A is for Access, a large part of our creed.
B is for Books. Those bound paper thingies you read?
C is for Computer, with keys and with locks.
D is for Data, some basic building blocks.
E is for Education, with ideas that once baffled.
F is for Free, but remember TANSTAAFL. (1)
G is for Guide through the data-packed mist.
H is for Helpful. We like to assist!
I is for Information, both action and item.
J is for Journals. We love and deride ’em.
K is for Knowledge, our most noble quest.
L is for Library. You couldn’t have guessed?
M is for MARC, strange numbers and fields. (2)
N is for Network. Working together, to get greater yields.
O is for Overdue. Come in and renew ’em.
P is for Patrons. Or “Customers” in TQM. (3)
Q is for Question, which sets all into motion.
R is for Reading. What a radical notion!
S is for Searching those intellectual mazes.
T is for Thank-you, among other praises.
U is for Unknown, a great place to explore.
V is for Value. More MORE MORE MORE!!!!
W is for Whispering, the way we all spoke.
X is for Xerox®. Paperless? Us? What a joke!
Y is for Yellow, worn at graduation. (4)
Z is for Libraries. (In LC classification!) (5)

1) Acronym for “There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch”, from The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert A. Heinlein
2) “The MARC (Machine-Readable Cataloging) formats are standards for the representation and communication of bibliographic and related information in machine-readable form.”
3) Acronym for “Total Quality Management.” This was a management trend in the 1990s.
4) The color of the hood! Lemon yellow is the color for library science.
5) Okay, so the Library of Congress Classification Outline has it as “library science,” but Z is the class for works on libraries, librarianship, and related topics.

Denise Plourde

Lagre

Lagre