Could the public library system start today?

Freakonomics is a book most people have at least heard of at this point. I subscribe to the blog and find many interesting topics there. One recently askd if public libraries didnt exist could you start one today? This is an interesting question and can be read about here.

Latest Reads

Here are my latest books, of course right now I am reading Harry Potter. I liked all of these and would recommend them!

The Miner's Daughter by Gretchen Moran Laskas
Storm Runners by T. Jefferson Parker
Powder Monkey by Paul Dowswell
Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress by Tina Ferraro
I Heard That Song Before by Mary Higgins Clark

A Hipper Crowd of Shushers

Check out this article from the New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/08/fashion/08librarian.html?ex=1341806400&en=bb

Fashion & Style

A Hipper Crowd of Shushers

By KARA JESELLA

Published: July 8, 2007

A new type of librarian is emerging: think Dewey Decimal meets Generation X.

I liked the article and thought it helped fight the stereotype, something I always support. However there has been a backlash of librarians who say who cares about the image, why don't they focus on what we do not what we wear. I can sort of see that point but don't really agree. I think we have to become more known in the mainstream and need to look like we can be someone who the public can relate to in order make people more comfortable in approaching us. This is just my opinion but I think it was a good article :-)

ALA and Washington DC

Things have been crazy! I went to ALA, it was a great time but totally exhausting. Everyone had plane problems but thats another issue. I went to some sessions and some parties and I think I covered the vendor floor but it was three blocks long so who knows. I mailed a box home two day priority with some of the free stuff and I finally got it today, yes thats over two weeks later plus the box is barely hanging together. So much was going on each day I cant write about it all, but I am excited that next year it will be right here in Anaheim, about five miles away.

After ALA I stayed in DC and was a tourist, Hilary came too so we got to recall the old days, visit our old haunt and find new ones. It was fun but ten days away is a long time. The day after I got back I had a car accident. It was just a fender bender but thats all still being sorted out. Other than thats is been work and enjoying the cooler weather!

Librarians Build Communities

This is the USA Today article on Librarians Build Communities Day at ALA. It was a blast but a lot of work!

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-06-26-librarians-dc_N.htm?csp=34


Librarians: We're still vital in the digital age

Enlarge By Joe Brier for USA TODAY Ross Elementary School librarian Kathy Nelick, left, works with Darlene Browers of the American Library Association.

By Angela Haupt, USA TODAY

More than 300 librarians in town for the annual American Library Association conference spread out across Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, forgoing sightseeing in favor of public service.

Their purpose was twofold: to make a difference while combating the perception that libraries are a dying institution, rendered unnecessary by Internet resources.

"There's this idea that with everything available online, there's no reason to continue building libraries," says Michael Dowling of the library association. "But libraries do so much. They are lifelong learning centers. This is an opportunity for us to reach out."

The conference began Thursday and lasts through Wednesday. Volunteers worked in schools, libraries, parks and food banks across the city.

In downtown Washington on Friday, four volunteers spent about seven hours entering 4,000 books into Ross Elementary School's computer catalog system. "I've been doing it myself, but it's quite a bit of work," school librarian Kathy Nelick says. "We're very fortunate to have these volunteers. … The job requires librarians with knowledge of databases."

Although they acknowledge that libraries play a different role in the community today than they did 10 years ago, the volunteers say they are more necessary than ever.

"There has been an incredible explosion of available information," says Domi Long, a librarian at the private Lowell School in Washington. "We need to teach kids how to evaluate information, and we need to help them navigate it."

Jill Hurst-Wahl, a digitization consultant and president of Hurst Associates in Syracuse N.Y., says a need for libraries will continue as times change. The challenge, she says, is adapting to the ways people want to access resources.

"You have the younger generation, which is more technologically literate and less eager to physically go into the library," she says. "They want to go online. And then you have senior citizens, who are becoming more technical but are also more comfortable going into the library in person. The pressure facing libraries and librarians today is taking all the possibilities and creating services — either online or in person — that adequately serve all the different generations."