How Overdue Books Caused The Civil War

That's the title of my article, just published at the American Libraries magazine website.  It is a true story of the House of Representatives, the New York Times, the Dred Scott Decision... and overdue library books.

a few words on libraries, from Mr. Lane

I love the British comic mystery series New Tricks, about retired cops trying to solve cold cases.  The episode I saw this week struck close to home in a lot of ways.  University library budget cuts, book theft, etc.  This video shows the opening with ex-copper (and obsessive/compulsive) Brian "Memory" Lane and his wife visiting their local library.  The first minute is too good to miss.

Get your groceries at the library

This NPR story tells of an idea so brilliant it staggers me. In neighborhoods of Baltimore where there are no grocery stores nearby ("food deserts") the city library is filling the gap. Patrons can order their food in the branch library and a supermarket delivers it to the branch the next day. Each order means a family member visits the library twice - often with kids - and I'll bet they become dedicated fans. Talk about thinking outside the box!

The project is paid for by a $60,000 stimulus grant.

Just another day in Bellingham, Washington

WWU students at Bellingham Farmer's Market
Originally uploaded by wwu.admissions

Went to the Farmers Market downtown. Since it was the first Saturday in April I made sure to get there for the opening.

Later I ran into G., a friend who moved to town last year. "Were you here for the cabbage toss?" I asked.

"What cabbage toss?"

I explained that, to officially open the new market season, the mayor of Bellingham ceremonially throws out the first cabbage at 10 AM on the first day.

G. gave me a look that said "SURE he does."

Well, it's true. That's life in Bellingham.

Later I went over to Kulshan Cycles to pick up my bike which was in for a tune-up. The wheel wonders at Kulshan have set my vehicle up for another year on the trails and commuting routes.

I pedaled over to the Upfront Theatre. When Ryan Stiles (of The Drew Carey Show and Whose Line Is It Anyway?) moved to Whatcom County he founded the Upfront to indulge his love for improv comedy. This was the day of the annual Improvathon where a group of young actors do 27 hours of comedy, just for the hell of it. For ten bucks I watched two hours of it. The highlight, for me, was a lengthy story of a quest, which involved a knight having to defeat several monsters at Yahtzee.

After that I wheeled over to the Public Library where I ran into my friend E, who was looking for some new female novelists to try out. I recommended THE BAY AT MIDNIGHT, my favorite novel by Diane Chamberlain, who happens to be my sister. Keep it in the family.

After a hurried dinner I went over to the Mount Baker Theatre, our city's big house, built in the 1920s, and caught the national touring company production of Cabaret. I lost track of people saying "The plot of the movie was completely different." Yup, and much better. But the music is great.

Then it was home to bed. Just another day in the City of Subdued Excitement.


Photo by Layna Bennehoff, taken on a much warmer and sunnier Saturday than yesterday.

If the good ol' days were like the good new days

You have probably heard the old joke that if software designers built cars they would cost $100, go 200 MPH - and blow up for no apparent reason.

This thread raises the same sort of question: What if getting full-text articles had been as complicated in the day of paper journals as it is now?

"Z awoke one day from uneasy lectures to find that journal publishing had been turned into a giant insect. And not one of your cute bumblebee ones..."

Photo by Apollo 13.

Awful Library Books

Weeding...Deacquisition.... No librarian likes to do it, but we have to. Books this marginal make it less painful.

Digester's Reader

A Clockwork Orange edible book
Originally uploaded by Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library

This is a new one on me. Some libraries have been having Edible Book contests. For example, this is A CLOCKWORK ORANGE by
Jeanne Mithen, from the 2007 contest atTopeka and Shawnee County Public Library.

I discovered this when I came across the 2009 contest at Staley Library of Millikin University. I can't copy their pictures here easily but go look at them, especially Eric McKinney's little masterpiece.

Historians Heart Librarians

Heart shaped book
Originally uploaded by Trash Queen

My favorite history blogger is Ed Darrell of Millard Fillmore's Bathtub.
Recently he wrote a little piece in praise of librarians and gave a long list of librarian blogs with interesting names. A subset lies below. (I repeat his warning that they haven't been checked to see if they are safe for work viewing.)
(Not So) Bad Girl Librarian
Library Snark
Love the Liberry
Miss Information
Naked in the Public Library
Tiny Little Librarian
Vampire Librarian

About a theft

Vandalized book
Originally uploaded by fifteeniguana

Here's the nutshell. Someone stole a lot of maps and similar pages from the library where I work. A lot of people at the university helped catch the alleged thief. You can see the whole story at my other blog, Criminal Brief.

Better Than Free

Free Dirt
Originally uploaded by Sanandreas

I just read a cool article by Kevin Kelly called "Better Than Free." He argues that the Internet is about making free copies of everything (books, pictures, music, movies, etc.). So how do we get people to pay for something that's free? By adding value, of course, and he discusses eight "generatives," things that can't be copied but have to be created. They include immediacy (I want it now), personalization (I want only the part that interests me), accessibility (I want someone else to take care of it and make it available when I need it), Interpretation (I'll pay someone to help me use the free service), etc.

He talks about "findability," thinking of aggregators like Amazon and Netflix that help people find "the good stuff." He points out that one of the original "aggregators," TV Guide, used to make more than the TV networks, simply by helping people find the best of stuff that was available for free. He also argues that publishers, film studios and music labels are aggregators.

A short, interesting read.

Stopped, Thieves

Rare books
Originally uploaded by bmb

If you read only one federal court appellate decision this month (yeah, I know, you forgot your new year resolution to read two a week, didn't you?) make it this one.

It tells the fascinating story of four college students who came up with the caper of a lifetime - to steal a truckload of rare books from the Special Collections Room at Transylvania University in Kentucky. Alternatingly hilarious and frightening (fortunately the brave librarian they attacked -- and the equally heroic one who confronted them -- were not badly hurt) the story has a happy ending. The main point for the appeals court to decide was: Can the books they dropped OUTSIDE the Special Collections Room but INSIDE the Library be considered stolen when calculating the value of stolen items (and therefore, the length of their sentences)? The judges say: Yep.

What is a library worth?

gold lettering
Originally uploaded by evissa

Maine State Library has provided one way to answer that question here.
Could an academic library do the same thing?

Thanks to Environmental News Bits for the tip.

Oompah! Oompah!

Oompah Band at WWU. Libraries Open House
Originally uploaded by wwulib

The library where i work had it's first-ever Open House last week to encourage new students to see what the inside of the building looks like, and maybe even take a tour. The theme was Oktoberfest so we had root beer, pretzels, and this charming German band. I heard students on their cell phones saying "Really! There's a polka band in the library!"

Hey, why not?