Thanks for Spreading the Word – Twitter & Raising Funds for LFPL

Image via CrunchBase

For those who don’t understand how things like Twitter, Facebook, Friendfeed and blogs can help you get your message (be it an individual or a company/organization) let me give you a perfect example from yesterday.

Steve Lawson posted a blog entry on See Also trying to raise money to help the Louisville Free Public Library.  Folks who subscribe to his RSS feed I’m sure saw this post, as well as those who searched and stumbled upon it that way but I love how we all jumped on this and spread the news.

My original Tweet:

mlibrarianusLet’s Flood Them With Cash: I know the economic times pull on everyone’s purse strings.  What I̵.. http://bit.ly/yFnHq

Then my followers retweeted (thanks to them all for helping to spread the word):

eclasperRT @AtYourLibrary: RT @mlibrarianus: Louisville Free Public Lib is under more than 3 ft of water – donate today http://twurl.nl/uumkmn

thesheckRT @mlibrarianus: Louisville Free Public Lib is under more than 3 ft of water – donate today if you can http://twurl.nl/uumkmn #libraries

AtYourLibraryRT @mlibrarianus: Louisville Free Public Lib is under more than 3 ft of water – donate today if you can http://twurl.nl/uumkmn

prattlibraryRT @mlibrarianus Louisville Free PL in desperate need – is under more than 3 ft of water – donate today if you can: http://twurl.nl/uumkm

Grants_PrattRT @mlibrarianus Louisville Free PL in desperate need – is under more than 3 ft of water – donate today if you can: http://twurl.nl/uumkm

JobCenter_PrattRT @mlibrarianus Louisville Free PL in desperate need – is under more than 3 ft of water – donate today if you can: http://twurl.nl/uumkmn

calimaeLouisville Free Public Library is under more than 3 ft of water – donate today if you can http://twurl.nl/uumkmn (via @mlibrarianus)

TuphlosRT @TaraLSF RT @mlibrarianus Support Your Library – keep Louisville Free Public Library in mind. They are under water – need your help

TaraLSFRT @mlibrarianus Support Your Library – keep Louisville Free Public Library in mind. They are under water – need your help to recover h …

My followers added their own original Tweets or retweeted other to spread the word:

gregschwartz http://twitpic.com/cujvz – Today’s first pic

TaraLSFRT @amandamcneil How to donate to the Louisville Library ($1mil in damages): http://bit.ly/yrkVm

TaraLSFRT @yo_bj RT: @TheRepoRat: Help Louisville Free Public Library, devastated by flash flooding: http://bit.ly/tJea7

mlibrarianus#fb New blog post Let’s Flood Them With Cash: I know the economic times pull on everyone&.. http://bit.ly/yFnHq

cjburnsRT @czamm: Louisville Free Public Library needs your help http://icanhaz.com/LFPLNYH – LSW raising funds

librarianbydayLouisville Free Public Library Needs Your Help http://bit.ly/tJea7

mir_bRT @gregschwartz Watching the h2o being poured out of our servers. Depressing. and http://twitpic.com/cujvz – Today’s first pic #lfplflood

mir_bRT @czamm Louisville Free Public Library needs your help http://icanhaz.com/LFPLNYH (LSW fundraiser) #lfplflood

cindiRT @czamm Louisville Free Public Library needs your help http://icanhaz.com/LFPLNYH

ellbeeceeRT @czamm Louisville Free Public Library needs your help http://icanhaz.com/LFPLNYH (LSW fundraiser)

mir_bLouisville Free Public Library, hang in there. #lfplflood

gregschwartzWatching the h2o being poured out of our servers. Depressing.

joshuamneffRT @czamm Louisville Free Public Library needs your help http://icanhaz.com/LFPLNYH

TaraLSFRT @Jill_HW Flood devastation at Louisville (KY) Free Public Library from @gregschwartz http://twitpic.com/cujvz

Jill_HWFlood devastation at Louisville (KY) Free Public Library from @gregschwartz http://twitpic.com/cujvz

libraryfutureRT @cpellegr The LSW is helping out the Louisville Free Public Library: http://tinyurl.com/lc42u8 Spread the word.

laurabottsHelp the flooded Louisville Free Public Library: http://tinyurl.com/lc42u8

beccalovesbooksReading about the Louisville Free Public Library and their damage from the rain. I wish there were something I could physically do to help!

jambinaRT @cpellegr: The LSW is helping out the Louisville Free Public Library: http://tinyurl.com/lc42u8 Spread the word.

lisacarlucciRT @libraryfuture @cpellegr The LSW is helping out the Louisville Free Public Library: http://tinyurl.com/lc42u8 Spread the word!

BillDrew4RT @cjburns: RT @czamm: Louisville Free Public Library needs your help http://icanhaz.com/LFPLNYH – LSW raising funds

millerlibrarianRT @libraryfuture RT @cpellegr The LSW is helping out the Louisville Free Public Library: http://tinyurl.com/lc42u8 Spread the word.

kenleyneufeldFwd: Let’s raise $5k for Louisville Public Library in the name of the LSW – http://bit.ly/DTj2K (via… [pic] http://ff.im/-6cMjG

kenleyneufeldFor you non-librarian types, the Louisville PL was flooded yesterday. Help out with a small/large donation at http://bit.ly/DTj2K

cclibrarian#Librarian Feeds reading:Louisville: Can A Plague of Locusts Be Far Behind? http://bit.ly/DkyU7

baldgeekinmdRT @cpellegr The LSW is helping out the Louisville Free Public Library: http://tinyurl.com/lc42u8 Spread the word.

HoCo_Library Help out! Louisville Public Library hit hard by rain and flood. To read more and to donate http://bit.ly/3kb2NN

Jill_HWLet’s raise $5,000 for Louisville Public Library in the name of the LSW – http://tinyurl.com/lc42u8

codslapHelp the Louisville free Public Lib. They had a huge flood. http://bit.ly/3vaf6V Let’s see if we can meet the LSW donation goal of $5,000.

http://twitpic.com/cvorn – My (former?) officegregschwartz

And others I don’t even know got into the act

wfplnews WFPL The Edit: LFPL Closed All Week: The Louisville Free Public Library’s main branch downtown wil.. http://bit.ly/bFral

wfplnews WFPL The Edit: Eat A Pie For The Library: @michellej at Consuming Louisville has started taking ma.. http://bit.ly/oQWxa

AriThatcher Help the Louisville Free Public Library recover from flood damage http://bit.ly/S8edr

Jen_Cook RT @TeresaMedeiros: Book drive 2 help out Louisville Free Public Library-flooded yesterday-massive damage. http://bit.ly/GkZNK

RainyDayBooks RT Help the Louisville Free Public Library out. http://bit.ly/3vaf6V . You don’t know what you’ve lost until it’s gone.

Achilles_healin @joshuamneff Donated, sir. … RT @czamm Louisville Free Public Library needs your help http://icanhaz.com/LFPLNYH

Steve reported today that $600 has already been raised (less than 24 hours after posting his blog entry).  Thank you to all who helped spread the word and more importantly to those who contributed to a very worthy cause.

Let’s Flood Them With Cash

I know the economic times pull on everyone’s purse strings.  What I’m hoping is this will pull on everyone’s heart strings and maybe release a few purse strings as well.

Can you imagine coming home to your computer, books, TV, furniture and other beloved items under more than 3 feet of water?!  That is exactly what happened to the Louisville Free Public Library.   Fellow IT and Library friend, Greg Schwartz alerted us to the very devastating news via Twitter updates and Twitpic.  Their data center, mechanical room (for HVAC) and holding area for the books was just obliterated.

Library Society of the World is trying to raise $5,000 by September 1.  To find out more about and to contribute please read Steve Lawson’s blog post.

My heart (and my wallet) go out to all the employees, customers/ patrons/users of this library.  I hope you can come back even bigger and better than you were before.

Have Passport, Will Travel

And now from the “If only this had happened just a bit sooner” file….

MPOW will officially become a Passport Office on Monday August 10th.  Ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate will take place at our East Columbia Branch at 11:00 am that Monday.

Oh, how I wish either my trip to Spain had been a bit later this year or that the Passport Office had been ready a bit earlier.  Having to take the MARC train and Metro to the Regional Passport Office in Washington D.C. was not fun.  I had to go there once myself and my husband went the next day for me to actually pickup the passport (name change and it had expired).

The residents of Columbia, Howard County and Central Maryland don’t know how lucky they are.  They won’t have to fight commuter traffic to go to D.C. or stand in line at the post office bored out of their mind.  Instead if they do have to wait they have the whole library at their disposal to keep them occupied – books galore, plenty of computers with access to the Internet, periodicals, newspapers, books on CD, Playaways and lots more.

This is just another in a great line of services that we offer our community.  Makes me proud.

No Time Left For You

If that is how you are feeling these days – post holiday let down, work pressures, pre-tax season concerns, kids back in school (or you yourself) you might just find this web site helpful when it comes to getting in some time for reading.  DailyLit.com as they say on their site “lets you read entire books in short, customized installments sent to you by email or RSS.”

WBAL-TV’s John Sanders reported about this site this morning on his Web Trends report.   This seemed like the perfect solution for (and others I imagine).  Believe it or not I think I read less these days than before I worked in the library.  So many people think that all people do here is read all day.  As if!!  I can certainly find time to read one more email especially if it has an excerpt from a book I’ve been wanting to do more with than just pick up, check out and allow to accumulate dust.

Books that are in public domain cost nothing and most (but not all) copyrighted books require a payment after some free sample installments.  It looks to be  Web 2.0 and includes way to create a profile (with avatar),  receiving your book samples via email or RSS, forums, and even a way to share your booklist with others.

Looking forward to giving this site a try.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Reading a post at The Proverbial Lone Wolf Librarian’s Blog well actually watching the video got me thinking.  I loved David Lankes’s idea that what is at the core of libraries is conversation.  All the books, cds, dvds, databases, etc. can help with that conversation but it really boils down to a conversation.   Please say this means the days of “SHH!” are gone.

Conversation is important but it has 2 key components – talking and listening.    I’d say most people don’t truly listen actively but instead are busy trying to form a response.  If we learned to listen better would our conversations and interactions with our customers/patrons/clients/users get better?  Would we in turn give better customer service?  Are we teaching active communication (talking and listening)  in our library schools?  Some might point to the reference interview.   I have yet to witness a true proper reference interview (or customer service interview) be conducted.   Are we really listening?

For some this might scare them as we’ve all experienced the lonely retiree or awkward teen who just latches on and doesn’t let go.  I’m not saying to let these people cross boundaries but I am encouraging real, true conversations/give-and-take to happen in our libraries.   What learning moments for ourselves as well as our customers might happen if we did?  I’m sure a shift like this won’t happen overnight but I’d love to see this happen and see the change it could have on people.

Nearest Book

Noticed this note on a friend’s Facebook profile and thought it would make a great meme for all the libraryworld and booklovers everywhere:

Nearest book.
Rules:
* Get the book nearest to you. Right now.
* Go to page 56.
* Find the 5th sentence.
* Write this sentence as status.
* Copy these instructions as commentary of your sentence.
* Don’t look for your favorite book or your coolest but really the nearest

The nearest book to me was Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin.  Page 56, 5th sentence is as follows:

“First, they’re not going to do the local leadership required when tribe members interact.“

Everyone that reads is hereby tagged.

What’s in Your Book?

Catching up on my RSS feeds this morning, I came across this on the LISNews site. Ah, I remember my days in Circulation and being totally flabbergasted at what people would leave in a book (either as a bookmark or just left inside the front jacket). My favorite had to be $3K worth of bonds. I have never figured out the though process behind using something valuable as a bookmark. Guess we need to be thankful that they weren’t dog-earing the pages.

Equally interesting was the lost and found boxes. The stuff people left behind (not in books) was quite telling. Dentures, baby stroller, articles of clothing, you name it. I often wondered just what was going on to make a person leave behind something (other than the occasional pen, notebook type of thing). I mean don’t you know your full set of dentures are missing when you walk out of the building? Don’t you know that you walked in with a stroller so you need to walk out with one? What is even more interesting is most of these items were never claimed. We would hold onto them for months and months trying our best to contact folks if some sort of identification was on the item. One thing to misplace a bracelet and not know where you left it but your dentures?

Ah, one of the joys of working with the public – you get their junk treasures.

Edited 2:51 pm – Our Glenwood branch just put up an announcement on our Intranet that a red stroller was found in case the owner was looking for it.  What are the odds?