January

Welcome...

mash — Sun, 04 May 2008 10:16:29 -0600

I have been writing a weekly newspaper column since 1987.

For 3 years, it ran in the Greeley Tribune. Since then, it has run in various subsidiaries of the Douglas County News Press. I still have most of my columns in digital format.

For many years, I only gave myself one rule: try to work the word "library" into every piece. My intent was to think in public about just what librarianship means at the end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st.

January 8, 2009 - are we rational?

Jamie LaRue — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:10:01 -0700

Since way back in grade school, I've been enamored of the scientific method. The idea is that we are rational creatures, delighting in growing our understanding of the marvelous natural world.

True, we often start out with ideas that are a little looney. They don't fit the facts. But that's the whole point of the scientific method: you frame a hypothesis to explain some phenomenon, then you test it. If the hypothesis is wrong, you throw it out the window and come up with one that does a better job of standing up to the evidence.

It's a powerful thing. Using the scientific method, we have pushed back the darkness of human ignorance, and made incomparable gains in everything from our own ability to survive, to remarkable works of civilization.

I've also long been a fan of science fiction. What young person -- or any person of imagination -- wouldn't want to sail out into space on the starship Enterprise?

But there are frontiers that are closer to home: the study of our own brains.

January 11, 2007 - Read to Your Children!

Jamie LaRue — Fri, 02 May 2008 20:34:18 -0600

Recently, library staff began work on a handout for parents to help them select books for their children. I just got the latest draft of it from Andrea Logan, one of our Youth Librarians, and I thought some of the research she cited deserved a broader audience.

January 18, 2007 - Libraries are Workshops for the Future

Jamie LaRue — Fri, 02 May 2008 20:34:18 -0600

Not long ago, a provocative opinion piece by author John J. Miller appeared in the Wall Street Journal. In essence, he was alarmed when a nearby library removed a book by Hemingway because nobody was reading it.

Finally, he concluded that today's public libraries were "welfare programs for middle-class readers who would rather borrow the hot new potboiler than spend a few dollars for it at the local Wal-Mart." Not surprisingly, the article generated a lot of conversation among librarians.

January 25, 2007 - Winner of Library Competition is You!

Jamie LaRue — Fri, 02 May 2008 20:34:18 -0600

Some of my best friends are library directors. I suppose that isn't surprising. By definition, they tend to share both my values and my interests.

Two of these friends are Douglas County neighbors. Eloise May is the director of the Arapahoe Library District. Bill Knott runs the Jefferson County Public Library System.

Both have held their jobs for quite a while. Eloise has been director for over 20 years, Bill for over 30.

Both of their library systems are excellent, well above national averages in virtually every category.

January 4, 2006 - Favorite 2005 Reads

Jamie LaRue — Fri, 02 May 2008 20:34:11 -0600

By Rochelle Logan, Associate Director of Support Services

[Note: I'm going to be on vacation the first two weeks on January. So this column is from Rochelle Logan, my Associate Director. Next week's column -- which I will send next Thursday, will be from Mark Weston, President of the Douglas County Board of Trustees. I'll be back in the saddle the week after that.]

January 11, 2006 - The Wheel Turns

Jamie LaRue — Fri, 02 May 2008 20:34:11 -0600

By Mark Weston, President,
Douglas County Libraries Board of Trustees

[Note: I'm going to be on vacation the first two weeks on January. This column is from Mark Weston, President of the Douglas County Board of Trustees. I'll be back in the saddle the week after that.]

January 18, 2006 - The First Amendment is About Personal Liberty

Jamie LaRue — Fri, 02 May 2008 20:34:11 -0600

For the past couple of weeks, I've been trying to wrap up a book I've been writing.

Most of it was done, but I wanted to do some in-depth research on a topic near and dear to me: the First Amendment. I've learned a lot.

There are two ideas about the United States Constitution. One of them is that the Founders were unanimously wise, prescient, and intended to give us precisely the rights we take for granted today.

January 26, 2006 - Talking Books Save Lives

Jamie LaRue — Fri, 02 May 2008 20:34:11 -0600

For those of us who do a lot of reading, it's hard to imagine a life without books. But sometimes, life surprises us. We sustain a sickness or an injury, and suddenly, we have trouble with our vision.

That trouble may be temporary or permanent: a cataract, or macular degeneration. A detached retina. Blurred vision. Congenital blindness. Or simply the advance of age.

Some of my friends have faced these issues, bravely, right up to the moment when they realize they won't be able to read anymore. Panic!

January 6, 2005 - On the Bus #8232

Jamie LaRue — Fri, 02 May 2008 20:34:05 -0600

Years ago I worked with a woman just a few years from retirement. Betty Lou was smart, competent, and efficient. She was also very dour.

No matter what people said to her, you could tell from her face that Betty Lou thought it was a Bad Idea. Or could you?

Aware of the way people perceived her, she bought a big poster of some animal with a fierce expression. The caption: I AM smiling. Some people have bad attitudes. Some just look like they do.