“Book burning has never worked. Sooner or later, people find the books and the ideas they want.”
—David B. Offer, in an editorial on historical book burnings in the wake of the March 6 arson at the C. M. Bailey Public Library in Winthrop, Maine, Waterville (Maine) Morning Sentinel, Mar. 31.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Dear President Obama
Dear President Obama,
As you become the 44th president of the United States of America, probably the last thing you need is more people telling you what they want you to do for them. From the Headquarters of the American Library Association in Chicago, it looks to me as if everybody is asking you for something, and librarians, of course, don’t want to miss the boat. But before we get in line with our demands, let me offer one modest suggestion for how to deal with this profession: Let us show you what we can do for you.
In 2005, before you keynoted the American Library Association’s Annual Conference here in Chicago, I sidled up to you in the green room with a tape recorder and asked you to talk about libraries. You focused thoughtfully on my questions, one of which was, “Can you tell us more about the effect libraries have had on you?” You answered that although people tend to think of libraries in terms of just being sources for reading material or research, it was a librarian at the New York Public Library in Manhattan who helped you find the community organizing job you were looking for. “I probably would not be in Chicago were it not for the Manhattan public library,” you said, adding that the librarian had identified lists of potential employers and, “I wrote to every organization; one of them wound up being an organization in Chicago that I got a job with.”
People all over the country are using libraries in larger numbers than ever before, partly for reading and research as they always have but also because libraries have become community solution centers where people are learning new skills, meeting their neighbors, and getting practical help with some of life’s essentials, such as managing their dwindling finances or, like you, finding a job.
Following our brief interview, you went on to deliver a keynote speech so clearly tailored to librarians that we immediately asked your staff for permission to adapt it as a cover story in the August 2005 issue of American Libraries. In it you said, “More than a building that houses books and data, the library represents a window to a larger world, the place where we’ve always come to discover big ideas and profound concepts that help move the American story forward….” Many of us walked away from that speech already saying, “Yes we can.”
We can continue to be the “sanctuaries of learning” that you remember. We can foster literacy, what you called “the most basic currency of the knowledge economy.” We can produce the highest achieving students when they attend schools with good library media centers. We can help parents prepare children for the workforce and for a lifetime of reading and learning. Libraries are central to community development, civic engagement, and scholarly excellence. Therefore, the librarians of this nation ask not what you can do for libraries but what libraries can do to help you solve the daunting problems we all face. We’re at your service.
Leonard Kniffel, Editor, American Libraries
Open Letter to President Obama to be sent on Inauguration Day
As you become the 44th president of the United States of America, probably the last thing you need is more people telling you what they want you to do for them. From the Headquarters of the American Library Association in Chicago, it looks to me as if everybody is asking you for something, and librarians, of course, don’t want to miss the boat. But before we get in line with our demands, let me offer one modest suggestion for how to deal with this profession: Let us show you what we can do for you.
In 2005, before you keynoted the American Library Association’s Annual Conference here in Chicago, I sidled up to you in the green room with a tape recorder and asked you to talk about libraries. You focused thoughtfully on my questions, one of which was, “Can you tell us more about the effect libraries have had on you?” You answered that although people tend to think of libraries in terms of just being sources for reading material or research, it was a librarian at the New York Public Library in Manhattan who helped you find the community organizing job you were looking for. “I probably would not be in Chicago were it not for the Manhattan public library,” you said, adding that the librarian had identified lists of potential employers and, “I wrote to every organization; one of them wound up being an organization in Chicago that I got a job with.”
People all over the country are using libraries in larger numbers than ever before, partly for reading and research as they always have but also because libraries have become community solution centers where people are learning new skills, meeting their neighbors, and getting practical help with some of life’s essentials, such as managing their dwindling finances or, like you, finding a job.
Following our brief interview, you went on to deliver a keynote speech so clearly tailored to librarians that we immediately asked your staff for permission to adapt it as a cover story in the August 2005 issue of American Libraries. In it you said, “More than a building that houses books and data, the library represents a window to a larger world, the place where we’ve always come to discover big ideas and profound concepts that help move the American story forward….” Many of us walked away from that speech already saying, “Yes we can.”
We can continue to be the “sanctuaries of learning” that you remember. We can foster literacy, what you called “the most basic currency of the knowledge economy.” We can produce the highest achieving students when they attend schools with good library media centers. We can help parents prepare children for the workforce and for a lifetime of reading and learning. Libraries are central to community development, civic engagement, and scholarly excellence. Therefore, the librarians of this nation ask not what you can do for libraries but what libraries can do to help you solve the daunting problems we all face. We’re at your service.
Leonard Kniffel, Editor, American Libraries
Open Letter to President Obama to be sent on Inauguration Day
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Obama Speaks
"At the dawn of the 21st century, where knowledge is literally power, where it unlocks the gates of opportunity and success, we all have responsibilities as parents, as librarians, as educators, as politicians, and as citizens to instill in our children a love of reading so that we can give them a chance to fulfill their dreams. That's what all of you do each and every day, and for that, I am grateful."
-- Adapting Sen. Barack Obama's keynote speech at the Opening General Session of the 2005 ALA Annual Conference, in American Libraries, August 2005, pp. 48-52.
-- Adapting Sen. Barack Obama's keynote speech at the Opening General Session of the 2005 ALA Annual Conference, in American Libraries, August 2005, pp. 48-52.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Random Thought (Not My Own)
"We do not normally think of life in the library as living on the edge, but it is. One never knows when there will be an encounter with the inspirational, the depressing, the comical, the reprehensible, the frightening, the beautiful, the ugly, the exciting, the titillating, or the just plain thought provoking. It is a good thing to aspire to build a collection that will satisfy most and offend some; who constitutes the some will change depending on the topic. Libraries embody and help actualize the notion that in this country we are able and encouraged to think each our own thoughts, read each our own book, or view each our own web site of choice."
--Bruce Morton, former Montana State Library Commissioner
It's something to think about.
--Bruce Morton, former Montana State Library Commissioner
It's something to think about.
Google Voting Locator
Less than 2 week to election day!
Looking for your voting location? Try the Google Voting Site Locator at http://maps.google.com/vote. You can also find out where to vote, as well as other valuable information (including the Presidential Voter's Guide) from the League of Women Voters at http://www.lwv.org/Election2008/index.html.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Koha Project Update
The BCLS shared integrated library system and union catalog project (Koha Project for short) is off and running. Yesterday Mack Skinner (TANG technician) began the process of extracting bib, patron, and circulation data from the 11 libraries participating in the project. He plans to finish this task on Monday. On Tuesday, Oct 21, Mack and I will participate in the Koha System Overview Webinar with Beverly Church, our project manager at LibLime. During the rest of October and November, the transferred data will be analysed, mapped, reviewed, and loaded into our database shell. At some point during November, BCLS staff will meet with librarians and staff at the 11 libraries to discuss OPAC customization and policies, among other things. I will continue to share information as the project moves down the road to completion. Our project plan calls for a go-live date of January 28.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Think About It
Some readers pine for the time when they were the only ones in the library. How long do you think taxpayers will support an institution that serves so few?... These readers do not understand the true purpose of the library; they are nostalgic for an earlier time. Do they want to go back to black-and-white TV or telegrams? Why should they expect a dynamic, service-oriented institution to remain the same?
--Bobbi, in a letter to the Hints from Heloise column, Oct. 6, 2008
--Bobbi, in a letter to the Hints from Heloise column, Oct. 6, 2008
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
The Library's Role In A Democratic Society
Read the George Christian interview in the current issue of Texas Library Journal (Fall 2008). Here's a highlight:
Q. What do you consider to be the role of the library in a democratic society?
"A library is a place where citizens can come to inform themselves on any topic, knowing that the information available in a library represents a broad and fair spectrum of knowledge and opinion. There are no conservative or liberal, republican, or Democratic, socialist, or fundamentalist libraries, though all those spectrums of thought may be represented. In a library, one can contrast and compare. It is a marketplace of ideas. Maintaining a democracy requires an informed electorate. The founding fathers knew this, and stressed the provision of public education. Libraries insure that all of us have access to becoming informed."
Q. What do you consider to be the role of the library in a democratic society?
"A library is a place where citizens can come to inform themselves on any topic, knowing that the information available in a library represents a broad and fair spectrum of knowledge and opinion. There are no conservative or liberal, republican, or Democratic, socialist, or fundamentalist libraries, though all those spectrums of thought may be represented. In a library, one can contrast and compare. It is a marketplace of ideas. Maintaining a democracy requires an informed electorate. The founding fathers knew this, and stressed the provision of public education. Libraries insure that all of us have access to becoming informed."
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