#library

“Old Central” – A photo tribute to history of San Diego Central Library – DrWeb

The Photos — Some in 2013, I started taking a lot of photos inside the old Central Library in downtown San Diego, 820 E Street. I worked there for 15 years, Librarian II, was the Training Librarian, Science, and Documents Librarian in my career there. I retired in 2016.

These bring back some rich memories, so I wanted to share. There are still some “missing” basement photos I am hunting for. Stay tuned! The new Central Library opened in 2013, so it was past the time to document the past. –DrWeb

To enjoy the images, browse at the selections, click any to open larger view, and then you are in the slideshow style, and can move back and forward. Enjoy!

#1954Building #2013Taken #2025 #America #AnnaTatar #Archives #Books #California #CityOfSanDiego #DeborahBarrows #History #LibrarianII #Libraries #Library #LibraryDirectors #MistyJones #OldPhotos #Opinion #SanDiego #SanDiegoPublicLibrary #UnitedStates

Librarian reminisces about old Central Library as it heads to market – Times of San Diego The old central library in downtown San Diego. (File photo courtesy of the city)

Arts

As the city announced it was seeking buyers or lessees to redevelop the 1954 building into housing, she reminisced about what the space at 820 E St. meant to her and other staff during the 59 years it stored San Diego’s main library collection. 

One of the most exciting parts of librarian Kristina Garcia’s career occurred in the old Central Library but her connection to the space started long before that. 

As the city announced it was seeking buyers or lessees to redevelop the 1954 building into housing, she reminisced about what the space at 820 E St. meant to her and other staff during the 59 years it stored San Diego’s main library collection. 

“Unfortunately, we did outgrow the space,” said Garcia, now the librarian for the adult high school diploma program. “And I’m very glad we have so much more space and we can offer so many great programs now in the New Central but the Old Central was a very special part of my work history and my family.” 

Garcia’s father, a lawyer who worked downtown, would take her on visits to the Central Library. 

It reminded her of a 1950s school with a few unique features. The seal of San Diego on the floor, Donal Hord’s sculptures and classic wood features from the original San Diego Carnegie Library stood out to her as a child. 

“The facade outside was always very artistic, you know, and majestic,” said Garcia. She is glad that the historic significance of these features means they will be preserved even as the building as a whole is redeveloped. 

It was many years after Garcia’s childhood visits when, already well into her career as a librarian, she began working inside the Central Library in 2001.

She was located on one of the two basement floors as a second-level reference librarian for the Serra Cooperative. Eventually, she started working at reference desks on the three above-ground stories of the library. 

Unlike today’s Central Library which is divided by floors, the old library was split into sections.

Each section had a reference desk where the librarians stationed there would be subject matter experts on the section’s topic, like history, sciences, literature, etc. Garcia started in the art, music and recreation area. 

She stayed at the library until it closed in 2013, working with librarians to meet the needs of over a thousand daily visitors. 

Then, the Central Library at 330 Park Blvd. in East Village opened. 

One of Garcia’s most exciting opportunities occurred during the move from old to new when she packed up The Wangenheim Collection, which includes rare books, manuscripts, rugs and other artifacts that chronicle the development of books through the ages.

She calls it “a really special thing that I got to do.” 

Leaving the building she remembered from her childhood, one that also housed much of her career was difficult, as much as the new space was needed. “The staff did find it hard to say goodbye to that old building,” Garcia said. 

With three stories above ground and two below, the 144,524-square-foot old Central Library offered a unique visitor experience. 

The collection was largely housed in the two basement floors, which was not open to the public. They were only allowed on the above ground floors where a spiraling brass handrail adorned the stairs. 

Since the public needed access to the collections, staff members took on the role of runners. Visitors would fill out hold cards of what book they wanted and a runner would use a service elevator down to the basement to find it and bring it up. 

There were so many shelves in the basement it was a maze. Reflective dots and arrows marked paths to the exit in case staff got lost amid a power outage. 

Editor’s Note: Below is a KPBS NPR video from 12 years ago. It shows some of the treasures. When I worked at Central Library, I loved going into the basement. I somewhere have my “parting” images which I will try and dig out and add later. See also the original article that included the video: https://www.kpbs.org/news/evening-edition/2013/06/28/central-library-moves-hidden-treasures-out-public
-DrWeb

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHUOtQeUH94

Editor’s Note: Read the rest of the story, at the below link.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Librarian reminisces about old Central Library as it heads to market

#1954 #2025 #59Years #America #Basement #Books #CentralLibrary #CityOfSanDiego #Downtown #Education #FiveFloors #History #KristinaGarcia #Librarian #Libraries #Library #NPR #Reading #SanDiego #Television #UnitedStates

“Sticking to the job description is old thinking, try to be flexible to opportunities.”

Please note: This is an anonymous response to an online survey; I do not have any way of contacting the respondent or verifying responses. Their answers may reflect good, bad, or middling hiring practices. I invite you to take what’s useful and leave the rest. If you are someone who hires Library, Archives or other LIS workers, please consider giving your own opinion by filling out the survey here. 

Current Hiring Practices and Organizational Needs

These questions are about your current hiring practices in general – the way things have been run the last year or two (or three).

Where do you advertise your job listings?

For part-time and lower ranking jobs as local and local library jobs sites in the Chicago area. Also at the City Colleges. For professional librarian positions at Local library and archive job sites, Indeed and on ALA jobs.

Do you notice a difference in application quality based on where the applicant saw the job ad?

Yes, the formality increases from the local job sites to the ALA jobs listings.

Do you include salary in the job ad?

√ Yes

Do you use keyword matching or any automation tools to reduce the number of applications a human reads while considering candidates?  

√ No

Do you consider candidates who don’t meet all the requirements listed in the job ad?

√ Yes

Does your workplace require experience for entry-level librarian positions? (Officially or unofficially…)

√ No

What is the current most common reason for disqualifying an applicant without an interview?

They want to work remotely.

Does your organization use one-way interviews? (Sometimes also called asynchronous or recorded interviews)

√ No

Do you provide interview questions before the interview? 

√ Other: For professional positions we do this but less formal interviews we don’t do this.

If you provide interview questions before the interview, how far in advance?

A few weeks.

Does your interview process include taking the candidate out for a meal?

√ Other: Yes, for professional positions.

How much of your interview process is virtual?

√ First round/Initial Screen

Do you (or does your organization) give candidates feedback about applications or interview performance?

√ No

What is the most important thing for a job hunter to do in order to improve their hirability?

We look for flexibility, kindness and a sense of humor.

I want to hire someone who is: 

wants to be here

Is there anything else you’d like to say about hiring practices at your organization or in current trends?

We have a strong culture and want people who fit into that culture.

These are questions about the last person you hired (or the last position you attempted to fill). This person may not have been a librarian, and that’s ok.

Think about the most recent time you participated in hiring someone (or an attempt to hire someone) at your organization. What was the title of the position you were trying to fill?

Head of Collections

When was this position hired?

√ Between three to six months ago

Approximately how many people applied for this position?

√ 25-75

Approximately what percentage of those would you say were hirable?

√ 25% or less

And how would you define “hirable”?

Had the necessary skills to do the job.

How did the recruitment for this position compare with recruitments in previous years?

Fewer applicants than previous job searches.

This section asks for information about your workplace, including if you have lost positions in the last decade.

How many staff members are at your library/organization?

√ 50-100

Are you unionized?

√ No

How many permanent, full time job openings has your workplace posted in the last year?

√ 2

How many permanent, full time librarian (or other “professional” level) jobs has your workplace posted in the last year?

√ 3-4

Can you tell us how the number of permanent, full-time positions at your workplace has changed over the past decade?

√ There are fewer positions

Have any full-time librarian positions been replaced with part-time or hourly workers over the past decade?  

√ Yes

Have any full-time librarian positions been replaced with non-librarian, lower paid staff positions over the past decade?   

√ Yes

Is librarianship a dying profession?

√ I don’t know

Why or why not?

Its changing and I don’t know how it will go.

This section asks for information about you specifically.

What part of the world are you in?

√ Midwestern US

What’s your region like?

√ Urban area

What type of institution do you hire for (check all that apply):

√ Special Library 

What type(s) of LIS professionals do you hire? 

Tech services, Interlibrary loan, collections, licensing.

Are you a librarian?

√ Yes

Are you now or have you ever been: 

√ A hiring manager (you are hiring people that you will directly or indirectly supervise),

√ A member of a hiring or search committee

Do you have any other comments, for job hunters, other people who hire, about the survey, or for Emily (the survey author)?

Sticking to the job description is old thinking, try to be flexible to opportunities.

#1 #14 #25 #35 #books #GLAMJobs #Librarian #librarians #libraries #Library #libraryHiring #libraryInterview #libraryJobs #libraryWork #LISCareers #lisJobs

News | Literary hotels that showcase a novel guest experience – CoStar

7 stays with overflowing bookshelves, reading-ready nooks

The Bookhouse Hotel at Faunbrook has seven rooms designed for book lovers by book lovers. (The Bookhouse Hotel)

By Natalie Harms, Rachel Daub, CoStar News, September 19, 2025 | 7:23 AM

Books transport their readers to new destinations within the pages. In turn, some hotels have taken a novel approach to providing a literary experience to guests.

From wall-to-wall bookshelves to specialty suites, these seven hotels lean into the literary world and the power of the written word.

Click through the slideshow of these literary hotels and scroll down to learn more about each one.

https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/25162684/embed

Setting: New York, New York

Synopsis: This 60-key, independent luxury hotel was built in 1912 and renovated in 2012, according to CoStar data. The owner and operator, Library Hotel Collection, has three other New York hotels, but the Library Hotel in Midtown Manhattan is its literary crown jewel. The hotel has more than 6,000 books decorating its halls and restaurant concept called Madison & Vine. The Writer’s Den and Poetry Garden & Terrace on the 14th floor transforms each evening into Bookmarks Lounge, a rooftop bar with literary-inspired cocktails.

Main character: The Library Hotel’s biggest literary aspect is its tribute to the Dewey Decimal Classification. Each of the 10 guestroom floors is themed to the major categories of the system: social science, literature, philosophy, religion and more. Each guestroom has 50 to 150 books plus artwork themed to a unique subgenre from each floor’s category.

Setting: Newport, Oregon

Synopsis: Inspired by Sylvia Beach — an American who founded the Shakespeare and Company bookstore in Paris — Hotel Sylvia has 22 rooms and originally opened in Newport, Oregon, in the early 1900s as a boarding house. In 1984, the hotel was bought and renovated to honor Beach, who was close friends with Ernest Hemmingway and James Joyce, who ended up creating a character for Beach in his novel Ulysses in tribute to her help getting him a publishing deal. The hotel was renovated earlier this year, entering its new chapter with its reopening in July.

Main character: In honor of Beach’s literary career, the Hotel Sylvia has a handful of author-themed rooms — from William Shakespeare to Jane Austen — as well as literary-genre rooms and suites. The lobby and café are surrounded by bookshelves and cozy reading spots for guests to peruse and enjoy.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: News | Literary hotels that showcase a novel guest experience

#2025 #America #Books #CoStar #Education #GuestExperience #Hotels #Libraries #Library #LiteraryHotels #Reading #Travel #UnitedStates #Writing

libcom.org

https://libcom.org/

The site contains news and analysis of workers’ struggles, discussions and a constantly growing archive of over 20,000 articles contributed by our 10,000+ users ranging from history and biographies to theoretical texts, complete books and pamphlets. 

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