Librarians Rule

looking out over the north entrance of Pasadena's Central Library

It's no secret I'm a fan of libraries and, by extension, librarians. You can imagine my glee when I received the press release with the following headline:

CALIFORNIA’S LIBRARIANS TO GATHER IN PASADENA TO DISCUSS THE CHANGING WORLD OF LIBRARY SERVICES

It's not like I'm going to the California Library Association Conference, or that I expect to meet any of these librarians while they're here this weekend (the 11th to 13th). It's just nice to know they're coming to town.

I hear they're a raucous bunch. In fact I know they are, my sister's a librarian. She's not a California librarian, but I know what I'm talking about. Don't let all that shushing fool you. These Dewey-eyed fans of Melvil and Melville are into space-age information distribution and wild, late-night author signings. They support literature of all kinds even if they don't agree with it. They read banned books.

From the press release:
“We’re very pleased to host the conference and showcase our community and our library system for librarians from across our state,” said Pasadena Library and Information Services Director Jan Sanders. “It’s a chance for us to learn to better meet the needs of library users.  We also look forward to having conference attendees visit our libraries while they are here.”

They'll be in the libraries! Look out!

More information about the conference is available at www.cla-net.org.

Four Stars, To Be Exact

I learned from the 1/17/11 issue of Wired Women, Monica Hubbard's packed-with-Pasadena e-newsletter, that the Pasadena Public Library earned a four star rating from the The Library Journal "for providing exceptional response to patrons and superior customer service."

The Library Journal, a trade publication for libraries (as opposed to, say, itinerant rodeo riders), was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey, the guy who invented the Dewey Decimal System. It has the highest circulation of any library journal. I mention these things because I think they make recognition of our library by this publication especially brag-worthy.

I enjoyed reading about library director Jan Sanders, who in 1999 was named to the Intellectual Freedom Hall of Fame. Could there be a cooler hall of fame? Maybe, but this one's way up there. Apparently it's not like the Baseball Hall of Fame or the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame in that it doesn't have an actual hall. I couldn't find it on the internet. But still.

Congratulations to Ms. Sanders and the Pasadena Public Library. May your (our) funds not be cut too deeply.

Be made whole by books as by great spaces and the stars. I love the library.