1. 1917 view of Cincinnati by landscape painter Edward T. Hurley, from the new exhibit “Inventing an American Style: Prints from the Library’s Collection, 1880s-1920s”. The exhibit is currently on view at Main Library until August 20th, and is also online at the Virtual Library.

    1917 view of Cincinnati by landscape painter Edward T. Hurley, from the new exhibit “Inventing an American Style: Prints from the Library’s Collection, 1880s-1920s”.

    The exhibit is currently on view at Main Library until August 20th, and is also online at the Virtual Library.

  2. Having fun isn’t hard when you’ve got a library card!

    We’re just a few hundred new cardholders away from our goal of 500,000. Tell your friends, family and classmates to fill out our online form and join the chorus!

    (Source: youtube.com)

  3. The “Old Main” Library, at 629 Vine Street, in 1913. Head to our Flickr for more “Old Main” goodness.  

    The “Old Main” Library, at 629 Vine Street, in 1913.

    Head to our Flickr for more “Old Main” goodness.

     

  4. Listen to This: Music from the Roaring Twenties

    image

    Baz Luhrmann, the director responsible for the most recent cinematic incarnation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, has a knack for compiling amazing soundtracks…and this one is no exception. The film is full of dazzling shots of confetti tumbling through the air onto throngs of merry revelers, accompanied by thundering, contemporary R&B beats and swinging 1920s jazz. The soundtrack, though excellent it is (with stunning contributions by Jay Z, Beyoncé with André 3000, The xx, Lana del Ray, and many others), focuses more on contemporary music and may not satiate your urgent need to do the Charleston in your living room.

    Here are a few excellent box sets and compilations in our collection to help you out with that…

    Listen to This! is a weekly music column by Popular Library Music Geek/Reference Librarian Steve Kemple, featuring off-the-beaten-path music from the library’s collection. It is also a twice-monthly listening program held every 2nd and 4th Wednesday night at 7pm in the Popular Library Department at the Main Library.

  5. This week’s Fine Amnesty Day by the Numbers:   Fines forgiven: $346,023 Number of Lost items returned: 2,529 Value of the Lost items returned: $50,769 Website page views for 5/15/2013: 146,803 (54,011 views for 5/15/2012) at 172% increase Entries via the web form: 8,657 Calls received at the Main Library: 5,287 (an average day would be around 1,200 calls) New cardholders: 391 (an average day is around 120 cards issued) We’re currently at 498,976 active cards and will probably hit 500,000 sometime next week. Total visits: 31,856 (23,932 visits on 5/15/2012) +7,924/+33% These numbers are not final, just our preliminary results! Stay tuned for more information!

    This week’s Fine Amnesty Day by the Numbers:
     
    • Fines forgiven: $346,023
    • Number of Lost items returned: 2,529
    • Value of the Lost items returned: $50,769
    • Website page views for 5/15/2013: 146,803 (54,011 views for 5/15/2012) at 172% increase
    • Entries via the web form: 8,657
    • Calls received at the Main Library: 5,287 (an average day would be around 1,200 calls)
    • New cardholders: 391 (an average day is around 120 cards issued) We’re currently at 498,976 active cards and will probably hit 500,000 sometime next week.
    • Total visits: 31,856 (23,932 visits on 5/15/2012) +7,924/+33%
    These numbers are not final, just our preliminary results! Stay tuned for more information!

  6. brooklinebooksmith: libraryjournal: queenslibrary: Can you? SaveQueensLibrary.org Ahhhgh I can’t resist a bear pun. PUNS.   (And long live libraries!) Cosigned.

    brooklinebooksmith:

    libraryjournal:

    queenslibrary:

    Can you?

    SaveQueensLibrary.org

    Ahhhgh I can’t resist a bear pun.

    PUNS.  

    (And long live libraries!)

    Cosigned.

  7. It’s Fine Amnesty Day! For the first time in more than 20 years (actually, longer than anyone here can remember), we’re giving patrons a fresh start on their cards. It’s our way of saying thank you for all your support during our National Medal campaign. It’s easy to clean your card: simply stop by any branch today or visit this page for details on how you can email, call, text or submit an online form. Thanks again, Cincinnati, for making our Library great!

    It’s Fine Amnesty Day! For the first time in more than 20 years (actually, longer than anyone here can remember), we’re giving patrons a fresh start on their cards. It’s our way of saying thank you for all your support during our National Medal campaign.

    It’s easy to clean your card: simply stop by any branch today or visit this page for details on how you can email, call, text or submit an online form.

    Thanks again, Cincinnati, for making our Library great!

  8. themineralogist: Quartz over Chrysocolla on limonite matrix Identifying minerals on sight: a bit harder than it looks.  Luckily, we have a few books for that.

    themineralogist:

    Quartz over Chrysocolla on limonite matrix

    Identifying minerals on sight: a bit harder than it looks.  Luckily, we have a few books for that.

  9. librarylinknj: markcoatney: webbys: This past year marked the 25th Anniversary of the Graphics Interchange Format. From its humble beginnings at Netscape, to its current prominence in today’s Tumblr-driven culture, the GIF has come a long way, bb. All this week, in honor of the Lifetime Achievement Award GIF inventor Steve Wilhite is receiving at this year’s Webbys we will be celebrating GIF WEEK. It’s like shark week but way, way better.  And FYI, it’s pronounced “jiff.” And that’s according to the guy who invented it. If you have any problems with that, take it up with this guy.  I’ll be cold and buried before I recognize the soft G.  FWIW, LibraryLinkNJ is on Team Soft G. Emphasis above mine. Having done multiple informal polls among some Cincinnati Library staff, I can say that we have not yet reached a consensus on this issue.

    librarylinknj:

    markcoatney:

    webbys:

    This past year marked the 25th Anniversary of the Graphics Interchange Format. From its humble beginnings at Netscape, to its current prominence in today’s Tumblr-driven culture, the GIF has come a long way, bb.

    All this week, in honor of the Lifetime Achievement Award GIF inventor Steve Wilhite is receiving at this year’s Webbys we will be celebrating GIF WEEK. It’s like shark week but way, way better. 

    And FYI, it’s pronounced “jiff.” And that’s according to the guy who invented it. If you have any problems with that, take it up with this guy. 

    I’ll be cold and buried before I recognize the soft G. 

    FWIW, LibraryLinkNJ is on Team Soft G. Emphasis above mine.

    Having done multiple informal polls among some Cincinnati Library staff, I can say that we have not yet reached a consensus on this issue.

  10. Traveling by makeshift boat on Spring Grove Avenue, circa 1913, from our Ohio River Floods Collection. By the way, here’s what the former Liberty Theater looks like today.

    Traveling by makeshift boat on Spring Grove Avenue, circa 1913, from our Ohio River Floods Collection.

    By the way, here’s what the former Liberty Theater looks like today.