While borrowing seeds from your local library may seem like a fairy tale, it is in fact, a reality. A recent article on Boing Boing led me to research further this fairly new and quite amazing phenomenon of seed lending libraries. According to the article taken from PC Sweeney's blog, "A free seed lending library can also provide people with a chance to transform their lives and communities by providing access to fresh, healthy food that may not otherwise be available" (2011). This access is provided to patrons by means of making available seeds to "check out," take home, and plant. While this article pertains specifically to the East Palo Alto Library and their partnership with Collective Roots, many other libraries across the country are participating in similar endeavors.

It has been highly publicized for the past week, but as many people know - Britannica Encyclopedia has ended their production of printing their literature after 244 years.  The last hard copy of Britannica's collection is their 32 volume 2010 edition (Bosman, 2012).  Now the question is: will Britannica be in competition with Wikipedia?


As it turns out, Wikipedia has gone from being a website that no one trusts to one that is now being used in higher education for research.  Now, sources must be cited.  From reading different articles and blogs on this issue, many people think that Britannica will have a set up similar to Wikipedia and will be always-changing and current.  I do think that this is a nice concept to have for an online, trusted encyclopedia source.  It will be different not seeing the newest set of Britannica at a local library anymore, though!


I personally like to read a print book.  I feel like by thumbing through pages, I can stumble across more facts and articles than just using a search engine to find a subject I may be interested in.  I know many people that prefer this and are disappointed that Britannica is no longer in print.  However, a collection of encyclopedias can be very expensive and not many people are willing to keep a collection of encyclopedias current.


What do you think?  Are you a fan of digital copies?  Do you think online encyclopedias will now be in competition with Wikipedia?

In this day and age, technology plays a huge role in many people’s everyday lives. Social media sites that were once being using primarily by individuals are now becoming an excellent tool for businesses and organizations, alike. Pinterest is an excellent social media tool for individual users, organizations, businesses, AND libraries. Not only is it an excellent resource for finding and “pinning” ideas but it is an excellent source for sharing your ideas and, also, marketing. “People are providing information for and acquiring information from each other thus fundamentally shifting the web from an information access tool to a knowledge sharing tool” (Heinrichs, 2012). As easily as friends can share their favorite new home project ideas, teachers can also share their lesson plans, a photography business can highlight their best work and market themselves, and libraries can share their collections and show their community, even the world, what is happening inside their doors.

I first heard of Espresso Book Machines (EBMs) a few months ago when Michigan State University introduced theirs. For some reason I didn't think much of it until I more recently stumbled upon an article in American Libraries online. On March 7, Brooklyn Public Library's Central branch unveiled their own EBM in order to "[join] several dozen universities, public libraries, and bookstores around the world in offering the technology to their clientele." (Goldberg, 2012). So what exactly is an EBM, what do they do, and what's the big deal?

Mojo in the Morning is one of my favorite morning radio programs and this morning the host, Mojo, was talking about how he reads to schools during March since it is National Reading Month.  That being said, I came into work and went on their website and clicked on the link, which led me to Detroit Reads!

Detroit Reads is a campaign by the Detroit Public Library to promote self-confidence, empowerment, better health, and economic growth to not only the individual, but to society as a whole.  Reading can easily lead to knowledge and knowledge leads to growth.  The Detroit Public Library recognizes that the simple ability (and one that we may take for granted) to read is important to the City of Detroit to help individuals obtain their GEDs, find jobs, thus, improving the quality of life.

Furthermore, the Knight Foundation awarded a grant to the Detroit Public Library to introduce a Technology, Literacy, and Career Center at the Parkman Branch Library, also located in Detroit.  Because of this grant, the Detroit Public Library is able to offer free Internet access to Detroiters who are literacy challenged and may need help finding employment.

It is really easy to sign up either to tutor or to be a learner.  To be a learner, all one has to do is go to the website, fill out their contact information, availability, if they have received tutoring and if so, what kind and where, and the level of education completed.  To volunteer for tutoring, the individual has to fill out his or her contact info, if he or she completed high school and/or college, and if the individual can commit to 2 hours of tutoring per week.

This program is so simple and yet, so effective - it's also nice when local radio shows are promoting their city and are proud to read to children and help them.  It is great to see programs like this being implemented in urban areas that need it the most, especially when MEAP scores and other standardized test results are below the state and national standards.  Reading is the basis for EVERYTHING and it is such an honor to work across the street from a public library that has been able to receive the funding to implement a program such as Detroit Reads.

With the ever-increasing social media presence in the lives of young adults, it is unfortunate that with it also comes the creation of a new issue: cyberbullying.  While bullying has been an unfortunate occurrence for many young adults, the issue is heightened when an entirely new level of bullying is brought to the table. The way that teenagers interact with each other has changed drastically over the last 20, 10, even 5 years. Not only are there social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, but also blogs, online journals, and, undeniably, texting via cell phones. Teens and Social Media have sparked media coverage often because parents worry that these sites may be unsafe. While adults may recognize more ideas of what is or is not appropriate to make public, teens often reveal too much because they are ill-informed of positive online interactions and the risks associated with disclosing too much personal/private information. Cyberbullying is becoming an extensive threat to the online security and emotional well-being of teens. Cyberbullying is defined as “online aggression by peers” (Agosto, Forte, & Magee, 2012, p. 39). This is a very serious issue and, in some extreme cases, has led to suicides. Websites such as Ryan’s Story (http://www.ryanpatrickhalligan.org) and the Megan Meier Foundation (http://www.meganmeierfoundation.org/) describe heartbreaking stories of how cyberbullying and bullying can lead to suicide and are, in turn, seeking to raise bullying, cyberbullying, and suicide awareness and prevention.  Nancy Willard for the Center of Safe and Responsible Internet Use defines eight categories of specific cyberbullying behavior: