The e-newsletter of the American Library Association | April 2, 2014

Emerging Leaders: The Class of 2014
They’re the new faces greeting you at the reference desk, shelving books in the stacks, and experimenting with fresh ideas behind the scenes. These are the library world’s rising stars, the generation that will move, shape, and influence the present and future of the Association and the library profession. These are the ALA Emerging Leaders of 2014. The 56 honorees in the Emerging Leaders class of 2014 represent a wide variety of libraries and professional specialties....
American Libraries feature

Youth Matters: Reading Wildly
Abby Johnson writes: “In January 2013, I developed the Reading Wildly program to inspire my staff to read different genres and improve their readers’ advisory skills. Each month we discuss a genre or subject, based on patron demand, and each staff member is required to read one book in that genre and book-talk it to the group at our meeting. The outcome is that my staff now reads more than ever before, and their read-alike selections and book talks have noticeably improved.”...
American Libraries column, Mar./Apr.; Abby the Librarian

Will a straw poll save Miami-Dade?
Beverly Goldberg writes: “Voters in Miami-Dade County, Florida, may get a chance this summer to weigh in on whether they are willing to pay higher property taxes in order to fill a $20 million FY2015 deficit that would decimate public library services. Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos A. Giménez (right) floated the straw-poll idea March 19 after a city blue-ribbon task force submitted a proposal that offered two scenarios (PDF file) based on either maintaining current funding levels or enduring a 40% budget cut, from $50 million in FY2014 to $30 million for FY2015.”...
AL: The Scoop, Mar. 27

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B. J. Novak offers entertaining Closing General Session
B. J. Novak (right) adds book author to an impressive résumé that has long included actor, writer, stand-up comedian, TV and film star, executive producer, and Screen Actors Guild and Writers’ Guild of America award winner. Attendees at the 2014 ALA Annual Conference will be entertained and energized by what he has to say about the power of words and the writing part of his career when he appears as featured speaker at the Closing General Session on July 1....
Conference Services, Mar. 31

Josh Hanagarne to keynote Bookmobile Luncheon
Josh Hanagarne (right), author of The World’s Strongest Librarian, will be the featured keynote speaker at the 2014 Bookmobile Saturday Author Luncheon on June 28 during the ALA Annual Conference in Las Vegas. The 6-foot-7-inch Hanagarne is an author, speaker, performing strongman, and, despite having an extreme case of Tourette Syndrome, he works as a public librarian in Salt Lake City. Refer to Ticket ALA2 when registering for Annual Conference....
Office for Literacy and Outreach Services, Mar. 27

House budget dismisses role of IMLS
“We were shocked to learn that Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis., right) recommended eliminating the Institute of Museum and Library Services,” said ALA President Barbara Stripling in reaction to the new budget (PDF file) released April 1 in which Ryan denounces the critical role that IMLS plays in supporting civic engagement, literacy, and lifelong learning in more than 123,000 libraries nationwide. She went on to state, “Just blocks from Rep. Ryan’s Wisconsin office, more than 716,000 visitors used the Hedberg Public Library in Janesville to access library computers and research databases, check out books, and receive job training in 2013.”...
Office of Government Relations, Apr. 1

Sign the Declaration for the Right to Libraries
April is National School Library Month. Around the country school libraries are celebrating by hosting Declaration for the Right to School Libraries signing events. The Declaration for the Right to Libraries is the cornerstone document of ALA President Barbara Stripling’s presidential initiative, Libraries Change Lives, which is designed to build the public will and sustained support for America’s right to libraries of all types—public, academic, special, and school. Sign it here....
I Love Libraries

Friday is 404 Day
Join the Electronic Frontier Foundation on April 4 for 404 Day, a nationwide day of action to call attention to the long-standing problem of internet censorship in public libraries and public schools. The group is hosting a digital teach-in with some of the top researchers and librarians: Office for Intellectual Freedom Deputy Director Deborah Caldwell-Stone; Sarah Houghton from San Rafael (Calif.) Public Library, and Chris Peterson from MIT Center for Civic Media in Cambridge, Massachusetts....
Electronic Frontier Foundation, Mar. 26

Stories matter: 13 tips
Communicators will receive insights and tips from Eric Friedenwald-Fishman (right), creative director and founder of Metropolitan Group and coauthor of Marketing That Matters: 10 Practices to Profit Your Business and Change the World, at the 2014 PR Forum on June 29 during the ALA Annual Conference in Las Vegas....
Public Awareness Committee, Apr. 1

25 libraries to host Dust Bowl traveling exhibition
Twenty-five libraries across the country will host the traveling exhibition “Dust, Drought, and Dreams Gone Dry,” the ALA Public Programs Office and the National Endowment for the Humanities has announced. The public and academic libraries will present the exhibition and related public programs for six weeks each from July 2014 to February 2016....
Public Programs Office, Apr. 1

International Games Day on November 15
It’s time to mark your calendars for this year’s International Games Day @ your library on November 15. We are lining up some exciting partners for this year’s event, so keep an eye out for the donation options on the registration form. We are also getting the press kit ready so that you can easily promote your event....
International Games Day, Apr. 1

Student chapter raises funds with literary scavenger hunt
Elizabeth Kellermeyer writes: “Tired of the drab, uninspiring sales of T-shirts and coffee tumblers to raise funds for your ALA student chapter? Yes, we at Clarion University were too. Let me share with you how holding a literary photo scavenger hunt helped us raise funds for our annual spring trip to Washington, D.C., and not be bored.”...
ALA Student Member Blog, Apr. 1

People to People delegation to India
Consider joining a custom-designed library and information services delegation to New Delhi, Jaipur, and Agra, India, November 2–11. As a People to People Citizen Ambassador, you will network with your library and information services peers from India and around the world through vibrant professional exchanges and discussions. The delegation will be led by Nancy M. Bolt, former chair of the ALA International Relations Committee. Email People to People or call (877) 787-2000 for more information....
People to People

New accessions at the ALA Archives
Cara Bertram writes: “The ALA Archives has been busy working on large accessions of records sent to us by American Libraries magazine and the ALA Library. These new accessions will total up to 40 bankers boxes once all of them have been shipped over. American Libraries has sent us their issue photos from 1980 to 2005 and biographical photos of librarians, ALA members, and celebrities.”...
ALA Archives Blog, Mar. 27

Marvel heroes leap into new ALA Graphics catalog
New products that are bound to inspire and excite readers in schools and libraries across the nation are included in the ALA Graphics Summer 2014 catalog. A new Spider-Man poster invites you to “Drop in and Read.” Also featured are other Avengers from the Marvel Universe—Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, and Thor—which are available as a Mini Poster Set and bookmark variety pack....
ALA Graphics, Apr. 1

Collection development and management
The new third edition of Fundamentals of Collection Development and Management, published by ALA Editions, is a sweeping revision of a text that has become an authoritative standard, offering a comprehensive tour of this essential discipline and situating the fundamental ideas of collection development and management in historical and theoretical perspective. Expert instructor and librarian Peggy Johnson addresses the art of controlling and updating library collections, whether located locally or accessed remotely....
ALA Editions, Apr. 1

The culture of records management and information
Exploring how an understanding of organizational information culture provides the insight necessary for the development and promotion of sound recordkeeping practices, Gillian Oliver and Fiorella Foscarini’s Records Management and Information Culture: Tackling the People Problem, published by Facet Publishing, details an innovative framework for analyzing and assessing information culture that can be aligned with the specific characteristics of any workplace....
ALA Neal-Schuman, Apr. 1

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The Las Vegas Monorail
The Las Vegas Monorail is the best way to travel the Strip. It links you to world-class restaurants, entertainment, shopping, nightlife, hotels, conventions, and casinos and everything in between in just minutes. The monorail opens every day at 7 a.m. and runs until midnight, 2 a.m., or 3 a.m., depending on the day of the week. One-day passes are available for $12. The system operates on a route approximately four miles long, from the Sahara Avenue Station to the MGM Grand Station....
Las Vegas Monorail

National Atomic Testing Museum
The National Atomic Testing Museum, at 755 East Flamingo Road, is a repository for one of the most comprehensive collections of nuclear history. As part of its mission, the museum collects and preserves a wide variety of materials and artifacts relating to atomic testing, the Nevada Test Site, the Cold War, and nuclear and radiological science and technology. The current collection includes thousands of rare photographs, videos, artifacts, scientific and nuclear reports and data, and one-of-a kind scientific collections....
National Atomic Testing Museum

Working the Exhibit Hall
Soraya Silverman writes: “If you’ve never been to a convention before, the Exhibit Hall can be a bit overwhelming. Trust me, I’ve done ComicCons enough to know how to get the most out of the time you have and, really, the strategy can be applied to any conference you go to. Here are some of my tips on being as efficient as possible when navigating the exhibits at Annual Conference this year.”...
YALSAblog, Mar. 28

Beware third-party hotel booking sites
Alina Tugend writes: “This is the situation: Customers search for a particular hotel and click on a link. They think they’ve landed on the official hotel website, but unknowingly they have arrived at an unrelated site of a hotel booking company. They’re promised great deals and warned that rooms are going fast, but it turns out these so-called bargains are often worse than what’s offered directly by the hotel.” Use the ALA housing vendor, OnPeak, to be on the safe side....
New York Times, Mar. 21

School Library Month PSAs with Jeff Kinney available
Two new video PSAs featuring Jeff Kinney (right), New York Times bestselling author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, are now available from AASL. Kinney is the national spokesperson for the 2014 observance of School Library Month, and in the PSAs he encourages viewers to “celebrate how our nation’s school libraries change lives.” View and download the 30-second videos and visit the AASL website for more about the April celebration....
AASL, Apr. 1

Explore Children’s Fairyland at the ALSC Institute
ALSC has provided more information about the evening at Children’s Fairyland at the 2014 ALSC National Institute in Oakland, California. This event, to be held on September 19, will feature a panel presentation by Daniel Handler, Mac Barnett, and Jennifer Holm. The visit will also include breakout sessions throughout the park on such topics as movement, inclusion, gender identity, and drama; and a reception (with puppet show), during which attendees can explore the park....
ALSC, Mar. 31

Tickets available for 2014 Arbuthnot Lecture
ALSC and the Children’s Literature Research Collections at the University of Minnesota Libraries have announced that tickets for the 2014 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture featuring Andrea Davis Pinkney (right) are now available. The lecture, titled “Rejoice the Legacy!,” will be held on May 3 at Willey Hall on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Reserve your ticket now....
ALSC, Mar. 31

Apply for the 2014 Teens’ Top Ten Book Giveaway
YALSA is giving away 40 sets of the 2014 Teens’ Top Ten nominees to libraries in need. Qualified libraries can apply now through May 1 for a chance to win a set of the 2014 Teens’ Top Ten nominated titles. Individual library branches within a larger system are welcome to apply. The official nominees will be announced during National Library Week on Celebrate Teen Literature Day, April 17....
YALSA, Apr. 2

Presenters sought for Scholarly Communication workshop
ACRL is accepting applications from prospective new presenters for the workshop “Scholarly Communication: From Understanding to Engagement.” The day-long workshop is led by two expert presenters at locations across the country. Updated each year to meet the evolving needs of the community, the 2014 sections will focus on access, intellectual property, engagement, and emerging opportunities for scholarship. Apply by April 22 to Scott Mandernack....
ACRL, Apr. 1

50 years of Choice
David Free writes: “In March, Choice magazine marks a milestone of true significance: 50 years of publication. The premier source for reviews of academic books, electronic media, and internet resources in higher education, Choice was founded in 1964 in office space at Wesleyan University’s Olin Library under the leadership of founding editor Richard K. Gardner.”...
ACRL Insider, Mar. 26

New PLA webinar
Make your library’s virtual presence as welcoming as its physical one with the new one-hour PLA webinar, “What Makes a Great Library Website,” on April 30. The webinar will help attendees assess the effectiveness of their library website, clarify patrons’ virtual needs, and understand design patterns. The deadline to register is April 28....
PLA, Apr. 2

LITA bylaws review underway
Jason Griffey writes: “Based on conversations at board meetings, as well as in an attempt to fix a number of issues that have arisen over the last 2–3 years (specifically issues around officers and timing of elections), the Bylaws Committee has begun work on analyzing the LITA Bylaws. Our timeline is to try to review two sections of the bylaws per month, and then review and discuss at monthly meetings to ensure that we all understand what’s been done and agree that the changes are appropriate. We are doing this in a Google doc.”...
LITA Blog, Mar. 27

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Ann K. Symons wins 2013 Equality Award
Ann K. Symons (right), school librarian and international library consultant, is the 2013 recipient of the ALA Equality Award. Throughout her career, Symons, a former president of ALA, has been an active and effective supporter of intellectual freedom, focusing extensively on school libraries and GLBT issues. The annual award of $1,000, donated by Scarecrow Press, is given to an individual or group for outstanding contributions toward promoting equality in the library profession....
Office of ALA Governance, Apr. 1

ALA Excellence in Library Programming Award
Kansas City (Mo.) Public Library has been named the 2014 winner of the ALA Excellence in Library Programming Award. The $5,000 award, supported by ALA’s Cultural Communities Fund, recognizes a library that demonstrates excellence by providing programs that have community impact and respond to community needs. The library and its community partners created “Greetings from Kansas City” programs and exhibitions featuring historic postcards from the library’s Missouri Valley Special Collections....
Office of ALA Governance, Apr. 1

EBSCO awards seven grants for ALA Annual
In cosponsorship with ALA, EBSCO has awarded seven librarians scholarships to attend the ALA Annual Conference in Las Vegas, June 26–July 1. The EBSCO ALA Annual Conference Sponsorship is an annual award consisting of $1,000 for actual reimbursed expenses. Librarians were asked to write an essay on the topic of how attending the conference will contribute to their professional development....
Office of ALA Governance, Apr. 1

Submissions for Miriam Braverman Prize
The Miriam Braverman Memorial Prize, a presentation of the Progressive Librarians Guild, is awarded each year for the best paper about some aspect of the social responsibilities of librarians, libraries, or archives. The winning paper will be published in the Summer 2014 issue of Progressive Librarian. Entries must be submitted electronically, in Microsoft Word or RTF format, by May 1....
Progressive Librarians Guild

ARL granted $1 million for SHARE Notification Service
The Association of Research Libraries has been awarded a joint $1 million grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to develop and launch the SHared Access Research Ecosystem (SHARE) Notification Service. SHARE is a collaborative initiative to ensure the preservation of, access to, and reuse of research findings and reports. Its first project, the Notification Service, will inform stakeholders when research results—including articles and data—are released....
Association of Research Libraries, Mar. 28

DPLA receives $594K in new funding
The Digital Public Library of America has received $594,000 in new funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to research potential sustainability models and to pursue the most promising options. This two-year grant will allow DPLA to expand its staff to target opportunities for further development and revenue, without compromising its mission of open access to the riches of America’s libraries, archives, and museums....
DPLA Blog, Mar. 31

Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian grants
The Institute of Museum and Library Services announced 23 Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian grants totaling $7,437,595. Recipients are matching these awards with $3,614,714 in non-federal funds. Projects include plans for improved early learning services for 1,000 New York public libraries, an institute for tribal librarians, professional development for youth librarians in Pennsylvania to offer STEM education, and professional development for 400 librarians to improve library immigrant services in Queens. A full list of the funded projects is here....
Institute of Museum and Library Services, Mar. 31

2014 PEN/Faulkner Award
Karen Joy Fowler has won the 2014 PEN/Faulkner Award for We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves. The $15,000 prize honors the best work of fiction published in the preceding year by an American. Loosely inspired by the work of Winthrop Kellogg at Indiana University in the early 1930s, the novel tells the story of a young woman raised with a chimp as a sibling. It makes a strong argument against using these intelligent animals in academic and medical research....
Washington Post: The Style Blog, Apr. 2

Inaugural Spark Award winners
The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators has announced the winners and honor book recipients of its inaugural Spark Award, an annual award that recognizes excellence in a children’s book published through a nontraditional publishing route. The winner in the novel category is Karen Avivi for her heart-pounding, BMX bike girl YA novel, Shredded (self-published). The winner in the picture book category is Neil Waldman for Al and Teddy (Dream Yard), about the power of art in two brother’s lives....
Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Mar. 31

2014 Street Literature Book Awards
The 2014 Street Lit Book Award Medal Committee has announced the winners of its awards for 2013 publications. Winners were nominated based on popularity of books read by the public in school, academic, and public library settings. The nonfiction winner was Hill Harper for Letters to an Incarcerated Brother (Gotham), and the adult fiction winner was Wahida Clark for Honor Thy Thug (Cash Money Content)....
Street Literature, Mar. 31

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Artist, writers join protest against NYPL renovation
New York literary heavyweights are joining the opposition to the city’s plans to renovate the New York Public Library’s central branch. Pulitzer-winning cartoonist Art Spiegelman contributed a cartoon to the Library Lovers League, the organization coordinating the protest to the plan. In the image, a vicious, dollar sign–spotted hyena rips books dripping in blood out of the body of the iconic lion statue in front of the 42nd street branch. The caption is simple: “Don’t Gut Our Lions.”...
New York Daily News: Page Views, Mar. 28

Meridian school board looks to replace Part-Time Indian
Sherman Alexie’s Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian will stay out of Meridian (Idaho) School District’s curriculum while school officials look for a replacement. After two hours of emotional public testimony (videos here and here) on April 1, trustees voted 2–1 to keep in place a hold on the book. Trustees say they want school officials to look for a book covering Native American cultural issues, but written at a higher reading level....
Boise Idaho Statesman, Apr. 2; Idaho Education News, Apr. 1

Kansas library gun ban fails
A Kansas City, Kansas, lawmaker’s attempt to keep guns out of libraries has failed. Sen. Pat Pettey (D-Kansas City) introduced an amendment to House Bill 447 that would have carved out special rules on concealed carry for libraries and community centers. In 2017, libraries will not be able to prohibit concealed weapons unless they have a metal detector and a security guard....
KMBZ-AM, Kansas City, Mo., Apr. 2

Books behind bars
Kim Parry writes: “Beginning the summer of 2012, a group Canadian librarians in Winnipeg came together to discuss the lack of library services in the prison system in the province of Manitoba. The newly formed Prison Library Committee started a weekly drop-in library service at the Winnipeg Remand Centre. This article explores the importance of prison library services in the current context of prisons in Canada through our grassroots voluntary prison library service.”...
In the Library with the Lead Pipe, Mar. 26

Memorial for retired librarian killed in mudslide
The time to formally honor and remember people killed March 22 in the Oso, Washington, mudslide begins April 5 with a memorial service for Linda McPherson (right). McPherson had been a branch manager of the Darrington Library and a longtime Darrington School Board member. She retired from the Sno-Isle Libraries branch in 2011 after 28 years as a librarian in Darrington....
Everett (Wash.) Herald, Mar. 28

How San Diego school libraries came to grief
Christie Ritter writes: “San Diego’s school libraries will be open at least one day a week next school year. That’s actually the good news. Some schools’ libraries have been closed for years. Even worse: Many of the libraries sitting empty are gleaming new facilities filled with comfy sofas, rows of computers, and shelves full of books. A guaranteed day each week is at least a step in the right direction. How did things get to this point?”...
Voice of San Diego, Mar. 27

Akron school e-library gets help from LeBron James
Students in every elementary building in Akron (Ohio) Public Schools, are patrons of the nation’s most expansive e-library, an online clearinghouse with a vast catalog of electronic books. With more than 3,400 ebooks available, teachers can expand the library by simply requesting new titles. No cost. No fuss. And it’s all thanks to the growing crowd of supporters who have locked step with basketball player LeBron James in his continued commitment to his hometown....
Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal, Mar. 27

Hawks pose danger to library visitors in Florida
Residents in Port Orange, Florida, said red-shouldered hawks have become a big nuisance at the Volusia County Public Library’s regional branch in the city. Library staffers are stocking up on umbrellas for guests to use as protection against the hawks. County officials said a nest in a nearby tree has made the hawks more protective of their young. Three persons, including one library employee, have been scratched on the head by the birds, which are a federally protected species....
WFTV, Orlando, Fla., Mar. 28; Daytona Beach (Fla.) News-Journal, Mar. 29

In South Korea, new libraries aren’t just about books
On March 22, the acclaimed pianist Cho Jae-hyuck was performing a free concert in Paju, a city northwest of Seoul in Gyeonggi Province. But while performing is nothing unusual for Cho, the location—a library—was. Cho’s concert was held to a packed house in the 300-seat Solgaram Art Hall in Garam Library. About 100 libraries in Gyeonggi are home to at least one center dedicated to some other function than book lending or reading. Most of the construction costs were provided by local governments....
Seoul Korea JoongAng Daily, Mar. 29

UK garbage man salvages 5,000 WWI photos over 36 years
A former garbage man has amassed one of the UK’s best collections of First World War photographs after spending decades rescuing them from rubbish piles and bins. Bob Smethurst spent 36 years working as a refuse collector and began saving the remarkable pictures during the 1970s. He now has more than 5,000 photographs capturing everything from the horror of the trenches to haunting images of young friends smiling together before battle....
The Daily Telegraph (UK), Mar. 24

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James Neal testifies on Fair Use
James Neal (right), university librarian and vice president for information services at Columbia University, testified to the US House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet on April 2 at a hearing on preserving and reusing copyrighted work. The hearing, “Preservation and Reuse of Copyrighted Works,” took place at 2 p.m. Eastern time in the Rayburn House Office Building, room 2141....
ALA Office of Government Relations, Apr. 1

Libraries transforming the campus: The Harwood approach
Nancy Kranich, Megan Lotts, and Gene Springs write: “What would it look like if an academic library turned outward and helped transform its campus community? This is the question that several librarians at Rutgers University Libraries asked when we began deploying tools created by the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation to conduct community conversations with the aim of recalibrating our interactions on campus. Although a few public libraries have previously used the Harwood framework, Rutgers has pioneered applying this approach in an academic library.”...
College and Research Libraries News 75, no. 4 (Apr.): 182–186

Library-bookstore partnerships
Laura Hazard Owen writes: “It may seem as if libraries and bookstores are in competition, but they have a shared mission of reaching more readers. By teaming up, and even sharing space, libraries and bookstores could help each other solve their problems. For instance, libraries often have long wait lists for new titles. Bookstores could help fill in the gaps for books that readers want right away. Bookstores and libraries could hold author signings together, with the library hosting the event and providing the space, and the bookstore selling the author’s books.”...
New York Times: Room for Debate, Mar. 26

Libraries test a model for setting monographs free
Jennifer Howard writes: “Librarians love to get free books into the hands of scholars and students who need them. Publishers love it when their books find readers—but they also need to cover the costs of turning an idea into a finished monograph. Now a nonprofit group called Knowledge Unlatched is trying out a new open-access model designed to make both librarians and publishers happy. Here’s how the unlatching works.”...
Chronicle of Higher Education: The Wired Campus, Apr. 1

Google stats show government data demands have leveled off
Google published a ninth update to its semiannual Transparency Report on March 27 and, for once, there’s a flicker of good news for those concerned about the growth of government surveillance. Unlike previous updates, which showed rapid jumps in requests, the new update shows that the number of Google accounts subject to government demands for users’ identities held steady at about 42,000 requests compared to the previous six-month period....
GigaOM, Mar. 27; Official Google Blog, Mar. 27

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Innovative acquires Polaris
Library technology company Innovative has acquired ILS provider Polaris Library Systems. The combined companies will be led by Innovative CEO Kim Massana (on the left). Bill Schickling, former Polaris President and CEO, will join Innovative as vice president for public library products. The FAQ for customers is available....
Innovative, Apr. 1

Amazon FireTV, hands-on
Leslie Horn writes: “Amazon pitched its FireTV as a streaming device to end all streaming devices. The company touted its simple and effective search, as well as its open ecosystem boasting enough apps to burn your eyes out. We spent some time messing with the Fire TV and found that for the most part, it makes good on those promises.” Watch the video (2:43)....
Gizmodo, Apr. 2; Vimeo, Apr. 2

Microsoft introduces universal apps
Brad Chacos writes: “The holy grail is real: At the April 2 Build conference keynote, Microsoft CVP of Operating Systems David Treadmill announced that universal apps will be available for the Windows ecosystem, thanks to Windows RunTime coming to Windows Phone 8.1. In other words, developers will be able to write one app using common code and have it work across phones, tablets, and PCs—something that Apple and Android can’t claim.” Mouse and keyboard improvements are also coming to Windows 8.1 on April 8....
PC World, Apr. 2; Lifehacker, Apr. 2

Five apps that take Chromecast to the next level
Janko Roettgers writes: “Chromecast is primarily used to access video services such as Netflix, YouTube, and Hulu Plus, but Google’s streaming stick has the potential to do a whole lot more. For a glimpse at Chromecast’s future—and a more interactive Chromecast experience—check out these five apps.”...
GigaOM, Mar. 26

Microsoft Office for iPad
Ashley Feinberg writes: “After Office for iOS proved itself a pretty big disappointment to anyone who was hoping to actually do things with the app, the long-anticipated Office for iPad has finally hit the App Store. It’s okay; you can let out a sigh of relief. This time, Microsoft got it right.” Watch the video (2:59)....
Gizmodo, Mar. 27; Vimeo, Mar. 27

The basics of scanning
Mike Ashenfelder writes: “In the interest of helping people create the best possible digitization of their photos and documents for preservation, we have produced a how-to video that we will be releasing soon. In the meantime, here is a brief introduction to scanning that we hope will demystify the process. In this post we will just look at scanning and digitizing photos.”...
The Signal: Digital Preservation, Mar. 27

Chicago’s analytics could be coming to your city
Jason Shueh writes: “Recently Chicago unveiled its new predictive analytics initiative, dubbed the SmartData Project, that aims to serve the city with data-driven predictions and insights for its many departments and services. The platform is connected to WindyGrid, a hub housing information from every department in real time. The project is meant to be a template for cities to craft predictive analytics systems of their own. Here are three reasons why it might go beyond the Windy City.”...
Government Technology, Apr. 1

Silly things about RFID tags
Melanie A. Lyttle and Shawn D. Walsh write: “We’re not going to tell you that choosing RFID for your library is a bad idea because it’s definitely not. But we are going to say, go into this experience with a good sense of humor because you may need it. In fact, it’s how your staff works through the quirks that crop up during the conversion process that will tell you volumes about the staff you have in your library.”...
Public Libraries Online, Apr. 1

Ann Arbor has spirit
James LaRue writes: “I was pleased to see this March 26 article in CNN Money about the Ann Arbor (Mich.) District Library’s partnership with indie record label Ghostly International. In brief, the library will offer Ghostly’s entire digital catalog (and that of associated Spectral Sound), for free, to local library patrons. The songs can be streamed or downloaded, without DRM. There are five things I like about this effort.”...
AL: E-Content, Mar. 31; CNN Money, Mar. 26

The mystery of the missing ebooks
James LaRue writes: “As of March 20, the Sony Reader Store has closed its virtual doors. The good news: At no additional charge, Sony is transitioning its customers (and their purchases) over to Kobo. Its FAQ answers most of the questions users will have. Sony hardware will continue to operate. But this post isn’t just about that transition. It’s about a discovery I made in the process: I’ve lost some ebooks.”...
AL: E-Content, Apr. 1

How to connect ebooks and students
Are you considering adding ebooks to your school? Would you like a roadmap to avoid pitfalls and maximize success for this 21st-century learning tool? Join Booklist and OverDrive for this free webinar on April 22, in which teachers and school librarians discuss how they started their ebook collections, how they overcame challenges along the way, and what they learned from other implementation success stories....
Booklist, Apr. 1

License to loan
Library directors at 66 liberal arts colleges on March 28 called for academic libraries to reject licensing agreements with publishers that impose restrictions on how ebooks can be accessed and shared. In a statement released by the Oberlin Group, a consortium of college libraries, the directors point to the “ecosystem of sharing” that academic libraries at small colleges depend on to plug gaps in the resources they offer—services such as interlibrary loan, for example....
Inside Higher Ed, Mar. 31

How copyright laws keep ebooks locked up
Hilmar Schmundt writes: “Interlibrary loans were formalized in Prussia in 1893 with an ‘edict pertaining to lending,’ but it doesn’t apply to the new electronic world. Today, publishing houses dictate their conditions to libraries, motivated by their justifiable fear of pirated copies. Unfortunately, it is honest readers who have to pay the price. Many publishing houses don’t issue licenses for loaning out ebooks: Influential German publishers such as Droemer Knaur, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, S. Fischer, and Rowohlt, for example, are nowhere to be found on the German-language online lending library Onleihe.”...
Der Spiegel, Mar. 28

An American in Paris
Alan S. Inouye writes: “In late March, I had the privilege of talking about US library ebook lending at the Salon du Livre—the Paris Book Fair. The ebook market in France is much smaller than in the United States, by roughly an order of magnitude. This contrast was clear as I walked down every aisle of the fair—I encountered only a handful of ebook vendors and saw little presence from technology companies in general. Given the state of the French ebook market overall, it is not surprising to learn that the French library ebook evolution is in its infancy.”...
AL: E-Content, Mar. 28

Digital collections for the high school library
Lura Sanborn writes: “Many changes have occurred in the course of the technological revolution during the past three years. Perhaps the most important change is the widespread acceptance and use of ebooks and e-content. E-content is no longer a clever novelty outlier, but rather a naturally expected part of a library’s collection. This is a guide to the most highly recommended e-content appropriate for the high school library.”...
School Library Monthly 30, no. 6 (Mar.)

Paper vs. digital is an exhausted debate
Nick Harkaway writes: “The digital revolution is going into a decline, bookseller Tim Waterstone told the Oxford literary festival. Well, it’s an attention-grabbing statement, ideally suited to our culture of assertive headlines, but it’s probably not true. That’s not to say that the rapid growth of digital will necessarily continue, either, certainly not in markets that are already saturated with handheld devices.”...
The Guardian (UK): Books Blog, Mar. 31; The Daily Telegraph (UK), Mar. 31

Managing a Library of Congress worth of data
Kate Zwaard and David Brunton write: “The Library of Congress’s digital collections are growing at a rate of 1.5 terabytes per day (that means, by the popular measure, that we collect a ‘Library of Congress’ worth of data each week). The Repository Development Center, where we work, builds software and services to help manage and preserve LC’s digital collections. There has been so much news lately about the challenges the government faces in making software that we’d like to share with you some of what has worked for us.”...
The Signal: Digital Preservation, Mar. 28

2014 Annual Conference and Exhibition, Las Vegas, June 26–July 1.
B. J. Novak (especially familiar from NBC’s The Office) is sure to close the conference on an entertaining note at the Closing General Session. He will speak on the power of words and his two new books in 2014: One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories for adults and The Book with No Pictures for children.

The Hub challenge goes to school
Hannah Gómez writes: “Are you aware of the Hub Reading Challenge? Are you participating this year? Read as many of YALSA’s award-winning, honored, or selected titles from the past year as possible (or at least 25). I’m lucky enough to work at a school where encouraging students to read for pleasure isn’t all that difficult. So when I set out to develop a reading challenge based on the Hub Reading Challenge, I wasn’t sure if it would be overkill or icing on the cake.”...
YALSAblog, Mar. 31; YALSA The Hub, Feb. 3

What would Buffy the Vampire Slayer read?
Brandi Smits writes: “For several months now I have been creating recommendation lists for some notable characters for TV. I’ve been putting this one off, mainly because I am slightly intimidated to take on a Whedonverse show. So please forgive me if I unsuccessfully tackle the pop culture phenomenon, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I don’t want to jump the gun, but did Buffy actually read Dracula by Bram Stoker? If not, then I definitely am tossing that title to her. Honestly, it’s more of a textbook for her than recreational reading, but so what?”...
YALSA The Hub, Mar. 27

Fashion hits and misses from YA historical fiction book covers, part 2
Laura Perenic writes: “I love historical fiction. The drama, the intrigue, and, oh—the fashion. I just assume all the period details regarding clothing are accurate. Turns out a lot of books from specific dates and locations feature outfits as cover art that either haven’t been invented yet or were way out of fashion. I was eager to know if these mistakes were being made in YA historical fiction. Here are some examples of books that got it right and those that got it wrong.”...
YALSA The Hub, Apr. 1

10 writers who use stream of consciousness well
May Huang writes: “A narrative technique that has perplexed and fascinated readers for centuries, the stream-of-consciousness technique has been used by many writers to trace the seamless (and oft erratic) musings of characters such as Mrs. Dalloway and Stephen Dedalus. Here are 10 writers whose works, ranked among the finest in English literature, feature the stream-of-consciousness technique.”...
Qwiklit, Mar. 22

Inspired by Cosmos: A science reading list for kids
Alexis Walker writes: “Have you been captivated by Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, the recent follow-up to Carl Sagan’s seminal documentary series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage? While the engaging style would likely draw in high-school and perhaps middle-grade students, it might be a bit too advanced for the younger crowd. But why wait to introduce them to basic concepts of the cosmos they live in? Here is a starter reading list for kids for that exact purpose.”...
New York Public Library blogs, Mar. 28

Beginner’s guide to the professional book review
Anna-Sophia Zingarelli-Sweet writes: “Book reviews are one important (and fun) avenue of professional involvement that many library school students aren’t aware of. Book reviewing is a volunteer opportunity offered by numerous LIS publications and professional organizations. Reviews are often assigned based on specialized expertise, so if you have another graduate degree or a lot of prior experience, they can be an especially good fit. Your book reviews will become a public part of your professional persona, so think carefully about what kinds of venues are a good match.”...
Hack Library School, Mar. 26

The big bookish Netflix roundup
Josh Corman writes: “Netflix’s instant streaming catalog is a wonderful thing, made more wonderful by the immense number of bookish TV shows, feature films, and documentaries to which it grants us access. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to find things, especially if a given title doesn’t fit into the algorithm that suggests what you might like to watch next. Here is a huge list of what the bookish side of Netflix has to offer. Enjoy responsibly (and don’t neglect your books; they have feelings too).”...
Book Riot, Mar. 27

The Grapes of Wrath: 75 years later
Anna Clark writes: “Published in 1939, John Steinbeck’s opus was discussed, banned, burned, and sold in wildly high numbers before winning two of literature’s biggest prizes. Nowadays, The Grapes of Wrath has a much more staid reputation—the novel is a Common Core text for 9th and 10th graders, and everyone from the New York Times to a Los Angeles theater company is publishing teaching guides to the novel. Its mainstreaming gives it a certain veneer of conventionality, despite the radical and provoking story that once incited a backlash.”...
Pacific Standard, Apr. 1

Top literary cities in the US
Gabriella Tutino writes: “What determines a city as ‘literary?’ It’s not enough to have a large library, unique bookstores, or be the birthplace of a famous writer. Nor is it enough to be one of the top literate cities in the United States. If anything, a literary city is a blend of the historical, cultural, and modern parts of literature, encouraging and inspiring future generations to appreciate and take part in the literary world. Here are a handful of US cities that fit that profile.”...
Highbrow Magazine, Mar. 28; Central Connecticut State University

10 of the most bizarre books ever written
Andrew Handley writes: “If literary history teaches us one thing, it’s that people were just as confused and immature in the Middle Ages as they are now. From unsolvable codes to 13th-century doodles in the margins of bibles, history is like an all-encompassing high school cliché that never comes to an end. These books span the course of written history, and they’re all utterly bizarre.”...
Listverse. Mar. 30

The Voynich Manuscript: The world’s most baffling book
Karl Shuker writes: “Amid the vast store of knowledge contained within Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library is a unique manuscript lavishly illustrated with color paintings of strange plants and astronomical and astrological symbols, not to mention a varied selection of what its researchers refer to as ‘nymphs.’ The only problem is that the ornate script of the text in the Voynich Manuscript is written in a wholly unknown language that has withstood all attempts in modern times to decipher it.”...
The Eclectarium of Doctor Shuker, Apr. 2

UNC’s Wikipedia Edit-a-thon
Guitarist Elizabeth Cotten, politician Howard Lee, and the Royal Ice Cream sit-in were among the Wikipedia topics getting new entries or updates March 30 at an event at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Wilson Library. The North Carolina Collection’s second “Edit-a-thon,” focusing on African-American history in North Carolina, was organized with the goal of adding information to the online encyclopedia....
Raleigh (N.C.) News and Observer, Mar. 30

Cengage Learning emerges from Chapter 11
Cengage Learning, a global educational content and technology services company for the higher education and K–12 library markets, announced April 1 that it has emerged from Chapter 11, having completed its financial restructuring. Cengage Learning has eliminated approximately $4 billion in funded debt. Watch the video message (4:03) from Cengage Learning CEO Michael Hansen....
Gale Cengage

Family programming for Autism Awareness Month
Renee Grassi writes: “Our Children’s Department is trying something new this April for Autism Awareness Month. As a way to continue our outreach efforts to children with special needs into the library, we will be hosting our first-ever inclusive family film program entitled Sensory-Friendly Family Film. Our idea of a family film program designed especially for children with special needs is modeled after AMC Theatre’s own series of Sensory-Friendly Films.”...
ALSC Blog, Mar. 27

The Smithsonian’s first woman employee
Pamela M. Henson writes: “As we celebrate Women’s History Month at the Smithsonian, you might ask who was the first woman to secure a paid position at the Smithsonian? Jane Wadden Turner (1818–1896) was appointed a library clerk in 1857 after being trained by her brother. After her brother’s death in 1859, Turner was placed in charge of the library. After her retirement in 1887, a woman was not appointed chief of the Smithsonian Library until 1942.”...
The Bigger Picture, Mar. 27

The Cybermobile of the Adirondacks
Orty Ortwein writes: “Starting in January 2001, the Four County Library System, headquartered in Vestal, New York, began sending out the Cybermobile. While not the first to provide library patrons with internet access, this bookmobile was the first in America to do so by satellite. Located deep in the Catskills and Adirondacks, the four counties of Broome, Chenango, Delaware, and Otsego were so isolated as to not even be completely accessible by land line.”...
Bookmobiles: A History, Apr. 1

Librarians are number 43 on the happy list
The UK Cabinet Office has been looking at the relationship between different jobs and levels of life satisfaction (happiness). The happiest workers, the research suggests, are vicars and priests. Librarians, with a medium average income of £24,584 ($40,963 US), come out to number 43 on the list—right behind authors, and just above lawyers and accountants....
BBC News, Mar. 20

Becoming a solo librarian
Michael Rodriguez writes: “My mentor recently forwarded me a thrilling job ad for a solo librarian at the Charles Darwin Foundation Research Station, located in Ecuador’s beautiful Galápagos Islands. As the only professional librarian present, the successful candidate would get to do digital curation, cataloging, collection development, reference, budget planning, staff management, ILS, and building maintenance. This ad got me thinking about solo librarianship, both the challenges and the amazing opportunities this work presents.”...
Hack Library School, Mar. 27

Who’s a librarian?
Jacob Berg writes: “A librarian is someone who works in a library, provided a library is a collection of information that is organized in some systematic fashion. The collection can be physical. The collection can be digital. Do you teach people how to use that collection, or help them use it? Congratulations! You’re a librarian.” A further examination of credentialing follows....
BeerBrarian, Mar. 27, 31

Net fragments
Teddy Wayne writes: “This. I mean I just can’t. #LOVE. If you’re on social media, you’ve likely read, or written, a statement like those above: a single word or incomplete sentence accompanying a link or photo. For lack of a universally agreed-upon term, let’s call them ‘fragments.’ What these concise expressions most closely resemble are marginalia in middle school yearbooks, the kind of hyperbole young people are prone to traffic in, like, all the time. Except now, otherwise literate adults are intentionally simplifying their online language while inflating their emotional response, all for public consumption.”...
New York Times, Mar. 28

It’s National Poetry Month
Since its inauguration by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, every April has been celebrated as National Poetry Month. Schools, libraries, publishers, booksellers, and poets across the United States all come together to celebrate poetry in American culture. Interested in helping to celebrate poetry? Check out 30 ways to join the festivities this month. Julie Greller has 24 poetry websites you should check out....
Fine Books Blog, April 1; Academy of American Poets; A Media Specialist’s Guide to the Internet, Mar. 20

25 items added to National Recording Registry
Jeff Buckley’s haunting single “Hallelujah” from his one and only studio album; Lyndon B. Johnson’s massive collection of presidential conversations; Isaac Hayes’s landmark soundtrack album Shaft; and “The Laughing Song” performed by the nation’s first black recording artist are among the newest recordings selected for induction into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry. Librarian of Congress James H. Billington announced the selection of 25 sound recordings to the registry on April 2....
Library of Congress, Apr. 2

Open access maps at NYPL
The New York Public Library’s Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division has released more than 20,000 cartographic works as high-resolution downloads. The library is distributing these images under a Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. The maps can be viewed through the NYPL Digital Collections page and downloaded through the Map Warper, a special feature that helps place historical maps in a modern visual field. Watch this video (3:45) to tour the Map Warper site and learn how to rectify a map yourself....
New York Public Library, Mar. 28; YouTube, Mar. 13

Placing Literature launches two collections
The Placing Literature project has launched its first two literary collections highlighting novels that take place in specific geographic locations. the collections—Queensland, Australia, and Catalonia, Spain—are curated by the State Library of Queensland and Espais Escrits (Written Spaces: The Catalan Literary Heritage Network). The 500 places mapped by the two organizations have been added to Placing Literature’s existing database of 1,900 literary places around the world....
Placing Literature, Apr. 1

38 jobs for kids ages 12–17
Julie Greller writes: “April has begun and before you know it, students will be thinking of summer vacation and how they can earn money. The current job market is tough for teenagers, but with a little effort on their part, they can do something interesting. Here is my updated list (PDF file).”...
A Media Specialist’s Guide to the Internet, Apr. 1

Fascinating secret collections unearthed
Alison Nastasi writes: “Sometimes there’s nothing more exciting than a secret. In the case of these secret collections—art, writings, and entire worlds—the inner obsessions of their creators and keepers have proven to be strangely beautiful and endlessly fascinating. We explored the works and private lives of secret artmakers and collectors, unearthing an otherness and uniqueness that we can’t seem to get enough of.” A good example is the street photography of Vivian Maier (above), now on exhibit at the Chicago Public Library....
Flavorwire, Mar. 30

Keeping Up with MOOCs
The latest edition of Keeping Up With…, ACRL’s online current awareness publication featuring concise briefs on trends in academic librarianship and higher education, is now available. This month’s issue features a discussion of MOOCs by Carmen Kazakoff-Lane....
ACRL Insider, Mar. 28

Cornell library acquires presidential textiles
Cornell University Library’s newly acquired textile collection—with a strong Cornell connection—of more than 100 items from the 19th and the 20th centuries is now part of Cornell’s world-renowned Collection of Political America in the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections. The textiles, a donation from the estate of quilter Lucinda Reddington Cawley, include such items as sashes and fabrics printed with presidential portraits and scarves that were souvenirs from World Fairs....
Cornell Chronicle, Mar. 27

Navigating the logistics of death
Tara Siegel Bernard writes: “The number of end-of-life planning and document storage sites, like Everplans, AfterSteps, and Principled Heart, is on the rise. Other websites deal with a specific piece of planning, such as online memorials, sending emails from the grave, or what should happen to your Facebook account. Here’s a closer look at how some of them work.”...
New York Times, Mar. 28

Help with MedLine Plus
Christine Gorman writes: “One of the things I like so much about MedlinePlus (a service of the National Library of Medicine) is that the medical librarians at NLM have already done a lot of the heavy lifting for you. I thought I’d give some detail about what I mean, using a search for trustworthy information about ‘throat cancer.’ There are two things to point out.”...
Scientific American: Observations, Mar. 31

St. Paul Public Library: Sharing more than books
Google recently visited St. Paul (Minn.) Public Library and made this excellent short video (2:31) about its work with refugees. Library Manager Rebecca Ryan (right) explains the Mobile Workplace, which brings technology to Somali, Hmong, and Karen refugee populations in the area who need to learn computer skills and job search techniques....
YouTube, Mar. 13

Unpacking an erotic icon: The sexy librarian
Dustin M. Wax writes: “I recently came across a blog post, Naughty Librarians and the Eroticism of Intellect, by J. M. McFee, which purports to explain the enduring appeal of the image of the ‘sexy librarian’ in modern life. Unfortunately, in the absence of any sort of historical or cultural context, I found McFee’s musings rather toothless. The sexualization of the librarian does not stand alone in our cultural erotics. While I can’t profess to have the whole story, I hope to give at least an outline of what the whole story might look like.”...
Savage Minds, Mar. 26; Omniscious Almanac, Aug. 22, 2012

CARL Newsletter: April Fool’s edition
The special preconference edition of the California Academic and Research Libraries Newsletter is now available. It includes an interview with CARL President Emeritus Amy Wallace, tips on attending your first CARL conference, reports from the Biker Librarians Round Table and the Northern California Magickal Libraries Interest Group, and a special offer on CARL Glass....
California Academic and Research Libraries, Apr. 1

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