Neil Gaiman and the Terrible Library Mistake

Alright, so he didn't make a terrible library mistake, but he did say closing libraries would be a terrible mistake.

"We're now in an age of 'too much information'. Libraries and librarians are more important than ever.

"Children want stories. They want information. They want knowledge about the strange world they're in. Saying that the internet can be that is like setting a child free in a jungle and expecting them safely to find things to eat."

Also if libraries close that's $45000 visits he's not making money from, ah ha ha ho ho ho ZING. Just kidding, I love me some Neil Gaiman.

Wii Bowling Library Seminar

Nintendo gets some potential customers through a library demonstration of Wii Bowling. A good program to get seniors up and moving. Maybe I should get a Wii for my grandmother.

The National Braille Challenge

June 26th was the day of The National Braille Challenge, a competition where the best blind students in the US and Canada compete for prizes and savings bonds. They are tested in areas like reading comprehension, braille spelling, chart and graph reading, proofreading and braille speed and accuracy.

"This competition is unique in that it tests a very specific skill. The great thing about The Braille Challenge, is that it gives us the opportunity to celebrate braille literacy and bring this issue to the attention of the public,” said Nancy Niebrugge, director of The Braille Challenge. “Most of the participants who make it to the national competition are the only blind students in their school. They go through their entire lives being the exception. This competition gives them the opportunity to build camaraderie among kids who have shared similar life experiences."

Very cool! And hopefully another reason to fight the decline of learning Braille.

Non-Speed Reading

Maybe people read too fast.

I read pretty fast. I don't think you could classify it as 'speed reading', but I can get through a lot of pages if I sit down and go. On the other hand, sometimes I find details escape me. Maybe I would enjoy it even more if I could make myself slow down.

Libraries: What Are They Good For? Mary Dempsey Will Tell You!

FOX Chicago News made the mistake of asking what - with the internet and all the ebooks - were libraries still good for? She got a response from Chicago Public Library Commissioner Mary A. Dempsey. Just read the whole letter, it's great.

Earthquake Twittering

Okay, I admit it: Twitter can be useful.

On June 23rd I was sitting at a computer when I thought I heard a truck go by. A really big truck, for a really long time, and everything started to shake. Within a few seconds I figured out it wasn't a super monstrosity truck passing by, but an earthquake.

It's been a long time since I've been in an earthquake - years and years and years. It was unsettling. Once I was convinced it was over, I registered it at The US Geographical Survey Earthquake Hazards Program site and then started Googling to see what news there was. Nothing that fast - except Twitter.

Lo and behold, checking on Twitter's front page gave me oodles of information. I learned how far the quake had gone and got reasonable guesses as to how far from the epicentre I was. Instantly. It was... useful. It wasn't just about people reporting on what they'd had for lunch. It was actual stuff I was interested in.

Disturbing.

Cellphones, Not Books

The Telegraph has run an article about how a child is more likely to own a cell phone than a book, which is pretty sad indeed. Unless those children just take out books from the library and wouldn't that be wonderful? Fat chance.

As part of the latest study, the trust surveyed more than 17,000 schoolchildren aged seven to 16.

It found that 85.5 per cent of pupils had their own mobile phone, compared with 72.6 per cent who had their own books. Among children in Key Stage 2 – aged seven to 11 – 79.1 per cent had a mobile compared with 72.7 per cent who had access to books.