leahlibrarian - Tumblr blog

[leahlibrarian]

A state senator in the district where I work has co-sponsored a bill requiring public libraries in my state to automatically provide a list of all materials checked out by patrons age 16 and under to their parents within 24 hours of checkout. Hopefully the bill dies in committee. Barring that, I hope our governor vetoes it as soon as it reaches his desk.

I cannot even begin to tell you how asinine this bill is. How dangerous this bill is.

"But parents have a right to know what their kids are checking out of the library."

Sure, maybe you do. I don't give a fuck about your rights as a parent. The issue is whether I, as a public librarian, who follows a professional code of ethics, is under any obligation to provide that information to you. Your rights as a parent are not my concern. I don't answer to you. Your children aren't some half-witted partial-people -- they're either patrons or they aren't. And if they are, they have a right to privacy in the public library.

I'm not your ally in conducting surveillance over your child. It's not my job to make it easier for you to gather intel about your kids. That's called parenting, dude.

A child who knows their parent will be emailed a list of the materials they check out is not experiencing free, unfettered access to information. Full stop. Please pause for a moment and consider the dire consequences of this requirement.

If you want to bring your child to the library and monitor their checkouts, I won't get in your way. But, between you and me, the best thing you can do for your child is to bring them to the library and let them discover it on their own. Get out of their way. Let them browse and investigate and check out a million books and read only one of them twelve times in a row. Let them roam the shelves like they are starving and the books are food.

Stop telling them which books to read or not read. Stop sneering when they select a book from the shelf and deem it "too easy" for them, or "too difficult." If your kid is enthusiastic about an author or a series or a topic, rejoice! Enthusiastic people are the best people!

Let your toddlers pull a dozen books off the shelf -- don't worry, we pay people to put them back. Let them wander with reckless abandon. Let them make noise. We made this space for them. It's theirs. Nothing in the library can hurt them except your undeserved sense of self-importance and your prejudices. We made this space for them. Please get out of the way and let them discover it.

[leahlibrarian]

I kinda love books that are just good. They aren’t gonna change my life. They won’t affect how I think or see the world. I won’t stay awake running the words through my head over and over again. I probably won’t remember the main characters’ names. There’s a good chance I’ll forget I even read it at some point. But it was still good. It made me smile or laugh or cry or just feel content in the moment. Not every book needs to be a ground-breaker. Not every book needs to alter your brain chemistry. Not every book needs to be the best book you’ve ever read. Sometimes you read a book, and it’s just good. And that’s enough. That’s all you need

[leahlibrarian]

theres this thing i encounter a lot as a textile artist, where I'll be giving a gift/showing my latest project and people immediately decide that they will never make something like that. that maybe i figured it out but there's a limited # of people who can learn how to crochet and they just didn't make the cut. and it's kinda pissing me off. a lot of these trades are starting to fade away (death of older artists, industrialization, etc etc) and it upsets me that some people are willing to let their opportunity to make things they want to make go just because they don't know how yet. i taught myself embroidery from youtube and Pinterest. i taught myself how to sew and draft patterns and tailor. i taught myself how to follow crochet tutorials on youtube and eventually how to read the books. I'm not some blessed prophet of the gods sent with natural skills to create. (hell I'd even say im a beginner at most of the things i do, but we're getting there) and trust me there are PILES of scrap fabric and projects from when i didn't quite know what i was doing and just. fucking tried anyways. moral is. if you want to make something i swear to god you can figure it out. youtube is your best friend. books. google. people around you, people you know. just don't give up before you've even started

[leahlibrarian]

OK JUST REALIZED I NEVER SHARED the red-wing blackbird inspired Wing Shawl I crocheted over the summer 😌

It’s SO heavy and warm, it’s only just starting to get cold enough for me to wear it out.

[leahlibrarian]

Excuse me, that's my emotional support unfinished knitting project. Yes, that is also my emotional support unfinished knitting project. Yes, that over there is also my emotional support unfinished knitting project. Yes, that one is also...

[leahlibrarian]

James Owens (British, b. 1995)

Untitled, 2022

Oil and acrylic on canvas  

[leahlibrarian]

[leahlibrarian]

Nobody talks about how hobbies like crochet and knitting have suspense, anxiety, and gambling involved and it’s all thanks to a self inflicted game called yarn chicken

[leahlibrarian]

She is the poem - June Bates

[leahlibrarian]

Swallocky ~ Jane Madgwick

[leahlibrarian]

Lost horizon, Martyn Cross

[leahlibrarian]

Celeste Roberge - Veiled Cairn

[leahlibrarian]

James Owens (British, b. 1995)

Untitled, 2022

Oil and acrylic on canvas  

[leahlibrarian]

To see the soul is not effortless nor painless

It is hard work

It is to see a glimpse of God

How wonderful, then!

To know the soul so deeply you can disregard the body

To live truthfully and live well

That I may transform the body 

To celebrate the soul

[leahlibrarian]

Andrea Zanatelli

[leahlibrarian]

Someday, I want to buy an old house. And keep all the pretty old things, but then also fill it with all of my cozy, colorful, semi maximalist things. So that way I can invite the ghosts to take off their shoes, corsets, whatever and relax with me.

[leahlibrarian]

I really want a Sense and Sensibility adaption where the characters look their ages. Their ages are such INTEGRAL parts of their characters.

Elinor looking like she's in her late twenties completely removes the context of the responsibility she takes on. This is not someone who has seen a lot of life and is the one sensible adult in the room. This is a girl who is the age of a college freshman who regularly has to exercise more practicality and sensibility than her middle aged mother. This girl is nineteen, and she takes on navigating heartbreak and dealing with a much reduced income and supporting her sister and putting on a dignified face for society all at once, only like a year after her dad dies.

Marianne being sixteen is important to her character! She's not a twenty something who is perseveringly vivacious and energetic, she's a dumbass teenager who is loud and sensitive with her feelings and has ridiculously romantic opinions because she's too young to know any better. Marianne is like those young high school girls always posting about their boyfriends and making fun of slightly older people and then being completely knocked out of the park by heartbreak. Her age justifies much of her character - she is affectionate and loyal, but she also has silly opinions like thinking anyone who doesn't wear their heart on their sleeve doesn't have a heart at all. And that is okay, because she is sixteen and she will grow and learn.