Bibliocycle

I have to admit, sometimes I think nostalgically back to a time when libraries only loaned actual physical books.  The sands have shifted, and that time has passed.  Now everything is more complicated.  What formats do we purchase materials in?  How do we expose those options in the catalog?  What does it mean to participate [...]

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Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak at a meeting of the Merrimack Valley Library Consortium considering the implications for libraries of e-readers and downloadable electronic books. I was pleased to be invited, because it gave me the chance to clarify my thinking about this complicated topic. I spoke about the OWHL’s experience with our [...]

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Remember how they said that technology was going to make our lives easier?  I am at a loss as to how to manage my work-related email.  And I am not on any of those list where people circulate jokes.  I have moved all of my “current awareness” to RSS.  I have a separate personal email [...]

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The Oliver Wendell Holmes Library not only strives to meet the needs of our users, we also aim to anticipate those needs. Consequently, we have been staying abreast of recent developments in electronic books, and cautiously experimenting with e-reader devices and materials. Currently we have two Amazon Kindles and a Barnes and Noble Nook. One [...]

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It’s no surprise that librarians are voracious readers. Just in time for spring break, we thought that we would share with you some of the books that we are currently reading or have recently read and enjoyed. Stephanie recommends The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett. True crime meets bibliophilic lust [...]

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With the passing of JD Sallinger this past year, interest has revived in his iconic work, The Catcher in the Rye.  The OWHL is happy to announce that thanks to the generous support of Chelsea House Publishing, we are able to offer unlimited free access during the month of March to a book of full [...]

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I am a creature of habits, one of which is an addiction to the daily newspaper.  I have therefore spent already considerable time mourning  the inevitable demise of printed newspapers.  While I have long been aware that most newspapers, including my paper-of-choice, the New York Times are available online, I have indulged myself by subscribing [...]

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Last fall, Scott McLeod of the Dangerously Irrelevant blog posted the following rhetorical question: What constitutes a “book” these days? When books become electronic and thus become searchable, hyperlinkable, more accessible to readers with disabilities, and able to embed audio, video, and interactive maps and graphics, at what point do they stop becoming “books” and [...]

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The OWHL is proud to announce our participation in a literacy initiative of South Africa Partners. We have purchased and are displaying a collection of 25 children’s books written and illustrated by South Africans, which “exhibit literary excellence, and incorporate themes of justice, hope, and renewal.” For each book purchased in the United States, SA [...]

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Interim Academy Archivist Tim Sprattler recently traveled to the Pike School to participate in Pike’s Annual Celebration of Reading.  He chose a couple of cautionary tales to read to the fourth grade students, including Struwwelpeter,  which was translated from the German into English by Mark Twain.   All of the children enjoyed The Gashlycrumb Tinies, an [...]

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