Hi everybody! I'm your resident manga librarian, and I'd like to hear any feedback anybody has on this year's library experience.
If you came in to read, did you have any trouble finding something you liked? Did you feel like there was a decent selection of titles? What did we NOT have that you really wanted to read? (Or would have liked to read more of, but we only had volumes 1 and 2?) I was trying to keep track of everything that people mentioned they'd hoped to find, but I know I didn't talk to everybody, and I'm sure I forgot a few things.
I'd love to hear suggestions for new books (or just which series we have only a scanty holding of that you'd like to see us round out) for next year. I can't make any promises, but suggestions will definitely be taken into account when next year's books are chosen.
Manga Library 2008 Feedback
-
MonoTekETeA
- Getting the hang of this...
- Posts: 9
- Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2008 1:31 am
Manga Library 2008 Feedback
I did not find the free time to make it in, however my friend did and said he couldn't find the manga XS Hybrid. Another manga I hope to find in more peoples hands is Lunar Legend Tsukihime, I do not know if you do or do not have it.
Just my literal "two cents," I love the idea of a Manga Library and hope you keep it up!
Just my literal "two cents," I love the idea of a Manga Library and hope you keep it up!
-
gmsenpai
- Veteran Poster
- Posts: 167
- Joined: Sun Jun 11, 2006 11:00 pm
- Location: Mass
- Contact:
Manga Library 2008 Feedback
I normally don't jump into threads to exclaim my undying love or stern over criticism for panels, guests, events, or any other programing. This is why I have access to recording equipment and such.
However, in my ranting of what I loved and what I didn't I felt that one of the areas I had not given suitable credit to was the fine sanctuary that is the Manga Library.
Not only where the titles me and my party looking for available and ready to go but the system was among the most simple. While its actually difficult to mess up a library system, it happens more then you think... in actual library's.
In addition this was the most relaxing place I could find that wasn't my hotel room. It was magical and down right enjoyable. It was quiet which is something you expect and rarely get but thats exactly what I got. While the ability to not be able to take stuff out is kind of a pain, as some people who wait in lines at the con would enjoy something to read, its a moot point with the other ways many decide to entertain themselves with in the line.
In the three years I've attended the convention, I've never made a trip down to the Manga Library and now that I have I'm making it a personal point to jump in for a while when I return.
As to answer the specific questions at hand. I would say that access to either more obscure titles as well as larger culmination volumes of manga would make for an interesting experience. I realize that my answer is rather vauge and apologize.
However, in my ranting of what I loved and what I didn't I felt that one of the areas I had not given suitable credit to was the fine sanctuary that is the Manga Library.
Not only where the titles me and my party looking for available and ready to go but the system was among the most simple. While its actually difficult to mess up a library system, it happens more then you think... in actual library's.
In addition this was the most relaxing place I could find that wasn't my hotel room. It was magical and down right enjoyable. It was quiet which is something you expect and rarely get but thats exactly what I got. While the ability to not be able to take stuff out is kind of a pain, as some people who wait in lines at the con would enjoy something to read, its a moot point with the other ways many decide to entertain themselves with in the line.
In the three years I've attended the convention, I've never made a trip down to the Manga Library and now that I have I'm making it a personal point to jump in for a while when I return.
As to answer the specific questions at hand. I would say that access to either more obscure titles as well as larger culmination volumes of manga would make for an interesting experience. I realize that my answer is rather vauge and apologize.
-
mark5
- AB Alumni
- Posts: 110
- Joined: Mon Jun 12, 2006 9:19 am
Manga Library 2008 Feedback
Pinning this thread...
-
KitKat
- Obsessed Poster
- Posts: 409
- Joined: Sun Jun 25, 2006 12:04 pm
Manga Library 2008 Feedback
With how crowded AB seemed this year (and the fact that I spent the entire week before hand not getting much sleep thanks to friends who needed help on costumes) the manga library was a godsend.
The staff there were the friendliest I met at the Convention, given I had some extremely bad experiences with rude staff members this year. (a problem I had not run into in prior visits to the convention)
The only complaint I have is you didn't have more of the Claymore series, I wanted to read 3 and 4 but they either were being read by someone or werent there at all.
(Are all the manga you use volunteered by the staff? I enjoy this piece of Anime Boston so much that I wouldn't mind volunteering my own collection of Manga for the convention to broaden the options even more)
The staff there were the friendliest I met at the Convention, given I had some extremely bad experiences with rude staff members this year. (a problem I had not run into in prior visits to the convention)
The only complaint I have is you didn't have more of the Claymore series, I wanted to read 3 and 4 but they either were being read by someone or werent there at all.
(Are all the manga you use volunteered by the staff? I enjoy this piece of Anime Boston so much that I wouldn't mind volunteering my own collection of Manga for the convention to broaden the options even more)
-
margareta
- Expert Poster
- Posts: 56
- Joined: Tue Oct 10, 2006 10:19 pm
Manga Library 2008 Feedback
[quote=KitKat]With how crowded AB seemed this year (and the fact that I spent the entire week before hand not getting much sleep thanks to friends who needed help on costumes) the manga library was a godsend.
The staff there were the friendliest I met at the Convention, given I had some extremely bad experiences with rude staff members this year. (a problem I had not run into in prior visits to the convention)
The only complaint I have is you didn't have more of the Claymore series, I wanted to read 3 and 4 but they either were being read by someone or werent there at all.
(Are all the manga you use volunteered by the staff? I enjoy this piece of Anime Boston so much that I wouldn't mind volunteering my own collection of Manga for the convention to broaden the options even more)[/quote]
Thank you! Good customer service is very important to me, so I'm glad you found us friendly. And I'm glad you found the room so relaxing--a lot of what makes a con so exciting is the intensity and the high energy, but sometimes, you need a little breathing room, and it's nice to be able to get that without leaving the con.
Did we have Claymore at all? I don't remember seeing it in our collection, and I don't have book cards for Claymore. A lot of people brought in their manga purchases from the Dealer's Room to read, and I wonder if you saw someone reading their own copies of Claymore? That's a good idea, though--it's a Shonen Jump title, and very popular (not my only criterion, but a big one).
Everything on this year's shelves was AB's own manga except the two magazines and the Petshop of Horrors artbook. Last year, a lot more of it was loaned--I lent about two hundred books myself, and the then-librarian, Sam Pinansky, lent quite a lot also, and about two years worth of Shojo Beats. I decided not to do that this year partly because the sorting was a huge pain (I lost several books, and accidentally took home a few of AB's), but mostly because I come in on the T and wrestling two giant suitcases full of books on and off the Green Line is Not Fun.
AB's manga has come from staff donations, attendee donations, donations and freebies from manga and anime publishers, from incredibly generous yearly donations from TokyoKid (they let us pick our own books), and at least in the last two years, our very own budget. That's why it's a bit of a hodge-podge, and why this year, I put most of the donations and budget towards acquiring whole runs of a series, to try to give the library a bit more depth.
I've been thinking a bit about the possibility of letting attendees loan from their own collections (people have offered once or twice before); at the moment, I'm leaning towards "no," because I don't feel that we could guarantee that we could take good care of them even for the weekend. I also have no idea how the higher-ups would feel about it. On the other hand, I've only been thinking about it since Saturday, and it's Tuesday evening.
On a related note, we are always happy to take donations of unwanted manga, unless it's another copy of Battle of the Planets II: Volume 3 (we already have four, and nobody ever reads it). :p
[quote=GMSenpai]
Not only where the titles me and my party looking for available and ready to go but the system was among the most simple. While its actually difficult to mess up a library system, it happens more then you think... in actual library's.
In addition this was the most relaxing place I could find that wasn't my hotel room. It was magical and down right enjoyable. It was quiet which is something you expect and rarely get but thats exactly what I got. While the ability to not be able to take stuff out is kind of a pain, as some people who wait in lines at the con would enjoy something to read, its a moot point with the other ways many decide to entertain themselves with in the line.[/quote]
[quote]As to answer the specific questions at hand. I would say that access to either more obscure titles as well as larger culmination volumes of manga would make for an interesting experience. I realize that my answer is rather vauge and apologize.[/quote]
Not at all. When I looked at last year's highest circulating books (in a word, Bleach), I got the feeling that what most people who spent more than twenty minutes in the library wanted was to be able to read a lot of something, so I deliberately concentrated on getting entire current print runs of things, including the mega-popular series (Naruto, Fruits Basket, Fullmetal Alchemist, Death Note), older favorites (Petshop of Horrors), lesser-known but wonderful titles (Cantarella, Buddha, Hikaru no Go) and trying to build up the yaoi collection (it's wicked popular, and it gave me an excuse to buy a ton of Fumi Yoshinaga). The multiple-volume approach was very sucessful--every title we added or built up was very, very popular, and I'll be trying to do that next year.
I also definitely want to make sure we have books that you don't commonly see elsewhere. I can't describe to you how thrilled I was when I saw the library for the first time last year and found out it had the obscure, hard-to-find Erica Sakurazawa collection--if you can't find this kind of gem at an anime con, where can you find it?
Not being able to take books out of the library is the one thing I don't think we can fix, although I completely understand the desire (after all, a large part of one's down time during a con takes place while in line for something--the dealer's room, the Maskerade, the bathroom--). The logistics of it are beyond a nightmare, though--the books are less than a thousand, the con's attendance rate has been over ten thousand for a couple of years now, and the Hynes and the hotels are gigantic and crammed with hidey-holes. If we let people take books out of the room, we wouldn't have any books at the end of the con (not even necessarily because of theft--stuff gets lost, and people actually do get confused about "loan" versus "freebie" or "loan" versus "sales stock," and I'm not even being sarcastic about that, they are just really unclear on the difference between a library and a bookstore. I've noticed that people often treat bookstores like libraries, so I suppose it's only fair).
The staff there were the friendliest I met at the Convention, given I had some extremely bad experiences with rude staff members this year. (a problem I had not run into in prior visits to the convention)
The only complaint I have is you didn't have more of the Claymore series, I wanted to read 3 and 4 but they either were being read by someone or werent there at all.
(Are all the manga you use volunteered by the staff? I enjoy this piece of Anime Boston so much that I wouldn't mind volunteering my own collection of Manga for the convention to broaden the options even more)[/quote]
Thank you! Good customer service is very important to me, so I'm glad you found us friendly. And I'm glad you found the room so relaxing--a lot of what makes a con so exciting is the intensity and the high energy, but sometimes, you need a little breathing room, and it's nice to be able to get that without leaving the con.
Did we have Claymore at all? I don't remember seeing it in our collection, and I don't have book cards for Claymore. A lot of people brought in their manga purchases from the Dealer's Room to read, and I wonder if you saw someone reading their own copies of Claymore? That's a good idea, though--it's a Shonen Jump title, and very popular (not my only criterion, but a big one).
Everything on this year's shelves was AB's own manga except the two magazines and the Petshop of Horrors artbook. Last year, a lot more of it was loaned--I lent about two hundred books myself, and the then-librarian, Sam Pinansky, lent quite a lot also, and about two years worth of Shojo Beats. I decided not to do that this year partly because the sorting was a huge pain (I lost several books, and accidentally took home a few of AB's), but mostly because I come in on the T and wrestling two giant suitcases full of books on and off the Green Line is Not Fun.
AB's manga has come from staff donations, attendee donations, donations and freebies from manga and anime publishers, from incredibly generous yearly donations from TokyoKid (they let us pick our own books), and at least in the last two years, our very own budget. That's why it's a bit of a hodge-podge, and why this year, I put most of the donations and budget towards acquiring whole runs of a series, to try to give the library a bit more depth.
I've been thinking a bit about the possibility of letting attendees loan from their own collections (people have offered once or twice before); at the moment, I'm leaning towards "no," because I don't feel that we could guarantee that we could take good care of them even for the weekend. I also have no idea how the higher-ups would feel about it. On the other hand, I've only been thinking about it since Saturday, and it's Tuesday evening.
On a related note, we are always happy to take donations of unwanted manga, unless it's another copy of Battle of the Planets II: Volume 3 (we already have four, and nobody ever reads it). :p
[quote=GMSenpai]
Not only where the titles me and my party looking for available and ready to go but the system was among the most simple. While its actually difficult to mess up a library system, it happens more then you think... in actual library's.
In addition this was the most relaxing place I could find that wasn't my hotel room. It was magical and down right enjoyable. It was quiet which is something you expect and rarely get but thats exactly what I got. While the ability to not be able to take stuff out is kind of a pain, as some people who wait in lines at the con would enjoy something to read, its a moot point with the other ways many decide to entertain themselves with in the line.[/quote]
[quote]As to answer the specific questions at hand. I would say that access to either more obscure titles as well as larger culmination volumes of manga would make for an interesting experience. I realize that my answer is rather vauge and apologize.[/quote]
Not at all. When I looked at last year's highest circulating books (in a word, Bleach), I got the feeling that what most people who spent more than twenty minutes in the library wanted was to be able to read a lot of something, so I deliberately concentrated on getting entire current print runs of things, including the mega-popular series (Naruto, Fruits Basket, Fullmetal Alchemist, Death Note), older favorites (Petshop of Horrors), lesser-known but wonderful titles (Cantarella, Buddha, Hikaru no Go) and trying to build up the yaoi collection (it's wicked popular, and it gave me an excuse to buy a ton of Fumi Yoshinaga). The multiple-volume approach was very sucessful--every title we added or built up was very, very popular, and I'll be trying to do that next year.
I also definitely want to make sure we have books that you don't commonly see elsewhere. I can't describe to you how thrilled I was when I saw the library for the first time last year and found out it had the obscure, hard-to-find Erica Sakurazawa collection--if you can't find this kind of gem at an anime con, where can you find it?
Not being able to take books out of the library is the one thing I don't think we can fix, although I completely understand the desire (after all, a large part of one's down time during a con takes place while in line for something--the dealer's room, the Maskerade, the bathroom--). The logistics of it are beyond a nightmare, though--the books are less than a thousand, the con's attendance rate has been over ten thousand for a couple of years now, and the Hynes and the hotels are gigantic and crammed with hidey-holes. If we let people take books out of the room, we wouldn't have any books at the end of the con (not even necessarily because of theft--stuff gets lost, and people actually do get confused about "loan" versus "freebie" or "loan" versus "sales stock," and I'm not even being sarcastic about that, they are just really unclear on the difference between a library and a bookstore. I've noticed that people often treat bookstores like libraries, so I suppose it's only fair).
-
KitKat
- Obsessed Poster
- Posts: 409
- Joined: Sun Jun 25, 2006 12:04 pm
Manga Library 2008 Feedback
I spotted 1&2 on the shelves.(I looked for it specifically). I ended up reading Petshop of Horrors and overnight became an avid fan. I may go through my collection for series I've outgrown and chose to donate some. ^.^ (I havent picked up any of gravitation since its been finished and I have a few where I only got te first 2-4 books because I didn't enjoy the writing or drawing style at all)
I'll have to think it over a bit. How exactly do I make the donation? Just show up in '09 with books and say "here, take these" (hehe)
I'll have to think it over a bit. How exactly do I make the donation? Just show up in '09 with books and say "here, take these" (hehe)
-
tammertime
- Show-off
- Posts: 1137
- Joined: Sun May 13, 2007 4:12 am
Manga Library 2008 Feedback
I stopped in for a bit to check it out, being a total manga geek myself.... and I was really happy to see such a variety!! Barefoot Gen, the Ring, Ohikkoshi, Naussicaa, Buddha....etc. I can't even remember all the good stuff!!
:thumbup: :thumbup:
If only I had the time to stay in there and read it all. Cause the quiet DID feel VERY nice for the ten minutes I was there. And you all were very friendly!! Next year I'm DEFINITELY staying in for longer..
:thumbup: :thumbup:
If only I had the time to stay in there and read it all. Cause the quiet DID feel VERY nice for the ten minutes I was there. And you all were very friendly!! Next year I'm DEFINITELY staying in for longer..
-
margareta
- Expert Poster
- Posts: 56
- Joined: Tue Oct 10, 2006 10:19 pm
Manga Library 2008 Feedback
[quote=KitKat]I spotted 1&2 on the shelves.(I looked for it specifically). I ended up reading Petshop of Horrors and overnight became an avid fan. I may go through my collection for series I've outgrown and chose to donate some. ^.^ (I havent picked up any of gravitation since its been finished and I have a few where I only got te first 2-4 books because I didn't enjoy the writing or drawing style at all)
I'll have to think it over a bit. How exactly do I make the donation? Just show up in '09 with books and say "here, take these" (hehe)[/quote]
I freakin' love PSOH. It was one of the titles that turned me into a manga fan (as distinct from an anime fan), and I used to RP as D. There's a sequel, by the way, Petshop of Horrors Tokyo, also published in English by Tokyopop. The author, Matsuri Akino has several other titles, two of which are in English via Tokyopop (Genjyu no Seiza, which is an adventure series involving time travel, reincarnation, talking animals, and ghosts, and Kamen Tantei, which I like to call Matsuri Akino's love letter to the mystery genre. It's cute, funny, creepy, and only four volumes).
How weird about Claymore! The collection's back in storage, so I may have to wait until next year to solve that mystery.
As for donations, yeah, just show up with the books while we're open and watch my face light up. If you're in any doubt about whether we might want something or already have it, just PM me.
[quote=tammertime]I stopped in for a bit to check it out, being a total manga geek myself.... and I was really happy to see such a variety!! Barefoot Gen, the Ring, Ohikkoshi, Naussicaa, Buddha....etc. I can't even remember all the good stuff!!
:thumbup: :thumbup:
If only I had the time to stay in there and read it all. Cause the quiet DID feel VERY nice for the ten minutes I was there. And you all were very friendly!! Next year I'm DEFINITELY staying in for longer..[/quote]
My goal is to amass a collection so perfectly balanced that we become a destination event for every serious manga fan who comes to the con! If I ever succeed, I'll be crushed to death under a mass of people, but I'll die satisfied.
(Ohikkoshi, man. It's the ultimate sign of quality manga geekery. Next year, take a peek at Tanpenshu--it's by Hiroki Endo, better known for Eden! It's an Endless World, and like Ohikkoshi, a collection of lighter short stories by an author known for very dark, grim material. Less wacky, and less experimental than Ohikkoshi, but also amazing.)
Also, thank you!
I'll have to think it over a bit. How exactly do I make the donation? Just show up in '09 with books and say "here, take these" (hehe)[/quote]
I freakin' love PSOH. It was one of the titles that turned me into a manga fan (as distinct from an anime fan), and I used to RP as D. There's a sequel, by the way, Petshop of Horrors Tokyo, also published in English by Tokyopop. The author, Matsuri Akino has several other titles, two of which are in English via Tokyopop (Genjyu no Seiza, which is an adventure series involving time travel, reincarnation, talking animals, and ghosts, and Kamen Tantei, which I like to call Matsuri Akino's love letter to the mystery genre. It's cute, funny, creepy, and only four volumes).
How weird about Claymore! The collection's back in storage, so I may have to wait until next year to solve that mystery.
As for donations, yeah, just show up with the books while we're open and watch my face light up. If you're in any doubt about whether we might want something or already have it, just PM me.
[quote=tammertime]I stopped in for a bit to check it out, being a total manga geek myself.... and I was really happy to see such a variety!! Barefoot Gen, the Ring, Ohikkoshi, Naussicaa, Buddha....etc. I can't even remember all the good stuff!!
:thumbup: :thumbup:
If only I had the time to stay in there and read it all. Cause the quiet DID feel VERY nice for the ten minutes I was there. And you all were very friendly!! Next year I'm DEFINITELY staying in for longer..[/quote]
My goal is to amass a collection so perfectly balanced that we become a destination event for every serious manga fan who comes to the con! If I ever succeed, I'll be crushed to death under a mass of people, but I'll die satisfied.
(Ohikkoshi, man. It's the ultimate sign of quality manga geekery. Next year, take a peek at Tanpenshu--it's by Hiroki Endo, better known for Eden! It's an Endless World, and like Ohikkoshi, a collection of lighter short stories by an author known for very dark, grim material. Less wacky, and less experimental than Ohikkoshi, but also amazing.)
Also, thank you!
-
karriachinoryu
- Veteran Poster
- Posts: 106
- Joined: Sun Apr 08, 2007 6:03 pm
Manga Library 2008 Feedback
Me and my friends were very happy to find Death Note there. I think you guys did a great job and had a nice selection. The only thing I was looking for that I didn't find was volume 1 of Honey and Clover... but considering it was such a recent release, I could understand why you didn't have it.
AB2018: My fourteenth Anime Boston! 
-
margareta
- Expert Poster
- Posts: 56
- Joined: Tue Oct 10, 2006 10:19 pm
Manga Library 2008 Feedback
Oh yeah. There was a lot of stuff that came out right before the con or after all the lists were submitted that I would have loved to get. With series already in print, I can use future publication dates as a guide for what I can reasonably expect to get by con time (although that can backfire if something doesn't ship on time), but even though I read manga newsblogs for fun, future publication dates on new series sometimes slip past my radar.
I'm glad you were mostly happy with the selection, though.
Honey and Clover: the new Nana? (Y/N/Who's Nana?)
I'm glad you were mostly happy with the selection, though.
Honey and Clover: the new Nana? (Y/N/Who's Nana?)
-
kathy1meme
- Expert Poster
- Posts: 67
- Joined: Fri Jun 23, 2006 4:22 pm
Manga Library 2008 Feedback
I thought it was great, read a few manga (don't remember the names) none that I think I'll become a huge fan of, but at least I know that now...
My only suggestion, which is completely for selfish, petty reason would be to stay open 'till the dances are over. I wandered the halls from after the Masque till 2am because all the plastic chairs were too hard to get comfortable in (in the video screening rooms) and security rousted me for lying down on a bench on the 3rd floor. My kids enjoyed the dance, though.
My only suggestion, which is completely for selfish, petty reason would be to stay open 'till the dances are over. I wandered the halls from after the Masque till 2am because all the plastic chairs were too hard to get comfortable in (in the video screening rooms) and security rousted me for lying down on a bench on the 3rd floor. My kids enjoyed the dance, though.
-
margareta
- Expert Poster
- Posts: 56
- Joined: Tue Oct 10, 2006 10:19 pm
Manga Library 2008 Feedback
[quote=kathy1meme]My only suggestion, which is completely for selfish, petty reason would be to stay open 'till the dances are over. I wandered the halls from after the Masque till 2am because all the plastic chairs were too hard to get comfortable in (in the video screening rooms) and security rousted me for lying down on a bench on the 3rd floor. My kids enjoyed the dance, though.[/quote]
Duly noted, though we'd need more staff members to pull that off. Because the library is a wee little thing next to the other parts of Programming, we get a wee little staff (two people) and don't always have volunteers available to pick up the slack. It's hard to man the library properly with only one person, and twelve hours a day is all I can handle before I collapse, though it's not remotely as strenuous as a lot of the other staff positions.
I do plan to lobby for another person for the library, though I don't think we'll get one; if we do, we could probably manage to stay open later. You're not the first person to wish we were open later, and it always gives me a pang to kick someone out when they're in the middle of a book.
Duly noted, though we'd need more staff members to pull that off. Because the library is a wee little thing next to the other parts of Programming, we get a wee little staff (two people) and don't always have volunteers available to pick up the slack. It's hard to man the library properly with only one person, and twelve hours a day is all I can handle before I collapse, though it's not remotely as strenuous as a lot of the other staff positions.
I do plan to lobby for another person for the library, though I don't think we'll get one; if we do, we could probably manage to stay open later. You're not the first person to wish we were open later, and it always gives me a pang to kick someone out when they're in the middle of a book.
-
Kirachan101
- Veteran Poster
- Posts: 116
- Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2008 9:56 pm
- Contact:
Manga Library 2008 Feedback
I wanted to see more mangas. And also, there were like vol. 3 of something but not 1 and 2. That is all.
But everything else, incredible! I loved it!
But everything else, incredible! I loved it!
-
margareta
- Expert Poster
- Posts: 56
- Joined: Tue Oct 10, 2006 10:19 pm
Manga Library 2008 Feedback
Duly noted. And thanks!
-
KitKat
- Obsessed Poster
- Posts: 409
- Joined: Sun Jun 25, 2006 12:04 pm
Manga Library 2008 Feedback
[quote=margareta][quote=kathy1meme]My only suggestion, which is completely for selfish, petty reason would be to stay open 'till the dances are over. I wandered the halls from after the Masque till 2am because all the plastic chairs were too hard to get comfortable in (in the video screening rooms) and security rousted me for lying down on a bench on the 3rd floor. My kids enjoyed the dance, though.[/quote]
Duly noted, though we'd need more staff members to pull that off. Because the library is a wee little thing next to the other parts of Programming, we get a wee little staff (two people) and don't always have volunteers available to pick up the slack. It's hard to man the library properly with only one person, and twelve hours a day is all I can handle before I collapse, though it's not remotely as strenuous as a lot of the other staff positions.
I do plan to lobby for another person for the library, though I don't think we'll get one; if we do, we could probably manage to stay open later. You're not the first person to wish we were open later, and it always gives me a pang to kick someone out when they're in the middle of a book.[/quote]
If someone applied specifically to work in the library would you then be guarunteed to get that person? Or would it just mean someone else would be put somewhere else?
(I'm planning for doing masq. in '09 and volunteering or somthing... but after that in '10 I was thinking I'd like to try staffing- being surrounded by Manga wouldn't be a horrible way to pull that off)
Duly noted, though we'd need more staff members to pull that off. Because the library is a wee little thing next to the other parts of Programming, we get a wee little staff (two people) and don't always have volunteers available to pick up the slack. It's hard to man the library properly with only one person, and twelve hours a day is all I can handle before I collapse, though it's not remotely as strenuous as a lot of the other staff positions.
I do plan to lobby for another person for the library, though I don't think we'll get one; if we do, we could probably manage to stay open later. You're not the first person to wish we were open later, and it always gives me a pang to kick someone out when they're in the middle of a book.[/quote]
If someone applied specifically to work in the library would you then be guarunteed to get that person? Or would it just mean someone else would be put somewhere else?
(I'm planning for doing masq. in '09 and volunteering or somthing... but after that in '10 I was thinking I'd like to try staffing- being surrounded by Manga wouldn't be a horrible way to pull that off)
-
margareta
- Expert Poster
- Posts: 56
- Joined: Tue Oct 10, 2006 10:19 pm
Manga Library 2008 Feedback
The way it works is thus: the number of staff members for a department is going to be mostly determined by how much work there is to be done, and how much traffic that department can expect to handle during the con--if it's a huge, complex, popular event like a dance or the Masquerade, obviously it's going to require a lot of manpower to run it, and it's also very important to the success of the con, or if it's a department like Security or Con Ops, it is absolutely vital that they're staffed well, and so con resources are concentrated in those. The Manga Library is small (it gets hundreds of people over the weekend, not thousands) and pretty low maintenance, with minimal pre-con work. It's a negotiable thing, but I'd have to make a pretty good case to the higher ups to be able to get more people, be they staff or volunteers--even though everyone works for room and board, the hotel room money does add up.
That said! If you're interested in staffing, I encourage you to apply when the staff applications open up. There are two positions specifically connected with the library, which is a part of Programming: Manga Librarian and Assistant Manga Librarian. In '07, I was Assistant, but the Librarian moved to Japan and encouraged me to apply for Librarian for '08. I plan to reapply for Manga Librarian for '09, and hopefully will get it, but the '08 Assistant indicated that he probably won't reapply himself, so that may be open. Feel free to PM me for more details, or if you just want to discuss it.
There's also volunteering at-con, which I think is kind of a mixed bag with regards to placement; I think you can request to work in a specific department, but it's not guaranteed, and volunteers are sometimes just sent to help where help is needed the most. Of course, if you're not worried about volunteering enough hours to get crash space/reimbursement, you can stop volunteering at any time, although that might make the folks at Volunteer HQ sad.
~edit~ Urr, okay, I read what you actually wrote, and so just pretend all of this is one year in the future.
That said! If you're interested in staffing, I encourage you to apply when the staff applications open up. There are two positions specifically connected with the library, which is a part of Programming: Manga Librarian and Assistant Manga Librarian. In '07, I was Assistant, but the Librarian moved to Japan and encouraged me to apply for Librarian for '08. I plan to reapply for Manga Librarian for '09, and hopefully will get it, but the '08 Assistant indicated that he probably won't reapply himself, so that may be open. Feel free to PM me for more details, or if you just want to discuss it.
There's also volunteering at-con, which I think is kind of a mixed bag with regards to placement; I think you can request to work in a specific department, but it's not guaranteed, and volunteers are sometimes just sent to help where help is needed the most. Of course, if you're not worried about volunteering enough hours to get crash space/reimbursement, you can stop volunteering at any time, although that might make the folks at Volunteer HQ sad.
~edit~ Urr, okay, I read what you actually wrote, and so just pretend all of this is one year in the future.
-
mark5
- AB Alumni
- Posts: 110
- Joined: Mon Jun 12, 2006 9:19 am
Manga Library 2008 Feedback
Unpinned.
-
Death
- Veteran Poster
- Posts: 190
- Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2008 10:14 am
- Contact:
Manga Library 2008 Feedback
i noticed when i was putting them away last year (volunteer who missed gaia XD) that there were skipped volumes and i think some were being read but others might have been hard to find idk which but i think we need a larger area to hold the books u kno maybe another shelf so ppl dont pile up...but ya it looked like not much was missing and you can get alot more though i mean its not like u dont have alot but maybe double copies would be nice too hehe