It was great to see an article on a book scout get coverage in the blogosphere and in the papers, GalleyCat covered it and the Seattle times picked up the AP story as well.The article, "Rare Finds Make Stacks of Cash for Book Scouts" was written for the AP by Kevin Sampsell.The problem is that the article is more of a commercial for Powell's than an appreciation of book scouts.Why:The article was written for the AP by Kevin Sampsell, a long time Powell's employee and the scout that is the subject of the article Wayne Pernu used to work for...
The "No Information Left Behind" Act
With the debate over the digitization of our cultural heritage in full swing it's time to propose the "No Information Left Behind" Act.With lack of funding being the biggest hurdle many institutions face we need to get creative in coming up with ways to fund these endeavors. Our government must get more involved. We simply cannot leave it to the private sector. There are too many variables and potential pitfalls with having the digital rights of so many cultural artifacts in the hands of private companies. They may mean well now but things can change in a hurry in the...
The Fruits of Libraries
"I went down to the Modesto Library and inquired of the librarian if she had any books on winemaking. And with her help, I looked through the library and there were none. After all, this was just on repeal of Prohibition, and it wasn't a very popular subject. Then she thought, and "Well," she said, "down in the basement there's a stack of pamphlets. There might be some there from before Prohibition."And she said, "Why don't you go down there and see if there are any?" I did go down in the basement and went through an enormous stack of...
Celebrate Spring: Silent Spring. Rachel Carson at 100
"The more clearly we can focus our attention onthe wonders and realities of the universe about us,the less taste we shall have for destruction." Rachel Carson, 1954.This May will be the 100th anniversary of the birth of Rachel Carson. Her groundbreaking book Silent Spring spurned the modern environmental movement. She truly is the First Lady of Green.She started working for the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries during the Depression. Her tenure lasted 15 years beginning with her writing radio scripts and ending with Carson as Editor-In-Chief of all publications for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.She also wrote feature articles...
The American Library Association’s Cuban Crisis
The American Library Association (ALA) is the largest and oldest library association in the world. They pride themselves on being defenders of freedom of expression and censorship.The problem is that for years they have refused to take a stance on the brutal incarceration of Cuban librarians who were jailed "because of their courageous insistence that the people of Cuba should also have the freedom to read books the dictatorship has banned."In 2004 Nat Hentoff first wrote of the of the hypocrisy in the Village Voice.On the day in 2004 , at the ALA's mid-winter meetings, when then President Carla Hayden...