A book I read about books discussed the paper shortage [apocryphal?] that occurred in NYC when the latest Harry Potter book was being published. This led me to think of the paper situation given the first printing of 1.5 million copies of the 900 page My Life, Clinton’s memoirs. For more data on what is being printed this year, you can read Bowker’s statistical 2003 round up. I can’t tell if this press release is the statistical data they have released or of there’s a more fleshed-out report somewhere, anyone know?
Author: jessamyn
something to offend everyone @ your library
Illinois library won’t remove childrens’ book with a picture of an armed burglar in it.
“A good library collection should have something to offend everyone,” said [children”s librarian] Jan Bojda, “If they don’t, they are not doing their job.” [chitrib, thanks jemmy]
do you have library envy?
A little thread on LISNews about “library envy” The latest library that I have been to that I was envious of was the library at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum which I had the pleasure of getting a tour of when I was in DC. Ample funding, technology + books, multi-language collection, multi-lingual librarians, lovely space, good web site. It’s open to the public, so put it on your dance card if you are in the area along with LoC and the spectacle that is the decline of the DC public library system. I know the librarian there, so drop me an email if you’d like an introduction.
blog vs. blog, or something
If you’re entrenched in the library blog world, you might be interested in the back and forth that has been going on between Library Juice and LISNews. Kathleen has a very good point w/r/t the very real downsides associated with anonymous posting on community forums.
SPL, media darling
Speaking of library envy… Seattle Public Library is open and getting lots and lots of pictures taken of it. I’m sort of smitten with the weird crazy colors in it; they were one of the things I was going to miss about the interim location they had been in. This has also got to be one of the smartest ideas for placement of Dewey numbers that I’ve seen. SPL was really the first library system I worked for [as a VISTA volunteer] after getting out of library school, so despite all my kvetching about them I have always sort of been rooting for them to get it together.