I can think of at least one more

April 16, 2024 12:39 PM

Librarians have never been a quiet bunch: Information, after all, is power. To mark National Library Week—typically celebrated the second full week of April—Atlas Obscura, fittingly, went into the archives to find our favorite stories of librarians who have fostered cultural movements, protected national secrets, and fought criminals. 6 Badass Librarians Who Changed History: How German Librarians Finally Caught an Elusive Book Thief 📚 The Librarian at the Nexus of the Harlem Renaissance 📚 The Radical Reference Librarians Who Use Info to Challenge Authority 📚 The Women Who Rode Miles on Horseback to Deliver Library Books 📚 A Day in the Life of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Librarian 📚 The Librarian Who Guarded the Manhattan Project’s Secrets
posted by Rhaomi (11 comments total)

👋🏻
posted by jessamyn at 1:54 PM on April 16 [11 favorites]

Except read...The women who rode on horseback.
posted by Czjewel at 1:55 PM on April 16 [1 favorite]

The book thief doesn’t have a satisfying ending.

Schild is currently appealing. “The evidence is all circumstantial,” his lawyer said after the verdict. Schild has not yet begun his sentence, and the legal proceedings are currently on hold due to his ill health

posted by TWinbrook8 at 2:03 PM on April 16 [1 favorite]

Sanford Berman (previously) belongs in this company. As a professional, he campaigned against biased cataloguing practices. In his retirement he has campaigned against fines for overdue library books. I met him when he was collecting signatures on a petition outside the Hennepin County Central Library.
posted by ALeaflikeStructure at 2:11 PM on April 16 [2 favorites]

I was just talking to my Radical Reference pal yesterday. I feel like our profession has no shortage of basasses including the Connecticut Four (fighting the USA PATRIOT Act), Barbara Gittings (self-link, early GLBTQ activist who had a "hug a homosexual" booth at the American Library Association conference in 1971), Arthur Schomburg (whose collection formed the basis of NYPL's extensive Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, another Harlem Renaissance guy), Sandy Berman as noted above (a truly lovely man and a lifelong hardcore activist) and I'd add Emily Drabinkski current ALA president, and very cool labor advocate in addition to being a solid ALA president.
posted by jessamyn at 2:16 PM on April 16 [6 favorites]

a lifetime ago I interviewed a group of students in a Master of Library and Information Systems program on a radio show and they. were. rad.

the academic librarians I know: rad

the academic archivist I know: rad

the town archivist I know: rad

the public library staff I know: you guessed it, rad

this is a great post, thank you Rhaomi
posted by elkevelvet at 3:37 PM on April 16 [3 favorites]

Seldom have I ever envied women from America's past, but I sure wish I could have been a horseback librarian.
posted by daisystomper at 3:47 PM on April 16 [2 favorites]

My only qualm with modern libraries is that I never would have imagined the difficulty involved in getting a library card. If you don't live or work in the county or don't have utility bills or pay stubs to prove it, good luck to you unless they'll let you pay a fee.

It's, like, I get it. Nothing's stopping you from walking in and sitting down and actually reading a book without a card, no matter where you're from. The restrictiveness is based around value-added services (Libby, Hoopla, etc.) that cost them to offer and are the main reason that I'd want a collection of library cards in the first places, so that checks out.

But it's still... like, I'd expect a library to be a wide-open compendium of knowledge that welcomes all and beckons newcomers to approach and taste the fruits of their custodianship, so a vibe of "this is a local library for local people, there's nothing for you here" startled me a bit.
posted by delfin at 9:16 AM on April 17

I think the relative ease of getting a library card as a non-resident varies a lot from place to place. Incomplete list here.
posted by ALeaflikeStructure at 10:01 AM on April 17

so a vibe of "this is a local library for local people, there's nothing for you here" startled me a bit.

Yeah in 2024 the idea of geographically-bounded entities feels weirder and weirder. Libraries have had these restrictions even before Hoopla/Libby (back to at least online databases, but I think we've always kind of had them) and I guess the justification has been funding? Like libraries (in the US anyhow) are funded by their local and possibly county or state coffers. I know mine is funded by the town only. And we have a fee for out-of-towners that would be what you would pay in taxes if you lived here. But if you go two towns over to the teenier library over there, they have no residency fees or requirements at all.

I know Boston Public Library used to have a card that any Massachusetts resident could get that would give people access to all of their databases as well as the local collection but some of the database vendors complained that it was giving people in MA towns access to stuff that they wanted the libraries individually to have to subscribe to. Just rent-seeking basically.

My library didn't even offer a way to apply for a library card online until last year (a thing I had to hassle them to do) meaning you had to show up in person to get a card. As much as I appreciate the access issues libraries really do pretty well at (accessible buildings. restrooms, collections and services) relative to the tech industry generally, there are definitely a few things we could learn from it.
posted by jessamyn at 10:21 AM on April 18 [1 favorite]

In Minnesota, you can use your public library card in any public library in the state (with 2-3 exceptions) to borrow materials. You register your MN libray card where you want to use it, and then you can borrow materials. There are some exceptions to what online services you can use; usually video streaming is limited to residents. Even Ebooks & databases are available to non-residents who register their cards with Hennepin Co Library (and others; it is just our biggest system). It is called ‘reciprocal borrowing’ agreement and has been in place for 50+ years. Works for returns, too. Check out a book at Ely PL on your Boundary Waters trip and then return it to your local MN library in southwestern MN and it will go through statewide delivery system back to its home library.

My local county library is rolling out extended access/self-service hours. Register for that program & you can use the library from 6am to 11pm seven days a week. You have key card access. Pick up holds, checkout stuff, use computers/wifi, use copiers, etc—whatever the library offers, just no staff help other than during normal library hours. (Security is fairly sophisticated.) Open to non-county residents, too. Great for people who need quiet space to work or less noise/sensory or want to use the library when it is not open. It’s only at a six (of nine) branches now, but will be in all by the end of the year. More than 1,000 people are registered already. Several other county libraries offer this, too, esp in branches with more limited hours.

We also have a statewide interlibrary loan system available in all types of libraries-school, public, academic, & special. Find a book, document, whatever you need in the catalog, hit the Get It button, & it shows up in a few days at your home library to check out. Free to the user.

My point is, it is possible to share resources across libraries. Funding does matter. Every county in MN is required to provide funding for public library service. Our 12 public library systems were set up for this type of sharing (and to operate PLs). They receive state funding—their local members receive city or county funding.

Other statewide services also receive state funding-the ILL & delivery, plus we have over 100 commercial databases (Gale, Ebsco, etc) free to use for all residents (no library card needed for those. MN IP addresses are authenticated to reduce barriers to access) plus a statewide ebook collection free for all to use.

We spend alot of time at the legislature! It is worth it. We had big successes in 2023. Minnesotans love their libraries.
posted by Nosey Mrs. Rat at 9:27 PM on April 18 [1 favorite]