Kahle took the library of libraries — the internet — and made a couple of copies of it, and keeps making copies. One he keeps in servers in San Francisco, the other in mirror servers in Alexandria, where the world’s most famous library burned 2,000 years ago. (His data survived the Egyptian revolution unscathed.)
August 2012
Uncle Ray’s Dystopia
Ray Bradbury didn’t just extrapolate the evolution of gadgetry; he foresaw how it would stunt and deform our psyches.
Nazi Era Book Left in Illinois Library Book Drop
From The Chicago Sun-Times: LaGrange Park Public Library officials are brimming with curiosity over who dropped off a rare book stamped “Secret!” from notorious Nazi Commander Hermann Goring, which is now under study at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
“It’s a great mystery,” library director Dixie Conkis said. “We had the book in our possession for a while not knowing quite what to do with it, but felt that because it was marked ‘secret’ it was probably a rather important book.”
The book, “1938-1941: Vier Jahre, Hermann Goring-Werke,” likely was left in the library’s book drop. It easily could have been discarded if not for Ursula Stanek, circulation services director, who grew up in Mannheim, Germany. The book sat on her desk for several weeks in the spring until she noted the inside cover was stamped “Geheim!” meaning “Secret!” with letterhead from Goring, the Nazi state secrete police commander.
Thanks to the librarians, the book now has a permanent home in Washington DC’s Holocaust Museum, which had only previously had a reprinted copy.
The Press’s Ayn Rand Obsession
This week, the media decided that the juiciest line of inquiry about the GOP’s newly minted vice presidential nominee, Paul Ryan, was how deep his allegiance was to the late novelist Ayn Rand. Brooke talks to Slate political reporter Dave Weigel about Ryan’s relationship to Rand.
MP3 from radio show – On the Media
Page at the – On the Media – website with story.
See my general commentary about political posts on LISNEWS.
Libraries Could Double As Post Offices
The United States Postal Service (USPS) may invite some public libraries to double as post offices, Susan Hildreth, Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, said on August 1.
August 16th story at Library Journal
How Books Shaped The American National Identity
Books can change the way we think and can continue to influence events long after they were written. The Library of Congress exhibit “Books That Shaped America” features 88 books — from Thomas Paine’s Common Sense to Dr. Seuss’ The Cat In The Hat — that have influenced national identity.
Generation Y might just be the most bibliophilic generation alive
Believe it or not, Generation Y might just be the most bibliophilic generation alive, according to a new consumer study. Gen Y – those born between 1979 and 1989 – spent the most money on books in 2011, knocking the longtime book-buying leaders, baby boomers, from the top spot, according to the 2012 U.S. Book Consumer Demographics and Buying Behaviors Annual Review.
Pranksters rearrange books stack furniture in pair library break-ins
Kids in Orleans County sometimes complain there’s little to do in the Northeast Kingdom, but police say a few turned to midnight mischief at two public libraries and a Town Hall to help pass the time.
Books were rearranged. Furniture was piled almost to the ceiling. A needed date stamp went missing.
“The children’s books were moved to the adult section. The adult books were moved into the children’s room. They just took handfuls of books and were just shelving them,” Eubanks said about the May mischief at the Glover library. She said chairs and tables were stacked at Town Hall that night, too.
The life of a prison librarian
For many people, prison would not be high on their list of places to go voluntarily.
But writer Jean Charbonneau is unique, much like his current occupation. He’s been a prison librarian for the past several years in Maryland, far away from his home province in Quebec.
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