MOBIUS Libraries

The Library of Congress is featuring selected pages of Gresham's little-known diary as part of an extensive display of its voluminous Civil War material to mark the sesquicentennial of the war years.

Great way to combat voter ID laws.

This teen space was too cool not to share! They have a green screen and a recording space!

This article was an interesting I didn't agree with a lot of it, but some of it was pretty accurate. Here's a hipster test : "Look around your living space. Do you surround yourself with things you really like or things you like only because they are absurd? Listen to your own speech. Ask yourself: Do I communicate primarily through inside jokes and pop culture references? What percentage of my speech is meaningful? How much hyperbolic language do I use? Do I feign indifference? Look at your clothes. What parts of your wardrobe could be described as costume-like, derivative or reminiscent of some specific style archetype (the secretary, the hobo, the flapper, yourself as a child)? In other words, do your clothes refer to something else or only to themselves? Do you attempt to look intentionally nerdy, awkward or ugly? In other words, is your style an anti-style? The most important question: How would it feel to change yourself quietly, offline, without public display, from within?"

One of those titles that forces you to read the blog.

I've posted a few articles about the Little Free Libraries, it's good to see that they are starting to catch on as a trend.

A general overview about the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and how libraries have responded to it, and about disaster planning in general. While not treading too much new ground, it does show how some ideas and strategies work in practice.

An idea that came from the "Risks and Rewards" conference to give away skateboards branded with the libraries logo. While it would serve for good advertising and word of mouth, I question how much additional patronage it would bring.

Ok. I am seriously tired of the popular fiction/non-fiction side of ebooks. Basically Penguin is saying that they will grant libraries access to their ebooks in the way that will tick off your patrons the most, so that they will never want to use your service. Why does 3M say ok to this? Because Penguin dropped OverDrive earlier this year and this is a new way to entice people to their 3M Cloud Library product. Does MOBIUS really want to work with a company that will accept less?

I think this is a pretty interesting fundraiser.

Haha. I like the tattoo on the guys calf that's just the generic/universal library icon.

This list has some really cool stuff! My favorite is the pocket projector.

Libraries along the East coast served as community support centers for residents without electricity or heat.

There are some amazingly awesome buildings pictured here! I'm thinking we need to road trip/fly to some of these.

Move over OverDrive here comes 3M. Here is my favorite quote : "They're (patrons) able to do it (download books) on their own. [3M] is doing something right." This is huge as someone who worked at B&N for 4 years usability is a big deal. B&N is where people came to troubleshoot and the biggest headache was OverDrive (I hear its easier now). Also it'll be nice having someone else in the e-book market for libraries.

A short article about privacy topics, in this case where a library's local privacy policy conflicted with state law regarding the disclosure of of a minor's library records to a custodial parent or legal guardian.

An update on the state of libraries in the Northeast after hurricane Sandy. 85 out of 90 branches of the New York Public Library have reopened. New York has three systems; the NYPL, Queens, and Brooklyn. The Brooklyn system closed 9 out of 60 branches--but some may be long term closings, and Queens closed 7 out of 62. The New Jersey libraries, however, are facing a more chaotic situation and are still assessing their damage.

The two PDF files linked on the pages are reports from the House of Commons about the state and future of libraries in the United Kingdom. One thing I found concerning was how the operation of many libraries has been turned over from Councils to community volunteers.

In a report released today, Tuesday 6 November 2012, the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee says that some local authorities, under considerable pressure to quickly find cost savings, have drawn up plans without taking proper account of local needs for library services and the variety of options available to provide them, and are therefore in danger of failing in their statutory duty to provide a 'comprehensive and efficient' library service. Other councils, however, have found innovative and cost-effective ways of continuing to supply - and in some cases improve - their library service.

Harvard librarians learned that lesson when they set up Twitter feeds broadcasting titles of books being checked out from campus libraries. It seemed harmless enough-a typical tweet read, "Reconstructing American Law by Bruce A. Ackerman," with a link to the book's library catalog entry-but the social-media experiment turned out to be more provocative than library staffers imagined.

An ongoing dispute is happening between libraries in the Green Bay, Wisconsin area where the Brown County system has decided to start billing other county library systems because their residents are use the Brown County libraries. Many of the libraries are close to neighboring counties so residents will often go to a physically nearby library even if it is for another system. The reason for this dispute is Brown County is facing a funding shortfall and is trying to raise more money.