Patrons Are People: How to Be A Model Librarian

Shouting in the Library

Envisioning the Library of the Future Phase 1: A Review of Innovations in Library Services

Envisioning the Library of the Future Phase 1: A Review of Innovations in Library Services / Arts Council England.
England: Arts Council, 2013.

The future is now!

Internet Search Engines Drove US Librarians to Redefine Themselves

"Internet Search Engines Drove US Librarians to Redefine Themselves." Science Daily / University of Oregon.
Rockville, MD: Science Daily, August 7th 2013.

"Librarians, the researchers found, have gone from thinking of themselves as the knowledgeable person with the best answer to a patron's question to being an interpreter and connector who points patrons to helpful materials for their consideration."

Sometimes, This Happens

How Andrew Carnegie Turned His Fortune Into A Library Legacy

"How Andrew Carnegie Turned His Fortune Into A Library Legacy." National Public Radio / Susan Stamberg.
Washington: NPR.com, August 1st 2013.

"Andrew Carnegie was once the richest man in the world. Coming as a dirt poor kid from Scotland to the U.S., by the 1880s he'd built an empire in steel — and then gave it all away: $60 million to fund a system of 1,689 public libraries across the country."

You Want Weapons?

Detroit Rock City

Read.

Library vs Cricket

Friday At the Library

Is It Time to Get Rid of Libraries?

"Is It Time to Get Rid of Libraries?" FrontPage Mag / David Greenfield.
Sherman Oaks, California: FrontPageMag.com, July 1st 2013.

"Despite the general leftward trend of librarians on an organizational level, libraries once served a useful function. Once."

Dude.  If that's your take, then clearly not.

Communities Need Libraries to Thrive

For Future Reference: Far From Faltering in Digital Age, Libraries Thrive as Community Hubs

"For Future Reference: Far From Faltering in Digital Age, Libraries Thrive as Community Hubs." Valley News / Aimee Caruso.
New Hampshire: Valley News Online, February 17th 2013.

"“The library belongs to everyone,” [Ken] Linge said. “It’s a community living room.”

To that end, today’s libraries are “a little less rigid,” he said. “We want to be an inviting and a comfortable place for people to come.”"

It's Not What a Library Stocks, It's What it Shares

"It's Not What a Library Stocks, It's What it Shares." The Guardian / James Bridle.
London: The Guardian Online, February 17th 2013.

GPs to Prescribe Library Books to Combat Anxiety, Depression & Relationship Problems

"GPs to Prescribe Library Books to Combat Anxiety, Depression & Relationship Problems." The Telegraph / Hannah Furness.
United Kingdom: The Telegraph Online, January 2013.

Survey Finds Rising Reliance on Libraries as a Gateway to the Web

"Survey Finds Rising Reliance on Libraries as a Gateway to the Web." New York Times / Leslie Kaufman.
New York: NYT Online, January 22nd 2013.

"“In the past generation, public libraries have reinvented themselves to become technology hubs in order to help their communities access information in all its new forms,” Kathryn Zickuhr, a research analyst with Pew and a co-author of a report on the survey’s findings, said in a written statement.

Pew questioned 2,252 Americans ages 16 and older via cellphones and landlines from Oct. 15 to Nov. 10 last year, in both English and Spanish. More than half of those surveyed said that they wanted more e-book selections in their public libraries, and would be likely to check out e-readers already loaded with books — a significant increase from a survey a year ago."

See:
Library Services in the Digital Age / Pew Research Centre

A Library Is...

"A library in the middle of a community is a cross between an emergency exit, a life raft and a festival. They are cathedrals of the mind; hospitals of the soul; theme parks of the imagination. On a cold, rainy island, they are the only sheltered public spaces where you are not a consumer, but a citizen, instead. A human with a brain and a heart and a desire to be uplifted, rather than a customer with a credit card and an inchoate "need" for "stuff." A mall--the shops--are places where your money makes the wealthy wealthier. But a library is where the wealthy's taxes pay for you to become a little more extraordinary, instead. A satisfying reversal. A balancing of the power."

~ Libraries: Cathedral of Our Souls / Caitlin Moran

Library Turns to Pole Dancing to Entice New Readers

"Library Turns to Pole Dancing to Entice New Readers." The Guardian / Press Association.
United Kingdom: Guardian Online, January 18th 2013.

Bed Bug Sniffer Dog

Steve Hebert for the NYT

See:

A Dark & Itchy Night

Sex in the Library: Kids Have Fun, Librarians Gripe, & the Internet Explodes

"Sex in the Library: Kids Have Fun, Librarians Gripe, & the Internet Explodes." SF Weekly / Joe Eskenazi.

San Francisco: SF Weekly Online, December 6th 2012.

"Please don't fuck in the library. I work here. My staff works here. I told my staff I'd do what I can to make sure theirs is a safe and happy workplace. Now, in addition to pedophiles, thieves, and people with poor bowel function, I've got kids using shitty liberal arts justifications to fuck in the library.
I don't want to rain on your liberating parade or interfere with your bucket list, but you don't have to deal with the complaints. I know you would like your sex life to be more exciting, but do you know what is also exciting? Getting to work and thinking, "there won't be people fucking in the library today" Now that is liberating.
Incidentally, thank you for advising people not to ejaculate in the library. After cleaning up garbage, graffiti, shit that is apparently dropped from 10 feet above the toilet, and a variety of bodily fluids, I hesitate to ask cleaning staff to add ejaculate to that list."

Top 10 Least Stressful Jobs for 2013

"Librarian." Top 10 Least Stressful Jobs for 2013 / CNBC.
America: CNBC.com, January 2013.

5 Reasons Being a Librarian Is Stressful

"5 Reasons Being a Librarian Is Stressful." Screwy Decimal / Rita Meade.
Brooklyn, NY: Screwy Decimal: Tales from an Urban Librarian, January 4th 2013.

Librarians or Baristas?

"Librarians or Baristas?" Inside Higher Ed / Matthew Reisz.
America: Inside Higher Ed Online, November 26th 2012.

"Large bright badges offering help to customers may have become a common sight in coffee shops.

But the wearing of them by librarians at the University of Oxford has been seen as the latest insult in a row over changes taking place among the dreaming spires' famous research collections.

Anger has been growing in the past few months over developments at the Bodleian Libraries that have led to vast humanities collections being rehoused, including the History Faculty Library being incorporated into the main collections. Matters came to a head last week with a discussion in Congregation -- Oxford's academic "parliament" -- about "the libraries and their future."