Librarians... We are not impartial. We are on the side of open access to information, literacy, lifelong learning, the pursuit of happiness, the joy of a novel on a summer afternoon. We believe in information as a common good. We are opposed to many things -- censorship, the assault on privacy, less access to government information -- and we are PRO many things, such as better funding for libraries.

Librarianship is one of the most radical of professions. Society says, this is how we teach you. Libraries say, you can learn what you want when you want, and you can read for the sheer joy of it. Society says, tune in at 8 for Friends. Libraries say, find your own path, on your own schedule. Society says, some things are only for the wealthy. Libraries say, here it is, no matter who you are.

Even the commitment to provide impartial service to everyone who walks in is not at all impartial. That's a radical notion, standing in opposition the dominant cultural imperatives of our day.

Source: Karen G. Schneider, kgs@bluehighways.com

Nowadays, the Red Tape Editor is having a hard time keeping up with all the government information at both the state and federal level that's coming out electronically, and quite often only electronically. At any rate, enjoy the following issue which contains all the new items he has discovered in the past two months.

If you want to make sure that some of your news items appear in the next issue, send him an e-mail with that news item included.

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