Shakespeare Theatre stranded

The Shakespeare Theatre has had to move it's summer productions from their theater in Lower City Park due to the flooding. The Theatre is the building that looks like the Globe Theatre in the upper portion of the picture

Over the dam

It looks like the next few weeks (at least) are going to be fun. As it happens, I live up pretty high and not near any rivers and streams. Unlike many river towns, Iowa City's city center is built up above the river. In fact, most river property is university buildings (dumb, dumb, dumb--they are evacuating the Theater and Arts buildings as we speak), private property and commercial buildings. But most of Iowa City is above the river by quite a bit.

Well, last night at 8:30 the first water came over the spillway of the Coralville Dam. Here is today's Press Citizen: http://www.press-citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage

And here is a commentary from a colleague of mine in the cataloging department from the same paper:

New Flood Site

The University of Iowa has set up a blog to keep track of UI flood information.

http://uiflood.blogspot.com/

OOPS

The local paper today:

I have been a bad blogger-over a month! I need to put up an account of my trip (my 14th, I think) to MediaWest Con at the end of may, but right now Iowa City and Coralville are in imminent danger of flooding.

In 1993 we had our "100 year flood" and it looks like this may be worse. the pictures above are of the Coralville Dam--built by the Core of Engineers to "control" water flow down the Iowa River. It is expected that the water will go over the spillway (picture on the right) sometime today.

Cautionary tale on adding a pug (or any pet) to your home!

The website Urban Pug (see below or list of links) has had several recent posts on considerations that should be taken into consideration when looking to add a pug to your home. Today was an excellent post on the pitfalls of looking for a "free" pet--pugs or any other. Anyone who follows the animal cop shows on Animal Planet knows of the horrors of puppy mills and animal horders. If you want an adjusted and healthy pet, you should inform yourself and be prepared for the cost of adding to your family. In the areas of behavior and health, it is wise to consider your pet in the same category as your children. IMO, unless you are prepared to provide basically the same nurture to your pets as to your human children--consider a stuffed animal instead.

Libraries and Independent Publishing

On 3/20/08 at Melville House in New York there was a panel discussion held on The Future of Independent Publishing

The panel was shown on C-SPAN during BookTV this weekend (it will be shown again on Sunday at 11:15 AM).

During the Program Andre Schiffrin of Melville Books, talks to Jacob Stevens of Verso Books and Anthony Arnove of Haymarket Books about publishing contemporary political books and the future of independent publishing in general. The talk was hosted by Melville House in Brooklyn, NY.

Andre Schiffrin in particular commented on the failure of libraries (particularly academic libraries) to support the alternative/diverse/etc. publishing of books. This is happening at the same time that libraries are patting ourselves on the back that we are better serving the public (at any kind of library) by rapidly eliminating individual selection by subject specialists (part of the Library of Congress's recent plan of action for the future); buying materials in lots electronically and then blocking print purchase of the same items; etc.

Are these conflicting patterns really the way for libraries to fulfill our responsibility to not only preserve the past; serve the present and prepare for the future? What are we going to preserve if we ignore the present?

An auspicious day for pugs

It appears that 6 and 7 years ago, the 27th of March was an auspicious day for pugs. Three of my favorite sites (Urban Pug; Goodboy Norman Featherstone and Owned by Pugs--see links) are each celebrating a birthday in their midst. It may be gloomy and rainy where you are--it certainly is here!--but a happy birthday is always good for the spirits.

Are public libraries a drag on the public coffers?

Earlier this month a George Elmore wrote an opinion piece in the Gainesville Sun proposing that all money, staff and resources for public libraries in the state be cut and "repurposed". His main argument is that, according to his calculations, each visit to a public library costs $15.00 and that money would be better spent going back to the taxpayer. Below is the core of his argument--what do you think of his arguments?

http://www.gainesvillesun.com/article/20080303/OPINION03/803030303/-1/opinion

Pull the plug on the libraryBy GEORGE ELMORESpecial to The Sun March 2, 2008

Historically the public library has been a valued research institution, and has served that purpose admirably. But no more. With the advent of the Internet and Google, virtually no serious research is carried on in the library stacks.

Recreational reading? If not done online, then one can go to any of the big box bookstores and read to one's heart content and even have coffee.

Books to take home? They are almost free at Hospice, Goodwill, Pet Rescue and other charitable outlets. At garage sales on any Saturday, $5 will buy anybody a year's worth of recreational, if not educational, reading. I hardly need mention that twice a year the Friends of the Library sells thousands of books at 10 cents each.

No Internet access? This may be a problem for a tiny minority, but just a small portion of the library budget for a single year would purchase Internet-ready laptops for any and all who would qualify. If a person can make it to the library for access, I am sure he or she can make it to Starbucks or Books-A-Million for the link-up.

Libraries and our society

In the last week I saw two plays that celebrated the library (the PUBLIC library) as a place that is conducive to romance--She Loves Me and The Music Man. Then today in Heloise's column in the paper she discussed libraries as places of peace and quiet. Or at least that was the consensus of those she quoted:

Heloise column http://usweb04.newsmemory.com/ee/cedarrapidsgazette/default.php?token=373287360252590

Libraries no longer quiet places to relax, research
Dear Readers: We had a comment from a reader regarding how loud and disruptive her library was. We asked readers for their comments, and boy, oh boy, did they respond! Here are some of the remarks: . From Carol, via e-mail: “From childhood through adulthood I have been an avid library patron. Libraries used to be quiet places. We were taught in school to use our quiet, indoor voices while attending the library. I now find that the library is a noisy place where it is hard to concentrate.” . From Meena, via e-mail: “I feel it is up to the library staff to keep the library quiet. I do not think that patrons who come to read in the library should be moved to a quiet area just because there are inconsiderate people making noise. The noisemakers should be moved to a special area — outside the library!” . From Junior, via e-mail: “When I was growing up, I rode my bicycle to our smalltown library to read and check out my favorite books. The librarian was always helpful, and it was always as quiet as a deserted church. Now I find adults who are talking loudly on cell phones, ignoring signs not to. There were carloads of kids being dropped off and then proceeding to run around like it was the local jungle gym. Now I do my research on the Internet and buy books at the bookstore.” . From Sally, via e-mail: “Public libraries are for all people, if they adhere to the rules. Why should a library have to set aside a separate, specific quiet area? The entire library should be an oasis of calm and peace for study or enjoyment of the offered materials. The serious library patrons are entitled to that.” Write to: Heloise , P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 782795000 or fax to 210-HELOISE .

This was interesting to me since I have some concern about the future of academic libraries and their services, but I have felt (and still feel) that public libraries are quite healthy. They may not be a tomb but they are far from being chaos.

Any opinions?