Before the library links, a personal note: Bill Schickel died earlier this week, and we will miss him.

The state budget is about to pass, I think, with the cuts to libraries minimized but still fairly deep. Thanks to everyone who wrote, called or emailed their representatives!

Ray Bradbury thinks the internet is a bunch of nonsense, but he loves libraries and fights for them.

We Choose the Moon is recreating the Apollo lunar mission in real time. Follow along and pretend it's 1969 all over again!

The ALA conference is ending, but you can still peek at its seamy underside via the Twitter feed to ALA Secrets. (If you prefer to think of librarians as pure, chaste and unfailingly charitable beings, avoid this link.)

The 2009 Bulwer-Lytton Awards came out while I was gone, and as always, the nominees and winning entries are worth perusing.

From Julie: a man takes advantage of a library's amnesty week to return a 46-year-overdue book. He's lucky, because the fine was over £2,500!

Via Research Buzz: the online CIA World Factbook has been revamped and is now more fascinating than ever, at least to geography geeks like me.

Tomorrow: links from others!