Interviews

American Libraries interview with Director of National Library Service for the Blind

Anonymous Patron — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 14:22:52 +0000

Karen Keninger became director of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., in March. She is the first person who is blind to direct the Braille and talking-book program.

http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/columns/newsmaker/karen-keninger

Chicago Underground Library Lives and Thrives

Anonymous Patron — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 16:50:58 +0000

Chicago Underground Library Lives and Thrives What do you do when a natural disaster takes out your library? You go mobile. The Chicago Underground Library, an organization dedicated to the collection and distribution of local independent and small-press media, is nothing if not about adaptation created by necessity. This principle is reflected in their mission statement and most recently, in the pop-up library project that sprung in part from a blizzard burying a sizable portion of their publications.

Turning a potential pitfall into a chance for evaluation and reinvention, they're currently collaborating with organizations across Chicago to open pop-up libraries reflective of their communities. Co-founder Nell Taylor explained the library's recent developments, both tangible and online, and shed some light on the mentality that keeps the CUL alive in an age where the nature of libraries, media, and public spaces is ever-shifting.

A Digital Library Guru Discusses New Rules on Sharing Scientific Data

Bibliophile Adventures — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 13:35:28 +0000

Interview with Sayeed Choudhury of Johns Hopkins University on the recent change by the National Science Foundation requiring researchers to submit data-management plans with their grant proposals.

In the Chronicle of Higher Education. Read it here.

LambdaLiterary.org features interviews with LGBTIQA librarians

tiny.e — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 04:45:59 +0000

From here:

"....We would like to recognize the valuable work that librarians do to select and promote LGBT literature of any kind.

LambdaLiterary.org, the online publication of the Lambda Literary Foundation, will have a new column starting in August 2010 which will feature interviews with LGBTIQA librarians and the work that they do to select and promote LGBTIQ materials at their libraries. Public librarians, K-12 librarians, academic librarians, special librarians, and archivists who work with LGBTIQ materials and patrons are all welcome to participate in this project.

If you are interested in being interviewed for the column, please contact Rachel Wexelbaum at rswexelbaum@stcloudstate.edu or (320) 308-4756 for more information."

The first interview in the series, called Confessions of a Librarian, was actually posted on July 15th and features Ellen Greenblatt.

Neil Gaiman on the Importance of Libraries (Audio Version)

Anonymous Patron — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 15:25:17 +0000

Minnesota Public Radio has posted a couple of interviews with Neil Gaiman (American Gods, Stardust, Coraline, The Graveyard Book, etc), this year's honorary chair of National Library week: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/04/12/gaiman/

The Reanimation Library...Recycling Images and More

birdie — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:57:08 +0000

Very cool project here in Brooklyn, NY, the Reanimation Library.

Below, a video explanation of the project via Rocketboom. Ella Morton interviews Andrew Beccone, master librarian and founder of the Reanimation Library:

Additional information at the Reanimation Library website.

Sounds like THE perfect place to send of some of those old weeded illustrated volumes....

Book Learning

Bibliofuture — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 07:30:21 +0000

The C.E.O. of Amazon.com talks about reading his Kindle in the bathtub.

Interview here.

This is the story of a struggling librarian from Uganda

Anonymous Patron — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:16:31 +0000

The incoming chair of the Petroleum & Energy Resources Division [DPER] of SLA dropped us a link to an interesting librarian.

This is the story of a struggling librarian from Uganda, Africa and how the Petroleum & Energy Division [DPER] of SLA has sponsored his membership in SLA and now DPER is fundraising to help bring Stephen Kizza to the 2010 SLA meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana. The division board members feel that this very positive story demonstrates the power of SLA networking and how SLA members help one another. DPER International Relations Chair, Dennie Heye of Shell in the Netherlands said, "I want the world to know the power of SLA and networking. I hope it inspires others to do the same with peers in lesser developed nations."

http://slablogger.typepad.com/sla_blog/

http://beyondthebookcast.com/global-information-partners/

http://globallibrarianship.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/raising-funds-for-global-information-par...

Here is the link to the transcript of the podcast. http://www.beyondthebookcast.com/wp-images/HeyeKizzaTranscript.pdf

Please contact Dennie.Heye@shell.com

Interview With Librarian / Poet Colleen Harris

Blake — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:15:17 +0000

The Process: Featuring Colleen Harris

How would you describe your work?
Hrm. It depends on my mood, I suppose – my work is readable for the general public, it’s an exploration of memory, a negotiation of relationships, it’s trying to give voice to the things we don’t say out loud that we wish we could. I do tend to write largely in a woman’s voice, but I think as humans we all have the same general worries, concerns, and yearnings.

LISTen: An LISNews.org Podcast -- Episode #91

StephenK — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 03:36:15 +0000

This week's episode contains an interview with web celeb Cali Lewis about blogging today and recent rumblings from the Federal Trade Commission about disclosures bloggers must make.

Artist: Stephen Michael Kellat
Title: LISTen: An LISNews.org Podcast -- Episode #91
Album: LISTen: An LISNews.org Podcast
Genre: News & Politics
Year: 2009
Length: 14:47 minutes (5.93 MB)
Format: MP3 Stereo 22kHz 56Kbps (CBR)

An Interview With The Faceless Historian

Great Western Dragon — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:46:26 +0000

On one of my previous shows, I talked about Ignite Phoenix and the whole Ignite thing. Among other things, I said it'd be good for librarians to get into something like this because, in five minutes, you can tell a huge group of people all about your library and/or whatever else you're passionate about.

Dani Cutler, a local Phoenix area podcaster, is working on a series of interviews with people who've presented at Ignite Phoenix. She and I sat down at one of the greatest coffee shops in the Valley of the Sun and talked about libraries and the funny things that happen in them, history, Hyperlinked History, and presenting at Ignite.

So if you have the interest, you can hear my alter ego speak with the lovely and intelligent Dani Cutler over on the Ignite Phoenix Podcast site.

Getting Paid: With Harlan Ellison

Great Western Dragon — Sat, 30 May 2009 12:33:32 +0000

When it comes to science fiction, Harlan Ellison is a living legend who wrote, and fought, his way to the top. He's known for being abrasive, cantankerous, and he's just as well known for being proud of that assessment. This is a man who not only sued AOL and the guy who posted his stories on AOL without authorization, his lawsuit was successful.

So Maria Langer, the author of over 70 books on using technology, posted this video on her blog. It's Mr. Ellison talking about the importance of paying writers. As you'd expect, he's vocal about getting paid for his work, and why not? It's his work and don't you get paid for yours? Be prepared for colourful language, invective, and righteous indignation.

In other words, be prepared for Harlan Ellison being himself and telling you exactly how he feels.

Video Series: Lane Smith demonstrates his illustration process & shares thoughts about the KidLitosphere

Anonymous Patron — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 18:08:43 +0000

Author/Illustrator Lane Smith walks us through his thought process and style decisions for two soon-to-be-publishsed picture books:
- Princess Hyacinth (The Surprising Tale of a Girl Who Floated) with Florence Parry Heide due out September 22, 2009; and
- The Big Elephant in the Room due out July 7, 2009.

and shares insight on the publishing industries view of online book enthusiasts.

Bloggers and podcasters take note of the interview segment with Lane during the end credits!

You can watch this video series on the Just One More Book! Children's Book Podcast.

Lane Smith Video Documentary (part 1 of 3) Released Today

Anonymous Patron — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 02:16:58 +0000

The first of three videos documenting the JustOneMoreBook Podcast crew's weekend in the home and studio of Lane Smith and Molly Leach has been published (April 2, 2009) at:

In this 15 minute online documentary, Lane shows off original artwork from The Stinky Cheese Man, describes the production process for The Happy Hocky Family books, shares his passion for children’s books — old and new — and compares traditional collage with digital collage.

Rock Stars of Reading: a video and audio series about a six-day children's book road trip

Anonymous Patron — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 12:29:05 +0000

In November 2008, the Just One More Book!! children's book podcast set out on a six-day road trip to live, eat, socialize, paint and read with children's book creators.

Producers Andrea Ross and Mark Blevis and their two daughters, Lucy (9) and Bayla (7), lived by a tight schedule of studio visits, lunches, dinners, round table discussions and gallery visits. The trip was video and audio recorded and has been produced as a series of documentary video and audio programs that will be published on the Internet, for free, beginning Tuesday, March 31, 2009 (click here to see a promotional video clip).

The videos are snappy and entertaining and feature uniquely intimate footage.

The goal of the series is to give children's books and the children's book community their long-overdue pop-media treatment.

Episodes include

Lane Smith discusses original artwork and his creative process
Diane de Groat shows how she mixes digital and physical art
Jarrett Krosoczka paints with Lucy and Bayla
Jeff Mack explains the story behind some of his books
R. Michelson Galleries' 19th Annual Children's Illustration Exhibition

Notable facts

round-trip by rental car: 1500kms
long-distance travel time: 20hrs
video recording: 13hrs
audio recording: 25hrs
photograghs: more than 2000
editing time per episode: 16hrs (average)
the project is completely self-funded (no advertisers, sponsors or grants)

Guests include Jeanne Birdsall, Nick Clark, Diane de Groat, Tony Diterlizzi, Corinne Demas, Jane Dyer, Scott Fischer, Mordicai Gerstein, Paul Jacobs, Norton Juster, Jarrett Krosoczka, Jeff Mack, Richard Michelson, Leslea Newman, Lane Smith, David Ezra Stein, Heidi Stemple, Mo Willems and Jane Yolen.

Quotes from Mark Blevis' blog post about the series:

What I've noticed over time is that children's books and their creators have been treated very traditionally in the media. In fact, I've even noticed this on the web where some of the most interesting interviews with authors and illustrators have been low on production value (e.g. ten-minute video interviews of a talking head). There is so much talk about the importance of children's books and literacy and how fun it is to learn to read and to read aloud, but the way we promote this in the media suggests otherwise.

I've drawn on some of the most entertaining and engaging ways to produce programs that I've experienced to date, and have come up with a few ideas of my own. The result is a series of videos which give the children's book industry the pop-culture treatment enjoyed by niches such as fast food, the environment, movie stars, sports, music and technology, to name a few. My hope is that this approach will make the videos and the subject interesting to everyone, from those that are passionate about children's books and creativity, to those that aren't particularly interested in books at all.