While I am too busy cookin’ a bun in the oven to attend the ALA conference this year, this conference did fall under my term as Chair of the RUSA CODES RA Committee. The program information can be found by clicking on “Programs and Presentations” above, or, directly at http://shelfrenewal.com/programs/ala-rusa-codes-program/.

Enjoy!

Hello dear ShelfRenewal fans, last week as part of the move, LJ updated their website.  There are a couple of kinks to work out (see here), but for now, please note that we have a new blog address:

http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/

So far, if you were subscribed to the LJ feed, it seems to be working for now.  If you’d like to subscribe to the feed, give this new feed address a whirl:

http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/feed/

Thanks and let us know if you have any problems!  Things should be all worked out very shortly!

Click on “Programs/Presentations” above (how’s that for easy?) or hover over and choose a specific program, if you’re looking for notes from recent programs and workshops we’ve been part of.  Thanks!

http://shelfrenewal.com/programs/

Once again, we’re here to round up and remind you what we’ve been up to!

Over on the Library Journal blog, Karen gave us some awesome possibilities for new mashup novels;  satisfied your needs for some Law and Order readalikes; and brought Pure Drivel to your attention.

Rebecca crushed on A Bookshelf Monstrosity;  puzzled over the real-life story behind Story of My Life; and pointed you towards Dark Fields.

Rebecca and a group of the “rock stars of Readers Advisory (including David Wright, Kaite Mediatore Stover, Barry Trott, and Neil Hollands) performed “The Top 5 of the Top 5″ in Portland for the PLA conference.

She also got a chance to wax poetic on one of her all-time favorite library topics, weeding, when she presented “Feel the Need… to Weed” for the Illinois State Library’s On the Front Lines conference in Springfield.  Hate weeding?  Does your library need help?  Give Rebecca a shout, and let her indulge in one of her passions.

Karen and Rebecca brought the house down once more with the updated version of “Readers, Writers, Books and Blogs” for the Adult Reading Round Table… we like to travel, hint hint!  (and we’re pretty cheap!)

Until next time… don’t forget to keep track of the Library Journal blog, and thank you for your support.

Karen and Rebecca

Lionsgate Entertainment
Santa Monica, CA
April 1, 2010

Dear Ms. Vnuk,

It has come to our attention that you have been the benfactor of numerous awards, including those with cash prizes, that have made reference to your “ShelfRenewal” blog. We at Lionsgate Entertainment (previously Vectron Pictures) have made numerous attempts to contact you regarding the use of your “Nobody puts Backlist (Baby) in a Corner” phrase.

On behalf of the film’s writer, Eleanor Bergstein, actress Jennifer Grey, and the late Patrick Swayze and the late nose of Jennifer Grey, we demand that you immediately stop use of this phrase in order to avoid legal action.

We must ask that you do not continue to use this phrase. However, we at Lionsgate support the creativity of all fans of our films and are happy to offer the suggestion of the following phrases (none of which come from films owned by Lionsgate or any of its interests):

“Show me the Backlist”

“Frankly my dear, I don’t give a ShelfRenewal”

“Do you expect me to talk… No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to go to ShelfRenewal”

“Who you gonna call? ShelfRenewal” – you may want to check with Ray Parker, Jr. prior to using this one

We thank you in advance for your prompt response to this request, and hope you continued success in all of your ventures that do not involve us.

Sincerely,
Lionsgate Entertainment

________________________________________________________

(April Fool’s!  Courtesy of Jonathan Vnuk)

As promised, the slideshow and handouts from the PLA program, Books:  The Top 5 of the Top 5 are up and ready for your downloading pleasure!  Click the button above, or link here: http://shelfrenewal.com/pla2010presentation/

All of the handouts feature the email addresses of the presenter, so please, feel free to contact any one of us for further information.

And may we just tell the rest of you, how great this was?  Not even in our own words, but Twitter told us so:

“In “Books: the Top 5 of the Top 5.” The panel is brilliant, I am not worthy.”
“Books: the top 5 of the top 5. It’s like the rock stars of RA in here!”

And Library Journal covered the Virtual Conference version (slightly shorter) that we did right afterward:
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6724342.html

Thanks everyone!  We hope you enjoyed it!  We’re already thinking of a program for PLA 2012, and don’t forget that each and every one of us would be happy to travel to your library and present to your staff!

We’ll be presenting our program, Readers, Writers, Books, and Blogs for the Adult Reading Roundtable!

Readers, Writers, Books, and Blogs
Wednesday, March 31 at 1:30 p.m.

Oak Park Public Library
834 Lake Street

Registration is a mere $15.  Surely, a small price to pay to get to see us live.

I can move it AND shake it!!

“Now in its ninth year, LJ’s Movers & Shakers spotlights librarians from all corners of the library world and several nations. Each year brings numerous nominations of those who work in the library field from colleagues, friends, bosses, and just plain admirers.”

http://www.libraryjournal.com/MS2010Inductee/2140493348.html

And, lest we forget, I’m really only following in Karen’s footsteps, as she was named one of last year’s Movers and Shakers:

http://www.libraryjournal.com/MS2009Inductee/2140335972.html

Once again, we’d like to report on what we’ve been up to!  (While we’re hoping many of you followed us over to Library Journal last fall, we suspect some folks might be coming across our site for the first time, or, didn’t make the switch.  Take a look at what we’ve been getting up to over there…)

We crushed on “White Readers, Meet Black Authors”; Smart Bitches, Trashy Books; and KCRW’s Bookworm.

Karen told you why you should appreciate Straight Man; and found readalikes for the Stephanie Plum series, memoirs, and blogged about some recent African-American books.

While Rebecca urged you to read Lonely Places and The Storyteller; and gave you some Italian Valentines and readalikes for The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

Come on over and keep track of us over at Library Journal! You can easily subscribe to the feed at: http://feeds.feedburner.com/ShelfRenewalBlog

We’re also keeping very busy this month with non-blog stuff as well:
We’re teaming up on a program for northern Illinois’ ARRT, (come see us if you’re local!  You’ll love us!),  and Rebecca will be presenting her awesome Feel the Need… to Weed! program for at the Illinois State Library’s On the Front Lines conference (this would be a great one for your library’s next staff development day!) , and “Books: The Top 5 of the Top 5″ program at PLA 2010 in Portland (chosen for the Virtual Conference, as well!).

So, keep track of us here, but don’t forget about the blog at LJ… see you there!

Karen and Rebecca

While we’re hoping many of you followed us over to Library Journal last fall, we suspect some folks might be coming across our site for the first time, or, didn’t make the switch.  Take a look at what we’ve been getting up to over there…

We crushed on The Readers Advisor Online, Book Dwarf, and KDL’s What’s Next, among others.

Karen found you readalikes for Elizabeth Gilbert’s Committed, Kathryn Stockett’s The Help, and provided timely resources on Haiti, both fiction and nonfiction…

While Rebecca wondered if there were any readalikes for The Lovely Bones, raved about Learning to Fly and Erasure (the novel, not the 80s band, although she loves them too) and showed her affection for post-apocalyptic fiction.

So come on over and keep track of us over at Library Journal! You can easily subscribe to the feed at: http://feeds.feedburner.com/ShelfRenewalBlog

We have some non-LJ stuff in store this Spring, such as a program for ARRT, and Rebecca will be speaking at ILA’s Reaching Forward, PLA 2010 in Portland, and the Illinois State Library’s On the Front Lines.  So we’ll keep posting that sort of thing here on the good ol’ original ShelfRenewal site.

So, keep track of us here, but don’t forget about the blog at LJ… see you there!

Karen and Rebecca