LISNews: Librarian News

Interesting bit of talkback from Brian Mathews on the Library Journal site. In a short and very readable article he writes on some of the issues facing the librarians of Generation X from problems in the ALA to making future libraries matter. It makes for a good read for librarians old and new.

PG writes "Diane Hofstede, a member of the Minneapolis City Council, writes in an editorial in the Star Tribune, "Libraries are not just brick and mortar, but they are the pulse of our community, they are people. As one librarian told me, it is America that passes through his doors every day, individuals yearning for knowledge, growth and betterment.""

The Berkeley Daily Planet has a short commentray from a library patron: "What a sad day. I returned my library book at my local branch, picked up the book I had reserved, and checked it out—all without speaking to a soul, much less a wise librarian.
It is the stuff of legends—the alert librarian who reaches out to a distressed child, or a shy child, or an at-risk child and steers that child towards a love of books and from there to a life of possibility. Author Barbara Kingsolver celebrates every living librarian "on behalf of the souls they never knew they saved."

But today, in Berkeley, every library process is impersonal: We reserve books via computer, retrieve our reserved books from an alphabetized shelf, and check them out using an automated machine."

cindy writes "This week The Los Angeles Times will launch "wikitorials," online editorials that readers can edit.

"It may be a complete mess, but it's going to be interesting to try," Editorial and Opinion Page Editor Michael Kinsley told The New York Times for an article on Monday. "Wikitorials may be one of those things that within six months will be standard. It's the ultimate in reader participation."

Another new feature, "Thinking Out Loud," is described as "an experiment in making up our minds in public," according to Martinez. He writes that the feature, which will initially tackle immigration and traffic, will allow readers and Times writers to debate topical issues on the paper's Web site and in all areas of its editorial pages. "We don't have a solution, and there may not be a good one," he explained in the paper. "But that is no excuse for failing to come up with the best one. We hope this process will help us do it."

Are we really wanting consensus on an op-ed page?Story about the LA Times editorial unheaval from The New York Times and Editor and Publisher