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

Amazon lets publishers silence Kindle audio
Amazon released version 2 of its Kindle e-book reader February 24 to fanfare over improvements over the previous incarnation and controversy over a feature that converts text to spoken words. Three days later, it reined in the conversion feature by enabling publishers to opt out of the application. Protest of the text-to-speech feature came from the 9,000-member Authors Guild, and on February 27 Amazon announced that it would allow publishers to disable the feature on a title-by-title basis....
American Libraries Online, Mar. 12

Protection urged for Gaza cultural heritage
Word is spreading about the February 18 statement (PDF file) of the International Committee of the Blue Shield (ICBS) deploring the loss of human lives and the destruction of cultural heritage that has recently taken place in the Palestinian Territories and the State of Israel, in particular in the Gaza area. All five member groups of ICBS have disseminated the statement; additionally, the International Council of Museums issued an assessment of damage to museums in Gaza....
American Libraries Online, Mar. 16

ALA members can shape strategic plan
ALA members still have a few more days to evaluate and shape ALA’s strategic plan by participating in the 2015 member survey, which closes March 22. “This is one of the most important things an ALA member can do this year,” said ALA President Jim Rettig. Members should complete the survey by logging in with their seven-digit member number found on their membership card as well as on the American Libraries mailing label....

Polls are open for ALA election
Polls opened March 17 for the ALA annual election. Candidates are running for ALA president, ALA Council members-at-large, and divisions/sections and round tables. Beginning at 9 a.m. Central time March 17, broadcast emails announcing polls’ opening were sent. The last email will be sent by 9 a.m., March 19. If you have not received your email ballot by March 20, please send an email to membership@ala.org. The polls close at 11:59 p.m. Central time on April 24....

FY2009 Omnibus increases funding for libraries
ALA calls the FY2009 Omnibus Appropriations bill, which recently passed the Senate and was signed into law by President Obama, a victory for libraries. The $410-billion spending bill, which includes the nine unfinished appropriations bills from last year, contains $171.5 million for the Grants to State Library Agencies program within the Library Services and Technology Act. This funding level is an increase of more than $10 million from last year....

Resources for promoting new Woman’s Day initiative
Woman’s Day magazine is partnering with ALA’s Campaign for America’s Libraries to promote the library as a key resource during tough economic times. Libraries interested in promoting this initiative are encouraged to download promotional materials. New materials include a flyer and a new icon to link to the Woman’s Day website or ALA’s website for the public, ilovelibraries.org. Through May 18, Woman’s Day is asking readers to share their stories....

ALA presidential candidates Q&A
ALA presidential candidates Kenton Oliver and Roberta Stevens respond to members’ questions with videos posted on YouTube and AL Focus. Members such as Tom Peters (right) posed questions to the candidates via YouTube in early 2009. Peters asked about conference participation. Stevens and Oliver offered their responses in a “firewire chat” format....

AL reports from ACRL in Seattle
George Eberhart writes: “The first keynote speaker at ACRL 2009 was to be Canadian journalist and economic activist Naomi Klein, the award-winning author of Shock Doctrine and No Logo. Unfortunately, Klein had to cancel all of her appearances for the next month due to a personal illness, so ethicist Rushworth M. Kidder (right), founder of the Institute for Global Ethics in 1990 and the author of Moral Courage and How Good People Make Tough Choices, stepped in.” Eberhart also reported on poet, novelist, and filmmaker Sherman Alexie’s keynote address; the greening of ACRL; cofounder and former CEO of the car-sharing company Zipcar Robin Chase’s talk; a panel discussion on user experience; and radio-show host Ira Glass’s closing address....
AL Inside Scoop, Mar. 12-16

ALSC Kids! Cool Cash Contest winners
ALSC has awarded $100 in Cool Cash to 10 libraries. ALSC asked librarians to share how they used Kids! @ your library campaign tool kit materials to promote their libraries to children and their families....

James Patterson named SLMM spokesperson
James Patterson will be the spokesperson for School Library Media Month (SLMM). SLMM is AASL’s annual celebration of school library media specialists and their programs and is celebrated the entire month of April. Patterson is the author of the critically acclaimed “Maximum Ride” series, an ALA 2005 Teens Top Ten pick....

PLA offers budget and finance workshop
PLA is offering public librarians an opportunity to learn practical skills and knowledge that will help them better manage their libraries’ budgeting process. The Budget and Finance workshop, taught by Sandra Nelson, is scheduled for May 13–14 in Columbus, Ohio, and features an intensive, small-group environment. For the full course description, registration rates, instructor biographies, and to register, visit here....

RUSA, ALCTS offer collection development programs
Six programs sponsored by RUSA and ALCTS offer information on future trends in collection development, selection techniques for specific genres of literature or segments of library patrons, and basic collection-development skills. Librarians in all types of libraries will benefit from the ideas and solutions offered by these programs. Program participation is free for all ALA Annual Conference registrants....

Recruit a new YALSA member, win a Flip camera
Encourage a friend or colleague to join YALSA and both of you could win a Flip Video Ultra camera. All current YALSA members who recruit a new member to YALSA will be entered into a drawing to win a free Flip Video Ultra camcorder for themselves and their new recruits. The member drive ends March 23. To enter, visit the 2009 Member Drive website....

YALSA half-day preconference to focus on career development
Library school students, new librarians, or seasoned professionals looking to advance their careers can find professional inspiration at Moving Up the YA Career Ladder, a half-day preconference offered July 10 at the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago by YALSA. This half-day preconference will take place 12:30–4:30 p.m. Tickets are $129. Registration for ALA Annual Conference is not required to attend the preconference....

YALSA's full-day preconference to focus on teen reading
Join YALSA at Genre Galaxy, its full-day preconference on July 10 at the ALA’s Annual Conference in Chicago, and discover how to connect to teen library users with books. Authors scheduled to appear include Holly Black, Cecil Castellucci, David Lubar, and Dom Testa. This full-day preconference takes place July 10, 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m. Tickets are $195 for YALSA members, $235 for ALA members, $285 for nonmembers, and $195 for student and retired members. Lunch is included. Registration for ALA Annual Conference is not required to attend the YALSA preconference....

2009 AIA/ALA Library Building Awards
LLAMA and the American Institute of Architects have awarded eight recipients with the 2009 AIA/ALA Library Building Awards. Biennially, representatives from AIA and ALA gather to celebrate the finest examples of library design by licensed architects in the United States. The 2009 AIA/ALA Library Building Awards honor eight separate projects, and are featured in American Libraries’ April 2009 issue....

Thinkfinity.org showcases Pura Belpré winners
The Pura Belpré book awards, which are named after the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library, are being highlighted on Thinkfinity.org. The awards are presented annually to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in literature for children and youth. The 2009 Belpré awards, which were announced in January at the 2009 ALA Midwinter Meeting, will be presented at the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago to Margarita Engle, author of The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom, and Yuyi Morales, illustrator of Just in Case....

Judaica Reference and Bibliography (PDF file)
The Research Libraries, Archives, and Special Collections Division (RAS) of the Association of Jewish Libraries has awarded the 2008 AJL Judaica Reference and Bibliography Awards. The Reference award goes to Gershon David Hundert for his YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe. The Bibliography award goes to Binyamin Richler, Malachi Beit-Arié, and Nurit Pasṭernaḳ for Hebrew Manuscripts in the Vatican Library: Catalogue....
Association of Jewish Libraries, Mar. 16

Pearland library to reopen after Ike
On March 16, the Pearland (Tex.) Library, a branch of the Brazoria County (Tex.) Library System, reopened after being closed since Hurricane Ike September 13. During Ike, water leaked through the roof, causing damage to the building and collection. Officials had to move the 100,000 books inside to other libraries around the country while the repairs were made....
KHOU-TV, Houston, Mar. 16

Shakespeare portrait painted from life discovered
The only surviving portrait of William Shakespeare painted from life has been discovered hanging in an Irish country house, experts claimed. For perhaps 300 years the oil painting has been passed down through the Cobbe family, aristocrats who can trace their heritage back to Shakespeare’s only known literary patron, Henry Wriothesley, the 3rd Earl of Southampton. The sitter’s identity had always been a mystery....
The Times (U.K.) , Mar. 10

Children’s books are classic reading
Parents read them to their children, forming a powerful bond. Years later, those former children read these children’s picture books to their children, and the thread between generations is extended yet again. The making of a classic is a strange alchemy of skill—a good story, strong illustrations—and luck. But it’s not easy to appeal to all three audiences: publishers, parents, and—oh, yes—children....
CNN, Mar. 12

USC library receives rare first edition
Philanthropist Susan Gibbes Robinson has given a rare first edition of Mark Catesby’s 18th-century work The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands to the University of South Carolina Libraries. The two massive leather-bound volumes, published in London in 1731 and 1743, contain the works of the British naturalist during his four-year odyssey through the wilds of South Carolina....
Spartanburg (S.C.) Herald-Journal, Mar. 16

British Library misplaces 9,000 books
More than 9,000 books are missing from the British Library, including Renaissance treatises on theology and alchemy, a medieval text on astronomy, first editions of 19th- and 20th-century novels, and a luxury edition of Mein Kampf produced in 1939 to celebrate Hitler’s 50th birthday. The library believes almost all have not been stolen but rather misshelved—although some have not been seen in well over half a century. One item, an essay titled “Of the Lawful and Unlawful Usurie Amongest Christians,” by 16th-century German theologian Wolfgang Musculus, is valued by the library at £20,000 ($28,000) ....
The (U.K.) Guardian, Mar. 17

Service cuts, layoffs in New York
Faced with hard times and city budget cuts, the three library systems in New York City are gearing up to impose major layoffs and reductions in branch hours and other services. The New York Public Library, the Queens Library, and the Brooklyn Library all face cuts totalling $51.1 million. Councilman Vincent Gentile (D-Brooklyn) called the consequences of the looming cuts “almost incomprehensible.”...
New York Daily News, Mar. 18

UC won't budge in librarian salary talks
The American Federation of Teachers, on behalf of University of California librarians, has reached an impasse with the university after a two-year struggle for salary increases that the university claims it cannot afford. Confidential discussions with a state-appointed mediator are slated for March 24, an attempt to end a drawn-out negotiation process that began in 2007. UC librarians, who demand that their salaries be raised to an amount slightly less than those offered at California State University campuses, claim the university has failed to take the negotiations seriously....
The UC San Diego Guardian, Mar. 12

Donated library remains closed
Voters in Gilmanton, New Hampshire, rejected spending $75,000 to hire a part-time librarian and assistant March 14, leaving their brand-new library closed for the forseeable future. By a vote of 224–125, residents turned down a plan to give the $1.2-million library—which was built on donated goods, money, and labor—enough funds to hire staff. Gilmanton is now the only town in the state that lacks a year-round library....
Concord (N.H.) Monitor, Mar. 15

Washoe County libraries targeted for budget cuts
Washoe County (Nev.) libraries and parks budgets could be cut by as much as 36% under a tiered approach adopted by the county commission on March 13 as a starting point in closing a $47-million gap in its 2009–10 budget. In making the cuts, Commissioner John Breternitz said he wants to minimize the suffering of residents who are going through hard times as well. Arnold Maurins, county library director, said losing $4 million from an $11.2-million budget would mean reduced hours, branch closures, and possibly, significant layoffs....
Reno (Nev.) Gazette-Journal, Mar. 14

How many librarians equal one firefighter?
With the city facing dramatic budget cuts, the Austin (Tex.) Fire Department—like Lassie at the mine shaft—raced to the rescue. As City Manager Marc Ott finalized his plan for $20 million in reductions at the City Council meeting, he announced that planned service cuts to branch libraries would no longer be necessary. Instead, the cost would be largely offset by a $200,000 reduction in firefighter overtime; the library would save another $80,000 by using temporary employees in unfilled positions. The specter of additional library closures was widely unpopular, and AFD was under some pressure for not announcing any cuts previously....
Austin (Tex.) Chronicle, Mar. 6

Gaiman talks with Colbert
Newbery Award–winner Neil Gaiman appeared on The Colbert Report March 16 (5:31). In the February 4 edition of the satirical talk show, the comic books–friendly Colbert brought his considerable wit to bear on Gaiman during a segment called “Who’s Not Honoring Me Now?” Colbert feigned offense that Gaiman’s novel The Graveyard Book was honored with ALA’s Newbery Medal. “An 18-month-old escapes the murder of his family by stumbling ahead of an assassin into an old graveyard,” Colbert reported on the book. “Bravo, Newbery! Sounds like a fantastic children’s book. Hey, I’ve got a great children’s book, too! It’s called F—k It, We’re All Gonna Die!”...
MTV Splash Page, Mar. 16

Library assistant Googled child porn at work
A Brisbane, Australia, man used his job as a public library assistant to scour the internet for child pornography, a court has heard. David Harold Wegert, 55, typed “boys stripped naked” into search engine Google on a library computer twice on January 23 and February 14 2008, police inquiries revealed. At Brisbane’s District Court March 17, Crown prosecutor Petrina Clohessy said Wegert would print out the search results and take them home “to use for sexual fantasies.”...
Brisbane (Australia) Times, Mar. 17

Wyoming launches old-news database
The Wyoming State Library is making the state’s old newspapers available online. The Wyoming Newspaper Project launched its online archive March 16. It has a searchable database of about 340 different newspapers dating from 1849 to 1922. The website contains 407,000 full newspaper pages, and the state library is working to expand the database to incorporate about 960,000 pages total....
Associated Press, Mar. 16

University of Aberdeen receives $3 million
American philanthropist Loretta Brennan Glucksman is making a personal gift of $3 million toward a purpose-designed specialist conservation studio adjacent to the new University of Aberdeen library. The Scottish university is the custodian of extensive collections of historic books, manuscripts, maps, and other items....
University of Aberdeen, Mar. 16

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Hash tags as a social networking fad
Jason Mick writes: “One interesting fad that has popped up on Twitter and that is catching the eye of engineers at other network and applications makers for sites like Facebook is the hash tag. Hash tags—basically a group of words, an acronym, or another descriptor preceded by a pound sign—are giving people a unique way to connect and are fast becoming a hot social networking trend. An example of one such Twitter tag is the #job tag placed by people looking to hire people or looking for a job themselves.”...
Daily Tech, Mar. 12

Beginner’s guide to IA
Andrew Maier writes: “Information architect is an often misunderstood job title. Are they designers? Developers? Managers? All of the above? In this article we’ll discuss what information architecture is, why it’s related to usability, and what are the common tools and software applications used in information architecture. Along the way we’ll share some of the tweeters, books, and resources we’ve found useful for budding information architects. Even if you’re familiar with the discipline already, you can probably pick up something you’ve missed.”...
UX Booth, Mar. 10

Users fight back against viruses, spyware
StopBadware.org and Consumer Reports WebWatch have launched BadwareBusters.org, a new online community for people looking for help preventing and countering viruses, spyware, and other “badware” on their computers and websites. Until now, the internet has lacked a central place where people with no prior knowledge about badware and its effects could go to ask questions and get assistance on the topic. BadwareBusters.org aims to fill that gap by attracting a community consisting of everyone from computer novices to technology experts....
Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Mar. 17

Six unique Twitter visualizations
Ben Parr writes: “Twitter, the ultimate collection of 140-character thoughts and data, does not come with image sharing, video embedding, or almost any other visual feature. However, it does come with an API, and hundreds of people are developing Twitter applications all the time. When reading the Twitter stream becomes stale or repetitive, try using some useful and fun Twitter applications that visualize trends, map out locations, or just please the senses.”...
Mashable, Mar. 16

As print newspapers fold, Pelosi steps in
On February 27, Denver’s Rocky Mountain News announced it was shutting down. With backing from three entrepreneurs, staffers of the paper plan to start an online news publication if they can get 50,000 paying subscribers by April 23—what would have been the News’ 150th anniversary. On March 16, the Hearst Corporation announced it would stop publishing the 146-year-old Seattle Post-Intelligencer, ceasing delivery to 117,600 subscribers. With hopes of saving the suffering medium, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) urged (PDF file) U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder March 16 to consider giving newspapers more leeway to merge or consolidate business operations in order to stay afloat, striking a balance between antitrust laws and First Amendment rights....
Associated Press, Mar. 17; Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Mar. 17; San Francisco Chronicle, Mar. 17

Discovery sues Amazon.com over patent
Discovery Communications says the Kindle electronic book readers from Amazon.com. violate a patent that Discovery registered in 2007. Discovery sued Amazon in Delaware on March 17. Discovery, which runs the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet cable TV networks, said Amazon was “willful” in infringing the patent, which covers the security of electronic book files....
Washington Post, Mar. 18

Irish publisher ends bid to sell Houghton Mifflin(subscription required)
Education Media and Publishing Group Ltd., one of the largest textbook publishers in the world, has decided not to sell its Houghton Mifflin Harcourt trade-publishing division after failing to get its asking price. Barry O’Callaghan, chairman and CEO of Education Media, said there were three interested potential buyers but that he was unwilling to strike a deal that he felt didn’t represent the full value of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt....
Wall Street Journal, Mar. 13

Irish-American women writers
Kerri Wallace writes: “Because of St. Patrick’s Day, March is usually the time when I reflect upon my Irish heritage and honor my ancestors’ history. Since March is also Women's History Month, I thought I would highlight some of my favorite female American Irish writers who inspire others to write and love great literature.”...
New York Public Library Blog, Mar. 4, 17

The World Wide Web turns 20
The modern day internet, better known as the “World Wide Web,” turned 20 years old March 13, as many marked the anniversary. Its inception dates back to March 13, 1989, when computer scientist Sir Tim Berners-Lee (right) at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, popularly known as CERN Laboratory, presented a paper containing means and methods by which particle physicists could easily share and find out essential electronics documents....
IT Pro Portal, Mar. 13

Oregon State Library joins print-on-demand program
The Oregon State Library is participating in BCR’s Shelf2Life program, bringing its collections of pre-1923 United States–published monographs in the fields of genealogy and family history to the public through a print–on–demand program available through hundreds of online book retailers....
BCR, Mar. 12

Mark your place on lengthy web documents
Jason Fitzpatrick writes: “Page Scroll is an old-fashioned but practical Greasemonkey script for Firefox that keeps your place when you read long web pages. Whenever you scroll up or down with the scrollbar, mouse scroll wheel, or using the page keys, a pink band is placed across the top or bottom of the screen, depending on the direction in which you scroll. The bar marks the edge of the visible text and gives you a visual placeholder so you don’t waste time scanning for the last line you read.”...
Lifehacker, Mar. 11

Seven things you should know about P2P
Ellyssa Kroski writes: “If you’re curious about how peer-to-peer file sharing works, who’s using it, and why it may be useful for educators, check out 7 Things You Should Know About P2P (PDF file). As with its previous ‘7 Things’ guides, Educause addresses seven questions about this technology.”...
iLibrarian, Mar. 16

Put Google Reader in any tab
Josh Lowensohn writes: “If you like Google Reader but would prefer to keep it from taking up an oh-so-important tab in your browser, you’ll definitely like GReader Popup. This Firefox extension pulls up Google Reader on top of any page you have open. You can plow through feeds using all the usual keyboard shortcuts you would in Google Reader. Then, when done, you simply click the icon in the bottom right-hand corner of your browser and it goes away.”...
Webware, Mar. 13

How to delete accounts from popular websites
Eric Griffith writes: “Sure, you once thought you and Facebook or MySpace would be together forever, but eventually terms of service change, end-user license agreements mature, and, well, you’re just not in the same place anymore. When you want to be rid of an online account, you’ll find most sites don’t feel obliged to make it too easy for you. So we’ve cut to the chase as much as possible to give you the links, the tips, and in the worst cases, the fax and phone numbers you will need to sever ties.”...
PC Magazine, Mar. 7

A way out of email overload
Erica Naone writes: “Despite all our best efforts, most of us are still drowning in email. OtherInbox, a web service launched this weekend at the South by Southwest Interactive conference in Austin, Texas, promises to rescue email-swamped users from this problem. The messages that the new service handles usually aren’t spam. Instead, they’re legitimate communications from trusted companies that sometimes contain useful information.”...
Technology Review, Mar. 17

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ALA Annual Conference, Chicago, July 9–15. Be sure to check out the free concerts in Grant Park during the conference.

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