July 2008

The Washington D.C. public library system is planning a severe cutback in hours, including closing all branches on Fridays, because of $2 million in staff reductions in next year’s budget. Library Director Ginnie Cooper (formerly of Brooklyn) said “Fridays were chosen for closure because they are the quietest. We chose to be open when we are busiest”.

The Washington Post reports that next year’s library system will be smaller by 74 employees, mostly because of a citywide early retirement incentive. D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty is looking into other options for keeping the Capital’s libraries open announcing that “the administration is committed to finding the money to resolve budget issues.”

That dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy (previous coverage) has been in the news again recently, complete with the purported LexisNexis search terms that were used to screen candidates:

[first name of a candidate] and pre/2 [last name of a candidate] w/7 bush or gore or republican! or democrat! or charg! or accus! or criticiz! or blam! or defend! or iran contra or clinton or spotted owl or florida recount or sex! or controvers! or racis! or fraud! or investigat! or bankrupt! or layoff! or downsiz! or PNTR or NAFTA or outsourc! or indict! or enron or kerry or iraq or wmd! or arrest! or intox! or fired or sex! or racis! or intox! or slur! or arrest! or fired or controvers! or abortion! or gay! or homosexual! or gun! or firearm!

More at Washington Monthly.

The British Library is bringing some of the world’s rarest books online, with the intent of giving as wide an audience as possible the most accurate experience of reading the real thing.

Turning the Pages is a unique piece of software designed to allow readers to look at rare books in a natural way. With Turning the Pages, users can read the books in their original format, almost exactly as they were intended to be read by their original audience. This article on ZD.net allows us to turn the pages of “Alice’s Adventures Above Ground. ” Look ma, no gloves!

Have you seen the new Harry Potter trailer?

At the most recent meeting of the Princeton Public Library (PPL) Board of Trustees, Library Friends President Pam Wakefield reported that the Library Store is losing money, and cannot continue in its present form. The store is currently run by the Friends and is staffed by volunteers.

Library Director Leslie Burger said that three possibilities for the store are currently under discussion. One solution might be a collaboration with the Arts Council, which is not allowed to have a gift shop on its premises. Another would be to lease the store to an outside bidder. A third option would be opening up the space to additional shelves for the Friends’ book sale. Town Topics.

For a 23 year old librarian with a toddler, what caused deportation proceeding to be started so quickly?

Many facebook users, including this reporter, were dismayed yesterday when they discovered Scrabulous missing as a facebook app. The makers of scrabulous, two brothers from India, are facing a lawsuit from the current manufacturers of the Scrabble® game, Hasbro.

Here’s a bit of history on the game Scrabble® (originally known as Lexico) and thoughts on American copyright law from Australia’s Inquisitr, and here are a few “cross words” on the situation from the Washington Post.

Ugh. Next door to the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, where a show containing the work of a former graffiti artist is in progress, vandals spray painted lines from a poem by T. S. Eliot…incorrectly.

The Main Library will require exterior power washing, but the librarians themselves worked to get the spray paint off the steps.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports that the government of the People’s Republic of China is preparing to censor Internet access further during the games that are starting soon. Although the PRC’s pitch to the International Olympic Committee said media restrictions as well as Internet restrictions would be lessened during the games, reporters on the ground have noted so far that restrictions have instead been tightened. A spokesman noted that “sufficient” access had been given. Question have arisen as to what “sufficient” means in the view of the PRC’s government.

The International Olympic Committee will be lobbying the PRC government to give reporters “free” access to the Internet. Nothing was noted as to the definition of “free” that either side understands.

In southwest Virginia, Anna Ray Roberts is retiring as librarian at Wytheville Community College. Roberts is the college’s first and only librarian over its 41 years of existence so far. Roberts began work at the school in January 1967.