We’ve always been big readers here at Flavorpill, but with the eBook craze flying around, we may have neglected our ink-and-paper pals down at the local library as of late. But they’re not about to take that lying down. Library news has been all over the interwebs recently, and as a pledge of our loyalty, we bring you the latest from the world of overdue books.
A New Jersey librarian named Andy Woodworth has gathered over 4,400 people to a Facebook group, petitioning Ben & Jerry’s to launch a library-themed flavor to raise awareness for libraries “in the face of stagnant or slashed state, county, and municipal budgets.” Lots of flavors have been suggested, including Gooey Decimal System, Dusty Stacks and Li-Berry Pie — Ben & Jerry’s own director of research and development Arnold Carbone has suggested Malt Whitman, which makes it look like the company is taking the idea seriously. [via Guardian]
A group of ladies from the Texas Library Association are trying another method for promoting library awareness — a new calendar called “The Tattooed Ladies of the TLA.” The calendar serves as a fundraiser for the Texas Library Disaster Fund to help libraries along the Gulf coast still recovering from Hurricane Katrina and Rita and will have a 40-page spread of Lone Star State librarians showing off “tattoos of all shapes, sizes and locations.” Yowza. [via ABC]
New York librarian David S. Ferriero has been chosen to become the National Archivist, putting him in charge of the National Archives and Records Administration which governs the release of all government documents and presidential papers. [via NYT]
Meanwhile Mrs. Obama is getting in on the library game by becoming the honorary chairwoman of the National First Ladies Library in Canton, Ohio — although from the sound of it, saying no wasn’t really an option.[via AP]
Louise Brown wins our award for the most responsible reader — at age 91 she has borrowed almost 25,000 library books since 1946 and never incurred a single overdue fine. For the last sixty years she borrowed six books every two weeks, and in the last few years, she upped that to 12 books every 7 days. [via Telegraph]
And finally, for those of you who still can’t get yourselves out to borrow a book we add this little quote about the British Library: “All libraries are, of course, petri dishes of simmering lust, but the BL is extreme: its walls contain more erotic pressure than an oil rig, a North Sea fishing trawler and several series of Mad Men combined.” In other words, Casanova was a librarian for a reason. [via TimesOnline]