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No R’s behind bars in California
A federal court has ruled that a California Department of Corrections policy prohibiting inmates from viewing R-rated movies, as well as movies that “glorify violence or sex,” does not violate the First Amendment. The First Amendment Center reported July 14 that inmate Perry Robert Avila, housed in a California prison in Corcoran, challenged the constitutionality of the policy, which states that only movies rated G, PG, or PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America may be shown to inmates....
AL: Censorship Watch, July 26; First Amendment Center, July 14

Privatization and pushback in Santa Clarita
The three-branch Santa Clarita (Calif.) Public Library opened its doors over the Fourth of July weekend (right) as an independent city system for the first time since city officials voted in August 2010 to depart from the County of Los Angeles Public Library. Hundreds came to check out materials, eyeball the expanded Canyon County branch, and size up their libraries’ new staffs—employees of contract-services firm Library Systems and Services, Inc., whose five-year, $19-million contract to manage the nascent system was the focus of almost a year’s worth of debate and litigation....
American Libraries news, July 27; Santa Clarita City Briefs, July 6

Newsmaker: Daniel Ellsberg
Forty years ago, Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers, documents that revealed the secret history of the United States’ involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967. Since then, Ellsberg has been a lecturer, writer, and activist on controversial U.S. interventions and the need for patriotic whistleblowing. Former American Libraries Editor Leonard Kniffel and others from ALA interviewed Ellsberg after his address at Annual Conference in New Orleans. What follows is a transcript of that interview (50:57), edited for clarity....
American Libraries column, July/Aug.; AL Focus, July 27

How to offer more than a movie
Alan Jacobson writes: “Your library’s films are some of the highest-quality work in your building, often unjustly ignored, maligned, and simply consigned to popular material (Charles Dickens or Alfred Hitchcock, anyone?) when there is so much thematic and artistic richness waiting to be mined in a discussion format. Here’s how to make your screening a quality cultural event equal to your book discussions.”...
American Libraries feature

Is the line between librarianship and journalism blurring?
Office for Intellectual Freedom Director Barbara Jones writes: “What do journalists and librarians have in common? How can collaboration on their common ground make libraries and the media better for our democracy? More than 125 attendees worked on these questions April 6–7 at the first-ever conference of its kind, ‘Beyond Books: News, Literacy, Democracy, and America’s Libraries,’ immediately preceding the National Conference for Media Reform in Boston.” Watch the video (7:23)....
American Libraries feature; Vimeo, June 24

Programming, pixels, and privatization
The July/August issue of American Libraries has just mailed to members, bringing to your workplaces and doorsteps the news and analysis that is delivered every day online. This issue includes articles on graphic novels, digital collections, the future of electronic content delivery, film programming, and the privatization controversy. You can also read the full issue online....
American Libraries, July/Aug.

Currents
Donna Dziedzic (right) retired as executive director of Naperville (Ill.) Public Library June 30. On July 25 John Spears became executive director of Naperville Public Library. Hester Miller, 90, died July 9; she was arts specialist at Albuquerque (N. Mex.) Public Library from 1958 until her retirement in 1982....
American Libraries column

Empowering voices
ALA President Molly Raphael writes: “We are living in extraordinary times. Throughout the library world, reductions in financial resources threaten our survival. At the same time, many libraries are experiencing large increases in demand and usage. In academic, public, school, and special libraries, these challenges call for all of us to work together and build a better future for all library communities.”...
ALA President’s Message, July 27

National Gaming Day registration is open
It’s time to start gearing up for the big event. Registration is officially open for the 2011 National Gaming Day, November 12, and we are excited that there are some great donations again this year (while they last). This year’s official sponsor for National Gaming Day @ your library, All Things Equal, is donating an amazing four games in support of gaming in libraries. There will again be two national video game tournaments, the Epic Super Smash Bros. Brawl and a retro 30th Anniversary Frogger Library High Score Contest....
National Gaming Day @ your library, July 27

Volunteer to serve on a committee
ALA President-Elect Maureen Sullivan is encouraging members to volunteer for ALA and Council committees during the 2012–2013 appointment process. Sullivan is chairing both the Committee on Appointments and Committee on Committees. To volunteer, complete the online committee volunteer form by November 4....
ALA Executive Office, July 20

New ALA Connect reports
Jenny Levine writes: “ALA Connect experienced a couple of major milestones during the last few months. First, it turned two years old at the beginning of April. Second, the new servers valiantly weathered a huge spike in usage (above) thanks to the 2011 ALA Annual Conference. To monitor Connect’s progress, I’ve written up reports for each milestone.”...
ITTS News, July 27

Summer school is in session for intellectual freedom
The Office for Intellectual Freedom is offering a series of online learning opportunities August 2–30 to meet the pressing needs of busy library professionals. “Intellectual Freedom Summer School” webinars will provide information and insight on some current topics. Specific programs are offered for public, academic, and school librarians. These hour-long, interactive sessions will feature speakers from OIF as well as practicing librarians in the field. Registration is now open....
Office for Intellectual Freedom, July 26

Banned Books Week to feature a Virtual Read-out
This year, for the first time, readers from around the world will be able to participate virtually in Banned Books Week, September 24–October 1, by posting videos of themselves reading excerpts to a dedicated YouTube channel. Videos (no more than two minutes long) can be submitted by anyone as long as the video includes a reading from a banned or challenged book. Alternatively, videos of up to three minutes can be submitted giving eyewitness accounts of local challenges. Details will be available in early August....
Office for Intellectual Freedom, July 21

Join your state library association
Don Wood writes: “If you are not already a member of your state library association (also known as an ALA Chapter), please join. There are many reasons to do so, including discounts for attending conferences, networking, mentoring, and all kinds of other opportunities and services. And, most importantly, you can contribute to your state association’s efforts to support libraries and the library profession.”...
ALA Membership Blog, July 21

Student chapter members, take this survey
By completing this 20-minute survey, you will provide ALA with invaluable information that no doubt will result in a better ALA student chapter experience for both you and future student chapter members. Help publicize this survey widely to student chapter members, elected officers, faculty advisers, directors, deans, and anyone else associated with ALA student chapters....
ALA Student Membership Blog, July 27

Do we have the will to help guide digital natives?
ALA Literacy Officer Dale Lipschultz writes: “Today’s kids are digital natives. They’re eager to learn, innovate, create, and share. They’re looking to us for direction and strategic guidance. The Learning from Hollywood Forum is a starting point. Our task, as educators and innovators, is to work together, think creatively, and build new systems for educating America’s youth. We have this opportunity, we have the minds, we have the tools, and we have the support. The question is: Do we have the will?”...
OLOS Columns, July 27

FTRF welcomes ruling that overturns video game ban
The Freedom to Read Foundation, ALA’s First Amendment legal defense arm, welcomes the U.S. Supreme Court’s 7–2 decision June 27 to overturn a 2005 California law that banned the sale of violent video games to minors. FTRF joined booksellers, publishers, writers, and other media groups to urge the Supreme Court to strike down the law, which sought to create a new category of unprotected speech encompassing violent images and themes of violence in video games....
Freedom to Read Foundation, July 20; New York Times, June 27

Guadalajara Book Fair free pass
ALA and the Guadalajara International Book Fair are partnering for the ninth year to provide support for ALA members to attend the 24th book fair from November 26 to December 4. Free passes will be awarded to 150 librarians who work in the area of Spanish-language acquisitions. The deadline for applications is August 15. This year’s invited country is Germany....
International Relations Office

Induction Day @ your library
July 24 was Induction Day at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. By registering for Step Up to the Plate @ your library, you can help one of your library users win the chance to go to the Hall of Fame just like 2011 inductees, Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven. Developed by ALA and the Baseball Hall of Fame, Step Up to the Plate @ your library teams up two American classics—libraries and baseball—to promote libraries and librarians as essential information resources....
Public Information Office, July 21

Fall into the new ALA Graphics catalog
There’s something for everyone inside the new ALA Graphics fall catalog (PDF file), full of fresh products designed to encourage readers of all ages. More than a dozen new posters and bookmarks make their debut, including those inspired by the popular children’s book series Bad Kitty and Five Little Monkeys, as well as Caldecott Honor recipient Marla Frazee and author Mary Lyn Ray’s forthcoming book Stars....
ALA Graphics, July 21

Create an ASCLA interest group
Approved by the membership in the 2011 ALA/ASCLA election, interest groups provide a way to easily create a home within the division for topics and issues that have an active member base, are specifically of interest to ASCLA members, or may be currently underrepresented in the organization. Interest groups can also consist of any ALA members; they are not restricted to ASCLA members. Here are seven current interest groups, and here is how to petition for a new one....
ASCLA Blog, July 25

New ALCTS publications
ALCTS has released three new publications: Guide to Video Acquisitions in Libraries, a book by Mary S. Laskowski; Institutional Repositories: Benefits and Challenges, a hybrid publication issued a chapter at a time in PDF format until all of the content is ready to be printed as a book; and Collection = Connection, a new blog sponsored by the ALCTS Collection Management Section....
ALCTS, July 25

Educational tours at the AASL conference
Attendees of the AASL 15th National Conference and Exhibition in Minneapolis should sign up early for one of the exciting educational tours offered October 26–27 prior to the official opening. Tours include the University of Minnesota Libraries’ Children’s Literature Research Collection, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s homes and haunts, and the Wabasha Street Caves. School tours and preconferences will also be offered. Information is available online....
AASL, July 26

Early-bird rates for LITA National Forum
LITA is offering early-bird rates through August 15 for its National Forum, held September 29–October 2 in St. Louis. The forum will feature dynamic keynote speakers John Blyberg, Karen Coyle, and Barbara McGlamery....
LITA, July 26

New LITA officers
Elisabeth (Zoe) Stewart-Marshall (right), assistant director of library systems and user services development at OhioLINK, is the new LITA president. Her term, and that of newly elected LITA board members, began at the conclusion of the ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans. Three newly elected directors-at-large begin their three-year terms: John Blyberg, David Lee King, and Lauren Pressley....
LITA, July 25

LITA online learning courses
LITA has two upcoming web education opportunities. The online course “Creating Library Web Services: Mashups and APIs” will be presented August 22–26, and the webinar “Roadmap to JPEG2000” will be offered September 13. Additional information and registration for these programs are available online....
LITA, July 25

2011 Achievement in Library Diversity Research
Camila Alire, dean emerita at the University of New Mexico Libraries and Colorado State University Libraries, has been named the 2011 Achievement in Library Diversity Research honoree. As part of its ongoing support of the propagation of library-based diversity research, the ALA Committee on Diversity and the Office for Diversity recognize Alire for her promotion of diversity within the profession, including writing books and articles, recruitment and retention of librarians of color, library service to Latinos and diverse populations, and library marketing and advocacy....
Office for Diversity, July 26

Yolo County, Knowledge River host Spectrum scholarship fundraisers
Library supporters came together to raise over $1,600 for the Spectrum Presidential Initiative through a recent dinner for Spectrum scholars at the Yolo County (Calif.) Library. Hosted by Patty Wong, county librarian at the Yolo County Library, and Kenneth Yamashita, city librarian (retired) at the Stockton–San Joaquin County (Calif.) Public Library, the event brought together more than 30 attendees to celebrate and support the Spectrum Scholarship Program. The University of Arizona’s Knowledge River Scholars also raised $1,500 at a fundraiser in Tucson (above)....
Spectrum Initiative, July 25–26

Miami University chosen as site for 2012 Arbuthnot Lecture
The 2012 May Hill Arbuthnot Committee has chosen Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, to be the site of ALSC’s 2012 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture featuring Peter Sís. An award-winning Czech-American children’s book writer and illustrator, Sís was chosen to be the presenter at the 2011 ALA Midwinter Meeting held January 7–11 in San Diego....
ALSC, July 26

2011 Will Eisner Awards
The 2011 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, presented by Comic-Con International in San Diego, ended on an unusual note July 22 with the Best Graphic Album–New category going to two winners: Jim McCann and Janet Lee’s Return of the Dapper Men (Archaia) and Dan Clowes’s Wilson (Drawn and Quarterly). The Graphic Album category is somewhat comparable to “Best Picture” in the comics industry. The full list is here....
Comic-Con 2011; io9, July 23

2011 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest
The winner of the 2011 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest is Sue Fondrie, an associate professor of curriculum and instruction at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh who works groan-inducing wordplay into her teaching and administrative duties whenever possible. The contest challenges entrants to compose bad opening sentences to imaginary novels. Fondrie won with “Cheryl’s mind turned like the vanes of a wind-powered turbine, chopping her sparrow-like thoughts into bloody pieces that fell onto a growing pile of forgotten memories.”...
San Jose State University English Department, July 25

Crime Writers Association Dagger Awards
The Crime Writers Association announced the winners of its annual Dagger Awards, celebrating the best in crime and thriller writing, on July 22. The Swedish writing team of Anders Roslund and Börge Hellström received the International Dagger for Three Seconds, translated by Kari Dickson. Douglas Starr accepted the Non-Fiction Dagger for The Killer of Little Shepherds, a work focused on the 19th-century French serial murderer Joseph Vacher....
Mystery Series Examiner, July 23

Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of 2011
Lee Child has won the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award for 61 Hours (Transworld), the 14th installment in his bestselling Jack Reacher thriller series. The announcement was made July 21 at the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival in the U.K. The award of £3,000 ($4,883 U.S.) is open to British and Irish authors and is one of the most prestigious prizes in crime fiction....
BBC News, July 22

2011 Summerfield G. Roberts Award
Philip Caudill, an adjunct professor of history at Lone Star College–Montgomery, has won the 2011 Summerfield G. Roberts Award, presented by the Sons of the Republic of Texas, for Moss Bluff Rebel: A Texas Pioneer in the Civil War (Texas A&M, 2009), a biography of William Berry Duncan, a Texas pioneer and sheriff who reluctantly joined the Confederate army to fight in the Civil War. The award of $2,500 encourages literary and historical research about the days of the Republic of Texas, 1836–1846....
The Paper Magazine (The Woodlands, Tex.), July 25

Federal information resources at serious risk
Michael Kelley writes: “Even as all eyes focus on the stalemate over the debt ceiling, the House of Representatives has been assiduously working on bills that, if unchanged, would have a deleterious effect on information resources at the Government Printing Office and the Census Bureau. On July 22, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2551; unless the Senate acts, the bill would reduce GPO’s budget for FY12 by 20% to $108.1 million.” Funding for the Federal Depository Library Program and the Federal Digital System is in serious jeopardy....
Library Journal, July 27

NYPL’s reading-for-fines program
The New York Public Library will waive the outstanding fines of up to 143,000 children 17 or under who are currently barred from borrowing new items on the condition they do one thing: read. Beginning July 25, children enrolled in the library’s summer reading program will be able to knock $1 from their bills for every 15 minutes of reading they complete. NYPL would rather have children reading than hold out for the possibility of reaping fines that might never be paid....
Reuters, July 25

Two books pulled from Missouri school library shelves
Two of the three Republic (Mo.) High School books singled out in a public complaint in 2010 will now be removed from the school curriculum and the library. On July 25, the school board voted 4–0 (three members were absent) to keep Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak, an award-winning book about date rape, and remove Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five and Sarah Ockler’s Twenty Boy Summer. Resident Wesley Scroggins challenged the use of the books, arguing that they teach principles contrary to the Bible....
Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader, July 26

LC: We did not call WikiLeaks “extremist”
The Library of Congress says it was not responsible for categorizing a WikiLeaks-related book as “extremist” and that it has removed that label. A spokesman for the library told CNET July 21 that it adopted that classification in its catalog automatically after another major library system, apparently the National Library of Australia, had applied it to a recent book about the document-leaking website. “Copy cataloging was the method used for the book in question,” LC spokesman John Sayers said. Kevin Gosztola offers more details....
CNET News: Privacy Inc., July 21; Firedoglake: The Dissenter, July 23

Library coworkers split $250,000 lottery prize
“Quiet” was not an option at the James Blackstone Memorial Library in Branford, Connecticut, once Reference Librarian Debby Trofatter (on the right) shared the incredible news that she, along with seven coworkers, had won $250,000 playing the Mega Millions drawing on July 19. Trofatter, who was in charge of buying and checking the group’s tickets, noticed right away that their hand-picked numbers were a match. The prize will be split between the eight staffers (including Library Director Kathy Rieger), each receiving $21,407 (prize value after taxes)....
Branford (Conn.) Patch, July 26

Patron and staff help save a life at Russell Library
A man stopped suddenly and fell to the floor, hitting his head on a table on the way down. The previously calm and quiet Main Reading Room at Russell Library in Middletown, Connecticut, became “action central” as another patron ran to the Information Desk and a librarian called 911 for help. Annie Abbate, who was studying for her upcoming Medical College Admission Test, sprang into action as soon as she saw the man collapse. Taking one look at the fallen patron, she immediately dialed 911 on her cell phone....
Middletown (Conn.) Press, July 25

Library cuts will happen “in a heartbeat”
Doug Ford, the blunt-talking Toronto councilor and brother to the mayor, is ratcheting up the cost-cutting rhetoric at city hall, vowing to support library closings and dismissing the efforts of literary legend Margaret Atwood to spare branches from the chopping block. Ford said July 26 he would close a library in his ward “in a heartbeat,” characterizing a growing movement to save branches backed by Atwood as an “over-reaction” led by “library groups.”...
Toronto Globe and Mail, July 26

Oregon book thief arrested
An Eagle Point, Oregon, man has been arrested in connection with the disappearance of nearly 400 books from multiple local libraries. A July 21 police search of Christopher Earl Storrer’s residence revealed hundreds of stolen library books, many of them vandalized. Police began investigating the theft and vandalism of library books from Southern Oregon University’s Hannon Library when three thefts were reported in May. Investigators are still sorting out how many other libraries are involved....
Medford (Oreg.) Mail Tribune, July 24

Senator donates books to vandalized Alaskan library
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) has donated 191 books to the Togiak Public Library in an effort to help replace materials that were lost to vandalism that destroyed books and caused $2,500 in damage. In May, vandals broke into the library and damaged books, overturned bookcases, and smeared items with syrup. Murkowski and her D.C. staff collaborated with the Library of Congress book donation program and were able to gather books for all age ranges and interests....
The Arctic Sounder, July 20

Swedish librarians find stolen atlas in New York
One of the books stolen from the Swedish National Library in Stockholm has been identified in a collection in New York. In 2004, a respected specialist at the National Library had been pilfering rare books valued at some 9 million kronor ($1.4 million U.S.) from the library’s collections and selling them off at auction houses worldwide for a number of years. The book, a 16th-century atlas titled Descriptionis Ptolemaicae augmentum, sive Occidentis notitia brevi commentario, was illustrated by Cornelis van Wytfliet in Louvain....
The Local: Sweden’s News in English, July 19

IT manager jailed for Scotland library embezzlement
An IT manager who admitted embezzling £500,000 ($819,850 U.S.) from the National Library of Scotland was sentenced July 25 to two years in jail. David Dinham used a government credit card to make personal purchases from 2006 to 2010 and secretly awarded his own IT company 10 service contracts. He admitted the embezzlement charge at a hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in May. National Librarian Martyn Wade said a new financial system had recently been installed to prevent any future misappropriations....
BBC News, July 25; The Scotsman (Edinburgh), July 26

State Library of Iowa cleans its law books
For the better part of a year, State Documents Librarian Tom Keyser, with the assistance of other members of the State Library of Iowa’s Law Library staff, have been engaged in a multivolume evaluation and cleaning of its A. J. Small Special Collection. Arthur James Small, who served as state librarian from 1896 to 1937, purchased hundreds of valuable legal texts for the library. Keyser said the idea is to get the collection back into shape by cleaning the books with brushes and making minor repairs....
Davenport (Iowa) Quad-City Times, July 25

Socially conscious food on the menu at library café
The owners of the little café in the lobby of Fountaindale Public Library in Bolingbrook, Illinois, are serving more than cherry danishes and iced coffee to their daily clientele. Chris and Jennifer Peterson, the couple who operate Brooks Café (right), are running the place with a socially conscious mindset—right down to the biodegradable forks made from potatoes they stock and the coffee beans they buy from a family company in Ottawa....
Bolingbrook (Ill.) TribLocal, July 25

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