Librarians

Librarians Don't Read All Day

Submitted by Blake on June 17, 2016 - 11:25am
I could fill a book with the number of bizarre and/or frustratingly persistent questions I’ve been asked in my nearly 5 years of working in a public library, ranging from “Should I have a doctor look at this rash?” to “Do you work here?” when I’m clearly sitting behind a service desk with a name tag. But the question that irks me the most is an extremely common one: “Wow, you work at a library.  Do you just spend all your time reading?” This question is a close relative to “Working in a library must be so relaxing!” and it usually comes from casual library users or acquaintances who haven’t been in a library in at least a decade. And my reaction is always the same: “Yeah, right.”
From Librarians Don't Read All Day
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Librarians
Libraries

Top 10 secret libraries of all time

Submitted by Blake on June 9, 2016 - 11:43am
From Star Wars to Harry Potter via Oxford’s Bodleian, DD Everest celebrates the joy of magical libraries
From Top 10 secret libraries of all time | Children's books | The Guardian
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Librarians

Library Metadata Specialist – Accidental Computer Programmer

Submitted by Blake on May 27, 2016 - 10:11pm
So by accident or design you found yourself in a position that involves computer programming. A common situation for library metadata specialists. I recall projects in graduate school where we mapped records from one metadata format or standard into another. Yet, we never discussed who creates the scripts to transform the records with your mapping (spoiler: its probably you). The result of this for me, someone who did not come from a computer science background, was getting the skills I needed through a mixture of things recommended by mentors, co-workers, and internet searches. Here is what worked best for me.
From Library Metadata Specialist – Accidental Computer Programmer – Heidi Uphoff
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Librarians

Renegade Librarian Jessamyn West On Information, Access And Democracy

Submitted by Blake on May 21, 2016 - 10:39am
Meet Jessamyn West, the radical librarian. She just got a big award from the Vermont Library Association for her role in the selection process for the next Librarian of Congress. She's behind one of the first librarian blogs, she's annoyed the FBI, and she's a crusader for keeping both sides of the digital divide in mind as we move further into the information age. Cory Doctorow of "Boing Boing" has called her an "internet folk hero."
From Renegade Librarian Jessamyn West On Information, Access And Democracy | Vermont Public Radio
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Librarians

Librarian creates place of hope & love for neighborhood

Submitted by Blake on April 27, 2016 - 11:34am
"I went every day, and the librarians helped me with my homework," Heyward said. "My grandmother couldn't help me with my homework." Now, Heyward is in a position to help others as manager of the East 38th Street branch of The Indianapolis Public Library. During 2016 National Library Week, Heyward was honored as a "Mover and Shaker" by Library Journal. She was recognized nationally for tapping into her deep familiarity with the neighborhood to organize community partnerships with more than 40 nonprofits, businesses, churches and universities.
From Librarian creates place of hope & love for neighborhood
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Librarians

Cat-Owning, Knit-Loving, 'Hopelessly Stereotypical' Librarian Is A 'Jeopardy' Badass

Submitted by Blake on April 18, 2016 - 11:02am
A lot of contestants have come and gone on “Jeopardy,” but Margaret Miles officially walked away with our hearts.  Miles is a librarian working at the New Hanover County Public Library in Wilmington, North Carolina who appeared on Thursday’s episode of “Jeopardy.” Alex Trebek couldn’t help but ask Miles more about her life when she was leading mid-show with $7,600. 
From Cat-Owning, Knit-Loving, 'Hopelessly Stereotypical' Librarian Is A 'Jeopardy' Badass
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Librarians

Librarian under house arrest in Moscow accused of anti-Russian propaganda

Submitted by Blake on April 4, 2016 - 11:15am
She's accused of inciting ethnic hatred and violating human dignity. Natalya Sharina is a 58-year-old Russian librarian in Moscow  and though the Russian government says she's not on the Kremlin's radar, someone thinks she and her books are a threat.
From Librarian under house arrest in Moscow accused of anti-Russian propaganda - Home | The Current with Anna Maria Tremonti | CBC Radio
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Librarians

Oregon Libraries Invest In Cutting-Edge Maker Labs

Submitted by Blake on March 17, 2016 - 3:20pm

There’s been a growing trend in libraries for several years to create maker spaces — places where cutting-edge creative activities such as computer-aided design, robotics, programming, circuitry and audio-visual editing take their place alongside low-tech crafts like sewing and jewelry-making. 

“Certainly it focuses on technology, which is new,” said Multnomah County Library director Vailey Oehlke, who is also the president of the National Public Library Association. “But I’d also suggest that libraries have a long history of responding to the ways in which community and the world around us is changing. There’s a need in our community for people to understand these new skills.”

From Oregon Libraries Invest In Cutting-Edge Maker Labs . Radio | OPB

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Librarians

The women who lead some of Idaho's libraries

Submitted by Blake on March 16, 2016 - 9:05am

Article from Idaho Mountain Express.

Included are: Jenny Emery Davidson—Ketchum Community Library, LeAnn Gelskey—Hailey Public Library and Kristin Gearhart—Bellevue Public Library.

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Librarians

Library freedom, free speech and the freedom to tinker

Submitted by Blake on February 11, 2016 - 6:17pm

But, we’re not as great at dealing with our patrons’ digital interactions. We’re not as great at making sure their web transactions are secure, we’re not as great at making sure their wifi transactions are secure, that they can browse the internet securely. And so there’s this awesome project called the Library Freedom Project, which is all about raising awareness about that issue, number one, but number two actually giving libraries the tools that they need in order to do this. I mean we’re a democracy and so part of that is that everybody is equal to every other person. And you deserve, you know, the same rights to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, that kind of thing, as everybody else gets. But in reality we’re a very tiered system where people who are more rich or more powerful have access to more and better services, more and better access to things, to tools, to jobs — as well, to obscure stuff like privacy.

From Library freedom, free speech and the freedom to tinker — Medium

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Librarians

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