Displays that move the merchandise
Alan Jacobson writes: “Displays are hit or miss. So often we throw together a bunch of books on a theme. In our flurry to pull just the right items and create beautiful signage to market the display, we get lost in the process and fail to ask ourselves important questions. Will patrons find this useful? Should it be permanent? A new method of approaching displays is called for.”...
American Libraries feature

On My Mind: Returning the love
Sarah Prielipp writes: “Librarians love their patrons; it’s why we do everything we do. But do our patrons really know that our efforts to save libraries, to maintain (and increase) funding, and to reevaluate our role in society as a common good do not stem from a purely selfish desire to save our jobs and paychecks, but from honestly wanting to continue providing them with these services, programs, and classes? I propose a new marketing campaign for libraries: We Love Our Patrons.”...
American Libraries column, Mar./Apr.

Tools of Change Conference, day 1
Kate Sheehan writes: “Greetings from the Tools of Change for Publishing Conference 2012 in New York, put together by O’Reilly Media (which publishes the computer books with the pen-and-ink drawings of animals on the covers). This is my second publishing conference this year, and it has been fascinating to look at ebooks from the publishing perspective. The first day of TOC opened with actor and director LeVar Burton (right) as the keynote speaker.”...
AL: Perpetual Beta, Feb. 15

Outside/In: Create a library tech shop
David Lee King and Michael Porter write: “We librarians are experts at collecting. Our jobs, our departments, our very buildings have been designed to acquire content. There is, however, another side to content that many libraries haven’t yet fully explored, and that is content creation. Here are three different but connected areas where libraries can supply the tools for creating content: digital media labs, hackerspaces, and coworking spaces.”...
American Libraries column, Mar./Apr.

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Penguin drops OverDrive; ALA responds
Christopher Harris writes: “Penguin announced that as of February 10 its books will no longer be available on OverDrive. In its statement released February 9, the publishing group reaffirmed its commitment to ALA and libraries. My interpretation of this is that Penguin is joining others in expressing dissatisfaction with the OverDrive model.” In a February 10 statement, ALA President Molly Raphael wrote: “Despite this discouraging development, we are hopeful that Penguin will continue to seek a solution to make its titles available to libraries.”...
AL: E-Content, Feb. 10

LSTA level-funded in FY2013 budget request
President Obama’s proposed FY2013 budget has requested $184.7 million in Library Services and Technology Act funding to be administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. This request is equal to the current funding level. ALA President Molly Raphael stated: “The President’s proposal demonstrates the administration’s recognition that libraries are part of the solution for our economic recovery.” However, the budget also leaves out literacy money under the Fund for Improvement of Education and consolidates Improving Literacy through School Libraries with five other literacy programs....
Office of Government Relations, Feb. 13–14

Pro-open access legislation introduced
On February 9, members of the US Senate and US House of Representatives introduced identical bills with bipartisan support aimed at improving access to federally funded research. The Senate bill and House bill—both called the Federal Research Public Access Act of 2012—are essentially identical to legislation introduced in previous Congresses dating back to 2006. Nine library, publishing, and research organizations (including ALA and ACRL) sent a letter to legislators February 14 in support of FRPAA (PDF file)....
District Dispatch, Feb. 10; INFOdocket, Feb. 14

Petition candidates for Council
ALA has released the names of 22 individuals who will be running as petition candidates for positions on the ALA Council. The election will open at 9 a.m. Central time on March 19 and close on April 27 at 11:59 p.m. Central time. Biographical information on all candidates for councilor-at-large can be found online....
Office of ALA Governance, Feb. 15

ALA gears up for 2012 election
Polls will open at 9 a.m. Central time on March 19 for the ALA annual election. Gina J. Millsap and Barbara K. Stripling are the candidates for the 2013–2014 presidency. Results will be released on May 4....
Public Information Office, Feb. 14

Two new ALA Endowment trustees
Kate Nevins, executive director and chief executive officer of Lyrasis, and Rod Hersberger, dean emeritus of the California State University–Bakersfield Library, have been appointed to serve as ALA’s newest Endowment trustees. Their three-year terms will officially begin on June 27 at the conclusion of the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, California....
Public Information Office, Feb. 15

Sapphire to talk about The Kid at Annual Conference
Sapphire, the author of the bestselling novel Push, will appear in the Auditorium Speaker Series at the 2012 ALA Annual Conference on June 24. She will introduce attendees to her recent novel, The Kid (Penguin, 2011), which brings readers deep into the interior life of Abdul Jones, son of Precious....
Conference Services, Feb. 14

Fourth chat in job search series
How many channels are you using to get that next job? If you are only responding to posted job ads by sending out a résumé and then hoping to get a call or an interview, it’s not enough. You can do much more to take control of your search and make it more effective. Join the ALA JobLIST Placement Center on March 22 (Note: this has been rescheduled) to find out more. This online chat will focus on social media tools and other strategies. Register now....
Human Resource Development and Recruitment, Feb. 13

Censorship battles from the front lines
Intellectual freedom is a core value of librarianship, but fighting to keep controversial materials on the shelves can sometimes feel like a lonely battle. True Stories of Censorship Battles in America’s Libraries, edited by Valerie Nye and Kathy Barco, compiles dozens of stories from the library front lines, helping fortify and inform those in the fray. Published by ALA Editions, this collection touches on such prickly issues as age-appropriateness and some librarians’ temptations to preemptively censor....
ALA Editions, Feb. 9

Readers’ advisory guide to mysteries
The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Mystery, the second edition published by ALA Editions, has all the clues to help librarians solve the mystery of which titles readers should check out next. Authors John Charles, Candace Clark, Joanne Hamilton-Selway, and Joanna Morrison include several well-chosen book lists, practical programming ideas, and a new compendium of print and web-based resources....
ALA Editions, Feb. 14

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Revised statement on the role of the school library program
AASL has released an updated position statement on the role of the school library program. Approved by the AASL board at the 2012 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Dallas, the statement can be viewed on the AASL website....
AASL, Feb. 14

YALSA stirs up controversy over “Booze for Books”
Rocco Staino writes: “Youth librarians will soon be hosting cocktail parties to fundraise for books. That’s a goal of YALSA, which announced its first ‘Booze for Books’ event set for April 12. The division is asking people to host events that day to raise funds for its Books for Teens project, which provides new, age-appropriate books for at-risk youth. The initiative sparked a flurry of comments on the ALA Council discussion list and elsewhere, some in enthusiastic support of the initiative and others opposed.”...
School Library Journal, Feb. 11; YALSA Blog, Nov. 3, 2010, Feb. 9

Teen Tech Week publicity tools
School and public libraries can promote Teen Tech Week (March 4–10) with online resources offered by YALSA. The division has created a number of publicity resources for you to use: templates for press releases, public service announcement scripts, sample letters to the editor (one from teens, one from parents), and a proclamation....
YALSA, Feb. 14

New editor of RUSQ
Barry Trott (right), digital services director at Williamsburg (Va.) Regional Library and past president of RUSA, has been appointed incoming editor of Reference & User Services Quarterly. Effective July 1, Trott will take over for Diane Zabel, who has served as editor for the past six years and led the successful conversion of the journal from print to a completely digital format....
RUSA, Feb. 14

ACRL Spring Virtual Institute
Registration is now open for the ACRL 2012 Spring Virtual Institute, “Extending Reach, Proving Value: Collaborations Strengthen Communities.” To be held April 18–19, the institute will feature a keynote presentation, concurrent live webcasts, and asynchronous lightning talks, allowing for convenient scheduling and flexibility. John G. Palfrey Jr. (right), vice dean for library and information resources at Harvard Law School, will open the institute with a discussion on the Digital Public Library of America....
ACRL, Feb. 13

ACRL presidential candidates online forum
The 2012 candidates for ACRL vice president/president-elect will participate in an open online forum at 1 p.m. Central time on March 8. Trevor A. Dawes and Debbie Malone will discuss their platforms and vision for ACRL and field questions from the audience....
ACRL, Feb. 14

Transforming information literacy programs
ACRL has published Transforming Information Literacy Programs: Intersecting Frontiers of Self, Library Culture, and Campus Community, edited by Carroll Wetzel Wilkinson and Courtney Bruch as number 64 in the ACRL Publications in Librarianship series. The book offers fresh perspectives on the present and future of information literacy instruction from diverse points of view....
ACRL, Feb. 14

AASL preconferences
Preconferences offered by AASL prior to the 2012 ALA Annual Conference are designed to empower school librarians as education and technology leaders in their schools. These “bring your own device” workshops will be offered June 22 in Anaheim, California....
AASL, Feb. 14

School librarian retiree SIG
The AASL board has approved the creation of a special interest group for school librarian retirees. AASL members looking to join the new interest group should visit ALA Connect. The Retirees Special Interest Group will give school librarian retirees an opportunity to network with colleagues in person and virtually....
AASL, Feb. 14

Enter your library’s best publicity materials
It’s that time of year again—time to submit entries for the PR Xchange Best of Show competition sponsored by the LLAMA Public Relations and Marketing Section. Download the Best of Show entry form and FAQ (includes category options and submission guidelines) on the LLAMA website. Entries must be postmarked no later than March 16....
LLAMA, Feb. 14

Three libraries win YALSA’s Great Books Giveaway
YALSA has named Southeast Arkansas Regional Library in Monticello the winner of its annual Great Books Giveaway. The library will receive more than $20,000 in books, audiobooks, and other materials that publishers and producers sent to YALSA in 2011. The two runners-up are Jefferson High School in Edgewater, Colorado, and Barton Library in El Dorado, Arkansas....
YALSA, Feb. 14

YALSA Best of the Best website
Librarians, educators, parents, teens, and other YA literature enthusiasts who are looking for the best teen books and media of 2012 can find them online at YALSA’s new Best of the Best website. In addition to lists of YALSA’s awards and top 10 lists, the Best of the Best homepage includes promotional tools featuring the award-winning 2012 books....
YALSA, Feb. 8

Serving LGBTQ teens
For many teens who identify as LGBTQ, the library is a critical resource to help them explore their questions in a safe environment. Join Megan Honig on February 16 for YALSA’s “Serving LGBTQ Teens” webinar. Honig will explore who LGBTQ teens are and discuss their broad range of experiences. Register online....
YALSA, Feb. 8

Upcoming ASCLA webinars
ASCLA is hosting a multitude of webinars beginning this week that touch on such relevant topics as technology, library services to special populations, outreach services, facilitation, and collaboration. Register online now for these exciting webinars....
ASCLA, Feb. 14

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2012 Ross Atkinson Lifetime Achievement Award
Pamela Bluh, associate director for technical services and administration at the Thurgood Marshall Law Library of the University of Maryland, will be awarded the 2012 ALCTS Ross Atkinson Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored by EBSCO. She will receive a citation and $3,000. Bluh has a long and distinguished record of service to ALCTS and to other professional organizations....
ALCTS, Feb. 14

2012 George Cunha and Susan Swartzburg Preservation Award
ALCTS has selected Gregor Trinkaus-Randall (right) as the 2012 recipient of its George Cunha and Susan Swartzburg Preservation Award. Trinkaus-Randall will receive a citation and an award of $1,250 sponsored by Hollinger Metal Edge. As president of the Society of American Archivists, he was instrumentally involved in coordinating the organization’s response to Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita, and Hurricane Wilma....
ALCTS, Feb. 13

2012 Esther J. Piercy Award
ALCTS has named Timothy Strawn (right), director of information resources and archives at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, the winner of the 2012 Esther J. Piercy Award. The award recognizes the contributions to those areas of librarianship included in library collections and technical services by a librarian with no more than 10 years of professional experience....
ALCTS, Feb. 13

Beall selected for ALCTS Outstanding Publication Award
The ALCTS Outstanding Publication Award recipient for 2012 is Jeffrey Beall for his article “Academic Library Databases and the Problem of Word-Sense Ambiguity,” published in the Journal of Academic Librarianship 37 (January 2011): 64–69. Beall describes the article as emphasizing “the importance of high-quality metadata to efficient information retrieval.” He will receive a citation and $250....
ALCTS, Feb. 13

2012 WGSS Career Achievement Award
ACRL’s Women and Gender Studies Section has selected Ellen Greenblatt (right), scholarly communications librarian at the University of Colorado Denver’s Auraria Library, for its 2012 Career Achievement Award. The award honors significant longstanding contributions to women’s studies in the field of librarianship over the course of a career....
ACRL, Feb. 10

2012 Eli F. Oboler Award
The Intellectual Freedom Round Table has awarded the 2012 Eli M. Oboler Award to Evgeny Morozov for his book The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom (Public Affairs, 2011). Jim Teliha, chair of the Eli M. Oboler Award Committee, said Morozov was chosen because “he shows why we must stop thinking of the internet and social media as instant cures for repression.” The award, which consists of $500 and a certificate, is presented for the best published work in the area of intellectual freedom....
Office for Intellectual Freedom, Feb. 14

Gale Cengage Learning Financial Development Award
Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Public Library Foundation is the winner of the Gale Cengage Learning Financial Development Award. The award is presented annually to a library organization for exhibiting meritorious achievement in carrying out a project to secure new funding resources for a public or academic library. The foundation is leading Library 3.0, a capital campaign to raise the private funds necessary to build a new downtown library....
Office of ALA Governance, Feb. 14

2012 Maureen Hayes Award
ALSC has awarded its 2012 Maureen Hayes Author/Illustrator Visit Award to the Hartford (Conn.) Public Library. The award, sponsored by Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, is designed to provide up to $4,000 to an ALSC member library to fund a visit from an author or illustrator who will speak to children who might otherwise not have the opportunity. The author/illustrator will be featured at an evening event for the community at the downtown Hartford library....
ALSC, Feb. 13

Beth Kumar receives ALCTS First Step grant
Beth Kumar (right), e-resources and serials librarian at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, has received the 2012 First Step Award presented by the ALCTS Continuing Resources Section. John Wiley & Sons sponsors this $1,500 grant, which offers librarians new to the serials field an opportunity to broaden their perspective by attending an ALA Annual Conference....
ALCTS, Feb. 13

2012 Baker & Taylor conference grants
YALSA has awarded the 2012 Baker & Taylor / YALSA Conference Grants to Heather Schubert (Hill Country Middle School in Austin, Texas) and Susan J. Smallsreed (Northwest Library branch of the Multnomah County Library in Portland, Oregon). Each will receive up to $1,000 to attend the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, California. Recipients must be members of YALSA and have between one and 10 years experience working with teenagers....
YALSA, Feb. 8

New ALCTS “Transforming Collections” microgrants
ALCTS has launched a series of “Transforming Collections” microgrants in support of ALA’s goal of “providing leadership in the transformation of libraries and library services in a dynamic and increasingly global digital information environment.” Two microgrants up to $1,500 will be funded annually for small projects or research initiatives in support of transforming collections. Submit proposals by May 15 to Mary Beth Thomson....
ALCTS, Feb. 13

Apply for ALTAFF Baker & Tayor Awards
ALTAFF is accepting applications for the annual Baker & Taylor Awards, given to Friends groups and library foundations. Applications are due May 1....
ALTAFF, Feb. 14

Robert Darnton receives 2011 National Humanities Medal
President Barack Obama presented the 2011 National Humanities Medals to nine Americans February 13 for their outstanding achievements in history, literature, education, philosophy, and musicology. One medal went to Harvard University Library Director Robert Darnton (right) for his determination to make knowledge accessible to everyone. As a historian he has illuminated the world of Enlightenment and Revolutionary France, and as a librarian he has endeavored to create the Digital Public Library of America....
National Endowment for the Humanities, Feb. 10

Gernsheim catalog wins recognition
The Gernsheim Collection, copublished by the Harry Ransom Center and the University of Texas Press, has been awarded an Alfred H. Barr Jr. Award, which honors a distinguished exhibition catalog in the history of art published during the past year. Its publication coincided with the Ransom Center’s 2010 exhibition “Discovering the Language of Photography: The Gernsheim Collection,” which explored the history of photography....
Cultural Compass, Feb. 14

CMI Management Book of the Year
The Cult of the Leader (Wiley), written by Christopher Bones, was named CMI Management Book of the Year 2011/12 at a February 6 awards ceremony hosted by the British Library. Bones argues that businesses have been dragged into a talent war, where an ever-larger share of hard-won revenue is paid to a handful of senior executives. He calls this generation of ego-driven leaders the “L’Oreal generation.” The book competition is run by the UK’s Chartered Management Institute....
Chartered Management Institute, Feb. 7

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Bill aims to censor Arizona educators’ speech
A group of Republican state lawmakers is backing legislation that would require teachers to limit their speech to words in compliance with FCC regulations on what can be said on TV or radio. Senate Bill 1467, sponsored by Sen. Lori Klein (R-Anthem), establishes penalties for anyone teaching in a public preschool, K–12 school, community college, or university who violates the FCC standards, whether in the classroom or the teachers’ lounge. David Hudson of the First Amendment Center characterized the bill as “ridiculously overbroad,” “unnecessary,” and “unconstitutional.”...
Phoenix Arizona Republic, Feb. 12; MSNBC, Feb. 13

Harvard library offers buyouts
In a February 10 letter, Harvard University Provost Alan M. Garber announced a sweeping overhaul of its library system (PDF file), including the consolidation of services and the shuffling of many of its 900-plus employees. The college said the changes were necessary to bring the system up to speed in the digital era. Some 275 library employees, most of them 55 and over with 10 or more years’ experience, will be offered voluntary buyouts beginning February 15. On February 12, members of Occupy Harvard took over the Lamont Library Café, pledging to stay there five days in order to protest staff reductions....
Boston Globe, Feb. 13; Harvard Crimson, Feb. 14

Occupy Wall Street files a claim against the city
A member of the Occupy Wall Street movement filed a claim on behalf of the group February 9 alleging that New York City had damaged or destroyed $47,000 worth of books and other property while clearing its protest site at Zuccotti Park on November 15. The notice of claim, filed with the comptroller’s office, is a preliminary step toward lodging a civil lawsuit....
New York Times, Feb. 9

Lost in time @ the library
No one really knew how or when it got there. The bust had been sitting on a shelf in the Dixon (Ill.) High School library, collecting dust for at least 20 years, the district’s librarian, Madison Dhennin (right), told the school board February 8. The sculpture, titled “The Poet,” depicts the head of a man, and it was carved from marble by Belarusian-born artist Ossip Zadkine in 1942, Dhennin discovered through her research. And it’s worth as much as $50,000....
Dixon (Ill.) Telegraph, Feb. 9; WQAD-TV, Moline, Ill., Feb. 10

Connecticut State Library to the rescue
There are not many physical remnants of the Somers (Conn.) Congregational Church after a fire on New Year’s Day destroyed the 170-year-old building. The congregation is working to rebuild, but when it does, it will have the help of one of the rare items to escape destruction—the original building plans from 1842. Connecticut State Library Reference Librarian Carol Ganz said that after hearing about the fire in the news, she went to see what documents the library had and found handwritten notes relating to its construction....
Hartford (Conn.) Courant, Feb. 12

Seven misconceptions about how students learn
Valerie Strauss writes: “Many people—educators included—still cling to some of these misconceptions about learning because they base what they think on their own experiences in school, ignoring what 21st-century science and experience are revealing. Here are seven of the biggest myths about learning that, unfortunately, guide the way that many schools are organized in this era of standardized test-based public school reform.”...
Washington Post: The Answer Sheet, Feb. 14

CBC music library could be lost
For the past 32 years, archivist John MacMillan has cared for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s music library in Vancouver. Until now, producers and DJs have been able to visit the library’s 100,000-item collection to choose tracks to play on the CBC broadcasts that air from coast to coast. In January, MacMillan was informed that he would have to dismantle the entire archive by March 31....
Vancouver (B.C.) Sun, Feb. 14

Mining the margins of pop culture
Every morning Jim Linderman gets up in his home in Grand Haven, Michigan, grabs a cup of coffee, and sits down at his computer to blog. A former librarian and archivist, Linderman collects, researches, and writes about the marginal, the forgotten, and the not quite seemly in American folk art and popular culture. In his three blogs—Dull Tool Dim Bulb, Old Time Religion, and Vintage Sleaze—Linderman also discloses an underground history of American popular culture, one oddball tale at a time....
New York Times, Feb. 9

Library book sale yields novel romance
When septuagenarians Earl Liston and Jan Northrop volunteered to work a book sale at the Baxter County (Ark.) Library’s Donald W. Reynolds Library in 2011, they never thought their chance meeting would blossom into a friendship—much less a romance. Now, a year later, the two are planning their wedding. “There isn’t any better place to meet someone,” Northrop said. “You’re meeting the kind of people you want to know.”...
Baxter (Ark.) Bulletin, Feb. 14

Middletown Public Library the scene of Morbid Curiosity
Unexplained noises, chairs moving, and books unexplainedly falling from shelves—they’re part of the lore of the Middletown (Pa.) Public Library building. Producers of the A&E Network show Paranormal Activity were at the library February 3–4, filming what they hope might be a new 22-episode series that they are calling Morbid Curiosity. Head librarian Christine Porter (above) contacted the program to plug the library’s possibly paranormal attributes....
Harrisburg (Pa.) Patriot-News, Feb. 11

British Library starts archive project of video-game websites
Curators at the British Library have begun the process of archiving video-game websites to preserve gaming culture for future generations. The collection is managed by the digital curation and preservation staff at the library and will include walk-throughs, FAQs, maps drawn by gamers, reviews, pictures, and stories of game narratives. Library staff also plan to collect resources that discuss the cultural and societal impact of computer games, for example research on the impact of games on children’s development....
The Independent (UK), Feb. 13

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Bestselling author Sapphire—whose novel Push was adapted into the 2009 film Precious—will be part of the Auditorium Speaker Series at ALA Annual Conference, June 21–26.

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