Superpatron

Forsyth Township Library, Gwinn Michigan gets $250,000 bequest from patron

From the Marquette Mining Journal, By MIRIAM MOELLER, Journal Staff Writer, Dan Weingarten news editor:

Little Library, Big Gift

GWINN — The story of the Forsyth Township Public Library and its director Kathy Holman proves that going the extra mile to be helpful pays off in the end.

The payoff was a gift of $250,000 from the Robert J. Goodman trust that the library, located on 184 West Flint in Gwinn, received recently.

“Why he (Goodman) made it was for small favors or kind deeds,” said Gwinn resident Gary White, who was a close friend of Goodman. “Kathy was the reason why the library received this grant.”

White said Goodman — who was born in Gwinn — frequented the library when he was spending his summers at camp in Little Lake. On one occasion, Goodman needed help with his paperwork — he used to write political satires — and despite the fact that it was extremely busy that day, Holman assisted him, White said.

“As we walked out the door, he said, ‘I am going to make sure in my will that the library will be remembered and Kathy especially,’” White said.

This points out one of the essential services that libraries can provide - offering a home away from home for people who are vacationing or traveling or who are seasonal residents of the area.

Technorati Tags: gwinn, michigan, library, superpatron

Help me write superpatron!

I'm always on the lookout for story ideas. Please use del.icio.us and tag your posts with superpatron - I'll use that article stream as inspiration.

Technorati Tags: delicious, superpatron

Ann Arbor District Library adds patron tagging, rating of items

If you wondered why John was so quiet for so long, he's been coding. From the AADL announcement:

Second, you will notice that the catalog screen has changed a little. We have added the ability to rate and review items. Other members of our community can then comment on those reviews, fostering discussion on the material in our collection.

In addition, users may tag catalog items with keywords. This lets users organize items while also providing a mechanism for others to discover new and exciting material.

You must be a registered web-site user in order to write reviews and tag items, though you do not need to be a card-holder. Registered users have also been given tools to manage their reviews, comments, and tags under the "My Account" section of the website.

We hope you enjoy these new features. We are pleased to offer them and anticipate that they will enhance your online library experience.

Excellent! Note that you don't have to be an AADL card-holder to use this service; you can be a registered user from anywhere in the world.

This looks just splendid - note already the midwifery collection.

Technorati Tags: aadl, folksonomy, library, superpatron, tags

Google Librarian Central weblog launches

Google has a new Google Librarian Central blog going, written by their librarian outreach team. They're aiming it at

the vast majority of you heard about the Librarian Newsletter and Librarian Central website through listservs or blogs run by fellow librarians and other colleagues. (We hope you'll also tell your colleagues and friends about the new Librarian Central blog). You also told us where you work: mainly in university and school libraries, followed closely by public and special libraries.

of course, a few patrons will be listening in....

Technorati Tags: google, superpatron, library, librarian

Top ten office gifts: "a librarian"

From Inc. Magazine's story on the best employee gifts:

A librarian. Yes, I know, much of what you need is available online and your staff Googles with the best of them. Still, corporate librarians operate with a level of nuance and finesse that technology can't match. They can uncover sources so obscure as to be practically nonexistent. And they know what's what--they not only tell people what is known but also warn them what isn't.

via rosefirerising

(hm, need a "corporate libraries" category)

Technorati Tags: superpatron, corporatelibraries, librarian

Bringing kids to the library with anime (Monticello, MN)

The Monticello Public Library (Minnesota) is using anime film in their teens programs. From the Monticello Times

One of the Monticello Library's newer kids' clubs is luring local adolescents through its doors in droves.

The Anime Club, a Great River Regional Library pilot program, meets once a month to watch an animated film, munch on Japanese candy and bond over a shared interest in a popular cultural sensation that blurs the lines between technology, artistry and cartoonery.

"Anime is geared for children to adults," said GRRL youth services coordinator Heidi Hoks. "It's getting to be a very popular art form. It won a foreign film award at the Academy Awards a few years ago. It isn't just cartoons." [...]

"It's a way for kids to get together and talk about movies and books," Hoks said. "It's been an extraordinarily positive experience for all the locations, especially Monticello. We were looking for something that would get kids into the library, get them excited about reading, and it seems to be doing that. Kids check out anime materials, and then they check out other materials, too. It's a great way for them to see what's available to them."

"The whole region is very excited about this," she said. "It gets kids into the library and it gets them reading. And that's the crux of our whole mission."

Other libraries with anime clubs include the Lakewood Public Library, the Jacksonville Public Library, and the Phoenix Public Library - and I'm sure that there are dozens or hundreds more.

Thanks to superpatron George Hotelling for pointing me to this, and there's some discussion also on digg.

Technorati Tags: library, anime, superpatron

Three new California libraries

Tori Orr points me to this review in the SF Chronicle of three new California libraries, which concludes:

At the end of the day, three communities have invested in the belief that free access to information should be a social priority. The result in each case is impressive. And that investment will pay dividends for generations to come.

The libraries are San Mateo ("cool efficiency"), Belmont ("especially convivial spread of books"), and Hercules ("architectural bravado" in a town full of "vague banality").

For photos, see:
- San Mateo library opening (Erik Oeverndiek, Flickr)
- Belmont library walkway (librarianinblack)
- Hercules Library front exterior (smcl650)

Thanks Tori!