October 2007

Barbara Schreiber sent over Haunted Libraries Around the World: The Complete List from Britannica Blog.

Anonymous Patron writes “Kudos to the librarians at Hillsboro (MO) High School for getting their “One Team, One Book” program on the front page of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. What happens when librarians convince coaches to give up 30 minutes of four practice session to discuss a book? Students learn a lot and even become activists at the homecoming parade. I think I want one of those “Ask me about Title IX” t-shirts!”

Anonymous Patron writes “yes, Nancy Kaul is not the only one in town, there’s also Yvonne Arnold.”

Lee Hadden writes “There is an interesting entry on the “Intelligent Traveler” about haunted libraries. Great reading for Halloween. Boo!

Yes, it’s a trend. And maybe an encouraging trend…get those students into the library, wake them up a little (not necessarily with caffeine), and who knows, maybe they’ll pick up a book or two.

Story from the AP.

Press Release: Readers around the world will soon have online access to thousands of rare books in Yale’s Library thanks to an agreement between the University and Microsoft Corp to digitize many volumes found only in the Yale collections.

The Microsoft-Yale project will initially focus on the digitization of 100,000 out-of-copyright English-language books, which will then become available readers through Microsoft’s Live Search interface.

Fup, the feline belonging to Powell’s Technical Bookstore in Portland, died on October 25 at the ripe old age of 19. Here’s a tribute on the Powell’s website.

The US v. Williams was heard yesterday and Lyle Denniston says the Justices went so far as to suggest they may want to curtail the First Amendment in order to save the law. He says Some of them actually toyed with the idea of casting aside the long-standing doctrine that an individual who may well have violated a law governing expression should be able to complain that it is unconstitutional because it might inhibit someone else’s free speech; the “overbreadth doctrine.”

Here is a story with the happiest of endings for lovers of a good book or those wanting a chance to show they have X Factor-type talent.

Libraries across Greater Manchester are to be given a £4.2 million make-over to turn them into the ‘focal points’ of the community – and talent shows could be on the agenda.

A Press Release: “The Virtual Librarian,” a new novel by Theodore Rockwell, is a
surprising departure from the previous books of the award-winning author of “The
Rickover Effect” and “Creating the New World.” One of the departures is that
initial promotion efforts will be carried out in “Second Life” (SL), a thriving
virtual community in which ten million people buy virtual real estate, build
virtual houses and businesses, pay off (real) mortgages, raise (virtual) pets
and have love affairs. “Where better to find potential readers of a book on a
virtual librarian?” asks Rockwell.