The Second Floor Librarians

Start with Herb & Dorothy, an award-winning 2008 documentary, which “tells the story of a postal clerk and a librarian who managed to build one of the most important contemporary art collections in history with very modest means.” (from the DVD case) 

Last May was the fiftieth anniversary of the Freedom Riders.  The Freedom Riders were civil rights activists, most of them college and university students, who rode interstate buses into the segregated southern United States. American Experience aired a film to tell “the story behind this courageous band who in 1961 creatively challenged segregation.”

This week I read critic Michael Dirda’s column Dirda’s Reading Room : Come talk about books  in The Washington Post.  His topic, “My most challenging book,” got my gray cells going about the work we undertake when we read books that are over our heads.

There are five of us blogging for The Second Floor Librarians. You may have seen us at the reference desk or around town,  but if you don’t know who we are, here’s what we look like and something about us.

June roses are budding and roses set me thinking of English roses and Shakespeare. 

Reading about cats in Monday’s library blog post got me thinking about dogs. And thinking about dogs got me thinking about Pet Day at the OSU vet school, one of my family’s favorite annual activities.

I just finished reading Everyday icon: Michelle Obama and the power of style by Kate Betts and it is one fun read if you are a fan of Michelle Obama or fashion. We are talking fashion that comes from an innate sense of style which is what the author is celebrating in Michelle and what [...]

I hate missing a 100-year birthday party and that is what happened on Tuesday, March 8. It was the International Women’s Day Centenary, 1911-2011. There were hundreds of events world-wide and I was unable to attend any of them. However, I had the pleasure of hearing Jo Anne Trow, Emeritus Vice President of Student Affairs [...]

If you are a fan of storytelling generally and the Tcha Tee Man Wi Storytelling Festival in particular, you should know that the festival is set for the first weekend of March, that’s March 4-6, here in Corvallis.

In the news last week were the results of a survey of Americans’ knowledge of religion. The atheists and agnostics scored the highest on a 32-question quiz that tested knowledge from the Bible, understanding of separation of church and state, and familiarity with world religions, religions that have come to be the religions of our [...]