Ficitonal MBTI – The Librarians

5 February, 201825 March, 2018Marissa

The Librarians is one of my favorite TV shows. What could be better than a team of bookworms saving the world from runaway magic? Sure it’s campy and can’t be taken too seriously, but isn’t that part of the appeal?

Typing fictional characters is one of my favorite things to do in blog posts. I’d started writing this one for last week, but when I realized how many of the Librarians characters are Sensing types I thought it’d be a great follow-up to my “Myths About Sensing Types” post. One of the more pervasive myths about Sensors is that they’re neither intelligent nor imaginative. Since all the main characters in this show except Flynn are Sensors, The Librarians provides a perfect example to the contrary.

Please note: I type using cognitive functions, which are the basis of Myers-Briggs theory. If you’re not familiar with this concept or want a refresher, check out this articles: The Simplest Guide To Myers-Briggs Functions Ever

Eve Baird: ESTJ

Eve is the easiest character to type, partly because she’s such a stereotypical example of the type nicknamed “Supervisor” or “Guardian.” ESTJs are known for their blunt demeanor, no-nonsense attitudes, and ability to keep things moving forward. They also care about keeping the world running as it should be, a trait Eve devotes to keeping the Library safe and magical artifacts out of the wrong hands.

ESTJs lead with a judging function called Extroverted Thinking/Effectiveness. That means Eve’s preferred mental process involves measuring and managing impersonal criteria when making decisions. There are examples of this in literally every episode. Read more →

Clearing Out Books

10 March, 201410 March, 2014Marissa

Clearning Out Books marissabaker.wordpress.com — one of my bookshelves, complete with a dusty dinosaur

Our local library system has a book sale once a month, where they sell books, CDs, and other items pulled from the library collection or donated to the Friends of the Library. When I was there last Thursday, the room normally filled with VHS tapes and a couple DVDs had been taken over by history books. Not only that, but the shelves regularly allotted to history books were full, as was a shelf near the front of the building for new 900s books. It was as if they had gutted their history collection.

I managed to restrain myself and only brought home a few Medieval books that will be useful for research, but even through they are sitting on the floor for lack of shelf space I don’t feel good about that decision. I wish I could have given more of them a home. I’m not a bibliophile who refuses to destroy an old moldy paperback because it deserves respect as a book, but I don’t like to see perfectly good history books sitting unwanted on the shelves.

At least our library can sell them. Other libraries are chucking books in the trash when they pull them off the shelves. Not just the old moldy books either, these include new hardcovers. It makes me sad, and I want to bring them home and give them a nice comfortable spot on my shelves. The irony is, to make room for all these books I want to “rescue,” I’ll have to get rid of some books currently in my home library. Maybe I’ll donate them to the library book sale.

Buying More Books

2 December, 20131 December, 2013Marissa

Before I get into the subject of today’s post, I won NaNoWriMo! I hit the 50,000 word mark last Wednesday night. I think that puts me about 2/3 of the way through my plot outline, so I didn’t technically write a novel in a month. Still, 50,000 words is pretty impressive, if I may say so myself.

I have a fairly large library. Just over 1,100 books in total, according to the list I keep on my computer (I’ve been told this is “too many books” but I’m not convinced there’s any such thing). Even so, I’m constantly buying new books. The problem is, I have a limited book budget. That doesn’t mean I have to stop getting new books though. Here are some of my sources for finding more books without spending too much money.

Paper Back Swap

This is an amazing website: PaperBackSwap.com. You post books you want to get rid of (yes, that sometimes happens), and when other members claim them you get a credit that can be used to request posted books. The only cost is shipping out books to other members. Unfortunately, many of the books I want have wait lists, but even so I’ve received enough books that the website estimates I’ve saved $84.17. Not too shabby. And I have 16 credits for whenever my wishlist books become available.

Trading Book Stores

There is a wonderful trading bookstore not half an hour’s drive from here that sells new and used books. My favorite way to approach this store is to turn in books my aunt no longer wants on her shelves, and then bring home books for me 🙂 That’s how I found books like my hardcover edition of Jules Verne’s Mysterious Island, several fairy tale volumes, and where I bought my first Reader’s Digest World’s Best Reading edition (not to be confused with those Reader’s Digest condensed book collections).

Library Book Sales

My local library has a book sale once a month. For a small fee, I’m a Friend of the Library and can get into the member pre-sale. Books sell for between $.025 and $1.00. Some months I buy nothing, sometimes I can hardly carry them all back to the car. If you don’t know when your local book sales are, try checking BookSaleFinder.com.

For Specific Books

For general book shopping, the three resources above are great. But if I’m looking for a specific title or edition. Amazon and Half.com are my go-to sites. If I want the book store experience, there’s three Half Price Books within about an hour’s drive.

Is there anywhere else you’d recommend looking for books to economically increase the size of your library? I’d love to hear your ideas. Also, if you have any ideas about finding more room for books, I’m starting to run out of space on my bookshelves …