goblin cartoons

I’ve written before about what a fan I am of DC Comics’ Justice Society of America and I’ve made no secret that when I came up with the name and logo for the Library Society of the World, I was heavily influenced by superhero comics, especially the JSA. Right, so…

Last Friday night, the CW showed a two-hour Smallville “movie” (it was originally going to be two connected episodes but instead was broadcast as one two-hour episode), “Absolute Justice.” The episode featured Clark, Chloe and Oliver discovering a secret group of costumed superheroes, the Justice Society of America. It’s quite possibly my favorite episode of Smallville so far. Geoff Johns wrote the episode and he really groks the JSA. The Justice Society wasn’t just portrayed as a team of superheroes, it was stressed that the team members considered each other friends and family. They didn’t just fight crime together, they socialized and celebrated together. They included their spouses and children. They considered the younger generation their students and heirs.

That’s one of the driving forces behind the Library Society of the World and, I think, the biggest reason why people continue to involve themselves in the LSW. We’re not just professional library associates, we’re friends and family. We don’t just work together, we play together. We learn from each other, we support each other, professionally and personally. We’re not a league, we’re not a professional association, we’re a society.

“Absolute Justice” has stuck with me in a way few TV show episodes do. In part because it hit a lot of my superhero fanboy buttons. But more importantly because it struck a chord regarding the Library Society of the World.

Excelsior!

I’m writing this to participate in the Louisville Free Public Library blogathon, to raise awareness (and hopefully some money) for the Louisville Free Public Library, which was recently hit with flash floods, dumping over four feet of water into the library and causing over a million dollars in damages.

Why did I donate money to the library? Why should you? It’s not because I’m a librarian. I became a librarian because I think libraries kick ass, not the other way around.

Libraries kick ass because they are a public service, free to all, centered around literacy, information, education and entertainment. Libraries, provide free books, CDs, DVDs, video games, newspapers and magazines, microfiche, databases and other resources to public communities. Libraries provide activities, meeting spaces and internet access to the public. I really believe libraries are essential to a community.

So please, donate as much as you can to the Louisville Free Public Library, either in the name of the Library Society of the World or directly to the Louisville Free Public Library Foundation. But please help out in some way, because we all need our libraries.

Because I am a huge geek, one of my big inspirations for the naming & iconography of the Library Society of the World was a comic book superhero group like the Justice Society of America. But in the real world, we’re not superheroes, we’re just regular people doing our best in life.

Still, there are times when I’m particularly proud to be associated with the LSW, and this is one of those times. My fellow carping nerdboy Steve Lawson has started a drive to collect money to donate to the Louisville Free Public Library, which has recently been hit by disastrous flash flooding. I’m thrilled that Steve has taken the initiative to do this and to do it in the name of the LSW. I’m also thrilled that people have actually been donating. I’ll admit, as a public librarian in Kansas, I don’t exactly have loads of money to throw around, but I did make a small donation.

Please help out the Louisville Free Public Library in any way you can, either by donating through PayPal, sending a check to the Library Society of the World Clubhouse (PO Box 7893, Colorado Springs CO 80933) or sending a check directly to:

The Library Foundation
Attn: Flood
301 York St.
Louisville, KY 40203
(502) 574-1709

I know this is extraordinarily corny to say, but you really don’t have to be a superhero to do good in the world.

As I said in my previous post, I went to a school in Kansas City called Loretto for 5th-8th grades. Loretto was a private school that promoted self-paced education, cooperative learning, broad educational study and free thinking. It wasn’t quite “anything goes,” but it was much looser and more open than almost any other school I’ve gone to, not too dissimilar from the Montessori method. I really enjoyed my time at Loretto, and I was very upset when it closed during the summer of 1984, but it didn’t really hit me until this past weekend, reuniting with old friends and teachers from the school, just how much Loretto helped shape who I am and what I do today.

The Library Society of the World, begun on a whim and a dare, is completely a Loretto thing. It’s nonhierarchical, loosely-structured, open, free, collaborative, sarcastic and often lazy about getting things done…just like my classmates and I were at Loretto. Library Camp Kansas and my fondness for unconferences in general, that’s also Loretto-inspired. My dislike of formal presentations, standing at a podium and lecturing to an audience, and my preference for free-flowing conversations and the equal exhange of ideas also comes from my time at Loretto.

If I can continue to bring the Loretto philosophy and style into my professional and personal life, I’ll consider myself very successful indeed. The world needs fewer squares and more circles.

My fellow Library Society of the Word carping nerdboy Steve Lawson has done a wonderful thing. He took an offhand joke I made about an award given out by the LSW and turned it into a real thing: the Library Society of the World Shovers and Makers Award. How do you win an award? You nominate yourself! And so I have. I’ve also added an LSW S&M badge to this blog, which you can see in the sidebar.

Are you a shover and maker in the library world? Than give yourself an award!

Today, I somehow found some energy and inspiration for a blog post. But rather than post it here, I’ve started a new blog on the LSW site: Humbug! The idea is for it to be a group blog, with other members and me posting to it. But even if no one else posts to it besides me, I’m thinking it could end up as my main library blog. I think this website will be changing into something else. I’m not sure yet, and my personal life is too wacky for me to make any really big plans, but…well, we’ll see.

Sometimes the universe hands you a goody and makes your day. Sometimes that “universe” is Blake Carver of LISNews, and the “goody” is a brand-spanking-new website for the Library Society of the World. Check it out!

http://thelsw.org/

It’s not fully operational yet. A group of us are trying to figure out Drupal and get content and functionality onto the site. But it’s there, and you can register and create a profile. If anyone out there in Libraryland is good with Drupal and has some time and energy to spare, let us know. The LSW needs your help.

I’m just so happy about this! Blake is such a good guy for doing this. I’m very, very excited at the possibilities of the new site. It’s LSW 2.0! Let’s have fun with this!

ALA Annual is going on in Anaheim, CA, and while I’m not there, I’m enjoying all the Twittering, Flickring and blogging. The coolest thing? Seeing this:

Somebody gave happy mutant author and blogger Cory Doctorow a Library Society of the World ribbon to wear! How wicked is that! (I devoured his most recent novel, Little Brother, in two days. I couldn’t put it down. Loved it.)

Also, the Library Society of the World team won the California Dreaming contest at ALA. Congratulations to my LSW friends who participated in the contest. I have a big ol’ grin on my face because of you guys!

(This post is very, very similar to a post by my pal Steve Lawson. I make no excuses or apologies for that.)

I’ve just created a Library Society of the World page on Facebook. We’re everywhere!

Thanks to my conference sister Rikhei Harris, the Library Society of the World now has a group on LibraryThing. w00t!