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Copyright (c) 2009 Ginny Maziarka. All rights reserved.

Monday, July 27, 2009

BookSlut recommended reading for adults

Found this interesting. It is an adult recommended reading list from the West Bend Community Memorial Library listed under "What To Read." It links up to a website called the BookSlut. The logo shows a naked woman lying on top of a book. You get the idea.

The website also includes columns called BookSlut in Training and CookbookSlut.

Does the School of Information Studies teach librarians to maintain professionalism? Or is this the new low of professionalism that public libraries are sinking to?

Just wondering.

Some additional info, thanks to a faithful follower!


Publisher's Weekly interview:

I don’t have the background people in publishing have,” literary blogger Jessa Crispin freely admits.

.....

Bookslut.com, one of the first of the scores of literary blogs that have proliferated on the Web in recent years, is regarded as one of the most provocative and, at the same time, erudite of the book review sites. Bookslut has no fulltime employees other than Crispin...

.....

According to Crispin, reviewers—whom she pays with books..


.....

Working as a fund-raiser for Planned Parenthood in Austin, Tex., six years ago, Crispin started writing book reviews on her blog because, she said, “it took me one hour to do my job and I needed to fill the other seven hours.


.....

Bookslut was created out of boredom.

Yep, sounds professional to me.

23 comments:

Loki Motive said...

Are you really just wondering, or have you already made up your mind?

Local MLIS Student said...

What does this have to do with UWM School of Information Studies?

And just because their logo offends your puritan values, that doesn't mean there's anything inherently wrong with the website. Bookslut (its name is meant to be provocative - welcome to the WWW, Ms. Maziarka) is a very well known and respected online book review resource. Perhaps you'd like to read more about it before calling for a rain of fire upon its soul: http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6518432.html

Paigealicious! said...

I'm guessing that it's a play on "Booklust," a series of books by Nancy Pearl.

Also, what do you mean, "you get the idea?" It's a *line drawing* of a woman reading a book, and the website discusses a wide variety of book genres. But since you find drawings of naked people in puberty books to be potentially arousing, I could see your reluctance to actually LOOK at this website before condemning it.

Your comment about UWM's library school makes absolutely no sense.

Anonymous said...

I know Ginny runs this blog, but I am wondering if the rest of you work? Also, do you blog here while you are at work?

Now I know you don't have to answer, but I am curious.

Local MLIS Student said...

First, please don't describe me as a "faithful follower".

Second, what's your point? The article establishes that she doesn't have a publishing background (no crime there), that her site is both provocative and erudite (you can look that up), that she compensates her reviewers for their time (a common practice), and that she created the site cuz she was bored with her job.

Move along folks, nothing to see here....

Paigealicious! said...

IT'S A BOOK REVIEW SITE! Way to simply pick one out of the number of other sites on that page and make a big deal out of it. What does it have to do with professionalism? And if you're upset with the professionalism of the BookSlut people, why are you talking about West Bend librarians?

Non-Censor said...

The WBC4SL continue to demonstrate an inability to stay on message. Wasn’t it supposed to be about obscenity, and wasn’t it supposed to be about protecting children?

I've written more at:
http://censorfreelib.blogspot.com/

WEST BEND CITIZENS FOR SAFE LIBRARIES said...

This is not a WBCFSL blog. This is WISSUP blog. Just to clarify.

That means you will find other issues discussed here, not just library "stuff."

Me. Here. Right now. said...

Ginny, Just because this does not meet with your approval does not mean others should not be able to access or need to hear anything from you. Don't like it, don't access the booklist and don't read the books. Use a little common sense, huh?

Loki Motive said...

Seriously Ginny, what's the issue here? Do you really find the website objectionable? The drawing is incredibly mild and there is nothing offensive about the content as it is simply reviews for books. Is it the word slut? Is that really what you have a problem with? You don't like the word slut on a list of recommendations for adults?

kellie said...

First of all: Bookslut is 900x more professional than this blog could ever hope to be, so I'm not really sure what your point is.

Second of all: I agree that the title is a play on the Booklust series, but I also think it's a reminder that being a bookworm doesn't bar a woman from being attractive and feminine and fun. Which is a great misconception to fight, and a great way to encourage women to read.

I'm not really sure why you're so concerned about the library linking people to websites that will help them find books they enjoy. There's nothing unprofessional or illogical about that; wish I could say the same for your post.

Concerned West Bend Citizen said...

BlogSlut: http://sleeplessinwestbend.blogspot.com/2009/07/blogslut.html

Marjorie said...

Bookslut is a great site. I don't expect people like Ginny to understand, but there is something incredibly sensual about reading. Not just books that have sex in them, but any really, really good book. The kind of intimacy and passion I feel when curling up with 'Portrait of a Lady' or 'A Tale of Two Cities' or 'The Sound and the Fury' is hard to beat. Honestly, it's a little better than sex ;). Well, not quite, but if I was given the choice to give up books or sex for the rest of my life, I wouldn't have to spend long debating that decision.

Hence names like Booklust and Bookslut. I know that maybe it's hard for those NOT afflicted with Booklust to understand. And the kind of people who go crusading against books NEVER are true booklovers; because they are people who think books are things to be feared.

Also, if Ginny finds a line drawing of a woman's butt (there are line drawings of butts in my potty training books), then she CLEARY is not qualified to make determinations about what is offensive and harmful. No reasonable person would find that offensive, unless you are perhaps in a Muslim community.

Ruby said...

if it offends you, then why are you visiting it?

quit whining and stick to sites you deem "worthy" of your attention.

Anonymous said...

What's wrong with creating a blog out of boredom? Since when is having 'the background people in publishing have' required to write a decent book review?

The logo at the top of the page is pretty tame, in my opinion.

Given that the link is on the adult page, I'm really not sure what the issue is.

Anonymous said...

Ruby, same could be said to you.

Local MLIS Student said...

Ms. Maziarka -

Can you please respond regarding why you make a connection between this link on the WB Library adult webpage, and UW-Milwaukee's School of Information Studies?

Thank you.

Local MLIS Student said...

Ms. Maziarka -

Can you please respond regarding why you make a connection between this link on the WB Library adult webpage, and UW-Milwaukee's School of Information Studies?

Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Okay, so let me get this straight. Ginny Maziarka is objecting to a site that presents an opinion on matters (in this case books) that is set up by somebody who doesn't have publishing background. What is Ginny doing here? Because the only difference I see between the sites is that BookSlut tries to empower women as mentioned by kellie, it actually thinks literature is something to be treasured, and it gives out books. Those are, at least in the eyes of everybody with a modicum of sanity, logic, and reason, GOOD THINGS.

Anonymous said...

You know what happens when you assume?

Local MLIS student said...

(3rd request)

Ms. Maziarka -

Can you please respond regarding why you make a connection between this link on the WB Library adult webpage, and UW-Milwaukee's School of Information Studies?

Thank you.

Local MLIS Student said...

(4th request)

Ms. Maziarka -

Can you please respond regarding why you make a connection between this link on the WB Library adult webpage, and UW-Milwaukee's School of Information Studies?

Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Just a note: Bookslut was founded in 2002. Nancy Pearl's first "Book Lust" came out in 2003.

According to an article in The Daily Nebraskan, the term "Bookslut" was how Jessa Crispin always referred to herself (as someone who is promiscuous with books), so she named the site after herself.