After the judge dismissed Wallace, she turned to Heckel, who sat flanked by JCPS attorneys.

“I just want to say I’m so sorry you have to deal with this,” Leibson told Heckel. “I admire your courage. … I wish you had been my librarian when I was a kid.”

Heckel, a 22-year employee of JCPS, declined to be interviewed for this story. She did, however, offer a brief statement before the hearing.

“Books are mirrors and windows,” she told LPM News. “And any reader deserves the right to choose to see themself in what they read.”

Lightning Ridge, Australia. By me by tsalev

I really appreciate the graphic that shows the number of book bans by state.

i know we're all sick of self-care being a marketing tactic now, but i don't think a lot of us have any other concept of self-care beyond what companies have tried to sell us, so i thought i'd share my favorite self-care hand out

brought to you by how mad i just got at a Target ad

What To Do When The Service Desk is Empty: A Helpful Quiz

My dear library patrons,

I have noticed that many of you are filled with trepidation about ringing the bell beside the sign that says “ring bell for service.” I understand, it feels weird and maybe kinda rude to get attention with a bell like a nineteenth-century Englishman summoning a butler to appear out of the shadows who then murmurs “Very good, sir” when directed to replace Aunt Araminta’s decor with slightly smaller versions in the hopes that she will feel uncomfortable yet be unable to understand why and finally leave your house where she has been vacationing for six long weeks.

To that end, I have prepared this helpful quiz so you can determine whether pressing that button is really warranted!

1) Can you see someone behind the service desk? IF YES > talk to them. Say “hi” or “excuse me” if they haven’t noticed your presence IF NO > go to next question

2) Is there a sign that says something to the effect of “create a noise and someone will assist you”? IF YES > make noise as directed IF NO > look around for someone who looks like they know what’s going on. Ask people nearby if they know what’s going on. IF YES BUT MAKING THE NOISE INTIMIDATES YOU > go to next question

3) Will understanding the purpose of the noise make you feel better? IF YES > the reason you have been directed to make that specific noise is because the employees understand that for varied reasons, they cannot pay full attention to that desk right now. To make sure you are not standing around awkwardly wishing you weren’t standing around getting annoyed, they have developed a tool to alert an employee when you need help. Like a bell. If they hear the bell, they will think, “ah, I need to go to that desk.”. They are not paying attention to people standing in front of the desk otherwise. They might not even see you. They want you to make the noise if you need assistance. It is not rude. IF NO > sometimes we have to do things that we don’t like, sorry. Please rest assured that I assume, upon hearing the bell, that someone wants to check out dry-erase markers and do not associate you with Lady Featherstonehaugh’s haughty command for the maids to clean up the disappointing afternoon tea because she found the scones too crumbly.

BONUS) Were you standing around because you somehow missed the sign that says “ring bell” and now you feel kinda silly? YES I FEEL SILLY > one time I walked around a small square store smaller than a Taco Bell, which had advertised a shawarma place inside, couldn’t see food anywhere and asked at the front counter, only to be pointed to the back left corner that I had directly faced at least twice as I walked the aisles looking for food. There was a counter and a big menu on the wall. I came within 10 feet of it. I did not see it. It was not hidden. I died inside, but more importantly, I bought shawarma and it was delicious and now I know for next time. 

NO I DO NOT FEEL SILLY BECAUSE I KNOW THAT TO ERR IS HUMAN AND THIS IS A PRETTY MINOR THING PLUS I WILL KNOW TO LOOK FOR A SIGN NEXT TIME I AM IN A SIMILAR SITUATION > good job

Love this challenge.

So, should I go treat myself or see how long I can keep the challenge going?

This program is still running today. For some reason the prison website is slow to load today but the Internet Archive crawled it on 19 December 2022. Real Men Crochet - filed under Unique Programs (scroll to the bottom of the page).

Inmates at an Ohio prison crochet items for charities.

Courtesy Debra Field, 2012 (madamestitch.com).

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Combating the rain today with some colour!

One of my favourite books & favourite TV series. When screen adaptations go right.

Making It Weirder - David Tennant at C2E2 discussing Good Omens

I think Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett… they have a very unique writing voice.  I think that’s why they’re so beloved and that’s why they have such huge fan bases.  I think if anyone else had tried to adapt Good Omens for the screen they would have made it normal.  They’d have sort of knocked off the bananas edges.  It would just have made sense to make it more linear and to reduce the number of characters and to take some of the weirder stuff out, because it’s hard to film. And Neil being Neil just went, “No we’re doing all of that, exactly as it is, and do you know what?  We’re going to make it weirder”   

Librarians of Nightvale

2 Librarians, I like to think they all have their own unique designs and ways of attacking book lovers ^_^

No one forces you to read a book sitting on a shelf. Fight book banning.

I live in Idaho, and our libraries are facing threats of book banning and harassment here as well. What's the most effective ways for the common person to support our libraries and push back against the fearmongerers trying to pull books from our shelves?

Join school boards. Join library boards. Be the voice of reason.

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Me entering any museum: man I’m so excited to learn all the things

Also me: GIFT SHOP GIFT SHOP GIFT SHOP

Interpreting emails from students

“I can’t find articles for my topic and need help” normal approach to conversation, proceed.

“The library doesn’t have appropriate resources I need for my topic” warning warning person is pissed and must be handled with care especially because there is a greater than 50% chance that they just don’t know how to actually use the library.