Thanks to http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluecinderellee/ for the image

I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and I’ve decided it’s time to officially close up shop on this particular blog. I’ve had some personal challenges in my life for the last 6 months that have kept me busy when not working and I’ve neglected to continue to post. More importantly, I feel that I’m in a much different place in my career and in the library world now than when I started this blog and it’s time to acknowledge that shift. I feel like it’s almost not fair to those who’ve subscribed and/or linked to this blog to pretend as if this is a viable project for me still.

However, instead of no longer writing I do in fact plan to begin writing more very soon. So look for a new project to be revealed in the coming weeks that reflects a new perspective and purpose. It may be a team blog, it may take a different form altogether. I hope to have something ready before Internet Librarian, but it might take a little longer than that. Nonetheless, I assure you, the creative juices are flowing….

Let's hope our libraries *never* look like this...

Awesome Steve Lawson has set out a challenge to try and raise $5000 in donations to help the Louisville Free Public recover some of the collection it lost in its recent flash flood.

If you have a spare 5, 10, or 20 bucks, please consider making a donation!

From Steve’s post:

I have set up the email LSW.LFPL@google.com and linked it to my PayPal account. I intend to collect money at that address until September 1, at which point I’ll send a check in the name of the Library Society of the World to the LFPL Foundation. You can just send money to that email address using PayPal, or use the button below:

If you’d rather send a check, send it to the Library Society of the World Clubhouse, PO Box 7893, Colorado Springs CO 80933. Make the check payable to Steve Lawson.

Don’t worry about how much you can afford to donate. My own contribution will be small-ish, between $20 and $50.

But there are about 300 members of the LSW room on FriendFeed. There are close to 1,000 members of the LSW group on Linkedin. I would like to think we can raise at least $5,000 for LFPL by September 1. That’s only $17 per FriendFeed member, or $5 per Linkedin member.

For this to work, you have to trust me. I promise that every dime that comes through PayPal or check will go to LFPL. (PayPal takes a small cut if your donation is charged to your credit card (rather than your bank account) and if you don’t choose the option to pay those fees yourself, so it’s possible that I won’t get the full amount of your donation. I’ll only be able to donate the money I actually receive after PayPal fees.)

On September 1, I’ll total up what we have raised and send it to the library. If you would rather give money yourself instead of sending it to me, here is the address and phone number given in the Louisville Courier-Journal:

The Library Foundation
Attn: Flood
301 York St.
Louisville, KY 40203
(502) 574-1709

Five thousand dollars or more for Louisville Free Public Library by September 1. Think we can do it?

I sure hope we can!