LISNews: Librarian News

Today, like a mid-career changer, the Huntington Free Library and Reading Room in the Bronx is awkwardly trying to reinvent itself in a more humble role: that of a traditional community library.

It still does not lend books and it remains privately owned and operated. But instead of catering to scholars studying American Indians, it now hosts monthly meetings about Bronx history. It invites children for arts and crafts, and it organizes an annual scavenger hunt for historical artifacts. Last month, it allowed HBO to make over its reading room as a backdrop for the series “Boardwalk Empire.”

Here's a interesting talk about Boolean Operators by Librarin Ember Stevens at a non-library event.

http://youtu.be/1uWHkmq7zY0

Personally I found it pretty entertaining. In a day and age where some begin to doubt the need to teach boolean operators to undergraduates (see here), it is nice to see Boolean operators being explained in a entertaining way. 

Have you done it better or seen it done better? How do you teach Boolean Operators?

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Cook Memorial Public Library District (IL) officials may purchase panic buttons for employees reports the Daily Herald. Library Director Stephen Kershner said he began thinking about upgrading security after the Cook Park Library in Libertyville was expanded and the Aspen Drive Library in Vernon Hills Library was built. Those projects were completed last year. Libraries are open places where hundreds of people come and go every day, Kershner said, and some visitors can be dangerous. “At my first library job, we had encounters that turned violent,” Kershner recalled. “There are safety considerations because we’re open buildings.” The buttons likely would be wireless and could be placed at high-profile spots such as the reference or circulation desks, Kershner said. They often look like garage-door openers. If a librarian were to activate one, an alarm would be sent to the district’s security company and to police, Kershner said.