Author: jessamyn

Buffalo/Erie County PL opinion

Posted on by jessamyn

I sent around some email about the Buffalo PL crisis yesterday and got this interesting note back from a Buffalo non-librarian resident.

The library closing here is political brinkmanship by the county executive. He wants an increase in the sales tax but has to go through this. It might happen to some extent, for a brief period of time. They are threatening to close the zoo, the symphony, etc. You know those things that the middle class and weathly have come to expect. There is a legitmate question as to whether there are too many libraries with the reduced population. But that is a different question requiring a different discussion…. The church we are attending, along with others, are aggressively advocating on behalf of the libraries.

libraries in Buffalo are more popular than ever, so why are they closing?

Posted on by jessamyn

You can’t put it more plainly than this “After January 1, 2005: Your Library Will Close” Buffalo and Erie County NY libraries are looking at 80% budget cuts. They have very good advocacy pages set up like this “contact your legislature” page, but is it too late? I know that sometimes libraries consider closing [along with turning off the OPAC] as a tactic to raise awareness of funding cuts and their affect on libraries, but having a budget that is cut 80% really does seem like an irrecoverable budget slashing, doesn’t it? The budget is being debated and acted on this week, contact your local officials. As a side note, do you know why the county needs more money? It’s not because citizens are getting a tax break, it’s to cover rising Medicare costs.

librarian.net book and product review policy

Posted on by jessamyn

More and more lately, I get books in the mail. I thought it was about time I had some sort of stated policy about this. My FAQ nonwithstanding, if you have a book you think I would like to read, feel free to drop me a line if you actually know who I am and can explain why you think I would like it. I’ve read many books I’ve gotten from colleagues and strangers alike (Tara’s Web Search Garage is the one outstanding because I keep using it) and have put reviews up on my book review page. If I discuss anything in this blog that could possibly be seen to have a “go out and buy this” implication attached to it, I will clearly state that I got a free review copy or was contacted by the author or publisher about the book, either here or in the review. Exceptions to this are “current awareness” links to things I read about on other blogs — Library Elf comes to mind — if I also hear from the publisher/company, I might neglect to mention that fact if it’s not germane to why I’m linking to it. That said, here’s my policy, such as it is, which I’ll link to the FAQ.

librarian.net review and promotions policy

  • If you would like to send me a review copy, please email me and tell me why you think I would like it. I prefer short succinct messages to copied and pasted press releases. I delete 9 out of 10 copied and pasted press releases.
  • I cannot guarantee I will read every book I get. I have read about half of the books I have gotten so far. If you do not want to send me a book unless I read/review it, please do not send it to me.
  • I have no review mechanism on any of my sites for reference works, magazines, movies, or software. Unless there is some very specific library angle — better than “librarians should buy this for their libraries” — do not send me these.
  • You can keep the promo materials that get sent with review copies, I tend not to read them. Do not put me on an announcement list. Do not add me to any mailing list without my explicit permission.
  • Reviews, if I read the book, good or bad, will be posted to my book review page, not on librarian.net. I will mention, as I usually do, where I got the book. Reviews will rarely contain links to other web sites.
  • Unless I have contributed to a book or the author is a good friend of mine, I practically never make new book announcements on these pages and I don’t intend to. I do not otherwise publicize books here except in rare cases.
  • There are “buy this book” links on my reviews pages that go to Powell’s. I receive a small associate fee if you purchase items using these links which I think is 7% of the purchase price. In the lifetime of this program, the links have brought in about a hundred bucks total. Powell’s is not the cheapest online bookstore, but they are worth supporting, in my opinion. However, please consider the library as your first option.
  • I accept no payment of any kind for anything on this site with the exception of rare specific promotions that are clearly marked, such as the “buy this bumpersticker” auction. The site is hosted for free on ibiblio’s servers and updated during non-work time using free software. If you feel the need to contribute, send me links, or a postcard and/or unused [preferably interesting] postage that I can use to send out my postcards.
  • If my rules are too rigid, or this is not what you were looking for, you may want to consider bookslut, bookzen or biblioblog.

Here are some examples of reviews of books that have been sent to me:
The Anarchist in the Library by Siva Vaidhyanathan,
The Flame Tree by Richard Lewis,
Codex by Lev Grossman.

updated 30dec07