Shelf Reading

Many people will probably think I am sick for saying this, but I love to shelf read.  For the uninitiated, "shelf reading" is a practice where you go into the stacks, pick a section, and make sure, among other things, everything is on the shelf in the proper order.  It may sound tedious, but it gives you an opportunity to examine the collection for condition, look for duplicate copies that might no longer be necessary, find misplaced items, and if you are like me, revel in the tremendous variety of interests people have.

For me, it is also a time to order my thinking.  Often, if I am stumped, stymied, or frustrated in some endeavor I will leave my office for 45 minutes or an hour and read shelves.  Somehow, helping to put the collection in order helps me put my thoughts in order.  Often, I will discover a solution I had not previously considered while pondering who would possibly be interested in reading something like the Classical influences on European culture, A.D. 1500-1700 : proceedings of an international conference held at King's College, Cambridge, April 1974. Often though I will look at an item's circulation statistics and find, as was the case with this title,  that not only has it been checked out many times, it actually went out in the current year.

These kinds of discoveries are refreshing.  It is good to know, for me at least, that there are people using the library interested in things I find uninteresting, or at least not at the top of my reading list.  The flip-side of shelf reading is occasionally finding the most embarrassing oversight sitting there on the shelf.  I'm talking about this book, or this one here, or how about this?  All of these examples come from a blog I find extremely entertaining, called Awful Library Books (it's also linked over there on the sidebar).  Unfortunately, I am sure the Hutchinson Public Library has a few of these types of "gems".

I suppose my point here is that libraries are unique creatures, seemingly always threatened with extinction (at least for the past 2 decades), but filled with an amazing array of information.  Despite my (some might say "unnatural") love for technology, I think the printed store of knowledge known as a library has one great advantage over the impersonal and intangible Web - the thrill of a discovery you found on your own two feet and can hold in your hand.  So, if you can't find me in my office, try roaming through the stacks and you'll probably find me out there, being amazed.

Now it gets interesting...

In the world of ebook readers, at least.  I have to say that I am rather skeptical that this will work out.  It is a device being created by the Taiwanese company ASUS, makers of netbooks, high-end notebooks, and virtually any computer component you can think of.  Their new device is an ebook reader with two color screens that opens in a fashion similar to a "real" book.  Pretty cool, huh?  The things I can not get past are:  How will it be powered?  (More precisely, how will it stay charged long enough to be useful?) And, how can they possibly price it (as the article above suggests) below the Sony and Amazon devices?

OK, maybe there are interesting things going on at HPL too. For a couple of years now, about twice each year, the Library has hosted a series of book discussions called "TALK about literature in Kansas".  Each series has presented books with a common theme - humor, western, and this Fall, British classics.  Described by one of the participants as "the best" discussion so far, the first discussion in the fall 2009 series took place on Sept. 10th.  If you are interested, the second discussion, of Thomas Hardy's "Far From the Madding Crowd", will happen on October 8th at 6:30pm.  I have to say that I was surprised at the enthusiasm for books many folks were undoubtedly "required" to read in high school or college.  I am glad though, since all 3 of the novels in this series (Emma, Far From the Madding Crowd, Jane Eyre) have exerted tremendous influence on literature and even on pop culture through repeated movie and television adaptions of the works.

Another exciting program coming up on October 2nd at 2:30pm is a visit from underwater photographer Michael Patrick O'Neill.  He will be in the library auditorium.  His program is geard toward school-age children, but I think people of all ages will find his demo of SCUBA equipment and cameras and his slideshow very interesting.

Again, for our younger crowd, but also their parents, we are offering a program aimed at teaching young people the value of saving money and the responsible way to deal with their income.  The program will be offered twice, October 1st and October 6th at 7pm both evenings.  The presenters are knowledgeable and will provide a free "Kid's Financial Kit" for parents which contains information on appropriate allowances and how to help kids deal with their "income".  I am really excited about this program and I hope that the gentlemen conducting it will repeat it for us periodically.

"Fraught" - You don't hear that word very often...

As in, "fraught with uncertainty".  I have found myself using the word and that phrase a lot lately despite fraught's general dust and neglect.  "Fraught" is a word straight out of the 14th century meaning, essentially, "load" or "loaded".  It works for the times though, I think.  The economic outlook, the flu season, and even less weighty subjects such as library services or the alarming rarity of posts to this blog seem to be fraught with uncertainty.

Since I normally confine my ramblings, an oxymoron I know, to library related topics, I thought I would once again write a bit about ebooks and readers.  It seems Sony is actively working the library angle by announcing a partnership with NYPL to circulate ebooks on Sony Readers.  Libraries subscribing to a service from a company called OverDrive will also be able to circulate ebooks for a 21 day "checkout" period to the Sony Reader Daily Edition over the 3G cell network.  What's so uncertain about this?  For me it is that I still can not see who has the upper hand in the ebook war.  Will Sony's open format defeat Amazon's DRM scheme?  In June, I spent some time wondering about Amazon vs. Apple in the ebook market.  Apple does not seem to be forthcoming with a reader device at the moment, but Sony's device and approach fills in the competitive spot.  I like Sony's approach to content, so I hope they do well.  HPL already offers downloadable audio books through Overdrive along with a few ebooks.  Still, there is a lot of uncertainty on this topic, though maybe this is the digital reader for us...

[UPDATE 10/31/2011]

Hard to believe it has been 2 years.  The Sony / Overdrive partnership is in full swing with Sony offering a reader with a "public library" button on the main screen, Amazon's Kindle down to $79, and Apple's iPad dominating the tablet market and doubling as an ebook reader.

So...

HPL will begin an experiment in the next couple of weeks by filling holds for high-demand (read "long hold list") items by downloading them onto a Kindle and then loaning the Kindle to the next patron on the list.