At the libraries we love stories, so we were pleased to hear that public radio is encouraging everyone to share a story for the National Day of Listening on November 27th.

On the day after Thanksgiving, November 27, 2009, Wyoming Public Radio and StoryCorps are asking all Americans to start a new holiday tradition: Set aside one hour to interview a friend, a loved one, or someone in their community about his or her life.

The process is simple: select an interview partner, create a question list, and sit down to record a meaningful conversation. StoryCorps has created a free Do-It-Yourself (DIY) interview guide with step-by-step interview instructions, equipment recommendations, and sample questions available online at nationaldayoflistening.org.

Do you plan to interview someone and learn more about their story? What questions will you ask?

President Obama recently declared October to be National Information Literacy Month. From the text of the proclamation:

Rather than merely possessing data, we must also learn the skills necessary to acquire, collate, and evaluate information for any situation… Over the past decade, we have seen a crisis of authenticity emerge. We now live in a world where anyone can publish an opinion or perspective, whether true or not, and have that opinion amplified within the information marketplace. At the same time, Americans have unprecedented access to the diverse and independent sources of information, as well as institutions such as libraries and universities, that can help separate truth from fiction and signal from noise… An informed and educated citizenry is essential to the functioning of our modern democratic society.

We in the library could not agree more! Read the full text of the proclamation here, and stop by the library to find out more about how you can find and evaluate information. We think the CRAAP test is a good place to start for evaluating.

[thanks to alert reader Cheryl for the link!]

This week marks Banned Books Week, a time of year when we reflect on the challenges throughout the country on books in libraries and schools and we reconsider the First Amendment and the freedom to read.

What is your favorite banned book?

Looking to read one of these controversial pieces of literature? Stop by Coe Library, the Learning Resources Center or the Albany County Public Library to check out a book from one of their displays of challenged books! And peek below for a Google map detailing the challenges to books from 2007-2009.

View Book Bans and Challenges, 2007-2009 in a larger map

Are you looking for an advent calendar that is online, no chocolate? This year the folks at The Big Picture Blog offer the Hubble Space Telescope Advent Calendar. For 25 days in December see a new photo from space every morning.

Today’s photo is a supernova, amazing!

“About 55 million years ago, a star near the dusty lenticular galaxy NGC 4526 exploded into a supernova, seen as a bright spot at lower left. In 1994, the Hubble Space telescope caught the weeks-long explosion as the light from it finally reached the Earth, and we called it Supernova 1994D, a fairly typical stellar explosion. The host galaxy also known as the Lost Galaxy lies in the background and is part of the Virgo Cluster. (NASA, ESA) More (see this on Google Sky) #”

[via alert reader Hannah]

UW offers a whole slate of interesting events today in honor of our great planet.

If you want to extend Earth Day to every day, stop by the library to read more. And I will try to remember, if you will, to think twice before printing online articles.

…and happy National Library Worker’s Day. Say hi to your favorite library worker today, or maybe nominate them as a library star!

Stop by the Wyoming Institutes for Disabilities Library today to celebrate library week with cookies and a chance to win Turtle Rock gift card.

According to the American Library Association, libraries rock and they deserve their own week of library love:

First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. It is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation’s libraries and librarians and to promote library use and support.

Sounds wonderful to me.

What a week for Wyoming politics!  Even if you are not interested in the Democratic primary race, I think you will enjoy the Daily Show treatment of the recent caucus in our great state.

Watch reporter Samantha Bee describe Wyoming’s diverse voting blocks, including “Hearty Prospectors” and the “Big Moustache”.  [Caveat: do not watch if you are offended by the sort of off-color language that is found on basic cable.]

Click here for more of the Daily Show’s Wyoming caucus coverage.

Ever wondered what candidate your favorite author supports? Now you can find out.

No big surprise that Tim LaHaye supports Huckabee I suppose, but I was curious to see where Lemony Snicket fell on the Obama/Hillary debate.

Visit the Fundrace 2008 tool to try your own searches. From the results I got searching for contributions from librarians, our hallowed profession leans blue. Again, not necessarily a surprise. Laramie residents, on the other hand, exhibit a lot of political diversity in their contribution habits, while UW employees lean left.

[thanks to reader Kaijsa for the link!]