The e-newsletter of the American Library Association | March 19, 2014

New Pew Center report: Levels of library engagement
In a report issued March 13, the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project has explored the motivations behind the relationships that American adults have with their public libraries. “Rather than describe the basic library usage of various groups, as we’ve done in the past,” Kathryn Zickuhr, the report, titled “From Distant Admirers to Library Lovers—and Beyond,” examines what traits go along with different levels of engagement with libraries and the library habits and views people have in common. This is a timeline of Pew Internet’s library research. And send this article off to your funding agencies....
AL: The Scoop, Mar. 13; Pew Research Center, Mar. 13; Governing, Mar. 18

Libraries celebrate Women’s History Month
Mariam Pera writes: “Every March, the National Women’s History Project announces a new theme to celebrate Women’s History Month; this year, the theme is ‘Celebrating Women of Character, Courage, and Commitment.’ As part of this national celebration, libraries around the country are honoring women and their contributions to history with lectures, movie screenings, and art shows. Here is a roundup of just some of the activities that libraries are hosting.”...
American Libraries feature

Simon Sinek opens PLA with big ideas
Phil Morehart writes: “The Big Ideas series, a new morning lecture program debuting at 2014 PLA National Conference in Indianapolis, kicked off March 13 with a talk by writer and motivational speaker, Simon Sinek (right). The author of Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action and Leaders Eat Last and a popular presenter on TEDx, Sinek drew from history, current events, science, anthropology, and business to detail how successful leaders and positive leadership are made.”...
AL: The Scoop, Mar. 13–14

Five million and counting
Phil Morehart writes: “In 2013, 5.2 million people were diagnosed with dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. By 2050, as many as 13.8 million people may be affected. As these numbers increase, libraries are faced with the challenge of providing resources to both those with the disease and their caregivers. ‘Five Million and Counting: Serving Patrons with Alzheimer’s and Dementia,’ a panel discussion held March 13 at PLA 2014, examined the issue and provided resources and advice.”...
AL: The Scoop, Mar. 14

PLA: Big ideas from three minds
Phil Morehart writes: “The Big Ideas lecture series at PLA 2014 continued March 14 with short talks by a trio of authors who offered unique perspectives on the upside of failure, the ways in which we outsmart ourselves, and the evolution of communication technologies. The speakers were Megan McArdle, correspondent for Newsweek; David McRaney, author of You Are Not So Smart; and Clive Thompson, a science and technology writer for the New York Times.” Read more coverage of PLA 2014 on Public Libraries Online and the ALSC Blog....
AL: The Scoop, Mar. 16

SXSW on reflection
Mary Abler writes: “Except for some of the keynotes at ALA conferences, we don’t often hear from those outside our field. At SXSW, on the other hand, only a few of the presentations are led by library staff (though if the library community has anything to say about it, that will change), but ideas and concepts that can inspire us abound. The following are just two of the sessions that I attended which, I hope, illustrate my point.” Even musician Neil Young (above) was there to show his support for libraries (with only slight prompting)....
AL: The Scoop, Mar. 17; Carson Block Consulting blog, Mar. 17

Conversations at SXSW
Ann Awakuni writes: “One of the best conversations I started at SXSW was with actress Rosario Dawson (right). During her session on engaging Millennials, an extremely articulate and impassioned Dawson told the audience, ‘We need museums. We need libraries.’ Afterward I sought out Dawson and asked her to give a statement about libraries. My colleague Yemila Alvarez filmed a video (1:12) that you can watch on the sxswLAM Tumblr.”...
AL: The Scoop, Mar. 18; sxswLAM, Mar. 14

Librarian’s Library: The more we change
Karen Muller writes: “Libraries have always been evolving, changing, reinventing. One of the ALA’s current strategic goals is ‘Transforming Libraries’—a multipronged set of initiatives that will enable us to understand the technological and societal changes affecting libraries and then harness those changes so that we can continue to meet the information and entertainment needs of users. This selection covers where we’ve been and where we’re headed in this continual evolution.”...
American Libraries column, Mar./Apr.

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Meet the 2014 candidates for ALA president
Two candidates for the 2015–2016 presidency of the American Library Association unveil their campaign statements and appeal to ALA members for their vote: Maggie Farrell (left), dean of libraries at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, and Sari Feldman, executive director of the Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Public Library....
American Libraries feature

ALA elections open March 19
Voting in the 2014 ALA elections began at 9 a.m. Central time on March 19. By March 21, ALA will notify voters by email, providing them with their unique passcodes and information about how to vote online. To ensure receipt of your ballot, watch for emails from ALA Election Coordinator. The polls will close at 11:59 p.m. Central time on April 25....
Office of ALA Governance, Mar. 14

Tell us your school library stories
AASL and the Office for Library Advocacy are seeking stories about parents and students who advocate for their school libraries. Stories shared will help AASL and OLA spread examples of parent and student advocacy to stakeholders nationally. Stories should demonstrate how students and parents value their school library program and the essential place it holds in developing lifelong learning. Submit your story on the AASL website....
AASL, Mar. 18

National Library Week materials
Don’t miss out on celebrating National Library Week, April 13–19. It’s the perfect time to remind your patrons or students of your library’s significance in the community. “Lives Change @ your library” is this year’s National Library Week theme. Place your order by March 21 to get your materials on time. More materials are available on the National Library Week web page....
ALA Graphics

Jane McGonigal to open ALA Annual Conference
Jane McGonigal will inspire 2014 ALA Annual Conference attendees about the myriad possibilities for serious games and gaming to help improve lives by becoming integrated into library programming. The world-renowned designer of alternate reality games—games that are designed to solve real problems—believes game designers are on a humanitarian mission. McGonigal will appear as featured speaker at the Opening General Session, on June 27....
Conference Services, Mar. 17

ALA donation to the Philippines
After the devastating Typhoon Haiyan of November 8, 2013, in the Philippines, ALA raised $6,000 in funds to aid in rebuilding Philippine libraries. International Relations Committee member Nancy Bolt, who was traveling to Manila for a meeting of the IFLA Section on Library Service to People with Special Needs, presented a replica of the check to four Philippine librarians on March 16, along with books about the US and a Native American prayer rattle....
International Library and Cultural Exchange Interest Group, Mar. 18

Promote yourself @ your library
Looking for ways to promote your library and library services to your community? Check out the Campaign for America’s Libraries @ your library brand. The @ your library brand was developed to provide libraries of all types, across the country and around the world, with a unified message about the value of libraries and librarians. The brand serves as a reminder that whatever the interest, information and resources are available @ your library....
Campaign for America’s Libraries, Mar. 18

40 students selected for Student-to-Staff program
Forty ALA student chapter members were nominated by their schools and were accepted to assist ALA staff during the 2014 ALA Annual Conference in Las Vegas. In exchange for working four hours a day (or a total of 16 hours), these students participating in the ALA Student-to-Staff Program receive free conference registration, housing, and a per diem for meal expenses....
Chapter Relations Office, Mar. 18

2014 Google Policy Summer Fellowship
For the seventh consecutive year, ALA is participating in the Google Policy Fellows program for 2014. The Office for Information Technology Policy began its participation at the program’s founding. In the summer of 2014, the selected fellow will spend 10 weeks in residence at the ALA Washington Office to learn about national policy and complete a major project. Google provides the $7,500 stipend for the summer, but the work agenda is determined by ALA and the selected fellow. Apply by April 14....
District Dispatch, Mar. 18

Web metrics for LIS professionals
David Stuart‘s Web Metrics for Library and Information Professionals, published by Facet Publishing, is a clear guide to what web metrics are available and how to assess and use them to make informed decisions and demonstrate value. As individuals and organizations increasingly use the web in addition to traditional publishing avenues and formats, this book provides the tools to unlock web metrics and evaluate the impact of this content....
ALA Neal-Schuman, Mar. 19

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Ten conference tips for a first-timer
Leigh Milligan writes: “In January, I went to my first big library conference, the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia. I was very nervous and jittery going into this conference. I went by myself, since my other librarian friends had other commitments at ALA. I came out of ALA stronger than ever and really enjoyed my experience. I am going to share with you some tips for conference going for first timers, based on my experience.” The New Members Round Table also has some first-timer advice....
INALJ, Feb. 21; ALA Annual Conference

Thank you, ma’am
The King’s Ransom Museum, located inside Binions Gambling Hall and Hotel at 128 Fremont Street, is an exhibit of Elvis Presley artifacts and personal treasures made possible by collectors Bud Glass and Russ Howe. Showcasing items from both his personal life and his acting and singing careers, the museum displays Elvis’s 1977 Lincoln Continental, stage and film wardrobes, personal clothing and jewelry, items from his Graceland home (including the Bible that was on his nightstand when he passed away), and other memorabilia from the 1950s through the 1970s....
King’s Ransom Museum

Pinball Hall of Fame
The Pinball Hall of Fame, 1610 East Tropicana Avenue, houses and displays the world’s largest collection of pinball machines. The games belong to collector Tim Arnold and range from the 1950s up to the 1990s. All machines are available for play, so not only can you see them, you can actually play your old favorites. The pinball machines are all restored to like-new playing condition by people who love pinball and understand how a machine should work....
Pinball Hall of Fame

Cooper and Oehlke stand for PLA president
This year in the PLA election, eight candidates are standing for four positions, including PLA president, ALA division councilor, and two directors-at-large. The PLA president will be elected to a three-year term, serving one year each as president-elect, president, and past-president. The candidates are James Cooper, director of Salt Lake County (Utah) Library Services, and Vailey Oehlke, director of Multnomah County (Oreg.) Library....
PLA, Mar. 18

Gilmanton library receives funding with United for Libraries help
Gilmanton (N.H.) Year-Round Library, one of 10 recipients of United for Libraries 2013 Neal-Schuman Foundation Grants, successfully passed a warrant article requesting $52,000 from the town of Gilmanton on March 11. In 2013, residents voted down the funding for the library, but this year the warrant article passed 500–483. The library’s association is crafting a plan to make library funding a constant in the town’s budget....
United for Libraries, Mar. 18; Manchester New Hampshire Union-Leader, Mar. 13

Apply for the ACRL Immersion Program
ACRL invites you to apply for its Immersion ’14 Program. The program’s Intentional Teacher and Assessment Tracks will be offered simultaneously November 19–22 in Nashville, Tennessee. Applications for both tracks will be accepted through May 2. Acceptance for both tracks is competitive to ensure an environment that fosters group interaction and active participation....
ACRL, Mar. 14

Identify a landmark C&RL article
In preparation for the upcoming celebration of ACRL’s 75th anniversary, the editorial board of College and Research Libraries is asking the journal’s readers to help identify seven “landmark” articles from C&RL history to be included in a special issue of the journal to be published in March 2015 and discussed at the ACRL 2015 Conference in Portland, Oregon. Voting for the crowdsourced issue is now open and will close at the end of April....
ACRL, Mar. 17

Book Whisperer at AASL President’s Program
Donalyn Miller (right), author of The Book Whisperer, will headline the AASL President’s Program on June 28, as part of the 2014 ALA Annual Conference in Las Vegas. In The Book Whisperer, Miller reflects on her journey to become a reading teacher and describes how she inspires and motivates her middle school students to read 40 or more books a year. Her most recent book, Reading in the Wild, offers solid advice on how to develop lifelong reading habits....
AASL, Mar. 18

Educators and Common Core standards
A new report released by the National Center for Literacy Education reveals that educators across the US feel ill-prepared to help their students achieve the new Common Core State Standards in literacy. The report, Remodeling Literacy Learning Together: Paths to Standards Implementation, investigates the extent to which the professional expertise of educators working together is driving standards implementation. AASL members helped provide the data used in creating this report....
AASL, Mar. 18

Student loan forgiveness webinar archived
The archive of the webinar “Federal Student Loan Forgiveness and Cancellation Benefits for School Librarians” is now available to view as part of the AASL professional development repository, eCOLLAB. Presented in collaboration with the ALA Washington Office, the webinar archive features staff members from the US Department of Education and a discussion of financial aid forgiveness programs available to school librarians....
AASL, Mar. 17

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2014 James Madison Award
On March 14, ALA awarded President Barack Obama’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies the 2014 James Madison Award during the 16th Annual Freedom of Information Day in Washington, D.C. The Presidential Review Group received the award for calling for dozens of urgent and practical reforms to the National Security Agency’s unlawful surveillance programs. Members of the Review Group include Richard Clarke (on the right), Michael Morell, Geoffrey Stone, Cass Sunstein (on the left), and Peter Swire....
Office of Government Relations, Mar. 14

YALSA’s Volunteer of the Year
YALSA has awarded Kellie Tilton, administrative assistant of the Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers committee, with the Volunteer of the Year Award. The award acknowledges the contributions of YALSA members who have demonstrated outstanding service to the mission, goals and work of YALSA during a given service year....
YALSA, Mar. 18

Library Interior Design Awards deadline
The entry form for the 2014 ALA/IIDA Library Interior Design Awards is now online. This biennial competition is cosponsored by ALA and the International Interior Design Association. The awards honor excellence in aesthetics, design, creativity, function, and satisfaction of the client’s objectives. The competition is managed by the LLAMA Buildings and Equipment Section Interior Design Awards Committee. The deadline to submit an entry is March 28....
LLAMA, Mar. 18

Apply for a Sara Jaffarian Award
The ALA Public Programs Office is now accepting nominations for the 2014 Sara Jaffarian School Library Program Award for Exemplary Humanities Programming. School libraries, public or private, that served children in grades K–8 and conducted humanities programs during the 2012–2013 school year are eligible. The winning library will receive a $4,000 honorarium. To be considered, nominations must be received by April 18....
Public Programs Office, Mar. 17

It’s time for the FAFLRT awards
The Federal and Armed Forces Libraries Round Table Awards Committee is now accepting nominations for several awards recognizing professional excellence and dedication. Help acknowledge deserving colleagues and illuminate the important work and accomplishments of federal information professionals by submitting your nominations by April 29....
Federal and Armed Forces Libraries Round Table

NMRT offers a chance to attend Annual Conference
Members of the New Members Round Table are invited to submit a 250-word essay to win a ticket to attend an event of their choice at the ALA Annual Conference in Las Vegas. Applications are due April 16....
New Members Round Table, Mar. 13

Travel stipends for National Library Legislative Day
YALSA has selected Robin Kurz, Lisa Lechuga, and Sarah Levin as the recipients of stipends to attend ALA’s 40th annual National Library Legislative Day, May 5–6, in Washington, D.C. YALSA’s YA Advocacy Travel Stipend of $1,000 will provide recipients with funds to defray the cost of event registration, travel expenses, hotel accommodations, meals, and other travel expenses....
YALSA, Mar. 17

CCC Annual Conference Scholarships
The Copyright Clearance Center is continuing its Conference Scholarship Program for Academic Librarians, which will award four $1,500 grants to attend the ALA Annual Conference in Las Vegas. Applicants must submit a response to the following question in 300 words or less: How will attending this conference benefit your institution and you professionally? The deadline is April 11....
Copyright Clearance Center, Mar. 17

ARL Initiative to Recruit a Diverse Workforce
The Association of Research Libraries is accepting applications for the Initiative to Recruit a Diverse Workforce, a program designed to recruit MLIS students from traditionally underrepresented ethnic and racial minority groups into careers in research libraries and archives. The IRDW includes a stipend in support of MLIS education of up to $10,000 over two years and other benefits. The application deadline is April 28....
Association of Research Libraries, Mar. 17

2013 National Book Critics Circle awards
On March 13 at the New School in New York, the National Book Critics Circle announced the recipients of its book awards for publishing year 2013. The winners include Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s audacious novel Americanah (Knopf), a love story, immigrant’s tale, and acute snapshot of our times; and Sheri Fink’s Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital (Crown), an extraordinary reconstruction of the chaotic days following Hurricane Katrina....
National Book Critics Circle, Mar. 13

2014 Oregon Book Awards
Oregon Literary Arts presented its Oregon Book Awards in Portland March 17 for the best books written by Oregon authors. Graham Salisbury, whose books are set in his native Hawaii, took home the Eloise Jarvis McGraw Award for Children’s Literature for Calvin Coconut: Extra Famous. Ursula K. Le Guin, the grande dame of science fiction, won the Ken Kesey Award for her latest collection of stories, The Unreal and the Real....
Portland Oregonian, Mar. 17

2014 Romantic Novel of the Year
Veronica Henry has won the 2014 Romantic Novelists Association’s Romantic Novel of the Year Award, pocketing a check for £5,000 ($8,294 US). Her novel, A Night on the Orient Express (Orion), set amid a group of passengers traveling from London to Venice, was described as “epitomizing romance” by a panel of five judges. Helen Fielding, author of the Bridget Jones novels, was given an Outstanding Achievement award....
The Bookseller, Mar. 18

2014 Kelpies Design and Illustration Prize
Edinburgh-based illustrator Astrid Jaekel is the winner of the inaugural Kelpies Design and Illustration Prize for her design for the cover of The Sign of the Black Dagger by Joan Lingard, to be published by Floris Books in the autumn. The design was cited for its use of mirrored images of Edinburgh to hint at the story’s dual narrative. Designers across Scotland were invited to come up with a cover for the novel. The announcement was made at an award ceremony in Edinburgh on March 14....
Floris Books, Mar. 15

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Groups urge S.C. legislature to restore funding
On March 12, the South Carolina House of Representatives passed a budget that cut funding for the College of Charleston and the University of South Carolina Upstate by $52,000 and $17,163, respectively—the precise amounts each college spent on gay-themed books for first-year students. House member Stephen Goldfinch (R-Murrells Inlet) responded to student critics by saying: “I have a simple solution for you: Ask your school to go private.” In a joint letter dated March 17, the National Coalition Against Censorship (and other groups that included ALA, ACRL, and the Association of American Publishers) criticized attempts by the South Carolina State Legislature to punitively defund state universities that assigned LGBT-themed books to students....
National Coalition Against Censorship, Mar. 18; Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Mar. 19

Penn student protest may save part of math and science library
Less of the Math-Physics-Astronomy Library (right) may be repurposed an active learning classroom following outcry from mathematics students and faculty. Professor David Harbater teamed up with doctoral candidate Neel Patel to draft and circulate a petition protesting the changes to the library. The petition, with more than 500 signatures, was submitted to the provost March 10. A second online petition has also garnered more than 500 signatures. Under the new plan, only 20% of the library would be remodeled and all mathematics texts could remain within the room....
Daily Pennsylvanian, Mar. 16

Spending on children’s books down in Miami
Squeezed by tax cuts, Florida’s largest library system can’t buy nearly the number of children’s books it used to. Countywide, Miami-Dade libraries budgeted about $90,000 for children’s books this year, a fraction of the $1.3 million the system spent in 2005 and about 60% below the $210,000 budget in place just three years ago. Tight funding has forced Elizabeth Pearson, head of children’s titles for the library system, to perform literary triage each month as she places orders with publishers....
Miami Herald, Mar. 18

Avid reader leaves NYPL $6 million
A generous New Yorker has donated $6 million to the New York Public Library in honor of her love of reading. Lotte Fields bequeathed the donation to the library after her death at the age of 89. Although she was a regular modest donor to the library, the extraordinary gift was unexpected. The library will split the funds between its branch libraries and the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on 42nd Street, with each receiving half....
New York Public Library, Mar. 13

Advocates plead to save two St. Louis County branches
The fates of two St. Louis County branch libraries are all but sealed, but those who love their branches pleaded March 17 for officials to reconsider plans to knock them down. At the library trustees meeting, speakers urged the board to reconsider plans to demolish the Lewis and Clark and Tesson Ferry branches, but Director Kristen Sorth said the plans have been under discussion since 2008....
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Mar. 18

Packing heat in your library bookbag
Laurie Roberts writes: “Every day all over Arizona, people take their lives into their own hands as they dare to take their books back to the library. That’s because you can’t take your AR-15, your AK-47, or your Sig Sauer P290 into the public library. Fortunately, Arizona House Bill 2339 would allow people who have concealed-carry permits to bring their guns into libraries, recreation centers, and most any other public building unless said building is outfitted with metal detectors and armed guards. Public schools and colleges would remain off limits.”...
Phoenix Arizona Republic, Mar. 14

School librarian on Jeopardy!
Julie Hornick (right), a media specialist at River Oaks Middle School in North Charleston, South Carolina, was up against Jeopardy! returning champion Arthur Chu on the show that aired March 12. Hornick did not go down without a fight, answering questions that covered material from television networks, to theater, medical terminology, and Italian adjectives. Host Alex Trebek revealed to viewers that this is not Hornick’s first time on a game show: She has also appeared on Weakest Link....
Summerville (S.C.) Journal Scene, Mar. 19

Virginia teenager organizes Brain Awareness Day
A teen homeschooler with a passion for neuroscience and an enthusiastic YA librarian have joined forces to launch Brain Awareness Day March 15 at the Ashburn branch of the Loudoun County (Va.) Public Library. The event coincided with international Brain Awareness Week, a global initiative designed to increase awareness of the importance of brain research. 13-year-old Hasna Rizwan met up with Myisha Fuller, who had just been hired as Ashburn’s full-time teen librarian, to bring a neuroscience program to the library....
Leesburg (Va.) Today, Mar. 12

San Diego library becomes popular wedding venue
San Diego, California, couples are getting hooked by the books at the new Central Library, as declarations of eternal love are made amidst the sweeping views of the city and bay from its 9th floor. Thirty-five weddings have been booked for 2014 at the Shiley Special Events Suite, said Library Director Deborah Barrow in a report to the city council’s Budget Committee. Requests for matrimonial ceremonies are coming in at a rate of 10 per month....
KSWB-TV, San Diego, Calif., Mar. 14

Tokyo police make arrest in Anne Frank diary vandalism
An unemployed man, arrested for illegal entry into a bookstore in Tokyo, has admitted to destroying more than 300 books about Holocaust victim Anne Frank in some 40 Tokyo public libraries. The man, said to be in his 30s, was taken into custody on March 7 after security camera footage showed him entering a bookstore where the vandalism occurred. He gave no motive for his actions. According to police, his words were often gibberish and made no sense....
Japan Daily Press, Mar. 14

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Take down but don’t take away
Carrie Russell writes: “The Library Copyright Alliance submitted comments (PDF file) in March to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet regarding another hearing on copyright reform. This hearing concerned Section 512 of the copyright law (called the “notice-and-takedown” provision) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, which provides ISPs protection from liability for the infringing actions of network users. Libraries can be considered ISPs when they provide Wi-Fi or other network services.”...
District Dispatch, Mar. 17

Orphan works roundtables
Carrie Russell writes: “While reviewing my notes from the US Copyright Office’s orphan works roundtables, it is clear that some rights holders were still stinging from the results of two recent court rulings—the HathiTrust and Google Book Search decisions. In both, the court validated that the scanning of books was a transformative fair use protected by copyright to enhance search, preserve texts, and make content available to people with print disabilities. The rights holders did not prevail because they believed that prior permission and perhaps a fee are necessary and that fair use did not apply to full text scanning. Both cases are on appeal.”...
District Dispatch, Mar. 19; Inside Higher Ed, Oct. 12, 2012; New York Times, Nov. 15, 2013

Happy Sunshine Week 2014
Sunshine Week is the week every year when open-government activists and organizations, journalists, librarians, teachers, and others interested in the public’s right to know promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information and the Freedom of Information Act. As a precursor, the Congressional Data Coalition sent a letter March 7 to the House of Representatives (PDF file) calling for access to legislative data on bill status....
Free Government Information, Mar. 17

Half of federal agencies use outdated FOIA regulations
Nearly half (50 out of 101) of all federal agencies have still not updated their Freedom of Information Act regulations to comply with Congress’s 2007 FOIA amendments, and even more agencies (55 of 101) have FOIA regulations that predate and ignore President Obama’s and Attorney General Holder’s 2009 guidance for a “presumption of disclosure,” according to the new National Security Archive FOIA Audit released March 14 to mark Sunshine Week....
National Security Archive, Mar. 14

A 10-point plan to keep the NSA out of our data
Kim Zetter writes: “When lawmakers seem disinclined to make the right decisions to protect our data and secure the integrity of the internet, the responsibility falls on the technology community to step in and do the right thing to secure our future. Just ask Edward Snowden. Wired consulted with experts to compile this list of 10 measures tech companies should adopt to protect customer data.”...
Wired: Threat Level, Mar. 18; Electronic Frontier Foundation, Mar. 13

The case for universalizing broadband
The International Telecommunication Union / UNESCO Broadband Commission for Digital Development’s latest State of Broadband (PDF file) report calls for the universal adoption of broadband-friendly practices and policies. Availability and affordability gaps affect people in Africa, Asia, and Latin America disproportionately. But innovations in broadband are helping the world’s poor bridge the digital divide and are contributing to economic, social, and cultural development....
iTuBlog, Mar. 18

Why academic libraries should lead higher ed change
Joshua Kim writes: “The challenge that we face in higher education is how we can change while simultaneously preserving our most closely held values. How do we increase postsecondary productivity while guarding against commodification? How do we increase quality while increasing access? The academic library, and academic librarians, may be in the best position to answer these questions. Here’s why.”...
Inside Higher Ed: Technology and Learning, Mar. 12

The Ithaka Report: Perspective from a small college
Jessica Olin writes: “The Ithaka S+R US Library Survey 2013 was published in mid-March. Since I’m a library director, I was invited to fill out the survey last year, and I was indeed one of the respondents. I’ve taken the last week to read and ponder the results: how they dovetail and differ from my own experience as a library director, and which parts of the survey resonated with me and which parts made me itch with an allergy-like reaction.”...
Letters to a Young Librarian, Mar. 18

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US will cede its oversight of internet addresses
The United States will relinquish its role overseeing the system of web addresses and domain names that form the basic plumbing of the internet, turning it over in 2015 to an international group whose structure and administration will be determined over the next year. The function has been subcontracted since 1998 to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, an international nonprofit organization....
New York Times, Mar. 15

My first hackathon
Eric Phetteplace writes: “In January, I attended my first hackathon during the ALA Midwinter Meeting. Libhack was coordinated by the Library Code Year Interest Group, and Penn State University graciously hosted the event in the Van Pelt Library. What’s a hackathon? It’s a short event, usually a day or two, wherein coders and other folks get together to produce software. LibHack focused on APIs from two major library organizations: OCLC and the Digital Public Library of America.”...
ACRL TechConnect Blog, Mar. 18

How to check whether an email address is valid
Amit Agarwal writes: “The easy option would be that you send a dummy mail to that email address, wait for an hour or so, and see if your message bounces. The other slightly technical option to verify an email address is by querying the mail server. But let me share an extremely simple and instantaneous method for checking to see if an email address exists or not.”...
Digital Inspiration, Mar. 14

Windows XP attacks are six times more likely than for Windows 7
Brad Chacos writes: “The words of warning about Windows XP’s impending end of life are no joke. After April 8, Microsoft will stop supplying security patches for the 13-year-old operating system—and a recent blog post by Avast, provider of one of the more popular free antivirus solutions around, drives home just how dangerous using Windows XP beyond that is. XP users are six times more likely to get attacked—and that’s while the operating system is still supported.”...
PC Magazine, Mar. 18; Avast! Blog, Mar. 17

The best Raspberry Pi accessories
Thorin Klowsowski writes: “The Raspberry Pi is a fantastic open source device. So, let’s build a list of the best accessories for your various DIY projects. Since its launch, a ton of accessories have come out for it. Some of these add basic functionality like Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, but others add crazy features like a camera. We’ll start the list with some of our favorites.”...
Lifehacker, Mar. 19

Which browser is best?
Michael Muchmore writes: “Today’s Windows web browser choices are fast, secure, and compliant with new web standards. The products most people are likely to have heard of—Chrome, Internet Explorer, and Firefox—also sport trim, clear interfaces. But each browser has its own appeal and unique features. You still have several excellent choices, so it’s just a matter of deciding what feature is most important to you.”...
PC Magazine, Mar. 13

The best Chromebook (for now)
The Wirecutter writes: “After testing every Chromebook on the market we can say that most of them are not worth buying, but one of them did stand out to us. Our favorite Chromebook is the $270 Acer C720-2844. With a Haswell processor and 4GB of RAM, it has enough oomph to show you the internet without getting in your way, and enough battery power to go all day.”...
The Wirecutter, Mar. 17

Cards, code, and wearables
Benedict Evans writes: “Google has announced Android Wear, a new extension of Android to power smart watches. The Wear concept is that smart watches are remote touch displays for an Android smartphone. They will show the time, accept touch and voice input, display the Google Now feed, and they will display all the notifications that apps on your phone produce. In effect, the watch is a device for using Google Now and cards that apps on the phone send to it.”...
Benedict Evans, Mar. 19

How to read the newspaper on your computer in 1981
Jason English writes: “Here’s a fascinating 1981 news report (2:16) explaining how certain San Francisco residents were reading the morning paper on their computers. We’ve come a long way: ‘It takes over two hours to receive the entire text of the newspaper over the phone, and with an hourly usage charge of $5, the new tele-paper won’t be much competition for the 20-cent street edition.’”...
Mental Floss, Mar. 18; KRON-TV, San Francisco, 1981; YouTube, Mar. 26, 2008

DCWG at PLA
Alan S. Inouye writes: “Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Public Library Director Sari Feldman and Multnomah County (Oreg.) Library Director Vailey Oehlke represented ALA’s Digital Content Working Group (DCWG) at last week’s Public Library Association Conference in Indianapolis. One of DCWG’s major activities at the conference was to host a session titled “Public Libraries in the Marketplace: The Business of Digital Content.” This session featured Skip Dye, vice president of Library and Academic Sales at Random House, and Steve Potash, chief executive officer at OverDrive, and attracted several hundred conference attendees.”...
AL: E-Content, Mar. 19

Do ebooks encourage more reading?
Rachel Edidin writes: “A recent survey by UK charity Quick Reads indicates that adult readers tend to read more and stick with books longer if they’re using an e-reader. According to the survey, 48% of UK adults who use e-readers say the technology gets them to read more. In addition to that, 41% of respondents reported that being able to look up words they don’t know makes reading easier, and more than half say that being able to change the size and appearance of text helps as well.”...
Wired: Underwire, Mar. 18; NIACE, Feb. 6

The right to e-read
The European Bureau of Library Information and Documentation Associations has launched a campaign to raise awareness about the obstacles libraries face in lending ebooks and other digital content. “The Right to E-Read” campaign is being carried out in all European countries. EBLIDA is encouraging them to join in on April 23, the United Nations’ World Book and Copyright Day, to emphasize e-reading and publicize its 2013 ebook policy for libraries in Europe. CILIP’s Yvonne Morris has more details....
European Bureau of Library Information and Documentation Associations; Shelf Free, Mar. 12

Apps that bring comic books to life
Kit Eaton writes: “Comic books are the center of a huge industry—from toys and games to blockbuster movies—and there are plenty of apps to help you enjoy them. An impressive start is comiXology’s Comics app. It is free for iOS, Android, Windows 8, and Kindle Fire devices, though you have to sign up for an account with the company. Part of the interface is dedicated to helping users find, buy, and download comic books from a digital store and part is a clever comic book e-reader.”...
New York Times: Personal Tech, Mar. 19

Recorded Books partners with FastPencil
Recorded Books has announced a partnership with self-publishing resource FastPencil to bring public libraries an electronic resource that enables established and aspiring authors to create and prepare original works for publication. FastPencil’s technology provides libraries with an end-to-end publishing network that helps authors write, manage, convert, and distribute books and ebooks....
Recorded Books, Mar. 18

2014 Annual Conference and Exhibition, Las Vegas, June 26–July 1. Jane McGonigal will be the Opening General Session featured speaker. A world-renowned designer of alternate-reality games that help improve lives, as well as a humanitarian, future forecaster, and bestselling author, McGonigal will engage attendees the minute the conference starts.

2014 books from past Newbery winners
Travis Jonker writes: “A while back I ran the numbers and, aside from fooling people into thinking I liked math, was fairly surprised to find that about 33% of Newbery authors win more than once. Since that post, what happened? Kate DiCamillo took home her second gold seal. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the 2014 releases from those who have already received Newbery medals or honors. Note: I excluded picture books from this list.”...
100 Scope Notes, Mar. 18; Sept. 12, 2013

The best books for readers in every Divergent faction
What better way to learn more about a people (or, in Divergent’s case, a faction) than by studying its most cherished books? To that end, the Barnes & Noble editors bring you this top-secret list of required reads for all five factions (Erudite, Abnegation, Dauntless, Candor, and Amity) of Veronica Roth’s bestselling Divergent trilogy. Or perhaps you find yourself in all five?...
Barnes & Noble Book Blog, Mar. 17

How to throw a Divergent party
Colleen Seisser writes: “I am here to tell you how you, too, can throw an awesome Divergent party to celebrate the release of the movie on March 21. We encouraged our party guests to dress up like their favorite character or faction. We also made a station where guests could create their own temporary Divergent tattoos. Finally, if you have time left or you need one more activity for your party, trivia is always a sure bet.”...
YALSA The Hub, Mar. 17; Veronica Roth, Apr. 26, 2012; EarlyWord: The Publisher | Librarian Connection, Mar. 17

Books for Veronica Mars and friends
Julie Bartel writes: “The Veronica Mars movie, which opened in theaters March 14, continues the adventures of Veronica Mars, girl detective, and her circle of friends and enemies. As librarian at Veronica’s Neptune High School, I’ve been recommending books to the teens of Neptune for years. I’ll share a few with you, and give you a head’s up on what I’m passing on when the gang comes back to visit me during reunion weekend.”...
YALSA The Hub, Mar. 14

British women’s history in YA lit
Jennifer Rummel writes: “March is Women’s History Month, celebrated worldwide. In the UK, the Great Reform Act of 1832 excluded all women from voting by specifically changing the word ‘person’ to ‘male.’ In 1918, women started to regain voting privileges, but it wasn’t until 1928 that women over the age of 21 had the same voting rights as men. As a tribute and celebration to all the previous women who have challenged the rules, here’s a list of books throughout British history from a woman’s perspective.”...
YALSA The Hub, Mar. 18

World Book Night releases top 20 library giver locations
Carl Lennertz, World Book Night’s executive director, has shared the list of the Top 20 library giver locations for World Book Night 2014 US, which takes place every year on April 23 (Shakespeare’s birthday). 25,000 book givers each give away 20 copies of a specially-printed, not-for-resale World Book Night US edition of a book they have read and loved, chosen from a list of 39 titles selected by a panel of librarians and booksellers. The volunteers personally hand out their copies to complete strangers who may never have owned a book....
Infodocket, Mar. 17

Are audiobooks worse than real books?
Rachel Smalter writes: “Inquiring minds want to know: Are audiobooks really on the same level as print books? If you listen to a book on audio, will you be able to pay attention to and remember it as well as if you had read it in print? We can all thank science for stepping in and solving another nail biter, because science has spoken and the answer is ‘No. Audiobooks are worse than real books.’” Or at least audiobooks are more conducive to mind-wandering than silent reading....
BookRiot, Mar. 12; Frontiers in Psychology 4 (2013): 892

18 booksellers who blog
Lily King writes: “Many AbeBooks booksellers are also dedicated bloggers. Each seller’s blog is one of a kind, created with a deep love of books—from sharing images of vintage cover art, to cataloging recent acquisitions and sales, to publishing in-depth educational articles, to recounting highly entertaining stories of personal experiences, both in the trade and about the book life in general. Check them out—we think you’ll be impressed.”...
AbeBooks’ Reading Copy, Mar. 18

The 25 best Tumblrs for book readers
Anna Washenko writes: “Tumblr has built itself as the center of a large creative community. You can find graphic artists, hilarious GIFs, and talented musicians sharing their work. It’s also home to countless readers, writers, and book lovers. If you’re a true bibliophile, Tumblr has many blogs to feed your love of the written word. Here’s a small sampling of its book bonanza.”...
Mashable, Mar. 13

UK nonprofit: Stop promoting kids’ books by gender
Let Toys Be Toys in the UK has launched a campaign that is encouraging children’s publishers and booksellers to get rid of gender-specific marketing for children’s books. According to Let Books Be Books, pushing pink princesses on girls and blue robots on boys stifles their development as readers whose interests are a lot more diverse. The campaign has won the support of bookseller Waterstones, as well as children’s laureate Malorie Blackman, poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, author Philip Pullman, and a handful of publishers....
GalleyCat, Mar. 17; The Guardian (UK), Mar. 16

Librarians’ choice: Top 20 South African books 1994–2014
The Library and Information Association of South Africa has adopted the theme “Celebrating Libraries in 20 Years of Democracy” for its activities in 2014, which includes The Librarians Choice: Top 20 South African Books, 1994–2014. In celebrating this theme, librarians across South Africa were invited to identify the top 20 books published in the past 20 years that were written about South African life by a South African in one of the country’s official languages and that focus on democracy....
Library and Information Association of South Africa, Mar. 10

School libraries need your help
Emily Sheketoff writes: “The US Department of Education is looking for peer reviewers for a possible school library grant competition this summer. The federal agency is seeking school librarians, educators, literacy specialists, administrators, digital media education specialists, college or university educators, researchers, and education consultants to fill the bill as peer reviewers. Apply by April 1.”...
District Dispatch, Mar. 12

IMLS to host meetings with library stakeholders
The Institute of Museum and Library Services, the primary federal funder of the nation’s 123,000 libraries, is launching a series of meetings to hear from a broad range of stakeholders about future IMLS funding strategies, particularly for the agency’s National Leadership Grant program. The kickoff event, to be held at the New York Public Library on April 29, will examine how IMLS can best support national digital initiatives....
Institute of Museum and Library Services, Mar. 19

Gale’s “Libraries Are Beautiful” photo contest
In celebration of National Library Week, April 13–19, Gale is calling all library lovers to show how their library makes their community a more beautiful place—physically or metaphorically. To enter, library staff, students, or patrons can submit (through March 28) a picture of the nominated library along with a short write-up for any of five award categories. One “Best of Category” winner will be selected per category and will receive $500. One grand prize winner will be awarded “Best in Show” and take home $2,500....
Gale, Mar. 19

Digital badging system
The Brooklyn Public Library and BiblioCommons have received a $250,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to create and pilot a library-based digital badging system built on the Mozilla Open Badge standard. Inspired by the 2013 Chicago Summer of Learning program, the project will develop a technical infrastructure for participating libraries to provide their patrons with the tools to access, manage, and collect a variety of badges representing their passions, interests, and library activities, all in a familiar and supportive library environment....
BiblioCommons, Mar. 18

A guide to Facebook privacy settings
Katharine Knibbs writes: “The first thing you have to realize about Facebook: Nothing you put there is truly private. Every time you like a product or even look at a page, the company itself is taking note. The key is making sure you’re presenting the most appropriate profile possible to each friend. So let’s go over the various settings you can change to ensure pictures of your wacky jaunt to Vegas don’t end up at the top of your boss’s news feed.”...
Techlicious, Mar. 12

Discovery systems: Testing known item searching
Emily Singley writes: “Many libraries have responded to user demand for Google-style searching by implementing web scale discovery services such as EDS, Primo, Summon, and WorldCat Local. By exporting their local catalogs to these indexes, libraries create ‘single search’ across articles and books. One frustration with this approach has been that local collections get lost in the overwhelming amount of subscription article content. For this post, I conducted a test of known-item print-book searches in eight different implementations.”...
Usable Libraries, Mar. 18

Ditch the PowerPoint
Alan Yu writes: “About six months ago, a group of physicists working on the Large Hadron Collider addressed a problem they’ve been having for a while. Whenever they had meetings, everyone stuck to the prepared slides and couldn’t really answer questions that weren’t immediately relevant to what was on the screen. The point of the forum is to start discussions, so the physicists banned PowerPoint. The communication became much more two-way instead of just the speaker speaking at length for 15 or 20 minutes.”...
NPR: All Tech Considered, Mar. 16; Symmetry Magazine, Mar. 6

Edible books as a pedagogical tool in Latvia
John Lubans teaches an eight-week class on “The Democratic Workplace” in the Department of Information and Library Studies at the University of Latvia in Riga. He writes: “As readers of this blog know, I have the students in my Democratic Workplace class participate in the international Edible Books festival (B2E). This spring, well ahead of the official April 1 celebration, five teams (of four people each) planned, shopped, baked, and prepared their productions and 20-minute presentations.”...
Leading from the Middle, Mar. 18

Why academic libraries weed
Joe Hardenbrook writes: “Weeding—withdrawing books from the library’s collection—is one those dreaded librarian tasks. It usually sits on the back burner; other projects are often more pressing, or it’s simply being avoided. However, it’s an important task and one that can be fraught with controversy. Public libraries, which frequently need to refresh their collections to offer bestsellers, often pop up in the news when it comes to weeding books. For academic libraries, the process seems to be a taboo subject.”...
Mr. Library Dude, Mar. 12

“Librarian” is never an entry-level position
Emily Weak writes: “Sometimes I hear people getting annoyed about entry-level librarian job postings that ask for experience. And I get it. Entry-level jobs are by definition jobs that don’t require experience. But librarian positions just aren’t entry-level. The niche of the librarian in the library shouldn’t be filled by a greenie who’s done nothing but go to school. School can teach some of the skills you need to be a librarian, but not all of them.”...
MLISsing in Action, Mar. 17

The scariest things we’ve done in library school
Julia Feerrar writes: “I’ve felt like I was ‘out on the tightrope’ many times during library school and, as uncomfortable as it is, I’ve tried to embrace the feeling. Instead of letting fear cripple me, I try to use it as a motivator to find some extra courage and continue on whatever nerve-wracking track I’m currently on. Sharing the things that scare us can be motivating and empowering, so we would like to share the scariest things we’ve done in library school and what we learned from the process.”...
Hack Library School, Mar. 17

Why good managers are so rare
Randall Beck and James Harter write: “Gallup has found that one of the most important decisions companies make is simply whom they name manager. Yet our analysis suggests that they usually get it wrong. In fact, Gallup finds that companies fail to choose the candidate with the right talent for the job 82% of the time. If great managers seem scarce, it’s because the talent required to be one is rare.”...
Harvard Business Review: HBR Blog Network, Mar. 13

10 videos from DPLA’s collections
Kenny Whitebloom writes: “While most Digital Public Library of America users are familiar with the millions of images and texts in our collections, most may not be aware that we also have a growing assortment of some 15,000+ video records. These videos—browsable by searching our whole collection and then filtering by moving image in the type facet—cover a wide range of subjects. Here are 10 amazing videos from our collections, some short and some long.”...
DPLA Blog, Mar. 14

Take a 3D tour of the planets
Richard Byrne writes: “NASA’s Eyes on the Solar System offers 3D tours of the solar system in your browser. You can put the tours on auto-play or go through them manually. You also have the option to explore the Solar System without the guidance of a tour. I tried it both ways and found it much easier to use the tours as a guide for exploring the Solar System. The tours have some multimedia elements included in some of the stops as you move along.”...
Free Technology for Teachers, Mar. 16

12 diagrams that changed our understanding of the Solar System
Lauren Davis writes: “These days, we are treated to glorious images of the cosmos through astrophotography and sophisticated three-dimensional visualizations of the universe. In the early centuries of astronomy, however, our visions of the cosmos often took the shape of diagrams—representing what we believed about our solar system. Here are 12, from Ptolemy to William Herschel.”...
io9, Mar. 18

A cartographic history of the Crimea
Bridget Kendall writes: “Passions are being fired by history, as the old maps in the British Library’s collection reveal. Crimea, a small peninsula in the Black Sea, below Russia and Ukraine, is now the focus and flashpoint of the crisis after Russia has declared it an independent state. But in the 18th century, it was part of the Ottoman Empire, ruled by the Khan of the Crimean Tatars. That lasted until Russia’s Catherine the Great annexed it in 1783 and made it part of the Russian Empire.” Cartographers remain cautious about the current developments....
BBC News, Mar. 13; ITAR-TASS News Agency, Mar. 17; Business Day, Mar. 17

11 ridiculously overdue library books
Mental Floss has collected accounts of 11 library books that were returned anywhere from 21 to 221 years after they were checked out. One was this Real Book about Snakes (right) by Jane Sherman, which was overdue for 41 years from the Champaign County Library in Urbana, Ohio. The patron actually paid a fine of $299.30 and apologized for being a slow reader. The oldest was a copy of The Law of Nations by Emer de Vattel, which George Washington had borrowed from the New York Society Library in 1789. For more, see the ALA Library’s Pinterest board on Seriously Overdue Books Returned....
Mental Floss, Mar. 18

Librarian reviews albums in husband’s “stupid record collection”
After nine years of moving house and growing tired of packing and unpacking her husband Alex Goldman’s hundreds of records, librarian and writer Sarah O’Holla decided it was finally time to discover what he had been listening to all these years, ranking each record in a new Tumblr blog, “My Husband’s Stupid Record Collection.” She plans to review all 1,500 records, including the singles, starting with the A’s. Her rules: “Listen to the entire thing even if I really hate it. And make sure to comment on the cover art.” But O’Holla has stirred up a gendered debate across the web....
Gigwise, Mar. 17; On the Media, Mar. 14; Flavorwire, Mar. 18

Which Dewey Decimal class are you?
Michele Kirschenbaum, information literacy librarian for EasyBib, offers this BuzzFeedesque quiz to find out your personal DDC “hundred division.” She writes: “Ever wonder what it would be like to become a book? Where would you be in the library? Which Dewey Decimal number would you be given? Take this quiz to find out.” (AL Direct predicts that most librarians will wind up in the 000s.)...
EasyBib, Mar. 14

15 reasons to date a librarian
Online dating website eHarmony offers these 15 reasons for dating a librarian. Some of them actually make sense: “3. They’re passionate about learning and making information accessible to everyone. 5. Librarians are organized, analytical, and budget-conscious. 8. Librarians are doing what they love. 14. Ignore stereotypes; they don’t really apply anymore.”...
eHarmony Advice, Aug. 13, 2013

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