Dog-eared & Overdue

Category: Inquiry

  • The Two Faces of the Work

    The Two Faces of the Work

    I’ve been digitally carrying this screenshot mashup for a while now. I keep coming back to this picture pairing because it so clearly shows what I know about my profession: librarianship holds joy and gravity in the same hand. In the first image, our small group is gathered around a conference table, and every face…

  • The Orphan in My Family Tree, Part 10

    The Orphan in My Family Tree, Part 10

    Meet the Parents (Maybe) This is Part 10 of The Orphan in My Family Tree. What is usually the true tale of my ongoing search for information about the origins of my great great grandpa Fritz (who was orphaned in New York City in the late 1870s, and whose last name appears throughout his life as both “Brandt”…

  • The Orphan in My Family Tree, Part 9

    The Orphan in My Family Tree, Part 9

    This is Part 9 of The Orphan in My Family Tree. It is the true tale of my ongoing search for information about the origins of my great great grandpa Fritz, who was orphaned in New York City in the late 1870s and sent as a young boy to live with a foster family in Bow Valley, Nebraska.…

  • The Orphan in My Family Tree, Part 7

    The Orphan in My Family Tree, Part 7

    This is Part 7 of The Orphan in My Family Tree. It is the true tale of my ongoing search for the parents of my great great grandpa Fritz, who was orphaned in New York City in the late 1870s and sent, at the age of seven, to live with a foster family in Bow Valley, Nebraska.…

  • The Orphan in My Family Tree, Part 6

    The Orphan in My Family Tree, Part 6

    This is Part 6 of The Orphan in My Family Tree. It is the true tale of my ongoing search for the parents of my great great grandpa Fritz, who was orphaned in New York City in the late 1870s and sent, at the age of seven, to live with a foster family in Bow Valley, Nebraska.…

  • The Orphan in My Family Tree, Part 4

    The Orphan in My Family Tree, Part 4

    This is Part 4 of The Orphan in My Family Tree. It is the true tale of my ongoing search for the parents of my great great grandpa Fritz, who was orphaned in New York City in the late 1870s and sent, at the age of seven, to live with a foster family in Bow Valley, Nebraska.…

  • The Orphan in My Family Tree, Part 3

    The Orphan in My Family Tree, Part 3

    This is Part 3 of The Orphan in My Family Tree. It is the true tale of my ongoing search for the parents of my great great grandpa Fritz, who was orphaned in New York City in the late 1870s and sent, at the age of seven, to live with a foster family in Bow Valley, Nebraska.…

  • The Orphan in My Family Tree

    The Orphan in My Family Tree

    I’d like you to meet Fritz. He is my great great grandfather on my mother’s mother’s mother’s side. His parents are a mystery in my family tree, and I love a good mystery. Family lore informs us that Fritz, whose real name was Frederick, was born sometime in the early 1870s in New York City.…

  • November Writing: 31 Days 

    Anyone else want to write with me? For the past six years, I’ve participated in posting 31 Days of November Thankful Thoughts on Facebook. The first year I did it, I was looking for an easy way to focus on the good things happening in my life at a time when I was feeling completely…

  • The Half-Pint Award: What’s in a Name?

    The Half-Pint Award: What’s in a Name?

    I am instead suggesting we have continued conversations as a reading community about building the best collections we can that include characters and stories that have the potential to connect with each of us in a way that makes us all better and that increases our understanding of our society, our history, and our connectedness.