Apparently I’m being blocked by the Chinese:

I’ve always wanted to subvert the dominant Chinese paradigm.

I’m no longer the only Blyberg blogging (yes I know that alliterates). My sister, who quietly and modestly applies her genius at the National Galery of Art, has started a blog.

Go sis!

Substance to come later.

I would be lost without the wisdom, insight, silliness, seriousness, frustration, elation, anger, love, intrigue, courage, patience, thoughtfulness, sarcasm, sourness, pettiness, hope, criticism, insight, and everything else that hums and vibrates within this strange coil of technology we call the biblioblogosphere.

So thank you all (and if you’re one of the blogs I have in my aggregator, but not on my wordpress blogroll, don’t feel bad). And thank-you Meredith for your very kind words.

Until next year…

While a number of more high-profile libraries have garnered national attention for their blogs, Darien has been quietly assembling their all-star blogging team. What makes their effort truly different is that it has been a top-down initiative that involves staff members representing different parts of the organization. Last week, Jenny Levine took notice of Louise Berry’s blog. Louise is Darien’s director and she has a prolific and candid blogging style that I find inspiring. She’s not the only library director who is blogging right now, but she’s clearly the one who enjoys it the most.

I thought I was going to have to pester Alan Gray, Darien’s head of technology (and tech services), again to get him blogging as well–no need! Alan has started his blog, “Last Clear Chance.” Named after an intriguing legal doctrine, Alan’s blog will more-than-likely reflect his tell-it-like-it-is personality. You’re not going to find the party-line here.

Another major component of Darien Library’s master plan is the construction of a new 45,000 square foot $22 $26 million dollar library to replace the facility they are currently in. In the spirit of keeping the community informed of what’s going on with the new building, Darien has started a dedicated blog for the project; they’ve labeled it, “A Chronicle of Progress Towards a New Darien Library.” The blog seems to be staffed mostly by Alan, but I wouldn’t be surprised if other voices chimed in as well. For anyone interested in the process behind building a new library, this is the perfect blog for you.

In addition to these three blogs, Darien offers a suite of other blogs, all RSS-capable, all very interesting. From books to technology, they are creating a voice all their own.

You can also catch some Darien Flickr action: Louise Berry, Alan Gray, and the Darien Library itself.

That’s sort of how I feel about this blog turning one today. Reading my first post is a lark…

You’ll notice that April 10-14 is dedicated to “Library and Information Resources“. LJ Mover and Shaker, Meredith Farkas has gathered a fantastic group of people to present during this block–I just hope mine can keep up with some of the other great topics planned!

As a public library person, I’m looking forward to getting a taste of librarianship in higher education. I think, with much of the Library 2.0 discussion focusing primarily on public libraries, school libraries have been left out in the cold a bit. It’s important to include them in the discussion of new ideas and the overarching discussion.

I’ve never participated in a BlogCon before, so this is a first for me, but it’s apparent that a lot of work and planning has gone into making this succeed. The fact that there is no geographical barrier to attendance really intrigues me and I’m looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.

Be sure to subscribe to the HEBC feed (comment feed too) and participate! It is, after all, a conference.