Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Where will your library experience take YOU?

"People always mention libraries in terms of just being sources for reading material or research. But I probably would not be in Chicago were it not for the Manhattan public library, because I was looking for an organizing job and was having great trouble finding a job as a community organizer in New York. The Mid-Manhattan library had these books of lists of organizations, and the librarian helped me find these lists of organizations, and I wrote to every organization. One of them wound up being an organization in Chicago that I got a job with."--Barack Obama, quoted in American Libraries; Aug 2005, Vol. 36 Issue 7 p48-52

That's right--our 44th president used the resources in his library to help him find a job, launching a career path that led all the way to the White House. We have some of the same resources that he likely used (such as The Encyclopedia of Associations, Ref. HS17.G334 2004)right here in your college library. Why not stop by to start planning for your future career? Who knows where a little library research can take you?

In honor of the inauguration, check out the American Libraries article "Bound to the Word" (we found it on Academic Search Complete). It contains the text of then-Senator Obama's address to the American Library Association's 2005 Annual Conference in Chicago. In it he emphasizes the importance of language and literacy, as well as the role libraries and libraries play in the fight for privacy and freedom. (You'll even get to see his shocking admission that he has been known to misbehave in libraries)! Intrigued? Here's the link!

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