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Posted by Norman Oder on November 17, 2009
In Rush, a small town a half hour's drive north of Dublin, Ireland, a €3 million ($4.46 million USD) library was converted from an old church, and the stunning result was nominated for a prize at the World Architecture Festival Awards (photo here).However, as the Irish Independent reported, a freeze on hiring means that the library--with 20,000 books and 3000 AV materials--hasn't been able to open. The newspaper editorialized that, while the library w...Read More
Posted by Norman Oder on November 17, 2009
The board of the Cheshire Public Library, CT, by a 5-1 vote, decided to back the director's decision to buy a book about a horrific murder that shook the town. (Previous coverage of the debate.) Video from Fox 61 below....Read More
Industries: Managing Libraries
Posted by Norman Oder on November 13, 2009
A government documents librarian at Purdue, Bert Chapman, writes a side blog called Conservative Librarian, where he has most recently opined on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the quincentennial of Henry VIII, and the recent election returns--all, natch, from a conservative perspective. Industries: Library Culture
Posted by Norman Oder on November 12, 2009
Ai ming for a more user-friendly logo in multiple media, the New York Public Library has adapted its longtime lion logo, echoing the iconic Patience and Fortitude sculptures at the flagship research library (now known as the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building). A New York Times blog post suggests the new version "sheds the fussy detail of the old one," noting th...Read More Industries: Managing Libraries
Posted by Norman Oder on November 6, 2009
If you didn't go to the 2009 Educause Conference in Denver, you missed a scorcher of a debate about the future of the brick-and-mortar campus library.A few excerpts from Inside Higher Ed: “Let’s face it: the library, as a place, is dead,” said Suzanne E. Thorin, dean of libraries at Syracuse University. “Kaput. Finito. And we need to move on to a new concept of what the academic library is.”...Read More Industries: Academic Libraries
Posted by Norman Oder on November 5, 2009
In reading my colleague Josh Hadro's report on R. David Lankes' keynote at today's Charleston Conference, I wondered a bit about the somewhat fuzzy description of libraries as facilitating conversation. Then again, I just read this Toronto Star article about how the vast and vibrant Toronto Public Library hosts concerts and a whole lot more. Writes Christopher Hume: Yes, we still go to read a magazine, troll the Net and, of course, borrow books, but in Toronto, a community of old-timers and newcomers, condos and crises, the 21st-century library is a place of connection, a nexus. Industries: Public Services
Posted by Norman Oder on October 28, 2009
One of the most interesting things in a Chicago Tribune article about whether burning CDs borrowed from the library is a copyright violation--lawyers say yes, it's a no-brainer--is the attached poll, which, though admittedly unscientific, shows that the largest group of respondents consider it fair use.In other words, there's a big disjuncture between law and (many people's) reality. On Publib, commentator Walt Crawford suggested the copying may be copyright infringement, it's not piracy (an option in the poll), given the lack of financial gain--though not everybody agreed. The ...Read More Industries: Copyright/Fair Use
Posted by Norman Oder on October 27, 2009
Tracy Kidder, author most recently of Strength in What Remains, the story of an immigrant's remarkable journey from Africa (LJ review), spoke to the Cohasset (MA) Mariner about libraries, in anticipation of his Nov. 2 visit sponsored by the Cohasset Library Trust:The cause of the public library doesn’t seem to have a strong enough constituency to get the funding, but libraries bring more to a community than some realize. I remember going to a run...Read More
Posted by Norman Oder on October 26, 2009
The New York Public Library (NYPL) expects a 21% decline in its fundraising this year, to $130 million, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, via the Los Angeles Times.That's a loss of more than $34 million, which surely cuts down on a wide range of new projects and initiatives, and likely is one spur for NYPL's continued restructuring. Then again, $130 million remains a healthy sum, a testament to NYPL's unusual hybrid as research library/branch system, leading to a longstanding position as a top charity for both well-heeled New Yorkers and nostalgic city natives. Industries: Funding
Posted by Norman Oder on October 23, 2009
So, a new book, a mass market paperback titled In the Middle of the Night: The Shocking True Story of a Family Killed in Cold Blood (St. Martin's True Crime Library), offers an accused murderer's account of graphic killings in Cheshire, CT, apparently violating a gag order.The town library has been criticized for buying it and opening up new wounds. (Reader reviews on Amazon.com are mostly but not uniformly negative.) The library board is meeting tonight to discuss the issue. The Cheshire Herald reports: The book has generated a bac...Read More
Posted by Norman Oder on October 21, 2009
The Fayetteville Public Library, AR, has introduced a new fundraiser, a $10 library card, with proceeds used to make the Blair Library more sustainable, including the installation of more LED lights and the purchase of additional thin clients, which replace desktop computer towers, taking up less space and using less energy. The photo of Blair Library is by  local artist Steve Moore.
Industries: Funding
Posted by Norman Oder on October 21, 2009
From a New York Times article today headlined E-Book Fans Keep Format in Spotlight: Amazon for example, says that people with Kindles now buy 3.1 times as many books as they did before owning the device. That factor is up from 2.7 in December 2008. So a reader who had previously bought eight books from Amazon would now purchase, on average, 24.8 books, a rise from 21.6 books.This raises some very interesting issues for libraries. First, consider that public libraries currently using ereaders are circulating library-owned devices preloaded with library content, with the device maker's agreement (as with the Sony Reader) and without (as with ...Read More
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