August 2008 by American Libraries

NEWSMAKER Ron Reagan

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TEEN READ WEEK Get Ready!

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TRIBUTE Pat Mora

AUGUST 2008

THE MAGAZINE OF THE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

Speaking Technically

Views from the Exhibit Floor PLUS:

Tinker Bell Talks

Details from the Land of Disney ANAHEIM CONFERENCE WRAP-UP

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Wikipedia & Information Literacy Reframing Gaming

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A New frontier in search & discovery

SirsiDynix Enterprise is a state-of-the-art faceted search solution that makes library collections more searchable and discoverable than ever before. How? With fuzzy search logic technology previously unavailable to libraries, intuitive search interfaces, and comprehensive integration with current OPACs. And as an easy add-on solution, SirsiDynix Enterprise

requires minimal new investments for costconscious libraries. Visit www.sirsidynix.com/enterprise to learn more about how SirsiDynix Enterprise can support your “user experience” strategies for 2008 and beyond.

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CONTENTS AMERICAN LIBRARIES

Features 46

August 2008

DISSECTING THE WEB THROUGH WIKIPEDIA

The popular website offers an avenue to teach information literacy skills BY ADAM BENNINGTON

REFRAMING GAMING

Clearing up misconceptions about this increasingly popular activity BY SCOTT NICHOLSON

GRATITUDE AS A CATALYST

One of ALA’s newest honorary members calls on us to invest ourselves in the young BY PAT MORA

SPEAKING TECHNICALLY

COUNCIL AND EXECUTIVE BOARD REPORTS

From folksonomies to federated searches, reference databases are constantly evolving. Meet seven industry leaders who are driving those changes

A summary of the actions and discussions in Anaheim, by Pamela A. Goodes

52 From The Hidden World of Fairies by Wendy Darling (text by Tennant Redbank and A. Picksey), illustrated by Adrienne Brown, Jeff Clark, Judith H. Clarke, and the Disney Storybook Artists and published by Disney Press. Cover illustration copyright ©2008 Disney Enterprises, Inc.

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COVER STORY

DETAILS FROM DISNEYLAND

Tinker Bell found her voice and so did 22,000 librarians and library advocates as they passed from Fantasyland to Tomorrowland. Also in this issue, news roundups from the Exhibit Hall by Meredith Farkas and Jennifer Burek Pierce

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CONTENTS A m e r i c a n L i b rar i e s

August 2008

Volume 39 #7

ISSN 0 0 0 2 - 9 7 6 9

Departments

Information Technology

36 Tech News 38 Dispatches from the field

The Games People Play by jenny levine

In Practice

Internet Librarian

Interesting Times by Meredith Farkas Being Better By Joseph Janes People

News

14 ALA 22 U.s. and INTERNATIONAL 43 Newsmaker: Ron Reagan

Special News Reports

19 national library legislative day 21 teen read week Celebrates 10 Years 32 Medical Library Association 33 special libraries association 34 canadian library association 35 bookexpo usa

Currents

Professional Development

80 Youth Matters

Once and Future Classics By Jennifer Burek Pierce

82 Working Knowledge

Working through Grief By Mary Pergander

Librarian’s Library

List Mania

By Mary Ellen Quinn

85 rousing reads

Fall Preview By Bill Ott

86 Solutions and Services Opinion and Commentary

4 From the editor

Authority and Wikipedia By Leonard Kniffel

8 President’s Message

Advocating Together By Jim rettig

Reader Forum

44 Public Perception 45 On My Mind

Time to Retire the F Word By hillary theyer

96 Will’s World

Letters and Comments

How to Do It Yourself By Will Manley

Jobs

Career Leads from joblist Your #1 Source for Job Openings

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FROM THE EDITOR | Contributors

Authority and Wikipedia by Leonard Kniffel

Pat Mora (“Gratitude as a Catalyst,” p. 52–53) is a Latina poet and author whose books for children and adults have been recognized for their excellence by the American Library Association, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and many others. Her books include Dona Flor: A Tall Tale about a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart (Knopf, 2005), My Own True Name (Arte Publico Press, 2000), and Tomas and the Library Lady (Knopf, 1997). In 1996 she established El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day) to link all children with books, languages, and cultures. Mora was recognized in 2002 by the Texas Library Association as one of “100 Library Champions” and has been awarded a Kellogg National Leadership Fellowship; a National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Fellowship; a Civitella Ranieri Fellowship in Umbria, Italy; the University of Southern Mississippi’s Medallion for Outstanding Contributions to Children’s Literature; the University of Alabama’s Roberta Long Medal for Distinguished Contributions to Celebrating the Cultural Diversity of Children; Boston Public Library’s “Literacy Light for Children”; the Ohioana Award for Children’s Literature; and numerous other literary awards. She received a bachelor’s degree from Texas Western College in 1963 and a master’s degree from the University of Texas at El Paso in 1967. Scott Nicholson (“Reframing Gaming,” p. 50–51) is an associate professor at the School of Information Studies at Syracuse (N.Y.) University. In addition, he is the chief scientist at the Library Game Lab of Syracuse (gamelab .syr.edu), part of the school’s Information Institute. Nicholson also hosts the internet video series Board Games with Scott (boardgameswithscott.com) and the Games in Libraries podcast (gamesinlibraries.org) He is the designer of a new board game called Tulipmania 1637, which will be published by JKLM Games in October. Nicholson has an MLIS and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics with computer science from the University of Oklahoma in Norman and a doctorate in information science from the University of North Texas in Denton. He combines his lives of former reference librarian, library scientist, and gamer into his research about games and libraries.

american libraries

august 2008

e use Wikipedia every day here in the editorial offices of American Libraries. Should we be wary, cautious, and double-check information that seems in any way dubious? Of course, but Wikipedia has become an important tool for fact-checking. Like any resource, however, it must be understood and used properly if it is to serve as a reliable information source. In “Dissecting the Web through Wikipedia” (p. 46), Adam Bennington notes that some teachers frown on Wikipedia and discourage students from citing the popular web tool as a source. “While the logic behind why these educators are taking these actions might be sound,” he says, “the practice is a bit excessive.” I agree that instead of demonizing Wikipedia, academic and school librarians should use it as an occasion to teach information litLibrarians can use eracy skills. Wikipedia to teach AL Senior Editor George Eberhart, who information literacy skills. uses Wikipedia frequently as he puts together the weekly editions of American Libraries Direct, says, “Wikipedia is ideal for fact-checking noncontroversial information, but even then I try to find a corroborating source. Critical thinking always comes into play.” In addition to Wikipedia, I also use my Random House Webster’s College Dictionary every day. Paper still lives in my life side-by-side with our new InCopy on-screen editing program and Google. Despite spell check and online dictionaries, I find that mighty volume to be my best source. Also in this issue, in “Reframing Gaming” (p. 50), Scott Nicholson refutes some commonly held misconceptions. “Over the past few years gaming has grown in popularity to the point where many call it the next new media,” he observes. Are libraries so desperate to bring in patrons that they are turning to any form of entertainment to lure people through their doors? No, says Nicholson, and he proposes ways to make gaming a natural fit with library services. Big thanks this month to children’s author and library advocate Pat Mora (p. 52), who came to me and asked if she could write a tribute to librarians and in the process explain how she founded Día de los Niños. Her work on behalf of reading is inspiring and what led to her selection to Honorary Membership in ALA, the Association’s highest honor. And last but not least, there’s Tinker Bell, reporting straight from Disneyland on the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim (p. 58), where the formerly mute fairy was just one of dozens of celebrities who lent their support and more than a little touch of Hollywood to the proceedings. Ron Reagan came through with not only his keynote speech but an exclusive Newsmaker interview (p. 43). And American Libraries’ “Speaking Technically” program in the exhibit hall yielded a feature article this year on the future of reference, with company leaders talking about the latest developments in reference publishing and databases. What they had to say may surprise you, if you turn to page 54. z

Adam Bennington (“Dissecting the Web through Wikipedia,” p. 46–49) is a librarian at the State Farm Insurance Corporate Library in Bloomington, Illinois. He received an MLIS from the University of Illinois in 2002 and has previously published articles on podcasts and marketing in Online and Information Outlook. Bennington also holds a master’s degree in history and earned his Chartered Financial Consultant certification from the American College in 2006.

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Gaming, Learning, and Libraries Symposium November 2–4, 2008 Doubletree, Oak Brook, Illinois a

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ALA TechSource, in collaboration with the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL), the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), and the Library & Information Technology Association (LITA), invites you to join us for the year’s most exciting event devoted to gaming and literacy, research, accessibility, and more.

Hurry! Registration will be limited to the first 350 people! 2008 Sessions

Keynote Speakers

www.ala.org (>conferences registration > symposium)

¡ Andrew Bub, GamerDad ¡ Dr. Lawrence Kutner, author of Grand Theft Childhood ¡ Marc Prensky, author of Don’t Bother Me Mom, I’m Learning

Your Registration Includes

Special Guest Speakers ¡ Eli Neiburger, Ann Arbor District Library, author of Gamers...in the Library?? ¡ Scott Nicholson, Syracuse University School of Information Studies Plus, more than 20 sessions for academic, public, and school librarians!

Registration Fee ¡ $300 for ALA members, TechSource subscribers (LTR or SLN), and students ¡ $350 for nonmembers

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Entry to all sessions of the event and breakout rooms Open gaming night with snacks (Sunday, November 2) Continental breakfast Monday and Tuesday Lunch Monday afternoon Complimentary copy of Jenny Levine’s April 2008 issue of Library Technology Reports, “Gaming in Libraries Update: Broadening the Intersections” ¡ All the fun, gaming, and learning you can handle!

Hotel Doubletree Oak Brook is offering a special rate when you use special code: CHIOADT-ALA-20081101. Reserve your room today at 1-630-472-6000, or online at www.Doubletree.com.

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2008 Symposium sponsored in part by The Verizon Foundation

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Masthead | Ad Index What’s new on

AL Online

n NEW! Anaheim Wrapup.

The 2008 ALA Annual Conference in California brought 22,000 library folk together with celebs, authors, and a bevy of events and programs. Watch a rapid recap in four minutes and 12 seconds. n News stories posted as they

break. n Photos in the news. n Reader Forum online:

Comment on issues and controversies. n AL Direct: What to do if you’re

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; contact Charisse Perkins, 800-545-2433 x4286. 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.

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auguat 2008

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ALA | President’s Message

Advocating Together Gaining success through concerted efforts

libraries is an issue month, ALA memWorking for everyone who bers gathered to together we breathes air or brainstorm about can make drinks water. Our the things our libraries constitute libraries have in the case for an information common, the esseninvesting in ecosystem. If part tials of successful all libraries so we can of that system is collaborations, lesweak or threatcontribute even more to sons learned from ened, the whole is past efforts, and our communities. weak or threatideas for the future. ened. Taking those Our library associations don’t alideas, a task force of experienced, ways reflect that integrated ecosysenergetic, creative advocates also tem. Some states have multiple met during Annual Conference and library associations representing the began work on an advocacy approach interests of various types of that promotes a healthy library infolibraries. They advocate for the isecosystem. Chaired by past ALA sues most important to their mempresident Carol Brey-Casiano, the bers, rarely with the support or task force will work with members, collaboration of other associations. ALA state chapters, and others to Our voice will be stronger and our identify interests that transcend results more gratifying if we unite to type-of-library differences and isadvance every issue that affects any sues that demonstrate the library part of the library ecology. ecosystem’s interdependence. It will Technological change and other also highlight and analyze successful forces continually increase society’s collaborations between state associneed for continuing education. No ations that represent different segagency delivers lifelong learning op- ments of that ecosystem. The task portunities as well as libraries. force will develop case studies and School, public, community college, strategies to help library advocates and university libraries meet varied at every level create effective coalineeds throughout the life span. Soci- tions that leverage their collective ety’s lifelong learning imperative strengths. gives our libraries common cause Our libraries’ contributions to and a shared opportunity to convince their communities are incredible. the public, decision-makers, and Working together we can make the funders that they also have a stake in case for investing in all libraries so the success of every library. we can contribute even more to our ALA has a long and proud history communities. z of library advocacy. Each year brings ALA President JIM RETTIG is university the opportunity to strengthen our librarian at Boatwright Memorial Library, University of Richmond in Virginia. advocacy program. In Anaheim last

american libraries

august 2008

n June 26, 2007, dozens of librarians took a break from their usual ALA Annual Conference activities to rally outdoors on Capitol Hill to support the SKILLs (Strengthening Kids’ Interest in Learning and Libraries) Act. SKILLs will help ensure that every school employs a state-certified school library media specialist. Afterwards, a school librarian expressed surprise that I cared about this issue. Why wouldn’t I care? Abundant research demonstrates that school librarians contribute to students’ academic achievement. Nevertheless, school systems eliminate librarian positions, leaving children behind. If a community loses its school librarians, students and parents turn to their public library to fill the void its school librarians can’t. When students lacking library experience reach college, academic librarians provide remedial lessons so they won’t be left behind at that level. All of us have a stake in the success of every library. Our advocacy efforts must support all types of libraries. Just as SKILLs, ostensibly a school library issue, affects all of our libraries, so do other seemingly narrow issues. Legislation to make it possible to use orphaned works protected by copyright will benefit teachers, entertainers, and others, not just academic researchers. Growing egovernment services primarily affect public libraries; however. citizens also turn to academic libraries for these services. Restoring EPA

by Jim Rettig

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OPINION | Reader Forum

Letters and Comments a print book. In the case of the Sony While I commend the editors for feae-book reader, it stores books, music, turing e-books in a cover story (“The documents, and photos, making it a Elusive E-Book,” May, p. 44–48), it’s multiuse device. Whether some read unfortunate the chosen article does e-books in addition to print is hardly little to assist those trying to make the point. Hopefully librarians put ussense of this new format. Stephen ers before personal preferences. Sottong doesn’t hide his preference Will electronic books replace for the printed book. If his intent print books in libraries? Probably was to convince, with old and incomnot. If they do, it won’t be because plete research findings, he fails. e-books work better than print. More There has been a rise in U.S. e-book likely it will be because libraries no sales. Although this increase may not longer have the resources—funds, signal the end of the print book, it staff, or space—to manage and maincannot be ignored or omitted. With tain large print-book collections. a variety of e-book platforms and Reeta Sinha YBP Library Services more available content since the 2001 Las Vegas, Nevada California State University E-book Pilot Project, recent experience may differ and be more relevant. Just a I got no sense that Mr. Sottong has few years can make a world of difactually read a book on a Kindle, an ference in e-book iRex, or a Cybook content and usage. Gen3. There was no I got no sense that Comparing e-book mention of the fact that Mr. Sottong has readers, computer these new e-readers actually read a monitors, and print use e-ink technology in pages, Sottong astheir screens, and are book on a Kindle, sumes users approach far easier on the eyes an iRex, or a each in exactly the compared to computer Cybook Gen3. same way and claims screens. libraries won’t get usMr. Sottong asks ers to read lengthy texts on screens. “Who would spend $350 for a Perhaps that’s not the intent. Maybe dedicated reader?” I would ask how librarians want to present users many Kindles, Cybook Gen3s, and iRex with content and access options. readers have been sold? The numbers, Sottong’s criticism of portable readif included in the article, might have ers is also misleading. At least two refuted Mr. Sottong’s statement. of the readers currently available are What are the benefits of such just shy of most paperbacks in dimenreaders? I can download books sion and have resolution similar to instantly. I save trees. I save gas by not and can be read at the same angle as driving to the library or by shipping

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.

books. All of this makes for green technology. I also do not have to store paper books in my house, keeping it clutter-free. Regarding Mr. Sottong’s question of the necessity of storing hundreds of books on an e-reader, perhaps he could address this to those who have large libraries of their favorite print books in their homes. People will always care about the books they read and many people reread their favorites. Some e-book retailers allow purchasers to register more than one reading device, making it possible for family members to share e-books as well. Mr. Sottong alludes to the fact that there is not one standard e-book format for readers. The books in Mobipocket formats are widely available online. As more e-book readers sell, this format’s popularity will increase. He also talks about NetLibrary’s online e-book format, as well as other similar services. These are not true e-books, with often clunky and slow-to-read formats. The overall article lacked depth and factual information and came off more as an opinion piece. As a fellow engineer, I urge Mr. Sottong to research his articles more fully. Annette Griessman, Kokomo, Indiana

Basics of Hiring and Firing Regarding Mary Pergander’s Working Knowledge column “Failure to Perform,” (Apr., p. 79), there are times when hesitancy to fire an individual is more prudent than cowardly. While I suspect that thousands of public libraries across the United States may lack basic personnel policies,

american libraries

august 2008

E-book Views Disputed

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If you are trying to sell books to librarians, the image hardly seems like the way to do it. The cover isn’t reflective of books in libraries or book stacks, or, I venture to guess, the impression that the majority of ALA members want to project in terms of how we value information held in the form of books. Jeanne Drewes Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Oak Lawn (Ill.) Public Library

Respect for Book Handling

George Elmore’s letter to the Gainesville Sun in Public Perception is not representative of the community’s attitude to their library (May, p. 42). While Mr. Elmore doesn’t value public libraries, readers should not infer the majority of residents here share his view. Mr. Elmore has the undeniable right to voice his opinion, but opinion is not fact. For years, the Alachua County Library District (ACLD) has been a leader in providing responsive and fiscally responsible library services to this region. Compared to other Florida

I recently received my 2008 spring/ summer ALA Editions catalog and was astonished by the cover and repeating image of piles of books that looked as though they had been through an earthquake. Is this the message ALA wants to send about the care and handling of books? Is this a message about the importance of books when they are mashed and piled like things ready for a dumpster? Maybe if the image had been linked to disaster recovery or planning, but no, front and center as if ALA Editions

Alachua Views Disputed

county public libraries, ACLD has the highest number of items borrowed per capita, the second-highest active cardholders per capita, and consistently ranks in the top 10 in nearly all State Library of Florida statistical categories. ACLD is one of just four Florida public libraries to offer a free library card to any state resident. In these difficult financial times, few public libraries can match ACLD. The average homeowner pays no more in library property tax this year than in FY2000 because ACLD millage has been methodically reduced. For three consecutive years ACLD has received the Government Finance Officers Association’s Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting. In April, Standard and Poor’s raised our bond rating three levels, from A to AA. Since the passage of Amendment 1 for local property tax reform in Florida, no other local government has had a bond rating increase of this magnitude. It is unfortunate there was not enough room in American Libraries to print the dozens of unsolicited letters written to the Gainesville Sun challenging Mr. Elmore. And there is not enough room in my letter to

august 2008

“The exercise books are up those three flights of stairs.”

James B. Casey,

professional tools and resources were meant to be just those pieces, stored just that way. I know that the ALA’s Association for Library Collections and Technical Services Preservation and Reformatting Section is one small section among many in ALA, but care and handling of our paper-based collections is the task of every librarian who uses books, who teaches from books, or who has book stacks in their libraries.

american libraries

position descriptions,and regularly scheduled performance evaluations, it is also far from implausible that personal disagreements and jealousies can inspire sometimes groundless accusations of incompetency. We see such charges every day in politics from the local to the national levels. Persons of the opposing political party or those librarians who fail to cancel a fine or hire a certain relative must be incapable of holding their jobs and should be axed without further delay. In order to firmly separate the histrionic and emotionally charged accusations of the political realm from the objective and thoughtful decisions that we hope are made in personnel matters, libraries must have a human resources program in place where hiring and firing determinations are based upon the specific requirements of the positions involved and the service objectives desired. Matters of personnel performance should also remain confidential and not be bandied about for public consumption at board meetings and in the media. Without such a basic structure in place to sustain the confidentiality and objectivity of personnel issues, libraries could become fertile ground for patronage appointments and arbitrary firings.

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OPINION | Reader Forum that can be handled for a hug. However, Limit the reams online; limit the reams if we canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do these of glossy paper of glossy paper schwag relatively small things schwag handed Sol M. Hirsch handed out by vendors at the very least, Alachua County (Fla.) Library District to front and back handwe should seriously out by library outs, where they can list consider Hargerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vendors. Fewer, Greener Conferences URLs to check for further more radical and I have not attended an ALA conferinformation; less packagentirely approprience in years precisely because of the ing and non-biodegradable waste by ate proposal to â&#x20AC;&#x153;rethink the need carbon footprint issue raised by Elaine food vendors; no plastic water bottles for national gatheringsâ&#x20AC;? entirely. Hargerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s On My Mind piece (Apr., p. smaller than one gallon, use these to I find it ironic sending this to 35). At the very least, ALA should fill biodegradable cups and personal the glossy-paper version of Amerimake the Midwinter Meeting a virtual reusable water bottles; and more emcan Libraries, which seems to be a conference and hold division conferphasis on state and local associations. wasteful anachronism now that we ences every two years with intervenIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d hate to give up on in-person have the wonderful AL Online. ing virtual conferences. conferences entirely since the interJim Dwyer California State University, Chico. Other green conference ideas personal contact cannot be replicated include: distribute nothing in paper online. An emoticon is no replacement Corrections: In the June/July issue: Ozzie Smith, in the photo on p. 19, is second from left, and Mariner baseball Continue the conversation at al.ala.org/forum/ player Miguel Batistaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name was misspelled (p. 18). describe the many ways ACLD is recognized by residents for making this community a great place to live.

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august 2008

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SHOP ONLINE: www.alastore.ala.org | TOLL-FREE: 1-866-SHOP-ALA | FAX: 770-280-4155 | MAIL: American Library Association, P.O. Box 932501, Atlanta, GA 31193-2501 SHOP ONLINE: www.alastore.ala.org | TOLL-FREE: 1-866-SHOP-ALA | FAX: 770-280-4155 | MAIL: American Library Association, P.O. Box 932501, Atlanta, GA 31193-2501

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NEWS | ALA

RadioShack Partnership Aimed at Digital TV Changes

LA and RadioShack Corporation have announced a nationwide initiative to help educate the public about the Digital Television (DTV) transition set to begin at noon, September 8, in the test market of Wilmington, North Carolina, and in all 50 states and Puerto Rico February 17, 2009. RadioShack’s 4,500 company stores and many of the 1,000-plus participating franchise stores will offer employees to 16,000 public libraries to assist with patron educational sessions. The sessions will cover why the

digital television transition is occurring, the benefits it offers television viewers, what is needed to continue receiving over-the-air television broadcasts after the conversion occurs, and how to apply for up to two $40 government coupons per household to help reduce the costs of obtaining a digital converter box. RadioShack’s education outreach will also include demonstrations on how to successfully hook up a digital converter box to an analog television set. ALA members who wish to host a DTV presentation can visit www.ala

ALA’s American Association of School Librarians (AASL) has been awarded an additional $520,000 to continue “Beyond Words: The Dollar General School Library Relief Program.” The program is administered by AASL in collaboration with the National Education Association. Funded by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, “Beyond Words” provides grant dollars to public schools affected by disasters to rebuild and expand library media programs. The grants can be used to defray the cost of replacing or supplementing books, media, or equipment in the school library media center. Funds will be available June 2008 to May 2010. Since its inception in 2006, a total of 85 grants worth more than $750,000

have been awarded to school libraries, including victims of hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. Other recipients were victims of fire, water damage, and other natural disasters. To be eligible, applicants must be located within 20 miles of a Dollar General store, distribution center, or corporate office and must represent public schools serving students in pre-K through grade 12. Applicants must have lost their building or incurred substantial damage or hardship due to a natural disaster, fire, or an act recognized by the federal government as terrorism. The school must have also absorbed a significant number of displaced or evacuated students. Visit www.ala.org/aasl for more information.

DR. in thE House

Dr. Isabel, author and Univision Radio WADO advice show host, signs copies of her book Love, Success, and Happiness April 30 at the Jackson Heights branch of New York’s Queens Library to mark El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day), the annual celebration of children, families, cultures, and reading sponsored by ALA’s Association for Library Services to Children and the ALA affiliate Reforma.

american libraries

august 2008

Dollar General Continues School Library Funding

.org/dtv. In certain markets, RadioShack employees will be available to host presentations for Spanish-speaking patrons. RadioShack and ALA are members of the DTV Transition Coalition. ALA has participated in several educational workshops at the FCC and FTC, and RadioShack has also participated in several public education events. RadioShack has been fulfilling in-store requests for digital converter boxes since February. The boxes can be ordered by calling 1-877-RS-DTV-4U. There is no shipping charge.

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Digital Preservation Definition Announced

Abdul-Jabbar Library Card Month Chair

What suggestions do you have for members with limited budgets to get more involved in the Association? ALA is working hard to have more virtual member involvement through electronic participation and I support that effort. We must

What role do you see ALA playing in bringing new librarians to the field? As an association, we must continue recruitment efforts involving all of our divisions and member units, encouraging them to make recruitment to our profession a priority if they haven’t already done so. Recruitment must become everyone’s responsibility. How can ALA continue to diversify its membership base in key positions? The literature on diversity—gender, ethnic/racial, sexual orientation, differently-abled, religious— tells us that people tend to be more inclusive of folks that are more like them. For ALA members who are already in leadership positions, there is a need to walk the walk and appoint, nominate, and engage members who would bring diversity into their respective ALA environments. I’m talking about stepping out of one’s comfort zone. If we pride ourselves in providing access to all types of diversity of information, then we should be equally proud of accepting all types of diversity in leadership positions within ALA. —P.A.G.

2008 honorary chair of September’s Library Card Sign-Up Month. Abdul-Jabbar, who is also featured in a new ALA READ poster, has recorded an audiobook, On the

Shoulders of Giants: My Journey through the Harlem Renaissance. He has recorded radio PSAs on behalf of Library Card Sign-Up Month and a print PSA with his

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame and a six-time NBA champion, is the

American Libraries: What will be your focus as ALA’s new leader? CAMILA ALIRE: Advocacy will be my primary initiative. By focusing on that, I will continue the work of previous ALA presidents in acknowledging advocacy not only as one of ALA’s strategic goals but also making it part of our everyday ALA life. We started by Camila Alire funding the ALA Advocacy Office, but we need to get to the point where advocacy is no longer an initiative but an institution within the Association.

be willing to think outside the box in terms of how we engage virtual members. We now have to provide a different mechanism for engaging members.

august 2008

ALA’s 2006–07 Annual Report is now available online—click “Our Association,” then “Annual Report” in the navigation menu. It includes such highlights as: work accomplished by ALA’s Washington Office, including Congress ordering the Environmental Protection Agency to restore its library network, and the Association’s role in the debate over the use of National Security Letters; ALA Past President Leslie Burger’s transformation summit and related programs; “Gathering at the Waters: Embracing Our Spirits, Telling Our Stories,” the first Joint Conference of Librarians of Color; and the creation of ilovelibraries.org.

amila Alire, University of New Mexico and Colorado State University dean emerita, was elected ALA vice president/ president elect this spring (AL, June/July, p. 14). She will take over as the Association’s head at the conclusion of the 2009 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago.

2006–07 ALA Annual Report Released

american libraries

ALA’s Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS) Preservation and Reformatting Section (PARS) has published a definition of digital preservation, available online at www.ala.org/alcts. The definition was developed to promote an understanding of digital preservation within the library community as well as the associated allied professions and user communities. It was drafted by the PARS Digital Preservation Discussion Group, which formed at ALA’s 2007 Midwinter Meeting. The definition, which will be reviewed and updated as needed, is being incorporated into the forthcoming revision of the ALA Preservation Policy that PARS is currently developing.

AL Interview:

Alire to Focus on Advocacy

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NEWS | ALA likeness will be offered to a variety of national magazines. For more information, visit www .ala.org/pio.

Accreditation Actions Affect Four Programs

Following actions taken at the 2008 ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, ALA’s Committee on Accreditation has announced that continued accreditation status has been granted to the Master of Information Sciences program offered by the University of Puerto Rico. Continued accreditation status and release from conditional status has granted to the Master of Library and Information Science offered by Dominican Uni-

versity in Illinois and the Master of Library Science offered by Emporia State University in Kansas. Continued conditional accreditation was granted to the Master of Library and Information Studies offered by the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. A complete list of programs and degrees accredited by ALA can be found at www.ala.org/lisdir.

Tampa Site of Next “Lawyers for Libraries” ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF ) will present the next “Lawyers for Libraries” training institute—the 12th in a series—November 14 in Tampa, Florida.

Al Smitley (right), winner of ALA’s “Batting for Literacy @ your library” award, receives a commemorative bat from Anna Wells, director of Museum Education at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, June 16. He also received a trip for two to the 2008 Hall of Fame Game as well as a behind-the-scenes tour of the museum and archives where he was allowed to hold Babe Ruth’s bat and jersey. The program is part of “Step Up to the Plate @ your library” developed by ALA and the Hall of Fame.

“Picturing America” Recipients Named

A total of 26,320 schools and public libraries will receive “Picturing America,” a free National Endowment for the Humanities initiative designed to help teach American history and culture. The project is administered by ALA’s Public Programs Office. Award recipients will receive 40 reproductions of American art and a teachers resource book to facilitate the use of the works of art in core subjects. Additional educational resources are available at picturing america.neh.gov. Visit the website for a complete list of recipient schools and public libraries. The application deadline for the next round of “Picturing America” grants is October 31.

AL Focus Celebrates First Birthday

American Libraries Focus (ALF), the video home of American Libraries magazine, is celebrating its first year with the posting of its most popular videos in the “Featured Video” and “Editor’s Picks” section at alfocus.ala.org. The top 10 videos are: National Library Week: Reference Desk; Magnum, A.L.; Annual 2007 Wrap-

american libraries

august 2008

Batter up!

The institute is primarily intended to equip attorneys with tools they need to defend the First Amendment in libraries. Participants will be instructed by attorneys specializing in First Amendment law and will be eligible for continuing legal education credits. “Lawyers for Libraries” is open to licensed, practicing attorneys retained to represent or advise libraries on legal issues. Trustees or board members who are responsible for establishing library policy may also attend. Librarians may attend if accompanied by a library attorney. To register, visit www.ala.org/ lawyers. The cost is $395 for one person and $745 for two people.

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ACRL Announces Conference Speakers

Early-bird registration ends September 1 for the inaugural Young Adult Literature Symposium scheduled for November 7–9 in Nashville, Tennessee, sponsored by ALA’s Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). Funded in part by the William C. Morris Endowment, the symposium will take place biennially beginning this year. The 2008 theme is “How We Read Now.” Early-bird registration is $195 for YALSA, Tennessee Library Association, and Tennessee Association of School Librarians members; $245, ALA members; $300, nonmembers; and $50, students, who must be enrolled full-time in a library and information science program. The preconference is an additional $75. For more information, visit www .ala.org/yalitsymposium.

New “Create Change” Campaign Material

A first in a series of Create Change campaign bookmarks have been created by ALA’s Association of Col-

Calendar ALA Events Sep. 18–20: Association for Library Service to Children Institute, Salt Lake City, www.ala.org/alsc. Sep. 18–21: Reforma: The National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking National Conference, www.reforma.org. Sep. 27–Oct. 4: Banned Books Week, www.ala.org/bbooks. Oct. 16–19: Library and Information Technology Association National Forum, Cincinnati, www.lita.org. Oct. 17–19: American Association of School Librarians Fall Forum, Oak Brook, Illinois, www.ala.org/aasl. Nov. 7–9: Young Adult Library Services Association Young Adult Literature Symposium, Nashville, Tennessee, www .ala.org/yalsa. Jan. 23–28, 2009: Midwinter Meeting, Denver. Visit www.ala.org/ala .alonline/calendar/calendar .cfm for American Libraries’ full calendar of library events.

ALA’s Association of College and Research Libraries has announced its lineup of invited paper presenters for the division’s 14th national conference, “Pushing the Edge: Explore, Engage, Extend,” to be held March 12–15, 2009, in Seattle. The speakers are: Marilee J. Bresciani, associate professor of postsecondary education at San Diego State

Former ALA president Sarah Long recently posted her 100th Longshots postcast with blogger (tametheweb. com) and author Michael Stephens. Long, executive director of the North Surburban Library System in Wheeling, Illinois, launched her first podcast in February 2006. Visit www.librarybeat.org/podcast to see Long’s complete show listing.

august 2008

“Technology and Community: Building the Techno Community Library” is the theme of the 2008 ALA Library and Information Technology Association (LITA) National Forum October 17–19 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Programs include keynote presentations by Michael Porter of WebJunction and David Lankes of Syracuse University’s Information Institute, along with more than 30 concurrent sessions and an open progaming night. Two preconference sessions are also planned. Registration fees are $340 for LITA members: $445, ALA members, and $585, nonmembers, until August 15. Additional fees apply for preconferences. To register, visit www.lita.org.

Former ALA President Logs 100th Podcast

lege and Research Libraries, the Association of Research Libraries, and SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition). The bookmarks highlight comments from four researchers: Linda Hutcheon, University of Toronto; David Morrison, University of Cali-

LITA Forum Focuses on Techno Libraries

University and faculty coordinator of the master’s and doctorate in postsecondary educational leadership; Peter Hernon, professor at Simmons College in Boston; and Elson S. Floyd, president of Washington State University. For more information, visit www .acrl.org/seattle. Registration will open in mid-to-late September 2008.

american libraries

up; Short Pencil Saga; Wheel of Confusion #1; We’ve Been Everywhere; Welcome to Anaheim—ALA Annual Conference 2008 Preview; FBI Whistleblower Answers Questions; A Conversation with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; and Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton. ALF has recently created a YouTube version of the website at www .youtube.com/user/AmLibraryAssociation. All videos are now iPodcompatible and available for download in your choice of three formats: Quicktime, MPEG-4, and Flash. ALF Editor Daniel Kraus, who is also a filmmaker, is the creative force behind most of the videos.

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NEWS | ALA fornia at Santa Barbara; Carolyn Kenny, Antioch University, Yellow Springs, Ohio; and Gary Ward, University of Vermont, Burlington. Bookmark comments are drawn from full-length interviews published on the Create Change website (www.createchange.org ). Libraries are invited to print directly from the website in the easy-to-use letter-size format or to download the bookmarks and modify them as needed. The Create Change campaign targets scholars in different disciplines with messages about the benefits of wider research sharing.

A May 20 ALA Public Information Office blog video provides information about the READ poster series (www.pio.ala.org/visibility). It features Rachel Johnson, ALA Graphics director of products and promotions, discussing NBA star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ‘s new READ poster produced for Library Card Sign-up Month, in which he is seen holding The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. She also discusses how Graphics chooses celebrities for the posters. Johnson said suggestions for READ poster celebrities can be sent to graphicsmarketing@ala.org. Libraries can also order a CD through the ALA Store at www .alastore.ala.org that will enable them to create their own READ posters. In other news, PIO has also produced a redesigned library funding website at www.ala.org/libraryfunding. Under the “Funding Impacts by State” section, users can fill out a form to have their information included in a searchable database.

CALA Conducts Self Assessment Survey

The Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA), an ALA

NEW NAME FOR NEXT HALF CENTURY In 2007, the Library Administration and Management Association (LAMA) celebrated its 50th anniversary. Members looked to the future this year and voted to change the association’s name to the Library Leadership and Management Association (LLAMA) effective September 1 to emphasize the role in developing present and future library leaders. LLAMA serves more than 5,000 members from all types of libraries who value the opportunities for learning that come from associating with professional peers. The mission is to encourage and nurture current and future library leaders, and to develop and promote outstanding leadership and management practices. At the heart of LLAMA’s activities are its seven sections or special interest groups that represent all aspects of library management. They are: the Buildings and Equipment Section (BES); the Fund Raising and Financial Development Section; the Human Resources Section; the Library Organization and Management Section; the Measurement, Assessment, and Evaluation Section; the Public Relations and Marketing Section (PRMS); and the Systems and Services Section LLAMA is also home to several major awards within ALA. BES sponsors the ALA/American Institute of Architects Library Building Awards that encourage excellence in the architectural design and planning of libraries, and the ALA/International Interior Design Award library interior design competition that honors excellence in library interior design. These two awards alternate years. A total of 11 design firms were recognized this year for their library interior design work. PRMS coordinates the John Cotton Dana Library Awards, sponsored by H. W. Wilson, which honor outstanding library public relations. Recipient libraries are recognized with $5,000 grants from the H. W. Wilson Foundation. In 2009, LLAMA will be looking to the future with new strategic plan initiatives, a revised marketing plan, and a revamped website. For more information or to join, visit www.ala.org/llama. —Kerry Ward, executive director

Each month the Association’s Associations spotlights the activities and agenda of one of ALA’s divisions. Next month: Library and Information Technology Association

affiliate, has released the results of a nearly yearlong study focused on improving the member-supported organization. Results of the first such assessment show that the desire for professional development ranks as the top reason for joining. The survey also found reasons for

members’ lack of active participation, including existing commitments to other ALA or state association committees, the threeyear term commitment, and lack of experience. For more information, visit www .cala-web.org. ❚

american libraries

august 2008

Video Provides READ Poster Tips

THE ASSOCIATION’S ASSOCIATIONS: LLAMA

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Special Report | ALA

Library Advocates Converge on the Capital

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| american libraries

august 2008

ore than 400 librarfaxing their members of Congress. Congress and their staffs. ians and library supThis year marked a first for Virtual The Legislative Day events ended porters converged Legislative Day, as the event made with a reception where attendees on Washington, D.C., swapped stories and mingled with its way into the online environment May 13–14 for the American LiSecond Life. members of Congress; this year’s rebrary Association’s 34th annual In recognition of his tireless work ception attracted several, including National Library in support of public libraries, school Sens. Jack Reed (D“Vote for Libraries!” R.I.) and Mike Enzi Legislative Day. libraries, and media centers in the They came from as United States, Representative Ver(R-Wyo.) and Rep. was the message far away as Hawaii non J. Ehlers (R-Mich.) was presentChris Van Hollen (Dof the day and the and from a variety ed with the Friends of Libraries Md.). The reception enthusiastic crowd of libraries to lobby U.S.A. 2008 Public Service Award. took place in the Rustheir members of Rep. Ehlers has been a strong advosell Senate Office set out to bring Congress on such cate for libraries and librarians in Building’s historic that message to issues as copyright, Caucus Room, the old- the Congress. He has been a leader telecommunications, their senators and on important legislative efforts, inest Senate assembly and funding. “Vote cluding bills to fill an anticipated room outside the Caprepresentatives. for Libraries!” was itol building. shortage of librarians and to improve the message of the school libraries and media centers. Librarians and liday and the enthusiastic crowd set brary supporters who couldn’t make In addition, Ehlers has endorsed a out to bring that message to their number of federal grant applications it to D.C. but still wanted to particisenators and representatives. pate opted for Virtual Library Legis- by libraries and schools in his disNational Library Legislative Day lative Day by e-mailing, calling, and trict so that they may receive funding is actually a two-day event and beRepresentative Vernon J. Ehlers gins with a briefing day designed to visits with ALA President-elect bring participants up to speed on Camila Alire. Ehlers received the Public Service Award. the wide variety of federal issues, with speakers from the ALA Washington Office and the lobbying firm of Van Scoyoc Associates, as well as several ALA consultants, including Lisa Graves from the Center for National Security Studies. The guest speaker was Nancy Tate, executive director of the League of Women Voters of the United States and the League of Women Voters Education Fund. The second day was National Library Legislative Day itself, and, prepped by a day of briefings and armed with half-a-dozen issue briefs supplied by the ALA Washington Office, the library advoLearn more at www.ala.org/washoff. cates talked shop with members of

7/21/2008 2:45:11 PM

ALA | Special Report

trons or offer as handouts in workshops about the transition. Online links and video segments will also be available for libraries to provide on the Web. Public television stations will supply the experts to serve as presenters at library events and to help librarians answer questions from their patrons. The local phase of the initiative will launch in October. On July 1, over 1,500 messages were sent to Congress about the importance of funding libraries!

Anaheim follow-up

| american libraries

Above: Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) listens to Illinois library representatives. Right: Three members of Illinois’ North Suburban Library System were awarded $500 scholarships to attend National Library Legislative Day (from left), Jill Jensen, Michael Neubeck, and Adelaide Rowe.

Photos: ALA Washington Office, Illinois Library Association

Following up on the momentum of National Library Legislative Day, the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim (see page 58) featured a Virtual Library Day on the Hill, whereby conference attendees e-mailed and faxed their members of Congress using computer terminals located on the exhibit floor. National Basketball Association Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led the lobbying effort and wrote his own members of Congress in the Internet Room. He was joined by library supporters from across the country, all calling attention to the immense value of today’s libraries. —Andy Bridges, communications officer, ALA Washington Office

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ents its Public Service Award each year to one U.S. representative or senator who has worked in support of libraries. Frances E. Wielin received the ALA/ White House Conference on Library and Information Services Taskforce National Library Legislative Day Award. A trustee in the Palos Verdes (Calif.) Library DisALA’s Washington Office provided plenty of buttons and trict, Wielin has ribbons for library advocates to take to the Senate and House been an active offices during National Library Legislative Day. library supporter for for improved programs and resourc- more than a decade. ALA President Loriene Roy es to promote reading and literacy. joined representatives from the As“I am honored that Friends of Libraries U.S.A. chose to present me sociation of Public Television Stations and the Public Broadcasting with this award. Libraries are an asService for a press conference at the set to communities in my district National Press Club to provide and nationwide, and I will continue more information about a library to support them through my work in partnership to deliver straightforCongress,” said Ehlers. “I was ward, uncomplicated answers to home-schooled as a child due to illness, and my constant trips to the lo- communities nationwide about the cal library, and my voracious reading approaching digital television tranof library books, gave an outstanding sition. ALA, APTS, and PBS plan to create and distribute a resource kit boost to my home schooling. I will that includes informative materials always be grateful for that.” libraries can provide to their paFriends of Libraries U.S.A. pres-

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Special Report | ALA

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to celebrate teen reading when working with the Newspapers in youth are best able to participate. Education project to create a A total of 118 municipal systems 12-page tabloid about Teen Read and branches in Oklahoma have Month for distribution in mid-Sepsigned on for Teen Read Month. tember at Encyclo-Media, the OklaButler has created a wiki at cya. homa state educational conference. oklibshare.org/wiki/ that includes YALSA President Sarah Cornish bibliographies, crafts and activity Debraski called Oklahoma’s deciideas, puzzles, and other informasion to create Teen Read Month intion that will help libraries plan spiring. their events. “It’s amazing that they’ve taken She has also something as established as Teen included Save Read Week and found a way to make the Date cards it their own,” Debraski explained. for Teen Read “Teen Read Week has provided Month with something consistent and popular the summer for libraries to sink their teeth into reading inforand Oklahoma’s program allows mation she them to reach even more has distributlibrarians, educators, parents, and ed to the liteens.” braries. While Butler will make a final deMirrorstone Books, a subsidiary of cision based on feedback from parWizards of the Coast and 2007 and ticipating librarians, she hopes to 2008 TRW sponsor, donated galleys to make Teen Read Month an annual all participating libraries. Teens are event in Oklahoma and YALSA currently reading Sucks hopes that other state to Be Me: The All-True libraries will follow “Teen Read Week Confessions of Mina suit. “I think we’re gohas provided Hamilton, Teen Vampire ing to continue to do (maybe) and are subthis,” she added. something mitting questions to “We’re getting teens in consistent and Butler. In September, the library, engaging popular for author Kimberly Pauley in activities they want will answer teens’ to do, and taking adlibraries to sink questions in an online vantage of the services their teeth into.” chat. their libraries have. I — YALSA President In addition, Butler can’t see any reason to Sarah Cornish Debraski is working with P. C. stop!” and Kristin Cast, Tulsa For more informaresidents and authors of the popular tion and to register for the 2008 TRW House of Night series, to mount a celebration October 12–18, “Books state authors tour. She’s also asked with Bite @ your library,” visit www. Oklahoma’s governor to proclaim ala.org/teenread.—Stephanie Kuenn, October as Teen Read Month and is YALSA communications specialist

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s Teen Read Week (TRW), the annual literacy initiative from ALA’s Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), turns 10 this year, libraries across the country continue to celebrate teens and reading— and they’re finding new ways to encourage youth to read for the fun of it. In 2007, Adrienne Butler, youth services consultant for the Oklahoma Department of Libraries, attended a breakfast during ALA’s Annual Conference to learn how consortia and state libraries could encourage more libraries to participate in TRW. Now, after consultations with YALSA and libraries in Butler’s home state, Oklahoma will be celebrating its first statewide Teen Read Month in October. The hope is that Oklahoma can serve as a model for other states to follow. “Our young adult librarians are so excited and I want to keep that level of excitement up,” Butler said. “This is a good opportunity to do so and my librarians were very receptive to the idea.” Butler said TRW, held the third week of October each year, tends to fall during Oklahoma’s fall break in its public schools. So she decided to expand the event to a full month so librarians would have the flexibility

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Ten Years and Counting for Teens and Reading

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NEWS | U.S. & International

Iowa Libraries Bear Brunt of Midwest Floods

plained in the June 23 Gazette. The board has agreed to establish a temporary main site in a former Big Lots store on the unaffected west side of town, and start over in the fall with the 32,000 books on loan at the time of the flood. In the meantime, the West Side branch was providing service, and staff was compiling a wish list of titles that would be posted on the CRPL website. Elsewhere in Cedar Rapids, things looked better than anticipated at the Czech and Slovak Museum and Library, where many materials were moved to higher ground before more than 10 feet of flood water engulfed the building, as well as at the African American Historical Museum and Cultural Center of Iowa. University of Iowa Preservation Librarian Nancy E. Kraft e-mailed the American Library

Association’s Preservation Administration Discussion Group list June 17 that she was “talking through the recovery process” with officials from both museums. The Chicago Conservation Center took charge of materials needing expert attention. The University of Iowa resumed its summer school term June 23, less than two weeks after the Iowa River, which winds through the campus, wreaked havoc on both banks, particularly the fine arts campus on the eastern side. The Main Library did not reopen until July 9 and the Art and Music libraries remained closed as of mid-July. In the Main Library, several inches of water seeped June 15 past a fortress of sandbags and through the loading dock into the basement. The water left behind a soggy mess, but

Photo: Tim Schoon, University of Iowa

Precious tomes and other items move upstairs to safety at the University of Iowa Main Library a few days before the basement takes on water.

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he flash flooding in June and early July of river towns in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, and Wisconsin claimed the lives of more than a dozen people, decimated neighborhoods and farmland, and caused damage estimated in the billions of dollars. By the time the inexorable overflow had spilled from the upper Midwest tributaries to the Mississippi River, it was clear that the historic floodwaters had hit libraries in Iowa the hardest. Days of sandbagging could not keep the Cedar River out of Cedar Rapids, Iowa—or its main library and two unique museums. Overflowing barriers on June 12, the floodwaters deluged the main city library, the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library, and the African American Historical Museum and Cultural Center of Iowa, along with more than 100 blocks of the city’s east side. Cedar Rapids Public Library Interim Director Tamara Glise told the Cedar Rapids Gazette July 3 that the main library would remain closed for at least a year due to the damage caused by some five feet of water that poured into the first floor June 12. At first, officials had hoped the library had lost only the one-third of the collection that was submerged, but Glise told the library board June 23 that subsequent mold formation affected all the adult materials. As of mid-July, inspectors were determining whether the children’s collection on the second floor was salvageable. “No one can enter that building without a respirator, a haz-mat suit, gloves, the whole shebang,” Glise ex-

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| american libraries

explaining that the basement had “trying to find information, see picbeen crammed with materials tures of their flooded homes, check edestined for a yet-to-be-built mail.” Ely Public Library Director off-site storage facility. Materials Jennifer Jordebrek described a simireturned downstairs when the li- lar situation since her open-butbrary reopened. leaking library is situated between The Art and Music holdings hard-hit Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. were also moved out of harm’s way a few days before floodwaters Irony in Wisconsin Several libraries in southwest and swept into Art Building West and south central Wisconsin also sufthe Voxman Music Building. To the north, some 18 inches of fered damage. Wisconsin Library water destroyed the wooden inte- Association Executive Director Lisa Strand told American Libraries that rior of New Hartford’s Elizabeth flooding inside affected facilities Rasmussen Martin Memorial Library, making it necessary to gut ranged from several inches to several feet. Libraries that had to close the uninsured facility. Director include the La Valle Public Library Valerie Ballhagen anticipated that as well as the Kraemer Library and recovery would be slow since all Community Center in Plain and the the trustees except one lost their homes in a tornado that hit nearby Lancaster Public Library’s Potosi branch. Parkersburg in May. Damaged libraries that have reThe 130-year-old building near the Turkey River that houses opened are located in Wonewoc, Sparta, and Reedsburg, as well as the the Elkader Public Library “has La Crosse County Library’s Onalaska never had water damage until branch, which endured several inches this year,” Director Jill Sanders said, explaining that although the of water during a remodeling project. Perhaps the grimmest twist of fate south wall facing the river had gripped the Rock Springs Public been reinforced, four feet of waLibrary June 8, when the overflowing ter seeped into the library baseRock River rose almost to the ceiling ment through an adjoining of the library, which was situated in building June 10. Luckily, the lithe basement of the community cenbrary never had to close as staff ter. The day before, an open house had to “haul debris and then Among the casualties of flooded downtown had celebrated the completion of the muck from the basement through Cedar Rapids is the unoccupiable central library and inundated items from the National the library and to the street.” She library’s remodeling. “For the past Czech and Slovak Museum and Library, all of two years, we have been holding added that “the community apwhich await restoration. fundraiser after fundraiser,” Direcpreciates having computers and did little damage to the library’s tor Norma Jean LeMoine said in the access to materials through all the holdings, thanks to a monumental drama [since] much of the downtown July 9 Reedsburg Times-Press. “Now effort by volunteers who relocated we’re back to square one—less than area damage is severe.” films, theses, dissertations, and spesquare one, actually. At least before I Iowans also flocked to the Keck cial collections items from lower Memorial Library in Wapello, said Di- had a space.” shelves in the basement to upper Town officials are determined to rector Llewann Bryant. “We are feelfloors. “Even with hundreds of voling like the Red Cross of libraries” as rebuild the library, although where unteers forming books—moving people who were evacuated from the will be decided after discussions with lines up and down stairs, we still had completely flooded town of Oakville to the Federal Emergency Management to do triage on what could be moved the east go online at the Keck library Agency. —B.G. and what had to stay,” University Librarian Nancy Baker e-mailed the For more details, visit the June 2008 Current News discussion list of the Association of link at www.ala.org/alonline/. Research Libraries Directors June 17,

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NEWS | U.S. & International

Libraries Toppled, Staff Trapped in Devastating Chinese Earthquake

Meishan, Zhuning, Nanchong, Ya’an, and Ziyang (which was newly built) reported cracked walls. At the Mianyang city library, one staff member suffered a leg injury. The prefecture-level city of Guang’an has six libraries; although all reported some damage, no one was injured. Guang’an is the hometown of Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping; at the library named after him, the electricity and water supplies were cut off, the central air conditioning was leaking, and 12 computers and two elevators were damaged. In the county-level city of Mianzhu, the library walls were partially collapsed, but all 10 staff members were safe. The earthquake was also felt in neighboring Gansu Province near Inner Mongolia. On May 19 the Gansu Province Library Association telephoned 17 libraries in the earthquake zone and learned that four library buildings were severely damaged, six library buildings had less-serious cracks, and the other library buildings were untouched. The staff of all 17 libraries were safe, although two library workers’ homes were damaged. The most serious damage in Gansu Province was reported at the Wei County library, where the building was unusable after its foundation sank between one and three stories. One staff member’s house was severely damaged. Cracks were reported at the libraries in Wen, Li, Cheng, Dangchang, Xihe, and Lianglang counties. In the Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in southern Gansu Province, the library buildings in Zhouqu, Tai’an, and Diebu counties suffered cracks. In Tianshua city library, some bookshelves collapsed but the A hardhatted Ginnie Cooper, building escaped damage. Also chief librarian of the District escaping damage were the liof Columbia Public Library, braries in Wushan and Gangu presides over the May 22 counties and the Maiji regiondemolition of the Anacostia al library. Community Library. The The Chinese American antiquated facility, which has Librarians Association has been closed since 2004, was set up a website for donarazed to make way for a statetions to support earthquake of-the-art, 20,000-square-foot recovery efforts in China building scheduled to open in (www.cala-web.org/forms/ spring 2010. earthquakedonation .htm). —G.F.

he 7.9-magnitude earthquake that struck Sichuan Province in western China on the afternoon of May 12 killed more than 40,000 people and left another 5 million homeless. In the week after the quake, the Library Society of China posted information on damage to libraries in the region on its Chinese-language website. The library building in Beichuan County collapsed, burying five staff members under the debris, but all were rescued after being trapped for more than 70 hours. Marcia Zeng, professor at the Kent State University School of Library and Information Science, posted an account of the rescue on professional discussion lists: “The team which rescued Li Chun had to launch three actions because of the still-falling bricks and worked two-plus hours nonstop with their bare hands and used a small knife to cut through the wood pieces around her.” The Library Society of China reported that Li Chun was recovering in Huaxi Hospital in Chengdu. The Sichuan Provincial Library in Chengdu, the capital of the province, consists of a reading building, storage building, and office building. Although the facility suffered collapsed bookshelves, fallen ceilings and bricks, and broken windows, no patrons or staff were injured. Sichuan Province has 21 city libraries, most in the larger, prefecture-level cities. The city libraries in Mianyang and Guangyuan are seriously damaged, as is the Chotian regional library in Guangyuan city. Those in Neijiang,

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No Tears at this teardown

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Financially Strapped Mesa School Board Okays Teacher-Librarian Phase-Out

because “libraries who sell books at Friends sales or on their own and who are selling books that may fall under the definition of ‘sexually explicit’ would fall under the law, as would any library employee or volunteer who is selling the books.” The statute defined sexually explicit as a product or service that appeals to a prurient interest or “is harmful to minors even if the product or service is not intended to be used by or offered to a minor.” “Clearly, a vast array of merchants and materials is implicated by the reach of this statute as written,” Judge Barker wrote. “A romance novel sold at a drugstore, a magazine offering sex advice in a grocery store checkout line, an R-rated DVD sold by a video rental shop, a collection of old Playboy magazines sold by a widow at a garage sale—all incidents of unquestionably

lawful, non-obscene, non-pornographic material being sold to adults— would appear to necessitate registration under the statute.”

Idaho Trustees Apply Harmful-to-Minors Law

In the process of revisiting for the third time whether minors should be denied access to two books about sexuality, the board of the Nampa (Idaho) Public Library approved June 2 policy changes that restrict children’s access to any holdings that may fall under the state’s harmfulto-minors statute. First, trustees voted 3–2 to keep The New Joy of Sex and The Joy of Gay Sex off the shelves and in the director’s office, where patrons must specifically request one of the titles to access it. The board moved the books to the director’s office in

A federal court declared unconstitutional July 1 an Indiana law that required sellers of any materials that could be deemed harmful to minors to register with the secretary of state and pay $250 to be licensed as an adult bookstore. Eleven plaintiffs, ranging from the American Library Association’s Freedom to Read Foundation and the Indiana Museum of Art to the Entertainment Merchants Association, challenged the statute, which had been slated to go into effect on the same day U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker ruled it unconstitutional. Deborah Caldwell-Stone, deputy executive director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, told American Libraries that FTRF joined the suit

affiliates of the American Library Association’s American Association of School Librarians, as well as guidance from ALA’s Office for Library Advocacy and Chapter Relations Office. Inspired by an effort to save media specialists in Spokane that mushroomed into a Washington State campaign for school librarians (AL, May, p. 27), she told AL that FOFA plans to “work with state leaders this legislative session” on the big picture of state-level support.

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Judge Bars Registry for Selling Mature Fare

the superintendent and the board president in private,” Ewbank had to conclude that “unfortunately, they did not choose to meet with me.” “It’s been a tough year for lots of “It’s not over. We’re districts,” Ewbank went on to say, because “the state of Arizona does going to continue not fully fund education.” Nonethe- to do what we can less, she credited “as instrumental both in Mesa and in in making our voices be heard” at the outset a national letter-writing Arizona.” —Ann Ewbank campaign involving most of the state

t’s not over. We’re going to continue to do what we can both in Mesa and in Arizona,” Fund Our Future Arizona (FOFA) spokesperson Ann Ewbank told American Libraries June 27, three days after the Mesa Public School board implemented as part of its FY 2008–09 budget its original three-year plan to replace every school library media specialist in the district with library aides (AL, June/July, p. 28). Librarians will be reassigned in 32 of the system’s 46 schools. Also slashed from the budget to achieve $13 million in savings were the district’s counselors and nurses. Ewbank received an e-mail message June 2 from Mesa Schools Superintendent Debra Duvall rejecting FOFA’s proposed alternative because it was almost $2 million more than the board’s plan. Asserting FOFA’s respect for the board’s “very difficult situation” fiscally, Ewbank said the group returned to district officials with three other alternatives, the most frugal of which “would have saved the same level of expenditure” through a regional model “where one librarian would be responsible for overseeing 5–8 schools.” But after spending two weeks “attempting to meet with

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NEWS | U.S. & International March (AL, Apr., p. 23) by the same 3–2 vote in response to a patron whose quest to have the books removed altogether was first considered by trustees in 2006 (AL, Aug. 2006, p. 14). “I don’t think it’s inappropriate for a community to say, ‘I think we should limit [access],’” board member Kim Keller said. Keller, who wrote the motion to keep the books sequestered, also proposed requiring parental permission for minors to access any books the library may purchase that state law deems “harmful to minors”; that motion also passed 3–2, the Idaho Press-Tribune reported June 3. Trustee Bruce Skaug also introduced a policy that would bar the library from buying movies rated NC-17 or X; it passed 3–1 with one abstention.

Wayne State May Take Over Public Library

After enduring years of cutbacks and closure threats, the Macomb County (Mich.) Library may have found a savior in the form of Wayne State University in nearby Detroit, which is considering a deal to take over operations of the struggling library. Under the plan, Wayne State would lease the building and manage the facility, which supplements the services of local community libraries by specializing in offering research materials as well as items for people who have visual impairments, the Macomb Daily reported June 4. The library’s 13 full-time and 19 part-time staff would be kept on, although as vacancies occur they will be filled by Wayne State employees. Director Darlene LaBelle, who would be replaced under the plan, expressed no regrets since she felt the library would be doomed without the partnership. “I think the basis of the plan is a good, sound one that will ensure the future of the library, which has been under the gun for about five years,” she told American Libraries. The arrangement would also offer a boost to Wayne State’s Library and Information Science Program, which ofKhadisa Bezum and her children Tansina, 6, and fers degrees Tasneem, 1, are among the participants in Queens through the adja(N.Y.) Library’s Family Literacy Program to unveil their cent Macomb Comfamily books at a June 6 book party. The program munity College helps immigrants learn English while acculturating University Center. them to the American education system, and the “This is a win for books that parents and children compile at home the county because detailing their family’s history are the culmination of we’re able to save the year’s work. money,” said county

Hartford Addresses Outcry over Security

The director and board of the Hartford (Conn.) Public Library are confronting charges leveled since mid-May in the Hartford Courant that the Main Library has been increasingly beset with visitors engaging in drug and alcohol use, sexual activity, gang recruiting, and other intimidating behavior. A May 18 story included an allegation that library employees fear retaliation from management if they call the police and are expected instead to handle unruly visitors themselves. HPL Director Louise Blalock responded to the Courant series May 29 on the CBS-TV affiliate WFSB. In the 10-minute segment, Blalock asserted that HPL “has always called police and reported criminal activity.” Emphasizing that “99.9% of all people who come in use the library appropriately,” she said societal ills such as joblessness, poverty, and inadequate mental-health care “are turning up at the doors of our libraries, especially our urban libraries, all across the country,” just as they do in other public spaces such as parks, malls, and public schools. Blalock noted that HPL’s “zero tolerance for

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august 2008

All in the Family Book

Commissioner Paul Gieleghem, who helped negotiate the proposal. “It’s a win for the residents who will see the services preserved. And it’s a win for the whole county, because it means an expansion of higher education opportunities.” Facing a $12-million deficit for 2008, the county considered closing the library in January, for a savings of $2.7 million. In 2005 a county commissioner had proposed selling the facility, calling its prime location in the center of the county too valuable to be occupied by a library. The partnership proposal must be approved by the county library board and the Wayne State board of governors.

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sharing sagas with streaming storytime Busy families served by the Richton Park (Ill.) Public Library need not miss out on its emergent literacy activities any longer. By late August, RPPL will be streaming through its website the first 15–20-minute segment in its LSTA-funded “Story Time Any Time” series, featuring professional storytellers working with a live audience, and will mail DVDs to area families.

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The Sacramento Public Library governing board held a special meeting May 22 to begin formulating a response to a grand jury report that charges both the board and Director Anne Marie Gold with mismanagement and suggests that Gold be re-

other things, “fiscal mismanagement, failure to adequately track and implement financial controls or other management initiatives, lax oversight of subordinates, [and] chronic, long-standing, unresolved morale problems.” The grand jury also recommended replacing Human Resources Director Arevik Bagdassari for “lack of leadership in establishing and implementing personnel policies” and for “repeated abuses of travel and credit card policies.” The grand jury report also contains

Sacramento Board Weighs Scathing Report

placed. Stemming largely from an ongoing investigation into overpayments made to a subcontracting firm co-owned by a library staffer and his wife (AL, May, p. 25–26), the grand jury investigation also looked at larger issues of how the board and the library administration handle supervision, communication, and accountability. Issued May 14 and titled “The Business of Books,” the 28-page report urges the board to “seriously consider removing” Gold for, among

american libraries

bad behavior” is reflected in the 12-month ban imposed on nine people this fiscal year for repeated behavior problems. On June 5 board President Geraldine Sullivan issued a statement that, in response to community concerns, trustees were convening a task force “to examine and address issues of safety and security and internet content” on library premises. Among the goals was “clear communication to customers of what is considered appropriate behavior, as well as additional staff training and policy support to address dealing with security concerns.” But Hartford resident Angel Morales told trustees he wasn’t satisfied. “I have pictures of people viewing pornography, which I’m about to present to federal authorities,” Morales said, according to the June 6 Courant.

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NEWS | U.S. & International abundant criticism of the governing board and made a number of recommendations, among them that the director’s position be filled with “a person with proven business expertise and credentials to operate a business enterprise the size of the Sacramento Public Library system . . . similar to the way in which hospitals used to be headed by a physician and are now led by a professional in Hospital Administration.” The board was given 90 days to respond. Gold told American Libraries that the board had appointed five members to an ad hoc committee to draft a response to the grand jury report for review at the board’s July 24 meeting. “They also appointed a special counsel to provide legal advice to the board about their response,” she said, indicating that she would not resign.

Memphis City Council Nixes Branch Closures

The Memphis (Tenn.) City Council budget committee nixed June 17 Mayor Willie Herenton’s March proposal to transition the Memphis Public Library and Information Cen-

ter from a neighborhood-library system to a regional model by closing five branches for a $2-million savings while appropriating $1 million to buy land on which to build two regional facilities (AL, May, p. 22). The one point on which the mayor’s office and the council agreed was that the downtown Cossitt branch be closed because of its deteriorating condition. The first-ever public library site in Memphis, the original Cossitt facility opened in 1893 and was rebuilt in 1959. Councilman Bill Boyd, who serves on the budget committee, shared with American Libraries a letter he sent concerned constituents about his April fact-finding visit to the sites earmarked for closure. Boyd wrote about his discovery that one of the branches had “in excess of 100,000 visitors in 2007 and another is located in an area which will become increasingly more populated by young families in the immediate future.” Characterizing libraries as “extremely valuable city resources from which the citizens derive a great benefit,” Boyd noted, “Like most of my

Children from Ullon in India’s West Bengal province enjoy the first community library to open there, thanks to the READ (Rural Education and Development) India initiative. Launched June 7, the library is anticipated to serve some 12,000 people and is intended as a gathering place for area residents of many different faiths. It was created with a $40,000 grant from READ India as well as donations from Ullon townspeople. “We wanted it to be a hand up, not a hand out,” READ Founder Andrea Neubauer explained in the June 13 Tahoe Bonanza.

Retail Project Edges Out DCPL Relocation

A plan proposed by former District of Columbia Mayor Anthony Williams to build a new central library on the site of the old convention center has fallen through. Current Mayor Adrian Fenty announced May 12 that the city had reached an agreement with a developer to build a luxury hotel and up to 100,000 square feet of retail space on the site instead, the Washington Post reported May 12. District of Columbia Public Library Chief Information Officer George Williams told American Libraries that DCPL was focusing on revitalizing branch libraries. “The need to provide good neighborhood libraries is greater right now,” he said, noting that the plan to build a new central library was hurt when it was not approved by the city council during Mayor Williams’s 1997–2007 tenure. “What we feel is important is that residents see improvements to the D.C. library system beginning at their neighborhood libraries.” Four branches were closed in 2004 for renovations (AL, Oct. 2006, p. 11–12). DCPL’s Williams said that interim libraries currently serve each of those locations and new buildings for all four will be open in 2010. “Everything is fully

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astride a milestone

colleagues, I have received many letters and phone calls from citizens to express their dismay about the proposal to close libraries” and stated his opposition to closing any branches except for the dilapidated Cossitt, for which “I am pursuing an alternative location.” Opposition to halt Herenton’s plan was so strong that, at a May 14 budget committee meeting, Councilwoman Barbara Swearengen Ware moved to strike the $1 million for regional- library sites before a mayoral official could even present the library budget proposal.

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Batavia (Ill.) Public Library has moved a link to Planned Parenthood’s Teenwire sex education website from the “Young Adult” page on BPL’s website to the general health section of its “Web Reference” page. The board voted 4–2 to move the link July 15 in response to resident Kerry Knott’s request to have it removed from the site entirely. More than 120 people attended the board meeting while picketers walked outside the library carrying signs with anti–Planned Parenthood messages, the Arlington Heights Daily Herald reported July 16. More than 30 of the attendees spoke on the issue, with a majority in favor of removing the link. “I need to implore the board to listen to your constituents,” resident Jennifer Russell argued. “If you are elected to represent the citizens of the library district of Batavia, you need to listen to your constituents” Others equated removing the link with censorship. “I am constitutionally frightened and offended that political agendas are trying to dictate what this library offers,” said resident Susan Tatnall. “Your job is to provide information and avenues of learning and education for this community. It is a slippery slope when you start to limit that information because of the political views of some members of the community.”

OCLC: Marketing May Hike Library Funding

From Awareness to Funding: A Study of Library Support in America, a new report issued by OCLC, examines the potential of a national marketing campaign to increase awareness of the value of public libraries and the need for support for libraries at local, state, and national levels.

Batavia Relocates Sex Education Link

With funding from a $1.2-million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, OCLC partnered with the research and advertising agency Leo Burnett to conduct the research, targeting residents of U.S. communities with populations under 200,000 (90% of the nation’s public libraries serve such communities) and elected officials with responsibility for local library funding. Among the findings from the report: n A library’s most committed funding supporters are not its heaviest library users. n Perceptions of librarians are an important predictor of library funding support. n Voters who see the library as “transformational” Kyle Turpin, webmaster at as opposed to “informationHancock County (Ind.) Public al” are more likely to inLibrary, jams with his crease taxes in its support. progressive rock band Sins of n Increasing support for libraries may not necessarily Alchemy June 6 during an mean a trade-off with finanafter-hours concert for the cial support for other public library’s summer reading club. services. n Targeting marketing messages to the right segments of the support campaign could make a difvoting public is key to driving inference.” creased support for U.S. public liThe document is available on braries. OCLC’s website (www.oclc.org/ “For many public libraries, the reports/funding/default.htm). De need to grow awareness and mindRosa and Jenny Johnson, OCLC execshare is intensifying as library anutive director of branding and marnual operating funds are not keting services, gave a presentation on the report at ALA’s Annual Conkeeping pace with the services and resources needed to meet their mis- ference (see p. 62–63). sion,” says OCLC Vice President for Filtering Fracas the Americas Cathy De Rosa in her introduction to the report, adding in San Jose that the results of the survey are In spite of the San Jose (Calif.) Pubpromising: “Findings suggest that lic Library’s detailed report in April there is sufficient, but latent, supon the ineffectiveness of software port for increased library funding filtering, City Councilor Pete Conacross the voting population. There stant insisted at a May 14 council is evidence that a national library meeting that the library take some

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funded. Our mandate has always been to have them constructed by 2010,” he said.

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Rock at Hancock

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NEWS | U.S. & International measures to restrict pornography on its public computers. Constant had requested last October that the library reconsider its no-filter policy in the light of a loSJSU President cal TV news report Don Kassing said that purported to document instancinstalling filters es of patrons viewwould “violate ing pornography at library computer the spirit of our terminals. joint operating However, the liagreement brary is a joint-use facility with San by restricting Jose State Univerintellectual sity, whose adminfreedom.” istration is opposed to web filtering of any type. The San Jose Mercury News reported May 15 that SJSU President Don Kassing said in a letter to the city that installing filters would “violate the spirit of our joint

operating agreement by restricting intellectual freedom.” SJPL’s April 2 “Internet Filtering Software Tests” report concluded that each filter it tested “blocked a wide range of constitutionally protected content in its attempt to block other content” and was “ill-equipped” to deal with images on search engine result pages, e-mail attachments, RSS feeds, and non-English content. In her May 7 recommendation to city council, SJPL Director Jane Light offered some policy options with price tags attached and asked the council to “weigh its concern for access to information with its concern to protect children from some internet content.” City Attorney Rick Doyle advised against filtering every computer and having staff unblock them on request because it could expose the city to First Amendment lawsuits.

Constant questioned the staff’s methodology in the filtering tests, saying that the WebSense filter does not have the problems the report cited. However, according to the June 12 Mercury News, Constant asked the council to postpone a scheduled vote in June on the filters, saying that he was awaiting more information on federal funding and legal issues.

Highsmith Purchased by W. W. Grainger

Library supply company Highsmith, headquartered in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, has been purchased by Lab Safety Supply, a direct-marketing subsidiary of Chicago-based facilities maintenance supplier W. W. Grainger. Terms of the acquisition, announced in the business press July 10, were not disclosed. Highsmith’s operations, with anticipated sales for



~ I Love My Librarian Award ~ Administered by the American Library Association’s Public Information Ofﬁce and The Campaign for America’s Libraries

This award encourages library users to recognize the accomplishments of exceptional public, academic, and school librarians.

Nominations begin: August 15 for public librarians September 2 for school and academic librarians

www.ala.org/ilovemylibrarian

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Up to ten winners will be honored and receive a $5,000 cash award, a plaque and a $500 travel stipend to attend an awards reception in New York hosted by The New York Times on December 9, 2008.

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2008 in the range of $20–$30 million, will be integrated with LSS by the end of the year. ”We are pleased to be adding Highsmith to our specialty catalog group,” said LSS President Larry Loizzo. “They have built a solid brand

position in the library and school supplies market over the past 50 years; we intend to build upon it.” Founded in 1956, Highsmith is a distributor of equipment, supplies, and furniture to public, academic, and school libraries. The company is

an American Library Association Library Champion and funds two ALA awards, the Public Library Association’s Highsmith Library Innovation Award, and the American Association of School Librarians’ Highsmith Research Grant. z

Global Reach 1

The Welsh Assembly Government May 15 launched a three-year strategy to modernize libraries. The Libraries for Life program aims to improve facilities and refurbish 20% of public libraries open at least 10 hours a week by the year 2011. The scheme includes upgrading internet facilities at libraries, introducing Wi-Fi, and allowing users to search for books via an all-library search system.— Welsh Assembly Government, May 15.

ENGLAND

Royalties from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats, the long-running musical inspired by T. S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, have enabled the poet’s estate to donate £2.5 million ($4.9 million) to the London Library. For 13 years, Eliot presided over the institution, founded in 1841 by Thomas Carlyle and others. On June 11, Eliot’s 82-year-old widow, Valerie, formally handed over her donation toward an ambitious £25-million renovation of its premises in St. James’s Square.—The Times, June 12.

NETHERLANDS

A fire that destroyed the Faculty of Architecture building at Delft University of Technology has led to the loss of tens of thousands of books and illustrated works from as early as the 17th century. As many as 300 people had to be evacuated on May 13 after the fire started on the sixth floor of the building. The library special collections included old plans of Dutch towns and cities, topographical prints, and architectural drawings. Officials suspect that a shortcircuit in a coffee machine started the blaze.—TU Delft, May 13; De Volkskrant, May 13; Building Design, June 19.

FRANCE

A Tehran-based institute working on Quranic studies 9 is now sending books by mail to readers free of charge. It is part of the Javan Quran Interpretation Institute’s program that aims to promote reading among children and youth by bypassing the bureaucratic regulations imposed by the country’s public libraries.—Tehran Times, May 25.

MONGOLIA

The groundbreaking for a new building to house the State Central Library in Ulan Bator was held June 13. The facility will be funded by a grant donated by the Kuwait government. The library’s current building was erected in 1951.—Ulan Bator Post, June 12.

VIETNAM

The Vietnam Education Foundation Fellows Association and Hanoi University of Technology opened a new library in Hanoi June 11 to provide free access to textbooks and research materials donated by American universities through the Vietnam Book Drive. Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Vinh University have agreed to cover all book-shipping costs from the United States.— Viet Nam News, June 10.

AUSTRALIA

The New South Wales government has dedicated $10 million ($9.5 million U.S.) to provide the State Library in Sydney with an electronic catalog for items it acquired before 1980. The library has been keeping its older catalog records in large wooden drawers and filing cabinets, with details of 5 million items handwritten or typed on catalog cards. The current funding will allow it to digitize one-third of its pre-1980 holdings; completing the project is expected to take seven years and another $19 million.—Sydney Morning Herald, June 2.

CANADA

The former executive director of the Wheatland Regional Library in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, has pleaded guilty to embezzling at least $500,000 ($491,000 U.S.) between 1990 and 2004. Bruce Cameron, who had headed the library since 1971, admitted in provincial court May 14 that he established a fictitious Nevada-based company called Desert Rose Books to order books and funnel the money back to himself.—National Post, May 20.

Four libraries in Paris have turned off their wireless internet connections after staff claimed they were causing health problems. The Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève shut down its network after a staff member threatened to take early retirement on health grounds. All computer users now have to plug their laptops

IRAN

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WALES

into the conventional wired network.—The Connexion (La Colle-sur-Loup), June 4.

1 3

The National Lesbian and Gay 2 4 5 Federation donated its Irish 6 Queer Archive June 16 to the National Library in Dublin. The collection contains 250,000 newspaper clippings, photos, articles from gay magazines, Irish lesbian and gay films, and hundreds of letters received by various support organizations.—Irish Times, June 17.

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IRELAND

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NEWS | Special Report

Medical Librarians Get Healthy Dose of Social Networking

Web 2.0 speakers at the MLA’s Chicago conference: Amanda Etches-Johnson, David Rothman, Melissa Rethlefsen, MLA President Mark Funk, and Bart Ragon.

demonstrate their newest products and services. The conference also included an update from the National Library of Medicine and a number of section seminars devoted to specific areas of medical specialization. Incoming President Mary L. Ryan said the top priorities for her presidency will be recruitment and retention of library professionals, advocacy for the profession and its issues, and the efficiency and effectiveness of association operations. The conference also featured the association’s first live webcast of a plenary session, “Web 2.0 Tools for Librarians: Description, Demonstration, Discussion, and Debate.” David Rothman, information services specialist for the Community General Hospital Medical Library in Syracuse, New York, observed, “The Web isn’t just for geeks anymore,” as he urged librarians to “be web creators, not just consumers.” Other members of the Web 2.0 panel were Amanda Etches-Johnson

of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Bart Ragon of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, and Melissa Rethlefsen of the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota, who talked about how librarians are using social networking applications to create online communities. “This is our future,” Ragon said. “We’re not going to be programmers, but we are going to be talking to the programmers.” Delivering the annual Janet Doe Lecture, Thomas G. Basler gave the conference theme a different spin. Director of libraries and learning resource centers and chair of the Department of Library Science and Informatics at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, Basler observed that the golden age of medical librarianship is over, and gone with it are its “giants,” the profession’s pioneers. Today, “it’s not about being a librarian,” he said, “it’s about being a part of your institutional team.” —L.K.

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LA 2.0,” said Medical Library Association President Mark Funk, “will be about communication, community, openness, participation, and connecting.” Kicking off MLA’s May 16–21 annual meeting and exhibition in Chicago, the head of resource management and collections at the Weill Cornell Medical Library in New York City told 2,484 enthusiastic attendees that new technology decreases isolation if we learn to use it right. Repeating several times that “we have always done it that way” is the worst possible justification for doing anything, Funk said that “social media are all about participation” but admitted that there needs to be more room in associations for passion, ingenuity, and self-direction. According to Funk, bureaucracies are changing, becoming less hierarchical and opening up through blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, and podcasts. Delivering the annual McGovern Lecture, futurist Andrew Zolli explained that “innovation is the creation of new forms of value in anticipation of future demand” and bolstered Funk’s view that organizations have the insights and the tools available to them for shaping their future. Breakout sessions throughout the conference reflected the emphasis on social networking. Also on the agenda were a number of “Connections: Bridging the Gaps” (the conference theme) programs. A “Technology Showcase” and a series of “Sunrise Seminars” enabled top vendors to

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Special Report | NEWS

The Opening Session featured TV talkshow host Charlie Rose interviewing Vint Cerf, vice president and chief internet evangelist for Google. Cerf, a computer scientist who is often called “the father of the internet,” predicted that in 10 years everyone on the planet will have access to the internet. Even now, connections to s atellites, the International Space Station, and the Mars rover have made the interplanetary internet a reality. Moving to the topic of the digitizing of libraries. Cerf is worried about the

Photo: Mark Rienertson, The Photo Group

Cerf’s up

consequences of relying on software to work with digital objects: “We need rules to make software accessible when companies won’t support it any more,” he said. Cerf also touched on the need for international agreements on what is acceptable use of the internet, the need for a secure infrastructure to prevent cyberterrorism, and the likelihood Television’s Charlie Rose (right) interviews Internet pioneer that the economic im- Vint Cerf at the Opening Session. portance of the interalignment as having core values and a net will eventually sway those core purpose that remains fixed countries that try to censor its use. while adapting to a changing world. Referring to the conference Among the key strategic areas are theme of “Breaking Rules; Building growth opportunities for SLA, inBridges,” SLA CEO Janice Lachance cluding growth outside North Ameriobserved, “In times of a turbulent ca, and a “consistent and compelling environment, the only way to create language to describe the profession a strong, resilient, and stable proand the Association.” fession for the future is by building As SLA examines its future, it is bridges to the increasingly technology-centric world of tomor- looking toward its 2009 centennial. A centennial website, which will go row.” Among the approximately live late in the summer of 2008, will 5,000 registrants (compared to include the products of “Voices of 5,844 in 2006 and 5,046 in 2007) SLA: An International Oral History.” were 500 first-timers; of the 283 A special conference, to be held in exhibitors, 50 participated for the Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, site first time. of the meeting that resulted in the The year-old alignment project, formation of SLA in 1909, will have a “Positioning SLA for the Future,” is futurist theme. The annual conferintended to identify trends and deence, to be held in Washington, D.C., termine how the association can meet the changing needs of members in June, will include several celebraand the people they serve. The contory events, including a gala. sulting firm hired to conduct the — Susan S. DiMattia, Connecticutproject defines the principles of based writer, consultant, and educator

american libraries

he future goes to people who invest in themselves,” said Special Libraries Association President Stephen Abram, setting the tone for the group’s Annual Conference in Seattle, June 14–18. Throughout the event, Abram encouraged attendees to take advantage of member benefits, particularly the new technology initiatives. One such new benefit is the online Innovation Lab, where members have access to more than 1,000 e-books in the Leadership and Management Library, a free weekly summary of a current business book, and free access to over 100 pieces of software that members can “test drive.” The Atomic Learning section of the lab includes 35,000 video tutorials on using a wide range of software, and its “23 Things” initiative guides participants in learning about 23 technology topics by spending 15 minutes a day for nine weeks.

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SLA in Seattle Looks Toward Online Innovation, Training

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NEWS | Special Report

Vancouver’s Beauty Fails to Lure Canadian Librarians

necting Authors to Readers in the brarianship; the Miles Blackwell Digital Age” with an overview of Award for Outstanding Academic publishing from its beginnings to Librarian went to Margaret Law the present day. Describing copyfrom the University of Alberta; and right as the “evil twin of open acJoanne Kemp, library director at cess,” Lorimer called for a fair Edmonton’s Grant MacEwan Colbalance between openness and “fair lege, won the Outstanding College trade for creators.” Librarian Award. Argentinean writer Alberto The Annual General Meeting easManguel (The Library at ily passed a memberNight) captivated his clos- Attendance ship bylaw and four ing session audience by was down 20% public policy resoludrawing from Collodi’s Pitions. Executive Direcnocchio to examine reading from last year. tor Don Butcher as self-discovery. Manguel reported on three comstated “to have the courage to face munications awards CLA won this our fears and doubts and hidden seyear for its “Launch the Future with crets, to question the workings of so- Reading” campaign in partnership ciety in regard to ourselves and to the with the Canadian Space Agency. world, we need to learn to read in CLA also received a Canada Newsother ways, differently, in order to wire Top 10 award for its news relearn to think. . . . To imagine is to lease “21 Million Library Users dissolve barriers, to ignore Concerned about Copyright.” boundaries, to subvert the vision Incoming President Ken Roberts, of the world imposed upon us.” director of Ontario’s Hamilton PubThe upcoming IFLA congress lic Library, announced his theme as infused the program with an in“Freedom to Discover—The Power ternational flavor. IFLA Presiof Our Profession.” He closed the dent Claudia Lux and Librarian meeting with the surprise anand Archivist of Canada Ian Wilnouncement that Butcher is to leave son gave a lively presentation on CLA in the fall. ALA members will Libraries on the Agenda. ALA remember Butcher for his skilled 2007–08 President Loriene Roy handling in his first months on the spoke on literacy initiatives in job of the SARS threat to the 2003 tribal schools. joint ALA/CLA conference in ToIn other news, Vivienne Monty ronto. With his departure, along of York University received the with declining revenues and the reCLA Outstanding Service to Litirement of longtime Member Serbrarianship Award. Alberta vices Associate Brenda Shields, libraries and librarians took sevCLA’s new president and executive CLA President Alvin Schrader, ALA 2007–08 eral honors: Lucy Pana of the Alcouncil are facing a difficult year. President Loriene Roy, and Canadian library berta Library won the Ken —Madeleine Lefebvre, chief librarian, educator and ALA Honorary Member Norman Horrocks. Haycock Award for Promoting LiRyerson University.

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he beautiful city of Vancouver, busy preparing for the 2010 Winter Olympics, didn’t prove to be much of a draw for Canadian Library Association members: Attendance at this year’s conference, held May 21–24, was 650, down 20% from last year. The upcoming International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) World Library and Information Congress in Quebec City likely diverted some potential registrants. Keynoter Rowland Lorimer, professor of communication at Simon Fraser University’s Vancouver campus, opened proceedings by addressing the conference theme “Libraries and Publishing 3.0: Con-

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Special Report | NEWS

Lack of Librarians Impacts BookExpo Attendance

using vacation days and says that for collection development librarians, “It’s nirvana. There are lots of children’s and young adult titles either in galleys, or finished books, and it’s great to meet publishers and hear firsthand what they’re excited about.” She adds, “Publishers at BEA have gotten much more welcoming to librarians over the years, particularly once they realized that some of us have large budgets, and when we buy books, we don’t return them.” Tangri appreciates the promotional materials publishers give out at their booths, particularly posters that she can hang in the library or use as prizes for kids. Tote bags are also helpful for when she travels to meetings at the library, and she loves to bring back autographed books from the conference‘s many author signings. —Susan Salzman Raab, president of Raab Associates, a marketing and public relations agency specializing in books and products for children and families

american libraries

lighting authors and merchandising, appeal to librarians who feel they face many of the same challenges as their bookselling counterparts. Collection development librarians find BEA particularly helpful because it provides an early look at what books are forthcoming and which authors the publishers are putting in the forefront. Linda Raymond, collection development director for the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County in North Carolina, calls BEA “the most informative conference anyone can go to.” She was particularly interested in this year’s programs on merchandising, digital downloading, and appealing to Latino book buyers. Some sessions she attended were targeted more to booksellers, but Raymond noted “We face many of the same issues in serving and appealing to library patrons.” This was the fifth BookExpo for Shayera Tangri, senior librarian at Los Angeles Public Library’s Porter Ranch Branch. She pays her own way

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BookExpo America drew 28,494 people to Los Angles, but fewer of them were librarians than in previous years.

sharp decline in librarian registration had a noticeable impact on overall attendance figures for this year’s BookExpo America, held May 29– June 1 in Los Angeles. Steve Rosato, BookExpo director of industry development and strategic accounts, said that the publishingindustry convention drew some 2,000 librarians, out of a total attendance of 28,494 (BEA 2007 in New York City drew 37,041). While acknowledging that the figure was down significantly from the approximately 4,000 librarians who attended last year, he said, “Overall, conference organizers were still pleased with the numbers.” Rosato added that “This year, with the economy causing budget cuts for travel and with the ALA conference taking place just a month later in Anaheim, it didn’t surprise us to see that our numbers were down.” Rosato said they’re hoping for an upturn next year when the event returns to New York City, but aren’t taking anything for granted. “We’ll be attending ALA in Anaheim and doing outreach to librarians. We’ve found that librarians who have been to BEA love it because it provides them with opportunities to get advance news on books and to participate in special programs, such as our Day of Dialog preconference program, which this year included sessions on historical fiction, digital formats, and hot new books and trends.” These programs and many of the general sessions about books, high-

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Technology | News

Dialog Purchase Signals Expansion, Says ProQuest

nn Arbor, Michigan–based electronic publishing company ProQuest signed an agreement June 12 to purchase the Dialog database service from media company Thomson Reuters. The transaction was expected to close by mid-July, pending completion of a formal consultation period and other customary closing conditions, ProQuest CEO Marty Kahn told American Libraries. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Dialog will continue to be an important distribution channel for Thomson Reuters content after the transaction, Kahn said. Derwent World Patents Index, Investext, TrademarkScan, SciSearch, and BIOSIS are among the firm’s many business databases that will remain available through Dialog. “Adding content and search functionality is part of our plan for the company,” he said. “If we didn’t think we could do that we would not have bought it!” Kahn said that since ProQuest is a private firm it was

A new poster campaign developed by the Todd Library at Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove, Illinois, advertises the availability of campus library resources via the internet. The posters feature students on laptop and desktop computers or web-enabled phones in various buildings on campus or at home. The promotion went on display around WCC during the summer semester.

Deeper into the Dialog market

Through the acquisition of Dialog, ProQuest expects to deepen its penetration in the corporate-library and professional-research markets. According to Kahn, “In the short “Some employees term we are going to maintain have been at everything as it was. We will make sure some ProQuest prod- Dialog for many ucts are included that now are years, and that’s not. In time we will look to add part of the value.” other data sets and expand the —Marty Kahn, content offerings in Dialog and ProQuest CEO DataStar.” Kahn noted that ProQuest plans to expand licensing from third parties and look at the creation of new products. “We also hope that we will be able to add some additional search and analytic capability.” “We are not cutting back on anything,” Kahn told AL. “All of the existing employees are being offered positions at ProQuest offices.” He added that “presences will be maintained” in all three current Dialog locations: Cary, North Carolina; Sunnyvale, California; and London, England. “We will operate Dialog as a separate unit within ProQuest. Some employees have been at Dialog for many years and that’s part of the value. We are very excited to have them coming to ProQuest. And Dialog customers are some of the most sophisticated librarians and corporate people in the world.” Founded 40 years ago by Roger Summit, Dialog was the world’s first online information retrieval system to be used globally. Part of the Cambridge Information Group, ProQuest provides access to and navigation of more than 125 billion digital pages of the world’s scholarship, delivering it to the desktops of researchers in multiple fields, from the arts to medicine.

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web access promo

under no legal obligation to make the purchase price public, adding that it was “a straight-up cash transaction” and “both sides felt good about the valuation.” He also noted that although Thomson Reuters is a publicly held company, the sale is by law “considered an immaterial transaction too small to require disclosure because of Thomson Reuters’ large overall size.”

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Libel Suit over Digitized Article Dismissed under Anti-SLAPP Laws

federal judge has dismissed a $1-million lawsuit filed by a Cornell University alumnus who claimed that the school libeled him in a 1983 Cornell Chronicle article reporting that he had been charged with third-degree burglary when he was a student. Back issues of the Chronicle, a newspaper published by the universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s press office, are being digitized by the campus library. Kevin Vanginderen, now a California lawyer, found the article through a Google search, the Chronicle reported June 9. After the school refused his request to remove the story, Vanginderen filed a suit claiming that the report was false and that its distribution on the internet caused â&#x20AC;&#x153;loss of reputationâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;mental anguish.â&#x20AC;? He argued that making the article available on the internet constituted republication, thus overriding the statute of limitations for filing charges.

However, Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California granted the universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s motion for dismissal June 3 under the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;anti-SLAPPâ&#x20AC;? statute barring strategic lawsuits against public participation. Moskowitz noted that â&#x20AC;&#x153;the article . . . concerns a matter of public interest,â&#x20AC;? and that â&#x20AC;&#x153;the truthful reporting of information in public official records regarding criminal proceedings against an individual [is] protected by the First Amendment regardless of whether the reporting is concurrent with the criminal proceedings or years later.â&#x20AC;? Moskowitz did not address the question of whether making older information available online constitutes republication. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It would be disastrous if every time we scan something, we had to take the same editorial responsibility as the initial publisher,â&#x20AC;? Cornell Library Archivist Peter Hirtle told the Chronicle.

Amer Lib 06-08:ALA MAG

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TECHNOLOGY | Dispatches from the Field

The Games People Play Understanding gaming in libraries

nity-based big games. As described by big game designer Greg Trefry, libraries are ideal places for big games, as we have tools (photocopiers, computers), secret codes (DDC, LCSH), a building for the game’s headquarters (sometimes multiple buildings if there are branches), and referees (librarians). Still other libraries are experimenting with adding gaming content to existing services, whether it’s part of a school reading club (Pocahontas Middle School in Virginia), an information literacy class (University of Dubuque in Iowa or Arizona State University’s West campus), or a career fair (Orange County Library System in Florida). The Old Bridge (N.J.) Public Library is even using video games as an introduction to computers and technology for seniors. These examples illustrate other models for thinking differently about gaming in libraries. Services like these provide libraries with the chance to broaden our user base with updated services that are intellectually and socially meaningful to patrons. They also allow us to re-energize our roles as community centers, “third place,” and informal learning hubs while providing a safe, noncommercialized, and information-rich environment staffed with knowledgeable experts as guides. z JENNY LEVINE is internet development specialist and strategy guide for ALA’s Technology and Telecommunications Services and Publishing departments. This article was adapted from the April 2008 issue of ALA’s Library Technology Reports.

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laying video games in that require just as much critical libraries has become a thinking and strategic planning are hot topic during the last as well. Some libraries, including couple of years, but gam- school media centers, are already being in libraries has been around ginning to explore the learning that much, much longer. As far back takes place in and around these as the 1930s, New York Public games through collection developLibrary was “luring” in kids usment and in-house play. ing chess and board games, and Clearly there is a recreational many public and school libraries (and very fun) element to these still have chess games, but sets and other there is also a Libraries have tabletop games lot of learning for kids to going on— always been in the play within even in many business of content. the buildvideo games, ing. Libraries a fact many have always nongamers been in the business of content, may not realize. What kind of learnand offering content inside the ing? To find out, just turn to the new container of video games Association of College and Research isn’t that big of a leap from ofLibraries’ Information Literacy fering Candyland or Monopoly. Competency Standards for Higher Even as we update the container, Education , which have been though, many of us haven’t noticed mapped to such popular games as that the content has changed, too, Final Fantasy, Madden NFL, and and that modern board games are Halo. School librarians are also takvery different from the ones we ing advantage of these new games, grew up with. The games I played as having tied many board game titles a kid usually involved rolling the to the American Association of dice, and my fate depended on the School Librarians’ Standards for square on which I landed or the card the 21st-Century Learner (see I drew. gaming.ala.org/resources). The outcome in modern board Another type of gaming that games such as Carcassonne, Nummight be appropriate for some bers League, or Ticket to Ride is delibraries is called “big games.” termined more by strategic moves These are games that take place in than luck of the dice/draw. If we can the real world, in which everyday agree that titles such as Candyland, objects become the pieces of the checkers, chess, and Scrabble are game. In some cases, libraries could okay for the library to provide to pabe the perfect institution to create trons, then surely these newer games social interactions around commu-

by Jenny Levine

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7/21/2008 2:53:56 PM

In Practice | TECHNOLOGY

Interesting Times Anaheim reveals the sunny future of library tech

august 2008

We’re in an age of

was also a bit One thing great possibility lower than that’s gotten bigin which libraries 2007. But on an ger at each conhave so much optimistic note, ference is the a number of number of commore control over their first-time expanies selling technological destiny. hibitors really maintenance got my attenand support of tion, and several smaller vendors open source software. With the adgenerated a lot of buzz. While there’s dition of Equinox Software at this always plenty of news from the big year’s event, the open source presplayers in the library technology and ence on the show floor was imprescontent markets, this year it felt like sive. The recent growth of open the little guy had a fighting chance source ILS adoption has also been to get librarians’ attention in the ex- impressive, with dozens of libraries hibit hall. and some high-profile library systems adopting Koha or Evergreen. Discovery platforms were again It’s a small(er) world big news this year. SirsiDynix joined We’re still seeing a consolidation of the growing market with its Entermajor players in certain areas of prise discovery platform, which incontent and technology. It seems as cludes sophisticated searching if hardly a month went by this year using fuzzy logic and faceted browsthat I didn’t see a press release about a major ProQuest acquisition, ing of results. Unlike many of the other products in this market, Enthe most recent being the firm’s terprise currently can only be intepurchase of Dialog from Thomson grated with a SirsiDynix ILS. Reuters, expanding its presence in Follett has just released its own the corporate market (see p. 36). The federated search landscape also discovery platform for use with its popular Destiny ILS. Destiny changed significantly when ProQuest’s interface is perfectly deQuest bought WebFeat, bringing it signed for K–12 students with its under the stewardship of its comdrag-and-drop interface, visual petitor Serials Solutions. browsing features, and faceted Two popular virtual reference browsing of search results. Destiny products came together with also allows students to rate and reAltarama’s acquisition of Virtual Reference Librarian plus (VRLplus) view materials in the catalog and from SirsiDynix’s Dokutek division. capitalizes on the borrowing behavior of patrons to make reading sugThe popular VRLplus is an excellent gestions. complement to Altarama’s RefEx Libris and Innovative InterTracker, a system for managing and faces both recently launched vertracking virtual reference requests.

american libraries

hile talking about the current state of the profession at the Library and Information Technology Association’s Top Technology Trends session at this year’s ALA Annual Conference, OCLC’s Roy Tennant spoke that familiar first line from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” I tend to agree with that sentiment. In the midst of an economic downturn, libraries of all kinds are struggling to justify their current level of funding, if not their very existence. We are frequently confronted with stories about libraries that have had to make difficult decisions to provide the same level of service with less money. At the same time, I feel we’re in an age of great possibility in which libraries have so much more control over their technological destiny. We’ve seen libraries that are dissatisfied with current vendor offerings choosing to build their own subjectguide tools, discovery platforms, and even integrated library systems. Many libraries are capitalizing on the mature free and open source tools already available. So many options exist for libraries of every type and budget. The tone in the exhibit hall seemed a bit more muted than the jubilant mood last year in Washington, D.C. While there was still a good crowd at the exhibits, the number of conference attendees

by Meredith Farkas

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7/21/2008 2:54:29 PM

TECHNOLOGY | In Practice can only see reviews from their own library, reviews are pulled from a database of all ChiliFresh users, although libraries can also choose to only show reviews from their own users. Another new exhibitor offering many of the Web 2.0 features libraries are looking to integrate into their web presence is Springshare, which offers LibGuides, a platform for creating dynamic subject guides that include social features like tagging, bookmarking, RSS feeds, user ratings, and comments. LibGuides also allows for the creation of widgets so content can be embedded in courseware, Facebook, or any web page.

Long live content

Even with all the focus on platforms, it was obvious in the exhibit hall that content is still king. Much of the big news was in the development

of new historical collections. A bigger chunk of the market seems to be engaged in digitizing primary source materials. These collections put materials from far-flung archives at the fingertips of online subscribers, making them a real asset to historical researchers. EBSCO is throwing its hat into the historical primary source arena with two new major digitization projects. It’s partnered with the American Antiquarian Society (AAS) to digitize the group’s historical periodicals collection from 1693 to 1876. EBSCO will also digitize the historical monographs and serials of the American Theological Library Association. These two projects reflect a change in strategy for the company, which has been primarily focused on the academic journal market. ProQuest has also signed a deal with AAS, in this case to digitize and bring 7,000 family history

Photo: Cognotes

This year it felt like the little guy had a fighting chance to get librarians’ attention in the exhibit hall.

american libraries

august 2008

sion 2.0 of their discovery platforms, Primo and Encore respectively, with Encore 2.0 offering user tagging and improved facets for browsing. Notable in Primo’s new release is greatly improved search technology, improved scalability, and APIs for 50 services. The two platforms are growing their customer base at a steady pace, with approximately 100 libraries using each. Many ILS vendors are working to integrate into the catalog social features that allow for a more interactive experience and enable libraries to capitalize on the wisdom of their patrons. Instead of building it themselves, Polaris is integrating social features into its OPAC through a partnership with fellow exhibitor ChiliFresh, which offers a cross-platform review engine that can be integrated into any catalog. Unlike many catalogs where patrons

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7/21/2008 3:40:40 PM

In Practice | TECHNOLOGY

The big company getting a lot of buzz in place of Google was firsttime exhibitor Nintendo. Gaming has become much more prevalent in libraries over the past few years and is increasingly recognized as an educational tool, so it only seemed natural that there be a gaming pavilion in the exhibit hall. The pavilion included makers of board games, card games, and accessories as well as electronic games, but Nintendo was certainly the biggest draw. Nintendo systems were set up to demonstrate how libraries could configure their systems for patron use, and librarians eagerly queued up to try them out. Undoubtedly, these are difficult times for so many libraries, but when I think about the technological options available to us now versus just a few years ago, I feel optimistic about the future. We should continue to see growth in open source technologies for libraries as well as increased support for openness from all vendors. With so many small new vendors in the library market as well as product diversification from the old guard, the result should be more choice for libraries. We’re also coming into an age of experimentation where many librarians are taking over the reigns of technological innovation. As Tennant himself quipped during the Top Technology Trends, “Clearly these are interesting times.” z MEREDITH FARKAS is head of instructional initiatives and liaison to the social sciences at Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont. She blogs at Information Wants to Be Free and created Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki. Contact her at librarysuccess@gmail.com.

august 2008

There was a lot of talk about the absence of Google from the exhibit hall, considering the way the company has courted librarians in recent years and the short distance from Mountain View to Anaheim. While Google may not have been there, a number of vendors had Google-related announcements. As soon as Google announced an API allowing developers to dynamically link to individual items in the Google Book project, Ex Libris announced integration of Google Books’ About this Book pages into its products. OCLC and Google recently signed an agreement to better share data across Google Books and WorldCat, making both better able to link to the holdings of the other.

...Hello Nintendo

Goodbye Google . . .

As part of a push to integrate e-books into 360 Link, Serials Solutions announced at Annual Conference that it had integrated Google Books into the link-resolver service.

american libraries

product offers news, business, and legal publications chosen specifically with the needs of public library patrons in mind. With Safari Select for Public Libraries, ProQuest has also brought its popular Safari Books Online into the public library market, offering 400 e-books on popular computing and electronics designed for a consumer market. World Book has developed an online version of its encyclopedia for a new group of K–12 students. World Book Discover is designed for students who read below their grade level, offering easy-to-read articles on topics that interest older students, along with a text-to-speech feature. OverDrive made big news earlier this year when it announced expanded offerings that include MP3 audiobooks. At Annual Conference, the firm said the District of Columbia Public Library is the first to offer these DRM-free audiobooks, meaning patrons will be able to download the audiobooks to any device capable of playing MP3s, such as iPod, Zune, and Sansa.

books from the society to HeritageQuest. If you haven’t heard of Footnote .com, chances are good that many of your patrons have. Footnote.com provides an impressive collection of documents, digitized primarily from the National Archives, that would be of use to any American history buff or student. Some are freely available online, while others are only available to members. Documents can be annotated, commented on, and organized into custom collections. Footnote.com offers memberships to individuals as well as public and academic libraries. Members can also upload documents and write about their own family or community history on the site. The battle to be the leading provider of historical newspaper content has heated up with Readex’s announcement of its partnership with the Center for Research Libraries to create the world’s largest digital archive of international newspapers. ProQuest is also adding major U.S. and European newspapers, as well as black newspapers, to its Historical Newspapers product. This conference also saw growth in the market for tools to manage locally digitized collections. Polaris released Fusion, which manages digital content and integrates it into the Polaris PowerPAC so patrons can search all of a library’s collections from one interface. Innovative’s Content Pro focuses on ease of use for staff in adding content and metadata. Content Pro metadata is OAI-PMH–compliant, allowing it to be harvested by aggregators as well as by Innovative’s own federated search and discovery platforms. A number of companies have modified and repackaged their existing products for new markets. LexisNexis has made its first foray into the public library market with LexisNexis Library Express. The

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7/21/2008 2:55:15 PM

TECHNOLOGY | Internet Librarian

Being Better As people find more ways to be, libraries must follow

we do to the Web, to our credit, and now we need a similar planning effort for this more nuanced set of digital environs.

A lower commitment

While that planning goes on, you might as well factor in something else. When people come to a library building, they have made an effort and a commitment and, by and large, they will see that through and do what they came to do. In any digital environment, that commitment is much lower—and the competition is much keener. If people are searching your catalog or asking a question via chat and they get frustrated, bored, or unhappy, Amazon or Yahoo Answers or Google is a microsecond-click away, and there’s no constraint on their going poof. So we have to be better online. Better, more compelling, more efficient, more effective, more attractive, to get ’em and keep ’em and serve ’em as we know only we can. This idea may fill you either with excitement or dread—maybe both. It certainly means that the stakes have been raised, which I think we all sorta knew anyway. Look at this column’s title again; it occurs to me it has two potential meanings in this context. When we achieve the first, the others will come…and that’s another story. z Joseph Janes is associate dean in the Information School of the University of Washington in Seattle. Send ideas to intlib@ischool.washington.edu.

american libraries

august 2008

ow where was I? Put these two ideas together, and Ah, yes: Rhapsodizwhat do we get? That old chestnut: ing over my variBe where users are (and support ous libraries. I know what they want and need). In a you were all hanging breathpurely physical world, that means lessly for what I couldn’t squeeze bookmobiles and branches and into last month’s column (like phone reference, inhabiting and the dollar, 600 words doesn’t sharing (and being) local communigo as far as it used to). ty spaces. This is why academic When last we met, I’d raised the libraries have traditionally been idea that modern libraries have to known as the “heart of the universibe both somety” and why where and public libraries When our clients everywhere, are usually right can be almost familiarly oblidowntown or in gated to house busy areas. anywhere, the and preserve Now that we “library” must be and maintain have become there to meet them, on access to physihybrid entities, cal objects, prothe same goes their own terms. vide venues for for digital spaccommunal and es. When our community activity, and manifest clients can be almost anywhere—and the library profession’s values and often several places and presences— importance in a constant and visible at once, the “library” must be there way. Those obligations persist—and to meet them, on their own terms. I’d say become even more vital—in This all leads me, inevitably, inthe digital realm, where what we do exorably, to two conclusions. First, and stand for can be sadly lacking. it seems pretty clear from all this Onward. I’ve previously poked at that there are now lots of people the notion that people are increaswho are not getting library service ingly multiply present, devoting bits in some (most? all?) of the places of themselves to the “real” world, they inhabit. and other bits to text-messaging, A geographical metaphor might social networking, Second Lifeing, help—think of these new digital cell-phoning, Twittering, IMing, lands as new neighborhoods or and so on (Sept. 2007, p. 46). None campuses. If your institution anof this seems likely to abate any time nexed new territory, you’d immedisoon, and it’s hard to imagine there ately begin planning how to deploy won’t be more ways to be soon. your services to those meet the new (Maybe the Be-In folks were on to people and needs. We’ve done a something back in ’67.) great job of migrating much of what

by Joseph Janes

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7/21/2008 2:55:46 PM

Interview | News

NEWSMAKER: Ron reagan

ties and First Amendment rights faring in our country these days? ron reagan: For the last seven years or so, a lot of things have been going on in Washington that aren’t business as usual, and intrusion into our liberties and civil rights is certainly one of those things. Even more offensive to me is state-sanctioned torture of detainees, something that has never gone on in America before, but it’s going on now and people need to know about it and stand up against it. The people responsible for that sort of thing ultimately should be brought to justice, and that means leading figures in this administration up to and including the president.

Supreme Court ruling on prisoners at

What should librarians do in reaction to laws that threaten civil liberties the way portions of the Patriot Act did? I

would like them to do what they have done: Refuse to comply with a law like that, even at the risk of going to prison. I think civil disobedience in a case like this is really what’s required. If the FBI or the anti-terror forces, the Office of Homeland Security or whatever, comes to a library and says, we want the records of so-and-so, librarians should stand up and simply say no, you don’t get them, and I’ll burn them before I give them to you.

Guantanamo? One chilling aspect is

that this was only a 5-to-4 ruling. It should have been a unanimous ruling. There is no way that the Supreme Court of the United States should deny

What role did reading play in your life as you were growing up? My family has always been a family of readers. I grew up in a house where both my

were a student? I would visit my

school library when I was in grade school and high school. I remember being a 6th-grader in a new elementary school—so new that the library was in one of those trailer things, and part of the trailer was roped off and those books were meant for the older kids, but I took exception to this. So I lobbied to get the librarian to allow me to go into the older section. I remember checking out One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich in 6th grade. The quizzical looks the librarian was giving me! But I read it. I can’t say I appreciated it the way I should have, but I found it fascinating. How are technology and the internet affecting education and learning? It’s

one thing to come up with a list of facts; it’s another thing to know the context of those facts and to be able to arrange them in a meaningful way. That’s something that many kids have a hard time with. A lot of kids, and a lot of parents too, don’t read anymore. Reading a book, immersing yourself in another world, sinking into that alternate reality is a very different experience that, if you miss it as a kid, is detrimental and very difficult to pick up as an adult. z

Photo: Curtis Compton

What do you think about the recent

habeas corpus to anyone who’s being held by United States officials or representatives, and yet four Supreme Court justices—and there was no secret about which four those were going to be—decided to vote to deny it.

And the role of libraries when you

august 2008

American Libraries: How are civil liber-

parents always had a book on the nightstand, so I grew up appreciating the pleasure that one got from reading. My mother’s biggest problem with me as a little kid was the flashlight under the covers. Trying to ask me to actually go to bed and put the book down was a difficult chore.

on Reagan is the outspoken son of the late President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan. A political pundit and analyst, he cohosted Connected: Coast to Coast in 2005 on MSNBC and in 2007 hosted a talk show on KIRO radio in Seattle. This political season he has been busy as a frequent guest on Larry King Live on CNN and on Air America Radio. He has also worked as a magazine journalist. He serves on the board of the Creative Coalition, an organization founded in 1989 by a group that included Susan Sarandon and the late Christopher Reeve to politically mobilize entertainers and artists for First Amendment rights, arts advocacy, and public education. A harsh critic of the Bush administration and the war in Iraq, Reagan spoke with American Libraries by phone prior to keynoting ALA’s Annual Conference in June (p. 64–66).

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OPINION | Public Perception

How the World Sees Us “Some people say information is power. Baloney. Information sharing is power!”

have the same lifespan as printed books?” Freelance writer JOSH CATONE,

Computer scientist and “Father of the In-

in “Digital Information 250 Years from

ternet” VINTON CERF at the Opening Ses-

Now,” ReadWriteWeb, Apr. 12.

sion of the Special Libraries Association Annual Conference in Seattle, WebJunction blog, June 16.

“You want to be a good archaeologist, you’ve got to get out of the library.” After a motorcycle chase lands him in a library, archaeologist Indiana Jones (HARRISON FORD) advises a student (CHET HANKS) on the finer points of field research, in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008).

Women Increasingly Choosing Dead-End Careers Over Dead-End Relationships,” The Onion (satire), May 29.

not a readily understood modern concept, however well-embedded it was in Carnegie’s day.” JULIA ECCLESHARE, children’s books editor for The Guardian, in

“Whatever Happened to Book Borrowers?” “One little piece on how to get out of The Guardian Books Blog, Apr. 29. paying late fees and we aroused the shushing armies of Dewey-decimaled ur“Brenda meant something different to geeks. Do we really want to everyone on the library staff, and that bankrupt the libraries once meaningful something was never anyand for all? What kind of crething good. To some she was the pertinous text-messaging, lawson who told them they looked like a breaking morons are we, slob, commented about their weight anyway? Uh, the sorry kind gain, or asked if someone’s son was (and, ahem, the kind who mentally challenged. . . . She wasn’t the even gave public libraries a kind of person anyone would wish dead, shout-out in our February list but she wouldn’t be missed if she was of things that don’t suck). pushed off a tall building.” SCOTT DOUGLAS, Quiet, Please: Dispatches from a Please, can we just pay the fine and have our card back?” Public Librarian (Da Capo Press, 2008). Editorial response in “Rants”

Bob Holley, library science professor at Wayne State reader forum, Wired, June. “We need to keep the library for children. University in Detroit, is given a toe-to-toe matchAdults have no business staying at the up against pro-wrestling superstar Bob “Hardcore” Holly in the May 2008 issue of WWE Magazine. “However nimbly they have library all day anyway.” Ragland, Alabama, Under the category of “Biggest Accomplishment,” Councilman GENE FORD, after discovering adapted, modernized, lost the wrestler boasts “winning the Hardcore title six times by pounding Superstars into sludge,” while the books and gained technology, pornography on a computer at the local professor touts “scoring a $300K grant for a computer branch of the St. Clair County Library, in the become determinedly ‘funcproject linking Wayne State University and Michigan Pell City (Ala.) St. Clair Times, May 7. z University’s library systems.” Tough call. tional’ as invaluable resource

american libraries

august 2008

“About 200 years ago, Thomas Jefferson sold his personal library of 6,000 books to the Library of Congress. About 150 years ago, more than half were destroyed in a fire. But today, all 6,000 of them have been recovered or recreated and will go on display at the Library of Congress. Now we’re living in the so-called information age, where almost a gigabyte of new data is being created each year for every man, woman, and child on Earth. But what’s going to happen it to it all 250 years from now? . . . Will digital information

“In addition to an overall increase in those settling for absolutely futureless secretarial or librarian positions, the study showed that more women are now choosing dead-end occupations conventionally dominated by men, such as accounting and data entry.” “Report:

centers rather than bookstores, the libraries are always needing to boost their profile. They need more borrowers and yet one of their biggest problems, in my experience, is that ‘borrowing’ is

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7/21/2008 2:56:58 PM

On My Mind | OPINION

Time to Retire the F Word The concept that libraries are free devalues our services

by Hillary Theyer

american libraries

august 2008

n Made to Stick: Why Some the labels were switched! By seeing Their money’s worth Ideas Survive and Others that price tag, the mind was primed So let’s prime the mind of our users Die (Random, 2007), auto taste a high-quality wine, and so in a different way. “Your library—The thors Chip and Dan Heath people did. When we use the word best thing you are already paying discuss the concept of semantic for.” Remind those who already paid “free” on flyers for our programs stretch: When associations to for us that their money is invested and our services, we are priming a known concept are drawn too the mind to expect low-quality left- here, and they should be taking adoften and too broadly, the power overs. After all, if it had any value it vantage of that investment. Tell them of the associain dollars and cents what their monwould be sold, tion is diluted ey is buying in terms of movie rentnot given away. By constantly and it becomes als, book purchases, computer time, In addition, touting the meaningless. programs, expert personal assisit’s false adverThe authors use tising. Libraries tance, and other things that do cost a library as free, “sportsmanship” lot of money on the open market. aren’t free; they we undervalue as their example, cost money. The They have a movie house, recreationit and ourselves. but in the library al reading collection, answer service, money may world I think we and place to hang out all rolled into come in the have another one: “Free.”” one, and they already paid their dues. form of the fees students pay to the It’s time to cease using the word Let our users see what a per capita college or the taxes people pay to “free” in marketing our libraries. expenditure of $30.00 (near the the government, but it does take Free means little to nothing to conmean for public libraries in my home money to have a library. By consumers these days. Free invokes the stantly touting a library as a free re- state) will get them in comparison to huckster, and makes you think the same amount at the bookstore or source, people don’t expect to have “What’s the catch?” Free plus shipthe movie rental to pay to upping and handling? Free for the chain. Let them grade or mainLet’s prime the mind of base model but you pay for the upsee they have altain it. They our users in a different grades? Free because it is substanready bought acdon’t vote for dard, low quality, or someone else’s cess to this world that parcel tax, way. “Your library—The of knowledge, enleftovers? If you see a bin of books because they best thing you are labeled “free” outside a bookstore, tertainment, eduthink taxes that already paying for.” you expect to paw through trash becation, and support cause the good stuff is inside being assistance. If they libraries are unsold. What’s “free” at a garage sale is necessary. After all, they are free! don’t take advantage, it’s their monwhat didn’t sell the first three hours. They wonder where our budget goes ey; the resources they’ve already paid Free things aren’t expected to have for will just check out to someone and wonder if we are wasting it. an impact. else. Free is the reason people ask the Your library may be the best barreference librarian “Are you all volLying labels unteers?” or think a majority of the gain in town, but it isn’t free. It’s time In a recent study on wine, tasters collection comes from donations. to let our users in on the secret. z rated wine with $90-per-bottle laBy constantly touting the library as Hillary Theyer is principal librarian of bels as better tasting than wine with free, we undervalue it and ourpublic services at Torrance (Calif.) Public $5-per-bottle labels—even when selves. Library.

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7/21/2008 2:57:33 PM

The popular website offers an avenue to teach information literacy skills

american librariesâ&#x20AC;&#x192;

|â&#x20AC;&#x192;

august 2007

By Adam Bennington

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Dissecting the Web through Wikipedia 7/21/2008 2:58:06 PM

After the initial analysis is completed, students locate each citation in the Notes and Sources, References, and External Links sections of the entry using library resources (at least in the first two cases). The goal here is to show students how to gather the same resources that support the Wikipedia entry. This helps expose the searcher to the wide variety of quality material contained in the library including the physical collection, elecLibrarians tronic resources, and interlibrary loan services (for resources not contained in the can use user’s home collection). It also gives the Wikipedia as librarian a chance to explain how this content a centerpiece is different from what one might find with solely a Google search. around which

to teach searching and critical reading skills.

Tracking the source material for a Wikipedia entry has the added goal and benefit of exposing students to more-refined search tools like ProQuest, FirstSearch, Ovid, and the library catalog, and to what they contain. Again, it’s an opportunity to explain why these sources might be more reliable. Additionally, because the searching capabilities and interfaces of these tools are more sophisticated, it’s a chance to teach students how to construct more-refined searches for information that will be more accurate and faster. These “hacks” can then have the benefit of trickling down to other searches used by students no matter which search interface they use in the future. In essence, it helps them think about how to search for information in a faster, more-effective way, which they will need both in and out of class. Further, the exercise has the potential to help eliminate search and library anxiety in new researchers by providing them with clearly defined targets. This may make new users comfortable with the more complex searchable resources the library offers (and therefore, hopefully, with the library itself). Because the citations are already pointing the new searcher to a specific article, she won’t have the anxiety of wondering if resources exist on a topic and she just isn’t finding them.

august 2008

Power searching

The learning starts simply enough with students being asked to search Wikipedia for an article that is pertinent to the topic of a course they are engaged in. Yes, you’ll probably have the smart-aleck student who decides he wants to submit a three-line entry; so instructors may want to advise students on what entries are substantial enough to be useful in the course. Once the entry has been selected, students read the article critically and are asked to be alert for obvious biases the entry exhibits through its language. The instructor will want to have on hand a few examples of entries that he can share that are good, bad, and just plain ugly, to launch a

Tracing the original sources

Selection and bias

discussion about why these entries are classified as such. Additionally, students should question how the information from the entry matches with what they already know about the topic; sometimes that gut instinct can be a great way to spur more investigation. For example, does the entry mostly ring true to their basic level of knowledge, or is the little voice in the back of their head saying, “I don’t know about this.” Not only does this help students begin to look for bias, but it also exposes them to what that bias might look like and how to spot it.

american libraries

he unreliability of the online open-content encyclopedia Wikipedia has led a number of schools to discourage its use despite—or perhaps because of—its popularity with students. At Middlebury (Vt.) College, the history department notified students in February 2007 that Wikipedia could not be cited in papers or exams, and at least one system, the Warren County Regional School District in Warren County, New Jersey, has blocked access to the site on its computers. While the logic behind these actions might be sound, the practice is a bit excessive. Instead of demonizing Wikipedia as a poor research tool, academic and school librarians should use it as an occasion to teach informationliteracy skills. After all, Wikipedia is a good place to start research. Its coverage of topics is vast and sometimes even deep. For many students, it’s also more easily accessible than a traditional encyclopedia. And while the tool contains content that is sometimes questionable, it also offers many well-researched and well written-pieces. In fact, I know many librarians who use it when they need to get a quick summary of or introduction to a topic. What’s wrong is ending one’s research there too, which is what many educators fear their students are doing. Wikipedia offers librarians a unique teachable moment when used in formal information-literacy training through the dissection of individual entries. Instead of discounting it as a resource, librarians can use Wikipedia as a centerpiece around which to teach searching and critical reading skills, as well as evaluation of a resource’s content. What follows is a general structure for using a Wikipedia entry as the focus of information-literacy training. The goal of the exercise isn’t necessarily to tear apart Wikipedia entries; students may, in fact, decide that the entry they are examining is well researched and well written. What is important is for students to learn how to reach that decision on their own as they participate in and after they leave the academic environment.

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The final analysis

Visit www.STIMAGING.COM

process is to have students conduct a brief critique of their Wikipedia entry and discuss it with their peers. Is the entry factually accurate? Is it biased, and if so, how? What are the entry’s strengths and weaknesses? What does the entry ignore? And, based on what the searcher now knows, what would be the consequence of using the Wikipedia entry as the sole source of information on the topic? As a bonus, students could discuss how the search interfaces of Wikipedia and the library’s resources differ.

Embrace the enemy In the end, students are going to use Wikipedia anyway. If they don’t access it from school, they will look at it from home or another library. If they don’t cite it directly in a paper, they will probably have at least looked at an entry, and it may wind up influencing them. Librarians and other educators may as well capitalize on the opportunity to use the resource as a teaching example as well as to make the profession and its skills more relevant to students. Students will take their research skills to the workplace and their personal lives, and such information-literacy techniques will be vital in being intelligently informed. Evaluating resources they find through Google or Wikipedia will be critical when using that information to make decisions. z

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After the citations in the entry have been gathered, the next step is for students to read and evaluate the resources they found. It’s here that librarians have an opportunity to help students develop the ability to read a text critically and evaluate the usefulness of its content by helping them identify key flags to look for—which just happen to be many of the same pieces of information we look for when doing collection development. A variety of questions can be posed to students to help them in this: n Do the ideas and content conveyed in the Wikipedia entry reflect an accurate summation of the cited material? n Where did the citations come from and why are those sources reputable (or why not)? n Who was the author and what are his or her credentials? n What biases does the article exhibit that might have influenced the entry? n Is there information in the sources the student found that the Wikipedia entry ignores? n Are there sources that the author fails to take into account that derail the entry’s arguments? With all this information in hand, the final step in the

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A CAll for Sense

ately I have been noticing a lot of articles in librarian and teacher rags bad-mouthing Wikipedia, and I have to ask: Is this really necessary? We all know that the website is an imperfect source—it is open to editing by anybody, and the factuality of its facts is sometimes (even often) questionable—but I have been shocked at the level of bilious rancor that this topic seems to inspire in people. Librarians are out there advising people not to use it and hanging up signs warning patrons away from it, and some are even talking about blocking access to it on school and library computers. This is not just wrongheaded, but completely contrary to the mission of libraries and the goal of information literacy. First of all, there is the matter of public perception. For years librarians have been wringing their hands over how to stay relevant, and not a week goes by without some major newspaper running a story about how, despite ever-swelling usage, libraries are on their way out. Librarians are responding by adopting technology and working to demonstrate the whole range of options available to patrons and researchers in the Information Age. This is all great, of course; but I don’t

know how we can try to convince the world how technologically hip we are while at the same time we openly bash one of the biggest stories of the Web 2.0 movement. It makes us seem disingenuous and every bit the fossils that everyone seems to want to prove we are. Wikipedia does have many uses and practical applications. It usually provides a decent (and easy-tofind) introduction to a subject, no matter what that subject is. Wikipedia editors link to other “valid” information sources that can prove useful to researchers. By telling people flat-out that Wikipedia is bad and that they shouldn’t use it, we are denying our patrons and students all these uses and missing out on great opportunities to teach source evaluation and research methods. It’s not hard to explain to patrons when and why Wikipedia is a good source and when and why it isn’t; we do this all the time with every other tool we have. By not accepting Wikipedia’s place in the information lives of out patrons and students, we’re not only shooting ourselves in the foot; we’re failing at our most basic responsibilities. —Jack Baur, recent graduate from the University of Washington Information School.

Prizes are also available for librarians who participate. For more information and free downloadable promotional materials, register today at www.ala.org/baseball.

One lucky winner will receive a trip for two to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

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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.

august 2008

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.”

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By Scott Nicholson

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ver the past few years gaming has grown in popularity to the point where many call it the next new media. Many libraries have acknowledged this phenomenon by supporting gaming activities. However, the response to games in libraries has not been universally positive, as some have questioned the legitimacy of supporting this type of entertainment. Some wonder if libraries are so desperate to bring in patrons that they are turning to any form of entertainment to lure people through their doors. To learn more, the Library Game Lab of Syracuse University conducted a study in 2007 in which we contacted 400 randomly selected public libraries to learn how they supported gaming. The purpose of this article is to refute a few commonly-held misconceptions about gaming and to propose a way to reframe gaming in libraries that makes it a natural fit with library services.

Illustration: Jennifer Palmer

Clearing up misconceptions about this increasingly popular activity

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Misconception #1: Gaming in libraries is a new activity. Libraries have been supporting gaming, albeit in low-tech forms, for decades. Public libraries in England in the 1800s supported gaming and other leisure activities as a way of luring people away from the public houses. Libraries in the United States have supported chess, Scrabble, and bridge clubs throughout much of the 20th century. Most children’s areas have some types of games or gamelike activities available. Current coverage of gaming in libraries usually focuses on video games, however, which leads to the misconception that gaming in libraries is a new activity. Our research showed that in the 40% of public libraries that have formal gaming programs, board games, and traditional games, like chess, were the most popular types of games used. Misconception #2: Only a handful of libraries are supporting gaming. We found that 77% of those libraries contacted supported gaming in some way. The two most common ways are through hosting games in the children’s section and allowing patrons to play Web-based games on the public computers. Gaming is more prevalent in libraries than most people realize. Misconception #3: Libraries that support gaming are just becoming arcades. While video games like Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero are the subject of much publicity and discussions about gaming, it is important to recognize that there are many types of games. Board games, like chess and Monopoly, card games such as bridge and Pokemon, casual puzzle games on the Web, educational computer games, role-playing games, and historical miniatures games all fall under the concept of gaming. Different gaming activities are appropriate for different age groups and it is important to match the game to the players. Gaming can also create opportunities for members of different generations to come together and interact, which improves the library’s role as a hub of the community.

the door to another world. Through the eyes of the characters in the story, those listening can mentally engage with a different time and place, exploring decisions and roles that they would not encounter in their everyday lives. Those listening to stories in the library may or may not check out books and participate in other library services, but that was not the reason to hold storytelling programs. Storytelling creates a comfortable and inviting environment for people to enjoy spending time in the library. Gaming is participatory storytelling. The designer of the game sets up the backstory, the world, and the rules; in playing the game, participants get to play a part of the story. Games allow us to mentally engage with a different time and place and explore decisions and roles that we would not encounter in our everyday lives. Unlike with a fixed story, games allow players to create the story as they go along, creating a much more engaging experience. In addition, many games allow players to interact with each other as characters in this story, and many times these interactions improve the relationship between players outside the game, even crossing traditional social boundaries. Different games emphasize different parts of this activity. Role-playing games focus on the richness of the worlds they inhabit. Abstract games like chess or bridge focus less on the world and backstory and more on the interaction of the rules and components. Video games like Dance Dance Revolution highlight a very small portion of the story and create an intense experience for people to perform in different ways. The world, the rules, and the interaction between a player and the game, as well as the player and other players, all create different experiences. As it allows the players to engage in different activities, gaming can improve different types of mental and physical skills that are difficult to engage in other ways. Librarians can consider gaming as “Storytime for the rest of us.” Having a variety of gaming activities can appeal not only to the teens who are drawn to video games but also the adults and seniors who may be interested in other forms of gaming. Games can also bring people from different walks of life together. Storytelling is not the focus of the library, but it is an important service. Gaming activities, like storytelling, can capture the imagination and create a comfortable and inviting environment to encourage participants to enjoy spending time in the library. z

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What role does gaming play in library services? In order to reframe the way we think about gaming, I will compare it to another well-established library service, storytelling. Storytelling is a key service in public and school libraries and few would argue that its role there is inappropriate. A good storyteller will engage the listener by opening

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Participatory storytelling

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Librarians can consider gaming as “Storytime for the rest of us.”

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Gratitude as a Catalyst One of ALA’s newest honorary members calls on us to invest ourselves in the young by Pat Mora

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e? An Honorary Member of ALA? When I learned I was to be granted this honor, I asked American Libraries if I could write a love letter to the Association. I’ve met so many enthusiastic, committed librarians, particularly in the last 12 “Día” years. Imagine being so welcomed by a group that gives information away in a society too often focused on commercialization and profit. Library patrons do profit, of course: We benefit from your knowledge, creativity, resourcefulness. Writing to you I wondered: Why don’t we have a National Librarian Appreciation Day (or Week) as we do for teachers? Like countless others, I sure appreciate you. Agree on a date and official name, and I’m ready to promote the concept.

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Often in our lives, we fly on the faith of others, and I’m deeply grateful to the Texans who nominated me for this surprise award. Although, thanks to my mom, I’ve always been a reader and book lover, the only time I worked in a library was briefly shelving books at my high school in El Paso. I joined ALA when the family literacy initiative now known as “Día”—short for El día de los niños/El día de los libros, Children’s Day/Book Day—was offered a home by the executive board of ALA’s Association for Library Service to Children. Back in the spring of 1996, when the Día idea came to me out of the blue, I’d published about 10 books for adults and children and was enjoying giving readings and presentations. Because I’m of Mexican descent, from the border and bilingual, I spoke often about the need for books that reflected our national plurality, but I certainly didn’t consider myself a literacy advocate. I did realize, as do you, how blessed I was to know bookjoy, the private pleasure of savoring text. A few minutes after being zapped by the Día notion, I shared the idea with some members of Reforma, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking (not the shortest of ALA affiliate names). Reforma “got it,” gracias a Dios, the importance and urgency of linking all children to books, languages, and cultures. In a particular way, librarians who serve children and families, and faculty who prepare newbie librarians/media specialists, helped create a national Día community, deepening Día’s work so that it grew from a one-day celebration on April 30 to a daily commitment that culmi-

nates in annual celebrations often held throughout April. We soon realized how critical it is to form partnerships with parents, including low-income parents, often underserved and underrespected.

The challenge of partnerships So what happens when an energetic grassroots initiative merges with a large bureaucracy? What have I learned on this unexpected advocacy journey? True partnerships are challenging, and in many ways that’s part of Día’s deepest work. I see libraries respectfully and enthusiastically partner with schools, community organizations, young volunteers, funders, the media, and especially parents. Such libraries realize that to be mutually beneficial, partnerships require that all parties listen and stretch. These libraries also know that no one group has the answers, but if goals are shared, the children and families that our democracy so needs will have a greater chance to flourish. Día is a call, an opportunity, an easy bridge that welcomes families to our libraries and programs and introduces or reintroduces children and adults to the library as community learning center and treasure house. Are librarians tired after Día celebrations? You bet— but they’re also smiling, to paraphrase Barbara Jordan’s words, by striving to make libraries as good as their promise. Inspiring others, we are re-energized by their gratitude and by the nobility of sharing what we love with those whom we’ve enticed by honoring what they are and what they bring— their knowledge, cultures, and languages. z

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I realized how blessed I was to know bookjoy, the private pleasure of savoring text.

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From folksonomies to federated searches, reference databases are constantly evolving. Meet seven industry leaders who are driving those changes.

Speaking Technically S

even leading publishers shared their insights on the future of reference databases at American Libraries’ second

annual “Speaking Technically” panel at ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim. Moderated by American Libraries Direct Editor George Eberhart, the panelists talked about their new products and ideas for enhanced services. On hand were (left to right, above) JIM DRAPER, vice president and publisher of Gale/Cengage Learning; STEPHEN RHINDTUTT, president of Alexander Street Press; CHRISTOPHER WARNOCK, CEO of Ebrary; cer of EBSCO; KEVIN OHE, editorial director for electronic products at Greenwood Publishing Group; ANTHONY PAREDES, vice president of Capital IQ, a division of Standard and Poor’s; and LINDA GOLDBERG, vice president for user experience at ProQuest. Watch a video of this program at AL Focus, at alfocus.ala.org.

makes users fascinated, not only with the tool that they’re using for search and retrieval, but with the information that they find there. That is the goal—making the experience of retrieving, locating, and identifying information fascinating, inspiring, and engaging. How much time do you all spend looking into new technologies for information delivery? MICHAEL GORRELL: EBSCO is constantly looking at new

technologies and new user experiences. We just released EBSCOhost 2.0, the first major revision of our user interface since 2002. In the past six years, we’ve also added many products and features based on our research. Do you use any focus groups? GORRELL: We use many focus groups, usability studies,

and user testing, all the way from guerrilla user testing— pulling people off the street or off the campus—to structured laboratory testing. The Kent State University School of Library and Information Science has a Usability Lab with Tobii eye-tracking hardware, and we did some formal studies there. We do that all the time at Gale. About two years ago we conducted an 18-month study of how graduate students and undergraduates use and interact with literature products, and we learned some fascinating

JIM DRAPER:

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MICHAEL GORRELL, chief information offi-

American Libraries: In June, ProQuest agreed to purchase Dialog from Thomson Reuters. What plans does ProQuest have for it? LINDA GOLDBERG: I want to see Dialog as a service that

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We do the same at Capital IQ and Standard and Poor’s. For the last eight years, we’ve had an option for customers to submit feedback or request data and usability enhancements directly on the platform. About every two months, we add new functionality into our products, all driven from client feedback. ANTHONY PAREDES:

Gale has just introduced a federated search service that allows users to search for articles across your many databases. How does that work? DRAPER: OneSearch is a complement to our Power-

Search program that has been in production for about two years. It’s a high-end federated search that looks at metadata across all of the Gale databases. Librarians can sign up for the PowerSearch Plus and look in other vendors’ databases. For example, ProQuest products can be viewed through our interface, and it harvests their metadata, making for a much more powerful search engine. The inspiration for that came from our customers. What other search technologies will you be implementing over the next few years? STEPHEN RHIND-TUTT: Video is extremely cumbersome

ten they are given more credit than they deserve. They are useful in such applications as del.icio.us, Connotea, and CiteULike, but they fall prey to a recurring historical cycle. Initially, e-mail was shared effectively by a very small cadre of people; now, 90% of it is spam. In late 2005, Alexander Street Press launched a folksonomically oriented database on women and social movements. But we found that when the size of the user community was only 500 or so academics, folksonomies were not that useful except as adjuncts to an existing taxonomy, or as a help for keyword or full-text search. They are not a silver bullet. Can the library profession help in sorting some of this out? RHIND-TUTT: Indeed. I remember when del.icio.us be-

gan, most of the tags you saw were good because the early adopters were librarians and others who were very selective. But increasingly, less scrupulous people have put, in effect, spam tags into del.icio.us. They’ve added some “recommended tags,” but you have to ask yourself whether that in effect is doing rudimentary cataloging or creating a taxonomy in the classical sense. The Google Image Labeler game used to be fun when it started in 2006. It assigns you a partner, shows you a set of images, and you try to guess what the labels are in order to improve Google image tagging. I played it again about two weeks ago, and twice the partner I had was simply giving me spam responses, whatever the image. DRAPER: I’m convinced that folksonomy needs to live as a complement to the main taxonomy, and then we can use that to help create effective finding aids.

When telephone switchboards first came out, companies quickly learned that teenage boys could not be telephone operators because they were all too

WARNOCK:

to search; although Google has made some inroads, the proportion of video they’ve put up is relatively small and in the public domain. When you go into a bookshop, you can find both a public-domain $10 version of a classic novel by Charles Dickens as well as the $45 Oxford University Press scholarly edition. At Alexander Street Press, we think there’s a similar opportunity to create what we call a “critical video edition.” It should serve as a research tool, not just by Alexander Street users, but by others through OpenURL and other protocols. Going forward, perhaps we’ll have 200 different search mechanisms to interact with everyone else’s database.

Another way to do that is to add user-sourced metadata. Will folksonomies work as a supplement to structured thesauri? RHIND-TUTT: Folksonomies are interesting, but too of-

august 2008

Ebrary makes, we ask for feedback. We have a trial program that we put potential customers through. During this program we ask for feedback on the system and how they see it. Librarians are forthcoming about what works and what doesn’t work. We also conduct surveys with librarians, faculty, and students.

ny thing, because in some cases it costs more than the informa—Stephen Rhind-Tutt tion it describes. Researchers are studying ways for full text to be used to either eliminate the need for metadata or to allow new forms of metadata. There are hundreds of ways to go inside a document, extract information from the full text directly, and present it in a new interface.

What are the best ways for your customers to tell you about enhancements that they’d like to see? CHRISTOPHER WARNOCK: In every customer visit that

How will metadata fit into this new federated search concept? WARNOCK: Metadata is a fun-

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things about how they bounce around within products—what they call “flicking.” As we watched their hands and eyes interact with the screen, we realized that we could do a much better job for the enduser experience.

“Folksonomies are interesting, but too often they are given more credit than they deserve.”

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“Students—high school or younger—who intend to do a research project on, say, George Washington will begin by performing an image search. Think about that for a moment.”

happy to make connections incorrectly, randomly disconnect people, or listen in. When we were talking with librarians about introducing folksonomies into Ebrary, we had a number of people point out that competitive students might benefit from mistagging or hiding information, just as students sometimes mis-shelve books so that they have exclusive access to them. Gorrell: The vast majority of our users don’t use our services because they love them, they use them because they have to. I just can’t see college students tagging articles inside EBSCOhost or ProQuest.

Rhind-Tutt: In our video

and music collections, we’ve made it possible for users to place bookmarks within a video or audio performance, —Jim Draper string them together, and annotate them. Currently we have more than 25,000 academics who have created miniature course packs that they can distribute. It allows students more convenient access to media that historically are hard to dig into. Capital IQ has something called “Six Degrees of Separation” tools. Is that something that might be applicable to other databases? Paredes: The platform was started by investment

Gorrell: Even if we identify a cool, new, or buzzwordy technology, we don’t necessarily need to take advantage of it. Amazon.com has a great user experience, but not all the things that Amazon does would apply to what EBSCOhost does. You can’t jump in because the technology seems to make sense in a certain area. It has to apply in context.

bankers who were looking to find deals and use contacts that they might have had at a previous company. It allows you to locate your own business relationships and contacts. The system will map out those relationships for you. You can ask it to look for, say, an oncology specialist who resides in or works for a company located within a specific area and has certain types of credentials. The information comes from a variety of sources, including researchers who compile data the old fashioned way, then categorize it and smart-tag it.

What about blogs as add-ons? Kevin Ohe: At Greenwood Publishing we started a blog

What about translation features? Warnock: Machine translation is not yet at the point

with a new product, Pop Culture Universe, which is basically a reference-book database. Because it is bookbased, we can tell librarians and students that it is a legitimate place to go to get information that “counts.” We launched the blog for two reasons: We can develop an active user community around Pop Culture Universe, and it enables us to keep current in a way that a book cannot. Our bloggers can write about new pop-culture topics instantly and refer users back to our site, where they can get the good content.

where it can take a phrase in one language, translate it to another, and translate it back the same way. Usage studies show that as soon as you encounter a word or phrase that you don’t understand, all of your reading comprehension from that point forward is compromised. Ebrary does offer this in order to help people clarify concepts or context.

Draper: At Gale we launched a reader’s advisory database called Books and Authors. Users can open an account (it takes about two seconds) and write their own book reviews in their own My Reading Room space. We were hoping a few people would write reviews. Well, we had thousands of them coming in every week, even though the product was new. That clearly demonstrates that in the sphere of books and literature, our users like

Draper: Gale has machine language translation in nearly all of our products now, and that’s a requirement from many of our customers. We’ve incorporated Mandarin Chinese, Korean, and some of the traditional European languages, and we’re building this out all the time. It’s an absolute must in the next year or two, if you really want your products to get wide distribution. Warnock: Publishers are in a position to do that for

their own materials, but Ebrary has specifically avoided full-document translations in case it impedes on rights

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Goldberg: ProQuest is looking at tagging as a way to allow users to supply content, but only in a way that we can allow an invited community of people to supply tags.

to share. I don’t think I could do the same thing in a history database quite as well, and I certainly couldn’t in science.

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content now under the ProQuest umbrella, given the 2007 merger of ProQuest and CSA. We need to present these products in a way that makes it easier for librarians to select the products that are best for their users. ProQuest also supplies downloadable marketing kits that help many types of libraries—corporate, academic, public, military—connect with their user communities and raise their awareness of the library’s resources. Ohe: Greenwood has developed multimedia “research tutors” that help students find and evaluate content. Librarians often don’t have time to spend teaching this to students, teachers assume the librarians are doing it, and students wind up with no concept of how to do effective research. The research tutor is a quick link that anyone can use. Students can see a slide show with a voiceover that walks them through a topic such as plagiarism. We also have “wizards” that step kids through the writing process. Does Ebrary have a new Java reader coming out? Warnock: We gave our first full demonstration pub-

licly this morning. It’s not just a new Java reader; it’s part of a new suite of technologies we call ISIS (Integrated, Scalable Information System). This adds chapter-level or subchapter-level search results instead of just document-level results, and it’s more ADA-compliant. ISIS has been in development for four years, and it will all be live before the end of summer. How are database users changing over the years? Draper: I read a fascinating 2008 report, Information

Audience question: I can remember in the days when I was working the reference desk and a young person came to the desk and asked me for a photograph of George Washington. That is what we now call a “teachable moment.” When do you think we can make those teachable moments happen in reference databases so a young person can learn that photography didn’t exist at the time? Draper: I can imagine an “in your face” approach

where if you search for a video of Abraham Lincoln you would learn during the search process that video did not exist in the age of Abraham Lincoln. But saying that politely might be a challenge. z

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Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future, by the University College London’s CIBER group, showing that students—high school or younger—who intend to do a research project on, say, George Washington will begin by performing an image search. Think about that for a moment. When I was their age, it would never have crossed my mind to need a picture of George Washington before knowing when he was born or whether he cut down that cherry tree. It indicates an absolutely

of a cover and frontispiece. In our generation, our only option was to pick up a book. You’d find a book on George Washington through the card catalog, pull the book off the shelf, and nine times out of 10 you’d find a picture of George Washington on the cover or on the frontispiece. Thirty percent of our brain goes to processing images. I think it’s just lack of a format.

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Is there anything that you’ve got lined up that will help librarians better promote the value of your resources? Goldberg: We are taking a look at the spectrum of

Warnock: Here is a counter-perspective: It’s the lack

Gorrell: EBSCOhost does have full-text machine language translation. We give a “your mileage may vary” message as you click the translation, because it’s not going to be exact. We don’t want people doing surgery based on a poor translation.

fascinating shift coming in the way in which people perceive information. All of us need to begin to grapple with this.

american libraries

that have been sold to other countries, or on the interpretation of the author’s work.

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ALA | Annual Conference

Details from Disneyland Tinker Bell found her voice this year, and so did 22,000 librarians and library advocates as they moved the profession toward Tomorrowland

unny California skies and the dazzle of Disneyland greeted some 22,000 librarians and library lovers in Anaheim for the American Library Association’s 2008 Annual Conference and Exhibition. Just as this is the year in which beloved Disney fairy Tinker Bell will speak for the first time, in an animated film due for direct-tovideo release this fall, the nation’s libraries found their voice at an international gathering that focused on advocacy, public awareness, and an agenda aimed beyond imagination and toward a 21st-century vision of library service. Many conference-goers have posted their photos on Flickr (tagged as ala2008), where Disneyland fans can enjoy a selection of fireworks and festivities shots taken at the theme park. Librarians took the Space Mountain ride as Disneyland Park and Disney’s California Adventure opened their doors to ALA attendees for the annual Scholarship Bash, raising over $100,000 to support the Association’s scholarship programs.

“For most Americans, the image of Walt Disney has been as unimpeachable as his heroes Snow White and Sleeping Beauty,” said Claudine Michel, director of the Center for Black Studies Research at the University of California, Santa Barbara. But the embrace of all things Disney was given a note of caution in a program titled “The Lady, the Tramp, and the Lion

King: Mixed Messages about Gender, Race, and Ethnicity in Disney’s Magic Kingdom.” Four speakers analyzed many of the Disney films familiar to audience members and pointed out some obvious—and some not-so-obvious—trends of classism, racism, and sexism. Meanwhile, the annual and increasingly elaborate Book Cart Drill Team World Championship created its own magic kingdom at the convention center. The Well-Stacked SciBrarians, representing Santa Monica (Calif.) Public Library, won this year’s competition, while the second annual parade of bookmobiles lent a bit of pageantry to the proceedings. Commencing June 26 and running through July 2, the conference kicked

off with an opening session featuring political pundit Ron Reagan, son of the late President Ronald Reagan, who brought the crowd to its feet with stinging observations about “what’s going on in Washington.” Calling librarians “the curators of civilization protecting freedom from the impulses of authoritarian governments,” Reagan lashed out at the Bush administration, citing the president’s “failure of imagination” and saying, “If you cannot imagine a better future, how are you going to create one?” He decried the administration’s intrusions on privacy and human rights. For the first time in history the United States government has sanctioned torture, he asserted. “This is not only unconscionable, it is illegal.”

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DIZZYINGLY DISNEY

With the lure of Disneyland just outside the Anaheim Convention Center, ALAers were all kids again as the theme park hosted the Scholarship Bash, raising $100,000.

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to go on and it’s free. Verizon continues to explore new opportunities to leverage technology for learning. That’s how we arrived at what’s next for Verizon and the American Library Association. What’s next is gaming. You only have to look around this conference to see how the gaming expsion is affecting Ron Reagan assesses “what’s going on in Washington” as our libraries. Opening General Session keynoter. There was just booth after booth OPENING WITH A BANG in the exhibit hall of gaming relating Dance Dance Revolution, and Wii Sports, as well as a number of board “We’re working together to reach new to learning. Now through Verizon and ALA’s gaming and learning initiative, games. That evening, ALA 2008 Presusers, change libraries, and change we’ll leverage the power of gaming to ident Loriene Roy announced the lives,” Roy proclaimed. assure that libraries remain at the first-ever Presidential Citation for “Since 2000, Verizon has invested over $7 million to support the Ameri- forefront of literacy development,” he Gaming. Winners were Wilmette (Ill.) concluded. Public Library in the “Education” catcan Library Association and several egory, Kansas City (Mo.) Public McCallion’s point had also been hundred community libraries across Library for “Recreation,” and the Uniwell illustrate during a Verizon Founthe country,” McCallion noted. versity of Illinois Library in Urbana McCallion went on to say, “Our sig- dation–sponsored Open Gaming Night held the day before at the Hilton for “Innovation.” nature response to today’s learners is California State Assemblyman Jim Anaheim–Disneyland Hotel. Gamers thinkfinity.org, education resources Silva brought greetings from the state packed the room to play Rock Band, for education and literacy. It’s simple capital. “I look to libraries as an integral part of education. We live in a great nation because we educate the masses,” said the former teacher, while acknowledging that the state is having “a financial crisis.” California State Librarian Susan Hildreth also welcomed the audience to the “Golden State,” presumably referring to the sunny weather and not state funding for libraries. The opening session ended with Marty Kahn, CEO of ProQuest, sponsor of ALA’s Spectrum scholarship program, introducing “a tremendously energetic, passionate, committed group, the current Spectrum scholars,” and welcoming them to “the Diahann Carroll closes the conference being interviewed by Sarah Long (right). wonderful community of librarians.”

The opening session also included greetings from ALA’s first Native American president, Loriene Roy, who presented welcomes from Tim Tingle, singing a hymn in Choctaw; Analu Josephides performing an oli, or Native Hawaiian chant; and Haki Tahani from New Zealand, singing mihi and walata, or greeting and song. “Megwitch,” said Roy, “thank you” in Ojibwe. Roy also gave big thanks to Tim McCallion, west region president of Verizon, as he announced that the company was awarding ALA $1 million for a new project Roy called “an investment in libraries, literacy, and gaming.” Verizon also sponsored Reagan’s speech.

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ALA | Annual Conference “We live in a great ry Brazelton, in the Asalso featured conversa- nation because sociation for Library tions with Kite Runner we educate the Service to Children author Khaled Hosseini, President’s Program and the closing session masses.” featured legendary en—California hosted by Jane B. Maritertainer Diahann CarAssemblyman no. The series also inroll. Interviewed by Jim Silva cluded an in-tandem presentation by astroALA Past President Sarnaut and scientist Sally Ride and Tam ah Long, Carroll chatted about her forthcoming autobiography and joked O’Shaughnessy, Ride’s coauthor and partner. They talked about their line about her long and illustrious career of books designed to encourage, espein show business and how difficult it STELLAR SPEAKERS cially among girls, the study of science is to remain on top as one ages. She and engineering. (Author James said she was grateful for her childThe Auditorium Speaker Series feaFrey’s scheduled appearance was canhood library in New York City, where tured 10 authors, including actress there was a librarian “who cared about celled due to a family emergency.) and children’s author Jamie Lee CurALA President Loriene Roy handed my questions.” Interviewed onstage tis, who headlined the Public Library out Presidential Citations for Internaby Roberta Stevens of the Library of Association’s President’s Program Congress, Hosseini said he has librar- tional Innovation at a reception for hosted by Jan Sanders and spoke pasinternational librarians, sponsored by ians to thank for the word-of-mouth sionately about her writing, the imthe International Relations Round Tapopularity of his novel. “It really got portance of education and good ble at the Muzeo art and culture museparenting, and the difficulties she had started when librarians started pickum in downtown Anaheim. One of the ing the book for communitywide as a less-than-stellar student. “I citations went to Ethiopia Reads, an reading programs,” he said. couldn’t spell ‘library,’” she laughed, effort to provide books and libraries Rounding out the Auditorium “and that tells you everything you need Speaker roster were: civil rights lead- for Ethiopian children. Some 650 to know about my academic life.” Delibrary professionals from more than er Vernon Jordan; self-described crying the easy access to pornography 80 countries attended. “civil servant” (library worker) Don that the internet allows children, she ALA’s incoming president, Jim Borchert, author of Free for All: Oddalso talked about the need for a conRettig organized a session titled “Adversation about family values. “I don’t balls, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library; Greg Mortenson, cofounder of vocating for All Libraries: Saving the like the fact that ‘family values’ has the nonprofit Pennies for Peace; best- Library Ecosystem,” in which he inbeen co-opted as some conservative selling authors Stephen J. Cannell and vited members to create elements of a agenda.” (See interview on p. 62.) Dean Koontz; and pediatrician T. Ber- plan for ALA’s advocacy initiative durThe Auditorium Speaker Series ing his presidential year. The program was organized by the new Office for Library Advocacy. “What happens to one type of library affects all of us,” Rettig said. “Library communities around the country need to speak with a unified voice, ready to advocate for all libraries.” Attendees at the conference were able to make their voices heard on Tuesday, July 1, by taking part in Virtual Library Day on the Hill–—faxing and e-mailing members of Congress regarding important library issues. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the basketball legend who is also honorary chair of Library Card Sign-up Month in SepGreetings from the “Libraries Build Communities” volunteer workforce. tember, attended and wrote his mem-

Photos: Curtis Compton, Cognotes

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The Spectrum program, Kahn said, “addresses the problem of the underrepresentation of ethnic librarians. It is a program that is building a more inclusive librarian workforce, one that reflects the communities that “librarians serve.” In its 10 years, Spectrum has supported 415 students with scholarships worth more than $2.5 million.

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DON BORCHERT

CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER AND AUTHOR OF MAKE IT PLAIN: A LIFE OF SPEAKING

MEDICAL DOCTOR, PROFESSOR OF PEDIATRICS, AND FOUNDER OF THE BRAZELTON TOUCHPOINTS CENTER

LIBRARY WORKER AND AUTHOR OF FREE FOR ALL: ODDBALLS, GEEKS, AND GANGSTAS IN THE PUBLIC LIBRARY

“My father had taken me, at 12 years old, to hear Thurgood Marshall, and I said, ‘Daddy, I’m going to be a lawyer just like him.’” “This book is entitled Make It Plain, and it comes from the pews of the Black church.” “Librarians . . . you open our citizenry to life through books.”

bers of Congress on the importance of library funding. YouTube is showing the short video that played at the opening general session, highlighting the value of public awareness to the library profession. It features President Roy, Mario Gonzalez (ALA Executive Board), President-Elect Jim Rettig, Leslie Burger (ALA past president), Jane Chesnutt (editor of Woman’s Day), Jeff Idelson (National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum), Judith Gibbons (ALA Public Awareness Committee), and Keith Michael Fiels (ALA Executive Director). Friends of Libraries USA sponsored a number of author events, including an appearance by popular comic Paula Poundstone, the organization’s national spokesperson. On stage with her were writers and comedians June Casagrande, Dan Kennedy, Beth Lisick, and Robert Schimmel.

“If this book is offensive to anyone, it’s intentional.”

“Parents are suffering a great deal, and they need all the help you and I can give them.”

“I have a screwdriver and a hammer, and it’s my theory that you could build the pyramids with those two tools.”

“Families with children can learn more from each other than from pediatricians.”

“We had a woman come in the library and she had a rat on her head.”

“Never look a baby in the eye . . . . If you ever want a baby to pay attention, imitate her!”

“I always call it the Summer Reading Club; kids want to part of a club, not a program.”

The FOLUSA Author Tea featured Ron Carlson, Christopher Reich, Rick Wartzman, Brunonia Barry, and Joseph Michelli.

(Watch for AL’s annual awards roundup in the September issue.) The Workplace Wellness Task Force hosted a Wellness Fair on Sunday that featured healthy eating, chair pilates, office yoga, and Dance Dance Revolution. Celebrity chef Bruno Serato of the Anaheim White House restaurant prepared entries from his cookbook Temptation at the White House. The nuts and bolts of daily library service were far from ignored. Tracie Hall, assistant dean at the Dominican University Graduate School of Library and Information Science, gave her take on the future of reference services in an energetic presentation aptly titled “Can I Please Blow Up This Reference Desk? The 10 Social Trends That Can and Should Change the Way Libraries Do Business.” Speaking to an audience mostly comprised of public librarians, Hall proposed various ways to rethink reference, noting

HIGHEST HONORS The Association’s highest award, Honorary Membership, was bestowed on children’s author Pat Mora for her work in creating the annual El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day) celebration (see p. 52); Effie Lee Morris for her pioneering work in children’s services and racial desegregation; and Peggy Sullivan for a 50-year career that has included leadership roles in libraries of every type and service as president and executive director of ALA. Dozens of awards were presented at the conference and at the annual awards reception, followed by the inauguration of 2008–09 ALA President Jim Rettig.

Photos: Curtis Compton, Cognotes

“The American people are looking for leadership and authenticity.”

“Reading to a child at night is the most exciting thing I ever did.”

T. BERRY BRAZELTON

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VERNON JORDAN

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THUS SAID

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ALA | Annual Conference

London’s rebranding of a library as an “idea store.” “The reference desk is a relic,” said Hall. “It reifies to people that ‘I am the wizard of everything and you are nothing.’”

OCLC STUDY RESULTS Among other important conference events was a preview of OCLC’s new public library study titled From Awareness to Funding (see p. 29). OCLC Vice President Cathy De Rosa said the research showed that the library’s most committed funding supporters are not the heaviest library users and that per-

ceptions of librarians are an important predictor of library funding support. To raise public willingness to actually fund libraries, the marketing message has to change, the study indicates. Voters who see the library as transformational as opposed to informational are more likely to increase taxes in its support and they do not necessarily want a trade-off with financial support for other public services. “The Web does not win,” said De Rosa, is a simple way of putting another of the study’s findings: Concentrating the funding message on demographically younger and poorer

members of the community is not the way to go. “Super supporters are demographically neutral,” and this is “fabulous news,” she added. It means that “we have the ability to make more super supporters.” The entire study is available for free download at www.oclc.org. The Anaheim conference also featured a day-long Advocacy Institute, topped by a panel discussion with the “Spokane Moms,” as they have become known—three Washington mothers who took the school library crisis in their district into their own hands and are turning local persua-

A CHAT WITH JAMIE LEE CURTIS uthor-actress Jamie Lee Curtis

so monstrous for me that it’s

lent her star power to the ALA

taken me a long time to own

Annual Conference with a special media event during which she read her latest book, Big Words for Little People (HarperCollins), to children from the ALA childcare facility in the convention center. She then keynoted the Public Library Association’s President’s Program. American Libraries caught up with Curtis for a quick Q&A before she went on stage.

the fact that I am an author. Q. What do you like best about being an author? A. Sitting in front of a group of children and having them engage with me—them understanding what I’m talking about, at a level that is eye-to-eye. Q. Ever think about writing

Jamie Lee Curtis poses with kids from the ALA childcare facility after reading them her latest book, Big Words for Little People.

Q. Why did you start writing books for children? A. I didn’t start writing books because it was a connection to learning. For me, it was a connection to feeling. It spoke to me from a creative standpoint.

A. I’m not interested. And I just don’t have the academic acumen to be able to really produce a great adult book.

ogy draws him deeply. I don’t fight

Q. Any new projects in the works?

as long as there’s a good balance.

Q. When did you start thinking of

“mean-agers.”

yourself as a writer? A. I didn’t use the words “writer” or “author” for a couple of years because I think of myself as a reader. I read at stoplights, and the import of that title, “author,” is

A. I do have a teenager-esque book that we may produce, about

Q. How do you think technology affects children’s reading? A. I’m the mother of a 12-year-

it. I’m a big proponent of technology, as long as there are limits to it,

Q. You’ve said that “getting older means paring yourself down to an essential version of yourself.” How do you do that? A. It’s like essential oil, something that has been condensed.

old boy with learning disabilities.

And it has to do with divesting

My son is a multimedia kid, and the

yourself of stuff. I don’t own any

imagination offered in the technol-

more than I need.

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for adults as well?

Photos: Curtis Compton, Cognotes

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Photos: Curtis Compton, Cognotes

“I couldn’t sion into a national cruTraffic was heavy in the ex- actors from the L.A. Theatre Works, spell sade (AL, May, p. 27). Lisa hibition hall, where the who performed a scene from their Layera Brunkan, Denette ‘library,’ “LIVE! @ your library” Readforthcoming play, Top Secret: The BatHill, and Susan McBurney and that ing Stage featured some two tle for the Pentagon Papers. shared their lobbying dozen poets and fi ction writJoan Rivers impersonator Dee Dee tells you techniques and echoed ers. New pavilions gave the Hanson wowed the crowd at the many of the conclusions in everything hall a new flavor, by concenGreenwood Publishing reception, the OCLC study. The 20th- you need trating exhibitors by themes. making wild remarks and trying to century mindset was “liThe Gaming Pavilion was a fool people into thinking she was the to know braries matter,” they said, hit, and the International and real thing. Instead of the standard about my but the 21st-century emSpanish Publishers Pavilions chat-and-munch meet, this one was phasis must be on the role academic contributed to the global held to launch Greenwood’s new Pop of modern libraries in reach of the conference. The Culture Universe reference database, life.” contributing to global Green Friendly Pavilion and the venue was the Lucky Strike —Jamie Lee competitiveness, workhelped librarians focus on Lanes, where librarians demonstratCurtis force readiness, national making more ecologically reed they could bowl with the best. competence, and how lisponsive choices, while the “ALA is fortunate to include a braries make or save state dollars. ALA Membership Pavilion offered a group of loyal and committed sponThey were honored in Anaheim with friendly haven where attendees could sors who support their Association the 2008 Crystal Apple Award from learn more about the Association. year after year,” President Roy noted ALA’s American Association of American Libraries sponsored at the opening session. “Their genSchool Librarians. “Speaking Technically,” a panel diserosity helps us to produce this conThe Libraries Build Communities cussion with experts from seven ma- ference.” Diamond ($25,000 and up) volunteer effort, which had its start in jor library database publishers conference sponsors were Gale, Pro2006 in New Orleans, this year gathtalking about their new products and Quest, and Verizon. Ruby ered about 85 conference participants ideas for enhanced services (see page ($5,001—$24,999) sponsors were to donate their Friday to help area 64). The program was cosponsored Brainfuse, H. W. Wilson, Demco, libraries in any number of special Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin and EBSCO, Elsevier, School Library Jourprojects, from reading shelves and la- the Exhibits Round Table. nal, Read How You Want, Springer, beling books to scanning 115 years of Daniel Ellsberg, the RAND analyst Hatchette, and Thomson Reuters. one school newspaper. Volunteers who released the Pentagon Papers to Sapphire ($500—$4,999) sponsors met early June 27 outside the conven- the news media in 1971, was the feawere America Reads Spanish and tion center, where they were bused or tured guest at the Alexander Street ETS. Auditorium Speaker sponsors taxied to the various locations. Press breakfast on Sunday. He talked were HarperCollins, Penguin, Public The publication this year of Baseabout his days in hiding from the FBI Affairs, Roaring Brook Press, Ranball’s Greatest Hit: The Story of Take Me while they conducted an intensive dom House, Vanguard Press, and Out to the Ball Game by Robert search for him. Also on hand were Virgin Books. Thompson, Tim Wiles, and Andy Strasberg—timed to the 100th anniversary of the song—was the focus of a session helmed by Strasberg as part of the Campaign for America’s Libraries’ “Step Up to the Plate @ your library” initiative. Using a multimedia presentation featuring performances of the song by such unlikely artists as Harpo Marx and Jerry Lee Lewis, Strasberg entertained the packed crowd with lore about the song’s bizarre history, proof of its place in modern culture, and Strasberg’s own lifelong obsession with Authors Stephen J. Cannell (left) and Dean Koontz win over the crowds as part of the Auditorium Speaker Series. the national pastime.

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ALA | Annual Conference

THUS SAID GREG MORTENSON

WES STUDI

COREY DOCTOROW

COFOUNDER OF THE CENTRAL ASIA INSTITUTE AND COAUTHOR OF THE BESTSELLER THREE CUPS OF TEA

NATIVE AMERICAN ACTOR, CHILDREN’S AUTHOR, AND ACTIVIST IN THE AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT

CANADIAN JOURNALIST, SCI-FI AUTHOR, AND COEDITOR OF THE BOING BOING BLOG.

“We’re witnessing today a surging wave of interest in the commitment amongst tribes and nations to revitalize the languages of yesterday, which are being brought up to mean something today.”

“Copying isn’t what the internet is best at. What it’s best at is making it cheaper to take collective action . . . . Collective action is another name for what we call ‘library.’”

“We all fail in our lives, and we all make mistakes. When that happens, think of the Persian proverb, ‘When it is dark, you can see the stars.’”

Of the 22,047 total attendees, 5,752 were exhibitor personnel. “This is the first time ALA has been in Southern California since 1983, and I think attendees loved the site, the exhibits, all the educational sessions, the networking, and the beach,” said Deidre Irwin Ross, director of ALA Conference Services. What follows are reports on key programs and selected sessions that offer a glimpse into the wealth of learning and networking opportunities presented in Anaheim.

RON REAGAN OPENING PULLS NO PUNCHES The opening session turned Ron Reagan, son of the late President Ronald Reagan, loose on “what’s going on in Washington,” and the outspoken critic of President Bush shot

“You have to fight like the wolf pack, not like the six pack.”

“Universal access to all human knowledge is a feature [of the internet], not a bug.” ”The core difference between totalitarianism and freedom is whether you get to choose the circumstances under which you disclose your personal information.”

off a barrage of attacks on the admin- ma, China, or just down the way at istration’s policies. the corner mall. Only when we stand Reagan blasted the state of affairs everywhere are we truly fighting the in the nation’s capital. In addition to good fight.” condemning the torture of detainReagan said of U.S. politics that ees in Guantanamo, he pointed out “moneyed special interests, often althat “It is important lied with the awesome when we reflect on machinery of finance “If you cannot such things that we and commerce, rule imagine a better the day, and then most recognize that we are not dealing with mere future, how are you elected and appointed officials are primarily policy here but with going to create concerned with attainuniversal principles. one?” ing and then clinging “When we stand for —Ron Reagan to power.” the right of people to He called the forthhave free access to incoming presidential election “the formation without government interference, oversight, or censorship, quadrennial exercise where Washington essentially takes its show on the when we stand for people’s right for road, and as you might expect, things privacy, when we stand for the right are bound to get ugly and more than a to speak and hear and read, we must little bizarre. “This is an historic elecstand everywhere,” Reagan said, “whether it is Cuba, Zimbabwe, Bur- tion, no matter how you look at it,”

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“I made a rash promise to build a school. . . . I came back to the States and had no idea how to fund-raise. I went to the local library.”

“We envision for the future generations that their mother tongues will provide them rich history and a world view they can draw upon for inspiration, guidance, and, very importantly, self-identity.”

Photos: Curtis Compton, Cognotes; Oscar Einzig Photography.

“If we fight terrorism, it’s based in fear; if we promote peace, it’s based in hope. The real enemy is ignorance.”

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turned over while librarians themselves are sworn to silence under penalty of law, all in the name of national security. There has been, as well, the unprecedented assault on the ancient writ of habeas corpus, the very foundation of our Constitution’s legal protections.” “Fortunately our Constitution, though under assault, is still more or less operational in one key respect: the right to vote,” Reagan said. “We

are approaching what may be the most important presidential election any of us can remember. It is no exaggeration to say that how we vote this November will have a considerable impact on the future of our American democratic experiment.” “As it stands, one of two senators, Barack Obama or John McCain, will soon have a chance to make history. But we will give them that opportunity. When we vote, we exercise the one

INAUGURAL: JIM RETTIG TAKES REINS

penetrate the din and get the attention of the people in our communities, we can engage them and demonstrate the contribution our libraries can make to their lives. “Our libraries constitute an integrated information ecosystem. If one part of that system is weak or threatened, the whole is weak or threatened. “Our voice will be stronger and our results more gratifying if we unite to advance every issue that affects any part of the library ecology, whether it affects our school, public, or academic libraries or those who work in them. “Rather than pass the torch of innovation to a new generation, I encourage every generation to bear that torch together.“

american libraries

n inaugural banquet marks the annual transition to a new ALA president, and this year’s affair brought Jim Rettig, university librarian at the University of Richmond in Virginia, into the Association’s top leadership role. Excepts from his inaugural speech: “Equitable access to information, free expression, the freedom to read, patron privacy—we will continue to champion and defend these abiding values, deeply rooted in American culture from seeds that took hold in Williamsburg more than two centuries ago. “We play many roles essential to the health and progress of our communities and the nation—proponents of freedom, defenders of access to information, custodians of the cultural record, educators. “Our libraries are the only agency in American society that provides lifelong learning opportunities to every age group, to every economic group, to all. How many people recognize this? “In this information-abundant world, innumerable stimuli and messages compete relentlessly for everyone’s attention. If we can

august 2008

Photos: Curtis Compton, Cognotes; Oscar Einzig Photography.

Reagan said. “For the first time in our nation’s history, a woman and an African American emerged with a real shot to win the White House. We should not underestimate how big a deal that is or how big a deal it will be as we go forward. This election is already setting records: for money raised, numbers of votes cast, new voters registered. It certainly already feels like the longest election there’s ever been. In fact, scientists have recently determined that our 2008 contest actually began during the Jurassic Era,” he joked, moving on to the strengths and shortcomings of Obama, Clinton, and McCain. “Who’s going to win?” Reagan asked, then answered, “Oh no, no, no, no, no. Anyone making those kind of predictions this year has lost his mind.” “This should be the Democrats’ year, meaning it should be Barack Obama’s race to lose,” he went on to say. “We have a Republican president in the White House whose negative ratings are at levels not seen since Nixon in Watergate. Said president has mired us in an unpopular war. Adding insult to injury, our economy is going into the crapper. When last polled, only 14% of us thought the country was headed in the right direction. Yes, it should be Obama’s year, but things are never quite that simple. And making history is never quite that easy. Because circumstances so clearly favor a Democratic candidate, we are likely to discover, in no uncertain terms, just how ready America is to elect its first black president.” Reagan posited, however, that “the reality, sad as it may be, is that no matter who wins in November, in the long run our posture in Iraq may be virtually the same.” “You are aware, I know, of this administration’s intrusions into the privacy of American citizens,” Reagan said, “surreptitious checking of emails and banking records and demanding that library records be

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Actor Wes Studi serves as emcee of Loreine Roy’s President’s Program.

right without which all other rights perish.” He went on to say that “people in other parts of the world brave gunfire and walk miles to reach polling places. Surely we can stand a little inconvenience, a bit of time out of our

day. I don’t think any of us can pretend anymore that every vote might not be important. We certainly shouldn’t delude ourselves that the question of who occupies the Oval Office is insignificant,” Reagan said. While avoiding a direct endorsement of Obama or McCain, Reagan concluded, “So, weigh your choice carefully, assess your priorities, consider what is at stake” and “then go out and make history.” (Read a preconference Newsmaker interview with Reagan on page 43.)

EDUCATION FOR INDIGENOUS CHILDREN Loriene Roy’s ALA President’s Program, “Supporting Native Children’s English and Native Language Literacy,” offered a montage of perspec-

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tives on educating indigenous children. A panoply of speakers, supplemented by claymation and documentary shorts, presented serious issues, yet prompted the event’s emcee, actor Wes Studi, to joke about needing “a better script” for telling these stories. Roy introduced the session as a “media-rich program,” and it was a languagerich program, too, with presenters communicating in English and several indigenous languages. Activists, educators, and media developers were the focus of the program, which honored 98-yearold Maria Hinton for her teaching of the Oneida language and developing resources that will support instruction for years to come. Roy Boney’s short films in Cherokee and Creek were among the highlights. His productions presented Native American perspectives on U.S. history, including events like the Trail of Tears. Boney’s Incident at Rock Roe depicted a Cherokee rebellion against their removal from tribal lands by articulating the theme, “A little resistance goes a long way.” Henrietta Gomez, a Head Start instructor at the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico, acknowledged having doubts at the start of a culturally specific adaptation of WGBH television’s Between the Lions designed to encourage English-language literacy. “There are 19 pueblos in New Mexico, and each of them is different. How is one program going to suit all of them?” she asked. The answer, Gomez said, was “We worked hard.” Another teacher involved in the project, Thelma Mares, described students’ enthusiastic responses. “I think that we’ve instilled a love of books, and a joy of learning,” she said. Standardized test scores confirmed the gains. The session also previewed a fivepart series on PBS television’s American Experience, “We Shall Remain,” that explores Native American history. Librarians were encouraged to

Photos: Curtis Compton, Cognotes

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Deftly interviewed Oprah-style by ALA Past President Sarah Long, groundbreaking African-American singer and actress Diahann Carroll closed the conference with reminiscences about how being black and a superstar entertainer during the 1960s and 1970s affected her life, as told in her forthcoming autobiography from HarperCollins, The Legs Are the Last to Go. Carroll shared humorous insights into what it means to get old in a profession that values youth and beauty above everything, especially in women. Good-naturedly blaming the advent of the Motown sound for the decline of her singing career, she quipped, “You recognize that you are a dinosaur, and then you have to decide if you’re going to embrace that.” Racism throughout her early career, Carroll said, was made bearable through humor and the understanding that “there’s nothing wrong with you, there’s something wrong with Author Khaled Hosseini is interviewed on stage by them.” Roberta Stevens of the Library of Congress.

SALLY RIDE PASSIONATE ABOUT SCIENCE ED “We’re very passionate about science education,” said Sally Ride during a presentation in tandem with her partner and coauthor Tam O’Shaughnessy, who added that encouraging an interest in science and engineering, especially among young girls, “has never been more important.” As an astronaut and scientist, Ride believes that girls should reach for the stars as she did literally, becoming in 1983 the first American woman to travel into space. The main problem in education today, she said, is that there are not enough college students pursuing degrees in science and engineering, and that the number of women entering these fields still lags behind men. “The good news is that elementary school kids, boys and girls, like science, as many girls as boys,”

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DIAHANN CARROLL HOLDS NOTHING BACK

Photos: Curtis Compton, Cognotes

The author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini brought his elegant use of language to an Auditorium Speakers program in conversation with Roberta Stevens of the Library of Congress, an ALA Executive Board member. A physician by trade, Hosseini said of The Kite Runner, “I wrote it largely to prove that I could write a book.” Born in Afghanistan, he moved to the U.S. with his family when he was a teenager, knowing no English. Hosseini said that both of his books are “ultimately about family” and “the focus of the story is on the human element.” Asked about how the stories relate to his own experiences, Hosseini said he sometimes has a hard time convincing people that the books are fiction. He acknowledged that his books read like memoir, and there are many parallels in his own life, but “the appeal of writing was that it was so separate from my working as a physician.” He talked

Asked how she dealt with breast cancer when it struck in 1997, Carroll advised, “Rely on your pals” and gather as much information as possible. At first, “I hated the computer,” she said, “but technology is wonderful” and it opened up a world of learning and reading about the disease and how to deal with it. Long gingerly pointed out that Carroll’s character on television’s Dynasty was something of a “bitch,” and Carroll quipped, “Most bitches come under the guise of being a lady.” Hedging with a qualifier (“There is not such thing as advice”), Carroll then dispensed a goodly share of it: On psychoanalysis: “You get out of therapy what you bring to it.” Honesty: “Being honest is a difficult policy; but a bad policy? Only if you choose the wrong place.” Old age: “You have to go back to the beginning to do the end properly.” Change: “We must bend and change or we will break right at the bough.”

KHALED HOSSEINI ON CREATIVITY, MYSTERY

about how challenging it was to write A Thousand Splendid Suns from a woman’s perspective. Hosseini talked about the turmoil in Afghanistan and said that he could see no purely military solution. “We have to have a military effort combined with a civilian effort. We have to make the Taliban look like the bad guys that they are.” Hosseini said the most important thing about his success as a writer has been that it enables him “to use my access to the media as an advocate for refugees.” He is working with the United Nations on refugee relief.

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contact their local public television stations to become involved in related community-based activities.

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ALA | Annual Conference

ADVOCACY FOCUSES ON SCHOOL LIBRARIES

O’Shaughnessy remarked. But in the 5th through 8th grades something happens, she said, and girls begin to internalize the stereotypes about what girls should be. “A little girl who says she wants to be an electrical engineer may not get the same reaction as a boy who says the same thing,” O’Shaughnessy said, adding that “Our society is not doing a very good job of letting kids know what scientists do, how they work, and who makes a good scientist.” Ride also showed photographs of the Earth that she took from space. “When I was an astronaut,” she said, “I spent hours gazing down at the Earth below. Our planet is beautiful.” But she also noted how fragile the earth is and how easily it can be destroyed. “When I looked toward the horizon, I could see a thin fuzzy blue line outlining the planet. At first I didn’t know what I was seeing; then I realized it was the earth’s atmosphere. It looked so thin and so fragile, like a strong gust of interplanetary wind could blow it all away, and I realized that this air is our planet’s space suit. It’s all that separates every bird, fish,

Some 100 conference attendees registered for an all-day Advocacy Institute focused on the crisis in library funding that has broken out in schools across the country. They got an opportunity to hear directly from MEMBERS DISCUSS E-PARTICIPATION the “Spokane Moms,” as three advocates from Washington State have come to be known. Lisa Layera A quorum was achieved for each of Brunkan, Denette Hill, and Susan the two Membership Meetings held McBurney shared their lobbying during the conference, and the agentechniques and showed the Amerida for both sessions focused on the can Libraries Focus video (alfocus. challenges and opportunities for Asala.org) about their struggle in the sociation-wide e-participation. state legislature that resulted in a Janet Swan Hill, chair of the Task $4-million stopgap measure to keep Force on E-Participation, led a dispublic school licussion of the chalbraries open. lenges and “Our society is not doing “We’re here to a very good job of letting opportunities for get a how-to more online interkids know what scientists actions from Counmessage out about how this cil sessions to do, how they work, and effort can be repconferences. who makes a good licated,” said Steven J. Bell, Brunkan, “from a scientist.” chair of the Associaparent perspec—Tam O’Shaughnessy tion of College and tive.” The trio Research Libraries stressed that school libraries need College Libraries Section, sug gested “rebranding” in the minds of legisla- that getting more involved in etors, from quaint cliché to vital com- membership would save travel costs and serve the needs of the growing ponent in readying the nation’s number of online MLS students and workforce for a globally competitive marketplace. “You have to remember potential members. Regarding questions of confidenwho the lawmakers are,” said Hill, tiality, Councilor Esther S. Grassian “and they are not thinking 21st century, they are thinking Marian the Li- said the discussion “offers us an opportunity to consider what we think brarian.” “Lobby the bill, not the issue,” they should be confidential, why we urged, touting the effectiveness of on- think that, and whether or not there line petitioning. “Every one of you has may be some new user-driven approaches to our work that would inan army of supporters if you ask them

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Astronaut Sally Ride (left) and her collaborator Tam O’Shaughnessy offer explanations for why an interest in science ebbs away as children, especially girls, begin to get mixed messages about gender and education.

to speak out,” said Brunkan, emphasizing that library supporters and not librarians need to be the lobbyists. Maintaining that support for school libraries can be rallied nationwide, the Spokane moms urged that the library community must get enough people to stand up and say, “I care that my children go to a school with a wellstocked, well-funded library!” Brunkan, Hill, and McBurney were given the Crystal Apple Award by Sara Kelly Johns, president of ALA’s American Association of School Librarians, in recognition of their efforts on behalf of libraries.

Photos: Curtis Compton, Cognotes

and person on earth from the blackness of space.” The duo talked about their Sally Ride Science line of books and other learning aids, available at www.sallyridescience.com, saying that they are currently focusing on efforts related to the environment.

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BOOK CART DRILL TEAM CHAMPS

Spearheaded in part by Loriene Roy, the first Native American ALA president, “Many Voices, Many Nations” celebrated the American Indian voice in literature by presenting nine speakers—including poets, novelists, and singers—who repre-

spinning a tale about his family’s first visit to Disneyland when they were very poor. “You saw a bunch of us here tonight,” Alexie concluded, “but each of us, as good as we are and amazing as you all were, we all know that there are 10 or 20 or 30 or 100 people like us in our tribes who are just as good, but didn’t get lucky, who had it this much worse than us. My father was one of them. I learned to tell stories like this because he taught me.”

OSCAR’S COLLECTION Hollywood sometimes felt a million miles away during the conference, but one presentation made it feel a whole lot closer. “From Here to Eternity: The Challenges of Managing Oscar’s Very Special Collections” featured Linda Harris Mehr, director of the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. “The academy is a lot more than simply an awards

Photos: Curtis Compton, Cognotes

AMERICAN VOICES

sented a rich variety of native voices. San Diego (Calif.) County Library Director José Aponte served as master of ceremonies, dancing across the stage as he approached the podium to proclaim, “This is a different library event!” Aponte was right: Mixing song, storytelling, prepared literary excerpts, and extemporaneous comedy, the speakers alternately thrilled, amused, and moved the large crowd. The emotional high point may have been author Janice Gould’s acknowledgment of the May 15 overturning of the same-sex marriage ban by the Supreme Court of California, saying, “It’s so nice we can get married now,” before reciting an emotional poem about her partner. Other speakers used humor to engage the audience. “The one thing that unifies us all is the mullet,” said poet and fiction writer Erika T. Wurth. But award-winning author and filmmaker Sherman Alexie delivered the evening’s biggest laughs,

Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” The Bibliofiles (center), representing Austin (Tex.) Public Library, took second place, and the Bibliotechies of St. Margaret’s Episcopal School in San Juan Capistrano, California, took third prize. Photographs and video coverage can be seen on the Demco website at demco.com and on YouTube and Google Video.

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crease member participation and invigorate ALA.” Concerns were also voiced about the necessity for open meetings and about how comfortable the majority of members are in the virtual world. “I’m a strong proponent of electronic participation,” said Councilor Tom Wilding, ”but I do think we have to remember the comfort level with some of us is not pervasive.” In other business, a measure urging the Government Printing Office to improve the Federal Depository Library Program and public access to government information was passed and forwarded to Council.

ranged from cleverly reworded show tunes to a James Bond spoof to an unabashedly provocative homage to librarians. First prize went to the WellStacked Sci-Brarians (below, left), from the Santa Monica (Calif.) Public Library, whose impressive routine involved costume changes, dry ice, a 1980s musical montage, and a reenactment of the dance from

his year’s Book Cart Drill Team Championship, sponsored by Demco, had hundreds of librarians cheering and laughing late Sunday afternoon. Play-by-play commentary provided by children’s book authors Mo Willems and John Scieszka added to the hilarity of the event. This year’s contest featured eight teams with routines that

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ALA | Annual Conference

by ALA’s Association for Library Collections and Technical Services.

ACCESS IS NO FANTASY “Science Fiction and Fantasy: Looking at Information Technology and the In-

ADVOCACY MESSAGE

areem Abdul-Jabbar (right, signing copies of his new ALA READ poster) joined with thousands of librarians in Anaheim for a virtual plea to Congress for library funding. The basketball legend, author, and library advocate wrote his own members of Congress about the importance of libraries. Dubbed the Virtual Library Day on the Hill, the event utilized dozens of computers in the exhibit hall and gave conference attendees the chance to email and fax their legislators on important library issues.

Photos: Curtis Compton, Cognotes

show,” Mehr quipped, although she admitted that the televised ceremony is the “cash cow” that allows the organization to fund its numerous grants, scholarships, screenings— and, yes, the library. The library was founded in 1927, around the same time that sound was starting a revolution in Hollywood motion pictures, bringing along with it new equipment and standards that required the ability to conduct research. Today, the library houses over 35,000 movie posters, over 2,400 titles of trade publications, 10 million photographs, clipped film reviews, fan magazines, and much more. Although viewing certain parts of the collection requires an advance appointment, the noncirculating library is open to the public. “We’re a one-subject library,” said Mehr, “and organizing these materials has been met with certain challenges.” Primary among them is the number of film stills and screenplays received digitally. Creating prints of each image and script is costly and time-consuming, but Mehr worries that failing to do so could create a “black hole” in their record of popular culture. The program was sponsored

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Heather Reynolds of Park City Library in Utah does her best “Guitar Hero” as Terry Davis looks on in the DEMCO booth in the Gaming Pavilion.

formation Rights of the Individual” brought together four leading lights in the two genres to look at the current state of intellectual copyright and informational enlightenment through the lens of science fiction and fantasy. “Universal access to all human knowledge is a feature [of the internet], not a bug,” said Cory Doctorow (Little Brother, Tor, 2008). He made the case that, contrary to popular belief, cutting and copying is not what the internet does best. “What’s it’s best at is making it cheaper to take collective action. . . . Collective action is another name for what we call a library.” After Vernor Vinge (Rainbows End, Tor, 2006) spoke on how our culture might be within an “informational dark age,” Eric Flint (Ring of Fire II, Baen, 2008) warned that such a period is indeed looming because of how many are using the confusion over digital rights to secure even more rights than they would have had under older laws. Flint also decried the length of cur-

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7/21/2008 3:15:21 PM

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august 2008

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Booklist Online Senior Editor Keir Graff moderated “Booklist Adult Books Readers’ Advisory Forum: The Post-9/11 Novel,” featuring a RDA DRAFT DELAYED panel of novelists attempting to come to grips with these novels as a The copublishers of RDA Online distinct body of literature. Graff, (the American Library Association, himself the author of the post-9/11 the Canadian Library Association, thriller My Fellow Americans (Severn and the Chartered Institute of LiHouse, 2007), remarked that it was brary and Information Professionals “a sign of their suin the U.K.) have perior artistic reached the con“You have only to look achievement” that clusion that furaround this conference the panelists ther time is to see how the gaming had not strictly required to combeen identified as explosion is affecting our plete the developnovelists working ment of the new libraries.” in this particular software that will —Tim McCallion, Verizon be used for disgenre. “I don’t see it as tributing the full a genre, but the beginning of anoth- draft of RDA for constituency reer set of books,” said Carolyn See view. (There Will Never Be Another You, RanThe full draft was originally dom House, 2006). See discussed scheduled for release on August 4, how her books reflect her personal 2008. Instead, it will now be issued tendency to conflate personal and in October 2008. The three-month global catastrophe. “My dad left [our time period allocated for comments family] three days after they on the full draft is unchanged, and in this new schedule will extend dropped the atom bomb, and I took from October into January 2009. it personally,” she said. More specific dates for RDA’s final After promising to put all of the release will be forthcoming shortly. panel’s novels on her students’ fall Members of the Committee of reading list at the University of South Carolina, Janette Turner Hos- Principals and the Joint Steering Committee for Development of RDA pital (Orpheus Lost, Norton, 2007), (JSC) announced at a conference cast doubt on the intent of most auupdate session that they had agreed thors setting out to write post-9/11 that a two-month delay is justified. novels. “You don’t say to yourself,

The best RA advice for your staff and patrons, direct from the #1 source!

Photos: Curtis Compton, Cognotes

BOOKS AFTER 9/11

‘I’m going to do a novel about the impact of terrorism,’” she said, instead suggesting that story ideas come from more primary concerns. But it was Ellen Gilchrist (A Dangerous Age, Algonquin, 2008) who predicted that there would someday be an author whose work would provide a capstone to the genre, doing for post-9/11 literature what Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried did for Vietnam novels and what Cormac McCarthy’s The Road did for post-apocalyptic novels. At that point, Gilchrist predicted, other novelists would simply say to themselves, “It’s done.”

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rent copyrights. “Life-plus-70 is utterly absurd,” he said. Brandon Sanderson (Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians, Scholastic, 2007) put together information technology and the perpetual battle to attract reluctant readers. “Teach them to love information first,” he suggested, “and then they will find it on their own.” The program was sponsored by ALA’s Library and Information Technology Association.

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ALA | Annual Conference

They concluded that “this extension is worthwhile given the ultimate value of the exceptional effort that is going into RDA and feel that the review by constituencies will be enhanced as a result,” according to RDA Project Manager Marjorie Bloss. Karen Coyle reported in Coyle’s InFormation June 29, “I did make it to the RDA Update Forum on Saturday. The good news is that ALA hired the smartest woman in the world, Nannette Naught, to create the online system, and she has actually taken RDA and turned it into a huge complex of entities and relationships with their related instructions, scope notes, and examples. The bad news is that this online subscription service will be the only way to access RDA.”

FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE Delivered to ALA member e-mail boxes July 7, a special post–Annual Conference issue of American Libraries Direct contained a roundup of conference coverage from Cognotes, the show daily (www.ala.org/annual and click on Cognotes in the navigation menu), and the increasingly broad number of blogs that offer impressionistic reviews of conference programs. Here are samples from many:

The future of the catalog. Brad Martin writes: “There was no shortage of sage advice and memorable one-liners at LITA’s ‘Ultimate Debate on the Future of the Library Catalog’ on Saturday.” OCLC’s Roy

Tennant moderated a program with panelists Stephen Abram (SirsiDynix), Karen Coyle (consultant), Joseph Janes (University of Washington, AL’s “Internet Librarian”), and Karen Schneider (Equinox). “Based on their comments, there is much to be done, and fast.” —Cognotes, Monday, p. 27; LITA Blog, July 5; PLA Blog, July 6

Digital storytelling. In a forum sponsored by the Public Library Association on Saturday, panelists presented tips derived from two projects—“California of the Past” (California State Library) and “How I See It: My Place” (California Council for the Humanities)—on recording audio- and video-enhanced stories from the lives of ordinary people. —PLA Blog, June 28 YALSA Author Coffee Klatch. Linda W. Braun writes:

Cool Cash Contest!

Tell us how your library has used Kids! Campaign resources and you just might win

$100.

Contest entry is easy. For details, visit www.ala.org/ala/alsc/contest. All entries must be submitted by October 15, 2008. Winners will be announced at the 2009 ALA Midwinter Meeting.

Good reasons, bad decisions. Steven Bell writes: “According to Dan Ariely, the speaker at ACRL’s President’s Program on Monday, most of us are going to make plenty of bad decisions. Why? Because not only are we irrational, but we are so irrational that our bad decisions can practically be predicted. He provided many

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The Association for Library Service to Children is offering ten $100 cash prizes to libraries for the best use of the Kids! @ your library® Campaign materials at www.ala.org/kids.

“This is the second year for the annual coffee klatch and for anyone who hasn’t been before this is how it works. Librarians sit at round tables of 10. One seat at every table is left open. At approximately 9:00 a.m., the authors sit down at the tables. At each table the author talks about his or her books and answers questions the librarians might have. After five minutes a whistle blows, the authors stand up (not in unison), and move on to the next table on their rotation.” Two videos offer a glimpse of the caffeinated excitement. —YALSA Blog, June 30

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University reported on their OCLC-sponsored study, Public Library Facility Closure: An Investigation of Impacts on Library Customer Markets, at a Saturday PLA program. This study begins to provide a framework for making decisions about moving or closing branch library services. Christie Koontz has been a leader (maybe the leader) in encouraging libraries to use GIS data in the decision-making process.” —It’s All Good, June 29

Stretching existing staff. Brett Bonfield writes:

Why public libraries close. George Needham writes: “Christie Koontz, Dean Jue, and Wade Bishop from Florida State

CONFERENCE STATISTICS REGISTRATION TOTALS Anaheim

Washington

New Orleans

2008

2007

2006

Advance

11,514

14,196

9,047

On-Site

4,781

7,270

3,080

16,295

21,466

12,127

Advance

4,019

4,832

3,424

On-Site

1,733

2,337

1,423

Total

5,752

7,169

4,847

22,047

28,635

16,974

Exhibitors

GRAND TOTAL

Total

august 2008

Registrants

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The library, wherever it is. The LITA President’s Program on Sunday featured American Libraries columnist and University of Washington Information School Associate Dean Joseph Janes. Lauren Pressley reports: “Janes showed a 1906 picture of an old reference desk and said we should all look at it and see ourselves behind that desk. It should bother us. The medical tools from then are not recognizable today. We really love our history and tradition, but there are things we have to get over.” —Lauren’s Library Blog, June 30

California can party. New York Public Library Children’s Librarian Betsy Bird recaps her conference wanderings, encounters with YA and children’s authors, her time at the Blogger Meet-Up (room and refreshments provided by Feiwel and Friends), and the Hyperion cocktail hour that followed in this video (3:57). Tupac’s “California Love” serves as the soundtrack. You may also want to view Bird’s other conference videos, “Conventional Wisdom,” “Name Dropping,” and “Packing: The Untold Story.” —YouTube, July 1 Privacy: Time for a Revolution? The Office for Intellectual Freedom’s Sunday panel on privacy featured Wired Senior Writer Dan Roth, author Cory Doctorow, and Privacy Rights Clearinghouse Director Beth Givens. Jenny Levine blogged the session:

Photo: Andrea Mercado

“The big takeaway from PLA’s Saturday session, ‘Stretching Existing Staff: New Service Delivery Models,’ is that it’s Singer/songwriter Lisa Loeb performs selections from her new children’s CD Camp Lisa in the extraordinarily important to Baker and Taylor booth. work smarter, not harder. Smart is hard. It’s often coungood examples and colorful stories terintuitive, and sometimes we to prove his points, and most of have to confront our own limitathem are based on experiments that tions and mistakes. But it’s worth it, support his premise that people are because two good things happen easily influenced and fail to know when you do things that make their own preferences.” —ACRLog, July 7

sense: Your colleagues become a lot more productive and your neighbors—the people who make use of the resources you steward—begin to like you even more than they do already.” —PLA Blog, July 5

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ALA | Annual Conference

Your brain on DOPA. Linda W. Braun writes: “The Office for Intellectual Freedom sponsored a session Monday on the Deleting Online Predators Act. The program was designed to give attendees an opportunity to find out what is happening with federal and state legislation related to social networking. As I sat on the panel listening to my fellow presenters John Morris and Michele Ybarra, what really struck me was what a wide array of legislation is pending. Legislators Georgia Conference on

Information Literacy

October 3 - 4, 2008 Coastal Georgia Center, Savannah, GA

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Dr Carol Simpson, keynote speaker.

Bringing educators and librarians into dialog with each other. For more information:

http://ceps.georgiasouthern.edu/conted/infolit.html

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have not been able to define what social networking is because it’s not just one thing or one form of technology.” —YALSA Blog, July 1

Open gaming night. Joe Sanchez writes: “Friday’s Gaming Night was quite a bit of fun with a few unexpected surprises. ALA President Loriene Roy, an avid gamer, gave out the first Presidential Citations to libraries that use games as tools for learning. Three citations were awarded, one for innovation in education, innovation in library programs, and innovation in technology. What I liked about Gaming Night was the mix of table games and video console games. Many people were playing turn-based board games.” —Educators Coop, June 28

ans. And only one in 10 black librarians are men, according to figures in an ALA diversity report issued last year, which was discussed by the panel. —Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, July 2

California wedding cheesecake. The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table’s Social on Sunday at Tortilla Joe’s featured a California wedding cheesecake honoring the state’s new law allowing gay couples to marry. David Gray writes: “Even with a donation at the door, it did cost the GLBTRT a bit more money than they usually spend on such events, but for my book it was well worth it. Even though it was supposed to go from 6 to 9 p.m., people were still hanging around, watching the nightly Disneyland fireworks and having a great time.” —Dave’s Blog, June 29

Got Tweens? Anne Heidemann writes: “Jon Scieszka (author and LC’s National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature) was terrific at YALSA’s Friday preconference, with lots of brilliant ideas as well as hilarity. Librarians have the power to mediate the relationship between tweens and books, especially for tween boys. Tween boys are developmentally separating from their mothers, and most teachers (primary reading advocates in their lives) are mom-like figures, so that’s why reading drops off dramatically at that age. By making materials that tween boys want available and accessible, we can help.” —PLA Blog, June 28; YALSA Blog, July 1

Drupal4Lib interest group. Leo Klein writes: “We got a great crowd of around 20 people for our Drupal Birds of a Feather meeting. First up on the agenda was setting up the Drupal IG, making sure we have enough signatures and asking for volunteers to serve as chair and cochair. The name for the group is ‘Drupal4Lib’ and our purpose is ‘to promote the use and understanding of the content management system, Drupal, by libraries and librarians.’” —LITA Blog, June 30

Black male librarians. Panelists at Saturday’s Black Caucus of the ALA program issued a clarion call for substantially more black males in the profession. Black men make up a dismal 0.5%, or 572 of the 110,000 of the nation’s librari-

—Reporting for American libraries are staffers George M. Eberhart, Pamela A. Goodes, Daniel Kraus, and Leonard Kniffel, along with “Youth Matters” columnist Jennifer Burek Pierce and “In Practice” columnist Meredith Farkas. ❚

Watch video coverage of Annual at alfocus.ala.org

“Beth Givens described a game that could be used in libraries. It’s a town square where you’re challenged about privacy data and questions you can answer. You might come up with creative ways to educate and inform people, and use the library as a launching pad.” Take the Privacy Revolution survey, which asks questions about library information privacy policies and practices. —The Shifted Librarian, June 30

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ALA Council Governing body adopts preliminary FY 2009 budget ceiling, approves revisions of Library Bill of Rights interpretation

Read more about it at www.ala.org. Click on Our Association, then Council

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Councilor-at-Large Ling Hwey Jeng proposed that the Association consider legal action against the Cuban independent librarian supporters if they misrepresented Dowling’s background piece, saying that ALA’s detractors are at liberty to disseminate their information but that “ALA will not be harassed.” Councilor-at-Large Bernie Margolis disagreed about the call for taking legal action. “We’re possibly moving along the road where we crawl into a

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BARC Chair Marilyn Hinshaw (top) and Endowment Trustees Chair Robert Newlen, joined by ALA President Loriene Roy (bottom right) receive plaques noting the end of their terms.

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sary as IFC prepares for the upcoming release of the eighth edition of the Intellectual Freedom Manual . Corporate membership will be revised as of September 1. Council approved a restructuring of the corporate membership category presented by ALA Membership Committee Chair Dora Ho. The move reduces the number of corporate membership levels from four to two, with dues of $500 or $2,000 (CD #10). A resolution from Councilors Al Kagan and Jonathan Betz-Zall calling for ALA, its divisions, round tables, and other units to purchase products from sweatshop-free producers passed as amended (CD #58). Although a resolution regarding Cuba was expected (AL, June/July, p. 100), it never materialized for Council action. But there was discussion about background information prepared by International Relations Office Director Michael Dowling that was apparently altered and distributed by supporters of Cuba’s “independent librarians” to some councilors online. According to Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels, “It was done in such a fashion that it created the impression that it was the official document prepared by the International Relations Office.” Intellectual Freedom Round Table Councilor Sylvia Turchyn called the move “deplorable” and asked for strong action.

Photo: Pamela Goodes

LA’s governing body handily tackled the Association’s business without much fanfare and with a two-hour early dismissal in the last of three sessions held June 29 and July 1–2 during Annual Conference in Anaheim. Council approved the preliminary FY 2009 budgetary ceiling of $67.9 million passed along from the Executive Board (Council Document #13.3). Treasurer Rod Hersberger said discussions are underway about the need to develop new revenue sources. “I think this is going to be a real challenge,” he suggested. “Two of our revenues sources—conference and membership and dues—are very mature, with publishing going through a transition.” The primary FY 2009 focuses, according to Hersberger, will be key initiatives and investments, realignment of resources, and collaboration and partnerships as well as online and international opportunities. Endowment Trustees Chair Robert Newlen reported that the value of the ALA Endowment declined by $667,000 as of May 31, from $31.2 million to $30.6 million (CD #16.). Intellectual Freedom Committee Chair Kenton L. Oliver presented six Library Bill of Rights interpretation revisions that received unanimous Council approval (CD #19.2—19.7). Oliver said the changes were neces-

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ALA | Annual Conference

very deep hole,” he explained, “and we’re whipsawed in the public press for our inconsistency with regard to celebrating everyone’s right to speak.” In other actions, Council: ■ Passed a resolution calling for the Government Printing Office to improve the Federal Depository Library Program and public access to government information (CD #53, revised). n Approved a measure supporting funding for cataloging and bibliographic control at the Library of Congress (CD #56). n Passed a resolution supporting the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (CD #57). n Adopted the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services’ definitions of digital preservation and the revised ALA Preservation Policy (CD #55). n Passed four Constitution and Bylaws Committee actions: granting affiliate status for the Association for Rural and Small Libraries and the As-

sociation of Bookmobile and Outreach Services; revising ALA’s Constitution Article VII, Section 2 regarding president-elect and treasurer vacancies; revising ALA’s Constitution, Section 4 on Executive Board terms of office; and removing specific dues amounts from the ALA Bylaws (CD #25.1). n Adopted three Committee on Legislation resolutions in support of the National Agricultural Library (CD #20.8) and the E-Government Reauthorization Act of 2007 (S. 2321) (CD #20.9), and urging Congress to conduct a study of bringing pre-1972 sound recordings under federal jurisdiction (CD # 20.10). n Agreed to a clarification of a 2008 Council resolution on the confiscation of Iraqi documents from the Iraq National Library and Archives, from the International Relations Committee (CD #18.1). n Passed Policy Monitoring Committee actions clarifying language denoting the profession, updating the Standards of Accreditation in Library

Education appeals procedure, clarifying placement of previously approved revisions to the Code of Ethics, and adding guideline revisions for Council resolution preparation (CD #17.1). n Adopted additional revised guidelines for Council resolution preparation offered by the Council Resolutions Committee. (CD #6.2) n Passed a Committee on Organization action that clarifies the composition of the Committee on Accreditation (CD #27.1). n Approved a resolution on Council transparency (CD #59, revised). n Passed memorial resolutions for Carol Combs Hole and Ellen Ruth McCrady as well as tributes to ALA’s Library Support Staff Interests Round Table for its 15th anniversary, Gail McGovern, the San Jose (Calif.) School of Library and Information Science, Barbara Walden on her retirement, and Council Secretariat Lois Ann Gregory-Wood for her 40 years of service as an ALA staff member. —P.A.G

ALA-APA resolution endorsing a living wage for library employees and a minimum salary for professional librarians was adopted by the ALA—Allied Professional Council (APACD #8.2). It calls for a minimum entry-level salary for professional librarians of $41,680, to be adjusted yearly for inflation. The measure also recommends at least $13-per-hour pay for all library workers, to be adjusted in relation to the federal poverty guidelines. A FY 2009 preliminary budget ceiling of $245,027 was also approved (APACD #4.3). Final action is slated for the fall. Director Jenifer Grady reported that, as of April 30, APA is short nearly $12,000 (APABD #3.18). Al-

though this currently places the ALA and proceed with the development loan repayment in jeopardy, Treasurer of support staff and other certificaRod Hersberger reported that monies tion programs. could be recouped in light of Grady’s partial salary transfer from APA to ALA in April for her work on an ALA IMLS-funded project. Hersberger said APA must strengthen fundraising efforts, continue marketing the CerThe ALA-APA Angels, some 30 individuals representing tified Public Library various related organizations, prepare to cut a congratulatory cake at a fundraiser in honor of the Administrator cerAPA’s fifth anniversary. The event was sponsored tification program by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and AFSCME. and salary surveys,

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Photo: Curtis Compton, Cognotes

Minimum Salary Resolution Passes

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ALA Executive Board 2009 financial forecast cautious; membership breaks record

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ALA-APA focus on financial growth

he ALA–Allied Professional Association Board of Directors approved a FY2008 Budgetary Ceiling of $265,027 (APABD #3.0, 3.1). Director Jenifer Grady said the Certified Public Library Administrator (CPLA) Certification Review Committee received eight applications, 14 course completion forms, one final review, and one provider renewal in Anaheim (APABD #12.0). A discussion of CPLA participation prompted the board to explore a proposal that would reconvene the original APA organizing leaders. The goal is to gather ideas to boost CPLA enrollment as well as increase the number of providers. The board is also examining other options in an effort to make APA financially sustainable while maintaining its 501(C)(6) status.

august 2008

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Read more about it at www.ala.org. Click on Our Association, then Executive Board.

ing, joined by new members Vice-President/President-Elect Camila Alire, Diane Chen, Joseph M. Eagan, and Em Claire Knowles. Board documents and a complete list of board actions are available on the ALA website or call 800-545-2433, x3212, —P.A.G.

he forecast for next year’s Library Services Association leaderbudget cycle is cautious, acship endowment (EBD #13.3); according to Treasurer Rod cepted the OMB A-133 audit of Hersberger in meetings of the federal awards (EBD# 4.0); approved ALA Executive Board held June 27, the transfer of $2 million from the June, 30, and July 2 during AnALA Operating Cash account into the nual Conference in Anaheim. ALA Working Capital account The board passed along to ALA’s (EBD#4.1); passed a Bank of America governing Council a preliminary FY credit proposal for the new Choice 2009 budgetary ceiling of $67.9 mil- building (EBD# 4.23); and gave the lion, representing a $1.2 million inExecutive Committee permission to crease from FY 2008. The measures review the IRS Form 990, Return of were forwarded for board approval Organization Exempt From Income from the Finance and Audit Commit- Tax (EBD #4.2). tee and the Budget and Analysis ReTwo new affiliates were also welview Committee (BARC). Final action comed: the Association of Bookmois slated for bile and the fall. Outreach SerPending fivices (EBD nancial results #12.50) and the of the AnaAssociation for heim conferRural and ence, BARC Small Libraries Chair Marilyn (EBD #12.53). Hinshaw said President that several Loriene Roy cost-cutting presided with measures will Outgoing board members (from left) Leslie outgoing memBurger, Frances Buckley Jr., and Patricia Smith be considered show off plaques honoring their service. bers Immediate if there is a Past-President shortfall. (EBD #3.0). She also told Leslie Burger, Francis Buckley Jr., the board that grants and awards rose and Patricia Smith, as well as Mario from $7 million to $10 million and Gonzalez, Terri Kirk, Charles Kratz, membership is at a record Larry Romans, Roberta Stevens, and 68,033—an increase of 2,360 from Executive Director Keith Michael last year. Fiels. June Pinnell-Stevens did not In other news, the board approved attend. Incoming President Jim Retestablishment of the Young Adult tig presided at the final board meet-

7/21/2008 3:34:12 PM

People | Announcements

Currents n James Agee became library director at Bermuda College, the Bermuda Islands, Paget, in January. n Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore has promoted Eunice Anderson to assistant chief of neighborhood services. n Liz Bishoff joined BCR as director of digital and preservation services May 27. n Barbara Brain was appointed assistant director of adult and support services at St. Louis (Mo.) County Library May 1. n The University of California at Irvine has appointed Tina Breitbach research librarian for education and outreach.

n John Butler became associate university librarian for information technology at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis March 31. n Robert Cagna joined West Virginia University’s Health Science Center Library in Charleston as director May 5. n The University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, has appointed Jane A. Carlin library director. n July 1 Keri Cascio was hired as branch manager for St. Charles (Mo.) CityCounty Library District. n Joan Chockalingam has been named director of Winnebago (Ill.) Public

n Josephine Bryant, chief librarian of Toronto Public Library, has received the Urban Libraries Council’s Urban Player award. n Marilyn Hinshaw, executive director of the Eastern Oklahoma District Library System, received the Oklahoma Library Association’s 2008 Distinguished Service Award. n Robbie LaFleur, director of the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, has been awarded the Peter S. Popovich Award for defense of First Amendment rights by the Minnesota Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. n Charlotte A. Tancin, librarian at Carnegie Mellon University’s Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation in Pittsburgh, received the Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries’ Charles Robert Long Award of Extraordinary Merit.

Lauren Corbett

Library. n Bill Cooper retired as director of Laurens County (S.C.) Library July 31. n Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh appointed Mary Frances Cooper as deputy director May 27. n Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, has appointed Lauren Corbett head of resource services. n June 9 Thuy-Anh Dang became media resources cataloger at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. n La Grange (Ill.) Public Library has appointed Jeannie Dilger-Hill as director. n Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore has promoted D. Lynne Distance and Vera Fattah to librarian supervisors II. n The University of California at Irvine Libraries has named Kristine Ferry director of web services and Collette Ford as head of access services. n Paul M. Gherman retired June 30 as university librarian at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. n Patricia Ann Hannon has retired as director of West Milford (N.J.) Township Library.

Jeannie Dilger-Hill

Marilyn R. Snow

n St. Mary’s College of Maryland has appointed Conrad Helms as patron services librarian. n July 1 Uma Hiremath became assistant director of Ames Free Library in Easton, Massachusetts. n Los Angeles City Librarian Fontayne Holmes will retire in August. n June 2 Jon Jeffryes became biomedical and mechanical engineering librarian at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. n Emily King began as coordinator of e-learning services at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library June 16. n Joyce M. Latham, executive director of Onondaga County (N.Y.) Public Library, will retire this fall. n Craig Likness, director of collection development at the University of Miami (Fla.), has retired. n Portland (Oreg.) State University Library has named Adriene Lim associate university librarian. n The University of California at Irvine has appointed Carole McEwan principal serials cataloger. n Tammie McKennaTubbs has been named circulation supervisor at

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cited

Robert Cagna

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Diane VanderPol

librarian at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. n May 6 Mark Stengel became library director at Cuesta College in San Luis Obsipo, California. n Johnson County (Kans.) Library has pro-

from Delmont (Pa.) Public Library in 1974, died June 8 of a stroke. n Marlys O’Brien, 70, director of Kitchigami Regional Library in Pine River, Minnesota, until her 1999 retirement, died June 10. She was founding director of Kitchigami’s predecessor system, and also worked at St. Paul Public Library and the Minnesota State Library. O’Brien was 1982–83 president of the Minnesota Library Association. n Mary Radmacher, chief librarian of Skokie (Ill.) Public Library from 1956–85, died June 9. She oversaw the building of the library’s permanent home in 1959 and its 1972 expansion. n Carol Elaine Hart Roberts, associate dean for administration and operations at Texas Tech University Library in Lubbock for more than 20 years, died of cancer May 25. n Alan P. Stein, librarian at California State University at Los Angeles for 31 years, died May 25 of cancer. n Esther Walls, 81, associate director of libraries at the University of New York at Stony Brook until her 1988 retirement, died of a heart attack February 25. She also served as director of the U.S. Secretariat to promote the International Book Year in 1972, and vice president of the U.S. Committee for the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund.

moted Tricia Suellentrop to deputy county librarian. n August 1 Ann R. Szypulski became director of Laurens County (S.C.) Library. n Anna Tatár retired in July as director of San Diego Public Library.

n Stacie Traill became original cataloger and project manager at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis February 18. n Diane VanderPol has been appointed library director at Westminster College in Salt Lake City. z

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

august 2008

Jerrome K. Corrigan, 82, manager of the Oxon Hill branch of Prince George’s County (Md.) Memorial Library System from 1967 until his 1986 retirement, died of complications of a lung infection May 4. n Amy Knapp, 46, assistant university librarian at the University of Pittsburgh, died of cancer May 31. An adjunct professor at the school, she co-authored Beyond Survival: Managing Academic Libraries in Transition. n Keith C. Kuhn, 57, director of the public service office of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, died May 6. He was the 2007 recipient of ALA’s Sullivan Award for Public Library Administrators Supporting Services to Children and established a scholarship for Cincinnati-area library students. n Eugene G. McLane, 81, director of Fond du Lac (Wis.) Public Library from 1956 to 1992, died in May. n Roy M. Mersky, 82, director of Tarlton Law Library at the University of Texas at Austin, died May 6. He received the American Association of Law Libraries’ 2005 Distinguished Service Award and its Presidential Certificate of Merit, and was president of the Texas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. n Frances C. Bell Mulcahy, 92, a librarian for 30 years until retiring

Tricia Suellentrop

obituaries

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West Palm Beach (Fla.) Public Library. n Laura Minnich has been promoted to senior librarian at the Westbrook branch of Jacksonville (Fla.) Public Library. n West Palm Beach (Fla.) Public Library has appointed Christopher T. Murray library director. n Frank Navarro retired as adult services coordinator at Los Angeles Public Library in May. n David Scott Nolen has joined Mississippi State University as humanities reference librarian. n Sandra Phoenix has been named director of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Library Alliance in Atlanta. n Ronald R. Powell retired as professor at Wayne State University’s Library and Information Science Program in Detroit in May. n Portland (Oreg.) State University has named Thomas E. Raffensperger assistant university librarian. n June Schmidt has retired as associate dean for technical services at Mississippi State University Libraries. n Karen Schneider has joined Equinox Software as community librarian. n May 29 Marilyn R. Snow retired as reference

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7/21/2008 3:21:23 PM

Professional Development | Youth Matters

Once and Future Classics New releases complement old favorites at ALA Exhibits

by Jennifer Burek Pierce

photo together with his earlier Richard Born Free: The Universal Declaration of Wright and the Library Human Rights Surveying the Card.) The Storyteller’s in Pictures Candle/La Velita de los (Frances LinStacks is never Cuentos by Lucia Goncoln Chilcomplete until zalez, illustrated by dren’s Books, one encounters Lulu Delacre and 2008). This published this spring, collaborative something outside book brings one’s usual experience. tells the story of the Puerto Rican librartogether sigian for whom ALA’s Pura Belpré award nificant children’s illustrators to deis named. “We’ve been looking at hidpict basic human rights themes, with proceeds donated to support Amnesty den histories of color in this country,” Dana Goldberg, executive editor of International. Children’s Book Press told me. “This Other showcased books that prois a prime example.” mote cross-cultural understanding A forthcoming graphic novel with a included Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan, written by Mary related aim is Pitch Black (Cinco PunWilliams and illustrated by R. Gregory tos Press). Written by Youme Landowne (known for 2005 ALA Notable Christie. “Kids need to understand Sélavi: That Is Life: A Haitian Story of this, and they need to understand it Hope) and illustrated by Anthony Horon their level,” Louise May of Lee and ton, Pitch Black explores how the two Low said. (As we talked, three librarians from New York Public Library artists met and came to understand each other’s situations and talents. chatted with Christie and posed for a Young adult readers will encounter in it a sensitive, direct perspective on mental illness, substance abuse, and homelessness, as well as considerations of the nature of artistry. The importance of understanding other cultures and languages was approached by a variety of vendors. Oxford University Press touted its new line of bilingual children’s books; Oxford First Word series titles will begin appearing in September. Intended to introduce English speakers to foreign languages, the picture books feature “Where’s Waldo”–style illustrations, OUP’s Matt Fisher said. “The idea is to A new book about ancient times captivates librarian Liz McCumsey. generate a conversation between par-

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y pen is mightier than your sword!” roared a 12-year-old boy as he charged past me into the Stacks, a green, oversized pen in hand. I never caught up with him to learn which vendor provided him with his glorious possession, but I did find many instances of mighty work with pens, paintbrushes, and pixels. The Stacks, as the ALA Annual Conference exhibit hall has been dubbed, provided nearly endless opportunities for conversations, and several exchanges enhanced my appreciation for new titles and technologies intended for younger library users. Yet amid all the new releases, longtime favorites endured. A number of titles for young readers echoed that mightily penned young man’s belief that freedom of speech and literacy trump violence. One was the forthcoming We Are All

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Youth Matters | Professional Development

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.

Wii weighs in on the exhibit floor amid undampened enthusiasm for books for all ages.

Meanwhile, children’s classics thrive. Among the titles that caught my eye was a black-and-white graphic novelization of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice (Candlewick Press, 2008) by Gareth Hinds, whose previous adaptation of Beowulf received favorable reviews. Also, Oxford University Press is relaunching its editions of the Shakespeare plays frequently taught in upper grades, as well as touting a series of hardcover youth classics that one representative described as having a “Lemony Snickett feel.” If one needed proof, however, of the appeal of classic children’s titles, one had only to look to the New York Review of Books booth. For five years, NYRB has been acquiring and republishing older titles for children, and librarians have been enthusiastic, the press’s Linda Hollick said. Near the end of the conference, not a single copy of Jenny Goes to Sea by Esther Averill, Ingri D’Aulaire’s Book of Norse Myths, or any other work in NYRB’s children’s line remained in the booth. Meanwhile, James Thurber’s longout-of-print The Thirteen Clocks, with an introduction by Neil Gaiman, was republished at the end of July. Surely the Stacks offered the greenpenned young man—as well as librarians—much to read and ponder as they race forward into the future. z

august 2008

Surveying the Stacks is never complete until one encounters something outside one’s usual experience. For me, it was Wii. Dior Brown and Brent Smith of Nintendo of America coached me through games such as Big Brain Academy. Although Brown explained that the Visualize game I explored was intended for players ages 4 and up, controlling the remote pointer never became natural to me. Then there were the yoga poses I struck using the recently released Wii Fit (I left Wii Sports to more intrepid players). The Wii yoga experience was much more intuitive, with an on-screen trainer modeling actions and elec-

Old treasures for new eyes

Wii, oui

tronic feedback encouraging me to modify my stretches and positioning. Key to the value of the activity was the Wii Balance Board, which evaluated how my weight was distributed in each pose, thereby giving me a new perspective on the optimal feel of each position. Features are too many to list but include evaluations of Body Mass Index and balance, and tracking and assessment of weight-loss goals (all of which can be password protected).

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what can only be called a wealth of lively illustrations and photographs, the project is designed to facilitate young people’s civic literacy and involvement. Its proceeds will support the National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance. Also to be released this fall is Nathaniel Philbrick’s The Mayflower and the Pilgrims’ New World (Putnam), an engaging adaptation of his celebrated Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War (Viking, 2006) for young adult readers. Biographies of presidential candidates Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John McCain are due soon from Simon and Schuster.

Photos: Curtis Compton

ents and the kid.” The initial works focus on French, German, and Spanish, and Chinese and Arabic volumes will become available in 2009. Bilingual editions of the recently revised Oxford Picture Dictionary will include Thai and Urdu. World Book enhanced its resources for English-language learners. Noting that school-aged children and adolescents sometimes serve as translators for their less-fluent parents, Sarah Bright, head of digital product development, explained that the newly launched World Book Discover website includes life skills information and multiple-language translation features. One interesting application is audio for the entries, played by activating a tool bar and clicking on the text (listening to the entry for “India” demonstrated a couple of quirks of pronunciation, such as rendering “the 1900s” as “the one thousand nine hundreds” and “Himalayas” with an alternative pronunciation). The themes of U.S. history and national politics also loomed large. Among the notable works in this vein is the marvelously creative and informative Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out (Candlewick, 2008). A collaboration among many prominent authors such as Walter Dean Myers and M. T. Anderson, Meg Cabot, and Virginia Euwer Wolff, together with

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Professional Development | Working Knowledge

Working through Grief How to deal with a coworker’s loss

Patience is key

Although we recognize it takes time to work though personal losses, it Mary Pergander is director of Deerfield (Ill.) Public Library. Send comments or questions to working@ala.org.

can be difficult for the employee and words, a sincerely stated “I am so coworkers to be patient. No one can sorry” is often enough. There are many print and online predict how long the grieving will last. It is not a simple linear process, resources explaining the grieving and may take a Although we recognize it takes time year or more. Even many to work though personal losses, it months after can be difficult for the employee the loss iniand coworkers to be patient. tially occurs, there can be triggers that bring back intense emo- process, and some describe in more detail how to help coworkers. Readtions. The full range includes anger, irritability, weariness, sadness, guilt, ers are encouraged to review them. Chaplain George Franke (retired) of and many others. Waukegan, Illinois; The CompasSome grieving employees may sionate Friends in Oakbrook, Illithrow themselves into their job nois; and the University of tasks; others may need months of assistance until they are more emo- Houston–Downtown website provided many of the ideas presented tionally able to deal with the workin this month’s column. z load and stress. This may cause a secondary reaction, too, if library coworkers become resentful or impatient toward the employee whose actions affect their work.

Overcome discomfort

Being an effective support for a grieving coworker requires skills that seem to contradict one another. Do not avoid the person, yet remain sensitive to his or her need for privacy. Be open and ready to listen, but do not force the conversation. You may feel a little uncomfortable raising the subject. Sometimes the person may want to talk, other times not. Allow silence—your presence alone may be enough. Just listen sympathetically. You do not need to try to comfort or reassure. If you are at a loss for

WORKING WISDOM

What can you do to help? Here are the ABCs: Accept feelings or tears. A person who seems fine one day may be weepy or withdrawn the next. Be patient—you may hear the same stories or statements repeatedly. Continue to support, letting the person grieve in his or her own way. Remember it can take many months. It is all part of the process.

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hile returning from a recent professional conference, I met another librarian in the airport. She was distraught because her coworker’s loved one had recently died, and the funeral was so far away that no one else from the library could attend. She felt sad that they could not do more for their grieving friend. Working in our libraries, many of us spend more time with coworkers than with some members of our families. Yet when a library employee faces a difficult loss, we often feel awkward and alienated from the very person we want to support. Significant losses can be of many types: death of a loved one (including a cherished pet), termination of employment, or the discovery of a life-changing illness. Sometimes an event can affect an entire department or library, such as the death of a fellow employee. At these times, it is wise to bring in someone to help the group cope. In larger organizations, the employee assistance program can fulfill this need. Smaller libraries may request help from the local police department or school social worker, psychologist, or chaplain.

by Mary Pergander

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7/21/2008 3:22:58 PM

The National Endowment for the Humanities presents

America’s History Through Our Nation’s Art

Free American art and history resources available for schools and public libraries—Apply by October 31st! Picturing AmericaSM is a project of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), conducted in cooperation with the American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office. The goal of Picturing America is to promote the teaching, study and understanding of American art and history. Public, private, parochial, and charter schools and home school consortia (K-12), as well as public library systems and school districts, are invited to apply for Picturing America, an education initiative that provides a collection of large-scale laminated reproductions depicting works of American art, as well as other educational information on American art and history.

Online applications will be accepted August 4–October 31, 2008. For more information about Picturing America, including the artwork featured and the online application, visit http://picturingamerica.neh.gov. Past recipients of the Picturing America collection are not eligible for a second award. With questions, contact publicprograms@ala.org.

Grant Wood (1892-1942), detail, The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, 1931. Oil on Masonite, 30 x 40 inches. (76.2 x 101.6 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Arthur Hoppock Hearn Fund, 1950 (50.117). Photograph © 1988 The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Art © Estate of Grant Wood/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY.

www.neh.gov www.ala.org www.imls.gov www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/hsb www.nps.gov

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Professional DEVELOPMENT | Books

Librarian’s Library List mania

Indexed, 297 P., $25.95 from G.P. Putnam’s Sons (978-0-399-15462-1).

Service Oriented

Richard M. Dougherty’s Scientific Management of Library Operations (previously published in 1966 and

Roget started his listmaking career when he was 8 years old.

1982 with coauthor Fred J. Heinritz) has a new, more modern name: Streamlining Library Services: What We Do, How Much Time It Takes, What It Costs, and How We Can Do It Better. Since libraries are more focused on service than on the bottom line, we traditionally don’t place a high priority on examining our work processes. But Dougherty says, “The point to keep in mind is that excellence in customer service is more than

projecting a responsive attitude; it also involves doing whatever is possible to eliminate red tape and unnecessary procedures and policies.” The tools and techniques he provides will help libraries of all types to operate more efficiently— and scientifically. Indexed, 269 P., PBK., $45 from Scarecrow (978-0-8108-5198-6).

Never Too Much 2.0

We’ve seen lots of books lately on Library 2.0. Ellyssa Kroski’s handy Web 2.0 for Librarians and Information Professionals stands out because it surveys almost every current library manifestation of cutting-edge, participatory technology—not just wikis and blogs, but also newsreaders,

New From ALA Not So Common The information-commons model of service delivery has been rolled out “in a surprising variety of institutions.” In Transforming Library Service through Information Commons: Case Studies for the Digital Age, D. Russell Bailey and Barbara Gunter Tierney outline the steps in planning, implementing, and assessing an information commons. The 20 detailed academic library case studies, from the University of Southern California to Champlain College in Vermont, make this a particularly useful guide. INDEXED, 155P., PBK., $55, $49.50 FOR ALA MEMBERS (978-9-8389-0958-4). Order from ALA Order Fulfillment, Toll-free: 866-746-7252, Fax: 770-280-4155, www.alastore.ala.org.

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f you liked Simon Winchester’s The Professor and the Madman (HarperCollins, 1998), you might want to pick up a copy of Joshua Kendall’s biography of Peter Mark Roget, The Man Who Made Lists: Love, Death, Madness, and the Creation of Roget’s Thesaurus. Roget, who was born in 1779, started his listmaking career when he was 8 years old. His Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases was published in 1852 and went through 25 editions or printings before his death at the age of 91. Roget also experimented with cold storage of foods, lectured on medicine, invented the log-log scale for the slide rule, participated in the activities of several British scientific and literary societies, and wrote articles on physiology, ants, kaleidoscopes, and other topics for Encyclopædia Britannica. Roget’s passion for lists and categories has all the signs of obsessive-compulsive disorder, but it’s thanks to him that we have one of the classics of reference publishing.

by Mary Ellen Quinn

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ROUSING READS

Indexed, 209 P., PBK., $75 from Neal-Schuman (978-1-55570-614-2).

Jumping Ship

Rachel Singer Gordon says in What’s the Alternative? Career Options for Librarians and Info Pros that there are lots of reasons for librarians to consider switching careers, from “as a new grad or entrylevel candidate, you find the traditional avenues are closed to you,” to “you are unhappy every day at work.” For those ready to make the jump, thinking in terms of “information work” rather than “librarianship” opens a host of possibilities. Why not be a teacher, or a data modeler, or even a private investigator? Why not start a business of your own? Gordon’s emphasis on the opportunities created by technology is especially helpful. Indexed, 272 P., PBK., $35 from Information Today (978-1-57387-333-8). z

his is the time of year when Booklist publishes our Fall Upfront Preview showcasing the season’s high-demand books. Even after decades of putting together these previews, it’s still an exciting process. At no other time of the year do Booklist editors scan incoming book trucks with such anticipation. There is a downside to all this fall frenzy. We want to review our favorite authors, but none of us wants to review them all at the same time. And that’s often what happens as the book trucks disgorge their riches. That was especially true this year on the crime beat, where I spend most of my time. Sure, I was thrilled to get my hands on a new John Harvey, especially when I noticed that the British master was bringing back Charlie Resnick, the hero of a 10-book series I never wanted to end. But then to find new works by Ian Rankin, John le Carré, Stephen Hunter, and Chelsea Cain all on the same truck! Should I share the riches, I wondered, or hunker down to nearly 2,500 pages of reading in a little over two weeks? OK, maybe I’m not the most generous guy, but there was no way I was letting any of those books out of my hands. Who says summer is best spent outdoors? I’m happy to report that my marathon reading session reaped the results I was expecting. The Harvey novel, Cold in Hand (Harcourt), and the Rankin, Exit Music (Little, Brown), make a remarkably complementary duo. Both books portray world-weary, bureaucracy-battling detectives—Resnick from Nottingham, and Rankin’s hero, John Rebus, from Edinburgh—nearing retirement and pondering whether it’s possible to grow old without turning terminally bitter (yes, yes, I see a little of myself in both these men). They fight bitterness to a draw, though both get in one last flurry of body blows aimed squarely at the soft underbellies of the bureaucrats standing in their way. Le Carré, in A Most Wanted Man (Scribner), takes on bureaucrats, too (he calls them “gray men”), but the results aren’t nearly as satisfying, either for the good-hearted spies who try to do right by a couple of Muslim men on the periphery of terrorism, or for the Muslims themselves. Cain and Hunter are horses of a different color—blood red, that is. Readers of Cain’s Heartsick won’t soon forget Gretchen Lowell, the most mesmerizing serial killer since a fellow named Hannibal. She’s back in Sweetheart (St. Martin’s Minotaur), and she’s engaged in another psychosexual pas de deux with Portland, Oregon, cop Archie Sheridan. In Night of Thunder (Simon & Schuster), Hunter shows why he takes a backseat to no one in the action-adventure-thriller genre. Bob Lee Swagger, Hunter’s hero, may not find many fans among the NPR crowd, but when the bad guys come after me, I want Bob Lee in my corner, locked and loaded. There’s plenty to read this fall even if gray men and locked-and-loaded ex-marines aren’t your style. Garrison Keillor has a new book, too, so you NPR fans don’t need to feel left out.

Bill Ott is the editor and publisher of ALA’s Booklist.

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

FALL PREVIEW

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bookmarking, photo and video sharing, social cataloging, social networking, answers services, vertical search engines, virtual worlds, mashups, and more. Besides describing each technology, Kroski explains how and why libraries are using it, and provides plenty of examples and applications. Each chapter offers a list of “Best Practices” to keep in mind when adopting, or thinking about adopting, one of these new tools.

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SHOWCASE | New Products

Solutions and Services <<< www.raxco.com Raxco Software offers PerfectDisk 2008 Server Windows defragmentation software. PerfectDisk has the capacity to defragment multi-terabyte drives and can be automated to meet organizational needs. The software uses 15% less memory than previous versions and can operate with as little as 1% free disk space.

<<<

www.kmbs.konicaminolta.us

<<< www.colibriusa.com The CoLibri Pocket tabletop book covering machine lets librarians fit a protective cover over paperback or hardcover books. The system weighs less than four pounds and applies a 3.5-mm polyethylene cover in about 20 seconds

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

american libraries | august 2008

Konica Minolta has introduced the PS7000C MKII book scanner, which offers output resolution up to 600 dpi, a scan area up to 18 inches by 24 inches, 24-bit color, and correction for book curvature. A smaller version, the PS5000C MKII, with a scan area of up to 11 inches by 17 inches, will be available in January 2009.

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<<< www.mindplay.com Mindplay Educational Software’s My Reading Coach is designed to improve reading skills for students from grade 2 through adults. The software includes a virtual reading specialist and speech pathologist, individual instruction in six skill areas, and an optional Spanish module that allows students to be instructed in Spanish to learn English.

<<< www.cas.org Chemical Abstracts Service now offers Web access to its SciFinder research tool. SciFinder lets researchers search CAS databases in natural language queries by substance name, chemical structure or substructure, reaction, or company name.

www.ebsco.com The NoveList Plus readers’ advisory database from EBSCO includes information on more than 200,000 titles, including the fiction titles from the original NoveList and more than 60,000 nonfiction titles. The database tracks more than 500 awards lists, covers thousands of series in reading order, and includes a monthly readers’ advisory newsletter and expanded readers’ advisory resources.

CASE STUDY Keeping Cooler with glass

| american libraries

ountain View smaller HVAC system than (Calif.) Public would otherwise have been Library opened in 1997 the case,” explains Southwall with a glass-intensive Director of Business Develdesign that flooded opment John Meade, who the 60,000-square-foot worked on the library project. library with light but The library, which now also introduced the serves more than 54,000 possibility that solar patrons per month, curheat could overpower rently has installed more the building’s air condithan 6,000 square feet of the tioning system during glass. A thin coating on the summer months. glass reflects heat back to its To overcome this, source and blocks ultraviolet Ample natural light is one of the highlights of Mountain the library was built radiation while allowing visView (Calif.) Public Library, but controlling the heat it with windows of Heat ible light through. Dependgenerated was one of the building’s challenges. Mirror insulating glass ing on the configuration and from Southwall Techtype of coating, Heat Mirror nologies. “The city council was committed to selecting offers an insulation R-value ranging from R-6 to R-20. It high-performance glass to save energy, provide more also reduces interior condensation, which helps to mainnatural lighting to improve visitor comfort, and specify a tain optimal humidity levels.

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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT | Classifieds

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 August 5 for the September issue, which mails about September 1. Ads received after the 5th will be published as space permits through about August 15.

Contact E-mail joblist@ala.org or call 800-545-2433, Jon Kartman, ext. 4211. Career Leads, American Libraries, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611; fax 312-440-0901.

ACCESS SERVICES LIBRARIAN II, III, or IV, (Circulation/ILL/Reserves), Position No. 83826, University of Hawaii at Hilo, Hilo Hawaii. University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, Edwin H. Mookini Library, full-time, tenure-track, general funds, to begin approximately September 1, 2008 (negotiable), pending availability of funds. This position will be required to work some Saturdays, and may be required to work some evenings. This position may also need to fill-in on short notice some evenings and weekends when staff call in sick. Application address: Ms. Veronica Tarleton, Search Committee for Access Services Librarian, University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, Edwin H. Mookini Library, 200 W. Kawili Street, Hilo, HI 96720-4091. Inquiries: Ms. Veronica Tarleton, 808-974-7759, tarleton@hawaii. edu. Continuous recruitment. For more information on this position visit www.

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

uhh.hawaii.edu/uhh/hr/jobs.php. For information about UH Hilo visit www. uhh.hawaii.edu. The University of Hawai’i at Hilo is an EEO/AA Employer D/M/V/W. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: At rank of Librarian II: ALA-accredited MLS or international equivalent. At rank of Librarian III: ALA-accredited MLS or international equivalent; 24 post baccalaureate credits in addition to the MLS; at least 3 years of experience in public services in a college or university library. At rank of Librarian IV: ALA-accredited MLS or international equivalent; second master’s degree in a subject area in addition to the MLS, and at least 7 years of appropriate experience. Minimum qualifications for post-baccalaureate credit and years of appropriate experience for rank are non-negotiable. Pay range: Librarian II: $32,640-$49,296; Librarian III: $38,184-$58,512; Librarian IV: $43.200-$60,768. Relocation funds available when appropriate. To apply: Submit

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.

letter of application which addresses the applicant’s ability to fulfill the responsibilities of the position and how the applicant meets each minimum and desirable qualification, a current resume, a sample of professional writing, official graduate and undergraduate transcripts, three letters of recommendation from people able to address the candidate’s professional qualifications and achievements, and the names and contact information of three additional references. Interviewees will be expected to make a presentation to library faculty and staff as part of the screening process. Continuous recruitment: The position will remain open until filled; however, applications received after July 25, 2008, cannot be guaranteed full consideration. HAWAII COMMUNIT Y COLLEGE LIBRARIAN II or III, or IV, Position No. 73359, University of Hawaii at Hilo, Hilo

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Academic Library

Advertising Policies

personnel guidelines. ALA requires that organizations recruiting through the Association’s publications or placement services comply with ALA antidiscrimina tion policies. Policy 54.3 states that the Association “is committed to equality of opportunity for all library employees or applicants for employment, regardless of race, color, creed, sex, age, disabilities, individual life-style or national origin.” By advertising through ALA services, the orga nization 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.

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Director, Digital Library Technology Services New York University Libraries seeks Director, Digital Library Technology Services

Description: Leads the design, development and ongoing implementation of digital library operations that support teaching and research. Programs reporting to the DLTS Director include: digital library development, digital repository services, Digital Studio technology, digital reformatting, and tools/software that facilitate discovery and use of research resources. Collaborate closely with NYU ITS in the planning and development of systems for supporting the research portal, metadata management, searching support, user interface, and repository services for library digital resources. Lead NYU Libraries in the development of global digital technology services. Provide on-going evaluation of current systems and research and recommend new digital initiatives. Develop and implement policies and procedures and supervise administrative staff and manage internal and grant-funded budgets. Qualifications: Seven or more years of increasingly responsible, professional experience including development of digital library services, planning, implementing and managing projects. Working knowledge of image capture and delivery technologies, full text mark-up and searching methods and database management systems; in-depth knowledge of at least one of these areas. Knowledge of HTML, and SGML or XML; experience with CGI and knowledge of one or more of the following programming languages: SQL, C, C++, Java and Perl. Excellent interpersonal and communications skills; ability to lead a collaborative team. Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree preferred. Salary/Benefits: Attractive compensation package. Salary commensurate with experience and background. New York University Libraries: Library facilities at New York University serve the school’s 450,000 students and faculty and contain more than 4 million volumes. Please apply through NYU’s application management system: www.nyu.edu/hr/jobs/apply. At this page click on “External Applicants” then “Search Openings.” Type 7239BR in the “Keyword Search” field and select search.

HEAD OF DIGITAL LIBRARY SERVICES. Columbia College Chicago is an undergraduate and graduate college in downtown Chicago whose principal commitment is to provide comprehensive educational opportunities in the arts, communications and public information, within a context of enlightened liberal education. Columbia is the fifth largest private educational institution in Illinois, with an

enrollment of more than 12,000 students, including approximately 650 graduate students. It is the country’s largest and most diverse private arts and communications college. Most of Columbia’s 1,250 faculty members work in the professions about which they teach. Class sizes are small and instruction is hands-on. The library seeks an energetic, creative and outgoing individual to lead and manage the library’s information technologies and digital projects and to play a lead role in support of digital initiatives across campus. The head of digital library services will, in coordination with the library’s strategic plan, establish goals and priorities for the department. The dean of DLS is a member of the library management team (composed of the library director and other department heads), the library’s body for policy formulation, strategic planning, and management of operations. REQUIREMENTS: ALA-accredited MLS; 5 years of professional experience in a digital project management; experience digitizing film, video, and sound recordings; knowledge of XML, CSS, and other web technologies; demonstrable knowledge of metadata standards and digital archiving practices and preservation; knowledge of and experience working in networks and technology infrastructures; demonstrated ability to supervise and support staff; ability to work in a collaborative environment; budgetary experience; excellent oral and written communication skills; and the ability to work in a culturally rich and diverse college

american libraries

at least 7 years of appropriate experience. Minimum qualifications for post-baccalaureate credit and years of appropriate experience for rank are non-negotiable. Pay range: Librarian II: $32,640-$49,296; Librarian III: $38,184-$58,512; Librarian IV: $43.200-$60,768. Relocation funds available when appropriate. To apply: Submit letter of application which addresses the applicant’s ability to fulfill the responsibilities of the position and how the applicant meets each minimum and desirable qualification, a current resume, a sample of professional writing, official graduate and undergraduate transcripts, 3 letters of recommendation from people able to address the candidate’s professional qualifications and achievements, and the names and contact information of three additional references. Interviewees will be expected to make a presentation to library faculty and staff as part of the screening process. Continuous recruitment: The position will remain open until filled; however, applications received after July 25, 2008, cannot be guaranteed full consideration.

Hawaii. University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, Edwin H. Mookini Library, full-time, tenure-track, general funds, to begin approximately Sept. 1, 2008 (negotiable), pending availability of funds. This position will be required to work some Saturdays, and may be required to work some evenings. This position may also need to fill-in on short notice some evenings and weekends when staff call in sick. The Edwin H. Mookini Library is a shared used facility and serves both the University of Hawaii at Hilo and Hawaii Community College. Application address: Ms. Veronica Tarleton, Search Committee for Hawaii Community College Librarian, University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, Edwin H. Mookini Library, 200 W. Kawili Street, Hilo, HI 96720-4091. Inquiries: Ms. Veronica Tarleton, 808-9747759, tarleton@hawaii.edu. Continuous recruitment. For more information on this position visit www.uhh.hawaii. edu/uhh/hr/jobs.php. For information about UH Hilo visit www.uhh. hawaii.edu. The University of Hawai’i at Hilo is an EEO/AA Employer D/M/V/W. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: At rank of Librarian II: ALA-accredited MLS or international equivalent. At rank of Librarian III: ALA-accredited MLS or international equivalent; 24 post baccalaureate credits in addition to the MLS; at least 3 years of experience in public services in a college or university library. At rank of Librarian IV: ALA-accredited MLS or international equivalent; second master’s degree in a subject area in addition to the MLS, and

august 2008

NYU is an equal-opportunity, afﬁrmative-action employer.

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CAREER LEADS | Academic Library

MUSIC AND MEDIA REFERENCE LIBRARIAN, Tulane University. The Howard-Tilton Memorial Library seeks a creative, dynamic librarian to serve as the music and media specialist within the public services division. This librarian plays a key role in the library’s efforts to rebuild its world-class music collections, which were heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina. RESPONSIBILITIES: The music and media reference librarian is a creative professional who participates in recovery tasks, including the reintegration of restored music materials into our collections and the replacement of items unable to be restored. The librarian develops new music and media collections in both digital and print formats; acts as bibliographer and liaison to the music department, providing the department with reference and instructional services; and works closely with a full-time media specialist who oversees the day-to-day running of the library’s music and media facility. The librarian manages the development of a growing collection of video recordings and other media which supports the university curriculum, including a film studies program within the department of communication. He or she develops a dynamic vision for the library’s music and media collections, following national trends, current research, and the latest practices in the field. Reporting to the director of public services, the music and media reference librarian participates in committee service within the library; and through professional activity helps to advocate for the interests of librarians at Tulane and throughout the profession. The librarian may share reference duties with other librarians at a central reference and information desk including some evening and weekend duty; and participate in the library’s instruction program. REQUIREMENTS: ALA-accredited MLS; degree or significant background in music; knowledge of music bibliography as evidenced by coursework or experience; 2 or more years of experience in reference and instruction in an academic library; knowledge of trends in music and media librarianship including emerging digital formats; familiarity with copyright, licensing, and preservation issues; potential for leadership in a collaborative setting; effective communication and teaching skills; enthusiasm for an innovative and changing environment; and a willingness to participate in professional development and in the shared governance of the library and the university. PREFERRED: Advanced degree in music or musicology; interest or experience in film and media studies; post-MLS experience in

an academic library; collection development experience; and demonstrated skill in library instruction. Environment: Tulane University is an AAU/Carnegie Research I institution with its main campus located in picturesque uptown New Orleans. The Howard-Tilton Memorial Library is the university’s main library, which is an ARL research collection supporting programs in the humanities, social sciences, and the sciences. Recently, the library has been reorganizing, building its collections, and developing an architectural plan for expanded library facilities. During this period of dynamic change, the library seeks to build its professional staff by recruiting talented, energetic librarians interested in participating in the recovery of Tulane and New Orleans. For more information, see library.tulane.edu, www.tulane.edu/~music/, and www. tulane.edu/~communic/filmStudies. html. Compensation: Salary is commensurate with qualifications and experience. Librarians are academic appointees and carry the rank of Librarian I, II, III, or IV. Librarians receive the benefits of faculty members. Review of applications will begin immediately, and continue until the position is filled. To apply, qualified candidates send a letter of application, c.v., and contact information for 3 professional references via email to Andrea Bacino, abacino@tulane.edu, or mail to: Andrea Bacino, Tulane University, Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, 7001 Freret St., 2nd Floor, New Orleans LA 70118.Tulane University is an AA/EO/ ADA employer.

Foreign Library DIRECTOR LIBRARY SERVICES, The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (MIST) is a new and independent nonprofit, tax-exempt research and educational institution, founded with the assistance and advice of the Technology and Development Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Offering graduate-level courses in Abu Dhabi for a highly-select student population, The Masdar Institute is dedicated to premier engineering research and the provision of research-driven education. The goal of the institute is to develop indigenous research and development capacity in Abu Dhabi, addressing issues of importance to the region in areas as critical as: renewable energy, sustainability, environment, water resources, systems engineering and management, transport and logistics, and advanced materials. For more information on MIST, visit www.masdar.ac.ae. RESPONSIBILITIES: The Masdar Institute is seeking an experienced and visionary librarian to provide leadership in creating, implementing, and sustaining the full range of library services for this newly established university community. Reporting to the provost, the director of library services will develop and implement a comprehensive strategy

for establishing the university library and building the infrastructure required to support the mission of the institute. The director will hire, supervise, and develop a staff to participate in the acquisition, delivery, and promotion of resources and services, and will lead that staff in establishing goals, prioritizing services and initiatives, and developing programs and policies. S/he will have full responsibility for managing the fiscal, spatial, and technological resources of the library, with an emphasis on integrating technology for the effective acquisition and organization of resources and for on-site and remote delivery of services. The director will promote the visibility of the library and its services and direct outreach efforts to the MIST community as well as foster local and regional cooperation in resource sharing, networking, and collection development. S/he will act as the official representative and advocate of the library in the university community as well as the regional, national, and international library communities. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS: ALA-accredited MLS; 3-5 years of increasingly responsible management and supervisory experience in an academic, research, or information service environment; demonstrated ability to lead and collaborate; ability to guide and mentor staff and build consensus; excellent interpersonal, communication, organizational, and analytical skills; the ability to understand and interpret the information needs of constituents; a record of successful interaction with user community and administrators; a strong commitment to user outreach and customer service excellence; a high degree of computer literacy and vision for the role of technology in the provision of library services; the ability to develop creative solutions; flexibility in accomplishing objectives; a broad overview of engineering and scientific disciplines and the interdisciplinary nature of research and teaching; a thorough understanding of issues facing research libraries including the changing landscape of scholarly communication and the impact of technology on teaching, learning, and research. PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS: An academic background in engineering or science. To apply: The Technology and Development Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is assisting in the search. Initial screening of applications will begin immediately. Application materials should include a cover letter describing how the candidate’s experiences match the position requirements; a detailed curriculum vitae including applicant’s name, present position, postal and e-mail addresses, and telephone numbers; and contact information including email addresses for 3 professional references familiar with the candidate’s qualifications and experience. Materials must be submitted electronically on or before Aug. 31 as a MS Word or PDF attachment addressed to: Dr. Russel Jones, President, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), Abu Dhabi, UAE; email rjones@masdar.ae;

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environment. Candidates should submit a letter of application, resume, and the names and addresses, postal and email, of 3 current references, electronically to libraryjobs@colum.edu. Columbia College Chicago encourages qualified female, GLBT, disabled and minority classified individuals to apply for all positions. For more details, see our full position description at www.colum.edu.

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LIBRARY EDUCATION

Three Graduate Faculty Positions

Indiana University, School of Library and Information Science–Indianapolis (www.slis.iupui.edu) The positions 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 one or more of the following areas pertaining to graduate studies in library and information science: • School library media • Public libraries • Information technologies in library environments, digital libraries Basic qualifications include: Ph.D. or Ed.D. in library and information management (or equivalent doctorate in a relevant field) 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; experience with these technologies is preferred. The Indianapolis campus provides faculty support for innovations in instructional delivery with advanced networking capabilities. 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 no later than August 1, 2009; January 1, 2009 appointments preferred. Review of applications will begin August 1, 2008, 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. SLIS has been nationally ranked among the top schools in library science, information systems, youth services, school library media, and law librarianship.

| american libraries

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, business, engineering, social work, education, philanthropic studies, and informatics.

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Committed to the principle of diversity, Indiana University is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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CAREER LEADS | Academic Library MUSIC LIBRARY

Head of Music Library (#245)

The University of Southern California (USC) Libraries seek an innovative and knowledgeable Head of the Music Library (#245). The successful candidate will support the research, teaching and performance needs of the Thornton School of Music. Working with other librarians and staff, the Head will offer excellent customer service; foster information literacy; and build a rich collection of electronic and print materials. Required: MLS from an ALA-accredited program (or equivalent) and a B.A. in music, with at least two years of experience in an academic or research library. Minimum salary: $50,000. USC is an EO/AA employer. Applications must be submitted by August 31, 2008, via electronic mail, libfacjobs@usc.edu. For full position description and application procedure see www.usc.edu/libraries/jobs/librarians.

Regional salary guide

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 *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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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 $41,680. For additional information on librarian salaries or to update a salary figure, email salaryguide@ala.org.

A dynamic leader is sought as director for this progressive Central Oregon (Bend) library district. Lead efforts to build upon the solid foundation of a top library program. Work with a team that is committed to a never-ending quest for excellence. Many of the tools are already in place. DPL is an independent library district with a permanent tax rate that is exclusively dedicated to public library services. The library is governed by an elected library board that focuses upon outcomes and looks to the director and management team to devise creative implementation strategies. The management team is confident and dynamic and embraces new approaches and solutions. The challenges are exciting. Develop innovative service strategies to respond to the fastest growing population in Oregon. Devise alternative service strategies using the latest technologies. Provide leadership in local areas and in the broader state and national library communities. The possibilities are endless. The Deschutes Public Library District is a library system serving the 165,000 residents of Deschutes County in Central Oregon. Governed by a five-member, elected Board of Directors, the Library staff (currently 85 FTEs) with a budget of $9.3 million operates five branches and a bookmobile serving an increasingly diverse area and circulating 1.9 million in 2006-07. Deschutes County is one of the most beautiful and most desirable counties in the United Statesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; growing by 53% from 1995 to 2005. The successful candidate must have excellent communication skills that inspire and motivate. Candidate must be able to develop and implement a shared vision of innovative library service for the District. Candidate must be adept at building and maintaining effective relationships with the library board to achieve desired results; skills in policy governance are key success factors. Also essential are developing and maintaining collaborative working relationships with staff and with community leaders throughout Deschutes County. Key skills include: strategic planning, budget preparation, designing and managing change, facilities and space design, library technology, grant writing, and working with library foundations. Additional information on the Deschutes Public Library District and the community can be found at www.gossagesager.com/Deschuteslinks.htm. Minimum requirements: An MLS from an ALA-accredited program; five years of progressively responsible public library experience in a multi-branch system and a minimum of three years of executive level administrative experience. Experience working effectively with a governing Board, fiscal management, excellent communication skills, conflict resolution skills, and coaching skills preferred. Hiring salary range $100,000-$120,000 with a competitive benefits package. For further information: Contact Dan Bradbury, Gossage Sager Associates, danbradbury@gossagesager.com or 816-531-2468. This opportunity will close September 30, 2008. To apply, please send a cover letter and current resume as attachments via email to danbradbury@gossagesager.com.

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Supervising Librarian A Family and Youth Services Coordinator Newport News Public Library System Join the enthusiastic, people-oriented team of an upbeat, customer-driven public library system in scenic and historic Hampton Roads, Virginia. Newport News Public Library System seeks an energetic, team-oriented Supervising Librarian A-Family and Youth Services Coordinator with a passion for libraries, life-long learning, a rock-solid public service commitment, and a dedication to serving and engaging youth successfully and positively. NNPLS is a high performance organization, and values initiative, creativity, teamwork, and legendarily-good customer service. Make a difference in your community—apply today! We invite you to be a part of our exciting future. Supervising Librarian A Family and Youth Services Coordinator (Library Administrative Office) Applicants who do not meet the qualifications for Supervising Librarian A may be considered at the Senior Librarian (underfill) level with commensurate pay. Performs professional, administrative and supervisory work in planning, developing and managing the activities of family, children and young adult services. Coordinates collection development, story time, teen services, summer reading programs, and staff training; collaborates with schools, daycare facilities, and community groups regarding youth and family services. Collaborates with schools, city and community agencies to promote and provide library services. Develops and supervises youth outreach program to include participation in programs such as teen advisory groups and recruitment of teen volunteers. Participates in Newport News Keeping Our Kids Safe and represents the Library System at various meetings. Works with staff to fulfill the goals of the Library System’s strategic plan and serves on the senior management team. Minimum Qualifications Master’s degree in library science from an ALA-accredited program; extensive experience (minimum of three years) as a professional librarian, including considerable experience in a lead or supervisory capacity in the operation of a major library function. Hiring range is $47,985–$55,185.

Requirements A valid driver’s license; an acceptable background check; and certification as a professional librarian by the Commonwealth of Virginia within six months of employment. This position is an FLSA exempt position.

american libraries

EOE.

august 2008

Application Process For a complete job description and to apply, log on to www.jobs-nngov.com. Please attach resume and 3 professional references. The City of Newport News is an equalopportunity employer. This position will remain open until filled.

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CAREER LEADS | Foreign Library and: Professor Fred Moavenzadeh, Director Technology and Development Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, email tdpmail@mit.edu.

LAW LIBRARY

PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR, Homewood Public Library. Homewood Public Library, located in Homewood, Alabama, seeks a professional and progressive director to begin employment Jan. 1, 2009. Homewood is a diverse community of 24,000 people. The library, a 49,000-sq.-ft facility, is located a few miles from the city of Birmingham. It is a busy library with an annual circulation of over 500,000, a staff of 35.6 FTE’s, and a budget of over $2,000,000. Qualified candidates will have a Master’s

Great Neck Library

The Board of Trustees of the Great Neck Library, located on the North Shore of Long Island, New York, seeks a proven administrator and dynamic leader as its next director. Great Neck Library is an association library consisting of a main building and three branch facilities serving an increasingly diverse suburban population of 40,000. With a staff of 150 (92 FTEs) and an annual budget of $8.2 million, the Library loans 700,000+ items a year and offers unique components, valuable resources, and outstanding community prograsmming and services. The Director reports to an elected, seven-member Board of Trustees. One of the primary challenges will be moving a new renovation/expansion plan through a successful public referendum and completion. Additional details and information about the position, the Library and community can be found at Great Neck Links. Qualifications: A master’s degree in library science from an ALA accredited program; a minimum of eight years of progressively responsible public library experience; and at least five years of experience as a director (or an assistant or associate director in a library comparable to Great Neck). The complete job announcement and qualifications are at: www.GossageSager.com/gnl/. Starting salary range $120,000-140,000 (with placement dependent upon experience and qualifications) and an excellent fringe benefits package. Contact Dan Bradbury, Gossage Sager Associates, danbradbury@gossagesager.com or 816-531-2468 for additional information. The closing date for applications is September 26, 2008. To apply, send a cover letter and current resume as attachments to: danbradbury@ gossagesager.com.

Senior Librarian

Adult Services Division

City of El Segundo, California Salary: $5,164 – $6,291 Monthly Plus $1,000 Per Month for PERS Medical Deferred Compensation and/or Additional Salary This position reports to the Director of Library Services, and oversees all aspects of the Adult Services Division at the El Segundo Public Library; including development of programs for adults, Reference Desk scheduling/assistance, supervising and training staff, budget and collections, participation in professional meetings/organizations, and ability to work a 9/80 schedule including evenings and rotating Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. PREFER Master’s Degree in Library Science and ﬁve years of increasingly responsible professional library experience as a Librarian I or above, including three years of supervision, or an equivalent combination of education and experience. This position is open until ﬁlled; employment applications and recruitment brochures may be obtained through the City’s 24-hour Job Hotline: 310-524-2378 or downloaded from the City website at www.elsegundo.org. The testing process will consist of a structured, technical oral and career preparation interview.

City of El Segundo, Human Resources Department 350 Main Street El Segundo, CA 90245 310-524-2336 The City of El Segundo is an equal-opportunity employer.

of Library Science (MLS/MLIS) from an ALA-accredited school, will be technologically literate, and will have a minimum of 5 years of executive level experience managing public library operations. Salary range is $57,000-$88,500 based on experience. Interested candidates should send a detailed resume and cover letter to the library. In addition, three professional references are also required. Persons writing the professional references should mail them directly to the library. These materials for application may be sent online to homewoodboard@bham. lib.al.us or mailed to: Ann Chapman, Homewood Public Library, 1721 Oxmoor Road, Homewood, AL 35209. Deadline for applications is Sept. 10, 2008. Qualified applicants may be contacted for an interview and at that time must submit official college transcripts. LIBRARY DIRECTOR. Progressive, fast growing White County, Arkansas, is seek-

ing 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

august 2008

DIGITAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT LIBRARIAN, Texas Tech University Law Library. SHORT DESCRIPTION: Primary duties include developing, maintaining, organizing, improving, contributing, and promoting the library’s growing information base and repositories in all formats. Technical services functions such as systems management, cataloging, collection development and other duties are also part of this position’s responsibility. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS: Master’s degree in library/information science from an ALA-accredited program; knowledge of traditional legal bibliography and electronic legal information resources; demonstrated knowledge of file formats, media/ data migration, metadata, database management, and digitization techniques; experience in a library’s cataloging area with substantial knowledge of cataloging and classification policies, practice and tools such as OCLC and Innovative’s Millennium. PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS: ABA-accredited JD or international equivalent; work experience in a law library or academic library; knowledge of current and emerging national cataloging standards (e.g., AACR2, MARC21, Library of Congress Classification, LCSH; knowledge of and/or experience with Innovative’s Millennium system. OTHER INFORMATION: The position is a full-time, 12-month, tenure-track position. Initial appointment is for one year at the rank of Librarian; reappointment and tenure decisions are based on librarianship (e.g., professional performance), scholarship, and service. Additional information is available at www.law.ttu.edu/lawlibrary/library/ and look for Position Opening link. Salary: Salary competitive and commensurate with experience and qualifications. The position is available June 25, 2008 and will remain open until filled. To apply: Complete the online application at https:// jobs.texastech.edu. For questions on applying, contact the Texas Tech University Human Resource Services at 806-742-3851 ext. 238. Texas Tech University is an EEO/ AA/ADA Employer. REQ #76516.

Library Director

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ee yourself in Springfield, Missouri, as Executive Director of the award-winning Springfield-Greene County Library District. Position available: December 2008 For details, go to: www.thelibrary.org/director Or call 847-955-0540 SALES LIBRARY AUTOMATION SALESPERSON. The Integrated Technology Group (ITG) is seeking outside salespersons located throughout North America to meet the demands of its quickly growing RFID, self-checkout, materials handling, PC reservation, and print control systems. Position requires experience within the library industry, either selling high end software applications to public and academic libraries or working for at least three years in library IT. Applicant must be conversant with library automated circulation and materials management systems and be prepared to travel. Compensation is commensurate with experience and includes base of $50,000+, attractive commission package, profit sharing and full benefits. Submit your resume to careers@integratedtek.com.

Librarians’ Classifieds PERIODICALS AND SERIALS ALL EX-LIBRARY MATERIALS WANTED, specialize in old/rare. Archival

Library Director The Grafton-Midview Public Library Board of Trustees seeks an energetic visionary to lead us in a challenging expansion of library facilities and services. The Grafton-Midview Public Library: • Is located in southeastern Lorain County. • Has a service district of 21,000 persons. • Maintains a financially stable budget of $650,000. • Employs 18 highly motivated and creative staff members. The ideal candidate must have: • MLS from an accredited institution. • Minimum 3 years of increasingly responsible experience in a public library. • Excellent public relations and leadership skills. • Wicked sense of humor. Preferred experience or exposure should include: • Public or alternative funding (levy campaigns, grant writing). • Direct human resources skills. • Community involvement with educational, governmental and volunteer sectors. The salary range is negotiable from the $50’s with competitive benefits. Applications accepted until position filled. Candidate should be able to commence working early fall 2008 and willing to relocate and live in the library’s service area. Send cover letter, resume, and list of references to: Douglas S. Harper, Chair, Search Committee, Grafton-Midview Public Library, 983 Main Street, Grafton, OH 44044; or email dstrainmaster@adelphia.net.

Resource Co., POB 1175, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004; 800-390-1027; backsets@ aol.com. Since 1995.

23800 Via Irana, Valencia, CA 91355; 800-321-5596; e-mail jstitz@pacbell. net.

WANT TO BUY

ALL EX-LIBRARY MATERIALS WANTED, specialize in old/rare. Archival Resource Co., POB 1175, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004; 800-390-1027; backsets@ aol.com. Since 1995.

CHEMICAL OR BIOLOGICAL AB STRACTS AND OTHER SCIENCE JOURNALS. Contact: e-mail eva@rpbs.com; 713-779-2999; fax 713-779-2992.

FOR SALE

CONFERENCE

USED STEEL LIBRARY SHELVING. 90 inches, double-faced cantilever, excellent condition. $135 per section. Jim Stitzinger, 800-321-5596; e-mail jstitz@pacbell.net; www.booksforlibraries.com.

WANTED UNNEEDED LIBRARY MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT WANTED. Books for Libraries, Inc., Jim Stitzinger,

DOCTORAL PROGRAM

Four great conferences at one site! Something for everyone! KLA/KSMA/SELA/ARL National Diversity in Libraries Conference “Spectrum of the Future” august 2008

October 1-4, 2008 Louisville Marriott Downtown Louisville, Kentucky

american libraries

Contact: Kentucky Library Association 1501 Twilight Trail Frankfort, KY 40601 502-223-5322 www.kylibasn.org/conferences620.cfm

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COMMENTARY | Will’s World

How to Do It Yourself There’s hope for all-thumbs hobbyists @ your library

When one patron

realize that the instructions. asked for the “do-itpatrons were The first step using the library was right up yourself” section, I more as a trade was tempted to reply, my alley—digschool than a ging holes for “Oh, go find it yourself!” university. the footings. “How can I fix Then I my car?” “How can I build a room bogged down in the myriad details addition to my house?” “How can I involved with mixing concrete, addmake a million dollars in the stock ing rebar, setting anchor bolts, market?” “How can I toilet train my notching support posts, installing 2-year-old?” “How can I housebeams, and hanging joists. Reasonbreak my new puppy?” After a week, ing that Rome wasn’t built in a day, I I was so frustrated that, when one decided to start with something patron asked for the “do-it-yourmore basic, a trellis. Surely I could self” section, I almost replied, “Oh, build a simple trellis. go find it yourself!” I couldn’t. At first it looked okay, My frustration did not entirely but then it began to settle and sag. stem from a sense of academic elitThe worst part was how my ineptiism. It wasn’t that I was too good to tude seemed to amuse two of the answer these questions; it was that I construction workers building a new wasn’t good enough: I’ve known I house next door. have absolutely no “do-it-yourself” One night after work, they aptitude since 7th-grade, when my knocked on my door. Martin and step stool collapsed under the Manuel spoke very little English but weight of my shop instructor’s right conveyed their willingness to fix my foot. This personal deficiency has trellis for a price. I jumped at the cost me thousands of dollars in reopportunity. pair bills from mechanics, handyWhen they finished, they pointed men, and contractors. I can dig a at the six holes that I had dug for my hole, take out the garbage, and pump deck and scratched their heads. I remy own gas—but that’s about it. I plied, “Mañana.” That night I hurpromised myself that someday, ried down to the library. when I had time, I would try to deLong story short . . . I now have a velop some practical skills, knowing beautiful deck, and I owe it all to the that the library’s vast do-it-yourself library. That do-it-yourself basic section would be the key. Spanish book did the trick. z That day came last month when I went to the library to select a book on how to build a deck with an over- WILL MANLEY has furnished provocative commentary on librarianship for over 25 years hanging shade structure. The book and nine books on the lighter side of library gave a detailed step-by-step set of science. Write him at wmanley7@att.net.

american libraries

august 2008

resh out of library school, I went to work as a reference librarian in a midwestern public library. By the end of my first week, I realized that my schooling may have ended, but my education was just beginning. After studying the liberal arts for four years and library science for one, I was eager to put all my academic skills to work at the people’s university that is the public library, a place where convenience-store clerks could learn about post-modern literary criticism. If you needed help in researching the causes of the Bolshevik Revolution, the reproductive life cycle of the fruit fly, the exchange rate of the drachma, or the origins of abstract expressionism, I was your man. Almost from day one I began to

by Will Manley

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