Bookish & Brassy

Ex-library worker. Book lover. Snarky 'tude.

[liberalsarecool]

Zohran Mamdani is using New York City to show the world how progressive policies work for everyone. #DemocraticSocialist

[absolutechaosss]

My local bookstore is so fed up and tbh I love that for them they should choose violence more

[soberqueerinthewild]

Shel Silverstein predicting ChatGPT in 1981

[ace-sailor-uranus]

tbh i think this poem is better served with the *whole* picture, don't you?

[lynati]

...Oh yeah.

[the-forest-library]

[ph-cutie]

sheepish is a really funny word. fuck im so nervous (turns into this)

[thevisualvamp]

Inner library

[bisforbutch]

I want to preface this by saying this is not victim blaming. This not calling people online lazy or grifting or whatever.

But an underlooked proponent on why some people are nearing homeless and crowdfunding heavily rn is bc society has failed you by making it as inconvenient as possible to learn about social systems and programs that already exist to help your situation as well as not having enough programs and aid.

Lemme give some examples. I have been unemployed for 10 months. My mom told me about a paying job training program a month ago after I already decided to mive in with her to find work, because nothing was coming up in my own city. My best friend didn’t know about affordable housing assistance in my state until she talked to my dad about it on a chance encounter. Some people on here have to see posts about much cheaper alternatives to their current prescriptions or medical plans because its not in the interest of their doctors paychecks to tell them about it. I would have waited to get vaccinated and not have crowdfunded for Uber money if I had known they were going to give free vaccine rides the next month. But I wouldn’t have really known this until I opened the app once that program started, because it is in their interest to keep taking my money until its their desired time for me to reap their “generous” services.

What I’m trying to say is that this is an under discussed aspect of how capitalism fails people. When you are forced to make your life and work and finances so singular and self interested, you are cut off from community and equivalent social services to proper government assistance. You literally don’t know that there is help somewhere out there for you unless you’re told.

[memesnotwelcome]

I believe a professor I had called this “cultural wisdom” but I haven’t been able to find the social science articles that expanded on this. It’s a practical knowledge of local systems that allows someone to function and thrive in that system. The example she used was having an understanding that banks can hold your money, but the practical aspect of accessing your money (in a convenient and easy manor) was knowing about ATMs and how to use them. But unless you have an account or someone ready to inform you, there’s no dedicated time or milestone where someone learns this.

And that’s just with a machine designed to give you YOUR money, let alone complex social service programs.

[addamatic]

I want everyone who crowdfunds for hospital bills to know they probably don’t have to oay them at all. Just find the financial aid office of the hospital. It’s on the website BY LAW. Find the form. Fill it out. Get the bills canceled or lowered! You don’t need crowd money, you need the government’s money that’s already set aside for your medical care.

[euphoniousraconteur]

GO TO, MESSAGE, OR CALL YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY. Libraries are focusing more and more on community resources, support, and outreach. If you genuinely don’t know something or feel uncertain or are in a new situation, a reference librarian will not only help you sort your thoughts through their reference interview but then help you arm yourself with knowledge from reliable and often local sources. It doesn’t even have to be a question to Ask A Librarian. You can simply say “I’m in this situation now. I don’t know what to do next./I’m not confident I know everything I should or want to know.”

[dancinbutterfly]

If you are in America - 211 is your friend. It’s the United Way’s database of social assistance resources. When I was doing resource development for my masters in social work 211 was my holy grail. And there’s things that only workers know about that just calling and asking can reach cuz it sets off the social service phone tree. I will say YOU have to be persistent of you want to access these resources. Most of the ngo agencies are most interested in helping the pro-active clients in my experience. But do use the resources. They’re golden.

[charlesoberonn]

A good rule of thumb whenever a non-fiction author has "Dr." or "Phd" next to their name on the cover is to check if:

Their doctorate is real and from an accredited institution

Their doctorate is relevant to the subject matter of the book

[charlesoberonn]

Example 1:

Kent Hovind is not a doctor. He's a creationist conman. His "doctorate" comes from the unaccredited Christian diploma mill "Patriot University". The "propaganda in science textbooks" he's talking about is the theory of evolution.

Example 2:

Vivian King's Phd is in engineering science. She has no formal education in psychology, psychiatry, sociology, or any other field relevant to the subject matter of the book.

[charlesoberonn]

An author doesn't have to be an academic to have valuable insight and information to share. But if they are presenting themselves as an academic to seem more legit, but their credentials are fake or misleading, it's a big red flag.

[alwaysbeenjessica]

ray bradbury

[veliseraptor]

the weird schrödinger's emotion that is "that character death was narratively satisfying and emotionally impactful and ultimately the best way to handle their character arc" simultaneously with "noooo but I wanted them to live :( :( :("

[thereddestglass]

So I had to return a book to the library today and I came straight from the horse farm. I went to the front desk because it was an item on loan from another library and I wasn’t sure if it had to be checked in differently. The librarian said no, it could get returned in the normal slot but she could take it and check it in right away.

It was only when I got back to the car that I realized I had walked into the library covered in dirt from head to toe and handed back a book about grave robbing.

[geobrarian]

I guarantee you that was the highlight of their day.

[bongmamaw-deactivated20210105]

i’ve stopped trash talking comic sans after learning the font is actually one of the only dyslexia-friendly fonts that come standard with most computers and i advocate for others doing the same

[not-safe-for-earth]

In the event that you would like to continue hating Comic Sans, other dyslexia-friendly alternatives include Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, Century Gothic and Trebuchet.

[bigbardafree]

thank

[invaderxan]

Random fact: Verdana is one of the few fonts which was specifically designed to be as easy to read as possible, even at smaller type sizes. It was designed this way for use on screen, but the same principles apply in print too. This is part of why some Universities use Verdana as their default font for documents.

[sanctum-sanguinem]

“In the event that you would like to continue hating Comic Sans” is one of the best things I’ve ever read on this website

[writernotwaiting]

@pedeka @lunariagold @darklittlestories

[anastasiaoftheironwood]

I’ll take Comic Sans over Arial any day. 

[writernotwaiting]

Century Gothic and Trebuchet are both quite handsome typefaces.

[iamhisgloriouspurpose]

I’m partial to Century Gothic as well. It’s serif, but not boring.

[catwinchester-deactivated201901]

There’s also a dyslexic font designed especially for dyslexic people to read.

You can install on your tablets, laptops and browers etc, so not only can you change things like documents into it, you can change websites into that font as well! 

[catwinchester-deactivated201901]

I’m sure you’re bright enough to do a google search, but since I’m dumb enough to forget to post a link, here it is. Better late than never

https://www.dyslexiefont.com/en/dyslexie-font/

[captainlordauditor]

I default to arial for this reason, but I will now be defaulting to verdana or dyslexie. nice.

[formlessdemi]

I don’t think I have dyslexia but that dyslexie font was the easiest fucking thing to read ever. Books should be written in that shit.

[lunariens]

ALSO!!!

For computer reading, when you mix up lines of text, there’s a web browser app called Beeline Reader. It looks like this

The colors are also customizable, to an extent and while I don’t have dyslexia, I have adhd which makes reading large amounts of text harder and this helps A LOT.

[hashtagyourshirt]

This is dope. I freaking love how much more accessible this information is nowadays.

[welcometotheravenclawcommonroom]

for our dyslexic ravens.

[harpanini]

I always thought I was a decent reader, but holy crap that BeeLine made reading enjoyable lol

[kedreeva]

Beeline reader also has a built-in setting for changing the font to the OpenDyslexic font, so not only will it help with tracking via the gradient color changes, it can alter the font to help without a second app/extension. I use both together and it’s wonderful!

[ynde]

Six year old, bouncing up and down with glee as desserts are unpacked: "I'm so appointed!"

Took me a moment to realize she had logically assumed "appointed" must be the opposite of "disappointed" and used it as a synonym for "excited."

[whatbigotspost]

Caption From @ essenceofblackculture on instagram:

Kristi Williams

@kristi_williams_black_history, a Black woman whose aunt survived the Tulsa Massacre, saw Oklahoma trying to silence Black history-and answered with action. She started "Black History Saturdays," free community classes to teach what the schools won't.

Now the room is full, the lessons are real, and the legacy lives on. end caption

____________

This is a heroic feat that shouldn’t be needed. But because it is, a hero emerged.

[sunbookie]

Necessary Dopeness. This is what queens do....👑🥰🧠✊🏿📚❤️🖤💚☀️✨🔥🔥🔥🔥💯

[callmeelle22]

I know Kristi personally and the work she does in Tulsa is unmatched.

[my-midlife-crisis]

No children are allowed in the Library of Congress.

It's not that kind of library.

In other words...

You are being lied to

again

[madenthusiasms]

Everything published in the US is copied to the Library of Congress; appropriateness for children is not a criteria. Published under copyright is.

In order to read something in the Library of Congress, you must, in order:

1) Be 16+ years old and in possession of ID such as a driver’s license or passport to obtain a LoC card

2) Make an appointment to go to a reading room

3) Know what it is you want to read and which library building it is in so you can fill out a request form when you arrive.

So the chances of a “child” just stumbling over something “inappropriate” that was “put” there by the choice of the head librarian is 100% impossible.

Leavitt seems to believe that if she wears a big enough cross, God can’t hear her breaking the commandment against false witness.

[allsortsoffuckedup]

Hey hey, as a librarian, can I just say don’t pace yourself at the library. I get a lot of customers saying “oh I shouldn’t get too many books out at once” but like you should!!!! Max out your card, take everything we have on a subject you’re interested in, make a book fort in your home. We love that shit! It doesn’t matter if you read them or not; just take them for an adventure and bring them back whenever they’re due!

For public libraries, one of the ways we secure funding year to year is lending. Governments don’t want to fund more books if they’re not being used and the way we measure use is by issues. Regardless of whether you read it or not, whether you have it for a day or a month, if you issue it to your library card, we get the stats! It makes the library look good!

Help your local library; get books out even if you know you can’t read them all!

[figuring-421]

Get a library card, even if you never use it. It helps secure funding.

Leave books on the “to be shelved” cart, as libraries use the counts of materials handled as part of their funding requests.

Register to vote and participate in your local elections, as local levies & bonds often fund libraries, parks, & recreation areas in your community.

(If you’re uncertain if you have knowledge/understanding of local measures & candidates, your local county party & many local chapter of social Justice organizations, like Indivisible for example, will have recommendations.)

Go volunteer—libraries are the best!

[booksinmythorax]

"Don't use Libby because it costs libraries too much, pirate instead" is such a weird, anti-patron, anti-author take that somehow manages to also be anti-library, in my professional librarian-ass opinion.

It's well documented that pirating books negatively affects authors directly* in a way that pirating movies or TV shows doesn't affect actors or writers, so I will likely always be anti-book piracy unless there's absolutely, positively no other option (i.e. the book simply doesn't exist outside of online archives at all, or in a particular language).

Also, yeah, Libby and Hoopla licenses are really expensive, but libraries buy them SO THAT PATRONS CAN USE THEM. If you're gonna be pissed at anybody about this shitty state of affairs, be pissed at publishing companies and continue to use Libby or Hoopla at your library so we can continue to justify having it to our funding bodies.

One of the best ways to support your library having services you like is to USE THOSE SERVICES. Yes, even if they are expensive.

*Yes, this is a blog post, but it's a blog post filled with links to news articles. If you can click one link, you can click another.

[books--and-cleverness]

If your library (struggles to obtain but ultimately) is granted funding for a service, and then that service isn't used, they aren't going to get that money in their next year's budget. If you don't use libraries, how can libraries defend their existence to an increasingly hostile (and book-banning) government?

Use libraries. With abandon!!! Use their resources with abandon!!!

And recognize that Libby is paid for by libraries. And authors are paid when Libby is used. And libraries are funded when their services are used.

Piracy steals from authors, steals from libraries, steals from you because you'll lose access to the library.