Major renovation of the University of Virginia’s Alderman Library will continue throughout 2021 and 2022. Preparation got underway last January, and not long after the coronavirus pandemic closed the Grounds in March, the project began in earnest. The new and old stacks were demolished over the Summer…
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The Rare Book School and the Bibliographical Society of UVA will also be on this floor, creating an area that is devoted to the care and preservation of the book.
Read the original article and view all of the progress photos here:
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, libraries across the country have closed their doors to the public—but what has that meant for the cats who call America’s libraries home?
Libraries have long been home to feline residents who keep patrons company, promote activities and programs, and assist with pest control. We checked in on four library cats (and their humans) to see how their lifestyles have changed during the pandemic
Browser from Texas’s White Settlement Public Library may be one of the nation’s most famous library cats. In a viral story from 2016, a city council member tried to oust Browser from his position at the library; after a public outcry, Browser was reinstated for life while his political opponent lost his reelection campaign.
Browser has stuck around the library during the pandemic closure but seems to be missing the crowds.
“He is generally quite independent, but since the closure he always wants to be near people. We can usually find him in the lap of a staff member, or lying helpfully on their keyboard,” library staffer Kathryn King told I Love Libraries. “Now that we are offering curbside service, he posts himself at the window during curbside hours to watch the patrons come and go.”
Far from a crime just against the library, the theft was a crime against the world’s cultural heritage. Everywhere they looked, the auditors found a staggering degree of destruction and looting.
Precious maps, books and artworks vanished from the Pittsburgh archive over the course of 25 years By Travis McDade | Smithsonian Magazine
Far from a crime just against the library, the theft was a crime against the world’s cultural heritage. Everywhere they looked, the auditors found a staggering degree of destruction and looting.
A copy of Ptolemy’s groundbreaking La Geographia, printed in 1548, had survived intact for over 400 years, but now all of its maps were missing. Of an 18-volume set of Giovanni Piranesi’s extremely rare etchings, printed between 1748 and 1807, the assessors noted dryly, “The only part of this asset located during on-site inspection was its bindings. The contents have evidently been removed from the bindings and the appraiser is taking the extraordinary assumption that they have been removed from the premises.” The replacement value for the Piranesis alone was $600,000.
The thief lived close to the Caliban Book Shop in Pittsburgh, where he established a friendly business selling books to the owner, who marked the books “Withdrawn from Library.” The ethics code of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America states that members “shall make all reasonable efforts to ascertain that materials offered to him or her are the property of the seller,” and members “shall make every effort to prevent the theft or distribution of stolen antiquarian books and related materials.” Schulman was not only a member of the ABAA. He had served on its ethics and standards committee.
There are no words necessary to describe this place, just look at it! I would love to visit this Library some day, even if I couldn’t read a single book. Read More >>
This guy basically filmed his everyday life for years on end. These videos, now being uploaded to YouTube, create a perfect time capsule of what things looked like in the 80s. Here we get to see his school library, including a card catalog.
I love my Library! My first Library memory was at Leland R. Weaver Library in South Gate, California. I still remember the smell of the Library (and the books), story time, crafts and movies in the hot Summer. I also remember the card catalogue and the Librarian explaining how to find books using it.
I got my first library card there and I remember signing the back of it like a “big girl” – I don’t recall how old I was but my Mom may remember?
This is the place that my love for books truly bloomed.
The University Library System at the University of Pittsburgh is delighted to announce the acquisition of The George A. Romero Collection, a unique and comprehensive portrait of a filmmaking pioneer.
