General
« Previous EntriesAn Anniversary and Dreams in an Era of Doubt
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009a guest post by Kathy Ryan. Although a library can rise above the environment it inhabits, it must be conscious of that environment nonetheless, as we all must be conscious of our environment and the need to protect it from ourselves in the interest of our own survival. Kathy has been working on planning a […]
Summer reading, reading summer
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009Nicholas D. Kristof used a line in his column last Sunday that I have been quoting (or plagiarizing, depending on the circumstance) ever since I read it, to put across the importance of what libraries do for kids that school can’t. He wrote, “So how will your kids spend this summer? Building sand castles at […]
Working for the Fourth of July
Friday, July 3rd, 2009A thought for the 4th: It is an informed citizenry that makes it possible for us to keep the convenant of the fourth of July. We are able to continue celebrating our Independence because we actively maintain it. It’s a particularly special celebration for us library folks as we devote our working hours to making […]
In Memoriam Senator Claiborne Pell
Friday, January 2nd, 2009One of the special things about having come to the state of Rhode Island as a young librarian in 1979 was to have come to the state of Senator Claiborne Pell. Senator Pell’s name was already virtually synonymous with our government’s role in the kind of cultural phenomena that libraries comprise. The Arts. . .the […]
Hanukkah for librarians 2009
Wednesday, December 24th, 2008The holidays are upon us. We do Hanukkah at our house, which this year has a special library lesson to carry into the new year among all of our other resolutions. Hanukkah celebrates a miracle. The Temple in Jerusalem was humiliated by Seleucid Emperor Antiochus Epiphanes in 167 BCE by the establishment therein of an […]
Statistics in Overdrive/Overdrive in Statistics
Friday, November 28th, 2008The election campaign season sent me back to the news-junkie-ism I thought I had gotten under control many years ago. In the exhaustion that followed the election returns, though, I, like so many others, have had to find strategies for returning to a ‘normal’ life. Chief among those has been a determination to avoid tuning […]
Inside and Outside the Library
Tuesday, October 7th, 2008Fall is here. The thermometer fell to 40° last night and promises to do so again tonight; so it is time to go inside where it’s warm and cozy. Yet, autumn being the most delightful of seasons, it’s beautiful outside, and growing more so. Daily the leaves take on color and their fragrance permeates even […]
Summer learning
Wednesday, July 16th, 2008It was a pleasure to read in the Providence Journal a couple of months ago about the value of summer learning (Summer learning makes a big impact by Ron Fairchild, May 29,2008). The proliferation of summer programs for kids is heartening. All Rhode Islanders should be excited about it – kids, their parents, and anyone […]
RI library advocates go to Washington
Friday, May 23rd, 2008Last Tuesday and Wednesday I spent with some of my most convivial colleagues. Seven of us constituted a RI delegation to ALA’s National Library Legislation Day (NLLD). We learned a lot and accomplished a lot, and rediscovered how special RI is on the national library advocacy stage. Three members of the LiBRI (Library Board of […]
Building Burrillville
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008Few circumstances are so conducive to humility as sharing the podium with Senator Jack Reed. Yet, there I was last Sunday, April 27, 2008 under a tent in front of over 100 Burrillvilleans and friends celebrating the Grand Opening of the new Jesse M. Smith Library sitting next to the Senator awaiting my turn to […]
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