Madison Ave. via the Library

I’ve mentioned before how one of the perks of working in a library is being exposed to all kinds of different books. Every day books cross my desk and I … Continued


Throwback Thursday: The Stories That Won’t Let Go

There’s a story that won’t let go of me. Some days, this book takes the form of a novel. On other days, it has flirted with being a collection of linked short stories and at times, it feels like it wants to be a memoir.
You won’t find this book on our shelves here at the Library (yet) because I’ve written and rewritten this story for … well, let’s just say it has been a few years.  Like most things in our lives, it is a SomedayMaybeLifeIsntGettingAnyShorter work in progress.


Preservation Highlight: Caring for the Collection with Tie-Boxes

Sometimes, the best way to preserve a book and its information is to leave it in its delicate condition and make a sturdy safe place for it to live. This is where our custom made boxes come in! We use preservation grade materials and best practices to ensure the longest life for our collection. The last thing we want is to harm the books by using acidic boards or glues that will speed their deterioration.


By Thor’s Hammer

Every few years a new culture seems to capture our collective attention…Pirates, vampires and zombies (oh my?) being the first three that come to mind over the last decade and a half. Lately I have detected a little Scandinavian sensationalism, some Nordic know-how, floating into pop culture. I am, of course, talking about the popularity Vikings seem to be enjoying in television.


A Baby Book Shower: Babies Need Books from Birth

It’s never too early to start reading to your baby, and we hope that the Best Books for Babies booklist in combination with future Baby Book Showers will continue to inspire caregivers to share books with their babies.



Summer Reading, Pittsburgh Style!

This year, we’re striving to read 180,000 books for Summer Reading! While ANY books, magazines and graphic novels count toward our goal, some of the books we’re promoting this year have a common theme—the city of Pittsburgh!



Throwback Thursday: Ready for Ready Player One

If you haven’t read Cline’s best-selling novel, it takes place in the year 2044 when most of the world is in pretty bad shape (except for Columbus, Ohio—one of the signs that this is a fictional story). Literally everyone is plugged into a virtual reality utopia known as the OASIS. When OASIS creator James Donovan Halliday dies, it’s revealed that he left behind a series of puzzles leading to to a hidden Easter Egg. Whoever finds the Egg will win Halliday’s real-life fortune and control of the OASIS, like if Charlie and the Chocolate Factory took place inside The Matrix.