Friday, April 27, 2007

Change of Address

Well -- after 3 years and over 400 blog posts, this is my last Blogger blog entry... we have migrated our blog to a new address: http://www.nassaulibrary.org/bryant/blog. It has a new name and a new look! The new name is BLog -- short for Bryant Library Blog. Please update your bookmarks, tell your friends, and keep on reading!!

Posted by Michele at Friday, April 27, 2007 | | Comments | links to this post

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Happy Birthday, Library of Congress

The Library of Congress was officially established on April 24th, 1800. It is currently spread over three buildings in Washington, D.C. It is the largest library in the world. Librarians of Congress must be nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. It is only on it's 13th Librarian of Congress, James J. Billington.

The mission of the Library of Congress is: "The Library's mission is to make its resources available and useful to the Congress and the American people and to sustain and preserve a universal collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations." A worthy mission it is.

Oddly, while Mr. Billington is clearly a bright and educated man, he is not actually a librarian -- he doesn't have the necessary Master's degree! Many of the other 12 Librarians of Congress had degrees and were involved in library administration before their appointment, though Mr. Billington was not. It is interesting to me that the only librarian in the nation with a capital "L" has always been a man -- what does that say about our profession and our nation? In my opinion, it's the librarians in the "trenches," struggling to keep up with information and technology overload, balancing our work and our families, and working within a budget to keep our buildings and our collections strong -- these are the people who are librarians with a capital "L!"

Posted by Michele at Tuesday, April 24, 2007 | | Comments | links to this post

Monday, April 23, 2007

It's Not Easy Being Green

Earth Day was yesterday, and, coincidentally, it was as if Spring had really sprung -- the cherry blossoms in D.C. may be long over, but here in Roslyn, everything is in perfect bloom!

How did we celebrate Earth Day? The way we always do -- by circulating books from person to person to person -- saving the trees! And, what about all of the plastic, chemicals and energy that's involved in making the dvd and cds and cases? Sharing is good for the earth, and we're all about sharing -- library materials as well as information.


The Bryant Library not only saves money, but we aim to save the earth as well!

Posted by Michele at Monday, April 23, 2007 | | Comments | links to this post

Friday, April 20, 2007

Happy National Library Week!

National Library Week seems like a great time not only to celebrate libraries, but also to consider the relevance of libraries in our modern world.

Libraries today are enjoying a golden age in which public, school, college and university libraries are flourishing not only within the physical confines of bricks and mortar, steel and glass, but also in the continuously expanding Internet universe.

The facts speak for themselves: library use is up nationwide. More than 2 billion items were checked out last year, and librarians serve nearly 1.8 billion visitors annually. Circulation is calculated a little differently these days -- we not only count the number of times a book has gone out, but also the number of times an article or an ebook has been downloaded. We not only take Reference telephone calls, but we answer emails and provide a ton of information on our website.

Rather than threatening our libraries, the age of technology has only complemented our services and expanded our reach. This is because libraries are about more than information and data sharing.

Libraries are about community.

They provide us with a physical gathering place, a crossroads for people of all ages, ethnicities and economic means, complete with trained information professionals - librarians - fostering inquiry and assisting with interpretation of information both onsite and online.

Libraries and librarians are more relevant than ever, providing a 24/7 information delivery service. Our multi-faceted, multicultural, multilingual resources are providing a bridge to their best conceivable future for millions nationwide. And, of course, admission is free.

It's democracy in action. There's nothing obsolete about that.

Posted by Michele at Friday, April 20, 2007 | | Comments | links to this post

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Peace, It's Still Missing

I met an old friend in the city yesterday and we went to the Rubin Museum. There was a timely and beautiful exhibit there called, "The Missing Peace," and it included work from 88 artists from 25 countries who were inspired by the themes and ideals of the Dalai Lama. Although we spent almost two hours there, we didn't get to see everything. Fortunately, there is an online virtual tour! The Dalai Lama Foundation expresses the importance of his ideals in today's world:
"Education for basic human values is very important. No one exists as an isolated individual. Problems far away will eventually affect us. This is not religion, but reality. It is essential to understand the reality of our situation, and develop the basic human values of warmth, affection, kindness and compassion. So this idea of curricula for peace and ethics is very important…not only important, but urgent."
It is especially significant as we consider that tomorrow is Holocaust Remembrance Day; a day to reflect and remember the millions of people who were slaughtered. So many years later, we are still asking, why? The Dalai Lama speaks to universal ideals, that if taught and practiced, would benefit humanity everywhere. Ideals such as: universal connectedness and responsibility, the importance of human dignity, and the need for peace. In remembrance of the past and hope for the future, this is my wish.

Posted by Michele at Saturday, April 14, 2007 | | Comments | links to this post

Thursday, April 12, 2007

And So It Goes

Kurt Vonnegut died last night at the age of 84. His alter-ego, Kilgore Trout died at the same age (in the novel, Timequake). His novels are a must read if you consider yourself an educated, well-rounded person. But, he was also a man of tremendous wit, humor and humanism. His obituary in the NYTimes is impressive and includes links to many articles, book reviews and interviews.

Kurt Vonnegut's wikipedia entry gives you an idea of the kind of person he was, "On pages 9 and 10 of his book Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction, Vonnegut listed eight rules for writing a short story:

1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
4. Every sentence must do one of two things -- reveal character or advance the action.
5. Start as close to the end as possible.
6. Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them -- in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

So, even though Kurt Vonnegut's life is over -- his legacy will live forever. And so it goes.

Posted by Michele at Thursday, April 12, 2007 | | Comments | links to this post

Friday, April 06, 2007

The Floating World

We have a beautiful new photography exhibit in the display case in front of the Circulation Desk. The photos were taken by none other than our Local History librarian and archivist, Myrna Sloam. Myrna is an incredibly talented photographer, paying particular attention to lighting and detail, and the results speak for themselves.

As we get through the next few days of wintry weather, and look forward to spring, give yourself a treat and take in these exquisite close-ups of floating flowers.

There is a list of the photos and a price list at the Reference Desk. Myrna also has a website if you'd like to see more of her work. But, I'm warning you, it'll be hard to pick just one -- they're all so beautiful!

Posted by Michele at Friday, April 06, 2007 | | Comments | links to this post