Dinkytown Changes, A Library Burns, and Other Newsy News

Hershey Library turns 100.  Chocolate joke.  Possibly with dark...

Caroline Kennedy in Seattle told libraries they are special.  Our hearts grew 10 times.

Curious what happens when a book is overdue.  This Maine investigative report finds out.  Hint: Librarians won't be surprised.

Area librarian retires so the newspaper breaks out the "closing the book" line.

Dinkytown Library is planning some remodeling.  Let's all pretend I'm not sharing this because it's called "Dinkytown."

Islamist Rebels Burn Timbuktu Library.  Historic manuscripts are burned.  This hurts my heart.

San Francisco library gets into puppy shit business because of lack of training paper. I am so not kidding.

Newark school librarian to be retried in decade old sex scandal case.

The New York Public Library is set to archive menus back to 1840.  Com'on.  This is just a bunch of librarians cleaning out the drawer in the office with the take-out menus.

Some awards were put out there.  You know'em.

Library of Congress has power over cell phones.  Taking time archiving twitter, but can lock down your cell phone.

Old Ass Sex Manuals! Bells! Swing Classes! More News!

200 hundred and thirty year old sex manual goes on sale in the UK. It comes with a free pack of 200 year old condoms and a copy of Debbie Does Stratford upon Avon.

Israel's National Library has released Afghan manuscripts found in a cave in Afghanistan that reveal the presence of a Jewish community in that area around the 11th century.  The Afghan documents will be on display later this year on the back of a couch.

The Library of Congress has a lot of tweets.  170 Billion, to be inexact.  They don't know what to do with them.  They will not let researchers see them.  End of story.

The Madison Public Library has announced they are taking over the Wisconsin Book Festival.  Boom.  Deal with it.

A man donated a bell to the Rostraver Public Library.  It has historical significance to a cannon factory in the area and is in honor of his mother.  The library had asked for the video game Assassin's Creed 3 but pretended to like the bell bunches after being prodded by its mother.  The library's mother said later that it will appreciate the gift when it was older.

Swing classes are now available at the Clinton-Macomb Library for ages 18 to 29.  Sorry, 30 year olds, you don't get to look like jackasses.

The Eugene Public Library is recording patrons to use as the voice of its automatic check-in service.  Except for that one kid who kept saying, "Welcome to the Eugene Public Fart. Place farts here one at a time. Fart you."  Little jerk.

The North Carolina State University's James B. Hunt Library has a robot that retrieves books for you.  The robot declined to comment on the amount of stress in its job.

Charities, Alan Moore Banned and Bedbugs: Week of Dec 2 - Dec 8

www.childsplaycharity.org

First, I want to tell you about two charities that do awesome things for children in hospitals.  The first is Child's Play Charity.  Set up by the creators of the webcomic Penny Arcade as a way for gamers to give back, Child's Play donates millions of video games, books, and other items to children's hospitals all over the world.

http://www.kateskart.org/ 

The second is Kate's Kart, a similar charity that focuses on donating books to children's hospital and promoting literacy.  Both of these charities are remarkable and I encourage you to support their efforts in providing hope, love and maybe a little distraction to those that need it the most: sick kids. 

Okay, sorry, but I had to get that out of the way.  Here's the quick news: 

Rumor has it that the University of Chicago is campaigning to become the Presidential Library of Barack Obama.  Time was we would build a new library to host the presidential what-nots, but I guess using any old thing will do.

The Library of Congress has released over 1,600 color photographs of World War II era American Society photographs.  Too bad none of them have anything to do with what the American Ninja Michael Dudikoff or the dhampir Bloodrayne were up to.

Birmingham, AL area has made the news twice.  The first time was when the Homewood Public Library started a series of events aimed at educating the public on a variety of topics including Medicare and ghosts while the Birmingham Public Library was focused on a program about fashion.  I do not know about you, but when I think about going to Alabama, the only things I can think about are how good I feel, how good I look, and what happens when I die.

Juliet Machie, former librarian at the Detroit Public Library, has sued the library commission for campaigning to stop her being promoted.  The most damaging campaigns came in the form of text messages that were aimed at her accent.  Now, sheeet, I don't know bout y'all, but that's fucked up.  They gotta see bout that.

The Cobb Public Library System in Georgia spent 13 days with slow Internet speeds.  A number of patrons lost thousands of fake dollars in fake Farmville crops as the browsers just would not refresh.

The graphic novel Neonomicon by Alan Moore was pulled from the shelves of the Greenville County Library System in South Carolina after a mother of the 14 year old reader challenged the book.  The book was in the adult section of the library and checked out on an adult card.  "Ahhh!  I made a mistake and now my child has questions and everybody has to pay for that injustice!"
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Over 500 historic photographs are now on display at the Washington State Library of the Nooksack Valley area.  I just wanted to write "Nooksack Valley."

Bubba Gump Partners With Destin Library.  All in the title.  Thanks, Florida.

Magazine giant Cosmopolitan and romance publisher Harlequin have teamed up to form an ebook partnership.  No mention if they are going to go after the Batman with separately themed traps or combine their powers to defeat him.

The Marathon County Public Library in Wisconsin unveiled an aquarium this week.  Cosmo and Harlequin have begun making plans to install sharks with laser beams as we speak.

Marisa Anton of New York pleaded guilty this week to pursuing sexual advances with a sixteen year old boy under her charge as a school librarian.  Damn those sex crazed librarians, know what I mean?

Bedbugs found in University of Washington's library books are being frozen off.  The bedbugs will be defrosted sometime in the year 2050 after they are needed to fight the super-criminal Wesley Snipes.

Library of Congress Civil War Letters Show How Much Modern Americans Suck At Writing

"Letters and diaries from those who lived through the Civil War offer a new glimpse at the arguments that split the nation 150 years ago and some of the festering debates that survive today.
The Library of Congress, which holds the largest collection of Civil War documents, pulled 200 items from its holdings to reveal both private and public thoughts from dozens of famous and ordinary citizens who lived in the North and the South. Many are being shown for the first time."

Once again, the LoC breaks out its toy chest and shows how inadequate we are as 21st century Americans.  Yes, many of these Civil War letters/diaries were penned by people that were wrestling with and ultimately made poor life decisions, but have you seen the penmanship on these things?  I am not even sure I can write a cursive "Q" and these guys are doing calligraphy while having deep and engaging thoughts.  

Also, the deep and engaging thoughts part.  In one hundred and fifty years, will the LoC break out twitter feeds from now?  What would that say?  "From American twitter user @homiefarts: I cnt Blive I cnt watch the return of LiLo in #Liz&Dick cause of #Frankenstorm aftermath."  Imagine that the next time you tweet about your breakfast.

US library pulls diaries, letters from Civil War - The Associated Press:

US library pulls diaries, letters from Civil War The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Letters and diaries saved for 150 years from those who lived through the Civil War are offering a new glimpse of the arguments that split the nation. The Library of Congress holds the largest collection of Civil War documents.

Students Mapping a Pleasant Home

"Twelve students in a physical documentation class at the School of the Art Institute are finishing a job started 12 years ago to draw elements of the George Washington Maher-designed Pleasant Home in Oak Park for a historic survey in the Library of Congress."

This is not an ongoing project.  Apparently 12 years ago, the students that started the project did a subpar (e.g. sucky) job, so these kids are going back and playing cleanup.  I wonder who noticed?  What librarian in the LoC opened the drawer for these architectural representations probably done in crayon and said, "Well, this will not do..."

But back to the one's working on the project now.  How close are they watching these kids?  What if one of them went rogue?  Started drawing pentagrams into every stained glass window, signing "GWM Wuz Here" on random parts of the floor plan?  I would love if one of them tried to plant Da Vinci Code type riddles into the floor plans, things that spelled out "Drink more ovaltine" or some such.  That would be fun.

Pleasant Home to be added to Library of Congress historic survey - Chicago Tribune

LoC and French Swap Digital Film Collections

The Library of Congress and the French film archive plan to share digital archives of video footage of each country talking about the other. 

One can only imagine what indecipherable films about America the French will send to us.  Here's a treatment for any french director out there for a future project: A red, white and blue balloon floats through a vineyard, bobbing up and down within the rows of grapevines.  Suddenly a pin flies from the darkness below, but the dull side hits the balloon.  Another pin flies up, but the same reaction.  Then a clown hits the balloon with a fish and announces that "The Mighty has fallen."  The balloon the bounces into a crowd of monkeys dressed in Revolutionary War soldier garb.  The balloon continues bouncing until it lands in the hands of a child dressed as the Statue of Liberty.  The child stares into the camera and pops the balloon.  Fin.

Library of Congress, French film archive swap digitized movies, TV programs ... - Washington Post

Librarian of Congress In It To Win It

82-year-old James Billington, the 13th Librarian of Congress, has no plans to retire soon.  The forward thinking national librarian has been in the position since 1987, working on materials and libraries in charged political climates from the fall of Soviet Russia to the upheaval in several Arab nations.  He talked recently with The Hill about his career.

“I have no plans at this point — sorry to disappoint you... The Lord’s been very kind, and I’m in the middle of a lot of interesting things. And of course, it’s a time when all cultural institutions are facing lots of challenges... At my age and in this position, my job is to see that as much of what is valuable and important for the United States has a chance to survive in this difficult economic climate, that it has a chance to contribute to a knowledge-based democracy and its place in the world.” thehill

Well, I thank him for his service and his unwillingness to retire, setting a trend across the nation for other librarians to do the same.  I kid.  I also am looking for further employment, but could not imagine doing Mr. Billington's job with a 10-foot-pole.  Do you think he knows something about the social security program that we don't?

Library of Congress Parks It in New Hampshire

The Library of Congress has a new rolling exhibit that settled in Concord, NH in front of the state house.  The exhibit, entitled "Gateway to Knowledge," contains reproductions of the Declaration of Independence, the first appearances of Spider-Man, the Gutenberg Bible, and others.  The exhibit is currently on a 90 city tour and is free to the public.

Wow, that's quite a collection of fake artifacts.  I am sure Marvel is excited to have their comics sitting next to the Declaration of Independence like that.  Of course when I think historical documents, I go straight from Magna Carta to Superman, but that's just me.

Also, think about how jazzed Steve "The Gute" Gutenberg is that someone wrote a bible based on his storied career.

Boston Globe

Archivist Has Not Learned of TV Show Hoarders; Tries to Collect Every Book

In a move that would make the Library of Congress blush, archivist Brewster Kahle is attempting to collect a copy of every book in print.  Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive, has collected about 500,000 books so far.
Dude, think about this.  Alexandria burned.  The Library of Congress went crazy and decided to collect Twitter, of all things.  Sean Connery and Chrisian Slater had to fight evil monks.  Hoarding books like this cannot end well, trust me.  All you are going to end up with is a warehouse full of crates of books that we will have to play campfire with when the robots take over after the greenhouse effect turns half of us into zombies. 

Heyyyyy... maybe you are on to something, Kahle ole pal...

[courier-journal] has some cool pics of this project, too.

Our Books Can Have Lead!

Example: Not gold

Congress amended the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) to include library books as those items we do not have to test for lead.  Any book made before the law was passed will be exempt from testing.  This makes a lot of libraries happy as they can now continue slowly poisoning their patrons with lead-painted books without being hassled by The Man don't have to test their entire collections.

"I think this is a long time coming," said Jessica McGilvray, assistant director for the American Library Association's Office of Government Relations. "I'm thrilled to see they finally did this," she said. [LibraryJournal] 

That was a PROBLEM?!  I have been around library books all my life, and just now I learn that they may or may not have lead paint in them.  I eat those books!  I feed those books to children!  Snack time will be ruined forever, all thanks to some goody-goodies that can't stand a little lead in their diet.  This is going to kill our metal-agriculture market, as laid out by the 2008 documentry Tropic Thunder:

Library of Congress to Rock Around the Clock

The Library of Congress and partner Sony Music Entertainment are set to release the website "National Jukebox" to the public today.  The website is a streaming service of licence free American music classics.  Users will be able to do just about everything they can do with every other music service, download, playlists, blah, yadda, and sha-mon.  

For all the ladies out there, Harry Connick, Jr will be on hand to rock the LoC with a classic song featured on the site.  Aaand swoon.  Yeah, I'm a guy and even I can say when that dude plays his version of "If I only had a brain" from Wizard of Oz I get teared up.  For cereal.

No site available right now but keep up @librarycongress.

UPDATE:  It's alive!

Washington Post

iPad App Makes Civil War Photos Pop in 3D

Just jumps right out at ya, am I right?

Matt Raymond, the Library of Congress's former communications director, used original Civil War negatives to create 3D images for an iPad app.  Twenty-four of the pictures will be with the first incarnation of the app with more possibly on the way.  The app will cost you $1.99 or you could just hop on over to the LoC where the 3D images have been donated.

This is cool and all, but I want some true to life 4D rocking my mobile, you know?  I want what Harry Potter has and I am not talking Ginny Weasley.  When my newspapers, books and magazines feature people dancing for my amusement without me having to click on a play button, I will be happy.  And do not try to tell me about GIFs either.  They do not count until they stop repeating themselves like a YouTube video with Tourrette's Syndrome.  Until then, my iPhone will keep doing the same things it always does:  playing Angry Birds, dropping calls, and taking blurry photos.

Daily Mail

Library of Congress Goes Country

The Library of Congress is immortalizing Tammy Wynette's song "Stand By Your Man," "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," and Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" in the National Recording Registry this week.  A controversial choice as it is seen by many as a sexist song, the song will now accompany other such great recordings as Abbot and Costello's "Who's on first?" routine and Nirvana's "Nevermind" album.

I think the LoC is attempting to make the single weirdest iTunes playlist of all time.  You got you some country, some rock, some spoken word, a crowd favorite, and finally, some music to get freaky to.  Now that sounds like a Friday night down at the local roadhouse.

The Atlantic

Library of Congress Makes Baseball People Happy

The Library of Congress will receive some 10,000 recordings of baseball commentator Patrick Rispole says the Wall Street Journal (or WSJ if you are "street").  The recording include many memorable baseball moments such as the Brooklyn Dodgers last game, Sandy Koufax's first no hitter, and that time he spilled coffee on himself on air.  The LoC plans to digitize the collection and have them available online.

So, baseball...  The National Pastime.  The Big Show.  Ole Hardball.  Yep, nothing like sipping a brew, eating a 'dog on a hot July day and watching a game.  Yep.  Good times.  I have no idea what I am talking about.

Twitter: Celebrity Endorsed #BPLRAMPAGE #WINNING

You said it, not me.

What do the Library of Congress, New York Public Library, Boston Public Library, Harvard Library, and Charlie Sheen all have in common?  Not their amount of Twitter followers, I can tell you that.  In one day, Sheen managed to get to 1.2 million followers, something these library systems have not even a passing shot at (LoC and NYPL are the closest with around 100,000 followers each).

What hurts more?  Sheen is also a verified user, meaning that the social network took the time to claim this is the one and only ranting maniac.  They have not bothered to do that with the Library of Freaking Congress, an organization who is archiving the entire Twitter catalog.

So, does this speak toward our society or simply to the cult of personality?  I have a proposition, the next time the Red Sox win the sporting competition by making more touchdowns (whatever), BPL needs to go freaking ballistic.  Just stark raving nuts.  Give away beer at the Circ desk, keep hookers at the reference desk, have a congressman speak to minors, all of it, just go freaking nuts.  I would read that Twitter feed, and I bet America would too. #BPLRAMPAGE #WINNING

Update: @librarycongress is now verified by twitter, sorry @nypl @BPLBoston and @Harvard_Library, you all might still be spambots

Shirley Jefferson the Library Hawk Released

In a small update, it seems "Shirley Jefferson" the hawk that found its way into the Library of Congress (and our hearts) was released into the wild today according to the Washington Post.  I know where I was when I first learned of the hawk:  it was a mild day, wind blowing slightly from the east.  A chill was in the air and I held my jacket closer around me.  Then my friend looked up from his lap top and said, "Hey, nerd.  Check out this dumb fuckin' bird in the Library of Congress."  Ah, memories.

Hawk Looks for Friend in Library of Congress

I demand a copy of My Side of the Mountain!

According to the Washington Post, a hawk has found its way into the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress.  While the staff has been scurrying around attempting to find what type of bird the hawk is and how to lure it down and out.  Personally, I believe the hawk is looking for a first printing of My Side of the Mountain.  From the hawk's point of view, the book is about a hawk training a boy to care, feed and shelter it.  The hawk in the LoC has proven he is smart enough to break into a library, so we must assume he is looking for juvenile literature to teach him how to train a young, rebellious boy.

Washington Post Article and Image

Library of Congress Turns Up the Heat

Earlier today the Madison Building of the Library of Congress was evacuated when the smell of smoke was reported.  The cause of the smell turned out to be a malfunctioning air handler. 

During their hour-long banishment from the building, the employees joined hands and began singing "We Didn't Start the Fire," Billy Joel's 1989 classic.  A local monkey cameraman got the enitre incident on tape.

I am not a monkey, I am a great ape cameraman!

Because the employees were at work when the incident was filmed, and footage of the film instantly went viral, the entire Library of Congress is now under a very ironic copyright lawsuit.

Original article here

 

Image from here.

Library of Congress Gets It's Music On!

 LoC is big ballin' now, baby!

Universal Media group recently donated about 200,000 master recordings to the Library of Congress.  The collection features such recording artists as Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Judy Garland, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, the Andrews Sisters and other artists from the 1920s, 30s, and 40s.  The Library plans to digitize the collection and make them available as soon as possible.

 Now, how do I make fun of this bit of straight news?  Well, think about what this implies.  In 70 years or so, there will be a Library of Congress collection of "Creed."  Let that sink in for a moment.  Past our lifetimes, someone will be stumbling around the future equivalent of the LoC website and find a "Creed" song.  I will go and allow you to shudder.

LA Times article here

Image from here

Russia Gives the Library of Congress the Silent Treatment

In a stunning move most of us will remember from Rocky IV, the Russian government gave ten movies for archiving in the Library of Congress.  The movies were from the silent era (from 1893-1930) thought lost forever. Okay, that had nothing to do with Rocky, but it still teaches us that we can all change... everybody can change!

Original story is the second in the lineup

And here's Rocky fighting the Russians