Movie Review: Your Name

Animation is for kids.

Historically, that was once true. And while it is no longer the case that all works using the animation medium are targeted towards children, entrenched attitudes are hard to shake. This is slowly changing as those who grew up with Japanese anime come of age and as writers for animated shows create more complex characters and plots lines. Yet for many, anything animated is still assumed to be infantile. The true shame in this is how many beautifully crafted stories they are missing out on, and Your Name is right up there with the best.



Your Name (Kimi no Na wa) released in Japan in 2016. The film follows two teenagers who suddenly and inexplicably find themselves swapping bodies on a regular basis: Mitsuha, a girl who lives in a remote mountain village, and Taki, a boy who lives in Tokyo. Much of the first act is comedic, focusing on the complications they cause for themselves and each other in the course of trying to live another person's life without letting on that they're actually someone else. But when Taki suddenly stops switching with Mitsuha and can't get in contact with her, the film becomes a race to save not just Mitsuha's life, but her whole village.

The commerical success of Your Name is hard to overstate. Not only was it the top-selling movie in Japan for 2016, it more than doubly out-sold Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the second-place film. It is the second-highest-grossing film for a domestic Japanese film (behind Spirited Away) and the seventh-highest traditionally animated film of all time. Not to mention a 97% critic score and 94% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, there are currently plans in the works for a US-based live action remake of the film. And I hope it's well-done, I really do. But... why? Dubbing with English voice actors, I understand. Not everyone wants to read while watching a movie. But visually... After seeing art like this, I can't imagine any cinematography that could be nearly as beautiful.





Go see the remake when it comes out if you want, I won't judge. But do see the original as well. Gorgeous visuals, beautiful music, and a touching story line - you won't be sorry you did.

(Mine)crafting Library Experiences

I admit it, it's been years since I've played Minecraft. I had ideas for things I wanted to build, they just never quite came out the way I wanted. Or I would be so worried about potentially running out of resources partway through that I would get caught in an endless loop of mining and storing, but creative mode still felt too easy.

But Minecraft itself is still thriving, and indeed, I think it will stand the test of time to be a classic form of entertainment in much the same way that Legos are a timeless toy. The only limits to what can be built are the user's own creativity and gameplay mechanics, and even the latter is often expanded by mods. So it's no wonder that libraries across the country offer Minecraft-based activities to some degree. My own workplace has a monthly themed meetup (we also had open play twice a week, which is currently on hiatus during construction). Librarians mainly treat Minecraft as a digital form of the aforementioned Legos, which is a large part of the experience, to be sure. Yet the virtual environment aspect has many possibilities for educating and/or engaging children that I have not seen widely implemented.

There are Minecraft users who have, over the course of thousands of hours, painstakingly created virtual versions of both fictional locations - Hogwarts, Minas Tirith, Redwall Abbey - and real-life locations - the Taj Mahal, the Colosseum, and the Eiffel Tower.


Many of these completed recreations have been shared on fansites, where they can be downloaded by other users and then explored. If there's a popular book series that a youth library wants to make an event for, there's probably a corresponding Minecraft creation available for use! Librarians could also create mazes and scavenger hunts in-game, especially useful in areas where the library is not physically big enough to allow for them in real life.

Minecraft isn't just a game, it's a tool - and one that librarians shouldn't be afraid to try out for themselves. If you can dream it, you can build it. And if you build it...



They will come.

Social Media and Libraries

I realized the other day that in a couple months, I will have been on Facebook for ten years. A whole decade! And my Twitter account is six years old, even if I hardly used it until 2014. How have I used them differently? Well, for Facebook I have a rule about friending people - I have to have met them in person at least once (with a single exception for a lovely couple from California who arranged music for the wedding). Contrast that with the anonymity of Twitter, where the use of real-life names is steadily decreasing (celebrities excepted). And yet Twitter is by far the platform I use more often. Why is that? There is something to be said for friends who share common interests, if not real-life experiences. I don't feel it would be inappropriate to post constantly about videogames on Facebook; there's just more people I interact with on Twitter that would appreciate those references.

Obviously, different people may have different approaches to these specific social networks, but the important takeaway is to decide on boundaries when using a service. Is your real name attached to it? Then be careful about what you post. If an employer can look you up publicly, a poorly worded comment about how frustrating such-and-such a patron was today could cost you a job. If the account isn't attached to your name, still be careful about what you post! Stalkers are an unfortunate part of online society. It is for this very reason that I do not follow my workplace on Twitter - very few branches in our system means it would be relatively easy for someone to track me down in real life.

But what if you happen to be in charge of your library's social media accounts? Your system has a professional reputation to uphold. While some company's social media managers are taking a snarkier approach to interacting with customers (see Wendy's), I wouldn't recommend it for libraries, especially as a tax-funded institution. If a patron raises concerns, address them seriously - and privately, if possible. The main purpose of the accounts should be information - events at the library, general news from the world of books, and sometimes just everyday reminders.

But that doesn't mean you can't have a little fun with the accounts! For example, Arby’s main Twitter features pop culture art made from their own food packaging materials, such as a Nintendo Switch made of cardboard from sandwich boxes. For a library, this could take the form of playing with book covers, just as French bookstore Librarie Mollat has been doing (albeit on their Instagram account). 

#bookface #deslibrairesàvotreservice avec Un fusil, une vache, un arbre et une femme, Meir Shalev, éd. Gallimard #meirshalev @editions_gallimard #livre #book #buch #libro #livro #bok #kitap #книга #本 #책 #書 #librairie #bookshop #librairiemollat #mollat #bordeaux #igersgironde #ספר

A post shared by librairie mollat (@librairie_mollat) on Oct 22, 2017 at 10:26pm PDT

The best library accounts will balance being informative with being both entertaining and respectful.

An important note regarding respectfulness: check the platforms moderation policies. If a library account is having problems with “trolls” - or people who post deliberately inflammatory comments - what are your options for removing or hiding that content? Facebook allows page administrators direct control: "visitor posts" may be disabled completely if desired (though this is probably not recommended for libraries) or may require approval from an admin before they are public. Comments on the page's own posts can be hidden or deleted, which is useful if a single person is trying to derail relevant conversations. By comparison, Twitter would only allow you to hide those comments from yourself via blocking; the tweets would still be visible to the public. You can ask Twitter to delete comments that violate their Terms of Service, but that's it. So keep that in mind when deciding if your library should join a specific social network.