tiny library is tiny

Little Free Libraries operate on a give-a-book, get-a-book honors system. Such a nice idea...for nice people.

Rick Brooks, one of the founders of LFLs, has said that, "Everybody asks, 'Aren't they going to steal the books?' But you can't steal a free book."

But considering that just yesterday, in a not-so-little but just-as-free library, someone threw a lit cigarette in the book drop and someone else wreaked havoc in the restroom by shoving an entire roll of tissue down the toilet, taking a giant dump on top of it, and then flushing, well...trust me, free book or not - they'll find a way.

reshelved

Sometimes when I work late in the library, I hear a faint shuffling sound coming from the stacks. Is there someone lurking, did someone fall asleep in a study carrel? I do a quick walk-through and check again. Nope. No one's there.

I shrug to myself, turn off the lights and go home.



This would explain why I can never find anything in the 500s.

(thanks to everyone who sent this!)

Judging a book by its cover

Sometimes better than CliffsNotes.

Heh.

Via Better Book Titles.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

eLibris

Alan is happy that dead tree books are dying and, honestly, I agree with the sentiment. Gone will be the days of dumpsters full of throwaway paperbacks and libraries monopolized by multiple copies of the newest James Patterson. Soon (and once again) books will be treasured works of art made by skilled craftsmen, pop-up engineers, and master bookbinders.* They will be placed with care on shelves in homes and libraries and will be passed down through generations. Book burning will have real meaning again.

_______________

*here's a video to show you what I mean.

I like books.

But I wouldn't bet my life on them.

booklust

Oh, I have never desired a book more in my entire life.



And, what, you may ask, is this wonderous tome?

This. I could die from wanting it.

reading again

I've rediscovered the pleasure of analog text & I think I might just have to read this next...



Full disclaimer: I've never read any of the original Austen novels - I think the Edwardian Regency women bore me to tears. Nice dresses, though.

Also? Don't you just love these little book trailer films?

Shhhh!

It's true. Librarians can be very naughty.

the new menace

Oh, and you all were so worried about zombies. Fools!
And if these little bastards team up with octopi, we're all doomed.

(Book find of the day! I LOLed.)

swirled

I've always loved the marbled fore-edges and endpages of old tomes. Seems such a frivolous, unnecessary thing in this age of e-books and PDFs, but someone spent the effort on beauty, making sure the world is aware that contained within is A Very Important Book. The unabridged dictionary at the library is dappled in a very simple pattern and yet it rests on its own wooden stand in the reference department, apart from the miscellaneous rabble of the rest of the 400s.

Marbling paper is a somewhat magical process - float and swirl pigments on a liquid, dip paper in and you have one of the oldest and most beautiful forms of decoration in history. So imagine my delight when I learned I could carry this sort of design with me, on any day I chose.

(click for detail)

I do?

I write like
Cory Doctorow

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Who do you write like?

(via Snarkybytes)

shelved

After donating the Eddie Eagle DVD to the children's department, I became curious about what sort of gun related books were available in the adult nonfiction collection.

(click to enlarge)
...and...

And other than the half shelf of "Oh no, blood in the streets! Columbine! Your gun can be used against you! Turn them in at buybacks!" gun control books, that's really it.

We do, however, still subscribe to Guns & Ammo, so at least there's some consolation.

because I can

Guess which audiobook I just ordered for the library.

(& yes, I'm grinning.)

book, marked

I once found a lifetime's worth of four-leaf clovers pressed between the pages of a donated book, but I have yet to see anything quite like this.

in the know

Quite a few of my readers are fans of Terry Pratchett and his Discworld series, so I thought I'd pass on a little bit of information...there's a new book on its way - Unseen Academicals, due out October 6th.

Your own personal librarian, at your service.

Lionesses

The Marines have long had women among their ranks but the Iraq War is changing women's roles. The Lioness program, referred to as the "pride of the Corps", was originally developed to provide culturally-sensitive searches on Iraqi women but has also given women more equality on the front lines. Unlike the woman in this WWI recruitment poster, female Marines today have actually seen and taken part in combat. Sometimes peacekeeping missions run into ambushes and as one veteran so aptly said in a NYT article, "When someone is shooting at you, you don’t say, ‘Stop the war, I’m a girl.'"

The Marines have discovered how valuable the Lionesses are in obtaining information and cooperation from the Iraqi people, whether by befriending the women or subtly intimidating the men - an American woman in uniform carrying a rifle is a jihadi's worst nightmare.

So, on the eve our own Independence Day, here's to our brave women, fighting and dying alongside our men while bringing hope and freedom to the rest of the world. Thank you.

p.s. My good friend, frequent commenter, and self-proclaimed #1 fanboy Mad St. Jack gifted me with a copy of Band of Sisters by Kirsten Holmstedt the last time I saw him. It's a great read, I strongly suggest it.

bookscents

When I tell people where I work, I hear so often, "Oh! I would love to work in a library. I love that old book smell."

I'm sure this will spoil lots of bibliophile fantasies and I'm sorry for it, but honestly - excluding special "old book" collections, there is no old book smell in most public libraries. The smell here fluctuates between sinus-searing levels of cleaning product, the general odor of human beings (believe me - there's a reason we're sometimes referred to as "The Great Unwashed"), and an occasional bout of break room related scents like "oh no, who burnt the popcorn/is eating kimchee/left the coffeepot on overnight/brought fish sticks for lunch?"

But if you're really craving that smell, I'd suggest you either go back to say, the 800s, crack open an old poetry tome, stick your nose in between the pages for a good whiff, visit a used book store or use this air "freshener." They even offer a bacon scent, proving once again that everything - even books - is better with bacon.

excuses, excuses

Reasons why this blog sucks lately:

1.) Stories like the French chef who said "I saw God before me" when he saw Obama make my head want to explode. I am struck dumb in abject horror and mostly just make disgusted sputtering noises when I read the news. Any amount of punditry I might have had has left me. I did, however, good chuckle out of this...

I'm sure it was just a lucky shot, but still. Heh.

2. I haven't been shooting in a long, long time. I miss shooting. Stupid ammo hoarders, no shooty makes Breda a very sad girl.

3. No snow! Gardening! Outside! Sunshine! Dirt! Blossoms! Worms! Herbs! Turtle walks! (new video of the cutest turtle on the internet, if you're interested.) I hate to waste good weather but just this weekend I found a little wifi spot outside near the perennials, so blogging might improve.

4. I've been reading a new book, An Edible History of Humanity. I just can't read fiction lately - I find that I just don't care about the characters and their lives - and I've always liked those books with titles like Milk, Salt, The Pencil or Color, where the author traces the history and evolution of a single subject. My favorite bit of this new book so far comes from the part about the reasons why humans might have started farming, despite the fact that hunting and gathering was by far a much easier lifestyle.

It has even been suggested that the accidental fermentation of cereal grains, and resulting discovery of beer, provided the incentive for the adoption of farming, in order to guarantee a regular supply.

The most unexpected things sometimes have the greatest effect.

Well, it certainly looks dramatic.

I notice gun related cover art all the time now...


...and I have yet to see one that follows the 4 Rules.

subversive shelving

Everyone seems to be in a tizzy over this display of Obama* books in the children's religion section at a bookstore.

Reminded me immediately of something I might do. (and frequently have.)

*can I just say that it just delights me that Blogger still thinks "Obama" is a typo?