We just want to help you

 Hi, remember me?

Okay so it's been a hot minute since I've blogged. Honestly, I didn't think I'd let it go this long, but I was trying to finish editing my latest manuscript and made a vow that I wouldn't write anything else (except for my contractually-obligated column) until I'd finished the dang book.

It's finished.

Now, let's talk about Banned Books Week. It's happening now, October 5-11, and I'm a library trustee so I have some thoughts about book challenges to libraries.

My overwhelming thought these days is that, due to our passion to keep the library relevant to ALL of our patrons, we tend to get defensive about protecting our dear books on our shelves. But here's the thing: Our patrons are not our adversaries, nor do we want to treat them that way. Our patrons are our neighbors, our friends, our reason to exist.

What I'd like people to understand is that, just as we want books that inform, help, or entertain them, we want to do the same for everyone who holds one of our library cards. If you are not interested in car repair, should you ask for all the car repair books to be removed? I am uncomfortable reading books about slavery, in that they make me painfully sad, but I want other people to be able to read them.

You may not like a particular book but someone else needs it.

Children's books get a little more difficult. Parents want to protect their children and often that means the material they are exposed to. Librarians don't want to be your enemy, they want to be your guide through the shelves. Tell them what you're looking for. They'll help you find it.

Here's where I get a little blunt. You know those books you want to ban that discuss things you don't want your child to read about? They're on the shelves because there are children asking about them. I know, you wish it wasn't so, but I see two paths available to the parents of "those" children.

One path is to love your child even if you don't understand who they are, and help them get accurate information (hint: it's in your library).

The other path is to abandon your child because of who they are. I personally cannot think of anything Marcus could be or do that would erase my love for him (although if he was a serial killer, I'd be very disappointed), but I know people whose parents disowned them because they disapproved of their lifestyle.

I am one of those people--my parents disowned me for marrying an African-American man. They retracted it when I had Marcus but it colored our relationship until their deaths. I'm afraid my advice to those parents would be, if they can't fully love their child, why do they care what their child reads? 

I know how harsh that sounds and it's probably more complicated than that, but I'm also the mom who tried very hard to "raise the child she had and not the one she wanted."

So, I encourage you this week to look at the books that have been banned and why they were banned. If any of them make you curious, check it out of the library!

So... how's your weekend?

Personally, I seem to be recuperating.

I had scheduled some writing today, but my brain seems to be lagging. Noun? Verb? What speak is you language this?

Maybe I should keep my words little and sentences short.

I began the weekend with a few hours at Disneyland with my good buddy Tameri Etherton, who is just crazy fun. She was there to get pictures of the Halloween decorations. We were admittedly disappointed that California Adventure has no homage to Halloween at all. (Perhaps there are no holidays when you are having an adventure.) It was drizzling a little as we wandered around Faux-Fisherman's Wharf, desperately seeking coffee.

As if an Omen from Walt, the sun came out as soon as we hit the gates of Disneyland. After a thrilling ride on Big Thunder (where we might have frightened the small child in the next car by yelling things like, "Rattlesnake! Earthquake! Potted Light Fixture!"), we took the Jungle Cruise ride into deepest, darkest Anaheim.

We wish the animals wore Halloween masks!

There were two teenaged girls behind us in line, so Tameri was interested in what they read. Fantasy, the one girl said, which was perfect. Then she rattled off some of her favorite books, including Twilight. Oh, well.

Since the Indiana Jones ride was closed, we wandered a bit more through the park, then hit up downtown Disney for lunch and a trip to the candy store.

"YUM!"

I got home in time to change clothes and go to the Placentia Library Jewel Reception, a dinner held by the Friends Foundation to thank their big donors (and by big, I mean anything over $100). It was super lovely. The library director, Jeanette, even let this guy out of Nadia's office. Nice young man, but a little too stiff to be any fun.

Saturday was the Placentia Heritage Parade and Festival, which meant rising at 5:30 ayem, getting completely dressed and made-up, in order to be in the parade. The parade didn't start til 9:30, but I had to be at Tri-City Park at 6:15 to unload and set up my author's booth. By 7:00 I needed coffee.

Here's the thing about me and coffee and mornings... we don't always play nice. Getting up uber-early upsets my stomach. I could use the coffee to wake me up, but if I drink it on an upset stomach, it only makes it angrier.

So no coffee.

By 9:30, my booth was ready, I was in the parade car, and everything was great.

We're ready to roll out!

The parade was so much fun! I waved until my arm ached. Then I waved with the other hand. Then I propped my arm on the car and waved some more. My face still hurts from the smiling.

Yes, I wore the tiara!

My booth this year was not on the main path, so the bad news is, I didn't sell a lot of books. The good news is, I got two speaking engagements. The other bad news is, the way my booth was situated, people kept getting trapped behind me and walking through the middle of my booth to get to the path, tearing my sign loose. The good news is, Veronica from the Parks and Rec Department got two big "Road Closed" barricades and put them up to block people, AND I made friends with the cranky lady selling plush toys to my right.

After a day of excitement, I wanted to get into my jammies and relax, but instead, there was one more thing to do. Dale and I had to take Marcus out to his favorite restaurant for his birthday.

"Bucket o' Boat Trash" anyone?

As usual, I announced his birthday to the waitress, who did the whole "it's your birthday, shake your booty," ritual of embarrassment. It may be his birthday, but it's my entertainment.

What did you all do this weekend?

Li-li-libraries!

Today's blog post is brought to you by the letter "L" for Libraries. Lovely, likeable, learned, limitless libraries - often small buildings, packed with big ideas. The place where anyone can look up information on anything. The quiet zone. A place for children to discover stories, myths, and legends.

I'm on this rant because the Placentia Library Friends Foundation is hosting their annual Author's Luncheon this March. It's a fundraiser for the foundation, which serves the library. So far, the group has outfitted the library with a computer lab, new flooring, children's programs, and more. The luncheon is unashamedly money-conscious: tickets are $50, plus a silent auction, plus a percentage of the author's books, plus more opportunities to give your dollars, all for a good cause. Because the library is a good cause.

In their quest to get corporate donations for this event, the volunteers have been contacting companies in and near Placentia, to ask for a contribution. One of the volunteers reported that many companies have rebuffed her, saying, "Libraries are on their way out. You can get everything you need on the internet."

Wha-huh?

First, I had to laugh at their naivety. When Dale and I went to Parent Day at Cal State Long Beach, one of the sessions was given by a campus librarian, who told us, "I will spend your student's first year here convincing them that, just because you can't Google it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

Not everything is on the internet. There are presidential papers, theses, doctoral dissertations, that reside in brick-and-mortar buildings, in their original state. Some of them were actually hand-written, some were typed on a typewriter, but they have not been scanned or entered into a computer in any way. And yet, they are still actively used in research, by anyone who is interested in learning.

I could make a snarky comment about the level of intelligence of these company representatives, but I'll restrain myself. Feel free to make fun of them amongst yourselves.

My second rebuttal to their claim will take a brief story to illustrate:

When my son, Marcus, was in elementary school, we had a constant problem with sweatshirts. Marcus would wear them to school, take them off at some point, leave them somewhere, and never see them again. Putting his name on the tag was useless. It was irritating, until I picked him up one day at the on-site daycare. It was winter in southern California and late in the day, so the temperature outside was creeping down through the 60's. A little boy came running through the room, wearing shorts and a tee-shirt, his exposed skin ruddy with cold. The daycare lady told him to get his jacket on.

"I don't have one," he told her. From the way he said it, I knew he meant he didn't own a jacket.

"Take one out of the lost and found," she said. "You can return it before you go home."

I suddenly understood where Marcus' sweatshirts had been going, and my irritation disappeared. I knew our elementary school served a diverse population, both in race and in socio-economic conditions. Now I saw what this meant, in a personal way.

What does this have to do with libraries? Just this: some families in our community cannot provide adequate clothing for their children. Some children get public assistance to pay for their lunches. For some children, this is their only meal of the day. For their families, it is a constant struggle to keep the car running, to get to the minimum-wage job so they can pay the rent. Where would they get the money for a computer, much less internet services?

Without the library, some people would not have access to the same information that we take for granted. People who are on a fixed income, people who are struggling to make ends meet, people who may not have financial need, but who require personal help, would all be set adrift if there were no libraries to help them.

I can afford to buy a book I want to read, however, it's often easier and much cheaper to just check it out of the library. I save paper. I don't clutter my house with one more book that may not get read again. It's a win-win.

I could make a snarky comment about the level of compassion of these company representatives, but I'll restrain myself. I will only leave you with my opinion and my warning: If libraries cease to exist, we will widen the gulf between the already-gaping economic classes. And the belief we have always held as Americans, that we can work hard to better ourselves and provide a better future for our children, will become more of a myth than anything on a library's shelves.

There. I don't know about you, but I feel better.

You are most cordially invited!

This Friday (April 23rd), I'll be the guest speaker at the Placentia Library Friends Foundation's Annual Meeting. It will be held at the Placentia Library from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. If you're in the neighborhood, please come to the meeting.

If you live in Placentia, I'd order you to come to the meeting if I could.

Why would I be so ruthless? So exacting? Such a demanding diva?

Because libraries need all the love we can give them, in all the ways we can give it. We take our libraries for granted, but we shouldn't. In the past year, library branches in cities as large as Boston have been closed, hours and staff have been reduced for libraries all across the country, and some smaller cities have watched their libraries disappear. Budget cuts, friends, budget cuts. The economy has been bad, our government has been running out of money, so where do they cut? Public education and libraries - the very things our youth could use to learn how to get us out of this mess. Hmm.

We are blessed to have a library in our community, and we need to attend to it, as if it were a rare flower in our garden.

I know what you're thinking: a meeting? You mean, I have to listen to by-laws and elections and boring stuff? Waaaahhh!

Quit being a baby. Yes, elections can be painful, but they're not the entire meeting. By-law changes can be interesting, but you don't have to get uber-involved. A discussion of volunteer activities and plans for next year, though… that's the interesting part.

Do you know what the volunteers do for the library now? What they might do next year? What you might do next year?

Wait - what? Me? No, I don't have time to volunteer.

How do you know if you don't try? Volunteering doesn't take wild amounts of time, especially for the Placentia Library. Do you have an hour or so to give on Sunday every few months? Consider helping at the monthly book sale. Do you have more free time in the evenings? Help with one of their special events. Do you have ten minutes? Stop by their book store and spend a dollar on a used hardcover.

For those of you who think, oh, no, if I say I can help, they'll bug me constantly - I can tell you for a fact it's not true. I get called every three months or so to see if I can help at the Sunday book sale. Sometimes I can make it, sometimes I can't. Trust me, they know how to take no for an answer.

For those of you who don't live in Placentia, maybe you'd like to stop by and see what our library is doing that you could adopt for your own hometown library. I think each library has its own volunteer organization, and we could all do with some idea cross-pollination from time to time.

If nothing I've said convinces you to come to the meeting, come because I want to see you, to meet you if we're strangers. I'll be talking about being a writer, so if you write and you're like me, you want to hear about other writers' methods. Hopefully, I'll have something of value to pass on to you.

My last, desperate plea to get you to the library is this: they'll have refreshments. Yum!

Mark it on your calendars, set your iPhone alarm, to be at the Placentia Library this Friday at 7:00 p.m.

As a bonus, here's a link to the early edition of my column this week. It's all about libraries!

WHAT A DAY by Gayle Carline

Three Cheers for the Library!

Know what day it is? It's the day I start bugging everyone about the library event this Saturday. Yes, this Saturday, August 15th, I will be part of the Summer Reading Celebration at the Placentia Library, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Of course, I will be there with plenty of copies of Freezer Burn to sell, but mostly I'll be there to support my local library.

According to the flyer, there will be fun! There will be games! There will be pony rides!

No, not like this. Pony rides that the kids will enjoy.





See? Kids LOVE pony rides!







I love libraries! That rich smell of paper and glue and, I don't know, book dust, the je ne sais quoi quality of eau de bibliotheque. And the extra special sounds of quiet. The soft padding of feet, the swish of books being pulled from shelves, opened, put back. Whispers, no cell phones. Peace. Ahhh.

I remember my first library trip. Actually, it was a two-step trip. I was in 1st grade and had just learned to print my name (I knew how to write my signature, but the teacher insisted I put on the brakes and learn to print first). My dad took me to the library to get a library card. I don't know if my dad wanted to take me, but my mom didn't drive, so he was stuck with the task. This is what the Decatur Public Library looked like in 1960:

Except it was called the Carnegie Library. I still remember climbing all the steps and walking through the columns and thinking it was the most gi-normous building I'd ever seen.

The room had floor-to-ceiling shelves crammed with books, and there were more rooms on more floors; the possibilities of the worlds I was going to see made me want to dance with joy. I walked up to the desk and the lady gave me a card to print my name, and I was nearly vibrating across the floor. And then the worst thing happened - I printed my name too big for the card.

Now that I think about it, it didn't seem like that big of a deal. All the lady had to do was give me another card and let me try it again. But she didn't. She told me to go home and practice until I could fit my name onto the card and come back.

Witch.

I did as she asked and talked my dad into taking me back that afternoon. It took all my concentration, but I printed small and made it all fit and went home with a library card and several books. I wish I could remember how many, or the names. I just remember the victorious feeling of having a library card of my very own.

Later, I discovered the joys of the Bookmobile. It was a condensed version of the library, and had completely different books every week. Yummmmmmy.

Today's Decatur Public Library looks like this:

Call me nostalgic, but I prefer the old one. It was torn down, in the 70's I think, to build a metal-and-glass branch of the Soy Capital Bank and a parking lot. Yeah, that's better.

So, tell me a library memoir - what do you remember about your library experiences?

And - if you're anywhere near Placentia, California on Saturday, come celebrate a library with me!

Dear God, does she ever shut up?

One of the things I'm discovering about this Blog-A-Day-O-Rama is that, on the days when I'm super-busy, I need to just post something quick, like a pretty picture or a famous quote, but I can't. I've got to type some of my own words to go with it, and before I know it, I've typed an entire entry. I guess you could say I run off at the fingertips.

So, it's late-ish Friday night and I want to get to bed early because tomorrow's a busy day. It will start off here, at the Alta Vista Country Club:

This is Placentia's country club, and it's where the Placentia Library is hosting their Author's Luncheon. No, I'm not one of the authors being feted - yet - but I want to go and meet some other authors, glad-hand the library patrons and get the scoop on the luncheon and the country club.

You see, my next Peri Minneopa mystery novel will be set in this world. I realize that the Placentia Alta Vista Country Club isn't quite the upscale digs that some of those reality-TV housewives would frequent; however, by the time I get done with it, it will be.

Although I love setting the action in and around my hometown, I do take liberties. After all, it's called fiction, people. The real country club offers only golf, and has a nice clubhouse with a bar and restaurant and meeting rooms. My version will probaby include tennis courts, a pool, and perhaps a spa. Not to give away too much, Peri has to infiltrate a group of wealthy wives for surveillance and discovers some of them may have an interesting side business. The working title? "Hit or Missus."

In addition to the author's luncheon, tomorrow is my 17th wedding anniversary. I'm not certain what Dale and I will do, but rumor has it my son will be out of the house with friends until late, so who knows where we'll go and what we'll do?

Which means I need to get some sleep if I want to truly enjoy tomorrow. I keep thinking tomorrow's entry might be brief, but that's what I thought about this one, too.

Later, Peeps.