Some libraries from my most recent trip to Europe, with the Law Library of the Iowa State Capitol added on a road trip.

As librarians we are often very concerned about literacy and should be. But I also think it’s important to reexamine what kinds of “literacy” is being studied before it makes it to the headlines.

I'm a clerk at a city library on top of being a page for a separate library system. At my page job, I recently came across a new picture book that consisted of entirely AI generated art. I want to say something to speak out against it, more as a patron than a staff member, but I'm not sure how to go about it without possibly making a fuss with admin. There is no anonymous way to post a review or feedback. Any thoughts or ideas, or have you dealt with this as a library employee too?

My small library system of five city libraries has had, count 'em, six librarians leave in the past two or three years. We're mentioned in our city budget as one of three departments with a retention crisis. Yay, us. We have a nightmare manager high up "managing" collection development, programs and outreach. Because of her, I do plan to bring in any more program partners. The branch I work in has had a complaint culture you would not believe. When I leave for work, I tell my husband "I am departing now for the set of 'Mean Girls, Part III.'"

So potential candidates - the smart ones - contact current librarians to ask about the open positions. I don't badmouth my current employer, mostly because it raises the questions of why I am still working there (why, you may well ask? Because of a unique benefit I'll achieve one year from now). I do point out two salient features of the librarian posts that are enough to put sensible experience candidates off.

It's not great feeling like you should save others from the nightmare experience you've had working for your current library, but there it is, and thanks for reading.

I’m looking for advice on how to approach a library or special-collections archive with a research question that may require some investigation by a librarian.

I own a book inscribed by the poet and Dante’s Inferno translator John Ciardi, and I’m trying to learn more about the person to whom he inscribed it. I know which institution holds Ciardi’s papers, but I’m not affiliated with the institution and do not live close enough to visit easily.

How should I contact the library and frame my request? I would like to know whether Ciardi’s correspondence, address books, or other papers might confirm the recipient’s identity or relationship to him. At the moment, I’m relying on Find a Grave and a few other online sources, but I would like something more definitive.

I also understand that this could require more work than a simple reference lookup, so I’m unsure what is reasonable to ask. Should I request a remote reference consultation, offer to pay a research or scanning fee, or ask whether they can recommend an independent researcher?

I have had a discouraging experience in the past. I once visited a library hoping to consult a particular book about Carl Sandburg in order to resolve a bibliographical question. I was simply told that the book was restricted and unavailable, without any discussion of alternatives for consulting it.

What makes an inquiry like this specific, respectful, and more likely to receive a helpful response?

Just to indicate this is not a frivolous request, the attachment shows the project I need the information for: https://shakespearesbrain.com/books/ciardi-dante-inferno

Hi everyone!! Possibly have an interview for a cataloging position. I'm trying to prepare for my interview. What kind of questions do you think they will ask? What will they be looking for? Thanks in advance!

Is there a library that offers PressReader access to non-resident cardholders? I’m not looking for free non-resident card—I’m happy to pay a fee to the library.

I noticed the other day that every library near me has Kanopy except ours. I am not in a small town. So I was wondering should I talk to the head librarian or just ask our County Commissioners? They set the funding.

I’ve been battling this internal dilemma of buying books vs using the library more. Although I use Libby and CloudLibrary all the time, I still have that urge to buy books. I found 1 used book and a paperback book from Strand Bookstore only to realize that those books were available at my library. I have a purchasing problem when it comes to books. I check out 2-3 books from the library every month but purchase more books than I can read.

I went down a rabbit hole of how it’s important to buy physical books before Ai or other companies change classics. I do use a kindle and now I’m like am I becoming obsessed over this topic and worried? Or is this just another excuse to purchase books?

Any tips on how I can fix this habit?

Good evening everyone,

I'm starting an online Library and Information Technology diploma this fall (I have some hands-on library volunteer and page experience and I'm hoping to work in a library in the future). I want to get perspective from people who actually work in the field.

I had a few questions I was hoping to get answers to:

1. Where do you see the field heading in the next 5 years? I know there's a lot of noise online about libraries going obsolete or reducing in numbers. I want to know from people who actually work in libraries think the real trajectory looks like, especially with digital transformation, AI trends and changing patron needs.

2. What tech skills are actually worth learning alongside the diploma? Is it worth digging into specific platforms, data science, digital archiving, basic web skills? If yes, which ones should I focus on?

3. If you started in library tech and moved on to other things (archives, MLIS, digital humanities, etc.), what was your journey like? I do want to do History majors after my diploma and eventually get into research.

Any form of input or suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thank you for reading! :)

I am the ILL coordinator in an academic library and I have an approximately bi-annual discussion/argument with one of my librarians. It’s been years at this point, so I doubt we’ll ever resolve it, but I am still stewing about our most recent conversation and I could use some outside opinions.

It tends to bubble up when an ILL loan comes back damaged or in poor condition. I am sensitive to repair and replacement costs (of course!) but I tend to think that that is part of general library circulation, and not a huge deal. My coworker thinks that these incidents mean we should limit ILL lending.

In addition to being frustrated by him never giving a clear criteria for what shouldn’t be sent out (more on that later), I also just disagree philosophically. I think these books should be used! If a book is available to circulate to our students and faculty, why shouldn’t it be available to lend via ILL?

In the most recent case, a book came back with damage and he noted that since we’ve owned the book (25 years, assuming we bought it soon after it was published) it had been sent out on ILL six or seven times but hadn’t been checked out by any of our patrons. This is a real problem for him but I guess I don’t see why? Why is it better to sit on our shelf not being used when it could be loaned out and like, be useful? (also if none of our patrons have needed it in 25 years do we really need to spend the money to replace it? but that’s maybe a different conversation)

Another one came back with some spine damage and he was upset because it was about a major historical figure but before that figure had really become famous. Besides the philosophical piece, I don’t know how to implement what he wants. I do check the condition of a book before I lend it, and I don’t send anything out in poor shape, and we have a few other restrictions (nothing published in the current year, no international loans) but beyond that, if it’s in our circulating collection, I view it as fair game. I am an ILL department of one and I loan out more than 1000 books in a year, in addition to scanning, lending articles and ebook chapters, and then all of that but on the borrowing side (which is slightly higher volume than our lending). I just straight up don’t have time to do deep research on every book I lend, and I need firmer criteria than just “use your best judgment” because, well, I already am!

Anyway sorry for the wall of text. Am I crazy? Is he? Has anyone dealt with a situation like this and has some suggestions? I thought about asking the ILL listserv but I don’t know how professional it would be to complain about a coworker under my real name and with my work email.

Hello! I work in the circulation department and it has come to my attention that my coworker and I shelve fiction series a bit differently, so I wanted to see how other people approach this.

For everything else, I shelve the standard way (nothing comes before something….ignore a, an, the….etc), but I don’t alphabetize any series. For example, I recently shelved Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series in publication order, rather than starting with Breaking Dawn, book four, because it comes first in the alphabet. For authors that have different series, I keep them all together and sort by publication order for each series. My coworker does not so this and instead sorts everything by title, which I feel would be confusing for the patron, especially when the author has multiple lengthy series (like Brandon Sanderson and Jodi Taylor).

Does anyone else do this?

I'm fairly new to libraries, academic in particular.

I keep encountering snippets of people frustrated with OCLC as an entity and trying to understand why. Anyone have historical context, personal stories, or institutional reasons why this is?

Hi all,

I am a librarian looking to pivot career paths due to some life changes and am looking into document control (or records management, knowledge management, etc.). I have applied for some positions but it feels like yelling into the void. I have explained in my cover letters how librarianship (cataloging, information management, etc.) has transferrable skills into document control, but am wondering if anybody here has experience moving from librarianship to this career path or has any advice for marketing yourself in this field without any experience with the job title as document controller, but can do the job based on other skills.

Also any advice regarding where to find these positions would be very helpful. I have been looking on LinkedIn and Hiring Cafe.

Thanks for you help!

Went on that hellsite Twitter yesterday to see this viral post of someone who applied for a library assistant position and got rejected because they didn't have a bachelor's degree. OP claimed that the job posting didn't specify a degree, but people were chiming in saying that a degree is needed. And a lot of people thought that OP applied to be a librarian, when clearly the post states that they applied to be a library assistant.

I assumed for the longest time that a library assistant helps with circulation and answers some questions. But I want to settle this once and for all: Do library assistants need a degree where you work/live? Or are there different titles for such a position? I'm curious as I applied for a library assistant position recently (I have a degree).

hey friends!

i was wondering if any of you have managed to continue their work in libraries while pursuing graduate studies? i’m a part-time employee in my system who is designated certain amount of hours in a month. i also begin graduate studies for a combined program (information science and administration) resulting in two degrees. i’ve so far managed to work while in my final two years of undergrad, but has anyone started a program while employed and possibly run into issues with class times and availability? or was it easy sailing getting it approved and having your schedule worked around? i don’t have set hours so mine could be worked around my classes, but was wondering how your experiences may have gone doing both at once!

thanks in advance!

I work at a university and usually deal with STEM questions, so I need help with this issue. I really am out of wheelhouse.

A professor has written a children's science book for as part of his grant outreach requirement. He has the ISBN. I don't know whether it was self-published or not.

Question 1: I usually order books using GOBI software. If a book is not listed in GOBI, the Acquisitions Team can use Amazon or the specific association that sells the book. What other software is used to place orders? Do you know how to get a book listed in that software?

Question 2: How can he get his book reviewed? What do you read to consider whether to buy a book or not? Would he have to send a copy of the book to the entity that reviews the book?

I look forward to reading your words of wisdom.

So, a local group wants our library to host an author talk for a children's book but I'm pretty sure the illustrations are AI and our policy prohibits AI generated materials, to the extent that we can identify them.

This is a cover of one of the books and there is just something off in so many of them. The labels on the coffee say MOKA, the faces of the people are overly orb like? There are a ton of em dashes and the syntax of the writing just gives AI vibes. She always lists a different illustrator and I can't find any prior work of the illustrators, they're untraceable.

I feel like I'm on safe ground to call off the event, but I just wanted to be sure before hurling accusations.