Libraries – Figs and Things

More of That Silence

Once again, little to no time for writing about all the things that are running through my brain. I am done with homework early tonight, but I will be relaxing with tea and watching indulgent mystery programs, because I am slightly sick. So no in-depth writing here tonight.

I have been frantically knitting away on projects for other people (and lazily knitting on projects for myself) and soon will get around to photographing said things. There’s even some intarsia in the mix.

For now, consider this:

One of my favorite signs (I favor the serious cloaked in the light-hearted) from Occupy Wall Street, where I spent my Columbus Day off, learning about another kind of pop-up outdoor library. More on this later.

America’s Littlest Library

As a lover of small, portable and/or unorthodox libraries and library-like structures, I am obviously very smitten with Clinton Community Library’s “Littlest Library” Book Booth.

(Photo courtesy of the Book Booth’s Facebook page.)

Everything about this project appeals to me, from the community involvement (especially the housing of the cookbooks in a nearby local restaurant), to the upcycling of the booth, to the distinction between “smallest” and “littlest” libraries, to the general idea of the pint-sized library. You can read more about the project over at Library Journal. I’m personally looking forward to seeing how the branch fares over time. Such an interesting and inspiring form of outreach. I would love to see book booths catch on in more cities.

The Uni Project

If I’ve been a bit silent here, it’s because I’ve flung myself full-force back into the school year. A year into my education, with just one left to go, I’ve been able to really begin to form a more clear picture of the professional issues I care about most, and what I want to be doing in terms of work a year from now. What I really care about is access (archival and otherwise). I’ve always enjoyed reference work, ever since my wee-librarian days at the Carnegie Library microfilm desk. But I am especially excited to be involved in a project that I feel takes the elements of reference that I love and pushes them several steps further.

The Uni Project, that “portable reading room for public space” I have been incessantly telling my friends about for the past nine months, launched last Sunday, September 11 at the New Amsterdam Market in Manhattan.

And yesterday, Sunday, September 18, we set up in conjunction with the Brooklyn Public Library at the Brooklyn Book Festival.

It was really incredible to see the Uni in action after months of brainstorming and anticipation. I loved seeing it take on different configurations and adapt to two different settings with such success, and I can’t wait to see where it will go next.

Although not a “library,” by any strict definition, the Uni is a perfect embodiment of why I went back to school to get my MLIS. Regardless with the nature of the resources I end up working with in the future, this project has been such a valuable reminder that we preserve, catalog, digitize and maintain our materials in order to enrich the lives of the people who access them.

I highly recommend taking some time to browse the Uni website (and perhaps to donate some of your books as well…)