U.S. News Rankings: Failing Grades for Four Out of Five Local Schools

After a three-year hiatus, U.S. News & World Report has published its rankings report for library and information studies programs. UIUC and UNC are again tied for top honors. Our neighbors in New Brunswick, NJ (Rutgers) pulled in at a very respectable 6th and took the number one spot in the School Library Media category. Not one of the four LIS schools in NYC made the rankings. That's right: Queens College, the Palmer School, Pratt Institute, and St. John's all fell below the Mendoza Line.

Rutgers Drops Library Studies, Gains Stripes

Starting July 1, Rutgers' School of Communication, Information and Library Studies (SCILS) will be know as the School of Communication and Information (SCI). Library Journal gives complete coverage to the name-change controversy, which ended this week with the Board of Governors approving the switch.

But the University's major media coup had nothing to do with academic nomenclature. Just witness the glory that is 1,052 Waldos:

Photo by Classic Media, Inc./Gianni Cipriano

In addition to shattering the Guinness World Record for the most Where's Waldo? namesakes in one locale, participants donated over 3,000 books to New Brunswick public schools.

NYC Libraries in the News, Breast-Baring Edition

This week's local library news ran the gamut, from the sensationalist to the superfluous.

A patron of Brooklyn Public's Flatlands branch was upbraided by a security guard for breastfeeding in the children's area. After she complained to the New York Civil Liberties Union, BPL issued an apology and transferred the guard to a different branch. Suffice it to say, the media were all over this one, quickly followed by the requisite array of ignorant-to-informed reader comments. But really, is this newsworthy? Breastfeeding in public is legal. Period. And why do so many (male) commenters compare breastfeeding to urination? As though secretion of bodily fluids were the most significant characteristic of the two activities! Even the.effing.librarian likened the two, however obliquely.

Library Journal published a point-counterpoint on the Rutgers SCILS proposed name change controversy.

And in the NY Times, yet another article focused on increased use of city libraries and their role in assisting patrons with job searches. Not that I begrudge the positive coverage, it's just that as the deadlines for the NY state and city budget votes near, I prefer the-sky-is-falling type articles that match my own growing hysteria.

Long Live NY Libraries, Long Live the King & Other Tales

In lieu of a weekly activities update (offerings are slim, but do check the calendar), allow me to present a smattering of noteworthy news items:

This year's Library Lobby Day is especially significant as we face an 18% decrease in state Library Aid funding. At a time when public library use is skyrocketing, our patrons can't afford cuts that limit their access to library services. So hop Metro-North to Albany this Tuesday morning and join NYLA in support of New York's libraries.

Celebrate the 500th anniversary of that lovable rapscallion Henry VIII's accession to the throne with VIVAT REX! at the Grolier Club. " 'VIVAT REX!' takes its title from the Latin version of the familiar English phrase 'Long live the King!,' which appears in a woodblock print in the first sanctioned English Bible (1539). This work is among the 140 items that shed light on Henry VIII as man and monarch—his education, character, and unrelenting attempts to father a male heir." This exhibition—created in partnership with the Folger Shakespeare Library, Harvard's Houghton Library, and the Morgan Library—is accompanied by three lectures.

Starting in Fall 2009, Pratt Institute will offer a dual-degree program in Digital Arts and Information (the acronym-tastic MSLIS and MFA in DA).

NYU has begun their renovation of a portion of Bobst Library Lower Level 1 formerly occupied by technical services staff (see this previous post for commentary on the move). As a former NYU employee, I'm particularly thrilled to hear that the high school horror-fest restrooms are slated for upgrade.

Gothamist interviewed NYPL's "Librarian to the Stars," David Smith.

Taking the L out of LIS, the Book out of Reading, and More

From Library Journal: "Rutgers Faculty Agrees to Drop 'Library' from SCILS Name"; Rutgers' Library and Information Science Student Association will hold a meeting this Friday, the 13th, to discuss this "recent controversy".

From Publishers Weekly: Kindle2 was unveiled at the Morgan Library on Tuesday. Roger Sperberg of the blog TeleRead had a rather 1.0 reaction: "No matter how strenuously Amazon labors to associate the Morgan’s grandeur with the Kindle, there will be no similar physical artifacts for future generations to venerate with the electronic books that will be read on this latest and stately issue of the e-book state of the art."

NYPL and Design*Sponge debuted the final episode of Design by the Book at the Celeste Bartos Forum last Thursday. The featured artists were on hand to discuss their creations, which were properly displayed in glass cases for all to admire. (Pics and more info about the event here.)