What Does a Library Look Like After a Hurricane?
Posted September 30, 2005 Photos
of the public library in Biloxi, Mississippi, taken about two weeks ago.
Reader’s Advisory Alert: “Maps” of Author Write-Alikes? Posted September 30, 2005
We’ve never seen lists of authors lists formatted quite
this way. Some of the tests we ran on the site produced some pretty
odd results, but it’s undeniably fun to play around with these so-called
"maps." See what you think: type into the site’s search box the name of
one of your own personal favorite authors and see what happens.
Many U.S. Public Libraries Redesign Their Websites Every Three Years Posted September 29, 2005
That's what a study of several large public library systems found, anyway.
Read the
press release of the study's publisher.
Of course, the libraries studied, unlike AFPL, employed their own
full-time or part-time webmasters.
Dept. of Elaborate Public Library Fundraisers
Posted September 29, 2005
Here’s the first sentence of a press release about an upcoming fundraising
event whose proceeds will be donated to the public library systems in the
New York City area:
On Sunday, Oct. 2, from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., thousands of New Yorkers
are expected to converge on Bryant Park for The Great Read in the Park, a
momentous book and author event and a spectacular kickoff in celebration
of the 70th anniversary of the New York Times best-seller list.
The press release provides
details about what's been planned for this ambitious all-day fundraiser.
Apart from the fact that not as many famous authors live in Atlanta as
in New York, we don’t see why something of the sort couldn’t be eventually
undertaken here in fair Atlanta’s Piedmont Park. Of course, AFPL would
first need to hire a Development Officer, then restore confidence in the
library system so substantial numbers of people would want to
donate their money to AFPL.
The Psychology of Information Flow?
Posted September 29, 2005
Blogger David Pollard recently posted an essay to his "How to Save the
World" blog about how information circulates - or doesn’t - in
hierarchically-arranged organizations (such as library systems). Among
Pollard's observations (each of which, among many others, he elaborates on):
Bad news rarely travels upwards in organizations
People share information generously peer-to-peer, but begrudgingly
upwards, and sparingly downwards in organizational hierarchies
People find it easier and more satisfying to reinvent the wheel
The true cost of acquiring information and the cost of not knowing are
both greatly underestimated in most organizations
People know more than they can tell, and tell more than they can write
down
People are generally reluctant to admit they don't know, or don't
understand, something
All of this will sound eerily familiar to veteran AFPL employees.
Dept. of Reference Desk Trivia: The Seven Basic Plots of Literature
Posted September 28, 2005
The Internet Public Library has compiled a lot
of nifty answers to “Frequently Asked Reference Questions” in the ten
years it’s been operating, but one of our faves is
this one written by Vermont-based blogger (and former IPL contributor)
Jessamyn West.
Why Library Administrators Should Stop Underestimating
the Importance of Library Websites
Posted September 27, 2005
Ohio-based blogger Laura Solomon has posted some intriguing reflections,
plus links to some equally-interesting reflections of others - including an
arresting mathematical calculation on this subject.
Read Solomon's blogpost.
Characteristics of a Good Library Trustee
Posted September 27, 2005
Blogger "Rochelle" has posted this list to her blog entitled
“Tinfoil + Racoon”.
Depending on their temperament and length of employment, some AFPL
employees reading this nifty checklist will either find themselves
snickering or weeping.
Ever optimistic, AFPLWATCH believes that, somewhere in this big ole town,
there have got to be a few good potential library trustees. True, they haven't been
found yet, but surely they must be out there somewhere?
Brantley was referring to the fact that an insurance company
agreed to refund the county $1.5 million in a questionable $2 million
investment made (without county oversight) by former county sheriff Jackie
Barrret. As the AJC goes on to report, “The settlement means Fulton
County lost $500,000 from the investments.”
Brantley is the same stellar attorney who spent two years repeatedly
claiming that a discrimination lawsuit brought against AFPL officials was
completely unfounded. Settling that lawsuit cost the county $18 million;
a subsequent suit filed when library officials retaliated against two of
the plaintiffs in the original lawsuit cost the county an additional
$250,000 to settle.
Looks like anything Brantley says and does (or fails to do) - or how much
money the county pays out in lawsuit penalties or fails to recover in bad
investments - is just fine with her employers, as she’s still got her job.
When Brantley finally retires (no doubt to the sound of additional bragging),
we’d love to see the AJC publish an accounting of how much money
was lost from the county treasury during Brantley’s tenure as county
attorney.
Re-gird Thy Loins, O Ye Library Workers
Posted September 26, 2005
Oprah Winfrey, the one-woman-catapultor-of-books-into-bestsellerdom, has
ditched her project to produce millions of new readers of literary classics;
she's resumed urging her legions to read books written by contemporary
authors instead.
We all know this means Oprah's devotees will expect their public
libraries to stock multiple copies of Oprah’s pick-o'-the-month. Are you
paying attention, whoever at AFPL is currently in charge these days
of ordering multiple copies of titles before patrons place massive numbers
of Holds on them?
Here’s the New York Times story on Oprah's decision, which
includes details on the lucky author of Oprah's latest favorite book.
(Warning: The Times requires odious registration to read its
online edition.
The report looks full of interesting data - perhaps some reader with the
time to sift through it could send excerpts of the report's most intriguing
bits to AFPLWATCH, so we can post them?
County Commissioners Do Something Sensible?
Posted September 26, 2005
Fulton County commissioners passed a resolution September 21st that limits
the county’s using its powers of eminent domain to condemn property for
economic development. The county’s
press release uses the following scenario as an example of what the
county may not do: condemning a piece of private property to make way for a new public
library, then later swapping or selling the property and building the library
somewhere else instead.
Library Workers in Rhode Island Unionize;
Library Workers in Cincinnati Thinking About It
Posted September 22, 2005
Excerpt from librarian Michael McGrorty’s September 20th posting to his
blog, "Library Dust":
"Poverty is no stranger to the library world. Among the many millions of
working poor are quite a few library workers. Librarians justifiably
complain of low salaries but the clerks and technicians around them are
paid less for work that is just as hard and takes as many hours. Some
time, take a clerk out to lunch and ask her what it is like to live on a
salary that will not permit her to own a house, a salary that puts anything
beyond necessities out of reach…. As an industry we have a long way to go,
and we aren’t going to get to the better end unless we go together."
Dept. of Drug-Dealing Librarians (North Carolina Division)
Posted September 22, 2005
Some people just never learn…
Read the story.
Dept. of Librarian Victims of Violent Crimes (Michigan Division)
Posted September 22, 2005
Jury sentences 23-year-old killer of 71-year-old librarian.
Read the story.
Readers Advisory Alert: Database on Fantasy Genre Now Available
Posted September 22, 2005
United Kingdom-based Internet guru and blogger Phil Bradley has brought to
our attention the establishment of a new Internet resource, the
Internet Speculative Fiction Database, which apparently aims to be the
omnium gatherum of online information about fantasy fiction and its
authors.
Dept. of Belatedly-Publicized County Government Initiatives
Posted September 21, 2005
When did the poster arrive at branch libraries announcing Fulton County’s
decree that libraries were - until September 20th - drop-off points for
Hurricane Katrina relief supplies? Why, on the morning of September 20th,
of course!
And it's a good thing, too: branches never did receive the promised
instructions for dealing with the boxes of diapers, crates of bottled
water, etc. that people would've been wedging into library book drops and
piling atop library service desks had county officials promptly (rather
than belatedly) alerted citizens about its campaign.
Another Mega-Site for Job Openings (Including Openings for Librarians)
Posted September 21, 2005 SimplyHired.com is searchable by
category (e.g., Librarian) and/or geographically by city or zip code. The
day we checked, it included an AFPL opening (though it didn’t specify where
in the system that opening was).
We're glad to finally see an AFPL job vacancy advertised in some
nationally-accessible place, even if we rarely see them on the "Fulton County
Portal" and via all-county emails along with the vacancies announced by
every other county department.
"Desperate Librarians" Pose for Fund-Raising Calendar
Posted September 20, 2005 Hatched by a group of creative (and brave) Wisconsin library
workers, this idea is definitely a contender for this year's award for Best Library
Library Fundraising Idea of 2005. Given the seemingly relentless waves of
cuts in library budgets throughout the United States (and the inevitable
publicity that this idea will receive), we wonder if this "desperate"
approach to fundraising might catch on elsewhere. In Atlanta, Georgia,
for instance? The mind reels with the possibilities....
“To be a librarian is to touch the future.”
Posted September 20, 2005
Thus speaks (well, writes) Virginia-based librarian Robert Hadden in a
recent LIBREF discussion list posting. Hadden’s post is mainly about the
differences between librarians working in different (academic vs. corporate
vs. public) settings, which are interesting enough, but even more
interesting are Hadden's
musings recollections of some of the beyond-the-call-of-duty things
he's done for his library's patrons.
Library Exhibit-Maker Alert: Censorship Quotations
Posted September 20, 2005
Just in time for next year's Banned Books Week exhibits (!), Danielle
Hollister, quotations editor for BellaOnline, has assembled a 78-item
collection of
censorship quotations.
Internet Alert: Searchable PowerPoint Database Available
Posted September 20, 2005
Added recently to the vast resources of the World Wide Web is
SlideBay a search engine that locates PowerPoint presentations that are
available on the Web. If you find one you like, you can download it immediately for
your own use.
Looks to us like this specialized search engine could save a lot o’
wheel-reinventing episodes on the part of trainers and teachers everywhere,
and in every discipline and setting - including people charged with
teaching library employees various bodies of information. On the other
hand, we all need to remember that
PowerPoint is Evil.
Dept. of Missed Opportunities: Target Launches Reading Encouragement Program for Kids
Posted September 16, 2005
Not the American Library Association, not the Public Library Association,
and certainly not the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library, but a department
store chain has invested some big bucks to set up a book club for younger
kids and their parents. There's the obligatory
press release and an entire
website devoted to the project.
Dept. of Ain’t-It-the-Truth?
Posted September 16, 2005
Excerpt from September 12th posting to
Library Dust:
"Take a book from the library and you get a note in the mail-if they can
find you. Take [as] much money from the till of a shop [as it costs to buy
and process a stolen library book] and you will find yourself in jail.
Somehow, theft from the library-essentially, a theft from the people-isn’t
thought of as that grave an offense. Yet it is an offense, literally and
figuratively, and it costs libraries considerable amounts of their budgets
every year."
Clearinghouse for Library Success Stories
Posted September 16, 2005
Excerpt from Phil Bradley’s blogpost dated September 15, 2005:
"Want to see what other librarians and information people are doing with
regards best practice?
Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki... 'was created to be a
one-stop-shop for great ideas for librarians. All over the world,
librarians are developing successful programs and doing innovative things
with technology that no one outside of their library knows about. There
are lots of great blogs out there sharing information about the profession,
but there is no one place where all of this information is collected and
organized.'"
A great idea, but why can't we do also this locally? We've long
thought that AFPL's Branch Services Administrator should spend at least
part of her time figuring out how to efficiently uncover whatever
"practices" are working well at Branch X and then systematically sharing
that information with other branch staffs willing to experiment with
better ways of doing what they've got to do anyway.
In this day and age, branch libraries need not remain isolated from each
other in terms of sharing good ideas, but isolated is exactly what they've
remained for years. It makes no sense for ideas to travel from one branch
to another only when some employee transfers or a branch gets a new manager
- events that happen only rarely.
Creating a staff blog and/or an electronically-accessible "idea clearinghouse"
of some sort within AFPL could improve "Branch Services" so much more
quickly than continuing to maintain the administration's current reactive
posture to delivering services, relying on top-down solutions to chronic
problems and challenges, and hoping that good ideas will automatically
migrate through the grapevine.
Parental Approval for Library Collections?
Posted September 15, 2005
The U.S. Representative who wanted the government to change the name of
French fries to "freedom fries" has come up with another stellar idea:
denying federal funds to libraries that refuse to let parents decide
what books will or will not be in libraries.
Read the story.
Yep, that's what this country's libraries need: yet another group deciding
what other people's kids will be allowed to read.
Google Unveils Yet Another Nifty Tool
Posted September 15, 2005
Just in time for those of us monitoring multiple blogs, either via the
blog-surfing mechanism of RSS feeds, or by checking them manually from our
“Internet Favorites” lists, Google is beta-testing a new feature called
Google Blog Search. Try it
out; you’ll probably like it.
Attention All Library Staff...
Posted September 13, 2005
If you are one of the lucky AFPL employees with access to Your Very Own
Computer, you must, before you leave work today, add to your Internet
"Favorites" list Librarians
for Dummies.
A few days ago, AFPLWATCH first urged its readers to investigate this blog,
and today we've posted a single sample of its riches in AFPLWATCH's
"Comic Relief" section. (We've even taken
the extraordinary step of adding a permanent link to
Libraries for Dummies to AFPLWATCH's highly-selective list of Library
Humor Resources.)
After having found the time recently to more fully explore
Library for Dummies' already-burgeoning archives (the site has been part
of the blogosphere only since this past May), AFPLWATCH is now positively
insisting that you take time out of your busy schedule to discover, before
today's sun sets, the multiple marvels of this much-needed, exquisitely
funny venting of frustrations that build up in the brains of those of
us who work in the sometimes surreal territory of what's known as "public service."
Libraries for Dummies,
if explored by you in its archived entirety and faithfully consulted
thereafter, is guaranteed to trigger numerous fits of cathartic chuckles
and more than a few knee-slapping howls. These little episodes will in turn make it easier
empower you become A Better Library Employee on those occasions when you're
out there on the Front Lines coping with the more unplesant and/or irrational
members of The Great Unwashed Public (i.e., not sitting in safely in front
of your computer screen reading screamingly funny blogs).
Libraries for Dummies will have this salutary effect sheerly due to its
reassurance that someone out there Feels Your Pain.
Incidentally, one of our favorite archived
Libraries for Dummies posts (and the blog's archives are crammed with
goodies) is the author's excellent
reply to readers who have indignantly criticized her blog's consistently
(and hilarious) disparaging remarks about bone-headed and/or abusive
library users.
Many library managers and administrators - and the occasional humorless
and/or masochistic co-worker - expect library employees to routinely endure
with graceful forebearance the full range of thoughtless and abusive patron
assaults on our sanity and (at least initial) goodwill;
Libraries for Dummies offers a useful escape valve for the victims of
such a simplistic approach to properly serving the often improperly-behaving
public. (Whoever first came up with that inane "The Customer is Always Right"
slogan - or whoever first thought it should apply to library environments -
should be forced to work in some public library somewhere for a nice long spell.)
Quick, then, while you've got another minute to spare: treat yourself to
Libraries for Dummies...and don't forget to click on each of its archived
posts as well as the most recently-posted musings. The blog's reader comments
are sometimes pretty interesting, too.
May Libraries for Dummies enjoy a long life, a wide
readership, and perhaps spawn a few more librarian-authored blogs as
wonderful as itself!
Now all that's needed to bring that comforting "balance" that some of us
crave in the gloriously opinion-dominated blogosphere is a site devoted
exclusively to hilarious commentary on the countless instances of disrespectful
and otherwise indefensible behavior exhibited by library workers toward
hapless library users! Let AFPLWATCH know if
you stumble upon such a site, as it could serve as a cautionary "customer
service" resource for well-meaning-though-often-put-upon library workers.
Free vs. Fee-Based Printouts in Public Libraries
Posted September 13, 2005
While most librarians - including probably 99% of librarians at AFPL - are
clamoring for libraries to belatedly begin charging library patrons for
every single one of their Internet printouts, one librarian is claiming
in an op-ed piece for the New York Times that charging for Internet
printouts would be a disgrace to the legacy of Andrew Carnegie. She claims
that because so much information formerly in books is now available only in
machine-readable form, printing from Internet websites, databases, etc.
should be free to library users their costs underwritten by library funding
authorities.
We find it odd that nowhere in her argument does this librarian suggest
reimbursing library users for all those Xerox copies libraries have been
blithely charging for all these years, nor does she suggest eliminating
that type of printing fee from now on. And are we to assume that charging
fees for printing out endless email messages would also subvert Andrew
Carnegie's legacy? We can't speak for what goes on at the Internet workstations
in New York's public libraries, but that particular practice accounts for
a huge proportion of the "free" printing in AFPL libraries.
Read the op-ed piece.(Warning: The Times requires tedious
registration to read its online version if you haven't already registered).
Judge Strikes Down Gag Rule in USA PATRIOT Act Case
Posted September 13, 2005
Here's a
recent development in one of the court cases (this one brought by the
American Civil Liberties Union) challenging the provision of the USA PATRIOT Act
that authorizes the government to secretly confiscate a library user's
borrowing records.
The American Library Association's press release applauding this recent
development in the case is
here.
Dept. of It-Can't-Happen-Here - No, Wait, It Already Has!
Posted September 10, 2005
The good people of Indianapolis, Indiana are waking up to a phenomenon
that library staff and library users here in Atlanta have been coping with
for years: "Patrons Steal Hundreds of DVDs from Libraries." That's the
headline, now read the
newspaper story that describes what the Indianapolis-Marion County
Public Library plans to do about it.
AFPL's Central Library staff still probably wince every time they
recall Mary Kaye Hooker's pea-brained "solution" to the nonbook theft
problem at Central.
Library Book Challenges On the Rise Again
Posted September 9, 2005
Just in time for libraries’ annual commemoration of Banned Books Week
(which begins September 24th), ALA has released its tally of books that
library users have officially demanded be removed from library shelves
across the country. Read the
Associated Press news story.
Book-Related Irony of the Moment
Posted September 9, 2005
This from Michael McGrorty’s blog entitled “Library Dust”: “The New Orleans
Public Library's One Book, One New Orleans selection for this year was
John M. Barry's Rising Tide, the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927.”
Michael’s
blog entry includes an excerpt from the Library Journal review
of Barry’s book, which must've gotten some recent media attention, as a
lot of AFPL patrons are borrowing it lately.
Booklover Alert: Annual Goodwill Sale Starts Tonight
Posted September 9, 2005
The annual book sale sponsored by the local Goodwill Industries is
scheduled this year for September 9-12.
The gargantuan sale takes place at Goodwill’s headquarters at 2201
Glenwood Avenue, S.E.
For details, call 404-486-8410 or visit Goodwill’s
web site.
Dept. of Missed Opportunities?
Posted September 8, 2005
Apparently only one public library system in the metro Atlanta area plans to join
over 600 other libraries in 30 countries who are sponsoring or conducting
events or programs about "freedom, democracy, and citizenship...on or around
September 11." According to the
web site of "The September Project," that metro public library system is Clayton County's.
Oh well, maybe next year at AFPL?
Dept. of Intriguing Uses of Overdue Fines
Posted September 8, 2005
According to a recent notice on Emory University's
web site, all fines collected in September for overdue library materials
will be donated to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
Now there's an idea of how Fulton County could help the hapless citizens of
the U.S. Gulf Coast. Since AFPL library fines - thousands of dollars every
month - revert to county coffers instead of to the library, wouldn't it be
nice if the County Commissioners were asked to decree that library fines
collected throughout the county in, say, October would be routed to some
specific hurricane relief effort, and require libraries to post that
information at their service desks (and at AFPL's web site)?
And the award for Most Fabulously Written Recently-Discovered Blog
Written by a Librarian goes to…
Posted September 8, 2005
…Libraries for Dummies.
Scroll down to this anonymous librarian’s August 23rd posting and tell us you
can’t relate!
(Our thanks to Library Stuff
for alerting librarians to this brand new addition to all the great
library-authored blogs out there, and who included this excerpt from LfD
in its alert:
"I've worked in a library for over thirteen years. When I say that I've
pretty much seen it all, it's not much of an exaggeration. From
extraordinary acts of kindness and brilliance, to stunning feats of
stupidity and cruelty, there isn't much that would surprise me anymore.
This blog is devoted to documenting some of the more memorable encounters
I've had with patrons, because we, the staff, have always said we should
write a book. Staff members, particularly bad managers, will not be immune
to having their boneheaded acts and words documented herein. For anyone
who has ever worked with the public, I know your pain."
As we’ve said before, we remain puzzled about why none of these fab
blogs blooming out there in LibraryLand emanates from the ranks of those
toiling away in the bowels of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library. Now why
is that? Perhaps some talented blog reader at AFPL will become inspired to
start his/her own blog sometime soon? If you do so yourself, or hear of
some AFPL colleague starting a library-related blog, be sure to
let AFPLWATCH know so we can consider creating a permanent link to it.
Handel Asks County Tax Board to Resign
Posted September 6, 2005
Fulton County Commission Chair Karen Handel, in a September 5th Atlanta
Journal-Constitution
editorial, is urging the county's Board of Assessors to quit so the
county won't have to ask a court to fire them over the results of an audit
the Commmission ordered last year. The Board of Assessors is scheduled to
meet Wednesday to "coordinate a response" to the audit, according to a
county
press release.
We agree with Handel's suggestion, but we think it's interesting that neither she
nor any other commissioner ever insisted that the similarly-discredited
AFPL Board of Trustees resign in the wake of the successful federal
discrimination lawsuit against AFPL's several board members and the
library director they had hired. Nor did they make such a proposal later,
after a similarly damning (although slightly less publicized) outside
audit of conditions in the county's library system.
Also interesting to us is that Handel's proposed resignations of the tax
board members deflects attention from the fact that it's the county
commissioners themselves who appointed these people. Will we be seeing
Darnell, et al. proffering their own resignations along with their tax
board appointees? Don't hold your breath.
News Stories about Katrina-Ravaged Libraries
Posted September 4, 2005 American Libraries is compiling news stories about libraries affected
by Hurricane Katrina and posting them
here. And Library Journal has posted
early news about the reported status of various Gulf Coast libraries.
Meanwhile, the librarian-authored segments of the blogosphere are replete
with frequently-updated news of numerous Katrina-related web pages compiled
by librarians. The September 2nd blogpost by Karen Schneider, aka
The Free Range Librarian, describes (and contains hyperlinks to) several
such sites. (Karen's later posts are excellent examples of blogger commentary
on the response of politicians to the disaster.)
Google has added a Katrina-oriented feature to its set of
satellite photos that show the enormity of the flooding in New Orleans. (Use the zoom feature to
scan particular blocks of the city.)
What do people think of when they think of their libraries?
Posted September 1, 2005
According to a
story posted by Library Journal, the Gates foundation has pledged
$700,000 to a library advocacy organization to study the public’s
perception of libraries nationwide, and how to improve that perception.
The study will, of course, include surveys of library users.
Yikes! Should we be hoping that some of the library users surveyed will
live in Fulton County? Maybe by the time the national study gets underway,
library service here will have marginally improved-or will have at least
stopped its decade-long disintegration. We shudder to think what AFPL's
users would say about AFPL if they were asked today to comment on it.
.com
Booklover Alert: Annual Goodwill Sale Starts Tonight
Posted September 9, 2005