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Periodically I like to point out interesting cultural events that readers might be interested in. Today, I’d like to introduce you to my father, Herbert S. Ford, who founded the New Jersey Film Festival.  If you live in the area you should try to attend. In the post below he ruminates on the importance of film and recommends some films we should check out. Ford is a partner in Marcus Brody Ford Kessler & Sahner, LLC, a boutique New Jersey law firm where he practices commercial real estate and business law.

I have often wondered why there are no Irish, Italian, Spanish, Hispanic, Mexican or South American or other film festivals in the New York metropolitan area, the most diverse and artistically strong? Certainly there are high quality films made that fit all those categories. Perhaps some festivals exist but they are below my radar? I hope so. Certainly, The New Jersey Jewish Film Festival, which opens tonight, is below the radar of many. (more…)

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It's day four of my sitting back at my desk after having been away for several weeks to spend important time with friends and family. All the same bright stars are here - more of them, actually - doing incredibly diligent, insightful work with and for libraries and library staff. Through their work they create and support change for our profession, and it's good change too: another librarian signed up for their first RSS feed; another library with a completed technology plan.

Having been away, I admit that I find myself somewhat disconnected from some parts of the overall effort. Sure, I'm floating about, making various remarks, each accompanied by a CRH jest, smirk, or toss of the hair. Honestly, it hasn't been too terribly difficult to dive back into projects and conversations, do what I do, what some like to call "be Chrystie Hill." But behind all that - it's as if I'm watching myself from above - I feel as if I'm about to cross a new threshold, but I don't know what's exactly I'm crossing over into. (I can hear George,and Marilyn, and Clayton, and others saying as they read this "Don't do it Chrystie - walk away from the light!")

Not to worry. I'm not leaving library land, nor what I still claim to be the best job in library land. On the contrary, the threshold involves some new ... let's call it perspective, but that's not the right word ... clarity? ... about "what's important," and it really is very simple: at the end of the day we all should be able to say that we are working to change libraries so that they matter more. (Don't say we already matter. We don't matter enough.) As a profession, we should be of single mind on this (or something like it) and all of our efforts should map to a vision - call me Utopian - where all libraries are relevant and thriving.

At the very least, I know that's why I care about my job, and that's why I come to work every day. Being away reminded me of the simplicity of it, really, and I'm hoping I can stay clear on this as I immerse myself back into the details and the complexities of our work. (Ever the optimist; I know, I know.)

Hello Libraryland. It is great to be back.

I forget where I heard this little story, but I think of it often: There once were Western missionaries who went to minister to a primitive culture. I forget what the specific objective was--it might have been finding a certain village or clearing the ground for an airstrip--but the missionaries and some of the natives had several days to travel through the jungle. The natives were in favor

“If you don’t have it now, you don’t need it now.” I once heard Elizabeth Elliott say this on her radio program, and it struck me so much that I jotted it down immediately. Stuck in a 1400-square-foot townhome with three preschoolers and a work-from-home husband, I longed for a bigger house. These words gave me patience, and in time, the Lord provided what has been a perfect home for us. Now,

My blender broke last week. It was brand new. I made fruit smoothies with it once, and the next time I filled it up with yogurt and frozen bananas and frozen berry blend, it was dead. I had ordered it from Amazon, so I opted to return it to the not-so-nearby service center rather than pay shipping back to Amazon--if indeed they would even take it back; I don't know. With my children cheerily