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U.S. & World News
ALA News
Division News
Awards
Seen Online
Actions & Answers
Poll
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AL Direct FAQ

Appropriations act boosts
IMLS funding by 2.7%
On December 30, President Bush signed into law the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Act, which includes $247.1 million for Institute of Museum and Library Services programs and administration—a 2.7% increase over FY 2005....

Yale steam leak damages
rare Cambodian newspapers
A steam leak at Yale University’s Sterling Memorial Library in New Haven, Connecticut, January 7 damaged more than 3,000 books and a valuable collection of Cambodian newspapers that document the nation’s genocide during the 1970s....

L.A. County approves $300,000
for internet filters
By a 3–0 vote January 10, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved spending $344,000 to install filtering software and privacy screens on all county library computers....

Banned books go back to school in Maryland
The superintendent of the Carroll County (Md.) Public Schools reinstated to high-school library shelves in mid-January two young-adult novels that he had banned several months earlier....

Irving, Texas, school librarians
drop appeal on consent policy
A group of library media specialists at the Irving (Tex.) Independent School District have agreed to withdraw their appeal of a policy requiring middle-school students to get parental permission before checking out When Jeff Comes Home....

Ohio library bars unchaperoned
after-schoolers
Ongoing patron-behavior woes during after-school hours have prompted officials of the Wickliffe (Ohio) Public Library to ban visits between 2:30 and 5:30 p.m. from youngsters under 14 unless accompanied by an adult or enrolled in a library program....

ALA plans Patriot Act FOIA request
The ALA Executive Board intends to file a Freedom of Information Act request with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to determine if the FBI has been collecting information on the Association and its leaders as a result of their opposition to certain provisions of the USA Patriot Act.....

OIF introduces "Radical, Militant Librarian" button
In recognition of the efforts of librarians to help raise awareness of the overreaching aspects of the USA Patriot Act, the Office for Intellectual Freedom is offering librarians an opportunity to proudly proclaim their “radical” and “militant” support for intellectual freedom, privacy, and civil liberties....

ALA will pilot live webcast
of book awards at Midwinter
For the first time ever, ALA will pilot a live webcast of its national announcement of the top books and video for children and young adults—including the Caldecott, King, Newbery, and Printz awards—on January 23 at 7:55 a.m. CST....

Booklist announces
2005 Top of the List selections
Booklist magazine has announced its 16th annual Top of the List winners. The eight winning titles were chosen from the annual Editors’ Choice selections as the best books and media of 2005....

New e-learning service
for ALA members
ALA has contracted with the Southeast Florida Library Information Network to make more than 1,500 e-learning courses from Element K, the largest provider of web-based courseware in the country, available to ALA members at affordable prices starting January 20....

Pat Mora launches Día
10th anniversary in San Antonio
Pat Mora, noted children’s author of Doña Flor: A Tall Tale about a Giant Woman with a Big Heart, will help launch the 10th anniversary celebration of El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day), an annual literacy event traditionally celebrated on April 30 that celebrates children, books, languages, and cultures....

Worldwide poster sessions
The ALA International Relations Round Table offers an opportunity to present world-class poster sessions at the ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans, June 22–28, 2006.....

PLA’s Smartest Card campaign
moves forward
PLA has hired the Metropolitan Group, a strategic communications and resource development firm, to build on the existing PLA Smartest Card @ your library campaign....

YALSA offers new blog
YALSA is launching a blog in time for the ALA Midwinter Meeting that will make it more immediate and accessible for people unable to get there in person...

ACRL offers opportunities
to host information literacy programs
ACRL invites academic libraries to host a national Immersion Program or license a regional Immersion Program in 2007. The deadline for applying is April 3....

ACRL announces student paper awards
for its Baltimore conference
ACRL will make available two library student research paper awards, featuring a complimentary conference registration and a $500 stipend, for its 13th National Conference, “Sailing into the Future—Charting Our Destiny,” to be held in Baltimore, March 29–April 1, 2007....

Connecticut school library wins
YALSA's Great Books Giveaway
The Barbara Chace Library at the Forman School in Litchfield, Conn., is the winner of the 10th annual Great Book Giveaway, and will receive literally a ton of young-adult and adult books, videos, CDs, and audiocassettes....

We the People Bookshelf grant
deadline extended
ALA and the National Endowment for the Humanities have announced that the January 17 deadline for the We the People Bookshelf grant on “Becoming American” has been extended to March 1....

Computers replace books
at Castlemont High in Oakland
If students at Castlemont High School want to check out The Autobiography of Malcolm X or find books on Polynesian culture, they'd better have a bus pass or some good walking shoes....
Oakland (Calif.) Tribune, Jan. 16

Willamina council puts library cat on reserve
The Willamina (Oreg.) City Council voted January 12 to allow the city’s library cat, nicknamed Agie, to remain at the library until she dies....
Salem (Oreg.) Statesman-Journal, Jan. 14

Clinton Library receives national AIA Honor Award for Architecture
The American Institute of Architects announced January 13 that the Clinton Presidential Library has received a 2006 Honor Award for Architecture, the highest recognition of works that exemplify architectural excellence....
Arkansas Business, Jan. 13

Swazi library suffers batty fate
An influx of bats in the Simunye branch of the Swaziland National Library has led to its closure until further notice....
News 24, Cape Town, Jan. 16

ALA Annual Conference
in New Orleans FAQ
Why is the American Library Association (ALA) going to New Orleans for its 2006 Annual Conference? And other questions answered....
ALA Conference Services

Library 2.0 explained
Walt Crawford digs into the pros and cons of a new library service model much debated in the blogs....
Cites & Insights, Midwinter 2006

USA Patriot Acts compared (PDF file)
The Congressional Research Service provides a side-by-side comparison of the existing law with the modifications agreed to in conference and passed by the Senate...
LC Congressional Research Service

Study group to host public roundtables
in March on copyright exceptions
A committee appointed by the Library of Congress will hold two public roundtables in March 2006—in Los Angeles and in Washington, D.C.—to gather insights and opinions on how to revise copyright exceptions for libraries and archives (Section 108 of the Copyright Act)....
Library of Congress

Paid search as an
information seeking paradigm
Penn State Professor Bernard J. Jansen muses on the dynamics of sponsored searches in this introduction to a special theme issue of the ASIS&T Bulletin....
American Society for Information Science and Technology