The newest library in Oregon

That axe would be handy for breaking down crates, amiright?

Well, sort of!  The new TNT series 'The Librarians', which is filmed in Oregon, debuted on Dec 7th. 

Have any of you watched the new series?  How do you like it?

Most importantly, is it accurate in its depiction of library support staff in Oregon?!?

The Toronto reference library was recently renovated, and they sent a drone flying around it to get a bird's eye view. They now have a salon for "writers, thinkers, artists and innovators come together for conversation and debate."  They forgot to mention ASTRONAUTS.  Have any of you had experiences with drones in your libraries? Or astronauts, for that matter?

It was Banned Books Week last week.  Did you know it is still an issue? The Mercury out of Portland also has a list of books challenged in Oregon.

Did you know Overdrive is integrated with Bing search engine?  Overdrive is the company behind Library2Go, Oregon's digital library consortium.  Search for a title in Bing, and you'll notice now on the right side of the screen there's an option to borrow the book from Overdrive.  I searched for "donna tartt the goldfinch" and despite the weird results (El Jilguero?), I found it under "Read this Book".

The Library of Congress has many many things in its collection.  And people do many many creative things with them. And creepy things. Artist Kevin Weir has more examples over at his site.

Kevin Weir

Sewing at the library

Here's another interesting idea of something "different" to add to a library collection - sewing machines!

There are open sewing hours at the Mountain View Public Library in California every Saturday and they've been getting more and more popular.  I like that the machines are all named Grace.

What kind of help do you think the staff provide?  I know we're expected to help patron's to a certain extent on the computers at my library, but I'm not sure everyone would be comfortable trouble-shooting a sewing machine or serger.

Does your library have any interesting things in their collection and do you help with maintenance or trouble-shooting?

More OLA 2014 Conference Wrap-ups

From "The Second Floor Librarians" blog of the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, here are some brief  thoughts about the conference as well as a link to a page containing some substantial book art.  Wet books, structures, Buddhas - there's a bit of everything.

Here's a conference wrap-up from OLA itself. There are links to the survey as well as the resources at NW Central.  There's also a list of award winners, both books and bingo. Sounds like fun!

You can read back through the twitter feed of the conference.

And finally, our State Librarian has a few quick thoughts on the conference over at her blog.

Did we leave anything out?

OLA 2014 Conference review and the future of SSD

Susan Gilmont, a Library Technician III at the Guin Library Hatfield Marine Science Center, writes about her experiences and inspirations at the recent OLA conference the SSD took part in:

I was fortunate to be able to attend the first day of the 2014 Oregon Library Association conference, "The Inside Out Library." It was a great experience, and really recharged me. The OLA Support Staff Division had 6 sessions at the conference, 4 of which were made on Thursday. As the SSD Continuing Education Committee chair, my job was to find presenters, propose sessions, keep presenters informed, help them with conference minutiae, and introduce them when necessary.

The keynote address was made by two New Jersey librarians, Norma Blake and Kathy Schak-Greene, and was called "The Innies and Outies of Libraries." "Outies" advocated for libraries and reached out to local officials and organizations. "Innies" worked to advance their libraries on the inside through marketing, merchandising and partnerships. Perhaps the most intriguing concept of the talk was the idea of public library design "SWAT" teams that offer expertise to help libraries become more welcoming spaces through redesign and reorganization. Often a simple coat of paint and de-cluttering made a huge difference. "Weed aggressively. Clarify purpose and create zones." This was all very interesting in light of the Guin Library's recent remodel.

I wouldn't have dreamed of missing "Oral History and Libraries: a Perfect Fit." Three librarians from Lake Oswego Public Library led off with a description of their current oral history project, "In Their Own Words II." This project picks up at the point where a Bicentennial project in 1976 left off. They gave "how-tos," including hardware and software recommendations and pointers to good resources. They noted the importance of volunteer training and the need to get it right the first time, since many older people interviewed may not be around for a second take. The presentation was topped off by Mike Dicianna, a PSU student worker in SCARC, who talked about OSU's sesquicentennial oral history project and played a passionate and moving clip from the president of the OSU student body in the 1941-1942 school year. It was a knock-out clip, and really showed the importance of hearing people in their own voices.  This was an inspiring session. For more information, see NW Central. SSD sponsored this session.

Although I'm not a librarian, I do care about libraries, and "Building an Effective Library Advocacy Network" was another great session. Although some of it reiterated the themes of the keynote address, Peter Leonard from Cedar Mill Library, Vailley Oelhke from Multnomah County Libraries and Buzzy Nielsen from Mount Hood County Library District drew on their own experiences to forge and sustain vital networks of library supporters. It was wonderful to sit back and see all the earnest note-taking going on and listen to the excellent questions. I know we did some good there. SSD and PLD sponsored this session.

The last session I attended was "The Inside-Out Organization," a look at OLA itself, hosted by past chairs. The goal there was to get potential OLA volunteers. I had a different goal -- I was looking for clues for revitalizing SSD. We weren't able to have a conference this year because nobody volunteered to chair the Conference Committee. Last year, the SSD Board put on the conference, again because of a lack of volunteers. SSD needs new energy, a new generation of involved members, and a new generation of supportive library directors. There is no doubt that the Great Recession has hurt all volunteer organizations, and things may improve as the economy slowly rebounds. But what shape will SSD be in by then? All I can say is what I have learned: service is its own reward.

My spirits were improved by the SSD business meeting, when three of us executive committee members met with four members. One of them came forward and said she was interested in getting involved. Another was one of our scholarship recipients, who was able to attend the conference because of support provided by SSD. It made me feel better. I don’t know if it is the networking with old friends, or a general charge from the good energy in the air, but I really do feel more optimistic about the future.

All in all, this was an excellent experience.

Secret messages found in library!

Secret message found in Weldon Library

Someone has been leaving coded messages in books at D.B. Weldon Library! Mike Moffat is keeping track of them in his blog over at Reflections on Southwestern Ontario.  What do they mean?  Who is leaving them?  They come with trinkets and drawings and are so far inscrutable. I love this kind of thing, which is why I rated Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore so highly in goodreads.

If your library has themed displays for the coming planting season, a seed library might be a good addition.  It seems seed libraries would be a good fit in Oregon.

Multnomah County Library is celebrating it's 150th anniversary this year, and Kelly House, a reporter at the Oregonian, was lucky enough to get a peek in some of the early historical records. The founders certainly had some beautiful penmanship.

There was a recent story about Google having the interiors of libraries available through Street View over on ebookfriendly.com, but they don't compare to the interior tour you can take of the Strahov Library, which is the worlds largest indoor picture as of March 2011.  It is beautiful.  You can take the tour (which might take a little too much time if you're at work) or you can click and pan and zoom on your own, and get closer than you ever could in real life.  The resolution is stunning.

Strahov Ceiling Detail

Best library things this week

Barbara Wildenboer altered books

Barbara Wildenboer has made some pretty amazing book art.  I look at these and think: "So pretty, but they look valuable and they've been cut up!"  What do you think? Beautiful art or "save the books!"?

Using 3D printers in libraries is becoming more common, but this is the first I've heard of someone doing such a generous thing. What cool things has your library printed?

Library retreat

This looks like such a relaxing library.  It's a personal library in a garden, so I'm assuming there's no staff.  It would certainly be awkward to shelve in, but I would totally love to spend some time there regardless.

It's in the Czech Republic and was designed and built by Mjölk architekti. It even has an opening roof that can be used as an observatory.

Photos by Barbora Kuklíková

Have you ever been to a library like this?

Amazing approval ratings for public libraries

We don't all work in public libraries, but this article from The Atlantic is an uplifting quick blurb about people's attitudes towards libraries and I'm sure that feeling is shared towards all good libraries!

Here's a library that got it wrong:  A library in Italy was "ransacked" by the director... of the library.  

But don't fret, here's a library that got it right: The British Library uploaded one million public domain pictures to Flickr.com. Enjoy!

Libraries in the news

Locally:

A super-late book is returned.  Thankfully, Cedar Mill is not trying to collect the dues.  Or issuing an
arrest warrant, as happens in some other states. 

Congratulations to the Garden Home Community Library for getting a four-star ranking from the Library Journal in their annual Index of Public Library Service!


Nationally:


Here's another interesting addition to a public library to continue to foster a sense of community.  Would you add an arcade video game to your library collection?

75 years ago today...

Proquest is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the use of microfilm in preserving and storing documents, particularly in libraries.  And how are they celebrating?  They've released a comic all about Eugene Powers, who in starting University Microfilms, Inc. became the *ahem* powerhouse behind this innovation.  You can read the comic here.

Library Technology News

The library mobile app company Boopsie for Libraries introduced multilingual functionality at the end of June. It's an app that public and academic libraries use for their mobile needs and it allows patrons to "search the library's catalog, locate branches, ask a librarian questions, view a calendar of events and check out books on their mobile devices with just the click of a button."

World's tiniest books

Joshua Bright for The New York Times

I couldn't resist posting about this. Have you ever seen such adorable books? The books described in this article about a serious collector are: "By definition, miniature books are properly printed and bound, and for the most part no larger than three inches."  I think shelving them would present the average shelver with a whole new set of ergonomic challenges.

The National Medal for Museum and Library service has been announced. Libraries in our northern and southern neighboring states are included in the list of honorees. Congrats!

The 2013 Conference page has been updated!  Check it out. We have a lot of financial incentives again this year.

Library news and ergonomics and slides

This article about crowdfunding is a pretty good answer to the question in one of our previous posts about funding libraries. There are a few other options besides kickstarter.com and it's interesting to see what results people got or didn't get.

Here's a great online course from the University System of Georgia all about library ergonomics that gives more information about what happens when you use your body incorrectly, and makes you pay attention with sporadic quizzes throughout.

You've all seen the library slide by now, right?

Four ways to celebrate National Library Workers Day!

Tomorrow, Tuesday April 16th, 2013, is National Library Workers Day!  What is that, you ask?  It's been happening every April since 2003, and the ALA website states: it is "a day for library staff, users, administrators and Friends groups to recognize the valuable contributions made by all library workers."

Over at ALA website for NLWD, you can:

1. Find a lovely poster, which conveniently fits on an 8.5"x11" piece of paper
2. Be inspired by a ton of ideas for celebrations
3. Submit a star (Oregon is sadly lacking in this department, dear readers!)
4. Talk about pay equity

So, fellow Oregonian Support Staffers, do you celebration National Library Workers Day? If so, what do you do to observe this spectacular day?

And don't forget to shoot a star at a fellow support staffer!

Associates latest issue and a question

The new "Associates" is out for the first part of 2013.  There are articles about the Library Journal Paraprofessional of the Year Laura Poe, certification in Massachusetts, volunteers in the library, spotlights on a couple paraprofessionals and more. Associates is a worldwide journal for library support staff. Check it out!

 There's a kickstarter project to create libraries in Africa. What do you think of this creative way to finance a library? Do you see this kind of technology/social media changing the way your library is funded in the future?

Hello RDA, Good-bye Dept.

Few things in the library world in recent years are as big a deal is Resource Description and Access, better known as RDA.  It may be of more interest to catalogers at this point than anyone else, but if you use a library catalog, you'll eventually notice RDA. 

One change RDA makes is to eliminate all those abbreviations that bibliographic records are full of.  Earlier cataloging rules required abbreviations in order to fit as much information as possible on a 3" x 5" catalog card. With a few exceptions (and I'm not a cataloger, so I don't remember what they are), RDA records have all words spelled out.

Since I work primarily with government documents, this has a big impact on me.  For all of my gov docs career, I've been happily using "dept." instead of "department".  During a period when I was (1) doing quite a bit of cataloging and (2) didn't have a mortgage, I had to pay some additional taxes at tax time.  I duly made my check payable to "Oregon.  Dept. of Revenue", which at that time was the correct heading. 

I actually think RDA, while it has some confusing aspects, is a long-overdue update to cataloging rules.  It should make our catalogs more user-friendly and thus enhance access to our collections.

At the State Library, where I work, the head of cataloging switched our author and subject headings from "dept." to "department" yesterday.  It will be interesting to see how long it takes me to make the switch myself!

Libaries in the news this week: What's unique about your collection?

We start off with a beautiful visualization of catalog searches from the entire state of Wyoming.
Filament Mind from yongjulee on Vimeo.

You can read more about this unique installation in the Wired article Massive Fiber-Optic Installation Lights Up Library Queries.

Public libraries around the country are adding some creative check-out options to their collections: Libraries offer weird things to draw new borrowers. I wouldn't necessarily call these "weird", just... new. Multnomah County is one of the libraries in Oregon offering the "Kill-O-Watt" meter to measure energy usage.  What does your library offer that might be considered "weird" by the uninitiated-to-libraries people? Please tell me there is a library in Oregon that checks out seeds.

And finally, a couple congratulations:
First to the folks at the Broad Channel Library, which just reopened after being wrecked by Sandy,
And second to Paralibrarian of the Year 2013: Laura Poe.

Great Libraries on Film. No, really.

There was a great post by Jessamyn West a while back that guides journalists on how to represent library staff accurately in the media. We all know there is a significant gap between the most of the public's perception of libraries (shushing!) and what actually happens in them.  So, understandably, I was a little hesitant to look at this Bookriot list of Great Library Scenes In Film, however there were some pleasant surprises as many more "special collections" were included than expected. 

Are there any significant ones missing? Party Girl starring the indie darling Parker Posey is conspicuously absent, and has an hilariously vicarious exchange between library staff and a patron reshelving a book. Not that any of us would really ever do that.

Oh, and Doctor Who, of course, for an extra specially creepy library.

And a stereotypically outdated view of libraries in the latest round of superbowl ads.

What's your favorite library scene in a movie or television?  Did any of these particularly resonate with you? Do you find them to be accurate, or laughably misguided?

The Applestore Library (Again)

I'm sure by now you've heard of the "bookless" library that has just opened in San Antonio, TX.  If you haven't, there's a plethora of news outlets covering it: NPR, Mashable, engadget, treehugger, the verge, rt, some comparing it to an Apple store.  Skimming the articles, there are different coverages of the different pros and cons associated with it.  However, as usual, I saw nothing about how the library is staffed.  Do they have support staff? There are questions about availability of ebook titles from publishers, and how long ereaders last, but little about the running of the library itself.

So, dear readers, if this is the direction libraries are headed, how do you see your job changing?  What would a support staff job in a library like that look like?  Would we be called "Library Geniuses" that work at the Genius Bar?