Pimp my... book cart???

So I just found this blog entry on Librarian In Black... and I knew that I was destined to write my own blog entry about the same topic. I feel like we have talked about it before, or maybe someone else has even written about it before... even so, this topic is worthy of multiple blog entries! BOOK CART PIMPING! How brilliant is that? Librarians the world over are not happy with the standard metal or wooden book cart-- they have begun pimping their book carts! I am so excited about this right now I can barely contain myself.

If Library 2.0 is about connecting with patrons, then I certainly think this fits into the Library 2.0 realm. I have seldom- if ever- seen an actual library program that has worked well for the MTV culture crowd. I think this would do it! It's ridiculous and satirical and self-deprecating enough to work. Have a bunch of crazy librarians (I think we would all agree that this statement is true) pimp book carts! Or... patrons could pimp their own book carts (provided by the library of course). What a way to get people in to the library. I love it! I want to pimp a book cart. I bet you guys want to also.

Check out some actual carts that have been pimped.

http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=745

I like you guys,
Amber

Google Books... friend or foe?

The other night I was thinking of this quote that I read once in The Inferno, by Dante. I could remember the topic and the approximate location within the text, but could not remember any exact words or phrases. I should have a copy of The Divine Comedy, but I do not... much to my dismay. The local public library is literally about 50 yards away from my apartment, but it was 10:00pm and closed. What's a literary nerd to do? I needed that quote. I had to figure it out. I did the normal Google search to no avail. And, then... I tried something I had never tried before. I went to Google Books. I just typed in the title and up popped the entire book. Of course it still took me a while to find the quote. The point is that I FOUND THE QUOTE and could sleep that night. My eyes went "google-y" (bad pun) from looking at the computer screen for so long, but I had the stinkin' quote. Given the choice, I would have much rather preferred the actual printed book. But, in a bind... Google Books came through for me.

I don't really like the idea of books being on a computer screen. It just seems wrong. Again, this brings up some questions for me. With books being digitized, will libraries last? Will people eventually stop going to libraries because they can just get their books at the nearest computer? Or, could this be a new way of being able to serve home-bound library patrons?

I think like most things we have discussed, it's just another change that we will eventually have to get used to. Will libraries last? Yes, of course. I sure as heck am not going to read every book off the computer screen, and I am sure that there are others like me. I'm also not going to print out a 250 page book. I am going to continue to walk the 50 yards to my library. And... I will hope that the next quote pops into my head while the library is open.

-Amber

The Big Apple

I just got back from New York City about three hours ago. I spent a week there. I have been to New York several times before... but never when Apple introduced the iphone. First of all, most of my time was spent in Manhattan or on the subway to and from Manhattan. My experiences on the subways show me the same two types of people we have been discussing... the people who are reading books and the people who are playing with their phones/ipods/palms (I am, of course, generalizing... because then there are also people like me who either stare off into the distance or who are people watching). I also realize that many of the "book" people are also computer literate, and just because a person uses his/her phone does not mean that he/she does not read books. I was faced with a very large sample of people, and it made me think about the people I will be serving as a librarian. People are so cool to watch. Seeing a 15 year old girl play with her iphone directly out of the wrapping was exciting. Not only did it make me want one, but the thought of the internet being accessible to her while she was one the subway was so cool (at least when the train was above ground). I know that it is not just the iphone that does this... but the lines of people at the Apple store made me realize how accessible information is. Michael Stephens was also interested in the introduction of this tool...

http://tametheweb.com/2007/07/iphone_at_the_library.html

Here's to the BIG APPLE!

-Amber