USF Bloggers Planet

The library cover story for October on The Library History Buff website involves a letter and envelope relating to the formation of the Newburyport Public Library in Massachusetts. Josiah Little founded the library in 1854. This cover was mailed to him from Boston by Samuel Swett on June 27, 1854. The cover is an example of a folded letter where the letter is folded in such a way that it also serves as an envelope. In the letter, Swett, an author who was born in Newburyport, provides Little with advice on the formation of the library. Little's original intent was evidently to form a subscription library, but Swett points out the advantages of establishing a public library supported by the City of Newburyport and the adjacent towns. Massachusetts passed a a general law providing for the establishment of free public libraries in 1851. Newburyport was one of the first ten public libraries established under the new law. The library was opened to the public in 1855, one year after the Boston Public Library opened to the public. A history of the library can be found here.

October is American Archives Month and National Stamp Collecting Month. One of the areas of postal librariana that I have been collecting for a number of years is archives and archivists on postage stamps. Hans Krol, a fellow collector, has assisted me in developing a list of these stamps. I also collect postage stamps that depict libraries and librarians. There is a much more extensive list of these stamps that I hope to eventually place on the Library History Buff website. Hans is a major contributor to this list also. I would like to see more archives, archivists, libraries, and librarians depicted on postage stamps. I am particularly frustrated that although some individuals with a library connection have been depicted on United States stamps that no person has been depicted on a stamp because of their role as a librarian. As we go through October, I plan to highlight more examples of postal librariana as a way of celebrating two great enterprises - archives and stamp collecting.

each month, RCCS Reviews pumps out free, full-length reviews of books about contemporary media and culture. this month, RCCS Reviews features 8 reviews of 5 books with 3 author responses!

books of the month for october 2009 are:


20 Questions About Youth & the Media
Editor: Sharon R. Mazzarella
Publisher: Peter Lang, 2007
Review 1: Molly Swiger

Cyborgs and Barbie Dolls: Feminism, Popular Culture and the Posthuman Body
Author: Kim Toffoletti
Publisher: I.B. Tauris, 2007
Review 1: M. Beatrice Bittarello
Review 2: Birgit Pretzsch
Review 3: Nicholas Yanes
Author Response: Kim Toffoletti

Instant Identity: Adolescent Girls and the World of Instant Messaging
Author: Shayla Thiel Stern
Publisher: Peter Lang, 2007
Review 1: Andrea J. Baker
Author Response: Shayla Thiel Stern

Knowledge as a Commons: From Theory to Practice
Editor: Charlotte Hess, Elinor Ostrom
Publisher: MIT Press, 2007
Review 1: Colette Wanless-Sobel
Author Response: Elinor Ostrom and Charlotte Hess

Queer Girls and Popular Culture: Reading, Resisting, and Creating Media
Author: Susan Driver
Publisher: Peter Lang, 2007
Review 1: Lisa Justine Hernández
Review 2: Alison Miller-Slade

enjoy. there's a wee bit more where that came from.

flickr assignment for digital media production

1. by now, all of you have a flickr account. you know how to create sets and tag photos in flickr.

2. visit keri smith's everything i've consumed today. spend some time with it. consider sharing it with a friend, roommate, or classmate and having a conversation about it.

3. for one whole day (or 24 hours), photograph everything you consume. upload your photos to flickr, create a set, provocatively title the set, and strategically tag the photos. use as few or as many photos as necessary to tell a compelling and comprehensive story about your one day's worth of consumption.

4. in doing this assignment, be responsible and exercise good judgement with what you do and do not document. keep it real, but also keep it smart.

5. once your flickr set is finished, thick tweet it, making sure to include a link in your tweet to your flickr set.

6. on tuesday, october 6, demo your flickr set in class. during your demo, encourage, listen for, and receive suggestions on how to make your flickr set even better. it is your responsibility to solicit feedback. if you have no new work to demo, do not come to class.

7. in a one page, single-spaced essay turned in at the beginning of class on thursday, october 8, discuss your project, making sure to address two topics: a) what you learned about your own consumption behaviors from doing this project; and b) how you changed, altered, or otherwise improved your project as a direct result of what one or more of your classmates said during demo day. failure to alter your project and discuss this alteration in your essay will set your grade back considerably. no late work accepted.

Buttons and bumper stickers are ideal for conveying short succinct messages. Here are a few buttons that promote Banned Books Week which runs from Sept. 26 to Oct. 3. These buttons are mostly from the Joel Robinson collection of buttons which is now part of my collection. To see more library related buttons click here.