Celebrate National Library Week!

National Library Week is an annual celebration sponsored by the American Library Association. Each April, we celebrate the country's libraries and librarians and promote the use and support of all kinds of libraries, from public and academic to school and special. Other NLW events include National Library Workers Day (4/10), National Bookmobile Day (4/11), and Support Teen Literature Day (4/12).

This year, National Library Week is April 8-14, and the theme is "You Belong @ Your Library." Here at SLIS, we're celebrating by holding a Silent Auction, and setting up our very own Create-A-Button station. We will have a button maker, paper, and even a chart of Dewey numbers, so you can show some love to your favorite subject. Stop by and celebrate with us!

SLIS Silent Auction

To celebrate National Library Week, SLIS is holding a silent auction to benefit the SLIS Library. In years past, the silent auction has been a great success, and this year we hope it will be too!

The SLIS Library will be collecting donations through Friday, April 6. Donations include new or used goods - from cooking utensils to decorative items to electronics to anything else you can dream up.  Donations can also be services, which includes things like a ride to the airport, and batch of freshly baked cookies, etc. To donate a service, fill out a Service Receipt slip at the Library. Then, during the auction people will bid on the service and the winner will contact you for that ride or cookies!

The auction will take place in the SLIS Library from Monday, April 9th at 8:00 AM to Thursday, April 12th at 5:00 PM. Be sure to check back often on your bidding items throughout the week to ensure a victory!

If you have any questions, contact the SLIS Library at slislib@library.wisc.edu. 

The 2011 State of America's Libraries Report is now available!

Today, ALA released the 2011 State of America's Libraries Report.  Some highlights of the report include statistics on:

- How job-seekers and entrepreneurs use libraries
- The percentage of the public that visited libraries
- And how taxpayers view libraries in their hometowns.  

Check out the Special Issue Digital Supplement at the link below, and tell us what you think!

The 2011 State of America's Libraries Report.

Librarians: Masters of the info universe

When the economy looks bleak for just about everyone, sometimes it's hard to believe that you're on the right track in a degree program.  Well, here's a good reason to be confident in an LIS education:  CNN thinks librarians rule the world!

 

This morning's article, titled Librarians: Masters of the info universe, CNN librarian Kerith Page McFadden highlights some of the important things librarians are capable of doing in a world increasingly overloaded and information-sick, and gives an ego-boosting run-down of some of the famous thinkers and leaders who have been librarians or library workers.  Check out some these highlights, be confident in your degree, and celebrate National Library Week with us!

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Past library workers include world leaders and a famous lover...guess who!
• "Star Wars" creator George Lucas has his own research library on his Skywalker Ranch.
• The chief librarian of Basra, Iraq, saved 30,000 books by removing them from library before it was destroyed.
• A librarian found one of Beethoven's final compositions at Palmer Theological Seminary when she was clearing out the archives.