LISNews: Librarian News

Andover, NH (Not MA) is a town with two libraries, and TheConcord Monitor has an interesting
story on the goings on in this small town.

\". This is
a true tale of two libraries, after all. And truth, as it
turns out, is stranger and sweeter than fiction. So bring on
the happy ending.
It has all the makings of a best seller: a small-town drama
twined with courtroom suspense, a plot crammed with history
and mystery, a quirky little subplot sketching life in this
poetically named setting, a cast of characters that includes
good guys and good guys and . . -- Read More

This is London has this story on a 73 year old man in England, borrowed The Bulpington Of Blup by HG Wells from Clapton library in August 1939, and just returned it this week, the funny thing is he paid his fine!
At least he wasn\'t Arrested!

\"He noticed on the flyleaf that the fine for overdue books in 1939 had been a penny (1d) a week. He calculated he had kept the book for 3,145 weeks, which he converted to £13.25, before sending back the book with a cheque for the same amount. \" -- Read More

Another library system has begun e-mailing an alert to patrons with overdue books and other materials. Read about it Here from The Record.

\"The way Marian De Caterina, head of Newburgh\'s automated services, sees it, the new system saves the library and its patrons money by getting notices out faster and cheaper. And with Newburgh charging 10 cents a day for books and 25 cents a day for videos, it adds up.\" -- Read More

Benton Foundation, at the request of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, published Buildings, books, and bytes in November 1996. The report reveals what library leaders and the public have to say about the future of libraries in the digital age. Follow this link to read the HTML version of the report. A PDF version will be available soon for downloading.

Elizabeth
Christian writes \"It jumps out from the recent
publication, Buildings, Books, and Bytes,Libraries and
Communities in the Digital Age by the Benton Foundation,
urgent, demanding a response. From one focus group which
made up much of this report
the statement
\"They..sanctioned the notion that trained professional
librarians could be replaced with community volunteers, such
as retirees.\"
As we try to push our \"information literacy\" services on our
publics they also said
\"they preered to acquire new computer skills from \'somebody
they know\', not from their local librarians.\"

Retirees as volunteers..... -- Read More