south hadley

The South Hadley Public Library was built in 1906 with a $10,000 grant from Andrew Carnegie. Located in the southern part of town knows at the Falls, the original building was designed by a local resident who worked for Putnam & Cox. The building is a typical Carnegie library T-shaped design, which is normally: a central entry hall and two wings (which make up the cross portion of the T), and a stack wing poking out the back (the vertical bit or tail of the T). But due to the very narrow, tapering shape of the site, the T-shape was turned around, and symmetrical entries were located at the inside corners, at the joints in the T-shape. This means the tail of the T faces forward, and instead of housing the stacks, this is the front, with a large bay window, opening onto the reading room.

In the 70s, a large addition was put on, but due to local budget constraints, was not sized to meet the 20 year need--as is the norm with pubic library design--but cut in half to meet the 10 year need. The library is extremely busy and well used by the residents. South Hadley is right across the Connecticut River from Holyoke, and as a suburb, has a large population. South Hadley is also home to Mount Holyoke College, which may help to explain the large computer use in the library.

My office was just selected to assist the library with a feasibility study and an application to the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners Construction Grant program.

There is another public library in town, the Gaylord Memorial Library, located in the north part of town, across the street from Mount Holyoke. The Gaylord Library actually predates the Carnegie Library, and is (I think) privately held by a corporation, and open to the public.

the story of libraries i

I've been pounding through Fred Lerner's The Story of Libraries: From the Invention of Writing to the Computer Age for a few week now; interesting but not riveting is how I'd put it. Some books just can't be put down, while others can, and are. I'm not finding fault mind you. The material is interesting, but this is, after all, a history book, about a subject that I am interested in, but nevertheless, its a little dusty at the beginning.

The story starts, as the subtitle suggests, with speculation about the earliest forms of writing, which no longer exist, and then moves on to cuneiform tablets, of which many examples still exist. Amazingly, these tablets were stood on end, packed tight together, and the ends held simple index data so information could be retrieved. Many of these tablets contain state information such as records of sales, rules and regulations, etc. These early 'libraries' sound more like files to me, although there are some examples of story-like information being recorded on multiple tablets, that could therefore be considered 'books'. So, like I said, interesting.

I'm a little past the halfway point, and we're just beginning to get into the advent of what we would consider the modern public library. I was interested to learn that earlier libraries were opened to the 'public' but only some of the public. Another fun fact: what really happened to the library at Alexandria? No, I'm not going to tell you, you'll just have to read it.

More later!

beijing 2008

A simple tilt to the left or right, alternates the picture between the text and logo, and photos of athletes doing their stuff, and getting there rewards. I'm so easily amused. There are more amazing ways to use those little plastic corduroys that coat these shifty little images, by the two image switch is the old stand-by. Reminds me of Cracker Jack.

Lenticular lens images can do all kinds of stuff, from slowly morphing one image into another, to layering, giving a three dimensional effect, to moving images as the substrate is tilted. I've got one other lenticular image bookmark, which I got at the ALA Midwinter, 2010 conference in Boston. I made collage of the bookmarks I got there, and the lenticular is at the bottom left; its from Watson Label Products.

I didn't see much of the Beijing 2008 Olympics. We haven't had a television for a number of years, and that's one of the things I miss. The official website for Beijing 08 is still up! Usain Bolt from Jamaica was the big story, running the 100 meters a few tenths faster than his own record, winning the gold medal is 9.69 seconds. I do remember seeing that race.

how to train your dragon

How to Train Your Dragon, by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, translated from the Old Norse by Cressida Cowell, is of course, the book on which the recent movie of the same name is based. I've had this book in the house for a couple of years. I bought it thinking my son might like to read it, or have me read it to him, but I think he felt that it was too young for him. Now that he's seen the movie, maybe he'll change his mind.

Seeing the movie is what made me pull this book out again. I had read the first chapter or so when I bought it, and didn't remember the story starting the way the movie did. (No spoilers from me, except for the hard core folks who are thinking; Hey man, telling me they're different is a spoiler. If you're that, guy, this review isn't for you.) Anyway, I read through the whole thing, and you can see the parts that inspired the movie, but its pretty loose. I don't think you could even have an effective was-the-book-better-than-the-movie conversation, they are so disparate. That's not a bad thing. Your grandma, and my grandma may both make chicken soup, and the only ingredients they share may be the chicken, but both soups can still be good, right?

That's the case, here. I enjoyed both the book and the movie. Stories of a boy growing up, and trying to live up to the expectations of those around him, even if those expectations seem higher and grander than he could ever achieve. You know, even with dragons.

This book is obviously aimed at the younger end of the young adult market, but makes for a fun read. I think it would be perfect to read to a 8 or 9 year old, but maybe not in too a close proximity to the movie, as they are so different.