LISNews: Librarian News

A Law Librarian in Virginia lost 80 pounds eating almost exclusively at Starbucks. Story also mentions that she is a kidney donor. Initially when she wanted to donate a kidney doctors said she was too heavy. After she lost 40 pounds she was able to be a kidney donor.

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The Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County has hired a Cleveland consulting firm to study the pay and benefits of library employees compared with those of their peers doing similar work elsewhere.

That firm, The Human Resource Department, will be paid between $12,000 and $13,500 for the compensation study, depending on its scope.

The services and personnel committee of the library’s board of trustees will meet at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at the Poland library to discuss the library system’s compensation philosophy and the compensation study.

Story from The Youngstown Vindicator (interesting newspaper name!)

Although Helicopter Parents can be viewed negatively, not every characteristic is undesirable. Some Helicopter Parents return to land after they are sure their precious child is cruising at a safe and comfortable altitude. The latter, more moderate approach is ideal for Helicopter Librarians.

“Helicopter Librarians” can emulate the desirable traits of “Helicopter Parents.” Additionally, the term “Helicopter Librarian” sounds sufficiently lofty.

The main difference between great librarians and Helicopter Librarians is that the former are focused on providing excellent service whereas the Helicopter Librarians are committed to building radically great relationships that students are comfortable with, similar to their relationships with their Helicopter Parents.

Full article (Library Journal)

From The Chicago Sun-Times: LaGrange Park Public Library officials are brimming with curiosity over who dropped off a rare book stamped “Secret!” from notorious Nazi Commander Hermann Goring, which is now under study at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

“It’s a great mystery,” library director Dixie Conkis said. “We had the book in our possession for a while not knowing quite what to do with it, but felt that because it was marked ‘secret’ it was probably a rather important book.”

The book, “1938-1941: Vier Jahre, Hermann Goring-Werke,” likely was left in the library’s book drop. It easily could have been discarded if not for Ursula Stanek, circulation services director, who grew up in Mannheim, Germany. The book sat on her desk for several weeks in the spring until she noted the inside cover was stamped “Geheim!” meaning “Secret!” with letterhead from Goring, the Nazi state secrete police commander.

Thanks to the librarians, the book now has a permanent home in Washington DC's Holocaust Museum, which had only previously had a reprinted copy.