Daily Thoughts 02/16/2012

A bookplate for Fritz Billig found in a book by A.B. Kay published in 1908.
Daily Thoughts 02/16/2012


Today was extremely busy.  We had the computer lab from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and the Mount Vernon Writers Network which has a solid attendance.   Things are moving along smoothly with these two groups.

I have learned from watching the computer lab that it often takes more than an hour to fill out job applications or forms on the internet.  This makes the usual amount of time given in public libraries not enough time to apply for jobs.

I checked the gift books today.  The Friends of the Library book sale is doing alright.  There were a number of paperback thrillers to add to the collection.  I got a call from Better World Books today as well.  Better World Books handles our discards.

The Mount Vernon Writers Network was interesting today.  We discussed plans to expand the group as well as a bit on electronic publishing.

I sent a reminder email to the head of our Friends of the Library Group and the Mount Vernon Writers Network about the different places where the library has social media on the internet.

There is a new Gallery Exhibit Piecing It Together at the Mount Vernon Public Library.
http://www.mountvernonpubliclibrary.org/node/146

There is a film series featuring Denzel Washington's films on March 3, 2012 with an introduction and discssions on the films by Dr. John Howard.
http://www.mountvernonpubliclibrary.org/node/436

I read some more of The Lean Startup.  I rather like the idea that the objective when releasing a new product is not to create something complicated, but to create something that can be easily improved upon and modified to meet customers wishes.

Web Bits

Occupy Consortium (the Occupy Library Consortium)
http://occupyconsortium.wordpress.com/

Daily Thoughts 9/29/2011

Ferdinand Bol, Portrait of a Scholar, cerca 1650
Daily Thoughts 9/29/2011

This morning, I read some more of The Swerve by Stephen Greenblatt.  The author is writing about Paggio Bracciolini, a man obsessed with books and reading.  The time period is around 1417.  Stephen Greenblatt describes reading as a kind of freedom.  Paggio is seeking copied books from Roman antiquity that were preserved and copied in monasteries.  They are works of authors like Cicero, Catullus, and Ovid.

I checked the displays, updated the Twitter and Facebook accounts and checked the gift books.  We had a nice copy of The Egyptian Book of the Dead which was added as well some new paperbacks by James Patterson.

I spent some time going through the patron requests. A few of the books like That Used to be Us by Thomas Friedman and Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich looked interesting.

I also spent some more time on Lynda.com studying Microsoft Word 2007 and Drupal.
The New York Librarians Meetup has many members attending New York Comic Con  as part of the professional day on Thursday.  The American Library Association will be there as well.  There are a number of library related events on Thursday, October 13.
http://nycc11.mapyourshow.com/5_0/sessions/session_results.cfm?type=date&date=10/13/2011

On the way home, I finished reading The Swerve.  Stephen Greenblatt describes the influence of On the Nature of Things  by Lucretius on Thomas More who wrote Utopia, Thomas Jefferson, and Giordano Bruno.  The book very much promotes Epicurean philosophy.  It is a bit different than my own view on the world.

Daily Thoughts 9/9/2011

Still-life with Rarities, Jan Van der Heyden, 1712


Daily Thoughts 9/9/2011

I finished reading A Dance With Dragons on the train to work today.  It was quite enjoyable.  There is a huge cast of characters.


This morning, I spent some time checking the Facebook and Twitter account.  I also checked the displays.

I joined the ALCTS (Association of Library Collections and Technical Services) Eforum this morning to discuss gift policies.  We have been getting a lot more gifts lately.  We got a large donation of African American titles with authors like T.D. Jakes, E. Lynn Harris, Michael Baisden, Iyanla Vanzant and others.

I also made a set of phone calls to people who were at the previous Writers Networking Event.  We have one coming up on September 15, 2011 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. in the Rotunda Art Gallery.  I also printed up some more fliers for the event.

On the way home, I read some of Blur How To Know What's True In The Age Of Information Overload by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel.  The authors are journalists so we are dealing with journalistic truth which is an interesting concept.  Journalistic truth comes across as a bit flexible to me.

I did half an hour more on Lynda.com for training and finished the first hour of a 10 hour course on Indesign CS5.  It will be a slow steady process.

Web Bits

A Set of Library Posters on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/philbradley/sets/72157625923493122/

Daily Thoughts 4/26/2011 (The Earthshakers, Gifts)

Illustration of "The Rock" Gold Blocking and Inking Press, no. 4, from an advert for Kampe & Co of 78 High Holborn, London as printed in The Art of Bookbinding by Joseph William Zaehnsdorf, 1890

Daily Thoughts 4/26/2011

This morning I read some more of The Earthshakers by Harold Lamb.  The book was originally published as The March of the Barbarians and Tamerlane.  It has that old fashioned feel of history written with an upright Rome, an exotic East, and pillaging hordes of barbarians.

Today has been quiet and steady.  I checked the displays and checked the gift books.  We received some donations of books on music.  One of the books, The Beatles Anthology written in 2000 is the first book by the Beatles on the history of the Beatles.  It is a quarto book and has lots of photographs.

As usual I updated the Twitter account and entered some more surveys for the library.  We are going to be ordering again soon which should be a nice change.

I put the book, All The Lives He Led by Frederik Pohl on hold today.  It is his newest book.

I am thinking ahead about a discount to Book Expo America http://www.bookexpoamerica.com/ which is on May 23-26 this year.  It should be excellent.  I registered for the May 23, 2011 Day of Dialog Today http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/articlereview/889795-457/story.csp

Web Bits

Librarians at the Gate an article from Publishers Weekly on Book Expo America
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/20110425/46943-librarians-at-the-gate.html

Daily Thoughts 6/15/2010

Annaberg-Buchholz, Ladenschild einer Buchhandlungin der Wolkensteiner Straße, April 2010, Photo: Andreas Praefcke (Own Work), Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

Daily Thoughts 6/15/2010

I have to put The Affinity Bridge by George Mann down. It is rather dry and I am finding it a bit stuffy. The concepts are interesting, the story is interesting, the writing is not that exciting.

I finally have all four books for my Readers Advisory 101 Course, Enders Game by Orson Scott Card, The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn, Ice Station by Matthew J. Reilly, and Bootlegger's Daughter by Margaret Maron. These are solid, predictable reads.

I received an advanced uncorrected proof for The Last Block In Harlem A Novel by Christopher Herz. It is published by Amazon Encore which is a new venture by Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000373401

Today, I spent some time working in the storage area looking at shifting books. I also have been playing with Evance which is a system for running summer reading programs. I am looking at the adult summer reading module. I have figured out how to add a few links, input reviews, and setup a basic message about Adult Summer Reading. I am just getting the hang of the system.

Something which I have noticed that people like to read is fiction about the Amish. The most popular author is Beverly Lewis. It is a very different way of living to read about.

I also took a look through the gift books. I find the easiest thing to find and add are the classics. Paperback copies of The Odyssey, The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, The Oresteia by Aeschylus, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and other classic writers get donated constantly and are always used by the high school students.

Daily Thoughts 8/19/2009

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, 1906 edition.

Daily Thoughts 8/19/2009

Today has started out well. I went through the gift romance paperbacks. We get these by the truck load. I found some which are very new in good condition to add to the new arrivals section. Romance paperbacks are the most read novels in the english language. Women read a lot more novels than men. I have been sorting through the gift books and making some decisions on what to add lately.

I did some more weeding in the 800s today. It is a steady slow process. Dean Koontz's Frankenstein Dead and Alive Book Three came in for me to read. It is a nice break from more serious reading. I like the tone of the series.

Web Bits

Sometimes you find odd little things on the internet. Apparently an organization is setting up tables to give away free books in the subway. It is a rather interesting idea. http://www.choosewhatyoureadny.com/

Paul Buckley's book cover designs. It includes a new cover of Moby Dick drawn by Tony Millionaire. I like the covers. They are very interesting. http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulbuckleydesign/

Daily Thoughts 4/27/09

Alexis De Tocqueville author of Democracy In America

Daily Thoughts 4/27/2009

Today, I went through a bunch of gift books that had been in storage for a while. These were things which we had planned to add for a while. We are slowly catching up with a back log of books. I prepared four shelves of books to be added. There were several x-men graphic novels which I thought that people would like

I also finished up ordering adult fiction titles for the month. There were a few other miscellaneous tasks that needed to be done; bringing down some art books for storage and filing some law looseleafs.

I took some time to look at a site called http://www.earlyword.com/ , a site which connects librarians and publishers. There are a lot of forthcoming publishers catalogs. They also have some very interesting sites for forthcoming books.

Amazon Popular Preorders
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_21724301_3?ie=UTF8&docId=1000147741&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=0J6WJP37A3GJJCPXRF50&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=438625301&pf_rd_i=15372101

Barnes & Noble Coming Soon
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/bookstore/coming-soon.asp?cds2Pid=16450&linkid=1207854