2022-07-15 SPLAT Curiosity Report: Volume 12, Issue 3

Featured Story

Content Resources

Readers Advisory is my favorite thing. I cannot tell you how much I love talking about books with people. My banker asks me for suggestions for his kids every time I visit the bank. While library staff give out suggestions all the time, I think we are all feeling more apprehension in this political climate. We can’t know the content in every book ever printed. However, there is help for that! Here are some resources to use or give out to people to find the right fit:

Common Sense Media (commonsensemedia.org)
CSM rates entertainment. This includes movies, books, podcasts, games, and shows. They look for things like violence, sex, language, but also role models and positive messages as well as educational value.

Does the Dog Die (doesthedogdie.com)
DTDD is a crowdsourced tool for emotional spoilers in movies, TV, books etc. Yes, it definitely includes animals passing away. But this also can find things like hate speech, violence, death, drugs, swearing, and so much more.

Amazon.com
Whatever your feelings about Amazon are, they have a fabulous tool in the “Look Inside” feature for most print books. You can use this feature to search how many times certain words appear inside the book. Though, you do have to type them in yourself which can be pretty awkward at the Reference Desk.

Graphic Novel Ratings
A lot of graphic novels have a rating next to the ISBN number. For instance, Dragonball Z is rated A for all ages, Beastars is rated T+ for older teens, Black Panther: Long Live the King is rated T for teens, and the Sandman series is rated M for mature readers.

Novelist/Novelist K-8
This subscription site is one of my favorite readers advisory tools! Not only does it have read-alikes, genre breakdowns, book discussion questions, and…I could go on and on, but it also has some helpful tips for reading levels. In each youth/teen item entry, there is a Min/Max Grade level and a Lexile number. While Novelist doesn’t do a deep dive into the content, there is also a Theme section which can hint at any controversial subjects covered in the book. Novelist is available to all Idaho libraries through Lili.org.

Another issue that can arise with patrons looking for content guidance is lack of specificity. What one person thinks of as “clean” might not match with what the staff person feels is “clean.” It helps for a family or individual to have their own Content Guide. My supervisor has a quick and easy way for patrons to come up with their own guide for reading materials. This includes three categories: specific, individual, and flexible.

Here is a snippet of her tips:

Specific: As a family, discuss what kinds of themes and content are best for your family and why they are right for you. Then come up with specific words to use when asking for help in finding materials.

Non-specific descriptions: a clean book; a book with diverse characters
Specific descriptions: a book with minimal/light swearing, if any, and no descriptions of sexual intercourse; a book where the main character is a person of color.

Individual: Each person in your family is different, so their personal Content Guides should be individualized to meet their specific needs. Discuss with each family member themes, content, and topics that are too sad, too scary, too emotional, or too intense to be read or viewed without causing discomfort to the reader and incorporate those into their personal Content Guide.

Flexible: Personal Content Guides should be flexible both over the years and in the moment. As readers of all ages mature, interests, content, and thematic preferences will evolve. Make a plan to review your family Content Guide and individual Content Guides regularly, perhaps once each year, to see what revisions should be made.

I hope this article has been helpful for you and gives you more tools for helping patrons find reading materials that fit their needs.

By Maggie Dumont 

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.

Where are we supposed to be?

Recently our library participated in our local parade.  As we were driving to our assigned location, we found that we did not know exactly where we should be going.  One staff member ventured out to find the location, other staff members started talking to the other parade participants to find out more.  One of the people reached out to was lost as well.  Our staff member took the opportunity to talk about the library, and even set-up a follow-up meeting to discuss library programming, from a partner!  It was a small fail, but a great step forward in reaching out to our local community members and being open to discussing the library and how we can work together!

By Mike Sloan 

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!

Idaho Libraries & Laundromats 

I am crushing on Idaho Libraries & Laundromats! How could you not? Partnering as the Laundry Literacy Coalition in 2015, LaundryCares and Too Small to Fail have been focused on promoting opportunities for children’s early literacy skills development for families who may not be able to visit the library. Research began in 2018 with “laundry and literacy kits” left at laundromats in hopes of increasing early literacy. Utilizing overlooked laundromat wait times each visit, early literacy skills can be greatly improved.
 
In 2020, ICFL brought the program to Idaho and so far are operating from 13 sites around the state. I’m so proud to be part of an organization that is a part of it! If this is something you would like to participate in, I’ve included this Idaho Libraries & Laundromats 2022 Library Interest Form.

By Mariah Farmer

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.