Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Sarah Palin and Libraries

There has been some interesting discussions about Sarah Palin (aka book banner) and libraries on the blogosphere today. Mostly pertaining to these two articles.

Here is a quote from the first article from Time.

"Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." That woman, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving "full support" to the mayor."

And here is some of the article from the NY Times.

"Ann Kilkenny, a Democrat who said she attended every City Council meeting in Ms. Palin’s first year in office, said Ms. Palin brought up the idea of banning some books at one meeting. “They were somehow morally or socially objectionable to her,” Ms. Kilkenny said.

The librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, pledged to “resist all efforts at censorship,” Ms. Kilkenny recalled. Ms. Palin fired Ms. Emmons shortly after taking office but changed course after residents made a strong show of support. Ms. Emmons, who left her job and Wasilla a couple of years later, declined to comment for this article.

In 1996, Ms. Palin suggested to the local paper, The Frontiersman, that the conversations about banning books were “rhetorical.”"

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Another Interesting Library News Story

So, here is a link to a story about a library worker who was fired for writing about unsavory patrons. This brings up some interesting questions in my mind. First of all, her book was fiction, but that is beside the point. Also, is there an expectation of privacy in a public building? Also, I have worked at a number of different libraries and systems. It seems, they all have the same unsavory characters. Again, unsavory library characters are a subject for another post.

I Wonder If We Should Try This at Our Library?

For those of you who missed this story last week.
The headline is "Cuffed, Booked and Fingerprinted for Overdue Library Books."

Yikes!

Inside Vs. Outside

As noted in my previous blog, every year we go on a family camping trip. While I always look back in fondness on the trips, the preparation always gets to me. Also, if truth be told, I prefer inside to outside. However, I am glad to know that I am not the only one who feels this way.

One of my favorite YA authors (John Green)made a video blog over a year ago that perfectly captures my thoughts. If you have not seen John and Hank Greens' video blogs, you should. They are a hoot! For 2007, they vowed to not communicate at all via text (no emails or IMS, etc.). Their project garnered a ton of attention, especially Hank' musical ode to Harry Potter, which is a subject for another post. They continue to post video blogs on their website.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

What to eat while camping?

I am busy planning for our annual camping trip. Due to J's 20th HS reunion, we'll only be there for one night. Unfortunately that means a lot of work packing and prepping for one night, but so be it. Those who know me, know I have the ability to obsess over any little thing. Camping gives me lots of opportunities. (So does tiling the bathroom, but that is another story!) What to bring? What is fun, different, tasty, easy and kid friendly?! Thank goodness there are lots of websites chock full of information out there. One that I thought was especially intriguing was published in the Washington Post 4 years ago. How about an omelet in a bag? While I am intrigued by this idea, I am not sure how to implement it so that a group of 30 could all eat in a timely manner. I will have to ponder it some more. In the meantime, I guess I'll plan for the old standby of wraps or sammies.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

I wish I could write this thoughtfully

What a thoughtful and well-reasoned letter this gentleman has written to a patron who challenged a book they found in the library. The post is written by Jamie LaRue and can be found at his blog mylibblog.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Librarians: Superheroes of Democracy!

July 8: A 60-year-old librarian holding a "McCain = Bush" sign was confronted by police, ticketed and escorted from the scene of one of John McCain's open forum town hall meetings in Denver on Monday. Author James Moore discusses.

ALA Runway

Well, it's been over a year since my last post. Time to try and get back in the swing of things.
Enjoy!