The burning question of the day is, why do librarians censor porn? It can’t be that library patrons wouldn’t like porn. Oh, sure, the same people who complain about “sexually explicit” books that libraries so buy now would complain, but the ALA recommends fighting them at every front. We know that at least some of the public would like them, because porn sells like crazy. Plus, there are already plenty of people coming into public libraries to get their porn fix. There must be at least some porn lovers out there who would prefer printed porn rather than Internet porn. The same private viewing booths I’ve been recommending to libraries instead of Internet filters could also be used for a little discreet reading. Even better would be the ability to take them home. It can’t be the poor quality of most porn. Libraries buy plenty of books of poor quality. But libraries almost never buy porn books. Take a somewhat well known series, the Letters to ...
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A few weeks ago I wrote about the book challenge controversy where a resident of Republic, MO (who apparently has no children in the public schools there) complained about three books that were being assigned in a school class. He protested that they taught material contrary to the Bible, which is something that should be forbidden in the public schools, America being a Christian theocracy and all. I hope that school library doesn’t have any Korans or Upanishads, or that guy will really be upset. The challenge led to two of the three books being removed from the classroom AND the library, which was a bit on the extreme side, but at least the offended citizen could rest easy knowing that children who aren’t his own aren’t assigned to read books he dislikes. After a bunch of protests, and no doubt quite a bit of mocking, the school board that made the original decision and crafted a policy to fit it have now changed their minds. The revised policy is: 1) ...
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For some reason I can’t quite understand, this blog gets under a lot of people’s skin, and subcutaneous blogging can be messy sometimes. All the anti-AL fanatics should get the twist out of their knickers and realize this blog is a public service. I guess I’ll have to be more specific for some of those people. AL Public Service Announcement #1: If you can’t afford it without loans, don’t do it. That advice is good for a lot of activities, and if more people had followed it the housing bubble that destroyed so much of the economy would never have happened. But in this case I’m talking about library school. I’ve been giving this advice for years, but not enough people are listening and then they regret it, like the commenter last week who wrote: “I’m $50k in the hole for a degree, graduating in December, with no jobs to be had.” Ouch. If you take out big loans for library school, you’ll graduate owing more in loans than you’ll make ...
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It’s rare that I make dire predictions, but I’m going to make one. In a decade or so, we can see if I’m right. Public libraries are doomed. Okay, that was maybe more dire than I really meant. How about, public libraries as places to get books or videos or music are doomed? There, less dire. My proof? The great thing about a dire prediction, as any seer can tell you, is that we don’t need any proof, but Amazon trying to create a “Netflix for books” is persuasive. Amazon is trying to create an ebook rental service akin to Netflix’s rental service for video (on disc or streaming makes no difference). If they can pull it off and make it as affordable as Amazon Prime, which already competes with Netflix Instant for some video titles, a lot of the people who still use public libraries for reading purposes will likely stop. That’s crazy, you say! Library books are free! Why would anyone PAY for something they can get for free? I think we all know ...
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I’m glad the tenth anniversary of 9/11 fell on a weekend, so I didn’t have to write something about it. If people found references to tornadoes offensive, I can only imagine the apoplectic whining a post on 9/11 would draw out of some people, no matter what I said. A drinking companion suggested I declare this Banned Bloggers Week, the motto being "Intellectual Freedom is Our Greatest Asset (Except When It Is Offensive)." If we start banning blogs, the terrorists have already won! What new can anyone really say about 9/11, anyway. The death and destruction, the waste of lives and money cause worldwide by 19 terrorists and the U.S. response to their actions is mind-boggling. It's depressing if you think about it, so I suggest you don't think about it. Instead, think about something much less serious: striking librarians! Last week librarians and archivists at the University of Western Ontario went on strike. They were even marching in picket lines and blocking ...
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