The library where I work just received an irate letter from a patron who complained that we weren’t quiet enough, citing crying babies, ill-behaved children and library staff talking too loudly with patrons and with each other. Because I’ve always thought of my workplace as happily bustling rather than noisy, I logged onto Facebook, where I shared my story, then asked my fellow librarians, “Do you work in a quiet library? How quiet should a public library be?”
Blake
Presidential libraries can create excitement, or controversy, for campuses
“It’s kind of like a mini-Smithsonian, and when you go there, you normally you think you’re going to get history and you’re going to learn from them. If presidents want a museum of advertisement, don’t turn it over to the federal government.”
From Presidential libraries can create excitement, or controversy, for campuses | Education Dive
A chapter a day: Association of book reading with longevity
Highlights
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Book reading provides a survival advantage among the elderly (HR = 0.80, p < 0.0001). • Books are more advantageous for survival than newspapers/magazines. • The survival advantage of reading books works through a cognitive mediator. • Books are protective regardless of gender, wealth, education, or health.
From A chapter a day: Association of book reading with longevity
Publishers’ Dilemma: Judge A Book By Its Data Or Trust The Editor’s Gut?
“Data is better than your gut — yes, I have said that,” says Dominique Raccah, publisher and CEO of Sourcebooks, a company that’s been described as “data driven” — a description she does not dispute. She says sales data has been available for a while but now she has access to a different kind of information.
From Publishers’ Dilemma: Judge A Book By Its Data Or Trust The Editor’s Gut? : All Tech Considered : NPR
Beautiful libraries in all 50 states
Libraries are timeless treasures.
Even as pulpy paperbacks get swapped out for electronic ink, we still crave a physical space where we can surround ourselves with knowledge. When done right, those spaces can be works of art.
To find the most beautiful libraries in each state, Tech Insider looked at past and current award-winners as judged by the American Institute of Architects and the American Library Association awards, and relied on our own judgment for states who have never won.
Make sure to give these a look on your next road trip.
Internet post leads to truck loads of library books
Writers from all over the world are donating books to the Greenville Junior/Senior High School Library, which is located 90 miles North East of Chico. Students have been unable to check out books there for over 10 years because budget cuts and staffing issues left the book shelves out dated.
Local writer Margaret Garcia had a dream of re-opening the library, so she posted the school’s situation on her blog. Once the post went viral, writers from all over the world started mailing books to the school.
From Internet post leads to truck loads of library books | ABC10.com
Donald Trump walks into your local library. What next? Librarians speak out
Reassuringly professional on the whole
Not all the answers fit—my favorite outside-the-rules response to the hypothetical patrons was, “Webster’s Dictionary. Dropped from a great height”—and I would have welcomed more mention of ebooks and audiobooks.
Still, most of the answers were reassuringly professional in the opinion of this nonlibrarian. My favorite was from D.W., a retired librarian and prolific commenter within the LinkedIn group:
From Donald Trump walks into your local library. What next? Librarians speak out
The world’s cities with the most bookstores and libraries per capita
Over the past two years, 18 cities have reported how many bookstores they have, and 20 have reported on their public libraries.
Hong Kong leads the pack with 21 bookshops per 100,000 people, though last time Buenos Aires sent in its count, in 2013, it was the leader, with 25. New York does OK, with around 840 bookstores for 8.4 million people, but London, whose population is only slightly bigger than New York, counts only 360 stores.
From The world’s cities with the most bookstores and libraries per capita — Quartz
The Scandalous Zines of Renaissance England
From the 15th century onward, everyday English people passed broadsides around, sang their songs, and gossiped about the news contained within. Unlike books or early newspapers, broadsides and pamphlets were not curated nor intended for a specific, upper-class audience. This early form of journalism and storytelling was sold on the cheap, and many took no time at all to read.
From The Scandalous Zines of Renaissance England | Atlas Obscura
The Future of the Past: Modernizing the New York Times Archive
While our original goal was to modernize our digital archive, the migration project has led to opportunities for future projects to engage our readers in our treasure trove of historical news data.
From The Future of the Past: Modernizing the New York Times Archive – The New York Times
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