For the past couple of months, most intensively over the last three weeks, I’ve been involved in a special project for the library where I work. Now I can tell you about it.
The Grand Announcement
On July 1st, 2008, the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library will unveil a brand new website. One of the biggest changes in the website is the creation of a series of blogs by my fellow RATS!
Yes, the RATS are hopping onto the internet to talk with you about books.
Loosely based on the work I’ve done with my personal blog . . . With Intent to Commit Horror, these library blogs will be a way for us to talk about what we’ve read and to help you find some new, good books.
I’m excited, and everyone I’ve been working with is also getting excited. The caliber of writing is excellent. These librarians may be new to blogging, but they’ve got some mad writing and reading skills.
I suspect they’re going to give me a serious run for my money.
The Lair of the Undead Rat will . . . be the most representative of me
There will be six blogs to start with. Four blogs will be managed by individual RATS, including me. The fifth blog will be a group blog with contributions from the remaining RATS – look for a few of them to break out into their own blog by year’s end. The sixth blog allows any member of the library staff to write about books they’ve read. They’ll all be tied together and easy to find in an aggregate page on the library’s new website.
But What About . . . With Intent?
Good question. Nothing will change on . . . With Intent to Commit Horror. Nor will my plans for The Sequential Rat and OhioWriters.net change — although serious work won’t begin on them for another few months. All of my personal blogs will continue to be actively updated, and they will retain their focus on horror fiction, graphic novels and Ohio writers, respectively.
the RATS are hopping onto the internet to talk with you about books
My new blog — under the CHUH Public Library aegis — will join their ranks, but The Lair of the Undead Rat will enjoy a broader focus. In effect, it will be the most representative of me. I’ll reprint articles from my personal blogs and add new articles about books I’ve enjoyed from genres that don’t fit the others. If I read a mystery or a piece of classic literature, I’ll write about it in The Lair.
The Lair of the Undead Rat will be more book-centered and more library-centered than this one. I even envision talking about things like movies, music and MP3s. What The Lair might lack in focus, I hope it will more than make up for in charm and surprise.
Credit and Kudos
Re-reading this post, I’m struck that this all looks like it was my idea. Nothing is further from the truth.
What I did with . . . With Intent to Commit Horror, I did for myself. I never once had the idea that, hey, we could make this a library wide offering. I shared With Intent with my supervisors and co-workers because it was meant to be used by librarians who needed help serving people who wanted to read horror.
The supervisors met with the director and deputy director and they shared what I’d done. (Some of this is speculation but it makes a good story.) They were the ones who saw the possibilities.
I was still trying to find a way to revive the late “findagoodbook.net” website we’d done years ago and so initially resisted the concept of multiple reading blogs brought together under one roof. I was, however, quickly seduced by the role I’d get to play. They wanted me to replicate what I’d done. I got to be “The Undead Tyrant — Master of the Library Blogs” for a while, feeding my inner dictator and inner teacher.
They’re going to give me a serious run for my money
They say that tyrannies — like all good things — must come to an end. I see at least six of my fellow RATS who could eclipse my work in a big way soon after July 1st. It’s been a fun ride preparing the blogs and the bloggers, but soon the pupils will outstrip the teacher. Just to keep from looking like the village idiot — I’m going to have to come up with even better content than before.
Logo courtesy of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library.
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