finals success!

Help others! Take a study break and Feed My Starving Children Wednesday, 12/10 from 10 a.m.-noon; 1-3 p.m; 3:30-5:30 p.m or 6-8 p.m.

Eat! University Ministries will host its excellent Late Night Pancake Event Wed., 12/10 from 9–11 p.m. Carbohydrates are brain food.

Study! Stop by the library and get a group study room, spread out at one of the tables, or hide from your friends (and Facebook) in a study carrel. We’re open 7:30 am - 12:30am now through December (excluding the weekend: Friday 7:30am - 6:00 pm; Saturday 9am-6pm; Sunday 2pm-12:30am).

Exercise! Get your “Exam Exercise” in from noon - 1:00pm on exam days! A workout will help you sleep better, stay focused, and be a little less stressed. Just do it.

Get expert feedback @ the Writing Center! (call x6241 for an appointment): W ed 12/10: 8am-7:30 pm; Thurs 12/11: 8am-8pm; Fri 12/12: 8am-5pm; Mon 12/15: 9am-6:30 pm; Tue 12/16: 9am-2pm.

Celebrate! Wednesday, 12/17 5pm and 7pm. Support the women and men's basketball teams and enjoy the night off!

Survey says...

Thanks to everyone who completed a library survey! Lila will be responding to some of the more common complaints and requests in the near future. The first, of course, is the library cafe idea. Yeah, Lila loves coffee (ask the friendly baristas at Bongo). Yeah, a lot of college libraries have a coffee shop/cart/cafe. Yeah, it would be awesome to fuel your study session with some caffeine. Yeah, we've tried to get a cafe. No, this story doesn't have a happy ending. Unfortunately no one we've approached thinks it would be cost effective.


So, until this devastating situation has been rectified, please feel free to byoc in a *reusable cup* with a secure lid.

last chance!!!

Get in some library time before skipping town. We are open normal hours (7:30am - 12:30am) today, 7:30am - 8pm Tuesday, and 8am - noon Wednesday. Take care of that research now, or come December 1st you'll wish you had....just sayin'.

don't get got

NY Times recently published an article, A Senior Fellow at the Institute of Nonexistence, that you might read as a cautionary tale about the potential danger of using online sources. Some guys "created an elaborate Internet hoax complete with a fake policy institute and a phony adviser to Senator John McCain." Think you're more clever than the folks at Fox News and MSNBC that fell for it? Possibly.

What do you know about the people or organization responsbile for an article/webpage/poll? How can you check up on them? There are lots of clever little pranksters out there...watch your back.

Go "TEL" it on the mountain!

Lila is curious. How many of you know about TEL? Tennessee Electronic Library is free to every Tennessean and library serving the state. It provides a wide array of resources, including:

EBSCO’s Points of View Reference Center includes full-text articles, images, videos, primary source documents that explore multiple sides of a current issue.

Gale’s databases link to hundreds of millions of articles and entries in reference books, scholarly and popular publications, from literary criticism to health and wellness resources. Access multiple types of articles and resources from 1 search box!

LearningExpress Library offers practice tests and tutorial course series designed to help you succeed on academic or licensing tests.

NewsBank’s Tennessee Newspaper Collection provides full-text coverage of The Chattanooga Times-Free Press, The Commercial Appeal, Knoxville News-Sentinel, and The Tennessean.

ProQuest's HeritageQuest Online contains over 40,000 digitized genealogy and family history resources, federal census records, Revolutionary War pension application files, and more.

ALL of this and more! Let Lila know how you're using TEL!

a friendly reminder...VOTE!

need some inspiration? here are some reasons to vote from the literary blogosphere.

need to get informed? here are some resources.

need to figure out where you vote? use the nashville polling place locator.

Please let Lila know of any other voting-related information needs!

Help me help you!

It is time for the biennial-ish library survey! Let Lila and the gang know how you feel about our hours, collections, services and more! You can fill out a print form in the library or follow these links to the student form and the faculty form. {{links removed, survey is complete...thanks!}}

We really value feedback from our users, so please take the time to let us know how you feel!

Extraordinary circumstances, indeed!

Lila was shocked to find Cynthia Cooper's book Extraordinary circumstances: the journey of a corporate whistleblower on the shelf!!! It is temporarily Shelved at Popular Reading
(Call Number: HF5604.5.C66 A3 2008).
Why was Lila shocked, you ask? Because the author will be on campus this week and you should prepare. Here's the scoop:

Tuesday, October 21, at 5:00pm in the Maddox Grand Atrium (Curb Event Center), she will speak on Ethical Dilemmas: Power and Money. For those who would like to stay, there will be a reception and book-signing at 6:30.

Wednesday, October 22, at 10am in the Maddox Grand Atrium. She will present "WorldCom: What Went Wrong & What Lessons Can We Learn?" for Convo credit!

Study great...even late!

Lila has generously extended the evening hours ('til 12:30 in the mornin')! The library is now open:

Sunday 2:00pm - 12:30am
Monday - Thursday 7:30am - 12:30am
Friday 7:30am - 6:00pm
Saturday 9:00am - 6:00pm

Stop by and stay a spell!

Could you pass the new citizenship test?

This article on CNN caught Lila's eye. How would the average college student do on this test? How much has been forgetten since that high school civics class? If you want to test yourself, try the old test and new test.

Library Convo Series

Becoming an informed voter
September 25th, 4pm
Multimedia Hall - Bunch Library 2nd Floor
How do I register to vote? Who’s running for election in my area? Who are my congress people? How do I know what the candidates stand for? What are all these “political action committees”? Come to convo on Sept 25 at 4pm in the MultiMedia Hall (in Bunch Library) to find out all this and more!

Free People Read Freely!
October 3rd, Noon
Leu Art Gallery - Bunch Library 1st Floor
Join us for the second annual Banned Books Week Convocation! Belmont Political Science Professors Susan Jellissen and Nathan Griffith will discuss books/texts suppressed on political grounds.

GND 1050: Are you Info Literate?
October 15th, Noon
Multimedia Hall - Bunch Library 2nd Floor
Are you prepared for the Information Literacy component of GND1050 (computer proficiency)? Here’s your chance to review the topics and competencies tested in this section of the computer proficiency exam…bring your questions!

Library Workshop: LexisNexis Academic Universe
October 20th, Noon
Multimedia Hall - Bunch Library 2nd Floor
Are you a Business, Music Business or Media Studies major? Or, want to access news from around the globe? Then, LexisNexis is the database for you!

GND 1050: Are you Info Literate?
Wednesday, October 29, @ Noon
Multimedia Hall - Bunch Library 2nd Floor
See above.

Resources for Lies My Teacher Told Me

Lila has created a page of resources related to this year's common book, Lies My Teacher Told Me. It lists related sources (like the textbooks Loewen consulted to write this book) and resources you can use to jump start related research projects. Check it out and let Lila know if she's missing anything!

Game on!

I failed to mention that the computers are up and running and *available* for you to use. So come see the cool, pod-like cofiguration Lila's got going in the reference area. And check your email/facebook/BIC account while you're at it. Can't log in? We'll sort it out.

(Disclaimer: Despite the title and image above, Lila by no means encourages mindless game playing on her computers.)

dude, where's my computer?

If you've stopped by the library in the past few days you probably didn’t receive the open arms type of welcome that you had so longed for. In fact, pesky neon signs told you to keep your grubby little fingers of the computers!? Let Lila explain, okay? We are integrating computers from the McWhorter lab (which has become a classroom) and generally improving the reference space for your convenience and studying pleasure! It will be awesome…just give us a few more days? AND! Let us know how you feel about the changes.

Fall hours or: how you learned to shift gears and return to school!

There are, as always, tons of exceptions. However, generally speaking, we are open:


Monday - Thursday: 7:30 a.m. – 11:00 p.m.
Friday: 7:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Saturday 9 a.m. – 6 p.m
Sunday 2 p.m. - 11 p.m.


Extended evening hours begin on Thursday, October 9th...more later! In the meantime, stop by and say hello. Lila has missed you!

Tell me what you want (what you *really, really* want)

Lila loves to see Belmont's students, faculty, and staff happily reading away. To that end, she'd love to know what books we don't own that you're just dying to read. Search the catalog first. Then submit a request. Lila and the gang look forward to hearing from you!

Database Trials...get 'em while it's hot!

Lila is constantly being pursued by database vendors. "Try this!" "Buy that!" Lila just can't keep up. Wanna help? Next time you're on campus, click here to see if you are interested in any of the following trial databases:

Art Museum Image Gallery
Biography Ref Bank Select
Current Issues: Health
Current Issues: Ref Shelf Plus
OmniFile Full Text Mega
Science Full Text Select

Contact Courtney Stephens (stephensc@mail.belmont.edu), our Electronic Resources Librarian, if you love or hate any of these. Please note that this is a limited time offer...the trial is only available through July 31st!

Summer Reading!

Reading a good book? Summer is the best time to catch up on that growing reading list. If you're searching for a way to keep track of your favorite reads and to get custom recommendations, Lila recommends Library Thing and Shelfari. Both websites keep track of titles and will suggest other books you might like. There are several facebook applications that do the same thing...check out Lila's profile (Lila D. Bunch) to see some of the new titles available at the Bunch Library. Or you could just stop by to peruse the popular reading section.

Harvard (or Yale, or Berkeley, or MIT) for free!

Voluntary summer school might not be your cup of tea. But Lila is certain that you will find something of interest on OEDb's list of 100 Free Podcasts from the Best Colleges in the World. Come on, who doesn't have something to learn about Aircraft Systems Engineering (MIT) or Time, Money and Love in the Age of Technology (UC Berkeley)? Keep Lila posted on your progress as "virtual students."

The books are back!

Lila has had a very busy week. Last Thursday you learned that the first floor is being revamped. Over the past week, Lila and the movers have gotten their hands dirty moving reference shelves and books, periodicals, comfty seating and other reference area furniture. The move will be ongoing, but Lila is pleased as punch with the progress. Stop by and take a look!

You'll notice that some of your favorite reference materials, indexes, and periodicals are in different locations, but they are still here. Ask Lila if you have any questions and let her know how you like the new arrangement!

Where did all the books go?

If you've been in the library the past few days, you may have noticed that all the reference books and magazines seem to have disappeared! They haven't, really. We're just moving them so that we can rearrange the shelves to better serve you.

Starting on Tuesday, May 20, Lila's first floor will look different when you walk in. She still has all her books, so don't worry. Just ask a staff person to help you locate the one you need!

We'll keep you posted on our renovation progress, too, so be sure to check back often to see what Lila's been up to!

Summer Hours

Don't worry, Lila is not skipping town this summer. You can still stop by to pick up some summer reading (we just got some really cool new books) or to beat the heat in our walk-in-freezer-esque air conditioning!

Here's the deal. We're open 8:00am - 4:30pm during the week until classes start on June 2. Then we're open 7:30am - 9:00pm Monday - Thursday, 7:30 a.m. - 4:30pm Friday, noon - 4:30 Saturday, and 5:00pm - 9:00pm Sunday.

There are plenty of exceptions to the rule, so check out the complete schedule here .

recycle my dot matrix printer?

YES! On May 17th you can offload all of your worthless, broken, and obsolete technology at one of two locations in Nashville. Electronics Recycling Days is sponsored by Belmont University, Apple, Canon, MacAuthority and Vanderbilt University.

One event will be held in the LP Field parking lots from 9 a.m.-3p.m. The second will be held at the MacAuthority (located at 2018 Lindell Avenue off of 65 and Wedgewood at Exit 81). Feel free to call (615.383.1010) for details or directions regarding drop-offs at MacAuthority.

Any type of computer system, printers, copiers, fax machines, TVs, cell phones, iPods and mp3 players, game consoles, and other types of consumer and office electronics will be accepted for recycling during this event...All recycling from this day will be handled domestically.

Final exams may be over, but...

that doesn't mean you can't begin studying for the next big one.

Any teachers out there preparing for the PRAXIS exam? Business students taking the PSI Real Estate Broker Exam? Thanks to the Tennessee Electronic Library, we now have access to the LearningExpress Library! LearningExpress Library "offers practice tests and tutorial course series designed to help you succeed on academic or licensing tests."

The above link will only work if you're on campus/in the library. We'll update the link in a few days so that you can access it off campus (with your library username and password). Create a username and password when you log in for the first time and start studying!

Popsicles at (but not in!) the library...MONDAY

Stop the the library during your lunch break this Monday for a popsicle! Weather permitting, we'll be handing 'em out from 11:45-2pm.

better 'n wikipedia!

Who hasn't faced the dilemma: to wikipedia or not? Many (most?) of your professors don't want to see a trace of this allegedly erroneous, expertise hating, subversive and egalitarian source of information in your papers and projects.

But how else can you start your research when you know *nothing* about your topic? Yeah, you could stop by the library, but _________(go ahead, fill in the blank...the library stinks, it is too loud, the librarians care too much, etc.).

Lila is a pretty hip librarian. She knows that you want online access to quality, authored encyclopedic information. She has selected several online, subject specific (this means that they're much more substantial than world book) encyclopedias that you can search from the comfort of the Beaman, Bongo J, or wherever it is you choose to do your research.

Here is a small sample from the buffet of reference delectables.


Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice


Encyclopedia of U.S. National Security


Encyclopedia of American Industries

Find other titles here or linked from the alphabetical list of databases under Gale Virtual Reference Library

Ready or not...finals fun

After a semester of preparation, you have the opportunity to prove to your instructors how much you've learned! No need to stress, right? You're totally prepared. Instead of pulling fruitless all-nighters, why not...

Enjoy some good, clean (inflatable) fun? A free lunch seals the deal. Don't miss the Dead Day Carnival. Wednesday, April 30, 11:00am - 3:00pm.

Get your Exam Exercise on from Noon - 1:00 PM any or every day of finals. Or take a walk/jog/run down beautiful Belmont Blvd. Just do it!

Visit Nashville’s Largest Latin Street Fair (May 3, 11am - 7pm). You don't even have to leave campus to experience this Fiesta.

Take in a ball game. The Sounds play at home...go enjoy some peanuts and cracker jacks.

Distract yourself with an oldie but goodie or a new classic...like Borat. The new pop media collection has something for everyone.

If you can't take an extended study break, visit the Leu Art Gallery (in the library) and check out J. William Myers' exhibit "Skyscapes and Other Images."

And if you do have some concerns about that final paper, it is not too late stop by the writing center (please call 460-6241 for an appointment). Here is the finals week schedule:
Wednesday: 9:30 am-5:00 pm
Thursday: 8:30 am-8:00 pm
Friday: 9:00 am-4:30 pm
Monday: 8:30 am – 7:00 pm
Tuesday: 8:30 am – 5:00 pm

Be prepared ...

Belmont is hosting two amazing authors this Thursday. Are you prepared?

Dr. James Loewen will be giving the Keynote Address at the Belmont Undergraduate Research Symposium in the Troutt Theater at 5:30pm. He is the author of next year's common book Lies my Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong (E175.85 .L64 1995). Check out the library guide to this book, or read Loewen's Sundown Towns: a Hidden Dimension of American Racism (E185.615 .L577 2006)

Jim Wallis is speaking at 7:30 in the Belmont Heights Baptist Church. Several of his books are available in the library, including:

God's Politics: Why the Right Gets it Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get it
(BR526 .W265 2005)
Soul of Politics: Beyond "Religious Right" and "Secular Left"
(BR115.P7 W26 1995)
Who Speaks for God?: an Alternative to the Religious Right...
(BR526 .W266 1996)

(Great Awakening and Living God's Politics have been ordered, check back soon!)

National Library Week!

You've no doubt heard about the book sale by now...stop by and buy! When you're here, make sure to check out the "Best of the Bunch" display! Several library employees, including a few of our awesome student workers, have described some of their favorite books. Get 'em while you can!

Book Sale...Everything Must Go!

Well, not everything. But a whole lotta books are on their way out. Good stuff, old stuff, really dated (and sometimes quaint) stuff. Interested???



When:
This Saturday, 4/12 @ NOON to 4/19 @ 5pm.

Where:
The library.

How much:
$1 for hardbacks
$.50 fo paperbacks

Why:
So we can make room for more current, relevant, better and (most importantly) shiny, new stuff.

Snack attack!

National Library Week is on the way. To whet your appetite, Lila humbly offers the following for your consideration...

Lies!

Earlier this semester, Lies My Teacher Told Me was announced as next year's common book. You should absolutely read it. And then you should take some time to think about it and maybe do some research of your own before the author comes to campus (on April 24th) to talk about it. Sound a little too ambitious for you (at this point in the semester, with a million things to do and spring beckoning)? You can use this webpage to quickly identify some useful library and online resources and get you thinking!

Extended Hours!

Welcome back to campus! Lila and the gang hope you enjoyed a nice break from studying, but we feel compelled to remind you that exams are only a month away. It is time to get serious about finals and end of the semester projects. In order to help you prepare, the library will be open extended hours, beginning Monday, March 31st:

Monday - Thursday 7:30 a.m. - 12:30 a.m.
Friday 7:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Saturday 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Sunday 2:00 p.m. - 12:30 a.m.

To read or not to read...

The National Endowment for the Arts recently published To Read or Not To Read: A Question of National Consequence. Although this report claims not to be "an elegy for the bygone days of print culture," it kinda reads like one: "58% of middle and high school students use other media while reading...this multitasking suggests less focused engagement with a text." That most teenagers can't read two pages without texting or IMing a friend is hardly revelatory. However, the data is compelling enough to make Lila want to shut down the computer and focus on a good book:

All of the data suggest how powerfully reading transforms the lives of individuals—whatever their social circumstances. Regular reading not only boosts the likelihood of an individual’s academic and economic success—facts that are not especially surprising—but it also seems to awaken a person’s social and civic sense. Reading correlates with almost every measurement of positive personal and social behavior surveyed. It is reassuring, though hardly amazing, that readers attend more concerts and theater than non-readers, but it is surprising that they exercise more and play more sports—no matter what their educational level. These cold statistics confirm something that most readers know but have mostly been reluctant to declare as fact—books change lives for the better.

Read an Ebook week 2008?!?!

Epublishers Weekly Blog has a list of 30 reasons to celebrate Ebooks and suggests doing so between March2-8. Lila’s former classmate Mark is skeptical, but Lila is decidedly PRO-READING and doesn't discriminate based on format. Why not celebrate Ebooks? You can find them peacefully coexisting with print books in the catalog. They're just books, after all.

If you’d rather explore some free online options for celebrating Ebook Week 2008, check out these:

Project Gutenberg, was among the first providers of free, public domain Ebooks.

A similarly named project, Gutenberg-e, is adding new, scholarly, and free books to the mix. Gutenberg-e is “program of the American Historical Association and Columbia University Press” that offers digital versions of books published by Columbia University Press in an open access setting.

With 351,384 texts in its collection, Lila’s old standby Internet Archive is definitely worth checking out.

It's all Belmont to Jenny!

Bunch Library Reference Librarian Jenny Rushing was honored this week in Belmont FYI:.

For Jenny, to take responsibility and follow through means going the extra mile, no matter how much time it takes to help the student find the answer. “As a librarian I am asked a lot of questions,” Jenny says. “Whether it is technical, research related or ‘can I have some more paper for the printer,’ my role is to answer them all with a smile on my face!” Jenny also said that she has great support from all the faculty and staff, which in turn makes her want to do the best job she can.

Want to see Jenny taking responsbility and following through? Stop by the library where she is at it five days a week!

Harvard Goes Open Access

Harvard University Faculty of Arts and Sciences voted on February 12th to make faculty member's articles available via an open access repository. Coupled with the recent Congressional mandate that research funded by the National Institutes of Health be accessible through PubMed Central, this decision could have a tremendous impact on the future of scholarly publishing models. In a press release, Provost Steven E. Hyman emphasized universities and, especially Harvard’s, responsibility to disseminate and preserve research “of global significance” to a larger audience:

Today's action in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences will promote free and open access to significant, ongoing research. It is a first step in the creation of an open-access environment for current research that may one day provide the widest possible dissemination of Harvard's distinguished faculties' work," he added.

Has the Library Positively Impacted Your Health?

Interesting question, right? Too bad Lila didn't come up with it. Woman's Day Magazine and the American Library Association are hosting an essay contest on this topic. Here's the scoop:

Has the library positively impacted your health? If a library's resources have helped you find a diagnosis for you or a loved one, or improved your physical, mental or emotional well-being, tell us in an essay of 700 words or less. Up to four women will be featured in an upcoming issue of Woman's Day.

If you're interested, you can read more here. In the meantime, Lila wishes all good physical, mental, and emotional health!

Black History Month @ your library

Stop by the library to see the new display, Celebrating the Harlem Renaissance. Reread your favorites by Langston Hughes, Zora Neal Hurston, Claude McKay, and Jessie Fauset or check out a book on an artist or musician from this exciting era.

Library Convocation Series

Announcing the Spring Semester Library Workshop Series...because there’s more to the library than just books! All workshops will be held in MC 305, 10:00am-10:50

Extra, extra…learn all about it! Using newspapers for research
Monday, Feb. 4 Jenny Rushing
From primary history sources to current events, newspapers can be used for research in a variety of ways. Bunch library has access to more newspapers than you probably think!

Education Resources
Monday, Feb. 11 Courtney Stephens
Having trouble finding sources for your Education class? Come learn how to search the library’s education databases and learn about where to find other sources too.

Free & Legal Music Online
Monday, Feb. 18 Rachel Scott
Explore several online options for finding and listening to music without being subpoenaed by the RIAA!

Statistics – Where Do I Look?
Monday, Feb. 25 Judy Williams
You can use statistics in your research to support your position and to make your case. But where do you find them in the maze of information available to you? Find out how to locate statistics on the economy, population, health issues, census, and more.

ILLiad: Take control of your interlibrary loans!
Monday, March 3 Jenny Rushing
Set up your own account in ILLiad, our new interlibrary loan system. Make requests, check their status, download your articles, and more!

Honoring MLK

Continue the holiday by stopping by the library to check out our display Martin Luther King, Jr. and the African-American Religious Tradition! The photos are on loan from the Nashville Public Library and there are several great, informative, inspiring (insert adjective of choice here) books on the topic just waiting to go home with you!

DVDs and CDs @ Your Library

The library just got a whole lot hipper. Driven by the need to provide CEMB students with the opportunity to study current, popular materials, and at the request of Professor Don Cusic, the library has purchased several contemporary DVDs and CDs. These items will be available to all Belmont Students, Faculty and Staff for one week at a time and can be found right next to the popular books near the reference area of the library. Faculty members interested in putting any of these items on reserve should act quickly! Stop by and pick out a few (limit of 5) DVDs and CDs to enjoy in the comfort of your own place.

Quiet, please!

We received a few complaints about noise last semester. We’re glad groups choose to work in the library and do dramatic readings of sociology textbooks, but we also want to accommodate individuals who need some peace and quiet to get their reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic done. We have designated the lower level as a quiet study area. This means no phone, no talking, no repetitive pen/shoe/keyboard noise, no mp3player so loud that anyone else can hear it, etc.

Questions? scottr@mail.belmont.edu

BUid in the house!

You’re probably tired of hearing about it. But here is the rundown on how it will impact your use of the library.

We too have to purge all SSN’s from our database. This means that when you need to login to “Your library record” to renew books you will have to enter your BUid.


We don’t expect you to memorize this number! You can get a sticker for your ID or you can login in BIC and look for the BUid in the upper right corner under MyBIC Preferences.

Best of 2007: Fun Library Literature

Sound like an oxymoron? Here are some librarian recommendations for informative and fun library and information reads from 2007:

Judy:

I recommend the book Everything Is Miscellaneous by David Weinberger. It’s an interesting take on the organization of information, putting it into the larger context of organization of knowledge in today’s world. Weinberger illustrates the limits of the traditional organization of knowledge in physical space, and demonstrates quite comprehensibly the vast array of options for individual preference of organization in the digital environment. In physical space, a library, for example, a particular book can be housed in only one place, even if it deals with more than one subject. A decision must be made as to how to label it, and where to place it on the shelf. In the digital world, however, information can have as many labels as people think to give it, and can be retrieved in an infinite number of ways. Required reading for Luddites!

Courtney:

My favorite Firefox extensions from Lauren’s Library Blog
If you’re new to Firefox and don’t know about extensions, this is a good place to find some handy ones. (Extensions are small add-ons that add new functionality to Firefox, from a simple toolbar button to a completely new feature. They allow you to customize Firefox to fit your own needs and preferences.) If you use Firefox and want to use it even more effectively or if you’re always looking for new extensions, this is a great place to find some of the best extensions.

Rachel:

In the essay “Shelf Life” (St. Louis Magazine, December 2007), novelist, essayist, and professor of philosophy William H. Gass writes about growing up with and living in a library. Beautifully written, the essay details a life-long love of library book sales, ideas, and “book dipping.”

One article, “Hipper Crowd of Shushers” by Kara Jesella (New York Times, 7/8/2007), generated a lot of talk in the wider world. This light-hearted piece portrayed the new generation of librarians as hipsters and bleeding hearts. While it won’t eradicate the stereotype of librarian as shusher, the article certainly didn’t damage our street cred.