Public Libraries

This doesn't sound encouraging:

But as Illinois' budget problems worsen, lawmakers will have to decide which programs are essential and must be funded and which are not as critical, said state Rep. Ed Sullivan, a Mundelein Republican. It could come down to funding schools or libraries, he said - not both. [Lissau, Russell. "State funding shortage may doom library systems", Daily Herald, 2/14/2010]

Okay, today was the official launch of the new community site that I've been working on for the Public Library Association: PLAspace.org

The announcement reads:

Today marks another milestone in the rollout of PLAspace. We officially open the doors to new CoPs and new participants.

We created PLAspace to give Public Library Association members a place where they could share ideas and work together on common interests. Today, the first official day for the site, we already have several dozen members and a half-dozen CoPs.

I've got a neat job building a community site for one of the library organizations here. I'll talk more about it at our Drupal4Lib BoF in Anaheim but basically the idea is to promote online collaboration. Needless to say (for those in the know), I'll be making great use of Drupal's Organic Groups.

Not exactly the best shot of Frank Rich (left) being interviewed by John Galloway but I figured if I used my flash, they'd hussle me out of there.

Anyway the interview took place at the Harold Washington Center and was the final event in the city-wide "One Book, One Chicago Event" Program.

The book this year was The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Rich talked about the play (he never saw a great production), about his personal encounters with Arthur Miller (two interviews) and how this related to our post 9-11 world.

Needless to say, it was standing room only.