The Gazette Online

GAZETTE Volume 18, No. 26 • June 29, 2007 • A weekly publication for Library staff ALA Visitors Respond Warmly to Library Welcome By Gail Fineberg ibrarians listening intently as Librar- ian of Congress James H. Billington Lspoke at length about his 20 years at the Library, its history and its future in a wide-ranging televised conversation with C-SPAN’s Brian Lamb. Librarians bending over ancient texts and colorful pop-up books in Library reading room displays, touring the stacks and materials-processing areas, and taking notes in dozens of meetings on all aspects of librarianship — acquisitions, cataloging, preservation, Web design and development, the digital world and the future of libraries, to name a few topics. Librarians gasping upon walking through the big double doors into the gold-domed Main Reading Room, tipping backwards to view Blashfield’s Human Understanding painted on the dome ceiling 160 feet above the scholars’ desks below, and posing for pictures above the circulation desk. These are but some of the scenes at the Library this past week as hundreds of American Library Association (ALA) delegates reveled in the Library’s archi- Nancy G. Alfaro Marilyn Parr, public service and collections access officer, Collections Access Loan and tecture, history, service and hospitality. Management Division (CALM), leads an Acquisitions and Bibliographic Directorate tour Photo coverage of these events appear into the stacks near the Main Reading Room. on pages that follow. One of those listening to Billington’s used, I am astounded and gratified that a She was a librarian. But I never knew her. conversation with Lamb, to be broad- public servant with his depth of human- She died in 1942 in a ghetto in Poland. cast on “Q and A” at 8 and 11 p.m. on ity serves us,” she said. “His eloquence, My mother survived. I just read her and Sunday, July 1, was Martha Alma Penzer, his story of a people who founded this my father’s accounts preserved in the a Brownell Library librarian serving the knowledge-based democracy and this Holocaust Museum. I was so grateful to community of Essex Junction, Vt. “I am Library, so moved me. His inclusiveness find their stories there.” She paused. so moved. I had no idea that a man of his comes from the core of him.” “I am going back to Chittenden County humanity was the head of the Library of Making the point that librarians, librar- and tell everyone I know —we have an Congress,” she said at the conclusion of ies and museums are essential for the active network of librarians whose souls the C-SPAN taping on Monday afternoon, preservation of history and memory, are on fire — how humane this Librarian June 25. Panzer told the story of her own name. “At this time, when we are so cynically “I am named for my grandmother, Alma. ALA VISITORS, Continued on page 4 2 T H E G A ZE tt E JUNE 29, 2007 FORUM To the Editor: I’m writing about the constant door closures at the Library of Congress. It’s very hard to understand why [the blue core Madison Building] door cannot always be kept GAZETTE open for staff for two hours a day at lunch time. It seems to me that it is a tremendous MATTHEW RAYMOND burden on Library [and U.S. Capitol Police] to have to try to screen staff and visitors Executive Editor GAIL FINEBERG simultaneously at the main entrance, 101 Independence Ave., S.E. Editor We are told that [Library and congressional] staff get preference to enter but it does MICHAELA McNICHOL not always work that way. Even so, why should visitors be forced to wait in a long line Art Director while staff enter first? Why should it be a hassle for people to visit the Library and a Contributing Editors: Erin Allen, Calendar; hassle for LC staff to return from lunch? Carlin “René” Sayles, Moving On and Length of Service; I’m sure that we will be told that staffing patterns are the result of budget constraints, Runako Balondemu, Donated Leave but since the red corridor door is closed all day, and the green and blue corridor doors Contributing Photographers: Erin Allen, T.J. Jeffers, Michaela McNichol, Charlynn Spencer Pyne are closed almost all day, isn’t plenty of money being saved already? In addition, I’d Proofreader: George Thuronyi like to know why only one of the two metal detectors at the Madison Building’s main entrance is used? Certainly the use of both of them would help speed the process of PETER BRAESTRUP JAMES W. McCLUNG Founder Founding Publisher entering the Library. (1990 – 1997) (1990 – 1994) The Library of Congress Police should reassess the situation and make it a priority to keep the blue core Second Street door open every day at lunch time. An official publication of the Library of Congress, The Gazette encourages Library managers and staff to submit articles and photographs of general interest. Submissions will be edited to Neil Plotnick convey the most necessary information. Senior Acquisitions Specialist Deadline for submission is 5 p.m. Wednesday, one week prior to European and Latin Acquisitions Division publication date. Please submit text in digital form via email (gfin@ loc.gov) preferably as an attached Microsoft Word file. Back issues of The Gazette are available in the Public Affairs Office, Ed. Note: U.S. Capitol Police Inspector Fredinal P. Rogers e-mailed the following April LM 105, and issues dating from 2000 through the current issue are 20 response to Mr. Plotnick, who had complained “about the constant closing of the available online at www.loc.gov/staff/gazette. Second Street door at lunch time” in an April 20 e-mail addressed to Inspector Rogers. A Library of Congress Washington, DC 20540-1620 series of e-mails between them culminated with Mr. Plotkin’s June 18 letter to the editor, Editorial 7-9194, [email protected] above, and Inspector Rogers’ brief answer alluding to his earlier response, below. Design and production 7-0970, [email protected] ISSN 1049-8184 Mr. Plotnick: Thank you for your e-mail of April 20. Feedback from staff is always welcome and Printed on paper that contains recycled paper by the promotes mutually respectful, thoughtful and considered communication allowing us Printing Management Section, Office Systems Services to better understand each other’s needs and constraints. As you know, all departments of the Library are operating under tighter fiscal Gazette Welcomes Letters from Staff The staff is invited to use the Forum pages for lively and constraints than have been experienced in recent years; the police department is no thoughtful debate relevant to Library issues. However, just as other newspaper editors exercise discretion over which letters different in this regard. In order to protect the collections, ensure a safe working envi- to publish and how to edit them, so do we. In deciding whether ronment and reduce risk to employees and visitors, which are our first and overriding or how much to publish, we consider content (including mis- statements of fact, libel, innuendo, ridicule of individuals or mission concerns, the department prioritizes its operations based on threats and guid- the institution, personal attacks, and redundancy) and length ance provided by senior leadership of the Library. The police must screen and protect (the limit is 600 words). Letters must be signed by the author, whose place of work staff, visitors and deliveries, patrol the Library’s facilities, respond to emergencies, deter and telephone extension should be included so we can verify authorship. Letter writers should understand that when and detect criminal activity, apprehend violators of the law and document all these they sign their letters and release them to us for publication they are relinquishing privacy. If a letter calls for manage- activities. These tasks are compounded by the large numbers of students and visitors ment response, for example, an explanation of a policy or to our buildings during the spring and summer months. actions or clarification of fact, we will ask for management response.—Ed. Within this hierarchy of prioritized needs, opening a door for two hours [for staff only] conflicts with processing hundreds of visitors in lines in the Jefferson and Madison Deadlines for Editorial Content and Buildings. On a consistent basis, I choose to safely and efficiently process the large Calendar Submissions number of visitors into the buildings. This is the reason for closing of the Second Street The deadline for editorial copy for the July 6 issue is Wednesday, June 27. Email articles to door when the above interests conflict. the Editor, Gail Fineberg, at [email protected]. To To meet your needs and the needs of other stakeholders, my decision is influenced promote events through the Library’s online calendar and the Gazette Calendar, email event by the fact that staff is, as you note, given priority at the “all-access” doors. It has been and contact information to [email protected]. my frequent observation that staff is offered head-of-line privileges. If I am not doing this well, please let me know, and I will improve my performance in this area. AT A G L A NCE: I will continue to assign personnel to posts as dictated by operational needs. We ALA 3-11 will make every effort to open the Second Street door when feasible. I hope that this e-mail provides you with greater understanding as to why this door Transit Subsidy 10 is closed. www.loc.gov/staff/gazette JUNE 29, 2007 T H E G A ZE tt E 3 LIRBR A RY WELCOMES A L A A Conversation With the Librarian of Congress Andrew Councill Andrew rather than less,” he said.

Load more