In support of Colorado College’s minor in book studies, Humanities Liaison Librarian Steve Lawson and Curator of Special Collections Jessy Randall co-teach a half-block class, “The History and Future of the Book,” offered every other year since 2010. Each time, students (classes of five, eighteen, and twenty-five) worked with the printer at The Press at Colorado College to make some sort of book-like object of their own devising. At least one copy of each of these is now preserved in Special Collections (along with other student-made printing projects for other classes). The projects so far are:

book quotes book (2010)

Title (2012)

Hombre McSteez uses an unusual stop-motion technique to make wonderful short videos. Check out the library shenanigan at the 1:03 minute mark:

Thanks, Suzie DeGrasse!

Seems like it would be even cooler if these check-out card t-shirts from had a bunch of names scrawled on them, though maybe that would look obscene or braggy (“look how many people have checked me out!”).

Hey wait, I see that if you go to the Shopjustwish site you can pay $5 and get an author, title, and name added! Awwright! What book would you want on your t-shirt?

Thanks, Steven Kotok!

Libraries provide a great many unofficial services we don’t learn about in library school. According to a recent news story, a woman in Nashua, New Hampshire has been arrested for solicitation in the Tewksbury Public Library. She and the undercover detective communicated using written notes so as not to disturb the library patrons. Yay?

The public comments on this story are predictably amusing. I’ll share a couple of non-public comments made to me:

“Was she on the library staff? I only ask because so many library workers find it necessary to supplement their incomes by taking on second jobs.”

“I get the impression that [college and university libraries] they are among the most favored places for assignations. However, with the increased use of motorized compact shelving I worry about unwary ‘patrons’ being crushed.”

Thanks, Megan Lewis!

A new version of the Reading Rainbow theme song, in which Levar Burton goes power-mad.

The end?

Thanks, Jezebel!

Addendum, same day: I’ve just noticed that in the video we see “quotes” from, it seems, L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, but in fact three of the four quotes are from the MGM film: “Now I know I have a heart, because it’s breaking,” says the Tin Man, but only in the movie; “I am Oz, the Great and Terrible” says Oz, only in the movie (though Dorothy does refer to him as a Great and Terrible Humbug in the book); “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain,” says the Wizard, but only in the movie. Dorothy does say “There is no place like home” in the book, but she says it soon after meeting the Scarecrow, not to get herself home with ruby slippers (in the book, the slippers are silver, anyway), and she doesn’t use the contraction. If you don’t believe me, here’s the full, searchable text of Baum’s book from Google Books: books.google.com/books?isbn=0486206912

Professional Literature for Librarians, fake pulp-style book covers for titles such as Circ Girls Are Easy and I Left the Disaster Plan on My Desk. Not sure who created this gorgeous set of images. Thanks, Jonathan Caws-Elwitt!

As part of Colorado College’s block 7 library shenanigans, Jessy Randall (your trusty shenanigan documenter) offered an indoor flying demonstration lasting approximately two minutes. (It’s important to fly slowly when flying indoors, for safety reasons.) Music Librarian Daryll Stevens accompanied the demonstration with the Superman theme on clarinet.