I enjoy learning about history. How it is people live or lived their lives. I wonder lately what it was like to be Princess Victoria Kaʻiulani, a young lady born into a dying monarchy. She was brought up in a life of privilege, wealth and refinery. Victoria had a double ancestry, her father was Scottish, and she was the crown heir to Hawaii prior to the thrown being deposed. The princess was not present during the rebellion, her father swept her off to England at the beginning of the succession. Despite the turmoil, and obvious lifestyle changes she had to overcome the princess was always known for being a graceful, beautiful, strong and determined young women.

Some books you read to learn, some for entertainment and others just because. I love all three options, but when I read to learn I have a strategy to retain the information. I rarely just read a book in bed that is about business, finance, law or psychology, but I do read those types of books regularly. I normally read business books at a coffee shop, book store, outside, in a recliner or at a desk, but no matter where I read them it’s generally mid-day. For some reason my brain is ready for this information either after a few hours of being awake but not before bed. I just don’t want to focus after a full day on more things I need to learn, but that is a personal preference.

A few things to consider:

• Always take notes, the whole book isn’t full of gems so keep track of where they are.
• I love reading on my iPad so I can book mark pages easily, but sometimes it’s distracting.
• My iPad allows me to quickly see the definition of words I’m unfamiliar with.
• I often read with my computer nearby so I can look up anyone the author likes to name-drop.
• Reading near my computer allows me to take additional notes, faster.
• If you want to learn more about something, don’t be afraid to walk away from the book and come back.
• It never hurts to re-read something important.
• If you like a quote, say it once and then write it down.

It’s not hard, mostly just the same kind of thing you would do in college to study or retain information. Read, take notes, and rethink how it applies to you. Then write a blog post about it, it’s kind of the grown up version of essay writing.

I love reading. I read a lot. With that said, the type of books I go for are generally either educational or funny romantic books that are light-hearted with a happy ending. I specifically go to book stores and ask one of the workers for light-hearted (preferably British) books that end happily. I went to Barnes and Noble probably six months ago and did just this, I was excited to leave with six books. Two of these books where by Anna Maxted and I recently finished both. I’m beyond disappointed.

I read Rich Again and it’s dark, more then dark it’s psychotic. The only three happy pages in the book are the first two and the last one. The rest of the book is drama, gore, sex, drama, death and a twist of neurotic. It’s just not my thing, my type of book. Good for the author for writing a creepy best seller, but damn the book lady for recommending something she either knows nothing about or for recommending on purpose something that is clearly the opposite of what I want.

I did read both books the whole way through, they do pull you in, but if you like feel good movies and books I don’t recommend Anna Maxted.

My Experience with Libraries..

In all fairness I would like to start by saying, I love libraries. I love books. Always have, most likely always will. For me it’s like religion, you love it but some times (and not entirely on purpose) you forget to read, you stray like a sheep but always find your way back to it. I’ve been to a lot of libraries, a patron. Just a short list of the libraries I’ve been to and can think of off the top of my head in 5 seconds thought:

• - Des Moines Public Library
• - West Des Moines Public Library
• - Urbandale Public Library
• - Des Moines Downtown Library (and yes, I used all of them for one reason or another)
• - Ames Public Library
• - Iowa State University Library
• - Iowa State University Design College Library
• - Dexter Public Library
• - Stuart Public Library
• - North Central (Washington) Public Library
• - New York City Public Library
• - Brooklyn Public Library
• - Multiple other New York Libraries (which I do not know the names of but attended regularly during my stay there)
• - A library in the Hamptons of New York (Long Island)
• - Hennepin County Library (only one on my list that I used but never got a library card for) – Minneapolis, MN
• - Moses Lake Public Library
• - Seattle Public Library ( I lied — I don’t have a card for this one either)

As I said I love libraries. This is less a list of complaints, and more a wish list for online and offline interactive improvements.  I’m sure some very forward thinking libraries already use some of these thoughts. I also know there are millions of libraries not mentioned in my list and probably even a few dozen that are not on my list that I’ve attended– but these are ones that in one way or another I’ve used, studied at, read books from, borrowed books and movies (and can remember quickly) etc. etc. So needless to say this isn’t my first visit or first rodeo at a library. I am not a librarian (although I did volunteer as an assistant at two during school– both not listed on the above lists). I am however somewhat over an internet/organization expert and I have a zillion frustrations with online libraries and sometimes even the checkout proces. Like I said, it’s not for my lack of love for them. I love the smell of old books, borrowing for free– I’ve spent lots of money at Borders, Barnes and Noble, Amazon and other online/offline retailers. I love old old library looks with Gothic or Federal style layouts. Love them.

A Few Library Pet Peeves that Could Improve the Experience

Where to begin? I’ve given you the back story.. or at least a short list of my experiences with libraries. Let’s focus this rant just to discuss my online issues.

• - I only know of ONE library that allows you to sign up for a card online and they will mail it to you. ONE. Not that others don’t exist, but out of my long list (in multiple states.. only one isn’t a pain in the ass about joining the book reading club of library love). — It’s North Central in Washington. They also offer free audio, e-books, and will mail you books Netflixs style. Rock on North Central.
• - How many libraries ask for nearly more information then financial institutions to verify who the hell you are and where you live? Too many, that’s how many.
• - Organization online- Okay, I understand book sorting in a library is based on an old school form of organization that literally requires all students to take a quick tour/class on how to find what they want. Librarians are like the best kind of curators, they organize and display knowledge. It is a major part of their job, and notably not the only reason they have one. So why doesn’t this translate online? Why is it so hard to find books online? Completely unnecessary and not necessarily a librarian’s fault but the fault of their webmaster. Use a CMS (I recommend wordpress or joomla because they are flexible and free but for security I would recommend something a little more complex like c++ or .net but that seems a tad excessive), use a search tool or plugin– I can recommend a ton: Search Unleashed is a good one for WordPress. No excuses for me to do a broad search and NOT come up with a book I want, that I know is there. Heck use Google for sites if you have to.
• - Audio books… this delighted me to no avail, when I discovered I could get these for free. Oh but the down side? Two companies are monopolizing the freebie book space for libraries. NetLibrary and Over Drive Media. I wouldn’t care if either of these companies where do their job well, up to the times, and efficiently. Yes, I nearly hate their services. I had to download Windows on my Mac to be able to listen to books. Don’t say most of the books are available for Mac or ipods if they are not. Yes, they let you see which ones are available for mac, but the majority are not.. which is lame because it wouldn’t be that complicated for them to do this. CHECK OUT AUDIBLE.. .it’s a paid service but they do this well. They offer you a preview of the book before you get it too. Which is another thing I think libraries should do.
• - Hire UX designers or someone to deal with site architecture. Enough said there.
• - Navigation- Your digital library and book library should have the same main navigation so I can go back and forth between the sites easily.
• - Don’t log me off your site after 30 minutes.
• - One RANDOM offline pet peeve: Perfectly good, beautiful old libraries torn down for “modernist” monstrosities. I have tall metal buildings. They are plain, and cheap. Those old buildings have character, beautiful materials and are true art. It’s a pity so many of these buildings are being throw to the way side. Don’t get me wrong I can think of one -maybe two newish buildings I think are gorgeous with their big windows, but mostly they just remind me of cheap, corporate, cubical offices. I miss old architecture- places like France, ISU and Washington DC are beautiful depictions of art in architecture/landscape architecture.

I have more but the above list is what really gets to me on a regular basis. I’m sure this will piss off a few people or at least get under their skin, and that is not entirely my intentions, let’s face it their is some truth to what I have said and I’m not the only person unhappy about it. So let’s not go there. As far as the be happy because it’s free line, let’s not go there either– it’s not free, it’s MY and YOUR tax money.

P.S. In no way is this post directly related to librarians. This is a user experience post, mostly relating to long distance book checkouts and library websites. While most librarians are currently responsible for this process, that does not mean I’m writing this post to complain about librarians. This post is to say how we could improve user experience and in many ways bring books to the masses, faster, easier and make people happier to check out books. Yes, some or many librarians may currently be managing a libraries online presence, but if that is the case maybe this should be outsourced. I understand librarians are busy and their only concern is not necessarily patrons. Without visitors checking out books, what is a library, but a room full of paper that no one cares about. If implemented, I could easily see how many of my above suggestions would make it easier for people to find and check out books which may not be a librarians main concern but should be one of a library’s top concerns.

Out of respect for the author I wont mention who wrote the book or the book title in this post. As a learning experience I think I’ll just vent my review on why I didn’t enjoy this book. Why I made it through most of the book is another post all together, I’ll thank audio books and the fact that I can tune out most of the bs.

The author is a lady, with a high-pitched voice, the deep kind of voice that reminds you of someone who has spent most of their life smoking. The majority of the book is just self promotion for the rest of her books, under the guise of teaching you how to be a better writer, this book drags through a few good tips but the majority of the book is a chore with her screechy character impressions and maddening drones of self-appreciation (reminds me of quite a few event speeches and workshops I’ve been to). Logistically this book had a lot of potential, but it runs through talking at me and a mixture of deafening monotone lecture style teaching. I couldn’t even catapult myself past her commercial style self-advertising to get to the all-important learning points because the majority of the book is spent talking about herself, how hard she worked to get where she is now, and how well she is doing as a writer.   What I want to take away from this post-this paragraph of complaints is a harsh reminder to review my own speeches and writing more, to beg for more friends to review my own work, and to honestly reflect on how much of what I’m doing is falling on deaf ears because it seems self-promotional. I can’t tell you how many speeches fall short because they use the platform as an opportunity to go through a portfolio instead of staying true to the topic that brought the audience in the first place. I guess its a mixture of mistaken identity and misrepresentation.

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