What Adrienne Thinks About That

You are simply doing your job and not selling out.Besides Madonna will need the money now that she's divorced again and trying to adopt Africa.

And this is why you rock as a librarian. You give the kids what they want, whether it makes you want to twist off your head and poke out your own eyes or not. That's dedication, chica.

And this, Adrienne, is why you are awesome. If anyone ever questions whether that is true, just direct them to this post.

I am with you on the Madonna books. They suck as most celebrity books for children do. Jamie Curtis though did alright.

I'm with Tanita. She took the words outta my mouth. Though I know it's hard. So hard.

Thanks for the support. It makes me feel a trifle better. I am stubborn and hardly know my identity now that I am A Librarian Who Buys Books by Madonna.

You are still "Miss. A" which the kids probably think just stands for AWESOME! Your collection has what kids want, what they need, and what keeps RUNNING back to the rainbow.

You did the right thing, but it was still more fun when you were vehemently anti-Madonna books. She takes herself way too seruiously for someone so ridiculous.

Xandi, I think a fair number of them are runnign and shouting, "Xandi! Xandi!" And then looking very disappointed when you're not there.

Chuck, You know, you're the only one who had the nerve to tell me that I probably shouldn't have turned down the Madonna book donations back when I confessed this activity on the blog. You were right and all, but you're also right that is more fun to take a stand against something ridiculous. I will have to find something else to loudly abhor.

I vote for anything related to Paris Hilton, the Olsen Twins (might be hard with all their books & tie-in materials), or feathers as fashion, you can pick.

I'll contradict myself again if you bring it up in a another year.

Tam, Hm, I'll give it some thought.

Chuck, I count on you for this.

Adrienne, I too am heartened that the children didn't know who the author of The English Roses was.

It's not the same thing, but this vignette might amuse you:

I have loathed Elmo from the beginning. Elmo usurped Grover's rightful place as Sesame Street's hero, Elmo got his own mini-show, talking dolls, the works, and worst of all, his super-cutsey self-referential voice made it clear that he was the younger sibling that was here to sabotage the love children had for Grover. My daughter never caught on to the ingratiating charm of Elmo (we watched clips of Bert and Ernie on YouTube), but.... recently I had to reevaluate Elmo and come to the conclusion that he was okay.

Thanks to YouTube, I finally got to see the episode in which Snuffy is revealed not to be an imaginary friend but a real live puppet pachyderm. As usual, Snuffy tried to escape when Big Bird called for everyone to see him. However, Elmo grabbed ahold of Snuffy's trunk and WOULD NOT LET GO. By the time the humans of Sesame Street arrived, the jig was up, thanks to Elmo.

Elmo is my Madonna. However, at least Elmo had the sense to hire a ghost-writer for his children's books.

I've always felt basically the same way about Elmo, so maybe I'll have to find that clip, too. Although he's already wormed his way into my heart a bit with "Elmo's Song" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSYadh2xmcI), which is just so funny and cute. Cannot. resist. the. cuteness.

"He wrote the music, he wrote the words, that's Elmo's Song!"

Still, Grover is so much better. What really put me off Elmo was when he tried to move in on Grover's The Monster at the End of this Book territory.

Oof, I feel your pain. I've been there too, and kept having to remind myself that to not buy books kids want just because I think they SUCK and SUCK HARD is just as much a form of censorship as not buying books that have magic or gay parents in them just because other grownups think those books suck. It's a little soul-destroying, too, when you watch kids choose poorly-written, corporate-driven books over the really good ones. But then, those are usually the kids who wouldn't be reading at all if the books didn't look like TV. Anyway, you did what you had to do, and maybe those girls will remember that nice librarian lady who bought the books they wanted, and someday they'll bring their own kids to the library to see Old Miss A.

Sometimes professional ethics can be a real drag.

Incidentally, I often tell kids that when they grow up and become rich and famous, they should remember us and make a donation to the library. Is that wrong?

Oh hell no. By any means necessary, dude.

I like to think of it as long-term fundraising.

I'm not sure that Miss. A will ever seem old...most children's librarians don't really have to grow up, and when kids get older they just have an opportunity to appreciate their childhood librarian on a different level. Adrienne, I miss the kids from WPL, even though I love my teens here. Sometimes I want to skip back to the rainbow too!

Okay, so it's one thing to cave on buying the Madonna books, but I'd like you all to know that it is quite another to see them on the shelf with all the other books.