Retiring Guy's Introduction to "New Adult" Fiction

It was a dark and steamy night  

Cora Carmack Books blog

Too hot for library shelves?
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Beyond Wizards and Vampires, to Sex. (The New York Times, 12/21/2012)

"New Adult" genre

• Differs from young-adult fiction with
• Slightly older characters
• Significantly more sex (explicit)
• Winkingly describe[d] as Harry Potter meets "50 Shades of Grey"
• Aimed at 18 to 25 year olds
• Goal:  to retain young readers who have worked their way through series books
• Harry Potter
• The Hunger Games
• Twilight

The bottom line:  It's dollar-driven. 

Providing more mature material, publishers reason, is a good way to maintain devotion to books among the teenagers who are scooping up young-adult fiction and making it the most popular category in literature, with a crossover readership that is also attracting millions of adults. All while creating a new source of revenue.

Other information gleaned from the article

• Bowker study.  Half the buyers of young-adult books were 18 or older and majority purchased books for themselves.
• Hybrid nature of genre leads to bookstore display dilemma (not to mention, which the article doesn't, where to play these titles on the library shelves)
• Young authors began forcing the issue by publishing their novels online and gaining an audience (emphasis added; a loaded phrase when the issue is explicit sex)

"Not your mother's romance"

No consensus location in LINKcat

From The Princess Diaries.....

...to Heather Wells

Gotta wonder about that preteen location.

Bar Graphing the Results of the 2012 Presidential and U.S. Senate Elections: City of Fond du Lac, City of Ripon, and the Rest of Fond du Lac County

Fond du Lac County's reddest municipalities

Fond du Lac County Clerk

A headline I would have liked to see.

Related posts:
Sheboygan County:  2012 Presidential and U.S. Senate election results.  (12/13/2012)
Manitowoc County:  2012 recall and Presidential elections.  (12/13/2012)
City and county of Eau Claire.  (12/13/2012)
Appleton, Kaukauna, Kimberly, Little Chute, Grand Chute, and the rest of Outagamie County.  (12/3/2012)
Oshkosh, Neenah, Menasha, and the rest of Winnebago County.  (12/1/2012)
Anointed 2016 GOP Frontrunner Has a Challenge on the Home Front -- Revised.  (11/18/2012)
The reddest part of Oklahoma is the Panhandle.  (11/18/2012)
City of Wausau, surrounding communities, and the rest of Marathon County.  (11/18/2012)
City of Green Bay and Brown County Presidential & U.S. Senate election results.  (11/17/2012)
City and County of Racine Presidential & U.S. Senate election results.  (11/17/2012)
2012 Presidential election mapped.  (11/16/2012)
Redistricting in Wisconsin:  the plumber control the spigot.  (11/15/2012)
Romney sez it's Christmas in November. (11/14/2012)
How young people (18-29) voted for President in 2012.  (11/14/2012)
Meet the Optimizer, Larry Grisolano.  (11/13/2012)
The really BIG money.  (11/12/2012)
Money can't buy you happiness.  (11/12/2012)
Eric Litke can't see the forest for the trees.  (11/12/2012)
Yes, Frank, a methodology that puts Gallup solidly in last place for accuracy.  (11/11/2012)
City of Middleton vs. Town of Middleton.  (11/10/2012)
U.S. Rep. John Fleming sends a warning to Speaker Boehner.  (11/10/2012)
How they voted in the Southwest Wisconsin Library System.  (11/9/2012)
Romney's 1st slogan choice was "Let's get small".  (11/9/2012)
How Brown, Milwaukee, Racine, and Kenosha counties pushed Tammy Baldwin to victory.  (11/9/2012)
Comparing the results of the 2010 and 2012 elections in Wisconsin's 44th Assembly district.  (11/8/2012)
From recall to Presidential elections:  What a difference 5 months make. (11/8/2012)
States with the largest and smallest percentages of votes for Obama.  (11/8/2012)
Hurricane Sandy and the New York/New Jersey voter turnout.  (11/8/2012)
The GOP problem expressed in two quotes.  (11/7/2012)
Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight Forecast and the election results.  (11/7/2012)
Anointed front runner has a problem on the home front.  (11/7/2012)
Thank you to the women of the U.S.A.  (11/7/2012)
Nebraska and Indiana:  the shame-faced members of the Big Ten.  (11/7/2012)
The lonely blue:  Nebraska's Thurston County.  (11/7/2012)
Dear Republicans, meet your future.  (11/7/2012)
You got that wrong!  (11/6/2012)

Eastern Shores Library System Takes the Next Step in Its Merger Inquiry

WLA Legislative Policy Statements

The following information is from "Next Step in the Merger Inquiry" an article in the November 2012 issue of The Library Connection, the Eastern Shores Library System's monthly newsletter.

Some of the differences in system services offered include:

Winnefox Library System  (30 member libraries)

• Acts as a clearing house for ILL requests 
• Uses WorldCat instead of WISCAT. 
• Staff dedicated to continuing education
• Does not provide delivery to all member libraries every day
• Delivery hub for sorting
• Coordinates booking of summer library performers.
• Graphic artist on staff who designs and produces all printed and promotional materials for member libraries and programs, including summer reading program and National Library Week
• Provides cooperative purchasing and physical processing of library materials
• Barcodes and enters data for processed materials into shared catalog
• Has a mascot
• Provides catalog database maintenance under contract with Oshkosh PL

Waukesha County Library System  (16 member libraries)

• Staff dedicated to continuing education.
• Uses a private vendor for delivery service throughout their system.
• Homebound delivery service.
• Provides grants to member libraries for summer reading program materials
• Provides funds for three summer library program performers at each member library
• Organizes group purchases of database and ebooks funded on a per capita assessment on member libraries
• Does not offer tech support for local pc's 
• Does not offer centralized cataloging of materials

Manitowoc-Calumet Library System  (6 member libraries)

• Provides grants to member libraries for summer library program materials  
• Does not offer centralized cataloging of materials

Library system staffing levels:

• Winnefox:  18.5 FTE
• Waukesha    7.0 FTE
• Manitowoc-Calumet  3.26 FTE
• Eastern Shores 9.25 FTE (of which 2.8 FTE provide bookmobile service)

Questions to be answered at a December 18th meeting with the directors of Manitowoc-Calumet, Waukesha, and Winnefox Library Systems

• Based on your current services and structure, please develop a list or chart which shows what a member library would receive as cash grants. 
• What fees would a library pay for system services and Integrated Library System (ILS) service; and describe specific services libraries receive. 
• Based on your current county library service plan and/or library system plan, please describe how your system reimburses or compensates libraries for crossover borrowing within a county and/or within the system. (Crossover borrowing is the borrowing of materials from Library A by residents of libraried community B). Does net lending and net borrowing factor into the reimbursement/ compensation? 
• Do you coordinate or negotiate countywide library service plans and payments? 
• Please describe your ILS participation formulas, and provide examples of fee calculations. 
• What is your system's role in providing centralized ILL service to your member libraries? 
• What is the ILS policy for local holds going to local patrons first before being available to other libraries' patrons? 

Related post:

Eastern Shores Library System Explores Merger Possibilities.  (10/18/2012)

In other words, we have no friggin' idea

"Wide-ranging" forecast

The widest I've ever encountered.

Wisconsin Public Library System Aids: Fiscal Year Index Levels (1982-2013)

Current law under s. 43.24 (6), Wisconsin State Statutes, requires the Department to include a 13% index level of funding for public library systems in its biennial budget request.

As described in the 2013-15 Department of Public Instruction biennial budget request, public library system aid indexing means that system aids should be set at a percentage of local and county expenditures in the previous year.

History of public library system indexing (same source as above)

• 1978.  Legislative Council study committee recommends a level of 20%. (List of study committees, 1948-1996)
• 1981.  State legislature adopts system aid indexing at 11.25%.  (Effective year).
• 1986.  Recommendation of the State Superintendent‘s Task Force on Library Legislation.results in legislature approving an increase to 13%.
• 1993 Wisconsin Act 16, the biennial budget bill, eliminates the 13 percent indexing level. 
• 1997 Wisconsin Act 150, i.e., current law, requires DPI to include a biennial budget request for library system aid equal to the 13 percent index system (with no companion provision that the legislature honor this request.).

(2013 estimated)

WLA Library Legislative Day information.

Help us move on up.

Robert Bork (1927-2012)

  American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language

LINK

How does a word get into a Merriam-Webster dictionary?

It's a simple one-word answer -- and a case study of how a once household names fade from the public consciousness.

Robert H. Bork, Conservative Jurist, Dies at 85. (The New York Times, 12/19/2012)

Excerpt: That turned Judge Bork’s defeat into a watershed event and his name into a verb: getting “borked” is what happens to a nominee rejected for what supporters consider political motives.

For comprehensiveness, you can always depend on the Oxford Dictionaries. 

1000 Books Before Kindergarten Roll Call

Colorado Department of Education (CDE) overview

• Just what IS the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program?
• How much will it cost to start and maintain the program?
• How do parents track reading?
• How can libraries make the most of the program?
• But what does this actually look like?  (links)

According to the CDE, 1000 Books Before Kindergarten was first offered by the Bremen Public Library in Indiana.  (Apologies in advance if I've started or reignited a Two Rivers Wisconsin/Ithaca New York "Birthplace of the Ice Cream Sundae"-type battle.  But if it's been confirmed by Marge, I don't think I've stirred anything up!)

WISCONSIN

Albany, Albertson Memorial Library

Appleton PL

Cedarburg PL

Elkhart Lake PL

Elkhorn, Matheson Memorial Library

Fond du Lac PL

Grafton, U.S.S. Liberty Memorial PL

Hortonville PL

Kimberly-Little Chute Public Library

La Crosse PL

Marinette Consolidated County PL

Medford, Francis L. Simek Memorial Library

Menasha, Elisha D. Smith PL

Montello PL

Random Lake, Lakeview Community Library

Sauk City PL

Sheboygan, Mead PL

And then there's Pinterest

....to be continued.....

Send me your library's link if you'd like to be added to the list.

Bill Esbeck's Day of Wrath

UW and WiscNet Audit Reveals Institutional Arrogance, Deceptive Accounting, Statutory Violations.   Wisconsin State Telecommunications Association new release, 12/18/2012.

See for yourself.

LINK

Wisconsin Democracy Campaign Follow the Money
(Includes contributions since 1993.)

*And, yes, "fester(ing)" is also missing in LAB action.

Soon to follow:

• A closer look at WiscNet's initial response to the report.
• Rep. Samantha Kerkman's news release.  (Kerkman is the co-chair of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee)
• The LAB report recommendations

Nielsen Wire: Traditional Beer vs. Craft Beer Consumers

From Exploring the Alcoholic Beverage Consumer’s Mindset, 12/18/2012.

Gun Control: It All Depends on the Questions You Ask

American Viewpoint survey January 2011

17% say ban handguns.

66% say require every gun owner to register each gun he or she owns as part of a national gun registry

83% say fully enforce gun laws currently on the books.

86% say require all gun buyers to pass a criminal background check, no matter where they buy the gun and no matter who they buy it from

89% say require all gun buyers at gun shows to pass a criminal background check.

The Woes of South Jersey's Librarires

South Jersey libraries on borrowed time due to financial woes. (South Jersey Times, 12/16/2012)\

Margaret E. Heggan Free Public Library 

• Cut hours
• Charge DVD rental fee 

Bridgeton Free Public Library

• City funding cut 30 percent in past 2 years
• Bequest funds, used to make up the difference, are quickly running out
• Crucial role of Friends of the Library and Save Our Library organizations

 

Salem County

•  “Salem is the worst library county in the state, by far.”
•  Penns-Grove Carneys Point Public Library closed permanently after years of battling floodwaters

The NRA Goes Silent After Newtown but I Suspect Wayne LaPierre Will Remain Unrepentant

 LINK

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The Advantages of Hindsight: Puffed Red Chests Deflated as a Result of Missed Message

Analysis: Wisconsin now tougher for Obama, but still uphill climb for Romney. (CNN, 6/6/2012)

Reince Priebus, a featured player in "Their Own Reality".

Too Early to Handicap Wisconsin's 2014 Gubernatorial Race

Few Democrats lining up to challenge Walker in 2014. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 12/15/2012)

Unlike June 5th, when the election served as a referendum on appropriateness of using the recall process to oust the Governor, Walker is going to have to run on his record in 2014.

LINK

LINK

Trying to get the red out in Manitowoc County.

Voters already seeing through this weaselly strategy.

Sometimes Things Don't Go As Planned in the Bubble

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Is Wisconsin still a Presidential battleground?  (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 12/14/2012)

Excerpt:  Some Republicans thought this could be the year they ended their Wisconsin losing streak. 

• They had a home-state politician (Janesville congressman Paul Ryan) on the ticket. (Who couldn't carry his hometown or county.)
  
• They were coming off a huge and historic recall victory.  (Which had nothing to do with how many people vote in a normal election.)
  
• They believed they had the best GOP turnout operation in the country.  (GOP trounced by "The Optimizer".)
  
• And they viewed the incumbent Democratic as very vulnerable on the economy.  (But a number of candidates just couldn't stay on message.)

Mead Public Library Director Sharon Winkle Announces Her Retirement

Mead Library Director Winkle to retire. (Sheboygan Press, 12/14/2012)