Library Stuff

Blah, blah, blah, stereotype, blah, blah, blah.

"In The Case of the Missing Books: A Mobile Library Mystery (the first in a series), Northern Irish writer Ian Sansom introduces us to a wonderful lead character in Israel Armstrong. He’s pudgy, frumpy, a little boorish, and bookish. Well, of course, he’s bookish, he’s a librarian … from North London, sent to work in a small Northern Ireland town. Israel also is a Jew in a country polarized by Christian faiths."

I’ve never noticed this before. Apparently, Google Blog search is indexing articles from Westlaw which clearly are not blogs. Most of this stuff comes from the NYT.

How odd and not very useful. They also seem to be indexing alerts set up on Westclips. Even more useless.

Yesterday, I returned 3 overdue books to my local library. As I handed the 10 dollar bill over to the clerk, I thought:

I wonder if she will DDR-off me for it.

Then the thought quickly subsided as there was a long line behind me whose attendees wanted to check their books out and go home. But what if there wasn’t a line…

Truth be told, I’d rather pay the fines than try to get out of them by winning a contest. I see nothing wrong with “Food for Fines”, because this gives back to the community. Also, paying fines adds a sense of duty to the borrower of the material. Teens (or adults for that matter) will think, heck, I don’t have to return this book on time because I know that I have the fastest legs in the west and could kick the beans out of the teen librarian at DDR. Paying overdue fines is also one of the most important fund-raising activities for many cash-strapped libraries across the country.

Last, there’s an socio-economic issue at hand. In low income areas where DDR is not available in every household, how fair is it to the person who doesn’t have the time nor the tools to practice to beat the librarian. Example: Two teens walk into the library. One is middle class and has been playing DDR for a few years. The other can’t afford DDR and has no experience with it, other than trying it out at the library a few times (note: I see nothing wrong with video games at libraries). Both owe $5 in overdue fines, but only one has the skills (skillz?) to beat the librarian, who of course, is pretty good himself.

Libraries are equalizers and “DDRing” off for a chance to waive fines is not. Doing so will cause a rift between those who have and those who don’t. So, play DDR, Wii, SL, etc. But don’t make a competition out of paying overdue fines.

Also, if teens (or adults!) are misbehaving, why reward them with video games, or something else they love to do? I’ve only been a parent for 4 years, but I know that if Hallie misbehaves, she is less likely to do so again if she doesn’t get to play her favorite game for an hour or two.

Rochelle should get a kick out of this one.

Brian Smith links to Get a First Life. Hilarious.

My cousin, Eric Komar is a genius. Not only does he speak a slew of languages, but he’s an amazing musician. His songs, half of which are in Hebrew, focus on contemporary Jewish issues with a tinge of the traditional.

His second CD, Two Life, is being released next week at a launch party in NJ and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. Having heard a few tracks, I have to say that this will be a huge hit in the Jewish community. My mom just e-mailed me an article about Eric and his work:

“The concert will not only help launch Mr. Komar’s new compact disc, “Two Life,” but will help raise money for brain cancer research.”

“I knew I wanted to celebrate the release of the CD, and because the temple community has considered me like family, I wanted to give back by making the concert a combination,” Mr. Komar said.”

Good on ya, Eric. See you next weekend.