Library Tech Confidential

It’s been almost a year. What’ve I been up to? Well, I did read that book. Very sad. But very good.

It seems that York University has joined the Univeristy of Toronto in the Internet Archive’s out-of-copyright book digitization project. This came to my attention via Michael Geist’s twitter feed.

Having been on boths sides of the Canadian Libraries project (scanning these 685 books on the evening shift at Robarts, and as grateful user of digitized materials like this), I’m very glad to hear that their electronic collection will continue to grow apace.

Martha Baillie, a writer and part-time storyteller with TPL, was the subject of a write-up in today’s paper that focused on her new novel The Incident Report. Set in a fictional “Allan Gardens Library” — presumably a stand-in for tthe Parliament Street branch — it deals with the odd ups and downs of working in an often-chaotic urban facility.

From Lurking in our libraries [Toronto Star]:

Confronted by [disruptive] events, the library staff in the novel are guided by compassion and library policies. The staff are supportive of one another, which Baillie says reflects the camaraderie she has found among library employees.

About 90 per cent of the incidents in the book are loosely based on Baillie’s experiences or those she was told of by other library staff. As a result, the book provides an inside look at the kind of bizarre incidents library workers sometimes encounter.

The fascinating novel also delves into some wider themes, including “the nature of urban storytelling,” Baillie says. “Whoever is sitting behind the reference desk is an ear. You play the role of a bartender a bit.” The novel asks, “Why do we so often pick strangers to tell our stories to?”

My time as a patron vastly outweighs the two weeks I logged at a public library reference desk in college, but even that short stint had me nodding my head as I read the article. Reference work in a special library just isn’t the same… the pseudo-confessional atmosphere is virtually (but not completely) absent, but I suppose that’s why social reference sites like Ask MetaFilter are popular among we library folk.

Library Waives Fee for Sully’s Waterlogged Book [NBC Los Angeles via Slaw]:

When [the pilot and safety expert’s] plane ended up at the bottom of the Hudson River on Jan. 15, so did a book he had checked out from the library at California State University, Fresno, through his local library near Danville… [He] asked for an extension and [received a] waiver of overdue fees because the book was in the airliner’s cargo hold.

Interestingly, a reference to this bit of library trivia has already made its way into his Wikipedia entry.

It seems that Republican Vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin, in the fine tradition of so many concerned municipal politicians from communities large and small, had a book-banning bee in her bonnet.

From “Mayor Palin: A Rough Record” in Time Magazine, via Librarian.net :

[Former Wasilla, Alaska Mayor John] Stein says “[Palin] 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… [read more]

Threatening to fire the librarian for her refusal is somewhat unsurprising, given that Palin also reportedly sacked the heads of other city agencies for alleged ’loyalty’ to her predecessor.

Note to elected officials: undermining the merit principle for staffing and promotion in a non-partisan civil service is no easy shortcut to ‘cutting red tape’ or slashing ‘unecessary bureaucracy’; instead, it’s just another plodding step down the road back to the untrammeled patronage system of the not-so-distant past. Also, don’t mess with the library!

Photo credit: AKMuckraker via WIkipedia.

The Globe and Mail’s tabloid-style update on disgraced newspaper magnate Conrad Black’s life behind bars includes the following juicy tidbit (emphasis mine):

[He] has been nicknamed “Lordy” by his fellow inmates, orders around his cellmate, lectures on American history, and has been promoted to work in the library, according to a story yesterday in London’s Daily Mail. [read more]

I couldn’t track down any more details about his duties in the library, though the Daily Mail notes that the new gig affords him “virtually unlimited access to newspapers”… a perk welcomed by procrastinating library types the world over. 

 It’s always interesting to see public libraries try lending novel, non-book, non-audiovisual materials. While seeking information about a recent extreme heat alert, I caught the following in a press release from the City of Toronto:

Toronto Public Health and the Toronto Public Library are teaming up with community partners to make pedometers available for loan at 18 library branches throughout the city. This initiative is part of a new Walk into Health program to encourage people to build physical activity into their daily lives. In 2007, over 2,000 pedometers were lent out at 12 branches. Those who borrowed last year stated that pedometers helped them continue walking for exercise.

Last year, SunLife Financial began sponsoring the Musem and Arts Pass, which allows patrons to ’sign out’ tickets good for admission to a number of large and small cultural attractions all over the city.

What other cool stuff do — or could — our public our libraries lend?

Read the rest of this entry »

From Publishers Sue Georgia State University Over E-Reserves [Library Journal] :

The federal lawsuit was filed against Georgia State University (GSU) in Atlanta by Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press and SAGE Publications, and supported by the Association of American Publishers(AAP). It charges GSU with “pervasive, flagrant, and ongoing unauthorized distribution of copyrighted materials” via its “electronic course reserves service, its Blackboard/WebCT Vista electronic course management system, and its departmental web pages and hyperlinked online syllabi available on websites and computer servers controlled by GSU. [read more]

Read the rest of this entry »

Table making library staff ill [YorkRegion.com] :

The main floor service desk [at Richmond Hill Public Library’s Central branch] has been cordoned off for nearly four weeks, ever since staff working at it complained of symptoms ranging from illness to allergic reactions, a librarian at the branch said. The desktop led two staff members to seek medical attention, one of which had to be hospitalized, the librarian added….

“(The hospitalization) was an unrelated matter when [a librarian] was at the doctor and that landed her in the hospital,” [the library’s Director of Public Service] said… “She had allergies, but when she was there they found something else. She wasn’t hospitalized, because of the desk.” [read more]

I previously blogged about Wifi at the Toronto Reference Library, but neglected to note that the Toronto Public Library now offers free wireless internet access at 31 of its 99 branches. They’ve even got a Google map showing wifi-enabled branches.

That reminds me, now that TPL has its own decent Google map of branches, I should either comprehensively update or decommission mine. 

The Toronto Public Library has announced several useful improvements to its catalogue and website, most notably lists of ‘newest titles’ by audience (adult, teen, children) and type (fiction/nonfiction, graphic, large print).

Still no baked-in RSS feeds, unfortunately, and I’m not having much success producing one with Feedity or any of my other go-to scraping tools. Ah, well, I guess progress is progress.

Update: Still no luck on the ‘newest’ lists, but I have been able to come up with a feed for Toronto Public Library news scraped from this page. Hopefully some of you will find it useful (and if you do, let me know!)

Soon, the City of Toronto will release a final report detailing its highly-anticipated and long overdue redevelopment of Union Station (our downtown subway, regional bus and regional/long-distance rail terminal).

Plans that the City has made available so far emphasize expanded retail space to complement the mostly food-centric vendors already onsite. Local transit whiz Steve Munro has a great overview of the station’s present and possible future.

You know what I think would be great? A storefront-style branch of the Toronto Public Library.

The idea(s):

• Beefy holds pick-up desk for commuters to pick up reading material for their trip home, an upcoming weekend at the cottage, or to help their kids with homework.
• Information desk, maps and a reference collection tailored for tourists and other travellers to augment the Travellers’ Aid booth that never seems to be open.
• With the ability to place holds well in advance online, it’s very convenient for patrons, and materials could be transferred in from other branches and checked out at the Union Station branch like any other.

The problem(s):

• By definition, commuters passing through Union aren’t from Toronto. This is a lot of effort to serve the clientele of other municipalities’ library systems.
• Optics (and ethics) of rolling out new services aimed at white-collar, middle-class adult commuters from the exurbs at the percieved expense of disadvantaged children in the City’s own priority neighbourhoods.
• Any bookstores that move into the new retail space will strenuously object, potentially demanding some kind of exclusivity arrangement with the City.
• Difficult delivery truck access to the branch for pickups and deliveries of materials coming in from other branches (though this doesn’t seem to stop the other storefront operations in the station).

Oh, well. It seemed like a good idea for about five minutes.

Photo credit: “Union Station, Toronto” by Flickr user StarbuckGuy
(Creative Commons)