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

Boston chooses Amy E. Ryan for library president
The board of the Boston Public Library offered the job of president to Hennepin County (Minn.) Library Director Amy E. Ryan (right) August 14 after interviewing four finalists selected from a pool of more than 160. Trustees cited her extensive knowledge of big-city library systems, management style, understanding of technology, and commitment to community libraries. Ryan will succeed outgoing President Bernard Margolis, who was ousted by the board last November in the wake of repeated clashes with Mayor Thomas M. Menino....
American Libraries Online, Aug. 15

Feelings run high as funding falters in Hartford
It’s been a difficult summer for the officials of Hartford (Conn.) Public Library, where trustees eased an $870,000 budget shortfall for FY2009 by closing the Mark Twain and Blue Hills Avenue branches July 3 and laying off 40 staff members. Six weeks later, the library board announced that the branches would reopen August 25 to coincide with the first day of school. In between the two actions, neighborhood activists sought—and subsequently withdrew—a court injunction ordering the branches’ reopening....
American Libraries Online, Aug. 15

Missing Durham First Folio found?
A British man arrested over the theft of a First Folio edition of Shakespeare insists he is innocent. Raymond Scott, 51, walked into Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., June 16 seeking authentication for a 17th-century book that experts now say was stolen from Durham University Library in England in December 1998. But Scott claims the item he lent to the Folger was a different copy of the First Folio that he came across in Havana, Cuba, through a friend of his 21-year-old fiancée Heidy Garcia Rios....
American Libraries Online, Aug. 14

Midwinter registration on the ALA website
One page on the ALA website still says information on the 2009 Midwinter Meeting, to be held January 23–28 in Denver, will be posted on August 15, and that date has passed. So what’s happened? Lots, as it turns out. As part of the transition to its new website, ALA has temporarily frozen the current pages, except for the news feeds on the home page. But you can still find up-to-date information about the Midwinter Meeting on the website....
ALA Marginalia, Aug. 18

September is Library Card Sign-up Month
This September, ALA and libraries throughout the country will celebrate Library Card Sign-up Month. It is a time when libraries remind parents and caregivers to bring their school-age children to the library to get the most important school supply of all—a library card....

“Success in the Workplace” institute at Midwinter
On January 23, ALA will hold a “Success in the Workplace” institute during its Midwinter Meeting in Denver. The institute will offer workplace essentials on how to showcase talents, document progress, communicate effectively, and develop learning plans. It is sponsored by ALA Conference Services and the Office for Human Resource Development and Recruitment....

ALA at Reforma
ALA will be a major participant in this year’s Third National Conference of the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking (Reforma), held September 18–21 in El Paso, Texas. The conference will offer a wide variety of programs on such subjects as service to diverse populations, children’s services, recruitment and mentoring, adult services, immigration, and intellectual freedom....

A suggestion for Banned Books Week
Stephen Abram writes: “I think that BBW is one of ALA’s greatest achievements since 1982, but I have a suggestion. The freedom to read is much broader than books. When we see continual attacks on many types of libraries, we see an attack on research, discovery, and reading. These are fundamental to progress. Maybe we can start a new Banned Websites Week and collect the funny, sad, and scary examples that everyone shares over coffee at conferences.”...
Stephen’s Lighthouse, Aug. 19

More on banned books
Office for Intellectual Freedom Deputy Director Deborah Caldwell-Stone continues her discussion of banned books and other issues related to intellectual freedom in the final segment of a two-part podcast interview....
Visibility @ your library, Aug. 19

IFLA 2008: Québec
The 2008 world congress of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions was held August 10–14 in Québec City, Canada, which was celebrating its 400th anniversary. As this video (3:31) illustrates, library professionals celebrated as well, taking in various cultural events (including a rendition of “My Heart Will Go On,” the Titanic theme song, played on a saw), honoring Ismail Serageldin of Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt, presenting the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s 2008 Access to Learning Award, and applauding the announcement of the 2011 IFLA location....

YALSA names Teen Read Week spokesman
Josh Hutcherson, star of Journey to the Center of the Earth, is YALSA’s 2008 Teen Read Week spokesperson. Hutcherson, a 15-year-old from Union, Kentucky, encourages teens to think about their interests and indulge them in a book in this interview....

PLA Leadership Fellows programs
Two deadlines for the PLA Leadership Fellows program are quickly approaching. Applications for the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business Leading Organizational Change program are due to the PLA office on September 1. The deadline for applicants for the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business Positive Change—Creating Spectacular Organizational Successes program is September 12. Visit the PLA website to apply....

Profile in academic excellence
Each year, ACRL presents three Excellence in Academic Libraries awards, one each to an outstanding university, college, and community college library. The Georgia Institute of Technology Library and Information Center (right) in Atlanta, winner of the university category in 2007, was selected for its impressive five-year transformation into being the heart and soul of the university community. The ongoing project to reinvent the Georgia Tech Library has created positive outcomes that garner campus acclaim and register a national impact....
I Love Libraries

2008 Diana V. Braddom Scholarship
LAMA’s Fund Raising and Financial Development Section has awarded Susan E. Thomas, head of collection development at Indiana University South Bend, the 2008 Diana V. Braddom Scholarship. Thomas will receive $1,000 to attend the 2009 ALA Annual Conference, where she will learn skills that will enable her to increase funding for her library from public, private, and corporate sources....

LC honors Herman Wouk with lifetime achievement award
Librarian of Congress James H. Billington will present Pulitzer Prize–winning writer Herman Wouk (b. 1915) with the first Library of Congress Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Writing of Fiction on September 10. The award recognizes Wouk’s extraordinary contributions to American letters and his dedication to, as he has said, “the enduring power of the novel.” Wouk is donating his literary diaries, remaining manuscripts, and correspondence to LC....
Library of Congress, Aug. 18

OSU library renovation caps fundraising with athletic gift
The Ohio State University’s athletics department has donated the final $4 million toward the main library’s $109-million renovation with a year of construction left. The transfer brought the sports programs’ commitment to the project, led by football coach Jim Tressel and his wife Ellen, to $9 million. The gutted and rebuilt William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library is set to reopen in fall 2009 as an inviting and environmentally friendly campus center designed by Acock Associates Architects in Columbus....
Columbus (Ohio) Business First, Aug. 15

Judge: Ohio library can’t ban religious meetings
A federal court ruled August 14 in favor of Citizens for Community Values, a social-conservative group that was denied use of a meeting room at the Upper Arlington (Ohio) Public Library earlier this year. The library’s practice of prohibiting activities that it concludes are “inherent elements of a religious service” or elements that are “quintessentially religious” is unconstitutional, U.S. District Judge George C. Smith wrote in a 32-page decision....
Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, Aug. 15

Library employee fired for writing book about workplace
Sally Stern-Hamilton’s controversial book, The Library Diaries, written under the pseudonym Ann Miketa, resulted in her termination July 25 as a Mason County (Mich.) District Library employee after 15 years on the job. Written in the first person and set in what she calls the Lake Michigan town of Denialville, the book, produced by print-on-demand publisher PublishAmerica, is a series of fictional vignettes about mostly unsavory characters encountered daily at the library....
Ludington (Mich.) Daily News, Aug. 9

Nassau County investigates former trustee
The Nassau County district attorney’s office is investigating allegations that former Roosevelt (N.Y.) Public Library board President Natalie Connor—who had spearheaded efforts for a $10 million renovation of the library—misused as much as $42,000 in library renovation–related donations on such items as beauty supplies, car payments, and plane tickets. Attorney Steven Leventhal, hired by the library board, read a statement August 5 confirming that several irregularities in the foundation’s bank account had been discovered....
Long Island (N.Y.) Newsday, Aug. 15

Does Big Brother know what you’re reading?
Alan Bisbort writes: “You are a librarian in a quiet town. One day a government spy—played by Eric Idle sporting a greasy moustache and doing his nod-nod-wink-wink routine—hands you a ‘secret letter’ demanding your borrowers’ records and computer files. You are not to discuss this with anyone, and you are not allowed to contest the demand in court. And when he’s gone, you are to pretend none of this ever happened. Essentially, this is what the Patriot Act allows the FBI to do now.”...
Hartford (Conn.) Advocate, Aug. 21

Norwich library director under fire after state audit
A crowd of nearly 40 people gathered for the August 14 trustee meeting at Guernsey Memorial Library in Norwich, New York, to hear how the board would respond to a July 31 state audit that identified $15,000 in questionable purchases by Director Melanie Battoe. With emotions running high, Norwich police were present if matters got out of hand. President Craig Lawson explained that the board had appointed a finance committee to review bills before payment and taken other steps to update its policies....
Norwich (N.Y.) Evening Sun, Aug. 15

World’s largest monastery library restored
The world’s largest monastery library, in Admont, Austria, reopened in mid-August after four years of restoration work that have restored its rococo splendor. The Benedictine Admont Abbey’s ornate library, itself the size of a cathedral, was built in 1776 to designs by architect Joseph Hüber. The restoration, which cost 6 million euros ($8.9 million) and was partially funded by the European Union, involved the entire library, from the walls to the artwork and the windows....
Agence France Presse, Aug. 18

Allegany County Library bans knives, firearms
After a patron brought a knife into the South Cumberland branch, the Allegany County (Md.) Library System has banned any dangerous weapons, handguns, or firearms inside its facilities. Director John Taube said although the patron was not threatening anyone, the weapon was noticed by others. Trustees voted 4–0 August 13 in reaction to the event....
Cumberland (Md.) Times-News, Aug. 15

Girl assaulted in St. Paul branch
Police continue to look for a man suspected of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl in the restroom of the Riverview branch of the St. Paul (Minn.) Public Library August 13. Police say the man talked to the girl briefly before following her into a restroom in the basement. Officers obtained a search warrant for the library’s computers to see whether any of the users were sex offenders or matched the suspect’s description....
St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press, Aug. 15

Vatican Library to get improved climate control
Cardinal Raffaele Farina, prefect of the Vatican Library in Rome, said August 15 that the library’s ongoing restoration will include construction of a fireproof bunker to store rare manuscripts and a climate-controlled room for precious papyrus fragments. In addition, the library is reclaiming as a reading room the finely decorated Sistine Hall (right), which has been used in recent times for Vatican Museum exhibits. The work will be completed in 2010....
Catholic News Service, Aug. 15

20+ video tutorials for open source apps
Cameron Chapman writes: “There are tons of open source applications out there, from operating systems to word processors and graphics programs. But it’s often hard to find manuals or other documentation beyond what the developers have written (which, while technically correct, don’t always cover the nuances of actually using the program). Here are more than 20 video tutorials to get you going with four of the most popular open source programs out there: Gimp (above), Linux, Open Office, and Nvu.”...
Mashable, July 30

At school, technology turns a corner
Steve Lohr writes: “As a new school year begins, the time may have come to reconsider how large a role technology can play in changing education. The educational bottom line is that while computer technology has matured and become more affordable, the most significant development has been a deeper understanding of how to use the technology. The New Technology Foundation has developed a model for project-based teaching and is at the forefront of the drive for technology-enabled reform of education.”...
New York Times, Aug. 16

Overdue books 2.0
Jenny Levine writes: “As always, Ed Vielmetti is thinking about how to make the library’s data work harder for him, with or without the library’s help. So when Ed couldn’t find some overdue library books in the house, he started wondering aloud how the library services could help him out.” Here is one way: Since all of the library books are tagged with RFID chips for inventory control, he can use a 3M RFID locator device (right) to find lost items....
The Shifted Librarian, Aug. 19

Taming technolust: Planning in a 2.0 world
Michael Stephens writes: “A fact: New technologies will not save your library. New tech cannot be the center of your mission as an institution. I’m still taken aback when I hear of libraries spending money for technologies without careful planning, an environmental scan of the current landscape, and a complete road map for training, roll out, buy in, and evaluation. When the latest technology hits, are you keen to add it to your library, boosting the coolness factor? You may have some happy librarians, but that type of technolust does not well serve the organization.”...
RUSQ 47, no. 4

Library-worthy MP3 players
Jasmine France writes: “The player should support protected WMA, as that is the format most libraries use for audiobooks. MP3 player memory goes by space rather than time. For audiobooks, you can expect about 70 hours worth of content to fit on a device that offers 1GB of memory. My first recommendation is the SanDisk Sansa Fuze (right), which offers a 28.2-hour battery life for audio.”...
MP3 Insider, Aug. 18

Where is SuperSpeed USB 3.0?
Anne Louise Bannon writes: “Imagine uploading an entire HD movie to your laptop in just over a minute. Sounds great, right? That’s what the developers of the next-generation Universal Serial Bus technology are counting on when they release the spec for USB 3.0—also known as SuperSpeed USB—in the fourth quarter of this year. The data-transfer rate will be close to 5 gigabits per second in each direction (officially targeting 4.7 Gbps), compared with the 480 megabits per second, one-way, that USB 2.0 offers.”...
PC Magazine, Aug. 18

Victorian gadgets at the British Library
The British Library is hosting an exhibition of gadgets from the Victorian era and early 20th century. The collection belongs to collector and author Maurice Collins and promotes the library’s Business and Intellectual Property Center. Pictured here is an 1890 memorandum clock, which indicates when a business appointment has finished by generating a note and sounding an alarm....
C|net news.com, Aug. 15

YA books will save science fiction
Charlie Jane Anders writes: “The biggest growth in SF publishing these days, hands down, is happening in the young adult market, and that’s great news. While the ‘real’ science fiction publishers are chasing a shrinking—and graying—readership, tweens and teens are discovering SF for themselves, thanks to books from a diverse range of writers. Best of all, YA science fiction isn’t aimed at a subculture, but at everybody of a particular age.” For a counterpoint, see Annalee Newitz....
io9, Aug. 15

Update on Reed Business Publishing
Over the weekend, paidContent.org reported that the second round of bidding for the assets of Reed Business Information (including Library Journal) had begun—with McGraw-Hill cited as one of the leading contenders and Nielsen emerging as a less clear candidate for the role of buyer. That would be a interesting turn of events, because it would place the LJ, Publishers Weekly, and Kirkus brands in the same basket with Variety and The Hollywood Reporter....
Galleycat, Aug. 18; paidContent.org, Aug. 17

20 best websites for free e-books
Hongkiat has crawled deep into the internet to compile this list of 20 places to download free e-books. Included is the University of Pennsylvania Libraries Online Books Page and BookYards....
Hongkiat, Aug. 5

Misleading reading
Michelle Watters writes: “A while ago, my husband Brian said, ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if you were sitting on the subway reading a book and on the front cover it said, How to Murder a Complete Stranger and Get Away with It? Imagine what people around you would think.’ I thought he might have something. So here we are with a product line we call Misleading Reading, with more than 40 fun titles to choose from.”...
Flapart

Books still the most challenged in Colorado libraries (PDF file)
In 2007, 16 of the 115 public libraries in Colorado reported challenges to materials and the internet on their annual survey. There were 78 separate challenges to books, audio books, library events, internet sites, periodicals, videos, and displays. The most challenged format was books, which comprised more than half (55%) of the total number of challenges....
Fast Facts, no. 262 (Aug. 13)

Library partnership will preserve Bush administration websites
The Library of Congress, the California Digital Library, the University of North Texas Libraries, the Internet Archive, and the U.S. Government Printing Office announced a collaborative project August 14 to preserve public websites of the current presidential administration that ends January 19, 2009. This harvest is intended to document federal agencies’ online archive during the transition of government and to enhance the existing collections of the five partner institutions....
Library of Congress, Aug. 14

Reconceiving research libraries
How should we be rethinking the research library in a swiftly changing information landscape? In February 2008, the Council on Library and Information Resources convened 25 leading librarians, publishers, faculty members, and information technology specialists to consider this question. Participants discussed the changes in scholarly communication that will affect the future library. Essays by eight of the participants were circulated in advance to fuel the discussion and form the centerpiece of this report (PDF file)....
Council on Library and Information Resources, Publication no. 142 (Aug.)

The changing world of law libraries
Alan Cohen writes: “Over the past few years, change has become more than a buzzword among law librarians. Competitive intelligence continues to grow as a key focus of law libraries. But sometimes there’s a price to pay for the focus on business intelligence: Traditional reference tasks don’t get done. Yet many librarians contend that it’s not the drain on resources that’s the real problem—but the difficulty in getting more resources.”...
Legal Technology News, Aug. 19

Web users demand privacy, then give it up
Evan Ratliff writes: “We say we want privacy, but we do little to obtain it. A survey of privacy attitudes in the U.K. found that 84% of internet users claimed they would not divulge details of their income online. Later in the survey, the same group was asked to divulge their income data, and 87% of them did so. Hello, cognitive dissonance!”...
Machinist, Aug. 16; Out-Law News, Aug. 13

10 worst Web glitches of 2008
Rafe Needleman writes: “We have been reminded several times lately that Web 2.0 is in no way a synonym for reliable. Major services have crashed. Big product launches have fizzled. Users have raised their collective fists in the air. What’s going on? Is the Web crumbling? No, it’s not. But user expectations are rising, and web companies often get themselves into trouble by promising far more than they can deliver. Here is the timeline of offline....
Webware, Aug. 15

Letters and titles on your business card
Steven Bell writes: “Librarians appear to be quite divided on whether members of our profession should add their degree(s) to business cards, on their email signatures, or elsewhere. I think the question is not whether it is pretentious to do so, but whether there is any point in doing so at all. But the reality of academia is that we all do carry different degrees, and sharing which ones you hold can deliver a message and may have potential value to colleagues.”...
ACRLog, Aug. 17

Treasures of the Clinton Library
The Bill Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas, is filled with exhibits, documents, and memorabilia about the Clinton presidency. Librarian Emily Robinson (right) and other curators offer VOA journalist Deborah Block a behind-the-scenes tour....
Voice of America, Aug. 15

Learn a language online
Livemocha is an online language learning site with free instructional exercises, user-generated tips and flashcards, and a social community of native speakers who help one another to learn a new language. The site has support for six popular languages—English, Spanish, French, Hindi, German, and Mandarin Chinese. Lesson plans include over 160 hours of beginner and intermediate level content teaching everyday conversational language along with a full range of practical reading, listening, writing and speaking exercises....
Livemocha

Four-day week on the rise in education
School districts and universities are taking cues from the business world and instituting four-day weeks, a trend that some say could become the norm as gas prices and energy costs continue to rise. Experimenting with four-day school weeks is becoming popular in some of the country’s most remote school districts, where buses travel hundreds of miles for student pickups, drop offs, and sporting events. Some colleges and universities are authorizing alternative schedules as an employee-friendly policy designed to soothe the sting of increasingly costly daily commutes....
eSchool News, Aug. 14

The dangers of library work
Jeph Jacques’s Questionable Content comic is often set in the Williston Library of “Smif College,” where main character Marten Reed works. In this episode, Marten’s supervisor Tai describes the sinister library spiders, which hide in the crevices between books and prey on Dewey beetles, another of the vicious pests that lurk in the library ecosystem....
Questionable Content, no. 1210

Could you pass this test?
This Chicago Public Library entrance examination (PDF file) for staff training in 1925 asked some difficult questions. Melissa Adler writes: “Some of the more fortunate staff members attended library school, whereas people hired as library clerks had no opportunity for promotion without formal training. Entrance to the public library’s training program required a high school diploma and a passing score on this exam.”...
Library Notes, Aug. 15; Chicago Public Library Staff News, Nov. 1924

Rare Book School scholarship applications
A scholarship application for the 2008 University of Virginia Rare Book School is now available online. Applications will be accepted until September 1 and are awarded without reference to admission to any particular course. The RBS Scholarship Committee will give special consideration to applicants toward the beginning of their professional careers, or who represent underserved communities (or whose institutions do so)....
Rare Book School

Treasures of Iran’s National Library
This English-language broadcast (6:52) by Iran’s government-funded Press TV news channel showcases the rare books and manuscripts held by the National Library of Iran in Tehran. It features Library Director Ali Akbar Ashari and Librarian for Blind Resources Abdollah Hosseini....
YouTube, Aug. 20

Summer of Reading with Kitty at Denver Public Library
Kitty takes a summer job only to realize he’d rather be at the Denver Public Library reading, competing in a Dance Dance Revolution tournament, hanging out with librarians, and so much more. Good kitty. From last year’s promotion for the library’s DDR tournament. Music by the Hot IQs....
YouTube, May 1, 2007

ALA Midwinter Meeting, Denver, January 23–28. Bundled registration for both Midwinter and Annual conference will be available starting September 2. Registration for Midwinter only starts October 1.

The Women’s National Book Association is launching the second National Reading Group Month in October to promote reading groups and to celebrate the joy of shared reading. Events featuring reading-group favorite authors are planned nationwide in the Association’s nine chapters. Those interested in becoming National Reading Group sponsors can contact Jill Tardiff.