Contents
U.S. & World News
ALA News
AL Focus
Booklist Online
Philadelphia Update
Division News
Round Table News
Awards
Seen Online
Tech Talk
Actions & Answers
Calendar

Alleged terrorist says FBI violated library privacy policy
A Pakistani man charged with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists claims that the FBI obtained evidence against him illegally when an agent went into the Chestatee Regional Library in Dawsonville, Georgia, to record his activities at a library computer on March 21, 2006, two days before his arrest. Jack Martin, an attorney for Syed Haris Ahmed, an engineering student at Georgia Institute of Technology at the time, filed a motion in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia alleging that an FBI agent followed his client into the library and viewed the browser history function to find out what websites and email addresses he had been accessing....

Broadband Census Act drains power from telecoms
The Telecommunications and Internet Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously approved October 10 the Broadband Census of America Act of 2007 (PDF file), which promotes the further development of nationwide broadband services by improving collection of data and mapping. Under the bill, the FCC would use a consumer survey to gather pricing and service information rather than rely on telecommunications companies for data....

Prop 2 1/2 maims another Massachusetts library
Beginning the week of October 15, the Bridgewater (Mass.) Public Library will be open only 15 hours per week due to the halving of its operating budget. The establishment of the skeleton schedule comes hard on the heels of the narrow defeat September 8 of a $2-million override of the state’s Proposition 2 1/2 property-tax cap, passage of which would have closed the town’s FY2008 budget gap. Still, keeping the doors open at all is a great improvement over closing the library altogether....

Chicago mayor proposes tax hike to support libraries
On October 10, Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley proposed a $108-million property tax increase—among the largest in city history—that would augment funding for library operations and possibly allow the construction of new facilities. The 15% hike faces opposition from members of the city council because of a state bill to cap property assessments....

Vancouver library union rejects settlement
Striking library workers at Vancouver (B.C.) Public Library overwhelmingly rejected October 9 a mediator’s proposal to end their 12-week-long strike. The 775 members of CUPE Local 391 voted 78% against the proposal. The deal would have included a 17.5% wage increase over five years, a $1,000 signing bonus, and a wage reclassification, equivalent to an additional 4% raise, for about 300 library workers. The union said that the proposal did not address its pay-equity concerns. The union went into meetings with the city to hammer out a contract October 16, according to the Vancouver Province....

Idearc Media volunteers and ALA help fix up DC’s central library
On October 4–5, more than 75 employees of the publishing company Idearc Media pitched in to update the Black Studies Division of the District of Columbia Public Library’s Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. The employees installed new furniture, updated bulletin boards, and cleaned and reorganized the collection. ALA worked with the library to spend $20,000 in contributions from Idearc Media on new tables and chairs, as well as shelf panels portraying prominent African Americans....

National survey of internet use in public libraries
ALA encourages public libraries to participate in the 2007–2008 national survey on Public Library Funding and Technology Access. The survey provides an opportunity for libraries to share information on computer and internet resources and infrastructure, as well as funding, technology training, and other uses of public libraries, such as providing public-access technology centers in their communities. The deadline is November 25....

New Emerging Leader participants
ALA has selected the librarians (PDF file) who will participate in the Emerging Leaders 2008 program. An initiative of ALA Immediate Past President Leslie Burger, the EL program will enable 124 librarians to participate in problem-solving workgroups, network with peers, gain an inside look into ALA structure, and have an opportunity to serve the profession in a leadership capacity....

Solve the short pencil mystery
In case you missed it a couple weeks ago, check out The Short Pencil Saga, now brought to you by AL Focus. Short pencils: a library fixture you probably take for granted. But not any more! Using archival footage from the Prelinger Archives, Nick “March of the Librarians” Baker’s latest comedic offering (2:30) delves into the stubby writing implement’s exciting history: “It all began thousands of years ago.”...

Getting the most out of the exhibits
Make sure you maximize your Midwinter exhibits experience by following these helpful tips, such as visiting the exhibit hall early during the conference before vendor giveaways run low....

Official visitor’s guide
Start planning your Midwinter cultural and recreational activities with the official visitor’s guide to Philadelphia. The current edition has articles on the Independence Visitor Center, tours, shopping, restaurants, entertainment, lodging, sports, colleges, maps, and transportation. As the editors note, “This city of neighborhoods is full of cultural, culinary, artistic, and ethnic treasures—a place where you can be forever independent.”...

Learn how to throw a wine-tasting party
There are still a few tickets left for the Wine School of Philadelphia’s January 12 evening class on “How to Throw a Wine-Tasting Party,” held at the school at 2006-2008 Fairmount Avenue. An instructor will discuss the basics of pairing wine and food, how to spend your wine budget intelligently, and what to do to ensure your next gathering is as magical as you want it to be....
Wine School of Philadelphia

Libraries are a teen oasis
Megan P. Fink mentions a few methods that libraries and authors are using to get teens to LOL during YALSA’s Teen Read Week, October 14–20: “Whether having a Guitar Hero tournament like the Austin (Tex.) Public Library, or hosting an author visit with Particia McCormick at the Columbus (Ohio) Metropolitan Library, teens should consider the library their destination for hilarity.”...
I Love Libraries

AASL launches collaboration with PBS
AASL is collaborating with the Public Broadcasting Service to feature select articles from Knowledge Quest, the division’s official journal, on the PBS Teachers website. Starting with the September/October 2008 issue, one article will be featured as a part of PBS’s selection of resources for school library media specialists and technology integration specialists....

AASL Store offers new books in Reno
If you are attending the 13th AASL National Conference in Reno, Nevada, October 25–28, you will get the chance to look at several new publications for sale at the AASL Store. Among them are Standards for the 21st-Century Learner; Collaboration, edited by Patricia Montiel-Overall and Donald C. Adcock; and Assessing Student Learning in the School Library Media Center, edited by Anita L. Vance with Robbie Nickel....

Librarians in Spandex: A conversation with Roger Klorese (PDF file)
The Fall 2007 newsletter of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table has an interview with Roger Klorese, the president of Prism Comics, which publishes GLBT-themed graphic novels. Klorese says: “Our biggest annual activity, and the one that really got the ball rolling, is Prism Comics: Your LGBT Guide to Comics. It’s published annually, and delivers everything from a timeline of LGBT milestones in comics during the previous year to reviews to interviews to humor pieces to original comics work.”...
GLBTRT Newsletter 19, no. 3 (Fall 2007): 6–7

St. Charles branch takes Depository Library of the Year honor (PDF file)
The U.S. Government Printing Office has selected the Middendorf-Kredell branch of the St. Charles (Mo.) City-County Library as 2007 Federal Depository Library of the Year. Public Printer Robert C. Tapella presented the award October 15 to library officials at the annual Fall Federal Depository Library Conference in Washington, D.C....
Government Printing Office, Oct. 16

ALA recognition awards and grants
Nominations are sought for 17 ALA recognition awards and grants for 2008. The deadline to apply for most of them is December 1....

Deadline approaching for Carnegie-Whitney grant
The ALA Publishing Committee provides a grant of up to $5,000 for the preparation of print or electronic reading lists, indexes, or other guides to library resources that promote reading or the use of library resources at any type of library. Applications must be received by November 5....

WNBA Eastman Grant applications are due
The Women’s National Book Association sponsors the WNBA Eastman Grant, which is available for librarians who are interested in learning about the relationship between the library and publishing professions. The WNBA offers a grant of up to $750 for a librarian to take a course or participate in an institute devoted to aspects of publishing as a profession. Applications must be received by November 1....

LITA/Library Hi Tech award nominations
Nominations are being accepted for the 2008 LITA/Library Hi Tech Award, given each year to an individual or institution for outstanding achievement in communication for continuing education in library and information technology. The award includes a citation of merit and a $1,000 stipend provided by Emerald Press, publishers of Library Hi Tech. The deadline is December 31....

Call for nominations for ASCLA awards
ASCLA is now accepting nominations for its 2008 awards program. The ASCLA awards recognize outstanding achievements in networking, enrichment, and educational opportunities and service by library agencies, libraries serving special populations, multitype library organizations, and independent librarians. The deadline is December 15....

Vavrek recognized for work with rural libraries
Bernard Vavrek, chair of the library science department at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, received an award for his contributions to rural library services from the Association for Rural and Small Libraries at its national conference held in Columbus, Ohio, in September. Vavrek directs the Center for the Study of Rural Librarianship at Clarion....
Clarion University, Oct. 11

New Jersey State Library initiative wins Innovation Award
A project developed by the New Jersey State Library that has spurred economic growth and saved millions of dollars for hundreds of small startup companies in New Jersey—the New Jersey Knowledge Initiative—was recently honored with an Innovation Award from the Council of State Governments. The NJKI offers free, unlimited access to expensive proprietary information resources....
New Jersey State Library, Oct. 10

Libraries Love Romance winners
Romance Writers of America’s first “Libraries Love Romance” contest asked librarians to demonstrate the role romance fiction plays in their library. The Memphis (Tenn.) Public Library and Information Center won first place in Division 1 for the library’s support of the romance genre through its Book Club Conference and Book Talk radio program. The Wayne (N.J.) Public Library won Division 2 for continued, overwhelming focus on its romance fiction collection and romance authors through displays and promotions....
Romance Writers of America, Oct. 17

Indiana state senator honored as library supporter
The Indiana Library Federation has honored Sen. Beverly Gard (R-Greenfield) with its 2007 Legislator of the Year Award. Gard has sponsored numerous bills aimed at benefiting libraries, including a law that allows libraries to use county economic development income tax funds for the extension of services....
Indianapolis Star, Oct. 11

Anne Enright wins the Booker
A desperately bleak Irish family saga featuring a suicide and sexual abuse that has sold barely 3,000 copies in the U.K. in five months emerged as the surprise winner of the £50,000 Man Booker Prize for Fiction. Anne Enright has been named the winner for her novel The Gathering, published by Jonathan Cape in the U.K and Grove Press/Black Cat in the U.S....
The Telegraph (U.K.), Oct. 16

Montana State Library goes exclusively digital
The Montana State Library in Helena plans to close its doors at the start of the year and will instead offer its resources online. The library, open since the 1920s and the main repository for state documents, says very little will be lost in the transition, although certain services such as walk-in access to newspapers will be gone. State Librarian Darlene Staffeldt said the library decided it could not offer both complete digital access to the library and walk-in service....
Helena (Mont.) Independent Record, Oct. 13; Montana State Library

Germany, Poland in tussle over treasures
Some rare manuscripts in the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, Poland, have become the subject of a bitter diplomatic debate between Poland and Germany. The Germans claim these items—hidden here during World War II—are legally and morally part of their national patrimony and should be returned. Poland insists Germany forfeited any legal and moral claim to the collection long ago. Polish President Lech Kaczynski bluntly said last month that the collection would not be returned....
Chicago Tribune, Oct. 14

San Franciscans contribute to library’s gay archive
Dozens of men and women brought their photo collections and stories to San Francisco Public Library’s Eureka Valley/Harvey Milk Memorial branch October 14 to contribute to SFPL’s gay archive. The one-day blitz to gather photos brought together 28 volunteers and more than 50 donors. Two photographers worked in a back room taking pictures of the images, which will become a part of the library’s collections....
San Francisco Chronicle, Oct. 15

Antigay activist jailed after library row
A campaigner against gay rights was locked in a police cell for eight hours after he refused to be served by a gay staffer at the Leigh Library in Greater Manchester, England. Devout Christian Joe Fairclough, 58, describes homosexuality as “a sin.” Now he has been banned from the library after telling a gay employee he wanted to be served by someone else because he was opposed to same-sex marriage....
Manchester (U.K.) Evening News, Oct. 16

The photo detectives
Forensic genealogist Maureen Taylor has dated a photograph to 1913 by studying the size and shape of a Lion touring car’s headlamps. Armed with her collection of 19th-century fashion magazines, she can pinpoint the brief period when Victorian women wore their bangs in tight curls rather than swept back. Using a technique borrowed from the CIA, she identified a photo of Jesse James by examining the shape of his right ear....
Wall Street Journal, Oct. 12

Toronto library branches to reopen Sundays
Sunday hours will resume October 28 at 16 Toronto (Ont.) Public Library branches—recent casualties of a cost-cutting push by the city—the library board decided unanimously October 15. The decision came after an arbitrator ruled that union employees would have to be paid anyway for the hours lost. With an eye to city council’s crucial vote on new taxes October 22, the board also “strongly” urged councilors to approve new revenues to invest in the 99-branch system.....
Toronto Globe and Mail, Oct. 16; CTV Toronto, Oct. 16

Safety concerns close Salem State College library
Salem (Mass.) State College shut down its library October 15 after an engineering report raised concerns about the structural safety of a fourth-floor balcony. President Patricia Meservey made the unexpected decision after getting a report earlier in the day from state engineers doing a study on planned renovations there. Engineers are concerned about the “load-bearing level” of the building, which will be closed for several weeks....
Salem (Mass.) News, Oct. 16–17

Now you can relive the Knights Templar heresy trial
The Knights Templar, the medieval Christian military order accused of heresy and sexual misconduct, will soon be partially rehabilitated when the Vatican publishes trial documents it had closely guarded for 700 years. A reproduction of the minutes of trials against the Templars, Processus Contra Templarios: Papal Inquiry into the Trial of the Templars, has a 5,900-euro ($8,364 U.S.) price tag. Only 799 copies will be put on sale October 25, according to the Scrinium publishing house....
Reuters, Oct. 11

Historic Virgin Islands library to be renovated
The Elaine Ione Sprauve Library and Museum, one of the first substantial structures on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, will be closed for up to four months while the building is renovated in early 2008. Dating from the mid-18th century, the historic library will be completely refurbished under the direction of the Historic Preservation Commission....
St. John (U.S.V.I.) Tradewinds, Oct. 15

The clock is ticking for Joost
Erik Schonfeld writes: “Full-screen, broadcast-quality video streams—the main selling point of Joost’s peer-to-peer Internet TV client software—is quickly coming to the Web. Brightcove will soon be offering such streams to its video publishers using BitTorrent DNA. But the real threat to Joost will be coming from Adobe and its ubiquitous Flash player.”...
TechCrunch, Oct. 12

Dying DRM means more freedom for music fans
Eliot Van Buskirk writes: “Tech pundits and music columnists have predicted for years that digital rights management would die, record labels would crumble, and artists would sell music directly to fans. Now those predictions are beginning to come true, and music fans are the direct beneficiaries. Software developers will be freed to focus on ways of making entire music libraries available. Essentially, DRM could give way to DIY, with users maintaining, streaming, and sharing their own music catalogs.”...
Wired Listening Post, Oct. 15

Control avatars with your brain
Researchers from the Biomedical Engineering Laboratory at Keio University in Tokyo have developed a brain-computer interface that enables users to control the movements of Second Life avatars without moving a muscle. The device consists of a headset containing electrodes that monitor electrical activity in the motor cortex, the region of the brain involved in planning, executing, and controlling movements. This video (2:23) has a demo....
Neurophilosophy blog, Oct. 12; YouTube, Oct. 12

Apple’s Leopard goes on sale October 26
After much speculation, Apple has confirmed that the next version of its Mac OS X operating system, “Leopard,” will hit stores October 26. The system is set to cost $129 for a single-user license and $199 for a five-user Family Pack license. Some of the new features are summarized here and here....
C|Net News.com, Oct. 16; Engadget, Oct. 16; Apple

Governance matters
Andrew Pace writes: “As a lover of words and phrases, I am intrigued by what I would call lots of pre-meme activity—the use (and often over- and misuse) of words that become part of the growing library lexicon. Recent examples include: seamless, disintermediation, open, and the like. Currently, there are three words that strike my fancy—work flow, life cycle, and governance. Mostly, I’ve been thinking about governance.”...
Hectic Pace, Oct. 16

Hard drives are getting bigger
Multimedia stockpilers need not worry about laptops, digital video recorders, or portable music players hitting a storage capacity ceiling any time soon. Hitachi says its researchers have successfully shrunken a key component in hard drives to a nanoscale that will pave the way for quadrupling today’s storage limits to 4 terabytes for desktop computers and 1 terabyte on laptops in 2011. A terabyte can hold the text of roughly 1 million books, 250 hours of high-definition video, or a quarter million songs....
San Jose Mercury News, Oct. 15

Search free apps
More than 600 free software applications can be located through this search engine site. The services range from free online backup to free voice mail, spyware, audio format conversions, and international calls....
Search Free Apps

A history of digital news
Poynter Institute Library Director David Shedden traces the history of digital news across the map of his own media consumption, from 1969—when the New York Times started archiving electronic abstracts of their stories and the BBC tested a new interactive media format called Videotex—to the present, with a timeline that tracks the benchmarks of new media and online journalism....
Poynter Online, Oct. 15

The nation’s reading report card, 2007
The National Center for Education Statistics’ national report card shows that reading skills are improving for both 4th- and 8th-graders, particularly among lower- and middle-performing students. Many student groups made gains in both grades; however, the gains were not always accompanied by significant closing of racial/ethnic and gender gaps. The test scores further confirm the need for a library in every school staffed by a state-certified school library media specialist....
National Center for Education Statistics, Sept. 25

Voters urge teaching of 21st-century skills
In yet another sign that momentum is building for the teaching of so-called “21st-century skills” in the nation’s classrooms, results of a new poll indicate that voters overwhelmingly agree: The skills students need to succeed in today’s workplace are notably different from what they needed 20 years ago. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills, which commissioned the survey, released its findings October 10. A full 88% believe schools should incorporate critical thinking and problem solving, communication and self-direction, and computer and technology skills into the curriculum....
eSchool News, Oct. 15

Teens and online stranger contact
A new report (PDF file) by the Pew Internet and American Life Project suggests that 32% of teens who go online have been contacted by someone with no connection to them or their friends, and 7% say they have felt scared or uncomfortable as a result of contact by an online stranger. Several behaviors are associated with high levels of online stranger contact, including social networking profile ownership, posting photos online, and using social networking sites to flirt....
Pew Internet and American Life Project, Oct. 14

Fair use confusion threatens media literacy
In too many classrooms across the country, sweaty palms and the fears associated with a call to the principal’s office aren’t just student afflictions: Educators, especially those who teach media literacy, are experiencing a collective anxiety about what is legal and what is not when using digital images and recordings in their lessons, according to a new report (PDF file) by the American University Center for Social Media. The educational goals of cultivating critical thinking and communication skills are compromised by unnecessary restrictions and a lack of understanding about copyright law....
eSchool News, Oct. 9

UNESCO and LC to work on World Digital Library
UNESCO and the Library of Congress will join forces to build a World Digital Library, following the signing of an agreement by Abdul Waheed Khan, UNESCO’s assistant director-general for communication and information, and Librarian of Congress James H. Billington, at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris October 17. The World Digital Library initiative will digitize unique and rare materials from libraries and other cultural institutions around the world and make them available free of charge on the internet....
UNESCO, Oct. 17

Young librarians, talkin’ ’bout their generation (subscription required)
This month The Chronicle of Higher Education contacted eight librarians under 40 and asked them a series of questions about the future of their profession, including: What will happen to the book? How will battles over copyright play out? What do you love and hate about librarianship? This is what they said....
Chronicle of Higher Education, Oct. 19

Library student is finalist for $10,000 blogging scholarship
Karin Dalziel, an LIS student at the University of Missouri–Columbia, is one of 20 finalists for College Scholarship.org’s 2nd annual blogging scholarship, which features an award of $10,000 to help pay for books and tuition. Dalziel was selected from hundreds of applicants and is the only library blogger in the group. The public can cast a vote for any of the finalists before midnight Pacific time, October 28....
College Scholarships.org

Arizona marks its centennial as a depository
This year, the University of Arizona and other land-grant institutions are celebrating a milestone: 100 years of the federal government’s decision to make them government document depositories. In 2003, UA became the pilot site for a virtual depository model, a web-based collection of documents produced by federal agencies. Called the Arizona Project, the library has about 95% of the documents it is responsible for online....
University of Arizona, Oct. 15

County cooperation allows Yolo libraries to go wireless
Thanks to a joint venture among the Yolo County, California, departments of the sheriff-coroner, information technology, and the library, all county library branches can offer their patrons free Wi-Fi internet access. The effort was prompted by a request from the sheriff-coroner to have wireless internet access for all his deputies who work in remote areas of the county....
Yolo County (Calif.) Administration, Oct. 11

Scanning robot digitizes Bavarian books
The Bavarian State Library in Munich, Germany, is using a robot to scan its rare books and store more than 7.5 million pages. The device, which uses gentle suction and a puff of air to turn the pages, will work until 2009, digitizing 37,000 German-language books published between 1518 and 1600. The robot, designed by the Treventus company of Vienna, won a European Union innovation award earlier this year at the CeBIT computing trade fair in Germany (watch the video)....
Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Oct. 16; Treventus Mechatronics

SLA to offer KM certificates through Click U
The Special Libraries Association will offer its members an opportunity to earn a knowledge management certificate through Click University, an online learning system for postgraduate, practicing librarians and information professionals. KM courses will begin in 2008 and will be appropriate for seasoned KM professionals as well as LIS professionals who are not currently performing a KM function....
Special Libraries Association, Oct. 12

For Teen Read Week: John Green’s home library
To celebrate Teen Read Week, author John Green takes his brother Hank on the full tour of the Green family’s nerdtastically cataloged home library. As John says: “Read! Why are you watching CSI: Miami when you could be reading CSI: Miami the novelization?”...
YouTube, Oct. 16

NLM citation style for blogs
The National Library of Medicine Style Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers offers some help (with plentiful examples) on citing blogs in a biomed journal: “Look at the opening screen(s), the bottom or closing screens, sidebar, and the source code (viewable through the Web browser), in that order, for authoritative information to use in citing a blog.”...
National Library of Medicine, Citing Medicine

Librarian accessories
Online e-commerce site Cafépress has more than 5,000 library- or librarian-related gifts for sale, courtesy of their independent sellers. Searching the site by keyword brings up all sorts of T-shirt and mug gift possibilities, as well as numerous apt aphorisms to share with colleagues or patrons....
Cafepress.com

ALA Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia, January 11–16. Housing is now available. As an ALA attendee or exhibitor, you are eligible for special hotel rates. You can only make reservations at the ALA rates by booking through the ALA Travel Desk.

ALA will present a Rocky Mountain Regional Lawyers for Libraries Training Institute in Denver, November 8, in conjunction with the Colorado Association of Libraries Annual Conference.