According to a news article in The Star, it seems like a library in Johor Bahru, Malaysia is facing real difficulty in getting people to return the books they have borrowed. The library currently has more than 6,400 books missing that have not been returned by about 2,000 patrons, some from as far back as 1999. Even with a campaign drive to get their patrons to return the books by waiving their overdue fines, they have managed to recover only 40 books so far. Total costs of the books not returned has been estimated to be about RM325,000 (about S$137,000). The library plans to extreme measures, if the patrons still choose not to return the books, by conducting door-to-door visits.
Super cool video on a summer reading programme at the Worthington Libraries. Maybe we can do something similar for promotional activities for READ! Singapore or our upcoming Teens Holiday Programmes.
A very interesting video that gives a behind-the-scenes look of the happenings in the backroom of a library. Maybe my colleagues in our Library Supply Centre might be interested in doing something similar. A lot more fun than your normal corporate video. I particularly like the ending in the video.
Yesterday, I had a post more towards to children books. So, for today, I found two resources (via LibrarianInBlack) for teens.
The first one that you should check out is Turning The Paige. It’s a teens’ book review blog and is run by Paige Turner, who reads and reviews the books. You can search for books by genre, age level, series or grade through the categories in the sidebar. Turner has a rating system for the books reviewed which would not be foreign to students … A+ to F-. As the site was started only at the beginning of the year, there are not many reviews at the moment. But you might be interested in the “Top 10 Lists” category to find interesting reads.
As for the second resource, the name of the site is Ergo and is created and run by the State Library of Victoria, Australia. Information literacy for students and teachers at the high school / secondary school level is the focus of the site. It has great resources on research skills, essay writing skills and study skills. It has also many great resources for teachers as well. Although the site is quite Victoria- and Australia-centric in terms of the content, there are still many useful tips that anyone can use.
- Ginger Spice renounces singing to become author Geri Halliwell, or better known as Ginger Spice of the Spice Girls, seems to have given up her singing career to concentrate fully on her writing career as a children’s author. Her first of six books is officially published today by Macmillian. The series of books revolve around a small, vivacious, ginger-haired girl called Ugenia Lavender. Do check it out when it arrives in either your local public library or bookstore.
- Anti-terror threat to librarian role Apparently, police in the UK and US have requested for librarians to release information of persons under surveillance of their borrowing records as well as records of internet sites visited. Do you face such issues in your libraries? (via LISNews)
- 21st Century Library Design: A Thought Provoking Program A summary of the presentations done at the recent panel discussion at the Public Library Association 2008 conference in Minneapolis. Useful for those who are planning new libraries. (via LISNews)
From this Times Online article, a “Living Library” is one that loans out a real person rather than a book for 30 minutes.
Depending on availability, the line-up of the human “books” are different. This seems like quite an interesting way to acquire knowledge. But I guess this might be a more effective method for some people rather than just reading a book.
“Living Library” first started as an experiment by Ronni Abergel at the Danish Music Festival in 2000 and it has toured most parts of Scandinavia.
It seems like Australia caught on to the concept of the “Living Library” quite a bit and about 4 libraries have set up such a service. The most active is the Richmond-Tweed Regional Library’s Lismore’s Living Library, which holds one session per month and they have about 15-20 “books” per session. They even have more than a copy of the more popular topics. Other libraries include the Gosford City Council’s Living Library and Swinburne’s Prahran Library. There is also a Living Library in Sydney that runs only once a year in October as part of the Mental Health Week there.
In other parts of the world, Canada’s Douglas College has also started a Living Library where students can “borrow”. And now there’s one in London.
- Carnegie’s shortlist takes children back in time UK’s oldest and most prestigious children’s book award has just announced it’s shortlist. Interestingly, all the nominees have a common theme of world history and its conflicts. The shortlist is as follows: Elizabeth Laird’s Crusade, Tanya Landeman’s Apache, Philip Reeve’s Here Lies Arthur, Linzi Glass’ Ruby Red, Kevin-Crossley Holland’s Gatty’s Tale, Meg Rosoff’s What I Was, Jenny Valentine’s Finding Violet Park
- Darwin’s first draft goes online The draft notes of Charles Darwin which eventually led to the writing of his theory of evolution has been made available online. These draft notes are part of the 20,000 archive items that have been made available as part of the Charles Darwin online archive.
- Automated library machine debuts in Shenzhen A concept automated library machine has just been introduced by the Shenzhen Public Library so as to allow the public have access to borrowing facilities on a 24-hour basis. In addition, the automated machine also issues library cards, takes book returns, and OPAC facilities. It can also take reservations and the book will be sent to the machine nearest to the patron. And the machine cost is not that high at US$57,000. (via LISNews)
- 18 Sexy trips to the library As part of the celebrations of National Library Week in the US, Entertainment Weekly has published a list of 18 sexy scenes in movies that occurred in libraries. However, I must admit that I haven’t seen any of the movies. Okay … maybe a couple like “Ghostbusters”, “Beauty & The Beast” and “The Day After Tomorrow” (via LISNews)
Okay … maybe a couple like “Ghostbusters”, “Beauty & The Beast” and “The Day After Tomorrow”