8 Librarians Who Lend Out More Than Books by Michele Debszak

Libraries would be nothing without the librarians who run them. Most of us know them as the people who check out our books or help us navigate the Dewey Decimal System, but not all librarians are limited to working with the printed word. Whether they’re lending out ties or larger-than-life puppets, these are the heroic men and women behind some of the world’s most unique library collections.

1. LAUREN COMITO // THE TIE-BRARY

Libraries offer tremendous resources to people searching for employment, but that could all be for nothing without a proper interview outfit to wear. In Queens, New York, library members can check out a tie with interview tips and tie-tying instructions printed inside the box it comes in. Queens librarian Lauren Comito launched the “tie-brary” as one of her many initiatives dedicated to providing services to the borough’s homeless population. After foundingWhereinQueens.org, a website that directs users to career services and other resources in the area, she realized that some of her patrons didn’t own a tie or even know they should be wearing one to interviews. She met this need by building the racks to hold a library of ties herself. read more...

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Meet the man who is turning D.C. libraries into a national model by nevin Martell march 31

Richard Reyes-Gavilan, executive director of the D.C. Public Library system, is changing the way the city’s residents interact with its libraries. (Greg Kahn/GRAIN/for The Washington Post)

A year ago, Richard Reyes-Gavilan was standing in an upstairs dining room at the Hamilton, a trendy downtown eatery. He’d come to talk to a roomful of business owners and civic leaders about that building.

“I’m sure you’re all familiar with MLK,” says Reyes-Gavilan, the executive director of the D.C. Public Library, using shorthand for the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, the dreary, well-worn, four-story central library two blocks west of Verizon Center. Despite being designed by celebrated 20th-century modernist Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the boxy structure is known less for its collection and more for its down-on-their-luck clientele who has inspired a lengthy list of restrictions on behavior such as bringing in bedrolls or “emanating an odor that can be detected by a reasonable person, from six feet away.”

“It was outdated the day it opened,” he tells the room. “It has been an unloved structure for a long time.”

He pauses.

“But it has always had potential.” 

Read more...

Do We Need Libraries? - Forbes

Libraries everywhere are under threat. After all, who needs a library
today, when it is possible, without even getting out of bed, to find
and read almost any book or article that has ever been published? One is
tempted to recall the reaction by some to the recent news that Radio
Shack had gone bankrupt: “Radio Shack bankrupt? I didn’t know Radio
Shack still existed!”

I was asked to give the opening keynote at a combined meeting of the Library Leaders Summit and the Computers in Libraries
conference this week in Washington, D.C. In discussing the future of
libraries, the conference continues a long tradition of forward-looking
libraries exploring emerging technologies, hearing from bleeding edge
practitioners and sharing case studies of innovative libraries. My
thoughts on the future of libraries are equally applicable to many other
sectors that are facing the threat of extinction from massive
disruption to their businesses.

Library of Congress in Washington, DC, (Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)

The scale and pervasiveness of the disruption that sectors like libraries face is amazing.

The disruption begins with products. The smartphone, as Larry Downes and Paul Nunes explain in their book, Big Bang Disruption, is resulting in a huge array of products becoming obsolete:

Address books, video cameras, pagers,
wristwatches, maps, books, travel games, flashlights, home telephones,
dictation recorders, cash registers, Walkmen, Day-Timers, alarm clocks,
answering machines, yellow pages, wallets, keys, phrase books,
transistor radios, personal digital assistants, dashboard navigation
systems, remote controls, airline ticket counters, newspapers and
magazines, directory assistance, travel and insurance agents, restaurant
guides and pocket calculators.

But the disruption isn’t limited to products. Whole sectors of commerce are under threat.  Read more...

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Musings of an IT Futurist - Ted's Professional Blog - The Zeroth Law

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