A library in Inverness (Scotland) has received a book that’s been missing from its shelves–you know, the kind that gets stacked up in the wrong place, or misplaced among other items, or carried off by a visitor.
It was ONE HUNDRED YEARS and £5,000 overdue.
More info about the books extensive travels and its discovery in Johannesburg (South Africa) a century after it’s due date–BBC News
The Saline County Library in Benton, Arkansas is the recipient of a gift by a local resident, Mike Johnston, who finds that he is losing his vision due to complications brought on by diabetes.
This story in the Benton Courier quotes Library director Julie Hart who describes the collection as “amazing.”
“It’s the largest single collection (approximately 2,000 books) we’ve ever received,” Hart said. “All of the books are hardbacks and are in excellent condition.”
Since Mike has been unable to read, the library has provided “books on tape for him to continue to enjoy them,” his mother said. “These are wonderful for him. He can listen to them at night when he can’t sleep.” In addition to Mike’s books, the Johnstons gave the library a framed copy of a deed signed by Grover Cleveland and Ulysses Grant.
Durst writes “Posted to the Army Librarians list [email protected] —
LIBRARIES across North America are Discovering a Better Solution
Linux PR (press release) – Darien,CT,USA
http://www.linuxpr.com/releases/7199.html
It makes public computing easy and inexpensive for libraries.
This article
from the delcotimes, publicizes Banned Books Week, through many examples of citizen involvement in the challenge process. The author quotes many librarians and authors, including Judy Blume:
“(It’s) not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written, the books that will never be read, and all due to the fear of censorship,” she is quoted as saying. “As always, young readers will be the real losers.”
Cabot writes “Six national education groups don’t like proposed changes to copyright laws, saying they hinder web use for teaching purposes. Educators say limiting access to the internet will prohibit students from developing skills they need. They want an amendment to the rules allowing teachers and students use of publicly available web material.
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2004/09/2
A previously unknown Hemingway story called, My Life in the Bull Ring With Donald Ogden Stewart, has been discovered. The Hemingway estate seems to be against its publication. The item is going to go up for auction. The hope is that the buyer of the original document will make it available to scholars for study. It would seem that the Hemingway estate would try to buy the text if they want to keep control over it. Additional details can be found in a New York Times article.
Decked out in a turn of the (20th) century gown, hat, and long gloves, librarian Betty Rood was among one of many staffers to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Henniker’s (NH) Tucker Library this past weekend.
Although several attempts to start a town library failed before 1904, things finally pulled together when a resident of nearby Bradford, George Tucker, took matters in hand and donated the funds for the books, and another resident, Henry Emerson, donated a parcel of land.
The rest…shall we say…is history.
From the Concord Monitor .
A wonderful program instituted by Anywhere Books (a US-based nonprofit dedicated to deploying mobile print on demand solutions for developing countries) and supported by the World Bank has outfitted a special bookmobile to travel around the countryside of Uganda, where the children can board, choose a title (out of a databank of 20,000), and get to print and bind their very own copy of a book to keep. Ordinarily, there is one textbook for every six kids in Uganda, and most of the lessons consists of drill and repeat.
The bookmobile traveled three days per week from Kampala to the Buikwe region in southern Uganda and regularly visited several of the 25 schools in the area. Librarians worked with the kids to print their own books. Popular titles included Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Rabbit and stories from the Bible.
Rochelle recently reported on a similar program in India.
Uganda story from Wired News
Priscilla Shontz writes “LIScareer’s new blog, LIScareer News, allows you to subscribe to our site feed to find out about new LIScareer articles and web updates. LIScareer News will also publish news about new books, articles, websites and other information relating to library and information science career development. See http://www.liscareer.com for more information.
LIScareer welcomes a new assistant editor, Rich Murray. He will work with Priscilla Shontz to acquire and edit articles. Email Rich at [email protected]
Priscilla Shontz, editor, LIScareer.com
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The Curmudgeony Librarian writes “Fresh from the triumph of their new library branch, the Seattle Public Library faces new budget woes and may have to cut services. Slated for the budget axe are Seattle’s bookmobile services. This function, which serves elderly and homebound patrons among others, will be cut as part of a $2.1 million budget reduction by the library. This reduction was requested, due to the overall $20 million budget gap faced by Seattle itself for the 2005 fiscal year. The library hopes to work around these cuts and is exploring other options to continue servicing these patrons.”
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