Here’s a Halloween flavored story about a Wyoming library that’s located atop an old burial ground.
Since 1993, librarians at the Green River branch library have kept track of their and the patrons’ encounters with the spirits that supposedly roam its rooms. Experiences range from feeling a presence close by but no one apparently in the same room, to hearing a voice speaking softly.
After a successful run of nearly 25 years, WordsWorth Books in Harvard Square is closing on Saturday.
The couple who own the store, Donna Friedman and Hillel Stavis, also own a children’s bookstore, Curious George Goes to WordsWorth, which they will continue to own and run.
Of course, this is only the most recent in an increasing number of independent bookstores that cannot survive the growth of bookstore chains and Internet sales. Story from Bookweb
Michael “Mr. Dust” McGrorty has posted the results of his very informal poll of librarian presidential voting intentions. The bonus, of course, is his always-eloquent commentary, sure to rankle some and set others’ heads to nodding. You have three guesses at who won, and the first two don’t count. Have a gander here.
As many voters have taken the opportunity to vote early in Florida, some libraries/polling places have had to put up with partisan intensity and craziness.
Love the bit in this article about the magazine rack at an Orlando (FL) library, where a Bush supporter lined up all the magazines to show the President’s picture and a Kerry supporter removed them all to check them out.
Ed: Check out the comment section below- opaqueentity (from the UK) asked how many US public libraries are used as polling places? If anyone has that info let us know.
Four junior high librarians write in the Oct. 27 Petaluma (Calif.) Argus Courier in support of Measure K, which asks for a $50 annual parcel tax for four years “to keep school libraries open, restore smaller class sizes grades 7-12, restore and maintain computer and technology programs, maintain music and fine art programs, and provide necessary educational programs and materials to the extent funds are available.” Susan Thompson, Connie Williams, Nancy Sieck, and Karen Andresen explain the important role of school librarians.
Until recently, the GeorgeWBush.com website was easily accessible by anyone with a web browser, just like any other website. No more. As of early Monday morning, anyone trying to access it from a non-US computer (with a few exceptions) gets this message, instead: “Access Denied. You don’t have permission to access ‘http://www.georgewbush.com/’ on this server.” Boing Boing has a link-filled report.
The Scucog Memorial Public Library (Port Perry, Ont.) is caught in a funding Catch-22. Port Perry, population 20,173, is too large (by 174) to qualify for a Trillium Foundation grant for small municipalities [pdf], which uses 2001 census figures to determine eligibility. At the same time, the Ministry of Culture, which bases the size of its provincial operating grants on 1998 municipal data, won’t increase the size of its grant to Port Perry despite the town’s population having increased significantly since the 1998 count. [Article]
The school library at Head O’ Meadow Elementary School (Newtown, Conn.) has a way of funding additions to the collection and get children involved in the library at the same time. Once a month, parents of children who have a birthday that month send $15 to the school, then the kids get to choose which books will be donated to the library in their names. Each donated book gets a “Donated by” label with the name, age, birth date, and photo of the kid who picked it. In the 2003-2004 school year, the Birthday Book Club donated 153 books to the library. So far this year, 160 books have been paid for. [Article]
Anonymous Patron writes “Many people have expressed interest in sharing their thoughts of Professor William (Bill) Katz as of his recent passing.
Anyone interested in sharing reflections and memories may email the SISP Webmaster at
[email protected].
http://www.albany.edu/sisp/people/faculty/katz_me
Katie writes “AP News Story – “PITTSBURGH – Internet users are doing far fewer searches for sex and pornography and more for e-commerce and business than they were seven years ago, University of Pittsburgh and Penn State researchers say in a new book. “”
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