Saturday, February 27, 2016

A Shelf of Books


OK, Red is right. I should cut my poor leaf-discarding neighbor some slack. At least he or she is trying to recycle, even if the leaves wound up in the wrong container! (The rubbish collectors took it all, which is the important thing.)

Another quiet day yesterday. I worked on a library project in which we've asked certain Middle School faculty and staff members to take a selfie and submit it with a list of 10 books that describe them, or are especially meaningful to them. We then photograph the 10 books, lined up on a shelf, and students are going to be asked to connect each staff member with the correct book shelf. Should be a fun challenge!

My 10 books:

-- All the President's Men (Woodward and Bernstein)
-- The Corpse Had a Familiar Face (E. Buchanan)
-- In Cold Blood (Capote)
-- The Sheltering Sky (P. Bowles)
-- Slaves of New York (Janowitz)
-- 50 Photographers You Should Know
-- The Nature of Photographs (Shore)
-- Ariel (S. Plath)
-- The Martian Chronicles (R. Bradbury)
-- Maurice (E. M. Forster)

I thought that represented a good mix of journalism and photography, along with places I've lived and other identifying factors. I confess I've never read "All the President's Men," though the movie is one of my favorites. Is that cheating?

(Photo: Brixton, South London.)

11 comments:

Mwa said...

That IS cheating! :-)
(Says the English teacher.)

ellen abbott said...

I've read The Martian Chronicles and my grandgirl is reading In Cold Blood for school. I should think it will be pretty easy for the students to pick you out of the line up of books.

Marty said...

What a fabulous idea. You almost make me wish I was still teaching (well, maybe not) so I could run to my school librarian with this.

Ms. Moon said...

I think out of that list I've only read "In Cold Blood" and the "Martian Chronicles." I give them both thumbs up.

jenny_o said...

What a great idea! I think the students will have fun with this.

Red said...

That's a great project! I'm a reader, but I've only read In Cold Blood and that was very,very long time ago. You are getting kids to read and have a more meaningful relationship with staff.

Linda Sue said...

only ten! Lad, we hardly knew ya...Those are some great reps for you but dang , there is so much MORE!
Oh meant to comment on the recycling event, we are fooled, so says our recycle pick up man, it all goes into one place unless it is aluminum.

Yorkshire Pudding said...

Some cool gear in "Baron" menswear shop! You need to take Dave down there so that he can update his wardrobe.

Steve Reed said...

MWA: I know. I suppose I should read it. But then again I'm pretty sure my journalism years are behind me!

Ellen: We'll see! The students who will be successful are the ones who know something about all of our backgrounds, and that's not everyone.

Marty: I think my boss scans online librarian forums to come up with these ideas.

Ms Moon: "Cross Creek" almost made the list!

Jenny-O: I hope so!

Red: That's the idea. We're always trying to get them thinking about reading a book. It's surprisingly hard with all the online distractions!

Linda Sue: I have ALWAYS suspected that is the case! Does he mean it gets landfilled or that it gets sorted elsewhere? I used to see cleaners at the NY Times go through the building and dump trash and recycling cans all in one big bin.

York: Isn't it snazzy?!

utahDOG! said...

ATPM is a good read.

37paddington said...

The photo books are probably going to give you away. Fun challenge!