2021-07-15 SPLAT Curiosity Report: Volume 9, Issue 2
Featured Story
“Bad” movies have a place
Our movie selector for adults and I talk a lot about movies at work. She buys movies and TV series. Recently, I asked her to buy a “horrible” movie called VelociPastor (kind of as a joke). It is obviously a B-Rated movie and it is horrible. But to our surprise it has been checking out more than once a month. This got us thinking and the selector and I decided to once a year buy a “horrible” movie to add to the collection. So we have purchased some B-Movies and these seem to be popular, they keep getting checked out which made me stop and think.
Why are they popular? I have a theory about this question.
In the past there was a thing called Blockbuster and video rental stores that you could go into and alongside the mainstream movies there were “horrible” B-Rated movies. Now these stores are closed and have disappeared. So how are people getting these “horrible” movies, not through Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max and Disney+? But maybe the library is providing this service to the community. We are providing a place a patron can look up, and check out some “horrible” movies! Most recently I had our selector order Psycho Goreman (another “horrible” movie) and we saw that Boise Public Library had ordered it on DVD and Blu-ray. So maybe the public wants something that they can’t find on streaming service and maybe we all want some nostalgia of the long ago video rental store. I hope the library keeps movies at the library, along with providing a budget for them along with the streaming services.
– Eric Hovey
Fail Forward
We’ve all been there. You pour your heart into a program, and no one shows up. You try something new, and you fall on your face. Sound familiar? Fail Forward is the place to share your failures, and give you the opportunity to share what you learned from them. Did you promote your program in a different way after no one showed up? Maybe you took a new approach to the new thing you were excited about? Awesome! Share your story via our online form so others can learn, and realize that failure is often part of the process.
Clogged 3D printer nozzle
As an Outreach Services Librarian, one of my tasks at my library is to help maintain our Mobile Makerspace. I had been working on smoothing out procedures for the Mobile Makerspace when the pandemic hit. While we work as a team to get everything accomplished to maintain this vehicle and it’s inventory, every now and then we come across something that we haven’t assigned as a task yet. When it was apparent that we wouldn’t be doing any event outreach with our vehicle for a while due to COVID, we decided to spend some time taking inventory, getting repairs done, cleaning, creating general procedures for events and vehicle repair maintenance, and training more staff. One thing that everyone seemed to overlook was maintaining our 3D printer that we use just for Makerspace outreach. We keep the printer stored in the Mobile Makerspace and really only use it when we are at events.
When it was time to show off our Mobile Makerspace again for our Library Gala, our Technology Services Coordinator Shelly discovered that nobody had cleared out the plastic from the nozzle from the last time it was taken out…over a year ago ! A year of plastic was still loaded in the nozzle! Luckily, Shelly is patient and incredibly smart, and carefully got the nozzle cleared out again in time for our event. When she let me know that we should probably make sure that gets done in the future, I had to admit that I did not even consider it as something to do as regular maintenance.
Good news, it is now on my maintenance schedule from now on! I am so grateful for all my Makerspace team members who have helped me create procedures for our vehicle and event outings and I hope that as we gear up to hit the road again that we will be as prepared as possible.
– Monique Gaddy
Crush Corner
Is there a library you follow on social media who is always doing new and exciting things? How about a blog you follow that inspires you? What about a new idea, book, or resource that you want to share? Library Crush Corner is a place for those working in Idaho libraries to share what inspires them, and who or what they’re crushing on… in a professional sense. Share your story via our online form so we can publish it in a future issue!
From A to Zine
Although this website really doesn’t have much to do with a library, it sure has been an invaluable resource for this school librarian as I plan more zine making activities at my school. From A to Zine has lesson plans, videos, and a gallery. I appreciate the age-appropriate zine examples in their gallery.
– Gretchen Perkins
SPLAT explores the ever-evolving library world and supports library folks as they adapt to meet the needs of their communities. Library folk throughout the state of Idaho volunteer to serve on the Special Projects Library Action Team (SPLAT). Learn more about SPLAT at splat.lili.org
SPLAT is brought to you by the Idaho Commission for Libraries and was made possible, in part, by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (LS-246156-OLS-20). The views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent those of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.