Librarything

I keep meaning to write about this service that I have been playing around with for a while. I can't remember where I heard about it. Basically it's a way to keep your books you own or want to own organized. It has always bothered me, ever since I learned to read, that a few weeks after I finish a book, I end up forgetting the details of the book. I even stopped reading for a while because I felt it was pointless to keep reading if I was just going to forget everything. A few years ago, after deciding to pursue my Masters in Library Science I brushed those feelings aside and just READ. This site provides a place for me to write down my thoughts as I read and essentially lets my brain off the hook.

I can't wait to be able to focus my entire day on exploring these different aspects of information, literacy and education.

Ramblings from Wordstock

This weekend I volunteered at Wordstock, Portland's book festival. It was a great time. Most of the time when I tell people that I want to become a librarian they say, "No, what do you really want to be?". It was very nice to be surrounded by people who are on the same wavelength.

I spent most of my time waiting for authors to check in prior to their talks. I got to meet a few very nice authors, none of whom I have heard of. I will have to make a point to get their books from the library.

The festival reminded me of the ALA conference I went to in Seattle but with a focus on printing, publishing and authors. I didn't get as much insight into the publishing world as I wanted, but I did find a really cool website called book crossing (www.bookcrossing.com). Basically it is a loosely organized 'library' (and I use the term library loosely). People read a book, leave it in a public place and log it's location on the website. The website allows for searching by title, author or location. It's basically a literary Geocashing adventure. It may not be well organized, but it fills the randomness void that everyone has in this overly structured world.

Don't get me wrong, structure is a wonderful thing, but so is randomness. That's how I seem to live my life, highly structured, but full of randomness. I really need to explore this whole idea of opposites working in tandem (ying and yang-esqueness).

LSSI

http://www.ktvz.com/Global/story.asp?S=7281603

I am not sure how I feel about for-profit businesses jumping in to run a library. The whole notion of the "bottom line" puts me on edge. I know not all businesses are 'evil' but, from watching THE CORPORATION and working where I work, I have a skewed view of greedy SOBs.

From looking at their site I can see how mixing NPO with FPO can result in positive improvements. There was a quote from the ALA on the site:

"….the evidence supports the conclusion that outsourcing has been an effective managerial tool, and when used carefully and judiciously it has resulted in enhanced library services and improved library management."

Like any plan, outsourcing has the potential to be both positive or negative...it is all in how it is managed and implemented.