LibPunk Radio

I've just discovered this through LJ, and I agree with David Rothman -- this is the most fun I've ever had listening to a library podcast.

I mean, in what other library show do they go from discussing the unfairness of vendors to a discussion of the merits of shanking people? I can already tell this is going to be a quotetastic experience: "I am pro shank."

Plus, they finally provided a definition - or an attempt to define - the libpunk movement: a combination of do-it-yourself and fuck-shit-up. Oh, and by the way? The show is not censored at all.

I wanna be a punk librarian when I grow up...

A Weekend of Libraries!

This weekend included a visit to the Boston Athenaeum, a beautiful private library in the heart of the city -- and the Brookline main public library, which, as my GSLIS friend put it, "shows what you get when a library has money." Both were centers of artistic and literary wealth and pretty inspiring to boot...one could almost forget about all of those pesky budget cuts going on.

Alas, the BA didn't allow photographs inside, so I shall have to rely on others' visuals for interiors:








The first floor was open to visitors, and included an art gallery and several reading areas, complete with plush armchairs and glimmering full-length windows. I am not artistically informed, so I couldn't tell you much about the quality of the collection (the printed guide certainly made it seem impressive). I was amused to note two sculptures in particular; one marble bust of Lafayette and one ceramic statuette of a doll-like child with a ballooning skirt and coiffed hair wore perfectly matching supercilious expressions.

I fell in love with the children's room the most. Not only did they have an aquarium, but the room was carefully arranged with polished wood shelving, cradling the space into a semi-circle that opens out to floor-to-ceiling windows with a view of rich greenery outside.

Oh, and an excellent view of the graveyard. You know, the Granary -- the historical cemetery where tourists can be seen milling about or hunting down particular Revolutionary heroes. It was a bit of a jolt to see a stuffed animal dragon upon a throne-like chair framed against the backdrop of tilting gravestones -- but I don't think the kids are overly bothered. Plus, they've got these sweet window seats in the nooks each side of the shelves, and all I could think was, if I were a kid, I would totally claim that spot every time.

I chatted with the children's librarian a bit, and she told me about their storytime schedule and reading groups; despite being a private institution (or maybe because of it), they have a robust series of events and programs for both adult members and their kids.

After mourning my lack of funds for a membership, I mosied on down to Chinatown for a haircut. Like you do.

The next morning started off with an early-morning jaunt to Mul's Diner (because I am a secret diner fiend). The waitresses were kindly and the atmosphere was relaxed and friendly; while my french toast came out more on the 'charcoal' side of cooked, I was liberally supplied with coffee and therefore content.

The rest of the day included a relaxed stroll to the Brookline branch, in which I not only discovered multiple copies of desired works in order, but also plenty of light, airy study spaces with outlets and chairs that did not double as torture devices. And they were having a book sale! BPL, we may have to break up. Like, now.





Overall, a satisfying adventure! Brookline has left me with a permanently crippled spine from all of the books I have been toting around, but I can forgive them. I prescribe bed rest! And reading!

Browsing in the Digital World

Got caught up in this article through American Libraries, in which Donald Barclay neatly explodes the 'myth' of serendipitous browsing in the academic library. This issue is important because of increasing space pressures and how many libraries are decreasing shelf space in favor of 'study space' -- incurring the wrath of faculty who cry foul at collections being moved off-site.

But as Barclay points out, not only is physical browsing not part of an ancient scholarly tradition (prior to WWII, academic library stacks were mostly closed), it is also pretty darn inefficient. Especially compared to the new searching platforms online that let you tag, link, and organize multiple ways -- echoes of David Weinberger's 'miscellaneous' theory here, because you don't have the physical limits of a book being in only one 'place.'

So while I can understand the immediate reaction against the thought of 'taking books off the shelves,' I cab agree with Barclay here - shifting collections in some cases can actually make the materials more accessible (as counterintuitive as that may seem). And in my own experience, I've found that most undergrads are searching via their laptops and phones instead of their fingers...

But please let's not get carried away here. This solution is not for all libraries or even for most of the collection. I've browsed shelves as recently as last week, and there is still something to be said for having books on the shelves, ready to be plucked and skimmed. We are highly visual and tactile creatures, after all. So until we can make the 'digital' browsing model as natural and easy as physical browsing (or more so) -- let's keep some of those books on our shelves.

Salem: More than Just Witches! (No, Really!)

I took a weekend daytrip to Salem, which was lovely -- after some trainage negotiation (apparently the MBTA decided some of its trains were overtired and couldn't make it aaaalll the way out to my usual stop), I found myself wandering along sunny wharfs and down charming brick alleyways.

I also learned things.
For instance, the Essex County history video presentation at the tourist center was quite informative. It covered the maritime aspects of Salem's past, along with trade and industrialization. A Summary:

• **Native Americans were totally here first (for like, 10,000 years). Then the white people showed up as fishermen. The encounter ran along these familiar lines:

White People: Hey, nice to meet you! Wanna trade? We have pelts and shiny weird objects.
Native Americans: Um, we've been doing fine on our own, but sure, okay.
White People: Oh yeah, by the way, we're actually planning to settle here and take 'our' land and let our animals run free and eat all your crops and we'll throw our nasty horrible diseases into the bargain, kay?
Native Americans: WAY NOT COOL

• **The soil was actually awful, so most of the early settlers got their living from the sea, which was just bursting with fish. The sea brought wealth! Nets of slimy, scaly wealth!

• **The Puritans really were trying to set up a colony of religious purity, free from corruption. Ironically, they fled from intolerance and then set about with the witch-burning, a now-classic historical prototype of narrow-mindedness and...intolerance.

Video Narrator: But, you know, they really did believe in witches! For real! So, like, cut them some slack, okay? And can we just drop the whole witch thing?
Audience: NO. WE WANT WITCHES.
Video Narrator: Dammit.

• **Slaves in Essex County could actually get a measure of 'freedom' by serving on the ships -- there was a moving account from one man who recalled his own father's servitude on a plantation, and how his life on the sea at least allowed for some sense of pride and autonomy, despite the back-breaking labor and general sacrifice (his wife, meanwhile, was 'taking in washing' and presumably seeing her husband maybe once a year).

So, another reason archives and libraries are awesome - they save these stories for us.

• **When the fish ran low, industry turned to shoes! Fish to boots...makes perfect sense.

• **Industrialization was hell, of course -- one in three millworkers died before their 10 years of service were up.

I also got to visit Hawthorne's house, in which I learned:

• **Emerton, the enterprising 'founder' of the landmark, actually set up tours of the House of Seven Gables to mirror the book, instead of reality -- to the point of adding in Hepzibah's 'shop' (which did not actually exist; Hawthorne made it up).

• **Hawthorne himself was insecure about his writing and got lots of encouragement and support from his cousin, Susanna.

• **The kettles that women used in the kitchen weighed 25 pounds when they were empty. Note to self: never challenge a 17th-century housewife to an arm-wrestling match.

Besides the educational fun, I got to wander and find all sorts of delights, including the Derby Square Bookstore, which looks like this outside:

And this on the inside:

It made the librarian in me sob a little, even as the book-lover had a massive heart-attack of joy at the fifty percent off...

I asked the owner about his 'organizational strategy,' and he basically said 'photographic memory.' It was true; ask him any title and he'd track it down with the unerring instinct of a homing pigeon (good luck trying to navigate on your own).

All in all, a lovely day!