Over twenty-five years of research has shown that in spite of low salaries, few opportunities for advancement, and challenging work environments, most public librarians are satisfied overall with their jobs and careers, primarily because of the intrinsic rewards of the profession.
- Susan Rathbun-Grubb and Joanne Card Marshall, "Public Librarianship as a career: challenges and prospects", Library Trends, Fall 2009.
Teenreads.com have published the results of their 2009 Reader Survey. I haven't had a chance to read it in detail yet, but it certainly seems worth a look.
It has always seemed to me that a large proportion of librarians really want to be writers. Actually, let's face it, a large proportion of non-librarians really want to be writers. The sad fact is however, that the vast majority of these would be literary greats never even get around to starting their masterpiece. That's where NaNoWriMo comes in. NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is the sort of thing that might give you the spark you need to get going. The basic idea is that you try to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. Thats 1667 words per day. Every day. For a month. I first tried Nano a couple of years ago and from memory I may have written a few thousand words. I can't even remember what the story was. Last year I tried again and got to 16,000 words. I know that is a far cry from 50,000 but I have kept plugging away on that story and it is currently close to 30,000. Still a long way from being complete. But I'm proud of it. I (perhaps foolishly) have decided to give it another go. I'll try for 50,000 but don't really care if I make it or not. if I can get 10,000 or 20,000 I'll be extremely happy. Have you always wanted to write a novel but never had the motivation to start. Do you have a few plot notes buried in your sock drawer? Do you dream of living the blissful life of a full time writer? Then why not join me and thousands of others in giving NaNoWriMo a shot. You can se my NaNo profile here and make me a writing buddy if you like. Here's some thinking music to help you decide:
On the library's second floor, the new 985-square-foot Teen Space, which holds its grand opening today, features not only 10 computers - six Macintosh and four other computers - but also lounge furniture, a large-screen television, a teen art gallery and the teen resource collections of books, movies, music and magazines. The space is also home to several game consoles, including the video game consoles Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStations 2 and 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360.
@mnjorgensen pointed me at this article about a great sounding teen space at a library in Atlantic City. I love the idea of a well thought out teen area in the library. I know some people cringe at the idea of games consoles, but I'm happy with it. What I should do is read up and put some thought into it so I can construct a well thought out argument for them.
On the other hand, I can just suggest that they have far more value than a collection of trashy Mils & Boon books.
Of course, the vampires are gradually getting muscled out by zombies. I wonder what will be next.
There'll be no carhops on roller skates. And if you're hankering for a burger and fries, forget it. But if it's food for the mind you crave — books, music or movies — staffers at some of the Houston Public Library's most congested branches will be happy to deliver your order right to your car.
In response to limited parking spaces, Houston Public Library are trialling what is effectively a drive-through service for picking up reservations. When you arrive at the library you phone the library from your car, give them your details and a friendly member of staff will carry out your books.
Fantastic idea if you ask me.
You could say that it’s not a “real” library any more. Or you could say that the smell, look and feel of real books cannot be replaced by e-readers. But the administrators of Cushing Academy, a prep school near Boston, have done exactly that.
It's a fascinating move by Cushing Academy and I'm curious to see how it works out.
I think having text books in electronic format makes so much more sense than paper. Novels may be a bit different. I'm yet to use a dedicated ereader but imagine I'd be quite happy to go that way if the ebooks were available through the library.
Some fascinating stats in this clip about the way social media is impacting our world.
For bonus points, I suggest you follow it up with a reading of the book Feed by M.T. Anderson.
The Frankfort Public Library is in the process of "freeing dewey" from their library shelves. They are blogging their progress over at deweyfree.com
Will it work for them? I hope it does. Would it work for everyone? I don't think so, but I'm still curious to follow their progress.
