliph Nesteroff. The listing tells us that it is for an English-language print biography published 2021 by Simon & Schuster. The listing includes two links. One says “View all formats and languages”. This link is circled in red. The other link says “View all editions”.]

speaking of worldcat, it can be a great place to find the publication information you might need to populate the form. that said, try not to stress too much about the ISBN. it’ll be different for hardcover versus paperback versus ebook and vary between editions. just focus on being very specific about it if you need a specific format or language to access it.

if your library’s form includes a comments field, this can be a good place to put feedback for context, such as “our library doesn’t have many books on X topic and I’d like more” or “I think this book is an important text for my program/major” or “I recommend this text to a lot of my students and think it would be good if it were more easily accessible”. this kind of information is very helpful for librarians trying to decide how to develop their collections.

i hope that helps! it’s not a very complicated process, but i wanted to make sure to provide some context about how library purchases can help authors, improve your accessibility options, and show your library that there’s a demand for books on specific topics! i also hope to provide some clarification about library privacy policies and making your voice heard at your library.

#i know this might seem stupidly simple but i'm just remembering like two years ago when h*ather h*vrilesky #tweeted that it's insulting to authors to tell them you're going to check their book out from the library and #library twitter absolutely descended on her #there are lots of ways to support authors even if you can't buy their books yourself!!!#and i think it's easy to feel like there's nothing you can do it you don't personally have money and i want to remind people that #using public services and telling them ways they can better serve you is also a great way to get involved!#personal nonsense #long post #library science #i was worried this was too commonsense but i mean i work in a library so of course i know this is an option #but not everyone does

66 notes · View notes

twisted-little-fairy-story · 2 years ago

Note

I don’t, and I know this isn’t what you asked for. However, I feel honour-bound to jump in here with my librarian hat on, because...

---> have you considered your local library? <---

If you have the option, and it’s a possibility for you, you might be able to get them as ebooks for free this way. For example, here is the overdrive page for Diana Wynne Jones. And Overdrive/Libby is the biggest player in library ebooks and e-audio in Canada, the UK, and I believe the US*, but there are other options too. Find out what your local library has, and start searching there.

You can even request them if they aren’t available... personally I love it when people ask us to buy books! It means I’m buying books I know people want! That’s a great feeling!

But, as well as making your librarian really happy, this does x other important things

1. gets you free book access. Obviously this is the important one right? you get the books you want and you don’t have to pay from them OR worry about downloading viruses in the process

2. doesn’t screw the author over. This is a bigger deal if the author is alive and even bigger if they’re not huge names, because the number of books authors sell is a huge factor in whether they get a book deal for their next great story. Shared pdfs really fuck with sales. I mean hugely. @maggiestiefvaterposts had a really great post on this some years back, but the short version is that she and her brother did a test and proved this. So if you like an author, and you want them to keep writing books, circulating a pdf is not the best way to do it.

In fact, in the UK, authors even get paid Public Lending Rights for copies of their books that are borrowed from public libraries. So they get a sale when the library buys the book, but also an (admittedly very small) amount when the book circulates

Obviously this is less of an issue for DWJ, or other authors I’m still very sad to be without, but it’s worth thinking about...

3. It’s great for libraries! Public libraries are literally here because we decided, as a society, that people should have access to books for free, regardless of whether they could afford to buy them. In Tory Britain, if we don’t use them, they will get taken away. The world is crappy and there are cuts being made all over the place to public services, and if we can’t prove that our services are being used then we are considered a waste of money. Libraries want to help - it’s why we’re here - but we need your help.

So - please! Use your library. Get free books. Support authors whose works you enjoy. And make the world a tiny bit better in the process...

Finally, I think it’s also worth mentioning that Howl probably would create magical pdfs. Sophie, however, would destroy them and make him go to the library!

*I haven’t worked in the US, so I can’t state that with complete conviction, but that’s the sense I get from American friends

hiiiiiii :) do u know where i can read pdfs of the castle in the air and house of many ways?? thank youuuuuuuu

I don't actually know but someone has to... help us please?🥺

#library #libraries #books #children's books #diana wynne jones #howl pendragon #howl jenkins pendragon #sophie hatter #castle in the air #house of many ways #ask a librarian

24 notes · View notes

trafficlightchild · 4 years ago

Text

So you want to buy a copy of Unlocked

This post is made as a educational guide to the current situation with Keeper of the Lost Cities newest book, Unlocked.

Over the past few days, many people have suggested boycotting the hardcover editions of Unlocked due to one VERY IMPORTANT read: this is that the main artist featured, L*ura H*ll*ngsw*rth, is homophobic and we do not want to support her. As a queer person, it really hurts to see a series that I’ve loved for almost 7 years now. However, many of us still want to read the book and support other people behind this project. For me personally, I especially want to support my local book store and the US postal service during this time. So, what are alternatives?

1. EMAIL SHANNON’S PUBLISHER

Shannon just finished unlock TODAY - this means that the book had yet to be printed and that there is still time to get L*ura’s art out of the book. The book still also has to be edited so we have time. Even if the art isn’t taken out due to payments already being made, this could end the arrangement between the series and her AND we could possibly get a new official artist. Even if we sadly don’t get that either, showing S&S we don’t want to buy books with her art in them will hopefully make them not want to work with her in the future.

2. BUY THE AUDIOBOOK

The main reason that this is my suggestion is that it’s the only version where you can guarantee L*ura will not make any profits because there are no physical or digital pages. Through the research I’ve been doing, I can’t find anything that indicates that official KOTLC narrator, Caitlin Kelly, is homophobic. Audiobooks can be expensive, especially since all KOTLC are Audible exclusives, but Audible does offer a free trial that comes with 1 free audiobook and you can keep the book after you cancel your subscription. Also, if any of you do know if Caitlin is homophobic please reblog with that information and I’ll edit this.

3. BUY THE NOOK VERSION

This is probably seem like what a lot of people are going to do. As of right now, the Nook app does not support/load art that goes along with books such as KOTLC. This would also be cheaper than getting the audiobook version. However, there are two things that concern me about this; first being that while we know most artists are paid in advance, we can’t say that Laura will make no profit from sales with her art in it. There are many unknowns in this field and many of us are trying to do more research about this. I’ve been looking at two accounts in particular on Instagram (I don’t know if they have tumblrs so I’m tagging there instagram handles) and I suggest you check both @/ahsokatano13 and @/dexs.mother out. the second reason is that the Nook app has been having a lot of updates recently and by the time Unlocked comes out, they could have found a way to load/support the art in the book.

4. WAIT OR BORROW THE BOOK

Use your library or your local KOTLC friends - it may take longer for you to read it but this way you won’t be supporting L*ura. You can also wait even longer and purchase the paperback version.

and lastly

5. DONATE THE SAME AMOUNT TO LGBTQIPAA+ INDIVUALS/GROUPS

Many people preorder months in advance and it’s fine if you did, since this art portion information was only revealed recently. So, treat buying this book like shopping at a place like Ch*ck F*l A. Is every single individual behind this purposes homophobic? No. There are no many people that are behind that KOTLC books other than Shannon - the people who print, who box, who ship, who sell, etc. So rather than purchasing this book and then feeling guilty about it, find out the exact price you spent on the book itself and donate, if you can, that exact amount to a queer foundation or individual. If you can donate double, that's great! If you can only spare a few dollars right now, that’s great too. As long as you give some money back to the people that are being affect by the decision to use a homophobic artist in this book, that sort-of evens out things in my eyes.

At the end of the day, every KOTLC fan is an individual. Some fans aren’t even aware of this situation, some fans don’t know how to handle it, etc. I made this post to be educational and provide options for other KOTLC fans.

#kotlc #keeper of the lost cities #kotlc unlocked #Sophie foster #Keefe sencen #dex dizznee #Biana Vacker #fitz vacker #linh song #tam song #shannon messenger

86 notes · View notes

thewindsofsong · 4 years ago

Text

Ok ok ok!!! So last night I had a dream that I rec’ed a dmbj/svsss crossover fanfic, but never actually read the fic. Then I woke up because my cat was yowling in the middle of the night.

After talking with @1ebilcat and @merinnan for a while, I managed to flesh out a basic outline of what that fic might look like. Please know that because this is a crossover with svsss, there is papapa mentioned. several times.... (nothing actually explict is described because that would make this not a not-fic)

So one day SQQ and SQH are messing around trying to figure out what this new “unique one of a kind treasure” does when SQH accideny drops some melon seeds on it or something and it suddenly activates.

Meanwhile in dmbj world, the Iron Triangle are pretty much retired from the whole tomb raiding business, but still run Wushanju (better now that wu xie actually concentrates on running it instead of running off every week). Someone comes in with a strange artifact that they found while clearing out a deceased relatives store room they want to sell. Wu xie buys it because he’s never seen anything like it before and wants to research it.

Xiaoge gets super weird vibes from the object, but it doesn’t seem overtly menacing, so he leaves wu xie be (if wu xie is preoccupied he gets in marginally less trouble). However, when xiaoge touches the object with wu xie and Pangzi nearby, it grows a point and gives xiaoge a paper cut. The blood touches the object and it activates.

One blinding flask of light and disorienting tumble latter, they find themselves at the foot of a picturesque mountain with a gate that labels them at the foot of cang qiong mountain. They’re quickly found by the cang qiong crew and everyone is super weird out by each other. Things happen and eventually LBH crashes in and says his shizun is missing mobei-jun is there too because SQH is also missing. More communication happens and everyone realizes this is the artifact’s fault. No one knows where the artifact is.

Meanwhile SQQ and SQH wake up someone completely unfamiliar to either of them. After using magic to light things up, they see that they are in a tomb absolutely covered in different depictions of penises: there’s pictures on the walls, statues of men with WAY TOO BIG penises, sooooo many dildos. Queue SQQ immediately launching himself at SQH with a shriek of outrage because “THERE’S NO WAY THIS ISN’T YOUR FAULT YOU SHITTY HACK AUTHOR!!”

Back with the iron triangle, there’s a research montage going on as they and other CQ sect member scour the libraries for any information about the mcguffin that caused all this randomness. At some point in all of this, iron triangle go to MQF to see if he can take a look at Xiaoge regarding his memory problems. After some more research, MQF learns about an herb that could stabilize his qi and stabilize the fluctuations that cause his amnesia.

Turns out that while proper cultivation doesn’t exist in dmbj world, the Zhang family line has managed to cultivate the family line to extended life but because they’re the only ones that can (maybe due to bronze gate?) it has a lot of dangers.

The herb needed is of course incredibly rare and only found in some horribly dangerous location. Xiaoge wants to go alone because he doesn’t want wu xie and pangzi to be in danger, but knows that they won’t be left behind. There’s some agnst had about how Xiaoge feels he’s brought pain and suffering to wu xie and pangzi, but of course neither of them are having any of it. The three of them talk about how they’ve never regretted meeting each other and how the adventures they’ve shared have brought meaning and joy into their lives.

The three of them cobble together some hotpot and spend the night before setting off soaking their feet side by side, content and secure in their bonds with each other. Its very sweet.

The next day, the three of them set off with LQG and LBH. Right before arriving at the location, bullshit happens and Iron Triangle get trapped in the location where the herb is located and trigger a wife plot in which papapa is the only way out. Iron triangle proceeds to have incredibly kinky marathon sex. LBH and LQG can only listen awkwardly from the boundary, not able to get through, but also not wanting to leave completely just in case something else happens. The sexual tension between LBG and LQG grows to new heights. Neither will do anything about it until SQQ is back home safe.

After the marathon is over and iron triangle has time to actually sleep, the three of them get cleaned up with the herb in tow and head back to Cang Qiong. They get the herb to MQF who tells them it will take at least a day to prepare the pill for xiaoge to take. That night, Iron triangle has sweet, tender, affirming sex because while they all agree that while xiaoge not losing his memories every few decades is for the better, it also means that he’ll have to carry the memories of wu xie and pangzi long after they’er gone, with no hope of them ever being together again. Xiaoge assures wu xie and pangzi that this is what he wants, to know that at least at some point, he loved and was loved, that he had a connection to this world and that his life has meaning beyond his obligations to the Zhang clan. Wu xie and pangzi make xiaoge promise to live on after they pass and to find him in their next lives.

Xiaoge takes the pill and the search for a way back home continues again in earnest. Eventually, LBH travels back to the demon realm and figures out how to track the artifact through space and time because his protag halo is too strong to keep him away from his love interest for too long.

Wu xie and pangzi learn some basic meditation techniques that disciples would learn when first arrive at the mountain. Its too late for them to cultivate to longevity and there’s no guarantee that its even possible in their home world to cultivate if you aren’t a Zhang. Regardless, wu xie and pangzi don’t want immortality, they just want to spend as much time as they can with xiaoge. Wu xie is gifted a flute made with special bamboo and pangzi is gifted a wine jug from Zui Xian Peak. Both have spiritual properties that may or may not be able to function when back home, but they’er good gifts given in good faith.

LBH, losing patience, forces iron triangle to get moving so he can save SQQ. He bursts through time and space and iron triangle plus LBH, MBJ, and LQG end up in dmbj world, in Wushanju. After scaring the crap out of Wang Meng, the group realizes that while several days have passed in svsss world, its only been a few hours since iron triangle was pulled away. Which is good because Ershu was likely to call in an army if wu xie went missing for no apparent reason. The whole thing would have been way too messy. Probably more than one person would have died.

What follows is a night of LBH, LQG, and MBJ attempting different divination spells to try and pin point the exact location of SQQ and SQH to varying degrees of success. None of them are good at divination. Regardless, the three of them manage to get a general location of where the two missing peak lords might be and the iron triangle gets to work searching the internet for any rumors or information of any tombs that might be in the area. (Its just wu xie and pangzi looking, but xiaoge standing around still in his beautiful borrowed robes from CQ is good moral support.)

They hear about some local legends about an ecentric noble from a bygone era that was buried in a very peculiar tomb. Potential tomb located, the whole group prepares to head out. the SVSS gang is convinced to not fly over immediately because that would be waaaaay to flashy and draw unwanted attention to them that would delay things even more. The six of them cram in together into the van and head off. Svss gang are forced into modern clothing and are def a little too big to comfortably sit in the van. LBH hits his head on a doorway at least once on this adventure. At lease two women and maybe a guy slip their numbers to him too. The man is supernaturally gorgeous.

After some more road trip shenanigans, they arrive at the rumored entrance to the tomb and head in. The tomb has a few traps here and there, but is practically child’s play for the iron triangle to get through. Svsss are appropriately impressed by their competence and LBH and LQG think specifically about how the iron triangle is a true threesome that supports each other and fights together. MBJ just wants his hamster boy back.

When they near the central chamber of the tomb, they hear the faint sounds of fighting which spurs SVSSS to speed ahead while iron triangle tries to get them to at least be a little cautious about setting off traps.

The sight that LBH sees when he breaks into the main chamber like the kool aid man is a disheveled SQQ beating SQH over the head with a baton? Kind of. Its a baton carved into the shape of a penis. SQQ immediately stops and tries to put on his “peerless immortal cultivator” mask on with a flick of his fan, but its hard for that to be effective when your hair is all over the place and your in a room covered in penises. SQH dives for his king’s thighs and cries in relief that he’s no longer trapped in a room full of dildos and penises with SQQ.

Then the iron triangle catches up and the realization that SVSSS gang is in modern clothing sinks in. The transmigrators freeze for just a second before jumping in front of iron triangle with a thousand questions. They ask in their shitty English which leaves answering the questions mostly to wu xie because pangzi’s english is pretty spotty and xiaoge doesn’t like talking in general, let alone a foreign language.

The whole group eventually leaves the tomb and all its phallic glory behind and get above ground where there’s phone service again. After a bit of searching, the transmigrators realize that while this world is very similar to their original world, there’s no signs of “Proud Immortal Demon Way” ever being written here, no other signs pointing to the two of them existing in this world. SVSS gang are very concerned as they watch SQQ and SQH talk in a strange language to these relative strangers, but don’t feel like its the time to figure out whats going on until everyone gets back home. The now expanded group makes their way back to Wushanju in an even more cramped road trip back. SQQ absolutly ends up in LBH’s lap at least once and SQH ends up with MBJ’s head in his lap at some point. its all very cute as the feeling of everyone being accounted for and safe settles in.

Maybe there’s some stuff about SQQ and SQH being transmigrators and them being tempted for all of half a second to stay in this world that is so very much like their original world but choosing to go back with their lovers and the lives they’ve made for themselves.

As the complete SVSSS gang now gets ready to head back home, the Iron triangle makes a huuuuge goody bag of all the snacks and treats that SQQ and SQH have been missing ever since they’ve transmigrated and put together a basic netbook plus solar charger for them to take back. There won’t be internet service back in SVSS world, but they loaded it up with a whooole bunch of web novels and pop songs, along with a few spare parts.

SVSSS gang finally makes their way home after having a large farewell dinner at Wushanju at Pangzi’s insistence and LBH bullies his way into helping out. Its a very sweet scene of laughing and drinking. After dinner is done, SVSSS decide to go back immediately because the time dilation thing would mean they would be away for longer than they would like.

Once back home, LBH, SQQ, and LQG have a confrontation/conversation about their relationships with each other and figure out if they want to try being all together, all three of them. MBJ confines SQH to his northern palace. Specifically their bedroom. He was also the one that remembered to grab the artifact that caused all these problems to begin with while everyone else was distracted by dildo tomb.

Iron triangle goes back to their retirement, at peace with the decisions they’ve made and the lives they’ve chosen to live.

THE END!!!

#dmbj #svsss #the lost tomb reboot #iron triangle #wu xie #wang pangzi #zhang qiling #shen qingqiu #lou binghe #if you cant tell i like polyships a lot #i just want everyone to be happy together #i made myself sad writing part of this #oh god this is so much longer than i thought it would be #feel like this is a little light on the svsss side of things #but the current fixation is dmbj so its not that surprising #this is 2000 words of not-fic #my writing

30 notes · View notes

jeannereames · 4 years ago

Text

Don’t participate in book piracy

I think sometimes people simply have no clue how LITTLE authors actually make. They believe stealing the book is “sticking it to the man” and big publishing.

No, you’re sticking it to THE AUTHOR.

Piracy kills the very content creators whose work you enjoy.

So here’s some numbers for you. Across the last 4 months I earned $160.72 in royalties. Yup, that’s it. And that’s the GROSS. I then paid $46.35 in taxes. So all I earned was $114.37. The monthly royalties were about average, neither exceptionally high nor low. My royalty percentage is pretty decent, overall, in part because I never got an advance.* All I make is from sales. Also, if you’re curious, I actually make MORE on the sale of ebooks over paper books (has to do with costs of production).

Measure that out against how many YEARS it took me to write the damn books. Yeah, authors are just *rolling* in cash.

So please, don’t steal books. If you can’t afford to buy them, borrow them from a library (which did buy it). If your local library doesn’t have the book, ask them to purchase one! If you know somebody who pirates books, tell them not to. Share why. Peer pressure matters. If you find the book on a website, contact the author but especially the publisher.

-------------------

*An “advance” in publishing is a lump sum of money that some publishers pay the author upon signing. Well, it’s usually half on signing, half on delivery of a publishable manuscript. Many smaller publishers just can’t afford to do that, and so they offer better royalities in lieu of an advance. They can’t afford the gamble, as many books never sell out their advance, or it takes years to do so, and their contract may end first. That is, the royalties the author would make don’t equal what the author was originally paid. Especially for first-time authors, advances tend to be small, and if they break 5 digits, that’s good. That may sound like a lot, but if that is the author’s full-time job, that’s ALL they’re getting. And it often takes about 12-18 months to complete a book ready for submission, although that can vary by genre and the nature of the novel. Romances generally don’t take long. Historicals or SFF (that require research), can take more than that. So if the author’s advance is $8000-12,000...that’s for a YEAR’s worth of work, and possibly up to two years. Which is well below the poverty line, and why authors need another job, or someone to support them. (Also, that sum assumes the author doesn’t have an agent, who gets a 15% cut of everything.)

Again, this is the sort of stuff readers almost never know...unless they know an author.

#Realities of publishing #don't pirate books #please feed the content creators #Why about 90% of authors (maybe more) either have another job or live below the poverty line...and sometimes both

6 notes · View notes

babyfloors · 3 years ago

Text

Wondering Wednesdays, Baby Acres, Chapter 2: Infrastructure, with words!

July 21, 12021

books

Coop

4Freedoms

health

mywritings

PublicDomainInfrastructure

writing

This post starts the rough draft of Chapter 2 of my non-fiction WiP, Baby Acres.

This chapter will have about 2500 words, (hopefully educational words!!) 500 of which have already been written as the Introduction, but will quite likely have to be thrown out and refitted with the new evolution of the book. We shall see.

And again, by way of disclaimer, the overall goal is now to explain why we need both equ. + justice, & why in 4 phases. This chapter will transition to a chapter (2-5) for each phase, showing what Phases I-IV could look like as part of a possible roadmap for a fully inclusive society for all of us. This vision is laid out in the hope that All HumanKind will eventually have each person’s basic needs met, without taking anything from anyone, and without violence, intimidation, nor coercion of any kind.

Chapter Two:

( Chapter 2’s outline was last week…)

Chapter 2 Introduction:

The first stage of this project involves building empathy, and bringing each one of us to see each one of our fellow human beings as … a human being. Each one meriting humane treatment, and human dignity.

That empathy building phase was Phase 0 (yes, I’m a computer scientist by first training, so I start with 0…). Phase I is meant to go for fifteen years, potentially from the years 2022 to 2037, building a movement to strengthen some of our most crucial and obviously key pieces of our social infrastructure, which are in the public domain. During this period, one of the ways that we can both build conceptual support and also literally build our physical infrastructure that needs support, is by borrowing an idea from President Franklin D. Roosevelt, which worked during the Great Depression to create jobs while educating young (white) men at the same time. What we want to do now, is to educate, facilitate service, and build a community-service frame of reference, while also upgrading our public infrastructure, just as FDR did in the 1930’s via his program.

Bringing back an updated version of FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), or Roosevelt’s Tree Army, as it was popularly known, could provide a stepping stone between the empathy- building work that must always be on-going, and the support-building work of bringing our society to a consensus on the needed support for the most basic of our public social infrastructure institutions, like Public Libraries, Public Transportation, Public Education (especially in the financial and legal areas, where so many consumers fall prey to financial predators, and end up in debt due to lack of knowledge), and Public Health. These four systems under gird our entire societal structure, and need support perhaps the most urgently, in return for which we potentially get the most payback for all members of society. While we do the difficult work of building the necessary consensus to get there from here, a simpler step might be to bring back some form of the CCC, updated to be far more inclusive, and used as both a means of providing employment to young people, and also to educate them, much like the Gap Year in Europe.

But instead of having our new high school graduates backpack around the country, they could be sent to work in urban public library branches, light-rail and subway/Metro stations, local urban public schools, or inner city health clinics. As they rotate from one part of the country to another, say, monthly, they learn first-hand of the conditions in places they are not from and have not lived, while serving communities they have never met, working alongside peers from different walks of life, and seeing a side of their native land that they did not grow up with. In short, learning the realities, and different perspectives, of this large and diverse nation of ours.

— (Next Wednesday: Chapter 2, section I …)

I’m considering this Rough Draft as the block of clay from which my book will eventually emerge, obviously, and some ideas for phases III and IV are still becoming more fixed in my mind as I write, so the final version will likely look pretty different from this Rough Draft, and will need updating once I get to the very end.

And once again, yeayyy( !!)with regard to audience, I may have at least a couple of comps: Walden Two meets The War on Poverty: A Civilian Perspective (by Dr.s Jean and Edgar Cahn, 1964). I know that lots of people consider Skinner’s writing to be stilted, but I like the tilt of most reviewers, in that the idea is that a community should keep trying policies that members agree upon until they find what works for all of them.

As for genre, I’m still wondering: Non-fiction, System Change, Causes, maybe even Inspirational, but I doubt it.

Last week’s installment of this series…

Action Items:

1.) Consider some ideas you may have on how our society can solve the problem infrastructure upgrades in the next 15 years,

2.) Share them with us in the comments, here, please, and

3.) Write a story, post or tweet that uses those sources and your thoughts.

Dear Readers, ideas on learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning, on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness, #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind?

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure & #StopSmoking at LEAST for CCOVID-19: 1. #PublicLibraries, 2. #ProBono legal aid and Education, 3. #UniversalHealthCare, and 4. good #publictransport Read, Write -one can add Stayed on Freedom’s Call via this GoodReads button: ,

Vote, Teach and Learn (PDF Lesson Plan Book)!

and my

Babylon 5 review posts

, if you like Science Fiction, and a proposed

Vision

on Wondering Wednesdays: for a kinder world…

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil

our year 2020 CE = 12020 HE

(Day 1 … Day 5)

Stayed on Freedom’s Call (free copies at: https://archive.org/details/StayedOnF…) includes two ‘imagination-rich’ walking tours, with songs, of Washington, DC. New interviews and research are woven into stories of old struggles shared by both the Jewish and African-American communities in the capital city.

Shared histories are explored from a new perspective of cultural parallels and parallel institution-building which brought the two communities together culturally and historically.

Please leave a review, if you can, on the GoodReads page.

Shira Destinie Jones by ShiraDest is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

1 note · View note

tvmoviechristmas · 4 years ago

Photo

Holly & Ivy (Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, 2020)

We could be broke together. Living our dreams.

Starring: Janel Parrish, Marisol Nichols, Jeremy Jordan, Sadie Coleman

Plot Synopsis: A contractor helps a woman renovate a house so she can adopt a sick neighbor's two children. (x)

In My Humble Opinion: Early on in the movie, the female lead goes around to a bunch of libraries hoping to interview for a children’s librarian position. She’s not able to get it because a bunch of the libraries are gong under hiring freezes. One librarian notes that with her Masters in Library Sciences she should be able to get a data management job. And I was like, “Oh! I know about that! My friend, Rachel, who is a real children’s librarian told me about how she learned about that kind of stuff when she offered to help me fix my archive!”

So like any intrepid made-for-TV Christmas movie blogger, I decided to ask my friend, Rachel, a real librarian about Holly & Ivy to see if it handled this fake librarian content well. Thankfully, my real librarian friend had also watched the movie too which made this “interview” possible (I say this very loosely, it was mainly a freewheeling text conversation that I edited for clarity). Questions are italicized. Answers are not.

How many books are in your car?

I don’t have a car.

If you had a car, how many books would be in it?

Going by how many books I have in my apartment that currently do not fit on my bookshelf: 13. No wait, 14.

Hiring freezes are a problem for children’s librarians?

All librarians, since the majority of a library’s budget is through government funding.

Have you made 3-D snowflakes as a librarian?

I make 3-D snowflakes with the kids at the library every year. Seeing that made me feel like a big huge Hallmark stereotype. Also making 3D snowflakes is fun and easy and I recommend it if anyone has scrap paper or construction paper for crafts.

Are the Trixie Belden books really discontinued? I remember reading them as a kid.

According to Wikipedia, they were out of print for a number of years, which does happen to many books even ones which were once considered popular, but the publisher did release some new editions in the early 2000s, but not all of them. So I guess so. [The library I work at] has e-book copies.

Can you quote children’s authors off the top of your head?

I can’t quote children’s authors on command and do not ask me to.

As a librarian, would you date Jeremy Jordan’s character?

Yeah he’s cute, and I got a good dude vibe. He seemed very self-aware.

How do you feel about home improvement projects?

I once lived in a house where the previous owner had done a lot of home DIY themselves which led to a light switch like six feet up because that was where he ran out of wire. I recommend you do it only if you know what you are doing and have the right supplies. I admire those who can.

Overall, did you like the movie?

It was fine but too sad and that ending was very sudden. I knew it couldn’t wrap up before we knew if she was deemed capable of taking care of the kids but to time jump and kind of gloss over the mom’s death was like a choice. The romance was solid but boring.

Any other commentary on the library content?

Libraries are important! Please highlight how they need funding so that qualified passionate people who genuinely care about library services aren’t unemployed because of budget reasons. Defund the police and fund schools and libraries and community programs! That’s what you should take away from this Hallmark Christmas movie.

Thank you for your expertise.

So there you have it. A real librarian’s thoughts on this Hallmark Movies & Mysteries original movie. Because I know that’s what everyone’s top concern is when watching a Hallmark Movies & Mysteries original movie.... the authenticity of the librarian content. You’re welcome. Support your local library!

Watch If: You have elves in your home, if your tree trimming requires choreography or if you have been interested in gingerbread houses since you were six.

Skip If: You don’t have an overwhelming passion for building furniture, if you have no problem borrowing things from strangers or if have burned water.

Final Rating: ★ ★ (★) ☆ ☆

If you like this blog, please consider donating to my Kofi page! You can also donate money to [email protected] through either Venmo or CashApp. Thank you!

#holly and ivy #hallmark movies and mysteries #review #2.5 stars

5 notes · View notes

sinematically · 3 years ago

Text

When I didn’t have the money for books, I’d often pirate if I couldn’t borrow. I’d make a list of all the books I did pirate and rate it on a “buy/no buy” scale.

At the end of a month when my parents eventually caved, I went ahead and brought my favourite book + a new one (most of the time, a sequel to the book I loved). This was because I loved the way a book felt, and assumed pirating books = pirating MCU films. I know better now, and one days I’ll have a better understanding on mathematics to explain it to people.

But until then here’s a few things you can try and do if you usually pirate books -

If you pirate books because you don’t have the money for it, make a note and buy the book when you have the chance. That’s obvious enough. But here’s what you can do to help if you don’t have the chance to buy it.

Make sure to recommend it to as many people as possible. Especially to people have the buying power for it.

My friends who have a job that pays, we buy books. Our few friends who are students? We either send them money for the book, send them the book itself as a present or we lend them out. But it’s our duty as the ones with money to build the library.

If you’re pirating the book because you’re not sure if you’d like it, I 100% get it. I’ve gotten so many shit books, and an endless number of novels I hide rather than admit to owning them (cough 50 Shades trilogy cough)

You can read the sample that comes with googles books or other services to get the feel of the writing and then buy, or borrow it from a library/friend so you can make sure you really like it. Yes pirating is easier but a little effort goes a long way. Hell you can pirate, decide you like it halfway through and go pick it up from a bookstore

Buy it and if you end up not liking it, give it back to a second hand bookstore. The second hand bookstores in my city will take a book for nearly full price if you return it in the same condition you brought it. If there’s some damage of writing, you get less money but overall it gives you a small amount. You either trade for a book (of the same value) or add it to my store credit and get a more expensive book (which is what I do)

Sell it to someone who did like it and wants a physical copy of it! You make your money back and make someone happy

If it’s in really, really good condition - gift it. If the person you’re giving it it will like it, why the hell not? If the pages are a little bendy just place it under a bunch of books so the book cover flattens out again. Sometimes people don’t care if it’s been read, I know I don’t.

If you pirate cause you don’t have space for more books, get a kindle. They’re expensive in some parts of the world (like mine) but it’s worth it. No it doesn’t feel like a real book, but once you’re used to it, it changes your life (in small, but very impactful ways). It saves space significantly, and the books on there are a LOT cheaper. Plus a lot of books are free from kindle’s end (with a few subscriptions there’s even more books), so you can read most classics and a lot of popular books for free. I travel with my kindle everywhere and it keeps me from pulling my hair out due to boredom.

There’s a lot of other things you can do to directly help an author if not monetarily. Reviewing them helps (Google, Amazon, all of those horrible cooperations? Highly rated authors are more likely to be recommended to total strangers). Asking for libraries near you to stock their work helps too.

I’ve been going to my local bookstore since I was 6, and they have this thing where is a certain number of people vote for a novel, it gets put up front as “Peoples Choice” in a month. I started reading Percy Jackson because of it.

I’m sorry this reads like a recipe on the internet with how much garbage I’m telling you about myself but support ur authors pls. Please. Local, global, even if they’re really really rich. Just, buy the book.

(Except for its if JK Rowling. I’m sorry, I loved HP too but nope, not her. She’s got millions, you can go ahead and pirate that shit)

alright for the millionth time I'm seeing yet another author I admire talk about how they literally can barely afford to live & yet there are people openly admitting to pirating their books so, like

i guess it needs to be said again

pirating books is not the same as pirating your favourite Disney movie or whatever. book piracy kills author's incomes and can genuinely ruin someone's career

58K notes · View notes

perspective-series · 6 years ago

Text

A Third Perspective (18)

By: @arc852 and @hiddendreamer67

Warnings: fear, cages, and slight guilt

(Check the reblog for the links to the previous chapters!)

Logan groaned, locking his front door and briefly hitting his head against it. Why did Virgil have to come back now? If it had been any other time, Logan would have been able to explain himself. Patton would probably have helped. But no, Virgil just had to arrive moments before Logan left for class.

Logan tried to convince himself he was doing the right thing. After all, both borrowers wouldn’t fit in his pocket, and Patton had suggested the two should have some time alone.

It felt...wrong to lock the borrowers up like that after seeing their reaction, but what choice did he have? If Logan simply let them have the run of his apartment they’d surely escape. There had even been an attempt before his very eyes.

And Logan couldn’t let them leave. After all, the world was a dangerous place full of humans who would want to do them harm. Logan was only serving as a barrier to such threats.

“Oof!” Logan accidentally ran into one such human. He glared, now having a name to put to a face for his obnoxious upstairs neighbor. “Oh, you again.”

“What’re you doing here?” Roman said incredulously, barely recognizing the student he had bumped into this morning.

“I live here, you dolt.” Logan scoffed, walking past him and out the door.

“Well, you don’t have to be rude about it.” Roman rolled his eyes, heading inside and up the stairs. “Honestly, it was just a simple question…” The mention of questions made Roman remember what awaited him back in his apartment. Though he was a bit uneasy answering all of Virgil’s questions, Roman was prepared to do it. After all, this was the most guaranteed way of gaining Virgil’s trust. Then it would be only a few short steps to finding Patton. Hopefully.

“I’m back!” Roman announced himself to the empty apartment. He walked into the kitchen, not spotting Virgil where he left him. Roman glanced around a bit, wondering where Virgil could have gone. After all, he wasn’t very big.

“Virgil?” Roman called out, walking from room to room. He began to look under the furniture, wondering if perhaps the borrower was hiding.

“Virgil, this isn’t funny.” Roman started searching in more ridiculous spots such as the microwave or his pillowcase, trying to find any trace of his new friend. No luck.

Roman tried not to panic as he called Virgil’s name over and over with no response. He combed the entire apartment twice with no success. Where could the borrower have gone? First Patton, and now-

…

“Hang on a moment,” Roman said, putting the pieces together. Though he was the last one to arrive to the correct conclusion, Roman’s run in downstairs made him finally realize what had happened. That other guy, the one who had run into him twice now, was there right before both Patton and now Virgil went missing. He was the missing link!

Roman dashed down to the fourth floor, knowing this must be where the guy lived. This neighbor was the only one who Roman hadn’t met, after all. The guy was too much of a hermit.

“Open up!” Roman called, banging on the door. There was no response, only for Roman to smack himself on the forehead. Of course, there wasn’t, Roman had just seen the tenant leaving the building.

Instead, Roman pulled a spare bobby pin out of his hair and began jamming it into the lock. “C’mon, this always works in movies!” Roman huffed, twisting it back and forth. A moment later the pin nearly snapped in half, and Roman realized perhaps it would be best to stop before he permanently broke the lock entirely.

“Alright, think.” Roman began to pace in front of the door, trying to think of other ways he could possibly get inside. Preferably something that played up to his talents. Eyes widening, Roman got a brilliant idea. He dashed upstairs to grab a spare set of glasses from a leftover costume. Looking in the mirror, Roman made a strangely convincing lookalike to the nerdy stranger.

Now properly equipped, Roman took the stairs all the way down to the first-floor lobby. Man, all these stairs were getting ridiculous. Why didn’t this building have an elevator?

“Ah, good afternoon miss.” Roman greeted the woman behind the counter, pleased to see it was not someone he recognized. Or more importantly, someone who would recognize him. “I seem to have locked myself out, do you think you could help me? I live on the fourth floor.”

The woman looked up some information on her monitor, turning to him. “You’re Logan Sanders?”

So that’s his name. “Yes,” Roman said with a smile.

“Alright, I can lend you a temporary key for the day.” The woman explained. “I’ll need to see some ID.”

“Wonderful!” Roman handed over his ID before he even fully realized what he was doing. The woman looked between it and him.

“This says your name is Roman Sanders?” She raised an eyebrow. Roman paled.

“Logan’s….my preferred name.” Roman quickly fibbed, grateful that fate had blessed the two of them with the same last name.

“Gotcha.” The woman seemed pleased with this request, typing out some more info. “Alright, I’ll just keep this here, and you get this.” She put Roman’s ID in a cubby, handing over a metal key. Roman sighed in relief, clutching it tightly.

“Thank you, kind soul,” Roman said, quickly dashing back up the stairs.

“Uh, you’re welcome?” Her response was barely heard as Roman hurried along. After all, he had already spent a large amount of time searching for Virgil, and he had no idea when Logan would be back.

Roman turned the key in the lock, peering his head around the door like some sort of secret spy wannabe. Man, Logan was a nerd. There looked to be more books here than at the local library.

“Virgil?” Roman hissed quietly, looking around for any sign of the smaller beings. “Patton?” Roman combed through the living room and kitchen with no success. He paused at the bedroom door, feeling like this was an invasion of privacy. Of course, he had already come this far. And there could be lives at stake!

Roman entered, eyes immediately coming to land on the cage sitting atop the desk.

Virgil had just finished his story when the door suddenly opened. Both borrowers expected Logan and were shocked to see that it was...Roman? With glasses on?

Virgil shook his head, this was not the time to be focusing on that right now. “Roman?” He called out. He was almost happy to see him. At the very least he was better than Logan. Patton, however, had a different opinion about Roman and squeaked in fear as he saw him.

“Virgil! Patton!” Roman cried happily, rushing over. He put an arm on either side of the cage and crouched down to look at eye level with them sympathetically. “You poor things, what happened?”

“Logan’s what happened. Stupid jerk trapped us in here.” Virgil explained, happy to see he had regained his bite in Roman’s presence. Patton glanced at Roman before burying his face into Virgil’s side. Admittedly, he wasn’t very happy to see Roman.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of there.” Roman quickly unlatched the bars, reaching a hand in.

As Patton’s grip grew tighter, Virgil glared at Roman. “Roman! No grabbing!” He said, scooting back a little to put more space between them. Patton tensed. Now he knew how Virgil had felt when he had been buddy with Logan. What was Virgil doing?

“I wasn’t!” Roman’s face flushed, not admitting that he had indeed forgotten about that in his excitement. He put his hand down instead. “See?” Roman insisted.

Virgil rolled his eyes and moved to stand up, but found he couldn’t as Patton was still clutching onto him, holding him down. Virgil’s eyes turned sympathetic. “Pat, it’s okay.” He murmured to his best friend. “He may not be the best, but he’s better than Logan. He actually listens for one thing.” Patton was silent for a moment.

“He never listened to me…” At his words, Virgil felt a fire ignite in him. He knew it. He glanced back to glare at Roman, before turning back to Patton.

“I know, but please Pat, we’ve got to go before Logan comes back.” Patton didn’t move, but when Virgil tried to move him along, he came. Virgil pulled them both onto the hand.

“I’m... sorry.” Roman went to rub a finger along Patton’s side, but halfway there he thought better of it. Instead, he pulled both borrowers out of the cage and against his chest, trying to keep them both equally supported.

“Okay, so- I may not have come here with a complete plan,” Roman admitted, glancing towards the front door. “Any thoughts on how to avoid the whole ‘hide the borrowers while in public’ rule?”

Virgil groaned. “I hate to ask, but do you have any pockets?” While he didn’t like being in a pocket, it was preferred over being out in the open,

“Uuuuh…” Roman looked down at his outfit, which only contained two very tight pockets in his jeans. “No.”

Virgil bit his lip, looking over Roman, but everywhere else he could think of either wouldn’t work, or was too dangerous. “...Fine. Keep us close to your chest and I swear if anyone sees us…” He trailed off, glaring at Roman.

“I can’t be blamed for that!” Roman said indignantly, but he held up his other hand to cover the borrowers and hurried out into the hall.

As they were along for the ride back to Roman’s apartment, Patton couldn’t help but think. Despite Virgil’s story and Logan’s actions and behavior towards the end...there was something in his eyes as he left. Something that made Patton want to hear whatever explanation Logan had. Sure, he was scared, terrified even, of Logan now...But Virgil also had told him that Logan had changed his mind about showing them off to the world. That had to count for something, right?

But Roman...Patton had no good memories with Roman. Virgil seemed fine with him and he did seem to be listening...but what if he was just doing it to get his way? Lying about having changed, to get them to stay forever?

Patton leaned more into Virgil, shaking.

72 notes · View notes

loadingbold312 · 3 years ago

Text

Download Libby App For Mac

Do you want to Download Libby, by OverDrive on PC (Windows & Mac) on PC (Windows & Mac). If it is the case you are on the right path. First you need to read this article in order to understand the requirments to Download Libby, by OverDrive on PC (Windows & Mac). with the latest version of v4.0.2. It is developed by OverDrive, Inc. and is one of the best free Android App in Books & Reference App category. Libby, by OverDrive currently has a rating of 4.4 with 29,809 reviews and 1,000,000+ Total Installs on the play store; it requires a minimum of 5.0 and up Android version for it to function properly. It was last updated on August 18, 2020. All over the world, local libraries offer millions of ebooks and audiobooks. You can borrow them — for free, instantly — with a library card and Libby: the award-winning, much-loved app for libraries.

Download Libby App For Pc

Libby App For Windows

The OverDrive Read app on Mac is actually a web browser supported software program, but it's on this list because it is the officially supported app for borrowing books from public libraries. Although you have to access the OverDrive Read on Mac from a web browser, you can download content for offline reading, listening, or watching. All over the world, local libraries offer millions of ebooks and audiobooks. You can borrow them — for free, instantly — with a library card and Libby: the award-winning, much-loved app for libraries.

• Browse your library’s digital catalog of books — from classics to NYT best-sellers • Borrow and enjoy ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines • Download titles for offline reading, or stream them to save space • Send ebooks to your Kindle (U.S. libraries only) • Listen to audiobooks via Android Auto • Use tags to create your must-read list and any other book lists you want • Keep your reading position automatically synced on all your devices

In our beautiful, intuitive ebook reader: • Adjust text size, background color, and book design • Zoom into magazines and comic books • Define and search for words and phrases • Read and listen to read-alongs with your kids • Add bookmarks, notes, and highlights

In our ground-breaking audio player: • Slow down or speed up the audio (0.6 to 3.0x) • Set a sleep timer • Simply swipe to skip forward and backward • Add bookmarks, notes, and highlights

IOS 9+ (get it from the Apple App Store) Android 5.0+ (get it on Google Play ) If you have a Windows computer, Mac computer, or a Chromebook, you can use Libby in your web browser at libbyapp.com. If the user prefers, it’s possible to use the Kindle app as an alternative. With the help of Libby, it’s possible to download books with one or more library cards, stay signed in for as long as you like, keep track of your reading history in the Activity tab and much more. Mobile users may download the OverDrive app from your device's app store. Visit your device's app store to install, or visit libbyapp.com to access Libby resources directly through your browser. First, register for a Hoopla account on hoopladigital.com. Download adobe lightroom 4 for mac. Mobile users can download the Hoopla app at the bottom of the Hoopla Digital main page.

Libby is built by the team at OverDrive, in support of local libraries everywhere.

Happy reading!

Direct Download Link For Libby, by OverDrive on PC (Windows & Mac)

Download Libby App For Pc

Epson xp 400 driver download for mac. Google Play Store: Download How to Download:BlueStacks For PC

Download and Install Libby, by OverDrive on PC

Download Emulator of your Choice and Install it by following Instructions given:

How to download and install Libby, by OverDrive on PC (Windows / Mac)?

As you have Downloaded and Installed Bluestacks Emulator.

Now, After the installation, configure it and add your Google account.

Once everything is done, just open the Market(Play Store) and Search for the Amazon Silk Browser.

Tap the first result and tap install.

Once the installation is over, Tap the App icon in Menu to start playing.

That’s all Enjoy!

That’s it! For Libby, by OverDrive on PC (Windows & Mac) Stay tuned on Download Apps For PC for more updates & if you face any issues please report it to us in the comments below.

Conclusion

Libby App For Windows

That’s it guys For the Libby, by OverDrive For PC , hopefully, you’ve enjoyed this tutorial and find it useful. For more cool and fun games and apps like Libby, by OverDrive please follow our blog.

0 notes

ikimranblog-blog · 4 years ago

Text

Tips for setting up a home office during COVID -19 Pandemic

Create a personal space in the middle of your little home – spouse, children and pets.

Some people are working from home for the first time. Many more have children to keep busy or to attend school. A spouse who works from home; as well as pets who are (or not) happy to see them at home all day. Finally, people who live alone may feel isolated.

So how do we come with all of this and put together a home office to get through this tough time?

Here are few tips to follow them you will have nice work environment in your home.

First, give yourself some flexibility

If you're not as productive as usual, don't be surprised, especially during your first two weeks of telecommuting. As you set up your home office or try to get your family used to a new schedule.

Prioritize your work and set realistic goals for your finance. If you can continue the work you were doing before the social distancing period, that's great.

Otherwise, you can work on other task such as strategic planning and human resources planning, drafting or updating protocols, the procedures, Training and practical guides.

Second, create a productive space for yourself

If you don't often work from home, your home workstation might not be as comfortable as your workstation. After two weeks of full-time telecommuting, you might start to experience back pain or neck pain, as well as increased eye strain.

Since it is not possible to borrow office supplies, here are some steps you can take to make your facility more comfortable.

Create a private space

If there is a door in the room where you work, close it to let others know that you are working. If there is no door, get creative. Use a room divider or low bookcase to separate your work area from the rest of the house. The library can also be used to store your office supplies. You can also DIY a sign to let everyone know you are working (eg, "Please silence" or "I'm on a video call").

Find the right lighting

Use general lighting and localized (or supplemental) lighting. Even if there is a window, supplemental lighting is important when the weather is overcast or if you have to work late. Place the assist lamp behind your screen or computer to reduce contrast.

DIY a work surface

If you don't have a desk, you could lay a panel or a door on two bedside tables or two filing cabinets.

Sit comfortably

If you don't have a proper office chair, use a chair with a back that will help you maintain good posture. If you need lumbar support but don't have a lumbar pad, use a rolled-up towel. You could even secure it with a tie or sling you no longer wear. Sit relaxed with your thighs parallel to the floor and your feet flat on the floor. If your feet aren't touching the floor, put them on a footrest, box, or stack of old college books.

Move

It is important to get up, move and stretch for a few minutes every hour. Periodically stare at distant objects.

Focus on the organization

For efficiency, keep all your work in one place - your office. It will also allow you to better separate your professional and personal life. Establish a fixed work schedule, which you will try to respect as much as possible. It's easy to keep working when you're at home and don't have to take the bus or drive the kids to their music lessons.

Third, take care of your mental health

Get enough sleep (on average, between 7.5 and 9 hours). Remember to schedule physical activity sessions into your schedule - going for a 20-30 minute walk outside (while respecting social distancing guidelines) is a great way to oxygenate your lungs and brain. .

Loneliness weighs heavily on many people, especially those who live alone. Consider making a daily call to a coworker or friend, or connect with coworkers using tools in the Office 365 suite, RNParle, or other messaging or video tools.

#officechair #chair #covidー19 #bestchair

0 notes

elsewhereuniversity · 8 years ago

Text

Library Services at Elsewhere University: A Guide and Compendium

(Crossposted to A03)

Part One: Student Services

Welcome to the Elsewhere University Library. This guide endeavours to provide students with a general outline of library services, facilities, and safety precautions. More comprehensive help, including study guides for planning your research, finding books and journal articles, evaluating and citing sources, and safely navigating the library both with and without a map, compass, or bread crumb trail can be found online on the library’s website, in print at the first floor reference desk, and translated into Norse runes and carved into the foundation of the condemned building in the west quadrant of the campus.

Instructors wishing to book a tour and orientation for incoming classes can make arrangements directly with the subject librarian assigned to their department. Basic research skills and bibliographic instruction for classes is a core services provided to all faculty. Advanced research support may be obtained with proof of approved interdepartmental charge. Payment will be extracted at the campus health centre, or during one of the library’s monthly fundraising blood drives. A pound of flesh is no longer accepted in payment, as the exchange rate is currently exorbitant. Requests from the biology department will be assessed on a case by case basis until the overdue accounts resulting from the escaped blood scandal last fall are resolved.

Borrowing privileges for undergraduates and non-academic staff include a semester-long loan period with no renewals, and a maximum of three interlibrary loans per course per year. The length of the semester is determined by time passing within the registrar’s office, and no exceptions will be made for the west quadrant of the campus, philosophy majors, or those born on a Tuesday. Library staff, and RAs and custodial staff assigned to Brigadoon Hall are eligible for an exemption, however. Please ensure that circulation staff are advised of your status upon yearly renewal of your library card, and keep in mind that time passes differently within the library.

Graduate students and faculty are eligible for a year-long loan period, and unlimited interlibrary loans. Additional charges for interlibrary loan material may be passed on to the borrower. Library staff will do their best to ensure that you are aware of the procedures and policies of the lending institute, however, can take no responsibility for additional fees and fines accrued. Arrangements for payment must be made directly with the lending institute. We do not have the liability insurance required to send your first-born, existential sense of dread, or the memory of the colour of next spring’s tulips via interoffice mail or interagency courier. Please note that while all graduate theses are archived in the library collection, borrowing privileges for theses that have not yet been written are limited to faculty only.

Overdue fines may be waived at the discretion of the library staff for just cause. Fees for lost items must be paid by the end of the semester or late charges will continue to accrue. Nonpayment of fees and fines may result in withholding of your final transcript, degree, sense of smell, or sense of self. Barter for tangible, nonmonetary items will not be accepted as payment, with the exception of plastic beads. Intangible items may be accepted on a case by case basis. Baked goods are always appreciated, but will have no effect on the balance of your account. (Donations of plastic beads will be accepted at the circulation desk, and will be donated to the library’s current community support program, who is welcome to join us in the library foyer, coffee shop, and first floor classroom space, but we would appreciate it if it refrains from attempting to use the elevators to reach the rooftop garden.)

Most items in the library’s collections can be located using the online catalogue, available through the library website and on workstations at various points throughout the library. Some items are only noted in the physical card catalogue, which can be found in the second sub-basement. It is not advisable to use the card catalogue without first completing an advanced research methods class, and the related safety certification and training.

The first floor houses circulation and reference services, classroom space, and current periodicals. Current is a relative term. The most recent issue does not circulate. Recent is a relative term. No exceptions are made for issues with a future date, or periodicals where the most recent issue predates the founding of the university. The photocopiers will accept coins in any denomination, currency, from any era or locale. Change returned to you will be in local currency based on this month’s exchange rate as posted at the circulation desk.

Group study rooms may be booked via the circulation desk. Please show up promptly for your scheduled time, and respect others by vacating the premises in a timely fashion if another group is booked into the timeslot immediately adjacent to your own. In the event of time slips or other distortions, priority can be determined by binding arbitration in the court of the King of the Cats, ranking in the school’s annual competitive macramé tournament, or if all involved parties have appropriate appendages and digits, via rock-paper-scissors. It is advisable to collect all personal belongings and count off to ensure that you are not leaving the study rooms with any additional members to the group. If you are short a member, please check at the lost and found as you leave the library. Missing posters may be left at the circulation desk, and will be shared with the weekly search parties before they enter the stacks. In the light of recent events, it is also recommended that all study group users account for their shadows when entering and leaving the room.

Reference and research help can be obtained during regular library open hours at the first-floor reference desk, in the learning commons on the second floor, and under the waxing moon, in the rooftop courtyard garden that is not accessible by elevator or by stairs. Please note that just because reference librarians know how to find just about anything, it is not always wise to ask them to do so.

The second-floor learning commons is comprised of group study space, the computer lab, and the academic writing centre. The writing centre offers drop-in help during the fall and winter semesters, and by appointment year-round. They are happy to provide you with the current list of verboten phrases and recommended alternatives that is assembled and updated yearly by the students’ union. They are happy to assist you up to three times with the same assignment or essay. They are happy to explain the best way to cite your sources. They are not happy to review papers and assignments that do not cite their sources and do, in fact, claim other sources as their own words. They call this plagiarism, as does the rest of the academic community on and off campus. Theft of words is a serious offense, and all staff and faculty are honour bound to bring it to the attention of the Dean’s office and to library management. We do not advise that undergraduates attract the attention of library management.

The computer lab is for research and accessing digital resources. Don’t look too closely at the patterns in the floor tiles in that room. You’ll just give yourself a headache, and may forget why you came and when your next assignment is due, and possibly what courses you’re taking this semester as well as your middle name and the number of your dorm room. The subscriptions to the online databases does not come without a cost.

The second floor is reinforced for earthquakes, and for the load weight of the microfilm and microfiche archives. Microfilm is a surprisingly stable archival format, and can be viewed using the microfilm readers by the elevator, the scanner in the second-floor computer lab, or for those with access to the rooftop garden, a drop of water to magnify, a sunbeam as a light source, and a patch of bare earth to capture the image. You will notice that the space taken up by the microfiche archives appears quite small for the structural reinforcement undertaken several decades ago. Chemistry, earth sciences, computing sciences, and mechanical sciences and engineering collections are on the second floor, and those are definitely not iron bound shelves.

The library vending machines, on the first and third floors, are the only ones on campus that never dispense teeth, although any time but finals week, you run the risk of getting a fortune cookie and a cup of strong black tea, no matter what you’ve selected. Pay close attention to the fortune in your cookie. There is an exception for finals week, when it’s nothing but metal washers, and green tea and sugar cookies shaped into tiny, intricate stars. Do not arrange your star cookies into constellations. It is worth noting that the only other thing that the library vending machines will dispense with a ninety percent success rate is instant ramen.

Humanities, fine arts, health science, biological and social sciences collections are all housed on standard steel shelving, floors three to six. The language and literature collections are known to be the most unpredictable areas in regards to the passage of time. Plan accordingly. Study space is available on the third, fifth, and seventh floors. Additional silent study can be found in the first and second sub-basements.

Do not expect to come back to the same season that you left if you choose to study on the seventh floor. The seventh floor is one of the few parts of the library where the collection is housed on wooden shelving. Massively sturdy banks of shelves stretch out in meandering aisles, marked by sunlight and dappled shade. The classification system is different on the seventh floor. So is the alphabet used for the spine labels. If you have bargained, traded, or borrowed for the call number of a book on this floor, write it on a scrap of paper under a waning moon. Do not write it on your hand, arm, or other body part you wish to retain. Bring the paper with you, but be prepared for it to vanish when you step out of the stairwell. (The elevator doesn’t stop at the seventh floor.) Don’t worry, though, an unerring sense of certainty will lead you to the book you seek. Take only one volume at a time. Don’t stray from the path. Carry your iron, your salt, and your rowan twigs. If you are lucky, you will return with at least two out of three. It doesn’t hurt to bring a scone from the first-floor coffee shop, either. Please note, all beverages should be contained in a cup or bottle with a lid or cap. It’s not that it’s unsafe, you understand, but it is a library, after all.

The eighth floor is staff offices and storage. Not office and processing supplies, which are on the first floor with circulation and reference services. Not archives, which are held off-site. Far off-site. Don’t ask what’s stored on the eighth floor. That is not for you to know. Only the librarians.

The rare books are held in special collections on the uppermost ninth floor. A multiple of three is the safest place for it, and the materials therein do better with sky on three sides. This is the part of the library where you are most likely to turn a corner and find yourself on another campus, in another… country. Let’s call it that. Please note, most likely, but not exclusively. Always take the north elevator to the ninth floor.

The first sub-basement is reference and course reserves. The best study carrels are down here. In fact, there are a lot of study carrels down here. More than you’d think. More than it seems there should be room for. Don’t think about it. Just enjoy the fact that you can always find a quiet study space with an outlet.

The study areas in sub-basements one and two are reserved for quiet study. We ask you to respect the sanctity of the designated quiet areas. (If you are whispering to your neighbour, pick up that call on your cell phone, or just singing along to the music in your headphones under your breath, you will feel a cold hand on the back of your neck, and turn to find yourself face to face with a reproachful look from one of the night shift student pages.

Some of your friends may have worked the day shift. Shelving in the university library on the day shift requires a combination of attention to detail, and the judgement to know when to when to bring a situation to the attention of the library staff, and when it is best to look away and hope the vending machine gives you iron washers on your next coffee break. Applications for pages may be submitted at the circulation desk, and will be kept on file for six to eight months. In most cases, wages will be processed through university payroll, though some exceptions will be made on a case by case basis.

There isn’t a lot of turnover on the night shift, although every semester you will notice one or two new faces. The fashion sense of the night shift pages is always at least a little bit out date, and tends towards vintage. Many of them have been shelving in the library for a long, long, time, and their accuracy and speed is unparalleled.

You will get used to the noiseless ringing in your ears in the study areas in the second sub-basement. We advise ascending and descending the stairs between the first and second levels slowly, to allow yourself time to acclimatize.

It’s best to go in with the call number of the book you need written on the back of your hand in mirror writing if it’s in storage in the second sub-basement. Use a green pen. Take the stairs to get there. Knock three times before you open the door, take three steps forward, close your eyes, and say the title of the book three times with your hand outstretched. When the book is placed in your hand, you must say, I have found what I am searching. For the love of all you hold dear, do not say thank you. You can open your eyes now, but turn to the left and take the elevator back up instead of the stairs. Don’t look behind you, no matter who you hear, and what you think you feel breathing on the back of your neck.

The third sub-basement is a staff-only area. Bibliographic services is in the third sub-basement. Do not disturb the cataloguers.

Please note that librarians comprise a relatively small proportion of the library staff. Named staff include support staff, student pages, and paraprofessional staff. They will be identified by both title and name of choice on their library-issued name tags. As with all university nametags, pronouns can be found in the lower right corner. If you wish, you may refer to library techs and other paraprofessional staff by title instead of name as a matter of professional courtesy.

Librarians are to be referred to by their respective job titles, which can be found on their library-issued name tag, business card, office door, and though you will never see it, recorded in the arcane scrolls of HR upon the point of surrender of their name. A current listing of assigned subject specialist liaison librarians for each department can be found posted on the library website, at the reference desk, and inside the rings of the oldest oak tree in the rooftop courtyard.

We appreciate your consideration, and look forward to seeing you in the library throughout your academic career.

(Part Two: Staff Manual, forthcoming)

(Part Three: Graduate Studies in Library And Information Sciences, forthcoming)

[x]

#daemonluna #stories #newsletters #i literally cannot pick a favorite part #i love every single line of this without exception #it is all canon #and perfect #the library #the librarians #submission

208 notes · View notes

siobhan-the-phenomenon · 6 years ago

Text

Little ways to save the planet

Okay so as many of you probably know, we do only have around 12 years to reverse the effects of climate change, so I’ve been scouring the internet looking for little things that we can all do to help. I don’t know how many are going to be on this list, and I will add to this if I find any more tips and ideas, but please share this so that people know what they can do to reverse the effects of climate change.

1) Instead of turning on your heating, put on extra layers of clothing to save power.

2) If you do use your heating, do so in a properly insulated home, as this will lessen the amount of heating lost to walls and windows, and possibly save you money long term.

3) Buy your clothes from charity shops, and donate your old clothes to them. Trust me, you can find really nice stuff in charity shops, and it helps to end throwaway culture.

4) If you’re an avid reader like me, borrow books from the library, rather than buy from a shop, and see if the library will accept your old books, to save on paper and printing.

5) Try and find other ways to get to work or school, like walking, cycling, public transport, or car share with your colleagues/friends.

6) While it may be annoying sometimes, driving slower will make your fuel last longer.

7) Paint your walls a lighter colour. You’re probably thinking, how will that help? But it will make your room seem lighter, and reduce the amount of artificial light you use.

8) Buy things that you need from environmentally conscious companies. They will make the effort to reduce packaging and chemical use in their products. Try and boycott companies that aren’t environmentally conscious, unless essential.

9) Like using makeup? Try and use natural cosmetics, rather than those that are heavy set with chemicals. It will also be better for your skin too.

10) Try and avoid taking holidays abroad. You can have just as much fun in your home country, and it will save on the power used by ferries and planes.

11) Try and have short showers instead of baths. You will save on water and you can clean yourself just as well in a fraction of the time,

12) I know it’s tempting, but if you need to shop, avoid shopping online. Going to the shops in person will save loads on transportation and packaging. We can all do a little bit to save the planet, and the high street.

13) Eat food with less packaging. Also, check if the packaging on food is recyclable. Locally grown produce is a better option.

14) To all the budding artists out there. Donate your leftover paint. It will reduce toxic waste ending up in landfills or the water supply.

15) Bring your own mug. Don’t be tempted to use the little plastic cups by the water machine at work. In coffee shops they may also offer a small discount if you bring your own reuseable cup.

16) Use a washing line to dry your clothes instead of a dryer. Might as well use the power of the conveniently placed giant star right next to us.

17) Buy second hand. It is just as good as buying brand new and can help support small businesses and charities.

18) Similar to the above, buy handmade goods. They require a fraction of the resources and power to make, and they come up with really nice stuff. Check if there is a makers market or something similar near you.

19) Avoid using balloons. If they float off they may end up in the water supply or just littering the streets.

20) Birthdays coming up? Wrap presents in fabric instead of paper, as it can be reused in the future.

21) Try going vegetarian or vegan. Even having one veggie day a week can make a difference, saving on water and reducing the amount of methane that cattle produce.

22) Buy fruit or vegetables that are in season, to lower transportation costs. These foods are also often grown in unnatural conditions, which isn’t good for the planet.

23) Periods? We all know they suck, so if you get them, opt for using menstural cups, rather than pads or tampons. They may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but they can be reused, and will save you money if you’re struggling to afford period products.

These are some of the points that I thought would make a difference, but there are many things that you can do to help save the planet, and it doesn’t require that much work either. I’ll put my sources down so that you can look at the other tips that I didn’t include on this list. We can all do our bit, so please reblog, and feel free to contribute your own ideas to the post, as climate change affects everyone, and we must all do our bit to save the planet while we can.

Sources: https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/2002/aug/22/worldsummit2002.earth21, https://www.50waystohelp.com, https://www.greenmatch.co.uk/70-ways-to-save-the-earth, https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/save-earth-top-ten.htm

Because I feel like I need to put this disclaimer, I am not responsible for any of the content of these websites.

#climate change #save the planet #12 years #global warming #we love the earth #reduce #reuse #recycle #charity #environment

0 notes