Libraries Reduce Clutter and Save Money

Yep, it’s true! Marybeth at the GovGab blog says so.

First of all, the GovGab blog was started around the end of September for this year, and I have found it to be full of interesting tidbits about government resources. It’s certainly worth checking out if you haven’t already.

Now, back to the point of this post, Marybeth writes about the benefits of using her local public library. She notes that she can save money and reduce clutter in her home by using her library. And she also points out that the library’s best resource is – drum roll, please – the librarians!

Thanks for the appreciation, Marybeth!

High Praise for Librarians from the Cranky Geeks

Cranky Geeks: Episode 71: Is America ready for an electronic war?
http://www.crankygeeks.com/2007/07/episode_71_how_vulnerable_are.php

John C. Dvorak (dvorak.org/blog – had to get in the blog plug 😉 ) has a regular vidcast – vodcast? videocast? – to discuss issues and news stories in the technology world. Episode 71 discusses internet security and encryption with some big names in the field.

This particular episode offered some quite sincere praise for librarians. About 24 minutes into the episode, the group discusses the recent case in which four librarians were put under a gag order when they were ordered to turn over some records and they did not comply, as described in the New York Times article, Four Librarians Finally Break Silence in Records Case (this link may require you to log in to your NYT account), and in this Wired blog entry, Librarians Describe Life Under An FBI Gag Order.

Dan Farmer, a security consultant, points out that they won an award and then asks, “Who is against a librarian?”

Whitfield Diffie, VP and Chief Security Officer at Sun Microsystems, noted that when he started doing work in cryptography, he was traveling and asking questions searching for documents, and he was frequently asked “who wants to know?” type questions, but he said he never once heard that question from a librarian. He then noted that librarians have a devotion to getting the information that their clients want and then adds that he thinks they are an incredible asset.

Aw! *sniff*

It means a lot to have someone outside of the library world who recognizes what we do and appreciates that we do it and why we do it.