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"Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries."
-- Anne Hebert

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20dec01

Hi. Starting tomorrow I will be on a ferry going to and from Alaska for about seven days. No updates until at least the 29th.

If you're into Library Stuff, you can now have "the stuff" delivered to you on a daily basis

I would love to know how breast feeding can be thought to interfere with "providing services" in a library. [ stuff ]

Those nutty librarians over at LLRX have come out with their best legal white paper yet: The Domestic Cat and the Law.

Thrill-seeking librarian.

17dec01

Hi. I finished my article for American Libraries. Since they only send contracts after the article is completed, I still get to worry that they may not publish it. Thanks to everyone who gave me comments and feedback.

"If we took any lower profile than our current one, we'd be shelving books in the devil's library." LJ editorial on urging ALA to quickly and vocally speak out on the importance of protecting Americans' freedoms "[ALA council] must force ALA to convert that expensive yet ineffective '@ your library' campaign into a widely broadcast display of how libraries serve free expression, protect private individual inquiry, and facilitate free access to information. The last thing libraries need now is 'a low-profile @ your library.'"

Troy, the stripping librarian -- an interview and everything. [ thanks graham ]

Have you hugged a librarian today?

"Do make sure you return your book by June 2, 2010 or you'll be earning stiff penalties" Black Rock City Mobile Library.

Anti-FOLT page. What is a FOLT you say? According to Jason Weill, it stands for Fat Old Librarian Technophobe. He does go on to say that this person does not necessarily have to be a librarian.

Closed library = closed minds. The Library Campaign website exists to support Library Friends groups and to lobby for fewer library cuts in the UK. [ thanks eoin ]

Disability Mueum Library. [ infolibre ]

ALA comes out with confidentiality and privacy statement after all the hubub about the release of patron information in Florida.

13dec01

Libraries and tight times. From 1991.

So it is okay to offend witches at Christmas, but not Christians? Harry Potter, of course. [ thanks michael ]

Do you know about The Blue Shield? "The Blue Shield is the cultural equivalent of the Red Cross. It is the symbol specified in the 1954 Hague Convention for marking cultural sites to give them protection from attack in the event of armed conflict." Take a look at what the International Committee of the Blue Shield is up to. [ thanks eoin ]

"...the most inflammatory issues are in actuality the library’s greatest strength" a really excellent lecture by Susan Fuller on the changing face of libraries and the public perception of them "The public library ensures that your desire to seek knowledge, for your purposes and on your own terms, has the neutral support and assistance of the government. It’s the American way. The right to know is the promise of the First Amendment and the public library makes that promise a reality." [ juice ]

Theoretically, the Special Presidential Task Force: Status of Librarians will have a bulletin board available for feedback. On an ALA website! Truly. [ juice ]

Kids' ideas of libraries of the future. And how about librarians of the future? "Computerized robots. Some will look like computers and others like people. They will have built in scanning things and a realistic nature. I am totally positive, though that there will be that nice old lady, that has been working there for 50 years, that is totally dedicated to books and will not be replaced by a robot." [ newbreed ]

Library Services for Visually Impaired People: a Manual of Best Practice. [ thanks eoin ]

Library genocide. "...the government’s Public Library Standards, issued earlier this year ... require that libraries ‘meet the needs’ of the communities they serve and that book stocks be ‘up to date and attractive’. Each local authority has been given 8.5 years in which to replenish its entire stock."

Ah, returning forever to the library shelves! No wait, that's returning "Forever" to the library shelves.

11dec01

Hi. I am working on an article for American Libraries magazine. It is about librarians who wind up doing other sorts of reference work outside of the library proper: working an info desk at a festival; directing people at a large event; being the "go to" person for some sort of major happening. My personal experiences were working at the Info Desk at Burning Man and being an information lady at the DAN HQ during WTO. I took some of my library skills with me and I brought back some new skills to my library. If you have a similar story to tell, please email me in the next few days and I will send you some questions to answer to help me flesh out my article. Thank you.

09dec01

"...another step towards ending the 'haemorrhage' of Irish literary papers," Seán O'Casey's papers acquired by National Library. [ thanks eoin ]

"A library is a place where intellectual freedom is respected and nurtured. Libraries are cultural institutions, not just service centres." says the president of the Grande Bibliothèque du Québec after one of their libraries was told by the city council to restrict public access to adult-oriented comics. [ thanks rochelle ]

Libraries, the Internet, and September 11th. Go look at the rest of this month's First Monday as well. [ infolibre ]

You know, I bet if fourth graders designed a library, they wouldn't be whining about not having coffee shops in it.... though it looks like they would prefer to have "a fantasy land." Wouldn't we all. [ libgeek ]

"This is how the coconut wireless operates in Waialua" says librarian Tim Littlejohn whose overheard comments led to a new newspaper rack for the library. [ libnews ]

Libraries for the deaf. Part of the DEAF-L FAQ.

Sexy librarian stereotype still appeals. More on the subject. Oh yes and please explain why this URL goes where it does. [despite appearances, link is work SAFE]

This "librarian" link is NOT work safe.

06dec01

Hi. My friend and colleague Katia and I are working on a sequel to Revolting Librarians. We would like submissions. It's an all-glory no-pay situation, but you're all well-paid professionals anyhow, right? Um....

A bit taboo, but there is a fine art to the altered book.

Odd choice of wording "the classification period ends -- and at this library it will end." Bill Clinton breaks ground for his new presidential library. [ thanks jenny ]

"Her books were indeed a form of autobiography, but they were incomplete. They needed a body, blood, a voice, to incarnate them, to make them speak. As she herself said, people disappear around the edges of words" [ thanks david ]

Librarian turned Orc.

05dec01

Speaking of new libraries, how many include the phrase "for the betterment of humanity" in their names? Though some think that the Mary Baker Eddy Library isn't about the betterment of much. [ thanks mom, amylinda ]

What weird crap have you done in your library? [ thanks mk ]

For those people who write me asking how to become a librarian, I can now send them to BecomeALibrarian.com. Bad JPGs, good information. [ newbreed ]

The Laughing Librarian has compiled a list of links to all those great reading posters from the LoC WPA series. "Doctor, Lawyer, Merchant, Chief Agree. These Books Are Too Good to Miss"

04dec01

Hi. You know I think Computers in Libraries really has it right. Instead of showing us a picture of spinstery librarian getting outclassed by a futuristic robot [American Libraries, I am looking in your direction...], they show a picture of a woman with a backpack. Cover headline "Our Evolving Roles" Exactly.

Librarians are Cool People. Well, yeah. [ thanks kim ]

Google adding stopwords in Chinese and is allowing you to search for stop words as parts of bound phrases. Woo hoo!

Big big library theft at Yale's esteemed Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscript library. The culprit? A student. Apparently this type of thing happens more than we might like to believe. [ mefi ]

No more Harry Potter here, please go to Harry Potter Porn. Thank you.

Kid wins lots of consumer goodies as a result of winning ALA's co-branded Drive to Read @ the Library contest. I sum it up this way "Thanks for reading, here's some stuff to rot your teeth" Please read the lists of sponsors in that article. Please note no one won any books. Please have a moment of silence for our once-proud profession.

Oh yeah, and don't pay any attention to the white powder in your ALA Handbook.

I believe I said it before: new libraries are becoming the new public/private partnership cash cow for architects and developers. Not thatthis is all a bad thing, but we should be wary of being used as pawns in larger develpoment deals. "...by cross-subsidising the library in a private finance scheme including a hotel, apartments, offices, shops and restaurants, Brighton will get a library worth about £8m or £9m as part of a new £30m regeneration scheme."

01dec01

Hi. It's World AIDS Day today and I am participating in the Link & Think project.. My well meaning friend, when I told him this today said "We still have AIDS?" You get my drift.

Library joins hands with HIV/AIDS center.

A good list of AIDS/HIV periodicals and newsletters with subscription information.

In 1989, the West Hollywood Community Library, was the nation's first HIV information center in a public library.

NYPL is home to the AIDS Activist Video Archives, open to the public, as well as the ACT-UP archives.

AIDS library in trouble?

"putting the rarin' back in librarian since 1993"

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