We already read harry potter is that not enough!

“Sarah Wright, a senior, added:

They’re usually very receptive because you’re another cool teenager”

Honey you're not having a hot prom date. Declaring yourself cool is also a nono people can call you cool, but once you call yourself that you are dork. And ambushing funny as that is I would tell you to shut up and gimme the damn guitar before i show you rock star wannabe anger.

[...] [Via GamePolitics] [...]

[...] Update: GamePolitics.com has an entry on libraries in Iowa using Guitar Hero to pull in teens, then encouraging them to read. Michael Neary at the Ft. Dodge Messenger writes how local librarians hope the lure of video games will lead to teens transitioning over to books. [...]

Hmm, My library has Star Wars Battlefront 2 and Runescape competitions. I feel so left out.

IT'S A TRAP

The teens were the ones saying classics should be removed so more of their choices would fill the shelves. I hardly doubt any serious library would actually listen to such a call, especially from teens. There are easier ways to make shelf space. Most of the time a library (especially one that is a repository) can make space by actually weeding local, state, and federal documents that they were only supposed to keep on hand for 5 years or whatever. These documents are available online before they ever get tossed, along with microfiche and microfilm that goes for years without being weeded.

These items may be in entirely different areas so better weeding may produce no space for new books in say young adult books but weeding older periodicals as they become available in other digital forms can possibly provide space near enough where young people can find new fiction. I think the art of reading a book that lacks a fancy dust jacket or flashy artwork is lost of many people as it is, leaving the question how does on get classics to be discovered? New software and other solutions are helping provide clients with more info, and overall making the online catalog easier to utilize. You can be referred to books (classic and new alike) based on reviews, keyword searches, tags, and other links of info available to the user. It only takes a library to make serious effort in improving the interface customers see to their local collection, and in some cases making changes to records as necessary. The invasion of slat-wall (what BlockBuster and other vendors use to utilize wall space) into more libraries also offers more possibility of classic book displays of ranging subjects catching the eyes and imaginations of people wandering about.

Let us hope that books are never truly torn down by society Kommisar. If you find the right way to show a child what a book can bring, they will receive it. The younger they start the earlier it is obviously. The Robin Hood Foundation and other group's efforts to revitalize libraries, particularly elementary schools shows the effect effort can have on student's reading. Some of the videos of schools that have received funds for remodeling will nearly bring a tear to your eye. As I have told coworkers, in elementary my lifeline besides books at home of my mom's was the school library. No money had we for much. Reading Rainbow and a very strange librarian who used to dance for us. It was something like a Cossack dance but I was so young it wouldn't have mattered what it was.

@Archgabe:

I hated Catcher in the Rye -- far too much adolescent male angst for my tastes. Fahrenheit 451 was excellent, however. I don't remember much about it, but I do remember enjoying it.

However, even though I strongly dislike some of the classics, I would never support their removal from a library. I love books, and I believe that even the worst ones are worth reading if they have literary or historical significance. That's why (and yes, I know I keep bringing it up) I'm currently reading an English translation of Mein Kampf. It's a terrible book, but history has a nasty habit of repeating itself if we don't make an effort to learn from our mistakes. Most old books, even works of fiction, tell us something about the world as it was when the book was written, and I feel that that is invaluable knowledge.

Why do I get the image of heavy tomes being thrown at them till they are dead. Then there is the smashed guitar controller lying on top of a body, bathed in light looking all Iconic as if to say justice shall be served.....

Where am i?

Problem is, take great books like 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. That is really a very good book, but it loses potency these days because the issues over slavery and racism are moving further and further away from the now. A Modern day equivalent would be something dealing with a wrongly accused Muslim under Terrorism charges or the like, which would be an extremely charged subject.

The thing about ALL kinds of Media is that they are only general interest for a short period of time. 'To Kill a Mockingbird' has a very important message but as something 'Just to read', it really doesn't have as much context as it used to.

@J-Guy

The problem with assigning even good books for school is they then want you to analyze them to death to prove you've read them.

Hilarious post BloodEagle. :)

I don't believe the tactics used are wholly as simple as pouncing the line of Guitar Hero players. The article does not mention the librarians' efforts during the events, nor does it talk about efforts that go into advertising the events or signage used during. The youth may well be aware of what to expect if they attend. Working in a library I can say there has to be more to it.

What I did see from the article was that the pouncing acts seemed to be orchestrated mostly by a student group of volunteers. They are the ones who thought that they were seen as cooler than librarians, wanted classic pulled in favor of newer titles, and enjoyed the more twisted stories to read. At least one librarian has contact with them and supervises them at the very least, and it would have been nice to get more reporting on this story from the author at The Messenger.

Walking into a library you can be expected to at least be receptive to the idea of either perusing books/media items, doing research, using the PCs, or enjoying some scheduled event using library space. I imagine at least a few of the kids who were "pounced" returned for more than a single Guitar Hero event. I am not a librarian but I help students (college), faculty/staff, and community borrowers when they need help. Pouncing on youth with books is something teens are more likely to cook up and engage in than any librarians I've ever known at the random libraries I attended in the past (before working for one). The staff/faculty take of the event would probably be even more of an interesting read since they would be writing about not only the Guitar Hero players but also the book-rabid teens. This sounds more like a summer camp experiment with junior counselors running around on a power trip than a heavily-invested-in effort by the library director to boost circulation numbers.

@ J-Guy

True dat. I, for one, read far more before summer reading than I do now. I use to finish about two 500 page books a week, now I can't find any books that I'm willing to take a risk on. Part of that problem was Summer reading. Most boring and terrible books in history

@ Dorkmaster Flek & That Guy

I'll see your "Heart of Darkness" and Jane Austin, and raise you "Old Man and the Sea". Sure it was only a hundred pages, but it took me a week to finish.

I think I would tend to pick books based on what I want to happen to the reader. If I wanted them to turn out gay, I'd recommend Proust. If I want them to hate women, Bukowski all the way. If I want them to start an organized crime syndicate there's always Palahniuk. If I want them to gouge their eyes out with a fork, then there are the classic works of Thompson*.




*Jack Thompson, ATTORNEY

I think a better way to get teens into reading is to give them GOOD books to read for school. Every book that I have been forced to read in school has been boring! Interesting books might turn that around.

If I were on the book ambush, which I am one year past being eligible, I would give out Terry Pratchett...

Well I must admit I love a good book as much as I love a good video games and of course kids should be encouraged to read but I'm not so sure about sneaky tactics like this, it'll just push kids awa from reading as opposed to encourage it.

@Dorkmaster
I see your "Heart of Darkness" and raise you anything by Jane Austen

Hopefully "Heart of Darkness" is on that list. Gods, that had to be the most boring book I've ever read. Damn you high school English!