Category: libraries

Hey it’s one of those great weird library basement discoveries, but it’s in the basement of my own local library! Not quite the Declaration of Independence, but a fascinating look into my town’s past.

While it would be a more cut-and-dried case of patron privacy to deny wholesale snooping in your patron databases, what about when the police come to your library with a patron’s wallet? If you’re in Johnson County, giving the police that patron’s phone number might get you fired. I know the police have shown up at our library more than once looking for patron information supposedly in the interests of returning a wallet or a PDA. I believe our policy is to offer to call the patron, but not give out that patron’s personal information [without a warrant] in accordance with our privacy policy. Of course, any privacy policy is only as strong as the weakest link who has database access, right?

There’s a good article in Library Juice this week about the Alternative Press Center Library in Baltimore MD.

One of the great benefits to living in a rural community is that going to a foreign country is a big deal. I have done a slide show of pictures from my trip to Australia twice now, once at a senior center and once yesterday at my library. Thirteen people showed up and we had a good time. Here are a few photos from the slide show along with some things I learned about doing slide shows at a library.

I’m a sucker for heartwarming stories like the town with a population of one and a library with 5,000 volumes. [thanks tj]