Hey I'm starting my job during Library Card Sign Up Month. I guess that's better than Pester Your Librarian Month. But really, isn't every month Pester Your Librarian Month? I wonder why the the press release doesn't have the URL on it? Maybe it won't fit on one line?

What do you do when you follow all the steps an organization gives you to avoid spam and you still wind up getting some? You ask a lot of questions. Emma Jane details her back and forth with ALA about junk mail she received when they sold her name to mailing lists before she had a chance to set her communications preferences at all. Upshot? Her name and address were sold before she even got her membership card and could login to set her preferences. Uncool.

PATRIOT Watch: Library cartoon. And not the one we already all know about.

Dear editor, do you really think no one has ever written a newspaper story about a library and used the phrase "checking out" in the headline? Austin TX seeks their own Big Beautiful Library, with retail space. [ thanks alisha ]

If reading banned books were really that scandalous, no one would admit it. Me? I read porn -- among many other things; where's my t-shirt? [ thanks jenn ]

When does "own" not mean own? When you own an ebook, of course. Smart talk from the shifted Librarian.