I always have many different writing projects going at once. And I’m please to reveal that Bloomsbury Publishing now has my latest book Be Kind; Rewind! (Re)Introducing Fun Retro Media and Vintage Technology to Libraries available for pre-order! This professional development book aims at librarians, but unlike most prof-dev books, I avoid stuffy writing. Throughout the short read, I mix adventure references as I discuss the nitty-gritty about how to circulate VHS, music cassettes, vinyl, retro video games, and more. I write from my own experiences and mistakes over the years I worked as a public librarian. I offer tips on basic repair and maintenance in addition to lists for starting your own retro collections. I offer video game lists for most retro-video game systems public libraries should consider circulating. The others are reserved for preservation collections because of their age, availability, and limited appeal like the Magnavox Odyssey. Retro-tech is aging, and if people don’t see the value of it, this tech won’t be preserved for the future. So, when public and academic libraries make this retro tech available, it can spark appreciation for the tech and, perhaps, new ideas for technology.
Many stories also remain locked on vintage media. They’ve not been ported to more modern media like DVDs or modern video game systems. Some films also aren’t on stream services because of license tangles. By “sacrificing” a few copies of VHS or video games, libraries might be able to create enough demand and interest to help preserve these retro tech platforms.
Be Kind; Rewind! condenses some 10 years of experience. Books are great for doing that! Writing the book has been an interesting adventure itself. The book originally focused only on retro video games, but my editor at Bloomsbury encouraged me to expand to other retro tech offerings. It made for a better book. The peer review process was interesting–this is an academic book despite me referencing pirates with eye-patches dumpster diving for retro tech! I learned a lot in the process and feel as if I’ve leveled up a little as a writer.
Over the past few years, I’ve been experimenting with changing my writing voice. You may have seen a few posts here where I have. Mostly, I reserve the experimentation for long-form writing. It’s harder to shift my voice and maintain that shift in long-form writing. Whether or not those experiments will ever be released is hard to say.
Anyway, Be Kind; Rewind! aims at being a quick, breezy, and practical read that helps librarians without retro-tech knowledge get started. Although I also discuss retro computers, I avoid going deep into that forest. Instead, I point out landmarks and paths to start down. That forest is vast, and learning how to navigate it will lead to killing quite a few devices. I’ve killed my share of vintage computers!
As digital media replaces physical media, I foresee a future where public libraries and academic libraries won’t have new physical media–except books–to circulate. By turning toward retro media and circulating the media platforms, can libraries still offer visual-audio media. Well, they could circulate Roku and other streaming devices with subscriptions attached to them, but this can get expensive fast. It also becomes a tracking problem. Libraries need to track circulation to justify their existence to policy makers and their communities. But I also foresee libraries becoming more important as third spaces–places beyond work and home where people can meet. By offering retro tech hang-out areas, libraries can double down on this role, which will become increasingly relevant as people becoming more isolated. With increasingly numbers of people remaining single and reports of people having fewer friends, spaces like libraries become more important for socializing. And libraries don’t require their users to pay directly as third spaces like cafes do. It’s poor practice to hang out in a cafe without buying anything!
Be Kind; Rewind! is my effort to help libraries become more interesting third spaces and navigate the digital shift we are within. We may well be nearing the end of the digital shift soon.
Great points!
It sounds like a good book you’ve written—congrats on the achievement and level-up! 👏
I like how you mentioned voice. I’ve paid attention to the evolution of your writing voice and it’s something I’ve appreciated seeing over the past few years. Keep up the great work!
Thanks you! The fun and frustrating part of writing is how the levels lack a cap. Mastery in any craft is never achieved.
Well done! Let us return to a blast from the past and relive a bygone era of fond memories,happy times, and a look at a retro filled fun past.