Articles

[caption id="attachment_295" align="aligncenter" width="116" caption="Prison slang book found on one MICC shelf"][/caption] Working in a prison I find that there are times I need an interpreter because in some cases the words used are like listening to a foreign language.

If you've ever labored under the wish that you could easily extract, edit, or read that wonderful data embedded in your image files, you're not alone. There are lots of reasons to work with the embedded metadata in your image or other media files. For instance, you may want to keep records about your collections or display the file size and pixel dimensions of images in your collection. Much of this data exists in tags embedded in image files.

Not all jobs are rewarding, but I have to say that working in a prison library is one of the good ones. It is not all fun and games, but there can be simple pleasure found working in the library. Not everyone will find the same pleasures, but we all have our simple joys in our jobs. Stay tuned....stories on the way.

The following is a story told to me by a fellow prison librarian. Since I liked it so much I decided to share it. Two of the best library patrons I ever had were two older men I called the library angels. I can’t tell you they had always been angels. Obviously, they had both committed crimes that led to a prison sentence. But after many years of incarceration, they presented themselves as polite and respectful human beings. One night these men started coming to the library every night, where they would sit quietly on the floor among the library shelves and put the books back in order.

This week, Gordon Russ, another longtime volunteer, shares his impressions of early pioneer newspapers.