MLIS student in Northern Alberta blogging about geeky & fangirly stuff. My heart can be found at the corner where creepy meets cute.
From my library-focused blog, Shaunaseeks:
For the past few weeks in my self-isolation, I’ve been working on an Animal Crossing island that our library patrons can enjoy from home. I’ve created a YouTube video to highlight the main features of WBRL Isle. Many thanks to the other library folk who helped me collect special items for this island!
New post to ShaunaSeeks (my library-focused blog)
(The following essay was submitted as a final paper for my LIS 542: Library Preservation, Security and Risk Management course.)
Librarians and libraries are held to extremely high standards by patrons and staff who know their true and immense value. While libraries are often misunderstood and overlooked by those who choose to eschew them, every day libraries prove their worth as essential cornerstones of society. Many libraries have further surprised their communities and surpassed the expectations of even their most steadfast supporters by becoming tenacious strongholds during times of turmoil. While I wholeheartedly believe that libraries should do as much as they can for their communities in hard times, it has taken a pandemic for me to fully realize that we, too, have a limit. Libraries are sanctuaries for everyone in good times and bad, but there are times when staying open to the public is a health risk that…
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Upon reflection, I discovered that even the fictional narratives that I’ve taken up in an alternate form of self in video games has contributed to my personal narratives in positive ways.
*2022 edit: the Normal Happenings blog appears to sadly be no more, but thanks to the wonderful Internet Archive, my post has been saved in its entirety here:
https://web.archive.org/web/20210419034357/https://normalhappenings.com/2020/03/03/alternate-shauna-the-character-that-defines-hidengoshauna/
Posted on my library-focused blog, Shaunaseeks:
Julia Watts was chosen as a featured author for the upcoming LitUp Festival: Arts and Innovation for the Next Generation, an event sponsored by Knox County Public Library. It’s an event for teens with writing workshops, career information, author talks, and other activities. Watts has several published, celebrated works aimed at a teen audience, such as Finding H.F., and Quiver.
Watts, who has participated in Knox County Library programs in the past, was surprised and saddened when the library suddenly uninvited her from the event. The reason? According to the library’s assistant director for marketing Mary Pom Claiborne, the organizing committee discovered that “Some of her work is described as erotica and is inappropriate for teens”. (Knox News, 2019)
So again, Ms. Watts has several lauded YA titles, which was what made her an author choice for the festival, but the fact that she had written risqué material…
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I wrote this for my other (library related) blog- just want to point out my mad skill at incorporating SHINee into literally everything XD
Yes, my kpop bias is SHINee KEY!
But I love all of 5HINee, of course!
I’m currently working on a series of informational guides to have available in the computer areas of our library. I just finished the basic skeleton of the first one, and I wanted to share it freely because I think it’s important information: choosing sources, examining bias, and fighting fake news!
I created this with teens in mind: it’s a very simple and pared-down guide that I hope will be approachable and engaging.
Feel free to download, print, and use for non-profit and educational purposes.
-Shauna
I’m so happy- my article about the versatility and power of comics has been published by Perspectives on Reading.
Check it out here!
When I was freshly reeling from a painful and embarrassing failure, a respected mentor asked to meet up with me in a coffee shop. We chatted for a while and he asked me what I had learned from my struggle. I was so deep in shock and self-pity that I couldn’t think of anything positive to say. He told me I’ve learned thatyou’re resilient. I didn’t feel resilient at the time, but his words helped me to shift my perspective and inner story, and to work toward new goals.
These books compiled here are a variety of books on resilience, picking yourself up after failure, learning from mistakes, and owning your life as it is now. Some of these are titles I certainly could have used when I was going through that tough time- hopefully they will help someone somewhere who needs them.
(Descriptions provided from publishers, book-jackets, covers…
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A Facebook post went viral recently because a woman came across a book at Costco and was offended by the poems in it- specifically one poem, Brotherly Love:
The post was clearly written to provoke outrage, which it did achieve. The thousands of comments are filled with calls to pull the book, questioning the store for selling it, the authors for writing it, and the publishers for supporting it.
I understand if this poem isn’t appealing to everyone – it’s definitely dark in its humour, and filled with imagined instances of hyperbolic violence. Some kids might find it frightening, but others will surely find it hilarious. In the comments of the post parents are also asserting that kids couldn’t possibly understand the dark humour for what it is and will take the poem literally; to this I say no two kids are the same, and kids in general are…
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If, like me, you’ve been feeling more than your share of political exhaustion, existential dread, climate-change anxiety, and general fear about the way the world seems to be headed, you may want to consider perusing the following book suggestions.
These books won’t let us turn back time and prevent the election of ignorant egomaniacs. They probably also won’t help us when our coastlines become submerged, and they won’t protect us from artificially intelligent dictators or wildfires or aliens, but hey — at least they’ll make us feel better in the meantime.
Okay, maybe i’m feeling cynical, leaning nihilistic, but I really don’t think that I’m alone in my exasperation. These books aim to inspire hope, which I imagine most of us could use a bit more of these days.
And so, I present:
(Quotes used are taken from…
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BOOK-LIST TIME! This time for International Women’s Day!
I’ve kept track of 101 books that have been released recently (approximately within this past year) featuring intersectional feminist writings, women’s stories and histories, and empowering reads from diverse voices.
The quoted descriptions I’ve used are from the book jackets and/or their promo materials.
Scroll down for biographies, non-fiction, graphic novels, YA titles, and books for younger readers, too!
Happy, inspired reading!
A personal and empowering blueprint—from one of America’s rising Democratic stars—for outsiders who seek to become the ones in charge
So what if it’s true that Black women are mad as hell? They have the right to be. In the Black feminist tradition of Audre Lorde, Brittney Cooper reminds us that anger is a powerful…
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HideNGoShauna 