November 2009

Despite hard times, Darby vows to save library

Philadelphia Inquirer: In Darby Borough, where the number of families living below the poverty line is twice the national average, a few dollars mean a lot.

Yet Darby officials, facing the possible closing of the historic library founded in 1743, say they are committed to keeping it open, even if taxes go up.

“The residents said that if we had to raise taxes, they would appreciate that we do,” Mayor Helen Thomas said. “Everybody wants to save the library.”

Still, in a community where industry crumbled long ago, officials aren’t sure how they’ll find the money. Library director Susan Borders said she hoped the township would fund the library with $50,000, about $5 per person, almost double the $2.70 per person it receives now through a dedicated real estate tax.

Full story

THIS BOOK IS OVERDUE How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All

Librarians don’t often receive the kind of ‘pat on the back’ that other professionals get from recipients of their services; here in book form is the appreciation that information professionals have long needed and long deserved, Marilyn Johnson’s THIS BOOK IS OVERDUE How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All, (ISBN: 9780061431609; Harper; On Sale: 2/2/2010).

While researching her 2006 title “The Dead Beat” (a fascinating and often hilarious study of the art of the obituary writer), Johnson came to the conclusion that librarians and archivists were nothing less than some of the finest professionals—not to mention the most interesting people–that she would ever come to know. They were knowledgeable, sure, but more than that, they were always looking to be of assistance. Name another profession where people actively and regularly want to volunteer their help…you might be hard-pressed to find the equivalent level of service in other fields.

Her book credits librarians of the past who have changed the way people use libraries (Frederick Kilgour, founder of OCLC) and Henriette Avram (mother of MARC), and older librarians at the forefront of changes in the library profession, such as Sanford Berman who fomented the cataloging revolution. But mostly she tells us about the librarians of today…those whose continuing fascination with knowledge and its organization extend beyond the boundaries of their workplaces.

Librarians don’t often receive the kind of ‘pat on the back’ that other professionals get from recipients of their services; here in book form is the appreciation that information professionals have long needed and long deserved, Marilyn Johnson’s THIS BOOK IS OVERDUE How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All, (ISBN: 9780061431609; Harper; On Sale: 2/2/2010).

While researching her 2006 title “The Dead Beat” (a fascinating and often hilarious study of the art of the obituary writer), Johnson came to the conclusion that librarians and archivists were nothing less than some of the finest professionals—not to mention the most interesting people–that she would ever come to know. They were knowledgeable, sure, but more than that, they were always looking to be of assistance. Name another profession where people actively and regularly want to volunteer their help…you might be hard-pressed to find the equivalent level of service in other fields.

Her book credits librarians of the past who have changed the way people use libraries (Frederick Kilgour, founder of OCLC) and Henriette Avram (mother of MARC), and older librarians at the forefront of changes in the library profession, such as Sanford Berman who fomented the cataloging revolution. But mostly she tells us about the librarians of today…those whose continuing fascination with knowledge and its organization extend beyond the boundaries of their workplaces.

“The most visible change to librarianship in the past generation is maybe the simplest: librarians have left the building. Waiting behind the reference desk for patrons to approach is old-fashioned. Passive is passé. If people who needed library services are in the streets, that’s where some librarians vowed to be.”

This excerpt refers to the members of Radical Reference, who began their work during the Republican National Convention in New York City in 2004, and continue to “support activist communities, progressive organizations, and independent journalists by providing professional research support, education and access to information.”

If you’re a blog reader (and what librarian isn’t?), you will recognize many of the librarians Johnson describes: The Shifted Librarian, Librarian.net, The Free Range Librarian, The Annoyed Librarian, David Lee King, Tame the Web, Library Avenger, Obnoxious Librarian from Hades, The Librarian in Black and more.

“Librarians were the last people I’d expect to make noise on a social network. And yet in the last decade or so, librarians turned clamorous. Blogs turned out to be a natural medium for these inveterate browsers and bibliographers to post their links. Unedited and unmonitored, blogs represented a kind of free expression that librarians traditional supported and celebrated, but had not taken the opportunity to practice.”

Sometimes the objects of these polite info professionals scorn are the patrons they serve with such dedication. Johnson makes no bones about blogging entries that describe the outrageous behavior of some library users: smuggling in soda bottles, breaking the photocopier, whining about non-compliant computers and yes, even flinging poop into the book return. Not to mention some of the more peculiar requests for information:

‘Where can I find a book on bootyism?’ Check Google for bootyism and you’ll find out all you ever wanted to know about booty shaking; Google didn’t prompt, as it occasionally does with presumptive misspellings, “Are you sure you don’t mean…?” But librarians were trained to prompt till they figured it out: Ah, not bootyism, Buddhism.

Johnson begins her research at her local library, the Chappaqua Public Library in Westchester County NY, where she witnesses the typical frustrations of network migration, but she also takes us to St. John’s campus in Rome, Italy, where students from around the world learn how to reach across continents with rss, skype, flickr and refworks. She visits with George Christian of the Library Connection in Connecticut, where three librarians showed extraordinary courage protecting their patrons privacy on the Internet. She follows librarians attending an ALA Conference in Washington, DC where after absorbing sackfuls of information about current methods in LIS, they blow off steam and show their style with some ingenious book cart drills.

Following many of the same major stories posted on LISNews, but with the finely-tuned ability of an investigative journalist, Johnson shows us the stories behind the story and the vibrant and unique personalities behind the buns, beards, tattoos and cardigan sweaters. She reminds us of the valor of librarians everywhere, who after literacy, find their most important goal to be protecting their patrons privacy. The library world can be as quaint as a village green or as expansive as the world-wide web, but no matter where your search leads you, you will always find your way with the help of the colorful, curious, and dedicated denizens of the world of LIS described in THIS BOOK IS OVERDUE.

Who Do Librarians Ask for Help? The Slightly Unhinged Folks at Unshelved

Now it’s official: the creators of Unshelved have all the answers. To prove it they’ve launched Unshelved Answers, where librarians, booksellers and others can share “expertise about libraries and everything in them: reference resources, reader’s advisory, customer service, cataloging, administration, or anything else.”

Unshelved Answers allows for grading of questions and answers “so that you can quickly and easily solve your problem and help others solve theirs. Every time your work is voted up you gain more reputation, which unlocks more functionality of the site for you. Eventually our most prized contributors become de-facto moderators. The site is really run by you, for you.”

Neil Gaiman Asks: Heard Any Good Books Lately?

Neil Gaiman is an author and listener who loves a good tale. Here, he ponders the future of audiobooks:

I grew up in a world where stories were read aloud. My mother read to me. My father and grandparents invented stories, mostly about animals, which they would tell me at bedtime.

Some of my earliest memories are listening to stories on the radio as a boy in England. I had a record of Beatrice Lillie reading the poems of Edward Lear that I played until it was one long scratch.

I read aloud whenever I could. I would read to my sisters if they would sit still long enough. I still remember being played the original 1954 Under Milk Wood in English class, and rejoicing in the words and the lilt of the voices.

Full piece on NPR

Necessity Was the Mother of this Phone Box Library

A resident dreamed up the idea when the tiny village lost its phone box and mobile library in quick succession. But fortunately, a traditional red phone box has been recycled into the Westbury-sub-Mendip (population of approximately 800 in Somerset) Library, stocking a total of 100 books.

British Telephone has received 770 applications for communities to ‘adopt a kiosk’, and so far 350 boxes have been handed over to parish councils. Westbury-sub-Mendip Parish Council bought the phone box from BT in a national scheme for a token £1. More from the BBC

…and yet another article from BBC Local.

Fiction…Comes Either With Fangs, or Without

Report from the Columbus NE Library on patron demand for a variety of books, including Palin’s “Going Rogue” and popular fiction titles (“Alex Cross” series by James Patterson; “The Lost Symbol,” by Dan Brown; Stephen King’s “Under the Dome” and “The Last Song, by Nicholas Sparks).

I liked librarian Heather St. Clair’s reference to ‘fangless fiction’ still being popular along with the Twilight series. More from the Columbus Telegram.

She Signed Up for a Library Card, but Got a Lot More

Gig Harbor, WA: When Marie Bassett received a phone call from the Pierce County Library System telling her she had won a free laptop computer, she first thought it was a hoax.

Bassett filled out a little piece of paper when she renewed her library card a while back, but she had forgotten about it.

The countywide library system held a raffle for two laptops during its annual card drive, and Gig Harbor’s Bassett won one of them.

“It was a funny story,” she said. “I went to have my library card renewed, and they had me fill out this little slip of paper. I said, ‘What do you want me to do with this?’ ”

Bassett said she regularly checks out items at the library with her husband, and she decided to get her own card updated. “I thought, ‘That’s dumb. I might want to go without him some time,’ ” she said. “It’s ironic, because I’m really a raffle nut, but I had totally forgotten I had filled out this slip.”

Winning the laptop turned out to be perfect timing for Bassett, who recently lost her job.

“It was a heartbreaker,” she said. “It was truly a dream job. I thought I was going to be there forever.”

Nonetheless, Bassett hopes to turn bad luck around. “Now I think I want to start my own bookkeeping business,” she said. “This laptop is so timely.”

What it will mean when the ebook comes first

Blog entry by Mike Shatzkin a publishing industry consultant:

The “ebook tipping point” has recently been a frequent subject of discussion for me. I started out thinking about the business implications and that’s the main focus of the panel discussion on the subject at Digital Book World.

As I mentioned briefly in my last post, I have lately been turning my thinking to a huge shift I think might just be around the corner: that editors and authors will have to start thinking “ebook first”. When we get to that point, it will cause huge upheaval. And personnel changes.

Full blog post here.