michelle c.

Popular blog Boing Boing points to one library’s interesting method for dealing with library filtering, utilizing large signs designating “filtered” and “unfiltered” internet access. Says the submitter of the photo, “The ‘unfiltered’ side faces the reference desk so the librarians can monitor usage but they say it has reduced abuse and given adults uncensored access to the internet.” Pic and entry here. An interesting comment debate follows, discussing whether the signage constitutes a privacy invasion.

Washington DC’s free weekly CityPaper features a story this week about the phenomena of “computer squatters” in DC’s main library. Library regulars and internet addicts have learned to beat the system by wielding multiple library cards and aliases. One user admitted to his own method:
“He points to the ID number on a library card. It has 14 digits arranged in four sections. The key parts, says Holmes, are the last two sections, which contain five and four digits, respectively. Just play around with these, he says. Holmes says it usually takes him six tries to get a winning combination. He has three PINs in his arsenal.”
Librarians questioned gave varied responses as to the severity of the problem, but administration hopes that the current average of an hour and a half to two hour computer wait time will be alleved by the addition of 75 new computers next month.
More on the story here

Stats from the Society of College, National and University Libraries in the UK reveal that university library visits have declined by 22% in the last decade, with an average annual fall of 3%. This has been attributed largely to an increase in the use of online resources. It’s interesting to note, however, that library book loans have risen 10% over that same time period. More info at the BBC story here.

An article on the State Department’s USINFO site highlights the Lubuto Library Project, a DC-based organization helping street children and AIDS orphans in Zambia by building high-quality libraries and library collections and offering the children a safe and welcoming environment in which to learn. The first library, which is built using traditional Zambian architecture, will be opening in Lusaka later this year. This structure will be replacing a smaller library, started by Lubuto Library Project founder Jane Kinney Meyers and the staff of Fountain of Hope, a drop-in center for street children, which is currently housed in a metal shipping container on the Fountain of Hope premises. Two other libraries in rural Zambia are also scheduled to begin construction and the organization hopes to expand the project into more areas throughout Zambia and into other African nations. More information at the organization’s website here.

Microsoft and the British Library are collaborating to introduce the first ever attempt to create a public archive of British emails. They’re asking participants to submit an memorable sent or received emails to be recorded for posterity, to record “a snapshot of British life by email”. The project is part of a promotion to celebrate the launch of the new Windows Live Hotmail. Contributers are invited to submit their emails under the following categories: Blunders, Life Changing Emails, Complaints, Spam, Love and Romance, Humour, Everyday Emails, News, World Around You, Tales from Abroad. For readers in Great Britain, submission details can be found here.

Incidences of violence involving youths have grown so severe in one Swindon library that police have decided to set up base permanently in the facility as a deterrent. According to one report, library staff have been so besieged with threats and fights from abusive young people, some as young as 10 years old, that several children have been banned from the library, either permanently or for a period of several months. The Swindon Council has also agreed to provide access to on-call security guards for other librarians in the city system. More here.

The Washington Post recently profiled the Library Hotel in Manhattan. The hotel, located one block away from the New York Public Library at 41st and Madison, maintains over 6,000 books in its collection and organizes the rooms according to the Dewey Decimal System. According to the article, “the hotel has been enthusiastically welcomed by readers, writers, artists and librarians (Libraries Room 1000.001). From the hefty art books shelved in mahogany in the sleek lobby to the delicate volumes of verse in the Poetry Garden on the 14th-floor indoor terrace, the place is a bibliophile’s dream.”
The most popular room request? 800.001, the Erotic Literature room.

Libraries looking to carry the new Harry Potter book will have to follow a number of rules set out by the publisher first. Included in the Scholastic Inc. contract is the provision that libraries limit the number of staff that come into contact with the books before the release date (July 21). Libraries must also provide the names and contact information for all branch managers. Those failing to do so will risk being blocked from future releases. The contract states, “We acknowledge and agree that any such violation will cause irreparable harm to Scholastic and the author, J.K. Rowling, and that monetary damages will be inadequate to compensate for violations.”
From SFGate

Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine (D) just signed into law a bill that requires all public libraries in the state to install Internet filters to block pornography and “obscene” materials that may be harmful to minors. Those choosing not to do so will forfeit all state funding. The new law will take effect on July 1st.
More on the story here.