When Public Officials Overreact & Other Newsbreaks

So much for summer's reputation as a slow news season. There's been NYC library coverage aplenty over the last week. Let's break it down.

New York Public Library finally dropped the layoff bomb and it wasn't all that painful. Sixty-five positions have been eliminated, but 120 "restructured" positions have been created thanks to a large (but unknown) number of vacancies yielded by employees who accepted "voluntary separation incentives." Those 65 affected library staffers get first dibs on the 120 new positions.

Assemblyman Dov Hikind called on Brooklyn Public Library to ban all VHS tapes after a Borough Park granny discovered porn spliced into the ending credits of the copy of Austin Powers she'd borrowed for her grandkids. The perpetrator had already been arrested for the crime, and 18 similarly modified tapes were found during BPL's internal investigation.

NYPL's 42nd Street building opened the Edna Barnes Salomon Room as a study space, featuring seating for 128 patrons, Wi-Fi, and loaner laptops (available starting July 28). The Salomon Room was formerly used for exhibitions.

And in a final piece of NYPL news, the recently-launched, totally new-fangled Catalog appears to be running smoothly.

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.

Eastern Migration: NYU Tech Services Moves Out of Bobst

Shelved @ NYC welcomes guest blogger Sommer Browning, a recently festooned library school graduate with the inside scoop on NYU's crosstown maneuver.

Last Thursday, well for the last week -- and for the supervisors, the last many months -- the entire Technical Services Department at NYU moved from Bobst Library to the third floor of 20 Cooper Square. By Tuesday afternoon we were actually cataloging books. Somehow, thousands of books, decades of invoices, dozens of book trucks, computers, office chairs, file cabinets, hundreds of feet of shelving and to my chagrin, six large boxes of unearthed microfilm that I will have to catalog, moved four blocks away to our new office. My name is Sommer Browning. I'm a copy cataloger, cataloging everything from serials to microfilm, and I've been at NYU for nearly four years.

We moved because NYU wanted our basement library space for classrooms and many of us were pretty unhappy down there in bowels of Bobst. It was wonderful to be in the library, to head upstairs to check call numbers or talk to the Government Documents librarian about a weird serial, but now we have windows! And fresh air and a clean office and a pleasant break room. It's only been a week so please realize that I'm still reeling from my new intake of natural light. The next time I'm sweating over the intricacies of cataloging a multi-volume that has become a serial with monthly supplements and we have three monograph records for it in Bobcat with three different call numbers and I walk over to Bobst to sort it all out and have forgotten the peculiar details of what I was doing, ask me how much I care that I can watch plastic bags blowing around the streets of New York City from my cubicle. But until then, me and my quickly reviving Swedish Ivy are quite pleased.

The square footage is nearly identical to our old digs, except we have lost some shelving space because of the one long wall of windows. But we can't get too used to the space, it's temporary. We are supposedly moving again, to an undisclosed location, in two years. When that happens, I hope we will have the great direction and organization we had for this move. Our acting department director, Meg Manahan, and our acting head of cataloging, Elizabeth Lilker, did an amazing job keeping us happy and focused while we bumbled around with boxes and tons of discombobulated office supplies and asked questions about how our plants would survive. Actually, yesterday, we found out that one of the two shipments of our plants tipped over and was destroyed. But seriously, for us underlings, besides some initial disgruntlement about our new seating chart, which seems for the most part to be fixed, a box of mangled plants has been the worst of it. We are very lucky that, besides Meg and Elizabeth, we had very capable supervisors planning this move. I can't imagine the hard work and long hours that went into it. I don't want to, frankly, especially since just a few months ago we made an ILS switch, from Advance to Aleph. To move a department of 50 or so people, after teaching us all a pretty complicated new system is Herculean--and a lot to ask of your TSD on top of our regular work. We also catalog books for at least four other consortium libraries. But as we unpack and get used to where the pencil sharpeners are, we all seem to be excited about our new space. Maybe it's just because I now sit by the entrance to the lounge, but I've noticed everyone saying "good morning" a lot more and asking where we can go to get a good cup of coffee in our new neighborhood.

New School Library's Best Laid Plans?

On January 20th, the New School reopened its Fogelman Library in a new space in Arnhold Hall. I asked readers for their impressions, but received nary a one. The New School Free Press is likewise silent. The following commentary is from a New School graduate student who makes heavy use of the library. (Yes, I know the writer; this kind of substantive feedback doesn't fall unbidden from the heavens. Anyone who has undertaken an assessment project knows it's all pleading and teeth-pulling.)

I don't think anyone was kidding themselves in their hopes for the new library space. Put simply, it's completely inadequate. 75% of the collection is off-site which is, for someone like myself who laments the disappearance of monographs from our shelves, very inconvenient and discouraging for browsers and those who like to jump from bibliographies to look up citations, etc. The bulk of the collection is located down a winding hallway in a closet-like space of seven bays of compact shelving. The rest of the collection is scattered across different floors, with the P's--for example--finding their home on the walls of a computer lab, which has an ocean of computers where people convene to avidly update their facebook pages. There is no inside or outside to the library. The building is used heavily for classroom space by one of the music schools in the university. The building also has a large space that is often used for conferences and events open to the public. This makes it difficult for users to know where they can use library materials, e.g. periodicals or reference books. It also seems like it would be difficult for the library staff to account for the different materials. The circulation desk is on the first floor of the building, near the entrance/exit. If one were to ask 'Where is the library?' upon entering, she would be directed to the circulation desk.

The reading space is the main problem. The new 'quiet' reading room is about the size of a classroom. It has four tables: two small tables that fit 1 (comfortably) and two large tables that fit 2 (comfortably). I've only ever seen 4 people in that room at a time, but I think there are 16 chairs. There is simply no way that 16 people could study in there without bumping elbows every second. It is a very nice room with a nice window and nice wood floors, the problem is that there is only one of them. And the heat hasn't been working in that part of the building, so there is a space heater that makes the air stuffy while the room stays cold. The other reading room serves the reference room, where people go if they have a reference question. It is located on the first floor. This is where the reference collection lives, on stylized geometric (space-wasting) shelving with a decor that looks like an Ikea sushi-bar that doesn't seem to make use of the space as best it could. Again, the room itself is OK, it's just that it can be noisy, it’s small, and sits only about 25-30 (absolute maximum). So there are roughly about 25 bays of books and about 45 seats (in quiet areas) in the library; this might be suitable if it just served one of the smaller departments in one of the 8 divisions/colleges of the university. There are more tables and chairs in public spaces, but one has to listen to crowds walking by as well as the goings-on of the security guards at the front desk. That’s fine when eating a sandwich or having coffee, but it's just not conducive to studying. There are, however, many, many computers and computing classrooms. There is also, what looks like, new cafe space with numerous seats. So if you want to get a scone and check your email, then the new library is a good spot.

It is very possible that I have not yet discovered more of library space in this building. Though, I have tried to seek out all that is available. If there is more, please let me know because I would very much like to use the resources and study there. I know many other students who would love to as well. As it is, I have already clocked many hours there. Since not many people know where the new spaces are there haven't been big crowds, which I have to admit is kind of nice temporarily. The librarians and the library staff have all greeted me with a smile and have been very helpful during this confusing transition, making sure that students know where the resources are located and answering any questions. I would very much like to thank the librarians for their help while working under adverse conditions. But the library itself, both the collection and the space, is just amazingly inadequate for the larger university and for the many dedicated, hardworking students that I know.

Again, I'd love to hear reactions from the denizens of Fogelman Library. Does the above description jive with your experience?

Since I've Been Gone: Kindle 2 and BPL Branches Renewed

Amazon has planned a mysterious press conference at the Morgan Library for February 9. Engadget, the NY Times' Bits Blog, and others have put two and two together: the new Kindle shall be revealed! Bits speculates that, along with a host of physical design changes, Kindle 2 will follow Sony Reader 700's lead and incorporate the new Broadsheet microchip from Epson with the now ubiquitous E-Ink.

[One of the "leaked" next-gen Kindle photos on Boy Genius Report.]

Also in the news, Mayor Bloomberg referred to the reconstruction of Brooklyn Public Library's Kensington branch while outlining his job creation plan. It looks like this sustainable design project, in the works since 2001, may actually get underway this June. Renderings and details are available at the City's Department of Design and Construction site.

Finally, BPL will re-open the doors of a fresh, shiny, elevatored(!) Kings Highway Library sometime this summer.

"On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp"

Today marked the beginning of a new era, an age in which we will set aside childish things and extend our hands in peace and ... start the spring term. Yes, for many colleges and universities in the city, Inauguration Day was also the first day of the new semester, our quiet libraries filling once again with the Sturm und Drang of scholarly pursuit. Ah, academia!

At the New School, Fogelman Social Sciences and Humanities Library reopened in its new space in Arnhold Hall. You may recall that last month's student occupation of the New School's Graduate Faculty building was partially motivated by a lack of study space. In my post of Dec. 20, I questioned whether Fogelman's temporary home would adequately fulfill students' needs. Well, New School students, librarians, (un)wary interlopers, what's your impression?

New School Libraries' Obscure Future

The New School student occupation of their Graduate Faculty building ended early yesterday morning with President Bob Kerrey's capitulation to some of their demands. Of particular interest is point number two:

I agree that students may use the GF building at 65 Fifth Ave until a suitable replacement is secured and instituted, which would include the re-installment of suitable library and study space. This would need to be approved by the USS.

Due to my limitation under the board, and because of repeated and voiced student concern about the university's investments, this is already underway for alternative space. I guarantee that by the beginning of spring semester I will provide new library space in Arnold hall. I will also provide 7000 feet of quiet study space at Sheila Johnson galleries by the end of spring semester. I agree to meet with the students to discuss the current plans, alternatives, and financial planning.

The new library space in Arnhold Hall was already scheduled to open January 20 (see Interim University Librarian Ed Scarcelle's comments on my previous post). Kerrey's promise of additional study space is, if acted upon, a significant accomplishment by the protesters that will benefit the entire student body. Considering the severity of the study space deficit, however, 7000 square feet is hardly sufficient. (If you're having trouble visualizing this, think Bowery Ballroom-size.)

More than half of Fogelman's collection is now in offsite storage. This makes sense, given that the Arnhold Hall space is temporary. In preparation for the move, however, only a tiny portion of the physical collection was available to students during the fall semester and, critically, during their finals period.

The new building to be constructed on the GF building's footprint will include a larger, centralized library facility that may merge Fogelman with the Gimbel Art & Design Library and the Kellen Archives Center. All of this is tentative, however: according to this article in the New School Free Press, construction plans for the "Signature Building" have been downsized and delayed indefinitely. With a future this uncertain, it's no wonder New School students are angry, frustrated, disheartened....