Grab Bag

Catch-all, whatever you might call it - this is that type of post.

First off, a few building updates.  We started off this spring with a flurry of activity aimed at restoring the Quiet Reading Room.  This was a space in the original 1950 portion of the building designated for contemplative study away from the hub-bub of the rest of the bustling library.  It had been gone for a long time and is sorely needed again.  As I said though, we started with a flurry of activity, but have ground to a halt waiting on furniture orders.  Never fear though, because we will announce a grand re-opening in the next few weeks.

Second, I read an article from the Guardian (UK) newspaper about the "secret" life of libraries.  I wouldn't call this an article so much as a reminiscence.  However, it ended with a couple of passages which I'd like to quote here because they hit home with me regarding what libraries are worth to a society:

"The pace of life is different now, and people expect art to happen to them. Music and film do that, a CD will do that, but you have to make a book happen to you. It's between you and it. People can be changed by books, and that's scary. When I was working in the school library, I'd sometimes put a book in a kid's hands and I'd feel excited for them, because I knew that it might be the book that changed their life. And once in a while, you'd see that happen, you'd see a kind of light come on behind their eyes. Even if it's something like 0.4% of the population that that ever happens to, it's got to be worth it, hasn't it?"

The libraries' most powerful asset is the conversation they provide – between books and readers, between children and parents, between individuals and the collective world. Take them away and those voices turn inwards or vanish. Turns out that libraries have nothing at all to do with silence.

Third, I'd like to point out ANOTHER awesome collection of information posted on the Kansas Government Information (KGI) blog.  It's about one of my favorite political figures from the recent past, Senator Bob Dole.  Browse through a trove of Dole-related links here.

So there you have it.  A grab bag befitting my little collection of odd bits and extraneous information that I have posted here over the past 2-ish years!