James LaRue - myliblog

[This article appeared in the September 29, 2024 edition of the Post Independent.] I’ve gone to a lot of library conferences over the course of my career. My favorite part is one of the staples: the awards ceremony. Very often, the awards call out the quiet work that has gone on in libraries for decades. The people drawn to library work are motivated by service. So we’ll see the volunteer who has run book sales for 35 years, contributing tens of thousands of dollars to library facilities. We’ll meet the staff member who introduced hundreds of children in her small town to the joys of storytimes. We’ll acknowledge the local business person who has sponsored important programs. These people are worthy of celebration. They didn’t expect recognition. But they made a difference in their communities. Sometimes, we need to hear from others just how important our work really was and is. The Colorado Association of Libraries (CAL) is one of the state “chapters” of the American Library Associat...

[This column appeared in the September 25, 2024 issue of the Sopris Sun.] When I was 13, I kissed a girl. Many times. I was feeling pretty good about it until I overheard my mother, a head nurse at the Veterans Administration hospital, mention something to a colleague over the phone about the treatment of venereal disease. When you wanted to learn about something in those days, long before the internet, you went to the library. In the dictionary, I found out that venereal disease (see syphilis and gonorrhea) was the result of sexual activity. Kissing, it sure seemed to me, was sexual. Then I looked up syphilis and gonorrhea in the encyclopedia. There were pictures. It was horrifying. It was also a little unclear how you got the diseases. In something approaching panic, I dove into the card catalog. (This was before computer catalogs, too.) I looked up the logical heading: “Sex.” And right there on the main card was typed “For Sex: See Librarian.” I want to make it clear that the libra...