LONG overdue library book

After 52,858 days (over 140 years!), long overdue book is returned to the Washington and Lee University’s Leyburn Library (previously known as Washington College)… what an amazing story!  See the Washington Post for more information.  I know I don’t always return my library books on time, but this has me beat by many many YEARS!

Teslin Public Library to re-open

The Teslin Public Library has been closed since early Dec. 2008 due to mould.  According to a Government of Yukon news release, the library will be re-located to another building in Teslin (former Nisutlin Trading Post building) and will open in April.  After months without their library, I am sure Teslin residents are very happy about this!

Follow-up: Yukon library and mould

More details.  The village wanted the Teslin Public Library to leave the building so the village could demolish the building, but … the plot thickens … the library board, the Yukon government, the village, and occupational health and safety are all trying to figure this out. See CBC for more details.

Yukon library and mould

Controversy for the Teslin Public Library in Yukon.  Mould (or “mold” for my American neighbours) is living in the basement of the building that houses the public library in the hamlet of Teslin.  While 2 other businesses have left the building to escape the mould, the public library is still open in the mould affected building.  CBC has more. The librarian has complained of ongoing headaches and fatigue.  And, on the radio this morning I heard that the Yukon Legislature was discussing this issue yesterday, and there is talk of temporarily closing the library down.  Looks like there will be updates to this story….

Not enough time in a day …

… which explains the inactivity of this blog.

I went to IFLA’s World Library and Information Congress in Quebec City in August, and it was amazing.  The most interesting thing I came away with is that all libraries truly are the same … I should have remembered this, as I had this realization last year too.  But, I guess I needed to be reminded.  It doesn’t matter if we are academic, public, special, legislative or government libraries, the issues and challenges we face are very similar.  Since IFLA I have been letting this thought simmer at the back of my mind.  We divide and consider our libraries in these very specific categories, and for the most part this serves the libraries and our clients well.  But, what are we missing out on?  What can the small government library learn from the large legal library?  What can the large academic library learn from the tiny volunteer-run public library?  I am convinced we can all learn more from each other if we just took the time to talk to each other more.

Thinking about this reminded me of my experiences last November when I participated in the Manitoba Public Libraries Conference.  As I work in a small government library I wasn’t expecting to find that so many of the issues we face in our very different libraries would be so similar … from marketing services to teaching clients how to use our resources to the pace of technological change to budget issues, I discovered that while our libraries may serve different clientele and be managed very differently (boards for public libraries, managers/directors who report to ADM’s for gov’t libraries), at our core we are the same.

And, “the same” means we are all in the business of providing relevant and accurate information to our clients while dealing with all of those same issues.

So, it isn’t like this should be news to me. But somehow I need regular reminders about it.