May 2008 by American Libraries

PRESERVATION Digital

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PUBLIC LIBRARIES Minneapolis Conference

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NEWSMAKER Jon Scieszka

MAY 2008

THE MAGAZINE OF THE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

The

Elusive E-book READY FOR PRIME TIME?

Plus:

Game Design & Media Literacy The Damaging Effects of Unbridled Nostalgia Spotlight on Outstanding Reference Sources 0508_Cover_1.indd 1

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02/20/2008 4:23:18 PM

CONTENTS American Libraries

Features 50

May 2008

killed by kindness

How well-intentioned nostaglia harms todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s libraries BY julia keller

minds at play

Teens gain 21st-century literacy skills designing their own computer games BY brian myers

information invigoration

The 2008 list of outstanding reference sources indicates a renewed interest via print and online

60 18

Special News Report 18

first lady laura Bush

Reveals Post-White House Agenda

32 skype as conference tool

An easy-to-use technology

letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s meet over books

Public Library Association Conference

Cover Story

the elusive e-book

Are e-books finally ready for prime time? Although the hype has far outweighed the reality, hope springs eternal as Sony and Amazon enter the market with new platforms. Is this the tipping point for skeptical consumers and libraries? BY stephen sottong

Design by Jennifer Palmer

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CONTENTS AMERICAN LIBRARIES

M AY 2 0 0 8

VOLUME 39 #5

ISSN 0002-9769

Departments INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

32 38

TECH NEWS DISPATCHES FROM THE FIELD Digital Defense

BY PRISCILLA CAPLAN

IN PRACTICE

INTERNET LIBRARIAN

Syndicate to Communicate Spring Awakening

BY MEREDITH FARKAS

BY JOSEPH JANES

PEOPLE

CURRENTS

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

YOUTH MATTERS

Trusting in the Answers

BY JENNIFER BUREK PIERCE

News 12 18 31

ALA USA AND INTERNATIONAL NEWSMAKER: Jon Scieszka

WORKING KNOWLEDGE

LIBRARIAN’S LIBRARY

ROUSING READS

Living the Dream

BY MARY PERGANDER

Why We Are Librarians BY MARY ELLEN QUINN Stalking Your Favorite Authors

BY BILL OTT

SOLUTIONS AND SERVICES

OPINION AND COMMENTARY

FROM THE EDITOR

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

31 32

Agreeing on Advocacy Working Well Together

BY LEONARD KNIFFEL BY LORIENE ROY

TREASURER’S MESSAGE Money Watch

BY RODNEY M. HERSBERGER

READER FORUM

42 43

PUBLIC PERCEPTION ON MY MIND

Letters and Comments

Spurning “Burning”

BY SUSAN THOMPSON

WILL’S WORLD

Librarian, Inform Thyself

BY WILL MANLEY

JOBS

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From the Editor | CONTRIBUTORS

Julia Keller, cultural critic at the Chicago Tribune, won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize in feature writing. She also appears as guest essayist for the PBS program The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. Born and raised in Huntington, West Virginia, Keller received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from Marshall University in Huntington. She earned a PhD, also in English, at the Ohio State University. She has been a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. Last year, she served as McGraw Professor of Writing at Princeton University. Her book Mr. Gatling’s Terrible Marvel: The Gun that Changed Everything and the Misunderstood Genius Who Invented It will be published by Viking Penguin in June.

Brian Myers is a reference librarian and Web manager for the Wilmette (Ill.) Public Library, where he also sponsors the Teen Advisory Board and offers regular teen-oriented workshops on digital storytelling and game design. During the academic year, he teaches beginning and advanced game design at Northwestern University’s Center for Talent Development, a program for gifted students administered by the School of Education and Social Policy. In addition, he serves as a youth mentor at the Intel Computer Clubhouse in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood, a community technology center administered by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group of the MIT Media Lab. He earned his undergraduate degree at Northwestern University and his MLIS at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His Game Maker Academy program is currently being offered at libraries in suburban Chicago and northwest Indiana.

may 2008

arm fuzzies about libraries have always been easy for me to take. Through the years, I’ve listened as ALA conference speakers—celebrities and authors and ordinary people—issued dozens of sentimental reflections and waxed poetic on the special place in their hearts where memories of their childhood libraries rest. I am also a huge fan of the way Julia Keller writes in the Chicago Tribune about books and the literary scene, so I was a little taken aback when I asked her to write something for American Libraries about books and she suggested instead that what was really on her mind was the way in which the sugar-coated library memories of well-intentioned people can actually do more harm than good. The central problem here, she observes (p. 50), is one of trivialization, perpetuating the kind of public perception that puts libraries right Viewing libraries as quaint up there on the nostalgia shelf somewhere between silent cinema and Route is a short step from view66. Viewing libraries as quaint is a short ing them as unnecessary. step from viewing them as unnecessary. Take a look at this month’s “Public Perception” (p. 42). Therein find the ignorant remarks of one George Elmore, who has obviously never set foot in a good contemporary library. Nevertheless, he believes that public libraries in Alachua County, Florida, should be eliminated because they cost $20 million a year and nothing significant happens in them. Published in the Gainesville Sun March 3, his rant caused a hubbub on ALA’s governing Council discussion list before other residents of the county wrote to the newspaper to declare the uselessness of Mr. Elmore. Two much more useful features in this issue address concerns relevant to the modern library: first, an analysis of where we are with e-book readers (not there yet, despite Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader, says author Steven Sottong, p. 44); and, second, a piece not just about the educational value of playing games but taking it a step further to show the value of children designing the games themselves (it facilitates deeper learning and promotes the acquisition of literacies that will be crucial to success in tomorrow’s professional and social environments, says author Brian Myers, p. 54). And finally, read about the American Libraries exclusive interview with First Lady Laura Bush (p. 18). I sat down with her March 19 to get her on record talking about her profession and her commitment to libraries and education. I’m hoping the American Library Association can help keep that momentum going as Laura Bush leaves the White House and goes to work on her husband’s presidential library and her own foundation. A videocast and the complete transcript of the interview are available at www .ala.org/alonline/. AL plans an examination of Laura Bush’s eight years in the White House later this year, so your comments and observations are welcome. Send them directly to me at lkniffel@ala.org. z

by Leonard Kniffel

Stephen Sottong retired as engineering librarian at California State University at Los Angeles in 2003. Before becoming a librarian, he worked as an electronic engineer for 10 years in the aerospace industry. Over the past decade he’s written extensively on e-books, including “Don’t Power Up That E-Book Yet” in the May 1999 American Libraries He now lives in Arcata, California, where he writes and works part-time for the Humboldt County Public Library.

american libraries

Agreeing on Advocacy

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Masthead | Ad Index Find out what’s new

See AL Online THE MAGAZINE OF THE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

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indexed 1996–2007 index at www.ala.org/alonline/. Available full text from ProQuest, EBSCO Publishing, H. W. Wilson, LexisNexis, and Information Access. Full-text searchable database of 2003–2007 issues available online free to ALA personal members. reprints Glen Holliday, Reprint Department, 2137 Embassy Dr., Suite 202, Lancaster, PA 17603, 800-259-0470, gholliday@reprintdept.com subscribe Libraries and other institutions: $70/year, 10 issues, U.S., Canada, and Mexico; foreign: $80. Subscription price for individuals included in ALA membership dues. 800-545-2433 x5108, e-mail membership@ala.org, or visit www.ala.org. Claim missing issues: ALA Member and Customer Service. Allow six weeks. Single issues $7.50, with 40% discount for five or more. published American Libraries (ISSN 0002-9769) is published 10 times yearly by the American Library Association (ALA). Printed in U.S.A. Periodicals postage paid at Chicago, Illinois, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Personal members: Send address changes to American Libraries, c/o Membership Records, ALA, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. ©2008 American Library Association. Materials in this journal may be reproduced for noncommercial educational purposes.

Visit www.ala.org/alonline

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may 2008

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02/05/2008 4:53:08 PM

ALA | President’s Message

Working Well Together Budding Flowers Moon Month or Zaagibagaa-Giizis

ty in Oxford, Ohio, is preparing tors; and the 40th anniversary of the Spanish-language translations for Smithsonian Libraries at the Nationthe tip sheets. al Museum of History in Washington, The podcasts address five content D.C., where I will also gather with areas: organizing and planning many ALA members and advocates meetings; committee chair responsi- May 13–14 for National Library Legbilities; sharing discussion and work islative Day. Members are also invitload; avoiding and handling difficult ed to plan and participate in a Virtual meeting committee communication; Library Legislative Day. For more and recording minutes and underinformation, visit www.ala.org/nlld. standing and employing parliamenFrom D.C., it’s on to Tucson, Arizona, tary procedure. Watch for news about where I will deliver the spring comthese resources and a new website on mencement address at my alma meeting effectiveness and let us know mater, the University of Arizona’s how you are using these materials in School of Information and Library your committee Resources. training and Finally, I will Service leadership-oribe a first-time through entation events. attendee at the communication Canada Library In April, libraries reAssociation Nais a subtheme ceived copies of tional Conferof any ALA the Livestrong ence and Trade president’s year. Survivorship Show May 21–24 Notebook from in Vancouver, the Lance Armstrong Foundation. British Columbia. My friend and colCommunities across the nation are league CLA President Alvin Schrader organizing events to recognize May will chair conference events. 13 as Livestrong Day, an opportunity I continue to post weekly summato recognize grassroots efforts and to ries of activities on my blog and on draw attention to the need to make the ALA membership electronic list. cancer prevention and survivorship a Visit www.lorieneroy.com for the national priority. Let me know about latest updated calendar. Along with your library activities and receive a many ALA members, I also have an Presidential Wellness Citation. active presence in Facebook. I look This month I will join you at forward to seeing you face-to-face the New Jersey Library Association and virtually as well as during ALA’s Conference in Long Branch; the Art Annual Conference in Anaheim. z Libraries Society of North America’s Annual Conference in Denver; the ALA President Loriene Roy is professor at the University of Texas at Austin’s School International Reading Association of Information. She is enrolled on the White Annual Convention in Atlanta with Earth Reservation, a member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. Reading Is Fundamental coordina-

american libraries

may 2008

his year of service as your president has brought many gifts—chief among them the opportunity to reconnect with old friends and colleagues and establish strong, new connections. This has also been an educational experience for me as I continue to learn how to work with ALA members and those interested in libraries, librarians, and librarianship. Whether it is meeting with task forces; chairing meetings of the Association’s governing Council, the Executive Board, the Executive Committee, and the ALA–Allied Professional Association; or answering calls from the media, service through communication is a subtheme of any ALA president’s year. Much of what ALA accomplishes is through the committed energies of strong volunteers who serve on various committees. For example, I collaborated with ALA’s Association of College and Research Libraries’ Education and Behavioral Sciences Section on five podcasts called Making the Meeting: Resources for Effective Meetings. Accompanied by tip sheets or summaries of advice on handling meetings, the podcasts are designed to help committee members gain confidence in conducting meetings and making them more effective. ACRL EBSS past Chair Lisa Romero has led these efforts. ALA Parliamentarian Eli Mina provided the content and served as talent for the podcasts. Elias Tzoc, digital initiatives librarian at Miami Universi-

by Loriene Roy

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4/17/2008 2:39:52 PM

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04/11/2008 4:04:29 PM

ALA | Treasurer’s Message

Money Watch General Fund mysteries unveiled

AL Direct, as well as the ALA website, communications to members, and elections. The General Fund is the financial arm that supports the Association’s programmatic priorities of diversity, equitable access to information, education and lifelong learning, intellectual freedom, advocacy for libraries and the profession, literacy, and organizational excellence. It is what supports services to members and libraries of all types: public awareness programs and membership services; the Washington Office; and our offices for intellectual freedom, advocacy, diversity, literacy and outreach services, research, international relations, recruitment, and accreditation. It also supports the facilities and capital investments in technology we all depend on. The General Fund derives revenues from five sources: membership dues; meetings and conference net revenues; publishing net revenues; realized investment income; and donations, royalties, and other miscellaneous income. Overhead recovery offsets expenses ALA incurs in its support of conferences, publishing, grants, divisions, and round tables. The remaining $472,000 left after all the expenses have been paid becomes part of the Association’s rainy day reserve, or it may be used for investment in new programs and services. In recent years, part of this surplus has been devoted to funding innovative and experimental programs in ALA’s Ahead to 2010 strategic plan. The remaining net asset balance will ultimately be used to purchase new association software and

the numbers Sources of General Fund Revenue 2007 Dues

$5,212,266

Conference Net Revenue 1,977,576 Publishing Net Revenue 1,757,841 Interest Income 986,676 Miscellaneous Income 805,460 TOTAL

$10,739,814

Uses of General Fund Revenue Communications/ Member Relations $2,621,031 Executive Office

2,233,328

Member Programs/ Services Washington Office

2,208,544 2,185,517

Technology/ Web Services

1,801,574

Finance/Accounting

1,272,545

Operations/Staff Support 763,358 Reserve TOTAL Overhead Recovery

472,225 $13,085,597 (2,818,203)

financial management systems over the next few years, an expense that is projected to run into the millions. It’s been a long journey from our starting point. The General Fund has a long way to go—and a lot to accomplish—each year. z ALA Treasurer Rodney M. Hersberger is dean of the university library at the Walter Stiern Library, California State University at Bakersfield.

american libraries

may 2008

n my first Treasurer’s Report to the governing Council during ALA’s 2008 Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia, one of the financial themes was the importance of the Association’s General Fund. What is the General Fund, and why is it important to us as members? Let’s begin by looking at ALA’s budget. In 2007, total revenue was just under $52 million, which seems like a lot of money. Of that total, however, $13.5 million was division and round table revenue—almost all of which was spent on division and round table services. Another $9 million Let’s was grants, begin by which are relooking stricted by the grantor and, at ALA’s much like our budget of checking acjust under $52 million. counts, in one day and out the next! That leaves $29.6 million, or just over half the total. The problem is that about $17.7 million of that amount is the cost of publishing and conference operations—the money that we spend on such things as printing, facilities, and buses in order to generate net revenue to support all other programs and services. In the end, about $13 million was left for the General Fund—the amount that is actually available to support ALA’s operations and offices. The General Fund consists of all the member services and programs that most of us utilize to one extent or another. It is American Libraries and

by Rodney M. Hersberger

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4/17/2008 2:54:40 PM

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04/07/2008 3:51:45 PM

OPINION | Reader Forum

Letters and Comments Bradford Lee Eden writes in “Ending the Status Quo” that “In every business model I know of, that ratio [10% using the catalog], spells bankruptcy and foreclosure” (AL, Mar., p. 38). The basic fallacy here is citing a business model. What percentage of hospital visitors use dialysis or have organ transplants? Shall these vital service be discontinued because so small a percentage use them? What is the expenditure versus income ratio in prisons? In the armed forces? Why should the health care and educational systems—hospitals, schools, and libraries—be run on a business model while prisons and armies are exempt from such examination? Research, scholarship, pure science without immediately obvious economic benefit, literature, and the arts are all vital to our western culture and civilization. Certain services are central to these activities and the continuation of society. Among these are universal health care and universal education, including libraries. The proportion of our expenditures on these vital components of our culture in contrast to our expenditures on counterproductive wars on drugs and terrorism do not bode well for our future. Library patrons are not “customers.” Libraries are not “businesses.” Libraries are the custodians of our cultural history, and vital to the literate citizenship needed for western nations to prosper and develop. Whether the resources libraries preserve, organize, and make accessible are print, sound,

moving image, or digital is beside the point. Consistency and rationality in that organizational effort is not. J. McRee (Mac) Elrod Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Let’s look at the numbers. Bradford Lee Eden opens his article with a quote from Chief Engineer Scotty. We might wonder what Scotty would make of Eden’s statistical analysis of the cost-benefit ratio cited in support of his position. Like his library, my system spends 60% to 70% of its budget on personnel salaries and benefits. When counting just bibliographic work, adding in OCLC fees and OPAC costs, I calculate a cost less than 2% of our total system budget. If Eden’s estimate that only 10% of our customers use the catalog, a statement that I’m unsure of, we still get a very favorable cost-benefit result. Our statistics show customer use of our OPAC is going up as they access it from home computers to search, place holds, and renew their items. There is a continuing stream of articles that devalue bibliographic work and find it to be too expensive. The facts are that although new and exciting developments are occurring that impact how we might do bibliographic control in the future, no replacement for our current practice is ready for prime time. There is a danger that as the assault on current practice continues, bibliographic work will weaken, budgets will be cut, and technical service departments will produce inferior catalogs, becoming a

The editors welcome letters about recent contents or matters of general interest. Letters should be limited to 300 words. Send to americanlibraries@ala.org; fax 312-440-0901; or American Libraries, Reader Forum, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611-2795.

self-fulfilling prophecy for those who criticize current practice. I would suggest that all technical service departments bear at least three critical responsibilities: they must be highly efficient in their processes, they must be very accurate in their database work, and they must keep their customers in mind in what they are doing. Without doing these, yes, technical service work might be “too expensive,” but with these in mind, I believe they will more than continue to prove their worth in any library. David Girshick Spokane County (Wash.) Library District

It is disappointing to read that Bradford Lee Eden feels libraries should no longer employ catalogers or maintain the OPAC. Keeping with this Wal-Mart approach to library administration, why not abandon special collections and microform collections, also used by fewer than 10% of our customers? Applying his 10% rule to the reference desk suggests we could replace it with a Starbucks and further reduce expenses. Same situation with government documents, and so forth. Eden feels the new model for information management is digital disorder, and for catalogers to arrange information for patrons is “a waste of time.” As a reference provider, I get a different impression from patrons who strike out Googling their information needs, but strike gold after learning the power of hyper-linked Library of Congress subject headings. Graduate students and faculty represent fewer than 10% of a research library’s customers. Although spending a lot of time using controlled vocabularies with one such patron may be

american libraries

may 2008

Libraries Are Not Businesses

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4/17/2008 2:41:17 PM

Environmental Hypocrites I see in that ALA’s Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies will have a preconference on sustainability (Annual Conference Preliminary Program, p. 26). Although the program sounds like business as usual, I wonder how many ALA members have considered lately what a big hole we put in the ozone every time we have a conference. Several other professional organizations, including at least one that is as big as we are, have moved to having their conferences every two years instead of annually or in our case, twice annually. Go ahead, either tell me that the vendors depend on our attendance or that big public librarians don’t care if it costs $5,000 for a plane ticket since what do the taxpayers care anyway. But here’s one guy who buys his own ticket, when he can afford to, who says either shut up now and forever

Julie Shen California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

30 Not the New 20 Lisa Forrest expressed reservations about libraries’ forays into Second Life, using her own age as a shield against accusations of Luddism (AL, Mar., p. 11). As a fellow 30-something, I’d like to point out that despite hip-hop artist Jay-Z’s assurances, 30 is not the new 20. Working in academic libraries, most 30-something librarians are twice the age of incoming freshmen. In a word, we are OLD and, therefore, just as prone to irrational attacks of nostalgia as our parents, a particularly dangerous emotion for me when weeding computer science books. As for Lisa’s concern that we’re putting precious resources into the wrong cause and making ourselves irrelevant, I respectfully disagree. I speak not only as an early adopter of virtual worlds married to a sci-fi fan, but more importantly as the child of immigrants who grew up under very different circumstances than I did. Because things don’t look the same doesn’t mean the underlying values aren’t the same. Maybe life is not moving as fast as Lisa fears. After all, bookmobiles and self-checkout machines have not made library buildings and staff irrelevant. In Second Life, most educational ventures in-world are still purely exploratory. The rate of adoption is also not impressive; most people with computers don’t even have graphics cards that can run Second Life. At this rate, by the time the world is ready for 3-D virtual libraries, today’s 30-some-

Continue the conversation at al.ala.org/forum/

Call for Constructive Criticism I am sometimes shocked at the apparent schism and infighting that exists among our profession. Reading the op-eds in American Libraries or any of the major bloggers reveals what seems to be an intense hatred of each other. It seems counterintuitive and unproductive to lambast each other in such a manner. As a GSLIS student, I am often met with shock when I inform people that I am taking concurrent classes with Michael Gorman and Michael Stephens. This should not be! People should think that being educated by two of the brightest in our profession would be a good thing, nay a great thing. It seems we could tackle some of the larger issues we, as librarians, face if we worked together. We all have the same mission and focus—to equip users to find the best information they need in whatever format they require. If circumstances were different, I believe Gorman and Stephens would be close colleagues and friends. They share the same passion for public services. They are committed to the profession and to LIS education. They believe that libraries serve a fundamental need in society. We need to realize that having diverse points of view is a good thing. Calling for constructive criticism while name-calling does not help our patrons or our profession. One of the principle points of the wisdom of crowds is for a diversity of opinion. The wisdom of experts implies a respect for others. The only way we are going to move forward as a profession is to move together. We need to recognize that our differences are minimal and our similarities are great. Anthony Molaro Dominican University River Forest, Illinois

James V. Carmichael Jr. University of North Carolina at Greensboro

may 2008

Nashville, Tennessee

thing forward-thinking librarians might already be retired.

Peter Brush Vanderbilt University

about the environment or quit being hypocrites.

american libraries

inefficient from a business perspective, it’s a good way to help that patron produce a quality research paper, thesis, dissertation, or book. Eden speaks of a battle for survival for academic libraries and suggests our choices are to maintain the status quo or to employ new business models. This seems a false dichotomy. Just as traditional methods of library administration are inappropriate for the business world, business practices are not necessarily appropriate for an academic library. Libraries can embrace change and better serve our patrons in a variety of ways. One way is the recognition that libraries are not businesses. Another is that our patrons prefer quality service to economical service.

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4/17/2008 2:41:55 PM

NEWS | ALA

ALA Unveils Study on Library Service to New Americans

“Libraries are places for education, brary by non–English speakers by self-help, and lifelong learning,” said 76% of respondents. Being unaware ALA President Loriene Roy. “The of the services offered by the library findings presented in this study can was the second most frequent barriprovide a venue for developing better er to their participation (74.7%), and more precise ALA studies on liand a lack of discretionary time was brary service materials, services, and the third most common barrier programs for those who are linguisti- (73.1%). cally isolated.” The study found that Spanish is the most supported non-English language in public libraries. Seventy-eight percent of libraries reported Spanish as the priority number-one language, after English, for which they develop services and programs. Asian languages ranked second in priority at 29%. Another 17.6% of libraries indicated Indo-European languages as a second priority. Public libraries in communities with fewer than 100,000 residents represent the majority in meeting the demands of non– PLA President Jan Sanders at a press English speaking residents. More conference announcing the release of the than 53% of residents in these “Serving Non-English Speakers in U.S. Public Libraries” study at the 2008 PLA National smaller communities traveled Conference. one to three miles to reach a library and another 21% traveled between four and six miles for “Serving Non-English Speakers in library service, although transporU.S. Public Libraries,” administered by tation was the least-frequently-cit- ALA’s Office for Research and Statistics, ed barrier to service. was completed in spring 2007, funded Literacy proved to be the most by a World Book–ALA Goal Grant. dominant barrier for non–English Christie Koontz and Dean Jue of speaking library users. Reading and Florida State University conducted library habits were reported to neg- the research. ALA’s Office for Literacy onatively impact the use of the liand Outreach Services, Public Programs Office, and the Office for Diversity provided additional support. Visit www.ala.org.nonenglish Read more at www.ala.org.nonenglishspeakers/. speakers/ for more information or to view the complete report.

american libraries

may 2008

bout 21 million people in the United States speak limited or no English, 50% more than a decade ago. As the country’s demographics continue to change, U.S. public libraries continue their efforts to meet the service needs of non– English users. In an effort to address this trend, the American Library Association released the results of “Serving Non-English Speakers in U.S. Public Libraries,” a study on the range of specialized library services for non–English speakers. The announcement took place at the Hennepin County Library’s New American Center during the Public Library Association’s national conference March 25–29 in Minneapolis. “Serving Non-English Speakers in U.S. Public Libraries” is the first national study to consider the range of library services and programs developed for non–English speakers, including effectiveness of services, barriers to library use, most frequently used services, and most successful library programs by language served. It also analyzes library service area populations and patron proximity to local libraries that offer specialized services. The most frequently used services by non–English speakers were special language collections (68.9%) and special programming (39.6 %), including language-specific story hours and cultural programming.

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deaf america reads

Choice magazine, a publishing unit of ALA’s Association of College and Research Libraries, celebrated the groundbreaking of its new office March 25 that will be located on Main Street in Middletown, Connecticut. The Liberty Square building will have retail space on the ground floor and the magazine will occupy the entire third floor. Liberty Square is being built as a green building. According to contractor Gary Dayharsh of Delta Building Corporation, this will include extra insulation for energy efficiency, high-efficiency systems and windows, recycled steel materials, and other green products. Choice plans to continue the green theme inside the office as well with green furniture made out of durable, recycled wood with all nontoxic materials from a local retailer. Energyefficient light bulbs will also be

Nominations are being accepted for ALA honorary membership, the Association’s highest honor, which is bestowed on living citizens of any country whose contributions to librarianship or a Candidates Sought closely related field are for 2009 Election so outstanding that they The ALA 2009 Nominating Comare of significant and lasting mittee is soliciting nominees to run importance to the whole field of on the 2009 spring ballot for the oflibrary service. fices of ALA president and councilHonorary members are elected or-at-large. for life by vote of the ALA Council The committee will select two upon recommendation of the ALA candidates to run for president-elect Executive Board. Nominations will be reviewed during the ALA Executive Board’s 2008 fall meeting and presented to Council for vote during the 2009 ALA Midwinter Meeting. Newly elected honorary members will be formally recognized at the Opening General Session during the 2009 ALA Annual Conference. Members who wish to ALA President Loriene Roy forward nominations (center) joins National Literary must complete the online ALA Honorary Mem Society for the Deaf President ber Nomination form Ricardo Lopez and ALA Honorary (www.ala.org/awards/ Member Alice L. Hagemeyer honorarymembership/ March 13 at the “ ‘One Book’ nomination/). Reading Promotion Project: Deaf The completed nomiAmerica Reads” unveiling at the nation packet, with all Center for the Book at the Library attachments, must be of Congress. The book selected was received no later than September 1. PosthuMoment of Truth: Robert Davila: The mous nominations are Story of a Deaf Leader by Harry G. not eligible for considLang, Oscar P. Cohen, and Joseph eration. Submit nomiE. Fischgrund. nation packets to:

may 2008

Groundbreaking Held for New Choice Office

Honorary Member Nominations Open

Honorary Membership, c/o JoAnne Kempf, Director, Office of ALA Governance, ALA, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. Additional information about ALA honorary membership, plus a complete list of all honorary members elected since the designation was first awarded in 1893, is available at www .ala.org. Click on “Awards and Scholarships” on the tool bar. and then on “ALA Honorary Membership.”

Librarians will flock to Washington, D.C., May 13–14 for National Library Legislative Day, a time for advocacy and issue-training sessions, interaction with Capitol Hill insiders, and visits to congressional members’ offices. Those who are unable to attend are invited to participate in Virtual Library Legislative Day by phoning, faxing, or sending an e-mail message during the two days. The annual observance is sponsored by ALA, the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies, the District of Columbia Library Association, and the Special Libraries Association. For more information, visit www .ala.org/nlld.

used. Visit www.ala.org/acrl/choice for more information.

american libraries

Librarians to Converge on Capitol Hill

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NEWS | ALA ‘s name, present position, instituand no fewer than 50 candidates for tion, address, telephone, fax, and ethe 33 at-large Council seats to be mail address to any member of the filled in the 2009 spring election. committee, chaired bySusam DiMatThe president-elect will serve a three-year term (as president-elect in tia, consultant, DiMattia Associates in Stamford, Connecticut, or e-mail 2009–2010, as president in sdimatia@optonline.net. Self-nomi2010–2011, and as immediate past president in 2011–2012). Councilors- nations are encouraged. All potential at-large will serve three-year terms, nominees must complete the Potential Candidate Biographical Form beginning after the 2009 ALA Anavailable online at https://cs.ala.org/ nual Conference and ending at the potentialcandidates/. Nominations adjournment of the 2012 Annual and forms must be received no later Conference. Those elected will also serve in cor- than September 1. To encourage diversity and leadresponding roles in the ALA–Allied ership development, the committee Professional Association (ALA-APA). Individuals considering ALA-APA of- will refrain from nominating any current councilors for election to fice are encouraged to consult with another term. Those who wish to their employer regarding any restriccontinue their service to the Associtions regarding lobbying activities or ation are encouraged to file as petiservice on the governing body of a tion candidates. Petitions are 501(c)6 organization. Members who wish to make nomi- available from Lois Ann GregoryAmLib TL 030408.ai 4/7/08 8:13:08 AM Wood, Council Secretariat, ALA, 50 nations should submit the nominee

E. Huron, Chicago, IL 60611, lgregory@ala.org, and can also be obtained during the 2008 Annual Conference in Anaheim or the 2009 Midwinter Meeting in Denver. Petitions require 25 signatures for a name to be included on the 2009 ballot.

Rettig Testifies on EPA Libraires

ALA President-elect Jim Rettig testified March 13 before the U.S. House of Representatives on the impact of library closings at the Environmental Protection Agency. Speaking to the House Committee on Science and Technology’s Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, Rettig addressed several of the developments of the past two years, specifically the loss of access to scientific and environmental government information and the necessity of the information specialist

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Libraries have until May 11 to promote a new health initiative sponsored by ALA’s Campaign for America’s Libraries and Woman’s Day. The magazine is looking for stories on how readers have used the library to improve a family member’s or their own health. Readers aged 18 and over are asked to submit their stories in 700 words or less to womansday@ala .org. Up to four submissions will be featured a March 2009 issue of Woman’s Day. Sample promotional materials, including a press release, news letter copy, and web button, are available online at www.ala.org/@ yourlibrary for librarians who wish to promote the initiative locally.

Calendar ALA Events May 13–14: Legislative Day, Washington, D.C. www.ala .org/washoff. June 26–July 2: ALA Annual Conference, Anaheim, California. www.ala.org/annual. Sep. 18–20: Association for Library Service to Children Institute, Salt Lake City. www.ala.org/ala/alsc. Sep. 27–Oct. 4: Banned Books Week. www.ala.org/bbooks. Oct. 17–19: American Association of School Libraries Fall Forum, Oak Brook, Illinois. www.ala.org/ala/aasl. Nov. 7–9: Young Adult Library Services Association’s Young Adult Literature Symposium. www.ala.org/ala/yalsa. Jan. 23–28, 2009: Midwinter Meeting, Denver. www.ala .org/midwinter.

may 2008

Magazine Health Initiative Ends May 11

A total of 86 public and academic libraries have been selected by ALA’s Public Programs Office and Nextbook to receive grants for “Let’s Talk About It: Jewish Literature” programs. The awards mark the final round of monies awarded through a multiyear grant from Nextbook to ALA. Selected libraries are required to promote and present a five-part

Visit www.ala.org/ala/alonline/ calendar/calendar.cfm for American Libraries’ full calendar of library events.

Carol A. Brey-Casiano, director of El Paso (Tex.) Public Library, has been appointed chair of the new 13-member Advocacy Committee created by Council during the 2008 Midwinter Meeting upon recommendation by the Committee on Organization. The committee is charged to support the efforts of advocates for all types of libraries to develop resources, networks, and training materials for advocates at the local, state, and national levels; to work closely with ALA’s Office for Library Advocacy, Public Information Office, and other Association offices, units, and committees, and with external groups to integrate advocacy efforts into the overall planning, priorities, and policies of the Association; and to cultivate future leadership in order to sustain and enhance the advocacy efforts of the Association. Committee members will serve two years on a staggered basis. Six members will end their terms at the close of the 2009 Annual Conference; the remaining seven will serve until the close of the 2010 Annual Conference. ALA President Loriene Roy and President-elect Jim Rettig jointly appointed the committee.

Teen patients in pediatric hospitals across the United States and Canada received 10,000 young adult novels, audiobooks, and graphic novels April 17 as readergirlz and ALA’s Young Adult Library Services Association prepared to celebrate the second annual Support Teen Literature Day, part of National Library Week. Twenty publishers donated the books, valued at $175,000, for “Operation TBD” (Teen Book Drop), designed to put books into the hands of teens in need of solace, entertainment, and a sense of personal accomplishment. YALSA also offered tips for serving sick or homebound teens at wikis.ala.org/yalsa. Readergirlz also invited teens and YA authors to leave a book in a public place on April 17. Downloadable bookplates were available at www .readergirlz.com to insert into the books. A TBD Post-Op Party was held April 17 on the readergirlz MySpace group forum at groups .myspace.com/readergirlz.

“Jewish Literature” Libraries Named

New Advocacy Committee Formed

Hospitalized Teens Receive Free Books

american libraries

or staff librarian to ensure the most effective access to this information. “Because there are fewer libraries and professional library staff, scientists and the public now have limited access to valuable, unique information,” Rettig said. “In an age of heightened public awareness about the environment, it seems ironic that the Administration would choose this time to limit access to years of research about the environment.” This is the second time ALA has spoken before Congress on the issue of EPA library closures. Then–ALA President Leslie Burger testified on the subject February 6, 2007, during a Senate committee hearing

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NEWS | ALA

new annual Conference Programs “I Love Libraries” Package available A new discounted package for library advocates attending ALA’s Annual Conference in Anaheim is available from ALA’s new Office for Library Advocacy. The “I Love Libraries” package includes registration for the June 26 daylong ALA Advocacy Institute; a conference Exhibits Supreme limited-access registration; and an ilovelibraries.org Advocacy Membership, which includes a biweekly e-newsletter, at a total cost of $100—a $125 value. For more information, visit www.ala.org/annual.

AASL licensed institute Kick-Off Slated ALA’s American Association of School Librarians will launch its newest licensed institute, “Reading and the Secondary School Library Media Specialist,” June 27 as a preconference to ALA’s Annual Conference in Anaheim June 26–July 2. Presented by Pam Berger, the program is designed to address critical topics in reading for library media specialists serving grades 7–12. After its Annual Conference debut, it will become a regular part of AASL’s group of licensed institutes. For more information, visit www.ala.org/ala/aasl/.

public discussion series based on one of six themes led by local scholars. Training for the library project director at a national training workshop; program and promotional materials; and a $2,500 grant to support workshop travel, program costs, and scholar honoraria are included in the grant. Visit www.ala.org/ala/ppo for a listing of sites by state.

Assessment Immersion Program Added

“Assessment Immersion Track: Assessment in Practice” is the latest addition to ALA’s Association of College and Research Libraries Institute for Information Literacy Immersion program. The deadline to apply is June 2 for the program to be held December 4–7 in Nashville, Tennessee. It is designed for librarians who are active in teaching and learning and those with leadership roles in

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ALSC Heads West for 2008 National Institute

Special election planned A town hall meeting will be held June 29, 4–6 p.m., during ALA’s Annual Conference in Anaheim, to allow membership discussion of the proposed bylaws and new, more inclusive, division. Following the membership discussion, ALTA will hold a special election for its members to approve the bylaws and partnership with FOLUSA. If the vote is positive, FOLUSA board members will also hold a special election to dissolve its organization as currently constructed and join with ALTA in the new division. All members of the steering committee are exceptionally pleased with the evolution of the process and unanimously believe that a division that includes all formalized lay supporters and governors of libraries would be a much stronger division than either ALTA or FOLUSA individually. Members of the joint steering committee include ALTA President Don Roalkvam and board members Sherman Banks, Shirley Bruursema, Peggy Danhoff, and Christine Hage. FOLUSA is represented by its President John Carson and board members Peggy Barber, Rod Gauvin, Peter Pearson, and Susan Schmidt. Staff members on the committee include ALA Associate Executive Director Mary Ghikas, ALTA Interim Executive Director and FOLUSA Executive Director Sally G. Reed, and ALA Manager for Membership Development John Chrastka. —Sally G. Reed, interim executive director

Each month the Association’s Associations spotlights the activities and agenda of one of ALA’s divisions. Next month: Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agenicies

A dinner and opening general session will feature 2008 Caldecott Honor and Geisel Honor–winning author Laura Vaccaro Seeger (First the Egg). The first “Breakfast for Bill,” funded by the William C. Morris Endowment, will feature children’s book author/editor teams of

Sharon Creech and Joanna Cotler and William Joyce and Laura Geringer. Christopher Paul Curtis, author of the 2008 Newbery Honor Book Elijah of Buxton, will also serve as a keynoter. Visit www.ala.org/ alscinstitute for additional information. z

Housing reservations are now open for ALA’s Association for Library Service to Children 2008 National Institute to be held September 18–20 in Salt Lake City. Early-bird pricing for ALSC members will be available through June 30. The two-and-a-half-day institute is designed to provide a learning opportunity with a youth-services focus aimed at youth library staff, children’s literature experts, education and library school faculty members, and many others.

A joint steering committee made up of select board members from the Association of Library Trustees and Advocates and Friends of Libraries U.S.A. (FOLUSA) met in March during ALA’s Public Library Association conference in Minneapolis to further discuss the possibility and logistics of combining the two groups into one ALA division. The steering committee overwhelmingly supports the move and has drafted a set of bylaws that would govern a combined organization. In addition, the steering committee is recommending that the new division be called the Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends, and Foundations, or ALTAFF.

may 2008

To ease the complexity of ordering selected online materials, Booklist Online and Title Source 3 from Baker & Taylor announced the launch of a new functionality. The project was unveiled during the Public Library Association conference in Minneapolis. Baker & Taylor and Booklist have collaborated in developing a unique online bridge. Title Source customers may now click on a list of selected titles built into Booklist Online and place their orders directly into Title Source 3 without having to navigate out of Booklist Online. Booklist Online offers more than 120,000 recommended-only reviews of adult, youth, media, and reference titles, with more than 8,000 new reviews added each year. Title Source 3 is Baker & Taylor’s online collection development tool that offers users customizable title selection features and ordering capabilities. It includes daily updates to the database of more than 5 million book, movie, music, and videogame titles.

New Name Proposed

Booklist Begins New Online Effort

The Association’s Associations: ALTA

american libraries

information literacy program development. Visit www.acrl.org for additional information.

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NEWS | U.S. & International

First Lady Laura Bush Reveals Post–White House Agenda

literacy. “All the advantages that a good reader has over a nonreader end up being very, very important issues in our country,” and internationally, she noted, particularly with regard to the rights of women to go to school.

Books for school libraries

The First Lady also discussed the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries, which she founded in 2002 largely to support school districts with inadequate funding for library materials. “We give to over a hundred schools a year,” Bush said. “They’re not big grants; they’re $5,000 to $10,000, but in many cases they double the school library budget for books for that year. And the grants are written to ask for something specific, whatever they might need that supports the curriculum or supports the school body population, maybe books in Spanish.” In addition to providing materials for underfunded schools, aiding schools destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 has been the foundation accomplishment that she is most proud of. Over $3.7 million has gone to 52 schools

First Lady Laura Bush sits for an interview with American Libraries Editor Leonard Kniffel in the White House library.

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may 2008

n an exclusive interview at the White House March 19, First Lady Laura Bush told American Libraries that she would definitely play a role in the establishment of her husband’s presidential library at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. “I’m really looking forward to being actively involved in the building of it,” she said. “I think there will be a very good opportunity for me to continue all the things I’ve already done around libraries and literacy.” The first librarian ever to be First Lady of the United States, Mrs. Bush also An American talked about how her profession Libraries Focus influenced her own initiatives videocast as well as and will continue to do so when President George W. Bush’s a transcript of the interview with Laura term ends next January 20. “We have a very good architect,” Bush are available the First Lady said of the chosen design firm, Robert A.M. Stern Archion the American tects, pointing out that she would be Libraries website working with the National Archives at www.ala.org/ and Records Administration, which oversees presidential libraries, “to alonline/. develop everything that surrounds the papers,” including matters of conservation and access and “the ways that the papers are cataloged and put together.” The First Lady noted that she is particularly taken with President Bush’s idea that the library serve as an “institute for freedom” and sees it as an opportunity to address the issues of “international global literacy and especially the gender differences that have kept many women from being educated.” Her initiatives as First Lady have focused on helping America’s youth, education, Gulf Coast school rebuilding, women’s health and wellness, books and authors, and other issues central to librarianship. Did her training and experience as a librarian help prepare her in any way for the role of First Lady? “It really did,” Mrs. Bush replied. “And I would have never really thought of it before, but both the experience I had of reading to children over and over and over, and storytelling, were really excellent training for giving speeches.” She added that education and even economic power are issues associated with

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taff of the Greater Victoria (B.C.) Public Library returned to work beginning April 2 after the library and its staff reached an agreement that day to end the lockout that had closed the library since February 17 (AL, Apr., p. 22–23). The Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 410, which had been without a contract for 454 days, voted 85% in favor of the agreement. The four-year deal brings library wages in line with comparable jobs in neighboring Esquimalt and Oak Bay. The union had been seeking pay equity with jobs in Victoria, where wages are slightly higher. “I think the main dispute has been properly put to bed,” CUPE Local 410 President Ed Seedhouse told American Libraries, noting that Esquimalt and Oak Bay are part of GVPL’s service area. “They’re not that far apart. I would have accepted that as reasonable at the start.” GVPL Chief Executive Officer Barry Holmes told AL that the union introduced the “regional equity” approach of looking at wage levels at other municipalities in the area, and credited it with making resolution possible. “That freed us up to look at other ways we could compare,” he said. All staff will receive 12% raises, spread out over the next four years, Seedhouse told AL. Certain classifications will receive additional raises of up to $3 per hour to address pay equity issues. Nine full-time senior page positions with benefits will be created, while other pages will receive an additional 30-cents-per-hour raise per year beyond the 12%.

BY THE NUMBERS sales in 2007, up from $6 million in 2002, according to the International Digital Publishing Forum. Since the IDPF does not include many smaller publishers and educational or library purchases, it believes the market is actually two to three times larger. —Associated Press, April 3.

51.8

Percentage of public libraries offering e-books in 2007, up from 38.3% in 2006. Four-fifths of urban libraries offer e-books, compared to 59.8% of suburban libraries and 36.5% of rural librar-

ies, but all categories showed significant gains. —ALA’s Public Library Funding and Technology Access Study, www.ala.org/ plinternetfunding/, scheduled to be published in September.

Number of titles downloaded to the two Kindle e-book readers that Sparta (N.J.) Public Library purchased in December 2007. Assistant Director Diane Lapsley says 14 patrons are currently on the Kindle waiting list, and that satisfaction rates are about 95%. (For more on Sparta’s Kindles, see p. 44.) —Sparta Public Library, April 8.

may 2008

$33 million E-book

Mrs. Bush previewed the children’s book that she and her daughter Jenna have written together, Read All About It, due to be published this month by HarperCollins. “It’s about a little boy who loves everything; he rules the school, but he doesn’t particularly like to read. And it’s dedicated to all little boys like that and to the teachers who just persistently keep reading those stories and sharing those books with them until children find out they do love those stories and they do love to read.” Asked if she has thought about running for public office when her stint as First Lady ends, she replied, “No, I won’t be running for public office. But I look forward to working in our new hometown—our old hometown that we’re going to go back to—on a lot of different issues.” Bush said she wanted “to thank librarians who work every single day to make sure people have access to every kind of information—for free. . . . It’s important for our country, and it’s important for democracy, and it’s just very personally important for individuals.” —L.K.

A passion for books

Victoria Library Labor Dispute Resolved

american libraries

across the Gulf Coast, she said, “and these are big amounts of money, from $50,000 to $150,000 for whole collections, because people don’t realize how expensive a whole library collection is. And a basic elementary collection probably costs about $50,000, a start-up collection. And of course a high school library could cost $150,000 or more,” Bush said. Throughout the interview, the First Lady emphasized the importance of books, reading, and school library media centers. “We should really do whatever we can to reach out to people and let them know that there are ways to learn to read,” she said, citing libraries and books as “important to a democracy and so important to our society that it just seems natural that we would try to promote books in any way we could.”

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NEWS | U.S. & International

Library Worker’s Firing Sparks Firestorm

Brenda Biersterfeld and her lawyer claim that her firing violated her federal civil rights.

since birth, had a deep history of developmental disabilities and could not understand the charges against him. The Times-Delta said March 20 that the judge ordered an April 21 hearing to determine Chrisler’s competency to stand trial. He was being held on $100,000 bond. At a March 25 meeting the Lindsay city council presented Biesterfeld with an award from the national organization Family Friendly Libraries, CBS-TV affiliate KGPE reported March 26. Councilwoman Suzi Picaso praised Biesterfeld, saying, “There is no firewall that could have protected this situation like we did with having her looking over [Chrisler’s] shoulder. She was the firewall. She did the right thing even though it was against the policy.” —G. F.

Photo: Copyright, The Visalia Times-Delta. Reprinted with permission

her six-month probationary period was to end. As the controversy over the firing escalated, the county board of supervisors released a statement March 18 saying officials had “legitimate business reasons” to dismiss Biesterfeld that had nothing to do with her calling police, the Times-Delta reported that day. After Biesterfeld consented to the release of her personnel records, the county released a statement March 8 saying that she was fired for failing to improve on problems identified during her probationary period and citing 13 “performance issues,” including overstating work hours on her timesheets, failing to properly process book-borrowing requests, failure to account for daily cash, and insubordination in regard to her behavior after contacting the police. County lawyers sent a letter March 25 to Biesterfeld’s attorney, Stephen Crampton, offering to have the matter mediated by a retired judge. Crampton, who is general counsel for the socially conservative legal group Liberty Counsel, had written the supervisors demanding that Biesterfeld be reinstated and compensated for lost wages and damages, according to the March 26 Times-Delta. Crampton said in the March 26 Fresno Bee that while “our intent from the get-go was to file suit in federal court, because we believe Brenda’s federal civil rights were violated,” he was open to the possibility of mediation. At a March 19 preliminary hearing, Chrisler’s attorney said that his client, who has been deaf and mute

american libraries

may 2008

he firing of a worker at the Tulare County (Calif.) Library two days after she defied a supervisor by alerting police to a patron viewing what she believed to be child pornography has sparked controversy and the threat of a lawsuit. When Brenda Biesterfeld saw a man viewing pictures of naked boys on a public access computer at the library’s Lindsay branch February 28, she called her supervisor, Library Services Specialist Judi Hill, at the main library, Biesterfeld said in the March 14 Visalia Times-Delta. She said Hill told her to give the man, who was deaf, a note telling him to stop immediately, but when Biesterfeld suggested calling the police, Hill told her not to. Biesterfeld said she obeyed the request, but after going home and talking to her family, she decided to tell the police, who asked her to contact them when the patron returned. She did so on March 4, and police arrested the man, whom they identified as Donny Lynn Chrisler, 39. After investigators seized the computer, Biesterfeld says she told Hill about her involvement. “She kind of threatened me,” Biesterfeld told the newspaper. “She said I worked for the county, and when the county tells you to do something, you do what the county tells you. She said I had no loyalty to the county.” Shortly thereafter, Biesterfeld received a letter from Tulare County Librarian Brian Lewis dismissing her for unsatisfactory performance. Lewis fired her about a week before

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a variety of classes and events tailored to the community. Another $130 million will be used for online expansion, including expanded digital content, systemwide technology upgrades, a new online catalog in 2009, and the newly launched “NYPL Labs,” which will create and “In neighborhoods, test information-delivery on the internet, and methods. at the heart of the Additional money will be used for branch refurbishment city, our new plans ($130 million); construction of provide a framework a new Library Services Center to deliver future in Long Island City and a new Donnell Library ($60 million); generations of and endowment funds for aclibrary users with quisitions, processing, preserthe services that will vation, educational outreach, staff scholarships, and general be essential to their operations ($300 million). lives and livelihood “The world of information in this new era.” and ideas has changed pro—NYPL President Paul LeClerc foundly, and the needs of library users have changed in response,” said NYPL President Paul LeClerc. “In neighborhoods, on the internet, and at the heart of the city, our new plans provide a framework to deliver future generations of library users with the services that will be essential to their lives and livelihood in this new era.” The project will be funded by proceeds from library real estate sales; city, state, and federal government; and private donations. The private fundraising campaign has raised more than half of its $500-million goal, including a $100-million gift from Stephen A. Schwarzman, founder of private equity firm the Blackstone Group and an NYPL trustee. The Humanities and Social Sciences Library will be renamed for Schwarzman. “It’s a privilege for me, an honor for me, to be able to help out in this great reinvigoration of the library,” Schwarzman said at a March 11 press conference. “People of lower income, middle income—for them, the library is a passport to the achievement of the American dream . . . . The New York Public Library is one of the unique institutions in the city that help continue to make it great.” —G. L.

New York Public Library President Paul LeClerc (left), Trustee Stephen Schwarzman, and Chairman Catherine C. Marron at the March 11 press conference announcing the library’s $1 billion transformation plan.

american libraries

Photo: Jori Klein

ew York Public Library announced a fiveyear, $1-billion expansion March 11 with the goal of doubling its number of unique users. Adopted after an 18-month study, the improvement plan has three major elements, the library said in a press release. A $300-million renovation of the Humanities and Social Sciences Library on 5th Avenue will transform it into a Central Library. “It’s going to be an integrated research and circulating library,” Herb Scher, NYPL director of public relations, told American Libraries, noting that it last functioned as a circulating library in 1970. The renovated library will also feature improved exhibition spaces, hundreds of new computers, wireless access, meeting rooms, programming venues, and a café. Scher said the renovation is planned for completion in 2014. Two new hub libraries, in northern Manhattan and Staten Island, will be built at an anticipated cost of $80 million. These will offer expanded services similar to those of the Bronx Library Center, including seven-daya-week hours, dedicated teen and children’s areas, and

may 2008

$1-Billion NYPL Expansion to Add Branches, Technology

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NEWS | U.S. & International

Memphis Mayor Draws Fire for Branch Closings, Political Appointments M

emphis, Tennesse, Mayor Willie Herenton, who had already drawn the ire of library supporters for placing political appointees in charge of the Memphis Public Library and Information Center, announced March 18 that the city will close five library branches for reasons of efficiency and economy. The closings, along with those of four community centers, will save an estimated $1.5–$2 million annually, the Memphis Commercial Appeal “No individual reported March 19. The closings of the Cossit, Highland, Poplarowns the White Station, Gaston, and Levi branches were library system. recommended in an efficiency study released It is the in April 2007, which suggested that the savings be channeled into regional branches or other city’s library system needs. The $600,000 study also called system.” for the award-winning library to develop a —Mayor Willie long-term strategy for its future. Herenton At the city council meeting where he announced the closings, which are aimed at minimizing a planned property tax hike, Herenton also defended his decision to replace longtime library Director Judith Drescher and Deputy Director Sallie Johnson with political cronies lacking library degrees. “No individual owns the library system,” he said. “It is the city’s library system.” Herenton also accused library management of lacking diversity under Drescher. “They had a little culture of career people there. They all looked alike,” he said in the March 20 Memphis Daily News. “They had no respect for diversity. The diversity they had was fragmented. Certain people at the top, certain at the bottom.” Herenton justified the closings by stating he was “embarrassed” by the condition of some library branches. “What we had at the library system was a culture of excellence centered around the central library,” he said. “With some of the other libraries, it was neglect.” The day after the city council meeting, Herenton announced he planned to resign July 31. The mayor, who is just three months into an unprecedented fifth term, is said to be considering a return to the job of city schools superintendent, which he held for 12

years before becoming mayor, or a run for a congressional seat, the Commercial Appeal reported March 20. The Tennessee Library Association executive board sent a terse open letter to Herenton February 22 criticizing his library appointments. The letter condemned the mayor’s dismissal of Drescher as “a slap in the face” to professional librarians, questioned why a national search wasn’t conducted for a replacement, and asked why the library is operating without a duly appointed library board of trustees. Drescher, director of the system for 23 years; Johnson, with the library for 40 years; and Human Resources Manager Val Crook, a 42-year veteran, all retired suddenly last December. Herenton appointed Keenon McCloy, former director of public services and neighborhoods, to replace Drescher, and Michael Gray, a former mayoral bodyguard and retired deputy director of public services, as the library’s deputy director; neither has a library degree. According to the February 29 Commercial Appeal, the mayor brushed off criticism of the appointments, saying “a manager is a manager.” Under Drescher’s leadership, the library upgraded its branches and opened a new central library in 2001. Last year the system was among five libraries awarded a National Medal of Museum and Library Service from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. —G.F.

Jaida Dean of Mound, Minnesota, appears quite pleased with her check-out choice—McDuff’s Wild Romp by Rosemary Wells and Susan Jeffers. Dean was one of the many patrons who attended the Renovation Celebration at Hennepin County Library System’s Westonka Library March 29. The all-day event included remarks from Mayor Mark Hanus and library staff, a Minnesota Children’s Museum Discovery Trunk activity, and a Wii video game tournament for teens. The $126,600 renovation began in summer 2006 and includes building modifications, furniture, and computers.

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may 2008

SATISFIED CUSTOMER

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Librarian Helps Nab Prodigious Thief

A Great Falls, Montana, man was arrested March 27 and charged with interstate transportation of stolen goods in relation to the theft in February 2006 of at least 648 maps found on his property. The maps were allegedly torn out of some 100 books in the Congressional Serial Set owned by Western Washington University’s Wil-

son Library in Bellingham, which has since tightened security. In fact, it was WWU government information librarian Robert Lopresti who jumpstarted the case in February 2006 by notifying campus police that colleague Julie Fitzgerald had discovered evidence of the robbery, and Lopresti hunting on eBay for maps he knew to be stolen. Writer Steve Twomey tells of the two-year investigation in the April 2008 Smithsonian Magazine. According to a March 27 statement from the FBI’s Salt Lake City bureau, James L. Brubaker, 73, was arrested after a search of his property turned up some 1,000 books, most of which bore library markings from at least 100 academic and public-library collections; thousands of unmarked lithographs, maps, and other types of loose pages, some of which were in envelopes ready for sale; and such

investigation he had ordered, Klag explained April 8 that the stop-listing of the word “abortion” began in February; Popline officials took the action unilaterally after USAID inquired about two articles in the Winter 2008 issue of A, the Abortion Magazine, that characterized the termination of pregnancy as a human right. Popline officials also pulled seven A articles from the database.

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A new facility at the University of California at Berkeley gathers the school’s vast Chinese, Japanese, and Korean collections under one roof. The C.V. Starr East Asian Library, which opened March 17, is said to be the first freestanding structure at a U.S. university built solely for East Asian collections. It houses more than 900,000 volumes, as well as thousands of manuscripts, rubbings of stone and bronze objects, and the largest collection of historic Japanese maps outside of Japan.

The March 31 discovery by an academic librarian that the administrator of the reproductive-health database Popline (Population Information Online) had placed the search word “abortion” on its stop list, or file of blocked terms, has led to the dean of Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health reversing the decision a scant five days later. Administered by JHU, Popline is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and contains more than 360,000 items about family planning and sexually transmitted disease. However, federal laws dating back to 1973 prohibit the use of federal funds for abortion advocacy or supplies. After finding that a routine Popline search on the word “abortion” retrieved fewer citations at the end of March than it had in January, librarian Gloria Won of the Medical Center of the University of California at San Francisco e-mailed database officials to ask about the discrepancy. Popline Database Manager/Administrator Debra L. Dickson replied April 1, “We recently made all abortion terms stop words. As a federally funded project, we decided this was best for now.” She went on to suggest that librarians could substitute the terms “fertility control, postconception” or “pregnancy, unwanted.” An outraged Won and her supervisor Gail L. Sorrough alerted the library community on a medicallibrarian discussion list and soon word had spread to the biblioblogosphere and the mainstream news media. On April 4, Michael Klag, dean of the public health school, stated that he “could not disagree more strongly with this decision,” adding that he had “directed that the Popline administrators restore ‘abortion’ as a search term immediately.” Reporting on the findings of an

american libraries

Librarians Stop Abortion Stop-Listing

Asia Rising at UC Berkeley

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NEWS | U.S. & International items as a magnet allegedly used to bypass library security devices, two razor knives, and adhesive remover. Lopresti told American Libraries he has urged investigators to hire a retired map librarian to sort the unmarked pages “because you actually need somebody who knows the stuff.” Although WWU is the only institution to come forward before the arrest, investigators may eventually benefit from the development of a stolen map database being funded by the International Antiquarian Mapsellers Association. The group slated mid-April to have a working prototype available at www.missingmaps .info, complete with “a mechanism for third party contact for those requiring anonymity.”

EPA Gives Timeline for Library Reopenings

The Environmental Protection Agency submitted March 26 its EPA National Library Network Report to Congress on the state of the EPA National Library Network. The report set a September 30 deadline for the reopening of the four libraries that the agency abruptly closed in 2006– 07: Region 5 in Chicago, Region 6 in Dallas, Region 7 in Kansas City, and the EPA Headquarters Repository and the Chemical Library in Washington, D.C. The $1 million appropriated by Congress in the FY 2008 budget will be used to re-

establish operations and perform a needs assessment. All libraries will be staffed by a librarian and assistants, according to the report, and will contain reference and book collections, and offer electronic services, interlibrary loan, and public access. The Federal Library and Information Center Committee has formed an advisory board to advise EPA staff on a strategic direction for library procedures. The release of the EPA report came almost two weeks after the Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee of the House Science and Technology Committee held a March 13 hearing about the 2006 closures. “No library should be closed until its holdings have been effectively cataloged, evaluated, and digitized,” subcommittee Chairman Brad Miller (D-N.C.) said. ALA President-elect Jim Rettig expressed concern about “exactly what materials have been shipped around the country . . . and whether a record is being kept of what is being dispersed and what is being discarded” (see p. 14–15). The agency also received two sharp rebukes in February regarding the library closures: a report from the Government Accountability Office concluding that the EPA’s actions were hasty and ill-considered, and a ruling by a federal arbitrator for unfair labor practices and acting in bad

faith toward library employees (AL, Apr., p. 18).

New Orleans Unveils $650-Million Plan

New Orleans Public Library used the Public Library Association’s Minneapolis conference (see p. 64–65) to announce a $650-million master plan to fund the construction of 13 libraries and operation costs for the next 25 years. The primary architect of the plan is Jeffrey Scherer of the firm Meyer Scherer Rockcastle. At a press conference in the firm’s Minneapolis office, Scherer said that it was somehow appropriate that a firm at one end of the Mississippi should lead the revitalization of a library in need at the other. Of the $199 million earmarked for building, about $114 million will enable construction of a new main library and archives facility by 2016. A capital campaign will be launched to raise about $610 million, with the remainder available through existing revenue streams. “This plan is essential for the recovery of New Orleans,” said Irvin Mayfield, chair of the NOPL board. “Hurricane Katrina ruined eight of our public libraries and damaged the remaining five. We must rebuild our libraries bigger and better than they were before. They will serve as com-

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (third from right) joins City Librarian Luis Herrera (fifth from left) and other city and library officials for the March 8 ribboncutting of the refurbished San Francisco Public Library Noe Valley/Sally Brunn branch—the eighth facility to be renovated or built through the Branch Library Improvement Program funded by a $106-million bond measure passed by voters in 2000. The 6,096-squarefoot library, redesigned at a cost of $5.7 million, includes new accessible bathrooms, a designated teen area, and an improved children’s room and program room, as well as new computers and free WiFi. In addition, the branch also underwent a major seismic retrofitting.

american libraries

may 2008

San Francisco Branch Rebuilding Boom

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the Squirrel Lady Visits

Two contractors and a former facilities supervisor for Sacramento (Calif.) Public Library made their first court appearance April 2, following their arrest the previous week on felony charges in an alleged billing scam, the Sacramento Bee reported April 3. Sacramento Superior Court Judge Gary Ransom read the charges against James Mayle, 63, his wife, Janie

Marci Christian, aka the Squirrel Lady, reads a story March 13 at Madison Heights (Mich.) Public Library. As part of her visit, children listened to a squirrel story, made squirrel crafts, and danced the squirrel conga.

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Paul and Irene Bogoni, who had pledged $2 million for an addition to Friedsam Memorial Library at St. Bonaventure (N.Y.) University, have said that they will not pay the final $900,000 of their gift, and they have filed a suit in State Supreme Court in New York County claiming that the university is not meeting the terms of the donation and demanding that the school provide a full accounting of the gift or return the money. The lawsuit lists several points of contention between the Bogonis and St. Bonaventure, among them that costs rose from the originally planned $1.5 million to more than $2.5 million, the Buffalo News reported March 27. “We have asked for documentation and have received nothing worthwhile,” Paul Bogoni said in a prepared statement through his attorney. “I just want to see why the project has gone over budget so dramatically.” Emily Sinsabaugh, vice president for university relations, said in the March 20 Chronicle of Philanthropy that the project was on budget, that the Bogonis knew the cost when construction started, and that the university had provided detailed financial information. The Bogonis said that they agreed to be sole donors in exchange for having the addition named after

Sacramento Judge Indicts Trio in Scam

University Library Donors Default, Sue

them. The school, however, raised additional funds to cover the construction cost, and when the Bogonis sent notification in October that they did not plan to fulfill the pledge, St. Bonaventure said that the naming rights would be affected. The addition is 75% complete and will open in the fall.

american libraries

munity centers accessible to every neighborhood in the city. New computers will help us bridge the digital divide among our citizens. And cultural events will provide recreational enrichment as well as education.” The master plan also includes construction of a Jazz Branch, emphasizing the city’s identity as the birthplace of jazz music. A jazz musician himself, Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra All-Stars delivered six benefit performances in Minneapolis at the Dakota Jazz Club.

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NEWS | U.S. & International Rankins-Mayle, 59, and former library facilities supervisor Dennis Nilsson, 61, that included bribery and grand theft. Nilsson and Mayle also face additional counts of conflict of interest. None of the accused entered pleas. Meanwhile, library Director Ann Marie Gold has come under growing criticism for her handling of the situation, with one union leader who represents library employees calling for her resignation for failing to act sooner in the alleged $650,000 kickback scheme. In her own defense, Gold told American Libraries, “We initiated an investigation last July as soon as we had substantive evidence of fraudulent billing that was brought to us by a subcontractor” (AL, Dec. 2007, p. 25). She credited the district attorney’s office for moving the case forward. “Everything they uncovered validated what we found and that’s what led to the arraignments,” Gold said. “I’m delighted about the indictments. These three individuals obviously did not have the best interests of the public at heart.”

The Bee published an editorial March 29 claiming that it was one of the newspaper’s reporters, Christina Jewett, who instigated the probe and calling Gold’s handling of the situation “gross incompetence.” The editorial argued that Gold should not only be denied a raise, she should be replaced. The library board had discussed and tabled the topic of a raise at its March 28 meeting. Gold told AL that she had asked the board “to defer any discussion about compensation for me and that’s why they did not take action at the meeting.” Asked how she was withstanding the public pillorying, Gold said, “We look at the value of the work that we do and measure and judge ourselves against those results. ‘Are you creating better libraries for the communities that you serve?’ At the end of each day, that’s the question that needs to be asked.” She pointed to the three groundbreakings and a grand opening occurring this year. The Bee also reported February 22 that former SPL finance director Anil

Villa Park (Ill.) Public Library’s youth- and adultservices readers advisors led book discussions as part of the library’s in-service day March 7. The day saw lively conversations centered around the four suggested titles: Andrew Clements’ Things Not Seen, Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife, Kat Richardson’s Greywalker, and Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed.

LC Group Urges Copyright Changes

The independent Section 108 Study Group, which was set up in 2005 by the Library of Congress to reexamine the exceptions that apply to libraries found under Section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Act, issued its final report March 31 with recommendations on how the law could be adapted to the digital environment. The report will serve as the basis upon which legislation may be drafted and recommended to Congress. The group focused on the limited exceptions that allow libraries and archives to make preservation or replacement copies of copyrighted works in their collections. Among the recommended changes: n Include museums as well as libraries and archives. n Strengthen eligibility requirements to apply only to institutions “possessing a public service mission, employing a trained library or archives staff, providing professional services normally associated with libraries and archives, and possessing a collection comprising lawfully acquired and/or licensed materials.” n Permit qualified libraries to make a preservation copy of an atrisk published work prior to damage or loss, but strictly limit access to such a copy. n Allow libraries to capture publicly available websites and other online content as long as the content is labeled as “an archived copy for use only for private study, scholarship, and research” with the date of capture. n Authorize libraries to outsource allowable copying or preservation activities to outside contractors.

american libraries

may 2008

In-Service Reads

Paul has filed a suit claiming he was wrongfully fired after raising concerns about $650,000 in payments related to the contractors, as well as for failing to approve personal expenses charged by several senior managers to a library credit card.

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nâ&#x20AC;&#x201A; Amend the television news exception to permit archive streaming but not downloading. nâ&#x20AC;&#x201A; Clarify that libraries are not liable for unsupervised use of personal scanners or cameras by patrons. The report was delivered to Librarian of Congress James H. Billington and Register of Copyrights Marybeth Peters.

Spokane Moms Win School-Library Funds

The advocacy of three determined Spokane women has resulted in the first-ever state-level support for school libraries in Washington. A compromise budget passed March 12 includes $4 million, which breaks down to $4.09 per student, for the 2008â&#x20AC;&#x201C;09 academic year to maintain and improve library materials, collections, and services, Lisa Layera

Brunkan of Fund Our Future Washington told American Libraries. Brunkan said she sees the â&#x20AC;&#x153;bipartisan, bi-chamber effortâ&#x20AC;? as having been motivated by the 49â&#x20AC;&#x201C;0 passage in January of a bill that appropriated $12 million in state support for school libraries (AL, Mar., p. 18). â&#x20AC;&#x153;You had fiscal conservatives standing up and saying â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I hope we can find the moneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; next to Democrats saying how important they felt it was,â&#x20AC;? she recalled. Despite the disparity between the senate bill and the final appropriation, Brunkan and FOFW cofounders Susan McBurney and Denette Hill remain exhilarated, and the three are already networking with members of the state legislatureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Joint Task Force on Basic Education Finance to get the importance of fully staffed school libraries inserted into Washington Stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s definition of what constitutes a basic education. One task force

member, Rep. Skip Priest (R-Federal Way), told AL how the reassignment of 20 school librarians in his home district in fall 2006 â&#x20AC;&#x153;symbolized the fact that we werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t providing adequate funding for education.â&#x20AC;? Brunkan, McBurney, and Hill are also offering advice to grassroots movements springing up in Oregon, California, and Arizona in support school-library revitalization.

Family Challenges Two Books over N-Word

The parents of an 11-year-old student at the Hillsborough County (Fla.) School Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Turner Elementary School in New Tampa announced in mid-March that they would seek the removal of two media-center novels that contain the nword: The Land by Mildred Taylor and The Starplace by Vicki Grove. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I want them pulled,â&#x20AC;? Darryl Brown, a

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NEWS | U.S. & International American, has written in the afterward to The Land, which is a story about a former slave during Reconstruction, that she deliberately used the language “that was spoken during the period, for I refuse to whitewash history.” In a March 18 interview on 24-hour Florida cable-TV station Bay News 9, Mr. Brown disagreed, calling such an explanation “a moot point [and] a politically savvy way of trying to cover something up.”

Book Groups Reiterate Readers’ Privacy Rights Six organizations have banded together to fire two new salvos in an ongoing battle against the use of National Security Letters to obtain information about individuals’ reading habits under the USA Patriot Act. On March 17 the American Library Association joined with five other groups to file an amicus curiae brief in a case brought by an internet service provider challenging the FBI’s use of the letters to demand private information from libraries, telephone companies, internet service providers, and other data-gathering bodies. Last September a District Court judge ruled that the NSL provision of the Patriot Act violated the First Amendment, and the government appealed

the case, Doe v. Mukasey, to the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals (AL, Oct. 2007, p. 27). The brief, submitted by ALA, the American Booksellers Association Foundation for Free Expression, the Association of American Publishers, the American Association of University Professors, the Freedom to Read Foundation, and PEN American Center, states that the NSL statute, even as revised by Congress, “chills protected speech,” pointing out that “even though the new Section 2709 purports to create an exemption for libraries, it does nothing of the sort for the vast majority of libraries.” In an advertisement in the April 1 issue of the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call, ALA, AAP, ABA, and the PEN American Center urged Congress to restore the reader-privacy safeguards that were eliminated by the Patriot Act. The open letter, which cited two recent reports by the Justice Department’s Inspector General showing that the FBI has violated the law thousands of times since Congress expanded the bureau’s authority to issue NSLs, called for passage of the National Security Letters Reform Act (S. 2088 and H.R. 3189).

Lincoln Library Cost Fight Settled

The state of Illinois will collect more than $3 million from three contractors and deflect claims totaling another $7 million under a settlement over cost overruns and construction delays at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield. Architect Hellmuth Obata and Kassabaum of St. Louis will pay the state $2.125 million and give up $1.6 million it said the state owed, the Chicago Tribune reported March 30. Springfield general contractor Siciliano will give up about $5.5 million in claims for work performed, and designer BRC Imagination Arts will give up its final payment of

american libraries

may 2008

doctoral student in education at the University of South Florida, said in the March 17 St. Petersburg Times. “There needs to be an examination of these words that elementary school kids are reading.” Brown and his wife Alytrice Brown told the Times that they originally expressed their concern to the assistant principal in January after their daughter Ashyaa told them she had found the offensive word in The Starplace, a story about an interracial middle-school friendship in 1960s Oklahoma. However, the family was not advised how to file a challenge until two months later, Mr. Brown explained, telling how he called again in March because another student who was reading The Land directed the epithet against Ashyaa. On the second occasion, Turner Media Specialist Donna SimonettiTedesco phoned him to explain how to challenge materials, but used the nword in talking about the books. She apologized, but “it was a lackluster apology,” Brown told the newspaper, describing the librarian’s word choice as “like pouring salt on a wound.” Brown added that he subsequently wrote the principal asking that Simonetti-Tedesco be suspended. Mildred Taylor, who is African

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$750,000 and claims with a potential value in the millions. The state initially anticipated recovering up to $15 million in costs. Its legal fees incurred in reaching the settlement totaled $1.2 million.

Spreading Sensitivity about sikhs Jagir Singh Bains (left) presents a multimedia collection about Sikh culture for Queens Library’s Glen Oaks branch March 7 to Senior Librarian Norman Malwitz as New York State Assemblyman Mark Weprin looks on. Bains explained that the public-awareness effort is to counter misperceptions that surfaced just after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. “Sikhs practice their belief of Divine Universal Love, and this hardly makes them a group that should be feared,” he said.

Libraries Blasted for Pulling Programs

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Gamso, legal director of the ACLU of Ohio, had characterized the action in a letter to Wood as “blatant and shameful censorship of particular views,” adding, “A library may not withdraw its sponsorship of a film series because some members of the local community may be offended by it.” The April 6 event featured a week’s worth of Middle East news footage shot by a Youngstown net-

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the second of which proceeded as planned at the library April 6 and the last of which was slated for May 15. Library Director Stephen Wood said in the March 13 Cleveland Plain Dealer that the first part of the series was cancelled because library staff found the 30-minute movie, which was produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace, to be “controversial and biased.” A day earlier, Jeffrey

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NEWS | U.S. & International work TV affiliate, and the May 15 program was scheduled to be a panel discussion about the regional conflict. On the other side of the state, the Cincinnati-based social-conservative group Citizens for Community Values filed a lawsuit March 7 charging that the Upper Arlington Public Library violated the group’s First Amendment rights by canceling its February 27 meeting-room reservation for a program entitled “Politics

and the Pulpit” several days after approving it. The affidavit filed with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio indicates that UAPL wrote the plaintiff group February 21, a week after okaying the program, asking that CCV “refrain” from its original plan of engaging in “a time of prayer petitioning God for guidance . . . and singing praise and giving thanks to God for the freedom we have in this country to participate in the political process” so that the pro-

gram would be in compliance with the library’s meeting-room policy, which prohibits “inherent elements of religious services.” “The library does not refuse the use of meeting rooms for discussions,” Ruth McNeil, library community-relations manager, told the March 8 Columbus Dispatch. “You can discuss faith, family values, or war. This is a place for public discussion. The opportunity to meet here was and still is open to them.” z

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Architect Jan Kaplický has appeared on Czech television to defend his plans for a futuristic Czech National Library. Though his design won an international competition last year, Kaplický has found himself and his library the center of controversy since Prague’s mayor, Pavel Bém, came out against it in October. Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek is for it, and President Václav Klaus is located “somewhere in the middle,” Kaplický said.—Building Design, Mar. 14.

ALBANIA

Helsinki Mayor Jussi Pajunen wants the city’s planned new Central Library to be the “living room of the entire country.” With completion scheduled for 2017, Pajunen hopes the library will be a symbol of the country’s 100 years of independence.—Helsingin Sanomat, Mar. 14.

EGYPT

The Italian government has offered its support for a television

IRAQ

Antiquities stolen from Baghdad museums and smuggled out of the country are one source of funding for both Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias, according to a U.S. investigator who led the investigation into the looting of the National Museum in 2003. Marine Reserve Col. Matthew Bogdanos said the trade in plundered antiquities from the country’s 12,000 archaeological sites follows routes to Jordan and Syria, then on to Beirut, Dubai, and Geneva.—Associated Press, Mar. 18.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

A teacher-librarian at the Apple International School in Dubai was beaten up by members of a 3rd-grader’s family March 10 for reporting his unruly behavior in the library to the school principal. The assault by the student’s mother, grandmother, and domestic help took place in front of a class of 6th-grade students. The unnamed librarian fainted and was taken to the hospital.—Gulf News, Mar. 25.

INDIA

A 300-year old library in Aurangabad, Maharashtra State, reopened in March after being shut down since the 1970s. The library was founded by the Sufi saint Baba Shah Muzaffar in the late 17th century and soon became one of the largest libraries in Asia.—Times of India, Mar. 23.

SINGAPORE

The National Library Board launched a prototype mobile library service April 3 that will bring books and other materials to the underserved. Housed in a bus named Molly, the Mobile Library, the service will visit children’s homes, orphanages, and special education schools.—National Library Board of Singapore, Apr. 3.

american libraries

may 2008

UNICEF and IKEA are reigniting enthusiasm for reading in a generation of children who have been deprived of books. With 1 million euros ($1.55 million U.S.) from UNICEF’s largest corporate donor, the Swedish home-furnishing retailer IKEA, the Albania Reads project aims to open a library in each of 850 schools. In collaboration with the government, libraries have already opened in 160 schools.—UNICEF, Feb. 25.

FINLAND

studio linked to the Biblio theca Alexandrina. A media group in Rome will partner in the initiative as part of an ongoing Italian-Egyptian cultural exchange, Deputy Foreign Minister Ugo Intini said.—Adn Kronos International, Mar. 12.

1 Two primary schools in Bristol, 2 3 England, have withdrawn sto6 rybooks about same-sex rela5 7 8 tionships after objections from 9 Muslim parents. Up to 90 parents gathered at the schools to complain about King and King and And Tango Makes Three. Bristol City Council said the two schools had been using the books to help prevent homophobic bullying. The two schools are 60–70% Muslim, but non-Muslim parents were among those who complained.—Daily Mail, Apr. 2.

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Interview | News

NEWSMAKER: Jon Scieszka

dor for Young People’s Literature? JON SCIESZKA: To be a champion for children’s books and promote all the books that we have available to us. I’ve met all kinds of spectacular authors and it gives me great hope that there’s a book out there for every kid.

seeing boys just not very thrilled about reading. I started Guys Read as a nonprofit web-based literacy initiative to explain, first, that this was a problem, and second, to give people some tips, ideas, and titles for getting kids reading, boys in particular. What’s the number one tip? The num-

How are you going to reach out to reluctant readers? It’s been great just to

have this title; suddenly it gives me instant clout in the media world. We need to get out to a wider audience and the ambassador position is a perfect opportunity to tell people the things that we know from being in classrooms and being in libraries. Tell us about Guys Read and how best to interest boys in reading. The Guys

Is this a particularly crucial time for young readers? We’re really on the edge of some big changes here, going into the 21st century. Kids have all kinds of things competing for their attention, but we can let them know that reading can hold its own against all this stuff, that reading can do things that other media can’t.

Can you speak to the need for school library media specialists? I was at the Library of Congress in Washington recently, meeting with people who have access to these guys who are making decisions in education. It’s our job to say to them, “Look, we’re the experts in this field, and we’ll tell you that, yes, you do need media specialists, and it’s not just a throwaway.” What do you have to say about No Child Left Behind? I’ve been trying to get people to relax about all the testing stuff, which is doing terrible things to kids in schools across the country. I’ve seen kids who just think of reading as a school assignment. They think every book comes with a set of questions. Talk about sucking the joy out of any reading. What can librarians do to help you?

I love what librarians are doing already and I’m going to use this position to brag about them. It’s amazing the number of people who don’t understand that. Like they say, “I’m looking for a book for my son who likes motorcycles, but I don’t know. . . .” Go to the library! We’ve got people who are trained to help you. It’s a profession; it’s not just an accident. z

Read program came out of me having two kids of my own—the daughter a real crazy reader, the son not too crazy about it—and then teaching elementary school for 10 years and

ber one tip is just to relax a little bit. You know, like don’t be so crazy; let kids be a part of the process. That includes things like expanding the definition of what reading is. We get so hung up on making kids in school read novels and answer questions.

think that’s a great change that we can make—to stop fighting against kids and go where they want to be reading, like with graphic novels and illustrated books and comic books and nonfiction. There’s just great stuff coming out left and right.

may 2008

going to be as first National Ambassa-

reading books or reading online? No. I

American Libraries: What is your role

Does it matter whether children are

american libraries

opular children’s author Jon Scieszka was recently named the first National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by the Library of Congress (AL, Mar., p. 25), a role he calls “the perfect opportunity to tell people the things that we know from being in classrooms and libraries.” As a father and former teacher, what Scieszka knows is that reading is the key not only to excelling in school but also fulfillment as an adult. The author of The Stinky Cheese Man and 24 other popular titles, Scieszka has been sharing his enthusiasm for reading with librarians for many years, through the Guys Read program and most recently at a preconference before the 12th national conference of ALA’s Public Library Association (p. 64). American Libraries caught up with the prolific author by phone March 20, on his way out the door to begin his term as what Librarian of Congress James Billington calls “an evangelist for reading.”

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Technology | News

Skype as Conference Tool

american libraries

may 2008

sing familiar technology such as Skype in groundbreaking ways doesn’t have to be difficult or costly: just ask library staff who are taking advantage of it to plan or participate in conferences. Skype is used by millions of people every day as a means of making free long-distance phone calls via the internet. It combines visual, aural, and typed communication on one screen and can be downloaded and used free of charge from www.skype.com. It proved spectacularly successful as a videoconferencing tool for the more than 200 attendees who saw it in action at the “Future of Libraries, Part III: Embracing the Invisible Customer” conference held at San Francisco Public Library last year. Audience members were able to see and hear librarian Char Booth live from Ohio University Libraries. Conference comoderator Sarah Houghton-Jan kept things moving in San Francisco by relaying audience questions to the off-site presenter. Remarking on its potential for other uses after the event, Houghton-Jan wrote in her Librarian in Black blog, “I want to do this. Now!” Audience members were equally enthusiastic in their comments. As an audioconference The logistics of using Skype for conferences are fairly easy. tool, Skype serves as Presenters download Yugma, a yet another reminder free piece of software associatof how easily new ed with Skype, to control their PowerPoint presentations technology can be from remote locations. With used by library staff both pieces of software downin unanticipated and loaded onto a laptop, linked to a site’s audiovisual system, and productive ways. connected to an inexpensive webcam (readily available for under $100), those attending the conference can see and hear the presentation and interact with the presenter through a moderator. The presenter can also view what is happening from his or her own desktop if the webcam in an auditorium or meeting room is properly positioned. Presenters interested in using Skype in this way can quickly determine what problems they might face by scheduling one or two practice sessions with the presenter and the onsite moderator sitting exactly where they will sit during the conference. The onsite coordinators in San Francisco found it extremely helpful to have a few colleagues sit

0508_Tech_News.indd 32

in the auditorium during the practice sessions so their reactions could help resolve any problems that developed before the presentation went live. Booth continues to be interested in a Skype as a conference tool as well as for use in providing reference assistance in Ohio. She has written an article about Skype as a reference tool that is scheduled for publication Skype combines visual, aural, and typed this year in the communication on one screen and can be peer-reviewed downloaded and used for free. journal Internet Reference Services Quarterly (Vol. 13, No. 2) . As an audioconference tool, Skype serves as yet another reminder of how easily new technology can be used by library staff in unanticipated and productiveways. It also shows how new services and new uses of technology can be quickly and inexpensively adopted when they augment library operations rather than serve as novelties with no clearly defined purpose. While videoconferencing is far from new, the use of Skype has made it more accessible than ever before. The technology can be used to provide online reference service and as a presentation tool for meetings and conferences. Between 5 and 10 million people worldwide are logged on at this very moment. —Paul Signorelli, consultant and former director of staff training and volunteer services, San Francisco Public Library, paul@paulsignorelli.com

For more information visit www.skype.com

4/17/2008 3:18:26 PM

ages, education levels, races, and ethnicities. Libraries and museums rank higher in trustworthiness than all other information sources, including government, commercial, and private websites. n Since the use of one information source leads to others, museums, libraries, and the internet complement each other. n The internet is not replacing in-person visits to libraries and museums and may actually increase their on-site use. TThe full report is available online at interconnectionsreport.org.

With the support of partners Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, Tropos Networks, and Verizon Wireless, Houston Public Library launched the first of 10 Wireless Empowered Community Access Network (WeCAN) “bubbles” in the Gulfton Super Neighborhood March 24. As part of Mayor Bill White’s $3.5-million Digital Inclusion Initiative, 150 networks will be created over the two-and-a-half year roll-out, each with the ability to provide to low-income neighborhoods high-speed broadband internet access, training, content, and technology. “Free access to computer technology is an extremely important community service that has been successfully provided by the Houston Public Library since 1993,” HPL Director Rhea Brown Lawson said in a March 24 press release. “[The initiative] will extend and enhance much-needed computer technology access to Houston residents.” In addition to obtaining access, training, and equipment, WeCAN pilot locations will also receive free software from HPL and Microsoft, as

The Institute of Museum and Library Services has released the results of a national study on the use of libraries, museums, and the internet. The report, sponsored through a cooperative agreement with a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill research team led by José-Marie Griffiths and Donald W. King, is based on five surveys of 1,000 to 1,600 adults each conducted during 2006. Among the findings: n Libraries and museums are the most trusted sources of online information among adults of all

Houston Launches Wireless Network

may 2008

IMLS INTERNET Report

“natural extension was to approach music producers, and the response has been excellent.” “My opinion is that with a major label it is taking longer to negotiate for download lending in the library,” says Potash, “but we are working our way up to the top, and we are in dialogue and adding new titles each month.” Potash does not see the demise of CD lending as imminent, “but I can report the meteoric growth of download. Public libraries with download media are reaching a whole new category of patrons; there are millions of people who have not visited a public library in years but who are online every day. We are appealing to a new generation of library users who have options 24/7.”

Banks of CDs for borrowing may slowly disappear from libraries in the years ahead, but the idea of lending music to patrons is still very much with us. As more and more libraries begin offering digital downloads, however, the big music labels have been making it a slow, if not downright difficult, transition. Bryan Borzykowski writes in the March 19 issue of Macleans that unfortunately for the thousands of people who borrow music from the library, “the days of flipping through a library’s CD collection could be numbered.” In 2007, for example, Toronto Public Library saw music checkouts decline by 7%, while Winnipeg Public Library saw its numbers drop by 5%. The reason, of course, is that”more people are finding music online.” Borzykowski writes that because libraries aren’t in the business of developing software and licensing albums from record labels, it may be difficult for them to provide digital music. That’s when they have to turn to a company like Ohio-based OverDrive, to access its downloadable audiobooks and classical music cat-

alog.” Unfortunately, he claims, the company offers nothing in the way of mainstream pop music because big labels like Universal Music and Sony BMG, who have been notoriously slow to react to the changing industry, have yet to jump on board. OverDrive President and CEO Steve Potash disagrees. It’s not because they are not on board, he told American Libraries; it’s the nature of large publishing houses and congolmorates. Smaller companies can move quickly and offer quick signoff; larger companies take longer to review digital rights, often title by title. Borzykowski maintains that their hesitation to embrace libraries stems from the age-old problem of piracy — people borrow CDs and copy them at home. With OverDrive, the industry would actually be protected from overzealous copiers, as the “checked out” audio files are programmed to lock up after about two weeks on a computer or MP3 player. Potash says OverDrive services are growing exponentially in the U.S. and Canada, with tens of thousand of audio titles patrons can download. “Our initial success was with spoken audiobooks,” he says, but the next

american libraries

Music Downloading Looks to Big Labels

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Technology | News well as the free use of HPL resources. Additionally, Microsoft will support the creation of a secure access portal containing free information relating to education, quality of life, neighborhood, government and community services. Developing such skill sets “helps the city further develop its current and future workforce and keeps us competitive in the global marketplace,” said “Free access to White. HPL is imcomputer technology plementing is an extremely the mayor’s important community initiative, originally service” founded as part of a citywide wireless plan. The focus of the pilot launch is technical and program support models that isolate such issues as dropout recovery and job readiness.

holders share influence over its future direction.” “Yahoo! believes in supporting community-driven industry specifications and expects that OpenSocial will fuel innovation and make the Web more relevant and more enjoyable to millions of users,” said Wade Chambers of Yahoo. “Our support builds on similar efforts with the OpenID community and will expand the opportunity for developers and publishers to benefit from an open and increasingly social web.” “Together with the OpenSocial

community we are setting new industry specifications for social web application development,” said Steve Pearman, a senior vice president for MySpace. “Yahoo is an important addition to the OpenSocial movement, and through this foundation we will work together to provide developers with the tools to make the internet move faster and to foster more innovation and creativity.” “OpenSocial has been a community-driven specification from the beginning,” said Joe Kraus, director of product management for Google.

Yahoo, MySpace, and Google announced March 25 that they have agreed to form the OpenSocial Foundation to ensure the neutrality and longevity of OpenSocial, which is a set of common application programming interfaces (APIs) for building social applications across many websites. OpenSocial consists of both JavaScript APIs and Google Data APIs. an open, communitygoverned specification for building social applications across the Web. The OpenSocial Foundation will be an independent nonprofit entity with a formal intellectual property and governance framework; related assets will be assigned to the new organization by July 1. According to a statement from Yahoo, the foundation “will provide transparency and operational guidelines around technology, documentation, intellectual property, and other issues related to the evolution of the OpenSocial platform, while also ensuring all stake-

american libraries

may 2008

Tech Giants Form OpenSocial Foundation

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TeEming with technology

Located in downtown Fontana and part of the San Bernadino County (Calif.) County Library, the new Lewis Library and Technology Center opened April 19 featuring every high-tech option known to Librarylandâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and a few low-tech ones as well. The 93,000-square-foot facility offers free high-speed wireless connectivity, a 10,500-item audiovisual collection, 200 public access computers, and a 136-car parking garage. In addition, the book collection consists of 100,000 volumes.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The formation of this foundation will ensure that it remains so in perpetuity. Developers and websites should feel secure that OpenSocial will be forever free and open.â&#x20AC;? The OpenSocial Foundation website at www.opensocial.org will serve as the portal for the community to find all information about OpenSocial and the foundation as they evolve. Developers can now visit the website for the latest specifications and links to other resources. Engineers from Yahoo, MySpace, and Google will continue to work together and with the OpenSocial community to further advance the specification through the new foundation, continuing several core elements of OpenSocial established last November. Global members of the OpenSocial community include Engage.com, Friendster, Hyves, LinkedIn, Ning, Oracle, and many others.â&#x20AC;&#x201A; z

3CAN0RO !LL )N /NE -ICROFILM 6IEWER 3CANNER TO 0# 0RINTER !LL )N /NE -ICROFILM 6IEWER 3CANNER TO 0# 0RINTER -ICROFILM #ARTRIDGE &ILM &ICHE 5LTRA &ICHE -ICRO /PAQUES AND !PERTURE #ARDS

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!UTO 3CAN4- PLUG IN SOFTWARE FOR THE 3CAN0RO ADDS AUTOMATIC SCANNING FOR ROLL FILM &EATURES INCLUDING AUTOMATIC IMAGE ADVANCE FRAMING AND STRAIGHTENING MAKE THE 3CAN0RO EASY TO USE (IGH RESOLUTION SCAN IN JUST /.% SECOND

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3CAN0RO SHOWN WITH #OMBINATION !PERTURE #ARD &ICHE AND MOTORIZED MM &ILM #ARRIER

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american librariesâ&#x20AC;&#x192;

|â&#x20AC;&#x192;

3ECURE SCREEN MODE FOR PUBLIC USE

may 2008

3AVE IN POPULAR FILE FORMATS AND -ULTIPAGE

0508_Tech_News.indd 35

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Technology | News

TECH BRIEFS DRM-Free Audiobooks Beginning in May, OverDrive will offer downloadable audiobooks without digital rights management that will be compatible with most MP3 players and mobile phones. Thousands of titles will be sold at borders.com, and a limited selection of audiobooks will be added to OverDriveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s library network.

storing master files of digitization projects as part of a review of its storing strategy. The library currently stores master files in uncompressed TIFF format, but it estimates it will need 650 TB of storage space over the next four years to maintain that practice. The report is available by searching www.kb.nl/ index-en.html for â&#x20AC;&#x153;Alternative File Formatâ&#x20AC;?.

Alternative Master File Formats

Facebook Adds Privacy, Chat Options

Koninklijke Bibliotheek, the Dutch national library in the Hague, has released a study on the usefulness of JPEG 2000, PNG 1.2, Basic JFIF 1.02, and TIFF LZAW formats for

Facebook introduced new friend listâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;based privacy controls at a March 18 press conference, in which users can set specific privacy levels for different friend groups.

AMER MAY 08:ALA AMER LIB 01-08

3/19/2008

Facebook also demonstrated a forthcoming instant messaging application for the social networking site.

LC Launches Interactive site The Library of Congress launched myLOC.gov, an online companion to the real-world Library of Congress Experience, April 12. The web site mirrors the exhibit with interactive and educational features on the Early Americas, and also functions as a central repository for digital content. The site is hosted by Terremark Worldwide and utilizes the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Highly Managed Hosting service.

tek 4:44 PM

Page 1

the next generation of through wall returns

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may 2008

0508_Tech_News.indd 36

4/17/2008 3:20:16 PM

Visit Ingram Booth #800 at ALA Annual to experience the

ADVANTAGE Expert advice on children’s and young adult titles coupled with the service and selection only Ingram Library Services can provide. iKids is the ultimate resource, designed to do the work for you so you can focus on what’s really important—building the next generation of readers. Create the perfect mix of materials for your readers from our nearly 200,000 children's and young adult titles, immediately available and accessible via ipage®, or tap into our team of experts, which include several MLS-degreed librarians, who have developed the most refined database of hand-selected titles in the industry. As an Ingram customer, you also benefit from our industry-leading fill rate, speed of delivery (cataloged and processed books ship within 24 to 48 hours!), and comprehensive programs and services, including:

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Stop by the Ingram booth to find out more about our iKids show special. (800) 937-5300 ingramlibrary.com ipage.ingrambook.com programsandservices@ingrambook.com Ingram Library Services Inc.

Untitled-3 1

04/14/2008 3:45:51 PM

TECHNOLOGY | Dispatches from the Field

Digital Defense A primer for the preservation of digital materials

an archive should perform. Other international efforts have led to widely shared standards for preservation metadata and criteria for evaluating trustworthy repositories. Much of the activity in the preservation arena comes from publicly funded national and international preservation initiatives. As a result, most of the preservation literature is open access, and there is a growing number of open source or freely available tools for common functions such as format analysis and risk assessment. There are also a number of open source repository applications with some preservation functionality. DSpace, EPrints, and Fedora have varying degrees of preservation functionality and may be developed to support more. DAITSS and LOCKSS offer preservation solutions using migration and replication strategies respectively. In addition to these open systems, commercial vendors are starting to develop their own offerings. VTLS markets VITAL, a repository based on Fedora, and Ex Libris just entered the market with the Ex Libris Digital Preservation System. Digital preservation is a young field, heavily dependent on research and experimentation. It is a fast-moving area that advances rapidly but as yet has few exemplars. It may be one of the most interesting areas ever to emerge in the domain of information science. z PRISCILLA CAPLAN is director for Digital Library Services at the Florida Center for Library Automation. This article was adapted from the Feb./Mar. 2008 issue of ALA’s Library Technology Reports.

american libraries

may 2008

igital preservation is a preservation strategies are available, set of activities aimed at and multiple approaches are often ensuring access to digi- used together to good effect. tal materials over time. Life-cycle management takes a Materials to be preserved must be proactive approach to preservation assessed, selected, and brought by intervening at each stage in the under the control of the custodial life of the digital object and by taking institution. Descriptive metadata, preservation actions as early in the including persistent identifiers, life cycle as possible. For example, if must be created the custoor captured. dial instiDigital preservation is Also, it may be tution has a young field, heavily necessary to any influprovide docuence over dependent on research mentation to file creand experimentation. ensure that ation, it content will should be understandable in the future. encourage the use of relatively susDigital files must be protected tainable formats and the creation of against unauthorized changes, and good descriptive and administrative physical storage media must be metadata. Digital curation, a more monitored to avoid deterioration holistic concept than digital preserand obsolescence. Finally, actions vation, takes a life-cycle approach must be taken to ensure that digital focusing on the ongoing use and rematerials remain renderable (disuse of digital materials. playable, playable, or otherwise usIt is universally accepted that no able) as today’s file formats become one institution can preserve our obsolete over time. digital cultural heritage, and that a Activities that ensure digital files geographically and organizationally are safe, unaltered, and readable from distributed network of custodial inmedia are part of sound storage-man- stitutions will be required. Shared agement practices and not unique to standards and frameworks are key the digital preservation realm. Alto providing any degree of interopthough it can be a lot of work, this is erability. The core international known as “passive” or “bit-level” standard for digital preservation represervation. When strategies adpositories is the Open Archival Indressing renderability are also emformation System (OAIS) reference ployed, it is called “active” or “full” model (ISO 14721:2003). This depreservation. Migration and emulafines a vocabulary for preservationtion are often touted as the two main related concepts, describes a model strategies for maintaining renderabil- for preservation information, and ity. In fact, a number of different itemizes at a high level the functions

by Priscilla Caplan

0508_Tech_Dispatches.indd 38

4/17/2008 3:20:47 PM

2008 LITA National Forum October 16-19, 2008 Hilton Netherland Plaza Hotel, Cincinnati

Technology and Community: Building the Techno Community Library Plan now to join us in Cincinnati for the Forum: a three-day educational event that includes preconferences, general sessions, and more than 30 concurrent sessions. Registration is limited in order to preserve the advantages of a small conference. Networking opportunities, one of the small conference advantages, are an important part of the Forum.

General Session Speakers:

Preconferences:

s Michael Porter OCLC

s Marketing the Value of the Libraryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s IT Department Grace Sines, Gary McCone

s David Lankes Syracuse University

s Innovations in Next Generation Library Management Systems Andrew Nagy, Tim Daniels, Darrell R. Ulm

Registration opens May 1st!

Untitled-4 1

04/16/2008 4:15:56 PM

TECHNOLOGY | In Practice

Syndicate to Communicate Exert greater control over your web presence with RSS

ibraries are constantly changing—with new collections, technologies, services, and events. Consequently, a library’s website must be frequently updated to reflect these changes. Some libraries have no access to the server that hosts their website. Making a simple change involves working with people outside the library, and keeping the library’s web presence upto-date may not be a priority. Libraries in this situation often have websites that are rarely updated and don’t reflect their vibrant atmosphere. Fortunately, with RSS libraries can take control of their web presence without needing access to their server. RSS is a format for syndicating content on the Web. Much like the syndication of a newspaper column, there is a central place where an RSS feed is generated, but the content can appear in many different places. People can subscribe to an RSS feed and receive the content through an aggregator, a personalized home page, e-mail, text messaging, and more. There are many types of content that come with RSS feeds. These include news sites, blogs, social bookmarking sites like del.icio.us, the tables of contents of many journals, and Flickr. RSS feeds can be found in some library catalogs and databases where you can search for a term and subscribe to the results.

Libraries can take as an easy conBased on control of their web tent publishing XML, feeds system. Library can even be presence without content could created from needing access to also be disscratch. played in web RSS can also their server. spaces such as be displayed on a web page, where the content will courseware and social networking software. dynamically update as soon as the The Homer Township (Ill.) Public RSS feed itself is refreshed. This Library has pulled the headlines means that libraries can pull timely RSS content onto their website with- from its various blogs onto the front page of homerlibrary.org. Instead of out needing regular access to the people having to visit each individuserver. There are a number of applications al blog, they can view them all in one place. If visitors are interested in that make it easy to display RSS content on a web page, including Feed2JS reading the entire post, they can click on the headline and be taken (feed2js.org) and Feed Digest straight to the full entry. (feeddigest.com). With these tools, In a similar vein, libraries can users enter the URL of the RSS feed pull content from outside sources and a few parameters, such as how onto their sites. This is particularly much content they want displayed. The application will provide a piece of useful on subject pages, where you JavaScript that needs to be pasted onto can pull in relevant journal tables of contents, news items, bookmarked the web page where the content should appear. Pasting that JavaScript resources, and more. It’s a great way to provide a current awareness seris the only action that is required of vice in a specific subject area. the individuals controlling the web RSS not only gives us more conserver. From then on, the page will trol over our web presence, but alupdate whenever the RSS feed does. lows users to subscribe to our content and receive it however they Taking the reins Many libraries use a blog that’s sepa- choose, working the feed into their own routine. The flexibility of RSS rate from their website to share makes it a key technology in any library news, since blogs are easy to librarian’s arsenal. z update directly from the Web. Using a tool that displays RSS feeds online would let the library display its blog MEREDITH FARKAS is head of instructional content directly on the library site. initiatives at Norwich University in Northfield, That way, users don’t have to go elseVermont. She blogs at Information Wants to Be Free and created Library Success: A where to find out what’s new at the Best Practices Wiki. Contact her at library, and libraries can use the blog librarysuccess@gmail.com.

american libraries

may 2008

Really Simple Syndication

by Meredith Farkas

0508_Tech_in_Practice.indd 40

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Internet Librarian | TECHNOLOGY

Spring Awakening

may 2008

marily, the need for something short, learned a great deal along the way, no more than 90 seconds at a go). and subsequent ones come more Puree this all together and you get quickly and easily. Posting to YouResearch Minutes (search for this, or Tube also facilitates embedding the Library Limbo, on YouTube to have a videos into course guides. peek). So what’s new? The topics the librarians chose to Is this a simple instance of “everybegin with are fairly basic, but thing old is new again”? Honestly, they’re also—as anybody who works there’s nothing all that shocking with this population knows—imporhere, and the content is not that tant and not straightforward to get radically different from what could across: What’s a “scholarly article” have been in a flyer at the reference and how do I get it, and how do I desk 15 years ago. identify substantive news articles? So I think not. But they did more These came from the librarians’ own experience as well as those of student than take an old notion and spin it new, they assistants, some poured and of whom star in They poured and recast that the videos along recast an old idea in terms with the staff, as of the inforwell as from an notion in terms of mation envianalysis of tutothe information ronment we rial Web traffic. This has been environment we inhabit today. inhabit today. What I really the stuff of inappreciated was the creativity and numerable research guides, handthe cooperative learning among staff outs, classes, workshops, presentations, and so on for genera- with varying levels and kinds of extions. The challenge here was how to perience—people new and not-sonew to the technology with a mix of convey it in an interesting, enterbibliographic and technological taltaining, and quick way, and the group rose to the challenge admira- ents, building something no individual could have. bly. Look for articles that include One wonders what other great old abstracts, author affiliations, and citations, search in ProQuest or EB- ideas are hanging around waiting to be rediscovered and reawakened SCO or MLA Bibliography, click the (pathfinders?) . . . but that’s another little “scholarly” box, and if you story. z need help, ask a librarian. Not bad for 90 seconds. That first vodcast took quite a bit Joseph Janes is associate dean in the Information School of the University of of time to complete—the better part Washington in Seattle. Send ideas to of a semester—but of course they intlib@ischool.washington.edu.

pring is gorgeous in Seattle, from the crocuses in late January through cherry blossoms on the Quad in March and tulips and flowering trees in April, and the promise that the sun will, one day, return. This spring was set off for me this year by a trip to New York —I didn’t get to see Spring Awakening, but I did snag a ticket to see Patti LuPone in Gypsy. Whee! I was actually there for a symposium at Columbia University, where, among a number of cool things, I heard three great librarians from Cornell discussing a project I found exciting and energizing. It began simply enough, as a podcasted library tour for alumni. Nothing particularly earth-shaking there, though it did provide staffers opportunities to learn about microphones, sound editing, and RSS feeds and took advantage of a variety of their subterranean competencies, including storytelling, poetry, and DJing. This success gave rise to another idea: To make orientation tours for the following fall for incoming students. Pretty sober stuff, in honesty, but that move led to another, which drew even further on previous work: An animated student-film project with a charming retro, Jazz-age feel, called Library Limbo. They decided to give vodcasting a shot. Thinking about the tone they wanted to strike, they settled on “humorously serious,” based on what they knew about the informationprocessing habits of freshmen (pri-

by Joseph Janes

american libraries

Creativity is busting out all over

0508_Tech_Inter_Lib.indd 41

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OPINION | Public Perception

How the World Sees Us “Kindle includes wireless access to Wikipedia. I do not need wireless access to Wikipedia. I would prefer to stir-fry my own small intestines than to have continual access to a site where the entry for Klingon is longer than the entry for Latin.” University of Brighton (England)

flying by with supernatural powers, animals talking, dragons breathing fire, and goblins living amongst us. . . . Please let me know and I’ll contact the proper authorities.” Lackawanna, New York, parent LISA LOFREDO, in expressing

lenges of Air Travel, published in 2003 by Prometheus Press], and tracks the titles through sales and distribution channels. Libraries also are monitored for activity and interest in the listed titles.” “FBI Tracks Book Sales for Terrorism

her objections to the school board’s recon-

Leads,” WorldNet Daily exclusive report,

Professor of Media Studies TARA BRABA-

sideration of such “occult” titles as Eoin

Feb. 11.

ZON on the Amazon Kindle and its poten-

Colfer’s The Supernaturalist

tial to transform reading and writing, in

for area middle schools, Buffa-

Times Higher Education, Mar. 13.

lo (N.Y.) News, Mar. 15.

“Bad news, folks. The library is Alachua County’s version of Terri Schiavo, and life support is costing us nearly $20 million each year. It would be an act of mercy to harvest the organs and move on. . . . With the advent of the internet and Google, virtually no serious research is carried on in the library stacks.” GEORGE ELMORE, advocating closing the Alachua County (Fla.) Library District libraries, Gainesville Sun, Mar. 3.

“Do you honestly believe that these books that contain mystery, adventure, and science fiction are reality? Let me know the next time you see someone

“Then I got into checking out books at the library [with] musical scores of folk songs. That’s how I learned chords.” Twenty-seven-

“For most of my lifetime, I’ve heard that reading is dead. In that time, disco has died, drive-in movies year-old singer-songwriter EILEN JEWELL have nearly died, and explaining the beginnings of her roots music something called The Clapcareer, Allentown (Pa.) Morning Call, Jan. 23. per has come and gone through bedrooms across the nation. But reading? This year, about 400 million books will “I do this primarily for the money, but I be sold in the United States. Overall, also view it as a form of therapy to get business is up 1%—not bad, in a rough me used to working again. The experieconomy, for a $15 billion industry still ence has gotten me thinking about populated by people whose idea of pursuing a library science degree.” Former U.S. Army linguist MITCH FERNANhow to sell books dates to Bartleby DEZ on why he works for Amazon the Scrivener.” Author TIMOTHY EGAN, responding to

Mechanical Turk, an online service that

Steve Jobs’s com-

provides a wide range of “human intelli-

ment that “people

gence tasks”—tasks that are not as well

don’t read any-

handled by computer artificial intelligence,

more,” New York

New York Times, Mar. 25.

Times Outposts

The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles is offering local motorists a Love Your Library license plate. With each purchase of a set of plates, the $25 annual fee will be deposited into the Love Your Library Fund, which supports New York’s statewide summer reading program.

“The FBI, which did not immediately return phone calls, keeps a list of security books in addition to [Andrew] Thomas’s book [Aviation Insecurity: The New Chal-

“Word of mouth is still the best tool for selling books. This is how people found new authors for more than a century. Someone says, ‘I’ve read this. It’s good. I think you’d like it. Here, you can borrow it.’ Someone takes the book away, reads it, and goes, Ah, I have a new author. Libraries are good things: You shouldn’t have to pay for every book you read.” Author NEIL GAIMAN, NeilGaiman.com, Feb. 29. z

american libraries

may 2008

blog, Feb. 20.

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On My Mind | OPINION

Spurning “Burning” School librarians must avoid despair and remain constant gardeners

because I was tired of being students’ custodian of learning, but because I saw an opportunity to bring passion into all of their curriculum areas, and while doing so inspiring them to read—to have the complete, whole feeling of responsibility of “owning” the words they read, in their hands.

Susan Thompson is librarian at Cactus High School in Glendale, Arizona.

Once I have sold them on Stuck in Neutral or Crank, I have them. They trust me and I make it my personal business to know each of my clients and guide them honestly and tenderly to each selection, until they are no longer afraid to venture on their own to my classics section. I wish to help them remember what it means to sit, honor their time, take on a character’s journey, to understand their own soul better because of it; to remember what it feels like to reach those closing lines of a book, shut its cover, and set it in on the table in front of them, realizing that through those characters they have built a relationship that has now ended. And possibly the only way they will know them again is to pick the book up and start at page one, once again. This is the honor of librarianship. I honor the artistry of not only writing but reading. Only through a garden of rich books, which can be “picked,” taken home, and enjoyed, will this continue. Join me in this great quest that continues to ensure our humanity. It is up to us determined gardeners. z

may 2008

A gentle guide

american libraries

his library print collecelectronic resources, build my e-book tion is, for all intents and collection, and evaluate strong, useful purposes, lifeless.” This websites. I am painfully empathetic to is the final line of “Burnstudents’ paradigm of a world coning with Frustration,” Thomas trolled by a search box from whence Washington’s September 2007 “On all answers come. I must acknowledge My Mind” column this and provide on weeding colthem learning exI became lections and the periences which a librarian lack of interest in they seem to be because I reading among his lacking. They do high school clinot understand the believe in the ent base (p. 49). difference bepower of the printed “Burning frustween electronic word, on paper. tration” is exactly and print; our edhow I felt after ucational system reading this article. I was frustrated has failed them in this. by an opinion piece containing unWhen the internet came into play, necessary fatalism. I too feel the frus- we as teachers were frightened at best, tration of unused knowledge in my and avoided at all costs the dreaded “elibrary, contractions in educational mail.” We barely could grasp the idea of philosophies, and the simple, plain .org verses .net. Ten years later, just try abuse of Google. to take away our internet. Want to see When we weed, we get to know our mayhem in my library? Send out an ecollection again, visit the varietals, mail to the staff stating “Our server is and determine where we lack necesdown until further notice.” So, yes, I sary perennials and where we need recognize how libraries have had to more fertilizing mulch. I like the evolve; to a high school student, that concept of “pruning,” as offered by microfiche might very well be an enhis school administrator, as an addi- dangered creature in the Amazon Rivtional category in our approach to er. tending our garden of books. I became a librarian because I beYes, books, I say. This is where Mr. lieve in the power of the printed word, Washington attacked my spirit as a on paper. I believe in the human comschool librarian. I cannot fathom mitment you have to make in engaging coming to work every day without with a book. Just today, while I was spending a portion of my day findbooktalking The Historian by Elizabeth ing more and more creative ways to Kostova, I said, “Yes, you may get carcelebrate books and bring them into pel tunnel from carrying this; but oh, the hands of my students. it is so worth it.” I checked both of our I equally celebrate the world of copies out within one class period. technology. Every day I seek out new I left 16 years in the classroom, not

by Susan Thompson

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4/17/2008 3:24:00 PM

The Elusive E-book Are e-books finally ready for prime time? by Stephen Sottong

0508_Feature_Sottong.indd 44

n the 12 years Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been researching electronic publishing, a lot of predictions have been made. Had the pundits been correct, half of reading material today would be delivered electronically. In spite of these rosy predictions, individual e-book sales in 2005 were a mere $11.8 million. By comparison, this is about one-tenth the pre-publication sales of the final Harry Potter book.

4/17/2008 3:24:45 PM

But hope springs eternal, and the entrance of a major electronics manufacturer, Sony, and a retailer, Amazon, into the e-book market has once again brought them to the fore. Is this the tipping point for e-books? Will the Sony Reader or Amazon Kindle become the iPod of electronic books? And how does this relate to libraries?

The e-book experience

0508_Feature_Sottong.indd 45

In the past, I’ve written about the visual problems associated with CRT and LCD screens, including resolution, contrast, flicker, and glare. With the nearly universal adoption of LCD screens, flicker has been eliminated, contrast (except in high ambient light) is not a major problem, and glare can be easily dealt with. However, resolution remains a serious problem. Resolution of computer displays has increased from the equivalent of 80 dots per inch (dpi) in the mid-1980s to 120 dpi today, with some screens approaching 200 dpi. The Sony Reader and Amazon Kindle’s resolution is 170 dpi. While that is a significant improvement, printers over the same period have increased their resolution from 300 dpi to 1200 dpi, with some units achieving 1400 dpi or higher. A 1200-dpi resolution—the resolution at which books are generally printed—is not 10 times greater than a 120-dpi resolution, but 100 times the resolution, since the surfaces are two-dimensional and the resolution is 10 times greater both horizontally and vertically. My research indicates that the difference in resolution is not why computer-based e-books don’t work. In a number of reports of tests done with the Rocket, Softbook, and Gemstar portable e-book readers, subjects used the readers and liked them. Yet these e-book readers had no better resolution than contemporary computer monitors.

may 2008

Resolving the resolution issue

american libraries

Although the Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader have been dominating the news, other e-books have been introduced recently, including Polymer Vision’s Readius, which sports a rollable display, and iRex’s redesigned iLiad.

define print circulation as taking a book from the library. NetLibrary defines a circulation as any time an e-book is accessed, however briefly. Such circulations would include all of the test accesses by librarians demonstrating how to use the complex system, all of the accidental accesses when patrons unknowingly clicked on links in the catalog, and all of the accesses when the patrons gave up because of the difficulty of reading on the screen or the inability to print and copy.

E-books come in two types: computer-based and portable. The computer-based use a fixed or semimobile device such as a laptop computer. Portables use either a dedicated reader like the Sony Reader and Amazon Kindle (or the defunct Rocket and Gemstar readers) or a mobile device such as a PDA or cell phone for which reading books is a secondary function. E-books are sold either as individual books or through subscriptions. Subscription services like NetLibrary are the primary providers to libraries, and such services use computers rather than portable devices to display their content. My own experience with computer-based subscription services was as a librarian in the California State University (CSU) system. From March to December 2001, all but CSU’s smallest campus participated in a pilot e-book project with NetLibrary. In that time, there were 17,473 accesses to the e-book collection. If that number were annualized and each access assumed to be from a different person, then, at best, only 5% of students and faculty would have accessed the e-book collection—and many of the accesses during this period were actually by librarians demonstrating the new system. Each access during the pilot project cost the university more than $5. This is not to fault CSU’s implementation of e-books. The trial was well-planned, with most campuses integrating NetLibrary’s e-books into their catalogs and providing a spate of publicity for the new service. Our students—who should be a group that readily accepts new technologies—just preferred paper books. In an October 2004 Library Resources and Technical Services article, Justin Littman and Lynn Connaway report that statistics from Duke University indicated that circulation of NetLibrary e-books was comparable to that of print books. The comparison is not valid. Libraries

4/17/2008 3:26:04 PM

Why would anyone pay $350 for a dedicated reader device when the display and interface are not as good as a paper book? Further support came from a proofreading test performed by John D. Gould in 1987. In this test, a portion of the participants proofread text on a monochrome monitor. Others proofread the same text printed on a low-resolution dot matrix printer with one pin of the dot matrix inoperative. The participants, who were experienced computer users, deemed the print quality unacceptable. In spite of the low resolution of the print and the inherent distortion, the group proofreading from the print was still faster and more accurate than the group proofreading from the computer monitors. More evidence comes from the fact that the only nonsubscription e-book distributor to publish sales statistics in recent years was Palm. Although their sales figures were small, they at least indicate that users who already own PDAs are willing to read books on them. While at the high end of LCD resolution, PDA screens are very small. If readers are willing to use portable devices, then resolution cannot be the reason e-books have failed to be accepted. That leaves one remaining difference—ergonomics. Computer monitors are placed approximately 24 inches away from the eyes, immovable and close to eye level. Books and other printed materials, as well as portable readers, are placed approximately 16 inches from the eyes, below eye level, and are movable. Explanation for why this occurs is found in research on visual ergonomics. In his article “New Visual Considerations at Computer Workstations,” (www.allscan.ca/ergo/vangle2 .htm) Dennis Ankrum explains the two main factors: accommodation and convergence. Accommodation is the process by which the lens of the eye is minutely adjusted to keep objects at varying distances in focus. Convergence is the process of rotating the eyes to ensure that the image falls on the same portion of the retina of both eyes. If accommodation is off, the image is blurred. If convergence is off, we see double. Lowering the angle of text to “the usual reading position” increases the eyes’ ability to compensate by an average of more than 25% in subjects over age 42. Further, the distance at which the eye can accommodate decreases as text is lowered. The distance at which the eyes converge also decreases by nearly 30% when the eyes look downward at a 30-degree angle. Because both convergence and accommodation occur at a further distance when looking straight forward, monitors must be placed further from the eye. Since monitor resolution is less than print, the text on a monitor must be made larger to convey the same amount of

Lending Kindles The same day they read the November 26, 2007, Newsweek cover story in which Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos extolled the company’s Kindle e-book reader, staff at the Sparta (N.J.) Public Library purchased a pair of the devices to circulate to patrons. The response was immediate and overwhelming: Within two weeks the library had a waiting list of 20 people. Assistant Director Diane Lapsley told American Libraries that each borrower can select one book to upload to the device through the Amazon store, which is charged to the library’s account and then permanently stored on the Kindle, so “each patron gets the benefit of the previous patrons’ purchases.” Each device holds up to 200 books from an available library of some 100,000 titles. Lapsley said the library’s “tech-savvy” patrons have reported no problems with the device. “It’s very intuitive. It’s not very difficult to use,” she noted. “It’s even thicker on the left side,” like folding back a paperback book, Lapsley observed. “After reading for a few minutes, you forget that you’re not reading a book.” The library would like to expand the program, but Amazon sold out of the readers the day they went on sale last November, and the product has been back-ordered since then, with the $399 units selling for over $1,000 on eBay before the holidays. Lapsley said, “Somebody told us we should have bought three and sold one on eBay,” which would have nearly covered the cost of all three readers.

american libraries

august may 2008 2007

Problems that won’t go away

information, which means that the width of the monitor must be wider to handle the same amount of text. As the eye scans across text on a monitor, the distance between the eye and the monitor varies: closer to the eye in the center, farther at the edges. This means that the eye must constantly adjust for both accommodation and convergence as each line of text is read. The consequences of these differences are enormous. Most computer users try to keep their eyes in the center of the screen, ignoring information at the edges. They skim text rather than read. When confronted with blocks of text longer than a couple screens, users either print the text or ignore it. This strategy works well with journal

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articles: Users can skim for relevant entries and print the ones they want to peruse in detail. But it doesn’t work for book-length manuscripts or other lengthy text forms that require detailed reading. Pundits and vendors have said for years that the resistance to reading books on computers was generational. Children raised with computers would flock to e-books and reject paper. This might be true if the problems were psychological, but the problems are physical. They relate to the innate workings of our eyes. They relate to the fact that as a species, we were designed to scan the horizon and do fine tasks seated with our work on the ground or in our laps. The problems are real. The problems will not go away. The ramification for libraries is that no matter how much they upgrade their computer displays, they will never get their users to read lengthy, linear texts on fixed computer monitors (which also includes laptops, since the display is still at the wrong distance and angle for a reader and the mobility is too limited). Patrons will use online versions of journal articles, encyclopedias, and other sources with short, discrete text segments, but investments in subscription services offering novels and other lengthy sources will remain an expensive disappointment.

author of Newbery Medalwinning book “Bud, Not Buddy” (2000) and Newbery Honor books “Elijah of Buxton” (2008) and “The Watsons Go to Birmingham: 1963” (1996).

Salt Lake City, UT

September 18-20, 2008 This two and a half day intensive professional development opportunity with a

youth services focus will help you trailblaze your path to library success! Three exciting tracks will be offered Thursday and repeat on Friday so that participants will attend two of the three tracks: Technology and Children’s Services, Programming in the New Millennium, and Inspiring Lifelong Reading with the Best of the Best in Children’s Books and a Focus on ‘Tweens and Reading Attendees will participate in one of three available Saturday morning workshops: Hands-on Technology Session, Nuts & Bolts of Author Visits, and Programming for Young English Language Learners and their Families

More information and registration details are available on the ALSC Web site at:

www.ala.org/alscinstitute

Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association 50 East Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611 1-800-2433 ext. 2163 | www.ala.org/alsc

may 2008

Lunch with Christopher Paul Curtis

2008 National Institute

“Breakfast for Bill” featuring a panel of children’s book author/editor teams including Sharon Creech and Joanna Cotler, will be held on Friday morning. The breakfast, included with registration, will honor the memory of Morris, who was a long time ALSC member and friend.

Is the Sony Reader or Amazon Kindle the answer? No. The reason has nothing to do with their engineering. Both units are small, packed with features, and have a groundbreaking display that is very easy to read although it has limited graphics ability. The Kindle has more features such as highlighting and a dictionary, but they are otherwise equivalent. The reason they will fail is the same one that doomed the Rocket e-book: Why would anyone pay $300 to $400 for a dedicated reader device when the display and interface are not as good as a paper book? As author Walt Crawford concisely put it, “Print books work.” Additionally, readers who buy paper books can sell, trade, or give them away. E-books are effectively leased and are tied to their particular reader. A Newsweek article on the Kindle compared it to the iPod. The comparison is inaccurate in three ways. First, the presence of an open format, MP3, led to competition that lowered prices for both players and content. There is no open format for e-books. Second, while you may listen to music over and over, you will probably only read the latest bestseller once. Also, most people read only one or two books at a time. As such, the large library an e-book reader provides is unnec-

american libraries

Laura Vaccaro Seeger 2008 Caldecott Honor Book and Geisel Honor Book recipient for First the Egg, will bring the opening keynote during dinner on Thursday.

“Print books work”

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essary. Third, you can listen to music and perform other tasks; reading requires full attention. So a dedicated e-book reader, in spite of its cost, will spend most of its days in a briefcase, drawer, or night stand. The era when electronics buyers were content to carry several specialized devices is coming to an end. Cell phones have merged with PDAs, MP3 players, and GPS. Attempting to introduce a single-function device into this market would seem unwise. Nor is such a device justified since multipurpose devices can already host e-books. If e-books are to become popular, they must be hosted on multiuse devices, with the most likely candidates being MP3 players and phones. Some phones and MP3 players already have displays large enough and with high-enough resolution to host pictures and videos. It would only require a change in the internal software to host e-books. And, indeed, shortly after I wrote this paragraph, the May 26, 2007, edition of the Economist published an article talking about a new trend in Japan of reading books on cell phones. The question then becomes whether users of these devices would want to read printed matter on them. Whether e-books become popular depends on user preference, availability of high-quality content, cost, intuitive

interface, and standardized methods of encoding and downloading.

Still a future dream The potential of e-books is enormous: instant access to any book, any time, anywhere. With such promise, it is little wonder that librarians have always been intrigued and enthusiastic. The devil, unfortunately, is in the details. Due to ergonomic difficulties, fixed computers—the only current means for libraries to deliver e-books—will never adequately host e-books. Paper books remain the sole means for libraries to transmit lengthy, linear text content to patrons. Libraries that use subscription e-book services should consider dropping all but online reference books and placing the rest of the funds back into their print budgets. While patrons accept portable e-book devices, they are expensive and saddled with incompatible formats and digital rights management software that limits their usability. Transference of e-books to users’ own devices may someday be possible, but there is currently too small a base of devices and no standardized method for downloading time-limited content. As such, e-books remain as much a future dream as they were 12 years ago. z

This year, Step Up to the Plate is a whole new “ball game,” commemorating the 100th anniversary of the classic song “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”

One lucky winner will receive a trip for two to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Prizes are also available for librarians who participate. For more information and free downloadable promotional materials, register today at www.ala.org/baseball.

american libraries

august may 2008 2007

Two American classics - libraries and baseball - team up to promote information literacy by encouraging fans of all ages to test their knowledge of baseball trivia. Questions are built around themes in the famous tune, including ballparks, baseball in popular culture, fan experience and baseball pioneers.

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ALAAmericanLibraryAssociation

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VERSATILE Establish a user profile to add notes, create lists and pathfinders, and boost your research by accessing other user lists and comments

SELECTIVE Browse and search capabilities let you quickly and accurately pinpoint the resources you need for high-quality, up-to-date general and specialized reference collections

EXPANSIVE Discover newly added disciplines, including Cognitive Science; Communication and Media Studies; Cultural Studies; Environmental Studies; and Gender Studies; plus two completely new sections—The Web as Reference Tool and Online General Reference Libraries

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PRACTICAL Find out if the resource you’re looking at is in your library by connecting from Guide to Reference through WorldCat’s Find in a Library service

More information, including advance sign up for free trial subscriptions, is available at

www.guidetoreference.com Visit us at the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim at Booth #2334 Untitled-2 1

04/17/2008 11:51:53 AM

Killed Kindness By Julia Keller

How well-intentioned nostalgia harms today’s library

“I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library.”

hat oft-quoted remark by Jorge Luis Borges sounds so sweet, so gentle and

civilized, so inordinately flattering to libraries. Alas, it is not. Why? Because paradise is a place to which you aspire, not a place to insist that your tax dollars be directed. While gooey platitudes tend to cling to libraries like cotton candy wound around a stick, those soft, spunsugar sentiments contribute little toward ensuring that libraries—real libraries, that is, not the fantasy places floating in our childhood memories—have a future. Libraries are the victims of their own success. Everybody loves them; in fact, they’re loving them to death, especially

Fusty and crusted over That fusty image, crusted over with dried-up moss and discolored by water stains, is almost ludicrously inaccurate. Pleasing though it may be, it’s about as wrong as you can get. It has nothing to do with libraries in 2008, with the thriving, bustling, nimble institutions that today’s

american libraries

october 2007

which you make frequent visits or

in our schools. Libraries are routinely discussed in warm and reverent tones. Personal reminiscences with libraries as the centerpiece are earnest and heartfelt, set against a pastel wash of nostalgia. Most people have a favorite story about the library of their youth—the day they discovered, say, A Wrinkle in Time or Codes and Secret Writing—and they adore telling it, after which they sigh and offer a thosewere-the-days shrug of bemused resignation. Yet these same people—the ones who rhapsodize about finishing off the entire Nancy Drew or Tom Swift oeuvre over the course of a single enchanted summer—often haven’t stepped inside a real, live, functioning library in decades. And that is why, I believe, such nostalgia is touching but ultimately perilous. This sentimental approach contributes to the image of libraries as antiquated places, places sealed off like time capsules circa 1943, places in which everything is coated in a fine layer of dust, places in which you just might find—way back in the stacks—the mummified remains of an elderly lady who expired ages ago while clutching a gilt-edged copy of Paradise Lost.

0508_Feature_Keller.indd 50

4/17/2008 3:27:47 PM

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Sentimentality has no bearing on the challenges libraries face as they compete for funding sources.

Newspapers and libraries We also need libraries, of course, and they have done the same thing. They have embraced change with gusto and panache. Libraries are always shifting to meet the needs of the people who use them, and to reflect the creativity of the people who staff and administer them. In the past, however, both libraries and newspapers perhaps did their jobs a little too well. They were too accomplished at affecting the daily lives of their clientele— by which I mean that many people’s psyches were branded forever with their passionate love for libraries

and for newspapers. The institutions themselves moved on, as they had to, as all institutions that hope to survive must do. The people who relished them at impressionable ages, however, tended to loiter in the past. It was a wonderful past. A charming past. But that was then, and this, most assuredly and unstoppably, is now. I am as guilty as anyone else of joyfully unveiling stories about my childhood love of libraries, of smiling happily as I recall those impossibly tall shelves and those colorful spines and the beguiling mystery of those endless aisles. The long wooden tables, the golden hush that seemed to suffuse the. . . . See? There I go again.

Today, not yesterday Today’s libraries are not yesterday’s libraries. And nostalgia won’t pay the electric bill. Libraries are robust places crackling with creative energy, filled with computers and DVDs and a constantly shifting variety of methods of information storage and retrieval, and most importantly you, the professional staff to assist in accessing all those splendors. Libraries are the archives for the full range of the human experience—which means they cannot be about just books and periodicals anymore. To imagine heaven as a library is nice, but we’re not ready for heaven yet. We’re still down here on earth, amid the bump and the scuffle, and we need libraries to be our companions in constantly reinterpreting the world, in deciding which data to keep and which to discard. The image of libraries as paradisiacal enclaves of gentleness and decorum is pleasant but pointless. That image is woodsy-warm, sweetly nostalgic, delicately scented with ink and longing—and counter-productive. We can wallow in it for a while, but then it’s time to get back to work. Back to the crucial endeavor of repeatedly reminding the world of the absolute indispensability of the contemporary library. This is a lesson that libraries themselves teach to their patrons day-by-day, in an unspoken but methodical way, by virtue of the very existence of libraries: Words are fine, words are gorgeous, words are sumptuous, but words are just the starting point. Actions are what matter. Libraries, dynamic and restless and compelling, have no patience for the pudgy inertness of a gauzy-edged afterlife. There’s too much to be done, too much technology that beckons, too many new methods of understanding the world, too many challenges in an increasingly interlocked global marketplace of ideas, and too many key roles for libraries to play in the days ahead. Heaven can wait. z

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libraries are, with the information and cultural centers that libraries have become. It has no bearing upon the challenges libraries face as they compete for funding sources. It’s nice, but irrelevant. It’s all about yesterday. And libraries are most emphatically about today. As a journalist, I’ve often thought that newspapers are in much the same boat as libraries. People love to recall those wide, crinkly pages packed with rows of importantlooking type, those mammoth headlines that served as the tangible version of shouts from the rooftop (“Dewey Defeats Truman!” or “Man Lands on Moon!”). They get all misty-eyed at the memory of the daily paper thumping on the doorstep each morning shortly before dawn. But those happy recollections can’t help newspapers stay afloat in a time of great chaos and tumult in the delivery systems for news and information. The traditional newspaper—that magnet for sigh-draped reflections on a read-all-aboutit yesteryear–is dying. Circulation is dropping like a safe hurled out a sixth-story window. So all this prattle about once having watched Dad harrumph his way through the Chicago Tribune at the breakfast table, about having seen your little sister fight him for the sports section, is like waving the hearse on through the red lights. It’s hastening our burial. Newspapers must adapt to the Internet Age. The best ones are already doing this, of course; they are steadily redirecting resources to websites. They are figuring out new ways to tell stories that will render the Web more than just an adjunct to the print product. Forward-looking newspaper editors know that we must create entirely new genres, ones that exploit the unique characteristics of the Web – not simply transfer stories from the page to the screen, from one location to another, like Teamsters unloading a truck. Newspapers must be flexible and resourceful. If you don’t recognize the Tribune a few years hence—well, good for us, because it means we have successfully reinvented ourselves, and good for you, because it means newspapers get to stick around. And you need us.

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FIND THE RIGHT BOOKS AND MEDIA

Whether you’re developing your library’s collection or performing readers’ advisory, you’ll spend less time researching high-quality books and media if you use the magazines more librarians say they trust.

$99.50 / 22 issues per year

Designed especially for building library collections. With hundreds of reviews identified by reading audience, each issue of Booklist offers greater selection support and is more trusted than any other magazine or journal. You’ll love the time-saving policy of limiting published reviews to recommended-only titles, as well as features like the best adult books for YA readers. “Booklist is a review journal I always consult when making purchasing decisions.” — Ed Sullivan, Library Media Specialist, Knox County Schools, TN

$39.95 / 6 issues per year

Focused content that helps you connect children with high-quality books and media-based products. Articles written by teachers, librarians, authors, and media specialists are diverse, clearly marked for age-appropriateness, and annotated with bibliographies of related titles. Print and Web-based teaching resources help make reading activities fun and engaging. “In a time when connections between libraries and curriculum are so vitally important, Book Links is the perfect magazine for elementary libraries in our district.” —Karen Weiss, Elementary School Librarian

Order today at www.ala.org or through your subscription agency

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Minds at Play Teens gain 21st-century literacy skills designing their own computer games

american american libraries libraries

may october 2008 2007

by Brian Myers

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tively, communicating clearly, designing iteratively, he effects of video games on learning continuously.” learning and skill development Promoting 21st-century literacy are being widely studied, and Recognizing that our definition of what it means be literthe findings are impacting the way ate is changing, some libraries are promoting these new social and technological competencies within an instruceducators envision the shape of the tional context that is meaningfully engaging to today’s 21st-century classroom. Most research teens. At the Wilmette (Ill.) Public Library, we’ve developed a highly popular program designed to support these skills has focused upon the learning by allowing teens to design and create their own combehavior of young people as players puter games. The program provides young people with all the tools they need to create digital games or other interwithin the gaming environment, active media, enabling the manipulation of text, graphics, where it has been observed that audio, and animation while promoting creativity, logic, collaboration, computational fluency, and effective narduring play, gamers exhibit intrinsic rative skills. motivation and a highly exploratory We decided to offer game design classes with several goals in mind: to develop fun and innovative teen-orientframe of mind—qualities known to ed programs, to broaden our existing gaming programs, optimize the learning experience. to support teens’ use of new participatory technologies,

An example of a student-created game using the Scratch programming tool.

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and to promote 21st-century literacies by embedding learning activities within a highly motivating context. By facilitating active participation in the design process itself, we hoped to give young people the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge at a much deeper level than if they were merely to attend a class or demonstration. And by situating learning activities within a purposeful context,

Some studies go even further to suggest that by allowing kids to design their own computer games, educators can facilitate deeper learning and promote the acquisition of literacies that will be crucial to success in tomorrow’s professional and social environments. These studies suggest that kids’ best learning experiences come when they are engaged not simply in interacting with materials but in experimenting and inventing with them. One of the foremost proponents of this approach to learning is Mitchel Resnick, professor of learning research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab. “In the process of designing and creating—making sculptures out of clay or castles out of cardboard—children try out their ideas,” Resnick explained. “If their creations don’t turn out as they’d expected or hoped, they can revise their ideas and try something new. It’s an iterative cycle: new ideas, new creations, new ideas, new creations. “In design activities, as in play,” he continued, “children test the boundaries, experiment with ideas, explore what’s possible.” Digital design activities, he said, “facilitate learning by combining many of the 21st-century skills that will be critical to success in the future: thinking creatively, analyzing systematically, collaborating effec-

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we hoped to establish a strong basis for self-motivation and integrative reflection. Our library’s ability to offer these classes was made possible by the availability of inexpensive design applications that neither required programming experience nor assumed any extraordinary technological skills on the part of the user. Among those we considered were Alice, Squeak, RPG Maker, Scratch, Game Maker, Stagecast Creator, and others. Our choice of applications was based upon a survey of features, affordability, and necessary skill levels. We looked for those that offered a drag-and-drop programming interface, exposing teens to programming concepts without the time-consuming labors associated with debugging syntax errors. Ultimately, we settled on two applications—Scratch and Game Maker—and decided to build a separate program around each. Scratch is adaptable for use with kids as young as 8, and although well suited for use as a game design application, it can be used to create all types of interactive media. We elected to use Game Maker—originally developed as an instructional technology for computer programming students—with our older teens and with those who were interested in creating more sophisticated, multilevel games. Both applications are available as free downloads. Developed by Resnick’s research group at the MIT Media Lab, Scratch is a programming tool that allows young people to create computer games, animations, and other forms of interactive media. In Scratch, scripting elements are represented as drag-and-drop graphic blocks that can be snapped together into stacks. When you double-click a stack of scripting blocks, you can see the resulting action in an adjoining staging area on the right side of the screen. Students find Scratch to be highly engaging because it allows them to see the results of their work as they create it; they can even edit their project while it is running. Creating a Scratch project involves thinking up an idea, breaking the idea up into its parts, and constructing each part using the scripting blocks. Throughout the process, kids engage in a trial-and-error process that encourages creative approaches to all kinds of design challenges. In so doing, they learn to manipulate multiple forms of media, mathematically coordinate interactions and timing between objects, and absorb systems concepts such as sensing and feedback—all while gaining familiarity with foundational programming concepts. “After just a day of programming in Scratch, they have their own games and media productions,” says Resnick. “They’re learning about the process of design: what it takes to create something, how to debug it, how to revise the project they’ve created. That process is important whether you’re designing a high-rise building or a short story or an animation on the screen.”

Game Maker Academy Since its release, Game Maker has been widely used in summer computer camps and after-school programs, and often serves as the platform for university-sponsored game design contests. Game Maker’s object-oriented design environment allows the designer to build games by defining objects (characters, walls, platforms, tools, weapons) with visual representations and other properties. An object’s properties may be defined using GM’s library of more than 100 built-in actions, most of which are highly customizable. Once familiar with GM’s simple interface, novice designers can create their own versions of games like Pac-Man or Centipede in less time than it takes to go to the video store. More experienced users can access GM’s source code to write advanced functions and even create 3-D effects. Over the course of five to six weekly sessions, WPL’s Game Maker Academy provides design projects that combine multiple levels of play and media platforms, introducing various classic game genres by leading the student through the creation of examples such as Pong, Asteroids, Tetris, and platform or role-playing games based on Super Mario and Sonic. Instruction is organized in a scaffolded structure, challenging students to invest techniques and experience acquired while working on earlier projects. In the process,

Wilmette Public Library game designers work out a coding problem.

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may october 2008 2007

Creating from Scratch

Young people can share their creations by posting them to the Scratch community website, where they can also download, edit, and even borrow elements from the work of others who have posted to the site. Scratch’s online community reinforces collaborative strategies by facilitating communication and the sharing of projects and project components.

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ticipants in online learning communities, exchanging information and accumulating skills as members of a global community of practice. WPL’s Head of Adult Services Betty Giorgi noted, “It’s invigorating to see both our teens and staff involved with these programs connecting at such a collaborative and creative level.” Scratch and Game Maker programs are now hosted at a number of Chicago-area libraries, and the North Suburban Library System—a consortium of over 650 academic, public, school, and special libraries in nearby suburban counties—is currently offering professional development programs that teach young adult and teen librarians to host Game Maker Academy at their own institutions.

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students gain an understanding of mathematical concepts necessary to coordinate animated objects, and of programming concepts necessary to trigger events. They also gain basic competencies in the use of graphic- and sound-editing tools such as Photoshop, GIMP, Audacity, and Anvil Studio. Over the course of the program, students combine storytelling, digital graphic and audio editing, logic, and mathematics while participating in a process that is both richly engaging and personally rewarding. So far we’ve received only positive feedback about these programs from participating teens and their parents. “This age group—especially the boys—seems to be perpetually lost in the shuffle,” noted one parent. “As [my son] gets older, I don’t want him to lose sight of the library as a very valuable and important resource, and things like the game programming classes will keep him walking in the door. Super idea!” Interest in the programs has been so great that we’ve had to increase class sizes and double the number of classes offered. Our “graduates” have become active par-

american libraries

Details of the Scratch coding panel with stackable coding blocks (top) and the Game Maker editing screen.

Game designer Will Wright has famously described games and simulations as “possibility spaces” that allow us to experience hypothetical worlds in intuitive and experimental ways. The role of the game designer, he says, is to sculpt these worlds for players to explore, experiment with, master, and transform. We believe this metaphor extends to libraries and other informal learning spaces that support the acquisition of emerging literacies among young adult and teen populations. Through a partnership with the Science Museum of Minnesota, Hennepin County Library hosts the Open Game Lab, a program that allows young people to design and produce interactive digital media using Scratch and other applications. Studio i at the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County in North Carolina is a space where teens design and produce digital video, games, animation, and music. This year’s Teen Tech Week saw Scratch programs offered at libraries from Houston to Camden, New Jersey, to Park Ridge, Illinois. To the teens who participate in these programs and experience themselves not only as consumers but as designers and producers of digital media, the library represents more than a mere box of books. It represents a possibility space. Both school and public libraries alike have important and distinctive roles to play in helping young people acquire the social, cognitive, and technological competencies they’ll need to lead fully participatory lives in the years ahead. “Access alone is no longer enough,” noted Resnick. “Our goal must be fluency for everyone. That will require new attitudes about computing, and new perspectives toward learning. If computers are to truly transform our lives in the future, we must treat computational literacy on a par with reading and writing.” Programs that offer game design instruction to teens, integrating storytelling, art, digital media, logic, and other elements, offer a highly effective—and fun—context in which to promote these competencies and enhance the library’s traditional role as an important provider of literacy education. z

may 2008

The library as “possibility space”

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AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION 2008

((/ & )( , ( 2"# #.#)( ANAHEIM CONVENTION C E N T E R

A N A H E IM, C A

J U N E 2 6 -J U LY 2 , 2 0 0 8

&)-#(! - --#)( -* % , Featuring

Diahann Carroll

in a Special Interview with Sarah Long, Executive Director of North Suburban Library System and past ALA President

Tuesday, July 1st 11:00-12:00 pm Note new time for Closing Speaker

Sponsored by HarperCollins Publishers Diahann Carroll is one of Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s major performing talents. She is a Tony Award winner, an Emmy and Grammy nominee, a Golden Globe winner, a Best Actress Oscar nominee and the author of The Legs Are the Last to Go:

Aging, Acting, Marrying, Mothering, and Other Things I Learned Along the Way. In the tradition of recent memoirs an Entertainment Legend comes clean on what itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like to be a path breaker, a diva, â&#x20AC;&#x153;televisionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first black bitch,â&#x20AC;? and an aging star in Tinseltown. In April 2006, she debuted her new cabaret show at Feinsteinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, New Yorkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s prime venue, to sell-out audiences receiving overwhelming reviews. Her television nominations go back to 1963, and most recently, she has appeared on ABC-TVâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Greyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Anatomyâ&#x20AC;? as the outspoken Jane Burke.

AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION 2008

/ #.),#/' -* % , - ,# A NAHEIM CONVE N T IO N C E N T E R

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(

Stephen Cannell Saturday, June 28, 8:00-9:00 am Sponsored by Vanguard Press

“A Conversation James Frey”

with

Featuring Leonard Kniffel Sunday, June 29th 1:30-2:30 pm Sponsored by HarperCollins Publishers

Vernon Jordon Saturday, June 28, 10:30-11:30 am Sponsored by Public Affairs

T.B. Brazelton, MD Monday, June 30, 8:00-9:30 am

Sponsored by ALSC Charlemae Rollins Endowment

Greg Mortenson Saturday, June 28, 1:30–2:30 pm Sponsored by Penguin

Dean Koontz Monday, June 30, 1:30-2:30 pm

Sponsored by Random House

Jamie Lee Curtis Don Borchert Sunday, June 29, 8:00-9:30 am Sponsored by Virgin Books

Monday, June 30, 5:00-6:30 pm

Sponsored by PLA and HarperCollins Children’s Books

Khaled Hosseini Sally Ride and Tam O’Shaughnessy Sunday, June 29, 10:30-11:30 am

Tuesday, July 1st 8:00-9:00 am Sponsored by Penguin

Sponsored by ALSC and Roaring Brook Press

To learn more about these speakers visit http://www.ala.org/annual

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The 2008 List of Outstanding Reference Sources indicates a renewed interest via print and online

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october 2007

INFORMATION INVIGORATION

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Meeting and decided which ones should be recognized as outstanding. Gross maintains that this year’s list contains encyclopedias and dictionaries that will answer those “tried and true” reference questions in a variety of fields. At the same time, she adds, the committee saw a surge in niche titles. “While many patrons believe the internet can answer most of their basic questions, it seems that some out there are returning to books,” Gross notes. In a continued shift, nine of the selected titles are available in some electronic form, mostly as e-books. “This is not a new trend,” Gross explains, “but rather a reiteration of what libraries are already seeing, that the future of reference is electronic.” Since in some cases e-book costs are negotiable, many of the following annotations do not include a price for them. She adds that overall, the committee was pleased to see that publishers are still producing solid reference works at reasonable prices. “We look forward to what the next year has to bring.”

Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction, EDITED BY JEFF PRUCHER. 342 PAGES. OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS (978-0-19-530567-8), $29.95.

Based on historic principles, this dictionary uses the methods of the

american libraries

Gross, chair of the 2007 Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) Outstanding Reference Sources Committee and electronic resources librarian for the Missouri Library Network Corporation in St. Louis, says that this year’s choices for outstanding reference titles “show the fascinating and wide breadth of topics covered by recently published reference books.” The 11 titles demonstrate the best new reference materials suitable for small and medium-sized libraries. They were compiled from a list of books forwarded to the sevenmember RUSA committee by members of the division, who nominated titles in their subject areas. The committee discussed the merits of each title during the ALA Midwinter

may 2008

“I recently overheard some colleagues state that ‘reference is back,’” says Asia Gross. “My work on the reference desk leads me to believe that it never left.”

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Oxford English Dictionary while drawing on television, movie, and print media to establish definitions and provenance for science fiction terms. The 11 one-page essays for terms and concepts that require more discussion provide users with unique insight into the sci-fi world. An excellent source for any library, the volume is highly accessible and a joy to read. APA Dictionary of Psychology, EDITED BY GARY R. VANDENBOS. 1,024 pages. AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION (1-59147-380-2), $49.95.

The American Psychological Association has produced its first dictionary, 10 years in the making. The comprehensive volume includes 25,000 terms and definitions, thousands of cross-references, and four appendixes, which gather entries thematically and cover biographies; institutions, associations, and organizations; psychological therapies and interventions; and psychological tests and assessment instruments. The Oxford Companion to World Exploration, EDITED BY DAVID BUISSERET.

but also into the realm of mythological places (Atlantis) and beyond this world into outer space. More than 700 articles written by an impressive international cadre of scholars are accompanied by valuable bibliographies and highlighted with excerpts from primary sources, illustrations, and maps. Access is provided by the A-to-Z arrangement, a topical outline of entries, and an extensive index. Postwar America: An Encyclopedia of Social, Political, Cultural, and Economic History, EDITED BY JAMES CIMENT. 4 VOLS., 1,574 PAGES. M. E. SHARPE (978-0-76568067-9), $399.

The dynamic panorama of postwar America from the end of the second World War to the Iraq War is captured in more than 550 entries and sidebars covering major events and general topics, including the Vietnam War and health care, to lesser-known events and specific topics, such as the payola scandal and disco. A highlight of the encyclopedia is an annotated list of 500 postwar cultural landmarks—books, movies, music, and more—that make up the zeitgeist of contemporary America. A topic-finder, glossary, comprehensive bibliography, and substantial index round out the volumes.

2 VOLS. 1,072 PAGES. OXFORD UNIVERSITY

Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film, EDITED BY BARRY

PRESS (978-0-19-514922-7;

KEITH GRANT 4 VOLS., 1,500 PAGES. SCHIRMER REFERENCE

978-0-19-530741-2

(978-0-02865791-2; 978-0-02866100-1 E-BOOK), $425 PRINT.

E-Book), $250 PRINT.

This four-volume set is a comprehensive overview of film as an art form and as an industry. It has over 200 main entries on such topics as theory, genre, national cinemas, historical context, studios, categories of actors, and artistic or technical aspects. An additional 250 sidebars give insight into important people in film. Each entry is signed and includes references for more informa tion. The layout is easy to use and fun to browse with crisp, relevant photographs liberally sprinkled throughout.

Oxford’s companion takes the reader on voyages spanning not only the physical world of exploration over all time periods from ancient to modern,

Encyclopedia of Asian Theatre, EDITED BY SAMUEL L. LEITER. 2 (978-0-313-33529-7; 978-1-57356-950-7 E-BOOK ), $225 PRINT; $247.50 E-BOOK.

The most comprehensive resource on Asian theater ever published, this twovolume set is organized alphabetically and includes information on the major and minor theatrical forms—both classical and modern—in 26 countries within Asia. The over 300 biographical entries are especially useful in light of the fact that this type of information is not otherwise

american american libraries libraries

may october 2008 2007

VOLS., 1,024 PAGES. GREENWOOD PRESS

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available in a source that is easily accessed by small and medium-sized libraries. In addition to countries, theatrical forms and biographies, the encyclopedia has entries on large cross-cultural topics that give insight into the general theatrical world in this region. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Maritime History. EDITED BY JOHN D. HATTENDORF. 4 VOLS., 2.912 PAGES. OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS (978-0-19-513075-1; 978-0-19-530740-5 E-BOOK), $550 PRINT.

The first offering of all disciplines related to maritime history in one set, the encyclopedia covers a variety of topics. They include art, economic history, exploration, law, literature, naval history, navigational and marine sciences, places, ships and yards, social and labor history, and biographies. The articles, written by an international body of contributors, can be understood by the general reader and yet are worthy of scholarly research. Each article contains the narrative, a bibliography, end references, and, sometimes, cross references within the article. An index to all volumes is found in the fourth volume, accompanied by photographs as well as illustrations of maps, charts, and paintings.

The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, EDITED BY GEORGE RITZER. 11 VOLS., 6,384 PAGES. BLACKWELL (978-1405124331; 978-1405124331 E-BOOK), $2,695 PRINT. Also available as part of Blackwell Reference Online.

With over 200 entries, this encyclopedia provides a sophisticated and in-depth analysis of the phenomenon of piercing, painting, tattooing, and all manner of body modification. The author’s anthropological approach appeals to both the casual reader and the serious researcher. The photo and illustration quality bring this visual topic to life. Encyclopedia of Race and Racism, EDITED BY JOHN HARTWELL MOORE. 3 VOLS., 1,500 PAGES. GALE (978-0-02-866020-2; 978-0-02-866116-2 E-BOOK), $400 PRINT.

Encyclopaedia Judaica, EDITED BY FRED SKOLNIK AND MICHAEL BERENBAUM. 22 VOLS., 17,000 PAGES. GALE (978-0-02-865928-2; 978-0-02-866097-4 E-BOOK), $2,155 PRINT.

Consider this set the definitive source on Jewish life, culture, religion, and history. With over 21,000 scholarly articles written by scholars around the world, the 22-volume edition has been substantially revised from its 1972 version. It includes more than 2,600 new and 11,000 updated entries that bring this work into the 21st century. The e-book version is easily searchable and includes the many illustrations, maps, charts, and tables found in the print edition . z

Historical, anthropological, sociological, economic, and scientific theories of race and racism are featured in this work as well as an exploration of the social consequences of those theories. Nearly 400 articles investigate specific topics ranging from the border patrol, the Hottentot Venus, and human genetics through theories on internalized racism and symbolic racism. While the emphasis is on topics from within the United States, the three volumes also cover information from other countries. Other articles explore the treatment of African Americans and how racism has impacted Latinos, Native Americans, Jews, and other ethnic groups.

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978-0-313-06405-0 E-BOOK), $79.95 PRINT; $87.95 E-BOOK.

This 11-volume set provides an introduction to the discipline and theories of sociology for students, researchers, and scholars in the field. The 1,800 entries range from one-page articles on specific terms such as scapegoating and bell curve to lengthier explorations of key topics, including class consciousness and social control. Extensive cross-referencing and thorough bibliographies add to the set’s utility. A lengthy timeline (551 B.C.E.–present) of 700 events, figures, and publications that impacted the field of sociology helps put the discipline into focus for the newcomer.

DeMELLO. 360 PAGES. GREENWOOD PRESS (978-0-313-33695-9;

american libraries

Encyclopedia of Body Adornment. BY MARGO

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ALA | Public Library Association

Let’s Meet Over Books Authors rule as public librarians gather in Minneapolis

“Book Buzz” panelists Emily Cook of Milkweed Editions, Nancy Pearl (emcee), Virginia Stanley of HarperCollins, Marcia Purcell of Random House, and Talia Ross of Holtzbrinck.

Keynoter John Wood, founder of Room to Read, takes a moment to chat with American Libraries backstage.

Emily Cook from Milkweed Editions. Pearl is a popular commentator on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition and the author of several books about books, including Book Crush: For Kids and Teens: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Interest, published by Sasquatch Books. Pearl also spoke at one of several well-attended author luncheons, as did Louise Erdrich (The Plague of Doves, HarperCollins), children’s author Pat Mora and illustrator Raul Colón (Tomás and the Library Lady, Random House), and Arthur Frommer and his daughter Pauline Frommer, who offered travel tips from their famous Frommer’s guidebooks. With support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 120 PLA members built advocacy skills at a free preconference edition of Turning the Page: Building Your Library Community. Popular children’s authors Avi, Pam Muñoz Ryan, Sarah Weeks, and Brian

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may 2008

dire need for libraries in that part of the world. His conversion led to the formation of Room to Read, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping children break the cycle of poverty through the power of education. Since its start in 2000, Room to Read has sponsored the opening of more than 400 schools and 5,000 multilingual libraries across the developing world. Following his program, dozens of Wood fans stood in a long line to get an autographed copy of his book Leaving Microsoft to Change the World (HarperCollins 2006). Several hundred registrants joined librarian Nancy Pearl and representatives from four top publishing companies to hear about some of the best upcoming books. Offering sneak previews to the delighted crowd were Virginia Stanley from HarperCollins, Talia Ross from Holtzbrinck, Marcia Purcell from Random House, and

Photos: Leonard Kniffel

n Minneapolis for the 12th biennial National Conference of the Public Library Association (PLA), March 25–29, public librarians from across the country and around the world gathered for a week of discussions, seminars, exhibits, and programs. Many of the activities were firmly rooted in unabashed reverence for the power of reading and books, as evidenced by the dozens of authors who appeared throughout the conference. No one drew a bigger crowd than opening session keynoter John Wood, who dazzled a large portion of the nearly 10,000 attendees with his vision of “education for every child on earth.” Calling himself an “accidental philanthropist,” Wood explained why he left his high-powered job at Microsoft in 1999 at the age of 35 after trekking through Nepal, where he observed the

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| american libraries

Photos: Leonard Kniffel

Selznick packed the house for two presentations of Authors Readers Theatre, following the tradition of the readers/actors standing on stage reading from prepared scripts. Calling the conference “a wonderful opportunity for all of us to learn new ideas, share success stories, hear best practices, and meet colleagues from across the country and around the world,” PLA President Jan Sanders, director of Left, comedian Paula Poundstone signs her new book, There’s Nothing in This Book That I Meant Pasadena (Calif.) Public Lito Say, following her crowd-pleasing stand-up act. Right, popular author Louise Erdrich leaves brary, said PLA offers “somethe stage after a well-received luncheon speech. thing for everyone,” from the leans library board chair Irvin programs, will be available for one intensive all-day learning at preconMayfield played a three-night benefit year after the live conference’s conference programs to the latest and for NOPL at the Dakota nightclub and clusion. best products from the show floor, restaurant in downtown Minneapolis. The PLA conference also served as “not to mention the best networking Closing the conference was comeopportunities available to the public the venue for a couple of major andian Paula Poundstone, performing library world.” nouncements. ALA released the reher stand-up routine with plenty of sults of a groundbreaking study on ribbing at the some of the arcane conlibrary service to new Americans at a Virtual reality press conference at Hennepin County This year, librarians who were unable Library’s New American Center. to make the trip to Minneapolis could ““PLA offers the best participate in the conference virtually. “Serving Non-English Speakers in networking opportunities The PLA 2008 Virtual Conference fea- U.S. Public Libraries” is the first national study to consider the range of tured panel discussions, poster sesavailable to the public library services and programs develsions, interactive workshops, and library world.” oped for non-English speakers, inchats with speakers such as Nancy —Jan Sanders, president cluding effectiveness of services, Pearl, all from the comfort of one’s barriers to library use, most freown PC. Held March 27 and 28 and cepts that confound the average library supported by WebJunction, the Virtual quently used services, and most sucuser. She teased audience members cessful library programs by language Conference included many familiar about the conference being restricted elements of the live conference, along served (see p. 12). to public libraries. “Public only,” she New Orleans Public Library with some that were unique to the onquipped, “now just exactly who does (NOPL) used the conference venue to line venue, including live, interactive that leave out?” She joked about announce its $650-million master webcasts; handouts and other supspending time in her library and findplan to fund the construction of 13 liporting presentation materials; oning that in the adult section the librarbraries and operation costs for the line poster sessions; and discussion next 25 years (see p. 24). The primary ians don’t seem to care much if you boards, both general and subject-foarchitect of the plan is Jeffrey Scherer read the books. But in the children’s cused. Conference registrants autoof Meyer, Scherer, and Rockcastle, section, she joked, there is always a matically received access to the and the press conference took place in lady with a puppet who really cares. Virtual Conference as part of their the firm’s Minneapolis office. An acPoundstone’s first book There’s registration, and the Virtual Confercomplished jazz musician, New OrNothing in This Book That I Meant to Say, ence Community, including archived was published in 2006 by Harmony Books, a division of Random House. Read more about it at www.plablog.org. The Public Library Association is Video at alfocus.ala.org. one of ALA’s 11 divisions.—L.K. z

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People | Announcements

n The University of Missouri at Kansas City has appointed Steve Alleman head of collections. n Meg Anthony became head of youth services at Deerfield (Ill.) Public Library in March. n In April Jeffrey Barton joined Princeton (N.J.) University as cataloger for Cotsen Children’s Library. n Michael Blackwell is the new manager of the Dublin branch of Columbus (Ohio) Metropolitan Library. n Amy Buhler has been named science and technology librarian at the University of Florida’s Marston Science Library in Gainesville. n The University of Rochester (N.Y.) has promoted Katie Clark to associate dean of public services and collection development. n In March Elizabeth A. Curry became director of library public services for Alachua County (Fla.) Library District. n Kevin Davis has been promoted to director of libraries for the city of South Portland, Maine. n Alexandria (Va.) Public Library has promoted Rose Dawson to director.

Kevin Davis

Suzanne McGowan

n April 28 Elizabeth L. Elder became director of Salt Lake City Public Library. n The University of Florida in Gainesville has named Samuel T. Huang associate dean for advancement and development. n March 17 Lace Keaton became director of Okefenokee Regional Library System in Waycross, Georgia. n Anne Kenney was promoted to university librarian at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, March 31. n Lillian Lewis, program officer for SOLINET’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities Library Alliance in Atlanta, will leave SOLINET May 31. n Gladys Maharam, deputy director of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, retired March 14. n Jefferson County (Colo.) Public Library has appointed Suzanne McGowan as manager of the Standley Lake branch. n Sue McGown is retiring as head librarian for the Lower School at St. John’s School in Houston. n April 1 Frances P. Messer retired as director of Kinchafoonee Regional Library System in Dawson, Georgia. n March 3 Laila MileticVejzovic became head of the Special Collections and University Archives

Laila Miletic-Vejzovic

Jo Ann Pinder

department at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. n Linda Oppenheim was promoted to industrial relations librarian at Princeton (N.J.) University in April. n Jo Ann Pinder became assistant director of Baltimore County Public

Laura Wright

Library March 31. n Scott Sjolin has promoted to collection development manager at Maricopa County (Ariz.) Library District. n March 13 Jeanne Sohn retired as director of library services of Central Connecticut State University in New Britain.

cited n Gail Bush, professor of reading and language at National-Louis University in Chicago, received the 2007 Illinois School Library Media Association Polestar Award for outstanding contribution to Illinois school library media programs November 2, 2007. n Jan Orick, director of the biomedical library at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, has been named recipient of the Medical Library Association’s Lois Ann Colaianni Award for Excellence and Achievement in Hospital Librarianship. n Multnomah County (Oreg.) Library Director Molly Raphael has received the Arthur Flemming Civil Rights Award for her efforts to increase diversity in library employment, collections, and programming from the Multnomah County Managers of Color affinity group. n Glennor Shirley, librarian at the Maryland Penitentiary, received the James Partridge Award for Outstanding African American Information Professional from the University of Maryland College of Information Studies and Citizens for Maryland Libraries March 27.

american libraries

may 2008

Currents

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English left ALA March 24; she will continue working for ALA on a contract basis.

n JoAnne Kempf became director of the ALA Governance Office March 17. n March 25 Carrie Lowe became director of the Program on Networks in the Office for Information

Technology Policy. n Carrie Russell became director of the Program on Public Access to Information in the Office for Information Technology Policy March 25. z

Send notices and color photographs for Currents to Greg Landgraf, glandgraf@ala.org.

2002 Banks/Harris Preservation Award from ALA’s Association for Library Collections and Technical Services. n John Newman John Newman Olsgaard Olsgaard, 53, associate professor emeritus at the University of South Carolina’s College of Library and Information Science in Columbia, died December 7, 2007, Kenneth of lung cancer. Eldridge Toombs n Mary Louise Rheay, 88, director of Cobb County (Ga.) Library System from 1975 until her 1990 retirement, died March 19 of breast cancer. n Tejinder (Ted) S. Sibia, head of the biological/agricultural sciences reference department at the University of California at Davis General Library for 26 years until his 2005 retirement, died March 6. n Virginia Tashjian, 86, former director of Newton (Mass.) Free Library, died of a brain tumor March 28. She served as president of the Massachusetts Library Association and the New England Library Association. n Kenneth Eldridge Toombs, director of libraries at the University of South Carolina in Columbia from 1967 to 1988, died March 4 after a long illness. Toombs oversaw the building of the school’s Thomas Cooper Library and Law Library, and cofounded the Southeastern Library Network.

may 2008

n March 17 David Connolly became classified ad coordinator for the Association of College and Research Libraries. n ALA Editions Marketing Manager Catherine

n Cora Paul Bomar, 94,a life member of ALA’s American Association of School Librarians and former AASL president (1962–63), died March 18. Bomar worked for 18 years at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, leading the development of school libraries in the state, and was named the first director of the department’s Division of Educational Media in 1966. She began her career as teacher-librarian in a rural school in Tennessee in 1932, and retired as a faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1969. n Maria T. Chavez-Hernandez, 58, associate in information practice and director of the internship program at Florida State University’s College of Information Studies in Tallahassee, died March 19. The Florida Library Assocation created the Maria ChavezHernandez “Libraries Change Peoples’ Lives” award in 2007 in honor of her work expanding the opportunities of information access to underserved and immigrant populations. n Kris Kreiser, 54, librarian for the junior high and intermediate school of Beardsley School District in Bakersfield, California, died March 30. n Ellen McCrady, 81, who worked for the University of Michigan’s library bindery, the National Archives, the Library of Congress, and Brigham Young University, died March 5. An advocate of the use of alkaline buffers in paper to eliminate deterioration because of acid residue, she received the

At ALA

obituaries

american libraries

n February 28 Catherine Steffens left her position as cataloger librarian at the University of Central Florida in Orlando to become database manager and bookkeeper at the nonprofit Nathaniel’s Hope. n Vincent P. Tinerella began as public services librarian at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville March 17. n Rice University in Houston has appointed Melissa Torres catalog/ metadata librarian. n Christy Tyson, manager of the Southwest branch of Seattle Public Library, retired March 1. n March 13 Katharine Vincent joined SOLINET in Atlanta as senior library services consultant. n Association of Research Libraries Executive Director Duane Webster will retire in May. n March 31 Linda Wen began as head of information technology/systems librarian at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. n Valdosta (Ga.) State University has appointed Laura Wright assistant professor of library science and reference librarian.

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Professional Development | Youth Matters

Trusting in the Answers Ready for patrons who have questions about everything?

A child said, What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands; How could I answer the child? —Walt Whitman

Series mavens welcome

Readers’ advisory is central to her work at NPL, but played little role in her formal education. “I wish I had done more with reader’s advisory,” Templeton said, posing questions to me about how it ought to work, how much time to spend drawing out a young reader’s preferences, and what resources to use. Where she works, readers’ advisory revolves around the easy reading and more text-based titles, not the picture book collection, which “people treat as a browsing collection,” she said. “Picture books are definitely used, and used quite heavily, but I’ve never gotten a question about them.” Instead, this user community demands familiarity with series books. The A to Z Mysteries, Cam Jansen mysteries, and Rainbow Magic books by British authors who use the pseudonym Daisy Meadows are

among those that fly off the shelves at NPL. Because of the popularity of fantasy books, Templeton is busy reading up in that area to enhance her ability to respond to tweens who have finished series like Harry Potter or Bartimaeus. “I’ve just started a set of books called the Hungry City Chronicles,” she said.

Little units of meaning

Two courses that she says have contributed to her ability to work with children were reference and cataloging. The former offered “skills I didn’t realize would be important with younger users,” while the concepts involved in classifying books have helped her “break the shelves down into little units of meaning” and resolving the library’s mysteries for patrons who hadn’t yet understood that books are grouped by subject on library shelves. A key difference between older users in collegiate settings and the youngsters Templeton encounters revolves around trust. College students sometimes bring to reference transactions either skepticism about anyone’s ability to help them or library anxiety—and sometimes both. Her first encounter with a child at NPL was very different: “The patron completely trusted that I’d have an answer. It was kind of nice,” she said, noting that “it’s also a challenge to merit that trust.” z JENNIFER BUREK PIERCE is assistant professor of library and information science at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. Contact her at youthmatters@ala.org.

american libraries

may 2008

ome librarians who didn’t expect to serve young people may find themselves answering questions from the child, rather than about Whitman. Younger users’ needs and wants often pose different service challenges than working with adult patrons, and those who staff a children’s desk after having trained to serve older individuals find themselves braving Brave the a new world of picture books, world of puzzles, and picture oversized books, stuffed animals that may puzzles, and be larger than stuffed animals some younger larger than some users. One of my younger users. former students, Bethany Templeton, is augmenting her knowledge of theological reference sources, website construction, and book conservation practices by familiarizing herself with Grace the Glitter Fairy and Civil War resources for 9-year-olds. By day, Templeton is a library associate for access services at Wellesley (Mass.) College. Nights and weekends, though, find her at the children’s desk of suburban Boston’s Needham Public Library. While not a complete stranger to children’s ser-

vices, this part of “stepping further into the realm of library practice,” as Templeton puts it, nonetheless provides her with a fresh perspective on youth services. Perhaps because of the novelty factor, her experiences and ideas suggest insights about preparing to work with children in libraries and the transition of new librarians into youth services. “I have to say, I really love it,” Templeton said. “It’s made me think so much more about what I liked to read when I was the patron’s age. I’m trying to appreciate where they are coming from, especially the ones who don’t really want to read.”

by Jennifer Burek Pierce

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Working Knowledge | Professional Development

Living the Dream Take a moment to appreciate what you’ve got

n Whether serving patrons directly or in support services out of the public eye, the work we perform matters, and we make a difference in the lives of those served by our efforts.

Spring is the season of starting again. Renew your appreciation for the work you do and the career you have chosen. Find the aspects for which you are most thankful and recommit yourself. What do you like best about your job? What aspects do your nonlibrarian friends envy? Can you see why?

may 2008

n Many of us have opportunities to read, to watch, or listen to bestsellers or newly minted, well-respected works, at no cost to ourselves except the hours devoted to devouring them. Others have the honor of reviewing priceless historical items on a daily basis.

WORKING WISDOM

Mary Pergander is director of Deerfield (Ill.) Public Library. Send comments or questions to working@ala.org.

We may habitually focus on the unpleasant, difficult, or humiliating aspects of our professional lives. Those do exist. But I wonder n We work how much with interestof the good ing, intellectuwe simply Our work brings us in ally stimulating take for contact with the edge of people who granted in change in our society. generally share the library, interests with or in any us. We develop workplace. relationships with colleagues across How much better might we serve the state and the nation, even ourselves by letting up on the rearound the world. lentless disappointments and focusing, if just once per day, on all n We get to sleep at night withthat we love about our jobs, our out interruption from the workplace profession, and the libraries in (unless you are one of the few onwhich we have the privilege to call librarians). work? Contact me at working@ala. org, and let me know how you are n Our work brings us in contact living the dream. z with the edge of change in our society, enabling us to be early responders and adapt to what is coming—if we keep our minds open and flexible.

n We get to work indoors regardless of weather, often in pleasant surroundings.

n The world’s knowledge surrounds us, and the entire world of information is at our fingertips.

american libraries

ave you had the experience of telling a new acquaintance that you work in a library, and having them proclaim how lucky you are? I think it is taking a while for librarians to wake up and recognize that we are working in what others recognize as a dream career. Though certain misconceptions abound (“Wow, a job with no stress!”), we are nevertheless fortunate. In Easier Than You Think ... Because Life Doesn’t Have to Be So Hard, author Richard Carlson titles a chapter “The Grass is Green Enough.” During my morning meditation time, I pondered his words, and recognized that we can apply that philosophy to librarianship and our own work. As librarians, we have familiar rants: low pay, poor budgets, crumbling buildings, dearth of technology, and little opportunity for advancement—just to begin the list. Stimulated by Carlson’s observations, however, I stopped to appreciate all that working in a library offers. Even given the broad variations of individual settings:

by Mary Pergander

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Professional DEVELOPMENT | Books

Librarian’s Library Why we are librarians

Indexed, 281 p., PBK., $60 from Libraries Unlimited (978-1-59158-591-6).

Mystery Tour

If you’re a mystery lover, you’ll find an engaging and knowledgeable

Professionals, librarians among them, share a set of core values.

companion in Barry Trott, whose Read on . . . Crime Fiction: Reading Lists for Every Taste is the newest addition to the Read On series. Instead of looking at mysteries in terms of subgenres and standard rubrics like location and time period, as many other guides do, this one focuses on the appeal factors—familiar in the readers’ advisory world—of story, character, setting, mood, and language. Among the delights of this and other books in the series are the witty annotations and the often

quirky categories (“The Heights of Murder: Mountaintop Mysteries,” “I’d Like to Buy a Clue: ChickLit Mysteries”).

Indexed, 146 p., PBK., $30 from Libraries Unlimited (978-1-59158-373-8).

Millennial Methods

Sometimes called “Millennials” or “Net Geners,” today’s K–12 students are the first generation that has never known life without computers. How can school libraries meet their needs? To answer this question, a selection of articles previously published in Teacher Librarian and VOYA has been collected in Toward a 21st-Century School Library Media Program, edited

New From ALA IC in Action In Transforming Library Service through Information Commons: Case Studies for the Digital Age, D. Russell Bailey and Barbara Gunter Tierney provide numerous examples of the way libraries are adopting an information commons (IC) service model. Like most books on IC , this one focuses on academic libraries, but because of the practical “how-to” approach, public and school libraries may find ideas here as well. Indexed, 155 p., PBK., $55, $49.50 for ALA members (978-0-8389-0958-4). Order from ALA Order Fulfillment: 866-746-7252, Fax: 770-280-4155; www.alastore.ala.org.

american libraries | may 2008

n the first day of my first class in library school, the professor asked us to talk about what defined a profession, and whether librarianship fit that definition. We agreed that professionals, librarians among them, share a set of core values, and these values—“the telos of librarianship”—are what John M. Budd explores in Self Examination: The Present and Future of Librarianship. He discusses the fundamentals of our profession, including the way we are educated; mines the scholarly literature both within and outside the profession to consider some of the practical and ethical aspects of librarianship; and examines the library’s place in a democracy as well as in the Information Society. It’s easy to get lost in the day-to-day activities of our jobs, but Budd’s thought-provoking book challenges us to reflect more deeply on what we do and why.

by Mary Ellen Quinn

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ROUSING READS

Indexed, 434 p., PBK., $35 from Scarecrow Press (978-0-8108-6031-5).

What Would Dewey Do?

I heard people talking about FRBR at the 2008 ALA Midwinter Meeting, but had no idea what it was until I got back to the office and found on my desk Understanding FRBR: What It Is and How It Will Affect Our Retrieval Tools, edited by Arlene G. Taylor. I learned that FRBR stands for Functional Requirements for Bibliographical Records, a conceptual model based on entity-attribute-relationship analysis. It’s also the foundation of RDA: Resource Description and Access, which is scheduled to replace AACR2 in early 2009. This book doesn’t explain how to do FRBR so much as why, with chapters describing its basic principles, how it evolved, and how it applies to books and other formats. Not being a cataloger, I’m still struggling with the FRBR concept, but we can all appreciate the aim to improve access by creating richer cataloging and metadata.

STALKING YOUR FAVORITE AUTHORS

iterary biography, literary criticism, and what I’ll call memoirs about reading are probably the three most common kinds of books about books, and frankly, I have bones to pick with all of them. Let me clarify: There are good literary biographies out there and, if you look very hard (or maybe just stick with Leslie Fiedler), good criticism, too. I’m generalizing here. What else can you do in 550 words? Most writers don’t live particularly interesting lives, which leaves the door open for their biographers to pretend that minutiae equal substance. Literary criticism ceased being an engaging way to find connections between books and real life about the time of Matthew Arnold, and while there have been a few Arnoldian critics since then (Edmund Wilson, for example), the form has largely been annexed by academia and, thus, has drifted steadily into the deadly ether of postmodernism or structuralism or whatever we’re currently calling what English professors do to get tenure. And, finally, the less said about memoirs celebrating reading the better. It’s bad enough to have job applicants at Booklist tell you that they love books (a surefire way not to get hired, incidentally), but to be expected to read 300 pages about why some writer or intellectual loves books and why books give them such rich inner lives (far richer than yours) . . . well, it’s enough to make you swear off books altogether and take up reality television. There is one kind of book about books, however, that I quite like because it combines reading with a road trip and thus takes the author out of full navel-gazing mode. Let’s call them “literary stalking memoirs.” They come in two varieties. First there are those in which an author sets off “in search of” somebody, usually a much-loved dead writer. This formula has a built-in smarm factor, but now and again, you’ll hit upon something like Geoff Dyer’s Out of Sheer Rage: Wrestling with D. H. Lawrence (North Point, 1998), in which the author travels from one Lawrentian place to another, complaining all the while about his inability to write a book about Lawrence. Along the way, he grouses about all sorts of other things, too, things he dislikes in the places he stays, much as Lawrence himself did on his own peripatetic ramblings. Out of Sheer Rage isn’t a biography, and it’s certainly not criticism, but it is great fun. Dyer loves Lawrence, but he sort of despises him, too, and in his rantings we learn a lot about both the stalker and his prey. The second kind of stalking-author book sends a writer on the road to meet other living authors in their natural habitat. It takes a certain kind of writer to turn this premise into something more than a mundane interview collection. Take John Williams in Back to the Badlands: Crime Writing in the USA (Serpent’s Tail, 2007). Casting himself as a hardboiled de Tocqueville, the Welsh mystery writer traveled around the U.S. tracking down lesser-known, noir-tinged crime writers and musing in a delightfully self-deprecating way about the places he encountered (“People like me end up spending our time complaining about how much better things used to be before people like me showed up and ruined them.”). Now that’s what I mean about connecting books and real life.

Indexed, 186 p., PBK., $45 from Libraries Unlimited (978-1-59158-509-1). z Bill Ott is the editor and publisher of ALA’s Booklist.

Mary Ellen Quinn is editor of ALA Booklist’s Reference Books Bulletin.

american libraries | may 2008

by Esther Rosenfeld and David V. Loertscher. Collaborating with teachers, taking a leadership role in teaching literacy, and forming partnerships to promote the library are just a few of the strategies addressed in this toolkit for media specialists.

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SHOWCASE | New Products

Solutions and Services >>> www.nordicid.com

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The Nordic ID PL3000 HF wireless handheld terminal reads data from both bar codes and RFID tags. The unit features onehand operation, a large touch screen, programmable keys, and a configurable and expandable internal memory.

Linkman is a new internet bookmark management system from Outertech. Linkman uses a database to store, organize, annotate, and check up to millions of links. The system accesses links via keyword within a second; it can save and load Internet Explorer Favorites in correct item order and features an optional desktop toolbar.

Zipporah Films is distributing 35 documentaries by Frederick Wiseman on DVD. Using a direct cinema approach, each film provides an intimate portrait of a different institution, including basic training (shown), high school, juvenile court, and a zoo.

american libraries

may 2008

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CASE STUDY University of Utah Installs Automated Retrieval Center

EZDrop offers the EZ Dual Drop bookdrop. The antigraffiti stainless steel drop has separate slots and carts for print and AV materials. It measures 74 inches by 46 inches, features a no-key push-button lock, and is shipped unassembled so users can choose and change the cart door position at installation.

To have a new product considered for this section, contact Brian Searles at bsearles@ala.org.

The Automated Retrieval Center at the University of Utah’s J. Willard Marriott Library.

may 2008

www.ezdrop.biz

The Center for History and New Media at George Mason University and the Minnesota Historical Society have released Omeka online exhibit software. Omeka is free and opensource and includes features such as the ability to create teaching modules, add Google maps, tag photos, create blogs, and allow contributors worldwide to add to an online collection.

american libraries

<<<

omeka.org

he University of Utah’s J. Willard Marriott Library in Salt Lake City houses 3 million print volumes. As part of a major renovation, begun in 2005 and scheduled for completion this autumn, the library installed a 704,000-cubic-foot robotic storage and retrieval system from HK Systems—North America’s largest. The Automated Retrieval Center, known as the ARC, currently holds about 1 million items, divided into more than 19,000 bins, although its capacity is about 2 million items. Patrons requesting a book housed in the ARC can select it from the online catalog; one of four robotic retrieval machines will locate and deliver the bin that contains it to library staff at the first-floor reserve desk, a process that takes less than five minutes. The ARC houses less-frequently circulated materials densely, freeing 80,000 square feet of space that the library is using for high-tech classrooms, a knowledge commons, and other student-centered areas. It also processes nearly 100 book requests per day, about half on-campus and half for interlibrary loan. “Using the ARC in tandem with new access services such as digital delivery means we can deliver materials throughout Utah and the nation faster and more efficiently,” says Ian Godfrey, facilities and access services manager for Marriott Library. “The ARC also provides a more secure and environmentally controlled ‘home,’ enhancing the preservation and the lifespan of the materials.” Materials stored in the ARC include a large portion of the Western Americana collection, bound journals, portions of the university archives, and the Dewey Collection of original library holdings prior to 1968. “Use of electronic journals and e-books is certainly on the rise, but we will always have demand for our traditional collections and will continue to acquire more, especially unique and rare collections,” explains University Librarian Joyce Ogburn.

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Content you trust… more ways to use it Booklist Online is a sophisticated yet easy-to-use tool for librarians who are serious about collection development, readers’ advisory and general title research–whether they’re looking for fiction, nonfiction, or media.

Surround yourself with trusted content Booklist Online delivers a growing archive of more than 120,000 current and past Booklist reviews in an attractive and highly searchable database.

Your patrons will thank you Make Booklist Online accessible to patrons at branches and through remote login for the best self-service readers’ advisory available. Plus, they’ll enjoy features, like the Book Group Buzz Blog and Review of the Day.

NOW WITH ONE-CLICK ORDERING TO BAKER & TAYLOR TITLE SOURCE 3!

See how Booklist Online can transform your workflow. Sign up now for a free 30-day trial!

www.booklistonline.com Incredibly useful for collection development. Why go to one of those large compiled databases when Booklist Online has everything I need? —Shawna Thorup, Assistant Director, Fayetteville (AR) Public Library

Untitled-2 1

Booklist Online is really helping our workflow and efficiency in the library. . . . We love it! —Jane Levine, Head of Technical Services, Winnetka-Northfield (IL) Public Library

04/16/2008 12:58:03 PM

Classifieds | PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Career Leads from Your #1 source for job openings in Library and Information Science and Technology

Place a Job Ad

Consultants or Classifieds

Visit JobLIST.ala.org to establish an institutional account in order to place Webonly ads, print ads in American Libraries and C&RL News, or any combination. Print ads in American Libraries cost $7.50 per line, $5.50 for ALA institutional members. Display ads range from $125 to $2,340. Print ads may be posted on JobLIST for 60 days for an additional $75, $65 for ALA institutional members. Complete rate and size information at JobLIST.ala.org.

“Librarians’ Classifieds” and “ConsultantBase” are convenient and economical ad sections that put your products and services in front of more than 100,000 readers. See print ad rates above. No ALA institutional member discount. Discounts for multiple insertions: 2–5 months, 5%; 6 months or more, 10%. ConsultantBase appears in the January, April, June, and October issues.

Print Deadline May 5 for the June/July issue, which mails about June 1. Ads received after the 5th will be published as space permits through about May 15.

Contact E-mail joblist@ala.org or call 800-5452433, Jon Kartman, ext. 4211. C areer Leads, American Libraries, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611; fax 312-440-0901.

Advertising Policies A salary range is requested for all job recruitment ads per ALA guidelines. The ALA Allied Professional Association endorses a minimum salary for professional librarians of not less than $40,000 per year. Job applicants are advised to explore “faculty rank” and “status” carefully. ALA opposes residency requirements and loyalty tests or oaths as conditions of employment. Job titles should reflect responsibilities as defined in ALA personnel guidelines. ALA requires that

organizations recruiting through the Association’s publications or placement services comply with ALA antidiscrimination policies. Policy 54.3 states that the Association “is committed to equality of op portunity for all library employees or appli cants for employment, regardless of race, color, creed, sex, age, physical or mental handicap, individual life-style or national origin.” By advertising through ALA services, the organization agrees to comply with the policy. Ads are edited only to conform to standard style. Acceptance of an advertisement does not constitute endorsement. ALA reserves the right to refuse advertising.

Billing Payment Terms: Visa, MasterCard, or American Express. If pre-approved, net 30 from invoice date. Invoice and tearsheet mailed to the advertiser following publication. Cost of ad furnished upon request.

| american libraries

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR/SERIALS A N D ELEC T R O N I C R E SOU R CE S LIBRARIAN, University Libraries, Murray State University. Full-time tenure-track position to begin July 2008. QUALI-

may 2008

ACADEMIC LIBRARY ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF LIBRARY SERVICES. St. Francis College, a private college located in historic Brooklyn Heights, New York, is currently soliciting applications for an assistant director of library services to begin employment at the start of the fall 2008 semester. Qualified candidates will have a master’s degree from an ALA-accredited school of library/information science and a minimum of 4 years of experience in an academic environment. Candidate review begins immediately, and interested applicants should forward a resume and cover letter to hr@stfranciscollege.edu. EOE.

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CAREER LEADS | Academic Library Government Documents/Collection Development Librarian Lehman College

Reporting to the head of reference, the government documents/collection development librarian: Coordinates and supervises selection, processing, maintenance, and evaluation of the federal depository collection, according to Guidelines for Federal Depository Libraries; serves as a resource specialist for traditional and electronic federal, state, and municipal publications; maintains the government documents webpage by creating links to government resources; successfully integrates government documents into college curricula and initiatives; informs community residents about free access to government information and publications; coordinates the collection development liaison program to identify, develop, and promote print, electronic, and multimedia resources; works with academic department liaisons to identify signiﬁcant campus information needs; and provides library instruction, resource selection, and reference service. REQUIRED: For appointment at Instructor level, MLS from an ALA-accredited institution. For appointment to Assistant Professor, MLS from an ALA-accredited institution and second Master’s degree. At least 2 years of academic library experience. PREFERRED: Coursework or experience working with government documents; basic knowledge of web soft ware and HTML; outstanding service commitment and interpersonal skills, including ability to lead as a team member in a multicultural environment; and experience in collection development, library instruction, or presenting to groups. Please send letter of application, resume, and names and contact information of 3 current references to: Professor Sandrea DeMinco, Chair, Search Committee, Leonard Lief Library, Lehman College, 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, New York 10468-1589, Sandrea.DeMinco@ lehman.cuny.edu. Lehman College is an EEO/AA/ADA employer.

FICATIONS: ALA-accredited master’s degree; demonstrated relevant experience in serials, automation, or cataloging services; and demonstrated supervisory experience. PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS INCLUDE: Familiarity with electronic resource management systems, SFX (or an equivalent link resolver), Voyager (or an equivalent Integrated Library System); experience cataloging serials; and evidence of ability to quickly learn new technologies. RESPONSIBILITIES: Supervises staff in the university libraries’ periodicals unit and works closely with faculty/staff in acquisitions, cataloging and systems to ensure consistent and integrated access to electronic and print resources; troubleshoots subscription-related access to electronic resources through appropriate catalog and link resolver maintenance; monitors terms of electronic subscription agreements to assure subscriber and vendor compliance and delivery of content; solicits, maintains, analyzes, and disseminates usage statistics and management reports; and participates in library, university and state/regional committees. Application deadline: May 30. To apply: Submit a letter of application, vita, and the names, addresses, email addresses, and telephone numbers of 3 references to: Camela Ramey, Serials and Electronic Resources Librarian Screening Committee Secretary, 205 Waterfield

library education

The position may be appointed at the tenure-track rank of Assistant or Associate Professor, depending on the candidate’s credentials. The successful candidate will provide evidence of excellence in teaching and research potential in school library media and one or more of the following areas pertaining to graduate studies in library and information science: • Information technologies in library environments, digital libraries. • Youth services and literature. • Information sources for humanities, business, health sciences, or sciences. BASIC QUALIFICATIONS INCLUDE: PhD or EdD in library and information management or equivalent doctorate and successful professional practice. MLS preferred. Candidates should be willing and able to adapt to new instructional delivery systems through interactive television and online learning environments. The Indianapolis campus provides faculty support for innovations in instructional delivery with advanced networking capabilities. A proven record in use of instructional telecommunications is preferred. Candidates will also be expected to demonstrate a cogent library and information science research and service agenda that would lead to successful promotion and tenure. The position is a ten-month, tenure-track appointment with the option to teach up to two summer courses at 20% of base salary. The successful candidates should be prepared to join the current full-time faculty by August 1, 2008. Review of applications began Feb. 15 and will continue until the position is ﬁlled. Applicants should send a letter

of interest in which they describe teaching experience as well as other qualiﬁcations. A complete curriculum vita, names and addresses for three references, and writing samples should be included. Questions and applications should be addressed to: Dr. Marilyn Irwin, Associate Dean, Indiana University School of Library and Information Science-Indianapolis, 755 W. Michigan, Indianapolis, IN 46202; irwinm@iupui. edu; 317-278-2376. The master’s of library science program at Indiana University is accredited by the American Library Association. A full curriculum of courses leading to the MLS is provided at Indianapolis as well as Bloomington. Students may take courses on either campus. SLIS has been nationally ranked among the top schools in library science, information systems, youth services, school library media, and law librarianship. Committed to the principle of diversity, Indiana University is an equal-opportunity employer. The Indianapolis Campus-www.iupui.edu Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis is a leading urban research campus with over 27,000 students. As a part of the recently renovated central convention and business areas of the capital city, the campus is adjacent to new structures housing government, museum, athletic and cultural institutions. The expanding metropolitan Indianapolis campus offers the largest range of academic programs in the state combining the best from Indiana University and Purdue University. In addition to library science, IUPUI is a center for professional schools in medicine, law, nursing, education, philanthropic studies, and informatics.

american libraries

may 2008

Graduate Faculty Position Indiana University, School of Library and Information Science–Indianapolis (www.slis.iupui.edu)

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Regional salary guide Listed below are the latest minimum starting salary figures recommended by state library associations for professional library posts in these states. The recommendations are advisory only. Job seekers and employers should consider these recommended minimums when evaluating professional vacancies. The ALA-Allied Professional Association (ALA-APA) Council has endorsed a nonbinding minimum salary for professional librarians of not less than $40,000. For additional information on librarian salaries or to update a salary figure, email salaryguide@ala.org. Connecticut .................................. $44,681 Illinois ...................................... $47,235.60 Indiana .............................................varies* Iowa .............................................. $23,911 Louisiana....................................... $26,000 Maine...........................................$30,811* Massachusetts .............................$45,107* New Jersey ................................... $47,390 Pennsylvania ................................$33,748* Rhode Island................................. $41,000 Texas ............................................. $37,000 Vermont ........................................ $33,025 Wisconsin ..................................... $32,700

LIBRARY EDUCATION INFORMATION LITERACY LECTURER. University of Toledo. University Libraries. PRIMARY ASSIGNMENT: Teaching Information Literacy. PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES: The University of Toledo, a public metropolitan Carnegie researchExtensive institution, is accepting applications for information literacy lecturers to support the university Libraries’ information literacy initiatives. These 12month, entry-level positions will be part of the library’s instruction and information literacy team. The successful candidates should have strong commitments to instruction and outreach services, effective communication and presentation skills, and the ability to work independently

DIGITAL COLLECTIONS LIBRARIAN, Fort Hays State University. Develop and manage the library’s digital collections. For full description please see www. fhsu.edu/positions/admn.php. Fort Hays is an AA/EEO employer. Paid for by FHSU.

RARE BOOKS LIBRARIAN. The George Washington University Law Library seeks a rare books librarian. For details, including application instructions, please visit the law library’s website, www.law.gwu. edu/Burns/About/jobs.htm. The George Washington University is an equal-opportunity, affirmative-action employer.

and as team members. These positions will assist with the design and delivery of instruction and information and computer literacy initiatives and will engage in and support student outcome assessment efforts directed toward program improvement. Duties also include providing traditional and virtual reference desk service and participating in collection development activities. The successful candidates will develop both paper and web-based teaching materials that will address various learning styles and be accessible to both on-campus and distant learning students. The services provided by these positions will be available to students and faculty members through The University of Toledo Libraries on all campuses. For additional information about the university libraries, please visit library.utoledo.edu. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS: Master’s degree in library or information science from an ALA-accredited program completed before the start date; working knowledge of current trends in information and computer literacy and academic librarianship; knowledge of information literacy curriculum integration; experience with electronic databases, Internet resources, library catalogs, and reference

DEPARTMENT HEADS (3 Positions). The University of Memphis seeks dynamic and forward thinking individuals to fill 3 key library faculty positions: 1) HEAD, COLLECTION MANAGEMENT; 2) HEAD,CATALOGING; and 3) HEAD, INSTRUCTIONAL SERVICES. These are 12-month, tenure-track positions. Librarians participate in the full range of faculty responsibilities. Full announcements at w w w.exlibris. edu or call 901-678-2201. Review of applications begins May 20. Submit cover letter, resume, and contact information for 5 references to: Nancy Massey, Personnel Associate, 126 Ned McWherter Library, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152-3250. The University of Memphis is an EEO/ affirmative-action employer.

LAW LIBRARY

american libraries

Library, Murray State University, Murray, KY 42071-3307. New graduates welcome; women and minorities are encouraged to apply. Murray State University is an equal education and employment opportunity, M/F/D, AA employer.

may 2008

*Rather than establish one statewide salary minimum, some state associations have adopted a formula based on variables such as comparable salaries for public school teachers in each community, or the grade level of a professional librarian post. In these cases, you may wish to contact the state association for minimum salary information.

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CAREER LEADS | Library Education state library

Director Fountaindale Public Library District Chicago Area The Fountaindale Public Library District (www.fountaindale.lib.il.us) seeks an energetic leader to serve as Director. Located in southwest suburban Chicago, the district has library buildings in Bolingbrook and Romeoville, Illinois. Fountaindale Public Library enjoys strong local support and is financially stable. The library serves a population of about 72,000 with an annual budget of $8 million, a staff of 50 full-time and 70 part-time, collection of 383,000 and circulation of 830,000. The library is undergoing a building program for a new 100,000 sq. ft. building in Bolingbrook and a renovated building in Romeoville. Must have MLS with high-level leadership and experience with library building construction or renovation. Active participation in community activities and organizations will be required. Minimum salary is $105,000 and is negotiable based on experience. The Director is expected to obtain in-district residency within two years of commencing employment. Equal Opportunity Employer. Submit resumes, inquiries, nominations to:

John Keister & Associates 374 E. Marseilles Street, Vernon Hills, IL 60061 847-955-0540 JK@JohnKeister.com www.JohnKeister.com

Librarian I Permanent and temporary part-time librarian positions available with the County of Los Angeles Public Library. People with bilingual skills and/or interest in children’s services especially needed. Monthly salary: $3,891-$4832.

tools; and ability to work and collaborate effectively with colleagues, students, faculty, and staff in a team environment. PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS: Working knowledge of digital technologies and web-related applications; one year of experience with group instruction in an academic library; familiarity with student learning assessment; and experience promoting and marketing information

PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR. Laurens County (S.C.) Library Board seeks a creative, energetic person to direct the county library system. Located in northwest South Carolina (near Spartanburg and Greenville), Laurens County has a population of 72,000 and is home to Presbyterian College. Library has a staff of 16.5 FTE, budget of $900,000+, 2 libraries, and one bookmobile. Board seeks someone who can manage financial and human resources, provide direction to keep pace with technological advances in public libraries, and work toward getting a new facility in the City of Clinton. Successful candidate will be expected

to be active in the community and work well with the general public and civic and political leaders. Minimum requirements are an ALA-accredited master’s degree and appropriate experience, preferably in public libraries. Salary, $60,132 with excellent benefits. Apply to: Rossie Davis, Director of Human Resources, Laurens County, PO Box 445, Laurens, SC 29360. Available Aug. 1. Laurens County is an equal-opportunity employer. LIBRARY DIRECTOR. Progressive, fast growing White County, Arkansas, is seeking energetic, experienced public library system director. Director will oversee and assist with planning all phases of library services for 7 branches with 15 FTEs; will work with a 13-member regional board and 5-member county board; will be responsible for budget preparation and represent the library to the public and governmental agencies. APPLICANTS MUST HAVE an MLS from an ALA-accredited school, at least 5 years of administrative experience, excellent verbal and written skills, cooperative spirit, political experience, technological knowledge, and a public library background. Experience with construction projects a plus. Beginning salary range between $50,000 to $56,000 based on experience. Retirement and health care provided. Letters of application, resumes and references should be sent to: Susie Boyett, White County Regional Library System, 113 E. Pleasure Ave., Searcy, AR 72143. For complete information please visit www.wcrls.org.

american libraries

may 2008

Go to www.colapublib.org for job announcement and standard application. Contact human resources at 562-940-8434 for interview appointment. MLS required.

literacy to diverse university populations. Application: These appointments will be made at the rank of Lecturer at a salary of $45,222. Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the positions are filled. Anticipated start date is July 1. Send letters of application, current vita, and the names, addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses for 3 recent professional references to: Information Literacy Search, c/o Tyna Derhay, Dean’s Office, Mail Stop 509, The University of Toledo, 2801 W. Bancroft St., Toledo, OH 43606-3399; email tyna.derhay@ utoledo.edu. Please use only one method of application. The University of Toledo is an equal-access, equal-opportunity, affirmative-action employer and educator. The University of Toledo, a public metropolitan Carnegie Doctoral/Research Extensive institution, has an enrollment of approximately 20,000 students. The AAUP represents the university faculty. The wooded 255-acre campus is situated in a suburban, residential neighborhood. For additional information about The University of Toledo, please visit www. utoledo.edu.

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COMMENTARY | Will’s World

Librarian, Inform Thyself It takes a knowledge manager to relocate a family

“Please call the local library,” I begged. “The reference desk will tell you where my street is.”

couldn’t change my address, and that she would mail me the PIN number. “Can you send it to my new address?” I asked. To my astonishment, she said yes. “Let me get this straight,” I said. “For security reasons you can’t change my account address, but you can send my private eightdigit password to my new address?” Her response was quite reassuring: “Hey, I just work here. It doesn’t make sense, but a lot of things here don’t make sense.” Glad I have my life savings invested with this company. Next was getting internet service installed in my new house, a process that seemed pretty simple. After being assigned yet another eight-digit passcode, I had to schedule an installation date. This was a problem. “We can’t install the internet box because we can’t seem to verify your street,” said the rep. At first I was taken aback but then I said, “It’s a new street. You can verify it by looking up my phone account.” The rep’s response was swift and surreal: “That’s a separate department, and we don’t have access to their records.” The absurdity that I was living on a nonexistent street went on for three days until I told the rep that I was on the

verge of seeking psychiatric help. “Please call the local library,” I begged. “I am sure the reference desk will tell you where my street is.” Alarmed at my mental state, she phoned the library, and in two minutes verified the street’s existence. She then transferred me to a scheduler who, after much hemming and hawing, said, “Sir, it would be much easier if you just scheduled this online.” In disbelief I replied, “I would be glad to if you would just get my online service installed!” No move is complete without a visit to the Department of Motor Vehicles. After waiting in line for four hours I obtained my shiny new license. Then, I waited in line for another four hours and was given two shiny new plates. “I only need one,” I told the man at the counter. “I got rid of my other car before I moved.” But it turns out that California requires you to have a license on your front and rear bumper. This was a huge problem because my ’98 Saturn had no place for a front plate. I called the local dealer. He said, “You need to buy a $50-license attachment package. We will install it for $150.” When I protested, he said: “Well, I guess you could always buy a new car, and we’ll install your license plate for free.” z WILL MANLEY has furnished provocative commentary on the library profession for over 25 years. He is the author of nine books on the lighter side of library science.

american libraries

may 2008

fter living in the same house in Tempe, Arizona, for the past 25 years, I recently moved to Livermore, California. It was a retirement move. I wanted to be near my children and grandchildren. Do-it-yourself moving is a marathon. My first stop was the library, where I found some very helpful books that pretty much taught me everything I needed to know. But just as there are some things money can’t buy, there are some things a library cannot do for you. A library cannot overcome Murphy’s Law. One of the things I learned at the library is that you should get your address changed for all your financial accounts the week before you move. When I called my deferred compensation company, the rep asked for my 12-digit account number and eightdigit passcode. When I admitted that I didn’t know the passcode, she told me that for security reasons she

by Will Manley

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