The Library

[mabel1015j]

The Library Our library cafe is open 24/7, the welcome mat is  always out. Do come in from daily chores and spend some time with us. We look forward to hearing from you, about you and the books you are enjoying (or not). Let the book talk begin here!

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Most of the settlers in the "bible belt" were Scotch-irish, Calvinist Presbyterians, so you might recognize their customs, Rosemary. I come from a long line of them who settled in Pennsylvania. I had an aunt who scolded my mother when i got a job working Sundays from 11am to 6 , which meant i had to miss church. Of course, she also thought no one should shop, go to the movies or play cards or board games on Sun either. Shopping and movies were not a problem in my town, they were all closed on Sun. The only thing that was open were a few restaurants.

Our locak library (different town, different state then the one i grew up in) had just begun to be open on Sunday afternoons a few yrs agi, then the financial crises hit and its now closed on Sun and three evenings a week.

Steph, at the community college i taught at, the library was open everyday from 8am to 10 pm, as were the offices and classrooms.

Some of you might want to browse the "legacy libraries" of famous people on the Libraything link i mentioned before. It's called "I see dead people's books". Isn't that cute. I haven't figured out the whole thing yet, but apparently they list the names of what books they know of  famous dead people's libraries. There must be something else to it, but i haven't perused it enough to know yet. They also give away thousands of books every month for people to review, ck it out.

A neighboring town's  library is having it's book sale at the end of the month so i started cleaning off the bookcase. My problem is that for my non-fiction books - and that is mostly what i own, seldom buy fiction - i look at a book and think "oh, let me breeze thru this again before i put it in the bag!" big problem! I may have to start a bag that's going to the summer sale. .........jean

[mabel1015j]

Here's the link to Librarything, in case you missed it before.

http://www.librarything.com

[rosemarykaye]

Ginny, that Library book looks really good, I would very much like to read it.

I have another one - "Long Overdue", edited by Alan Taylor (1993) - it is an anthology of writings about libraries, starting with Daniel Boorstin, who writes about monastery libraries in "The Discoverers: A History of Man's Search to Know His World and Himself", followed by an extract from Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose" and moving through Lady Janetta Manners, Jerome K Jerome, Garrison Keillor, Barbara Pym  , Dervla Murphy and many others, ending with Phillip Roth on the Newark Public Library, and a bit of Terry Pratchett.

I picked it up in a library sale and I haven't read it all yet, but I am looking forward to doing so.

Alan Taylor is a fantastic anthologist - I think I've mentioned his wonderful "The Assassin's Cloak" before - it consists of extracts from people's diaries and letters for each day of the year - so on January 8th, for example, we have Elizabeth Grant of Rothiemurchus (a huge country estate in the Highlands) (1849), Barbara Pym (1934), Chips Channon (1935), William L Shirer (1940), Vera Brittain (1943) and Roy Strong (1970) - some of the entries are quite modern, eg Brian Eno writing about the death of Peter Cook in 1995; Andy Warhol's diaries also feature.  I love it, and it has led me to read many writers of whom I would not otherwise have heard - eg James Lees-Milne, whose diaries are fascinating.

R

[Steph]

Alan Taylor is an unknown name, but oh me, The Assasin Cloak sounds wonderful..Off to Amazon to see if they have it.

[ginny]

Frybabe, yes, they've been very clever, the wiki organization in general. And they keep getting bigger and bigger.

RosemaryKaye, I've got to look up Long Overdue, thank you!! Because of our conversations here about The Library and its Future,  I have become somewhat obsessed with the notion of what IS a library and what is it for and the concept of the way it's changing.  I have spent many hours thinking about what you all doubtless already know:  will e books make the library obsolete?  Are we actually witnessing the death of the library now?

I hadn't realized, maybe there's something (we know there is) wrong with me because my own library use has not changed since childhood...or wait...maybe it has. What do WE  want from the library today (or should I say "media center?") .....(Other than the people going to get job info or use the computers or sit with the microfiche or doing research or getting job counseling or  using the bookmobile here (now canceled) or going to Film Night or coming to hear the occasional author or taking their children to the story hour or children's library or renting movies and DVD's or sitting reading magazines and newspapers to get out of the cold ..yes the vagrants are in the libraries today...)_ what I wonder (is anybody anywhere keeping statistics) is the majority use of the library today?

If it's lending books, the free lending library, the link Joan G put in here is pretty impressive. Here are free ebooks for the download. From the library.  No waiting list. No long lines to check out, I did not get far into that link so I don't know if there's a downside, is there a time limit? No late fees?  That is pretty darn impressive, to me, thank you for putting it here Joan G.


Jean the Librarything  is interesting. The world's largest book club! On the libraries of famous dead people, I may pass. The two I have seen were not impressive, i.e., that of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor cataloged for sale, and that of a famous children's author which I attended the sale of (I'll let her be anonymous)...It's possible relatives had removed anything of value before we got there (tho they seemed to leave hundreds of unlabeled photographs), but the books were quite disappointing.....pretty much...dreck. Of course one man's dreck is another's treasure, I'll just leave it at that.

 If I had a library available  like Joan G, on e books I might look  up Long Overdue  there and download, if available,  I think that idea is fantastic; just look at all the books there.  IF you have the technology to implement it, at home, the e reader.... but6 what if you don't? Will libraries perforce become a service to the  under served who don't have e readers only? And if so what number of staff will then be required?

When you think of the great libraries of history, repositories of knowledge (but not open to all....our great libraries aren't either,  some areas without clearance...even in the US you have to practically take out a passport to get in some areas of them), not to mention England, etc., ... I'm trying to think of what services, if discontinued today, would be most missed?

If you  had to make a list of what you'd personally  miss the most if the free libraries of the world all closed today, what would it be, to each of YOU  personally?  Our own use?   I haven't looked at microfiche in a long time. Do they even have it now?

1. I think and this may sound strange in an old woman,  but I think the most important thing the library offers, if you HAVE to rank them,  is the children's library. Here the child, if lucky enough to be taken, can ogle thousands of books, be read to, see other children eagerly doing the same and OH JOY, carry a book home of his or her very own.  Free. These are powerful lessons in the importance of the book and it's free. Although my grandson also refers to B&N as "the wiberry," (he's  just turned 4) still he has the bug since his parents read to him constantly, and anybody can go into and take home a book from the free library. That's powerful stuff.

If e books replaced the children's library it would not be the same. All children would not have the chance to experience the world of books the library now provides.

But what of research? I've forgotten what the series (several of them spanning volume after volume of books) about authors, biographies and what they've written, every author out there. Some are on Canadian authors, CANR? or something. They go by initials and I can't remember the initials. Some do precis of the texts, some do analysis, are these on the internet?

These take up a great deal of space in the library, but as far as I know they aren't on the internet, and are unlikely to be.

Let's face it, it  used to be if you needed to know something not in recent news  in the home you'd run to the outdated Encyclopedia you bought from the traveling salesman, (remember those?) or you'd go to the library. No matter how far it was or how inconvenient. Do you NOW?

I bet those of you here don't.

If money were your chief concern and public transportation were not available to take you to the library, with gas over $3.00 a gallon, as it is here,  then the location of the library from your home and the inconvenience getting there might become an issue, and an e book option might look more economical in the long run. Some of them can read TO you.



It seems there's a divide occurring, and the internet is pushing it, where do people go now for information? So much quicker and easier to tap a couple of keys, right in your own home. Is the info valid? Oh who cares, it's quick, maybe some of it is.  Sometimes I wonder if we even care.

2. Remember Stones from the River? In it a man starts a small lending library in an oppressed society,  and it's being repeated today.. that, to me, is sort of is the romantic ideal of freedom: freedom to read.  Freedom to know.  So I would add that, the ability to read, either in e book or physical form, as being something necessary to a free society. So for that reason alone I don't think the e book will replace the library.

 I think the library will have to scale back in the e-world. Staff wise, program wise (it already is) hours wise, but maybe the basic precept will remain. I wonder how the selections will change to fit demand?  Will they have to? How many staff does it take to put an e-book on an internet catalog?



Be honest, what use did you make of YOUR own library in the last 3 months?  Let's do our own fact finding poll here, the results may surprise you.

I love the issues which come up here, they make you think (or what passes for thought with me, anyway). hhahaha

[jane]

Ginny...are you thinking of the MLA research books?  Gale Research was prominent in the field of Literary Criticism volumes...Contemporary Literary Criticism (CLC) and many, many others.  Yes, they do have these in databases, which the vast majority of colleges/universities would subscribe to.  My own little local library subscribes to various databases which enable anyone with a library card to search an impressive amount of periodicals.  They can do this from home or, if they don't have a computer, to the library where computers are available free to those having library cards.

You can see Gale's resources here for literature:   http://www.gale.cengage.com/LitSolutions/lit_resources/mla/


and the government does keep statistics on library use.  I've not looked at the one for 2008, released in June 2010, but it's available here:

http://harvester.census.gov/imls/pubs/pls/index.asp

I know our our little public library must submit forms every October to our State Library and a multitude of questions are asked and numbers must be submitted.

I'm sure those are then compiled by states and then sent on to the fed gov't for these statistics.

I haven't looked at microfiche in a long time. Do they even have it now?

 Again, in my own local library, microfiche/film is still an integral part of the Genealogy Room and is used far more than one might imagine. Lots of people are into tracing their roots, these days, and the old newspapers, county records are valuable for this.

Be honest, what use did you make of YOUR own library in the last 3 months?

  I go to the library at least 4 times a week. I check out my own fiction reading.  Yes, I have an ereader, but I can't afford to buy all that I read, nor do I necessarily want to.
I used to buy titles at the Half Priced Bookstore that our library didn't have, but I'll not be doing that now with the ereader. 

I hope libraries will adjust to the eworld, as they have to the internet and getting resources for their patrons from those databases now available.  It's the print publishing world, I think, that will notice the biggest changes from the digital world.  B*N is already changing what they offer in their bookstore...many more games, etc. now featured.  Borders is in financial trouble, according to the news. 


jane

[ALF43]

Ginny - Jane- I love the conversation here in our little Library at SeniorLearn.  I do not use my library to research anything in, I prefer to find the website and study/print that at home, if I can. 
I do use many audio book CDs as I love to liksten to a book when I walk the treadmill and when I go in for my one hour "time out for Andy" session in the afternoon. 
Even with my ereader, I still have library books coming and going most weeks.
As you so aptly put it Ginny, this is freedom- freedom to choose how you wish to read.
One other very big thing for me, Ginny touched on and that is the library venue allows you to TAKE a child to a library and encourage them to navigate through the workings of a library.  The beauty of that is the togetherness and closeness it affords both child and adult. You accompany the child to, from and into the world of literature.  To me, there is no greater pleasure in the world than sitting with a child and reading with or to them.

[mabel1015j]

In the last couple of months i, like Alf, have books coming and going to the library, not as often as Alf, but abt once every 10 days or so. I also get audiobooks to listen to on the tread mill and our library is part of a regional system that rotates musical cds, i ck those abt once a month to see if there's something there i want to hear, and i take my grandson when he's here.

I would never buy as many books as i get from the library. I have, on average, 6 - 10 books from the library at any time. There's a constant rotating of books. I wouldn't buy that many bcs i couldn't afford to, don't want that many books in my house and i will sometimes start a book and decide i don't like it and may not wish to finish it, so buying it wld hv been a waste. I also wld never want to read that many books on an ereader. As we've talked abt before, i like holding the book, lying in bed w/ it; i take a book everywhere w/ me, places i wouldn't want to carry a reader.

As i get older and can't get to the library, altho as i have said, i'm fortunate to have a library just 3 blocks up the street, i may be more interested in downloading books.

I do most of my research on the internet. I do have to say that i've always said to my children and to my students that libraries are the best thing since the printing press - that they cld find out anything they wanted to know at the library - FOR FREE! I wld now add the internet to the first part of that phrase, but of course, it's not free in your home, altho we tend to forget that once we have it all set up and have a contract for a server.

I think the most important reason for libraries in the near future is that of allowing EVERYONE access to all that information. That has always been the role of libraries, but i believe that it will be even more true as the internet becomes an essential part of our education and our lives. We do have the haves and the have-nots.

 Another role that may become more important is the building of communities, as technology continues to isolate us from each other -starting w/putting us in cars, so we couldn't stop our
journey and chat w/ people on the road, to air conditioning keeping us inside and not chatting
Pw/ folks passing our porches, etc- the f2f book groups or any other gathering that happens at the library allows us to know our neighbors and community members.

I don't think the demise of libraries is eminent..........jean

[CallieOK]

I usually have 3 -4 books from the library in a TBR stack.  I really like being able to Reserve and Re-check books from the Oklahoma City Metro Library system on line.  There are also Data Bases available for all kinds of research about books on various subjects.

This system seems to be going strong.  It's a County system with branches in many suburbs and is well supported.
There are programs for all ages at the various branches - also well supported and well attended.

I wouldn't want to be without it.

[rosemarykaye]

I would say that I go to the central library at least twice a week, often more.

I look at the "new acquisitions" to see what has arrived; I have a notebook with titles that I want to look for (eg things recommended on seniorslearn); I browse through the fiction; O often get sidetracked and look at the biographies, the travel writing, the cookery books (if I am in the right mood), the books about writing - basically I wander all over the place.  I used also to browse through the DVD library, but I have abandoned that since they stopped us having subscriptions - too expensive.

If my younger daughter Madeleine is with me we also go upstairs to the children's library - she usually goes straight up whilst I am in the adult section, then I catch her up.  I often take out children's books for myself - she of course chooses her own.

I also visit the branch libraries if I know they have something I want, or just if I am in the area.  We are allowed to return books to any branch library within the city, (so far - until the council realises it is paying someone to drive a van around repatriating the stock...)  so I often do that as you can park right outside my nearest one - easier than lugging all the books into town.  Of course, if I go in to return them I rarely come out empty-handed something usually catches my eye.

I do not use the PCs apart from the catalogue one, but they are extremely popular as access is free (I think you get an hour at a time).  I don't know about microfiche in our library, but I was recently in the public records office in Edinburgh and there were whole rooms crowded with people looking up genealogical stuff on microfiche.

When I was studying for my Scots law transfer exams a few years ago, I went to the library every morning to make myself get down to work - if I was at home I knew I would start doddling about with something else.

I don't suppose I or my children use the library much for research now - when my son (aged 18) was little we still did go in and get books out relating to his homework projects, etc, but my daughters tend to look it up on the Internet now - despite their fuddy-duddy old mother telling them that books are better!

So that's me.

R

[maryz]

Ginny, personally, I have only checked out and returned books.

But I was serving on the council of the Friends of the Library, and they have put on a book sale (donated and de-accessioned books from the library itself) for money for programs for the library.  The library itself has put on it’s annual “Club Lib” fundraiser, turning the main library into a club scene for a night, with games, bands, dancing, food, etc.  These are for specific projects - 2010 to redo the children’s area.  There is also a teen center, a senior outreach area; it’s an official repository for government documents.  Plus all the computer use and genealogy searches, etc. 

I can’t imagine a community without one.

[kiwilady]

We have e resources in our library system and can get info from all the famous libraries in the world. We can download e books via our library too. (free for normal loan period) I think our library system here in our largest city is pretty up to date. Not sure about country areas outside of the Auckland region. We also have learning centres complete with oodles of computers. Homework classes for kids after school complete with qualified teacher. I do think I am fortunate to have access to a really good system.

Carolyn

[mabel1015j]

An aside - i'm watching the Chihuly Fire and Ice: the DeYoung exhibit of 11galleries of his work. I hold my breath every time they do something w/the pieces, how do they make them or exhibit them w/out breaking them.....they did show one piece breaking as they took it off the holder, a huge basket piece........amazing! Jean

[maryz]

Jean, we love Chihuly - and see whatever we can that reasonably near by.  Last was the exhibit in Nashville - combination at the Frist Museum and Cheekwood Botanical Gardens.  Incredible!

[rosemarykaye]

Carolyn, your library system sounds wonderful.

I remember that when I was in primary school the local librarian ran a stamp collecting club that I used to attend, but now I don't think there is anything like that - they do offer "story time" during the school holidays, but that is really aimed at quite young children.  Also, like so many of the things offered in holidays, the timing is usually something like 10am or 3pm, when most mothers these days are working.  I sometimes think my generation was the last one in which the majority of mothers with pre-school children did not work - I belonged to the National Childbirth Trust, and made many lifelong friends there, we were all at home with under 5s.  Nowadays I don't think most families can afford this, so both parents have to work, the  children are at nursery, and unless the nursery takes them to these activities they can't go. 

Sometimes the local authority services seem to take a very long time to catch up with people's needs and lifestyles - when my son was at primary school I remember that the headmistress arranged a meeting for all the mothers at 11am - we nearly all had other younger children, but she was adamant that they must not be brought along - it was a rural community that, until the advent of oil in Aberdeen, had been almost wholly agricultural, and it was still assumed that everyone had able and willing families living locally to provide babysitting, whereas almost everyone whose partner worked in the oil industry had no family living within several hundred miles of them  (That's why we needed the NCT!)

Similarly, the children's library is still open the standard 9-5 hours - if I go into it any weekday morning I am often the only person there, and I think it would be so much more used if it were open on Sundays, especially up here where the winter is long and cold and people are looking for something to do with their children at weekends.

Rosemary

[nlhome]

I use my library weekly. My husband and I both check out books regularly. The touch, feel and structure of a book seems more real than what's on line, so far. Vision or hand issues may change that in the years ahead.

I agree with access for children. One fun thing we do with our granddaughter, age 3, is to go to our library and let her select the books she would like us to read to her, and a video or dvd. We do have books and videos for her at our house, but we enjoy going with her to select. She attends a story time at her own public library.

Our library is very busy. All the internet computers are busy at times, and some days there is a wait list. But the stacks, the study areas, the story times, the book discussions are all utilized. There are book discussions for middle school children and activities as well. And there are community meetings and activities. Right now our community is reading Stones into Schools. We regularly have instructions on computer use, geneology and even how to use the Medicare site to find a drug plan.

One of my questions - maybe a concern - is how we can prove facts on the Internet if there is no hard copy. I'm thinking that even more with the Huckleberry Finn debate on changing words to fit our times, rather than the time when the book was written.

[marcie]

We have a great public library system also. I love our local library and use it often.

A reminder that tonight many PBS stations will broadcast the first episode of Downton Abbey, a new series in the genre of "Upstairs, Downstairs." Join our PBS Classic discussion. Read more at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/downtonabbey/index.html

[bellemere]

We have a wonderul glass artist in Western Massachusetts, younger and not as famous as Chihuly.  His name is Josh Simpson, and he is married to the astronaut Catherine Coleman who is currently spending 5 months in the orbiting space station.  A recent article told how their son can sometimes glimpse his mom's craft from his treehouse, on a clear night! 
Simpson's most famous works are glass globes that resemble the earth as seen from space. they are truly beautiful.

[pedln]

All your library comments have sent me checking just what subscription services my library offers and I found that by keying in my library card number I can access several periodical indexes.  So I have been neglecting other duties trying to get an idea of just what the library provides.  Quite a bit.  

But, back to browsing and comments on library services for children. The quote below is from an Austrailian Library Journal reporting about library efforts to provide materials and stress literacy for low income families and those who had achieved low levels of education.

One of the risks identified was that if a child was read to on fewer than three days per week and there were less than 30 children's books in the home, there was a higher risk of low language skills and school readiness in all groups, whether there were levels of financial disadvantage or not.

[maryz]

bellemere, we've had a Josh Simpson "world" for years, and have given them as gifts.  They're wonderful.  We probably couldn't afford one now.   

[Gumtree]

Libraries - I just have to set the record straight - We have THE BEST library system on the planet. It comes of this being the most isolated capital city in the world and the foresight of an early librarian who put in place a system which still operates today.

 I have borrowing rights at several libraries - my local, 3 in nearby localities, the city library - I can request anything from the State Reference Library or anywhere else including tertiary institutions and my library will get it for me.

 I also have borrowing rights at the University of WA library which has a quite magnificent collection. - I recall once doing some genealogy research involving the Patent Rolls and the Egmont Diaries - my British kinsman thought he would help me out by checking it out at the British Museum - took him 3 weeks to get his hands on the books and then he only had a limited time to examine them - I walked into Uni library - took them off the shelves and brought them home to read at leisure. My kinsman was quite surprised - as they say in the classics -I've a million such stories...

Nowadays the libraries here are adapting to the new technology - ebooks are available to download on loan, internet services are available free to all though bookings are required, CDs DVDs, newspapers,  periodicals, foreign language books. Children's services are also good and well patronised with story times, special events. My local library hosts the Tim Winton Children's writing prize which Tim sponsors and presents annually - there are heaps of adult author's nights and book launches, book clubs etc etc.

About 15 years ago I began a campaign for our local libraries to open for longer hours the weekends - all to no avail at the time however the seed bore fruit and after much continued hassling perhaps 5-6 years ago the libraries began opening on Saturdays and Sundays - they are their busiest days now. Obviously there had to be a compromise and they closed a couple of evenings during the week. One was Friday evening which was my time for the library - hoist by my own petard. I have managed to adjust though I rarely go to the library on weekends as it is so crowded.

I like to go in the mid-to late afternoon - grab an armful of books, magazines, whatever and settle down in my favourite area which is away from the stacks, the checkout desk, the computers and the students. It has wall of windows overlooking the council gardens and some comfy chairs. It is the most relaxing time of the week - I sit there and browse and gaze and dream and recharge. 

 

[Steph]

I too have a Simpson globe..Small and quite lovely, but as much as I love Chihuly have never been able to afford anything of his. I do go to anywhere that he has things.. Some of the colors are so incredible.. Clear, never muddy.
I think that I would love to see our libraries in this county open in the evenings and
Sundays and Saturdays rather than the mornings. I know our morning are only the college students who come in to use the computers..

[maryz]

We woke up to about 8" of snow this morning.  In Chattanooga, TN!!!!

[ginny]

Snowing here too, in South Carolina, a winter wonderland!


Oh what a great discussion here, it's clear Libraries are near and dear to our hearts in all parts of the world.

The links Jane put here are absolutely fabulous, and they tell the status quo, thank you SO much for knowing about them and  for putting them here, Jane.

The summary statistics of all public libraries in the US are stunning.

 I love stats. They even interpret the graphs, which is half of it, really. So organized, and somewhat surprising or are they.


 Internet computer use way up in the libraries (feel free anybody to correct my reading of these stats, they are fascinating).

There were 9,221 public libraries in the US.

That seems quite small, to me?

Circulation down. The charts are deceptive, as the increments are small, so what looks like a free fall may not be. . 2008 Circulation print materials circulation is lower than 1999.  But not a terrible lot, they interpret, too:

The composition of library collections has changed somewhat over the past 10 years. The number of print materials per 1,000 people has fluctuated up and down over the time period, but on the balance it has declined from 2,846 print materials per 1,000 people in FY1999 to 2,767 print materials per 1,000people in FY2008, a decrease of 2.8 percent (Figure 6).

Both Audio and Video circulation way up over 1999.  I mean way up, is that 100 percent? Gosh yes, they show video at 126 percent up and audio at 49.8 percent. No wonder they were all over the VHS Disney stuff I took, most eager to have them.

You would know libraries would have stats, they are so organized anyway.  Ho on the Reference transactions, straight down,  two charts  straight down hill. That's no surprise. And they cite the internet as a reason.

This is honest and straightforward, the true status of libraries in the US. It's obvious they are on top of their situation.

Wow children's program attendance was 81 percent of all programs, but is slightly down if I'm reading correctly. Fiscally in good shape, librarians with degrees in good shape.  So making money. .

Ah they even have libraries distribution by state. Guess which state is on the bottom? Which on the top?

 That's just the best document, it's fascinating,  thank you for putting it here Jane, now to look at the other link to see if the CNR and all of its ilk  is online. I may need to go to the library to get the titles, had never considered  looking them up on the internet.

Oh and somebody here talked about how can you know what you read as reference ON the internet is true? I've reread this three times and can't find that question,  but that is right on! Most of it is not. Especially Wikipedia.

Pedln: One of the risks identified was that if a child was read to on fewer than three days per week and there were less than 30 children's books in the home, there was a higher risk of low language skills and school readiness in all groups, whether there were levels of financial disadvantage or not.  That's very impressive, thank you for bringing that here.

My own library use is not as frequent as everybody's  here. We don't live close to one, we use the main branch, it's 30 minutes from the door to the library door downtown. It's a big one, three stories, and the basement children's  section has a huge train in it and lots of great programs.  My grandbaby and I used to go once a week (and his mother also takes him to their library where they live) for story hour and checking out books and seeing the fountains, etc., but stopped when he graduated up to a story hour whose leader I did not like for several reasons; she needs a course in dealing with children, not a positive experience. Little J loves books and is very well behaved but in the case of a couple of other children, she needs a course in Early Childhood  Development and what TO do, or in her case NOT to do; shame really. I did not think he needed to be exposed to that, particularly. Not on my time anyway. I don't care for the woman, myself.  Even when she'd take over the smaller ones as a substitute  she'd remark to the parents, for instance,  if a point was made in a book, "right over their heads." Kind of snide.  He doesn't need that.

 And he so loved the woman who did the group he came from.  We have been talking about going on another day so as to avoid this unfortunate woman's reading group.

For myself personally, perhaps my reading habits are peculiar, sort of  like The Lodger which I just finished last night. (My husband went out of town and I had to stop reading it, it scared me to death, nothing happening but three people walking around still scared me to death).  We all have quirks,  mine is  a dislike of old books. I don't like the smell or soiled used books.  I take care of my own books, and  don't want one somebody else has misused. You would not believe what we've found in John's childrens loan books from the library.  It's a fetish, which happily, so far, I can indulge.   By the numbers of people sitting on couches reading in Barnes and Noble stores I'm not the only one.

So driving 30 minutes to get a nasty book is not one of my favorite passtimes.  The smell, the pages, how they are cut, the feel of the book is important, to me. And then you can help by donating it TO the library in almost new condition.

As far as being disappointed you can read IN the book online on B&N or Amazon before purchase, so there's not a lot of chance you'll be totally disappointed and out money.  But then you have to dispose of the new book.

I also like e books,  and have read and am reading several....and there are plenty of free ones, good ones,  once you  GET the device...So  for me, personally, the service of checking out an adult book   part of the library for adults  I have not used....in probably 30-40 years. (Am beginning TO feel  like The Lodger hahaha). Now I  have used the reference books section, books which cannot be checked out, many times per year. Even now. Hopefully what I want IS online, I'm half afraid to even look at the second link and find out.  In the Reference Section of the library I find things I need the most. But Reference is down.

When you consider the aging population, the distribution of libraries, we don't all live next door to one, (lucky you who do!)  the ability to get out AND go to one and the e book ONLINE from the library and the bookstores, it's pretty much a no brainer where this is going. I do agree the publishing industry is going to be the ones who cut back, but the retailers seem to have jumped on the e book pretty enthusiastically, I wonder how much they make for each $12 or $6 sale? The crowds around the Nook table in the B&N stores  are three deep here....

whoops, hahaha didn't mean for this to be so long!

So what are you reading in ANY way?

[jane]

Ginny....I think you'll find that the huge reference books you're thinking of are available in a database that's on line to libraries for a subscription fee.  I don't believe you'll find them available to anyone without at least a card for that university.  

 It's like the EBSCO database that I've used and that perhaps Pedln is thinking of.  Our local library, through the State Library, has a subscription at a negotiated price, and so makes it available to our library card holders.  In exchange, our librarian has reduced the number of print periodicals she subscribes to and the number of years back she keeps them. They're not available for search via the databases...either from home to card holders or in the library for those without a card or home computer.  As you would expect, school and college students are the biggest users.

Our library is small...serves a town of 5,000 and the residents of the county and several small towns in the county (through a contract with the county to provide those mandated (by the state) library services every citizen of Iowa is to have).

On the Research page of the Library website, we have the following available online:




Use The New Book of Knowledge with Grolier Online for current events, news, and encyclopedia information.

Use EBSCOhost to find magazine, newspaper, and journal articles.

The Auto Repair Reference Center contains repair information on more than 34,000 domestic and imported vehicles from 1945 to the present.  A complete guide to vehicle ownership and maintenance is also included.

Use the Small Engine Repair Reference Center for routine maintenance and extensive repairs on more than 25 years of small engines, including: ATVs, commercial mowers, farm tractors, generators, motorcycles, boats, outdoor power equipment, jet skis, snowblowers, snowmobiles, and tillers.

Consumer Health Complete is a comprehensive resource for health information.
 Content includes full-text of more than 200 health reference books and encyclopedias, information on diseases and health conditions, and education sheets on generic and brand name drugs.

The Home Improvement Reference Center is a guide for home improvement, including: maintenance, remodeling, electrical work, plumbing, wood projects, outdoor improvement, and decorating your home and garden.  Full-text articles from reference works and magazines are included, as well as pictures and videos.

The Subject Guides give you a great place to find information on many topics, including sports, news and weather, genealogy, homework help, careers and job searches, travel, government, e-mail, education, home and garden, health and medicine, and much more.

Use Iowa Locator or WorldCat to find books, CDs, DVDs and other items in Iowa libraries and libraries throughout the country.   [These can then be requested through ILL  [InterLibrary Loan]

Use HealthInfoIowa for more health information.

Use Our Community to learn about our community and find the sites of local government, organizations, schools, and media.

Use Kids Links to find websites designed for children.

Use Teen Links to find websites with information for teens.

Iowa Heritage Project and Iowa Publications Online can help you dig deep into all things Iowa.On the website those are all links to those items, of course.[ A library card with patron number is needed to access those.]

In February our contract to have ebooks for download will begin.  I think we do a pretty good job with limited $$ for a small town.  [Yeah, I'm on the Library Board and proud of what our very capable librarian has gotten for the $$ she has available.]


AMEN on having someone in the Children's Room who's non-threatening and welcoming.  We had someone we thought was good. She was, for a bit.  Now we have a gal who's a mom of 5, loves to read and loves kids.  Attendance has gone up by leaps and bounds. She also works with the Parents as Teachers people and Mommy and Me for infant stimulation and kids programming.

Sorry to get so carried away, but this is a subject dear to my heart and my passion, I guess.


jane

[Frybabe]

I wonder, sometimes, if people are born with a reading gene.

We never had a lot of books in the house, but my Dad was a reader and so was I. Reading bored my first sister. She now has a reasonably well stocked home library of her own.  I don't recall how much my second sister read. There were Golden books around, but not many. I don't remember when the reading bug bit me, but I do remember digging into The Book of Knowledge, children's versions of several classics including Aesop's Fables and The Three Musketeers. Our Welsh relatives used to send such books as Reginald Rabbit and Marmaduke Mouse and The Water Babies to us for Christmas. Nancy Drew and the Bobbsey Twins were well represented a little later. I also frequented the local libraries when I was younger, but didn't continue after high school for some reason.

My local library branch opens so late in the day (11am) that I am out and back before they open. I have not been to the main branch.

[marcie]

I don't think I had heard of Josh Simpson and his glass art before. I went to his site to check out some images and found out about  his Infinity project. This is so fantastic: http://www.joshsimpson.com/site/infinity-project.html

[BarbStAubrey]

All this talk about libraries - on one of our coldest days - here it is after  4: in the afternoon and the thermometer hasn't even broken 40 yet. I know, I know, forty for many of you would be a heat wave - for me it is blankets on the wide doorways to hold the heat in the main living area - anyhow I spent hours this afternoon in one virtual library after the other. There used to be a site with over 100 of the most beautiful libraries in the world but it is no longer active - here are some replacements...

Start off with this YouTube because the music is lovely and by re-starting the same YouTube page over and over I was able to peruse several sites listening to this enchanting music.
Slides of Some of the Most beautiful Libraries in the World

These next two web links have a few of the same libraries however, each site offers different information and both site have different links to follow after the initial show.
20 Of the Most Beautiful Libraries in the World

Amzing facts about the World's Most Beautiful Libraries

Here is another set of clicks or links to beautiful Libraries - included in these photos are some of the great book stores like Shakespeare & Co. - Cook and Book, with a fiat on the main floor - Daunt - and one of America's oldest, Brattle Book Shop in Boston - When you click the last photo in the row another set of photos of additional bookstores will pop up Les plus belles libraries du monde

This is the link with photos of the oldest found library in the World discovered by the proverbial farmer in Syria as recently as 1929 - Ugarit: Sacred destinations

And the History here is amazing - a building consecrated by St. Ambrose in 393 a.D. - refurbished and enlarged by Filippo Brunelleschi in 1418  (can you imagine the building containing your library enlarged and refurbished by Brunelleschi?) completed, after the master's death, by his disciple Antonio Manetti Ciaccheri - take the stairs to the upper floor to the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana

This link is to the World's Greatest Libraries Past and Present

And finally Amazon not only has Most Beautiful Libraries in the World by Jacques Bosser but they link on that page additional and wonderful books about, caring for books and decorating with books including, a child's book that is hilarious -  Please Bury Me in the Library - here is another link, a novel that looks interesting and inviting - oh I have so many on my table as it is but still... the first few pages hit my "book" button - The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop: A Memoir, a History oh and another - definitely used - at $115 that is beyond reasonable - even the $44  is high but at least look at the pages offered to peruse by Amazon for Writers' Houses

Golly Rosemary you have nearby two of the most beautiful libraries in the world - in Edinburgh there is, The New Library of the Royal  College of Physicians and in Glasgow is the Mackintoch - Wow - at the Glasgow School of Art.

Amazing there is such a gallery of beautiful buildings and rooms holding books - makes me want to redo my house and get all the books in decent shelving from the drawers and closets even if I have them piled in corners as one of the bookstores showed.

[Frybabe]

Magnificent!


Did anyone notice the pattern of the floor in the Sansovino Library, Venice, Italy? I am quite intrigued by it.

I'd love to visit the George Peabody Library the next time we are in Baltimore.

Here are some photos of the renovated Linderman Library at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. The stained glass dome was not there when I visited. Apparently it had been closed off in a previous renovation. I remember the spiral staircases and the floor boards that you could see between to the room below. The Linderman houses the university's rare book collection.

http://www.psbartholomew.com/2010/03/10/back-to-the-beginning-the-lehigh-university-linderman-library/

This page shows a great close up of the stained glass as well as a shot or two of the upper rooms and spiral staircases.
http://www.meetup.com/photoquest101/photos/714738/10744437/#10744437

[BarbStAubrey]

I think what we see is the flattened version of a photo taken from a Virtual Tour - here is the link to the page showing the floor with a different appearance that depicts a more accurate view.
http://venice.arounder.com/it/palazzi-storici/biblioteca-nazionale-marciana/sansovino-s-library-1.html

I think the floor of the Vestibule of the Marciana Library is extraordinary.
http://venice.arounder.com/it/palazzi-storici/biblioteca-nazionale-marciana/marciana-library-vestibolo.html

[Steph]

Ginny and I must be soul mates. I dont check out reading material from our library.. But I do visit the Genealogical section quite often. Our genealogical society also pays for the Roots and several other websites for genealogy. Our local library is not t hat heavy on adult books. Many more cd;s, dvd's and childrens books.. The periodical is well staffed because a member of Friends of the Library donates this whole section each year to her husband and keeps it well stocked. The big genealogical library here is in Orlando, so I rarely go.. Dont like driving downtown and finding a parking garage, etc.
I remember Boston Public Library.. What a glorious building.. staffed with built in bums in each section. Ugh..  New York and New England have fantastic genealogical and Historical libraries. But they are member only of day charge places, not actually public libraries.
I tend to buy new and used paperbacks..Some hard backs and now some ebooks. I belong to a paperback swap club on line and they have a huge variety to choose from.

[rosemarykaye]

Barb - I have not been to either of those libraries you mentioned, but Glasgow is stuffed with Rennie Mackintosh buildings, etc, and I have also been to the Burrell Collection (art not books) outside Glasgow, which is lovely on a fine day as they have sculptures in the grounds.  There is also an art gallery in the Edinburgh Botanic Gardens (which are lovely in themselves, and have a really good tea room  .  I did all my university entrance revision in the Westminster Public Library, which I loved despite the odd tramp snoozing away.

I have heard of that Yellow Lighted Bookshop book before but haven't read it - I think that it was recommended in a customer review on Amazon - they were slating Susan Hill's Howard's End is on the Landing (and I agreed with them) and recommending this instead.

I have been to Shakespeare & Co in Paris, but to be honest I wasn't that impressed - I'm sure it was an amazing place in the days of Sartre, etc, but now it is really just a tourist attraction, IMO.

Steph - your mention of adult books reminds me of a time when I was at one of our branch libraries with my then 3 year old daughter.  At that time that particular branch only had children's videos, and I went over to the counter and asked "Do you not have any adult films?" - you can imagine the look on the assistant's face - as usual I had not thought at all about what I was saying.

Do you take your dogs to the dog show?  There is a bus run from Aberdeenshire to Crufts every year, and the people who go book one seat for themselves and another for the dog.  I should not laugh really, as I am just about to book my precious Siamese into a luxury cattery for the time of our house move - it has heating, special diets, etc and even a webcam for those who want to see their cats from afar (I will not be taking it that far).  Our last Retriever could not handle kennels at all, so we always took him away with us or left him with our neighbour, whose spaniel was his great friend.

Rosemary

[Babi]

  It was an inspiration to see libraries with the same grandeur and beauty I usually associate with
cathedrals or major national buildings.   It's so fortunate that those of use who can't really travel
anymore can at least see the wonders on the web.

[JoanP]

I came in here this morning, with a purpose...trying to box up the holiday glitter and settle into the less merry days of winter.   We've archived the Holiday Open House - with some difficulty.  It was hard to know just when to close that discussion, it was so much fun.  And at the end, there was such a flurry of wonderful links that most of you didn't get a chance to see.  I promised to bring a link to the SeniorLearn Archives here to the Library - and will put a permanent link in the heading for easy reference -

Here is the link to SeniorLearn's Archives  

You'll see the discussions listed alphabetically - the link to the recent Holiday Memories Open House 2010.


Babi - I agree.  The Internet has brought so much right into our homes - it makes me sad though, to think of the number of Seniors, who do not enjoy what we do everyday. How to reach them?

I'm really enjoying the discussion of your local libraries - must admit your comments make me appreciate our own system here in Arlington even more.  Though cutbacks have taken a toll, causing some of the branches to cut back hours, wise decisions were made to handle the economic crises.  The Central Library has only cut back Friday and Saturday evening hours - no longer open until 10 pm. Otherwise it's open seven days a week until 10pm.  We're fully automated, with volunteers available to show people how to check out their own books.  The hold shelves are easily accessible without having to go to the main desk. You can order your book online and the books is brought to whichever branch you specify and it is delivered to that branch for you to pick up.  For those who are homebound, they are mailed out - or delivered, not sure which.  The Welcome Desk on both floors of the Central Library - all volunteers - SENIORS.  I'm inclined to believe that the success of the new procedures could not have happened without our Senior population.

[JoanP]

Rosemary, your comment on Shakespeare and Company brought back memories - I'll bet you didn't go in there alone when in Paris, did you?  A whole subculture goes on - not immediately obvious to the casual browser.   Did you notice the rather rumpled proprietor - George Whitman - when you were there?  He seems to have an eye for the single women who wander into the shop.  We were there - maybe 10 years ago.  George must be in his nineties now.  He claims to be a relative, the great grandson of Walt Whitman, if memory serves.  His daughter's name is Sylvia Beach Whitman.  He claims some relationship with Sylvia Beach as well.  When she died, she left him her massive collection of books - and the "Shakespeare and Company"  title for the bookstore.  

My husband was elsewhere the day I wandered in.  I was immediately ushered in by George, who first invited me to tea on the third floor - where George lived at the time.  Others who worked in the bookstore gathered fir tea too. A daily ritual.  They all slept there too, from what I could tell.  Apparently some of the young clerks at the store were helping get the catalogue online - George was intrigued to hear about what we did on SeniorNet.   He offered me a room while in Paris.  Free lodging in Paris - across the way from Notre Dame!  The only requirement was that I read one book in the store each day I was there.  Needless to say, Bruce was less thrilled than I was at the offer - and we didn't stay there.  
I'm not mentioning the condition of the musty old shop...but it did have its charm.  Made me wish I was young again - and single, in Paris...

[bellemere]

Boston has a little gem of a library, the Boston Athaneum, supposedly the oldest private library in the country.  Expensive to join, but anyone is welcome to visit, free of charge, the first floor, with its cozy lamplit rooms,full of books, with deep leather armchairs, and windows looking out on the Old Granary Burial Ground.  Several founding fathers , along with the real person who became "Mother Goose" are buried there.  The spotless restrooms are welcome after tramping around the city.
Boston's huge public library features murals by Sargent and Puvis de Chavanne, and enough marble to rival the Parthenon.  In my college days, I used the reading room, put in my order for the books I wanted and they were brought to my chair by one of the nerdy "library clerks"   Since my college was relatively new, its collection was rudimentary.  But before the days of electronic ID cards for students, we could slip into the Radcliffe library for access to their magnificent collection.   
Widener Library at Harvard was built in memory of a Widener son who went down on the Titanic.  She gave it on condition that every student at Harvard learn how to swim.  True Story.  Today I think that takes a less coercive form of swimming lessons for all who want them. The other big library on campus, Lamont, was closed to women, can you imagine?  No more of that.
The branch libraries are slowly closing; there are only a few left.
My town is renovating the big gloomy hundred-plus years old pile. .  It will include a Vasily expanded electronic wing.  And maybe we can get some Sunday hours, which would be great!

A lot of our small towns ha Carnegie libraries, still sturdy and operating after all these years.

[rosemarykaye]

JoanP - your library system sounds wonderful.  Part of the problem here is, I think, just a lack of "lateral thinking" - the Council is not prepared to try anything new, all they ever see are obstacles.  People do volunteer to help, but they are always met with a horrified response - "we are not insured to do that" is the constant cry.  The funny thing is that everyone blames our insurance/risk-obssessed culture on the USA, but here you are, clearly running services with the aid of senior volunteers.

As for Shakespeare & Co, I went there last year with husband and two school age daughters in tow.  The only proprietorial person there appeared to be a youngish woman - presumably the daughter?  Anyway, nobody propositioned me - I feel quite left out 

Rosemary

[mabel1015j]

What a nice thing to see on a winter's day.

Today is suffragist Alice Paul's 126th birthday.
Everyone should learn abt her, she's the Martin Luther King of the suufrage and equal rights movement and she did it FIRST. 7 of us who were founders of the Alice Paul Institute are planning on having dinner tonight, but the snow storm is headed our way, altho it looks like it will just be flurries until after 8 o'clock. Besides what's a little snow compared to what Alice endured so all of us could vote.

Twenty-six years ago on AP's centennial birthday, we had a dinner where we honored Sally Ride,who had just been in space,  Judge Lisa Richette, who decided the case abt stewardesses not having to quit at 35, and Sonia Johnson, an ex-communicated Mormon for her work in women's rights. A dinner was all we had planned. Then the people who lived on what had been the Paul farm contacted us and said they were planning to retire and would we buy the property so it wouldn't become a part of the surrounding development!?!?! We were  a
dozen average women w/ no special talents or money. But we looked at each other and said " we HAVE to do this! And we did! The $400,000 mortgage was paid off a few yrs ago and a total renovation was completed.

Here is the wiki site abt Alice, i love the pictures of her on this site


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Paul

And here's the link to the Institute site


http://www.alicepaul.org/

[mabel1015j]

The Institute Site was the Paul homestead and we have tours and programs to train girls in leadership and to teach everyone about Alice, the Quaker history if the area, the suffrage movement and women's history in general. Come visit.

I've just reread the wiki site info, it has some errors i it, the Institute site gives the best and accurate info......i'll have to have the staff amend the wiki site.......jean

[BarbStAubrey]

Jean - oh, oh, oh, - now that is MAGNIFICANT!