Notices by John Overholt (overholt@glammr.us)

The People's Bookshelf in the National Library of Latvia showcases 8,000 books from around the world, each with a message from the donor about why that book is special to them. https://tautasgramatuplaukts.lv/en/ via @metafilter

When the cataloger of our fabulous new miniature books collection comes by and asks, “Do you want to see something pretty?” you say yes.

Apparently there's an AI company that offered an free one-year trial to anyone with a .edu address, and now that the year is ending is writing them all to say that if they want to continue access to write to the library and get them to pay for it (either implying, or people are misreading, that the library was paying and is now cutting them off.)

Nice to see that the "first one's free" approach drug dealers are known for is still a vibrant economic model.

Went to a movie theater to see Mystery Science Theater 3000 once again reborn because I am an obsessed superfan. https://gizmodo.com/see-the-new-mystery-science-theater-3000-intro-with-a-theme-by-jonathan-coulton-exclusive-2000807730

Did You Know: If people are allowed to stop working for the library, but no people are allowed to start working for the library, over time it becomes more difficult to do the library things. You might think libraries are just books, but the books can't get around on their own and rely on their human helpers.

This post really brought home to me how much it feels like Invasion of the Body Snatchers—someone you thought you could trust (see also EFF) is suddenly unrecognizably different.

If you were to ask me what would be the most influential to me video game recommendation possible, I think it would be “Jonathan Coulton says he played this so much he gave himself an RSI.” So I checked out Satisfactory, and yup, that’s the next few months of my life sorted. https://www.satisfactorygame.com

An early dictionary of Hindustani and English. Because most copies were sent to India for use by the British East India copy, it's rare today. #NewAcquisition

I love the great Sun faces you get in early eclipse treatises. https://scolarcardiff.wordpress.com/2026/08/11/a-treatise-of-eclipses-of-the-sun-and-moon-1731/

RE: https://social.lansky.name/@hn50/117088872540154908

If this endangers the Letter People my wrath will be swift. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Letter_People

I was looking at a book that happens to be our second oldest book printed in Latvia. A relatively modest claim to fame, but we get questions about “oldest”-ness enough I wonder if an exhibition of the oldest book we have from a bunch of different countries would be interesting. https://id.lib.harvard.edu/alma/990044595520203941/catalog

Gizmodo asks “Will We Ever Solve the Problem of Losing Data?”

I love this answer: “I know of one data storage form that can be permanent: a library. Or rather, a world full of libraries. Libraries aren’t perfect storage devices (nothing is), but they are fiercely committed to self-repair. A good library is a collection of people, technologies, and practices that pass an obligation—to remember the things we must remember—from the last generation to the next.”
https://gizmodo.com/will-we-ever-solve-the-problem-of-losing-data-2000792386 #libraries

There’s a newly launched drive to unionize Harvard’s professional librarians and when the organizers asked us what issues we might want them to address, I said I wanted protection against being required to incorporate AI hallucinations in my work, a profound violation of my professional ethics. https://aftermath.site/ai-resistance-tips-workforce-llm-workers/

Apparently the quote was shocking enough they've rewritten the post, but IA has the receipts. https://web.archive.org/web/20260720152647/https://isbndb.com/blog/print-books-sourcing-ai-training/

From the website of the company that’s destroying books to feed them into the ravenous AI maw.

“A physical book is a delivery mechanism for information. Once that information has been extracted and encoded into an AI model, the delivery mechanism has served its purpose. What remains is paper, ink, and binding material. The book is not destroyed. Its value has migrated. The paper returns to the material cycle; the knowledge enters the intellectual one.” https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/internet/ai-labs-buy-scan-shred-millions-of-rare-books/news-story/0c3b45a67093ab462a587a0348538ce9

As someone who has devoted his career to celebrating and preserving the artifactual, tangible value of books, this feels like a knife in the gut.

You know, I think this link might be up to no good.

Church bulletin from a WWII Japanese internment camp in Arizona. https://raunerlibrary.blogspot.com/2026/07/faith-in-desert.html

Monticello caved to right wing pressure to gloss over the ugly truth about Thomas Jefferson and those he enslaved. https://prospect.org/2026/07/02/what-broke-monticello-thomas-jefferson-virginia-glenn-youngkin/ via @metafilter

This auction item and its description are quite something. “Now how would you like to own an actual piece of Cooper's getaway cash? Held and counted by the ghost skyjacker himself? In the infamous hostage sitch that inspired all the copycats? Currency that parachuted down with him and somehow slipped out of his grasp. From one of the greatest heists and unsolved mysteries in human history.” https://goldin.co/item/nov-24-1971-d-b-cooper-notorious-skyjacker-ransom-banknote-fragment-honjfsb