LISNews: Librarian News

Maybe you don't know Bill Knott. Hell, maybe you don't know more than five living poets, and you work in a library. But you should pop over to Knott's blog, where he publishes his poetry, and rants against his former publisher, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, and Pulitzer prizewinners alike. Now he turns his attention to librarians, or rather the stereotype of librarians. Is he serious? You decide.

You can question them about their discard policies, but don't delude yourself they'll tell you the truth: remember they're public employees, they're like members of your legislature, malfeasants who hide their evil behind walls of bureaucratise and lies.

Eric Roger Green Has A Column in The Denver Post:

There is no proof that one can have a truly balanced library collection based on all the ambiguities involved. Librarians will continue to receive collection challenges, which they should. We need to communicate that there is no perfect system. Our patrons must also understand this as well. We can challenge our patrons to take responsibility for this process. We might achieve a respectable, but imperfect representative collection. Or would robot Librarians do better?

Library and Archives Canada has announced the elimination of the Canadian Book Exchange Centre.

Opened 35 years ago, the exchange centre is a massive swap shop for public and academic libraries across Canada. Libraries donate books and periodicals their patrons no longer use and, in response to requests by other libraries, the centre redistributes them.

Canadian Library Association executive director Don Butcher said while it's true that libraries collections are shifting to digital, Library and Archives Canada should have consulted the library community before cutting the centre and made a greater effort to find alternatives.

This article comes to us courtesy of ALA's Library Direct e-mail. Johnsonton County is on the hunt for books to remove from its collection after removing "How the Girls lost their accents". What scariest of all is that they aren't waiting to react, they're just looking for books that are "offensive."