Ebook talks continued: ALA meets with distributors
ALA President Molly Raphael prepared this summary of the meetings of members of the ALA Digital Content and Libraries Working Group with ebook distributors at the PLA Conference in Philadelphia, March 13–17, as well as a panel she moderated at the Association of American Publishers annual meeting. She writes: “We explored possibilities for collaboration to conceptualize and develop business models and improve everyone’s understanding of how library ebook lending advances the marketability and availability of titles for all.”...
AL: E-Content, Mar. 20

Directions to library wayfinding
Donald A. Barclay and Eric D. Scott write: “The word ‘wayfinding’ has multiple meanings, but the one that really matters to librarians comes from the field of architecture and is concerned with how human beings orient themselves and choose paths within a built environment. While architects typically have control over building identification and regulatory signage, library staff should have considerable control over directional and informational signs. Three considerations stand out when it comes to directional signage.”...
American Libraries feature

QR codes extend library programming
Tim Blevins writes: “The macabre postcard on the right depicting Willis and Sallie Skinner, prostrate among some rocks and covered by snow, is in fact an invitation to a film premiere from Pikes Peak (Colo.) Library District. The invitation also contained a QR code that, when scanned with a smartphone with the installed code-reader app, connected a user to a film trailer promoting the event. Although statistics indicated that only 2% of the nearly 2,000 postcard recipients scanned the QR code, PPLD’s Information Technology and Virtual Services Officer Carolyn Coulter didn’t consider the experiment a failure.”...
American Libraries feature

Merritt Fund aids a colleague in distress
John W. Berry writes: “As director of Hooper (Nebr.) Public Library, Karla Shafer (right) worked to transform the institution into a vital place in the community for six and a half years. Those efforts ended abruptly in 2010, however, when controversy erupted over Shafer’s teaching of English classes to immigrants in a nearby town on her days off. She resigned her position as the work environment became intolerable and then turned to ALA’s Merritt Humanitarian Fund for help.”...
American Libraries feature

Editor’s Letter: Of design, Danes, and daffodils
Laurie D. Borman writes: “What is your favorite library space? Perhaps a school library reading nook, or the august reading room from your university days, or maybe the balcony stacks in your hometown? The architectural design—and of course, a facility’s resources—draws you to these places and encourages you to stay awhile. That’s why American Libraries features new and newly renovated library buildings in our 2012 Library Design Showcase—to give you ideas to consider for your facility.”...
American Libraries column, Mar./Apr.

Libraries rising slowly in Haiti
Two years after a devastating earthquake, Leonard Kniffel visited Haiti to see how the rebuilding of libraries has progressed—and what still needs to be done. This video (4:54) summarizes what he found there. To contribute to the rebuilding efforts, visit the Haiti Library Relief website....
AL Focus, Mar. 19

American Libraries on Pinterest
American Libraries staffers have set up a Pinterest page that currently has four boards: Great Libraries of the World, some favorite Digital Libraries of the Week, segments of our 2012 Library Design Showcase, and selected magazine covers from both the print American Libraries and its digital supplements. Feel free to repin....
American Libraries Pinterest page

AL Direct sections revamped
As of this issue, the two general news areas in AL Direct, Seen Online and Actions & Answers, have been broken into three different topical sections: Libraries in the News (featuring articles about specific libraries and librarians); Issues (with stories covering such broad topics as copyright, privacy, legislation, and intellectual freedom); and Tips & Ideas (for practical advice, suggestions on programming and software, useful lists, and fun videos).

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2012 ALA elections are open
Voting in the 2012 ALA elections is now open. Through March 21, ALA will send emails to voters, providing them with their unique passcodes and information about how to vote online. The polls will close at 11:59 p.m. Central time on Friday, April 27....
Office of ALA Governance, Mar. 19

J. R. Martinez to speak at Closing General Session
Long before J. R. Martinez won legions of fans as the 2011 winner of Dancing With the Stars, he was inspiring audiences of all kinds with his remarkable story. Martinez will help end the 2012 ALA Annual Conference on a high note as the speaker at the Closing General Session on Tuesday, June 26, in the Anaheim Convention Center. His new book Full of Heart: My Story of Survival, Strength, and Spirit is scheduled to for publication in November....
Conference Services, Mar. 19

Raise scholarship funds when you visit Disneyland
ALA Annual Conference attendees can indulge their desire for some fun with friends in the Magic Kingdom June 21–26 and at the same time support ALA scholarships. ALA is sponsoring special discounted tickets for attendees to enjoy some evening hours at both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Parks. A portion of the money raised from these discounted tickets will provide scholarships for LIS graduate students, including Spectrum....
Conference Services, May 20

Denim and Diamonds Gala Dinner and Dance
The first annual Denim and Diamonds Gala Dinner and Dance to benefit the Reforma Educational Foundation will take place June 22 during the 2012 ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim. The foundation provides scholarships for Latino LIS students. The gala will take place at the Anaheim Plaza Hotel. Tickets are available through the Reforma website....
Office for Diversity, Mar. 20

Reporting challenges: A how-to video
The Office for Intellectual Freedom produced a short video (2:30) that explains the process of reporting challenges to library or school materials, and answers some common questions about what information OIF collects and what kind of assistance it provides. To report a challenge or download free “Defend the Freedom to Read” artwork, visit the ALA Challenges page....
OIF Blog, Mar. 20

National Library Workers Day, April 10
Since 2003, National Library Workers Day has been celebrated on the Tuesday of National Library Week. The day recognizes the contributions of all library workers, including librarians, support staff and others who make library services possible. The ALA–Allied Professional Association encourages those who will celebrate the day to nominate “star” library employees for public recognition....
ALA–Allied Professional Association, Mar. 16

East Carolina LIS students share the gift of literacy
Between Thanksgiving and the last days of December 2011, students in East Carolina University’s Department of Library Science, in Greenville, North Carolina, gathered 239 books and materials to donate to homeless shelters, after-school programs, hospitals, and libraries in communities throughout the state. This was the students’ sixth year participating in the ECU-ALA Student Chapter Holiday Book Drive....
ALA Student Membership Blog, Mar. 19

Learn to build a website with Joomla!
ALA Editions is offering a new facilitated eCourse, “Using Joomla! to Build Library Websites.” Jon Fackrell, a librarian, web developer, and Joomla! expert, will serve as the instructor for this six-week facilitated eCourse that begins on May 7. Fackrell will introduce you to Joomla!, teach you how to set up and configure a site, and give you the foundation for learning more....
ALA Editions, Mar. 20

What is WordPress and what can it do?
ALA TechSource is hosting a new 90-minute workshop, “WordPress Basics: What WordPress Can Do for Your Library” on June 14. Ideal for librarians curious about WordPress or those just getting started, this workshop features web developers and WordPress experts Polly-Alida Farrington and Amanda Goodman. Registration is available on the ALA Store at both individual and group rates....
ALA TechSource, Mar. 20

Practical guidance on academic archives
Modern academic archivists require new sets of skills and training. Academic Archives: Managing the Next Generation of College and University Archives, Records, and Special Collections from Neal-Schuman Publishers, offers valuable guidance for archivists of all levels, helping them start or manage archives and remain current on new and future trends. Aaron D. Purcell, an experienced archivist and director of special collections at Virginia Tech, examines every facet of academic archives in this exhaustive book....
ALA Neal-Schuman, Mar. 20

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Disneyland’s Matterhorn to reopen by June 15
The Matterhorn Bobsleds went down early this year for a six-month refurbishment, which looks like it will be worth it when the 53-year-old ride reopens on June 15. The facelift includes a new set of bobsleds with more legroom, a new boarding station, and a newly painted exterior for the 147-foot-tall ride. Watch this short video (1:31) on the refurbishing. Fun fact: Disney used to hire mountain climbers (including one dressed as Mickey Mouse) to scale the structure in the mid-1990s....
OC Weekly, Feb. 29; YouTube, Feb. 24; Orange County (Calif.) Register, Feb. 8

Flightdeck Air Combat Center
For those who have always wanted to pilot a jet fighter, this nearby attraction is the place to go. Experience the challenge of aerial maneuvers at 500 knots, aircraft take-offs and landings, and the thrill of air-to-air combat. Up to 10 people can fly at the same time, each in their own authentic F-16 flight simulator. Check in at the front desk at 1650 S. Sinclair Street, put on your flight suit, then pay attention in your 20-minute classroom briefing before you go on a 45-minute (or longer) simulation....
Flightdeck Air Combat Center

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PLA 2012: Powerful advice, practical solutions
Laurie D. Borman writes: “Admit it: You snag free books and party at receptions. But who would come to PLA 2012 if there weren’t also meaningful programs, new products, great speakers, and networking opportunities? At the PLA Conference in Philadelphia March 13–17, more than 6,000 attendees packed meeting rooms and the exhibit hall for all of the above. The 180 continuing education programs ranged from e-content and community engagement to building successful programs and websites.”...
American Libraries feature

To catch a library thief: Black belt security
Laurie D. Borman writes: “Warren Graham (right) is a very suspicious guy. The author and library security consultant probably has seen more dangerous characters than Sandy Stern in a Scott Turow thriller. But being suspicious makes Graham effective, and he recently shared his best tips and more at the PLA Conference in Philadelphia. Graham peppered his talk with anecdotes as he described how to create and maintain safer libraries.” Graham is the author of The Black Belt Librarian (ALA Editions, 2012)....
American Libraries feature

PLA attendee wins $1,000 shopping spree
Quality Books has announced that Mary Soucie, director of the Three Rivers Public Library District in Channahon, Illinois, is the winner of its drawing at the PLA Conference for a $1,000 shopping spree on its website....
Quality Books, Mar. 21

Doing the PLA Conference virtually
Pamela Goodes writes: “Participants logged in from as far away as Alberta, Hawaii, Oregon, and California to chat and interact with program presenters and authors during the two-day PLA 2012 Virtual Conference, March 15–16, held in conjunction with the division’s national conference in Philadelphia. I joined a group of more than 100 participants both days for two programs, which included handouts, instant polling, and downloadable videos.”...
AL: Inside Scoop, Mar. 16

ALTAFF President’s Program to feature Dan Rather
ALTAFF President Donna McDonald will welcome award-winning journalist Dan Rather during the ALTAFF President’s Program at the 2012 ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim on June 25. Rather anchored the CBS Evening News for decades and is the author of Rather Outspoken, which looks back over his storied and sometimes controversial career. A book signing will follow the program....
ALTAFF, Mar. 30

ACRL launches CLIPP
ACRL’s College Libraries Section has launched CLIPP: College Library Information on Policy and Practice, a reconceptualization of its CLIPNotes publication series. Offering the same high-quality policy and procedure documents that CLIPNote readers have relied on for more than 30 years, this monographic series will provide richer context and more sophisticated analysis of current trends and issues from a college and small university library perspective. To submit a proposal, visit the CLIPP website....
ACRL, Mar. 16

Celebrate School Library Month
Recognizing school libraries as the centers of the school community where learning, research, and collaboration happen and technologies and information resources are available 24/7, AASL invites everyone to celebrate School Library Month in April. The 2012 theme, “You belong @ your library,” will highlight the role strong school libraries play in a student’s educational career. More information and resources can be found online....
AASL, Mar. 20

Support Teen Literature Day
On April 12, people across the United States will join YALSA in celebrating Support Teen Literature Day by hosting a Booze for Books fundraiser to benefit the Books for Teens initiative. Books for Teens aims to give libraries funds to purchase age-appropriate, high-quality recent materials for teens in low-income communities....
YALSA, Mar. 20

Best of the Best Reading Challenge
The Hub, the teen literature blog published by YALSA, will host the Best of the Best Reading Challenge for three months beginning April 1. Participants will be challenged to read as many titles as they can from YALSA’s 2012 award winners and honor books and selected lists (including Amazing Audiobooks, Best Fiction for Young Adults, Great Graphic Novels, Popular Paperbacks, and Quick Picks) through July 1....
YALSA, Mar. 21

Apply for YALSA’s virtual mentoring program
YALSA will accept applications for its virtual mentoring program through April 30. The program will pair an experienced librarian (five years’ experience or more) with a new librarian (fewer than five years’ experience) or an LIS graduate student. This is a virtual mentoring program, so there is no requirement to meet face to face. The program runs from August 1, 2012, to July 31, 2013....
YALSA, Mar. 20

YALSA award books for the middle school
The middle school librarian faces a unique challenge of building a collection that is appropriate for both teens and tweens. In light of the 2012 YALSA book award announcements, what winners and honor books have middle school appeal? Join Megan Fink for “Finding a Place on the Shelf: YALSA Book Awards and the Middle School Library,” a March 22 webinar....
YALSA, Mar. 16

Nearly 1,400 libraries celebrated Teen Tech Week
Thousands of school and public libraries throughout the country joined YALSA in celebrating Teen Tech Week 2012, March 4–10. Some 1,400 libraries embraced the theme, “Geek Out @ your library,” by hosting an array of events and programs that encouraged teens to take advantage of the many free technological resources available at the library....
YALSA, Mar. 20

AASL seeks researcher for survey analysis
AASL is looking for a researcher or team of researchers to assist in a data analysis of its national longitudinal survey of school library programs, School Libraries Count! The data to be analyzed runs from the survey’s inception in 2007 through 2011. View the RFP here. Submit an application to the AASL office by May 25....
AASL, Mar. 20

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2012 James Madison Award winner
ALA President Molly Raphael presented Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) with one of the Association’s highest honors, the James Madison Award. Lofgren received the award March 16 during the National Freedom of Information Day Conference held at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. Lofgren was recognized both for her commitment to sponsoring legislation that strengthens the public’s right to access information and her opposition to legislation that impedes First Amendment rights....
Office of Government Relations, Mar. 16

2012 Francis Joseph Campbell Award
Carole Rose (right), who recently retired as a librarian at the Indiana Talking Book and Braille Library, is the 2012 winner of the ASCLA 2012 Francis Joseph Campbell Award. The award is presented to a person or institution that has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of library service for blind and physically handicapped people. Rose was selected for her significant contributions over 46 years to the advancement of library service for blind and physically handicapped people throughout the state of Indiana....
ASCLA, Mar. 20

2012 Cathleen Bourdon Service Award
Kathleen Moeller-Peiffer (right), associate state librarian at the New Jersey State Library, is the 2012 recipient of the Cathleen Bourdon Service Award, an annual achievement award given by ASCLA. The award is presented to an ASCLA personal member for exceptional service and sustained leadership to the division....
ASCLA, Mar. 20

2012 Virginia Boucher Award
Cyril Oberlander (right), interim director of the Milne Library at the State University of New York, Geneseo, is the winner of RUSA’s 2012 Virginia Boucher–OCLC Distinguished Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Librarian Award. The award recognizes an individual for outstanding professional achievement, leadership, and significant contributions to the fields of interlibrary loan and document delivery. Oberlander was cited for the scope of his work with the Information Delivery Services Project, a resource-sharing cooperative within New York State....
RUSA, Mar. 20

RUSA Award for Excellence in Reference and Adult Services
The Richland County (S.C.) Public Library Job Center is the 2012 RUSA Gale Cengage Award for Excellence in Reference and Adult Library Services winner. The award recognizes an outstanding, imaginative, and unique resource developed by a library to meet users’ reference needs. The center’s Employment Search Portfolio and Searching for a Job Online materials provide comprehensive assistance for the entire job-seeking process....
RUSA, Mar. 20

Travel grant for new ILL practitioners
Natalie D. Beam (right), head of access services at University of Hawaii at Hilo, is the 2012 winner of the RUSA STARS-Atlas Systems Mentoring Award—a competitive ALA Annual Conference travel grant for librarians new to the field of interlibrary loan. The grant provides $1,250 in travel funds to a candidate who is involved daily in ILL, document delivery, or resource sharing....
RUSA, Mar. 20

2012 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award
Celebrated Dutch author Guus Kuijer has won the world’s richest children’s book prize, the Astrid Lindgren memorial award. Worth 5 million Swedish kronor ($744,200 US), the prize is for a body of work in the spirit of Pippi Longstocking creator Astrid Lindgren. The international jury said the award-winning author combined “serious subject matter and razor-sharp realism with warmth, subtle humor, and visionary flights of fancy” in his writing. His Book of Everything was translated into English in 2006....
The Guardian (UK), Mar. 20

2012 Hans Christian Andersen Award winners
The International Board on Books for Young People announced the winners of the 2012 Hans Christian Andersen Awards at the Bologna Book Fair on March 19. María Teresa Andruetto from Argentina has won the Author Award and Peter Sís from the Czech Republic has won the Illustrator Award. The awards are given every two years to a living author and illustrator whose complete works are judged to have made lasting contributions to children’s literature....
Publishers Weekly, Mar. 19

Children’s Choice Book Awards voting is open
The Children’s Choice Book Awards is the only national book awards program where the winning titles are selected by children and teens. Launched in 2008 by the Children’s Book Council and Every Child A Reader (the CBC Foundation), the program was created to provide young readers with an opportunity to voice their opinions about the books being written for them. Teachers and librarians can vote on behalf of their students here through May 3....
Children’s Choice Book Awards

2011 Man Asian Literary Prize
South Korean author Kyung-sook Shin has become the first woman to win the Man Asian Literary Prize. Please Look After Mom details a family’s search for their mother who goes missing in Seoul Station. The award recognizes novels written by Asian authors, either written in or translated into English. The book was translated by Chi-Young Kim....
BBC News, Mar. 15

Lubuto Library Project receives Soros grant (PDF file)
The Lubuto Library Project has received a grant from one of philanthropist George Soros’s foundations, the Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa, that will enable them to conduct an evaluation of the impact of the Lubuto Library model and make plans for bringing Lubuto Libraries to other African countries. The Lubuto project, with offices in Zambia and Washington, D.C., has since 2007 created high quality, open-access libraries to serve African street kids and other vulnerable children and youth....
Lubuto Library Project Newsletter, no. 22 (Mar.)

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Racial lens used to cull curriculum in Arizona
Michael Winerip writes: “Tucson High School Junior Ana Verdugo is a fan of Matt de la Peña’s young adult novels; she read his Mexican WhiteBoy in two days. But on January 1, after a new state law targeting Mexican-American studies courses that are perceived as antiwhite was upheld, it became illegal to teach Mexican WhiteBoy in Tucson’s classrooms. State officials cited the book as containing ‘critical race theory,’ a violation under a provision that prohibits lessons ‘promoting racial resentment.’ Yet the novel’s story is pretty much the American dream.”...
New York Times, Mar. 19

Library workers on strike in Toronto
More than 1,200 library workers were picketing outside Toronto’s city hall March 19, after talks collapsed between the 2,300-member library union and city officials over the issue of job security. Many of the workers who picketed said they are unhappy with what they said is an ongoing shift toward part-time work. The strike will close 98 branches. A recent poll shows that the public is overwhelmingly on the side of the workers....
Toronto News, Mar. 14, 19

Library tentatively settles with whistle-blower
For making noise about a billing scandal and other problems at the Sacramento (Calif.) Public Library Authority, Accounts Clerk Diane Boerman said officials stripped her of job responsibilities, froze her pay, and tried to force her to quit. She sued. The library’s maintenance superintendent and its security chief and his wife were charged, convicted, and jailed as a result of her allegations. On March 16, a judge ordered the former superintendent to pay back the agency $824,097 in restitution....
Sacramento (Calif.) Bee, Jan. 28, Mar. 15, 17

$10 million donation to USC Polymathic Academy
The Harman Family Foundation has made a gift of $10 million to help fulfill the extraordinary vision of Sidney Harman by endowing the center that will bear his name, the USC Sidney Harman Academy for Polymathic Study, located in the Doheny Memorial Library. The academy, a unit of the University of Southern California Libraries, supports the study of the interrelatedness among academic disciplines. Its programs encourage critical and integrative thinking, the study of history’s great polymaths, and intellectual investigation that crosses the boundaries of traditional academic specialties....
University of Southern California, Mar. 20

Restoring one of the world’s largest collections of African-American culture
“Antiquated.” “Depleted.” “Grossly underfunded.” Those were a few of the harsh words Howard Dodson (right), the recently retired chief of New York’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, used to describe Howard University’s library system in a December 2011 consultant’s report. The Washington, D.C., university recently lured Dodson out of retirement to become director of its undergrad and graduate libraries and Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, one of the world’s largest collections devoted to the history and culture of people of African descent. Now it’s up to him to fix these problems....
New York Times, Mar. 14

Jailed library director resigns
Pelham (N.H.) Public Library trustees confirmed March 15 that they have accepted the resignation of jailed library director Robert Rice Jr., who pleaded guilty in December to stealing more than $200,000 from his former employer, the Revere (Mass.) Public Library. Rice will spend six months in jail and has been ordered to pay restitution of $260,000. He was accused of taking items purchased with Revere library funds, such as a Rolex watch and collectibles, then keeping or selling them in online auctions....
North Andover (Mass.) Eagle-Tribune, Mar. 16

Jailed First Folio dealer found dead
A UK antiques dealer who was jailed after being convicted of handling a stolen edition of Shakespeare’s First Folio was found dead in Acklington Prison in Northumberland March 14, an apparent suicide. Raymond Scott, 55, was sentenced to eight years in 2010 after being convicted of transporting the book, which had been stolen from a display cabinet at the Durham University library in 1998....
BBC News, Mar. 14

Library reunites backpacker with missing bag
Jonathan Smith lost his backpack while he was vacationing in Central America. But within several days Smith was reunited with the backpack and all its contents, thanks to the Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library in the UK, 5,000 miles away in his hometown. The intriguing detective story involved transatlantic phone calls and emails sent across two continents and three countries. The global drama unfolded on a packed chicken bus in Guatemala, when a French girl hopped off with Jonathan’s backpack instead of her own....
The Telegraph (UK), Mar. 19

Jamaica wants to boost its National Library
As part of its rebranding, the National Library of Jamaica is looking to boost its customer base, especially outside Kingston. Executive Director Winsome Hudson said many of its users are from business, and this is the wrong image for the institution. A March 14 open house was held to support the Book Industry Association of Jamaica, which was celebrating Book Week, and to celebrate the library’s recent separation from the Institute of Jamaica’s corporate structure....
The Daily Gleaner (Kingston), Mar. 21

Big plans for Egypt’s National Library
The Egyptian National Library and Archives recently announced plans to modernize the administration of the National Library (right) and improve access to information countrywide. First, the NLA aims to bring all libraries under the National Library umbrella within a four-year period and standardize regulations governing all operations. The agency is also expected to issue new regulations aimed at improving the exchange of documents and manuscripts....
Al-Ahram (Cairo), Mar. 13

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