Archive for July, 2009

Get More Graphic: Recent Graphic Novel Acquisitions

July 14th, 2009

Since the book club is venturing into the world of graphic novels this month*, we decided to highlight some the library has acquired in the last couple of years. The last time we featured our graphic novel collection, the exhibit resulted in positive attention and suggestions that were used to guide our collection development. So, featured in the lobby this summer are selections from the library’s recent acquisitions. Here’s the list. All the books are available to check out for your summer reading pleasure.

Get more graphic

The books include everything from The Cartoon History of the Universe to a comic book version of the Mahabharata, from The Sweeter Side of R. Crumb to The Amazing True Story of a Teenage Single Mom to Che: A Graphic Biography. The graphic novel with the longest title on display is The Fatal Bullet: a True Account of the Assassination, Lingering Pain, Death, and Burial of James A. Garfield, Twentieth President of the United States, also Including the Inglorious Life and Career of the Despised Assassin Guiteau. And the book with the most pages must be Gravity’s Rainbow Illustrated: One Picture For Every Page.

To find more graphic novels in Ignacio, the library catalog, search for the subject “graphic novels”. Or browse the 3rd floor stacks in the vicinity of PN 6727 and PN 6728 — many, but not all, are shelved there.

*If you’ve been hesitant to read a graphic novel, don’t worry, “graphic” just  refers to the use of illustrations. “Graphic novel” is a format in which pictures and text work together to carry a narrative.

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Vote For Movies on the Lawn

July 7th, 2009

USF’s Campus Activities Board is currently taking your top 6 movie choices for movies to be played at Movies on the Lawn in the upcoming Fall and Spring. You can vote here: http://www.ctr.usf.edu/motl

My choices were:

  1. Transformers 2
  2. The Hangover
  3. Star Trek
  4. Up
  5. The Proposal
  6. I Love You, Man

Go cast your votes now. :)

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Charles Francis Gosnell, New York Librarian

July 7th, 2009

Today is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Charles Francis Gosnell ( 1909-1993). Gosnell was Librarian of the Queen College Library (1937-1945), Director of the New York State Library (1945-1962), and Director of the New York University Libraries (1962-1974). Gosnell is one of 77 individuals included in the Second Supplement of the Dictionary of American Library Biography (Libraries Unlimited, 2003) which was edited by library historian Donald G. Davis, Jr.. The Dictionary of American Library Biography and its supplements are the most comprehensive and authoritative compilations of information about individuals who have made the most significant contributions to the development of America's libraries. The entry about Gosnell was written by Christopher J. Prom. As State Librarian of New York, Gosnell's major achievement was the development of the regional library system in New York. At the New York University Libraries, Gosnell oversaw the construction of the Elmer Homes Bobst Library building. This building replaced the library building designed by Stanford White which is shown on the postage stamp above. Gosnell served as President of the New York Library Association in 1969. His presidency of the NYLA was marked by a controversy over a decision to hold the 1969 conference in Lake Placid. After his retirement in 1974, Gosnell played a major role in the creation of the Chancellor Robert R. Livingston Masonic Library in Manhattan. Click here for the New York Times obituary for Gosnell.

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Free Public Libraries 160 Years

July 6th, 2009
Tomorrow (July 7, 2009) will mark the 160th anniversary of the passage by the State of New Hampshire of the first general free public library law in the United States. The passage of this law in 1849 marked a major milestone in the development of the American public library. The New Hampshire law said in part: "Every public library ... shall be opened to the free use of every inhabitant of the town or city ... for the general diffusion of intelligence among all classes of the community ...". In 1872 Illinois passed a more comprehensive law allowing for the establishment of free public libraries. Both state laws served as models for other states. The New Hampshire version of a public library law was sometimes referred to as the "short" law while the Illinois law was referred to as the "long" law. Although Massachusetts passed a special law authorizing the creation of the Boston Public Library in 1848, it was not until 1851 that a general public library law was passed by that state. New Hampshire is also home of the Peterborough Town Library which is generally considered to be the first tax supported free public library in the nation. It was established in 1833. One of the major short comings of almost all state public library laws is that they are permissive. The establishment of public libraries by a community is normally a voluntary action. The result is that 160 years after the passage of the New Hampshire free public library law there are millions of American without access to free public library service. I'm pleased to have been part of public library development in several states that have achieved universal access to free public library service. Elizabeth W. Stone's American Library Development 1600-1899 (H. W. Wilson Company, 1977), the primary source of this information, provides an excellent summary of early public library development in the United States. The envelope above was mailed in 1889, 40 years after the passage of the New Hampshire public library law.

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Countdown to ALA Chicago

July 5th, 2009

Next weekend (July 11-12) I will be in Chicago for the Annual Conference of the American Library Association. I'm looking forward to the conference with great anticipation. This will be the 34th annual conference that I have attended in my 40 years of continuous membership in ALA. My first conference was the 1969 conference in Atlantic City, NJ. This will also be the 9th annual conference I have attended in Chicago. I am especially pleased to be able to attend this conference since it will mark the 100th anniversary of ALA's headquarters being located in the City of Chicago. The most momentous annual conference that I attended in Chicago was the Centennial Conference in 1976.

This year I am looking forward to the activities of the Library History Round Table. Of special interest is the "New Perspectives in American Library History" program that will take place on July 12 at 1:30 p.m. in McCormick Place West Room W-192b. It will feature several outstanding library historians. There will be a library history exhibit "Art and Architecture in Illinois Libraries" in the McCormick West Convention Hall. The exact location of the exhibit is not finalized. It may be on Level One near the transportation center or on Level Three by the Auditorium. Kudos to Allen Lanham of Eastern Illinois University and others who developed this traveling exhibit. While in Chicago I plan to visit the Chicago Cultural Center, former Central Library of the Chicago Public Library, to view the recently restored dome of the building which features Tiffany glass. I would like to make it to the Newberry Library on this trip to see their Rudolph's Continuous Indexer. Tours of the Library are scheduled on Saturday's at 10:30 a.m. Of course, I plan to visit the most extensive library vendor exhibits in the world, and the social highlight will be the big Scholarship Bash at the Chicago Art Institute on Saturday evening. And most of all, I'm hoping to see old friends who have traveled part of this 40 year ALA journey with me.

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