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With the American Library Association’s Annual Conference in Anaheim fast approaching, whiz kid Dan Kraus has put together a handy primer on taking part. (Stars director of membership development John Chrastka, who, rumor has it, was born wearing a tweed blazer with a pipe in the pocket.) Gee willikers! Check out this swell 1950s-style educational [...]

Batting second: Game On. Batting third: Super Sized: And, batting cleanup, Vending Machine. Keep up with the latest NLW videos here.

With National Library Week fast approaching, hard-working American Libraries associate editor Daniel Kraus has been working hard on a series of humorous video homages to libraries and the hard-working people who make them work. Batting leadoff, Reference Desk: (And thank goodness for anonymous commenting–safe haven for the hit-and-run artist.)

I like lots of librarians, but my favorite librarian doesn’t actually exist. (Which certainly makes it less politically awkward than if I were to choose a favorite librarian who did exist.) Welcome back again, Israel Armstrong. “We’re librarians actually,” said Israel. “Come again?” “Librarians.” Israel thought that Barry’s face coloured slightly at the mention of [...]

More free-book madness. For the next month, you can read Neil Gaiman’s American Gods for free–as long as you don’t mind sitting at a computer with a live internet connection. On Boing Boing, Cory Doctorow (Overclocked) gives it a bad review (the interface, not the book). Gaiman responds to that and another charge, as well: I was surprised [...]

More timely old stuff: lifehacker’s 13 Book Hacks for the Library Crowd. Most of us spend a lot of time in the virtual world these days, but that doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate a good book every now and then. From your local library to the classroom to the bookstore, there are a lot of tools [...]

Because it’s Friday, I feel I should leave you with something exciting to look at this weekend: “Red-Hot and Filthy Library Smut” (the nonist). Apparently the post was originally called “Sex Libris.” I have the distinct pleasure of telling you that I have visited the premises below in person. (Thanks, Carlos!)

I keep trying to write a funny caption for this and then feeling as if I’m insulting the taste of millions of readers. Let me just say that I still don’t understand James Patterson’s popularity. Or maybe it stands to reason that, if you publish 12 books per year, you’re 12 times more likely to be checked out [...]

In the Times Literary Supplement (“Erotic qualifications“), Robert Irwin offers a somewhat cheeky (ahem) review of Gaetan Brulotte and John Phillips’ Encyclopedia of Erotic Literature (Routledge): I also finished my reading of these two volumes with the feeling that sex was a lot less fun than I had hitherto supposed. That’s funny, I had much the same [...]

If there’s anyone who questions the enthusiasm of librarians for their line of work–and it sure ain’t me–show them this. Could writers and readers have any better friends? (Further reading.)