People N Patrons

When 103-Year Old Dies, Her Reading Circle Mourns

When Elizabeth Goodyear died late last month, at 103, a handful of friends, all more than two generations younger, sat vigil. They toasted her over dark chocolate, the elixir Ms. Goodyear had savored daily since she was 3 years old, and Champagne, a more recent favorite.

Two years ago, a front-page article in The New York Times featured Ms. Goodyear, a lifelong lover of books, and the small group of people who would stop by her apartment, in Murray Hill, to read to her after she lost her sight. Those readers became a family to Ms. Goodyear, who had outlived her relatives and loved ones.

It all began about seven years ago, after Alison West, a yoga instructor who lives in Ms. Goodyear’s building, posted a sign seeking readers in yoga studios downtown and sent an e-mail that was forwarded again and again.

“Liz has no family at all, and all her old friends have died, but she remains eternally positive and cheerful and loves to have people come by to read to her or talk about life, politics, travel — or anything else,” the message read. “She also loves good chocolate!”

Young women in their 20s, many of them Ms. West’s students, started to visit. Read more in the NYTimes blogs.

On Wisconsin!! Six Out of Ten Wisconsonites Are Library Card Holders

Many people can't afford to spend money on luxury items these days. They're forced to spend their cash on food and rent instead of books, DVDs, and magazines.

And that's why many Wisconsin residents (dare I say cheeseheads?) are turning to their local library for entertainment.

If you never visit your local library, it's time to jump on the bandwagon and catch up with your neighbors. That's because 6 out of every 10 Wisconsin residents are now registered library users. According to the Department of Public Instruction, Wisconsin has one of the best-organized library systems in the country. And most people are taking advantage of it.

Many are forgoing expensive bookstores, and instead are hitting up libraries for free access to their favorite stories.

Marathon City's old library was so popular, they had to move to a brand new building to keep up with customer demand.

"The old building we had was very small in footage," says branch supervisor Lavone Runge. "It was not customer friendly. We couldn't increase our materials because we just didn't have the shelving space."

Zappa -- "If You Want to Learn, Go To a Library"

from the Baltimore Sun: Live near Baltimore and looking for something to do on Sunday? Get thee to the library...

Two years after Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, donated a $50,000 bust of Baltimore-born rocker Frank Zappa, the art will be installed Sunday at the Southeast Anchor Library during a daylong celebration. The audience, which organizers expect to number in the thousands, will include Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Zappa's widow, Gail, and one of his sons, Dweezil, who'll be performing with his tribute band, Zappa Plays Zappa. Rawlings-Blake will designate Sunday as Zappa Day, Gail Zappa will host a Q&A and the Creative Alliance at the Patterson will throw an afterparty.

When asked where the bust should be placed, Gail Zappa said she picked a library because her husband was a self-taught man who loved libraries.

"He always said, 'If you want to get laid, go to college. If you want to learn, go to a library,'" she said.

Birmingham PL's Library Assistant III Sues the System

A library employee claims in a federal lawsuit that Birmingham's downtown public library is a sexually hostile place to work, with some patrons openly viewing pornography on computers, groping her and performing lewd acts in front of staff or other patrons, including children.

Barbara Ann Wilson claims in the lawsuit against the Library Foundation and the city of Birmingham that the library has not done enough to protect her from a hostile work environment.

"It is increasingly difficult for the Plaintiff to come to the work place on a daily basis to be confronted with the obscene and sexual misconduct that is ongoing at the downtown branch of the Birmingham Public Library," according to the lawsuit filed by Wilson, a library assistant III.

The lawsuit claims the library has violated her civil rights by creating or allowing a "sexually charged hostile work environment" by not providing adequate security. The lawsuit, which said Wilson has suffered severe emotional distress and mental anguish, seeks an unspecified amount in damages.

Lawsuit story from The Birmingham News; updates, including a meeting of the library board here.

Additional video coverage via CBS.

LA's Librarians Demand Noise

Jodi Lampert who writes for the Huffington Post is seriously pissed that the LA Library is closing on Mondays. And here's her blog to prove it:

"For something to reach out and grab me, it has to have the effect of Changing My Life, and right away. Just say:

The Public Library is closing on Mondays.

Let's begin by introducing you to my first boyfriend. We began our courtship when I was three. His name was 'Rockville Centre Public Library'. "Three," you might say? How could a child really read at three? I'd learned to read at my grandmother's proverbial knee, backwards.

I used to ride my bike to the library in Long Island, NY, every Thursday. It was safe. I would check out the maximum. Six. I would put them into my bike basket, ride home, and then line them up in my drawer, BACKWARDS. This was the exact opposite order in which I wanted to read them. There was no deviation. Years of therapy clearly awaited me, but it was a beautiful love affair."

Read more at at Huffington Post.

Too Many Books at Home? Here's the Solution for One MN Couple

Louis and Sue Ainsworth bought the house next door to tear it down and expand their own. Instead, they kept both houses, joined the two structures and turned an entire house into a library.

Keith Richards...Please Visit My Library!

As we learned last April, Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has always had a secret ambition...to be a librarian.

And today, as reported in Penn Live, Librarian Sheila Redcay — and at least 480 others on Facebook — would like to have Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards visit Matthews Public Library in Fredericksburg, PA. Redcay, a lifelong Rolling Stones fan, decided to invite Richards to her library after reading a preview of his autobiography, "Life," coming out in October, in which he says he considered becoming a librarian.

“Having him come to a public library, wherever it may be — why not here — will just simply bring awareness to the many struggles many libraries are having just to keep their doors open." Her goal is to get 1,000 people as members of the Facebook page she created, Keith Richards, Please Have Sympathy for America’s Public Libraries, after which she will approach his manager again with an invite. Richards’ manager said it sounded like “a very good idea,” but his publicist has said he is adamant that he will do only one book signing, in New York City. C'mon Keith...

There's a little contest on the Facebook page...join up and check out your knowledge of the Stones.

A Movie Star Lights Up a North Carolina Library

Zach Galifianakis, a comedian and one of the stars of the movie The Hangover, is a native of Wilkes County NC. Yesterday, he was at the Wilkes County Public Library in North Wilkesboro for a children's reading that drew hundreds of people. He stayed afterward for nearly two hours, posing for photos and signing hats, shirts, posters, money, DVDs, scraps of paper, old Wilkes Central High School yearbooks, and a GQ magazine with his face on the cover reports Journal Now.

The reading was intended for young children, many of whom were familiar with Galifianakis from G-Force, a film in which he champions a team of guinea pigs out to save the world from an evil billionaire.
But word quickly spread in the days leading up to the reading, and the crowd included a lot of people with driver's licenses, jobs and mortgages.

About 508 people came into the library while Galifianakis was there. A majority of them found their way to the upstairs level, where he read three children's books aloud.

"I think that books, reading, are so very important because they tell stories, and they let you into the story," he told the children. "I will start with reading a book called The Hangover."

The people with driver's licenses laughed, and Galifianakis said, "No."

Instead, he read Who is the Beast?, Don't Forget the Bacon (written by his father) and The Snowy Day, holding the books so the children could see the pictures.

San Jose Area Libraries Helping Patrons 'Think Green'

Local residents who have ever wondered exactly how much electricity is gobbled up by their household appliances now have a way to find out: Head to the local library.

Libraries throughout Santa Clara County are loaning out new Kill-A-Watt EZ Meters for free to residents, which can be taken home and plugged in to any household appliance to find out exactly how much energy the appliance uses, and what that costs the homeowner. The program has been a hit with the public, especially in Sunnyvale, where the meters have been checked out 64 times since July 1.

"I loved the idea, and people are excited to learn how much energy they are using every day," Sunnyvale director of libraries Lisa Rosenblum said. "We want the process to be as simple as possible for people, so it's totally free and we are encouraging residents to come check them out."

A Library Kiosk At the Station

The Toronto Public Library is studying the idea of installing an automated kiosk at Union Station, where patrons could borrow a book with the simple swipe of their library cards at any time of day.

It’s not a new concept — these machines have been in place in Europe and in the United States — but the idea is slowly gaining steam in Canada.

Earlier this year, the library board agreed to investigate the idea of installing one of these self-service kiosks, in part because it would create a visible presence in a busy hub that is being renovated. By 2016, 330,000 passengers are projected to pass through the station daily.

“They look like vending machines that can hold books, paperbacks, hard covers, CDs and DVDs,” said Anne Bailey, director of branch libraries for the Toronto Public Library. A simple touch screen allows borrowers to see what in the machine.

“We’re often asked for service in locations where we wouldn’t want to put a branch. This might be a way to offer some level of service in a cost-effective manner.”

The cost for a single library kiosk and related collections is estimated at about $200,000 plus additional ongoing operating costs of about $15,000 a year. A branch library could cost millions.

Does your library, or a library that you know of have an off-site kiosk? How are things working out for them?

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