Posts filed under ‘general’
Melvil Dewey / Harvey Weinstein
(Original grid, before my modification, from CNN; portrait of Dewey from the Library of Congress)
Goddammit. According to this article by Erin Blakemore, the inventor of the Dewey Decimal System benefited from a system he didn’t invent, the system of patriarchy, in the exact same way that Harvey Weinstein does. That is, he was a serial sexual harasser of women, taking advantage of his professional position to, well, take advantage of the women he met through that profession. “Shenanigans” isn’t a strong enough word to describe this behavior.
Thanks (or more like the opposite of thanks), David Weinstock.
gingerbread cuneiform tablets!
Turn to the ancient libraries for your holiday baking this year and try Farrell Monaco’s gingerbread cuneiform tablets.
Thanks, Andrea Krupp!
library shenanigans, 1893-style
Craig Conley of oneletterwords sends me these images from the 1893 issue of Cassell’s Family Magazine:
The easter bunny’s WHAT?!
The easter bunny’s WHAT?! Library barcode placement fails. (The answer in the case of the easter bunny is “assistant,” and it’s a skunk.) Here’s another fail. Thanks, Jonathan Caws-Elwitt!
did you mean goddesses for biscuit?
Damn You Auto Suggest brings together outlandish “did you mean…” responses from library catalogs. Send them a screen shot! But I doubt you can beat “did you mean goddesses for biscuit?”. Thanks, Steve Lawson!
Lego librarians, Oranges and Peaches
Lego recently introduced a librarian minifigure holding a copy of Oranges and Peaches, which is a bit of an inside joke for librarians (though really, in the age of Google, are there any truly inside jokes any more?).
Oranges and Peaches (a misunderstood Origin of Species) is an imaginary book made real; full story here. (The tale almost certainly originated in the 1995 movie Party Girl; a reference to it appeared in a scholarly article the following year.)
The description of the Lego librarian leaves something to be desired: it contains references to overdue books and shushing, not most librarians’ idea of the important part of our work. But of course, the librarian minifig has already been repurposed: Kristin Bell has made a Lego Viking librarian (something we all need in our minifig collection). I might also like to see mash-ups with the Warrior Woman or Medusa, but maybe not the Street Harassment Construction Worker.
Thanks, Joan Petit!
card catalog cards for gay marriage!
If you’re on Facebook, you may see a lot of red squares with equal signs on ’em today. As you probably know, they symbolize support of gay marriage. Of course, several variations have appeared, including one with matzah crackers and a Mark Rothko version. Emily Lloyd has created two library card versions. Thanks, Emily Lloyd and Kathleen Kirk!
Late library valentines
A bit late for Valentine’s Day, but here are two library shenaniganish valentines making the rounds on Facebook. The Meow Kapow shop on Etsy is behind at least one of these, possibly both.
Sarah Vowell gives some library advice
In the June/July issue of The Believer, Sarah Vowell gave some excellent advice to a person with a crush on a librarian. Thanks, David Weinstock!
Library Shenanigans 