I've just returned from a week in Sydney, Australia. While there, I spoke to some 130 public librarians, mainly about the Douglas County Libraries model for managing ebooks. Librarians are good people. Every where I go, I find colleagues who are smart, funny, and deeply passionate about the twin values of our profession: intellectual freedom and privacy. I like them. I think that our respective countries are right to trust librarians (because it's clear that they do). We're good stewards of public funds, and providing personalized quality service is part of our DNA. In fact, there is far more about Australian and US public libraries that is similar, than dissimilar. * We share a similar model of service. By far the biggest use of our libraries is for circulating materials. * Our most powerful recruitment tool - and perhaps our key contribution to our respective nations - remains the children's storytime. New parents understand implicitly what libraria...