The Goldstein Chronicles 1.1: "The LUV Collection"

by Rob Stephens

Hello, loyal Goldstein Library fans! Here at the Goldstein, we're always looking for fun ways to serve FSU, so today I am starting the inaugural issue of The Goldstein Chronicles, a diary of the comical, whimsical, and capricious occurrences from our library. Here it is:

1.1: The LUV Collection

Shelf reading: grunt work of libraries. A rite of passage: all librarians spend days of their lives grabbing spines and putting the word back in order. But it's also zen: order and space, the beauty of the mundane, dusty hands. And every once in a while, during the practice of reading shelves, one stumbles upon a flaw that is perfect, like the one I found today.

The section I am currently shelf reading is located in the Goldstein's Juvenile (JUV) collection, ranging in LC call number from LSL JUV PZ 7 .K46825 to LSL JUV PZ 7 .S2492.

In case you don't know, the "LSL" stands for "Library Science Library," the old school name for "the Goldstein Library" (we prefer Goldstein Library now, thank you!). "JUV" stands for the Juvenile Collection (as opposed to our EASY collection or PROF [professional] collection, for example).
  
As you might imagine, shelf-reading in this area can be particularly mind-numbing because the smaller call numbers are so close together. However, today I came across a special book entitled Shadow People by Joyce McDonald, pictured left,

And that's where the magic happened, because you see, Shadow People is shelved incorrectly. To the right is a close up of the call number:






where is the LUV collection??

[NOTE: If you haven't already got the (admittedly really cheesy / awful / lightly comic / hilarious / bibliophile-only / SPINE-breaking) joke, this book is listed not as being in the Juvenile collection, but in the LUV collection. Didn't know we had that here]

I was forced ask myself, in a moment of existential crisis, "Do we have a LUV collection? What do I do? What does it all mean?"

So, first I decided to investigate: why is this book placed in LUV? Here's an excerpt from the inside cover:

"four seemingly different teenagers [...] are thrown together by a chance meeting at a deserted camp. Or maybe it isn't chance. For there are bonds that tie them to each other, bonds of loneliness, of frustration -- and of anger [...] These five voices combine to tell the chilling tale of what happens in a small town when teenage fury is unleashed."
   

huh?

"Teenage fury" sounds like the opposite of the LUV collection. But who am I to challenge the ways of the catalogue? (I'm just a GA / I need no sympathy...) At least there are "bonds..."
  And then, after wandering about the Goldstein, looking for this "LUV" collection and realizing that the collection had no home, I decided that I needed to create a home for LUV.


Attempt 1: The LUV Collection Shelf (LSL LUV PZ 7 .M478418 SH 2000 through LSL LUV PZ 7 .M478418 SH 2000)





No, that's no good. A one book collection? (I'm not scouring the entire collection to find another...).

How about this?

Attempt 2: The LUV Collection


That's better. Ok, I'm just kidding of course. This book belongs in JUV! But I do wish we had a LUV collection... maybe I can convince Goldstein to do a LUV display...



(that's better)

 

Bunny Rabbit Rebus

With a unique twist on reading, Bunny Rabbit Rebus by David A. Adler tells the story of Baby Rabbit and Mother Rabbit and their quest to find food while helping all their friends.  According to Wikipedia, a rebus is an "allusional device that uses pictures to represent words or parts of words."  Like in Bunny Rabbit Rebus, you may find a picture of a star in front of the letters TED to mean "started," or AL followed by a red E to mean "already."












Interested in more?????  Here are several other books in our collection that use rebus to tell a story.


The bag I'm taking to Grandma's by Shirley Neitzel
Easy and Picture Books  PZ8.3.N34 Bag 1995

The dress I'll wear to the party by Shirley Neitzel
Easy and Picture Books  PZ8.3.N34 Dr 1995

From A to Z : the collected letters of Irene and Hallie Coletta by Irene Coletta
Easy and Picture Books  PZ8.3.C68 Fr 1979

The jacket I wear in the snow by Shirley Neitzel
Easy and Picture Books  PZ8.3.N34 Jac 1989

The Little Red Riding Hood rebus book by Ann Morris
Juvenile  PZ8.M8287 Li 1987

Mother Goose picture puzzles by Will Hillenbrand
Easy and Picture Books  PZ8.3.H5542 Mo 2011

Puniddles by Bruce and Brett McMillan
Juvenile  PN6371.5 .M39 1982

Snappity snap! by Stephen Wyllie
Easy and Picture Books  PZ7.W9783 Sn 1989  
 
There was an old woman by Stephen Wyllie
Easy and Picture Books  PZ7.W9783 Th 1985

The turtle and the hippopotamus by Kate Banks
Easy and Picture Books  PZ7.B22594 Tu 2002

"Mr. and Mrs. Vinegar lived comfortably in a pickle jar."

So I chose it because the title seemed interesting, and I was trying to decide what could be interesting about this book.  What do I do to find out more about it? How about open the book!  The above quote is the first line of the story.

The writing in this story is really funny.  It starts out that Mrs. Vinegar breaks their glass pickle jar home and Mr. Vinegar says that they will go out into the world and make their fortune and "have another fine pickle jar".  Okay, so the plot is lagging, but the way Stephen Gammel writes his story is funny.  Check this last quote:

" 'Leave now?' Mrs. Vinegar replied. 'But what of our belongings?' 

Mr. Vinegar waved his hands. 'Nothing to fret about. I shall take out door and the key as well.  All will be safe upon our return.' "

I will keep that in mind: if I want to keep my belongings safe, I'll remove my door and take it with me as I run errands!

What happens when you Google "Google"?

I found out something interesting today.  If you go to Google (the online search engine- that will be important later), anyway, if you go to Google and type into the search bar "do a barrel roll" the Google search results will actually rotate!  It was pretty funny to see.  Go check it out now, if you want.  But open another tab!  We don't want to lose you yet (you're a pretty cool person).

So why am I bringing up this search engine trick?  It could just be because I have a short attention span, but that's not completely true this time.  This time I want to write about The Google Book. WAIT.  Don't leave- the book is not about the search engine.  The Google Book was written by V.C. Vickers and it was published in 1979, which was waaay before Google (the search engine) was created.

 Why should you be interested?  The book is full of verses, but they're not boring like all the poetry that people try to trick you into reading.  Try this and see if you're interested:

"THE FLABBYTOES

But mark!! What is that sound I hear?

Someone in agony I fear! –

Oh no!! It is old Flabbytoes,

You can't mistake his funny nose."

Okay, you didn't really care for that?  Well, there's some pretty rad pictures, too.

Dolphins: The serial killers of the water

The Saga of Pelorus Jack by Ross E. Hutchins

If you’ve ever been interested in learning about dolphins but thought that reading a non-fiction book was too boring, then The Saga of Pelorus Jack is the book for you!  The author basically tells you a ton of somewhat interesting facts about dolphins, but he does it by telling a story.  It’s child friendly so when he writes about how big of jerks dolphins can be he does it by saying they were defending themselves against a shark.  Whatever, we all know dolphins like to kill for sport.

“Dolphins have been observed engaging in the seemingly gratuitous killing of porpoises—going so far as to use sonar to locate the victim's vital organs and increase the lethality of the strike—but experts haven't quite worked out their motivation. Some speculate that the dolphins use the porpoises for target practice, preparing for possible clashes with fellow dolphins who infringe on their territory.”
excerpt from http://www.slate.com/id/2234729/

"The sheep were still enjoying the high life..."

The Quest of the Warrior Sheep by Christine & Christopher Russell

"A crazy caper about five sheep, one cell phone, and the greatest quest of the woolly lives."

And so, new to the amazing Alcove collection, The Quest of the Warrior Sheep is available to be checked out! A cell phone lands on Sal the sheep's head which gets him and his posse to head out on an adventure.  But this cellphone telephone belongs to a couple criminals - oh noes! - who are trying to get it back.  Find out what happens when the two meet.

The American Library Association recently had their annual conference in New Orleans, and while some of the Graduate Assistants had fun going, you're wondering why we're telling you.  No, we're not rubbing it in.  Why you should care is because there were lots of awesome books being sold and given away throughout the weekend, and that is where this great find came from!

National Bathroom Reading Month!

Mr. Archimedes’ Bath by Pamela Allen

Did you know that June is National Bathroom Reading Month?  Come into Goldstein to see the sweet display featuring “Mr. Archimedes’ Bath”  and other bathroom themed books.  Even though they’re in a display case, you are welcome to take them home.  It’s probably the closest you will ever come to bathing with a Wombat.

Goldstein previews

Goldstein previews are books that are unique to the Goldstein Library collection that are available to check out.

C D B! by William Steig
Text messaging short hand is unique to cell phones, right?  Not really. The Goldstein Library has a book featuring text short hand so intense that even the best texters will be clueless, and to top it off, it was written in 1968.  Don’t believe us? Come check it out.

“I M A U-M B-N.”  means “I am a human being.”
“U R N N-M-L.”  means “You are an animal.” 

The book is called “C D B!“.  Can you guess what it’s short for? Hint: look at the cover art!