House
to consider social networking bill
Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) reintroduced February 16 the Deleting Online Predators
Act (DOPA), which was passed once before by the House 410–15 in
July 2006 before dying in the Senate. The bill (H.R. 1120, PDF
file) withholds federal e-rate funding from libraries and schools
that do not restrict the use of social networking websites by minors.
DOPA follows the January 6 Senate introduction by Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska)
of the similar Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act (S. 49, PDF
file)....
Passaic
assesses plan to close aging branch
At what board President Craig Miller characterized as a “raucous”
three-and-a-half hour meeting February 27, the Passaic (N.J.) Public Library
board of trustees received community input on a plan to close its 104-year-old
Reid Memorial branch, which specializes in services to the city’s
Hispanic residents. Library Director Alan Bobowski told residents that
the building has a leaky roof that would cost $150,000 to repair, a crumbling
foundation, and an upstairs meeting room that’s not compliant with
the Americans with Disabilities Act....
Rochester
blocks funding threat with filter-policy review
The board of the Monroe County (N.Y.) Library System agreed February 28
to conduct a 60-day review of its central library’s longstanding
policy of honoring requests by adults to unblock explicit websites and,
in the meantime, to refuse all such requests. The action came in response
to a threat from County Executive Maggie Brooks to withhold $6.6 million
in funding if the library continued to disable filters temporarily at
an adult’s request....
Rare
manuscript volume stolen from UCLA Special Collections
Campus police are investigating the theft of a bound set of 18th-century
manuscripts from an exhibit case in the University of California at Los
Angeles library’s special collections department. The volume, part
of an archive of materials on the prominent Orsini family of Rome acquired
by UCLA in 1964, was stolen sometime between the late afternoon of Friday,
February 9, and early the following Monday....
Chicago
Public Library granted $1 million for computer training
The Bank of America Charitable Foundation has donated $1 million to the
Chicago Public Library so that it can provide free computer training to
the public. The funds will create the Computer Smarts Program to offer
instruction in areas from computer basics and an overview of the library’s
resources to advanced search strategies....
Springfield,
Mass., library stays put with lawsuit settlement
Ending a court battle that lasted nearly two years, the mayor of Springfield,
Massachusetts, and the president of the city’s Museums Association
signed an agreement February 27 that eliminates the threat that the Central
Library will be evicted from the site it has occupied since 1912....
Most
challenged books of 2006
Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell’s award-winning And Tango
Makes Three, about two male penguins parenting an egg from a mixed-sex
penguin couple, tops the list of most challenged books in 2006 by parents
and administrators, due to the issues of homosexuality. The list also
features two books by author Toni Morrison. The Bluest Eye and
Beloved are on the list due to sexual content and offensive language.
The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom received a total of 546 challenges
last year....
ALA
election polls open March 15
The polls will open on March 15 for the 2007 ALA election. All paid ALA members
as of January 31, 2007, are eligible to vote. Members must submit their
ballots by April 24 at 11:59 p.m. CST. All Web voters will receive ballots
between March 15 and March 17, in a 48-hour email blast....
Diversity
Office calls for research grant proposals
The Office for Diversity seeks proposals for its Diversity Research Grant
program. Applicants must be current ALA members, and 2007 proposals must
address one of three identified topics: Spectrum as a model for diversity
initiatives, diversity within diversity, or multicultural librarianship
and pedagogy....
REAL
ID Act of 2005
ALA has signed on to letters to the U.S. House of Representatives (Congressman
Tom Allen, February 26) and Senate (Senators Akaka and Sununu, February
28) expressing support for efforts to repeal the REAL ID Act of 2005.
See the ALA
website for copies of these letters and further reading on the act....
District Dispatch blog, Mar. 5
Featured
review: Books for youth
White, Ruth. Way Down Deep. Apr. 2007. 208p. Farrar, hardcover
(978-0-374-38251-4).
On the first day of summer in 1944, a red-haired toddler appears
on the courtroom steps in Way Down Deep, West Virginia. Nobody knows
who she is or how she got there. But Miss Arbus, the owner of the
boardinghouse, swoops down and brings her home, and the rest of
the town takes her to its collective bosom. Then, when Ruby turns
12, a desperate man tries to rob the bank....
Calling
all readers!
The Booklist Book Club’s partnership with Downers Grove (Ill.)
Public Library continues to spark lively exchanges, but we need
your help to broaden the discussion. We’ve posted a number
of new forums in conjunction with Downers Grove’s active book
discussions for March; the registration to participate is quick
and easy. Or, if you just want to see what others are saying,
feel free to browse....
@
Visit
Booklist Online for
other reviews and much more....
|
Music
in the District
The music of Washington is known for two primary scenes, hardcore and
associated derivatives, and a hip hop/dance music hybrid called go
go. The city’s first major musical figure was band leader John
Phillip Sousa (1854–1932). Later figures include jazz legends like
Duke Ellington and soul singers like Roberta Flack. The city is home to
the Washington National Opera and
the National Symphony Orchestra....
Wikipedia
Kramerbooks
& Afterwords Café
Kramerbooks, at 1517 Connecticut
Ave. NW, was the first café to set up shop in Dupont Circle. It
is always crowded, particularly on weekends when singles who would rather
skip the bar scene flock to this surprising hot spot. Live music is featured
nightly, Wednesday through Saturday. The cafe is a full-service restaurant
that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily.....
Yahoo! Travel
PLA
Spring Symposium: Customer service in public libraries
Andrea Mercado offers an overview of Karen Hyman’s Spring Symposium
presentation on “The Customer-Centered Library: How to Stop Tweaking
and Start Doing It with 12 New Steps.” She writes: “We live
in a world where libraries compete with the likes of Google, Amazon, Barnes
& Noble, at home wi-fi, movies on demand, Netflix, ‘Send to
phone’ options, and more; it’s about service.”...
PLA Blog, Mar. 2
ACRL
now has podcasts
The ACRL Podcasts provide
fresh dimensions on the issues and events in academic librarianship. Podcasts
are planned for these areas: ACRL presidential elections, ACRL authors
and editors, the ALA Emerging Leaders program, ACRL events, ACRL advocacy,
and ACRL how-to....
Celebrate
the Library Bill of Rights
Spend an afternoon in Washington June 21 with library intellectual-freedom
activists as the Intellectual Freedom Round Table celebrates one of our
profession’s most important documents: ALA’s Library
Bill of Rights. A panel of speakers who have faced challenges will
talk about what the document means to them. Then there will be an opportunity
to participate in facilitated table discussions of the many Library Bill
of Rights interpretations
adopted by ALA Council over the years....
Don Wood: Library 2.0 blog, Mar. 2
ALA
names four honorary members
(Left to right) David Cohen, Alice L. Hagemeyer, Anita R. Schiller, and
Alphonse F. Trezza were elected to honorary ALA membership in action taken
by the ALA Council at the 2007 Midwinter Meeting, held January 19–24
in Seattle. Honorary membership, ALA’s highest honor, is conferred
in recognition of outstanding contributions of lasting importance to libraries
and librarianship....
Anne
K. Beaubien wins Virginia Boucher ILL Award
Anne K. Beaubien, director and cooperative access services and grants
officer for the University of Michigan library, is the 2007 Virginia Boucher-OCLC
Distinguished Interlibrary Loan Librarian Award recipient. The award,
presented by the RUSA Sharing and Transforming Access to Resources Section,
recognizes and honors a librarian for outstanding professional achievement,
leadership and contributions to ILL and document delivery....
Margaret
Mann Citation honors Robert Wolven
Robert Wolven, director of library systems and bibliographic control at
Columbia University in New York, is the recipient of the 2007 Margaret
Mann Citation presented by the ALCTS Cataloging and Classification Section.
The Mann Citation, recognizing outstanding professional achievement in
cataloging or classification, includes a $2,000 scholarship donated in
the recipient’s honor by OCLC to the library school of the winner’s
choice....
Nancy
J. Gibbs receives Leadership in Library Acquisitions Award
The ALCTS Acquisitions Section has selected Nancy J. Gibbs, head of acquisitions
at Duke University, to receive its 2007 Leadership in Library Acquisitions
Award. The award, sponsored annually by Harrassowitz, is given to a librarian
to recognize contributions and outstanding leadership in the field of
acquisitions and includes a $1,500 gift....
Robert
Bothmann wins Esther J. Piercy Award
Robert L. Bothmann, electronic access/catalog librarian at the Minnesota State University
at Mankato library, is the winner of the 2007 ALCTS Esther J. Piercy Award.
As webmaster, treasurer, and membership coordinator for OLAC (On-Line
Audiovisual Catalogers), Bothmann has worked to impart a clearer understanding
of media cataloging and its management to an international library audience....
First
Step Award to Paula Webb
Paula Webb, serials/interlibrary loan librarian at Delta State University
in Cleveland, Mississippi, is the recipient of the 2007 First Step Award,
a Wiley Professional Development Grant presented by the ALCTS Serials
Section....
Banks/Harris
Preservation Award
Walter Henry, lead analyst in the Preservation Department at Stanford
University Libraries and Academic Information Resources, is the winner
of the 2007 ALCTS Paul Banks and Carolyn Harris Preservation Award. Henry
is known internationally as the moderator of the Conservation DistList
and the creator and administrator of Conservation OnLine (CoOL), indispensable
tools for communication and dissemination of knowledge within the field....
Julia
Blixrud receives Serials Librarianship Award
Julia Blixrud, assistant executive director for external relations of
the Association of Research Libraries, is the winner of the 2007 ALCTS
CSA/Ulrich’s Serials Librarianship Award. Blixrud’s contributions
have influenced virtually every aspect of serials work from cataloging
to publishing to access....
Blackwell’s
Scholarship Award honors the late Ross Atkinson
The Blackwell’s Scholarship Award for 2007 is awarded to the late
Ross Atkinson for his article, “Six Key Challenges for the Future
of Collection Development,” published in Library Resources &
Technical Services 50, no. 4 (Oct. 2007): 244–251....
Best
of LRTS Award
Jim Stemper, electronic resources librarian at the University of Minnesota
libraries, and Susan Barribeau, electronic resources librarian for collection
development at the University of Wisconsin at Madison libraries, have
won the 2007 Best of LRTS Award for their article, “Perpetual
Access to Electronic Journals: A Survey of One Academic Research Library’s
Licenses,” published in Library Resources & Technical Services
50, no. 2 (Apr. 2006): 91–109....
Miriam
Dudley Instruction Librarian Award
Debra L. Gilchrist, dean of library and media services at Pierce College
in Fort Steilacoom and Puyallup, Washington, is the winner of the ACRL
Instruction Section’s Miriam Dudley Instruction Librarian Award.
The honor recognizes a librarian who has made a significant contribution
to the advancement of instruction in a college or research library environment....
Marta
Lange/CQ Press Award winner
Binh P. Le, associate librarian at Penn State Abington, has been named
the 2007 recipient of the ACRL Law and Political Science Section’s
Marta Lange/CQ Press Award. The award, established in 1996 by LPSS, honors
an academic or law librarian who has made distinguished contributions
to bibliography and information service in law or political science....
Doctoral
Dissertation Fellowship awarded
Jihyun Kim, graduate student instructor at the University of Michigan
School of Information, has been awarded the 2007 ACRL Doctoral Dissertation
Fellowship for her proposal, “Faculty Self-Archiving Behavior: Methods
and Factors Affecting the Decision to Self-Archive.”...
ACRL
Best Practices in Marketing awards
Eastern Illinois University and Winston-Salem State University have won
the ACRL Best Practices in Marketing @ your library Award. The awards
will be presented at the ACRL 13th National Conference in Baltimore during
the keynote luncheon on Friday, March 30. The award recognizes academic
or research libraries that demonstrate an outstanding best practices marketing
program. Each winning institution will receive $2,000....
Community
and Junior College Libraries Program Award
The Hagan Foundation Center for the Humanities at Spokane (Wash.) Community
College has received the ACRL Community and Junior College Libraries Section’s
EBSCO Community College Learning Resources Program Achievement Award....
Sage
Support Staff travel grants awarded
Six library support staff have been awarded a 2007 ALCTS/SAGE Library
Support Staff Travel Grant. These grants provide airfare, three nights’
lodging, and conference registration to attend the 2007 ALA Annual Conference
in Washington, D.C....
ACRL
staffer selected for John Jacob Astor Award
Kathryn Deiss, ACRL content strategist, has been awarded the 2007 John
Jacob Astor Award for Library and Information Science by the Checkpoint
Charlie Foundation, Berlin, Germany. She has been selected for her extensive
workshops on the topics of library management and leadership, change,
creativity, and innovation in the United States, Canada, Austria, Spain,
Australia, and New Zealand....
James
Patterson PageTurner Awards
Author James Patterson announced March 2 the 39 winners of the 2006 James
Patterson PageTurner Awards, who will receive cash prizes totaling $500,000.
The top winner of $100,000 is the Seattle Public Library’s Washington
Center for the Book, which originated the “One City, One Book”
concept in 1996....
PageTurner Awards, Mar. 2
Canada
Reads panel makes its choice
Lullabies for Little Criminals, the story of a pre-teen girl
surviving on the streets of Montreal, has won the all-star edition of
CBC Radio One’s Canada Reads contest. The debut novel by Heather
O’Neill tells the story of 12-year-old Baby and her drug-addicted
father, Jules, as they live a life of poverty and she tries to escape
her desperate situation....
CBC Arts, Mar. 2
Library
wins award for corporate look
Washington-Centerville (Ohio) Public Library was recently honored with
a gold Hermes Award for excellence in advertising by the Greater Dayton
Advertising Association. The award, which recognized the library’s
corporate look as one of the exceptional local examples of mixed media
campaigns, is given annually....
Greater Dayton Advertising Association
Justice
Department takes aim at image sharing
The Bush administration has accelerated its internet surveillance push
by proposing that websites must keep records of who uploads photographs
or videos in case police determine the content is illegal and choose to
investigate. Universities and libraries would reportedly be excluded.
“There’s a PR concern with including the libraries, so we’re
not going to include them,” a participant in a private meeting in
Washington February 28 quoted the Justice Department as saying. “We
know we’re going to get a pushback, so we’re not going to
do that.”...
C|net news, Mar. 2
Critics
target Pizza Hut reading program
You’ve read the book, now eat the pizza. Since 1985, that’s
been the gist of Pizza Hut’s Book It, an incentive program used
by 50,000 schools nationwide to reward young readers with free pizzas.
The program is now under attack by child-development experts who say it
promotes bad eating habits and turns teachers into corporate promoters....
Associated Press, Mar. 2
Fair
use for digital content
A bill (H.R. 1201) that would make it easier for scholars to use copyrighted
works without running afoul of copyright law was introduced in Congress
last week by Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) and Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.).
The legislation contains several improvements to the Digital Media Consumer’s
Rights Act, similar legislation which the lawmakers introduced in the
108th and 109th Congresses....
Congressman Rick Boucher, Feb. 27
Random
House, HarperCollins publish online excerpts
Random House has made online excerpts available from books by Toni Morrison,
Calvin Trillin, and thousands of others as publishers continue their push
to sell more books through the internet. The Random House search and browser
program, Insight, was officially launched February 27. Earlier in the
week, HarperCollins announced its own Browse Inside “widget”
program, with excerpts available from books by Michael Crichton, Sidney
Poitier, and many others....
Associated Press, Feb. 27
Patents
on the Web
The Patent and Trademark Office is starting a pilot project that will
not only post patent applications on the Web and invite comments but also
use a community rating system designed to push the most respected comments
to the top of the file, for serious consideration by the agency’s
examiners. It’s quite a switch. For generations, the agency responsible
for awarding patents has kept its distance from the very technological
advances it has made possible....
Washington Post, Mar. 5
Largest
library closure in the U.S. looms
Jackson County in southern Oregon is getting ready to shut down its entire
library system April 7. Not long after all 15 branches
were rebuilt or remodeled, every one will be shuttered in what’s
being called the largest library shutdown in the United States. The crisis
in Oregon can be traced not only to changing funding priorities on Capitol
Hill, but also to crooked railroad deals in the Wild West, a spotted owl,
and a shrinking timber harvest. But support seems to be growing
for a one-year
renewal of the federal timber subsidy....
San Francisco Chronicle,
Mar. 4; Medford (Oreg.) Mail Tribune, Mar. 6
House
panel modifies West Virginia library funding bill
A West Virginia House of Delegates committee amended a Senate bill March
5 to ensure that nine counties will continue to receive funding for libraries
through local school boards. The bill (SB 541) would have allowed county
school boards to continue to receive the funding, but pushed them to have
their own voter-approved excess levies. It moved the state money for education
in counties down to 94%, from the current 98%, leaving enough money to
pay the libraries’ levy....
Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette,
Mar. 6
Harry
Potter on the horizon
This year, July 21 will mean only one thing to many people: the release
date of the long-awaited seventh installment of the Harry Potter series.
Even though the book will not be out for more than four months, northern
Virginia’s libraries are getting prepared. As soon as publisher
Scholastic announced the release date for Harry Potter and the Deathly
Hallows, hold lists for the book grew rapidly at libraries in Fairfax,
Arlington, and Loudoun County....
Arlington (Va.) Sun Gazette,
Mar. 5
Library
research on rap music
A class in rap research is helping Ohio State University freshmen learn,
in a palatable way, how to do college-level research. A hip-hop scholar
herself, instructor and OSU Fine Arts Librarian Leta Hendricks worried
that nobody would sign up, but the two-hour, once-a-week seminar filled
quickly with 17 rap fans....
Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch,
Mar. 3
LibraryThing
as social networking
Social networks that tap the interests and buying power of traditionally
reserved groups like the bookish are a small but growing force on the
Web. Kathryn Havemann, an indexing analyst for LexisNexis in Dayton, is
among the 150,000 or so members of LibraryThing,
a site that lets people create detailed online book catalogs, learn about
the collections of other members, discover shared favorites, and swap
recommendations....
New York Times, Mar. 4
Are
you ready for Daylight Savings Time?
The latest crise du jour stems
from the 2005 Energy Policy Act, which moves daylight saving time forward
by about three weeks to March 11. The result? This time change is likely
to throw off computer users’ operating systems and Outlook calendars.
Find out how to fix it here....
PC Magazine, Mar. 5
Global
computer shutdown day, March 24
People would find life extremely difficult without computers, perhaps
impossible. If they disappeared for just one day, would we be able to
cope? Be part of an experiment to find out how many people can go without
a computer for one whole day and what will happen if we all participate.
Can you survive for 24 hours without a computer?...
Shutdown Day
Bibliographic
control has a future
Andrew Pace writes: “It does. Though, after spending 30 minutes
last night describing the problem to my wife, I sure wish we had called
it ‘the future of finding stuff online.’ I’m headed
out this morning for a meeting convened by the Library of Congress’s
working group on the Future
of Bibliographic Control. So, I’ve been thinking a lot about
data, relevance, and subject access to metadata records. It seems that
everyone is after a less expensive way to do what libraries have always
done. Not a bad goal.” Find out more here....
Hectic Pace blog, Mar. 7; ALA TechSource blog, Mar. 7
Life
on the Island
Joe Janes writes: “Info Island. Doesn’t that conjure up fascinating
images? Palm trees swaying in a tropical breeze, sun dappling a cool and
green lagoon, languorous string music wafting in the background, librarians
in sarongs peeling fruit and answering reference questions. OK, that took
a sort of odd turn there. There is a real Info Island—real in a
certain sense. It’s real to a lot of people and from at least one
perspective, not real at all. It’s in Second Life.”...
Internet Librarian, American Libraries 38, no.
3 (Mar. 2007): 34
Money,
money, money at Midwinter
Andrew Pace writes: “Deep Throat was right. Or at least Hal Holbrook
(who portrayed him in All the President’s Men) was when
he told Robert Redford (as Bob Woodward) to ‘Follow the money.’
Well, money was talking, as they say, at ALA Midwinter in Seattle, where
over 12,000 librarians, library workers, and exhibitors gathered in January.
Those are pretty good numbers for a Midwinter turnout, and ‘pretty
good numbers’ seems to be what just about everyone out there is
looking for these days.”...
Technically Speaking, American Libraries 38, no.
3 (Mar. 2007): 30–32
Bavarian
library joins Google Book Search
Google plans to digitize more than a million public-domain books in the
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
(the Bavarian State Library), according to Jens Redmer, head of Google
Book Search in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa....
Inside Google Book Search blog, Mar. 6
Medical
library tech trends
Find out what several librarians in the field of health care librarianship
think are the most important technological trends....
Medical Library Tech Trends 2007 blog
Library
2.0 Ning network
Bill Drew, systems librarian at the State University of New York at Morrisville,
has set up a social networking site on Ning for librarians and others
interested in Library 2.0. Like other Ning networks, this one offers L2
feeds, podcasts, videos, photos, member bios, and a forum....
Library 2.0
LC
adds to National Recordings Registry
Librarian of Congress James H. Billington named sound recordings made
by 25 musicians to the National Recording Registry March 6 to be preserved
for all time. Among the selections are Franklin D. Roosevelt’s address
to Congress after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941; Sam Cooke’s
“A Change Is Gonna Come” (1965); Paul Simon’s 1986 album
Graceland; “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
by the Rolling Stones; and other notable performances by Jelly Roll Morton,
the Carter Family, Bob Marley, Arthur Rubinstein, Cole Porter, Eubie Blake,
and Sarah Vaughan....
Library of Congress, Mar. 6
Bodleian
ephemera to go digital
The Joint Information Systems Committee announced March 5 that it will
be funding a unique partnership between ProQuest CSA and Oxford University
Library Services to digitize more than 65,000 items from the Bodleian
Library’s John
Johnson Collection of Printed Ephemera. Containing 1.5 million items
ranging from 1508 to 1939, it spans the entire range of printing and social
history. It was assembled by John de Monins Johnson (1882–1956),
printer to the university, who was visionary in his preservation of Britain’s
vulnerable paper heritage....
ProQuest CSA, Mar. 5
Murder
in the library, part 1
George Eberhart writes: “Murder in the library, as a literary plot,
holds a certain peculiar fascination for many readers (especially librarians).
Some of the plots revolve around specific rare books, but most are set
in mythical academic and research libraries in the United States and United
Kingdom. Here are a few titles (arranged alphabetically by author) to
get you started.”...
Britannica Blog, Mar. 5
Room
for readers
Many schools are losing their librarians just when they need them the
most. Because of cutbacks and funding decisions, some districts, such
as Federal Way in Kings County, Washington, have lost more than half of
their credentialed librarians. While reading is fundamental and literacy
a growing focus, school libraries must still compete for precious school
resources—space, money, staff, even respect. In response, librarians
are finding new and creative ways to reach readers—both in and outside
of school....
NEA Today, Mar.
Wilson
Library Bulletin now in full text
Wilson Library Bulletin, the trade magazine for librarians published
from 1914 to 1995, now enjoys a second life as part of two leading H.
W. Wilson library and information science databases. Full-text plus full-color
PDF page images from the publication will run on Wilson’s Library
Literature & Information Science Full Text and Library Literature
& Information Science Retrospective databases, at no extra charge
to subscribers....
H. W. Wilson, Mar. 2
U.S.–China
education exchange
Alice Calabrese-Berry writes about her experiences as part of a delegation
of 20 librarians to the People’s Republic of China in November 2006
sponsored by the People to People Ambassador’s program and the China
Education Association for International Exchange. Led by former ALA President
John W. Barry, the delegates were paired with American K–12 computer
education teachers....
Metropolitan Library System E-nnounce
1, no. 3 (Feb. 21)
The
next generation of superheroes
The first English edition of The 99, a comic-book series whose
superheroes are based on Islamic culture, was released in November 2006.
Created by Kuwaiti psychologist Naif Al-Mutawa, the series features superheroes
who are all imbued with the 99 qualities that the Qu’ran
attributes to God. The plot surrounds the search for
99 mystical Noor stones, in which the librarians of Baghdad’s House
of Wisdom had hidden the library’s knowledge from the Mongols in
1258....
Saudi Aramco World 58, no.
1 (Jan./Feb.)
Calgary
Public Library television announcement
This 30-second PSA, “The greatest stories ever told,” from
the Calgary (Alta.) Public Library demonstrates both simplicity of presentation
and cleverness of message....
YouTube
New
Australian TV show about librarians
The humble suburban library takes on a new meaning in the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation’s new six-part comedy-drama series The Librarians,
which starts production March 5 in Melbourne. Head Librarian Frances O’Brien
(played by Robyn Butler) unravels when she is forced to employ her ex-best
friend—now a drug dealer—as the children’s librarian.
Apparently O’Brien is Catholic and repressed and has difficulty
dealing with Muslim, Asian, and gay patrons....
Australian Broadcasting Corp., Mar. 1; Melbourne Age,
Dec. 28
Books
for soldiers
This website sets you up as an official volunteer to send books, DVDs,
games, and other supplies to any deployed American soldier, airman, sailor,
marine, or coast guardsman who has an APO or FPO address. The site complies
with Department of Defense guidelines that require enlisted personnel
to request a package. Once you are approved as a Books for Soldiers volunteer,
you can choose a branch of the service and select from a long list of
requests....
Books for Soldiers
Army’s
Fort Huachuca library closes
The library at the Army’s Fort Huachuca installation in Arizona
closed its doors March 1, but the Sierra Vista Public Library will offer
its services to the military community there. After extensive analysis,
post officials determined having the city provide library services to
Army personnel was both cost-effective and beneficial. The municipal partnership
was approved under congressional authority for Municipal Services Partnerships,
received in the FY05 National Defense Authorization Act....
U.S. Army
Installation Management Command, Feb. 8
Learning
Is Power
Adult learners at Springfield (Mass.) City Library’s Read/Write/Now
Adult Learning Center created a “Learning Is Power” video
(17:50) to share their experiences about going back to school to work
on basic reading, writing, and math skills. The video has helped the library
explain to the public what basic adult education is and how important
it is to have a second chance....
YouTube
First
digital directory of women artist’s papers online
The first digital directory of archives holding the papers of women artists
active in the United States since World War II is now online at Rutgers
University. The Women Artists Archives
National Directory unites online information on more than 80 repositories
into a single union catalog. Librarian and art historian Ferris Olin and
Professor Emerita Judith K. Brodsky have led the effort to build the directory....
WAAND, Feb. 15
Millikin
University Peep research, 2003
As Peep season rolls around once again, it’s time to revisit (in
case you missed it back then) the excellent 2003 study by Susan Avery
and Jennifer Masciadrelli at Millikin University on the ability of Peeps
to conduct library research. As they wrote, “we invited a small
group of Peeps to visit Staley Library at Millikin University during the
week of March 17–21, 2003, so that we could more closely observe
their research practices. This was determined to be an ideal week for
the Peeps to visit the library, as Millikin University students were on
spring break.”...
Peep Research
|
The ALA/ProQuest CSA Scholarship
Bash will be held at ALA Annual Conference, Saturday,
June 23, at 8:00 p.m., and provides scholarships for graduate LIS
students. This year’s event will feature local political satirists
Capitol Steps. Tickets are $35.00 and can be purchased using the
online
registration form.
|
In
Analyzing
Library Collection Use with Excel, collection
development experts Tony Greiner and Bob Cooper show how to use
Excel to translate circulation and collection data into meaningful
reports for making collection management decisions.
NEW! From
ALA Editions.
|
Enter
a Teen
Tech Week contest! All the deadlines have been extended
through March 19. Celebrate TTW this week, March
4–10.
|
In
this issue
March
2007
Mattering
in the Blogosphere: Observations from the Well-Connected
Search
Fatigue
Midwinter
Meeting Report
|
From
the CentenniAL Blog
The
way we were 1
Something
a bit lighter this week. A sampling of some of the amusing and interesting
photos that have run in American Libraries. Visit
the blog for more!
(Above)
The cover of the January 1923 issue of the ALA Bulletin,
featuring what may be the magazine’s first photograph—a
landscape of Hot Springs, Arkansas, site of that year’s Annual
Conference.
Barbara
Toohey, reference librarian and “hug therapist” at Los
Angeles Valley College, from the June 1980 American Libraries,
p. 382.
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Career
Leads from
Curator,
Charles L. Blockson Collection, Temple University.
Philadelphia. The Blockson Collection promotes and supports the
study of the histories and cultures of Africans and African-Americans,
emphasizing the experience of African-descended people in Philadelphia
and the Delaware Valley region....
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More
jobs...
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Assessing
Audiobook Services for Your Library. The latest issue
of Library Technology Reports helps librarians make informed
decisions about audiobook content and services. The author of the
report, Tom Peters (a librarian and an avid user of audiobooks)
explains, “The purpose of this report is not to convince librarians
to implement a digital audiobook service, but to help librarians
make an informed decision.”
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Public
Perception
How
the World
Sees Us
“In
our civic life, public libraries play a critical role by facilitating
citizens’ access to material that challenges the mind, engages
the imagination, and encourages a well-informed citizenry able to
exercise its enormous responsibilities in our republican form of
government. The board’s decision preserves this important
function of our public libraries by rejecting unnecessary and unwise
censorship.”
University
of Arizona Law Professor Robert J. Glennon, on the decision of the
Pima County (Ariz.) Board of Supervisors to allow adults to choose
unfiltered internet access at county public libraries, Tucson Arizona
Daily Star, Feb. 21.
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From
now until May 10, Woman’s Day magazine
is collecting stories on how its readers have used the library to
start their small businesses. The magazine announced the initiative
in its March 6 issue, where it asked its women readers aged 18 and
over to submit their stories
in 700 words or less. Four of the submissions will be featured the
March 2008 issue.
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Demco’s
Book Cart Drill Team World Championship is back
by popular demand at ALA Annual Conference in Washington, Sunday,
June 24. To enter your team, submit the form (PDF
file) by June 1.
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Poll
What
do YOU do?
Does
your library have a presence in Second Life?
Click
here to ANSWER!
Results
of the
February 28 poll:
What
is your patron cell phone policy?
34%
Phones off
44%
Selective enforcement
7%
Complete toleration
17%
Other
(143
responses)
This
is an unscientific poll that reflects the opinions of only those
AL Direct readers who have chosen to participate.
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Ask
the ALA Librarian
Q.
I need to take librarian continuing education courses that will
grant me Continuing Education Units (CEUs). Where can I find these?
A. Although
many library organizations offer some form of continuing education
programs, not all programs have had their offerings evaluated according
to the CEU standards set forth by the International
Association for Continuing Education & Training (IACET).
Your best bet is to check with your state library—especially
if earning CEUs is directly related to your state’s public
librarian certification. The state library can provide details on
courses that will fulfill those requirements or may provide the
courses themselves. The IACET website has an online database of
over 500 IACET authorized providers. Find out more on the ALA
Professional Tips wiki.
The
ALA Librarian welcomes
your questions.
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Calendar
Mar.
29–
Apr. 1:
ACRL
National Conference,
Baltimore, Maryland. “Sailing into the Future—Charting
Our Destiny.” Contact: Margot
Sutton Conahan, 800-545-2433, ext. 2522.
Apr.
1–30:
School
Library Media Month. “Come Together @ your library.”
Apr.
15–21:
National
Library Week. “Come Together @ your library.”
Contact: Megan Humphrey,
Public Information Office, 800-545-2433, ext. 4020.
Apr.
17:
National Library
Workers Day. Contact: Jenifer
Grady, ALA–Allied Professional Association, 800-545-2433,
ext. 2424.
May
1–2:
National
Library Legislative Day, Washington, D.C. Contact:
Erin Haggerty.
June
20–22:
Council on Library/Media
Technicians, Annual Conference, Washington, D.C. “Library
Support Staff: An Essential Piece of the Library Landscape.”
June
21–27:
ALA
Annual Conference, Washington, D.C. Contact: ALA,
800-545-2433, press 5.
Aug.
2–6:
Black
Caucus of the ALA, National Conference of African American Librarians,
Fort Worth, Texas. “Culture Keepers VI: Preserving
the Past, Sustaining the Future.” Contact: Carolyn
F. Norman, 916-445-0837.
Sept.
29–
Oct. 6:
Banned
Books Week.
Oct.
4–7:
LITA
National Forum, Denver. “Technology with Altitude:
10 Years of the LITA National Forum.” Contact: Mary
Taylor.
Oct.
14–20:
Teen
Read Week, Tenth Anniversary Celebration.
Oct.
25–28:
AASL
National Conference, Reno, Nevada. “The Future
Begins @ your library.” Contact: Kathy
Agarwal, 312-280-4381.
@
More...
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Contact
Us
American Libraries Direct
AL
Direct is a free electronic newsletter e-mailed every Wednesday
to personal members of the American
Library Association.
George
M. Eberhart,
Editor:
geberhart@ala.org
Daniel
Kraus,
Associate Editor:
dkraus@ala.org
Greg
Landgraf,
Editorial Assistant:
glandgraf@ala.org
Karen
Sheets,
Graphics and Design:
ksheets@ala.org
Leonard
Kniffel,
Editor-in-Chief,
American Libraries: lkniffel@ala.org
To
advertise in American Libraries Direct, contact:
Brian Searles, bsearles@ala.org
Send
feedback: aldirect@ala.org
AL
Direct FAQ:
www.ala.org/aldirect/
All
links outside the ALA website are provided for informational purposes
only. Questions about the content of any external site should be
addressed to the administrator of that site.
American
Libraries
50 E. Huron St.
Chicago, IL 60611
www.ala.org/alonline/
800-545-2433,
ext. 4216
ISSN
1559-369X.
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