New York Donatin', Cleveland Renovatin' and Detroit Collectin'

The New York Public Library and the Central Park Conservatory each got a check for $10 million dollars from the estate of Mary Bailey after her death in February 2011, Fox News reports.  When asked what they were going to do with the money, NYPL staff said they were "going to Disneyland" and Central Park mumbled something about "trees and shit."

Cleveland area library Chagrin Falls will receive a $1 million renovation to the exterior and the interior of the facility.  After receiving the funds, Chagrin Falls will be changing its name to Pleasure Falls and instituting an overall dissociation with Cleveland.

The papers of Coleman A. Young, Detroit's first African American mayor, are set to be cataloged within the Detroit Public Libraries collection.  The papers were vetted by Young before his death in 1997 and have been awaiting cataloging for years.  The young archivists detailed for the assignment marveled at the amount of "paper" and wondered if Young had ever sent a text or an email, like, ever.

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.

Detroit to Lose Libraries, Lions Next?

He'll check out your library...

Six of the 23 branches in the Detroit Public Library system may face closure after March layoff's leave the system stretched too far thin.  Detroit News reports:

"These are very difficult times," [executive director Jo Ann] Mondowney said. "We have not taken this lightly."
Mondowney said commissioners knew closures could be recommended once staffers analyzed the impact of layoffs. She said they stretched staffing to get through the summer reading programs.
"This is in response to the reduction in work force," Mondowney said. "We made it through the summer. We said we'd have to come back and adjust."

No shit.  Really?  "We fired a bunch of people and now we can't stay open.  Durrr.  Whoops, we thought we would open more branches with the money we would save on staffing.  Guess we made some fudge in our pants."  

It gets better, back in April they proposed closing up to 18 branches because someone messed up the math.  Yeah, bookkeeping and shit.  I assume these people have degrees in something and not just half partnerships in their brother's used car lot.  Hell, that would at least be something.  I would like to envision a world where library directors fire people and then fudge the books in an elaborate money scheme to set up used car lots.  Only in Detroit, am I right?  Hell, let's go all out and say it was all a plot to take down the Detroit Lions and move them to Cleveland in a goofy Major League sequel.  Charlie Sheen would be all over that.