Contents
American Libraries Online
ALA News
Booklist Online
New Orleans Update
Division News
Round Table News
Awards
Seen Online
Tech Talk
Publishing
Actions & Answers
New This Week
Calendar

Libraries scan a bright digital horizon, despite Google setback
“Libraries are not leaving the future of digital books to Google,” the HathiTrust partnership said in a prepared statement March 23. The statement came the day after U.S. Appeals Court Judge Denny Chin rejected the Google Books Settlement following some seven years of litigation. Although Google has not yet indicated its next move, University of Michigan Dean of Libraries Paul Courant said the search-engine giant has “affirmed that it will continue to scan works from our library and other partner libraries.” University of Virginia media scholar Siva Vaidhyanathan looks at some other possible outcomes, and Harvard University Library Director Robert Darnton gives six reasons why Google Books failed....
American Libraries news, Mar. 29; Technolog, Mar. 28; New York Review of Books Blog, Mar. 28

One book for every young child
Michelle McIntyre writes: “In this struggling economy, the local library remains the community bedrock, even as libraries report that use of service is up while their budgets are shrinking. As a librarian in Pennsylvania, I’m proud to say that we are finding creative ways to do more with less. The One Book, Every Young Child program is foremost among them. Designed so that large and small libraries alike could easily implement it, the program is our state’s first-ever collaborative project using the blueprint of One Book, One Community.”...
American Libraries feature

The first school library
Q. When was the first school library established? A. The best answer may be from Encyclopedia on Library and Information Science (1st ed.) article on “School Libraries”: “The birth of America’s school libraries cannot be assigned a definite date. Rather, these first school libraries were born unheralded in the earliest colonial times when the teacher in the one-room placed the Bible, a chapbook, and the Bay Psalm Book on the corner of his desk.”...
AL: Ask the ALA Librarian, Mar. 28

More aid for Haitian cultural heritage
A March 29 press release from the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions announces a contract signed between IFLA and the Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development to “enable joint action to save Haiti’s still-vulnerable archives and important library collections.” The effort, which will be made possible with a donation of €242,500 ($341,662 U.S.), will establish a treatment center for important documents in Port-au-Prince....
AL: Global Reach, Mar. 29; IFLA, Mar. 29

New benchmarks coalition formed
A national coalition has formed to design and pilot a series of public access technology benchmarks for public libraries, with $2.8 million in funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The ALA Office for Information Technology Policy and PLA—with other library and local government leaders—will provide leadership in developing guidelines that support continuous improvement of and local reinvestment in public technology access at libraries....
District Dispatch, Mar. 29

Have you cast your ALA ballot?
Polls are still open for the 2011 election, in which ALA members will choose a new president-elect and members of the governing Council. Although the election is conducted electronically, members with a disability can request a paper ballot by April 8 by calling ALA customer service at (800) 545-2433, ext. 5. The polls will close on April 22, and the Election Committee will meet to certify the results on April 29....
Public Information Office, Mar. 29

EQUACC establishes blog and forum
The ALA Presidential Task Force for Equitable Access to Electronic Content (EQUACC) has established a blog and forum to invite commentary on its work and to discuss libraries’ role in providing free and confidential access to e-content for the public. The task force has divided its work into five categories: accessibility, public relations, model projects, environmental scan, and licensing....
ALA Washington Office, Mar. 28

Tune in for Money Smart Week podcast
Chapter Relations Office Director Michael Dowling (right) discusses the first-ever Money Smart Week @ your library, April 2–9, in a podcast (8:26). Money Smart Week was initiated by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago in 2001 to promote personal financial literacy. Wishing to broaden the initiative’s reach nationally, the bank partnered this year with ALA....
Campaign for America’s Libraries, Mar. 29; Visibility @ your library, Mar. 29

“Let’s Talk About It: The Civil War” program grant
The ALA Public Programs Office and the National Endowment for the Humanities have announced an increase in funding for the “Let’s Talk About It: Making Sense of the American Civil War” reading and discussion program grant. Following the application process, 50 public, academic, and community college libraries will be selected to receive a $3,000 grant to support the reading and discussion series in their library, in addition to books, promotional materials and other programming support. Applications must be completed by April 19....
Public Programs Office, Mar. 29

Intellectual freedom in a changing world
Registration is now open for “Intellectual Freedom in a Changing World,” a conference on international issues related to free access to information in libraries. The event will take place August 10–12 at the Newport Beachside Hotel and Resort in Miami Beach, Florida. It is jointly sponsored by IFLA’s Free Access to Information and Freedom of Expression committee and the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom. Early bird registration is open until July 1....
Office for Intellectual Freedom, Mar. 30

New season for Step Up to the Plate @ your library
There is still time for librarians to register for the 6th annual Step Up to the Plate program, offered by ALA and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, before the annual baseball trivia contest opens to the public March 31. Free tools, including program logos in English and Spanish, a flier and bookmarks, and a toolkit with sample press materials and programming ideas, are available to download. The first 100 librarians to register will receive a Jackie Robinson “History Lives” poster from ALA Graphics....
Public Information Office, Mar. 29

Celebrate yourself on National Library Workers’ Day
This year, April 12 is National Library Workers Day, a time for library staff, patrons, administrators, and Friends groups to recognize how library services depend on the important work done by every library staff member. Celebration ideas are on the NLWD website. You can also take the opportunity to name library staff as Stars, describing the impact they have on their colleagues, patrons, and communities, and to get your NLWD posters, T-shirts, and buttons at the NLWD store....
ALA–Allied Professional Association, Mar. 29

Get in gear to celebrate mobile libraries
April 13 is the second annual National Bookmobile Day celebration across America, honoring the more than 930 bookmobiles and dedicated staff who provide vital library services to their communities. Author Audrey Niffenegger is the 2011 Honorary Chair of National Bookmobile Day....
Office for Literacy and Outreach Services, Mar. 29

RDA workshop back by popular demand
ALA TechSource is offering the three-part workshop “Using RDA: Moving into the Metadata Future” in three synchronous 90-minute sessions on May 11, 18, and 25. Presenters Chris Oliver, Karen Coyle, and Diane Hillmann will offer their perspective on RDA from the context of AACR2, other metadata models, and possibilities for sharing library data in an updated version of the popular fall 2010 ALA TechSource workshop....
ALA Online Learning, Mar. 29

The reference librarian as information consultant
Library users’ evolving information needs and their choice of search methods have changed reference work profoundly. Today’s reference librarian must work in a whole new way—not only service-focused and businesslike, but even entrepreneurial. In The Librarian as Information Consultant: Transforming Reference for the Information Age, published by ALA Editions, Sarah Anne Murphy rethinks in an innovative way the philosophy behind current library reference services....
ALA Editions, Mar. 29

New Orleans Museum of Art
The New Orleans Museum of Art is located in City Park, near the terminus of the Canal Street streetcar line. Its permanent collection features over 40,000 objects, from the Italian Renaissance to the modern era. The museum also includes the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden, a five-acre landscaped area behind the main building. Founded in 1911, the museum is celebrating its centennial. Special exhibits during Annual Conference include “Bookmarks: The Artist’s Response to Text” and “Ancestors of Congo Square.”...
New Orleans Museum of Art

Electronic devices on airplanes can be a problem
Christine Negroni writes: “The problem of electromagnetic interference affecting commercial flights is much bigger than previously suspected. A new confidential report from the International Air Transport Association’s safety data sharing program shows that over the past seven years, airlines around the world reported 75 events in which portable electronic devices are suspected of interfering with flight deck equipment. While phones were the source of interference in 40% of the reports, iPods, other MP3 players, laptops, and portable games were also implicated.”...
Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Flying Lessons, Jan. 18, Mar. 9

Teen Tech Week contest winners
YALSA and Figment.com have awarded two Nook e-readers to the winners of the 2011 Teen Tech Week contest. Becky O’Neil (right), teen librarian at the Westerville (Ohio) Public Library, won in the librarian category for her creative-writing prompt, and teen Anande Sjoden won in the teen category, with a story on steampunk, judged by National Book Award winner Kathryn Erskine. Teen Fiona Plunkett won a $50 Amazon.com gift card for creating the Narrika, the steampunk apparatus that each of the contest entries had to feature....
YALSA, Mar. 29

Book discount for Día 101 participants
ALSC is offering librarians a chance to double up on Día resources this year. Sign up for the ALSC webinar, “Día 101: Everything you need to know about celebrating El día de los niños/El día de los libros” by April 1, and receive a coupon for $5 off Jeanette Larson’s new book, El día de los niños/El día de los libros: Building a Culture of Literacy in Your Community through Día, available April 1....
ALSC, Mar. 29

Reaching Reluctant Readers preconference
YA authors Jay Asher, Sarah Dessen, Chris Grabenstein, Julie Halpern, James Kennedy, Carolyn Mackler, and Walter Dean Myers will reflect on how their work speaks to today’s teens and offer insights on how to turn those teens into active readers at “Give Them What they Want: Reaching Reluctant Readers,” YALSA’s June 24 preconference during the 2011 ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans....
YALSA, Mar. 29

Book review websites
Attention book lovers! RUSA is compiling a list of outstanding library and librarian book review websites to add to literarytastes.com—a RUSA website built around book love—and we want to know about the sites you visit when you’re looking for the best book reviews available. We are especially partial to RUSA member sites. Either email Liz Markel, tweet, or comment on this blog post to add your recommendations....
RUSA Blog, Mar. 29

Register for the Trustee Academy
ALTAFF is offering a series of online courses to help library trustees become exceptionally proficient in their roles on behalf of their libraries. Taught by professionals in the field, the Trustee Academy courses are available for individual registration or as a full curriculum with discounted pricing per course. All courses are recorded webcasts. Certificates of completion are provided for each course....
ALTAFF, Mar. 28

Libraries, library workers, and copyright
Loida Garcia-Febo, chair of the Intellectual Freedom Round Table, talks to ALA Treasurer Jim Neal about libraries, library workers, and copyright matters in this video (12:58). Neal is vice president for information services and university librarian at Columbia University in New York City....
YouTube, Feb. 24

NMRT and Merritt Fund reception
The New Members Round Table and the LeRoy C. Merritt Humanitarian Fund are collaborating to present a joint reception at the ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans. The event will take place June 26 at L’Entrepot Gallery, 527 Julia (in the Gallery District). Everyone is welcome to attend; refreshments will be provided....
New Members Round Table, Mar. 30

2011 Margaret Monroe Award
Joyce Saricks, adjunct professor at the Dominican University GSLIS and well-known adult readers’ advisory expert, is the winner of RUSA’s 2011 Margaret Monroe Award. The award honors a researcher or educator who has made a significant contribution to library adult services. Saricks is best known for her groundbreaking work in adult readers’ advisory while she was the coordinator of the Literature and Audio Services Department from 1983 to 2004 at the Downers Grove (Ill.) Public Library....
RUSA, Mar. 29

Peter Jacso wins RUSA Emerald Research Grant
Peter Jacso, professor of library and information science at the University of Hawaii, has received a 2011 Emerald Research Grant. This is one of two grants, administered by the RUSA Business Reference and Services Section that provides $5,000 to support research pertaining to business reference. Jacso will create an open access resource for dynamic comparison and analysis of peer ratings of prominent marketing and marketing-related journals....
RUSA, Mar. 29

Campbell, Cook share Emerald Research Grant
Diane K. Campbell and Ronald G. Cook of Rider University are corecipients of one 2011 RUSA BRASS Emerald Research Grant for business reference. They will use the $5,000 to interview entrepreneurs about their environmental scanning practices and report on how these entrepreneurs work with librarians and what information they consider most important....
RUSA, Mar. 29

Gale Cengage Learning Award for Excellence in Business Librarianship
Nicolette Warisse Sosulski, business librarian at the Portage (Mich.) District Library, has received the 2011 Gale Cengage Learning Award for Excellence in Business Librarianship, administered by RUSA’s Business Reference and Services Section. Sosulski was honored for leveraging resources to meet a vast array of patron needs, including job hunters, small business concerns, youth financial education, and business librarian training in varied settings....
RUSA, Mar. 29

Banned Books Week Read-Out grants
The Freedom to Read Foundation, through its Judith F. Krug Memorial Fund, will provide at least four grants ranging from $1,000 to $2,500 to four organizations to support Read-Outs that celebrate this year’s Banned Books Week, September 24–October 1. To apply, organizations must submit an event description, timeline, and budget with their application, and agree to provide a written report and video to FTRF following Banned Books Week. Applications will be accepted through May 13....
Freedom to Read Foundation, Mar. 29

3M/NMRT Professional Development Grants
Natalie Traylor Clewell of West Georgia Technical College, Jessica Nadine Hernandez of the U.S. FDA Biosciences Library, and Julie N. Kane of Sweet Briar College Library in Virginia are the 2011 recipients of 3M/NMRT Professional Development Grants. The grants will fund each recipient’s trip to the 2011 ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans by providing transportation, hotel accommodations, conference registration fees, and daily expenses....
New Members Round Table, Mar. 29

2011 CLA Outstanding Service to Librarianship Award
The Canadian Library Association has announced that its 2011 CLA Outstanding Service to Librarianship Award will be presented to Stephen Abram of Gale Cengage Learning May 28 during its National Conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The citation credits his fostering of younger librarians as one of his greatest contributions....
Canadian Library Association, Mar. 25

Dana Whitmire wins 2011 Horizon Award
Dana Whitmire, e-resource and serials librarian at University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, has received the 2011 North American Serials Interest Group Horizon Award. Sponsored by EBSCO, the award recognizes a promising new information professional and covers the cost of travel, registration, and lodging for three nights while attending the NASIG Annual Conference in St. Louis, June 2–5....
EBSCO, Mar. 29

2011 Talk Story Grant winners
The American Indian Library Association and the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association have awarded $500 grants to the Greenwich branch of the Gloucester County (N.J.) Library System and the White Mesa Library of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe in Towaoc, Colorado. Each will use its $500 grant to host a Talk Story program at their library. Talk Story: Sharing Stories, Sharing Culture is a literacy program that reaches out to Asian/Pacific American and American Indian/Alaska Native children and their families....
Office for Literacy and Outreach Services, Mar. 29

2010 Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature
The Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association announced the winners of its 2010 Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature on March 25. The prizes promote Asian/Pacific American culture and heritage and are awarded based on literary and artistic merit. The winner in the adult nonfiction category was Erika Lee and Judy Yung’s Angel Island: Immigration Gateway to America (Oxford University, 2010)....
Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association, Mar. 25

Shaun Tan wins Lindgren Award
Australian author/illustrator Shaun Tan has won the 2011 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the largest for children’s and young adult literature with a prize of five million Swedish krona ($786,500 U.S.). Tan is the creator of several books including The Arrival, Tales from Outer Suburbia, and most recently, Lost & Found: Three by Shaun Tan. The award is administered by the Swedish Arts Council and is given annually to authors, illustrators, storytellers, or those active in the promotion of reading....
Publishers Weekly, Mar. 29

Dictator dentistry wins odd title prize
A book advising dentists to manage their practices according to the leadership techniques of a legendary Mongolian warlord has been voted the winner of the Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of 2011. Managing a Dental Practice the Genghis Khan Way by Michael R. Young (Radcliffe) is the go-to guide for building an empire within your dental office. The Diagram Prize, sponsored by The Bookseller, has been awarded for odd book titles since 1978....
The Bookseller, Mar. 25

ISSR Library Awards
The International Society for Science and Religion has completed an extensive peer review of more than 2,000 books on science and religion and selected 220 titles that, together, offer a comprehensive overview of the field and its many related topics. ISSR will award complete sets of these books to institutions in the United States and around the world on a competitive basis. The deadline for applications is June 15....
International Society for Science and Religion, Mar. 24

Irish Times Poetry Now Prize
The winner of the 2011 Irish Times Poetry Now Award is Seamus Heaney for his 12th collection, Human Chain. The €5,000 ($7,042 U.S.) prize has been presented annually for the past six years for the best single volume published in the previous 12 months. Heaney received the prize at the Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Poetry Now Festival in Dublin on March 26. The festival, now in its 16th year, is Ireland’s biggest and best-loved poetry festival, attracting poets from around the world....
Irish Times, Mar. 26

2011 Doncaster Book Award
The Thornthwaite Inheritance by Gareth P. Jones, an engrossing mystery for children ages 10–13, was announced as the winner of the 2011 Doncaster Book Award at a special event held March 25 at Doncaster Racecourse in the U.K. The award, now in its seventh year, is one of Yorkshire’s and Northern England’s leading annual children’s book prizes. The winning title is a mystery story about twins “who have been trying to kill each other for so long that neither can remember which act of attempted murder came first.”...
Doncaster Book Award, Mar. 25

2011 Warwickshire Book Award
Mortlock by Jon Mayhew was announced as the winner of the 2011 Warwickshire Book Award for Secondary School pupils at a March 22 awards ceremony attended by more than 300 students, teachers, and librarians. This award for children ages 11–14 is now in its seventh year and is one of the major annual children’s book awards in the Midlands region of England....
Schools Library Service Warwickshire, Mar. 23

Library cancels screening of anti-abortion documentary
Attorneys from the pro-life Thomas More Society issued a letter March 24 to Marathon County (Wis.) Public Library officials demanding that the library rescind its cancellation of a showing of the 2010 anti-abortion documentary, BloodMoney. The letter claims that the First Amendment rights of the sponsoring group, Wausau 40 Days for Life, were violated. Library Director Ralph Illick had canceled the screening, scheduled for April 3 in a library meeting room, citing policy (PDF file) that the controversial topic would interfere with normal use of the library....
Wausau (Wis.) Daily Herald, Mar. 29; LifeNews.com, Mar. 25

ACLU to schools: Stop filtering LGBT content
The American Civil Liberties Union sent letters (PDF file) March 28 to schools in Missouri and Michigan, telling them to stop blocking students’ access to educational websites about gay, lesbian, and transgender issues. Besides letters to the North Kansas City (Mo.) School District and Rochester (Mich.) Community Schools, the ACLU is sending requests for information about web filtering programs to school districts in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Wisconsin, and Washington. The Missouri district blamed a technical problem for blocked sites, and the Michigan district said it is looking into the matter....
Associated Press, Mar. 28

Google settles FTC privacy charges over Buzz
Google has agreed to establish a comprehensive privacy program to settle allegations that last year’s launch of Google Buzz, a foray by the web giant into social networking, initially shared more information than users reasonably expected. The settlement agreement with the Federal Trade Commission does not admit any wrongdoing but includes regular reports on Google’s privacy practices for the next 20 years that will be prepared by an independent professional. Read the FTC’s Q&A on Twitter about implementation....
CNET News: Privacy Inc., Mar. 30; Federal Trade Commission, Mar. 30

Decision on Mom’s Having a Baby
After weeks of a review process, the Hillsborough County (Fla.) Public Library System has ruled that a controversial children’s book will stay on public library shelves. The book is called My Mom’s Having a Baby by Dori Butler. Because of parent complaints, the library reviewed the book to see whether it was appropriate. Manager of Materials and Circulation Marcee Challencer said the book will stay in its collection and continue to be cataloged in the juvenile section....
WFTS-TV, Tampa, Fla., Mar. 29

Santa Clarita can privatize
The city of Santa Clarita, California’s controversial plan to privatize its public libraries has cleared a big legal hurdle with the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by residents trying to hold up the transfer. Officials said the city intends to kick off its municipal library system on July 1. In mid-March, Superior Court Judge Barbara Scheper dismissed a lawsuit claiming the city had violated the state Education Code when the council voted to secede from the county library system. The city has contracted with LSSI to operate its libraries in Valencia, Canyon Country, and Newhall....
Los Angeles Daily News, Mar. 23

Newport Beach ponders a bookless branch
The Newport Beach (Calif.) Public Library is considering closing its Balboa branch and replacing it with a community center that would offer all the same features, except for the books. Instead of a reference librarian, patrons would be greeted by a kiosk equipped with video-calling software that allows them to speak with employees elsewhere. And books, when ordered, would be dropped off at a locker for pickup. The transition toward an all-electronic library has been nudged along by budget cuts....
Los Angeles Times, Mar. 29; Newport Beach (Calif.) Daily Pilot, Mar. 24

Budget cuts have school librarian packing for Nepal
Jennifer Alevy was tired of feeling underappreciated and always looking over her shoulder for a pink slip, so she decided this year to trade her life and job in America for someplace that truly wanted her. So long, USA and the Adams County (Colo.) School District 12; hello, Nepal. Alevy, 44, begins work as a librarian at the K–12 Lincoln School in Kathmandu in August. She’s part of a growing number of disenchanted American teachers who are being dumped by school districts in the throes of budget cuts....
Denver Post, Mar. 28

12-year-old saves DeKalb County library branch
DeKalb County (Ga.) Public Library’s Scott Candler branch in Decatur will temporarily remain open four days a week, thanks to 12-year-old Sekondi Landry. The branch had been scheduled to close April 1 because of budget cuts. After complaints from residents and a petition with 100 signatures collected by Landry, trustees decided to keep the library open. The library will monitor funding and decide June 30 if the library needs to close....
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Mar. 24

Fresno County librarians face layoffs
Fresno County, California, supervisors voted unanimously to lay off librarians in their efforts to save money. A total of 32 positions will be eliminated; 12 are currently vacant and will not be filled. The remaining 20 will consist of layoffs and retirements. The cuts mean supervising librarians will have more responsibilities, but the hope is that the impact on public services will be minimal. “It’s awful. It’s the last thing I want to do,” said Fresno County Librarian Laurel Prysiazny (above)....
KGPE-TV, Fresno, Calif., Mar. 22

Funding cuts may mean the end of Scripps Library
For the students, scientists, and public that frequent the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Library at the University of California, San Diego, Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed cuts could mean the end of an era: The largest library in the world dedicated to marine science will likely close this summer. The library, which was established in 1903 and moved to its current location in 1915, houses some of the world’s oldest and rarest archives of oceanographic history. Some faculty members have voiced opposition in a letter that was sent out on March 21....
La Jolla (Calif.) Village News, Mar. 25

Odds stacked against Detroit-area libraries
The May 1 closing of the 40,000-square-foot, 49-year-old Troy (Mich.) Public Library, one of the busiest statewide with a circulation of 1.36 million items and 700,000 annual visits, is a stark reminder of painful budget choices facing communities across metropolitan Detroit. In Wayne County, the Romulus city library closes the same day, after a February millage vote to save it failed. Throughout the region, many other public libraries have reduced hours and services....
Detroit News, Mar. 26

Shirley believes in books behind bars
Glennor Shirley (right), head librarian for Maryland prisons, is responsible for the rows of books behind the barbed-wire fences at Western Correctional Institution in Cumberland and 16 other state prison libraries. The inmate behind the reference desk, a convicted murderer, asks her, “Remember when you locked me in a room until I learned how to use that computer [a Commodore 64]?” Murderers, rapists, thieves, and drug dealers have been relying on Miss Shirley, as she is always called by library visitors, for more than two decades to get them novels, magazines, and textbooks. Watch the photo slideshow and video (1:00)....
Washington Post, Mar. 25

Grand jury joins East Chicago library inquiry
A federal grand jury has joined the investigation into reports that computerized records of the East Chicago (Ind.) Public Library turned up missing after trustees fired Library Director Manuel Montalvo March 16. Library officials received a subpoena March 24 from U.S. Attorney David Capp ordering testimony before the specially convened grand jury in Hammond on April 6. Specifically sought through the subpoena are copies of video surveillance recordings. Montalvo and former library board member Ricardo Garcia filed a lawsuit March 29 seeking to get their positions back....
Times of Northwest Indiana, Mar. 25, 29

It’s tracking your every move
A favorite pastime of internet users is to share their location: Services like Google Latitude can inform friends when you are nearby; another, Foursquare, has turned reporting these updates into a game. But as German Green party politician Malte Spitz recently learned, we are already continually being tracked whether we volunteer to be or not....
New York Times, Mar. 26

Skokie’s bookmobile a huge hit
If readers in Skokie, Illinois, can’t get to their nationally renowned public library during their busy week, they have no fear. The library comes to them. That’s been the case for more than 50 years, but the Skokie bookmobile has never been more popular than it is right now. It’s an often forgotten part of what makes this library so special and has earned it accolades throughout the state and beyond....
Skokie (Ill.) Review, Mar. 28

Belleville cancels homeless man’s library card
A homeless man whose story was told in the local newspaper says library staff confiscated his library card because they found out from the article that he doesn’t have an address. Steven J. Johnson lost his job and apartment last summer, so he now spends his days at the Belleville (Ill.) Public Library’s main branch before sleeping in his car each night. When he handed over his card to to use a computer March 21, library staff told him it was invalid because he no longer has a current address. Nearly a dozen people have contacted the paper, offering to pay for his card. Trustees will revisit the policy April 14....
Belleville (Ill.) News-Democrat, Mar. 21, 26, 28

High school student wins library card design contest
West Salem High School student Morgan Spangrud’s design was the first-place selection for the Teen Library Card contest sponsored by Salem (Oreg.) Public Library and Chemeketa Community College. The design will be used on new teen library cards. It was officially unveiled March 18 during the grand opening of the library’s new teen space....
Salem (Oreg.) Statesman Journal, Mar. 25

A man, a library, and Maury Povich
Police say Dallas W. Manners, 23, of Harrison, Michigan, became desperate after an appearance on The Maury Povich Show, during which he revealed to his online mistress from Midland that he had been participating in another ongoing relationship. His attempts to rekindle the cyber-love affair—which fizzled after the show appearance—led him on March 12 to steal from the Harrison District Library several computers (and some cash, books, and DVDs) with which he intended to message his online girlfriend. After he was released on bond March 15, he broke into the library again for another computer and this time he was caught on surveillance camera (above)....
Saginaw (Mich.) News, Mar. 23; WNEM-TV, Flint, Mich., Mar. 25

Trenton Central High School in shambles
How would you like it if your child sat in classrooms where the ceilings literally collapse from water damage and buckets dot the floor to catch the leaks? That’s how bad conditions are at Trenton (N.J.) Central High School. In the library, where it also leaks when it rains, the librarian keeps a mousetrap on her desk. “The mice have run across the kids as they’re sitting in here, they’ve run across the desks. So we catch the mice and get rid of them,” librarian Nancy Lee said....
WPVI-TV, Philadelphia, Mar. 23

Not every cat can be a Dewey
Free to a good home: a long-haired library cat that didn’t quite work out the way its literary counterpart, Dewey, did. Pam Collins, director of Musser Public Library in Muscatine, Iowa, thought she’d hit upon her own library cat superstar, a blonde feline that library staff call Kitty. The problem isn’t that Kitty is not well-loved or well-behaved; it’s the gang of fleas that Kitty transported to her new home. Kitty and company sent Collins into an allergic tailspin, a condition she did not know she had, even with two cats at home....
Muscatine (Iowa) Journal, Mar. 25

Maybe if they had a Cat-Library
Created by Belgian designer Corentin Dombrecht, the Cat-Library bookshelf is designed as much for cats as it is for human users, with a built-in sitting basket at the top and shelves that accommodate a cat-sized staircase. Made of birch, the shelf is intentionally unpainted and is not oiled, because Dombrecht observed that these finishes tend to make the staircase slippery for cat paws. The Cat-Library is not available for purchase yet, but it is making the rounds of design shows, including Milan Design Week in April. Watch the video (0:51)....
Designboom, Mar. 25; Corentin Dombrecht, Feb. 6

Vancouver to build a branch with single-mother housing
The neediest neighborhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, is getting a new library with housing attached for single mothers and children. Like its predecessor, which was built with the assistance of philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in 1903, the new Vancouver Public Library Strathcona branch has been funded with the help of others. In this case, the YWCA and several nonprofit groups are behind a plan to add up to 20 units of housing for single mothers and their children....
Vancouver (B.C.) Sun, Mar. 23

Go back to the Top

ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans, June 23–28, 2011.

Actress Molly Shannon will be the Closing General Session speaker, Tuesday morning, June 28. Shannon’s debut children’s book Tilly the Trickster will be published in September by Abrams Books for Young Readers.

Library of Congress Selects 25 Films for Preservation Have You Filed Your 2010 Federal Individual Income Tax Return? by Carlon B. Walker Libraries of the Future Great Songs and the Artists Who Created Them: Laura Nyro's And When I Die Andre Dubus III: The Worst Time for Budget Cuts (video) Libraries Present Louisa May Alcott, the Woman Behind Little Women Golden Age of Television Reflects Post-War Culture Join Us on Facebook Subscribe to our Newsletter