August
30, 2006
AL Direct is a free electronic newsletter e-mailed
every Wednesday to personal members of the American
Library Association.
Contents:
U.S. & World News
Booklist Online
Division News
Seen Online
Actions & Answers
Poll
Datebook
AL Direct
FAQ
Tennessee
privatization debate continues
County commissioners are still at odds with the Jackson–Madison County
(Tenn.) Library board over privatizing the library’s management.
At its August 21 meeting, the commission voted 20–3 to challenge
a Chancery Court ruling that the board has the legal authority to hire
a private firm to run the library’s operations....
Mermaids
find safe harbor in Utah library
The board of the Davis County (Utah) Library voted unanimously August
22 to retain the illustrated fantasy book Voyage of the Basset
in the young adult collection. “We don’t rate books and never
will,” trustee Mike Gann asserted. “Our job is to make things
available.”...
Library
pulls free monthly’s erotica issue
The San Luis Obispo City-County (Calif.) Public Library has removed the
July/August 2006 issue of the free bimonthly magazine HopeDance
from all its branches. In a July 13 staff memo, Library Director Brian
Reynolds recommended recycling the copies, saying, “Take a look at
it, as well, and you’ll see why I am concerned.”...
Indianapolis
board votes to recognize union
The Indianapolis–Marion County Public Library Board agreed unanimously
August 17 to recognize an employee union if enough workers support it.
Board President Louis Mahern, who has previously resisted demands for
collective bargaining, said in the August 19 Indianapolis Star
that he “worked with other board members” to ensure there were
enough votes to pass the measure, which requires at least 75% of eligible
employees to cast ballots in a union election....
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More
than $30,000 in grants and awards for YALSA members
YALSA has available over $30,000 worth of grants and awards for its members,
including books valued at $25,000 in the Great Book Giveaway Competition.
The deadline to apply is December 1....
YALSA
will offer three online courses
YALSA is offering three online courses to run from October 2 to October
30: “New Technologies and New Literacies for Teens”; “Pain
in the Brain: Adolescent Development and Library Behavior”; and “OutReaching
Teens.” Registration
closes September 25....
LAMA
announces new online journal format
LAMA will begin online publication of its quarterly journal Library
Administration and Management in December 2006. Planned LA&M
enhancements include more flexible publishing schedules, web-based reader
feedback options such as blogs, the use of color images and materials
such as charts and graphs, podcasts, and vastly reduced storage requirements....
ACRL
to sponsor an Emerging Leader
ACRL has announced its support of the Emerging
Leaders 2007 initiative. ALA President Leslie Burger’s new program
will “enable 100 new librarians to get on the fast track to ALA and
professional leadership.”...
Miami-Dade
pulls a second Cuban book
A controversial children’s book about Cuba will be removed from at
least one Miami-Dade elementary school following a review committee’s
vote earlier in the week, according to a letter from the school’s
principal. The committee, composed mostly of staff from Christina Eve
Elementary in West Kendall, voted Wednesday to remove Cuban Kids—which
paints a rosy picture of life under Fidel Castro—from the school’s
library....
Miami Herald, Aug. 26
Old-time
youth adventure books in vogue again
Those of a certain age may remember with fondness the books of their youth—those
sweet, innocent boys’ and girls’ adventure books from the 1930s,
1940s, and 1950s. Pure as the driven snow, they were—their characters
didn’t use drugs, have sex, or cuss. Demand for these relics appears
to be on the increase, elevating them almost to collectors’ status.
And that is forcing libraries to rethink how they will protect books they
didn’t realize had that much value....
Fort Wayne (Ind.) News-Sentinel,
Aug. 25
The
joy of reading
Barbara Rowley offers tips on how to make learning to read a pleasure
for babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergartners—and what to
look for when choosing books for them....
Parenting magazine, Sept.
New
San Mateo Public Library opens
It took two years, hundreds of workers, millions of dollars, and a whole
lot of effort—and now the new San Mateo (Calif.) Main Library is
open for the community to enjoy after a grand opening August 27. The new
facility is designed with “green-building” standards, with more
books, sitting areas, free WiFi wireless internet access, computer stations
for children, three community meeting rooms, open space, and natural lighting....
San Mateo County (Calif.) Daily Journal,
Aug. 28
UC
to provide Google with 3,000 books a day for scanning
According to its contract (PDF
file), the University of California will provide at least 2.5 million
volumes to Google for scanning, starting with 600 books a day and ratcheting
up over time to 3,000 a day. Materials pulled for scanning will be back
on the shelves of their libraries within 15 days....
Chronicle of Higher Education,
Aug. 25
Google
now offers public domain books in PDF format
Starting August 30, readers can find new, free, downloadable PDF versions
of some of the world’s greatest books on Google
Book Search. The search engine company has expanded access to books
that are out of copyright and have become public domain material. To easily
find books to download, readers can select the “Full view” button
when searching on Google Book Search, and then click on the “Download”
button shown on public domain books....
Google, Aug. 30
Public
domain books, ready for your iPod
Kara Shallenberg and her 10-year-old son, Henry, exhausted the audiobook
collection at their library in Oceanside, Calif., five years ago. With
Henry’s appetite for listening still strong, Ms. Shallenberg began
to record herself reading his favorite books. Eventually she upgraded
from a using a tape deck to burning CDs on her laptop computer. Last fall,
she took her hobby to a wider audience....
New York Times, Aug. 25
Library
emerges as information hub in shattered Mississippi town
Library cards may have been washed away by Hurricane Katrina, but it doesn’t
really matter. Patrons in Pass Christian, Mississippi, are making do with
a makeshift library that was set up in a 28-by-72-foot trailer in November.
Although small, the temporary library has 17,000 volumes, wireless internet
access, computers and laptops, group meeting space, and three full-time
staff to help people find whatever they need....
Oakland (Calif.) Tribune,
Aug. 26
Schools
rediscover libraries
School libraries in Tulsa (Okla.) Public Schools are undergoing a renaissance,
thanks to a wave of voter-approved bond issues that began a decade ago.
So far, a total of $34.43 million from 1996, 1999, 2001, and 2005 bond
issues has been dedicated to library resources and the renovation and
new construction of facilities....
Tulsa (Okla.) World, Aug.
29
Life
in prison for library kidnapper
James Effler, 33, was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Friday,
less than an hour after 12 Polk County jurors found him guilty of first-degree
kidnapping for luring a 29-month-old toddler into a restroom and locking
the door at the downtown Des Moines library last October 9....
Des Moines (Iowa) Register,
Aug. 26
Hue’s
first library fulfills a father’s dream
Nguyen Huu Chau Phan recently opened the first private library in Hue,
Vietnam, to honor his father’s dying wishes to offer books to the
public for free. According to unofficial statistics, Vietnam has more
than 20 private libraries in all three regions of the country, most owned
by affluent residents who built them without any help from the government....
Vietnam News Agency, Aug. 27
Overheard
at IFLA
Andrew Pace writes: “Okay, so I heard it second hand—I was nowhere
near Seoul, Korea, for the 72nd
IFLA conference when Sungdae Ahn, vice president and general manager
of EBSCO Information Services-Korea, said, ‘Service, not content,
is the new king.’ While she might not have been the first to use
that phrase, I’m not quite sure what I think of it.”...
Hectic Pace, Aug. 29
Recently
retired?
For a special section on retirement in the November issue, American
Libraries wants your insight into how you cope, what surprised you,
what you miss most, how you are still professionally active, or any advice
you have for librarians facing retirement. Send 150 words by September
18 to Managing Editor Gordon Flagg.
Laura
Bush Foundation announces grants to Gulf Coast school libraries
(PDF file)
The Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries awarded $540,000
in Gulf Coast School Library Recovery Initiative grants August 29 to 10
schools in Louisiana and Mississippi, making the total grants awarded
over $1 million in the first five months of the initiative. Among the
grantees are four high-school libraries in New Orleans....
Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries, Aug.
29
Librarians
make a difference, post-Katrina
When Anderson Cooper spoke at the ALA Annual Conference in June, he admonished
those listening to go home and tell the story. Beverly Obert, Ellen Popit,
and Pat Boze are three Illinois librarians who are following his suggestion....
Decatur (Ill.) Herald & Review,
Aug. 29
Nebraska
prison libraries seek book donations
The Nebraska Department of Correctional Services is in the process of
updating Nebraska’s prison libraries. They are in need of new titles,
but due to budgetary constraints, are unable to purchase as many books
as are needed and so are seeking donations....
PLA Blog, Aug. 24
Un
blog pour les bibliothèques du Liban
(in French)
Librarians in Lebanon and France have launched a blog to disseminate information
on damage and disruptions to cultural institutions, particularly libraries,
since the Hezbollah-Israeli conflict that began July 12. Recent postings
include a summary of damages to the Lebanese publishing industry, an expression
of concern by the International Committee of the Blue Shield, and a statement
on the effects of the conflict on public libraries in southern Lebanon
by Minister of Culture Imad Hashem....
Bibliban
New
Yorker’s “Ask the Librarians” II
For die-hard New Yorker fans, the magazine’s head librarians,
Jon Michaud and Erin Overbey, answer more questions like “What are
some departments that no longer exist?” and “Why did it take
so long to get a table of contents?”...
Emdashes, Aug. 29
September
is National Preparedness Month
The ALA Washington Office urges libraries—as community leaders—to
take charge in making sure their communities are prepared in the event
of an emergency or disaster. The latest surveys show that 83% of Americans
are unprepared to help themselves in a disaster, while the National Heritage
Health Index discovered that 70% of libraries did not have a disaster
plan....
ALA Washington Office, Aug. 25
The
place of reading in libraries and library education
Charley Seavey interviews Wayne Wiegand, F. William Summers Professor
of Library and Information Studies at Florida State University, on the
Tiger Eye Reading Room series of the University of Missouri library school’s
LiSRadio webcast (QuickTime or MP3 format)....
University of Missouri at Columbia, LiSRadio, Aug. 28
The
need for a universal digital publication format
Terje Hillesund and Jon E. Noring claim that one major reason for the
lack of interest in e-books is the current multitude of end-user text
formats, some oriented towards print, others proprietary, and few optimized
for sustained reading of text-intensive publications. The authors examine
the pros and cons of a universal, reader-oriented text format for different
types of critical text editions and digital libraries....
Journal of Electronic Publishing
9, no. 2 (Summer 2006)
What
is the European Digital Library?
The European Commission is coordinating work to build a European “digital
library,” a common multilingual access point to Europe’s cultural
heritage. Through this access point, users will be able to search in various
languages different collections in Europe’s libraries, archives,
and museums without having to visit multiple sites....
European Commission, Aug. 25
Hearing
impairments in the workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act
This FAQ explains how the ADA might apply to job applicants and employees
with hearing impairments, including when an employer may ask an applicant
or employee about a hearing impairment, what types of accommodations an
individual with a hearing disability may need, and to what extent an employer
must provide a reasonable accommodation to an individual with a hearing
disability....
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, July 26
Iron
gall and ink corrosion
Libraries and archives around the globe contain a vast number of historical
manuscripts, documents, official records, and music compositions that
were executed in iron gall ink. Over time, depending on the recipe used
in manufacture, and the storage conditions of the object, iron gall ink
can cause the degradation of paper or other supports. This process is
called “iron gall ink corrosion.”...
Ink Corrosion Website
The
library catalog in the new discovery environment
“There is more incentive for the library to make the necessary linkages
(to resource-sharing systems or to search engines)” because library
patrons today “may be less willing to work hard to make links and
connections between resources when they are on the network,” according
to OCLC’s Lorcan Dempsey. He posits that “this shift is bound
up with the difference between discovery (identifying resources of interest)
and location (identifying where those resources of interest are actually
available).”...
Ariadne, no. 48 (July)
The
romance of hospital librarianship
“Everyone at the hospital where Jan Marlowe worked as Librarian was
seething with excitement about the new consultant Ophthalmic surgeon.
Jan liked him too, but found one of the patients more attractive still—or
did she?” In 1990, Jan Figurski, of the London (Ont.) Health Sciences
Centre, was standing at a table of paperbacks at a flea market, looking
for some literary bargains, when she came across this hospital romance
about a librarian. The image on the cover, intriguing yet appropriately
chaste, has since graced T-shirts at CHLA conferences....
Canadian Health
Libraries Association
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There are an estimated 117,341 libraries of all kinds in the United
States today. The 2005 total was 117,664—with most of the difference
coming from the number of special libraries going down, from last year’s
9,526 to 9,247 in 2006. Discover more library numbers in this ALA
Library Fact Sheet.
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An ongoing project of the Office for Intellectual Freedom, Lawyers
for Libraries is designed to build a nationwide network of attorneys
committed to the defense of the First Amendment freedom to read. The next
available session is at the Columbus Training Institute, Columbus, Ohio,
November 3.
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