Asleep at the Seattle Public Library. Image via "Librarians are the most committed community activists I know." - Caroline Kennedy at ALA Midwinter Meeting 2012 It was billed as a Day of Caring. As part of the American Library Association's Midwinter meeting in Seattle this weekend about 75 librarians from all over the country gathered on Friday to "provide aid to local homeless organizations and offer librarian volunteers the opportunity to gain insights into best practice skills in serving the homeless." The night before happened to be the 33rd annual One Night Count where social service agencies and volunteers attempt to physically count the people...
The "bookBot" invades the library
Carl Piraneo works at the "bookBot" at the James B. Hunt Jr. Library at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. Photo: Allen Breed / APThe library is a changing and I trust it is going to look a lot like the new James B. Hunt Jr. Library at North Carolina State University.Designed by the Oslo-based firm Snohetta, the 5-story library includes little of what one would expect in a traditional library.Yes, there is an area within the library that houses about 40,000 books. The rest, all 1.5 million of them, are housed in 18,000 metal bins. Four robots navigate the bins to...
Reading Habits by Place
The latest survey from The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project focuses on how residents of different communities (ie: urban, surburban, rural) read and use reading-related technology and institutions.Reading Habits in Different Communities | Pew Internet Libraries
Stay on the Grass: Nature goes inside the library
As the sign says in the lobby of the Mann Library at Cornell University:Yes, it’s real grass.Yes, you can sit, lay down and roll around on the grass, but please don’t stomp on it.The grass is part of the exhibit. Various professors in Human Ecology have done research on the restorative benefits of nature. Instead of telling you about this, we decided to show you.So sit, relax, lay down, and enjoy the grass!Building on the success of last years first-ever “bring the outdoors indoors” initiative students from the Department of Design and Environmental Analysis (DEA) installed lawns in three additional spaces...
America’s 100 largest libraries are getting larger
ViaList on WikipediaThis infographic was created in late 2010.As you will see in the most current list courtesy of ALA there has been a bit of movement in the last couple of years and no library on the list has less 3 million items.Screenshot of the current top 30: