Why? Because you need to support Rory Litwin.
And who is Rory Litwin? Rory is the originator of Library Juice, an online magazine for librarians and library-friendly folks. He's been at it since 1998, keeping us duly informed on intellectual freedom issues, social responsibility, library humor and just plain interesting web sites.
So how does a thong support Rory?
Because he's selling them (plus other nifty items) via his cafepress.com store, Libr.org, to support his persistent need to keep us informed. Every bit he earns ensures we know about issues such as copyright challenges or California prison libraries.
But Rory can't live just on good vibes--he needs your monetary support. Go visit his store, buy a thong (or a t-shirt or a mug), and bask in the knowledge you've done a good thing.
You won't regret it.
Bib Cites of the Week: These come from a prolific Mike Dieter, clinical assistant professor with the UIC's School of Biomedical and Health Information Sciences
Kolodny, K. "Shelf List Or Shelf Life: Take It Or Leave It!" In MARC-Coding for Dummies. Chicago: Fullcourt Press (1996).
Groatman, Gary. "Dewey Don'ts," The Compleat Cataloguer. 5(7) Summer 1997, pp.67-87.
It's almost spring and a not-so-young librarian's fancy turns to reading ads for library directors' positions on a variety of listservs. After some-ten odd years in this profession, I'm beginning to sense a pattern in the position descriptions:
Library Director
LOCATION: Any county in some rectangular state in the middle of the country. If frostbite in winter doesn't get you, the plague of locusts during the summer will.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: Responsible for the operation of a library district that includes a spiffy regional library that went waaay over budget and ten branch libraries, including a one-room closet that's run by a burned-out children's librarian who snapped and decided to create her private space by using duct tape to mark off invisible walls around her desk....
Coordinates and develops a print and non-print collection with the assistance of staff and whipped-up county commissioners who get their chains regularly yanked by one frazzled soccer-mom in an Escalade incensed over the discovery that the library has copies on Captain Underpants on the shelves.
Manages a $10 million annual budget and personally certifies all expenditures, down to the last rubber band and tube of red ink. Compiles statistics of the library system's activities including teen/full-text access whine ratios. Organizes in-house training programs on diplomatically prodding snoring homeless guys.
QUALIFICATIONS: The successful candidate must have an ALA-accredited MLS degree from any library school that still survives. Superior oral/written communication abilities including ten years of demonstrated extra-sensory perception skills. Must be able to pump out toilets and stomachs. Must demonstrate the ability to spin plates to Khachaturian's Sabre Dance while explaining to angry town-hall attendees why the library is not keen on the idea of filtering out every site that contains the word "breast". Must have valid driver's licenses from at least 38 states and the ability to lift a baby-grand piano left over from the Friends-of-Library reception the night before. The ability to turn water into wine (or better yet, cash) is desired but not essential.
Drug testing and fingerprinting are required (we're no dummies--we read those news blurbs from ALA Online). Random anal-probing is currently being considered.
Salary dependent upon qualifications: the more qualified you are, the smaller the salary's gonna look to 'ya, but hey--we gotta dream sometime....
Every once in great while, we librarians get teeny signs from the heavens that we actually matter.
Like tears streaming from a statue of the Virgin Mary or Jesus' face on a tortilla, we occasionally read of wondrous happenings, such as this report from the Contra Costa Times about Richmond, California high school students striking over the school board's decision to eliminate sports and library closures. De Anza High School student Ana Salguera states
We have the right to protest the cuts because we're the ones being educated in the schools....We're the future of this country and we shouldn't have to do without counselors, sports or libraries.
So we're third on the list. At least we made the list.
She does go on to say that libraries are not only where she does research for homework, but also where she gets computer access to write term papers
The next time, who knows? We may be confronted with the true sign of the apocalypse: a teenager wanting to do all his research in print.
A friend of mine got married today.
Why is this newsworthy? Because my friend is gay.
Today my friend and her partner joined hundreds of others in the pelting rain to be able for the first time in Oregon history to apply for a marriage license. And it was a beautiful sight to behold: people laughing and cheering, cars honking, the press pouncing upon happily-dazed couples who've just received their licenses. There were insta-ministers, waiting around to marry on-the-spot those who've been waiting a lifetime for this moment. And there were others who shared in the joy: friends, well-wishers passing out donuts and flowers. Pizza deliverers. Even the county sheriff officers, there to keep things orderly, were smiling. The shock and glee was infectious.
The only time I remember such high spirits was the 1983 San Francisco Pride Parade: as an already-jaded usher at the Castro Theatre (it was a job requirement then--trust me), I stood on the marquee and watched gay pride contingents from all fifty states march by. When the lone member of the North Dakota tribe marched down Castro Street waiving his rainbow flag wildly and wearing a grin so huge it threaten to take over his face, a primal cheer went up from the crowd. He was home. And I couldn't stop crying.
So no matter what your feelings are about gay marriage, just for one tiny moment think about what it must have been like for those who've been told all their lives that they were weird or subhuman or just plain wrong, to wake up this morning and realize now, finally, they could marry the person they loved.
And rejoice.
While watching one of my umpteen guilty pleasures on television, Extreme Makeover last week, I did something stupid:
I watched next week's previews. And guess who's getting a makeover?
A librarian.
And boy did they ever pick a librarian: mousy, pathetic, and pushin' a bookcart. I'm sure it was a dream-come-true when the scouting agents watched her application tape. I'm surprised they didn't force her at gunpoint to wear a high-collar and a nez pince throughout the entire experience. What got me was the please-save-me-from-my-fate look on her face--as if the only thing between her and a life of eternal schlubbiness is plastic surgery.
We now have the medical equivalent of the take-off-the-glasses/loosen-the-bun cliché.
Maybe there's a god department:: The Thomas Kinkade Art Gallery in Tigard, Oregon reported three paintings/lithographs worth $17,000 were stolen last weekend, including a $14,000 limited-edition canvas lithograph entitled Village Christmas. What I want to know is: how do I get the thieves to clean out all the other galleries?
