Work Marches On

I've been off work for an entire, glorious week thanks to the annual visit from the Super Librarian Parental Units.  However that has not kept me from checking on my work e-mail sporadically - because I am obviously insane.  One nice thing that rolled in?  Our programs coordinator e-mailed me the poster for the romance panel (which yes, I am moderating....again) that will be used during our annual literary event.  We have a local art institute design all of the artwork for us, and this is what they came up with for romance.  I'd have to go back and look at my older posters, but I think this is the first time ever that the romance panel has featured artwork with a couple on it.  No, really.  Heart themed artwork has been the most prevalent, although to date my favorite poster featured ribbon-lettering, an open book and a rose.

This one feels nicely modern to me.  The couple looks young-ish and the colors pop.  Honestly it kind looks like one of those "New Adult Lit" books that are currently all the rage.

This year our panel features Jill Sorenson, Jillian Stone and Anna Randol.  I'm really excited about this panel, and really looking forward to talking to all of these women about their work.  It should be fascinating and loads of fun.

If you're in the southern California area, Literary Orange will be held at the Irvine Marriott on Saturday, April 6.  It's an all-day event that features various author panels, along with keynote speakers and there will be a bookseller on site.  This year our keynotes are general fiction author, Tatjana Soli and mystery/suspense bestselling mainstay, J.A. Jance.  The cost for the day is $60, and includes continental breakfast and lunch.  Registration is capped at 500 attendees.  You can register for the event, or just learn more about it on our website.

Bat Cave Shenanigans For 2013

It's been a while since I've done a State Of The Bat Cave Address, and 2013 is shaping up to be a busy year for yours truly.  Here's a few of the things that will be occupying my life over the next 12 months:

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I was, once again, roped into helping with my library's annual literary event.  After five years of labor on the endeavor, I begged off in 2012 mostly because I really, really needed a break.  This turned out to be smart move on my part, since at the time of the begging off I had no idea I was about to be transferred.  I basically had to learn how to do my job again.  Same job, but more responsibilities = Wendy has to figure out how she's going to squeeze it all in without doing Jello shots at the reference desk.  It took me a good three months to stop driving myself crazy, and it took me a full twelve months to feel comfortably "in a groove." I have to be honest though, even my "groove" is a day-to-day thing.

However when planning began for 2013's event, I was once again roped in - which basically meant planning the romance panel.  Oh, and moderating said panel.  Which means, oh yeah I actually need to do "homework reading" and stuff.  The authors that will be featured on "my" romance panel this year are none other than Jill Sorenson, Anna Randol and Jillian Stone.  I think this is going to be a fabulous panel, and you can expect reviews for books by these authors in the coming months.  And hey - if you live in southern California, why not consider attending our event? The all-day affair will be Saturday, April 6 and costs $60.  Books will be sold separately on site, but cost does include a continental breakfast and lunch.

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RWA hasn't opened registration yet, but I'll be attending the conference in Atlanta this summer.  It's also looking like I'll be speaking at Librarians Day again this year - because everybody just loves to hear me blather on about various nonsense apparently.  Details are still be ironed out, but it looks like I'll be on a panel to discuss library programming and the romance genre - uh, see the above paragraphs to figure out what I'll be bringing to the table......

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In more RWA news, the Orange County chapter is reviving their Book Buyers Best contest for 2013.  This is a published authors contest, and I have been a first round judge in previous years - reading mostly category romance, historical romance and a smattering of romantic suspense.  This year, because obviously they have lost their collective minds, they asked me to be the "Top Pick Judge."  What does this mean?  Basically I read the finalists, the highest vote receivers, in each of the ten categories.  Then it's my job to pick the overall winner, or the Top Pick. 

My reading load will be hefty, but I'm really looking forward to it.  I tend to approach contest judging a little differently from reviewing.  These days my personal taste comes into reviewing books here at my blog.  If I'm burnt-out on BDSM, I'm going to say so in one of my reviews.  However even I can recognize when a BDSM plot is "done well" - and acknowledge whether or not a story is "done well" for a particular sub genre.  A lot of it boils down to execution, story construction etc.  I always tell people that it's a rare book that I loathe soooooo much that I would refuse to recommend it to anybody.  Dude, stick around books and reading long enough (especially fiction) and you quickly realize there's an audience for everything - no matter how warped you might think it is.

Look for me to talk about my judging experience, and hopefully the books I'll be reading, later in the year.  I'll likely resort to constructing some sort of "wrap up" post to go live well after OCCRWA makes their official announcement(s).

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The final task I would love to accomplish this year is to tackle my Mammoth TBR Pile From Hell.  This is going to take some work however, mostly in the form of pulling books, reading several pages, and then deciding whether it should stay or go.  I have no clue how I'm going to carve out time for this, when I'm going to have to spend a good chunk of this year reading books (yeah, see all the above paragraphs).  What it might boil down to is randomly pulling a few books every week and setting a deadline (Dear Wendy: look at these by date X).  This might turn out to be one of those best-laid-plans-of-mice-and-men dealies, but seriously, my TBR is beyond ridiculous.  My collection of category romance alone is enough to crush a small child in the event of a modest earthquake......

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So, what are your plans for 2013?  Anyone have any resolutions (reading or otherwise) they're working on?  Travel?  Fun?  More work?

Anatomy Of A Library Romance Collection

It's been one of those weeks.  You know, where you might look all calm and collected on the outside, going through your life, but on the inside there is a crazed shrieking woman living in your skull?

Anyone?  Anyone?  Seriously, this can't just happen to me.

So yeah, one of those weeks.  I'm chalking it all up to working too many days in a row, being tired, and feeling mopey for no other reason than I'm a woman and dagnabit-all we get mopey every once in a while.  Just learn to live with it cupcake.  However, I did get some good news at work this week and my boss is pleased with me (at the moment) - so I thought we'd talk about The Time Wendy Relocated The Romance Paperback Collection.

Not my library, but you get the idea

The library where I was transferred to late last year used to have all the romance paperbacks in spinner racks.  For the record, I loathe spinner racks.  Also, for the record, I hate it when a library breaks out their shelves by genre.  One, I think it marginalizes your collection(s).  Sort of like putting your genres in a "shelving ghetto."  Also, I'll be honest, I feel the library is the last place on Earth where someone should be, or feel the need to be, "in a hurry."  A library should be a sanctuary.  A place to browse.  A place to wander.  A place to spend some time.  Plus I just like living in a world where you can find Nora Roberts sitting on the shelves a few notches up from Philip Roth.

But, I'm wacky like that.

Well, during a spat of remodeling, my library chucked all the spinner racks save one, and interfiled most of the romance paperbacks in general stacks.  So now the collection was split up in two different areas of the library.  You have some mass market paperbacks in with the hard covers and trade paperbacks, save for a small portion that are still located on one lone spinner rack.  I did not like this, but more importantly, the romance readers really didn't like it.  Circulation numbers took a dump, so when I transferred in (read: Wendy Is Romance Girl) my boss suggested we go back to the spinner racks for the entire mass market romance collection.  As much as I hate spinners, I agreed.  We picked up one unit from a near-by branch that was doing a bit of spring cleaning and then we ordered a shiny new, 5-sided unit.  At the end of April, the collection was moved.  All of our romance paperbacks are now in one area, all by themselves - with hard covers and trade paperbacks still interfiled with the rest of the fiction.

It's now June, so we've got a full month under our belts.  It also means I could finally look at the physical numbers.  Anecdotally, I felt for sure that this move was a good one.  The spinner racks were full after I moved the collection, and it didn't take long for them to look picked over, and for me to find actual empty spaces.  But anecdotal is not hard numbers, which I now have.

In April we checked out 321 romance paperbacks.  In May we checked out 615.  Almost double.  An increase of 294 to be exact.

I was....ecstatic I think is the word.  Until I realized that we might just have robbed Peter to pay Paul.  Librarians know that when you move a collection in this manner, you very likely change your "location" status in the catalog.  It's that bit of information on the catalog record that tells the user where they can find the book in the library.  When I moved the romances out of "general stacks," I changed that location status to "romance."  So did my romance numbers really double?  For that, I would need to look at the stats for my general stacks.

In April, we circulated 5023 items that were classified as "general stacks."  In May, that number was 5014.  That is a decrease of 9.  Which means....

My romance paperback stats flippin' doubled in a month!!!!  

Go Wendy, go Wendy, it's your birthday, go Wendy.....

What does all this really mean?  In the grand scheme of things - probably not much.  But I do think it illustrates a very good point about libraries and communities, which is to say they're all different.  Sometimes you try new things and they don't work.  Sometimes you think something won't work and it does.  What works in one community of readers may sink like a stone somewhere else.  Basically it's about being flexible and finding out works best for your community.  Also, as the librarian, it's about not letting your own opinions stand in the way of experimentation and trying new things (no, I don't mean it like that.....).

As much as I loathe having my mass market paperback romances sitting in Romance Spinner Rack Ghetto, numbers don't lie.  Which means Wendy will learn to live with it.  Also, at this point, I'm just happy to see more fiction leaving the building, as I strongly feel those numbers could be better overhaul at my current work home.  But then, I'm the fiction buyer so of course I think everybody should be reading, and lovin', fiction.  But before I mull over tackling that tall order, I think I'm just going to bask in the glow, a wee bit longer, of this small victory.

The Book Pimp Strikes Back

A few years back a local book group invited me to be a guest speaker at one of their meetings.  They essentially wanted a book talk.  Think of it in terms of "hand selling."  The presenter (uh, me) rounds up some books, prepares a handout with the pertinent details, and then proceeds to pimp those books out to the audience.  These can be a lot of fun, the key ingredient being that the presenter should be "enthusiastic" about the books they are recommending.  I never book talk something that was a slog to read, or made me want to pull out my hair.  I figure "Happy, happy squee!" is way more infectious than "Meh, it was OK.  I guess."

Well it may have been a few years, but they invited me back.  Which means I must not have sucked too badly.  On today's menu, I grabbed five titles.  I had warned these ladies in the past that I read a lot of genre fiction, and they claimed, at the time, to be OK with that.  Personally, I think it's good to mix things up, break out of your reading shell, and try something new every now and then.  The first time I presented I tried to not overload them with too much romance, because honestly I had no clue on the group dynamic.  For this second visit?  I felt a bit better about mixing in some more Love Cooties.  I also tried to mix in books with a wide range of voices and tone.  Not all heavy, heavy angst and not all fluffy, brain candy.

(Title links will take you to full reviews - except Levine link goes to most recent book in the series)

Maid to Match by Deeanne Gist, inspirational romance - Yes, I opened the talk up with an inspirational historical romance.  I chose this one for a variety of reasons.  First, the story is good.  Second, the history is just really fantastic.  You get a glimpse into the lives of American servants in the late 19th century, and the author does such a wonderful job with the setting of the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina.  Lastly?  The religious elements add depth to the story, without being preachy and bashing the reader over the head.  Passage I Read Out Loud?:  When Mack and Tillie dance in the tapestry room.

As Darkness Falls by Bronwyn Parry, romantic suspense - I chose this one because the romance is good, the suspense is gripping, and the heroine has a ton of emotional baggage, which is ideal fodder for a book group.  The rub, of course, is that this wasn't published in the US (Australia and UK), but I did order editions for my library system, because that's how I roll (and dang, this book was awesome sauce!).  Passage I Read Out Loud?:  Alec comes callin' on Isabelle to ask her to help him on a new child abduction case in her tiny outback home town.

Holding Out for a Hero by HelenKay Dimon, romantic suspense - When I "promote" romance novels to groups like this one, I try to shoot for books that "challenge" the preconceived notions many have about the genre.  Yes, this book does have hot sex in it.  However it also has a great adversarial relationship, snappy dialogue, a yummy hero-worthy hero, and the whole thing sits on the foundation of a super dark suspense thread.  A teenage boy is tried and convicted, as an adult, of murdering his parents.  Passage I Read Out Loud?:  Deana is trying to convince Josh to take the private investigator job when he tells her he's "out of the hero business."

After by Amy Efaw, Young Adult - The ladies in this group are all of "a certain age" - so my guess is that Young Adult fiction is pretty much off their radar entirely unless their grandkids are in this demographic.  This story, about an overachieving teen girl who hides her pregnancy and abandons her newborn in a trash can, is a thought-provoking read about an incredibly tough subject matter.  I originally read this, curious to see if the author could "pull it off."  I think she did.  Also, I think this is the book that got the biggest reaction out of the room.  I think quite a few of them will read it!  Passage I Read Out Loud?: The police come knocking on Devon's door and discover her bleeding all over her mother's crappy sofa.

This Pen For Hire by Laura Levine, cozy mystery - My brain candy book.  Hey, these ladies had already sat through one book about kidnapped children (Parry), one book about a teenager sitting in prison (Dimon) and another book about a teenager who dumps her baby in a trash can (the baby survives, but still....).  So yeah, brain candy.  Plus, I'm a big believer that sometimes you just need fun and fluff.  Sometimes you just want to turn off your brain, open a book, and unwind.  This cozy mystery series does that for me, and they read like really fun sitcoms (you know, back when TV was worth watching).  Passage I Read Out Loud?:  The opening chapter when hapless Howard hires Jaine to write a letter to the object of his desire, Stacy the barracuda aerobics instructor.

At the time I was grabbing these books and prepping this presentation I was shooting for light and dark reads.  Of course it was only after the fact that I realized all three of my "darker" reads featured children-in-peril.  I didn't set out to go that route, mostly these were the books that came to mind, or jumped out at me while I was scanning my reading spreadsheet.  Plus?  I'll be honest, I was shooting for books that we had readily available at work.  Because, you know, I like to get people to come to the library.  Librarians are funny like that.

Library Book Sale Goodness

So I come to Michigan on vacation and what do I do? I buy books. Like I need more books - but honestly, it wasn't my fault. I stopped by The Old Job yesterday to catch up with my former colleagues. While there I ran into one of their branch managers and lo and behold, it's used book sale time for them! And since I can't say no to used book sale (seriously, I'm sick), I thought it wouldn't hurt to stop by and take a look around. Plus, back in the dark ages, I was the "interim manager" at that location and I was hoping to see more of the staff (which I did - yippee!).

The single title pickins' were pretty slim, but Holy Harlequins Batman! A decent mix of lines were for sale - but I noticed a lot of Harlequin Romance and Harlequin American. Also, the inspirational lines were very well represented. My purchases generally ran towards sweet - just because that's what I was in the mood for. I gave them $10 and told them to keep the change - because that's how I roll.

Of course between these, the book I bought at a used bookstore earlier in the week, and the three books my Big Sis returned to me, that means I need to ship a box home. I can only imagine how happy My Man will be to see more books wandering into the Bat Cave, although he tells me he misses me. Maybe he misses me enough that another box of books arriving on our doorstep won't faze him all that much. Um, maybe?

In other news, the Daddy/Daughter baseball game is Saturday. Yes, pictures will be taken. Then Sunday morning I'm off to North Carolina and the Biltmore Estate. That means, it will be Wendy Media Blackout Time. I didn't feel like wrestling with the laptop. Which means I'll be unplugged from Sunday to Tuesday afternoon. Hey, I'll probably be OK. I've always heard the shakes don't get real bad until Day 3.

Wendy Goes Hunting For Authors

In a moment of pure insanity, yes I did it. Yes, I volunteered, for the 5th year running, to help scare up authors for my library's literary event next April. Then I proceeded to spend a fair amount of time banging my head against my desk in my wee lil' office cubicle. This year proved to be a challenge on the romance front, because I realized recently that the RT Convention, which will be in L.A. this next year, is the same weekend as my library's event. Sigh. Granted my library's wing-ding is one day (an all day affair, but we don't ask authors to "commit" beyond their panel discussion and booksigning session) - but finding authors willing to break away from RT proved to be a little tricky. But I did! I persevered! And I gotta say, I think the romance panel is gonna be all sorts of awesome. Here's who we've got lined up:


Zoe Archer, who will be talking about her new Victorian historical/adventure/fantasy series, The Blades Of The Rose. "Adventure stories" are a bit of a rare bird in the romance genre, so I'm really excited to have Zoe on our panel. Also, there's been a bit of "time off" for her between releases - and I always like to mix in some "publishing stuff" into these panels - if only to give readers the inside scoop. You'd be amazed how many people think that getting your book published = set for life! Ha!




Laura Wright, who has written a slew of books for Silhouette Desire, but has a new vampire series kicking off for Signet in October. I keep hearing from various corners that "vampires are dead" (no pun intended) - but then I see these books flying off the shelves at many libraries and think "Yeah, sure they are." And in a bit of perfect timing, the second book in this series is slated for an April release.






Judy Duarte, who I was happy to find after two other authors turned me down because of RT. And in a bit of good fortune, Judy signing on makes this panel a hugely interesting mix of books and styles. Her single titles for Kensington are in the vein of "inspirational women's fiction" and she writes "home and hearth" type books for Silhouette Special Edition.




So we have historical fantasy adventure, sexy vampires, and feel-good home and hearth. One thing is for sure, my "homework reading" for this panel shouldn't be boring! Also, it should be scads of fun to come up with discussion questions for the panelists. I've had some great panels in the past, with lots of variety, but I think I might have hit it out of the park with this one. Of course I won't know for sure until April.

In other news? We got us some kickass mystery/suspense folks as well. Christopher Reich, Paul Levine, Dianne Emley, Barbara Hambly, Jeri Westerson, just to name a few. Now all I need to figure out is what I'm going to do about RT. I'm still going to put in an appearance, just not sure when and for how many days. Because being anywhere near L.A. that Saturday is definitely out of the question now.

State Of The Libraries Address

Today is Library Advocacy Day here in the States, which will entail a rally and a meeting with elected officials in Washington D.C. Meghan has a really nice post up about it over at her blog, Recreational Reading, which includes some library factoids you may not be aware of.

I don't spend a lot of blog space talking about my job. Admittedly I know the "librarian thing" makes me ever-so-slightly unique among the blogging masses, but it's not something I discuss in great detail. I have loads of reasons for this, but at the end the day it comes down to me knowing my place in the universe. I truly believe my job is important, that libraries are important, and that librarians help change lives for the better every day. But do I think my job is "more important" than say, that of a firefighter, a police officer, a nurse, a teacher, or a garbage man? Not really. I understand my place in the universe, and I know that in economic crap times like we're experiencing right now, that libraries are going to get the short end of the stick, no matter how "important" we are. It's the nature of the beast.

That being said, as the Unofficial Librarian Representative of Romance Bloglandia, plus because I want to, I thought I would talk about what my work as a collection development librarian is like right now. What with our new fiscal year beginning next week.

It's going to suck.

It's going to suck so hard that I'm probably going to lose fillings.

Currently, where I work, we are not cutting hours, all branches are staying open, and we haven't cut permanent staff. What has happened? We have no "substitute" help to speak of. So if your children's librarian goes out on maternity leave, or the branch manager's appendix bursts, there are no substitute workers you can call in to help you run your branch. So yeah, it's great we haven't cut hours or closed branches, but in many cases we're majorly short-staffed. Also? Our materials budget will be slashed by over 50% this new fiscal year. Yes, I will somehow have to figure out how to buy books for 30+ libraries with 50% less money than I had last year.

If you see me in the hotel bar at RWA in a few weeks, and I'm sobbing uncontrollably over my cosmopolitan, this would be why.

The truth of the matter is that I wasn't buying nearly the amount of titles and copies I should have been for a library system our size. We were making due. In many cases, as a library user, you might not find the book you wanted at your local branch, but chances are we had it in the system somewhere and could ship it over to you. Or if we didn't own it at all, we would do our best to buy a copy(s). This next year? Yeah. Well, I'm going to have to make hard choices. Some books are just not going to get bought. Period. I'm going to have to say no to some things. I'm going to have to cut way down on how many copies get ordered. And that means people will have to wait even longer than they were waiting before.

In the grand scheme of things, I shouldn't be whining. As bad as it is for my employer, there are neighboring libraries who have it a lot worse. I've heard everything from cutting hours, closing branches to...brace yourselves for it...no materials budget. None. Nada. Zip. Zilch. As in no money to buy books, DVDs, CDs, ebooks, newspapers, magazines, etc. at all. None. Zero. Ain't happening.

Which ultimately means, of course, that those people who typically use the surrounding libraries will likely land on our doorstep. Because while our budget is gonna blow, at least we'll be buying some new things. Uh, occasionally. When I find some change under couch cushions.

The nature of this post isn't for you, the gentle blog reader, to feel sorry for me (poor, poor Wendy ::eyeroll::), but to help you understand what it's like right now for the library community. God bless librarians, we're a lot like romance readers. We have a massive inferiority complex and it's one of the few jobs on the planet where we constantly have to justify our right to exist. The only thing that really works in our favor is that people generally have warm, fuzzy feelings about the library. Only a monster would come right out and say, "I hate libraries." It would be liking saying you hate puppies, kittens, rainbows, and pretty flowers. So in hard times, as politicians look for ways to slash budgets, the community does tend to support and rally around public libraries.

If you ever want to see democracy in action, just wander into your local library. It's the one place in the community that is open and free for all. We serve everybody. The entire public. Even the folks we don't like all that much. Because it's our job. It's what we do. And certainly there are some days when we want to toss all the computers out the front door and run over them with a Hummer, but we don't. Because for all the aggravation, all the trials, deep down we know our job is important. And we'll justify the hell out of it until the last breath leaves our body.

So be nice to your local librarian the next time you see them. Smile at the clerk who checks out your books. Don't argue about that 25 cent overdue fine. Don't lie to us and say you didn't leave that book out in the rain, you checked it out like that and just pay the replacement fee. Try to understand that we're doing the best we can with what we have to work with (which isn't much!) while trying to meet the growing demands of communities that are relying on us more and more.

That's the state of libraries right now. Overworked, stressed out staff trying to figure out how we're going to meet the needs of the community. Actually not that different from a lot of other public service jobs at the moment. Sad to say.

Booktastic Bus For Sale

My Mom isn't much of a book reader. She apparently used to be, before three kids, working her way through college, a full time job, and taking care of a household sucked up all her time. What she has always done though is read the newspaper. Every day, without fail, every section, all of it. She is also "one of those" who clips out newspaper articles and sends them to people. Oh, like her daughters. I can always count on her sending me any clippings that have anything to do with librarians, libraries, romance novels, or books in general. However, every so often she joins the 21st century, finds the article online and e-mails it to me. Which is what she did last night. And behold! The most wonderful blog fodder ever!

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the dormant Bookmobile for the Kalamazoo Public Library. The 1994 Venture Farber Specialty Vehicle has 119,000 miles on it and is currently for sale for the bargain price of $19,000, or any reasonable offer.

Like many libraries across the country, KPL is shuttering it's bookmobile due to declining demand for the service and a craptastic budget. Mom thinks I should buy it to put my TBR Mountain Range on wheels. Frankly, I'm thinking the So. Cal. Bloggers should buy it. Just think of the possibilities! We could be like a traveling band of book gypsies! Like the romance genre equivalent to the ice cream man! It could be like Travels With Charley minus the dog! Like Smokey And The Bandit, but instead of bootlegging Coors beer we could be transporting romance novels over state and county lines!

I wonder, does the Bookmobile come with a CB radio?

Frankly, I think the idea has merit, although when I told My Man about it he seemed less than enthusiastic. Some nonsense about "where would we keep it?" and thinking $19,000 could be better spent on something other than an old Bookmobile. Personally? I think he lacks vision.

The So. Cal. Bloggers traveling the country spreading the lurve of romance novels. A totally kick-ass idea if I do say so myself. Sort of like in this clip from one of my favorite South Park episodes. Um, back when South Park was still funny. Here the boys hop on board the Booktastic Bus and discover the wonder of...romance novels. That could be us. But with more swearing, and less "chicken loving" (seriously, this whole episode is warped, which is probably why it's one of my personal favorites).

Wendy's Talking Romance. Again. Geesh.

In a moment of pure insanity, I put in a 10 hour work day yesterday and gave two presentations on the romance genre. It seemed like a good idea at the time, which I really can't explain. I'd say I was high, but the hardest drug I do is caffeine.

The morning started with a presentation about Harlequin that I gave to our library assistants. In the library world we call these happy folks "para-professionals." They don't have a library degree, but maybe they're working towards one, or they have comparable job experience. The goal of this presentation was to educate them on category romance (No, it's not all Harlequin Presents), make them aware that cover art and lines change, and to discuss tips on how to "deal" with paperbacks in general at their individual branches.

I think this presentation was very well received by most of them. Some of them were likely bored out of their minds. Wendy's talking about romance novels. Again. Blah, blah, blah. As an added bonus, I also discussed Harlequins single title lines (Mira, HQN, Spice etc.) and got a lot of really good questions. A couple enlightening moments:

• Harlequin publishes in the ballpark of 120 titles every month. Yeah. Take it from the librarian, this is an obscene number. Some of the administration folks in the audience actually gasped out loud when I told them that.


• Harlequin sells 20 million copies (worldwide) of Harlequin Presents titles each year. Yes, I found this number from Harlequin promo material. 20 frackin' million! Each frackin' year! No wonder Harlequin claims those dopey titles sell books. You can't really argue with 20 million! Wowzers.


• I got asked about trends in the romance genre in general. My answers were urban fantasy (separate genre altogether, but lots of romance readers are reading it) and historicals. Mark my words people, I think we're in for a massive historical resurgence. Let's see if I'm right.

The second presentation was a much more general discussion on the romance genre at one of our smaller libraries. This was an evening program at a smaller branch, so I was honestly hoping at least one warm body would show up. For any librarians reading this, you'll relate that programming tends to be a crap shoot. You just never know what's going to happen. So color me pleasantly surprised when 13 people showed up! And it would have been closer to 18, except people called to cancel because of being sick.

I think the program went well, and I hope I didn't bore them. Everybody in the audience was already a romance reader, so we covered all the basic sub genres (contemporary, historical, paranormal, inspirational etc.) and talked books in general. I promoted the heck out of my library's upcoming literary event, talked up the authors that were going to be there (Linda Wisdom, Tessa Dare and HelenKay Dimon) and got them to check out some books. Hopefully they liked it and I didn't suck. Programming is hard for small libraries, and I wanted to do well for the staff at that branch. They're good peeps.

A couple things of note about these presentations, I think my secret blogging identity is getting to be less of a secret. I've never "hid" my true identity online, but I've also never willy-nilly discussed my blog with my employers. I just don't. Period. However, seems some of my fellow employees have found me. The attendees at the library program last night wanted my blog address (Uh, hi ladies!) and my boss made me show the library assistants the Blogger Bundles I suggested to Harlequin. Sigh. I'm not sure how I feel about this. OK, I guess. But maybe this means I need wash out my mouth with soap, and watch my language more closely. I know my father would certainly approve of that.

Calling All Harlequin Junkies

Every year my employer wants me to take on a special "project." Essentially something that goes above and beyond my normal job duties. In the past I've done everything from weeding, to committee work (blergh!), to giving a reader's advisory talk on the romance genre. I had my annual review this month, and once again, as am I sure will shock no one (Ha!), it was declared in writing that I am full of awesome. It also means it was time for me to come up with a new "project."

This year the lucky winner is Harlequin. Our branches receive a crap-load of donations, and naturally Harlequin is a healthy representative. The problem? Most of our librarians are confounded by those little category romances. They have no clue where to begin, what they should think about cataloging, and what should be tossed on a cart to sell for 10 cents. I proposed my idea to my boss (who naturally loved it) although I will admit that in the back of my mind I figured the librarians were likely to roll their eyes heavenward and mutter, "Oh dear Lord, Wendy is blathering about romance novels - again."

That is until I went out to a branch a couple of weeks ago and the adult services librarian swept her hands around her office and said, "Wendy, I got five big grocery bags full of Harlequin donations and I have no idea what I'm doing. I added those titles we already had in system at other locations and they've already checked out! Now I'm at a loss. Help!"

Oh Wendy, you're a frackin' genius.

So I'm in the process of putting together a presentation on all things Harlequins, with a strong focus on the category lines (although I plan on mentioning the single title lines like MIRA, HQN, and Spice as well). Now, I need some help from you all.

I want to mention those now-defunct lines from recent memory. The lines that libraries are likely still going to get donations from, but that line itself is no longer in existence at Harlequin. Here's the list I've come up with so far:

• Silhouette Intimate Moments (renamed Silhouette Romantic Suspense)

• Silhouette Romance (folded into Harlequin Romance)
  

• Harlequin Next

• Silhouette Bombshell

• Harlequin Temptation

• Harlequin Everlasting Love (folded into Harlequin SuperRomance)

• Silhouette Yours Truly/Harlequin Love & Laughter which beget Harlequin Duets which beget Harlequin Flipside

I'm also going to mention Bantam Loveswept and Zebra Bouquet - even thought they were never affiliated of Harlequin. They're still category lines, and we still do occasionally get Loveswept (in particular) donations. So probably worth mentioning.

So my question is: am I missing any obvious discontinued lines? Lines that were just discontinued within the last...oh ten years or so?

The Librarian's Dirty Secret

Today we're going to talk about the one aspect of library work that generally horrifies the public and that some librarians drag their feet on. Yep, I'm talking weeding. That process where librarians actually get rid of books. As in, take them off the catalog, stamp them "discard" and either 1) toss them in the nearest dumpster or 2) give them to the Friends Of The Library to sell.

The horror!

My experience with weeding is that the public doesn't understand it, and that some librarians really suck about doing it. Weeding has to be done people. It's part of the circle of life in Library Land. As much as we would like them to, books just plain flat-out wear out. Spines get busted. Pages turn crispy brown. And accidents happen. Someone drops the book in the bathtub. Or leaves it outside in the rain. A curious tot thinks it's a neat-o new coloring book. Or the dog thinks it's a tasty new chew toy. Shit happens. Sometimes literally (ewwww!) to library books. So they have to go.

When it comes to fiction, I tend to preach condition, condition, condition. Always weed on condition, first and foremost. Look people, I don't care if the darn book is The Great American Novel, if it looks like it was buried in someone's backyard for the past 10 years, it's time for it to go. If it's truly that important and vital, sooner or later some publisher will realize they can make money off it and reprint the darn thing.

But weeding is sometimes about hard choices. I had to make one today. Yep, it's time for my library to say goodbye to The Tender Texan by Jodi Thomas. Published in 1991 and currently out of print. According to OCLC, we have the only copy in the entire state. We've been housing it in our closed-stacks-storage section for a while now, given it's borderline fragile, not- so-appealing condition. This bad boy has been a circulation stats machine. We've sent it hither and yon. However, when I stumbled across it today in our InterLibrary Loan department, I knew it was time for it to go.

You know how the paper in mass market paperbacks goes yellow? Well this book has gone right past yellow and is now the color of dirt. The discoloration has gotten so bad, that the dirt brown is now bleeding past the margins and landing on the first few words of each line.

Ewwwww.

In the grand scheme of things, considering it's a 18 year old paperback that has circulated 67 times in the past 6 years, it could probably look worse. That said, it didn't look anywhere near "good." So even though we had the last copy in the state, and even though it circulated a ton for us, it's time for it to go. The Tender Texan has moved past tender, and is now overcooked and chewy.

So yes, while a little piece of me died inside - I weeded it.

Because that's how all good librarians should roll.

Oh, and in case anyone at Berkley is reading this? Maybe it's time to reprint some older Jodi Thomas. Just sayin'.

Assuming I'm doing my math right (always doubtful) this book circulated 32.6865 times every year, for the past 6 years. That sounds awfully high though. Especially when considering a 3-week check-out period. I wonder if this was an instance where our circulation stats actually carried over from our previous automation system? Either way, I'd say we got our money's worth out of the $4.95 this title originally cost. Holy crap!

And since I'm sure someone will bring it up in the comments section, yes - an ebook version would be nice. However I don't see libraries throwing print out on it's ear anytime soon. So yeah, print would be good.

I'm Not Above Begging

It's that time of year again. Time for my library to start planning our next literary event. This will be year four, and even though the budget news has been hovering around dire, they've given us the go-ahead. So we hit the ground running yesterday, tossing around author names, panel ideas and all that jazz. The good news is that we have a Huge Honkin' New York Times Bestselling Author mostly confirmed for one of our keynote speakers. And no, I can't say who. Administration wants us to hold off on shouting it from the rooftops until we have a hard and fast official confirmation. Preferably signed in blood.

I was given the go-ahead to to dig up some romance authors. One thing I really adore about RWA is that they have chapters and those chapters tend to be very pro-active. California is chock-full of romance authors (I'm convinced we're second only to Texas), and I have a fantastic RWA chapter right in my back yard. So I guess this is a warning to any local romance authors who read my blog. Gird your loins. I might coming knocking on your front door, in the form of an e-mail, and start begging mercilessly.

This year I feel like we're sort of "established" - which is nice. I know the first year I had one romance author kind of worry about the "literary" label because she didn't want to be treated like a second-class citizen at the event. Then she found out I was moderating the panel (we "know" each other) and that seemed to put her mind at ease. That's the thing about romance authors. Just like romance readers, they tend to get irked when they have to constantly justify their right to exist.

Right now I'm working with a short list of 6 possible authors, although only three will end up on the panel. I also try get authors from different sub genres (historical, paranormal and contemporary). I like variety on the panel, mostly because it's more interesting for me as the moderator, but also because I really strive to showcase the diversity of the romance genre. Whenever I've given my reader's advisory talks about romance, that's the part that tends to shock the non-romance readers the most. Wow, they just had no idea that romance was so "big" in scope. Who knew there were so many ways to tell a love story?

I've also been charged with scaring up some mystery/suspense authors. That's going to take some work actually, but I do have a game plan. My mystery contacts there aren't anywhere near the level of my romance contacts - although last year I was able to work the romance community to get one of the mystery panels together. Seriously. One of the mystery panels completely sprang up from a local RWA chapter, my Harlequin Historical addiction, and bestselling author Stella Cameron. Bless her heart. I can't wait to meet her at RWA in D.C.

Now, back to work.

Ahhh, blessedly beautiful Friday.

I'm still reading Bad Moon Rising by Katherine Sutcliffe. I knew I should have called in dead when I had the chance. Drat! I find myself on page 168 and am trying to scheme in some serious reading time this weekend so I can finish it. The suspense thread is still keeping me glued to the pages - and these characters keep surprising me, in a good way.

In Library Land, the kiddies are out of school which means 2 things. 1) Our annual summer reading program has begun and 2) we have kids camping out here for hours at a stretch. I'm talking like 4 hours at a time folks.

Now this wouldn't be a bad thing except many of these kids are only here because Mom and/or Dad want them out of their hair. So far we haven't had too many disciplinary problems - but the summer is still young.

It is fun though to watch the real little kids get excited about reading - the preschoolers especially. When we give them stickers and allow them to put their name up on our "Reading Honor Roll," you'd think we'd given them the moon. I had one mother tell me that her daughter wants to come to the library every day. A future librarian no doubt.

Back from the frozen Upper Penisula and glad to be home. In true idiot fashion, yours truly forgot to pack her winter coat (ok - I didn't forget. I just haven't washed it yet, and it's white - so it's really dirty and doesn't look so good) - but I made due with my spring jacket, long sleeve shirts and sweatshirt. Naturally, Mackinac Island warmed on Wednesday - the day all the librarians left!

This conference I attended is always a good time because it's just for librarians serving rural communities. A lot of practical information that one can implement in their day-to-day routines. While the state and national conferences are nice, a lot of what is discussed is technology oriented and "theory." As in, this computer software will be available in a couple of years.

I also like workshops that address the bulk of my job description. I am the back-up computer person where I work - which means most of day is spent on "little" things like collection development. I like attending workshops that actually talk about fiction.

Picked up some world famous Mackinac Island fudge for some folks, got a Mother's Day present for my lovely mother, and picked up a new tea mug over at Monkey Business - a store one must see to believe.

Monkey girls of the world unite! (Inside joke {g})

I haven't posted in a while because it's been one of those weeks at work. Nothing dire to report, I've just been super busy trying to get everything done.

I'm leaving obscenely early on Monday morning for a library conference up in lovely Mackinac Island, Michigan. I'm really looking forward to getting away for a few days - even if it is a working vacation. This conference is just for rural libraries, which is always fun, since there are adult services oriented workshops on other topics beside computers. I am merely the back-up person when it comes to our library's computer issues - so to actually see workshops scheduled on fiction and collection development is fabulous.

However, let us get down to the real issue at hand - what books am I going to pack? No clue yet. Shameful isn't it? Since I'll probably only have reading time in between workshops, I think I'm going to just grab a handful of Harlequins and call it good. I'd also like to go on a little series binge - if only to knock a couple of books off my ever-expanding to-be-read pile that is quickly turning into a small mountain range.

See you all later next week!

For those of you not in the know - people actually go to college to become librarians. Not only that - we are misguided enough to earn Master's degrees (I'm grossly overeducated and don't make nearly enough money to show for it, but that's another blog entirely).

Like most college educations - there were certain things that just weren't covered during my 5.5 year tenure at SUNY Buffalo. Like on most days librarians are nothing more than free daycare. Or those times when one has to crawl on the floor with duct tape (don't ask). Or like today - when I found myself lying on the floor, on my side, while dismantling shelving with little more than a screwdriver and some fervent prayers.

How's that for glamorous?

I'm in a much better mood today - promise! No more ranting about the idiot boys who live upstairs from me, for now at least.

The NHL playoff games need to stop going into overtime. Don't these guys know that I have to get up for work in the morning? So as much as I wanted to finish watching the Toronto/Philly game last night - I just couldn't make it past the first OT. Thankfully Toronto won and I'm currently crossing my fingers for Game 7.

I'm also counting down the days until May 5, when I get to go to lovely Mackinac Island, Michigan for a library conference. For those of you who have never been to Michigan's Upper Penisula let's see if I can sum it up for you. Lots of trees, lots of deer, and a few people.

It's truly lovely, and even though I'll probably freeze my who-has off the 3 days that I'll be there - I'm really looking forward to it. It will be a working vacation - but in between attending workshops, I'm hoping to get a little sightseeing in - and as usual, a little reading.

Well I've been MIA for the last few days mainly because I've been rather busy at work. Since they pay me the big librarian bucks to do my job, and I've been near exhaustion by the time I get home, my blog has lapsed.

I'm back to pulling some part-time shifts at one of our branch locations - so for the next few Mondays I'll get to see how the other half lives. Children coming into the library with parents - actually checking out books - and not driving me insane. That's the life. I spend a great many of my afternoons at the home office just doing basic crowd control. The last 2 afternoons have left me feeling so crispy around the edges that all I can think about afterwards involves the fetal position, alcohol and 12 hours of sleep.

My part of the Midwest got zapped with a minor ice storm last night - and while every school in the area ended up closing - it really wasn't all that bad. If I can drive 50mph on my way to work - all is right with the world. The hardest part of my commute was the 20 minutes or so it took me to scrap off my car. I really had to throw some muscle into it - and with my scrawny girlie arms, it wasn't easy.

I'm still working on the trashy Thea Devine novel that I started earlier this week. I have a mere 100 pages left - and the convoluted suspense thread is started to heat up. When I get 2 dead bodies in one book - life is good. And in true Devine fashion - there's been enough sex to cause the rest of my father's hair to fall out. Mindless trashy fun - but life is short right?

Being a librarian is not easy. I can just imagine you sitting out there in cyberspace thinking "Yeah, sure Wendy. What do you do stamp books and shush people all day?" Actually, I don't. For one thing, we're automated and I used a stamp for the first time last week (I've had this job for 4 years). I do shush people - but only rowdy children who are screaming at the tops of their lungs. And then I don't shush, I advise them to use an "inside voice."

Librarians do not have easy jobs. In between the Internet filtering debate that just won't die and the Patriot Act, we have a lot on our table. Let's analyze these shall we?

Internet filters don't work. If they did work, I have no doubt that librarians would jump on the bandwagon faster than you can say "The Bill of Rights." Filters block out some of the good and not all of the bad. They promote a false sense of security. That's why librarians don't like them.

No - we don't want children to access porn. We don't want anyone accessing porn. Hey, whatever you do at home to get your jollies is fine by me, but don't bring it into a public place - that's just icky.

And let's get this out of the way right now - kids are going to look at porn. It's a natural curiosity thing. Everyone (and I mean everyone - don't even try to deny it) stole a peak at a Playboy in their day. What is dangerous are chat rooms. Personally I would much rather catch my child looking at boobs than chatting with a 56 year old man who claims to be a 13 year old girl. That's just me though.

As for the Patriot Act - well this is a mess - just take a look at the link and see why librarians are so rankled. In a nutshell - it's a privacy thing. Not every person who checks out The Catcher in the Rye has plans to kill a Beatle. Not every high school kid who reads Rage by Richard Bachman (Stephen King) wants to shoot up their school. It's that simple. Sure there is the "well if you don't have anything to hide why should it bother you" argument - but that's pretty ignorant.

What makes America great is the incredible amount of freedom we as citizens have. Take a look at the Bill of Rights some time. It's fascinating stuff - and the freedoms it allows are incredible.

Which brings me to my final point - it's my right as an Ameican to disagree with the actions our government takes - but does that mean I want to live in any other country in the world? Nope. Well - maybe England. I'd finally be able to get copious amounts of tea without any sort of hassle. Americans and their coffee - humpfh!

Don't let the fact that librarians have Master's degrees fool you, we don't make a lot of money. Oh sure, my yearly income allows me food, shelter, and the ability to support my book habit, but one does have to be frugal. For instance, I drive a 13 year old car. Now, I love my Honda. I hold a certain sentimental feeling for it - that and the insurance is dirt cheap and it's paid for. However, when the temperture dips to 2 above 0 my car doesn't really like to start. It will turn over - but only reluctantly and frankly it sounds really sad.

So why don't I just bite the bullet and get a new car? I'm cheap. I have this issue with spending a bunch of money in one pop. Buying my furniture was a life altering experience. That, and this car is paid for. I'm driving it until the wheels fall off.

Hey, did anyone watch "The Simpsons" last night? Besides an appearance by Ralph Wiggum, the highlight of the show for me was watching British chick lit author Helen Fielding run around like Benny Hill. I about wet my pants.