Library Stuff

Vancouver BC Public Library is on strike, as you may know. Their union (CUPE 391) has a strike blog that you might find interesting.

The author of "A Wrinkle in Time", among many others, passed away peacefully in a nursing home Thursday.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/books/09/07/obit.lengle.ap/index.html

I loved her books during my 'impressionable' years. I know I'm not alone.

Sent by Deb to the iowalib list:

Venezuela's four-legged mobile libraries

Mules are too tough to bother being sweet. They do a hard job which no other animal or human invention can do as well.

But these mules are rather special.

They are known as bibliomulas (book mules) and they are helping to spread the benefits of reading to people who are isolated from much of the world around them.

My buddy Michele from the State Library just sent this around: Teen Chat Decoder

IMO, this is a useful resource for parents and teachers. CUL8R!

Rowling: So you want to know what happens next?

WARNING: contains spoilers. This is a brief summary of the web chat she had where she revealed some things about the Potterverse that she's "always wanted to share", etc.

(And yes, I promise my blog will be about something other than the Potterverse soon.)

Finally finished HP7 last night. I'm glad I waited until I could really savor it this weekend. I knew I'd want to read the last 2-300 pages all in one swell foop, as my mother would say.

All in all, a satisfying ending. Some gaffes, some inconsistencies, but overall I feel I've not been cheated, and the gift that has been this lovely series was nicely tied up.

I won't spoil for anyone - my friend Erica told me last night that she hasn't even started yet. She's busy and stressed, and will probably wait until her vacation. Thing is, her vacation is with me and our friend Angie who has also already finished, so we're going to have to be very disciplined about spoilers.

I'm holding the latest Jasper Fforde for my vacation. So is Angie. We'll talk about that instead. Yes, our vacations are defined by what novels we sit around and read together. What can I say? It's what we like.

Many thanks to Ms. Rowling. I hope she sees fit to share her writing talents with us again after a break. Comparisons are inevitable, but I think she's up to the challenge.

Somebody Twitter'd on this Huffington Post blog item:

Why Harry Potter Won't be a Bestseller

Just back from a week driving all across the Great Lakes region. Very tired. A few tidbits while I get my brain back in gear:

Article about Penn State librarian and his views on the place of the Harry Potter series in children's lit: http://www.statecollege.com/news/local/article.php?cat=6&id=14281

Article from the Chicago Tribune about the debate over what to do with Antioch College's Olive Kettering library now that the college is shutting down. This interests me because my brother went to Antioch for a time.

More when my brain is working...

Today's Unshelved comic seems to be a free advertisement for Meredith Farkas's blog, Information Wants to be Free. Hey, Meredith, what did you have to pay Bill and Gene?

I wonder how we could fit The Rant into Unshelved's storyline...?

Sent by Emily R. to the iowalib list:

FirstBook.org - Cast Your Vote

There are some books that no child should have to grow up without. For 15 years First Book has been providing brand new books to children in low-income communities nationwide. Join us in celebrating the distribution of our 50 millionth book this summer: tell us what book got you hooked and you'll have the chance to share the magic with thousands of children in one lucky state.

Go! Go now to David Lee King's blog and listen to his new song: I'm No Antidigitalist. Lyrics are taken from random Michael Gorman quotes.

Go! No, really. I'll wait here for you.

Bill and Gene over at Unshelved made a free downloadable Unshelved comic book called What Would Dewey Do @ Book Expo America? (Warning: it's a PDF). Over 5000 downloads so far. They will also be raffling off a grab bag at BEA containing one of everything they sell. If you're going to Book Expo America, say hi for me!

Seems Universal Studios is looking to make a deal with J.K. Rowling for a Harry Potter Theme Park. (requires free subscription to The Scotsman) Dude!

Thanks to Erik for the link. (He leads my grown-up Harry Potter Book Club. Through my church. Yes, that's right. Adults. Church. Harry Potter. Deal with it.)

After the great Gaming in Libraries pre-conference I took at Computers in Libraries a couple of weeks ago (thanks, Aaron and Jenny!), I took great interest in this NY Times article today:

P.E. Classes Turn to Video Game That Works Legs

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Children don’t often yell in excitement when they are let into class, but as the doors opened to the upper level of the gym at South Middle School here one recent Monday, the assembled students let out a chorus of shrieks.

In they rushed, past the Ping-Pong table, past the balance beams and the wrestling mats stacked unused. They sprinted past the ghosts of Gym Class Past toward two TV sets looming over square plastic mats on the floor. In less than a minute a dozen seventh graders were dancing in furiously kinetic union to the thumps of a techno song called “Speed Over Beethoven.”

Bill Hines, a physical education teacher at the school for 27 years, shook his head a little, smiled and said, “I’ll tell you one thing: they don’t run in here like that for basketball.”

It is a scene being repeated across the country as schools deploy the blood-pumping video game Dance Dance Revolution as the latest weapon in the nation’s battle against the epidemic of childhood obesity. While traditional video games are often criticized for contributing to the expanding waistlines of the nation’s children, at least several hundred schools in at least 10 states are now using Dance Dance Revolution, or D.D.R., as a regular part of their physical education curriculum.

My favorite part of this article is the photo, where kids who are waiting are doing the moves along with the participants. This is so encouraging! And the de-emphasis on competition and skill competence, especially with awkward junior high-age kids, is wonderful. When I remember the torture of jr. high gym class...

Today's Unshelved comic gives an excellent overview of "The Seven Stages of Falling in Love with an Author".

Stage Number 5 is why my friend Erica and I won't read the latest Dick Francis until he's written another one, just in case he dies. (Dude, he's like 86 and still writing!)