The e-newsletter of the American Library Association | June 11, 2014

Public library engagement
Kathryn Zickuhr and Lee Rainie write: “The Pew Research Center’s Internet Project has intensively studied the changing world of public libraries for the last three years. The first stage of our research explored the growing role of ebooks, including their impact on Americans’ reading habits and library habits. Our second stage examined the full universe of library services, as well as what library services Americans most value and what they might want from libraries in the future.”...
American Libraries feature

New short film looks at New York City libraries
Phil Morehart writes: “Filmmakers Julie Dressner and Jesse Hicks (right) produced a short film (9:58) that looks at how library branches in New York City have evolved into community centers that offer an array of services and programs despite budget cuts. The film has gone viral, and it was even screened at a June 3 New York City Council meeting on the library budget in an attempt to sway the council to approve additional library funding. American Libraries spoke with the filmmakers about the film, its inspirations, and impact.”...
AL: The Scoop, June 6

Newsmaker: Jeff Bridges
Oscar-winning actor Jeff Bridges (right) returns to the big screen this summer in The Giver, an adaptation of Lois Lowry’s classic dystopian young adult novel. He spoke with American Libraries about turning the book into a film, its themes, and the future of libraries. Bridges and Lowry will appear at Barbara Stripling’s President’s Program at the ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition in Las Vegas on June 29....
American Libraries column, June

Taylor Swift is the new face of READing
Seven-time Grammy winner and Billboard Artist of the Year Taylor Swift can now add ALA Celebrity READ Poster to her list of accomplishments. An avid reader and strong supporter of literacy and libraries, the 24-year-old partnered with Scholastic Books to make book donations to libraries in her hometown of Reading, Pennsylvania, and Nashville, Tennessee, where she currently lives. She will star in the film adaptation of Lois Lowry’s 1994 Newbery Medal–winning YA novel, The Giver, in theaters August 15....
AL: The Scoop, June 6

Chicago will extend its technology lab another year
Timothy Inklebarger writes: “Chicago Public Library’s Maker Lab, a program that provides access to MakerBot 3D printers, laser and vinyl cutters, and other 21st-century technologies, has attracted the support of a corporate sponsor that will extend its life. A $150,000 grant from the Motorola Mobility Foundation, the Chicago-based communications company’s philanthropic arm, will allow the lab to operate into 2015.”...
AL: The Scoop, June 5

Next AL Live goes beyond Google
In the next episode of American Libraries Live, an authoritative panel will talk about librarians’ value as experts and how to effectively convey that concept to the public. Tune in June 12 at 2 p.m. Eastern time for this free, streaming video broadcast. The “Going Beyond Google” panel includes Beth McDonough, Joanna M. Burkhardt, Nikki Krysak, and John McCullough....
American Libraries, June 2

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Join the first-ever White House Maker Faire
The White House plans to host its first Maker Faire later this year. To express your library’s support for makerspaces in libraries, email Lauren Britton, who is serving as ALA’s representative for this effort. An online interest form lists more ways to get involved. Watch a video (1:02) of the 16-year-old maker who inspired President Obama....
Office of ALA Governance, June 10; White House Blog, Feb. 3; YouTube, Feb. 3

Philippe Petit to speak at Annual Conference
United for Libraries will welcome Philippe Petit (right), subject of the Academy Award–winning 2008 documentary Man on Wire, at the division’s President’s Program on June 30 at the ALA Annual Conference in Las Vegas. Petit has been artist-in-residence of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine for more than 30 years and has performed on the high wire more than 80 times around the world. He also lectures, practices magic, and street juggles....
United for Libraries, June 9

Explore outreach services at Annual
Join the Office for Literacy and Outreach Services for two panel discussions on providing library services to underserved and underrepresented populations at the 2014 ALA Annual Conference in Las Vegas. Both sessions of “Library Services to the Underserved,” Panel I and Panel II, will take place on June 29....
Office for Literacy and Outreach Services, June 10

Interactive exhibits map
Need to find a vendor quickly in the Annual Conference exhibit hall? Make a list of the vendors you want to visit, then figure out exactly where they are using this interactive map. The site also allows you to search by company, product, country of origin, and pavilion....
Conference Services

ALA report: Over-filtering harms education
Schools and libraries nationwide are routinely filtering internet content far more than what the Children’s Internet Protection Act requires, according to Fencing Out Knowledge: Impacts of the Children’s Internet Protection Act 10 Years Later (PDF file), an ALA Policy Brief by Kirsten R. Batch released June 11. CIPA requires public libraries and K–12 schools to employ filtering software to receive certain federal funds. The report finds that librarians, as curators of digital information and as trained instructors, are uniquely positioned to develop acceptable internet use policies....
Office for Information Technology Policy, June 11

How to send a meeting request in ALA Connect
Jenny Levine writes: “Meeting requests are like Doodle polls that let you figure out the best time for everyone in your group to meet. ALA Connect meeting requests have the added feature of letting you automatically create a calendar event based on the times of your poll. And as always, email notifications are automatic, so you don’t have to go through the separate steps of emailing everyone a link to the form or the event.”...
ALA Connect, June 11

Shakespeare’s First Folio in traveling exhibition
The Public Programs Office, in collaboration with the Folger Shakespeare Library and Cincinnati Museum Center, invites applications for the traveling exhibition “Shakespeare and His First Folio,” which will bring the 1623 original edition of the playwright’s first published collection to 53 sites. The opportunity is open to public, academic, and special libraries, small museums, historical societies, and other cultural venues. Online applications must be submitted to ALA by September 5....
Public Programs Office, June 9

UMA graduates eligible for CLSS designation
The ALA–Allied Professional Association has completed an agreement with the University of Maine at Augusta that will allow its graduates who meet the established criteria from their Library and Information Services Program to receive the Certified Library Support Staff (CLSS) designation. Candidates from UMA must have the required one year of recent library experience or meet that requirement within four years of becoming certified....
ALA–Allied Professional Association, June 9

The ALA Store at Annual Conference
Longer hours and easy access in the Grand Concourse of the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center make it more convenient to shop and browse at the ALA Store. The store offers products that meet the widest range of your promotional and professional development needs—as well as fun gift items. Make sure to carve out some time in your schedule to stop by and examine many new and bestselling items....
ALA Publishing, June 9

Building a core print collection for preschoolers
Reading aloud is one of the most influential steps librarians, teachers, parents, and caregivers can take to foster preschoolers’ literacy skills. Early exposure to books heavily influences vocabulary knowledge, which in turn improves later reading skills and helps foster lifelong literacy. In Building a Core Print Collection for Preschoolers, Alan R. Bailey highlights more than 300 birth-to-kindergarten titles....
ALA Editions, June 10

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Outdoor ice cream spots
One of the best things about all of the recent construction on the Vegas Strip is that many of the hotels are adding outdoor components to their restaurants and bars. Sure, the air conditioning inside the hotels and casinos is great if it’s 115°, but it’s not the only way to beat the heat. Here are four places where you can get a sweet scoop or five of ice cream to really cool things down. And don’t miss these al fresco restaurants....
Travel Vegas, May 23, 28

Las Vegas buffet guide
With their numerous dishes, from soups, salads, and seafood, to international affairs, a trip to Las Vegas seems incomplete without visiting an all-you-can-eat buffet. To rate each of these 17 buffets, we utilized a table of 10 categories: food, service, ambience, selection, value, beverages, wait, location/access, price, and an overall rating. Each category is worth 10 points. And don’t miss this how-to guide to buffet etiquette....
Las Vegas Restaurants

The Mob Museum
Lucy Dodsworth writes: “Nowhere in America is the history of the Mob so entwined with a city as it is in Las Vegas. The Mob Museum, 300 Stewart Avenue, takes you from the Prohibition era and the growth of the Mafia, through the city’s early days, the turf wars and infighting of the Mob era, to the counterattack by law enforcement agencies. The tour begins on the building’s third floor and works its way down. It has a mix of exhibits, with photos, stories, and artifacts telling the stories of the law enforcement figures as much as the mobsters themselves.”...
On the Luce, May 7, 2013

Downtown3rd Farmers Market
The Friday morning (9 a.m. to 2 p.m.) Downtown3rd Farmers Market takes over a repurposed transit terminal next to the Mob Museum. Local producers sell jerky, jams, honey, mushrooms, and more. You’ve never gnawed on greens from the Moapa Valley, 50 miles north of Vegas? It’s your lucky day. The market showcases local Las Vegas farmers and offers private events, healthy lifestyle classes, art shows, and demonstrations from famous Las Vegas chefs....
Sunset Insider Guides, Mar. 2013

The Flamingo Hotel wildlife habitat
Touted as one of the most beloved attractions in Las Vegas, the Flamingo’s Wildlife Habitat is free of charge and open to the public daily. Nestled on the hotel’s lush 15-acre grounds, the habitat is stocked with exotic birds, fish, and turtles. A highlight is the Flamingo Island, home to a huge flock of Chilean flamingos. Also on view are ringed teals, sacred ibis, and brown pelicans. While you’re there, visit the location of Bugsy Siegel’s original Flamingo Hotel, 1946–1993; a memorial is in the garden....
Flamingo Hotel; A Ghost in My Suitcase

Drink your way through Las Vegas history
LAVO Italian Restaurant, part of the Palazzo Resort Hotel Casino on Las Vegas Boulevard, recently released a “A History of Las Vegas Through Cocktails” menu that features 17 drinks categorized into time periods from 1829 to the present. Each drink gives background on a pivotal moment in Las Vegas history. If that’s not to your liking, here is a roundup of Las Vegas happy hours and the best drink specials in the city....
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services, June 7; Happy Hour Las Vegas; Vegas Unzipped

The Barrick Museum
The Barrick Museum is located in the heart of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus. For more than 40 years the museum has been a cultural gathering place, offering a wide-range of exhibitions and experiences for you to enjoy. On display during conference will be an exhibition of original photographs by famed actor, director, comedian, singer, and philanthropist Jerry Lewis, and “Private/Public,” images of devotion from 19th and early 20th-century Mexico....
UNLV Barrick Museum

Protect yourself from airplane germs
Diana Rodriguez writes: “Jumping on an airplane and jetting away can get you where you need to go fast, but in the close quarters of a jet cabin, you’ll be exposed to every cough and sneeze of your fellow passengers. To avoid arriving at your destination with symptoms of a cold or other illness, follow these tips to reduce your exposure to germs on the plane.”...
EverydayHealth.com, Feb. 5, 2009

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AASL’s first virtual membership meeting
AASL held its first virtual membership meeting on June 8. This annual meeting, formerly a face-to-face event presented during the ALA Annual Conference, provided AASL members with a “state of the association” update via reports from AASL leadership. Topics included AASL initiatives, programs, recognitions, and financial standing. The meeting was recorded, and all are invited to view the archive (1:24:34)....
AASL, June 8

AASL’s Senior/Capstone Project survey
Results of a survey undertaken by the AASL Senior Project/Capstone Project Task Force are now available as part of an executive summary detailing the completion of the group’s work. The task force was charged with gathering examples of exemplary implementation of student-centered Senior/Capstone Projects that involve school librarians as integral to the information literacy and inquiry process. The results and summary are available online (PDF file)....
AASL, June 10

RUSA networking and orientation event
RUSA will host RUSA 101, a networking and orientation event for interested, new, and current members on June 27 during the 2014 ALA Annual Conference in Las Vegas....
RUSA, June 10

PLA accepting 2015 Annual Conference proposals
PLA is now accepting preconference and program proposals showcasing public library practices and innovations for the 2015 ALA Annual Conference, to be held June 25–30 in San Francisco. Proposals will be accepted online through 11:59 p.m. Central time on August 15....
PLA, June 10

New PLA webinar takes on your library’s marketing plan
The prospect of writing a marketing plan can instill dread in many a library professional, but a new live, hour-long webinar from PLA can help tackle this daunting task. “Marketing Plans for the Faint of Heart,” on June 23, will offer an instructive look at the steps in a marketing plan that are critical to success and will highlight the differences among marketing, promotion, publicity, outreach, and public relations to enable clear goal setting....
PLA, June 10

Hot picks for book clubs at Annual
On June 29, United for Libraries will present “Hot Picks for Book Clubs” during the ALA Annual Conference in Las Vegas. Join Ana Castillo (Give It to Me), Ann Hood (An Italian Wife), Rebecca Rasmussen (The Bird Sisters, right), and Julie Lawson Timmer (Five Days Left) as they discuss their latest books. Authors will sign their books following the event....
United for Libraries, June 10

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Laurence Copel wins inaugural Lemony Snicket Prize
Laurence Copel (right), youth outreach librarian and founder of the Lower Ninth Ward Street Library, New Orleans, is the first recipient of the Lemony Snicket Prize for Noble Librarians Faced With Adversity. Daniel Handler, also known as Lemony Snicket, will present Copel with the prize on June 29 during the ALA Annual Conference in Las Vegas. Known to the children in the Lower Ninth Ward as the “Book Lady,” Copel will receive a $3,000 check, $1,000 travel expenses, a certificate, and an odd object from Handler’s private collection....
Office of ALA Governance, June 9

LIRT Top Twenty LIS research articles
Two articles from the AASL online research journal, School Library Research, have been named 2013 Top Twenty articles by the Library Instruction Round Table. The full list of articles recognized can be found online (PDF file). LIRT works to include articles from various library settings as well as a mix of both the theoretical and the practical. Final selections are published in the June issue of the LIRT News....
AASL, June 9

2014 Roger K. Summit Scholarship
ProQuest has awarded its 2014 Roger K. Summit Scholarship to Erin Zerhusen (right), an MLIS student at the University of Maryland. The scholarship—named in honor of Dialog founder Roger K. Summit, a pioneer in developing online information retrieval services—received a record number of applicants in 2014. It was presented June 10 at the Special Libraries Association’s annual conference in Vancouver, British Columbia....
ProQuest, June 9

2014 Soon To Be Famous Author
The winner of the Illinois Library Association’s first Soon to be Famous Illinois Author award is a librarian. Joanne Zienty (right), library media specialist at the Forest School Library in Des Plaines, Illinois, was awarded the honor for her book The Things We Save at a ceremony held April 16 at the RAILS (Reaching Across Illinois Libraries) headquarters in Burr Ridge, Illinois. The award is the brainchild of library marketing professionals who were inspired after listening to a presentation by NYU Professor David Vinjamuri at the 2013 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago....
Illinois Library Association

Best Children’s Books of the Year, 2014
The Best Children’s Books of the Year, 2014 Edition, includes more than 600 titles chosen by the Bank Street College Children’s Book Committee as the best of the best published in 2013. In choosing books for the annual list, committee members consider literary quality and excellence of presentation as well as the potential emotional impact of the books on young readers....
Bank Street College Center for Children’s Literature, June 5

2014 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction
The winner of the 2014 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction is first-time Irish novelist Eimear McBride, who impressed the five judges with her debut novel, A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing. It tells the story of a young woman’s relationship with her brother and the long shadow cast by his childhood brain tumor. The title will be published in the US by Coffee House Press in September. McBride received the award at a ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall in London on June 5....
Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction, June 5

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High school principal cancels One School/One Book
Michael J. Roberts, principal of Booker T. Washington High School in Pensacola, Florida, canceled the school’s One School/One Book summer reading program rather than letting students go through with the previously approved assignment to read Little Brother, a bestselling YA novel by Cory Doctorow, who writes: “The school faculty who worked so hard on this asked for our help fighting back against censorship, so my publisher, Tor, has agreed to send 200 copies to the school.” The National Coalition Against Censorship sent a letter of concern to the principal....
Boing Boing, June 6; National Coalition Against Censorship, June 9

Oregon school librarians dwindling
Betsy Hammond writes: “Oregon schools, which had 818 full-time librarians in 1980, are down to just 144 full-time-equivalent licensed school library specialists, the Oregon Association of School Libraries reported. The group decried the absence of trained librarians in schools as a change that has harmed students’ reading, writing, and research capabilities. Schools are not required to have certified librarians and tend to operate them instead with library aides, volunteers, or teachers who bring their classes to libraries that are no longer staffed at all.”...
Portland Oregonian, June 5; Oregon Library Association

Dallas offers homeless patrons a podcast series
Rashad Dickerson (right) is a college student, a homeless man, a convicted felon, and now the host of his own podcast devoted to exploring homelessness. The nine-episode series, titled Street View, is produced in the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library in downtown Dallas, where the 26-year-old is a frequent visitor and a liaison between the library and its homeless customers. The podcast, put together by AmeriCorps volunteers and library employees, has drawn nearly 5,000 plays and downloads since first airing in March....
Dallas Morning News, June 8

Google tablets to be loaned at Queens branches
Google tablets, once available only to library customers in neighborhoods damaged by Hurricane Sandy, will soon be featured in Queens (N.Y.) Library branches throughout the system. Anyone with a library card and identification can borrow the tablets, which provide internet access with a Wi-Fi connection. The tablets come preloaded with information on education, health, citizenship, and computer skills training. The library won a New York State Most Innovative Broadband Project award for the service on June 5, as well as an ALA Library of the Future Award....
New York Daily News, June 8; New York State Governor, June 5; Office of ALA Governance, Apr. 22

Reinventing libraries for HoMaGo
Emanuella Grinberg writes: “Collections, staff, and space dedicated to teens have existed in libraries for years. Now, libraries are shifting those resources to developing learning spaces where teens can create content instead of consuming it. The Nashville Public Library and the Chicago Public Library both have creative spaces where teens can hang out, mess around, and geek out (HoMaGo).”...
CNN, June 2

Nicole Kidman backs Nashville library fundraiser
The Nashville (Tenn.) Public Library wants to raise $2 million in the next year from its everyday patrons. And backing will come in a big way from actress Nicole Kidman—a superstar Nashvillian who is a regular library user and checks out books with her two daughters and attends storytime events and puppet shows. The Nashville Library Foundation has already raised $13 million from high-dollar donors for its “Write the Next Chapter” campaign....
Nashville Tennessean, June 10

Alec Baldwin still supports Central Falls
Actor Alec Baldwin, who donated $15,000 to the Adams Memorial Library in Central Falls, Rhode Island, in 2011 and 2012, stood on the front steps of the small brick building June 7 and accepted the key to the city from Mayor James Diossa. At the special “Baldwin for Books” event, Baldwin spoke about the enduring role of libraries, then headed inside for a VIP reception with Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee and some 100 library supporters who had donated between $500 and $5,000 each....
Boston Globe, June 9

Syracuse gets serious about summer reading
The Syracuse, New York, school district will give a backpack filled with 10 books to every K–5 child so they can keep up with their reading over the summer. That means the district will hand out 92,910 books. Scholastic donated more than $100,000 in books and backpacks, and the district spent $276,804 out of its general fund. Scholastic runs the program in many school districts, but this is the first time that Syracuse has participated. Clifford the Big Red Dog helped distribute backpacks to the 1st graders....
Syracuse (N.Y.) Post-Standard, June 4

Miami-Dade considers bringing libraries to parks
Miami-Dade commissioners endorsed bringing libraries into county park buildings June 9 in an effort to ease the $20 million budget crunch facing the library system. The plan approved would put an amendment on the November ballot allowing libraries in existing parks buildings. “I don’t think you can have libraries in one place with someone saying, ‘Shhh, people are doing their homework,’ and basketball and Zumba somewhere else,” Barbara Falsey, vice president of the Urban Environment League of Greater Miami, told commissioners....
Miami Herald, June 9

Waterbury staffer charged with stealing money
A payroll manager at the Silas Bronson Library in Waterbury, Connecticut, has been charged with stealing more than $170,000, about $100 per day, from the petty cash that comes in from overdue or lost books. Lynette James said she was underpaid and deserved the money police are charging her with stealing. Red flags were raised in May when the city discovered James paid herself more than $12,000 in unauthorized stipends dating back to 2006....
WFSB-TV, Hartford, Conn., June 10

Washington State Library reduces hours
In-person service hours at the main Washington State Library (right) in Tumwater will be reduced by four hours a day, effective June 16. The dedicated fund that finances library operations projects a potential shortfall of more than $1 million, due primarily to an unexpected slump in the number of recording fees collected by county auditors. This is on top of a $664,000 budget cut that was required at the beginning of the biennium, following a decade of budget and staff reductions....
Between the Lines, June 9

North Carolina library starts a community vegetable garden
The Main Library of the Catawba County Library System in Newton, North Carolina, has launched a community vegetable garden to raise food that will help stock the bins at local food banks. Patrons are encouraged to pitch in by helping to work the soil, tend the raised beds, or donate such equipment as rakes, shovels, wheelbarrows, or rain barrels. Youth Services Librarian April Green is overseeing the project....
Charlotte (N.C.) Observer, June 7

Breaking bad in Sarasota County
Police in Sarasota, Florida, have arrested a homeless couple for allegedly making meth on the grounds of the Frances T. Bourne Jacaranda Public Library in Venice. The couple, Raymond King and Tiffany Stolz, had material commonly used for cooking meth in their possession. Near the back wall of the library, police found bottles of Coleman Fuel, lithium batteries, tubing, and several bottles of unknown liquids....
WFLA-TV, Tampa, Fla., June 10

Harvard helps preserve Tibetan literary heritage
Francesca Annicchiarico writes: “Beginning in July, Harvard University Library will upload onto its digital storage system 10 million pages of Tibetan literature that survived China’s convulsive Cultural Revolution, the movement between 1966 and 1976 that led to the destruction of countless Chinese and Tibetan literary texts. The project is the result of a partnership between Harvard Library and the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center, a nonprofit organization based in Harvard Square that has been acquiring, scanning, and digitally preserving Tibetan volumes since its founding in 1999.”...
Harvard Magazine, June 6

Historic books found in Iowa church library
The title of the 1864 book, Vital Godliness: A Treatise on Experimental and Practical Piety, wasn’t what made it stand out. The author, William S. Plumer, didn’t make it incredibly special. It was an older book in the Westminster Presbyterian Church library in Ottumwa, Iowa, but its age wasn’t that impressive. When Rev. Jane Martinez, pastor at Westminster, saw the name on the front plate, University of Dubuque founder Rev. Adrian Van Vliet, that’s when the interesting journey began....
Ottumwa (Iowa) Courier, June 6

Russian agents sentenced for Gutenberg Bible theft
A colonel in Russia’s Federal Security Service has been jailed for stealing a rare bible by 15th-century German printer Johannes Gutenberg from Moscow State University and trying to sell it for about $1.15 million, a fraction of its true value. Sergei Vedishchev was sentenced June 5 to 3.5 years in a penal colony, and two other FSB officers received lesser terms for helping him seek a buyer for the two-volume bible....
Reuters, June 6

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A win for fair use
Jennifer Howard writes: “In what legal observers and fair-use advocates called a victory for libraries, a federal appeals court has upheld most of a lower court’s 2012 ruling in favor of the HathiTrust Digital Library in a copyright-infringement lawsuit brought by the Authors Guild and other plaintiffs. The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled (PDF file) June 10 that HathiTrust’s creation of a searchable, full-text database of those works counts as fair use. So does making texts available in different formats for the vision-impaired.” The Library Copyright Alliance applauded the ruling and ALA President Barbara Stripling issued a statement. James Grimmelmann offers some commentary....
Chronicle of Higher Education: Wired Campus, June 10; Association of Research Libraries, June 10; ALA Office for Information Technology Policy, June 10; The Laboratorium, June 10

How Bill Gates pulled off the Common Core revolution
Lyndsey Layton writes: “The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation didn’t just bankroll the development of what became known as the Common Core State Standards. With more than $200 million, the foundation also built political support across the country, persuading state governments to make systemic and costly changes. Within just two years after Bill Gates (right) met with two education advocates in Seattle in 2008, 45 states and the District of Columbia had fully adopted the Common Core State Standards.”...
Washington Post, June 7

Congress urged to get surveillance reform right
Adam Eisgrau writes: “As recently reported, the Senate Judiciary Committee is preparing to consider the latest House-passed version of the USA Freedom Act later this month. As that markup nears, ALA and more than 30 other leading national civil liberties and pro-privacy organizations have written a letter (PDF file) to Majority Leader Harry Reid, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and to the chairs and most senior minority members of the Senate Judiciary and Intelligence Committees.”...
District Dispatch, May 30, June 5

Library as infrastructure
Shannon Mattern writes: “Melvil Dewey was a one-man Silicon Valley born a century before Steve Jobs. He was the quintessential Industrial Age entrepreneur, but Dewey sold ideas. Thinking about the library as a network of integrated, mutually reinforcing, evolving infrastructures—in particular, architectural, technological, social, epistemological, and ethical infrastructures—can help us better identify what roles we want our libraries to serve, and what we can reasonably expect of them.”...
Design Observer, June 9

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How to use tech like a teenager
Geoffrey A. Fowler writes: “Teens are among the most creative users of technology, in part because they don’t have adults’ assumptions about how things are supposed to work. Believe it or not, there are advantages to using technology like a teen. I asked a handful of 11- to 17-year-olds to tell me what apps and gear they couldn’t live without. They taught me to question my own habits.”...
Wall Street Journal, June 10

The lost art of doing nothing
Christian Williams writes: “Recently, while eating lunch by myself at a local diner, I realized something that genuinely bothered me: I’m losing the ability to sit and do nothing. We all seem incapable of disconnecting from our phones, even for a 15-minute lunch. It’s entirely possible the most damaging effect of technology’s integration into our daily lives is that it’s replacing something many people have never thought was worth doing—sitting still and simply letting your mind wander.”...
Utne Reader, June 9

What people are 3D printing
Esther Honig writes: “At the Johnson County (Kans.) Library, the 3D printer is utilized in many ways. Kids make toys, adults practice with the technology to develop their job skills, and inventors create top-secret prototypes of their inventions. Here are some of the things that Maker Space Librarian Meredith Nelson has seen come out of the 3D printer.”...
KCUR-FM, Kansas City, Mo., June 4; YouTube, May 27

Evernote and Feedly hit by cyberattacks
Samantha Murphy Kelly writes: “Popular note-taking app Evernote and RSS reader Feedly have been hit with major cyberattacks as hackers demanded ransom from the latter site to get it back online. Both Evernote and Feedly, two services that work together, confirmed they suffered distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, a type of cybercrime that kicks sites offline and is meant to disrupt usage (not steal user data). Feedly detailed in a blog post that hackers are holding the site up for ransom.”...
Mashable, June 11; Building Feedly, June 11

How to record streaming audio with Audacity
Amit Agarwal writes: “Would you like to record streaming music from internet radio stations like Pandora or iTunes? Are you looking for a simple way to save the audio from a live webinar that’s playing on your computer? Or maybe you are trying to capture the background sounds of your favorite video game. All you need is Audacity, a popular audio editing software (freeware), and some common computer cables. The steps are similar for both Windows and Mac computers.”...
Digital Inspiration, June 8

Want to learn how to write code?
Amit Agarwal writes: “There’s no reason why you shouldn’t know the basics of coding. You can automate tasks, you can program your Excel sheets, improve workflows, you can extract data from websites, and accomplish so much more with code. Gone are the days when you had to enroll in expensive computer training classes; now there exists a plethora of web-based courses that will help you learn programming at your own pace in the comfort of your web browser.”...
Digital Inspiration, June 10

School library ebook business models
Christopher Harris, Ric Hasenyager, and Carrie Russell write: “Much attention has been paid to library lending, the availability of ebook titles that public libraries can purchase, and the business models associated with ebook acquisition. When we consider school libraries and ebooks, however, we discover a very different situation—greater access to the ebooks that school libraries collect, a greater variety of business models, and a library/publisher relationship that is more congenial.”...
American Libraries feature

SmashWords and OverDrive
James LaRue writes: “Librarians need to take sharp notice of the sudden and disruptive trebling of intellectual content: mainstream (which we’ve always focused on), small and independent publishing (which has ramped up its annual title count by four or five times over as many years), and self-published (now more new annual titles than the other two combined). Three methods have emerged for libraries to sample this content and present it to the public.”...
AL: E-Content, June 11

Amazon-Hachette: Causes, implications
Mike Shatzkin writes: “A great deal has been written about the current tussle between dominant internet retailer Amazon and Hachette Book Group. Although neither side has been particularly explicit about the precise points of contention, both what I read and what I hear tell me that the argument is about adjusting the ebook sales terms that were first hammered out in the doomed initial agency implementation and then modified by a settlement reached under the court’s direction. It reveals an imbalance that only the government can fix.” Calvin Reid wonders whether Amazon is really the devil....
The Shatzkin Files, June 3; Publishers Weekly, June 6

The best e-reader for Android
Eric Ravenscraft writes: “Reading ebooks on Android used to be just okay. Now it’s awesome. While there are plenty of sweet apps for reading books on your phone or tablet, Play Books has vastly improved over the years to become our number one choice for its cloud sync, excellent research tools, and the ability to upload your own books.”...
Lifehacker, June 11

EU: European libraries can digitize books
European libraries are allowed to digitize books without the consent of the rights holder, the senior advisor to Europe’s top court said June 5. The European Copyright Directive does not prevent the digitization of books in a library’s collection if those books are made accessible to the public on dedicated terminals, wrote Advocate General Niilo Jääskinen in a formal opinion (PDF file) to the Court of Justice of the European Union. The directive only permits libraries to digitize individual works, not complete collections, and does not permit downloading by users....
PC World, June 5

Connecticut’s ebook delivery platform
James LaRue writes: “Back in January, the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection published a report about how the state’s public libraries could gain fairer access to ebooks. On June 3, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed into law PA 14-82 to accomplish just that. It ‘authorizes the State Library to create and maintain a state platform for the distribution of electronic books (ebooks) to public library patrons.’ The law goes into effect July 1.”...
AL: E-Content, June 5

What does a digital archivist do?
Jackie Dooley writes: “This post lists the range of duties and responsibilities that I see in ads for digital archivists, half of which were posted by university libraries, and the others by an array of independent research libraries, museums, and government archives. Some indicate responsibility for leadership and coordination, while others clearly are for hands-on, in-the-trenches ‘processing archivists.’” And here are the various skill sets required in those same ads....
hangingtogether.org, June 6, 9

The Book of Bezos of Amazon
Deb Amlen writes: “There has been a lot of buzz spilled over the purported David vs. Goliath battle between publisher Hachette and sales giant Amazon, as well as how Amazon’s sales tactics affect not only the book publishing industry but readers and authors as well. So this week we explain it in the appropriate biblical terms by presenting The Book of Bezos of Amazon.”...
Yahoo! Tech, June 6

2014 Annual Conference and Exhibition, Las Vegas, June 26–July 1. Advance registration ends June 20. Register today for gold-standard professional development, networking, exhibits, issues, trends, and award celebrations. (After June 20, register onsite in Las Vegas.)

Slate couldn’t be more wrong about YA fiction
Elisabeth Donnelly writes: “Slate, a publication that has been ignoring the swell of good, interesting, arguably literary young adult fiction for years, has run an article by Ruth Graham, ‘Against YA,’ that makes the claim: ‘Adults should feel embarrassed about reading literature written for children.’ Frankly, this article paints YA fiction with too wide and too condescending a brush. Despite the fact that YA books have an engaged audience and the potential of sales, the prejudice persists that because it is a ‘genre’ aimed at ‘teens,’ teen girls even, it is automatically not worth any critical engagement.”...
Flavorwire, June 6; Slate, June 5

The adult lessons of YA fiction
Julie Beck writes: “According to one line of thinking, books from the perspective of teenagers are distasteful to mature, grown-up palates. Having entered adulthood, we should now exclusively read books aimed at and written by adults. Which is kind of like moving to France and then deciding you’ll only read French novels. The best part of a story, for me, has always been watching characters change. And what unites works of YA fiction, whether set on suburban streets or on a spaceship in the future, is how quickly and how dramatically its characters experience change.”...
The Atlantic, June 9

Page to screen: The Fault in Our Stars
Katie Shanahan Yu writes: “The much anticipated movie adaptation of 2012 Teens’ Top Ten pick The Fault in our Stars came out on June 6. This heavily anticipated film has received much media coverage because of the book (and certainly John Green’s) large fandom. John Green really gave me hope for this movie, and this film might just be one of the truest adaptations of a book that I’ve seen in a long time. Tears and sniffles were all around the theater during the last bit of the film.”...
YALSA The Hub, June 9

Social inequality in comics
Traci Glass writes: “Keep these graphic novels in mind for readers who are interested in or grappling with social inequality or for those just looking for a great comic. Our first book is written by Gail Simone, who is the current writer on Batgirl, and it’s set in the world of Metropolis and Gotham City. If you haven’t read any of Gail Simone’s comics (and start with Secret Six, if you do), you are seriously missing out as Gail is just straight up a great writer.”...
YALSA The Hub, June 6

Kick-ass female ensembles in graphic novels
Amanda Diehl writes: “With Marvel dominating the box office as of late, there’s no shortage on ensemble, male-heavy superhero casts. For those of you suffering from testosterone, crime-fighting overload, I’ve got the perfect remedy for you! Meet some awesome comic book women who aren’t after saving the world and don’t need a host of superpowers to kick a little ass.”...
Book Riot, June 9

Celebrating Father’s Day
Debby Gold writes: “As summer rolls around, it is time to celebrate the special men in your life. Father’s Day is the perfect time to add a few books to programming about the joy that comes from spending time with an uncle, father, or grandfather. It is also a time to salute your heritage by starting a family tree or making a photo album to honor all those special people in your life. Here are some books that may get your creative juices flowing.”...
ALSC Blog, June 8

Meals from famous literature
Maria Popova writes: “Food and literature have a long and arduous relationship. Nowhere does that relationship come alive more vividly and enchantingly than in Fictitious Dishes: An Album of Literature’s Most Memorable Meals (Harper Design), an ingenious project by designer and writer Dinah Fried, who cooks, art directs, and photographs meals from nearly two centuries of famous fiction. Each photograph is accompanied by the particular passage in which the recipe appeared.”...
Brain Pickings, Apr. 16

What kind of library user are you?
Are you a “Library Lover”? An “Information Omnivore”? Or are you totally “Off the Grid”? Take the Pew Internet Research Center’s library engagement quiz to learn how your library habits and attitudes stack up against the general population. This quiz is a condensed version of the questions asked in the Pew Center’s nationally representative survey of 6,224 Americans ages 16 and older in September 2013....
Pew Research Internet Project, June 9

FY2012 State Library Administrative Agency Survey
IMLS has issued the State Library Administrative Agency (SLAA) Survey for Fiscal Year 2012 Report (PDF file), which provides a view of the condition of state library administrative agencies in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The results show that while SLAAs continue to shape library services in their states, they have faced a period of declining revenues. Revenue from federal, state, and other sources totaled nearly $1 billion in FY2012, a 27% decrease from FY2003 and a 12% decrease from FY2010....
Institute of Museum and Library Services, June 10

The first hybrid bookmobiles
Orty Ortwein writes: “In February 2012, Mendocino County, California, launched America’s first hybrid bookmobile (right). Funding came from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act and a grant from Air Quality Management. It is a Freightliner diesel/electric vehicle that recharges at each stop and has 50% more the efficiency of the bookmobile it replaced. A few months later, Rochester, Minnesota, followed with a bookmobile powered by a hybrid drive train and generator.”...
Bookmobiles: A History, June 8

Fun with MaKey MaKey
Jaina Lewis writes: “In November 2013, I began a program called Maker Mondays. The favorite activity by far has been the MaKey MaKey. These are invention kits that work like simple Arduinos. Each consists of a simple board and wires with alligator clips. MaKey MaKey allows any conductive material to work in lieu of a computer keyboard. The great thing about this kit is how accessible it is. Students can collaborate to make cool stuff, can learn at their own pace, and can achieve results with minimal technology skills.”...
YALSAblog, June 10

How hosting a controversial program affected my library
Colleen Leddy writes: “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Perhaps that proverb best illustrates my experience in applying for the Bridging Cultures: Muslim Journeys Bookshelf and Let’s Talk About It grant cosponsored by ALA and the National Endowment for the Humanities. As director of a very small rural library in the Midwest, I don’t like to pass up opportunities for high-quality, inexpensive programs. And of course, I consider the content. But where I naively thought ‘opportunity and possibility,’ others thought differently.”...
Programming Librarian, June 10

Follow World Cup 2014 on social media
Sharif Sakr writes: “Like a trio of vuvuzelas, the three big internet platforms became a significant part of the World Cup’s background noise in 2010. They have even more to offer this time around: Not just a multitude of ways to follow scores and other stats, but also places to go if you want to trumpet your opinions and listen to those of others. So, we’ve rounded up some of the best advice from Twitter, Facebook, and Google on how to get the most out of the new features they’re dishing out for Brazil 2014.” For World Cup coverage in the US, the four letters you need to know are ESPN. And if you have Google Glass, there is a special World Cup update....
Engadget, June 11; TechHive, June 11; PC World, June 11

Popping the shelves at Brisbane Grammar
Joyce Valenza writes: “Pretty much everything I saw during my visit to the libraries at Brisbane Grammar School in Queensland, Australia, was impressive, especially the passion and creativity of the teacher librarians led by Director of Information Services Cathy Oxley. But in this post I want to share one very simple element—how they’ve made the book collection pop on and off their traditional shelves.”...
Never-Ending Search, June 9

Just in time for Flag Day, June 14
Hat on or off? Right or left hand? What if it gets dirty? These are some typical questions people have about customs and rules surrounding the American flag. No worries. In honor of the 200th anniversary of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the song that became our national anthem, intern Talia Berday-Sacks shares some pointers about proper flag etiquette with objects from the collections of the National Museum of American History....
O Say Can You See? June 10

Getting started with Minecraft
Jason Fitzpatrick writes: “Minecraft is one of the bestselling video games of all time, but getting started with it can be a bit intimidating, let alone even understanding why it’s so popular. We’re going to help you get going with the game (or at least understand why your students love it so much). Today we’re going to install and set up Minecraft to get you playing and enjoying the game as quickly as possible.”...
How-To Geek, June 9

Must-know statistics about social media and mobile tech
Heather Mansfield writes: “Spring is report season in the nonprofit sector. A slew of new data is released and this year the emerging theme is that online fundraising is rapidly rising, especially on mobile devices. Nonprofits that have not yet adopted a mobile-first approach to online communications and fundraising can use the new data to help convince executive staff and board that a new mobile-compatible website should be high on their priority list.”...
Nonprofit Tech for Good, Feb. 25, May 3, June 8

How to create and use Twitter lists
Jill Duffy writes: “The ability to create Lists in Twitter is a feature that is seriously underutilized. Lists help you organize your Twitter feed so you can see tweets coming from people with specific interests and expertise, or that you might for any reason categorize into a group. Here, I briefly explain how to create and manage Twitter Lists.” Watch the video (1:11)....
PC Magazine, June 9; YouTube, June 9

17 Spotify tricks
Evan Dashevsky writes: “Spotify is a magical, minimalist piece of software that beams all the world’s recorded music directly to your computer. For free. But you may not be taking full advantage of what Spotify has to offer. For example, did you know that Spotify supports modifiers that allow you to filter your query of Spotify’s vast reservoir of tunage? And search modifiers are just a taste of what kind of baked-in functionality Spotify has to offer.”...
PC Magazine, June 10

Thoughts for 2014 MLIS grads
Chloe Horning writes: “When the 2014 cohort of graduates leaves information schools around the country, a handful will find a job that is a great fit, right out of school. A few will never end up working as professional librarians. Most of those students, however, will take a middle path. They won’t find their dream job right away. They will experience bewildering inconsistencies—like being turned down as a part-time page one week and being offered a salaried job the next.”...
ACRLog, June 5

Citing your colleagues’ work
Amy Koester writes: “Sometimes, in the midst of all the feel-good energy that comes from the sharing for the benefit of all, we neglect to do that most responsible of librarian duties: cite our sources. Consider this post, then, firstly as a reminder that it is important to cite your colleagues. You can also consider this post a how-to for giving credit where credit is due.”...
Storytime Underground, June 5

A visit to the National Library of Uzbekistan
David Mao writes: “A few years ago Robert Newlen blogged about the National Library of Uzbekistan (under construction at that time) and his visit to the construction site of the new library. I recently visited Uzbekistan and had the opportunity to see the finished product. Officially known as the National Library of Uzbekistan named after Alisher Navoi, the library is modern, heavily used, and demonstrates the Uzbek government’s support of libraries and their importance to literacy and education.”...
In Custodia Legis: Law Librarians of Congress, June 5

The last chained libraries
Allison Meier writes: “In the Middle Ages, books were incredibly scarce, and although many wanted to share knowledge with the masses, they didn’t quite trust the public. So the chained library was born, and while most of these restrained reading collections have vanished, a rare few still exist, looking much as they did centuries ago. Here are seven of them, in the UK, the Netherlands, and Italy.”...
Atlas Obscura, May 8

Lifelike sculptures intricately carved from recycled books
Jenny Zhang writes: “Although New York–based artist Long-bin Chen’s incredibly realistic sculptures appear to be made from stone or marble, the unique busts are actually carved from recycled paper. Chen, who was born and raised in Taiwan, uses discarded materials like books and magazines to carefully sculpt the heads of cultural figures from the East and the West, including Buddhas, Japanese warriors, ancient Greek philosophers, and other great thinkers of the past.”...
My Modern Met, June 9

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