A truly magical place

Did you know there's a library just for magicians in the heart of New York City?  You really can find anything there.  Check out this article about the Conjuring Arts Research Center.

Getting past Writer's Block

It's not only me!

Here's a link to a blog post with 10 straightforward tips to overcome writer's block.

My personal favorite tip for getting over writer's block is to stop feeling sorry for myself, sit down, and write.  For me "writer's block" is just my excuse for not getting the job done.  It's my literary Camille dying on the divan moment.  So check out these tips or give yourself a good shake.  And then get that, pen, pencil, or keyboard moving ... that novel, memo, or blog post isn't going to write itself, you know!!

Programming Tips

Okay, so I am not now, nor will I (probably) ever be, a youth services librarian.  But the Teen Librarian Toolbox is a great resource wherever you work.  And if you're involved in programming you need to read this article.  It's chock full of great advice on selecting, booking, and coping with library performers.

Genealogy Time

The RootsTech Genealogy Conference was held last week in Salt Lake City.  For all of us who missed it, here are a few articles hitting some of the highlights.
Just getting started?  This article is for you. 
Check out this article for 10 fun family history activies to do with your family.
Have you ever considered your smart phone as a genealogy tool?  This article gives tips for using your phone to record family history interviews.

iPad course for librarians

Oh, do I wish I had an iPad.  For those of you who do check out this online course.  The Book as iPad App is taught by Nicole Hennig and helps librarians become familiar with specific book apps.  Sounds like a great course.

If you build it they will come

Here's a great article from the New Republic about the future of libraries and library architecture that reflects the changing relationship between people and libraries.

Libraries, Makerspaces, and Cory Doctorow

Follow this link to a great post at the Raincoast Books Blog by author Cory Doctorow defending libraries and offering some really exciting suggestions for the future of libraries as makerspaces.  I especially liked this:

"That is to say that society has never needed its librarians, and its libraries, more. The major life-skill of the information age is information literacy, and no one's better at that than librarians. It's what they train for. It's what they live for."

and this:

"Damn right libraries shouldn't be book-lined Internet cafes. They should be book-lined, computer-filled information-dojos where communities come together to teach each other black-belt information literacy, where initiates work alongside noviates to show them how to master the tools of the networked age from the bare metal up."

Doctorow makes a great argument for libraries to create makerspaces and help people bridge the digital divide.