Blogging Librarian

- 36 Bajrang Dal activists held for razing library
A library was demolished in the town of Mamdapur in India over a book. The activists were angry that the library had a copy of a book that contained objectionable references against Lord Rama. The situation was so severe that police had to fire into the air to restore order. The book in question is titled The Truth in the Ramayana. The police have impounded copies of the book.
(via LISNews)

- Libraries pull book over sensitive content
And over in Japan, libraries removed copies of a book that might contain confidential medical information about a teenager that was institutionalized for setting his home and fire and killing his stepmother and two siblings. Police suspect the psychiatrist, who examined the boy during the family court trial, might have leaked the information to the author Atsuko Kusanagi, a freelance journalist. A group of librarians in Tokyo have come out strongly against the court order to remove the book as they feel that this runs counter to the role of libraries that guarantees the right to know.
(via Library Stuff)

And now on to slightly lighter stuff
- Building a Social Networking Environment in the Library
Hmmm … additional points to note for my training on new media literacy. WebJunction’s Steve Campion has provided a general overview of what social networking is and how libraries can make use of it and what the pitfalls are. There’s also a simple 3-steps guide to transforming your library into an interactive one.
(via LibrarianInBlack)

- Psychology classes for MLIS?
Heehee!!! Well, I encounter the same variety of customers in the public libraries in Singapore. There is an elderly gentleman who thinks he’s a gift from God to the people of Singapore, someone who speaks to himself in the middle of the reference floor … loudly, or someone who leaves anti-China notes on the tables in the public areas together with a related article in TIME magazine. There are many others and I’m sure my other colleagues would have met their own fair share of ‘interesting’ patrons in the libraries. See … a librarian’s job is very interesting … besides being information providers, we are also social workers in providing a listening ear.
(via Library Stuff)