Mercedes Benz Commercial

You are probably thinking, “huh?”  Well it isn’t often you find commercials taking place inside a library, but this one does.  I want to apologize in advance to any blonde readers, since this commercial is not what you might refer to as politically correct.  The thing is it could have been just as funny if a teenager wearing a mohawk played the central role and the advertiser found another way to tie it to their product.

Bill Clinton Library Spoof

For those of you who are politically inclined, this is in honor of Hillary Clinton’s run for the presidency and the speech she gave last night at the Democratic National Convention.

I voted for Clinton twice and thought he was a good president.  I even took a vacation, by myself, to Little Rock, Arkansas, to see his library for myself. 

I think Bill would laugh at this attempt to poke fun at him.

Library Thieves

I think it’s fair to say most libraries don’t like making their patrons angry.  They are funded with tax dollars and see themselves as community resources.

This woman, Heidi Dalibor, from Grafton, Wisconsin, does make me angry.  She checked out two books and didn’t return them.  She ignored 4 notices from the library, 2 phone calls, and 2 letters.  So what should the library have done?

In this case they forwarded the case to the local Sheriff’s Office who issued a citation for failure to return the books that included a court date.

Did Ms. Dalibor show up for court?  Nope.  She truly thought she was above the law so she ignored every notice she ever received.  She didn’t think they could arrest her so why waste precious time with such trivialities?  Um, notice the big smile on her face?

She was wrong, and the sheriff did arrest her, although they took heat for doing so.

But the kicker is that she still won’t return the books because she believes she’s already paid for them!  I’m sorry, but this is exactly what’s wrong with this country today.

Computer Perfection

I’m a retired librarian, keep that in mind!  As a public servant there were too many times when I had to hold my tongue and times when I simply had to go outside and scream to release the stress.

How I wish we could have employed some of these on our computer system:

My favorite?  The one about adult entertainment.

Libraries and the FBI

I hope you have all been paying attention because, according to the Patriot Act, the FBI can stroll into your local public library and request to see any records they may have on your reading and/or Internet searching habits.  Most libraries try very hard to keep only limited information so they won’t have much to offer should the FBI show up. 

Also of note, libraries are not allowed to tell you the FBI has been there snooping around.  For that reason, libraries have come up with some ingenious solutions to this problem. 

Although a bit subtle, if you are paying attention, this sign would tell you everything you needed to know:

You might think this is no longer happening, but you’d be wrong.  This article from Wired Blog Network tells you all you need to know about how the government is secretly collecting information on innocent Americans.

Promoting Your Public Library

I love this video and what the very creative folks at Columbus (Nebraska) Public Library have done to get the word out about their library.  According to their website, Columbus is a small city of 21,000 yet they have produced something truly amazing.