Partway through his opening remarks, our university CIO was addressing a problem and said, “We need a librarian in the room. You wouldn’t believe how badly we need librarians right now.” (Little did he know there was a librarian sitting right in the middle of the room!)

This is just one anecdote, but it’s not the first time I’ve heard an IT professional say they need a librarian to work with them. It reinforced my belief that “the L-word” has a lot of value and meaning and was very timely considering the proposed SLA name change (which I wrote about yesterday).

Later, I mentioned the SLA name debate to one of our system administrators who also happens to have a library degree. He said he didn’t like the idea of dropping the L-word from the name, and that he specifically wanted library training to complement his IT training.

Since the proposed announcement, Twitter and other outlets have been buzzing with reactions and discussion.

In the midst of all this, I was catching up on some back reading and read an article about the One Book, One Community in Library Journal. I happened to notice that the author works for “a firm specializing in strategic communications for knowledge organizations” – and thought, I have no idea what that means. It just sounds like a bunch of buzzwords mixed together to me. Now why would I want to belong to an association whose name sounds like a bunch of buzzwords to me?

Anne Barker has posted her “lengthy thoughts” at her blog. Like me, she was in favor of the proposed name change in 2003 but doesn’t like the current proposed name. While I don’t agree with her on everything, I think she makes a lot of good points. (As of her last post, Anne had not yet decided which way she would vote. Kendra Levine, Dan Cherubin, and David Shumaker, three librarians with very different experiences, wrote thoughtful posts explaining their “no” votes.)

I don’t have a traditional library job. My working job title, which I did not choose, is “Information Core Director.” When people ask what that means, I explain that I am a librarian. It means something to people, and explains the kind of work I do.

I’m not against a name change, but I’m holding out for one that feels right to me.

No, not the big hulking building on campus. The library web site, where students can find all those great online resources that eliminate the need to go to the physical library.

I recently scrutinized the home pages of fifty colleges and universities, all rated highly by U.S. News for their undergraduate programs. A dozen of the Web sites I examined do not have the L word in evidence, and some that do effectively hide it because you need to scroll or squint to find it.

I looked at the web site for the university where I work. There is a link right in the main menu for libraries. Then I looked at the home page for the research center where I manage the library. Yup, a link to the library right on the main page. Phew!

The U.S. Newspaper Industry in Transition, a Congressional Research Service report, outlines the rise and fall of the newspaper industry and its future prospects, and investigates the effects of government assistance to the industry. [via Docuticker]

It is clear that the news industry is in a state of change, and that the current model is not the future model. I don’t know whether the government should intervene to help – having government help its own watchdog is problematic – but I do hope that citizens take notice. If the newspapers disappear, where will you get your local news from?

Well. This blog has been silent for nearly two months, and I think Twitter is at least partly to blame. I keeping posting to Twitter about things I’d like to write blog posts about later … and then I just never seem to get to the blog posts. I’m also not reading as many other blogs – but I am reading a lot of librarians’ posts on Facebook and Twitter.

Rather than get all apologetic, I decided to add a Twitter widget to my blog sidebar. I do intend to continue writing somewhat longer commentary on this blog, but the reality is that most of my current chatter is on Twitter – so please do follow me there.

The article, in the travel section, begins:

New York City certainly isn’t the place to prove that the best things in life are free.

But one important resource there never levies any charges.

And it turns out to be a great tourist stop, too.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the article doesn’t just tout the library as a thrifty tourist stop, but goes into detail about why the library is an interesting place to visit – and puts in a plug for visiting your local library, too:

The library in New York City merits a stop next time you’re in the Big Apple. But remember, the one in your own home community is worth a stop anytime.

I don’t know if my grandmother knows this, but the first place my husband and I went on our honeymoon was the Enoch Pratt Free Library! And last year my mom and I had a great time exploring the Boston Public Library, with a nice lunch in their cafe.

The rapper, who recently co-wrote a 52-page book of “thoughts and theories,” said he is a “proud non-reader” and “would never want a book’s autograph.” (Read more in the Reuters article.)

I’m not normally one to get all worked up about the fact that kids today aren’t reading as much as previous generations (and I’m not entirely convinced about that) but Kanye’s statements got me a little worked up. They remind me of all the kids in middle school who took pride in being stupid and made me ashamed of being “smart.”

Fortunately, Cake Wrecks has come to my rescue with a fabulous collection of book-related cakes.

Mmm, cake. Cake wins, no question. It always does, unless it goes up against pie, and then pie wins.

I’ll probably be twittering during the conference, but I’ll also try to blog about anything of interest to the library world.