Reads. Writes. Recites.

(Oh, and has a blog, but you'll need to visit www.caterpickles.com for that)

[shalahowell]

Hi, there! Thanks for stopping by. I'm surprised (but pleased!) that you found me.

I'm a writer, reader, curious person, & librarian-in-training. Here on Tumblr, I plan to post about books, library life, & things that make me smile.

My book, What's That, Mom?: How to use public art to engage your children with the world around them... without being an artist yourself, was published in 2017. I've been working on a follow-up on nurturing critical thinking skills in curious young minds, but got distracted by the need to go back to school and get a Masters in Library Science first.

I have had a longer-form curiosity blog, Caterpickles (www.caterpickles.com), since 2011, but I'm brand new to Tumblr. I'm planning to just read for a while and figure out how this site works before I do anything too ambitious.

Consequently, my page is going to be very basic for a while, but here's a photo of a very bored cat that my husband took earlier this year as cat tax.

[shalahowell]

End of the year / semester report

It's been a busy semester. I have a break coming up, which I'm hoping to use to get some writing done. For now, here's what I've been up to in grad school. TL;DR: Steady progress toward the MLIS, some fun online projects, & a publication or 2.

It’s been quiet here at Caterpickles, because it’s been a busy semester. I have a break coming up in theory, and I hope to use it to add some posts to liven up the place in the new year. But for now, here’s a summary of what I’ve been up to. I’ve been learning things This semester I took classes in information literacy instruction, cataloging, emerging technology, and the digital lifecycle.…

End of the year / semester report

[shalahowell]

Happy Holidays!

However you are spending this end of the year season, I hope the last few days of 2024 bring you joy, laughter, love, and peace. A hummingbird at feeder on a bright summer day in Florida. (Photo: Michael Howell)

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[shalahowell]

Using electronic resources to extend library services into the community

The MLIS coursework at SJSU includes classes designed to get us thinking about the business side of library work, including effective marketing and outreach techniques to extend access to patrons who may not be able to visit the library in person.

Last semester I took two classes that had me doing a lot of thinking about effective marketing and outreach for libraries in the United States: Information Professions (which I typically described as my “survey of the profession” class) and Graphic Design for Librarians (which was what it sounds like it would be). While doing some background work for a weekly assignment, I came across the website…

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[shalahowell]

Hmmmm... Should our library purchase a subscription to Elsevier ScienceDirect or a cabin on a lake?

Libraries continue to replace their print reference collections, with more easily searchable electronic databases that patrons can use 24/7 from wherever they may be. But the cost for that convenient information access is becoming increasingly steep.

Libraries are increasingly replacing their print reference collections (think World Book Encyclopedia and individual subscriptions to peer-reviewed magazines like JAMA), with more easily searchable electronic databases that patrons can use 24/7 from wherever they can scrape together a computer with a reliable web connection. These databases provide direct, searchable, online access to current and…

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[shalahowell]

Wordless Wednesday: Flowering bushes

I spotted these flowering bushes on a recent walk through my neighborhood. Photo: Shala Howell. I hope you and yours are still doing as well as can be expected. Related Links: More Wordless Wednesdays on Caterpickles

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[shalahowell]

"But what are you doing for exercise, Shala?"

When I worked at the middle school library, movement was baked into my day. Now that I'm a full-time grad student, I have to be more intentional about getting enough exercise.

When I worked at the middle school library, movement was baked into my day. I walked to work (admittedly a short distance), spent the day on my feet shelving, helping students, moving things around the library, running errands around the school, and walking back home at day’s end. This is a terrible description of my work in the library, but the point is, I was in almost constant motion for six…

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[gffa]

Sorry but I love the booping, it's silly and ridiculous and downright whimsical! You can opt out if you want! It's harmless and fun! It's done with little cats paws! If you hover over the boop button on someone's blog it'll start spinning and you can do a super boop! I am booping everyone I can! I love you all and Tumblr has found the perfect batshit way to let me show you.

[ierotits]

I kind of want the boops to stay forever. after a few days it'll calm down and then I can just boop my beloved mutuals occasionally when I see them on the dash or in my notifs to say hello I love you

[shalahowell]

A better way to track your diverse reads

Tying your library programming directly to your district's goals is a powerful way to demonstrate your library's value. Our district is committed to diversity, but figuring out the percentage of checkouts that are diverse reads was a slog. Until now.

At the end of my first year as Library Assistant at my public middle school library, I published an infographic with stats to give stakeholders a sense of how the students used the library that year. Total circulation, which grade used the library most, the year’s most popular book, that sort of thing. You may remember it, as I wrote it up here on Caterpickles (“An end of the year library report…

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[shalahowell]

This week's library school tip: Don't read books cover-to-cover

As a librarian, I am often expected to have read all the books. But with 15,000 books in our collection, reading them all cover to cover is never going to happen. So what's an honest librarian supposed to do?

As a librarian, I am often expected to have read all the books. Here’s the thing though. I don’t actually like reading all the books. Like you, I really only like reading books that I enjoy. I’m one of those pesky people who believes the refrain “If you read a book for entertainment, it should be entertaining” should apply to me and not just the students at my middle school library. But as a…

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[shalahowell]

Book Review: The Cat Who Came in off the Roof

This classic children's story is silly in all the best ways. Think 101 Dalmatians or Mr. Popper's Penguins, but with cats, and prepare to suspend your disbelief accordingly.

Note: This review contains affiliate links to Bookshop.org. If you use them to purchase books from Bookshop.org, I’ll earn a small commission. Read more about why I decided to use affiliate links here. The Cat Who Came in off the Roof By Annie M. G. SchmidtYearling Books. January 17, 2017. 160p. $6.99 (paperback). Ages 8-12 — Bumbling reporter Mr. Tibble is on the brink of losing his job for…

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[shalahowell]

"What's a doctor doing at Google?"

One of the minor social benefits of being married to an ICU doctor is that it is really easy to explain to people what my husband does. But since my husband started at Google it's been a bit trickier. "What's a doctor doing at Google?"

Long-time readers of this blog and folks who read this blog because they know me in real life, know that my husband was a practicing clinician for 20 years or so before taking a job at Google Health. It was great, except for the long hours and the way they cut into our family time. One of the minor social benefits of being married to an ICU doctor is that it is really easy to explain to people…

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[shalahowell]

A new year, a new approach to Caterpickles

I've been writing this blog for more than a decade. It's time to mix it up a bit. I'll still do book reviews & question posts, but I'll also write about stuff I learn in library school & what it's like to go to grad school at the age of Parent-to-a-Teen.

This blog began as an attempt to help me manage my daughter’s 5:1 question to declarative sentence ratio with something like enthusiasm. After all she was inviting me into a conversation and conversations are the heart of most parenting relationships. I wanted to preserve the ability to greet her query-filled conversations with enthusiasm as much as possible. At least until she learned how to…

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[shalahowell]

Happy New Year!

Well, that week went by fast. I don’t really do New Year’s resolutions anymore, but I do make New Year’s wishes. So here’s to a new year full of happy and peaceful moments like this. My husband and daughter taking a moment to enjoy the first moments of a sunset last July. (Photo: Shala Howell) Happy New Year, y’all.

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[shalahowell]

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!

The calendar has kept flipping & it is somehow that time again. I know not everyone who reads this blog celebrates Christmas, but I persist in being grateful for each one of you, & hope that you will accept my using today as an excuse to say thanks.

The calendar has kept flipping and it is somehow that time again. I know not everyone who reads this blog celebrates Christmas, but I persist in being grateful for each one of you, and hope that you will accept my using today’s holiday as an excuse to say thank you. Thank you for reading Caterpickles. If you had told me as a student in high school that one day people in 72 countries would have…

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[shalahowell]

Do acorn woodpeckers kill the trees they use to store nuts?

Sometimes when you get out and into nature, nature does something so interesting you have to stop and watch it for a while. Case in point, while on a hike last week, my husband and I came across a colony of acorn woodpeckers stashing nuts for winter.

In my opinion, it’s hard to find a better time of year to go hiking in California. It’s cold enough to keep bugs away, and yet there are plenty of fall leaves and birds to be seen. Case in point, my husband and I went hiking in a wooded area near Portola Valley, California last week and came across a flock of acorn woodpeckers busily stashing acorns into the dead half of a giant tree. My husband…

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