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Grassroots group grows school library support in Washington State
More than 100 people gathered in the rain at the state capitol steps in Olympia, Washington, February 1 to rally for school libraries (above), despite cold winds and a storm in the eastern half of the state that prevented many from attending, and which later caused Governor Christine Gregoire to declare a state of emergency for 15 counties. The rally and an all-day summit were the culmination of the work of a group of concerned Spokane mothers....

Libraries to benefit from proposed Bush budget
Increases in library funding embedded in the FY2009 budget proposed by President Bush will mean that many of America’s libraries can continue to provide key programs and services to their communities, like bookmobiles and public access to the internet. In a budget where domestic discretionary spending was severely restricted and funding for 151 programs was cut or eliminated, the Library Services and Technology Act saw several key increases, including a boost of $10.6 million in state grant funding over FY2008....

Libraries brace for effects from latest Florida tax cuts
A constitutional amendment overwhelmingly approved by Florida voters January 29 will cut property taxes by some $9.3 billion over its first five years, with dire consequences likely for libraries already reeling from previous tax rollbacks. Amendment 1, which passed by a 64–36 margin, increases the homestead exemption by an average of $15,000, allows homeowners to transfer up to $500,000 in their tax savings to a new house under the 3% “Save Our Homes” assessment cap to a new house, and gives new tax breaks to businesses....

New Jersey tax cap threatens dedicated library funding
The New Jersey Library Association got major support from library users in January with its campaign to send thousands of postcards to legislators opposing any efforts to weaken local library funding. Volunteers, Friends, and trustees made themselves available in many city public libraries to help patrons fill out the cards and draft a personal message to Gov. Jon Corzine. The campaign focused on a bill that targets a dedicated library funding formula in place for more than 120 years. More than 25,000 people signed the cards over a two-week period....

Archivist charged with hundreds of thefts
A New York state archivist has admitted stealing hundreds of historical artifacts beginning in 2002 from the New York State Library in Albany that he sold on the internet to pay for household repairs and his daughter’s $10,000 credit card bill. Daniel Lorello, accessioning and special project coordinator at the State Archives, was arraigned in city court January 28 on charges that included grand larceny and processing stolen property....

Julie Andrews PSAs for National Library Week
Academy Award-winning actress and children’s author Julie Andrews, this year’s honorary National Library Week chair, stars in a series of public service announcements now available to libraries for download. The PSAs are ready for use in local print, radio, and television ads to promote National Library Week, April 13–19. Each spot benefits from Andrews’s proven appeal to children, as well as to adults who grew up watching her in such family classics as Mary Poppins....

Three new Executive Board members
Diane R. Chen (right), Joseph Eagan, and Em Claire Knowles have been elected to serve on the ALA Executive Board. They were elected by the ALA Council in a vote taken at the 2008 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia. Chen, Eagan, and Knowles will each serve three-year terms beginning in July 2008 and concluding in June 2011....

New season of Step Up to the Plate @ your library
ALA and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum are teaming up to promote season three of Step Up to the Plate @ your library. This year, it’s a whole new ball game, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the song “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” Librarians can register for free program tools to help promote the program locally....

Exhibit “Pride and Passion” in your library
The Public Programs Office and the National Endowment for the Humanities are now accepting applications for “Pride and Passion: The African American Baseball Experience,” a traveling exhibition telling the story of black baseball players in the United States over the past century and a half. Online applications must be completed by April 4....

John Adams’s traveling library revealed in traveling exhibition
The National Endowment for the Humanities and the ALA Public Programs Office are now accepting applications for “John Adams Unbound,” a traveling exhibition based upon a larger exhibition of the same name recently on display at the Boston Public Library. Online applications must be completed by April 4....

Need financial assistance for library school?
The 2008 Financial Assistance for Library and Information Studies Directory is an annual directory of awards from state library agencies, national and state library associations, local libraries, academic institutions, and foundations that give some form of financial assistance for undergraduate and/or graduate education programs in library and information studies. Put together by the ALA Committee on Education, the directory is available for free online....

RFP issued for membership study
ALA has issued a Request for Proposal (PDF file) for a study of its membership. Individuals or organizations interested in conducting demographic research should submit a proposal that includes project scope, recommendations, and cost estimates. The information collected from the study will assist ALA in its long-range planning efforts....

Nine CPLA candidates and one course approved
At its Midwinter review, the Certified Public Library Administrator Program Certification Review Committee approved nine new candidates and one more program course, “Planning and Management of Buildings” offered by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. CPLA now has 96 candidates and one graduate, representing public libraries of all sizes across the nation....

Council calls for return of Iraqi documents
At the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia on January 16, Council adopted a resolution calling for the return of documents to Iraq’s National Library and Archives. It also condemns the U.S. and U.K. governments for the confiscation, which occurred after the invasion of 2003....

Call for end to Kenya violence
At the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia, Council adopted a resolution addressing the crisis in Kenya. It calls for an end to the violence in Kenya as well as a return to the people of rights of the people that have been curtailed during the crisis....

Kareem answers questions
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar responds to audience questions at the ALA Midwinter Meeting President’s Program, January 13, 2008, speaking about his greatest basketball memory, the reason he changed his name, Muslim tensions, how to get reluctant youth to read, his new book On the Shoulders of Giants: My Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance, in this video (5:30). Black Caucus of the ALA founder E. J. Josey makes a special appearance....

YALSA gaming extravaganza
Librarians at the Young Adult Library Services Association Gaming Extravaganza, held January 11 at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia, share how they’re developing gaming in their libraries and the importance of creating a “safe place” for youth, while librarian/gamer/author Eli Neiburger runs a live tournament and explains the secret of getting 115 boys to come to his library on a Friday night (4:02)....

Present a paper in Seattle
ACRL invites proposal submissions for its 14th National Conference, which will be held March 12–15, 2009, in Seattle. The conference theme, “Pushing the Edge: Explore, Engage, Extend,” reflects the promise and the challenge of the Northwest. The ACRL National Conference Executive Committee invites applicants to send their edgiest, most “out-there” proposals....

ACRL preconferences in Anaheim
ACRL is offering three professional development preconferences in conjunction with the 2008 ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, California, June 26. The topics are assessment, library instruction, and diversity....

YALSA chooses programs for its Literature Symposium
YALSA announced its program slate for its first-ever, biennial Young Adult Literature Symposium. The Young Adult Literature Symposium 2008 will be in Nashville, Tennessee, November 7–9, with the theme of “How We Read Now.” The symposium is funded in part by the William C. Morris Endowment....

The wrong Card: A lesson in intellectual freedom
Brian Kenney writes: “Here at SLJ we pay close attention to the Margaret Edwards Award. What’s disturbing about the 2008 winner, Orson Scott Card, isn’t that he fails some politically correct litmus test, or that he’s merely socially conservative. It’s the sheer virulence of his many remarks about gays and lesbians. Am I happy about this year’s winner? Not at all. Do I support the committee’s decision? Unequivocally. In the end, as valid as one feels one’s reasons might be, we can’t tamper with freedom of expression as represented in the Library Bill of Rights and the ALA Code of Ethics.”...
School Library Journal, Feb. 2; YALSA statement; Rhinoceros Times, Feb. 15, 2004; Sunstone Magazine, 1990

National Library Week Grant winner
The Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, is the winner of the 2008 Scholastic Library Publishing National Library Week Grant. The $5,000 grant, sponsored by Scholastic Library Publishing and administered by the ALA Public Awareness Committee, is awarded annually for the best public awareness campaign proposal in support of National Library Week. PLCMC will partner with local businesses, municipal agencies, and the New York Public Library’s Donnell Children’s Room to promote reading and libraries....

SirsiDynix–ALA-APA Award for Improving Salaries
Brian Keith, human resources officer at the University of Florida Libraries, and Camilla B. Reid, associate director of the Augusta State University Library, are the winners of the fourth annual SirsiDynix–ALA‑APA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Promoting Salaries and Status for Library Workers. The award is given to an individual, group of individuals, or institution that have made an outstanding contribution to improving the salary and status of library workers in a local, regional, or national setting....

2008 LITA Brett Butler Entrepreneurship Award
Glenn Peterson is the 2008 recipient of the LITA Brett Butler Entrepreneurship Award for his development of EngagedPatrons.org, which provides low-cost and free website services for public libraries. The site went live in May 2006, enabling even small- and medium-sized libraries the ability to offer high-quality web services to their patrons....

2008 ACRL Samuel Lazerow Fellowships
Ping Situ of the University of Arizona (left) and Shuyong Jiang of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have been selected to receive the 2008 ACRL Samuel Lazerow Fellowship for Research in Technical Services or Acquisitions. Situ and Jiang were selected for the award for their research project on vendor-provided records and the experience of a research library in outsourcing cataloging service for its Chinese-language materials, including its backlogs....

2008 ACRL Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship winner
Donghua Tao, graduate student at the University of Missouri–Columbia School of Information Science and Learning Technology, has been awarded the 2008 ACRL Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship for her proposal, “Using Theory of Reasoned Action in Understanding Selection and Use of Information Resources: An Information Resource Selection and Use Model.” The fellowship, sponsored by Thomson Scientific, encourages and supports dissertation research....

2008 ACRL Marta Lange/CQ Press Award
Lisa Norberg, director of public services at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries, has been named the 2008 recipient of the ACRL Law and Political Science Section’s Marta Lange/CQ Press Award. The award, established in 1996, honors an academic or law librarian who has made distinguished contributions to bibliography and information service in law or political science....

2008 ACRL/EBSS Distinguished Librarian
John William Collins III, librarian of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, has received the 2008 ACRL Education and Behavioral Sciences Section award. This award honors a distinguished academic librarian who has made an outstanding contribution as an education and/or behavioral sciences librarian through accomplishments and service to the profession....

2008 ACRL Miriam Dudley Instruction Librarian Award
Craig Gibson, associate university librarian for research, instructional, and outreach services at George Mason University, 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....

2008 ACRL distance learning award
Harvey Gover, assistant campus librarian at Washington State University, Tri-Cities, has been named the 2008 recipient of the ACRL Distance Learning Section Haworth Press Distance Learning Librarian Conference Sponsorship Award. This annual award honors an ACRL member working in the field of—or contributing to the success of—distance learning librarianship or related library service in higher education....

2008 YALSA Frances Henne Research Grant
YALSA has named Arlene Weber Morales, a school library media specialist at Midwood High School in Brooklyn, New York, the 2008 recipient of the Frances Henne Research Grant. The $500 grant provides seed money for small-scale projects that will encourage research that responds to the YALSA Research Agenda....

2008 YALSA Sagebrush award
YALSA has named Seth Cassel the winner of the 2008 YALSA/Sagebrush Award for a Young Adult Reading or Literature Program. The award provides $1,000 to support the recipient's attendance at the ALA Annual Conference....

YALSA creates young adult nonfiction award
Beginning in 2010, YALSA will name an annual winner of the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults. The award winner will be announced annually at the ALA Midwinter Meeting Youth Media Awards, with a short list of up to five titles named the first week of December....

RUSA notable books list
The RUSA Notable Books Council has compiled its year 2008 list of outstanding books for the general reader. These titles have been selected for their significant contribution to the expansion of knowledge and for the pleasure they can provide to adult readers....

2008 Amelia Bloomer book list
Sponsored by the Feminist Task Force of the Social Responsibilities Round Table, the Amelia Bloomer list is a recommended reading list of feminist books for girls, ranging from beginning readers to teens, that feature strong, independent, female protagonists and that challenge what it means to be a woman, regardless of ethnicity or socioeconomic background....

2008 Rainbow Project book list
Cosponsored by the Social Responsibilities Round Table and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table, the Rainbow Project has compiled its first annual bibliography for young readers from birth through age 18. These 45 fictional and informational books that validate same-gender lifestyles and experiences were chosen for their high appeal to readers, quality writing and illustrations, and realistic portrayals of issues....

Emerald Research Grant extension
The submission deadline for the Emerald Research Grant Award has been extended to February 15. The award is sponsored by Emerald Group Publishing Limited and presented by the RUSA Business Reference and Services Section....

2008 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award
The winner of Pennsylvania State University’s 2008 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award is Birmingham, 1963 (Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press) by Carole Boston Weatherford. The award was established in 1993 and is presented annually to an American poet or anthologist for the most outstanding new book of children’s poetry published in the previous calendar year....
Poetry for Children blog, Jan. 25

Archives challenges Clinton papers case
The National Archives wants a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit seeking quick access to records about a health care task force Hillary Rodham Clinton headed as first lady, or delay the release for about a year. Judicial Watch, a conservative public interest group, has complained in a lawsuit that the Archives isn’t moving fast enough on its April 2006 request to see the documents. The archives says Judicial Watch is trying to jump ahead of those who made earlier FOIA requests....
Associated Press, Jan. 31

African-American Research Library faces cuts
Supporters of the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, rallied February 5 to protect it from cuts expected from Broward County government in light of voter approval of a property-tax relief plan. A group of more than two dozen library supporters asked the County Commission to address staffing levels at the library. They also said the county must protect the library’s status as one of only three public libraries in the nation focused on black history and culture....
Fort Lauderdale South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Feb. 6

Mayor calls for public library safety zones
New Bedford, Massachusetts, Mayor Scott W. Lang called for new legislation February 4 to make libraries, schools, and playgrounds off-limits to serious sex offenders less than a week after a 6-year-old boy was molested in the downtown public library. The law would create buffer zones or safety zones aimed at protecting children. Lang also told library trustees that he had six recommendations to tighten up security at the New Bedford Free Public Library and its branches....
New Bedford (Mass.) Standard-Times, Feb. 5

Swastika arrangement of library desks draws fire
The new $10-million West Hempstead (N.Y.) Public Library, which finally opened last fall after years of fits and starts, already faces a controversy—over the setup of the study desks. More than a dozen congregants at the nearby Orthodox synagogue have complained that new desks in the second-floor study area are in a configuration that resembles a swastika. But the arms are left-facing, actually forming the shape of an ancient Indian symbol that has a variety of meanings, including good fortune....
Long Island (N.Y.) Newsday, Feb. 2

Stanford to get papers of paleontologist Gould
The late Harvard paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould has bequeathed to Stanford University his priceless collection of books, papers, and artifacts. Although the material hasn’t been sorted and inventoried, it is believed to contain an early edition of Darwin’s Descent of Man, a rare copy of Mundus Subterraneus by Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher, and a baseball fouled off DiMaggio’s bat at Yankee Stadium in the 1940s and caught by a very young Gould....
San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News, Jan. 30

Library remains unsafe after $2-million fire damage
The Cathedral City (Calif.) Public Library has closed due to a fire late on the night of February 1 that burned a hole through the roof, causing an estimated $2 million in damage—including the entire book collection. The fire may have been caused by roofing repairs that used propane torches to heat materials and meld them together....
Palm Springs (Calif.) Desert Sun, Feb. 5

Emilio Estevez to shoot film about library’s homeless persons
Actor and director Emilio Estevez is preparing to film The Public, a social drama set in a public library that he wrote and will direct as his follow-up to Bobby. The story is based on a Los Angeles Times op-ed piece written by retired librarian Chip Ward, which discussed the issue of libraries becoming de facto shelters for the homeless and the mentally ill in light of many social-program cuts. Estevez hopes to get permission to shoot part of the film in the downtown Los Angeles Public Library despite its moratorium on shooting indoors....
Hollywood Reporter, Feb. 5

Spanish town to pay kids to read
A small-town Spanish mayor concerned about a high dropout rate in local schools has devised a way to keep kids studying—pay them. Agustín Jiménez Crespo (right), Socialist mayor of the central agricultural town of Noblejas, is recommending the town’s children be given a euro ($1.50 U.S.) for every hour they spend reading in the public or school library. The sweetener is part of a series of measures to be voted on by the Noblejas council in March....
Associated Press, Feb. 4; El Digital Castillo–La Mancha (Spain), Jan. 26

Microsoft bids $44.6 billion for Yahoo
Microsoft went public February 1 with a $44.6 billion cash-and-stock bid to acquire Yahoo. In its response, Yahoo called the Microsoft bid “unsolicited” but did not reject it. Microsoft and Yahoo are both struggling to compete against Google. Microsoft didn’t mention Google by name in its announcement, but it did indicate that its acquisition bid was aimed squarely at its rival. Meanwhile, Google has taken steps to challenge the deal....
C|net news.com, Feb. 1; New York Times, Feb. 5

Flickr rebellion brews at specter of Microsoft acquisition
A small but vocal minority on Flickr are already staging online protests at the prospect of a Microsoft takeover. Flickr is one of several popular Web 2.0 websites owned by Yahoo that loyal users fear will suffer under Microsoft ownership. Users began posting anti-Microsoft images, satirical “Flickr Live” logos and announcing they will abandon Flickr if it falls into Microsoft’s hands, fearing such a move would mark the beginning of the end....
Wired Compiler blog, Feb. 1; Flickr

Technology petting zoos
Stephen Abram writes: “I often recommend that libraries try to set up technology petting zoos for staff to touch and connect with the plethora of devices that our users are using. Learning by doing seems to work well! We’ve had several of these types of sessions on a larger scale at SLA conferences where gadgets are shown and passed around. I think that these work even better with smaller groups. Anyway, here are some ideas that I’ve collected.”...
Stephen’s Lighthouse, Feb. 5

Do terrorists lurk in Second Life?
U.S. intelligence officials are cautioning that popular internet services like Second Life that enable computer users to adopt avatars are also creating security vulnerabilities by opening novel ways for terrorists and criminals to move money, organize, and conduct corporate espionage. Intelligence officials say the anonymity, global access, and an expanded ability to make financial transfers outside normal channels have turned virtual worlds into seedbeds for transnational threats....
Washington Post, Feb. 6

Cooking up a plan for your public computers
The MaintainIT Project is offering two cookbooks you can download for free and use to keep public computers running in your library. One is for small and rural libraries, with tips on locking down the computers and using a handy maintenance list. Another is for five-star libraries (right) and contains all the ingredients you need to install a secure wireless network, handle print management issues, and implement and maintain a sound laptop checkout program....
MaintainIT Project

It’s Twine time (almost)
A San Francisco company, Radar Networks, is testing a free, web-based application called Twine that could provide some robotic secretarial help in organizing and retrieving documents. Currently in a beta, invite-only phase, Twine can scan almost any electronic document for the names of people, places, businesses, and many other entities that its algorithms recognize. Then it automatically tags or marks all of these items in orange and transfers them to an index on the right side of the screen....
New York Times, Feb. 3

72 tips for safer computing
Eric Griffith writes: “You might wonder if it’s even possible to have a safe computing experience in this day and age, beyond unplugging your broadband connection and never installing any software. Of course it’s possible, but it will take some work on your part. You need to install tools to protect yourself, learn good practices, and most important: Exercise common sense. Here’s what you need to do, from the bare minimum on up.”...
PC Magazine, Feb. 1

Black History Month resources at LC
The Library of Congress honors the memory of the nation’s African-American forebears in recognizing the importance of ethnic diversity with the 2008 theme of “Carter G. Woodson and the Origins of Multiculturalism.” Woodson (1875–1950), known as the “Father of Black History,” devoted his life to increasing public awareness of African-American history. In 1926 he founded Negro History Week, the precursor of Black History Month....
Library of Congress

Why students want simplicity
Steven Bell writes: “The research process, by its very nature, can be both complicated and complex. Applying simple problem-solving approaches to complex problems is a contextual error that will lead to failure. The Cynefin Framework can help us understand why students apply simple approaches to complex problems, and how that is a formula for poor research results.”...
ACRLog, Feb. 4

Lafayette College postcards promote reference service
Rebecca Metzger writes: “For the past seven years, the Lafayette College Libraries in Easton, Pennsylvania, have been creating and mailing humorous collectible postcards to students as a way of publicizing PRA (Personalized Research Assistance) sessions, which are essentially individual research consultations with reference librarians. PRA cards get the faces of reference librarians out to students in a comedic format that shakes up the stereotype of librarians as stodgy and serious, hopefully making us more approachable.”...
Library Marketing blog, Jan. 25

Courses I wish I’d had in library school
Annoyed Librarian writes: “These are a few courses I could have used in library school but had to learn the hard way as a professional adapting to an alien world. I suppose that’s what we call continuing education. They always say that whatever you learn in library school will date quickly, and why would they lie? But some of the lessons you learn after library school, such as library politics, never date. The lack of these courses may also explain the poor social and fashion skills of so many librarians.”...
Annoyed Librarian blog, Jan. 30

17 ways to create a peaceful, relaxed workday
Leo Babauta writes: “The first step is the realization that you are in control of your day. For some people, that may mean taking some tough steps, if your boss or workplace is very controlling about how you do your work. For example, you might talk to your boss about restructuring your workday. It might also mean looking for a new job that’s more flexible, if you’re not happy with the way things are. Or it might just mean picking the tips below that work best for you and living with a certain amount of stress.”...
Zenhabits, Feb. 3

EBSCO gets greener
EBSCO Information Services has taken a major step on the road to carbon responsibility by partnering with an environmental consulting firm—Carbonfund.org—to measure its own carbon footprint and to establish a long-term green strategy. The company recently began several strategies, among them increased paper recycling, installing 192 solar panels, and sending electronic rather than paper invoices....
EBSCO, Dec. 4

ABC-CLIO’s History 2.0
ABC-CLIO has released a 2.0 version of its eight online history, issues, and geography databases. Enhancements to the new versions include an “analyze” section that helps students examine key dilemmas in history, grapple with issues, and build historical inquiry skills. The eight databases have a common interface, cross-database searching capabilities, and a new filtered search option for refining queries. Developed in collaboration with leading historians, librarians, and educators, these resources are targeted to middle- and high-school students served by school and public libraries....
ABC-CLIO, Jan. 14

Archives and archivists on postage stamps
This list of postage stamps depicting archives and archivists was compiled by Larry T. Nix and Hans Krol. The compilation evolved from the efforts of Krol and the late John Henry Richter to develop a comprehensive list of libraries and librarians (and archives and archivists) on postage stamps. The collecting of postage stamps on these and related topics is called bibliophilately. The 1976 Bulgarian stamp shown here celebrates the 25th anniversary of the State Archives in Sofia....
Library History Buff

The 2008 Empowerment Conference for Library Support Staff will be held during the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, California, June 28–29. It will feature a variety of programs with nationally known speakers like Warren Graham, Jenny Levine, and Michael Stephens.

Only four weeks until Teen Tech Week, March 2–8!