From the Lips of a Library God

I went to my school board meeting last night where I was encouraged to hear that the superintendent is revisiting the earlier decision to cut library positions. Will be attending all meetings to make sure that he and the board follow through on this wise choice.

 

Neil Gaiman says "libraries are as important as they have ever been, and they may be more important than they have ever been." Read the whole interview by Himself.  He did a live gig from a library in Kentucky earlier in the week, but I haven’t found an archive of it yet. While I’m searching you can watch this clip and listen to his advice to young writers.

Then read why Google does not and cannot replace librarians.

Here’s another way you can make the world better today: participate in the Guys Lit Wire and Operation Teen Book Drop.

Connected to absolutely nothing, except maybe that today is Tax Day in the US, and now that I’ve learned why J K Rowling did not move out of England so she could avoid paying taxes, I like her even more, read what she has to say about a few things.

Have you hugged your librarian yet this week?

10 Replies to “From the Lips of a Library God”

  1. On a side note, I would like to say that I was very disappointed that this months’ ALA Libraries magazine had a badly designed foldout poster of text relating to library design. If they were going to spend my membership money on a foldout poster, I demand they give me one of our Honorary Spokesperson. Who wouldn’t feel brighter with a poster of Mr. Gaimen in their office?!

  2. I just read the JK Rowling article and like you I’m even more impressed with her now – thanks very much for that link.

  3. I love JK Rowling. What a lovely thing to read on tax day in the US, when people are out protesting in Washington DC. But I guess they would just call her lazy.

  4. Thank you, my friend, for promoting the Guys Lit Wire list. Participants have purchased more than 500 books for the reservation schools thus far, but as Colleen Mondor pointed out in her post today, they still need more. There have been teens requesting classics like Where the Wild Fern Grows, because their libraries don’t have them.

    Hugs,
    Kelly

  5. Yes, Laurie – thanks so much for linking to the lists. We will continue the project through next Wednesday and I’m so excited by how well it has been going.

    Best,

    Colleen Mondor
    Bookslut YA Columnist
    Guys Lit Wire Moderator

  6. Hmmmm, Survival of the fitess…evolution at it’s best. I’m all for sharing my garden with the people whose blooms don’t prosper in some areas..when the weather does not allow it…but is that really the case in the US??? Some of these gardeners never plant and only raid like rampant rats who eat up the gardens of the hardworking, never to build or grow their own gardens. Sad, but true in the U.S. Where do we end the giving and teach them to actually garden?

  7. Loved the articles. Excellent thoughts by J.K. Rowling. I was especially impressed with how she brought such personal experience into her argument; even after all these years of wanting for nothing, her painful memories of “needing” felt very genuine. Thanks for sharing!

  8. I liked the Forbes article, except I wonder if people really care anymore about the quality of information. Mainstream news coverage has become one big gossip-fest, and I not only wonder if anyone can tell a reputable source from an unsupported claim, but I wonder if they even want to. Wow, I didn’t mean to sound quite this sour!

  9. Some Good News

    I am so thrilled that my school is reinvesting in a librarian after choosing to do without for about 2 years. We are a small private school who is weathering many budget issues during these hard economic times, but I am relieved that the guys at the top see the importance of having a staffed library!

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