Red-Hot and Filthy Library Smut. Surprisingly safe for work. [mefi]
Category: libraries
want to be a well-paid librarian in Vermont?
This is the job my old boss used to have. The library is amazing and 50K will go a long way in ruralish Vermont. I made their website. If you’re at all Vermont-curious, think about applying; I’ll be happy to tell you what I know about the area and I’ve already done a community analysis of the population.
The Libraries of DC and Baltimore
This is just a wrap-up of the libraries that I went to when I was in the DC/Baltimore area.
- DC Public – which I already wrote about some. Highlights were free wireless and a really interesting looking building downtown. Downsides were most everything else.
- US Holocaust Memorial Museum Library – where my friend Ron works as a systems/reference librarian. They got new compact shelving that he got to show off and are in the middle of some pretty big deals to expand their digital collection. Very exciting. This library is a hidden treasure in the downtown DC area, if you’re at all interested in the subject area, drop in for a visit.
- Peabody Library – I can safely say that short of the Library of Congress, I have never seen a library this fancy, but maybe I don’t get out much. Right in Baltimore, sort of unassuming from the outside, it’s completely knockout inside.
- Enoch Pratt Free Library – right up the road from the Peabody, this library has a totally different vibe. Welcoming and bustling with the most fun pamphlet file ever, I had a wonderful time here and took a lot of pictures.
- Waverly Branch, EPFL – my friend’s local library, just stopped in to take a peek.
- The People’s Library – did not go in. My friend who lives up the road says he has never gone in either.
a few photos, since I am still on the road
It occurs to me that when I travel I do an awful lot of linking to Flickr pix. This time I’ve decided to actually include some of them right here, in case you’re like me and don’t follow links half the time. Part of my trips is always a certain amount of library evangelism. I always ask my hosts whether they use their local library and what they think of it. I was pleased to be able to tell my Baltimore host about the totally excellent pamphlet file and the Enoch Pratt Free Library, and extra happy that he found the idea as delightful as I did. Here are a few photos, click through for slightly more detail & others.
I looked for love in the pamphlet file
I looked for sex in the pamphlet file
DC Public
I’ll put up some pictures later but I’m using the wifi in DC Public before heading out to hang out with my pal Chris from Libraryola. Yesterday I went to a tasty and fun lunch with Dorothea and then had a great chat with Ron (who I met on MetaFilter) who works at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum Library. After the conference I also got to hang out with my friend Tom Hyry who was on the SAA Program Committee who is the reason I was in DC in the first place. I’ve got a list of libraries I’d like to hit in Baltimore and then I have to find a place to stock up on books for the trip home.
I have this to say about DC Public: it’s all true. I had been reading about the sorry state of the library system here for a while but I don’t think I’d ever been to the big downtown branch. It’s hot here, and dirty here. One bank of elevators isn’t working and I have yet to see a staff person who isn’t reading a book or idly surfing the web. There are a lot of people here, though they tend towards the middle-aged men demographic. There are no families, no older people that I’ve seen, and no people my age. This place is the place that time forgot. I had to go through a metal detector and empty my pockets before I could even come inside. I like being able to use the wifi but I only discovered it because I opened up my laptop, not because it’s advertised or publicized in any way. I’m the only person here using a laptop, I think in the entire library but I won’t be using it much longer because there is barely any air conditioning and the sweat is affecting my typing accuracy. The lobby smells like diapers and disinfectant. Everyone I have talked to that lives in DC doesn’t use the library, they either buy books or find a way to use the suburban libraries or ones at the local schools. This is a big problem, and it’s still unclear what is being done to straighten it out.