I went to my local public library the other day, and on a whim I went over to the "foreign languages" section to see if they had any Russian children's books that might be nice and simple for picking up some vocabulary (in case you weren't aware, I'm currently learning Russian and Estonian).
I was intrigued to note that there weren't very many books in the Russian section at all. In fact, one person could borrow the entire stock of books on the shelf and still have "room" to borrow a couple of books from the rest of the library.
Now, even if the other two branches had the same number of books on their shelves, when you consider the fact that the books were a mix of fiction, non-fiction, adult and children's books...
Well, let's just say the average Russian living in this town has very little reading material. I don't know exactly how many Russians we have (I personally know three, and they don't seem to know each other so either the Russian community here isn't very close-nit or there are enough for them to get their "fellow countrymen" fix without knowing every single Russian in town), but I'll wager there are enough of them to warrant a slightly better selection of books.
Let's put it this way: I borrowed a cook book. Just one. It was the only Russian cook book there, so no one else gets to make Russian pastries until such time as I could be bothered returning it.
And, yes, I know how the system works. The State Library has a collection of books in foreign languages, which it circulates to the local public libraries on request. All you have to do to get more Russian books is ask. However, you kind of have to know what to ask for. You can't just rock up to the library, see a book on the shelf you haven't read before and think: "Oh, yeah, I may as well try it". Is that not one of the great joys of a library?
I was thinking there needs to be a better system (that's my 'thing' these days: "we need a better system"). Perhaps, when someone signs up for a library card, they could have the option of marking their "home language" on their form. For every person who has that home language, the library ensures they have at least five "new" fiction books and five "new" non-fiction books cycle through the library branches each month. That way, theoretically, each registered library user would have a reasonably large selection to choose from.
Say, for example, there were 25 registered Russian readers in town - that would make 250 Russian books on the shelves). Would that make an untenable number of foreign language books? Yes, probably, but if you consider the fact that we have three branches in this town, and all of the books would rotate between those branches for a period of approximately three months before going back to the State Library to be sent to another town, then it seems a bit more reasonable. Also, there's no reason why they can't bring back the same books every couple of years, as long as they aren't all the same books.
And, yes, that may get a bit ludicrous when you put together all of the languages spoken by different people around town... but dammit, what are libraries for, if not to fulfil our unreasonable expectations?
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Thursday, January 1, 2009
The Wheels of Chance, by H. G. Wells
This is a book review I wrote for a staff news letter some months back. I thought I'd pull it out and give it a bit of an airing over here.
A couple of months ago I was listening to a documentary on Radio National in which they read several passages from The Wheels of Chance, by H.G. Wells. As a teenager I had read several of Wells' science fiction novels, including The Island of Dr Moreau, which was written in the same year as The Wheels of Chance, but I had never bothered to look at his non-science fiction novels.
I was pleased to find a copy of this book was sitting on our shelves, so I checked it out… then promptly forgot to read it. I noticed it sitting on my desk the other day and decided I had better take it home – and I'm so very glad I did. Right from the opening chapter this book had me absolutely charmed. It's now one of my favourite books, and I'll be keeping an eye out for a copy of my own from now on.
The book was written in 1895 and is a contemporary novel – perhaps set a couple of years before the book was published. The story involves Mr Hoopdriver (his given name was never made clear) – a twenty-three year old draper's assistant who decides to spend his yearly two-week holiday cycling around the south of England. He has only recently bought a second hand bicycle, and he still isn't entirely sure how to ride the thing, but he has bought the clothes and accessories to be a cyclist and he is determined to enjoy himself.
Hoopdriver is something of a comical figure, and he takes more than one fall in the course of this short book, but he is also heroic in his way. On the first day of his journey he encounters another cyclist, the Young Lady in Grey, who flummoxes him by wearing "rationals" (bloomers), sending him crashing to the pavement. Throughout the book he crosses paths with this Young Lady in Grey and her ne'er-do-well companion, eventually coming to her rescue and spending a few days as her "brother" before his adventure comes to an end.
The book could be considered a social commentary, as well as a comedy, as it touches on a lot of aspects of English culture at the time. However, where other social commentaries might use a sharp, incisive humour to make their points, The Wheels of Chance treats its subjects with a loving touch, remaining gentle and charming throughout.
This is a book set in a time when safety bicycles (those with two wheels the same size, as opposed to "ordinary bicycles", which we think of as "penny farthings") were making travel possible for the common man and "untrammelled" woman. The freedom of movement they brought to women and the lower classes coincided with and contributed to the early feminist movement and the waning days of the traditional class system in England.
This book was published a year after Susan B. Anthony's famous statement celebrating the bicycle, calling the image of a young lady on a bicycle "the picture of free, untrammelled womanhood". This statement clearly influence Wells as he was writing this novel, as one of the characters is an authoress who has written a book called A Soul Untrammelled. Wells does seem to be laughing a little at the concept, but his humour is directed more at the young girl who has taken all her ideas of life from novels than the feminist literature itself.
Jesse, the Young Woman in Grey, has an idea of becoming a "Free Woman" and "Living Her Own Life", like the heroines in the popular novels. In the course of the book, she discovers that "freedom" usually costs something after all (money, for instance). Hoopdriver revels in the fact that a young man in a cycling suit could be a duke as well as a draper, and takes the opportunity to pretend to be someone else for a while. He eventually discovers that the man he actually is just might be good enough after all.
It's not a high romance, it's not a grand adventure, it's not a side-splitting comedy and it's not an incisive social commentary. And, yet, it is a romance, an adventure, a comedy and a social commentary. It is, as the subtitle says, an Idyll, and it is a very pleasant read.
A couple of months ago I was listening to a documentary on Radio National in which they read several passages from The Wheels of Chance, by H.G. Wells. As a teenager I had read several of Wells' science fiction novels, including The Island of Dr Moreau, which was written in the same year as The Wheels of Chance, but I had never bothered to look at his non-science fiction novels.
I was pleased to find a copy of this book was sitting on our shelves, so I checked it out… then promptly forgot to read it. I noticed it sitting on my desk the other day and decided I had better take it home – and I'm so very glad I did. Right from the opening chapter this book had me absolutely charmed. It's now one of my favourite books, and I'll be keeping an eye out for a copy of my own from now on.
The book was written in 1895 and is a contemporary novel – perhaps set a couple of years before the book was published. The story involves Mr Hoopdriver (his given name was never made clear) – a twenty-three year old draper's assistant who decides to spend his yearly two-week holiday cycling around the south of England. He has only recently bought a second hand bicycle, and he still isn't entirely sure how to ride the thing, but he has bought the clothes and accessories to be a cyclist and he is determined to enjoy himself.
Hoopdriver is something of a comical figure, and he takes more than one fall in the course of this short book, but he is also heroic in his way. On the first day of his journey he encounters another cyclist, the Young Lady in Grey, who flummoxes him by wearing "rationals" (bloomers), sending him crashing to the pavement. Throughout the book he crosses paths with this Young Lady in Grey and her ne'er-do-well companion, eventually coming to her rescue and spending a few days as her "brother" before his adventure comes to an end.
The book could be considered a social commentary, as well as a comedy, as it touches on a lot of aspects of English culture at the time. However, where other social commentaries might use a sharp, incisive humour to make their points, The Wheels of Chance treats its subjects with a loving touch, remaining gentle and charming throughout.
This is a book set in a time when safety bicycles (those with two wheels the same size, as opposed to "ordinary bicycles", which we think of as "penny farthings") were making travel possible for the common man and "untrammelled" woman. The freedom of movement they brought to women and the lower classes coincided with and contributed to the early feminist movement and the waning days of the traditional class system in England.
This book was published a year after Susan B. Anthony's famous statement celebrating the bicycle, calling the image of a young lady on a bicycle "the picture of free, untrammelled womanhood". This statement clearly influence Wells as he was writing this novel, as one of the characters is an authoress who has written a book called A Soul Untrammelled. Wells does seem to be laughing a little at the concept, but his humour is directed more at the young girl who has taken all her ideas of life from novels than the feminist literature itself.
Jesse, the Young Woman in Grey, has an idea of becoming a "Free Woman" and "Living Her Own Life", like the heroines in the popular novels. In the course of the book, she discovers that "freedom" usually costs something after all (money, for instance). Hoopdriver revels in the fact that a young man in a cycling suit could be a duke as well as a draper, and takes the opportunity to pretend to be someone else for a while. He eventually discovers that the man he actually is just might be good enough after all.
It's not a high romance, it's not a grand adventure, it's not a side-splitting comedy and it's not an incisive social commentary. And, yet, it is a romance, an adventure, a comedy and a social commentary. It is, as the subtitle says, an Idyll, and it is a very pleasant read.
Monday, December 22, 2008
From the New Journals Shelf:
Canadian Music Educator/Musicien éducateur au Canada vol. 50 no.2
In the Winter 2008 copy of Canadian Music Educator I came across a very interesting article concerning gender stereotypes and musical instrument selection.
Sommer Buttu, a music teacher in Toronto who has taught in American schools in Kuwait and Israel, was intrigued by the gender stereotypes that still seem to plague instrument selection in school music programmes, so she conducted a small study on whether or not these stereotypes effect students in all-girls' schools the same way they seem to effect students in co-education schools:
"Perceptions of Female Students in a Same-sex School: Gender Stereotypes and Musical Instruments".
I have to admit I hadn't actually considered gender stereotyping in the band before. Somehow, I naïvely thought people just picked up instruments they were interested in playing, and then they either took to them or they didn't. Sommer Butto seemed to feel the same way when she started teaching music, then the parents of her students showed her the error of her ways.
She describes a scene in which the mother of one of her female students (in a co-ed school) took issue with the girl having the horn assigned to her because "it is not a girl's instrument and is not an instrument girls should play". I personally found this something of a revelation, because I've always seen women in the horn section of a band or orchestra. If I was going to give generalised gender attributes to instruments, I would assume a horn was a fairly "girly" instrument, and not unbecoming of a lady at all. Certainly not like those nasty, masculine flugabones.
Sommer describes the frustration of trying to match instruments with children who just want to play, when society (particularly through their parents) tries to give gender values to things which should, in all honesty, be gender neutral.
She then goes on to talk about her experiences teaching in an all-girls' school. The fact that every single instrument in the orchestra would have to be played by a girl, and the supportive environment fostered by the same-sex groups, created a completely different approach to instrument selection. There was a more open approach to the instruments, and the girls' parents had no problems with their selections.
In the study she conducted, Sommer found that girls in same-sex schools felt perfectly free to take up low brass and percussion instruments, and only noticed issues with gender when attending co-educational band camps and competitions.
Tellingly, she also found they felt sorry for boys. Why? Because a girl can take up an instrument that isn't considered "girly" and be considered a pioneer worthy of respect. Should a boy try to take up an instrument that wasn't considered to be "manly", though, he wouldn't be given the same kudos. Particularly male flautists. Apparently the flute is an exceptionally "girly" instrument.
Sommer gives some recommendations to pedagogical practice (which basically consist of "let the children play, but give them a lot of support") and suggests another study on boys in a same-sex schooling environment should be undertaken.
Some interesting quotes from the article:
"Research indicates that parents, peers and society all play a major role in dictating the constructed ideas of gender roles and expectations in the area of musical instruments" (p. 31)
"From a very young age, the girls see ensembles that are comprised of all females; thus the sight of a small grade seven girl transporting a tuba is neither a surprise nor an anomaly, rather a reality that is encouraged and celebrated" (p. 31)
"Many participants in this study who have broken gender stereotypes commented that prior to playing their instrument, they were unaware that women could play low brass or percussion instruments" (p. 32)
"In furthering the scope and depth of gender research in music education, it is my hope that our profession can come closer to lessening the damaging stereotypes to the point that they will no longer be a factor in the lives of our young instrumentalists" (p. 33)
Butto, S. (2008). Perceptions of Female Students in a Same-sex School: Gender Stereotypes and Musical Instruments. Canadian Music Educator. 50 (2), 30-33.
In the Winter 2008 copy of Canadian Music Educator I came across a very interesting article concerning gender stereotypes and musical instrument selection.
Sommer Buttu, a music teacher in Toronto who has taught in American schools in Kuwait and Israel, was intrigued by the gender stereotypes that still seem to plague instrument selection in school music programmes, so she conducted a small study on whether or not these stereotypes effect students in all-girls' schools the same way they seem to effect students in co-education schools:
"Perceptions of Female Students in a Same-sex School: Gender Stereotypes and Musical Instruments".
I have to admit I hadn't actually considered gender stereotyping in the band before. Somehow, I naïvely thought people just picked up instruments they were interested in playing, and then they either took to them or they didn't. Sommer Butto seemed to feel the same way when she started teaching music, then the parents of her students showed her the error of her ways.
She describes a scene in which the mother of one of her female students (in a co-ed school) took issue with the girl having the horn assigned to her because "it is not a girl's instrument and is not an instrument girls should play". I personally found this something of a revelation, because I've always seen women in the horn section of a band or orchestra. If I was going to give generalised gender attributes to instruments, I would assume a horn was a fairly "girly" instrument, and not unbecoming of a lady at all. Certainly not like those nasty, masculine flugabones.
Sommer describes the frustration of trying to match instruments with children who just want to play, when society (particularly through their parents) tries to give gender values to things which should, in all honesty, be gender neutral.
She then goes on to talk about her experiences teaching in an all-girls' school. The fact that every single instrument in the orchestra would have to be played by a girl, and the supportive environment fostered by the same-sex groups, created a completely different approach to instrument selection. There was a more open approach to the instruments, and the girls' parents had no problems with their selections.
In the study she conducted, Sommer found that girls in same-sex schools felt perfectly free to take up low brass and percussion instruments, and only noticed issues with gender when attending co-educational band camps and competitions.
Tellingly, she also found they felt sorry for boys. Why? Because a girl can take up an instrument that isn't considered "girly" and be considered a pioneer worthy of respect. Should a boy try to take up an instrument that wasn't considered to be "manly", though, he wouldn't be given the same kudos. Particularly male flautists. Apparently the flute is an exceptionally "girly" instrument.
Sommer gives some recommendations to pedagogical practice (which basically consist of "let the children play, but give them a lot of support") and suggests another study on boys in a same-sex schooling environment should be undertaken.
Some interesting quotes from the article:
"Research indicates that parents, peers and society all play a major role in dictating the constructed ideas of gender roles and expectations in the area of musical instruments" (p. 31)
"From a very young age, the girls see ensembles that are comprised of all females; thus the sight of a small grade seven girl transporting a tuba is neither a surprise nor an anomaly, rather a reality that is encouraged and celebrated" (p. 31)
"Many participants in this study who have broken gender stereotypes commented that prior to playing their instrument, they were unaware that women could play low brass or percussion instruments" (p. 32)
"In furthering the scope and depth of gender research in music education, it is my hope that our profession can come closer to lessening the damaging stereotypes to the point that they will no longer be a factor in the lives of our young instrumentalists" (p. 33)
Butto, S. (2008). Perceptions of Female Students in a Same-sex School: Gender Stereotypes and Musical Instruments. Canadian Music Educator. 50 (2), 30-33.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
AskOxford
I'm currently filching my old posts from a blog that's about to die and moving them into my current blogs, and I realised this one wouldn't really fit on any of them. So I'm putting it here:
Okay, I'll admit it. I'm including a link to this page because, as a 'dictionary freak' (as most of my friends call me), I think it's just marvelous.
I don't know how relevant it will be to your studies, but the AskOxford FAQ's page is chock-full of interesting things.
You know all those word-puzzles that people like to give you about words that rhyme with orange or end with gry? You'll find a lot of the answers here.
Okay, I'll admit it. I'm including a link to this page because, as a 'dictionary freak' (as most of my friends call me), I think it's just marvelous.
I don't know how relevant it will be to your studies, but the AskOxford FAQ's page is chock-full of interesting things.
You know all those word-puzzles that people like to give you about words that rhyme with orange or end with gry? You'll find a lot of the answers here.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Operation: Finish What You Started
I'm the kind of person who reads about four or five books at the same time. Yes, I know that can sound impressive (if you're the kind of person who can only commit to one book at a time), but all it really means is a) I have a poor attention span, and b) it takes me longer to finish a book.
It also means that, inevitably, I end up getting side-tracked by some of the books I'm reading and I forget to finish others. I noticed the other day that I have far too many books I started reading, then let fall by the way side.
So I've started a project. Insofar as possible, I'm not going to pick up any new books for a while. Instead, I'm going to focus my efforts on finishing the books I'm partway through. To help myself keep on track, I'll try to remember to write a review of them here. You never know, I just might stick with it.
I'm just wondering if this will extend to Robinson Crusoe. I've tried to read that book about three or four times. Never got past the first four chapters.
It also means that, inevitably, I end up getting side-tracked by some of the books I'm reading and I forget to finish others. I noticed the other day that I have far too many books I started reading, then let fall by the way side.
So I've started a project. Insofar as possible, I'm not going to pick up any new books for a while. Instead, I'm going to focus my efforts on finishing the books I'm partway through. To help myself keep on track, I'll try to remember to write a review of them here. You never know, I just might stick with it.
I'm just wondering if this will extend to Robinson Crusoe. I've tried to read that book about three or four times. Never got past the first four chapters.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
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