Liberry Bush

New Gig: Children's Librarian @ Free Library of Philadelphia

2006-05-16T15:41:00.000-07:00

I finally got it! Will start June 12. More to come.

Coming Soon

2006-04-13T14:02:00.000-07:00

Guest Contributor! An old library school classmate chimes in about being a new librarian, and the programs YOU can use to draw 'em in.

I attend a graphic novels / comic books / manga / mainga / mahnga conference.

And let's not forget that interview with the curator whose gallery is out of a library.

On a personal note: it's been nearly a week since my FLP interview (I order you to maintain crossed fingers.) Neat how I'll find out about the job just when highschoolers are finding out if they got into Tech State College.

Fresh Produce: Libraries With Galleries

2006-04-04T12:54:00.000-07:00

Fresh Produce at the APL: Opened 3/25 to much good times, this place got a good crowd to the library after dark. And the mix: almost all young artists and/or scenesters (with a few of their toddlers thrown in for variety) seems to be the group that libraries are wooing. Look for an upcoming interview with one of the people making it happen.

Big Screen Books: Apocalypse Now !

2006-03-16T10:06:00.000-08:00

Our dried voices when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass

Biblia Verite

2006-02-27T10:24:00.000-08:00

From our friends at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Read a book, then see the movie, and comparisons are inevitable. Why didn't the actor more resemble the main character? What happened to the character-A-meets-character-B scene? Why were whole sections left out of the film?

Beginning 7 p.m., the Peters Township Public Library will sponsor the 1st installment of Books On Screen, a discussion of how 4 novels and their movie versions stack up. Each participant receives a book and can check out 1 of 4 available DVDs or view the movie at a special library screening.

Books on Screen is part of the Pennsylvania Humanities Council's Read About It program. Started as a pilot program in 2000, Read About It uses libraries to lure readers into discussions in which they might not otherwise engage. Other genres on which discussions are based are: Detecting Women, Facts in Fiction, Life Stories and Pennsylvania Writers.

"Ours is different from other book discussions, because it's not driven by lectures. Rather, leaders are brought in to facilitate discussions. We try to bring in a new audience or those who haven't participated in a book discussion forum before," said Marcie Thurstlic, program communications assistant at the humanities council.

As of Feb. 15, 30 people had registered for the discussions and 6 were on a waiting list.

Book Appetit

2006-01-27T09:48:00.000-08:00

From our friends at Albany Public Library: books and food - together at last! Their Book Tastings program on Wednesday was awesome. We all (and like 50 people signed up in this itty bitty city of 100K) had read Julie and Julia. We talked about it. We crammed our faces with expensive foodie foods provided free at the location: Mezzo Marketplace & Eatery. We drank too much wine. I won a $10 gift card. Golden all around. I defy you to tell me how this isn't the best thing for any library. C'mon. C'mon. I didn't think so.

Dewey Decibel System

2006-01-15T09:32:00.000-08:00

Our friends at This American Life give us the story of an audacious act of rebranding done by a group of people who aren't normally thought of as very audacious: public librarians. In Michigan, they've started staging rock concerts in libraries. The band that's been thrown into the experiment – The High Strung – couldn't be more perfect for the job. Listen here or from their webpage: it's the 8/5/05 episode.

Big Screen Books: Rushmore

2006-01-13T13:25:00.000-08:00

The Night Life of Bees

2006-01-13T10:03:00.000-08:00

From our friends over at the NY Times:

Spellings bees, for generations the province of the under-12 set with braces, have acquired a cultural prominence in recent years that is winning them adult attention and the kind of participants who might otherwise be found at downtown art gallery openings or indie rock concerts.

Adult-only spelling bees, born of nostalgia and spiked with alcohol, have become increasingly popular social activities for brainy hipsters in their 20's and 30's at bars and community centers from Brooklyn to Spokane, Wash. Gone are the days when the sole opportunity to demonstrate one's spelling aptitude was in school. A new kind of bee has emerged, one where participants tackle baffling words between flirty smiles and sips of Yuengling.

"A lot of recovered high school geek behavior is coming out," she said. "It's appealing because it's a kind of structured way to be with your friends that isn't just sitting around a bar and talking."

Put it in a library...and you've got yourself a stew going!