Taking me back

I am sitting here writing this post from one of the libraries of my childhood. Not much has changed. Except that I am no longer sitting in the Young Adult room and that there is now wireless access, so I can use my own computer. It's nice to be somewhere I have such fond memories of. Especially when I have so much work and studying to do. Because the end of my first semester of library school is coming up!

Kindling the future of reading

A couple of weeks ago, I logged onto my Amazon account and saw a new and incredible thing... The Kindle! It was love at first sight. There was lust in my heart and drool on my chin. And then I started to think that maybe I was crazy. Nothing can replace the book. Nothing can be as good as the real thing. At the same time, though, there is nothing wrong with creating something new and different that might enhance the reading experience. After all, we keep hearing about how reading rates are declining. So maybe a device that makes reading more linked to the outside world is a good thing, that will encourage people to return to reading for pleasure. Or maybe not, since books are something that just shouldn't be lost, for reasons both emotional (I love how they smell!) and practical (they are certainly less expensive than technology).

But regardless of what the future of this device is, and the future of the book, I have decided that it is my responsibility, as a future librarian and defender of the written word, to get one. I need to be up on the latest technology, after all. And this is pretty new stuff. (Ok, maybe not that new, since Sony has a flop of a device that does similar things, but has not gathered much popularity.)

I shall keep you posted on the object's arrival and let you know how it fairs next to a real live book.

And so, Gossip Librarian is born

This week in Reference class, we talked about the importance of Interlibrary Loan and how the postal system and the internet facilitate it. As an example, to demonstrate how you can get almost anything through ILL, the professor chose Gossip Girl. And what did he say about this book? "You should read it. It's really funny." In case you are not a teenage girl, this book series documents the escapades of students at a wealthy Upper East Side high school. It has been a trashy book series (and a former guilty pleasure) and it is now an even trashier TV series (which is not a pleasure).

And so, I shall be your Gossip Librarian, with all the breaking news in libraries and my life (or not, but I can dream, right?).

XoXo,
Gossip Librarian