People
Lobbying for Library Cards
Posted February 4, 2013 by Sarah Barton
On Saturday I spent three hours lobbying for library cards. During the month of February, the Somerville Public Library is competing against the Arlington, Belmont, and Lexington Public Libraries to see which can sign up the most new library cardholders. I donned my “Libraries: Shhhh Happens.” t-shirt (which received many comments and compliments) and stood at the entrance of the Somerville Winter Farmers’ Market trying to attract potential cardholders. I was surprised by how many people already had a library card, delightfully surprised by how many people are avid library supporters, and happily surprised by how many people said “I’ve been meaning to get one of those!” It was great to see such positive levels of interest and support from a random sample of locals. It felt equal parts strange and refreshing to be representing the library outside of a library setting. Branding, marketing, and publicizing are all aspects of public libraries that can never be overdone and can always use improvement, and talking to unsuspecting farmers’ market dwellers was a great environment for putting…
16 Great Library Scenes in Film
Posted January 24, 2013 by Katie Olivo
Check out this article about the author’s favorite library moments in film. My favorite line from it is this: “See what happens when you cut back on library staffing? You risk Voldemort taking over.” Enjoy!!
Restructuring Public Libraries
Posted January 16, 2013 by Julie Steenson
I like my blogs to be fun but informative, which usually means avoiding politics. Unfortunately, there is a political situation taking place across the nation that just might influence your decision to go to library school. I live in rural NH, and more often than not, rural libraries are staffed only by paraprofessionals. Librarians with Master’s degree are not the norm, but that is changing, for good and bad. Why a change is good? In the year I have been at GSLIS, I have learned there is a lot more to being a librarian than one might think when one checks out a book. Along with a ton of technology skills, there are many things that just make good practice and good library management. In my experience, paraprofessionals are smart people who use a lot of common sense, but their decisions may or may not be informed by library theory or tried and true methods. Why a change is bad? Recently, in St. Johnsbury, VT, the board of trustees fired the entire Athenaeum library staff…
On Starting A New Year, and A New Semester
Posted January 15, 2013 by Carolyn Lucas
I cannot believe that Christmas break already came and went. I spent my time tanning in the Floridian sun, crafting all of my Christmas presents, catching up on some quality sleep time, and enjoying hot beverages… I am especially enjoying the newfound glories of a proper cup of English Breakfast tea, and the new delights of the French Pressed coffee. As 2012 ended and 2013 begins, I always find that a few New Year’s Resolutions make their way into my habits as a student. Read: I WILL read all the readings this semester. I WILL go to office hours if I need help. I WILL start papers and projects well-enough in advance. Like many students, procrastination is a good friend of mine, who pops in more often than I’d like to take up way too much of my time with persuasions of nail-painting and dessert-baking instead of paper-writing and presentation-practicing. Typically, I despise trendy productivity techniques. But over Christmas, I found myself reading an interesting article about the benefits of the small, self-indulgent pleasures in…
McAllen Public Library Part Two: People and Programs
Posted January 13, 2013 by lazylibrarian
Last week I had the pleasure of sharing with you some insights from my visit to McAllen Public Library, winner of the 2012 ALA Award for Interior Design. To read the first part of this two part series that talks about the physical building click here. A library, of course, is not just about the building. The building itself might be marvelous, but if the library is not consistently offering services and resources that its patrons desire it will not remain praiseworthy for long. Fortunately, the director of the McAllen Public Library, Kathleen Horan, is not one to forget this. She is not content to let the library rest on its laurels. “Because of our culture and the way the news, the fads and trends come at us, everything comes and goes so we can’t afford to sit back and say ‘ok we can rest easy now because we won this design award,’ because we constantly have to stay valuable,” states Ms. Horan. In her eyes, although the national and international press is welcome, the more…
McAllen Public Library Part 1: Building a Community
Posted January 10, 2013 by lazylibrarian
You may have heard of the McAllen Public Library. It has been mentioned in such places as the L.A. Times and Time. It is the library that won the 2012 ALA Interior Design Award, the library converted from an abandoned Wal-Mart. But while the media may concentrate on this unique layout, the McAllen Library is so much more than building, amazing as it. While this blog post will focus on some of the marvels of the building itself, it is only the first part. Come back next week to learn more about the amazing programs and people involved in this “big-box” library. For a gallery of photographs click here. McAllen, TX is the state’s 20th largest city in terms of population. It is home to 133,742 people but it serves many more. For instance, my family lives in Harlingen, TX – about 40 minutes southeast of McAllen, but we regularly drive to McAllen for its dining and shopping options (and the closest Barnes and Nobles!). McAllen, by nature of its location on the American/Mexico border down by the tip of the state,…
Library Lesson Learned II
Posted December 17, 2012 by Sarah Barton
On my way home from the train a few days ago, I ran into a woman who frequents the library where I work. The library stays open until 9 pm two nights per week, and she is almost always there at least one of those nights watching videos and shows on her laptop. I say hi to her and ask how she’s doing, but we never had a conversation and I didn’t know her name. One night, for no apparent reason, she gave me a bag of tasty Szechuan peanuts. Anyway, when I saw her walking home from the train that day, we both recognized each other immediately and had a nice conversation. By virtue of seeing each other at the library, this woman and I had tacitly become friends. That very same evening at work, another frequent patron came up to me while I was shelving books to say that he hadn’t seen me in a while and asked how I was doing. I said that I only work a few nights each week, but yes,…
Heroism and Librarians
Posted December 16, 2012 by lazylibrarian
In the midst of the tragedy that occurred in Sandy Hook, CT this Friday there are stories of heroic deeds, of a principal, counselors, and teachers who either gave or risked their lives to protect their students. Although in the confusing aftermath, I have seen several different names it seems that a quick thinking librarian and her assistant calmly escorted their students into a supply closet, gave them coloring supplies and kept their heads enough to even ask the police that pounded on the door for ID before they opened up to them. There are many other librarians, many probably lost to history, who are heroes. Here are a few. 1. Ms. Clara Breed A friend of mine introduced me to this librarian, whom she came across while doing research on Japanese-American internment camps in World War II. Clara Breed was a San Diego children’s librarian who personally knew many of the Japanese-American families who were brutally forced into camps. She made sure that she kept in contact with as many of her students as…
The Opposite of Rejection…I hope.
Posted December 6, 2012 by cdelnero
My last post about being rejected for a job I really wanted was sort of sad. Sorry about that. But really, I was depressed about that job. It sounded so cool. But that very day I was called about another job that I had completely forgot I applied for and was asked to come in for an interview. Even though I wasn’t as excited about it, I said that yes, of course I would interview. The job is for a library assistant position at a medical library in Hartford,CT.I have worked in the medical field for three years and people constantly ask me if I want to be a medical librarian and I always say no. I don’t really enjoy my current job all that much and I’ve been dying to get OUT of the field…until I had this interview. When I walked into the hospital I was immediately impressed. The facility is beautiful. There are restaurants and lounge areas and everyone was so friendly! I met with someone from Human Resources who explained their…
Librarian Olympics and Other Fun
Posted December 5, 2012 by Julie Steenson
We all know that librarians are awesome at bookish endeavors, but time and again, my professors (and my experience) tell me that the ability to unjam a stapler is an extremely important librarian skill. This is right up there with troubleshooting the fax machine, clearing the paper jam in the printer, learning the new phone system, and my most recent nightmare….using the new projector and sound system at the library’s movie night. The problem with all of these minor technical horrors is that one usually must deal with them on the spot, with patrons waiting. Time is of the essence, and well, to be honest, I am spending all this money on a Master’s degree and I don’t enjoy being stumped by a fancy new remote control. It’s embarrassing. What we need is Librarian Olympics! Imagine a convention hall packed with hundreds of different types of copiers, fax machines, and e-readers and teams of librarians competing to troubleshoot the uncooperative machines in the shortest time…The training sessions alone would turn us all into brilliant mechanical…