or, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Fear and Loathing at a Public Library Reference Desk


How to Add Value to a Library Book

   July 16th, 2014 Brian Herzog

the bouviers book coverA few years ago, I posted about a neat inscription in one of our Jack Kerouac books. Well, this past weekend, we found another interesting inscription.

One of my coworkers was doing the weeding list, pulling and deleting books that hadn't circulated in the last three years. One of the books on the list was The Bouviers : from Waterloo to the Kennedys and beyond, by John H. Davis.

Since we're in Massachusetts, I'm always a little reluctant to get rid of Kennedy-related items, but this one just didn't seem like it would be in demand anymore.

That is, until my coworker opened the cover and found this inscription:

I would love to dedicate this book to my sexy-stud-muffin son J.F.K. jr and to his lovely daddy - Jacki Kennedy

Such a personal note from "Jacki Kennedy" - this copy must be priceless! It seems especially rare, too, since she took this single opportunity to sign her name differently than her normal signature.

Of course, we certainly don't encourage anyone to vandalize library materials - even First Ladies.



Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,



Library Quotes for National Library Week

   April 12th, 2011 Brian Herzog

Treasury of Presidental QuotationsIn honor of National Library Week, I pulled some library-related sentiments from Treasury Of Presidential Quotations, compiled by Caroline Thomas Harnsberger.

I don't think it's any coincidence that the quotes I liked the best are from Thomas Jefferson and John F. Kennedy, nor that they still apply today.

On the Role of Libraries

Good libraries are as essential to an education and informed people as the school system itself. The library is not only the custodian of our cultural heritage but the key to progress and the advancement of knowledge. With increasing leisure its resources can enrich the quality of American life.

-John F. Kennedy, 1963

Books constitute capital. A library book lasts as long as a house, for hundreds of years. It is not, then, an article of mere consumption but fairly of capital, and often in the case of professional men, setting out in life, it is their only capital.

-Thomas Jefferson, 1821

On the Running of Libraries

Libraries like all other institutions must grow and adapt to changing requirements and conditions. The rate of change in the world today and in our knowledge of it is incredibly fast. We cannot afford to let our libraries slip behind.

-John F. Kennedy, 1963

Nothing would do more extensive good at small expense than the establishment of a small, circulating library in every county, to consist of a few well-chosen books, to be lent to the people of the county, under such regulations as would secure their safe return in due time.

-Thomas Jefferson, 1809

I found it interesting how different these two sets of quotes made these two Presidents sound. Kennedy's first quote is lofty and qualitative, describing the library's place in our society overall. And of course I like his second quote, laying out a general roadmap of continuous change for libraries, responding to the continuous change in our communities.

Jefferson's quotes are a little more grounded and quantitative, describing how libraries can help people - a library can help you get a job. And in the second quote, he describes the specific policies to run a library - which almost sounds like Jefferson would support DRM (except that libraries have been enforcing his suggestion for over a century without DRM).

Of course celebrating libraries during National Library Week is great, but I always have the tendency to look for mirrors to catch a reflection of how people outside the library world view libraries.



Tags: , , , , , , , , ,