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

Hawaii board rejects monthly two-day closures
The Hawaii Board of Education failed to approve a proposal September 3 to address a $5.7-million cut in funding by closing all public-library branches at least two days a month and furloughing employees twice a month. The plan also called for the elimination of 72 vacant job positions (which would curtail use of temporary workers in those posts), a reduction in operating hours, and intermittent temporary branch closures due to staff shortages....
American Libraries Online, Sept. 4

Faculty strike leaves Oakland University library struggling
“It is not a happy situation,” said Frank Lepkowski, associate dean and associate professor at Oakland University’s Kresge Library in Rochester, Michigan, after 12 tenure-track library faculty members went out on strike September 3 as part of an action called by the Oakland University chapter of the American Association of University Professors. Lepkowski told AL that the remaining 21 members of the Kresge Library staff are keeping the library open all of its regularly scheduled hours....
American Libraries Online, Sept. 4

Cash-strapped Cuyahoga County drops out of WorldCat ILL
As part of its quest to close a $14-million shortfall for FY2010, Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Public Library has ended its participation in OCLC’s WorldCat Resource Sharing so it can close the library’s interlibrary loan department. CCPL Deputy Director Tracy Strobel told American Libraries that the action “is really no reflection on WorldCat itself or OCLC for that matter,” but of the library’s inability to continue employing ILL staff in order to fulfill requests. However, the library will continue to participate in interlibrary loan through two Ohio-based library cooperatives....
American Libraries Online, Sept. 4

Green report on the 2009 Annual Conference
ALA Conference Services Director Deidre Ross shared a report from McCormick Place, the venue for the 2009 Annual Conference. During the meeting, ALA diverted 65% of waste from landfills. The report, provided by Allied Waste, says that the diversion rate is a great indicator of successful capture of recyclable or reusable materials....
ALA Marginalia, Sept. 9

Romania joins the Campaign for the World’s Libraries
The Romanian Library Association (Asociatia Bibliotecarilor din România) recently became the newest member of the Campaign for the World’s Libraries, a joint ALA and IFLA project to showcase the unique and vital roles played by public, school, academic, and special libraries worldwide. The ABR will host a presentation on the Campaign for the World’s Libraries at its Annual Conference in Constanta, September 10–12....

AASL will help you collaborate
AASL will offer a four-week online course, “The Path to Collaboration: Making It Happen,” this fall for school library media specialists, beginning October 5. Participants will learn how to identify and analyze the factors that contribute to successful collaboration with teachers. The course will be facilitated by Marilyn Heath (right)....

ALCTS webinars on institutional repositories
Continuing a webinar series begun in the spring, ALCTS has announced four new webinars about various aspects of institutional repositories in September–December. Topics include open access, copyright, datasets, and partnerships....

Register for the 2009 Women’s Leadership Institute
ACRL is partnering with seven higher-education associations to offer the 2009 Women’s Leadership Institute, to be held December 6–9, in Amelia Island, Florida. The early-bird registration deadline for the institute is September 18. This year’s program will have a special focus on the economic challenges facing colleges and universities and what is being done to address them....

PLA National Conference registration now open
Registration for PLA 2010, the 13th PLA National Conference, opened September 8. Hotel reservations are also being accepted. A special early-bird rate is available for PLA members and members of the Oregon Library Association who register by December 16. PLA 2010 will be held March 23–27 in Portland, Oregon....

Last chance to sign up for PLA Boot Camp
This is the fifth year PLA will be holding its Results Boot Camp, October 12–16, at the Hyatt at Olive 8 Hotel in Seattle. This weeklong workshop focuses on current library issues and concerns. Attendees are encouraged to apply workshop exercises to the real-life problems and issues occurring in their libraries. Apply by September 11....
PLA Blog, Sept. 3

Cool teen programs for under $100
YALSA has published Cool Teen Programs for under $100, edited by Jenine Lillian. The book compiles selected inexpensive teen programs submitted by YALSA members in the United States and Canada, all easily replicable in multiple types of libraries at any budget. It also provides helpful chapters on budgeting for teen services and marketing tips that you can put into practice at any budget....

Last chance to register for Teen Read Week
Registration for Teen Read Week, YALSA’s annual literacy initiative, closes September 18. Teen Read Week will be celebrated October 18–24 in thousands of libraries across the United States, with a theme of “Read Beyond Reality @ your library,” which encourages teens to read something out of this world, just for the fun of it. After registering, you can visit the Teen Read Week website to find program ideas, helpful planning resources, and tools for publicizing events....

LLAMA seeks entries for the 2010 John Cotton Dana PR award
LLAMA is accepting entries for the 63rd John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award through December 4. The award honors outstanding library public relations programs that support a specific project, goal, or activity, or a sustained, ongoing program. The contest is open to all libraries and agencies that promote library service....

7th annual We the People Bookshelf grants
The ALA Public Programs Office is partnering with the National Endowment for the Humanities for the seventh We the People Bookshelf project. Part of the NEH We the People program, the Bookshelf encourages young people to read and understand great literature while exploring themes in American history. The theme for the 2009–2010 Bookshelf is “A More Perfect Union.” Public and school libraries are invited to apply online through January 29. Some 4,000 libraries will be selected to receive the materials....

ACRL offers e-learning scholarships
ACRL now has e-learning scholarships that will help librarians, library staff, and library school students stretch their professional development dollars. Twenty scholarships, each covering the registration cost of one ACRL e-learning webcast, will be awarded. To qualify, applicants must be ACRL members, complete the online scholarship application form, and submit a 300-word written statement by October 16....

Deb Schneider is Romance Writers’ Librarian of the Year
Deborah Schneider just got swept off her feet with a romance award from the Romance Writers of America. She is both a budding romance author and public programming coordinator in the Issaquah branch of the King County (Wash.) Library System. At the Romance Writers of America national conference in Washington, D.C., in July, Schneider was presented with the 2009 Librarian of the Year award....
Issaquah (Wash.) Press, Sept. 1; Romance Writersof America

Award dedicated in memory of children’s librarian
The Friends of the Lincoln Library has dedicated its annual Love of Literature Award to the memory of Helen Kent, the Lincoln (Mass.) Public Library’s children’s librarian from 1958 to 1983. The award is given each year to a graduate of Lincoln School, Hanscom Middle School, and Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School. Kent, who died in March, was Lincoln’s first children’s librarian and offered the library’s first children’s story hour in 1958....
Lincoln (Mass.) Journal, Sept. 1

2009 Américas Book Awards (PDF file)
The national Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs has given the 2009 Américas Book Award to two works published in 2008 that authentically and engagingly portray Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the United States. Just in Case: A Trickster Tale and Spanish Alphabet Book by Yuyi Morales (Roaring Brook Press) and The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle (Holt) will be honored at an October 17 ceremony during Hispanic Heritage Month at the Library of Congress....
Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs

IMLS Native American and Native Hawaiian grants
The Institute of Museum and Library Services announced September 8 the 17 tribal communities and Alaska villages that are this year’s recipients of $2.2 million in Native American Library Services Enhancement grants. IMLS also reported that Alu Like, Inc., has received a Native Hawaiian Library Services grant totaling $531,000....
Institute of Museum and Library Services, Sept. 8

MLA withdraws opposition to governor’s order
On  August 26, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm issued an Executive Directive (PDF file) clarifying her Executive Order of July 13, which called for the elimination of the Department of History, Arts, and Libraries. The directive addresses many of the Michigan Library Association’s concerns, including prioritization of funding for MeL and MeLCat; respect for the role of the state librarian; and a commitment to seek librarians, historians, and archivists to serve on the Michigan Center for Innovation and Reinvention board. MLA issued an August 26 statement (Word file) that withdrew its opposition....
Michigan Library Association, Aug. 26; Grand Rapids (Mich.) News, Sept. 6

Google addresses book-search fears
U.S. District Judge Denny Chin extended the deadline until September 8 for protesting or supporting the Google Books settlement, prompting a flurry of last-minute filings. Supporters include advocates for the blind and some universities, while protesters include the governments of Germany and France. Chin’s announcement came as Google made new concessions to European publishers and agreed to draw up a new privacy policy in response to queries from the Federal Trade Commission. Chin will preside over a fairness hearing in New York on October 7. ALA, ACRL, and the Association of Research Libraries submitted a supplemental filing (PDF file) that addresses recent developments....
New York Times, Sept. 8; Relevant Results, Sept. 3; Library Journal, Sept. 3; Bloomberg, Sept. 7; Google Books, Sept. 3; The Times (U.K.), Sept. 5; District Dispatch, Sept. 2

Cushing Academy embraces a digital future
Cushing Academy in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, has all the hallmarks of a New England prep school, with one exception. This year, after having amassed a collection of more than 20,000 books, officials have decided the 144-year-old school no longer needs a traditional library. The academy’s administrators have decided to discard all their books and have given away half of what stocked their sprawling stacks. The school’s new “learning center” will have no books, but they can all be accessed at computer kiosks where some of the former library was. Many bloggers and commenters have opinions on this story, including Linda Braun, Jessamyn West, Rory Litwin, and Buffy Hamilton....
Boston Globe, Sept. 4; YALSA Blog, Sept. 4; librarian.net, Sept. 4; Library Juice, Sept. 6; AASL Blog, Sept. 5

Boucher drafting new bill on web privacy
Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) is drafting a bill that would impose broad new rules on websites and advertisers. His goal: to ensure that consumers know what information is being collected about them on the web and how it is being used, and to give them control over that information. Boucher insists his bill will benefit consumers and preserve the underlying economics of the internet, which relies on advertising to keep so much online content free....
Associated Press, Sept. 7

Web-monitoring software gathers data on kids’ chats
Parental-control software sold under the Sentry and FamilySafe brands can read private chats conducted through Yahoo, MSN, and AOL, and send back data on what kids are saying about such things as movies, music, or video games. The information is then offered to businesses seeking ways to tailor their marketing messages to kids. The company that sells the software insists it is not putting kids’ information at risk, since the program does not record children’s names or addresses....
Associated Press, Sept. 4

Islamic search engine filters out sinful material
Muslims can surf the internet without the fear of accidentally encountering sinful material, now that a Dutch company has launched the world’s first Islamic search engine. The ImHalal service works like any other search facility until potentially illicit words are entered, when it rates the search from one to three on its risk of generating “haram” or forbidden material....
The Times (U.K.), Sept. 6

Are Folsom school libraries closed?
When school bells rang August 31 in Folsom, California, one component was missing—the libraries. Due to budget cuts in the Folsom Cordova Unified School District, libraries at 22 elementary schools and 11 middle and high schools shut and locked their doors, library staff finding themselves out of work. Linda Rodriguez has been with the Folsom High School Library for nearly two decades, but now her services are no longer required. Superintendent Patrick Godwin maintains the libraries will remain open, just without librarians....
Folsom (Calif.) Telegraph, Sept. 2

The future of libraries
By some accounts, library systems are undergoing a complete transformation that goes far beyond mere image adjustments. Many real-world libraries are moving forward with the assumption that physical books will play a much-diminished or potentially nonexistent role in their efforts to educate the public. Forward-looking librarians are trying to create a conversational loop with Twitter, IM, and other digital services in public libraries. And they are also emphasizing their roles as community centers for civic debate....
CNN, Sept. 4

Clayton Museum will rival the Schomburg Center
Mayme A. Clayton (right)—a librarian who spent her career at the University of Southern California and UCLA—spent a lifetime scouring garage sales so her son Avery could build a museum. When the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum of African American History and Culture opens in Culver City, California, it will rival New York’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The museum’s first major exhibition is scheduled to open October 24....
Associated Press, Aug. 30

San Antonio’s Texana Room on the chopping block
If the proposed San Antonio, Texas, city budget passes September 17, the San Antonio Public Library’s Texana/Genealogy Department, which opened in 1995, will go on the chopping block. Service hours are to be cut from 72 to 40 hours a week, and two full-time librarian positions—40% of the department’s staff—will be eliminated. Besides reduced hours, that means Texana won’t be able to offer as many genealogy and research classes....
San Antonio (Tex.) Express-News, Sept. 6

Denver library plans cuts, closes branch
The Denver Public Library is proposing to close its Byers branch and cut weekly service hours by 18% across the system next year to help offset the city’s 2010 budget deficit. Denver is facing a $120-million shortfall next year, and all agencies and departments have been asked to trim their 2010 budgets by 14%. Built in 1918 as a Carnegie library, the Byers branch has been designated a historic landmark by the Denver Landmark Preservation Commission....
Denver Independent, Sept. 9

Chicago branches find budget cuts stacked against them
In mid-July, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley—who could not get the union that represents library employees to agree on budget cuts—fired nearly half of the Chicago Public Library’s 279 pages. As a result, some branches were left without any pages for a month and a half, forcing upper-level library staff to find time to put books away. The library system shifted the remaining pages on September 1, giving each branch at least one staff member to shelve books, but that doesn’t help small branches with extremely high circulation....
Chicago Tribune, Sept. 5

The world’s strongest librarian
You know you’re not in the average librarian’s office when two Apollo brand kettlebells—one 70 pounds, the other 53 pounds—are positioned directly across the desk. On the office floor is a sledgehammer, perched at the ready for exercises in controlled leverage to strengthen the wrists. Josh Hanagarne, 32-year-old manager of the Salt Lake City Public Library’s Day-Riverside branch, has read more classic titles than he’s ripped phone books in half. Hanagarne’s website chronciles his adventures, including his own struggle with Tourette’s syndrome....
Salt Lake Tribune, Sept. 4; World’s Strongest Librarian

Chinese national library celebrates its centennial
The National Library of China in Beijing celebrated its 100th birthday September 9. With the theme of “Pass on Civilization, Serve the Society,” the centennial of the library’s founding includes a series of activities, including an exhibition of its special collections. The library is hosting a symposium, cosponsored by IFLA, on “International Progress of Libraries: Global Knowledge Sharing,” September 8–12, and a monument inscribed with an ode to the library written by Library Director Zhan Furui was unveiled September 5....
Global Times, Sept. 9; National Library of China

Illinois academic library books can be sold
An amendment to state law now allows public university libraries in Illinois to sell older, out-of-date, and unused books. Before the change, university libraries had no choice but to throw away older books to free up shelf space. The bill, passed August 14, amended both the State Library Act and the State Property Control Act to allow libraries to use profits from selling books to purchase new books or help fund databases, electronic books, and other information technology....
Illinois State University Daily Vidette, Aug. 27

Illinois can fund library construction but not operations
Paul Kadner writes: “There may not be enough money to keep some existing libraries open, but the financially strapped state of Illinois has set aside $50 million in its capital budget to build new libraries. To get that money, library districts must obtain matching funds, but operating cash has dwindled along with local property tax revenue. And once the buildings are built, if there’s no money to hire people to work in them or buy the books to fill the shelves or replace the computers, that’s not the state’s problem.”...
Chicago Southtown Star, Sept. 2

New National Technical Library opens in Prague
A “hi-tech living room” for students is how the director of the Czech National Technical Library described the institution’s new facility, which officially opened in Prague September 9. Located in the middle of a university campus in the Dejvice district, the building is shaped like an old-fashioned TV screen, essentially square but also rounded. One of the architects who designed the library, Petr Lešek, said one of goals was to build a library that would be, despite its ultramodern technology, simple and environmentally friendly....
Radio Prague, Sept. 9

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Moon tapes relaunched by NASA archivists
The images of the moon’s surface taken by five NASA Lunar Orbiter satellites in 1966 and 1967 are still among the most detailed ever made. The original analog data was recorded on magnetic tapes that collected dust for decades. They were nearly discarded, but NASA scientist Nancy Evans relocated them to her garage for 20 years. Now a team of engineers at an abandoned McDonald’s at Moffett Field in Sunnyvale, California, is processing the data using restored and custom-built equipment that will enable the public to view them at their full resolution for the first time....
Technology Review, Sept./Oct.

Texting? No, just trying to read Chapter 6
Yes, the textbook can be digitized and displayed on gadgets that students can carry everywhere. But the iPhone version is painfully limited in its usefulness. The standard-size printed textbook provides the maximum amount of text and graphics in a single view. Once cracked open, two facing pages supply about 155 square inches of real estate; the iPhone has a grand total of six square inches of display. CourseSmart, a software company in San Mateo, California, is trying to squeeze textbooks into a credit-card-size space....
New York Times, Sept. 5

Seven easy ways to integrate your Google apps
Gina Trapani writes: “The information you keep in Google apps like Gmail, GCal, Reader, and Voice doesn’t just live in one place. Check out a few easy but non-obvious ways to plug different Google apps together and share their data and features.”...
Lifehacker, Sept. 9

How to integrate Twitter into your website
Jennifer Farley writes: “In order to grab your attention and have you follow them on Twitter, some website owners choose to go beyond a simple Follow Me and also display their latest tweets. I don’t know if one method is preferable over the other, but I thought it might be helpful to take a look at how you can display tweets and how some designers are making their tweets stand out or blend into the overall design.”...
Sitepoint Web Design Blog, Sept. 4

Google Book Downloader app
Brad Linder writes: “Google Book Downloader is a free utility that lets you download any book available in full view in Google Books. Of course, most of these books also feature download links right on the web page, but this app lets you queue up multiple jobs and convert all of the downloaded books to PDF files. The application is available for Windows and requires Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1.”...
Download Squad, Sept. 2

12 signs of internet addiction
There are 12 signs of internet abuse or addiction, according to Hilarie Cash, executive director of the ReSTART Internet Addiction Recovery Program in Fall City, Washington. Three of these symptoms suggest abuse, five or more addiction....
ReSTART Internet Addiction Recovery Program

50 things that are being killed by the internet
Matthew Moore writes: “Tasks that once took days can be completed in seconds, while traditions and skills that emerged over centuries have been made all but redundant. Below we have compiled 50 things that are in the process of being killed off by the web, from products and business models to life experiences and habits. We’ve also thrown in a few things that have suffered at the hands of other modern networking gadgets, specifically mobile phones and GPS systems.”...
Daily Telegraph (U.K.), Sept. 4

Imagine a world without Apple
Sascha Sagan writes: “Imagine there’s no Apple. In the U.S., that’s hard to do. But in technologically advanced, mobile-crazy South Korea, there are no iPhones at all, no Apple stores, and few iPods on the Seoul subway. One of the ways Korea has kept Apple out is through laws that favor domestic manufacturers. Ironically, that protectionism seems to have created more diversity than the iPod monoculture you see in big American cities. Without Steve Jobs, would the world tech market look a little more like Korea’s? Here are some ideas based on what I saw over there.”...
PC Magazine, Sept. 2

Dan Brown embargo
Dan Brown’s Lost Symbol will be released September 15. Random House is sending out 5 million copies and trying to keep them all under lock and key until midnight September 14, even issuing a special plea to libraries that notes, “if you have to keep the lurkers occupied, you can always give them a puzzle or two.” Most libraries won’t receive their shipments from wholesalers until the 14th and will have the problem of getting the books processed and assigned to fill holds by opening time the next day, while also keeping them out of the hands of rabid fans.”...
Early Word: The Publisher | Librarian Connection, Sept. 8

Amazon.com offers to replace copies of Orwell book
Amazon invited some unflattering literary analogies earlier this summer when it remotely erased unlicensed versions of two George Orwell novels from its customers’ Kindle devices. CEO Jeffrey Bezos apologized, and now the company is offering to deliver new copies of 1984 and Animal Farm at no charge to affected customers....
New York Times, Sept. 4

YA novels getting longer
Roger Sutton writes: “A tangential question that came up when we were discussing digital review copies made me pull out my calculator. How much longer are books getting? I compared fiction for ages 12 and up reviewed in the Horn Book Magazine in the September issues of 2009, 1999, 1989 and 1979. Average number of pages in books for teens reviewed in 1979, 151. In 1989, 157. In 1999, 233. In 2009, 337.”...
Read Roger, Sept. 2

New audiobook console for Windows Mobile
Digital audiobook supplier OverDrive has released the first in a series of free digital book applications for mobile devices. OverDrive Media Console for Windows Mobile enables users with Windows Mobile phones to wirelessly download audiobooks, music, and video to their devices and play the titles with the same navigation features as the company’s desktop software. Visit the Microsoft website to view a list of supported devices, including Sprint Palm Treo, AT&T Samsung Jack, and Verizon HTC Touch Pro....
OverDrive, Sept. 9

New EBSCO health policy resource (PDF file)
EBSCO Publishing has released a database that provides extensive coverage of all aspects of health policy and related issues. Health Policy Reference Center offers cover-to-cover content from more than 300 publications, including journals, monographs, magazines, and trade publications as well as government-produced content such as Government Accountability Office reports....
EBSCO, Sept. 3

Florida librarians fight LSSI lawsuit (PDF file)
Library management firm Library Systems and Services (LSSI) has filed a lawsuit against the Florida Division of Library and Information Services, challenging a proposed amendment to the State Aid Program Guidelines that would require the head of a public library to be a full-time employee of the single administrative unit. The Florida Library Association has voted to intervene in the suit. A final hearing is scheduled for October 8....
Florida Library Association, Sept. 3

Connecticut restores library funding
The Connecticut library community was thrilled over the restoration of funding for statewide library programs contained in the budget passed by the General Assembly in the early hours of September 1. Gov. M. Jodi Rell has indicated that she will let it pass into law without her signature. This budget maintains funding for all library programs, including Cooperating Library Service Units and InfoAnytime....
Connecticut Library Association

Song of the Library Staff
Larry Nix writes: “Sam Walter Foss (right), librarian of the Somerville (Mass.) Public Library from 1898 to 1911, was also a popular poet. At the 1906 ALA Annual Conference, he read his poem entitled The Song of the Library Staff. The poem has five stanzas, each devoted to a different staff position.” The stanza about the Reference Librarian begins, “See the Reference Librarian and the joys that appertain to her; / Who shall estimate the contents and the area of the brain to her?”...
Library History Buff, Sept. 5

Guantánamo reading list
Juan Cole writes: “Journalist Besan Sheikh recently visited the Guantánamo Bay prison facility run by the U.S., where al-Qaeda and other prisoners from Bush’s ‘war on terror’ are held. The facility’s library now has 13,500 books. What are the three most requested titles by the remaining 229 prisoners? The Harry Potter novels, Cervantes’s Don Quixote, and Barack Obama’s Dreams from My Father. Do they think Guantánamo is a little like Hogwarts Academy and that their torturers are Lord Voldemort?”...
Informed Comment, Sept. 5

The 15 biggest Wikipedia blunders
J. R. Raphael writes: “Wikipedia recently announced plans to restrict the editing of its articles on still-living people. The change marks a significant shift in the philosophy of the openly edited user-controlled encyclopedia. Here are 15 of the biggest Wikipedia blunders the new editing system might have prevented. These false facts, according to widely published accounts, all appeared on the Wikipedia site at some point.”...
PC World, Aug. 26

New online dictionary for word mavens
Stephen J. Gertz writes: “Launched by Erin McKean, former editor in chief of the New Oxford American Dictionary, Wordnik is a word-feast offering a summary, definitions from dictionaries old and new, related words, pronunciations, real-world usage examples, etymology, synonyms, antonyms, cross references, and usage statistics. One of its great advantages is the example sentences pulled from sources ranging from Twitter to newspaper articles. It even includes photos from Flickr to illustrate words.”...
Book Patrol, Sept. 8

National Book Festival goes mobile
The Library of Congress has launched its first-ever mobile campaign to provide National Book Festival-goers with SMS text alerts about the festival, which will be held on the National Mall September 26. By texting “BOOK” to 61399, mobile-phone users can opt in to receive the latest festival announcements, as well as author presentation and signing schedules. Standard messaging rates apply....
Library of Congress, Sept. 3

Five signs your résumé is passé
Tania Khadder writes: “The workplace is not what it was five years ago. Neither is the job hunt. The most successful candidates are those who are ready and willing to adapt to a changing landscape. But it doesn’t matter how ready you are for the modern workplace if your résumé’s straight out of 1994. Does it speak to the modern hiring manager? Or does it need a serious makeover?”...
DivineCaroline

Libraries honor 9/11 Day of Service
Libraries across the country are taking part in the first official September 11 Day of Service and Remembrance, a day established by President Obama and Congress to honor the sacrifices of 9/11 heroes, and engage more Americans in serving their communities. All types of libraries will be hosting special volunteer opportunities in remembrance. The event is the culmination of the United We Serve program launched June 22 by the Corporation for National and Community Service....
I Love Libraries; Serve.gov; District Dispatch, Sept. 2

Outreach is (un)dead
Emily Ford writes: “What is outreach in libraries today? We need to lay to rest outreach’s physical body—that separate entity that comprises library departments and ancillary programs. As well we need to lay to rest the word ‘outreach,’ whose separate existence inhibits and deters us from doing what we as libraries, librarians, and information professionals should be doing. Instead of integrating library promotion, advocacy, and community-specific targeted services, we have left outreach outside of the inclusive library whole to be an afterthought, a department more likely to get cut.”...
In the Library with the Lead Pipe, Sept. 2

Top 10 library marketing tips (PDF file)
Elizabeth Stearns of the Waukegan (Ill.) Public Library offers 10 tips on how to keep your library financially strong and sustainable. Number 9: “Establish a co-op in your community for shared purchasing of bulk items. Not only can you save on delivery costs, but it is also a greener alternative. While you are at it, make sure it is recyclable and/or compostable.”...
ILA Reporter 27, no. 5 (Oct.): 8–9

Penn State’s new high-tech law library (PDF file)
Kevin Gray writes: “One of the nation’s oldest law schools has just opened one of its two new facilities. The Penn State University Dickinson School of Law’s new Lewis Katz Building, opened in January 2009, marks a new chapter in the school’s 175-year history. The most noticeable feature of the new building from the exterior is its signature glass-curtain wall adorning the south side. Virtually no two glass sections are the same, and each glass plate weighs approximately 400 pounds.”...
AALL Spectrum, May, pp. 24–25, 35

Coca-Cola funds Woodruff Library IT upgrade
The Coca-Cola Company is giving $1.2 million to the Atlanta University Center’s Robert W. Woodruff Library to upgrade its IT infrastructure and enhance its ability to manage and provide access to critical archival documents, including the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. papers....
Reuters, Sept. 9

10 tips for teaching technology to teachers
Liz B. Davis writes: “I have been working with teachers to learn to integrate technology into their teaching for almost ten years. Here are a few of the things I have learned—in no particular order.” Number 10 is “Don’t touch the mouse: Tie your arm behind your back if you have to, but try not to take over mousing for your teachers.”...
The Power of Educational Technology, Sept. 2

Improving Afghan girls’ schools
The Asia Foundation, the National Geographic Society, and the Sheridan-Urbanski family have announced a new fundraising effort to support critical improvements in girls’ schools in Afghanistan that were damaged or destroyed in recent years. The effort seeks to raise $160,000 by December 15. The project will include shipments of English-language books and other educational materials from the Asia Foundation’s Books for Asia program to stock school library shelves....
Asia Foundation, Sept. 9

Hot buttery podcasts
One solution to information overload might be free snacks of information via Longshots podcasts. Longshots is hosted by Sarah Long, executive director of the North Suburban Library System in Wheeling, Illinois, and past president of ALA. The weekly program explores the world of libraries through brief interviews with key library figures and library supporters. NSLS has been producing the weekly podcast since February 2006. Watch the introductory video (1:21)....
North Suburban Library System, Sept. 3

A peek at New York Public Library’s Conservation Lab
Conservators, including Myriam De Arteni (right), at the New York Public Library’s Barbara Goldsmith Conservation Lab prepare rare historical documents (2:23), including maps featured in the library’s major fall exhibition, “Mapping New York’s Shoreline.” Opening September 25, the exhibition marks the quadricentennial of Henry Hudson’s exploration of the Hudson River Valley....
YouTube, Sept. 3

Cursor Miner promotes the library
“The Library” ditty was written, produced, and recorded by British underground electronica producer Cursor Miner and released by Lo Recordings and Uncharted Audio. “The library, the library, it’s the place where books are free . . . it’s a lot better than watching TV.” Perhaps this is the most appropriate music for The Librarian dance?...
YouTube, Nov. 24, 2008

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ALA Midwinter Meeting, Boston, January 15–19. Noteworthy authors scheduled to appear include Eric Van Lustbader, Chuck Hogan, Tracy Chevalier, and Atul Gawande.

October is National Arts and Humanities Month, a coast-to-coast collective celebration of culture in America. Held every year and coordinated by Americans for the Arts, it is the largest annual celebration of the arts and humanities in the nation. Art:21 is the official partner in 2009.

Volunteer to serve on an ALA committee. ALA members are encouraged volunteer for ALA and Council committees during the 2010–2011 appointment process. The deadline to complete the form is December 4.

AL on Twitter. Follow American Libraries news stories, videos, and blog posts on Twitter.