Are there stories about or concerning libraries that you think are worth sharing? Please leave us a comment and provide a link so we can check it out! Here are a few of the stories I ran across in the past week that I felt were worth noting.

Libraries and Librarians

25 Famous Librarians Who Changed History – “Have you ever wondered the past life or secret dreams of your local librarian as they helped you find research paper resources and swiped the bar code on your books? As it turns out, a lot of world leaders, famous authors and legendary philosophers and scholars had careers as librarians.”

U.S. libraries on borrowed time? – “Dwindling tax dollars are forcing libraries to close branches, cut hours and end programs just as more people are turning to them for services.”

Country’s oldest public library could close this year – “Darby is in the same spot as many libraries. The tax dollars that support them are dwindling as property tax revenue declines along with home values and sales taxes fall as consumers spend less. As local funding drops, libraries are turning to their endowments and draining the investments.”

Reference Service – Where is it Going? Survey Results – “In December 2008, we launched the 60-second survey, “Reference Service – Where is it Going?” The survey was prompted by a discussion on a listserv for librarians working on virtual reference desks around the country. (Thanks Kris Johnson for the tip!) Clearly a hot topic, we received 1,500 responses from library staff and others reading library blogs, listservs, etc. Not surprisingly, respondents indicated that reference services are important to both the public and the library itself.”

John Updike

Desperate Weakling – The original book review of “Rabbit, Run” from 1960.

John Updike’s Mighty Pen – “John Updike, who died on Tuesday at 76, was our Trollope and our Proust both. Though a brilliant man, he was not a novelist of ideas. His best character, Rabbit Angstrom, had trouble making sense of his own life, let alone the lives of those around him. Nor did Mr. Updike have a reformer’s zeal or a dreamer’s vision. His gifts were his eye and his sensibility, which enabled him to describe, with an exactitude bordering on love, how the world looked and what it felt like to make your way in it.”

Google, OCLC, and YouTube

Some Fear Google’s Power in Digital Books – “In 2002, Google began to drink the milkshakes of the book world. Back then, according to the company’s official history, it began a “secret ‘books’ project.” Today, that project is known as Google Book Search and, aided by a recent class-action settlement, it promises to transform the way information is collected: who controls the most books; who gets access to those books; how access will be sold and attained. There will be blood, in other words.”

Google and the Future of Books – “How can we navigate through the information landscape that is only beginning to come into view? The question is more urgent than ever following the recent settlement between Google and the authors and publishers who were suing it for alleged breach of copyright. For the last four years, Google has been digitizing millions of books, including many covered by copyright, from the collections of major research libraries, and making the texts searchable online. The authors and publishers objected that digitizing constituted a violation of their copyrights. After lengthy negotiations, the plaintiffs and Google agreed on a settlement, which will have a profound effect on the way books reach readers for the foreseeable future. What will that future be?”

OCLC Defends Records Policy, Faces Questions, Suggestions, and Criticisms – “On one level OCLC’s recently revised—and suspended—policy regarding record-sharing, aiming to “modernize record use and transfer practices for application on the Web, foster new uses of WorldCat data that benefit members and clarify data sharing rights and restrictions,” was simply a matter of bad communication, a cooperative behaving in top-down rather than consultative fashion.”

Consideration of OCLC Records Use Policy – “At ALA Midwinter, ALCTS sponsored a panel discussion about sharing library-created data inside and outside the library community, with a particular focus on cataloging data.”

Copyright in the Age of YouTube – “Holden Lenz had just learned to walk when—on Feb. 7, 2007—he stepped into the front lines of the copyright wars. Thirteen-month-old Holden was tottering around his family’s home in rural Penn­sylvania, clutching his walker and looking cute. The toddler heard the Prince song Let’s Go Crazy coming from a CD player in the kit­chen, so he stopped walking and began bouncing up and down to the music. Then he made a face and resumed pushing his walker across the kitchen floor.”