Library Thinging

2008-07-20T15:28:00.000-07:00

Branch Musings; or Screaming for Circulation

2008-06-25T07:56:00.000-07:00

So today, I have to pick up a book I have on hold at the Mulberry Street Library, the newest branch in the NYPL system. Isn't it pretty? If that weren't enough, someone in library school told me that the Mulberry branch employees make a concerted effort to be nice, and that customer service is their goal. This seems like it should be a given, but it is shocking to visit other branches within the system--namely the Tompkin Square Branch--and always be either summarily dismissed or visually apprehended in an irritated fashion by the adult services librarian who always seems to be on duty there.

Their childen's librarian also seems to be on the point of irritation; I've seen her throw out a group of loud teens in a way that embarrassed me. There is a teen space carved out of the corner on the main level of the Tompkin's Branch but it doesn't feel like their "own space," and the books that surround it don't scream out to be circulated. I don't think there is a teen librarian on staff there. At least, it's not apparent that there is.

The Mulberry Street Library boasts a lavish teen room, lined with a plethora of well-chosen current titles. It almost makes me want to be a teen.

Library Thinging

2008-06-22T17:12:00.000-07:00

Tonight I added the first two books from my personal library to my Library Thing account. I used the "add manually" function, and really enjoyed engaging with Library Thing's interface. Tagging is fun, too, and I endorse Library Thing's seeming emphasis on tags over other established classification schemes. Still, I wish there were fields to enter subject headings like LCSH.

Library Thing's rather addicting and makes me think I could be a cataloger, although I've only taken one cataloging class in library school.

I wonder what I will discover about my book collection by cataloging it.

Besides my personal library of "grown-up books," I also want to catalog the hundreds of children's books that also live in this apartment.