Daily Thoughts 2/3/2010

Illustration of a bookstore, from Los Españoles pintados por sí mismos. 1851 edition; original publication would have been about a decade earlier.

Daily Thoughts 2/3/2010

I finished reading The Book of Dead Philosophers. In the afterword, Simon Critchley tells us that part of the book is based on a course at the New School for Social Research done in 2007 called "To Philosophize Is To Learn To Die." I enjoyed reading this book tremendously.

This morning, I watched a dvd called The Mystery of the Nile about the first expedition to travel the full length of the nile river to the sea. It was interesting hearing the narrative of the group passing through Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan, and eventually reaching Alexandria. They visited ancient Egyptian temples, Ethiopian churches, and an ancient Nubian site. The film was originally done for IMAX.

I have started reading Starship Flagship by Mike Resnick. It is space opera with a bit of irony, humor, and political meandering thrown in.

Today, I have been going through our back orders checking to make sure they are accurate. I also checked to see how the books are coming in compared to other libraries in our system.

Daily Thoughts 2/2/2010

Nicolas de Largillière, Portrait of Voltaire, 1718, Oil on Canvas

Daily Thoughts 2/2/2010

I have been reading more of The Book of Dead Philosophers. It is quite insiteful. Politics and philosophy often lead to an untimely death, especially during the reign of the Roman emperor Nero. It seems best to do like the legend which says Lao Tzu disappeared from history on the back of a water buffalo as he crossed the border. I liked the idea that the heart of Voltaire is at the Bibliotheque Nacional in Paris.

Today has been a nice quiet day. I read the latest New York Times Book Review and made sure the displays were in order. I also put in my vacation and conference requests for the year.

I just discovered that John Fante's book, Ask the Dust was made into a film. I reserved it and hope to see it soon. John Fante is a very talented writer. He regularly corresponded with Charles Bukowski.

On the train home, I read some more of The Book of Dead Philosophers and learned another tidbit of information, Charles Darwin is buried next to Sir Isaac Newton in Westminster Abbey. The book is not scholarly, it is more of a popular book meant to entertain and impart ideas.

Daily Thoughts 2/1/2010

Poets Corner, Westminster Abbey, taken circa 1900.

Daily Thoughts 2/1/2010

My first thought for the day is that Barnes and Noble in its Business to Business accounts has a library accounts section. I find it kind of interesting. They are starting to compete with the large book distributors. http://btob.barnesandnoble.com/bn-at-school/library-services.asp?btob=Y&cds2Pid=17562&linkid=1444099

I met with a gentleman to discuss doing a poetry program in April for the library. I am going to try and do it on a Saturday afternoon. This way, people will be able to come to the program. Usually, about two months is about the right window to advertise and promote a program so people come. This will give me time to write the flyer and get it out to the newspapers and community organizations. On another thought, I am planning to do a Shojo (girls manga program this month.)

We had a meeting discussing how we might reduce costs. There was quite a bit of talk about recycling paper and what to do with our discards. We also talked a bit about donations to the library. We will probably also be doing more ordering in bulk.

I designed two fliers today, one for my poetry program, and one for the graphic novels club. I am hoping that they will turn out well. There has been quite a bit of interest lately in poetry at the library.

I have picked out a number of books to read, Poe 19 New Tales Inspired by Edgar Allen Poe, edited by Ellen Datlow, Starship Flagship by Mike Resnick, The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget Save Money, Save Time, Save the Planet by Josh Dorfman, and The book of Dead Philosophers by Simon Critchley. I also picked up two dvds to look at, the Disney Pixar film UP, and Mystery of the Nile produced by Orbita Imax. Hopefully this will be as good as the dvd Dinosaurs Alive which was narrated by Michael Douglas.

I have started reading The Book of Dead Philosophers by Simon Critchley on the train home. It is an overview of philosophy giving the account of some 200 different philosophers and how they died. Each entry varies from a few sentences to a few pages. The book is full of wonderful tidbits of useless knowledge. There is a legend that Pythagoras was killed because he refused to cross a beanfield even though he was being chased by his enemies. There are asteroids named after Lao Tsu and Kongzi (Confucius). In the 14th century Aesop was considered an important philosopher in the Western philosophy. This book is a reflection on philosophers and their deaths. Some of it is ironic and funny. Other parts are reflections on how to live well and die well. It is enjoyable reading.

Daly Thoughts 1/30/2010

Papermaking by Hand

Daily Thoughts 1/30/2010

We've been asked to think about ways to reduce costs. One of the things which comes up in libraries is the amount of paper that resides in them. We have books, labels, bookmarks, fliers. posters, and a million different paper items in most libraries.

A reduction in the amount of paper we use could affect our spending. We get all kinds of things in the mail, everything from paper catalogs, to boxes, and other things. We make it a point to cut our excess paper into scrap as well as reuse single sided sheets of paper for printouts. I sometimes think we should buy our paper in bulk.

In my experience, librarians love paper. It is an extension of their love of books. Recently, we donated some of our deaccessioned books for a library in Kenya. I think we could do this more often. It would cut our garbage costs. It costs money to recycle material. Also, many community organizations take older computer equipment and refurbish it.

It is considered more politically correct to do this. There has been a big push by many politicians to be more energy efficient and green. Recycling, cutting back paper use, cutting down energy use, and similar things are very popular. In Westchester county, the Ossining branch was recently reopened as a major showcase for green technology.

Also, there has been a major monetary incentive to make buildings more green in the area, Westchester County has upgraded their efficiency recently in government buildings. http://climatechange.westchestergov.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2556&Itemid=4642 Also, there has been a major grant for energy efficiency in the county. http://www.westchestermagazine.com/Westchester-Magazine/December-2009/Westchester-County-Receives-45M-Grant-Toward-Energy-Efficiency-Projects/

Even simple actions like putting in compact fluorescent bulbs, replacing old appliances like microwaves and refrigerators with energy star appliances could make a small difference. I even think there are incentives by the state to do this.

This is a nice summary of the process of greening libraries. http://escholarship.org/uc/item/39d3v236

There are some books which Publishers Weekly only reviews online. This is also true of Library Journal. http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6716116.html?industryid=47159

Daily Thoughts 1/30/2010

Caricature of Ben Hecht by fellow Chicago Daily News reporter Gene Markey, 1923

Daily Thoughts 1/30/2010

Calamity Jack By Shannon and Dean Hale, illustrated by Nathaniel Hale.

Calamity Jack is a sequel to the graphic novel Rapunzel's Revenge. In this story, Rapunzel returns to Jack's hometown from out west. Jack is a fairtyale trickster character, a combination of Jack from Jack in the Beanstalk and the classic western tall tale character, Calamity Jane.

The story is full of constant action. There is lots of fighting, trickery, and sneakiness in this story. There are giant ants, giants, giant pigeons, and many other critters. The setting is a kind of fairytale dreamland in the Victorian era. There is the giants castle, but it really is not quite a floating castle, but a sumptiously outfitted airship.

I liked the variety of creatures in the tale. There is the guard jabberwocky, and the guard bandersnatch. Also there are pixies, brownies, pig people, dwarves, the goose that laid the golden egg, and other creatures in an ornate victorian setting.

The story is drawn in full color with lots of ornate detail. It is a retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk where the giants are extorting protection money and goods from Jack's mother and the local city. There is a wonderfully done picture of the beanstalk with Jack chopping it down.

I think the story can be read by pretty much anybody. We have copies of Rapunzel's Revenge in both the childrens and the young adult section. I read it three times. It is quite captivating. Shannon Hale won the Newberry Honor award for her book Princess Academy.

Star Trek Mirror Universe, The Sorrows of Empire by David Mack

This is a novel of the Mirror Universe where there is no federation, but instead a dark empire run by humanity. Spock is Faustian, touched by a brief encounter with Captain Kirk from the other universe and seeing hope for a federation in his own universe, he sets out to change things.

This is Spock as a calculating villain. He murders the crew of the enterprise, assumes command of the enterprise, and systematically rises through the ranks to seize the empire. It is a very much the ends justifies the means type story. Brutal, cold, calculating, and intriguing.

Spock must not only face the Romulans and the Klingons, but also the empress of earth and the machinations of an evil empire. I like Spock as a villain. This book has a machiavellian quality to it. The way he attempts to reach good ends, a free society, are utterly wicked.

A different take on Star Trek. Quite refreshing.