[bksvol-discuss] Re: Which books count toward the grant?
- From: Carrie Karnos <ckarnos@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:13:51 -0700 (PDT)
Well, in one sense, EVERY book is educational because it teaches or shows you
something you didn't know before. But that doesn't help here, making every book
"educational," so we can throw that definition out.
It's difficult to know where to draw the line between educational and
non-educational. We've been discussing what an "educational" book consists of,
since we got the grant 2 years ago, and going round and round and round about
it. Now that the Feds have signed off on the definition, we're going with it.
No turning back.
No one has explained the logic of why genre fiction counts and romance doesn't
count to me, but maybe it's because most romances are very formulaic, whereas
there's a great variety of plots and situations in the other genre categories.
There are several romances that I've said were educational, and of course all
of Jane Austen's works are educational and quite romantic. So there are
exceptions to the rule.
Now the librarian has been tasked with coming up with a definition of a
"textbook". Here we go, round and round again! Whee!
Carrie
________________________________
From: Melissa Smith <mdsmith25@xxxxxxxx>
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tue, October 27, 2009 4:33:30 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Which books count toward the grant?
I completely agree here, Roger. Yes, I am a romance fan, though I read most of
my romance from NLS, and my nonfiction from bookshare. Not really sure why, but
that's the way it is. Anyway, if thrillers, science fiction, etc count why not
romance. Romance is no more fictionalized than any of these, and depending on
the book, no more adult than any of these.
Melissa
Rogerbailey81@xxxxxxx wrote:
> I know that this sounds like an indignant question from a romance fan, but I
> am not a romance fan. I am just a little stunned and surprised. If thrillers,
> horror, mystery and science fiction are considered educational then what the
> blue blazes is wrong with romance?
>
>
> "If you don't stand for something you will fall for anything.
> " Malcolm X
> The Militant: http://www.themilitant.com
> <http://wwww.themilitant.com>Pathfinder Press: http://www.pathfinderpress.com
> Granma International: http://www.granma.cu/ingles/index.html
> <http://granma.cu/ingles/index.html>
> _
>
> table with 2 columns and 7 rows
> Subj: [bksvol-discuss] Which books count toward the grant? Date: 10/27/2009
> 7:01:39 PM Eastern Daylight Time From: ckarnos@xxxxxxxxx Reply-to:
> bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx CC:
> pavim@xxxxxxxxxxxx Sent from the Internet
> (Details) table end
>
> Hi gang,
>
> A volunteer asked which books qualify for the grant, so I thought maybe there
> are others who don't know about this either. This is a quick email to the
> group, so everyone knows which books count.
>
> To explain this by what's excluded, all books qualify, except romances, books
> that are adult content, and books that proselytize religion. Factual books
> about religion are fine, since they explain what it's about, but books that
> push agendas at you do not qualify. It doesn't matter where the book comes
> from - volunteers, outsourcers, publishers, or anywhere else.
>
> To explain this by what's included, all kiddie books (including teen
> romances) are okay, most non-fiction is okay, "good" literature is okay, and
> finally,
> at long last, a decision was made, and it was decided that genre fiction is
> okay. So books that are mysteries, thrillers, Westerns, historical fiction,
> science fiction, fantasies, and horror are okay too. But the minute you add
> romance to any of the adult genre fiction books, the book doesn't count
> towards
> the grant.
>
> Of course, there will always be edge cases. We look at those books on a
> case-by-case basis, and sometimes ask the Bookshare librarian for a decision.
>
> I would encourage those people who are scanning and proofing romances to
> continue to do so. We at the office can't put any in, since all of our time
> has
> to go towards fulfilling the grant. But there are lots and lots of people who
> like romance and want to see more of it in the collection. Please continue
> to put romances in! The Bookshare publisher liaison mentioned that while most
> of the book markets dropped when the economy dropped, the romance market
> is continuing to climb. So there you are.
>
> HTH, Carrie
>
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