Book Review: Plague Land

Plague Land by Alex Scarrow
Read through NetGalley
publishing date December 1, 2017

No spoilers in this review...

Getting this review in under the wire! But.... Plague Land is GREAT! To be honest, I wasn't getting into it at first, but I soon couldn't put it down! And for those of you who don't like cliffhangers, this isn't one; though, it does leave itself open for a sequel!

Just enough science to make it scifi instead of fantasy, it is a story with a wide appeal. While the tension isn't too aggressive to scare off casual readers, avid fans of runaway virus stories won't be disappointed, either. The characters have depth - as far as the typical YA novel where the child is smarter than the parent goes. There is even international appeal as the virus goes, um, viral.

What's really appealing is the great descriptions of the evolving virus. Scarrow's adept as creating vivid images without details that drag down the storytelling.

I will definitely be getting this for my high school library!

School librarians or Techbrarians

I publicly commented on this Facebook post, “Couldn't have made the argument without it being a sexist post?” and Nadine Bailey replied, “I’m not sure sexist - feminist yes. But backed up with data and taking about broad trends rather individual situations - and as I stated I’m in a fortunate position in my campus.” The Future Ready Librarians post was originally on https://informativeflights.wordpress.com/2017/11/11/advocacy-is-not-enough-we-need-power/

by Nadine Bailey, November 11, 2017.

In fairness to Nadine, she came right out and said,

And I’m wondering, not saying this is a fact, just wondering out loud, whether it has anything to do with the fact that so many of those leading this corner of the education landscape are male as are most of the leadership in schools?

Also in fairness and in resemblance to Nadine (and all of us), my personal background, too, affects my perspective.  First, I was biased since I just received my Google for Education Certified Trainer status on November 9, 2017. Secondly, I am a school librarian who is a past-president of my state’s school librarian association, and thirdly, I am a [probably] a member of what Nadine refers to when she said, “I’m not going to name names but it’s a biggie, and one of my fellow (male) librarians managed to convince the organisers to include a library strand.”

I’ll share how I began my own soul-searching about Nadine’s assertions: by looking up “sexist” vs “feminist.” My inclination was to think of ‘sexist’ as having a negative connotation, as representing an action as opposed to an idea, and as being oppressive, demeaning, and possibly illegal.  I viewed ‘feminist,’ on the other hand, as having a neutral or positive connotation, as suggesting a philosophy or morality to follow, and as being supportive, thought-provoking, and certainly not illegal.

http://thefreedictionary.com (11/12/2017) defined sexist as “pertaining to, involving, or fostering

1. Discrimination based on gender, especially discrimination against women.

2. The belief that one gender is superior to the other, especially that men are superior to women.”

http://thefreedictionary.com (11/12/2017) defined feminist (feminism) as “ A person whose beliefs and behavior are based on

1. Belief in or advocacy of women's social, political, and economic rights, especially with regard to equality of the sexes.

2. A doctrine advocating social, political, and economic rights for women equal to those of men.

OK. That felt better. I have no disagreement with Nadine’s proffer and premise based on her perspective.

I entirely agree with Nadine’s suggestion, “... that the decline in school libraries and school librarians is inversely correlated with the rise in EdTech or Digital Tech or Digital Literacy teams and resources.” I have a few theories why as well, though they are exofeminist. Primarily, ‘tech’ is the sexy buzz prefix of the era. Risking the ire of my school librarian colleagues, I’ve even begun to call myself Techbrarian. My students ‘get it,’ and my teachers embrace it. I really believe they are more comfortable with the ‘tech’ in my title, since they intuit that I’m more than the “Book Lady” but aren’t sure why. Another of my posits arises from my philosophy of my role as a school librarian; my job is to ensure that the teachers get the resources they need to ensure student success. That gives me 125+ patrons, who in turn have 1,500+ clients. Here’s the problem created: if I’m doing my job correctly, I am practically invisible because I’m making the teachers look good. (And before you panic, don’t worry; I facilitate student learning directly, as well; the above merely explains a philosophy, not a practice, since students, teachers, staff, and administrators are all my patrons.) To offset this self-imposed invisibility, I also create an environment of public praise when a teacher is successful using something I’ve helped them achieve (an email to their supervisor, a mention at a faculty meeting, a good word at the lunch table, etc.). In return, my teachers tell their supervisors how I’ve helped them, suggest to their colleagues to come to me for similar help, and tell administration to present professional development opportunities to spread the knowledge.

Like Nadine, I also

...could use every iteration of word processing, presentation and spreadsheet tools from the very first most basic types. When I say I can use, I REALLY can use. I know how to use templates, make an index, do auto-intext citation, add captions, make data tables, pivot tables, look ups, statistical analysis, import addresses into labels etc etc. And what I don’t know I know how to find out how to do, either online or because I know people who know their S*** around this type of stuff. People of my generation and younger. I also have an Education masters in knowledge networks and digital innovation [I have two Masters: one in Secondary Education and one in School Librarianship,] follow all sorts of trends and tools and try everything at least once.  I can use basic HTML and CSS and find out how to do anything if I get stuck. I know how to learn and where to learn anything I need to know and I’m prepared to put in the time to do so. This is in a “just-in-time-and-immediate-application-and-use-basis”, rather than a

“just-in-case-and-I’ll-forget-it-tomorrow-and-probably-never-use-it-basis.”

So why did I pursue the “merits of becoming Google Educator certified?” Because I’m invisible. Whether I’m invisible because my job is to make others look good or because tech is the new sexy or because of some other reason, including the possibility that our schools don’t embrace feminism, becoming a Google for Education Certified Trainer makes me visible. As a Google for Education Certified Trainer, I cannot comment on Nadine’s description of the process or the result (“...a couple of hours of mind-numbingly boring and simple video tutorials and/or multiple choice tests with or without a cheapish fee and then to add a row of downloadable certs into their email signatures…”), but I can admit I “played the game.”

Because yes, Nadine’s right again. What Nadine calls advocacy, I see as the “push” industry mentality of school librarians, whereby our teachers run when they see us coming because we want to help them, and they just “don’t have the time.” I’m tired of us having to push ourselves on them to get them to use us, or even to keep us. Our industry should be a “pull” industry, whereby our services are so invaluable that teachers are clamoring at our doors to get to collaborate with us. I’m tired of school librarians being taught the how to collaborate with teachers, while pre-service teachers aren’t taught how to collaborate with school librarians. I’m tired of asking to be on the district’s tech committee, not only to be turned down, but to then have the committee disbanded. I’m tired of offering to provide professional development at the teacher-, department-, school-, and district-level only to be given five minutes at a faculty meeting. I’m tired of teachers going to the tech guy (with an Associate’s degree) to ask questions of how to integrate technology to make their lessons better rather than coming to me (with two Masters and National Board Certification). (Shoutout to my tech guy, though; unless they are asking an equipment question, he always refers them to me.😉)

Nadine’s more right than she knows. Not only are school librarians part of the Island of Misfit Toys and at the wrong table at the education conference, the parent organization of U.S. school librarians also seats us at the kiddie table. At their national conference one year, their get-to-know-you bingo card icebreaker listed every kind of librarian, including youth librarian (which is a public librarian moniker), with the exception of school librarian. This is even more heartbreaking considering I learn more relevant topics and issues at the national education conference than I do at the national school librarians conference.

Here’s where Nadine and I differ, though. Technology changed or eliminated many jobs over the years. We no longer need bowling alley pinsetters, switchboard operators, Daguerreotypists, town criers, or lamplighters. Likewise, think about jobs that didn’t exist 20 years ago until the technology developed, such as app developer, Uber driver, drone operator, and genetics counselor. Regardless of the gender neutrality of technology (or lack thereof), school librarians will either adapt or atrophy. I became a Google for Education Certified Trainer in order for the badge to speak for me when I’m otherwise invisible. Since our collective ability to advocate for ourselves isn’t working world-wide as Nadine acknowledged, I prefered to flourish rather than languish or perish. Although I played the game, I prefer to think of it as

http://thefreedictionary.com (11/12/2017) self-betterment: n. personal improvement in terms of education, prospects, etc.