LISNews: Librarian News

Chile's President Michelle Bachelet has celebrated her 58th birthday by dancing a traditional Chilean cueca — with a library worker who plucked up the courage to ask.

Bachelet was inaugurating a library in the Santiago district of Cerrillos on Tuesday when she was surprised by a group of musicians who played a "cueca brava" — a popular version of Chile's folkloric dance — for her birthday. While the musicians sang, a library worker asked Chile's president to dance — and she accepted. LA Times.

From librarian Aaron Schmidt (via facebook and Aaron's website):

The five library parks in Medellín, Columbia are amazing and not just because of their architecture.

Included in the network are five library parks, known as “hearts of knowledge.” Located throughout the city in some of Medellin’s most marginalized communities, the library parks have become cultural centers, providing broad, community access to information and educational resources. The network’s libraries offer a range of training programs, including how to use the computer and access information online, and English for the Internet.

More photos here.

The project was recently awarded the 2009 Access to Learning Award from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

In Reading, United Kingdom, borough libraries are loaning out the Owl 'energy smart' meters like books, letting people see exactly how much electricity they are using.

Reading East Green campaigner Rob White said it was a victory for his campaign to get more people using the meters, adding: "We are in the middle of a recession and everyone wants to save money.

"These energy-smart meters will help people reduce their electricity bills, saving money and tackling climate change at the same time. This is a great result for Reading and the Green Party. With the smart meter, you can see how much electricity you are using in real-time.

"The librarian was telling me that before they were on the shelves, staff were borrowing them and testing them at home to see how they work and they loved the idea."

For the second time in 2009, the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System (Central Library) hosted a Living Library program on September 2.

The Living Library is an international movement designed to bring library patrons face-to-face with living objects of prejudice and discrimination. Library patrons can "check-out" living "books" for 30 minutes of private conversation. Our "books" have included an African-American Albino, a HIV+ Gay Man, a Homeless Person, a Lesbian, a Muslim, a (new) Black Panther, a Local Politician, a Police Chief, and a Witch (Wiccan religion).

In our first Living Library event last May, it was evident to all that both library patrons and "books" delighted in each other's company.

Here's another story, about another Living Library event based in Copenhagen Denmark.