Daily Thoughts 01/31/2012

The Thick of the Plot (an elegant lady reading), signed, watercolour, 20 x 27 cm, George Goodwin Kilburne


Daily Thoughts 01/31/2012

Today was an impossibly busy day.  I finished reading Debt The First 5000 Years.  It is an interesting condemnation of our current economic system.  David Graeber says that our economic system has to change simpley because there are not enough resources for the world economy to continue running the way it is now.  He also says that the debt is unsustainable.  I agree with the idea that China is trying to turn the United States into a source for tribute.  It is a bit different.  David Graeber is not trying to convert people to his beliefs with this book.  He is rather trying to challenge people to think differently about money and commerce.  I found it very interesting if a little odd at points.

This morning, I checked the displays and the gift books.  We currently have three displays up right now;  one ongoing one for current events, a Black History Month display, and a display of books on publishing and writing. We had a lot of donations of classic books which may be added to the young adult collection.  I also spent some time talking to people about programming.  We are getting some equipment for programming. We are working on an annual calendar of events that may affect the library.  I looked through the American Library Association annual calendar, the New York Library Association calender, and a few other sites.

I also checked the Facebook and Twitter account this morning.  In addition, I spoke to a colleague about making sure the E-blast was done for a business program and a program by Shen Yun Performing Arts on Saturday.

I found out that Kenneth Davis will be at the New York Library Association Library Advocacy Day on March 6, 2012 which is interesting. http://www.nyla.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=64

I also spent some time gathering suggestions for future orders.  I checked the collection management sheet for patron requests this afternoon.  I did not get a chance to read the latest Publishers Weekly or Library Journal. It was simply too busy.

We had the Tuesday computer classes tonight.  As usual, I made sure the lab was properly set up and talked to the teacher.

Today was the last day for an Amnesty for lost fines at our library.  It made the day a bit interesting.

I am starting to think ahead to the coming year.  The Westchester Library Association Conference is on May 11, 2012.  The New York Comic Con is on October 11-14.  Hopefully there will be free Professional Passes for the professional day.  I am also hoping I get a chance to visit Book Expo America for at least one day.  Maybe I will get a chance to go to the Day of Dialog.

Daily Thoughts 01/30/2012

Daily Thoughts 01/30/2012

I updated the library Twitter and Facebook accounts today.  I had some time to look up a few things on the library and environment and 3D printing in libraries.

I also put the book Fab : the coming revolution on your desktop--from personal computers to personal fabrication by Neil A. Gershenfeld.

I went to my local library and read a few magazines.  The Bloomberg Business Week had an issue on 10/31/2011 with an article called Who's Behind The Mask on P.64 about Occupy Wall Street.  Part of the article was about David Graeber who wrote Debt The First 5,000 Years which I am reading right now.   David Graeber was one of the main starters of the Occupy Wall Street movement.  Reading Debt The First 5,000 Years helps me understand why so much of the occupy movement is focused on banking, student loans, forclosures, mortgages, and other forms of financial inequity.

I also spent some time reading Consumer Reports.  I am thinking about buying a new computer.  The Inspiron i620 desktop from Dell has one of the highest ratings. Consumer Reports also confirmed that the iPad is still the best tablet.  Buying both a tablet and a new computer is expensive.  I am thinking about how to get it in the most affordable way possible.  I just bought a smart phone and a Kindle Touch.


Libraries and the Environment

The Social Responsibility Roundtable has a Taskforce on the Environment inside the American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/rts/srrt/tfoe/lbsc/librariesbuildsustainablecommunitiesthree.cfm


A number of libraries have been recently built on green principles.
http://www.greenlibraries.org/

This is a farily recent article on Green libraries
http://escholarship.org/uc/item/39d3v236#page-11

Linked In Recently Listed Sustainable Libraries as a group.
http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Sustainability-Librarians-3928605?trk=myg_ugrp_ovr

The Sustainable Libraries Group on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/SustainableLibraries

Australian Librarian and Information Association Sustainability Group
http://www.alia.org.au/groups/sustain/ 

3D Printing and Libraries

Public Libraries, 3D Printing, Fab Labs, and Hackerspaces
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCXlJ36x-q0


Bre Pettis Talks Libraries and Makerbots
http://jasongriffey.net/wp/2012/01/22/bre-pettis-libraries-and-3d-printing/
The Maker Movement has slowly began to try and create alliances with libraries.  I am thinking about visiting NYC Resistor to just see a little bit more about what it is about.

Fayettville Free Library Fab Lab
http://www.fayettevillefreelibrary.org/about-us/services/fablab


Web Bits

How Libraries and Bookstores Became The New Community Centers
http://www.newgeography.com/content/002629-how-libraries-and-bookstores-became-new-community-centers
This is quite interesting.  In some ways it is controversial.  The question becomes what kind of community center?  A center for culture, the arts, literature, and learning is fine in my book, but there are other ideas where things become a little more fuzzy.

Why Goodreads Gave Up On Amazon
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/why_goodreads_gave_up_on_amazon.php
You will notice that my Goodreads Widget is not working correctly.  None of the covers are showing.

Daily Thoughts 01/29/2012

Reading by the Shore, Charles Sprague Pearce, circa 1863-865
Daily Thoughts 01/29/2012

I spent some more time this morning reading Debt the First 5000 Years.  David Graeber right now is describing how bullion or coinage is more portable and a more reliable way to deal with soldiers and armed mercenaries who cannot be trusted with credit.

I spent some more time updating the Twitter and Facebook account for the library.

I also read some of the latest news on Occupy Wall Street it saddens me.  Oakland California has a history of radicalism and problems with the police.  It was not just a flashpoint, it was a bonfire waiting to happen.  I am glad to remain an observer, because even more I realize that this movement is more about protest than solving peoples problems.



Web Bits

The Bookstores Last Stand
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/29/business/barnes-noble-taking-on-amazon-in-the-fight-of-its-life.html?_r=2

This may affect libraries in a big way.

Daily Thoughts 01/28/2012

Harper's Magazine cover by Edward Penfield, June, 1896

Daily Thoughts 01/28/2012

I had a chance to update the Twitter and Facebook accounts for the library this morning.  On a more personal note, I went and got a haircut which has nothing to do with this blog.

29% of US Adults Own a Tablet or an E-reader
http://mashable.com/2012/01/23/19-percent-adults-tablet/
E-reader software is also available for the PC and Personal Digital Assistants (another word for Smart Phones).  This means that anyone with access to a computer or laptop probably has access to E-reader software.


The Mount Vernon Writers Network has updated their website with biographies and pictures.  http://www.mvwn.org    It is looking excellent.


Unpopular Mount Vernon LIbrary Director Leaves
http://www.lohud.com/article/20120127/NEWS02/301270018/Unpopular-Mount-Vernon-library-director-leaves-confidential-deal
I can only hope that we find someone positive who will be good for both the community and the library.

I read some more of Debt The First 5000 Years.  The author is writing about Early Medieval Ireland where a persons honor and social status was measured in terms of cumal or slave girls.  This was translated into cattle and silver.  People literally had to pay debts of honor for insulting or harming another person.  The greater ones social status the more value in terms of cumal.  I found it interesting that to be a noble one had to have at least five cattle.  This was before money was a regular medium of exchange.  This book is full fascinating tidbits of information that I will probably will never use again.


Web Bits

J.R.R. Tolkien and George Orwell Removed from the Public Domain
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/j-r-r-tolkien-george-orwell-removed-from-public-domain_b45725

Moore's Law Publishing And Why Michael Fraser is right about generation Y.
http://blog.publishingtechnology.com/digital-solutions/moores-law-publishing/#.TyQaxj9uAkM.facebook 

How Will Social Media Effect the E-book
http://socialtimes.com/how-will-social-media-affect-the-ebook_b88288

Daily Thoughts 01/25/2012

Horatius reads before Maecenas, 1863, Fyodor Bronnikov

Daily Thoughts 01/25/2012

On the train to work, I read some more of Debt The First 5,000 Years.  I am reading about how debt obligations sometimes lead to enslavement.  There is a bit on the African slave trade and how many of the people on the Atlantic slave trade were enslaved as debtors then sold to be brought to America.

This morning, I updated the Twitter and Facebook accounts for the library.  I also spent some time working on flyers and the eblasts.  I have an issue of Publishers Weekly and the latest issue of the New York Times Book Review to read.  I also picked out some graphic novels for the Graphic Novels Club this afternoon.

We are doing the Computer Lab for Academic Use today from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the afternoon.  It has started to fill up very quickly.  A number of the people from the Tuesday computer classes come in to practice in the lab.

We discussed Kyle Baker at the Graphic Novels club who wrote Plastic Man on the Lam and How to draw stupid and other rules of cartooning.   Kyle Baker reminds me a little bit of Aaron MacGruder who wrote the comic strip Boondocks.

Two books came in for me to read, The Lean Startup by Eric Ries and The Price of Civilization by Jeffrey D. Sachs.

On the way home, I read the latest New York Times Book Review and the January 23, 2012 Publishers Weekly.  There were a lot of interesting books being announced.  I saw an advertisement for Paolo Bacigalupi's new book coming in May, The Drowned Cities.  Another book which caught my attention was Change Comes to Dinner:  How Vertical Farmers, Urban Growers, and Other Innovators Are Revolutionizing How Americans Eat by Katherine Gustafson coming out in April published by St. Martin's.  There is already a website for the book with a blog. http://www.changecomestodinner.com/Book/Home.html

Daily Thoughts 01/24/2012

Bookstore, Washington, D.C.  Date Created/Published: 1937 Nov. Part of: Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information Photograph Collection (Library of Congress)
Daily Thoughts 01/24/2012

I have been steadily reading more of Debt The First 5,000 Years.  Right now, the author is writing about religious debt in the terms of the bible.  He is describing how debt drove many people into slavery.  Part of this process is on occassion freeing people from debt slavery so they can go back to being peasants.

This morning, I updated the Twitter and Facebook accounts.  We are also working on the E-blast to announce programs.  Part of this process is working on a consistent brand and logo for all of our marketing materials; flyers, social media announcments, email notifications, and website.

I also checked the displays this morning.  I am going to be sitting with someone to discuss the Nook today.  It will be a learning experience.

I am working on a number of flyers for events that are coming up very soon.  We have the Computer Lab for Academic Use Today from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.  We also have two computer classes one from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and one from 6:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m.

I spent some time today going over the Nook with a patron.  I also helped some colleagues with a display for African American history month.

The book, Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman came in for me to read.

On the way home, I read some more of Debt The First 5000 Years.  The author is writing about blood money and bride prices.  Both of these have greater social value than monetary value.  It is very hard to place a value on human life in purely monetary terms.

Web Bits

The Political Price of Austerity
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/books/review/the-age-of-austerity-how-scarcity-will-remake-american-politics-by-thomas-byrne-edsall-book-review.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
After reading this article it made me want to read The Age of Austerity.

People's Library Presentation at ALA (American Library Association) Midwinter conference
http://peopleslibrary.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/peoples-library-presentation-at-ala-midwinter/

Detroits Monteith Library Branch to Reopen in February
http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/local/detroit-monteith-library-branch-to-reopen-in-february-20120120-ms
This was partially the result of Occupy Detroit protesting.

Daily Thoughts 01/23/2012

Yeats at Petitpas Scene depicts artist John Butler Yeats eating, drinking, and smoking with his friends at a long narrow table in an outdoor seating area of Petitpas restaurant in New York. Hanging over the table is a bright pendant lamp, which illuminates the faces of the artists, poets, writers, and actors seated around the table. In the background a Mlle. Celestine Petipas stands by the table, a bowl of apples and oranges held in her hands. Artist: Sloan, John, 1871-1951, painter. Medium: Oil on canvas.


Daily Thoughts 01/23/2012


I updated the Twitter and Facebook accounts for the library.  I also spent a little time talking to people about the E-blast and the program tonight for preventing forclosure from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

I read a bit more of Debt the First 5,000 Years.  I rather like the idea that credit was invented before coinage.  The Egyptians and Sumerians would issue credit based on the silver bullion in their temples.  Coinage came later. There are also some interesting ideas about how taxation creates debt obligations to empires and states.  Debt is more than just money, there are also social and religious debts.

I put the book, Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey on hold.  It was part of the RUSA 2012 Reading List http://rusa.ala.org/blog/2012/01/22/2012-readinglist/

• Mount Vernon Inquirer Article about the Budget from January 13, 2012
• http://www.mvinquirer.com/2012_budget.htm
• The Mount Vernon Public Library got $3.6 million dollars for 2012 the budget which was $100,000 more in funding than last year.

Web Bits

Tablet and E-book reader Ownership Nearly Double Over Holidy Gift-Giving Period
http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/E-readers-and-tablets.aspx
We are getting a lot more requests on how to download library E-books.

Low Income People Versus E-books Controversy Shows Why The DPLA (Digital Public Library of America) Library Should Care More About the Needs of the Nonelite
http://www.teleread.com/library/low-income-people-vs-e-books-controversy-shows-why-the-dpla-library-should-care-more-about-the-needs-of-the-nonelite/ 

Moving Towards A Hybrid Market E + P
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/retailing/article/50304-moving-toward-a-hybrid-market.html
In my view, there is a place for both.  I think I will always prefer graphic novels in print as well as heavily illustrated, art books, instructional books, and oversize books as print books.  I think plain fiction and books with not a lot of illustration are better as E-books.


What Future for Occupy Wall Street from the New York Review of Books
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/feb/09/what-future-occupy-wall-street/?page=1

Daily Thoughts 01/22/2012

Daily Thoughts 01/22/2012

I finished reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.  The book is quite elegant.  It is both lovely and tragic.  The ending was very different than what I expected.

I also started reading Debt The First 5000 Years by David Graeber.   David Graeber is an activist and anthropologist.   He views the current system of debt as unsustainable and unjust.

The book, Clark Howard's Living Large in Lean Times came in for me to get from the Westchester Library System Digital Media Catalog.   It is a book of tips on how to save money.

Someone suggested that I take a look at http://www.obooko.com which is a site which allows people to create free ebooks.  There are a lot of creative commons titles on the site.