July 2016

Adding Classes and Content, Resurgent Libraries Turn a Whisper Into a Roar

Far from becoming irrelevant in the digital age, libraries in New York City and around the nation are thriving: adding weekend and evening hours; hiring more librarians and staff; and expanding their catalog of classes and services to include things like job counseling, coding classes and knitting groups.

No longer just repositories for books, public libraries have reinvented themselves as one-stop community centers that aim to offer something for everyone. In so doing, they are reaffirming their role as an essential part of civic life in America by making themselves indispensable to new generations of patrons.

From Adding Classes and Content, Resurgent Libraries Turn a Whisper Into a Roar – The New York Times

July 5, 2016 by Libraries

Welcome To The Library Hiding In A Garden Hiding In New York City

Stephen Sinon, head of special collections, research and archives at the New York Botanical Garden, describes the Mertz Library “as the largest of its kind in the world under one roof.” Founded in 1899, the haven for plant-related literature is often described as either the largest or the most comprehensive botanical library in the Americas. With over one million items — including The Natural History of the Rarer Lepidopterous Insects of Georgia by James Edward Smith — it sits rather quietly on the property of the Bronx Garden, hiding, one might put it, in plain sight.

From Welcome To The Library Hiding In A Garden Hiding In New York City

July 5, 2016 by Librarians Libraries

The Victorians had the same concerns about technology as we do

Of course, all old technologies were once new. People were at one point genuinely concerned about things we take for granted as perfectly harmless now. In the later decades of the 19th century it was thought that the telephone would induce deafness and that sulphurous vapours were asphyxiating passengers on the London Underground. These then-new advancements were replacing older still technologies that had themselves occasioned similar anxieties on their introduction. Plato, as his oral culture began to transition to a literary one, was gravely worried that writing itself would erode the memory.

From The Victorians had the same concerns about technology as we do

July 5, 2016 by Technology

Delay Over Confirmation of Carla Hayden as Librarian of Congress

Our obstructionist Congress is saying that LOC Librarian of Congress nominee Carla Hayden is pro-obscenity. Consequently they are delaying a confirmation for the post (a la the Supreme Court). Report via TechDirt.

From the article: ” A key issue, of course, is that the Copyright Office is part of the Library of Congress, so Hayden would run the Copyright Office as well. In our original post, we already noted the rather snide statement put out by the RIAA , which basically says “Hayden’s fine for the library, but she better keep her filthy hands off of the Copyright Office”:

“We are gratified that President Obama has chosen a qualified and capable nominee to be the next Librarian of Congress. We look forward to working with Dr. Hayden.

“It is worth noting that the Library of Congress and the U.S. Copyright Office have been mutually respectful of each other’s areas of expertise. We would hope that the new Librarian would continue to demonstrate that respect for the Copyright Office’s expertise in copyright policy and recommendations to Congress.”

July 5, 2016 by Librarians Libraries

AIGA | 50 Books/50 Covers Competition

“50 Books/50 Covers” has a long history of celebrating design excellence, with selections exemplifying the best current work in book and book cover design as chosen by a distinguished jury of design peers. The annual competition developed from AIGA’s “Fifty Books of 1923” exhibition and past selections have been added to the AIGA Design Archives as well as the physical archives at the Denver Art Museum and in Columbia University’s Rare Book and Manuscript Collection at the Butler Library. Since 2011, the competition has been managed by Design Observer.

“Justified: AIGA Design Competition” represents the next generation of AIGA’s competitions and seeks stories that reveal the value design created for the client. For book design, AIGA encourages entry in both competitions. 

From AIGA | 50 Books/50 Covers Competition

Here are the 2015 winners: Books and the Covers.

July 5, 2016 by Books Libraries

Shakespeare: Actor. Playwright. Social Climber.

The new depictions Ms. Wolfe has gathered are all from the 17th century. More than half associate the arms with “Shakespeare the player,” or with William, not John.

This material not only proves “that Shakespeare was Shakespeare,” as Ms. Wolfe wryly put it. It also, she argues, underlines the degree to which contemporaries saw the coat of arms as, in effect, being for William.

“It makes it abundantly clear that while Shakespeare was obtaining the arms on behalf of his father, it was really for his own status,” she said.

Mr. Shapiro said he agreed. “All evidence suggests this was not about the father,” he said, “but about how Shakespeare wanted to be seen.”

From Shakespeare: Actor. Playwright. Social Climber. – NYTimes.com

July 5, 2016 by Uncategorized

Mississauga workers’ strike shuts down 18 public libraries

“How do they justify giving (library) director Rose Vespa a 7.3 per cent salary increase the same year we got .5 per cent,” asked librarian and CUPE Local 1989 president Laura Kaminker, after a strike Monday shut down all 18 public libraries in Mississauga.

Contract negotiations between the city and the union representing about 390 members who work in the libraries broke down over the weekend, with no immediate plans to resume talks.

Late fees won’t be applied while the shutdown continues, and online services are not impacted by the strike.

From Mississauga workers’ strike shuts down 18 public libraries | Toronto Star

July 4, 2016 by Internet Libraries

The Secret History of Holywell Street: Home to Victorian London’s Dirty Book Trade

Victorian sexuality is often considered synonymous with prudishness, conjuring images of covered up piano legs and dark ankle-length skirts. Historian Matthew Green uncovers a quite different scene in the sordid story of Holywell St, 19th-century London’s epicentre of erotica and smut.

From The Secret History of Holywell Street: Home to Victorian London’s Dirty Book Trade | The Public Domain Review

July 4, 2016 by Books

NY Libraries unsure about opioid antidote program

With heroin and opioid abuse now the No. 1 cause of accidental death in the state, a new law makes it possible for public libraries around the state to provide treatment to combat overdoses. But area libraries are unsure whether they’d take part in the voluntary program.

On June 22, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law a bill to allow public libraries to maintain and administer opioid antagonists, such as the antidote naloxone, commonly known by the brand name narcan, for the treatment of overdoses. The original bill was sponsored by Sen. George Amedore of Niskayuna, a co-chair of the New York State Senate Task Force on Heroin Addiction and Opioid Abuse that visited Lake Placid in May.

From Libraries unsure about opioid antidote program – AdirondackDailyEnterprise.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Saranac Lake region — Adirondack Daily Enterprise

July 3, 2016 by Legal Issues Libraries

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