i love libraries

Ranganathan Online!

2006-07-12T15:46:00.000-05:00

It is a happy, happy day for me. My #1 hero and professional idol in the library field is on-line and inching nearer the position of respect and recognition that he deserves. Ranganathan revolutionized the institution of the library in India in the 1930s with his Five Laws of Library Science:

Books are for use.
Every reader his or her book.
Every book its reader.
Save the time of the reader.
A library is a growing organism.

I was researching S.R. Ranganathan's work this past fall, and checked out his Five Laws of Library Science (1931). Understandably, considering its age, but unfortunately, considering its value, the copy I got from my college library was falling apart, having very brittle pages and no surviving binding. Now it has been digitized courtesy of the University of Arizona's Digital Library of Information Science and Technology and the introduction and chapter 1 are already available as pdfs at http://dlist.sir.arizona.edu/1220/.

If you want to learn a little more about the library legend himself, try this site: http://www.garfield.library.upenn.edu/essays/v7p037y1984.pdf

Or if you want to see how his laws apply to technology-based resources, try: http://www.webology.ir/2004/v1n2/a8.html

Who's Afraid of My Space?

2006-07-12T15:34:00.000-05:00

Everyone in the field of education, it seems at the moment. Parents are worried about what their teens are posting and who else is seeing it. Teens are lying. Sexual predators are lying in wait. Teachers are split - some think it's the devils work, other are using it to check up on their students. The government is trying to ban it. Librarians are signing on in droves, putting up personal pages, library pages, you name it. It seems like good practice to go where the teens are and try to win their patronage by any means available. But what is really going on with My Space - is is being typecast as the newest technological villain or is it really an unsafe space? Or, perhaps more importantly, is it less safe than the rest of the world? If so, does that make banning an acceptable answer.

This month the house held hearings on the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA). It seems social software providers like Friendster and MySpace are teeming with pedophiles, drug dealers, and numerous other permutations on the theme of law-breaker/pervert. If DOPA is approved, schools and libraries that receive federal funds will have to deny access to such pages to minors, as well as other sites that allow users to create personal webpages or offer other forms of communication such as e-mail. It's not hard to see where this could go. Read up more on various views of this act at ALA News: http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2006abc/july2006a/dopahearings.htm

Like other forms of censorship, this one will hit hardest those who cannot buy their ways around it. If you have a computer at home, the sky's the limit. If you go to a school that doesn't get federal funds, I guess it will be up to your state, district, principal, or PTA to decide how high the risk is. Personally, I use both of the vilified programs to keep in touch with people living at a distance, find old friends from college, and post my latest news. Out of all the friends I have that use similar spaces, none of them are up to sinister activities. I do, however, have a friend who has been suspended from work without pay for the last month over information on his MySpace page related to privacy settings. Are we coming up on another round of witch hunts in which tech-savvy individuals will have their every move scrutinized?

Again, who will this act hurt the worst? The teens that caused the explosion in popularity of these sites. Young people who are socially or physically isolated (such as those who are lgbtq or live in rural areas) and are seeking connections with like-minded individuals they may not otherwise have access to. People like my friend who value their privacy and want to publish information for friends without putting it on display for the whole world. Librarians like me who believe the best way to provide service is to go where the teens are.

Here is what my professional organization, YALSA, has to say about my space, along with some good reading suggestions and lots of examples of positive ways in which social software is being used with and by young people:
http://www.leonline.com/yalsa/dopa_teens_social_networking.pdf

Personally, I support the use of technology in education, and I think social software is some of the most exciting new technology available. If you agree, please join me in talking this up to friends, family and colleagues. Also, join me in signing the Friends of My Space's "Save Your Space" petition.
http://www.friendsofmyspace.com/

Minneapolis Central Library

2006-06-13T12:56:00.000-05:00

When the new Minneapolis Central Library opened on May 20, it was a zoo. At my volunteer training a week before that, it was hard to believe that it would be up and running in seven short days. But it was, and Minnesotan turned out in droves to enjoy the party on Nicollet Mall, explore the new facility, and check out books. My third visit found the library busy with patrons, but gave me as bit more freedom to explore and compile a list of some of this new community center's best features:

From the Top Down:

Looking over the balcony at "Ripple Effect," the stunning floor that depicts the water that is so important to Minnesota's identity.
"The Power of. . ." 4th floor fireplace with it's tiled mural, and the view over downtown beyond.
Special Collections entrance arch of beautifully carved wood transported from the original library of 1889.
3rd floor Piano Rooms with grand pianos, available for public use for free!
Picture files for fun browsing - collections of1970s to much older pictures on alphabetical topics from bubbles to buses.
Best seating in the house at Emma B. Howe Teen Central - silver bean bag chair positioned to gaze out at the 2nd floor Green Roof.
Style lessons from Teen Central - silver dry-erase walls in the meeting room and read and black Japanese ash shelving.
"sMOTHer inFLAME" 1st floor fireplace, a thought provoking work on censorship playing with the element of fire.
Giant dragonfly guides leading the way through the Children's Library, a space defined in shape-and-color-plays.
The building exterior, a glass and stone interpretation of Minnesota's natural beauty - the four designs adorning the windows on each side of the building should not be overlooked.

Minneapolis Central - worth the wait and raising the bar for the library as a physical space. And don't forget to all hail Minerva, goddess of wisdom, watching over three downtown libraries for over 100 years.

Michael Stephens Visit

2006-05-23T18:36:00.000-05:00

Dominican University instructor and library technology guru Michael Stephens of Tame the Web (http://tametheweb.com) met with some St. Kate's LIS students for a talk about technology in libraries and professional blogging on May 18. After four days of whirl-wind touring of greater Minnesota presenting on Library 2.0, Stephens rallied for an engaging late evening conversation over tea and coffee in Eden Prairie.

The topic for the evening was how technology is changing library service through breaking down space, time, and policy barriers. New librarian jobs that require tech skills such as blogging, podcasting, and wiki experience are certainly on the minds of library students such as those who gathered for the talk. How to hone these skills when formal training in our programs is sometimes lacking is an ongoing concern. However, it's likely that librarians entering the field will not only determine the extent to which their libraries are able to employ these powerful communication tools, they will also likely need to train their peers and hopefully their patrons. These efforts can meet resistance though, stemming from fear of change, the generation gap version of the digital divide, or even from a desire to provide good service through other means. Examples of the "No Cell Phone" signs often found in libraries were another topic of discussion. Providing library services to the tech savvy generation of teens who will be funding our libraries someday in the not-too-distant future may be one of the biggest challenges facing us as budding librarians. This is also, of course, a tremendous opportunity to link more patrons to more information. People in the field now, such as Stephens have been blazing. And, thankfully, will now be helping a new generation of librarians continue on the path.

Digital Isolation

2006-05-17T08:57:00.000-05:00

Recently it has come to my attention that not everyone shares my enthusiasm for technology. It's understandable. While a certain degree of technological know-how is inarguably beneficial, anyone who knows an overweight anti-social video game addict of a child knows that computers, too, should be used in moderation. Or worse - anyone who has heard stories of teens victimized in chat rooms can see how predators can and do employ technology. Of course there are children who shun the outdoors and peer relationships in favor of reading print materials and teens who learn to make bombs from books, but in these cases it seems easier to separate the behavior from the tool somehow.

A Minneapolis teacher who I respect professionally recently confessed to me that the only computer application he uses is e-mail. I was incredulous - doesn't he think the immigrant children he teaches need computer skills to compete with peers who already have the advantage of being native English speakers? Doesn't he appreciate the great technology resources out there to help with language acquisition? What about the potential for communicating across distance, thus staying connected to home? He cited the usual concerns - all that isn't on-line that gets missed by children (and adults) that are "too connected."

Steve Cisler's article "At the Edge of the Net" (American Libraries, November, 2005) is an interesting study of the unconnected. He travels to the border region (the same as in my previous post "On the Other Side of the Digital Divide") and finds problems with infrastructure that prevent high-speed access. Another group he finds unconnected are snowbirds, the seniors who migrate to the Southwest for the winter. He also finds those who reject technology for reasons similar to those of my teacher friend. Interestingly, the tech savvy author went off-line himself to conduct his research and since returning home has chosen to keep his connectivity limited.

I still believe in the power of technology. It opens tremendous possibilities for young people to produce and consume information. It helps teachers find better materials to teach, package it with more appeal, and save a lot of time in the process. I am starting to see the glimmers, though, of when enough is enough somewhere on a distant horizon, far from my present limited skill level. For now, I am content with the occasional weekend away from my e-mail and cell phone. Usually, I bring my laptop "just in case" I need to do some writing.

Resource Center for the Americas

2006-05-04T13:16:00.000-05:00

A variation on the traditional theme: I am a teacher by day/librarian by night - one night a week - at the Resource Center of the America's Penny Lernoux Memorial Library. It is a small bilingual collection (10,000 or so volumes in one big room) focused on Latin America and Latino issues. All countries in Latin America are covered to some extent, and there are topical collections on liberation theology, the global economy, and human rights. There's also a kids collection, lots of curriculum resources, fiction, an extensive collection of videos, language resources, lots of little pearls of wisdom in the vertical files, and probably quite a bit I'm forgetting. The website (http://www.americas.org/item_17424) gives a good overview, and also links to lots of web resources in English and Spanish, as well as community organizing resources. Volunteering there, I get to wear a lot of hats - reference, cataloger, tour guide, general circulation. It's great and they're always hiring volunteers. If you're interested, browse the website and contact Mary Turk. Even if you don't need a volunteer librarian gig, you should visit. You can get bilingual books for kids you like a lot, specialized materials for your research, and tons of materials to help your teaching, or just a great read to help boost your Spanish or English.

The library is also embedded within a massively cool parent organization, the Resource Center of the Americas (http://www.americas.org/). They are an activist organization doing education, social justice work, and community organizing locally, nationally, and globally. By providing classes in Spanish and ESL, community events like films, lectures, and musical performances, and partnering with other community organizations, they help to welcome new Minnesotans to the community and give long-term Minnesotans opportunities to build cross-cultural understanding and communication. The educate about current events in Latin America and offer opportunities for political action. And I may have forgotten to mention the cafe that has some excellent tamales de y pollo y de queso. And the bookstore with fair trade coffee, gift items, and books, books, books, books.

8 YA Titles I Stand Behind 100%

2006-04-19T16:44:00.000-05:00

I recently completed a class with instructor Heidi Hammond on young adult literature. We read roughly 1, 000, 000, 000 books, and here are my recommendations from that pool:

America (2002) by E. R. Frank - This book is a beautiful and heart-wrenching tale of a boy in the system. America is shuffled from foster home to mental health treatment facility, raging against the world, until he finally finds something that works - therapy. This is a hard read because it doesn't sugar coat nor edit out some pretty harsh realities. "Worth it," however, doesn't even scratch the surface.
The Boy Who Saved Baseball (2003) by John Ritter - This is a feel good that really does just that. An old-fashioned Southwestern hero named Cruz de la Cruz shows up just in the nick of time to help a sorry, small town baseball team save the town's historic character from land developers. Even a jaded sports cynic could not resist the beauty of Ritter's language nor the charm of this small town.
A Step from Heaven (2001) by An Na - Young Ju immigrates from Korea to the United States when she's still a little too young to understand what that really means. Her school years are lived on the border between languages, cultures, and loyalties. For me, the highlight was the exploration of how language can be structured to portray that challenge of learning to communicate in a different medium.
Skellig (1999) by David Almond - The sweet story of a premature baby's family, a pair of unlikely friends, and angles in their many incarnations. When Michael finds a smelly, living mummy in the garage of his new house, so begins an exploration between science and metaphysics that will challenge and touch readers of any age to question what is probable and what is possible.
Briar Rose (1992) by Jane Yolen - This cross between a fairy tale and a Holocaust story brings two familiar themes together in a perfect pairing. When Becca's aged immigrant grandmother dies, this young reporter crosses the ocean and revisits a tragic history to uncover the story of her grandmother's life and her family history. The gay hero who survived a concentration camp didn't hurt when it came to winning me over, either. . .
The House of the Scorpion (2002) by Nancy Farmer - This is the science fiction that teens deserve - smart, layered, political, well-written. Matt is the clone of Matteo Alacran, a drug lord who helps to rule the country of Opium, located along what was once the U.S./Mexico border. But with El Patron several centuries old already, there is bound to be a changing of the guard sooner or later. . .
The Race to Save the Lord-God Bird (2004) by Phillip Hoose - At last a book about a bird that you don't have to be an ornithologist to love. With a liberal dose of U.S. history and a bevy of black and white illustrations, this book sets out to place the struggle against extinction of the ivory billed woodpecker in fascinating context. By the end, if you aren't rooting for this underdog, you had better check to make sure your heart is pumping blood.
Hole in My Life (2002) by Jack Gantos - This book has it all: a famous children's author, literature, drug smuggling, prison, adventure on the high seas. This autobiography reads like A Million Little Pieces, full of sin and redemption, downward spirals and happy upswings. Of course, this one is actually the truth (or what commonly goes by that name). Following the narrator through his late teens may or may not drive home a lesson, but it does make for a great story.
Persepolis (2003) by Marjane Satrapi - The story of a spunky girl from a progressive, educated family trying to grow up in the midst of the Iranian revolution. No easy task when your school goes fundamentalist, family friends are jailed and tortured for having "bad politics," and bombs are falling on your block. Did I mention it's in starkly simple, black-and-white graphic novel format.

Harambee's Media Center

2006-04-14T13:18:00.000-05:00

Harambee (http://www.emid6067.net/Harambee/) is the K-6 school in Minnesota's East Metro Integration District, a magnet program pulling students from St. Paul and its surrounding suburbs. An open school in structure and practice if not in name, classrooms are multi-age and collaborate a lot within levels. The school has environmental and global focuses, with students getting specialist instruction in both. Students have hand-on science instruction in the many acres and various Minnesota biomes connected to the school. Not only is the student body truly diverse, but celebration of cultural diversity is abundantly evident throughout the facility. In short, I am seriously contemplating living in St. Paul when I have kids ready for school just so they can go to Harambee!

I recently observed the media specialist, Debra Watson. The huge, open media center (http://teacherweb.com/MN/HarambeeElementarySchool/MediaCenter/) is the first thing you see through a wall of windows upon entering the school. Low shelves throughout increase the spacious feeling, and culturally diverse displays create a lot of visual interest. There is a large presentation space, clusters of computer station, and a multi-leveled, carpeted area for reading and instruction. Ms. Watson's teaching area looks well-used, with student work, teaching materials, and book displays that reflect what students are reading. This media center is the heart of the school and a welcoming environment that encourages student use.

Wiki-world

2006-03-29T23:00:00.000-06:00

Also for the wonderful class that is forcing me to keep this blog and otherwise bringing me into the 21st century, I have been working on a wiki with some classmates. I have long been a fan of Wikipedia, that most controversial of "reference tools," but had never imagined doing a wiki of my own or even adding to anyone else's.

Well, that was before Adlibwiki (http://adlibwiki.pbwiki.com/) entered my life. Contained within this wonderful wiki is an overview of wikis, lots of links to library wikis, and an extensive bibliography.

Needless to say, I have realized how much cutting and pasting, e-mailing back and forth of documents, and general collaboration headaches this toll has saved my group collectively. I'm sold. Not only did it help us in the research and compiling information stages, but our findings are now published on the web for any interested info-head to use.

Since then, I have suggested two committees I serve on use wikis, to be shot down both times with "What's a wiki?" type questions and other evidence of the human side of the digital skills divide. But I'm yet to give up. . .

More Digital Division

2006-03-23T21:28:00.000-06:00

I've been doing some research on the digital divide for a class and specifically looking for articles that are mindful of the human aspects of it. There's not a whole lot out there, and it tends to be more anecdotal than "real research." I'm thinking this idea of multiple divides (computers, connections, skills, urban/rural, generational, etc.) has yet to make it to the center of the field's consciousness.

Denise Agosto's "The Digital Divide and Public Libraries: A first-hand view" from Summer '05 Progressive Librarian calls our attention to the differences that can exist between high and low-income library branches within a system. She raises the excellent point that the most and best computers are usually in the areas where most residents have computers at home and on the other side of the digital divide hardware is often lacking. Furthermore, limited resources mean limited access which makes having the technology skills needed to make tech time really count is even more necessary (and the training this would require even less likely).

In "The Multiple Dimensions of the Digital Divide: More than technology 'haves' and 'have nots'" (Government Information Quarterly, 2003), John Carlo Benet examines the special situation of rural areas. Often they lack the infrastructure (including telecommunication lines) for real connectivity to even be an option. These places which are physically isolated may also really benefit from virtual access to national and global communication and information. Along with this comes the need for information literacy training to enable the humans to get the most from the machines.

Finally, Andrew Blau in "Access Isn't Enough" from American Libraries June/July 2002 examines the difference between access and competence. He cautions against thinking that a shrinking gap is more a sign of approaching equality than the creation of an information underclass that is easier to ignore. Access must be for the community as a whole rather than individuals and must highlight the results that can be achieved through effective use.

All of this material has interesting implications for those of us who work with low income students, those that may not have the access of their more privileged peers but will need to compete in the same technological workforce and deserve to fully travel the communication and information pathways that technology has opened up. I think it means that we need to use it all in the schools, at least for the sake of exposure, and find the best ways to help our students really engage with it.

Teens, Technology, and Libraries

2006-03-18T15:29:00.000-06:00

Does there seem to be a partnership more natural than that? I thought I would look around and see what kind of exciting stuff I could find on libraries' teen pages.

My benchmark site is already selected: Hennepin County Library(http://www.hclib.org/teens/). Surprise, surprise. It's interactive with multiple choice questions and select-a-color features. Every time you click, you get new pics of teens and a new teen title with a summary. Visually, once your color has been properly selected, it's a real bonanza. It has useful links to the usual: programming, resources, booklists, general library info.

Pittsburgh's Carnegie Library (http://www.clpgh.org/teens/fun/pgh.html) has a pretty cool site as well in terms of content. There are links to the usual events, booklists, resources, and the like, but some other links make it seem like this library is pretty in touch with its population. Zine resources abound, including tons of links to e-zines, lots of sports and technology resources, links to stuff to do around town, and gaming sites. A feature lets teens write reviews, which nearly 1200 had, and read those of peers. Sections on "Just for Fun" and "Homework" are separated from a big list of "Real Issues" resources. There seems to be a truly balanced representation on serious topics like suicide and drugs, among other topics. I appreciated the language of the site, which seemed teen centered, and way it appeared to be structured to account for the needs of teen patrons and the seriousness of those needs.

I thought the Phoenix Public Library (http://www.phoenixteencentral.org/index.jsp) had a really pleasing design and style. It has bright colors, clean lines, and great pictures of teens. There seems to be an active teen council at most branches, with each having their own website (the quality and design of these vary greatly - the true sign of self-managed products). A 'zine designed by teen council members is posted as a pdf. Unfortunately, it was a little hard to navigate. Here, the links of lists seemed a bit more general and less tailored to the population, with limited lists for "teen issues." The physical teen central space was amazing and looked sort of like a night club. The site claimed to have a Spanish version, but the link was dead, as were the reader's corner links. Overall: wow!

This is part 1 only. More will follow.

Generational Digital Divide

2006-03-12T17:17:00.000-06:00

This is a great summary of research on the "born digital" generation with some additional resources on the topic:
http://clips.lis.uiuc.edu/2006_03.htm

The article annotations give a great overview of the research on serving this generation of library users in a wonderfully condensed package. The most commonly recurring themes across projects were:

Insistence on a streamlined research process
Need to evaluate information and sources
Visual learning style
Need to customize services
Comfort with a variety of technologies
High mobility
Social interaction in work and study
Need to provide input for effective services

Of course, as librarians we will all be dealing with this born digital generation for many years to come (and the subsequent generations, who will likely be even more tech savvy/dependent). All the trends emerging from the research point to using technology. The title of the site points to an interesting factor missing from the research: it will be a while until the born digitals are able to become librarians themselves, and until then it is up to a profession of digital immigrants to meet their needs. How can we do this? With enough training, and by actively pushing to integrate technology into other areas of our lives, can we become digital citizens able to communicate with the next generation using the language of technology? As librarians, we are going to need to do more than use these resources on a knowledge/comprehension level. We need to be able to do things like synthesize our own blogs and wikis, analyze effective websites, and evaluate which technologies will best accomplish our goals and reach our patrons.

Digital Divide: Human Factors

2006-03-04T09:21:00.000-06:00

Recently a professor of mine (Jim Glazer, district media coordinator in St. Paul metro area somewhere) presented to our class on the digital divide - a familiar topic and one I always seem to be working "on the wrong side" of. I know that technology is the wave of the future, that we are raising a generation of addicts (for good or bad), and from here the usage possibilities seem endless, exciting and frightening in shifts. Because I hate being left behind in anything, I set a New Year's resolution to get with the program, so I keep my ears open for the digital divide presentation. What an interesting spin Jim put on the issue when he identified about eight separate divides, two of which seemed especially pertinent to me. One was the skills divide - having the technology but not being able to use it. This was certainly a factor when I taught on the border. Thanks to federal government funding and some smart grant writing, we had technology coming out of our ears - LCD projectors, laptop carts, smart boards, etc., etc. They all lived in the library, though, because so few teacher knew how to use them. The other area was a staffing digital divide - that staff come to schools with varying level of technological proficiency.

These facets of the divide seem so obvious, so important. Why haven't I head of them before? Slacking up on my digital divide reading, perhaps. . . To be on the safe side, I checked with the "experts." The authorities in the government (http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/fttn99/) seem as clueless as to the human factors as me. The authorities at Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_divide) seem a bit more current. Surprise, surprise. Back to html, more on this later. . .

How Many Ways Can a School Librarian Blog?

2006-03-02T20:34:00.000-06:00

I was the lucky recipient of a rather lengthy list of school librarian blogs. After spending much more time than I should have, I was able to pick out some favorites.

Because of the meta thing I have going with this assignment (blogging about blogs), I wanted to pay special attention to the "why" behind my choices. Obviously, content was the major - anything middle school got my attention in a big way. Next most important to me was layout. I shied away from the blogs that had layers of sidebars, or even too many categories of posts. Simple was easier to follow, and things which I might expect from a website seemed like too much trouble for blogs that I am basically following recreationally. Some blogs were pretty single-minded, honing in on one aspect of the library world. The predictable content is nice, and it is great for specific information needs. I preferred blogs with fewer posts, shorter posts, and clear titles for ease of navigation. More than a couple rambling musings was enough to send me packing (ironic because I think my own blog is moving in this direction). Finally, though I didn't go for mile-long photo albums, I also didn't really go for the plain white page. Of course, a strong author's voice goes a long, long way. I never knew so much went into finding a good blog. . .

The end results, four new-additions to my bloglines feed, are as follows:

http://mullerinthemiddle.blogspot.com/
This guy might be trying to put Booklist out of business. TONS of book reviews.

http://www.schoolof.info/infomancy/
A technology-focused blog with great design (even with the white).

http://deepthinking.blogsome.com/
Another white blog along the more traditional lines (journal-y). Witty educator's perspective.

http://www.beiffert.net/wordpress/
Wow! Talk about middle school resources. Put this one in the reference section.

Project for School Media Blogs

2006-03-02T20:24:00.000-06:00

Well, it's not everyday that an assignment just falls into my lap or inbox. Hence my excitement when that very thing happened to me regarding this blog.

I received an email via Queens College's MLIS department (where I took my intro. class). A librarian named Alice Yucht is compiling a list and doing some research on blogging school librarians, which she is breaking down by blog content/function. If this pertains to your blogging, please send her a link to your blog.

Her e-mail is aliceinfo.show@gmail.com

Library Websites on the Other Side of the Digital Divide

2006-02-25T12:13:00.000-06:00

I decided to take the opportunity of my annual visit to South Texas's Starr County, an area where I used to live and teach that has the dubious distinction of being one of the poorest counties in the country, to do a little library webquest. I know that this area is not exactly at the forefront of new technologies. In my teaching experience, most students did not have computers at home, even less students were on-line at home, and though the school had a lot of hardware, the staff often lacked the skills needed to employ it. With that background knowledge, and thinking of ways the digital divide manifests itself, I thought I might check-up on how many libraries were on-line, and to what extent.

What I found was troubling. As I expected, Starr County, the rural county where I lived, was not on-line at all. I didn't think this made for good "research findings," so I took a look at the counties on both sides of us, and then at those that span the Mexican border at the tip of Texas. I found quite a few nuts and bolts websites (with online catalogs and open hours) for some of the larger towns and cities. Hidalgo County has a consortium of ten libraries, eight of which are on-line. Some of these had outside links, some didn't; all had pretty basic design. A good example of that is McAllen (http://www.mcallen.lib.tx.us/), a three-branch library system with a pretty detailed site. I was surprised and pretty sad that in an area where Spanish is very much the dominant language, most of the websites were monolingual English, or that the Spanish coverage was pretty spotty.

A couple of notably great sites I encountered (comprehensive, visually pleasing, truly bilingual) were Weslaco (http://www.weslaco.lib.tx.us) and Laredo (http://www.laredolibrary.org).

Welcome to My Blog

2006-02-12T13:38:00.000-06:00

This is my blog for the Spring Semester section of LIS 753 at Dominican University. Here comes the fun part: I am Leah - Minneapolitan, book-lover, book clubber, educator, aspiring writer, librarian-to-be.

I'm going to take this opportunity to plug my favorite library: the Brookdale Branch of Hennepin County. Gorgeous new facility, computers computers everywhere, great kids' section, and always packed with users.