September 2017

Librarian explains why she rejected books donated by Melania Trump

Via CBS News.

The Dr. Suess books were rejected by a librarian at the Cambridgeport Elementray School Library in response to President Trump’s selection of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education among other factors.
What’s your opinion on the rejection of the gift?

UPDATE: FLOTUS office fires back a reply to the rejection of the Dr. Suess books:
via FoxNews (what else?)

‘To turn the gesture of sending young students some books into something divisive is unfortunate.’ – FLOTUS

Ex Libris: New York Public Library

Now playing at NYC’s Film Forum: Ex Libris NYPL.

Frederick Wiseman cracks open institutions: the military, the insane asylum, the high school, the police, the welfare system, the Paris Opera Ballet, the National Gallery of London, and now – in his 43rd film in 50 years – the New York Public Library, an institution eminently worthy of his immersive style. If you thought libraries are just repositories for books, you’re in for a big, wonderful surprise. The NYPL owns (and makes accessible) millions of images; sponsors lectures by people like Patti Smith, Elvis Costello, and Ta-Nehisi Coates; circulates a growing collection of e-books; maintains a vast archive of materials not available online; and gives classes in digital technology. The magnificent Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (and 5th Avenue at 42nd Street) is the spine of the film, but equally vital is the role of branch libraries that act as community centers for civic life.

FTC’s Listening Session for Public Librarians

The Federal Trade Commission wants to hear from you – we’ve worked with libraries for many years to distribute free materials and tips for consumers to help them avoid scams, recover from identity theft, and make wise buys. We’re creating new materials especially for public librarians to use for patron advice and programming.

Please share this invitation with your staff and colleagues. You or they can get on the phone and tell us what you think during our 15-minute listening session.
What consumer topics are the most needed for patrons? (for instance, budgeting/money management, credit and debt; avoiding scams; recovering from identity theft; others?)
What formats work best for your patrons (for instance, bookmarks, brochures, short videos, webinars, podcasts, FB Live, Twitter chats, other social media content, other?)
What formats work best for the librarian as they research the topic for a patron or put together programming (perhaps an online list of links for a deeper dive on certain topics, a brochure, slide presentations, podcasts, other?)

Sept 19 11:00 am PT|2:00 pm ET

To RSVP and get the call-in number, email Carol at [email protected].
Can’t make a session? We would greatly appreciate any thoughts, however brief, you have on this – you can email me at [email protected].

Books & Reading are More Important Than Ever

Will Schwalbe, author of Books for Living, considers why books and reading are more crucial than ever – and offers up a few ideas for what to read next.

Here from Signature Reads are Schwalbe’s thoughts on the subject.


He begins thus: “When I can’t stand to look at one more hateful tweet from the president, I read a book.”

Scientists find languages not used since Dark Ages among ancient manuscripts recovered from monastery

Languages not seen since the Dark Ages have come to light after scientists used a new method to inspect a trove of ancient manuscripts found in a monastery in Egypt.

They turned up extremely rare tongues, including Caucasian Albanian, on documents they found in Saint Catherine’s monastery on the Sinai peninsula that date back 1,500 years.

Monks originally wrote their texts down on parchments which were later scrubbed off and used to write the Bible by future generations who spoke in more modern languages.

From Scientists find languages not used since Dark Ages among ancient manuscripts recovered from monastery | The Independent

“Do You Miss Me Yet?” – Reestablishing the Corporate Librarians

It almost never fails when I run into someone I used to work with. The conversation starts with “Hey… how’s the law library world? It’s gotta be tough with all those books being online now.” (The implication being “aren’t you worried about becoming irrelevant?”) I reply with “Yeah, that makes it a whole lot more difficult to manage with all that information in a dozen different places than it did when it was a book in the library.” I’m not sure who they think is managing the information which is usually behind a very expensive paywall. I would guess they either think that it is managed directly by the vendor, or worse, that the Information Technology department is now the de facto library managers.

Full article