Contents
U.S. & World News
ALA News
Booklist Online
Anaheim Update
Division News
Awards
Seen Online
Tech Talk
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Calendar

Saskatchewan director admits to embezzling $500,000
The former executive director of the Wheatland Regional Library in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, has pleaded guilty to embezzling at least $500,000 Canadian between 1990 and 2004. Bruce Cameron, who had headed the library since 1971, admitted in provincial court May 14 that he established a fictitious Nevada-based company called Desert Rose Books with which he placed book orders and then funneled the money back to himself, the Canadian National Post reported May 20....

Sacramento library board weighs scathing grand jury report
The Sacramento Public Library governing board held a special meeting May 22 to begin formulating a response to a grand jury report (PDF) that charges both the board and Director Anne Marie Gold with mismanagement and suggests that Gold be replaced. Stemming largely from an ongoing investigation into overpayments made to a subcontracting firm co-owned by a library staffer and his wife, the grand jury investigation also looked at larger issues of how the board and the library administration handle supervision, communication, and accountability....

Medical librarians get healthy dose of social networking
“MLA 2.0,” said Medical Library Association President Mark Funk, “will be about communication, community, openness, participation, and connecting.” Kicking off MLA’s May 16–21 annual meeting and exhibition in Chicago, the head of resource management and collections at the Weill Cornell Medical Library in New York City told 2,484 enthusiastic attendees that new technology decreases isolation if we learn to use it right....

City commission mandates library filters
Royal Oak (Mich.) Public Library will install filters on all but one of its adult computers, after the City Commission passed an ordinance mandating the action May 19. The statute overrides a decision by the library board not to use blocking software on adult computers. The 4–3 vote was a reaction to the February arrest of a man who allegedly used the adult computer lab to view child pornography....

National Library Legislative Day overview
Learn what National Library Legislative Day is all about in this video primer (8:03) created by the ALA Washington Office. The two-day event starts with Briefing Day, featuring comments from ALA President Loriene Roy, Adrienne Hallet from the office of Rep. Tom Harkin (D-Ia.), and more. Then we get to watch as librarians pay personal visits to their legislators with library advocacy materials in hand....
District Dispatch, May 23

ALA 2009 Nominating Committee seeks candidates
ALA’s 2009 Nominating Committee is soliciting nominees to run on the 2009 spring ballot for the offices of ALA President-elect and Councilor-at-large. The Nominating Committee will select two candidates to run for President-elect and no fewer than 50 candidates for the 33 at-large Council seats to be filled in the 2009 spring election. The President-elect will serve a three-year term....

PIO launches redesigned library funding website
ALA’s Public Information Office has redesigned its Library Funding website. Launched in 2004 in response to budget cuts, layoffs, and facility closures, the site is a valuable resource that provides librarians, library supporters, and members of the media with a searchable database of news stories. The site also has a section devoted to school libraries....

ALA 2006–07 Annual Report released
The 2006–07 Annual Report is now available online. The report includes such highlights as Congress ordering the Environmental Protection Agency to restore its library network, ALA’s active role in the debate over the use of National Security Letters, President Leslie Burger’s Transformation Summit and related programs, the creation of I Love Libraries, and much more....

Create a personal thank-you note to Julie Andrews
This year Academy Award–winning actress and honorary chair of National Library Week Julie Andrews donated her image to public service videos as well as a print announcement placed by ALA in national magazines such as Entertainment Weekly, where it was seen by more than 30 million readers. In appreciation, please visit The Campaign for America’s Libraries exhibit space at ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim to write or videotape a personalized message of thanks....

Workplace Wellness Fair offered
How much physical and mental strength does it take to stock the stacks? ALA’s Workplace Wellness Task Force will host a Wellness Fair on Sunday, June 29, during the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim. From yoga to pilates, attendees will share ideas and receive tips from health experts on how to stay healthy and fit in the workplace....

Parade of Bookmobiles rolling in soon
ALA’s Office for Literacy and Outreach Services will hold its second annual Parade of Bookmobiles June 29 during this year’s ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim. The event will feature bookmobiles parading through the streets surrounding the Anaheim Convention Center. The parade will coincide with the ALA “Bookmobile Sunday.”...

Emerging Leaders poster session scheduled
ALA’s 2008 class of Emerging Leaders will showcase its final projects during a poster session on Friday, June 27, during the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim. The poster session will be the culminating event for this class of Emerging Leaders. Since the ALA Midwinter Meeting, the groups have been working virtually on projects related to ALA or a professional concern....

Technology access in public libraries
What are the most challenging issues public library staff face in funding and meeting the technology needs of their communities? How can libraries improve their bandwidth? National researchers and librarians on the front lines will come together to discuss these issues and other trends and strategies for addressing barriers to providing high-quality public access computing at the “State of Technology Access and Funding in U.S. Public Libraries” program on Saturday, June 28, at the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim....

Use research to build people-friendly libraries
Library design now places users at the center of planning, and successful libraries must understand how patrons currently use our spaces. At “Your Library, Your Space: Using Research to Make Libraries People Friendly,” a panel will discuss how to use qualitative research methods to enhance institutional missions and social dimensions of learning and community. The program will take place June 30 at the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim....

Pedal power
If gas prices have got you so frustrated that even public transportation seems wasteful, consider renting a bicycle to get around sunny Anaheim. Adrenaline Bike Shop is open Monday through Saturday, and though they usually cater to serious cyclists, they also rent bikes for $80 per day or $200 for three days. Adrenaline is not far from the Convention Center, though you may want to call them in advance of showing up....
Adrenaline Bike Shop

American to charge $15 for first checked bag
American Airlines will start charging $15 for the first checked bag as the nation’s largest carrier grapples with record-high fuel prices. American said May 21 that the fee for the first checked bag starts June 15, and it will raise other fees for services ranging from reservation help to oversized bags. Those fees could cost between $5 and $50. United Airlines, the nation’s No. 2 carrier, is “seriously studying” imposing its own fee on first bags, and has already raised domestic ticket prices by as much as $60....
Associated Press, May 21, May 23

Win a Flip Video camera with YALSA’s Passport to Teen Read Week
Visitors to the Exhibits at ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim can win one of two Flip Video cameras from YALSA. All visitors who bring a completed Teen Read Week passport to the YALSA booth in the ALA Pavilion will be entered into the contest....

AASL to sponsor Spectrum Scholars at Fall Forum
AASL will sponsor the attendance of up to two Spectrum Scholars at its 2008 Fall Forum. This year’s forum will be held Oct. 17–19 in Oak Brook, Illinois. AASL will select two Spectrum Scholars who are pursuing a library degree concentrating on school library media or are working as school library media specialists....

Register for YALSA Young Adult Literature Symposium
Registration opened this month for the inaugural Young Adult Literature Symposium, Nov. 7–9, at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville. Early-bird pricing for the symposium is available until Sept. 1, with advance registration from Sept. 2 to Oct. 3. The 2008 theme is “How We Read Now.”...

Charlie Savage wins NYPL journalism award
The 2008 New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism was awarded May 20 to Charlie Savage for his book Takeover: The Return of the Imperial Presidency and the Subversion of American Democracy. The $15,000 award is given annually to a journalist whose work brings clarity and public attention to issues, events, or policies....
New York Public Library, May 21

Innovative reading-promotion efforts recognized
Center for the Book Director John Y. Cole has announced that affiliated state centers for the book from Kansas, Ohio, and Rhode Island are the 2008 winners of the $1,000 Boorstin Award for innovative reading-promotion efforts. Cole presented the awards at the 2008 state center for the book “idea exchange” on May 13, and expressed his hope that the award-winning projects would stimulate new reading-promotion ideas and partnerships across the nation....
Library of Congress, May 22

Diversity Leadership Development Program awards
The Special Libraries Association Diversity Leadership Development Program, in conjunction with sponsor EBSCO, announced May 27 the five SLA members who will be honored in June as recipients of the 2008 DLDP Awards. The award includes a $1,000 cash prize, as well as complimentary registration for the 2008 SLA Annual Conference....
Special Libraries Association

Raised by Librarians wins Read Aloud Book Award
The Curriculum Materials Center of Livingston Lord Library at the Minnesota State University in Moorhead has announced the 2008 Read Aloud Book Awards. The Comstock Book Award, an annual prize for the best read-aloud picture book for older children (ages 8–12), went to The Boy Who Was Raised by Librarians, written by Carla Morris and illustrated by Brad Sneed....
Curriculum Materials Center of Livingston Lord Library, May 13

Steve Cisler, “first internet librarian,” dies
Paul Jones writes: “I met Steve Cisler at INET 93 when he was working for Apple as their digital libraries guy. Steve saw the internet as a great place for public libraries even then. For a while I saw a lot of Steve and then our paths diverged even though I was becoming more of a library person and he was becoming more of a technology person. Luckily for us all, Steve kept his librarian identity.” Many others are remembering Cisler, and a website has been established for remembrances....
The Real Paul Jones, May 15; Beyond the Beyond, May 20; San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News, May 23; CommunityNetworking2008, May 21

ACLU files suit in Harry Potter librarian case
The American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri announced May 27 that it has filed a suit on behalf of a part-time librarian in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, who was disciplined after she objected to participating in the promotion of a Harry Potter book. The employee, Deborah Smith, had religious objections to the promotion. Library employees were expected to dress as witches and wizards at a July 21, 2007, Potter book release party at the library....
Cape Girardeau Southeast Missourian, May 27

Library theft suspect arrested . . . at the library
Police have arrested a man accused of using the names of imaginary children on library cards to steal from libraries all over the Jacksonville, Florida, area. Ironically, police handcuffed 34-year-old Jermaine Smith at the library. Investigators say Smith stole nearly $7,000 worth of DVDs, comic books, and sound recordings over two years. Smith is accused of opening nearly a dozen library cards under fake children’s names to steal items and sell them for cash....
Jacksonville (Fla.) First Coast News, May 22

In Google we trust—but should we?
Victor Keegan writes: “A question increasingly asked is whether Google is becoming a dangerous monopoly. It is a very serious question. If we end up with one company controlling search—the gateway to information—it could be catastrophic if it abused its position. Google is already technically a monopoly with nearly 70% of U.S. search and as much as 90% in the U.K. on some surveys. But it is highly unusual for two reasons. First, it lacks the typical symptom—charging excessively for its products. Nearly all of Google’s products from search to document storage are free. What kind of monopoly is that?”...
The Guardian (U.K.), May 22

Stanford faculty weigh pros and cons of e-books
Seven years after its inception, Google Books remains a subject of debate among Stanford University faculty, with some championing its practical benefits and others worrying that the age of the physical book has come to an end. Some faculty members worry that the digitization of books may lead to even more texts being removed from campus....
The Stanford (Calif.) Daily, May 27

Little orphan artworks
Lawrence Lessig writes: “Congress is considering a major reform of copyright law intended to solve the problem of ‘orphan works’—those works whose owner cannot be found. This ‘reform’ would be an amazingly onerous and inefficient change, which would unfairly and unnecessarily burden copyright holders with little return to the public. The problem of orphan works is real. It was caused by a fundamental shift in the architecture of copyright law.”...
New York Times, May 20

Group wants public library in area known for polygamy
Living in a remote area of northern Arizona affords privacy for many who practice a polygamous lifestyle, but some in Colorado City crave connection to the outside world. Melvin Williams, who leads a Friends of the Library group working to establish a public library there, told Mohave County supervisors on May 19 there’s a yearning for learning. This conflicts with the teachings of various leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but the proposal for a new library passed May 27....
Las Vegas (Nev.) Review-Journal, May 21; Salt Lake City Deseret News, May 27

Express libraries, self-service studied
The Milwaukee Public Library is studying the idea of creating three “express libraries” that would give residents access to library materials and services at convenient places and times. Library officials are considering the express libraries and self-service checkout technology as they search for ways to maintain service while cutting costs. At each express library, patrons could check out or return books or other items they had ordered over the internet....
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 26

Library planetarium stalled by money concerns
The new downtown Minneapolis library was built, at an additional cost of $1.8 million, to handle a rooftop planetarium. But the library’s new owner, Hennepin County, is wary of taking on the financial responsibility associated with a planetarium. Augsburg College is pursuing the planetarium for its new science center, but some proponents say that would “skinny down” the project. These issues are stalling the campaign to raise money for the $39-million facility....
Minneapolis Star-Tribune, May 27

Ministers launch PR campaign to stop Bush library
Praying for a last-minute miracle, some Methodist ministers are launching a public relations campaign to try to stop George W. Bush’s presidential library, museum, and think tank from being built at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Rev. Andrew Weaver said the goal is informing people about the partisan think tank, which won’t be under SMU’s control and will promote the Bush administration’s policies....
Associated Press, May 21

Archivist says Bush library will be an asset to SMU
National Archivist Allen Weinstein, who oversees America’s 12 presidential libraries, assured 2008 graduates of Southern Methodist University that the 13th will be an asset to their alma mater—despite being the greatest controversy during their time at the school. Early in his administration, President Bush issued an executive order that allows presidents and vice presidents broad authority to withhold records or delay their release indefinitely, overturning a previous order that required records to be released 12 years after an administration ends....
Dallas Morning News, May 18

Iran establishes free mail-service library
A Tehran-based institute working on Quranic studies has recently set up a section sending books via post to readers free of charge. It is part of the Javan Quran Interpretation Institute’s program aiming to promote reading among children and youth, institute director Mohammad Bisotuni told the Mehr News Agency May 24. He described the bureaucratic regulations on using public libraries as one of the main reasons for the people’s disregard toward books....
Tehran Times (Iran), May 25

X-rated content infiltrates library’s story line for kids
In most children’s fairy tales, romantic relations between characters don’t go much further than a kiss. But a Contra Costa County, California, mother and her daughter unexpectedly heard a raunchier tale May 22 when they called the Benicia Public Library’s story line. Apparently someone had hacked into the library’s dial-a-story service and replaced the fairy tale with a story that explicitly detailed an X-rated relationship between two animals....
San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News, May 23

Librarians issue challenge: Read and we’ll eat bugs
Something’s bugging Betty Collins, children’s librarian at Musser Public Library in Muscatine, Iowa. Collins, along with teen librarian Tina Miksch, said they will eat bugs if area children and teens read 15,000 books in the library’s “Go Buggy for Books” summer reading program. But they want to make sure they don’t give kids the impression they’re trying to worm out of the deal. “What I have in the freezer now are chocolate-covered crickets,” said Collins....
Muscatine (Iowa) Journal, May 20

Google: Viacom lawsuit “threatens net”
A $1-billion lawsuit against YouTube threatens internet freedom, according to its owner Google. Google’s claim follows Viacom’s move to sue the video sharing service for its inability to keep copyrighted material off its site. Viacom says it has identified 150,000 unauthorized clips on YouTube. In court documents Google’s lawyers say the action “threatens the way hundreds of millions of people legitimately exchange information” over the Web....
BBC News, May 27

Nine Firefox extensions to protect your privacy
Mike Gunderloy talks about cookie control, proxy surfing, and other methods of protection, writing: “Firefox’s privacy controls start with its built-in preferences. Here you can decide whether to accept cookies, and specifically whether to accept third-party cookies (which are often used for tracking your travels around the Net). You can also decide when your cookie stash should be deleted. These are relatively blunt instruments, though.”...
Web Worker Daily, May 22

The 100 best tech products of 2008
Mark Sullivan writes: “After a good deal of—ahem—lively discussion, the editors at PC World have completed this year’s list of the 100 best technology products available today. How did we do it? After nominating hundreds of devices, apps, sites, and services we knew to be good, we rated each one on its design, functionality, performance, and impact; the ones garnering the highest total scores made our list.” The video site Hulu leads the list....
PC World, May 26

Using technology for balance instead of guilt
Jenny Levine examines Facebook, Twitter, social aggregators, and smartphones, writing: “After the questions about gaming, the thing I’m asked about the most these days is how I balance work, home, and the crazy speed of the online world. For most of my professional career, the line between work and personal has been blurred, making it difficult to tell where one starts and the other ends. That wasn’t a new phenomenon (even for me, as this was true when I worked in a bookstore and a record store), but it’s been interesting to watch that line blur for librarians—and now the general public—around the internet.”...
The Shifted Librarian, May 22

Microsoft closes Live Search Books
Satya Nadella writes May 23: “Today we informed our partners that we are ending the Live Search Books and Live Search Academic projects and that both sites will be taken down next week. Books and scholarly publications will continue to be integrated into our Search results, but not through separate indexes. This also means that we are winding down our digitization initiatives, including our library scanning and our in-copyright book programs.”...
Live Search blog, May 23

Why don’t you back up your computer?
Michael Horowitz offers up answers to this question, writing: “Most computer users know they should back up the files on their computer, yet many don’t. Why not? No computer techie can answer this question. We’re computer nerds and, as such, backup is part of our DNA. Techies can’t put themselves in the shoes of the millions of computer users who don’t back up their computers.”...
C|net News, May 26

Facebook Platform to become open source
Sometime soon, Facebook will turn the year-old Facebook Platform into an open source project. The immediate effect will be to allow any social network to become Facebook Platform compatible—meaning application developers can easily take their Facebook applications and have them run on those social networks, too. Bebo already licenses the Facebook Platform, which allows third parties to make their Facebook applications work on Bebo, too....
TechCrunch, May 26; Bebo

To-do tattoos
Your Outlook Calendar may be wonderful, but sometimes it’s the low-tech solutions that best remind us of those budget meetings, phone calls, and other tasks that need doing. This temporary tattoo kit includes 12 graphic “To Do” forms that you can apply to your body wherever it’s most convenient (or creative) and a skin-safe, washable-ink gel pen....
Fred & Friends

Implementing a catalog recommendation system
Michael Moennich and Marcus Spiering write: “Recommender systems are useful tools for adding a reference component to a library catalog, and they help develop library catalogs that serve as customer-oriented portals, deploying Web 2.0 technology. Recommender systems are based on statistical models, and they can lead users from one record to similar literature held in the catalog. In this article we describe the recommender system BibTip, developed in Karlsruhe University in Germany, and we discuss its application in libraries.”...
D-Lib Magazine, May/Jun.

Closed EPA libraries reopen in tiny spaces
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility announced May 21: “Ordered by Congress to reopen its shuttered libraries, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is grudgingly allocating only minimal space and resources, according to agency documents released May 21 (PDF). At the same time, EPA is issuing a series of edicts (PDF) placing virtually every aspect of library operations under centralized control of a political appointee.”...
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, May 21

PMOG: Passively Multiplayer Online Game
Greg Landgraf wrote May 16: “PMOG, the Passively Multiplayer Online Game, was released to the general public this week. Players earn points for each unique domain on the internet they visit; they can use those points to buy crates to store gifts for other players, mines that distract other players, and lightposts that can be used to make missions—a series of websites on a given topic for other players to explore. I created the Libraries Doing Cool Stuff mission, based on the Library Showcases from I Love Libraries.”...
Library 2.0 Ning, May 16

Vietnam archive opens collection of political prisoner records
At the conclusion of the Vietnam War, thousands of U.S. allies, employees, and Vietnamese dissidents were imprisoned in communist reeducation camps. The Families of Vietnamese Political Prisoners Association Collection provides more than 10,000 primary sources for studying the experiences of these prisoners and refugees and their families who immigrated to the U.S. once they were released. Donated in 2005 to Texas Tech by the Vietnamese American Heritage Foundation, the collection contains 156 linear feet of documents—meaning the materials stretch approximately 52 yards when stacked end-to-end....
Texas Tech University, May 23; The Vietnam Center and Archive

Eight best: Non-Wikipedia pedias
Wired takes a look at a handful of fascinating “-pedias,” including Lostpedia (beware of spoilers!), Uncyclopedia, Chickipedia (borderline NSFW), Dickipedia (mostly SFW, believe it or not), Wookieepedia, Dealipedia, Congresspedia, and Pedialyte. If not for Wookieepedia, how would you know that the Codex of Karness Muur was translated into Basic by Naga Sadow....
Wired, May 19; Wookiepedia

Narrative nonfiction—a new genre heading?
Laurel Tarulli writes: ”A new term has emerged among Readers Advisory Services: narrative nonfiction. With the emergence of this genre, it is necessary to consider this term for library catalogues. If patrons and RAs are using this to find books, then we need to examine its usefulness in our catalogue and the possibility of implementing it. Currently, it is not a valid authority. However, it is being used as a valid genre in RA databases such as Novelist. What I came up with was the following list of subdivisions in our 650 fields.”...
The Cataloguing Librarian, May 26; Novelist

Going green with vending machines
Beth Filar-Williams writes: “Do you have vending machines in your library? Vending machines run very inefficiently. You can possibly cut your energy cost in half by looking into Vending Miser. Vending Miser is a sensing device that shuts down the cooling function after a set amount of time—especially great for overnight or holidays.”...
Going Green @ Your Library, May 26

Ingram Book Group launches podcast sites
Ingram Book Company and Ingram Library Services have announced the launch of two websites specifically designed to deliver podcasts of interest to booksellers and librarians. Author interviews to be featured on the podcasts are scheduled to occur at BookExpo in the Los Angeles Convention Center beginning May 30. Attendees are invited to observe the interviews and, time permitting, submit questions for the authors, who include Dr. Ruth, George Hamilton, and Marty Stuart....
Bookselling This Week, May 22

Just read it
In honor of their summer reading theme of “Just Read It,” the librarians and staff at Worthington (Ohio) Libraries spoof Michael Jackson’s famous “Beat It” music video, complete with snazzily dressed punks, stylized gang warfare among the stacks, and a choreographed finale that shows how the perfect book can sometimes save the day.
YouTube

ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, California, June 26–July 2. If you’re new to the conference, get a preview of the daily conference publication, Cognotes.

June 6th is the deadline for submitting your comments on the first draft of the AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner in Action. This document provides support for school library media specialists and other educators in teaching the essential learning skills defined in standards for the 21st century learner.