Making It Happen

So what’s the problem? They’re not The Berenstein Bears. They’ve never been The Berenstein Bears. Despite the fact that many others remember them as The Berenstein Bears, and I myself still pronounce their name as The Berenstein Bears, this is false. This is wrong. They are The Berenstain Bears. “…somehow, at some time in the last 10 years or so, reality has been tampered with and history has…

Are you a Librarian who is committed to changing lives and strengthening communities through the power of learning and reading? The New York Public Library is in the midst of a major expansion thanks to New York City’s recent historic investment in libraries—allowing us to build on our more than 100-year-old legacy as we continue to chart a new path for libraries in the 21st Century.  What we do,…

Just when we thought we couldn’t love Judy Blume anymore, she’s gone and melted our hearts again. Last week, Leonard Lasek, a very desperate husband, began posting signs in the area asking for help in locating a box harboring one of his wife’s treasured keepsakes: A copy of Blume’s 1970 young adult novel, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. Apparently, he didn’t mean to put the book on the…

Are you looking for the perfect utility belt for your job as a librarian? Well, Brit Bertino has created an amazing belt that can hold everything you need for crafts, programs, walking the stacks, or any other project you might be working on. Brit designed these belts and she’s marketing them to a wide array of professionals but somehow she forgot about librarians. If you would like to learn more…

A little over five years ago, I found myself sitting across the table from three librarians. I was interviewing to be the marketing manager for the Omaha Public Library. I don’t recall much from that meeting other than sharing with them what I knew about libraries, which — in retrospect — was not much. At the time, I primarily used the library as a source for books. Librarians, in my mind, were…

Pull Up a Chair

  Social media has made it even better to be a librarian. Networking is much easier, and groups on Facebook only help spread the love even more.   Do you work with adult patrons in your library? Order your drink and grab a chair at the Grown-up Table: Library Programs and Services for Adults. Tell us what you’ve been doing at your library with/for adult patrons of all ages. What’s working? What…

Once again, Erica Findley brings us the ALA Think Tank Party Hard map. This map has everything you need to know about the parties at ALA in San Francisco. If there an event or party that you know of that should be added, feel free to tweet at Erica so she can add it to the list. Here is a key RED is Thursday YELLOW is Friday GREEN is Saturday BLUE is Sunday PURPLE is Monday [googlemaps…

Just like Midwinter, we are compiling the big huge list of people attending ALA in San Francisco. We want you to add your name to social media list to let others know how to follow you! Giving your name and a little background information will help people decide why they should follow you.  Just click the link in the form below to see the results and find cool people to follow. [googleapps…

If you’ve been in a public library, you’ve seen books and other  materials organized by the Dewey Decimal Classification, the arrangement developed by Melvil Dewey. The DDC is a sequence of numbers and letters that correspond to subject headings. There are myriad rules that dictate how these alphanumeric sequences are arranged…but what if we threw in pop culture and modernized Melvil? Maybe your…

In the library system, the items are handled by two separate yet equally important groups: the patrons, who sometimes return items late; and the library staff, who face bizarre explanations. These are their stories.   A prison library wrote to ask about the replacement cost of a book of ours, which had been burned in a prison riot. I wanted the burned book back, for a display!   We (the library…

Worthington Librarian Creates “All About That Bass” Parody

A school librarian, Mary Evelyn Smith, at Liberty Elementary School in Worthington, Ohio created a parody video reminding kids to return their books. The video “All About Them Books”  is a parody of “All About That Bass” by Meghan Trainor. Hopefully her creativity paid off.    

Headed to a comic con this year? Why not dress as your favorite library hero? Put that Superman costume aside, librarians and scholars are the true everyday heroes and here is just some of my favorites. Unleash your inner geek with these costumes of well loved librarians and book worms. Hermione Granger What you will need: [amazon text=Gryffindor robe&asin=B00MIQJOK6] [amazon text=Gryffindor…

Where Else Can You Get a Hotel at #ALAAC15 (for much cheaper)

As the last few weeks before ALA in San Francisco approach there are many librarians who have found themselves without a place to stay at any kind of reasonable rate.  The big issue this year is that this weekend is also Pride (http://www.sfpride.org/) and this celebration draws thousands of people to the city and the attendees are also using the same hotels that we are. However, there is some…

Need Images for FB Library Pages? New Location for Library Dropbox!

By Ben Bizzle tl;dr – Register here for good images to post on Social Media. In late 2013, Jeannie Allen and I created a shared Dropbox folder so we could have a centralized location for storing quality images to use on social media. We had both been successful at using images to increase community engagement through our respective Facebook pages, and this folder would serve as a convenient way…

These Are the Absolute Worst Librarianship Themed Book Titles

The hilariously re-imagined book titles by Lisa from the Acme Upstairs Library will make you cringe in their truthiness. They are all just a little too close to the truth of library work.

simplebooklet.com//simplebooklet.com/embed.php?wpKey=zwTY8mLCC3wV31ORtETcye&source=embed

Are You Getting in on the #libraryinmyhand Instagram Trend?

Libraries across the country are getting in on the #libraryinmyhand hashtag to promote their mobile apps and the ability for the public to have so much of their library right in the palm of their hand. This great marketing ideas was started by @bernardsvillelibrarywhere they are posting these great pictures to social media with the #libraryinmyhand hashtag. Here are some of our favorites for you…