What comes after victory
Beverly Goldberg writes: “Congratulations, Libraryland! School library boosters hit the 25,000-signature threshold January 31 on the White House petition urging that every child in America have access to an effective school library program. You’ve got the attention of the Executive Branch now, and the White House staff will review the petition, ensure that it is sent to the appropriate policy experts, and issue an official response. But the work is far from done.”...
AL: Inside Scoop, Jan. 31; Public Information Office, Jan. 31

O sister library, where art thou?
April Ritchie writes: “What if libraries, like sisters, could be there for one another? What if public libraries with more resources partnered with underfunded ones to help them reach their fullest potential? A new model for enhancing library services in these more vulnerable areas is emerging in Kentucky, a state with libraries at both ends of the economic spectrum.”...
American Libraries feature

On My Mind: We need Copyright 2.0
Neal Starkey writes: “I applaud the hard work of everyone who has tackled the thorny issues confronting libraries in the increasingly hostile ebook environment in which we find ourselves. However, I believe we are missing an essential component in any solution: copyright law reform.”...
American Libraries column, Jan./Feb.

Technology in Practice: Providing the tools
Meredith Farkas writes: “Over the past few years, libraries have begun positioning themselves as the go-to place for digital-creation technologies, providing hardware and software that most people wouldn’t have at home. By providing these creative tools to their patrons, libraries fill a valuable niche in the community, a niche consistent with their historical commitment to bridging gaps in technology access.”...
American Libraries column, Jan./Feb.

Midwinter video roundup
Watch video interviews with the Occupy Wall Street librarians (23:21), Jamal Joseph (20:35), Carl Harvey on the White House petition (3:07), the ALA Presidential Candidates Forum (43:42), Carl Lennertz on World Book Night (5:57), Francey Harris of YALSA (1:43), three Emerging Leaders (2:29), and Shana McDanold and Andromeda Yelton (on the right, above) on the Code Year Interest Group (5:03)....
AL Focus, Jan. 23–31; ALA Membership Blog, Jan. 27

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Random House also agrees to meet with ALA
ALA President Molly Raphael (in center, at right) writes: “As reported to ALA Council at the ALA Midwinter Meeting, I will be leading an ALA delegation next week to meet separately with Penguin, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster. I am now pleased to announce that Random House has invited ALA leadership to meet with them as well. The four meetings involve senior executives at these publishing houses.”...
AL: E-Content, Jan. 26

Register for National Library Legislative Day
The 2012 National Library Legislative Day will be held April 23–24 at the Liaison Hotel in Washington, D.C. Online registration is now open, and an ALA group rate is available for a room at the hotel. Find out who your state coordinator is here....
District Dispatch, Jan. 31

Civic reflection builds community connections
The Public Programs Office will present a day-and-a-half preconference during the ALA 2012 Annual Conference in Anaheim, California, June 21–22. Titled “Civic Reflection Builds Community Connections: A Program Model for Libraries,” the event will train participants in dialogue facilitation skills that have proven successful in strengthening partnerships, building effective teams across departments, and raising the profile of the library. Register online....
Public Programs Office, Jan. 31

COA announces accreditation actions
The ALA Committee on Accreditation announced that it has awarded continued accreditation status to programs at UCLA, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Kent State University, Rutgers, and St. John’s University. Conditional status was granted to Queens College, City University of New York....
Committee on Accreditation, Feb. 1

Share your National Library Week ideas
How do you plan on promoting your library this National Library Week? Share your ideas and you could win a set of National Library Week themed promotional materials. As the “You belong @ your library” theme suggests, promotional ideas should reflect a wide variety of library users and show that the library is a place for everyone. The submission deadline is February 15....
Campaign for America’s Libraries, Jan. 31

ALA, AILA oppose restrictions on ethnic and cultural studies
ALA Council has adopted a resolution that “condemns the restriction of access to educational materials associated with ethnic and cultural studies programs.” The resolution, adopted January 24 at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Dallas, urges the Arizona legislature to repeal sections of a statute that removes ethnic studies from school curricula. The American Indian Library Association has also issued a statement (PDF file)....
Public Information Office, Jan. 31; American Indian Library Association, Jan. 31

New initiative: Días de Cine Reading Club
The Días de Cine Reading Club is an initiative sponsored by the America Reads Spanish program and ALA to promote literature and the Spanish language in American libraries and universities. The program is free. To participate, libraries must register and send the form provided at the America Reads Spanish website to receive a password that will allow you to enjoy, legally and free of charge, public viewing of the movie of the week via online streaming in your library or university....
America Reads Spanish

ALA resolution on restrictive access by publishers
ALA Council has adopted a resolution that “opposes any discriminatory policies of publishers and distributors which adversely impact access to content by library users.” The resolution, adopted January 24 at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Dallas, directs the Digital Content in Libraries Working Group to review the situation....
Public Information Office, Jan. 31

ALA welcomes FCC changes in digital literacy training
ALA welcomes the January 31 Federal Communications Commission order (PDF file) that will reform the Lifeline program. ALA has been monitoring this proceeding and notes that the FCC will be issuing a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to address the need for digital literacy training in libraries and schools as part of Chairman Genachowski’s ongoing broadband adoption initiatives....
Office for Information Technology Policy, Jan. 31

All about the ALA Executive Board
Bobbi Newman writes: “Several people contacted me and asked me to elaborate on the Executive Board process and experience. It seems odd to me that there isn’t more information about the process, especially from past candidates. No one said I couldn’t talk about it and since I have been very transparent over the years about my professional endeavors, I thought I would share what I know and reflect on the experience—and use this as an opportunity to encourage you to become (more) involved.”...
Librarian by Day, Jan. 31

40 students chosen for Student to Staff program
Forty ALA Student Chapter members were nominated by their schools and were accepted to assist ALA staff during the 2012 ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim. In exchange for working four hours a day (or a total of 16 hours), these students participating in the ALA Student to Staff Program receive free conference registration, housing, and a per diem for meal expenses....
ALA Membership Blog, Jan. 31

ALA financial learning webcasts
The ALA Finance and Accounting and Governance offices, along with members of the Budget Analysis and Review Committee, have created a series of webcasts in the ALA Financial Learning Series. They offer a basic understanding of ALA’s finances and how the budget affects all program areas and units of the Association....
ALA Finance and Accounting

Hello, goodbye, see you next time
Nicole Pagowsky writes: “After getting home from the Midwinter Meeting, I posted on Facebook that for anyone else having conference withdrawal, #libchat (a weekly, informal discussion on Wednesdays from 8 to 9:30 p.m. Eastern time for librarians and info professionals) was about to start on Twitter. The last day of the conference is always bittersweet. It’s usually the day I have some of the best conversations because fewer people are around.”...
ALA Membership Blog, Jan. 26

An essential guide to copyright law
Drawing on cutting-edge case law in 18 discrete areas of copyright, including specialized and controversial music and sound-recording issues, Copyright Law for Librarians and Educators: Creative Strategies and Practical Solutions by Kenneth D. Crews has just been released by ALA Editions. In this third edition, Crews has completely revised his classic text to remap the territory with fresh, timely insights....
ALA Editions, Jan. 27

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Create a new atmosphere
On February 23, PLA will host a live, hour-long webinar, “Creating Dynamic Library Atmospheres: What We Can Learn from Theater, Retail, Museums, and the Container Store,” as part of the division’s “Public Libraries at Work” monthly webinar series. The deadline to register is February 21....
PLA, Jan. 31

Spring session of “Turning the Page 2.0”
Registration has opened for the spring 2012 session (week of March 19–week of April 23) of “Turning the Page 2.0,” a free, online advocacy training program for public libraries, developed and presented by PLA with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The session will begin with an optional, in-person kick-off on March 13 at the PLA 2012 Conference in Philadelphia....
PLA, Jan. 31

Reference interview course registration closes February 2
Registration closes February 2 for the next offering of “The Reference Interview”—an asynchronous online course offered by RUSA, February 6–March 16. This popular course is perfect for public librarians, academic librarians, and library support staff interested in learning reference basics or getting a refresher in reference interview skills....
RUSABlog, Feb. 1

Power up your teen programs
Learn new ways to bring more teens into the school and public library in “Power Programming,” YALSA’s popular online CEU-approved course that offers up-to-date ideas for programming, from simple, self-running contests to reading celebrations. The self-paced course is taught by Amy Alessio, teen coordinator at the Schaumburg Township (Ill.) District Library. It will take place February 5 to March 6....
YALSA, Jan. 31

Integrate technology into your library
Technology is part of the everyday life experience for most teens—and by integrating it with standard teen services, librarians can better serve and support teens’ learning needs. Find out how in “Connect, Create, Collaborate: Support Teen Needs with Technology,” a new YALSA online CEU-approved course offered February 6 to March 19....
YALSA, Jan. 31

Release your inner leader
AASL will present the third of its Knowledge Quest webinar series on February 13. Presented by Carolyn Jo Starkey (right), “Releasing Your Inner Leader: Spinning 21st Century Evaluations and Professional Development into Stronger School Relationships,” will examine how collaborative cultures are transforming professional development in new and inspiring ways. Register here....
AASL, Jan. 31

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Kaufman named Academic/Research Librarian of the Year
Paula T. Kaufman (right), university librarian and professor of library administration at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is ACRL’s 2012 Academic/Research Librarian of the Year. The award, sponsored by YBP Library Services, recognizes an outstanding member of the library profession who has made a significant national or international contribution to academic or research librarianship and library development. She will receive the $5,000 award at the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim....
ACRL, Jan. 27

2012 Excellence in Academic Libraries Award winners
ACRL has named the three winners of its 2012 Excellence in Academic Libraries Award: Champlain College Library (right) in Burlington, Vermont; Grand Valley State University Libraries in Allendale, Michigan; and Seattle Central Community College Library. The award recognizes the staff of a college, university, and community college library for programs that deliver exemplary services and resources to further the educational mission of the institution....
ACRL, Jan. 26

Youth Media Awards winners post YouTube videos
Several of this year’s ALA Youth Media Awards winners and honorees have expressed their appreciation by posting videos to the YMA YouTube channel. Watch videos from such award winners as Duncan Tonatiuh, Guadalupe Garcia McCall, Josh Schneider, and Steve Sheinkin (right)....
Public Information Office, Jan. 31

No morning TV for Newbery/Caldecott winners
A longstanding tradition was broken in 2011. The winners of the Newbery and Caldecott Awards were not invited to appear on the Today Show the day after the announcements. They were snubbed again in 2012, despite ALA’s efforts to reach out to the shows. The winners were not overlooked by NPR, however, which featured an interview with Caldecott medalist Chris Raschka on All Things Considered and Newbery medalist Jack Gantos, who appeared on Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! on January 28....
Early Word: The Publisher | Librarian Connection, Jan. 29; Publishers Weekly, Jan. 24; NPR: All Things Considered, Jan. 23; NPR: Wait Wait...Don’t Tell Me, Jan. 28

2012 ALSC Distinguished Service Award
Linda A. Perkins is the 2012 recipient of the ALSC Distinguished Service Award that honors an individual who has made significant contributions to library service to children and to ALSC. She was cited for her role as a champion of the Pura Belpré Award during her three terms on the ALSC board of directors....
ALSC, Jan. 31

MAE Award for Best Literature Program for Teens
YALSA has awarded Allison Cabaj (right), media specialist at Riverside Brookfield (Ill.) High School, the 2012 MAE Award for Best Literature Program for Teens. The MAE Award provides $500 to the recipient and $500 to the recipient’s library and is sponsored by the Margaret A. Edwards Trust. Cabaj built a blog and created a contest where the whole school could come together to talk about specific award-winning books....
YALSA, Jan. 26

2012 Best Fiction for Young Adults
YALSA has announced its 2012 list of Best Fiction for Young Adults. This year’s list of 112 books was drawn from 211 official nominations and comprises a wide range of genres and styles, including contemporary realistic fiction, fantasy, horror, historical fiction, and novels in verse....
YALSA, Jan. 26

2012 Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults
YALSA has announced its 2012 list of Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, drawn from 219 official nominations. This year’s list of 99 titles is divided into four topics: adventure seekers, forbidden romance, get your geek on, and sticks and stones....
YALSA, Jan. 27

2012 Quick Picks for Reluctant YA Readers
YALSA announced its 2012 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers booklist at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Dallas. The Quick Picks list suggests books that teens, ages 12–18, will pick up on their own and read for pleasure; it is geared to the teenager who, for whatever reason, does not like to read....
YALSA, Jan. 27

2012 Notable Children’s Videos
ALSC has selected its 2012 list of Notable Children’s Videos. The list includes videos for children 14 years of age and younger that exhibit especially commendable quality, show respect for children’s intelligence and imagination, and reflect and encourage the interests of children in exemplary ways....
ALSC, Jan. 30

2012 Notable Videos for Adults
The ALA Video Round Table has selected its 2012 Notable Videos for Adults, a list of 15 outstanding programs released on video within the past two years and suitable for all libraries serving adults. Its purpose is to call attention to recent video releases that make a significant contribution to the world of video recordings....
Video Round Table, Jan. 30

Apply for ALA President’s Award for Advocacy
Applications for the ALA President’s Award for Advocacy, sponsored by ALTAFF, are due March 15. The award of $1,000 honors and recognizes statewide advocacy for libraries, and is to be used for the development of a program or programs for Friends and trustees at a state library association conference....
ALTAFF, Jan. 31

Diversity Research Grant proposals
The ALA Office for Diversity is seeking proposals for its Diversity Research Grant program. Applications may address any diversity topic—including the recruitment and promotion of diverse individuals within the profession or the provision of library services to diverse populations—that addresses critical gaps in the knowledge of diversity issues within library and information science. The application deadline is April 30....
Office for Diversity, Jan. 27

Grants for Smart Investing @ your library
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Investor Education Foundation and ALA have announced $1.2 million in grants to 16 recipients as part of the Smart Investing @ your library initiative. The program, now in its fifth year, funds library efforts to provide patrons with effective, unbiased educational resources about personal finance and investing. Recipients will use the funds to implement programs that will increase patrons’ access to and understanding of financial information....
RUSA, Jan. 25

Apply for an Innovations in Reading Prize
Each year, the National Book Foundation awards a number of prizes of up to $2,500 each to individuals and institutions—or partnerships between the two—that have developed innovative means of creating and sustaining a lifelong love of reading. Important criteria are creativity, risk-taking, and vision, as well as a novel way of presenting books and literature. Applications must be postmarked by February 21....
National Book Foundation

Upcoming grants by deadline
The Public Programs Office’s Programming Librarian is offering a list of grants arranged by deadline (and by date added). Upcoming grants are being offered by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, the Computer Science Collaboration Project, MetLife Foundation, and the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation....
Programming Librarian website

2011 Costa Book of the Year
On January 24, Andrew Miller won the £30,000 ($47,058 US) Costa Book of the Year Award for his novel Pure, set in a Parisian cemetery in the days before the French Revolution. It tells the story of a young engineer sent to Paris on the orders of the king to demolish an ancient cemetery that is overflowing with the dead. The award is given to books of high literary merit that convey the enjoyment of reading to the widest possible audience....
BBC News, Jan. 24

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Twitter censorship move sparks controversy
David Kravets writes: “Internet scorn for Twitter’s January 26 announcement that it would censor tweets was swift and unforgiving. But even free-speech and other experts were divided on the service’s move that it might censor tweets if required by law in ‘countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression.’”...
Wired: Threat Level, Jan. 27; Washington Post, Jan. 27; Twitter Blog, Jan. 26

Senators, witnesses slam amendment to video privacy law
Changing the Video Privacy Protection Act to allow companies to obtain blanket consent to share customers’ viewing choices would gut one of the government’s most effective privacy laws, according to witnesses and lawmakers at a January 31 hearing by the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law. Read the statement by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)....
The Hill, Jan. 31

Privacy, technology, and law
Barry Friedman writes: “Every day, those of us who live in the digital world give little bits of ourselves away. On Facebook and LinkedIn. To servers that store our email, Google searches, online banking, and shopping records. Does the fact that so many of us live our lives online mean we have given the government wide-open access to all that information?”...
New York Times Sunday Review, Jan. 28

Libraries, sexual content, and the internet
ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom Director Barbara Jones writes: “Recent sensational media reports about ‘porn in libraries’ do not reflect the reality of library services today or promote meaningful dialogue in our communities. The librarian’s job is to balance the community’s First Amendment rights to information with the desire to provide a welcoming and information-rich space for all. And libraries have the tools to create this balance.”...
Huffington Post, Jan. 25

7-year-old boy leads charge for a new library
A 7-year-old in Wisconsin says his village needs a new library, and he is sacrificing his allowance to help. Every week Orfordville’s Benjamin Jackson sets aside $2 in an envelope, delivering his donations to the library where fundraising for a bigger building has gone on for years. Orfordville’s small library is out of shelf space. Staffers say when they get a new book, they have to take another off the shelf and set it aside for a spring book sale. Watch the video (2:16)....
WMTV, Madison, Wis., Jan. 27

1st-graders help save librarian
A group of 1st-grade students at Piper Elementary School in Kansas City, Kansas, were listening to stories in the library January 10 when librarian Linda Hosch (right) collapsed and stopped breathing. A few of the students went to see if they could help her, while a few others rushed to the office to get help. Staff members came to the library and began to administer CPR until firefighters arrived to take over. She is now recovering at home. The school held an assembly January 27 to honor the 1st-grade class....
KMBC-TV, Kansas City, Mo., Jan. 25; WDAF-TV, Kansas City, Mo., Jan. 28

Art project helps NYPL introduce 3D stereograph collection
The New York Public Library has released a new website called The Stereogranimator, which allows patrons to create their own animated files or 3D images from the library’s collection of stereographs, a popular 19th-century photo format. The web project gives this important historic medium new life and also highlights the work of NYPL patron Joshua Heineman, who started creating his own moving images from library stereograms as an art project for his blog....
Huffington Post, Jan. 26

National Library books inspire new poetry collection in Wales
Some of Wales’s most cherished national treasures have become the inspiration for a new collection of poetry featuring the nation’s most esteemed writers. The book will be the world’s first anthology of “sestudes”—a new literary form of 62 words devised especially for the projects from which the book has arisen. A spokesman for the 26 Treasures project said, “The aim of the project was to tell the stories behind the objects and inspire visitors to the library (or viewers of the collections online) to see the treasures in a new light.”...
Cardiff (Wales) Western Mail, Jan. 26

Videogamers embark on nonkilling spree
Conor Dougherty writes: “Videogames have long been assailed for their violent themes and gruesome imagery. But a small slice of players has embraced a new strategy: not killing. They are imparting real-world morals on their virtual-world characters and completing entire games on a ‘pacifist run’—the term for beating a blood-and-guts adventure without drawing any blood.” Watch the video (3:01)....
Wall Street Journal, Jan. 31

Digital Learning Day resources from the New York Times
Katherine Schulten writes: “For February 1, the inaugural Digital Learning Day, a ‘nationwide celebration of innovative teaching and learning through digital media and technology,’ we’ve combed the Times’s archives to find articles from 1970 to 2002 on the impact of the digital revolution on education. Here’s just a quick glance at the quotes we’ve pulled—on the ‘digital divide,’ the educational value of the internet, whether machines can replace teachers, if computers are changing the way we think, and how teens are making the internet their own.”...
New York Times, Jan. 30

Librarian in Black gets invite to the State of the Union
Sarah Houghton (right), acting director of the San Rafael (Calif.) Public Library and author of the Librarian in Black blog, said she didn’t expect to be among the 50-plus Twitter users selected for the 2012 State of the Union Tweetup when she applied on a whim. The Tweetup group got to tour the White House, meet with the US Chief Technology Officer, and live tweet the president’s State of the Union address....
San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News, Jan. 27

Folklorist’s global jukebox goes digital
Folklorist and ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax was a prodigious collector of traditional music from all over the world. Long before the internet existed, he envisioned a “global jukebox” to disseminate and analyze the material he had gathered during decades of fieldwork. A decade after his death, technology has finally caught up to Lomax’s imagination. His vast archive—some 5,000 hours of sound recordings, 400,000 feet of film, 3,000 videotapes, 5,000 photographs, and piles of manuscripts—is being digitized so that the collection can be accessed online....
New York Times, Jan. 30

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Join your colleagues in Anaheim, California, for the ALA Annual Conference, June 21–26. Early bird registration is now open.

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