Kellogg-Hubbard Library, VT

The Kellogg-Hubbard Library in Montpelier, Vermont, was dedicated on January 2, 1896. The Classical Revival style building is built of light-colored granite from Dummerston, Vermont. The library is named for Martin M. Kellogg, a New York real estate baron who was born in Barre, Vermont, and his wife Fanny M. Hubbard Kellogg, a Montpelier native. The couple willed their money to build the library. Fanny's nephew John E. Hubbard at first contested the will, but in the end contributed $30,000 more toward the library than the will provided. The Kellogg-Hubbard Library continues as a vibrant center in Montpelier.

Can Libraries Keep Up?

Over the past three years, staff and material budgets for local libraries in the United States have been decimated by the government entities that fund them.  Yet a study by the American Library Association and the Gates Foundation found that over the past year, "Americans are making use of their libraries at steady or increasing rates" (The State of America's Libraries: A Report from the American Library Association). Can public libraries keep up with the demand for services and resources without the money to fund them?  I'm beginning to doubt it.

Internet stations in my local public library are installed with Microsoft Office 2003.  More and more customers are coming to the library with flash drives and documents more advanced than the library computers are able to handle.  There is no money for computer upgrades.  At what point will the library's  infrastructure become obsolete?

“Computer and Internet access at public libraries connect millions of Americans to economic, educational, and social opportunity each year, but libraries struggle to replace aging computer workstations and provide the high-speed Internet connections patrons need,” said Jill Nishi, deputy director of U.S. Libraries at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “As demand for these services rise, public and private investment to support public access technology at libraries is more critical than ever.” (From The State of America's Libraries.)

Where will this public and private investment come from?  We hear that the economy is improving, but as gas prices and rents are on the rise, salaries are not.  Neither are library budgets.  Even print materials are becoming outdated.  For example, the most recent edition of a book on blogging that I found in my library system was published in 2006.  I discovered that many of the links referenced in the book are now obsolete.  If public libraries aren't funded at a level that enables them to keep their resources current, will they ever be able to catch up? What do you think?

LitLinx (that's me!) celebrating Read Across America Day 2011.

Picture Books for National Library Week

National Library Week is an annual celebration that highlights the value of libraries and librarians. Join the 2010 celebration April 11 - 17 with a visit to your local library.  Here are ten picture books with a library theme to read with your kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews, or students.

Lola at the Library by Anna McQuinn
The Boy Who Was Raised by Librarians by Carla Morris
Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen
The Shelf Elf by Jackie Hopkins
Beverly Billingsly Borrows a Book by Alexander Stadler
Our Library by Eve Bunting
Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk
Bats at the Library by Brian Lies
Winston the Book Wolf  by Marni McGee

An American (Library) in Paris

Truth be told, there have been instances when I’ve heard librarians bemoan the existence of computers and the World Wide Web. But just this week I’ve experienced another positive to technology. Because of a google search, I made a discovery in Paris.

The American Library in Paris is not listed in any of the typical travel guides I consulted when planning my vacation. But as a librarian and a bibliophile, I wanted to visit a library in the City of Light. Google led me to the web page of the American Library in Paris, and on a recent afternoon I walked a few blocks north of the Eiffel Tower for a visit.

The American Library in Paris is an offshoot of the 1917 Library War Service, founded by the American Library Association, in which U.S. libraries shipped some 1.5 million books to American service personnel during World War I. Alan Seeger, a celebrated poet, was killed in the war. In 1920 Seeger’s father worked to found the American Library in Paris in honor of his son, with a core of the Library War Service books becoming the start of the collection. As part of its Vision & Mission, the library provides “access in France to what is best in English-language books, periodicals and other materials…”

Now the largest English language lending library in Europe, the library has had quite a history. For example, Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein were contributors to Ex Libris, the library’s monthly review. As World War II began, the library circulated books to French and British soldiers. When the French libraries closed under Nazi occupation, the American Library remained open, attracting hundreds of French patrons. In 1941 Library Director Dorothy Reeder was sent back to the United States for safety, but one of the library’s founding members, Countess Clara de Chambrun, arranged for the library to remain open. The staff secretly continued to lend to Jewish members.

When Sylvia Beach closed her famous Shakespeare and Company bookstore in 1951, she donated its circulating collection to the American Library in Paris. In 1955 the library began its English Language Library for the Blind, providing the first Braille books in English on the European continent.

Today the library has a web site, an online catalog, a reading room, a research room, a children’s room, two internet stations for customers, wireless (WiFi) access, and numerous programs for all ages. Ex Libris is still published (four times a year), along with a new online electronic newsletter called e-Libris, which is e-mailed twice a month. Copies are available from the library’s web site under “Newsletters and Reports”.

The American Library in Paris is located at 10, Rue du General Camou, and is open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

An American (Library) in Paris

Just a few blocks from the Eiffel Tower is the American Library in Paris. Being a librarian and a bibliophile I, of course, have made it a priority to visit. I doubt it makes many tourist's "must see" lists. I'm writing on one of the library's two Internet stations, and luckily no one else is waiting to use the computers because it is slow going on this French keyboard! But what an adventure. I'll have photos and details to share later, when I'm typing from my laptop and don't have to keep searching for keys. For now I will leave you with the library's web site so that you may visit virtually. And yes, I am wondering if there are any job openings here. Wouldn't that be quite the gig!