The Bibliosmiles Revisited

January 18th, 2012 by Larry T. Nix No comments »
I wrote an earlier post about Charles Lummis and "The Bibliosmiles", an organization designed by group of librarians who probably had too much time on their hands at the 1906 American Library Association Narragansett Pier (RI) Conference. In doing some research on ALA's centennial I came across "ALA Centennial Vignette No. 9" in American Libraries for February, 1976. The vignette was about the Bibliosmiles and was written by Ed Gleaves, at the time Director of the School of Library Science at George Peabody College in Nashville, TN. Gleaves wrote about the first meeting of the Bibliosmiles at the 1907 ALA Conference in Ashville, NC where the organization was officially founded. The organization's motto was "To keep the Book Dust off our Top Shelves" and its password was, "Cheer Up, ALA". Their official seal is shown to the left. The officers, who included some heavy hitters in ALA, gave themselves some interesting titles: John Cotton Dana was the Grand Ha Ha; Tessa L. Kelso was Minehaha; W. P. Cutter was Sardonic Grin; Adelaide R. Hasse was Big Stick; Samuel S. Green was Supt. of Edification; Joseph F. Daniels was Glad Hand; F. K. W. Drury was Subdued Snicker; E. L. Pearson was Main Guy; and Charles F. Lummis was Grim Reality. Grim Reality spoke first at their meeting at the conference according to Gleaves - "Mr. Chairman: In our profession, even more than in most, we must accept Civilization. In our profession, as much as in any, we need to take it with reservation .. We have to catch, ourselves young, and organize against the Habit of Huddling... The whole tendency of civilization is to run together in an indistinguishable mess. We must Get Together, to Keep ourselves Apart... ." Later in his presentation Grim Reality makes a surprisingly serious point for an organization founded in humor, "I wish to call your attention further to the fact that, while ladies have their full share of library positions, they have never been admitted to those serious and subterranean councils in which the real fate of the ALA is determined. With the highest regard for the generic wisdom of this convention, I respectfully submit that there ARE women fully worthy to share our efforts to retain humanity in the libraries... ." In an essay titled "Adelaide Hasse: The New Woman as Librarian" in the book Reclaiming the American Library Past: Writing the Women In edited by Suzanne Hildenbrand (Ablex Publishing, 1996), Clare Beck wrote the following about the participation of Hasse and Kelso in the Bibliosmiles: "Among librarians, Hasse and Kelso's liveliness stood out to an extent that they were chosen as two of the three women members of the Bibliosmiles, a mildly rowdy organization founded by their old friend from Los Angeles, the flamboyant Charles Lummis, as a refuge from the solemnity of ALA meetings. The Bibliosmiles, 'Librarians who are Nevertheless Human' dedicated to 'keeping the dust off our top shelves,' specialized in comic songs and speeches, but the group was also a meeting place for some of the iconoclasts of the library world, men like Lummis and John Cotton Dana, who thought highly of Hasse and reinforced her belief that libraries could be a vital and innovative part of progressive change." Gleaves notes in his article that by 1911, "The Biblioshmiles, being human, were soon to pass into history, and with them went their dream of laughter, their irresistible protest against undue solemnity in the profession of librarianship. A rally of librarians to be remembered, they are largely forgotten - the final grim reality." And so, lest we forget.

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Camp Merritt (NJ) Libraries in WWI

January 17th, 2012 by Larry T. Nix No comments »


During World War I the American Library Association as part of its Library War Service operated a camp library and a hospital library at Camp Merritt in New Jersey. Reading materials for soldiers were also available at other locations in the camp. I have a collection of postcards produced by ALA that features the libraries of the Library War Service, but I also have postcards of other library venues. The two postcards above show the library in the Enlisted Men's Club of Camp Merritt and the library in the Recreation Room of the Red Cross House at Camp Merritt. Both libraries appear to be well stocked and well used. ALA cooperated fully with other organizations in providing reading materials in camps.

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USF Book Club: February and March Selections

January 14th, 2012 by Kelci No comments »

Howdy! The USF Book Club picked its next two selections:

Friday, February 17, 2012 (12-1 pm): Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

How to get the book: Request it through Link+ (it’s in high demand right now, so you might need to get creative with how you request it — large print, as a double edition, etc.), get it at SF Public, or check out our Kindle or one of our iPads to read it digitally.

Meet us in the seminar room of Gleeson Library (#209)

Friday, March 16, 2012 (12-1 pm): The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

How to get the book: Request it through Link+ or get it at SF Public. Unfortunately it is not available in e-format.

Since we like to read books of all genres, we decided to do a children’s book, and that’s why we chose Hugo Cabret, considering the recent attention the book has received due to the movie.

For this meeting, we’ll be on the third floor of the library — room 314.

Are you wondering about the Book Club? Click on over to our wiki page where most of your questions will be answered. Or, send an email to kbaughmanmcdowell@usfca.edu to sign up for the mailing list.


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The Public Libraries of Providence, RI

January 14th, 2012 by Larry T. Nix No comments »

 
Today is the 125th anniversary of the birth of Clarence Edgar Sherman (1887-1974) who was associated with the Providence Public Library for 35 years and served as its Librarian from 1922 to 1957. Sherman helped build up the branch library system of the Providence Public Library and oversaw the  major expansion of the central library which took place in 1954. The occasion of Sherman's birthday prompted me to take a closer look at the Providence Public Library which is a not-for-profit corporation governed by a Board of Trustees. In doing so I discovered that in 2009 the Trustees basically jettisoned the branch libraries because of economic woes and the Providence Community Library was created to save the branch libraries in Providence. I'm pretty sure that Clarence turned over in his grave at this point. It was only last month that an agreement was reached on the transfer of ownership of the branch libraries to the City of Providence to be operated by the Providence Community Library. The Providence Public Library continues to administers what was previously the central library. That library serves as a statewide resource library. The Providence Public Library has a nice history of the library and some historical highlights on its website. I'm impressed with the Providence Public Library's Early Literacy Learning program, and later this month it will dedicate a new Children's Discovery Library. I'm also a fan of "Notes for Bibliophiles", the blog for the Special Collections Department of the library. Back to Clarence Sherman who felt that "The best library is the library in which books are most carefully selected, which is well organized and operated, and which best meets local needs and standards." A sentiment that both Providence libraries should make note of. A couple of my Providence Public Library artifacts are shown above.

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Public Access to NIH Funded Research at Risk

January 13th, 2012 by Carol Spector No comments »

A controversial bill called the “Research Works Act” has been introduced in Congress. This bill would end the current policy (that has been in effect since 2008) that requires any research funded by the NIH be made freely available to the public via Pub Med Central one year after publication in a journal.

For reactions, see this ProPublica article and New York Times op-ed piece.

For the publishing industry’s perspective, see this statement from the Association of American Publishers.

Text of the bill is available here.


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