Matt

Another piece on the closing of the Florida State Library. The plan apparently being to fire all the staff and give all the holdings to FSU. The University will not be given additional funding for staff or space to deal with the collection. The Governor has apparently also declared February to be \”Florida Library Appreciation Month.\” More from the Orlando Sentinel.

Wired has a nice little story on RFID technology. Although originally designed for security, these \”tags\” which are a combination of microchip and radio antenna, have a number of benefits within the library. Self-checkout is quicker and a shelf can be easily scanned to check its contents. Also check-out(ouch!) UK Bookstores\’ plans for RFID

In a town of 400 in Alaska, a library of 4,000 items is the \”heart of the community.\” Run entirely by volunteers and funded by $5 temporary library cards and a $100 a ticket raffle, the library is now planning an $85,000 space expansion. Story from the Nando Times

In an idea long overdue, a comic about libraries. As seen nearly everywhere on the library blog world, this comic is a collaboration between Slate contributor Bill Barnes and a librarian whose pen name is Gene Ambaum. Read it here

Known as the \”Math Lady\”, Phyllis E. Stern is a retired teacher who has now volunteered over 1,000 hours at the Burlington County Library helping students with math work.

\”I help whoever is here,\” she said, \”and the list grows steadily. . . .\” The rest of the story from The Philadelphia Inquirer

The new Women\’s Library, once known as the Fawcett Library, is in London\’s East End. The focus of the library is \”the 19th century campaign by women to get the vote and on the fight for equal pay and better health care.\” Originating from the London Society for Women\’s Suffrage, it was first a library in 1926. More from Yahoo!

With Germany in a recession, cities are selling off public services, including libraries. Some clinics have apparently been privatized, but no word on whether the same is happening to the libraries or if they are just being closed. More from the Times.

BBC News reports that Kafka\’s library is returning to Prague. The library includes around 1,000 books and first editions of Kafka\’s work.

Pulitzer prize-winner Roger Reynold\’s new opera will premiere at the Library of Congress as part of their bicentennial celebration. The Library\’s famous Bibles, the Gutenberg and the Bible of Mainz are going to be stored in a vault during performance- not because they might go missing, but because the noise of the air conditioners keeping the Bibles in good condition would interfere with the sound of the opera. Story from The Guardian.

If this new program of the Singapore National Library Board(NLB) works out, there could be a big demand for \”Born To Read\” tattoos. The new program provides reading materials for newborns: \”Up to 50,000 newborns at 9 hospitals will each receive a starter kit, containing booklets on nursery rhymes, parenting tips and more.\” The NLB also plans to start offering library cards to three year-olds. Story from Channel News Asia.