December 2016

Koch Brothers Anti-Library Stance

Via Wonkette:

When you think of Charles and David Koch and their dreams of remaking America into a libertarian paradise, you generally associate them with campaigns to elect rightwing candidates.

And now they’re going after public libraries, because if people want access to books and videos and computers and children’s story hours and public meeting spaces, they should damn well pay for them themselves, not leech taxpayer dollars for the “good” of the “community.”

Little Free Libraries, Good for the Neighborhood?

From Salon, a tale of the down-side of Little Free Libraries.

Dan Greenstone writes: “The lesson was clear. I wasn’t running a library. Libraries are built around the idea of circulation. And circulation implies a circle. What I had, aside from the contributions of a few kind neighbors on my block, was a one-way street of literary handouts. So it wasn’t long before I concluded that if I was going to stay in business, I had to reduce the outgoing volume.”

The Purpose-Based Library

In the years since John Huber’s trailblazing Lean Library Management was published, budget pressures on libraries have only increased. Yet libraries who have adopted his strategies have turned conventional management thinking—that if budgets are reduced, customer service suffers—on its head. These libraries have proven that by streamlining and improving customer services, they can eliminate wasteful activities and bring down costs. In The Purpose-Based Library, Huber and seasoned public library administrator Potter build on insight gleaned from decades of experience to demonstrate how libraries can create real growth opportunities through concentrating on their true mission and purpose, and without spending a lot more money. With a focus on putting ideas into action, they point the way towards

New ways to think about metrics
Reexamining customer self-driven services
Effectively leveraging the considerable footprint of libraries
Identifying and assessing community needs and realigning library services accordingly
Actively encouraging community fundraising
Offering cutting-edge services and programs
Packed with boots-on-the-ground commentary, this book presents strategies to help libraries survive and succeed.

http://amzn.to/2ieGUVp

Modern libraries should be a ‘3rd place’

Over the last 100 years, the local libraries have changed from books behind a counter to open shelves and self-service. Modern ideas about libraries in 2016 indicate that they should be ‘a third place’, a meeting place which is neither a home nor a workplace. Increasingly the users themselves are not only active participants, but also those who generate content.

From Time for change: | Scandinavian Library Quarterly

SF Public Library revives plan to install microchips in books

But a spokesperson for the ACLU Northern California said in a statement to the San Francisco Examiner on Monday that the organization continues to oppose the technology and urged The City to reject the effort.

“RFID has profound implications for civil liberties in San Francisco, including for immigrants’ rights. It’s more important than ever that San Francisco safeguard privacy, free speech, and civil liberties for all,” Nicole Ozer, technology and civil liberties policy director of the ACLU of California, said in the statement.

EFF spokesperson Rebecca Jeschke told the Examiner on Monday “we do have some concerns about this proposal, but we haven’t looked at it as closely as we’d like.”

From SF Public Library revives plan to install microchips in books – by j_sabatini – The San Francisco Examiner

Which English Wikipedia articles were edited most in 2016?

A number of celebrities, politicians, and household names passed away, like David Bowie, Prince, politician Jo Cox, Cuban leader Fidel Castro, boxer Muhammad Ali, and singer Christina Grimmie. All showed up in either the full list of most edited by year/by month breakdowns, but are dwarfed by the article on deaths in 2016. Similar to last year, it was by far the most edited of the year.[1]

From Death, politics, and Vincent van Gogh: 2016 as seen through the lens of Wikipedia – Wikimedia Blog

Carla Hayden on NPR’s The Takeaway

Story via NPR’s The Takeaway, an 8 minute interview with the new Librarian of Congress.

There have been 14 librarians of Congress since the position was created in 1802. Like any other federal appointment, it’s a position that changes with the direction of a given administration. Between 1802 to 1864, political appointees lead the Library of Congress. From 1864 to 1987, most librarians had mixed backgrounds and experience. But one thing that connects all librarians from 1802 to 2015? They were all white, and all men.

Carla Hayden is the first African-American and the first woman to become this country’s Librarian of Congress. Oh, and she’s interested in retail, she mentioned the LOC’s lovely shop.