LISNews:

Hopefully these examples show how at times it’s worth turning our gaze inward to discover how we can do things better. That’s why, although there’s certainly plenty of cases of library patrons behaving badly — from hackers to politicians to exhibitionists (to say nothing about irresponsible authors) — the focus of this list is primarily on librarians, along with the government and vendors that we do business with. So then, in the spirit of those words from Alice Roosevelt Longworth, “If you can’t say something good about someone, sit here by me."

From Top 20 Library Scandals in Recent History – John Hubbard – Medium

Manuscripts can be seen as time capsules,” says Johanna Green, Lecturer in Book History and Digital Humanities at the University of Glasgow. “And marginalia provide layers of information as to the various human hands that have shaped their form and content.” From intriguingly detailed illustrations to random doodles, the drawings and other marks made along the edges of pages in medieval manuscripts—called marginalia—are not just peripheral matters. “Both tell us huge amounts about a book’s history and the people who have contributed to it, from creation to the present day.”

From The Strange and Grotesque Doodles in the Margins of Medieval Books - Atlas Obscura

That path from submission to revision and publication will sound familiar to modern scientists. However, Tyndall’s experience with the Philosophical Transactions—in particular, with its refereeing system—was quite different from what authors experience today. Tracing “On the absorption and radiation of heat” through the Royal Society’s editorial process highlights how one of the world’s most established refereeing systems worked in the 1860s. Rather than relying on anonymous referee reports to improve their papers, authors engaged in extensive personal exchanges with their reviewers. Such a collegial approach gradually lost favor but recently has undergone something of a resurgence.

From What it was like to be peer reviewed in the 1860s

The University of Reading has discovered pages of one of the first books printed in England, dating from the 15th century. The pages of a mediaeval priest’s handbook, dating to between 1476 and 1477, were found in the University’s archives by Special Collections librarian Erika Delbecque while she was cataloguing thousands of items showing the history of print and graphic design.

From One of the first books ever printed in England discovered by university librarian | The Independent

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, or “Rock Hall,” is best known for their annual selection of new inductees. But the museum also boasts an incredibly comprehensive library and archive chock full of scholarship and memorabilia, from photonegatives of Aretha Franklin in the studio to Jimi Hendrix’s handwritten ‘Purple Haze’ lyric sheet to a full drawer of Kid Rock posters.

From The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Is Looking for a Librarian - Atlas Obscura

Marx is currently on the look-out for some creative ways to not fine kids, but still hold them accountable. One idea he's toying with: put a hold on a child's account until they simply return their overdue materials, no fines involved. Five years ago, Marx granted city-wide amnesty to children with fines, and he says they saw 80,000 kids return to the library over time. Now, he's trying to secure a $10 million endowment to get rid of fines in perpetuity.

From A Better Way to Get Kids in Libraries: Stop Fining Them - WNYC News - WNYC

The 79 A.D. eruption of Mount Vesuvius is most famous for burying Pompeii, spectacularly preserving many artifacts—and residents—in that once bustling town south of Naples. The tumbling clouds of ash also entombed the nearby resort of Herculaneum, which is filled with its own wonders. During excavations there in 1752, diggers found a villa containing bundles of rolled scrolls, carbonized by the intense heat of the pyroclastic flows and preserved under layers of cement-like rock. Further digs showed that the scrolls were part of an extensive library, earning the structure the name Villa of the Papyri.

From Ancient Scrolls Blackened by Vesuvius Are Readable at Last | History | Smithsonian

Think about it: a library isn’t just a place where thousands of books are housed on plain shelves with a dusty card catalogue squeaking every time someone opens a wooden drawer. Libraries are public community centres: gathering places for all. In fact, a library is one of the most accessed free public services around anywhere … period. I’m hard-pressed to think of anything else that comes close.

From Libraries aren't simply city buildings; they're community building blocks | Commentary | St. Albert Gazette

“I want people to think about the library as, ‘This is a place where I can go and there are no limits to what I can learn,’” said library director Misty Jones. “I want people to think of us first when they are looking for something cool to do on the weekend or something cool to do at night. I want people to pay attention to what we’re doing because we’re on to something.”

From At San Diego's libraries, you can check out bike tools, language classes and Wi-Fi hotspots - The San Diego Union-Tribune

The National Archives and Records Administration—which operates presidential library-museums for every president from Herbert Hoover through George W. Bush—won’t be operating either for Obama. His private Obama Foundation, not the government, will own and operate the museum. And there really won’t be a presidential library. The Obama Foundation will pay for NARA to digitize unclassified records and release them to the public as they become available, but the center’s “Library,” which may or may not house a local branch of the Chicago Public Library, will not contain or control presidential papers and artifacts, digital or otherwise. Instead, according to a NARA press release that called the museum “a new model for the preservation and accessibility of presidential records,” those records will be stored in “existing NARA facilities”—meaning one or more of the agency’s research or records centers across the country.

From Presidential Libraries Are a Scam. Could Obama Change That? - POLITICO Magazine

Which often leads us to wonder: Why don't we see more gifts to libraries? Sure, we've seen some such gifts, but not many as you might think at a moment when so many new donors are showing up in philanthropy, looking for places where their money might make an impact. Libraries could certainly use a boost. In many cities and towns, public libraries are hurting because of budgetary cutbacks—and more cuts may be on the way with the Trump administration targeting federal library funding. 

From Why Aren't More Big Donors Giving to Public Libraries? — Inside Philanthropy

Centralize reading in your home. Make a public commitment. Find a few trusted, curated lists. Change your mindset about quitting. Take a “news fast” and channel your reading dollars. ....

From 8 Ways to Read (a Lot) More Books This Year

Neutrality doesn’t encourage our critical thinking; it doesn’t ask us to question facts that are wrong, or behaviors that are prejudiced. By this measure, neutrality doesn’t necessarily reveal injustice but further entrenches it, which is ironic.

From Librarians in the 21st Century: It Is Becoming Impossible to Remain Neutral | Literary Hub

A simmering feud between two men led to gunfire, disorienting panic and calls to police of possible mass casualties at Miami-Dade’s main library yesterday.

In the end, only the gun-wielding man was shot — by a police officer who was off duty in uniform working at the downtown library. Dozens of patrons, some of whom witnessed the altercation, were led to safety. Do we still think open carry is a good idea?

The design for the Obama Presidential Center was unveiled Wednesday at an event attended by former President Obama and Michelle Obama. The Center, slated to be completed in 2021, will be located in the Jackson Park neighborhood of Chicago's South side and it will include three buildings — a museum, forum and library that surround a public plaza. The buildings will be made up of variegated stone with glass openings to allow for natural light and be certified at LEED v4 Platinum for resource efficiency and sustainability.

From Obama Presidential Center Design Unveiled : NPR

It's happening all around the country. Librarians are teaching patrons and students how to detect "fake news".

In Seattle WA: From King5 News.

In Kenosha WI: From Kenosha WI News

At Fordham U, NY: Fordham University Libraries

In LaSalle, IL: La Salle Public Library

Do you know of other libraries informing their patrons how to spot "fake news"? Let us know in the comments.

Welcome to the curriculum page for the Data Privacy Project. We are pleased to share a set of learning tools that was created with and for library professionals. The curriculum contains a facilitator’s guide, presentation slides, and handouts, and permits remix and reuse under a Share Alike 4.0 Creative Commons license.

From Curriculum – Data Privacy Project

Beyond reading this report and preprint, what can we do to learn more and help protect our patrons’ privacy (and our own)? Keeping up with these issues is a good first step.... We can also work to audit our own internal library systems and practices, and to push the vendors we work with to protect patron privacy. Further, we can increase digital privacy awareness among ourselves, our coworkers, and our patrons.

From Privacy and Academic Libraries Right Now | ACRLog

A report on the future of public libraries from the prestigious Carnegie Trust has been slammed as “over-optimistic”, amid calls for it to be withdrawn. Leading library campaigner Tim Coates has filed a formal complaint with the charity’s trustees, claiming that the report, published last month, “seriously avoids the truth” about the long-term decline of the sector and misrepresents data on library use.

From Major report on libraries' future slammed as over-optimistic | Books | The Guardian

From the New York Times (a liberal bastion of journalism), an article about the liberal bastion of libraries on the England-Wales border Gladstone's Library.

A library was established by Britain’s high-minded Victorian Liberal prime minister, William Gladstone in the late 19th Century and its now enjoying a boom in use. Unlike the US where all former Presidents establish a library, it is the only Prime Minister's library in the UK. Access is free to all.

The restaurant at Gladstone’s Library, close to the border between Wales and England, is called Food for Thought, and the caterers have been busy recently. Interest has surged in an institution that houses Gladstone’s books and papers and that sees itself as a temple of liberal values, delighting its director, Peter Francis, who believes the trend is a reaction to the rise of populism in Britain to the upcoming Brexit.