Hi. I hear that there are six “lady bloggers” at the DNC but like much else at this point, it’s just so much hearsay. I plan to use this opportunity to, among other things, answer “reference” questions about the whole event in case anyone is interested. I’m overwhelmed even thinking about it, so back to the daily parade of links.
reading “at risk”
Please keep in mind that any non-fiction you read last year would not have been counted as “literary reading” for the purposes of the NEA’s Reading at Risk report that has been getting a lot of discussion lately. While I think it’s really important to try to raise a nation of readers, creating distinctions like “literary reading” and then handwringing over its decline as if it were reflecting an actual drop in literacy [it isn’t] seems disingenous and divisive. I’d like to see the NEA take on the incredible backwardness of No Child Left Behind to see what effect incredible testing pressure in schools has on kids’ interest in reading for fun. Or do some statistical analysis into how many Americans feel they have time to do anything for fun lately. [thanks eoin]
librarians for kerry-edwards
I would be remiss at this juncture if I did not mention the Librarians for Kerry-Edwards Yahoo group that has been picking up steam lately. In the interests of full disclosure I’d like to say that while the Kerry-Edwards ticket has my support, Kucinich or Dean were really who I was rallying for. I’ve embraced national level voting for tactical reasons lately. [thanks kathleen]
back to the porn grind
So, back to one of my favorite kind of stories: Adult web site run by University of Washington students apparently uses UW rooms and buildings for backdrops, specifically the Suzzallo library which used to house the library school back when I was there. I can’t find any actual shots that seem to be in the library though. If you can, drop me a line. [lisnews]
Institution’s Many Rare Works Included the Librarian Himself …
RIP J. William Matheson, LoC rare book librarian, who got his Masters in Librarianship at UW — same as me, same as where they are now making amateur porno.