The book about Bill Haglund
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I’ve probably bored some of you to bits talking about Bill Haglumd but this sadly interesting thing happened this week and I wanted to talk about it.
Dr. William Haglund is an internationally famous forensics examiner. He lives in the town north of here (Shoreline, which used to be Very North Seattle) and developed his skills by working in the King County Medical Examiner’s office. He now serves as a consultant with Physicians for Human Rights and does stuff like go to countries where there are mass graves and try to identify the bodies for the sake of the families and to assist the trial courts. Okay? This is a shining star of a man. He is a hero to me, and I don’t use that word lightly. I idolize this man and I NEVER use those words.
I first encountered Bill, as I think I’ve even blogged, in a Life Magazine special edition about “heroes”. The black and white photo of this compact, neat man in rolled up shirtsleeves and a hat, in the middle of a pit, caught my attention. And the comment was from someone who’d done a book, which documented the work that people were doing in Srebenica and elsewhere to prove the charges of genocide, to dig up, analyze and tag bodies that were, well, horrific and often unidentifiable. It’s work no one could do and stay sane. It’s work no one would want to do. It’s the kind of work that, were I religious, I would suggest is done by the saintly . It’s ugly, difficult, hugely massively depressing and shows the worst of human behavior.
So that photo stayed with me, in my head and in my heart. Somewhere along the way, I learned that the guy was “local”. During the time I was planning LCC 1997, I wondered how to give him an award, to bring him to the convention and acknowledge him, even if it were only remotely connected to crime fiction. Then, at Bouchercon in Madison, I was sitting at the LCC 2007 table and my friend Jan Burke came to talk with me. She wanted to know if I’d be open to doing some forensic stuff at LCC. Jan not only writes mysteries and we’ve known each other for years, but she’s the energy behind a major effort to get crime labs throughout the country to be better funded and updated. Her work both in her writing and with the Crime Lab Project means that she, of course, knows everyone. Sure, I said – after all, forensics fascinate us and I wouldn’t’ have to do any work, really, just provide room. What do you want?
I’m not a big forensics buff, but many mystery fans are of course and who better to get us some good programming, the best people? So over the months, Jan put out feelers to local crime lab folks and we set up a track. Then came the email saying “there’s a guy who’d like to come but wondered if he might have a membership, he’s a mystery fan.” Well, duh, of course I would have done that for all of them;. But when I saw the name Bill Haglund, I stopped breathing. And wrote back practically screaming and saying “ ARE YOU KIDDING? ANYTHING HE WANTS”.
So yeah, he came and I happened to be at registration when he showed up and as I tend to mention, I was very good. I didn’t start crying until he walked away. I have this dopey tendency to cry around him and when I talk about him. It’s really sort of weird but well, I’m sort of a wimp, I guess. In talking, I told him of that photo and its impact on me and he asked if I’d seen the book it came from. I hadn’t so the next day, he brought a copy from home. The book is THE GRAVES: SREBENICA AND VUKOVAR written by Eric Stover with photos by Gilles Peress. You can look it up. It’s still available. You could buy it on Amazon.
Okay? But here’s the thing. You can’t get this book from the Seattle Public Library. They had a copy once but it no longer exists. I don’t know where it is because the webpage for the book doesn’t say. Usually, if books are lost, missing, stolen, strayed or being fixed, it says. The page has no information. So I put in a “please purchase this book” request and meanwhile asked for it on Interlibrary Loan. I really thought that the Seattle library should own a copy. It’s about current events, it’s about a guy who got his training locally and who lives here. So even though I don’t know all that much about how libraries decide how to buy books, I thought that given the quality of this book and the fact that the internationally known guy in the book lives like 5 miles thataway, they’d want to replace the book.
Nothing happened so I put in a second request. I asked the woman who brought me books “what do I do?” and she said “you should see it listed soon if they buy it.” But nothing happened. And of course, I had to return the loaner copy and assumed that soon, we’d have a copy and I would be able to check it out.
Wouldn’t you think the local library would want such a book?
I know that at times, I’ve taken books out of a library that seem never to have been read. Back when they stamped the due date inside, you could see at least at a guess how often a book circulated, This book didn’t circulate a lot.
I don’t know the first thing about “collection development”. I know that in two different branch libraries - one in Berkeley, one in Cambridge – I had librarians come and ask me what I liked to read. One even asked for advice on science fiction because no one there read the stuff and they needed help. I loved that and didn’t expect it – I always thought librarians know how to do everything and anything and depending on how much money there is, would buy everything and anything they could. I know they read reviews and journals and I suspect there are all sorts of arcane ways to “develop” the library collection. Maybe they have mission statements and goals and ideas of what to focus on. I really don’t know – I worked in libraries as did my mother and sister, but none of us has an MLS nor any expertise. I just know what I know from being a library patron from the age of like FOUR.
I especially thought it cool that you could ask a library to buy something. Sometimes if 9 other people asked, they would. Or 4 other people. Or if someone read a good review? I dunno. When we first moved here, it seemed pretty easy – ask and you’ll get. Then the economy tanked and taxes did not provide a lot of spending loot for libraries. But it’s better now. Or maybe it would be if they hadn’t sunk millions into that unfriendly, unpleasant new library. (sorry but I hate it. There is no building I am aware of that makes me less interested in sitting down to read.)
So I finally hear from the head of collection services. This book was in the collection at one time (I don’t know when it went missing) and it’s gone now and they are not replacing it. I don’t understand where it went. I don’t understand why they won’t buy a copy. I was told it had not circulated. I get that, but aren’t there other criteria? I was also told that the library understood that the book was not available. It most certainly is. I mean I wanted it, right? I put in 2 purchase requests and aske two different librarians how to plead my case and who to talk with. I finally emailed the library and asked what the story was.
I was told that every request got serious consideration (and my time is very important to them, so I should stay on the line) but that there were many things to consider, including timeliness, present collection composition and availability.
Okay, I don’t have a clue what the present collection composition is. I am stunned to be told that modern day forensic investigation of genocide is not timely. The book can be bought on Amazon. Right now, today. But they are not interested even with Haglund being a major focus of the book.
So I’m pissed. I admit it. I get the feeling I’m being written to by someone with clenched teeth who thinks I either AM Bill Haglund and have an ego or I’m Mrs. Bill Haglund. And I am a nuisance. It’s one damn book but I’m getting stonewalled. And while they could be a lot nicer about it, the language I get is very much “go away, lady, you’re bothering us and we’re busy.”
I wrote back and pointed out that well, I don’t get it. The library used to own the book, so at some point it was considered worthy. I told the guy that I had checked several sources before writing to him (before even requesting the book the first time) and can confirm that the book is most certainly available. The library’s “distribution agents” can’t have looked very hard. Again, I don’t know what system they use, what resources BUT the publisher still exists and Amazon has the book. I know that’s not how libraries buy books but how can they possibly say it’s “out of publication” was the phrase. (Is that different from out of print? I had never heard that expression.) But I could buy it in the UK or order it from the publisher OR get a copy from Amazon. So why tell me that?
Still frustrated and confused, and unconvinced, I asked “if I buy a replacement copy for the library, would they put it into the collection. If it’s the damn $25 they resent spending, I’ll buy it and donate it. After all, I said, they have close to 40 copies of the DVD of “The Incredibles” in the library. Mind you a) I LOVED “The incredibles” which we got from the library and I don’t question at all that they’re buying a lot of DVDs for the library. It does seem to me, however that 38 or 40 copies is a bit much and we coulda gotten a copy of THE GRAVES and still had enough “Incredibles” for everyone. But I am not gonna buy a book so they can dump it on the “Friends of the Library” sale.
But in fact, that is what they would do if I bought it. Because, they said, “after consideration, we have decided not to replace this title.”
And I’m pissed. And I’m going to stay pissed. In close to 50 years of being a library patron (I got my first card when I was very very young – like 5), I have never been “patronized” and I think I was. This library has some sort of attitude and I don’t get it. This follows on the rude-as-hell crap I got from them last year when after weeks and weeks and weeks of planning and working on them to host an event during LCC, which they committed to, this library said “nope, not gonna do it. “ And again, I was treated like a moron, who didn’t understand how busy and important things were. (This after they hosted two very well-received events during Bouchercon in ’94 and LCC in ’97; but mind you, the people I was working with did not know the genre, did not read the genre, were not familiar with the names of any guests of honor and wasted lots of my time. After emails, a meeting and several conversations that baffled me (they kept insisting on doing an event with local authors, when I tried to make them see that writers from 2 foreign countries and at least 8 or 12 states were coming to town.) but they wanted Seattle authors.
And I STILL think they should have a copy of THE GRAVES by Eric Stover, featuring Dr. Bill Haglund of Physicians for Human Rights. But that is a battle I have lost. LCC gave money to the library foundation to buy mystery books as part of our fund-raising activities. I don’t resent that – the foundation staff person I spoke with was great, but I do now regret doing that. But it’s okay because they have 6 DVDs of the fourth season of “Murder, She Wrote” in the collection. So what’s my problem?
Dr. William Haglund is an internationally famous forensics examiner. He lives in the town north of here (Shoreline, which used to be Very North Seattle) and developed his skills by working in the King County Medical Examiner’s office. He now serves as a consultant with Physicians for Human Rights and does stuff like go to countries where there are mass graves and try to identify the bodies for the sake of the families and to assist the trial courts. Okay? This is a shining star of a man. He is a hero to me, and I don’t use that word lightly. I idolize this man and I NEVER use those words.
I first encountered Bill, as I think I’ve even blogged, in a Life Magazine special edition about “heroes”. The black and white photo of this compact, neat man in rolled up shirtsleeves and a hat, in the middle of a pit, caught my attention. And the comment was from someone who’d done a book, which documented the work that people were doing in Srebenica and elsewhere to prove the charges of genocide, to dig up, analyze and tag bodies that were, well, horrific and often unidentifiable. It’s work no one could do and stay sane. It’s work no one would want to do. It’s the kind of work that, were I religious, I would suggest is done by the saintly . It’s ugly, difficult, hugely massively depressing and shows the worst of human behavior.
So that photo stayed with me, in my head and in my heart. Somewhere along the way, I learned that the guy was “local”. During the time I was planning LCC 1997, I wondered how to give him an award, to bring him to the convention and acknowledge him, even if it were only remotely connected to crime fiction. Then, at Bouchercon in Madison, I was sitting at the LCC 2007 table and my friend Jan Burke came to talk with me. She wanted to know if I’d be open to doing some forensic stuff at LCC. Jan not only writes mysteries and we’ve known each other for years, but she’s the energy behind a major effort to get crime labs throughout the country to be better funded and updated. Her work both in her writing and with the Crime Lab Project means that she, of course, knows everyone. Sure, I said – after all, forensics fascinate us and I wouldn’t’ have to do any work, really, just provide room. What do you want?
I’m not a big forensics buff, but many mystery fans are of course and who better to get us some good programming, the best people? So over the months, Jan put out feelers to local crime lab folks and we set up a track. Then came the email saying “there’s a guy who’d like to come but wondered if he might have a membership, he’s a mystery fan.” Well, duh, of course I would have done that for all of them;. But when I saw the name Bill Haglund, I stopped breathing. And wrote back practically screaming and saying “ ARE YOU KIDDING? ANYTHING HE WANTS”.
So yeah, he came and I happened to be at registration when he showed up and as I tend to mention, I was very good. I didn’t start crying until he walked away. I have this dopey tendency to cry around him and when I talk about him. It’s really sort of weird but well, I’m sort of a wimp, I guess. In talking, I told him of that photo and its impact on me and he asked if I’d seen the book it came from. I hadn’t so the next day, he brought a copy from home. The book is THE GRAVES: SREBENICA AND VUKOVAR written by Eric Stover with photos by Gilles Peress. You can look it up. It’s still available. You could buy it on Amazon.
Okay? But here’s the thing. You can’t get this book from the Seattle Public Library. They had a copy once but it no longer exists. I don’t know where it is because the webpage for the book doesn’t say. Usually, if books are lost, missing, stolen, strayed or being fixed, it says. The page has no information. So I put in a “please purchase this book” request and meanwhile asked for it on Interlibrary Loan. I really thought that the Seattle library should own a copy. It’s about current events, it’s about a guy who got his training locally and who lives here. So even though I don’t know all that much about how libraries decide how to buy books, I thought that given the quality of this book and the fact that the internationally known guy in the book lives like 5 miles thataway, they’d want to replace the book.
Nothing happened so I put in a second request. I asked the woman who brought me books “what do I do?” and she said “you should see it listed soon if they buy it.” But nothing happened. And of course, I had to return the loaner copy and assumed that soon, we’d have a copy and I would be able to check it out.
Wouldn’t you think the local library would want such a book?
I know that at times, I’ve taken books out of a library that seem never to have been read. Back when they stamped the due date inside, you could see at least at a guess how often a book circulated, This book didn’t circulate a lot.
I don’t know the first thing about “collection development”. I know that in two different branch libraries - one in Berkeley, one in Cambridge – I had librarians come and ask me what I liked to read. One even asked for advice on science fiction because no one there read the stuff and they needed help. I loved that and didn’t expect it – I always thought librarians know how to do everything and anything and depending on how much money there is, would buy everything and anything they could. I know they read reviews and journals and I suspect there are all sorts of arcane ways to “develop” the library collection. Maybe they have mission statements and goals and ideas of what to focus on. I really don’t know – I worked in libraries as did my mother and sister, but none of us has an MLS nor any expertise. I just know what I know from being a library patron from the age of like FOUR.
I especially thought it cool that you could ask a library to buy something. Sometimes if 9 other people asked, they would. Or 4 other people. Or if someone read a good review? I dunno. When we first moved here, it seemed pretty easy – ask and you’ll get. Then the economy tanked and taxes did not provide a lot of spending loot for libraries. But it’s better now. Or maybe it would be if they hadn’t sunk millions into that unfriendly, unpleasant new library. (sorry but I hate it. There is no building I am aware of that makes me less interested in sitting down to read.)
So I finally hear from the head of collection services. This book was in the collection at one time (I don’t know when it went missing) and it’s gone now and they are not replacing it. I don’t understand where it went. I don’t understand why they won’t buy a copy. I was told it had not circulated. I get that, but aren’t there other criteria? I was also told that the library understood that the book was not available. It most certainly is. I mean I wanted it, right? I put in 2 purchase requests and aske two different librarians how to plead my case and who to talk with. I finally emailed the library and asked what the story was.
I was told that every request got serious consideration (and my time is very important to them, so I should stay on the line) but that there were many things to consider, including timeliness, present collection composition and availability.
Okay, I don’t have a clue what the present collection composition is. I am stunned to be told that modern day forensic investigation of genocide is not timely. The book can be bought on Amazon. Right now, today. But they are not interested even with Haglund being a major focus of the book.
So I’m pissed. I admit it. I get the feeling I’m being written to by someone with clenched teeth who thinks I either AM Bill Haglund and have an ego or I’m Mrs. Bill Haglund. And I am a nuisance. It’s one damn book but I’m getting stonewalled. And while they could be a lot nicer about it, the language I get is very much “go away, lady, you’re bothering us and we’re busy.”
I wrote back and pointed out that well, I don’t get it. The library used to own the book, so at some point it was considered worthy. I told the guy that I had checked several sources before writing to him (before even requesting the book the first time) and can confirm that the book is most certainly available. The library’s “distribution agents” can’t have looked very hard. Again, I don’t know what system they use, what resources BUT the publisher still exists and Amazon has the book. I know that’s not how libraries buy books but how can they possibly say it’s “out of publication” was the phrase. (Is that different from out of print? I had never heard that expression.) But I could buy it in the UK or order it from the publisher OR get a copy from Amazon. So why tell me that?
Still frustrated and confused, and unconvinced, I asked “if I buy a replacement copy for the library, would they put it into the collection. If it’s the damn $25 they resent spending, I’ll buy it and donate it. After all, I said, they have close to 40 copies of the DVD of “The Incredibles” in the library. Mind you a) I LOVED “The incredibles” which we got from the library and I don’t question at all that they’re buying a lot of DVDs for the library. It does seem to me, however that 38 or 40 copies is a bit much and we coulda gotten a copy of THE GRAVES and still had enough “Incredibles” for everyone. But I am not gonna buy a book so they can dump it on the “Friends of the Library” sale.
But in fact, that is what they would do if I bought it. Because, they said, “after consideration, we have decided not to replace this title.”
And I’m pissed. And I’m going to stay pissed. In close to 50 years of being a library patron (I got my first card when I was very very young – like 5), I have never been “patronized” and I think I was. This library has some sort of attitude and I don’t get it. This follows on the rude-as-hell crap I got from them last year when after weeks and weeks and weeks of planning and working on them to host an event during LCC, which they committed to, this library said “nope, not gonna do it. “ And again, I was treated like a moron, who didn’t understand how busy and important things were. (This after they hosted two very well-received events during Bouchercon in ’94 and LCC in ’97; but mind you, the people I was working with did not know the genre, did not read the genre, were not familiar with the names of any guests of honor and wasted lots of my time. After emails, a meeting and several conversations that baffled me (they kept insisting on doing an event with local authors, when I tried to make them see that writers from 2 foreign countries and at least 8 or 12 states were coming to town.) but they wanted Seattle authors.
And I STILL think they should have a copy of THE GRAVES by Eric Stover, featuring Dr. Bill Haglund of Physicians for Human Rights. But that is a battle I have lost. LCC gave money to the library foundation to buy mystery books as part of our fund-raising activities. I don’t resent that – the foundation staff person I spoke with was great, but I do now regret doing that. But it’s okay because they have 6 DVDs of the fourth season of “Murder, She Wrote” in the collection. So what’s my problem?
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