Wouldn’t this be the cutest picture to have in a children’s bookstore or section of a library?
It’s by WildLifePrints, which has tons of other adorable and funky animal scenes.
Category: Libraries
Local Library Love
As a native Rhode Islander, I was excited to see this article on the Providence Athenaeum. It’s a beautiful library:
The article is a fantastic look at the Athenaeum’s history and current place in the New England academic and cultural scene. If you’re in the area, make sure to stop by.
(image: Providence Athenaeum)
And You Don’t Need Any Quarters
I can’t remember the last time I used a pay phone. It might have been in high school. Since they’re not getting a lot of public use anymore, it’s cool to see some New York pay phones getting a literary update.
John Locke (I’m going to imagine him like this) is the man behind the project. He hopes that people will pick up a book while they’re about down, or maybe drop a another off when they’re done with it. One part of the project I find especially cool:
Is there any screening process for the books? For instance, do you try to include great works of literature, or perhaps focus on more accessible and popular novels?
I want everything and anything. I don’t have much of a budget, so all the books are donated from people that live nearby and off my own shelves, so everything from Oprah-approved to Jane Jacobs. And obviously as people leave their own books, I’d want the collection to become a record of the interests of that particular site. A next site I have in mind is near a public school, and I’m trying to get a good collection of children’s books.
I’d be interested to see what books kids share without any guidance from adults. School libraries are obviously fantastic, but something about children being able to run their own library really intrigues me.
Make sure to check out the full interview with Locke. Have any of you seen any pop-up libraries around town?
ALA Monday
In case you weren’t at the ALA Midwinter meeting or listening in on the livestream, check out the winners/honorees for this year’s ALA awards. Lots of great choices, some surprises. I wasn’t really pulling for any particular book or author, so overall I’m pleased with the results.
I was excited to see Susan Cooper win the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults. Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall, winner of the Belpré Author Award, sounds fantastic too.
What are your initial reactions to this morning’s award list?
Graphite Library
Check out artist Eric Fonteneau’s new installation, “La Bibliotheque,” at the French Institute Alliance Francaise. A little about the exhibit:
“Fonteneau traveled Europe and North America with graphite and charcoal. The artist goes to libraries and rubs them on book bindings, taking with him a facsimile of the offerings of the particular branch. At first, Fonteneau rented a warehouse in Nantes for his collection, but has since taken them on tour, showing internationally.
A press release for the installation described “La Bibliotheque” as “playing with the idea of real versus imagined and memory versus record,” and the images below offer a promising peak into what’s sure to be a haunting experience. The “books” are carefully arranged, and the rubbed bindings are legible. Diminutive lights illuminate the space and provide an eerie scale to the room, interrupted only by spare wood furniture which suggest a hidden, important library where one is never seen, but always caught.”
What a cool idea! I love the combination of documenting travel with a technique like rubbing (which reminds me of gravestone rubbings) to create an eerie yet beautiful atmosphere. Click through for more pictures of this gorgeous exhibit.
Links Galore
A few more links to get you through Thursday:
- Sometimes things get lost in translation, like that feeling of torschlusspanik.
- No, Zombie Whitman isn’t back. But the undead are invading poetry.
- Where will you be when Panem rises?
- After all, Snooki wasn’t going to write that novel herself.
- With Wikipedia dark yesterday, Library Journal reminds us about the other wonderful reference and research databases available.
More Visits to the Library
Another reason libraries are more important than ever:
“These are some of the findings of the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ report on the FY2009 Public Library Survey (PLS), a census of American public libraries.
The Institute’s analysis of the data showed that per capita visits to libraries rose by 24 percent in the century’s first decade, while circulation increased by 26 percent. In 2009, libraries were visited a record-breaking 1.59 billion times. Libraries have defied the conventional wisdom that Google, Wikipedia, and the like would make them obsolete. That’s because they’ve recognized and responded to the evolving ways in which people use libraries.
Those who prematurely announced the demise of libraries at the hands of the Internet failed to anticipate the symbiotic relationship that would develop between the two institutions. As revealed byInterconnections: The IMLS National Study on the Use of Libraries, Museums, and the Internet, Internet users are much more likely to visit public libraries than non-Internet users.”
The article goes on to talk about the important services libraries provide to people who are unemployed. Very much hoping that more studies like this one come out and throw support to public libraries.
Petition to Support School Libraries
From the The National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance:
“We ask that the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) provide dedicated funding to help support effective school library programs. Such action will ensure more students have access to the resources and tools that constitute a 21st century learning environment. Reductions in school library programs are creating an ‘access gap’ between schools in wealthier communities versus those where there are high levels of poverty. All students should have an equal opportunity to acquire the skills necessary to learn, to participate, and to compete in today’s world.”
Sign the petition here. Right now there are only about 5,000 signatures and the petition needs about 15,000 more. So spread the word! School libraries are an essential part of literacy development and deserve our support.