The Desk Set

Bibliobeat March 13 / 2011

Mar 13

Sarah MurphyBibliobeat, Events from Other Orgs, Programs of Interest 1 Comment

More than Just Green Beer

The Irish and Irish American contribution to our culture is particularly felt in the literary world. As it turns out, there are better ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s expulsion of the snakes than dressing up in green and getting your drink on at an Upper East Side douchebagary. Reading books, for example. Or better yet: passing out free (!!) books to passersby.

The Irish Arts Center celebrates Irish Book Day 2011 by distributing literature by Irish and Irish-American writers, and they need your help. Here’s what they tell us:

Irish Arts Center is in need of a few good volunteers for our first annual Book Day event on March 17^th.  We’ll be sending teams of volunteers to each of the five boroughs to greet the public and distribute 10,000 free books by Irish and Irish American authors.  That’s a lot of books so we’re going to need a lot of help.

Volunteers are still needed at select locations in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx.

Essentially you’ll be an ambassador for a day, handing out books, chatting with the public and Book Day and the Irish Arts Center, as well as promoting Irish arts, culture, and literacy on the whole helping us reach New Yorkers of all ages and ethnicities.

Interested in helping out? Please call the Irish Arts Center at 212-757-3318 x 202, or e-mail Jen Browne at volunteer@irishartscenter.org

Beware the Ides of March

March 15th approaches, and it has me thinking of old Julius Caesar, which makes me think of Shakespeare, and that reminds me that the Royal Shakespeare Company is coming to NYC this summer. Which is cool under any circumstances, but the fact that they’re performing at the Park Avenue Armory makes it infinitely cooler. No, of course the tickets aren’t remotely affordable. But if you’re looking to splurge on live theatre, it sure beats Spiderman.

Check it: RSC at the Armory

Follow the Debate, Be a Part of the Solution

No matter your personal opinions on digital media, if you’re buying eBooks for a library collection, you need to understand the implications for your users. The recent decision by HarperCollins to limit eBook checkouts to 26 got me following Alycia Sellie’s take on it all, which lead me to learn more about her work on The Readers Bill of Rights for Digital Books. Alycia says:

We will be presenting the Readers Bill of Rights for Digital Books on April 1st at ACRL annual in Philadelphia. We’ll be discussing all of these issues and more. Right now we’re considering actions that could be taken then, and ways that we as librarians can collectively battle oppressive restrictions upon our right to read. I hope many librarians will be able to attend!

If you’ll be in Philly for ACRL, check out the April first presentation and report back. In the meantime, share your comments.

Image released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license. http://readersbillofrights.info

Next Week: Just Seeds and Books Through Bars Present:

VOICES FROM OUTSIDE

Stacks and Shelves and Rooms of Our Own

I like reading about libraries in journals and magazines meant for practitioners of other arts, particularly when they draw from our namesake movie for inspiration. For example James Murdock’s recent article from Architectural Record celebrating the past and future of library design.

In the past, a central aisle offered the only way to navigate through these buildings. In the future, users must be allowed to make their own paths. But rest assured, books will always be there in both paper and digital form. In a world where everything is digitized, there is knowledge to be gained from the simple, tactile act of holding a printed work.

Oh, and don’t miss the slide show.

Austrian National Library

Got something to include in the next Bibliobeat?

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