Hello fellow….uhm yous?
There are so many questions you may be asking yourself, why is this blog called Page 49? What is the mission statement for this blog? Why do birds suddenly appear everytime you walk near? (thanks Carpenters) Why couldn’t Picard and Kirk go back further in time using The Nexus to stop Soran? (as pictured above)
Seriously, I am a librarian in Miami and I wanted to start yet another blog, (click here to visit my other blog) but with more focus on my interests and perspective on pretty much all things Library. If you visit a library in Miami and turn to Page 49, you will see a stamped logo of the library and it’s pretty much in every book. Having been a library patron for many, many years, I never really paid attention to the library markings until I started working for a library. So, why page 49? Was page 48 just too blaise? Was page 50 too uptight? Frankly, I don’t know who decided this page but I’m sure there was some relation to Goldilocks who said the page was just right. (Ha, ha, ha…lame, I know)
My next thought, are other library outside Miami also do the same type of library markings for their books? Perhaps through the course of keeping this blog going strong, I might attract other librarians and para-professionals who can chime in with an answer. Perhaps, Page 49 of every book in every library, when put together all together will transform to the ultimate library book which can answer all the questions we may have thought out human kind or reveal something else like the answer to the meaning of life – 42. If you understand reference, then I think you will like my sense of humor when it comes to this library blog.
Over the coming weeks, I will be tweaking this blog to have several mashups and widgets galore. I subscribe to many library blogs through my Google reader and to many people, they may know Google but not a Google Reader. I want this blog to explain the things I’ve discovered and taught from others. I get a real kick when I can show someone a cool library tool or another way to be more productive. I love sharing information and I hope not only will you subscribe to my but add your own thoughts, comments, and suggestions. Basically, I wanted to keep a learning journal open to everyone who cares to read it and perhaps receive content contribution.
Thank for reading my first and hopefully not my last entry.
Montgomery
PAGE 49 
different libraries mark different pages (were you at the BM meeting at PC? RS poked fun at that!). i get you on 42. i need a hand towel for my next birthday, everyone should have one. i’m a fan of google reader myself and am thankful for it, saves time.
sincerely, the one who you interviewed
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To the one I interviewed, no I was not at PC but I was thinking about a clever name that was something unique this past week.
I hope you can share some of your brilliance with us and the blogosphere.
M.
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I googled “library book page 49” to see how common this was, stamping the library name on page 49 of books. When I was growing up in Ohio, the library system I used as a kid always had their name stamped on page 49 of each book. My dad’s mother was a librarian, in Washington D.C., and my dad also worked at their library after school when he was growing up. He said all the books in their library also had the library name stamped on page 49 of each book. Apparently this was common back then, and an accepted standard.
I’m guessing that they chose a page further into the book, in case some of the front pages fell off due to wear. Just a guess. Don’t know why they’d pick 49, though. But they might have wanted it to be a page number on the right side of the book (odd-numbered), because if they tried to stamp the library name on an even-numbered page on the left side, like 48 or 50, with just a few pages underneath it, the stamp would move and the ink would smear.
They also stamped the library name on an outside edge of the book, but in those days, old books were sometimes rebound, and the old edges shaved off in the process, so having the stamp also on an inside page would make sure it could still be found.
I guess this isn’t being done anymore. I have a computer book out from another library system in Ohio right now, and it doesn’t have any stamp on page 49.
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