November 2008 by American Libraries

ALA TREASURER On Finances

■

SERVICE New Products

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SPANISH SPEAKERS Reforma

NOVEMBER 2008

THE MAGAZINE OF THE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

PLUS A Homework Center Success Story

TRAINING& in Tight Times

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CONTENTS American Libraries

November 2008

Features 46

after-school success stories

A grassroots effort to save a school district has blossomed into a thriving program BY robert j. rua

it’s never too late to retool

An uprooted librarian adjusts to a high-tech academic environment

bY mary madden demajo

haplr corrected

Hennen’s public library rankings were published with the wrong numbers; here are the right ones

Cover Story

are you following me?

In today’s libraries, training is paramount, and that calls for leadership BY lori reed and paul signorelli

Cover design by Jennifer Palmer.

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CONTENTS A me r i can L i b r a r i es

N o v embe r 2 0 0 8

Vol u me 3 9 # 1 0

ISSN 0002-9769

Departments Information Technology

32 Tech News 34 Internet Librarian

Google Stops By Joseph Janes

In Practice

CMS for Next-Gen Websites by Meredith Farkas

People

58 Currents

Professional Development

60 Youth Matters

Encyclopedic Focus

By Jennifer Burek Pierce

61 Working Knowledge

News

Giving Thanks By Mary Pergander

12 ALA 18 Banned Books Week 19 U.S. and INTERNATIONAL

62 Librarian’s Library

Special News Reports

28 national book festival 29 Reforma national conference 56 alsc institute

Centuries of Expertise between Two Covers

By Mary Ellen Quinn

63 Rousing Reads

Bankers in Books By Bill Ott

64 Solutions and Services

New Products

Opinion and Commentary

4 From the editor

Learning the Hard Way By Leonard Kniffel

President’s Message

treasurer’s report

Access for All By jIM rETTIG

Money Watch By rodney m. hersberger

10 Reader Forum

Letters and Comments

38 Public Perception 40 On My Mind

Not Just the Facts By bo kinney

72 Will’s World

The Bandwidth That Binds By Will Manley

Jobs

67 Career Leads from joblist

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FROM THE EDITOR | Contributors

Learning the Hard Way by Leonard Kniffel

Lori Reed (“Are You Following Me,” p. 42– 45), employee learning and enrichment coordinator at the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, can be reached at lreed@plcmc.org; Paul Signorelli, a writer, trainer, and consultant working with libraries and nonprofit organizations, can be reached at paul@paulsignorelli.com. Robert J. Rua (“After-School Success Stories,” p. 46–48) is communications coordinator with Cuyahoga County Public Library in Parma, Ohio. Prior to joining the library in 2007, he worked as an editor and freelance writer. He has published numerous articles on topics ranging from hospital waste recycling to identity theft. Rua obtained an MA in English literature from Kent State University in 2005.

american libraries

november 2008

here is the outrage?” asked Garrison Keillor in his syndicated column, calling the federal bailout of the financial market “a calamity people accept as if it were just one more hurricane.... It wasn’t their money they were playing with,” he added. “It was yours. Where were the cops?” It was library money too, and already we are seeing the effect on philanthropy and on budgets at the local level (p. 20). ALA showed some outrage when it signed on to a September 23 letter to the Senate Banking Committee (p. 13) urging that sections of the bailout legislation be changed to address “one of the current crisis’ fundamental causes—corruption and other abuses of power sustained by secrecy. Otherwise, the taxpayers could end up giving $700 billion more to repeat the same disasters. Congress must prove it has learned this lesson. Any genuine solution must be grounded in transparency, with all relevant records publicly Already we are seeing the available and best practice whistleblower effects on philanthropy protection for all employees connected with and on library budgets. the new law. Secrecy worsened this crisis, and taxpayers will not accept a law for secret solutions. What happens to our money is our business.” Bravo. It’s been a rocky month, made unexpectedly rockier for American Libraries by an October 2 telephone call from Tom Hennen (just as the October issue of the magazine had mailed and the newly redesigned Chicago Tribune was arriving on my doorstep) informing me that he’d unwittingly used the wrong dataset to tabulate the latest edition of his HAPLR rankings. We immediately shifted into damage-control mode and began the process of apologizing and trying to set the record straight, an undertaking that continues into this issue (p. 54). The next morning, I looked at the Tribune, thought about HAPLR, and said to myself, “This is all wrong. Why is the newspaper trying to compete with the Web, trying to sound like a blog? What is the point of trying to force into print that which is most easily accessible, most practical and useful, and most easily and cheaply corrected online?” Things like statistical ranking tables. Granted, everyone involved with print publishing is trying to reinvent, repurpose, and retrain; but when print pits itself against online, tries to look and act like online, it loses. In this month’s cover story, Lori Reed and Paul Signorelli take a thoughtful look at the reinvention going on in Libraryland (p. 42) “as library staff and library users find themselves immersed in a Web 2.0 world and need assistance in learning, using, and coping with new technology”—and now a new financial reality. ALA Treasurer Rod Hersberger issued a statement October 1 about the Association’s FY2009 budget outlook (see p. 9). Like libraries across the country, we will pay for the folly on Wall Street. And where were the cops? If library boards monitored their finances like the federal government, we’d all be out of business, and there would be no bailout. z

Mary Madden DeMajo (“It’s Never Too Late to Retool,” p. 50–53) retired from her position as federal documents librarian at New Orleans Public Library, where she had held a variety of reference positions following Hurricane Katrina. She has also worked in reference at Sims Library at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond. She has been active in the Louisiana Library Association’s Government Documents Round Table and in the Louisiana Advisory Council to the State Documents Depository Program. Her interests include collecting antiques and the study of American library history. She now resides in Chesterfield, Virginia.

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MASTHEAD | Ad Index

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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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ALA | President’s Message

Access for All Building bridges to information through services

ccess to information. How often have you used that phrase? What does it mean when you say it? The phrase resembles a Rorschach inkblot test, capable of many different meanings. During recent international conference visits, I have learned how its meaning varies in important ways. In Mexico, it means radically improving the educational preparation of library staff in the country’s public libraries. Federico Hernández Pacheco, general manager of public libraries, reports that only 1% of those employed as librarians in Mexico’s 10,485 public libraries hold a certificate in library science and that only two librarians hold an MLS. A collection of books does not a library make. It takes professionally trained staff to animate that collection and develop services that make it accessible.

In its 15 years, the annual Crimea Conference, organized by Yakov Shrayberg, director general of the Russian National Public Library for Science and Technology in Moscow, has become an important event for librarians in many of the countries once part of the Soviet Union. During a frank discussion, a Canadian asked a senior librarian in the Russian State Library to assess current access to government information in Russia. We heard that it improved after the collapse of the Soviet Union but in recent years has reverted. It is amazing to think about

tion, or sharing inthe changes midBecause formation free of dle-aged librarwe create government interians in Russia access ference. Most of us have experienced take these meanings in their careers. for all, for granted. ALA’s Chinese we create It can take on American Libraropportunity for all— many other meanians Association (CALA) and acaopportunity to learn, to ings, such as unfiltered internet demic libraries of grow, and to know. access, public availYunnan Province ability of governcosponsored a conference in Kunming, China. After ment-funded research reports, adequate operating hours, database a presentation by CALA’s Haiwang Yuan on the ways American academic subscriptions, assistive technologies for the physically challenged, robust libraries use 2.0 technologies, one interlibrary loan service, English as a librarian asked, “Who controls the content of the blogs?” The question’s second language and adult literacy programs, reference service through assumption implies unmitigated acmultiple communication technoloceptance of government control of gies, collections representing varied information. points of view, and news media free This aspect of contemporary Chiof government control. nese culture was again illustrated We remove barriers to access to dramatically during my visit to Tiinformation. We build bridges to inananmen Square in Beijing, where a formation. We help people connect young man quietly told me, “Most to information that matters in their Westerners know about Tiananmen lives. We develop programs and poliSquare from the student movement, cies to assure access to information, but most Chinese don’t know about tailoring them to the needs and culthat.” Not bravery comparable to the tures of the communities we serve. anonymous young man who stood Through our services we create the before a column of tanks in Tiananmen Square in 1989, but nonetheless meanings, infinite in variety, of acbravery to say this in Beijing in 2008. cess to information. That variety Most Chinese don’t know about those demonstrates the strength of our guiding principles and values. Beevents because the government has cause we create access for all, we cresuppressed that information within ate opportunity for all—opportunity China. to learn, to grow, and to know. z These examples show that access to information—a simple, yet familiar phrase—can mean appropriate ALA President JIM RETTIG is university librarian at Boatwright Memorial Library, staffing for libraries, consistent University of Richmond in Virginia. Visit jrettig availability of government informa.org.

american libraries

november 2008

Who’s in control?

by Jim Rettig

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Treasurer’s Report | ALA

Money Watch

november 2008

sures in anticipation of what looks the same time continuing member like it will be a tough year for every- services as well as maintaining forone in the library community. These ward momentum on the many new reductions represent 2% of the and expanded ALA programs and General Fund budget of just over services that benefit all libraries and $30 million. Depending on how librarians. things unfold during the budget year I have observed elsewhere that (September 1, 2008– August 31, two of ALA’s major sources of reve2009), not all these reductions may nue—conferences and membership ultimately be needed. But we think dues—are “mature” businesses. that cautious approach is best in this While we hope to see continued uncertain financial growth, we environment. cannot and Although ALA If you have indo not exis in a period of vestments, you pect to see belt-tightening, know the markets enormous have been on a wild revenue the Association is roller coaster ride, growth. healthy financially. This is parbeing down more than up. ALA’s inticularly vestment portfolio is defensive, with true for conferences, where costs quite a bit in fixed income, so its re- are sometimes beyond our control turns are down only about half of and the interest in electronic particthat of the broader market. However, ipation needs to be accompanied by this portfolio must return consistent stable revenue overall. The third dividend and interest income to major source, publishing, is in a pesupport ALA’s many scholarships riod of transition, but the long-term and other commitments. revenue picture for all online publiAlthough ALA is in a period of cations continues to be unclear. belt-tightening, the Association is It is imperative that ALA develop healthy financially. Membership new sources of revenue to generate continues to increase and registranew cash and capital for investment. tion for the 2009 Midwinter Meeting We need new approaches and new in Denver is off to a good start. We ideas if we are to generate the needare looking forward to successful ed revenues to meet the many chalAnnual Conferences over the next lenges that lie ahead and to provide two years in two of the Association’s the services that members want and record-breaking sites: Chicago and need. We will hear more about some Washington, D.C. of these ideas in the future. z We believe that we have adopted a ALA Treasurer RODNEY M. HERSBERGER prudent approach to the FY2009 dean of the university library at Walter budget. Our goal is to weather what- isStiern Library, California State University at ever rough waters lie ahead, while at Bakersfield.

ost everyone is concerned about the world financial crisis and how it is affecting us personally, at our places of employment, and within the American Library Association. We wish we knew how bad the crisis is going to get and when it will be over. The country is in a recession that will linger for some months. Many of us work in institutions that are supported by tax dollars, endowment income, or both. It is clear that as the economy slows, revenue growth for our institutions will likely be impacted. Because ALA generates $5 in revenue from publications, conferences, advertising, and sales for every dollar in dues revenue, the Association definitely feels the impact of reductions in libraries’ materials budgets, spending for technology and online services, and support for conference attendance that an economic slowdown inevitably brings. Senior management and elected officers have been working since the summer to adjust ALA revenue projections downward and to identify cost reduction or containment strategies. At this point, we have modified our attendance and revenue projections for the Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference to reflect the anticipated impact of higher airfares and tighter travel budgets. Because ALA can only spend what it earns, management has implemented about $600,000 in departmental budget reductions and other Association-wide cost-cutting mea-

by Rodney M. Hersberger

american libraries

ALA’ s financial forecast remains good—for now

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OPINION | Reader Forum

Letters and Comments Photos Send Wrong Message

all of library service, that technology is the way to “address the day-to-day challenges of connecting their communities”. My experience with technology in public libraries shows a different result. First, much of the use of computers is by those I call “e-mail leavers”—those who come into the

without a bribe. Researchers Barbara Ann Marinak and Linda Gambrell have recently provided evidence that this happens when we reward reading, extending and confirming findings of Vonnie McLoyd from 1979. Until more studies are done on the effects of rewarding children for reading, we should reconsider endorsing these practices, either explicitly or implicitly.

library, check their e-mail and then leave, simple as that. Second, we have over 50 databases available for public use in the library and for use at home. Our in-library use of these databases does not warrant the king’s ransom being paid for these databases by the county system. Third, in a middle-class community with a reasonable amount of affluence, most of the people who use our computers do so because they are too cheap to purchase their own and pay connection charges, so for their $31 a year (or about eight cents a day) that they pay to support our library, they want as much free technology as they can glom on to. Connecting with our community? You bet we connect. By providing 14 to 16 children’s programs a week, by providing a materials collection that sees our circulation figures rise year after year with a declining service population, and by providing excellent one-on-one service by our staff. Not, however, by filling the building with computer technology!

Stephen Krashen University of Southern California, Los Angeles

Technology No Be All, End All One does weary of seeing public librarians jumping onto every bandwagon that trundles by the library threshold (“Libraries Connect Communities,” Oct., p. 52–55) in an effort to legitimize the very existence of the library. Technology, technology—this has become the mantra to be sung in order to propitiate the gods of library success! This study looked at 63 public libraries out of a total of 17,005 public libraries in the United States. Let’s see, that’s fewer than one-half of 1% of the public libraries in the country. Yet in reading this report, we are to believe that technology is the be all and end

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.

Harold N. Boyer Folsom, Pennsylvania

Call for Mandatory Practicum Libby Gorman’s response (Sept., p. 10) to Elaine Yontz’s “Be Outstanding in Your Fieldwork” (June/July, p. 56–59) hit home for me. I received my MLS in 1965, and chose to work in a public

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november 2008

The October issue of American Libraries carried two photo caption stories that might be sending the wrong message. “Bug Bites” (p. 33) tells us that a Midwest public library director bet children in a summer reading program that they could not read a certain number of books. He lost and, as a result, had to eat barbecued mealworms. The suggestion is that the reason the children read so much was to see the director eat worms. “Most Valuable Reader” (p. 32) reports that a youngster won a plaque from a professional The appearance of football team as an award these photo caption for reading. stories suggests Other prizes that AL thinks that included footballs and a rewarding reading visit to the in this way is a fine team’s training idea. camp. The suggestion is that the reason these children read so much was to get football-related rewards. The appearance of these photo caption stories suggests that AL thinks that rewarding reading in this way is a fine idea. There is, however, no evidence that rewarding reading increases reading competence despite claims made by producers of readingmanagement programs. There is evidence that rewards can have long-term damaging effects.

Many studies show what AL readers know: Reading is pleasant, and for many people, a positive addiction. Studies also show, however, that if we reward children for doing something intrinsically pleasant, we run the risk of their losing interest in the activity when the reward is no longer available: We are sending the message that nobody would do it

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library while I attended Rutgers library school. It took me longer, but the experience was much more helpful, since I was able to put the classroom lessons into practice as I was learning. I have long advocated for a practicum to be mandatory for the degree (Rutgers still does not require one). Perhaps ALA should consider requiring a practicum for certification. Marc Eisen Monroe Township, New Jersey

Rose Morgan Frazier Chattahoochee Valley (Ga.) Regional Library System

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Lessons Learned at Annual There is a push in public libraries to use the self-service model, where the library user uses the library with little to no help from library staff. By using more user-friendly signs and common sense, or intuitive placing of collections, users are invited to use their own reference skills at finding what they need.

Gema Perez-McMahan Riverside, California

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

I will probably never pay off, but I am still thankful that my dream to be a librarian came true. Thank you for supporting the bill to forgive student loans for people like me who majored in library science. I worked 40 hours on a job and went to library school. Because I did not have the money to pay then, I am still paying now. I wrote to U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) and Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) to try and get some help for people like me. This bill may not help me but it will help some of the young people.

Many in the profession, such as the naysayers, would argue that the public needs us and that is what we are here for. Those in favor of this practice want users to assert their independence. As I was waiting for my friend in the lobby of the Marriott hotel during ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, many a librarian or library staffer approached me to ask where a room was located. Mind you, I did not work there, had no visible association to the hotel, and it seemed that standing behind the desk made me an authority. Being the polite person that I am, I directed everyone, without the help of a map or any reference tool. Once they left, I thought two things to myself while looking at the big lit-up conference board on the wall that points out where everything is: For a profession that is asking of its users something they can’t do, this is very ironic; and why can’t those who have interviewed me for a librarian position see what a good job I am doing? Just a thought.

american libraries

One does weary of seeing public librarians jumping onto every bandwagon that trundles by the library threshold in an effort to legitimize the very existence of the library.

Editor’s Note: The Librarian Incentive to Boost Recruitment and Retention in Areas of Need Act of 2007 or the Librarian Act amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to permit the cancellation of Federal Perkins Loans for students who perform public service as full-time librarians, if the librarian is employed in: an elementary school or secondary school that is eligible for assistance under title I (Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 or a public library that serves a geographic area that contains one or more schools eligible for assistance under title I. The measure has been referred to the House Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness.

Thanks to ALA for your hard work to help librarians like me. I am one who has loved librarianship since I was 16 and worked on the Summer Youth Program at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Tuskegee, Alabama, where I grew up. I decided that summer that I wanted to be a librarian. It did not come easy and I am still paying a student loan that

november 2008

Student Loan Bill Needed

10/21/2008 12:57:59 PM

NEWS | ALA

ALA Launches User-Centered Website with New Look, Feel

isitors to ALA’s website will now discover a more user-centered site with a new look and feel, thanks to an upgrade that was unveiled September 23—the result of a two-year, memberdriven redesign process. The revamped site features: a homepage banner with dropdown shortcuts to frequently requested areas of the site, a highlights section featuring images and timely information above the fold, a news section with a three-tab structure that guides to information about ALA, library-related legislation, and

news highlights in the right column area of many pages that provide “see” and “also see” references, and a new information architecture that doesn’t require users to be familiar with internal ALA structure for successful browsing. A new Google search appliance and custom Search Engine Results Page (SERP) have also been implemented. The SERP includes key matches that take known search terms and point searchers to appropriate pages. Search results also integrate ranked results from Google. Because previous bookmarks may no longer work, site visitors are

asked to use the new and improved search function to find information. For further assistance, contact ALA Librarian Karen Muller by sending an e-mail message to library@ala .org. Issues such as bad links, development of consistent layout standards for committee pages, navigation for browsing round tables, alt tags for images, and page formatting are currently being addressed. Staff and member volunteers will receive coaching in applying the new ALA Web Style Guide standards. For more information, visit itts .ala.org/update.

Batter Up AL Lifts Member-Only

Kentucky Library Association (KLA) President Fannie Cox (left) presents American Libraries Associate Editor Pamela Goodes with an engraved Louisville Slugger baseball bat in appreciation for her October 2 “How to Get Published in American Libraries” program during the first “Spectrum of the Future” National Diversity in Libraries Conference, cohosted by KLA, the Kentucky School Media Association, the Southeastern Library Association, and the Association of Research Libraries.

American Libraries, ALA’s flagship magazine, celebrated the first Open Access Day October 14 by opening up its content on the Web and making its companion weekly e-newsletter, American Libraries Direct, available to anyone for the asking. “Opening up American Libraries’ searchable PDFs at www.ala.org/ alonline/ is just the first step toward making all future features and columns available on the site in HTML format by next year,” said Leonard Kniffel, editor in chief. The current issue of the print magazine will be open to all, as will back issues through 2003; they were formerly accessible only with a member log-in. Also being revamped, the AL website will link content to the AL online forum (al.ala.org/forum/), where readers are encouraged to

express their opinions about professional issues, news, and controversies. The decision to open up the magazine and the e-newsletter was made after consultation with key ALA member committees during this year’s ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim. American Libraries celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2007. AL Direct Editor George Eberhart picked up first prize in 2007 in the “E-newsletter” category in the American Society of Business Publications Editors’ 29th annual awards competition. Open Access Day is sponsored by SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition), the Public Library of Science, and Students for Free Culture.

ALTA Approves New Bylaws and Name As as result of a special election, ALA’s Association for Library

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november 2008

Access Restrictions

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Nov. 7–9: Young Adult Literature Symposium, Nashville, Tennessee, www.ala.org/ yalsa. Nov. 15: National Gaming Day @ your library, www .ala.org. Jan. 23–28, 2009: Midwinter Meeting, Denver, www .ala.org. Mar. 8–14: Teen Tech Week, www.ala.org/yalsa. Mar. 12–15: Association of College and Research Libraries National Conference, Seattle, www.ala .org/acrl. Apr. 2–4: Public Library Association Spring Symposium, Nashville, Tennessee, www .ala.org/pla. Apr. 12–18: National Library Week, www.ala.org. Apr. 30: El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros, www.ala .org/alsc. May 11–12: National Library Legislative Day. Washington, D.C., www.ala.org/ washoff. July 9–15: ALA Annual Conference, Chicago, www .ala.org Nov. 5–8: American Association of School Librarians National Conference, Charlotte, North Carolina, www .ala.org/aasl. Visit www.ala.org/ala.alonline/ calendar/calendar.cfm for American Libraries’ full calendar of library events.

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ALA signed on with several groups representing advocates for open and transparent government September 23, “strongly opposing” section 2(b)(2) and section 8 of the Legislative Proposal for Treasury Authority to Purchase Mortgage-Related Assets. The letter to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Todd (D-Conn.)and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking Richard Shelby (D-Ala.) was sent before Congress passed a reworked version of the so-called Wall Street bailout bill aimed at addressing the national financial crisis October 3. “As written, the proposal would make any decisions by the Secretary nonreviewable by courts or administrative agencies—a certain prescription for the very kind of opacity that has contributed to the financial policy woes we face today,” the letter said. “Equally troubling, public contracts associated with the proposal could be created outside of existing laws normally governing such actions.” The groups indicated that “any credible solution must address one of the current crisis’ fundamental causes—corruption and other abuses of power sustained by secrecy. Any genuine solution must be grounded in transparency, with all relevant records publicly available and best practice whistleblower

ALA Events

Nearly 7,000 public and independent school library media specialists responded to the 2008 School Libraries Count! longitudinal study conducted by ALA’s American Association of School Librarians. The annual survey gathered data in a number of areas, including library staff, collections, technology, class visits, and budgets. It reveals that schools at all grade levels are using collaborative tools, such as wikis, to support and enhance classroom teaching. Among the other highlights: 74.1% of respondents said they offer remote access to school library media programs’ online databases; schools ranking in the 95th percentile show an annual per-student expenditure of $48.02 for school library media programs; and half of

ALA Opposes Initial Financial Bailout Bill

Calendar

AASL Longitudinal Study Results Released

responding schools report at least 16 computers in the school library media center and at least another 112 elsewhere in the school. Survey findings will be used to advocate for school library media programs at the local, state, and national levels. The next survey is scheduled to get underway early next year. For complete survey results, visit www.ala.org/aasl.

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Trustees and Advocates (ALTA) is now the Association for Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends, and Foundations (ALTAFF). The vote was 293 to 31, out of 1,166 ballots mailed. The results were certified October 6. The approval includes revised bylaws, and the ALA division will now comprise trustees, Friends, foundations, and corporate Friends. Sections will be represented on the ALTAFF board, along with divisionwide officers. There is also a provision for liaisons from ALA’s American Association of School Librarians, Association of College and Research Libraries, and Public Library Association as well as the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies. The revised bylaws were developed by a task force representing ALA and Friends of Libraries USA (FOLUSA). A vote by the ALTA board during the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim sent the bylaws to ALTA membership in a special election.

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NEWS | ALA

protection for all employees connected with the new law.â&#x20AC;?

Members Take Concerns to Congress

Missouri State Librarian Margaret Conroy and Pennsylvania State Librarian Mary Clare Zales recently testified before congressional committees on behalf of ALA. Speaking before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation September 16, Conroy stressed the importance of high-speed broadband for libraries. She emphasized the variety of services that libraries provide to their patrons. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Broadband technologies play an increasingly vital role in enabling public libraries to provide essential services to all,â&#x20AC;? Conroy told the

committee. This is â&#x20AC;&#x153;especially important for the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;have-nots.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? On September 11, Zales testified before the House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities on how libraries are essential to the American public in the 21st century. Representing ALA, the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies, and the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Zales highlighted the variety of services that libraries provide to patrons. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Libraries are reaching new populations in new ways,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Their presence in the community is growing.â&#x20AC;? She told committee members that â&#x20AC;&#x153;the funding invested in public libraries is a wise and fruitful investment as all aspects of the community benefit.â&#x20AC;?

Candidates Receive CPLA Certification

The ALAâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Allied Professional Association Certified Public Library Administrator Program (CPLA) Certification Review Committee has granted certification to two candidates, approved eight new candidates, and renewed seven program courses. The actions were taken during CPLAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first fall review. There are nine graduates and 112 candidates in the program representing public libraries of all sizes from 29 states and Nassau, Bahamas. Courses are offered on nine management topics online, face-toface, and during ALA conferences. Two providers have renewed course-offering commitments: The University of Illinois at Urbana-

Vote in the 2009 Election

All paid ALA members as of January 31, 2009, are eligible to vote.

January 30, 2009 Petition candidates deadline

April 24, 2009 at 11:59p.m. CST Polls close

March 17, 2009 Web polls open

May 1, 2009 Election committee meets to certify election

April 9, 2009 Deadline for members with disabilities and no internet access to request paper ballots.

4O UPDATE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS VISIT WWW ALA ORG MEMBERSHIP OR EMAIL MEMBERSHIP ALA ORG 0LEASE STATE ON SUBJECT LINE 5PDATE MY EMAIL

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|â&#x20AC;&#x192;

november 2008

Important Dates:

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Member Alert ALa Election Process Goes All-Online

Survey Says Champions Believe in Libraries

Library Card Sign-Up Numbers Rise Sharply

As Americans deal with a slumping economy, U.S. libraries are experiencing a dramatic increase in library card registration. According to a 2007 Harris Interactive poll released September 22 during Library Card Sign-up Month, 68% of Americans have a library card, up 5 % since 2006. This represents the greatest number of Americans with library cards since ALA began to measure library card usage in 1990. In-person visits are also up 10% compared with a 2006 ALA household survey. Seventy-six percent of Americans visited their local public library in the past year, compared with 65.7 % two years ago. Online visits to libraries are up even more substantially, with 41% of library card holders visit-

ing their library websites in the past year, compared with 23.6% in 2006. Almost all Americans (92%) say they view their local library as an important education resource. Seven out of 10 agree that their local library is a pillar of the community (72%), a community center (71%), a family destination (70%), and a cultural center (69%). For more information, visit www.harrisinteractive .com.

Free Gaming Day Resources Available

Libraries of all types are invited to join in the first annual National Gaming Day @ your library November 15 by registering for two gaming activities—a national video game tournament and a board game challenge. The videogame tournament uses a GT System, a free service of the Ann Arbor (Mich.) District Library that provides web-based tools for running tournaments for players of any

The results of a 2008 ALA Library Champions Benefits Survey reveals that ALA’s major funders became interested in the program due to their belief in the importance of librarians and librarians (38.1%), increased activity in the library community (33.3%), and support to ALA (23.8%). According to a report from ALA’s Development Office, some corporations are also interested in fostering a partnership with the Association that extends beyond the program. In return for their support, companies value receiving donor recognition and priority status at Association events.

Of the 43 Library Champions contacted, 21 responded, which represents a 50% response rate.

of paper ballots will continue to be available, upon request, to members with disabilities and to those who have no internet access. Members can visit the ALA website and click on the homepage icon to add an e-mail address to their records. Additional election information will be forthcoming in American Libraries and AL Direct as well as through member mailings. For immediate assistance, contact Karen Muller at kmuller@ala.org or Juanita Rodriguez at jrodriguez@ ala.org.

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courses and the University of North Texas LE@D Program will offer three. Courses may be taken by individuals who are not part of the CPLA program . Visit www.ala-apa.org for more information. Visit www .ala-apa.org for more information.

approaches. For these reasons, the decision to save nearly a half million pieces of paper and $90,000 in postage and printing is good for the Association—and environment.” Under the new procedure, members who have not provided an e-mail addresses by March 1, 2009, will receive a paper mailing with information on the election website (www.ala.org) and an individual election password. Those without internet access are urged to visit their public, academic, or school library. Printed versions

LA will hold its first allonline election in spring 2009. ALA President Jim Rettig said September 29 that since online voting was first introduced as an option five years ago, the number of members using the Web to cast ballots has significantly increased. “It’s no secret that the coming year promises to be a difficult year financially for all of us,” Rettig explained. “It is also a year in which every organization is looking at ways in which it can reduce energy consumption and adopt ‘greener’

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NEWS | ALA

age or experience level. On National Gaming Day, library gamers will be able to see how they rank on local, regional, and national leaderboards. In addition, libraries will try to set a record for the largest number of people playing a board game at the same time. Through a donation from Hasbro, every U.S. public library branch will receive a free copy of Pictureka!, a frenzied version of finders, keepers.

Libraries interested in participating in either activity and receiving additional products are encouraged to register at icanhaz.com/ngd. Free resources as well as an online publicity toolkit are also available at gaming.ala.org/resources.

Demco Is New King Award Funder

Demco is now the official funder of the Coretta Scott King Book Award for Illustration. Sponsored by ALA’s

Live Homework Help® helps my customers and my son. Two years ago, Kate Mutch, a public services librarian at the Natrona County Public Library in Casper, Wyoming RSVP’d to a Tutor.com breakfast at PLA. She expected little more than a nice meal and a chance to cross online tutoring off her list of things the library didn’t really need and couldn’t really afford.

Kate’s son Samuel used Live Homework Help to complete an English term paper. “I got my best grade ever on that paper, and I could chat with a real tutor online just like I do with my friends,” he said. “What I like best about the program is that it supports independent learning,” says Kate. “A big part of our library’s mission is to

empower student of all ages. Live Homework Help does that for our community.”

Learn more about Live Homework Help! Hear Kim Edson from Rochester Public Library, plus see a live demo on November 13th.

Great Stories CLUB Grant Deadline Nears

ALA’s Public Programs Office and Young Adult Library Services Association are accepting online applications until November 14 at www .ala.org/greatstories from all types of libraries for the latest round of Great Stories CLUB (Connecting libraries, Underserved teens and Books) grants funded by Oprah’s Angel Network. The reading and discussion program is designed to reach underserved, troubled teen populations through books that are relevant to their lives. A total of 230 libraries will be selected. Participating libraries will also receive access to an online toolkit to support the program. Cash grants ($100–$200) will be awarded to up to 25 sites for the support of program-related expenses.

“Pride and Passion” Libraries Selected

ALA’s Public Programs Office, in association with the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, has selected 25 libraries to host “Pride

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“After listening to other librarians’ stories about how Live Homework Help had made an impact in their community, we knew this service was a ‘must have’ for Casper students,” explains Kate. “What I didn’t realize at the time was how beneﬁcial it would be for my own son who is a great student but struggles with English and especially writing.”

Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table, the King Author and Illustrator Awards were established in 1969 to recognize the works of African-American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults. Author award recipients receive $1,000 from the Johnson Publishing Company and illustrators will now receive $1,000 from Demco. The awards, administered by ALA’s Office for Literacy and Outreach Services, are announced during Midwinter Meeting and presented to the recipients at Annual Conference. For more information, visit www.ala.org/olos.

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The Reference and User Services Association helps information professionals by providing the resources they need to deliver the best service.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS At ALA’s 2009 Midwinter Meeting, RUSA will host a full-day institute, “Behind the Genealogy Reference Desk,” that will consider the latest digital sources and best methods for helping genealogy patrons. A free half-day Midwinter institute will focus on interlibrary loan service—philosophy, mission, and collection—copyright, standards and resources, and effective borrower-lender collaboration strategies.

ONLINE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES Librarians and support staff looking to sharpen current skills or acquire new ones will find a multitude of possibilities in RUSA’s online courses— “Marketing Basics,” “Reference Interview,” “Business Reference 101,” and “Readers’ Advisory 101”.

RESOURCES Looking to establish a local history collection? Do you know what comprises a basic review? Are you interested in providing services for Spanish-speaking users? RUSA addresses all of these needs—and more— through our Guidelines series. All publications, including the recently revised Guidelines for Library Services to Older Adults, are available on the RUSA website. Each year, RUSA’s Notable Books List—the list for America’s readers —provides librarians with 25 fiction, nonfiction, and poetry books for adult readers. In this tradition, the newly established “Reading List” highlights outstanding genre fiction that merits special attention by general adult readers and the librarians who work with them. To join or for more information, visit www.ala.org/rusa. —Liz Markel, marketing specialist

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Each month the Association’s Associations spotlights the activities and agenda of one of ALA’s divisions. Next month: Young Adult Library Services Association

High School library, Black Mountain, North Carolina; and Grove Family Library, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Each will receive a copy of Baseball’s Greatest Hit, along with a $50 ALA Graphics gift certifi-

cate and an autographed baseball. “Step up to the Plate,” part of ALA’s Campaign for America’s Libraries, was developed by ALA and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. ❚

ALA’s latest “Step Up to the Plate @ your library” Most Valuable Player (MVP) is Maplewood Junior/Senior High School library in Guys Mills, Pennsylvania. The library brought in nearly 200 entries for this year’s program, which concluded September 1. The library will receive a $100 bookstore gift certificate, a copy of Baseball’s Greatest Hit: The Story of ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game’” by Andy Strasberg, Bob Thompson, and Tim Wiles, and a baseball autographed by “Step Up to the Plate” spokesperson Ozzie Smith. Maplewood librarian Jeanne Rose promoted the baseball trivia program to students and faculty in conjunction with the school’s Reading Is Fundamental book distribution using the Abbot and Costello Whose on First video. Three other libraries also won prizes: Spring Hill School library, Roselle, Illinois; Charles D. Owen

RUSA OFFERS VARIED SERVICES

“Step Up to the Plate” MVP Announced

THE ASSOCIATION’S ASSOCIATIONS: RUSA

american libraries

and Passion: The African American Baseball Experience,” a traveling exhibition telling the story of black baseball players in the United States over the past century and a half. The National Endowment for the Humanities provided major funding for the exhibition, which is based on a permanent exhibition of the same name on display at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. Selected libraries will host the 1,000-square-foot exhibit for six weeks and will receive a $2,500 NEH grant to be used for travel to a planning workshop as well as for other exhibit-related expenses. Libraries must also host at least two free public programs with a qualified scholar on exhibition themes. For a complete listing of selected libraries, visit www.ala.org/ publicprograms.

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ALA | Special Report

27 Years of Reading Freely Banned Books Week—the observance marking the freedom to read, publish, and express opinions of all kinds— was celebrated September 27–October 4 at libraries and a variety of other locations across the country. Celebrated since 1982, the annual event is sponsored by ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom and a number of other groups. Visit www.ala.org/bbooks.

Jewelle Gomez, author of The Gilda Stories and president of the San Francisco Public Library Commission, participates in an October 1 rally for banned books outside the library.

Also a participant in Chicago’s Banned Books Week event, Judy Blume, the author of many perennially banned or challenged books, signs one of her novels for a participant.

Photos: Chicago, Leonard kniffel; San Fransisco, Laura Lent

Stephen Chbosky, author of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, talks to a fan at the Banned Books Week Read-Out in Chicago.

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Frequently challenged titles hang from the ceiling of Berkeley (Calif.) Public Library in an ongoing display called the Banned Bookmobile.

Author Phyllis Reynolds Naylor served as one of several celebrity readers September 27 at the Banned Books Week kickoff Read-Out in Chicago.

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U.S. & International | NEWS

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single day in October. “The librariance initiative, the Washington Post ans took the books and said they reported October 3. “We hear . . . would review them,” Thorniley said, more and more that homosexuality noting that only one of the librariis being promoted in schools,” Foans—each of whom cus on the Family makes book-selection “The librarians felt Education Analyst decisions for a library— Candi Cushman told we had substantial the paper. “The opted to include any of the proffered books in word ‘tolerance’ is information her library’s collection often used, but a from a balanced last year. faith-based viewperspective.” “The librarians felt point is belittled or —Susan Thorniley we had substantial inridiculed.” formation from a bal“This censorship anced perspective,” Thorniley said. is wrong. All we want is to have our She also noted that the books failed views represented in a fair manner,” to meet the school’s selection stansaid Liz Bognanno, a senior at the dards, which require each book sedistrict’s West Springfield High lected to have at least two positive School, in a Focus on the Family reviews in professionally recognized press release. “True tolerance means journals. The selection policy exthat we also have a seat at the table, plicitly states that “Librarians are and that students are free to decide under no obligation to include dowhat they believe on issues like honations in the library collection.” mosexuality.” NBC affiliate WRC-TV reported Focus on the Family declined AL’s October 2 that the school district request for an interview about the was considering whether to stop ac- True Tolerance initiative. cepting donated books altogether. In a related matter on the federal Thorniley noted that the students level, the U.S. Supreme Court reasking the libraries to jected October 6 an appeal of a First stock the books had not Circuit Court of Appeals decision actually read them. that upheld public schools’ rights to Focus on the Family offer positive portrayals of same-sex organized the donations marriage and same-sex parents. The through its True Tolerlower court ruled in January that “public schools are not obliged to shield individual students from ideas which potentially are reliDesires in Conflict and The giously offensive, particularly when Gay Gospel? are two of the school imposes no requirement 85 books students asked that the student agree with or affirm the Fairfax County Public those ideas.” —G.L. School District to shelve.

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roups of students and parents staged rallies and presented some 85 books on homosexuality from a conservative Christian perspective for inclusion in the libraries at 11 schools in the Fairfax County (Va.) Public School District October 2. The inspiration for their actions came from a nationwide campaign organized by the Colorado Springs, Colorado–based traditional values group Focus on the Family, which believes that sexual orientation is a changeable attribute. Titles included Desires in Conflict and The Gay Gospel? How Pro-Gay Advocates Misread the Bible by Joe Dallas and 101 Frequently Asked Questions about Homosexuality by Mike Haley. Susan Thorniley, coordinator of library information services for the district, told American Libraries that students began trying to place similar books in school library collections last year, when 13 libraries received visits from students on a

november 2008

Virginia High-Schoolers Rally for Gay-Cure Books

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Economic Uncertainty Spreads to Library Endowments

he stock market losses that have recently hit global markets might be taking some carefully stewarded library endowments along for the ride. Even as the market began its dramatic mid-September seesaw of alarming drops and partial recoveries, two public library executives lost their jobs at one of the few libraries ever endowed personally by Andrew Carnegie (AL, Dec. 1999, p. 50–53). “It wasn’t a layoff due to performance. It was just purely a money thing. We “The bad economy miss them,” explained Dan Lloyd, goes right to the board president of Carnegie Library of Homestead, Pennsylvania, heart of one of the of the elimination of the positions most traditional of Executive Director Kate Gransupporters of neman and Library Director Tyrone library programs— Ward in order to save $100,000 after the library realized a $300,000 banks, financial loss to its endowment over the past institutions,” year. “This is our 110th year and we Patricia Martin are charged with making sure this library is there for the next 110 years, and that means putting fiscal responsibilities first,” Lloyd said in the September 18 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, explaining that “had the market stayed where it was, the revenue would have been there to maintain our budget as is.” The board’s action, harsh as it was, seems to dovetail with the advice of Rick Schwieterman, chief financial officer at OCLC and former American Library Association Endowment trustee. In a time of diminished funding from investments and other sources, Schwieterman told American Libraries, “Management of a library needs to follow similar best practices of the business world,” which means “prudent use of all resources—capital resources as well as human resources.” In slashing the Homestead library budget, the trustees are seeking to end a practice of drawing on the endowment for an undisclosed portion of the annual operating budget. Lloyd told the Post-Gazette that “the rate at which money was coming from the endowment, it wasn’t going to be there for a long time.” The collapse of Lehman Brothers on September 30, followed by panicked stock-market sell-offs and a bank run that forced the sale of Washington Mutual to JP Mor-

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Taking stock of the situation

gan Chase, paralyzed credit lines and bond markets at the state and municipal levels and only made a bad situation worse for libraries that have been struggling for years to make ends meet (AL, Mar. 2006, p. 28–29). “It’s not just the bad economy, it’s the fact that the bad economy goes right to the heart of one of the most traditional supporters of library programs—banks, financial institutions,” Patricia Martin, consultant and former director of ALA’s Development Office, told AL. She explained that bank CEOs often decided unilaterally to fund such programs “through lots of discretionary dollars,” sometimes wielding control over as much as $250,000. The bad news, she added, is that those discretionary budgets “are being slashed left and right.” “Organizations and people who are in a position to be generous toward the philanthropic community are going to have to be a bit more cautious about their resources,” agreed Schwieterman. Samuel Huang, associate dean for development at the University of Florida libraries in Gainesville, told AL that he has already experienced donors “reducing the amount of giving they had previously promised,” including one man who “promised to give the library $15,000 in September but who gave $1,000 instead.” At the University of California at Berkeley library, Director of Development and External Relations David Duer advocated a wait-and-see attitude. Likening potential donors to someone who is in shock after an accident, Duer told AL, “Even though, indeed, people are losing value in their investments, they have no idea what is real or long-lasting.” Under such circumstances, he advised “treating the shock and seeing where we are in six months” before reassessing development goals. “In both the library world and any board in which I’m involved, we’re all anticipating that private philanthropy will be a little tighter,” Chicago Public Library Commissioner Mary Dempsey told AL. “Everyone is feeling the pain right now.” Nonetheless, Dempsey expressed delight at the ticket sales for the library foundation’s October 15 Sandburg Award presentation to author Tom Wolfe. “We were sold out before the invitations even hit the street,” she said. The proceeds will be foundation gravy since the endowment does not fund day-to-day operations. That is not the case for New York Public Library, however, where the annual Library Lions black-tie gala slated for November 3 had reached an all-time high of more

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than $2.7 million for acquisitions by mid-October, according to library Press Director Herb Scher. Characterizing the event as “our most important fundraiser of the year,” NYPL board Chairman Catherine C. Marron lauded the “dedicated co-chairs,” who include former Lehman Brothers CEO Richard S. Fuld Jr. and his wife Kathy Fuld, for helping to “generate crucial support for our collections and operations.”

Riders of the storm For the foreseeable future, a perfect storm of financial turmoil may roil the public sector as well. “This is the first time for at least two decades that all three major general tax sources—property, income, and sales—have declined at the same time,” Michael Pagano, dean of the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said in the October 7 New York Times. Coauthor of a survey of 300 municipalities released in September by the National League of Cities, Pagano cautioned that this downturn “is not like the 2000 or 1991 recessions [because] this one doesn’t differentiate between high-tech and low-tech cities, manufacturing towns or new exurbs.” The 1–2-year lag in collecting property taxes for a given year’s home values means “we’re going to be feeling the lingering effects of the real estate decline” until at least FY 2010, he added. In Massachusetts and Florida, where property-tax caps and rollbacks continue to decimate library budgets, state officials began exploring how to borrow billions in short-term loans from the federal government until interest rates make it viable to begin issuing tax-exempt

However, there is good news amid the ongoing financial turbulence, consultant Patricia Martin asserted. “In an economic crisis, libraries become relevant for economic development and support of small business and job searching and retraining opportunities. There are just a lot of ways that you can characterize the work of the library and be flexible to stand out in what is going to be a very cluttered, very frenzied fundraising market.” At the University of Tennessee Libraries in Knoxville, Director of Development Amy Yancey finds comfort in research on philanthropic patterns. “Our central development team has been sharing stories and statistics showing that philanthropy to higher education continues in recession,” she told AL. Even though potential donors who are close to retirement “are asking us to wait to make our asks,” Yancey said that one man recently fulfilled his pledge early, telling her, “I know I’ve got the money now, but who knows what next year will be like? Let’s go ahead and get this taken care of.” —B.G.

Author Jon Scieszka shows off his National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Medal September 26 after receiving it from Librarian of Congress James H. Billington in Washington, D.C. The first ambassadorship of its kind was created to raise national awareness of young people’s literature as it relates to lifelong literacy, education, and the development and betterment of the lives of young people. For more information, visit childrensbookambassador.com.

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AMBASSADOR SCIESZKA

Among the extras added into the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which President Bush signed October 3, was nearly $1.7 billion in federal timber payments. The funds had been sought by four economically devastated Oregon counties dependent on the fiscal safety net for logging-industry losses since the 1990s. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Oreg.) hailed the funding as “an enormous victory for our Oregon schools, counties, library, road departments, and law enforcement agencies,” the October 6 Eagle Point Upper Rogue Independent reported.

The silver lining

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Timber Funds Won’t Bail Out Libraries

bonds again, the October 8 New York Times and October 5 Sarasota Herald Tribune reported. Many colleges and universities around the country also saw their ready cash dry up: Nearly 1,000 investors from higher education in the short-term nonprofit Commonfund discovered they were unable to withdraw more than 10% of their assets September 29 when fund trustee Wachovia froze access to accounts many academic institutions used as checking accounts. By October 13, Commonfund had increased liquidity to 39.5% and was promising to install a new fund trustee within 60 days.

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NEWS | U.S. & International “It remains to be seen what the impact is,” Oregon State Librarian Jim Scheppke cautioned, telling American Libraries that it seemed unlikely that any of the emergency funding, legislated as a four-year phase-out of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act, would trickle down to the Clackamas, Douglas, Jackson, and Josephine County libraries—two of which shut their doors for lack of funds in 2007 after voters rejected funding levies. “Because the funds are less than they were before and because they phase out over four years, there is going to be intense competition, and eventually the taxpayers in these counties are going to need to step up and vote to fund their libraries like Oregonians do in the rest of the state,” he explained, adding, “I hope Congressman Walden is right and ‘essential services’ like libraries in Josephine County that are now closed can

get some of this money,” Scheppke told AL. Scheppke’s hopes were realized in Josephine County October 14, when the county commission approved giving $300,000 to the volunteer group Josephine Community Libraries, Inc. as a 1–1 match for funds it was raising as public radio–style membership donations to reopen the shuttered system’s headquarters Grants Pass Library, CBS affiliate KTVL-TV reported October 14. Public library service was phased out countywide in May 2007 after citizens rejected the creation of an independent library district the year before. In Clackamas County, however, library boosters feared the timber payment renewal would actually hurt chances for passage of a library taxing district on the November 4 ballot. “It is scary that the timing of this happened just a month before the election,” Joanna Rood of the Library

Miami-Dade Public Library System is one of 10 recipients of the 2008 National Medal for Museum and Library Service, presented October 7 at the White House by First Lady Laura Bush (left) and Institute of Museum and Library Services Director Anne-Imelda Radice (right). Accepting the award are MDPL Director Raymond Santiago and community member Cindy Lederman. Other library winners were: the Jane Stern Dorado Community Library in Puerto Rico; Kansas City (Mo.) Public Library; Skidompha Library in Damariscotta, Maine; and Skokie (Ill.) Public Library. Visit www.imls.gov for complete details.

Sacramento Director Announces Retirement

Ending a seven-year tenure amid accusations of mismanagement, Sacramento (Calif.) Public Library Director Anne Marie Gold announced at a September 25 meeting of the library’s governing board that she would retire, effective December 1. A matter-of-fact library press re-

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november 2008

National Medals for service

Information Network of Clackamas County told AL. She explained that the county has so many other financial obligations that commissioners “will be carrying on with their plan to reduce library funding and to close the three county libraries” if voters don’t approve the library district. Rood had good reason to worry: In 2007, Jackson County voters defeated a library levy after learning that the county had received a one-year extension of timber payments. As a result, the system closed until it could reorganize as a privately managed operation whose oversight was outsourced to the Germantown, Maryland, library management firm LSSI (Library Systems and Solutions Inc.). In turn, Douglas County Library System shortened its services hours as of July and announced that it would have to more than halve book and magazine acquisitions as well as reduce its subscriptions to electronic databases. The bottom line to maintaining a bottom line, Rood asserted, is making taxpayers aware of libraries’ value to them. “I try to tell people, libraries are like an insurance policy. Think about how much insurance you’ve paid over the years and you’ve never needed it. But if you actually have a problem and you need it right then, you’d sure like that insurance. And how do you know that one or two years from now you’re not going to need that public library for something very specific? If you close it down now because you said, ‘Well, I don’t use it’— well, once it’s gone, it’s gone.”

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lease announcing the retirement ribbean. Ike left 140 people dead and Gold’s departure, however, was made no mention of the controversy caused billions of dollars in wind and applauded by the union that reprein which Gold has been embroiled, water damage, and lengthy power sents about 285 of the library’s and the Sacramento Bee workers, according to outages that optimized the growth of “As I prepare to leave, reported September 26 mold in humid homes, businesses, the Bee. “Patrons and that Gold, 59, had told the I do so with profound and libraries. employees need to board, “I’ve long planned respect for this library feel confident that One of the hardest-hit libraries in to retire when I reached Texas was Galveston’s Rosenberg the leadership of the and a belief that 60, and that’s around the Library and Museum, the public Sacramento Public the future will be a corner for me.” Library has their best library for the community where Ike shining one,” The controversy surinterests at heart and made landfall early on the morning –Anne Marie Gold that taxpayer dollars rounding Gold’s tenure of September 13. With large sections stemmed from an invesof the city in ruins and a communiare being wisely tigation into overpayments made to a spent,” said Steve Crouch, business cation grid slowly being rebuilt, the library community first learned of subcontracting firm co-owned by a representative for Stationary Engithe Rosenberg Library’s severe damlibrary staffer and his wife, leading to neers Local 39, in a written stateage from the September 18 Galveston a grand jury investigation into how ment. “Unfortunately, for the past County Daily News, which reported the board and the library adminisfive years this has not been the that Director John Augelli measured tration handle supervision, commucase.” nication, and accountability. A grand Gold plans to remain in the Sacra- muddy water peaking at 75 inches on the first floor of the facility. jury report charged both Gold and mento area, the press release said, the board with mismanagement and “Most [Texas libraries] outside of and the board is in the process of suggested that Gold be replaced. In Galveston escaped with minimal identifying an interim director, who August, the board issued a response damage,” wrote Rice University will serve while a nationwide search that essentially rejected most of the Library Director Sara Lowman Sepis conducted for a successor. panel’s findings and ignored the tertember 22 on the Society of SouthLibraries Reach Out mination recommendation, saying west Archivists’ Ike-update website. employee performance appraisals Library colleagues also kept in touch after Hurricane Ike by blogging on the Texas Library Asshould not be discussed in a public Just two weeks after New Orleans sociation website. Additionally, both document (AL, Sept., p. 22). evacuated in anticipation of Hurriorganizations are accepting dona“As I prepare to leave, I do so with cane Gustav (AL, Oct., p. 29), Hurritions to assist libraries and repositoprofound respect for this library and cane Ike’s Category 2 force slammed ries with Ike recovery. across the Louisiana and southeast a belief that the future will be a Texas libraries that were able to reTexas coasts after pummeling the Cashining one,” Gold stated in the library press release. “I’m proud of the team at the library and what everyone has accomplished. The Sacramento community has much to 4`_df]e 2=2 2A2 =ZScRcj DR]Rcj 5ReR E``]d be proud of in its library.” W`c 4cVUZS]V :_Ufdecj DaVTZ T :_W`c^ReZ`_ The press release itemized Gold’s W`c J`fc DeReV R_U CVXZ`_ C`Sfde UReRSRdV R_U acZ_e e``]d successes, noting that SPL saw sighZeY TfccV_e dR]Rcj UReR W`c ^`cV nificant growth, including an ineYR_ '& =ZScRcZR_ R_U ?`_ >=D a`dZeZ`_d 8Ve eYV CVR] ?f^SVcd Z_ afS]ZT R_U RTRUV^ZT ]ZScRcZVd crease in the number of branches J`f _VVU RTTfcReV UReR W`c+ from 24 to 26 and the remodeling ¹ 3fUXVeZ_X 6Rdj e` fdV DR]Rcj 5ReRSRdV Á Yeea+ Td R]R `cX hVSdfcgVj dR]RcjdfcgVj dR]Rcj dfcgVjW`c^ W`c^ TW^ ¹ Ac`WVddZ`_R] dR]Rcj cVdVRcTY and expansion of nine facilities. ¹ >Rc\Ve UReR T`^aRcZd`_d Double-digit increases in circulaAcZ_eVU DR]Rcj DfcgVjd Á hhh R]Rde`cV R]R `cX ¹ AVcW`c^R_TV cVgZVhd tion, visitors, and programs also ¹ ;`S dVRcTYVd 3RdV j`fc ^R_RXV^V_e R_U TRcVVc UVTZdZ`_d characterized her tenure, and in `_ cVR] dR]Rcj UReR ¹ DeReZdeZTd R_U ecV_Ud 2004 Gold helped lead a campaign ¹ ;`S UVdTcZaeZ`_d that resulted in 72% of Sacramento 7`c ^`cV Z_W`c^ReZ`_ TR]] 2=2 2A2 Re )!! &%& #%$$ i#%#% voters approving the renewal of the `c V^RZ] [XcRUj1R]R `cX special city tax that funds public library branches. Ã º R_ RUUZeZ`_R] cVd`fcTV hYV_ acVdV_eVU hZeY eYV TYR]]V_XZ_X ZddfVd `W dR]RcZVd Ä Â DRcR Kf^hR]e =ZeTY V]U := =ZScRcj

american libraries

november 2008

<_`h 9`h J`fc =ZScRcj DR]RcZVd >VRdfcV Fa

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NEWS | U.S. & International open as soon as Ike had left their area found themselves flooded with people seeking everything from FEMA application assistance to disaster respite through a good read in an air-conditioned building. Houston Public Library offered child-care services to the families of municipal employees so city workers could report for duty, HPL Manager of Public Relations Sandra Fernandez told American Libraries. The Nacogdoches Public Library offered service to evacuees that may well exceed what any library has done to date: It closed its doors to the public for more than a week in order to house some 250 displaced persons inside the building, which Director Anne Barker told AL is shared with the city’s recreation department. “The evacuees were actually sleeping in the gym, and our meeting room was their dining room,” she said, explaining that “it was the decision of the Red Cross that we not allow the evacuees to come into the library, although I pleaded to bring them in a number of times.” Instead, NPL staff “worked lots of overtime at 12-hour shifts including all-nighters at various functions” such as registering evacuees, assisting people with disabilities, and holding a Fun Day program on the lawn. The library

reopened September 22, the day after the last family of evacuees left. Although Hurricane Ike diminished to tropical-storm force by the time it left Texas, the weather system cut a swath of destruction through the Mississippi and Ohio valleys. In northwest Indiana, Lake County Public Library’s Hobart branch was closed indefinitely after as much as four feet of water inundated the building’s recently remodeled lower level September 14 and wiped out the adult education learning center. In much of Ohio, downed trees from high winds severed power to hundreds of communities, but Ike seems to have spared library facilities, Marsha McDevitt-Stredney of the State Library of Ohio told AL. Librarians recounted how the number of visitors mushroomed: They came to use internet workstations and recharge their laptops and cell phones, as well as to borrow materials at circulationboosting rates. “We saw many people we had never seen before and we were so happy to be of service,” reported Eileen Horvath, manager of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County’s Wyoming branch. Jenny Gomien, who manages the system’s Clifton branch, likened the crowd scene in the children’s area of her library to “an airport waiting room.”

EPA Reopens Five Shuttered Libraries

The five Environmental Protection Agency libraries whose closures in 2006 as part of a cost-cutting measure by President Bush elicited a storm of controversy (AL, Oct. 2006, p. 8) reopened September 30. In a report to Congress submitted in March, the agency had committed to reopening the facilities by that date. The reopened facilities are the Region 5 library in Chicago, Region 6 in Dallas, Region 7 in Kansas City, and the EPA Headquarters Repository and the Chemical Library in Washington, D.C. The final two now share a common space, but the EPA has taken steps to ensure that services will not be diminished, including the hiring of a chemical librarian with a science background. The agency also announced that it will enhance service at its Region 3 satellite library at Fort Meade, Maryland, through the addition of on-site professional staff. In a September 24 Federal Register notice, the EPA said the reopened facilities “will be staffed by a professional librarian to provide service to the public and EPA staff via phone, e-mail, or in person . . . for a minimum of 24 hours over four days per week on a walk-in basis or by appointment.”

Enoch Pratt Public Library staffers Holly Tominack, portraying a “Library Hon,” and Vince Fitzpatrick, dressed as Enoch Pratt, roll out a book-shaped cake September 10 for the Bicentennial Birthday Celebration of the Baltimore library’s namesake. The cake was the creation of Duff Goldman, star of the Food Network’s Ace of Cakes and owner of the local bakery Charm City Cakes. The citywide celebration was sponsored by the library, in collaboration with the Maryland Historical Society and the First Unitarian Church of Baltimore.

american libraries

november 2008

HAPPY 200TH, MR. PRATT

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LUCKY 13

november 2008

also noted that the library is three years behind in audits, which was acknowledged by TPL accountant Nathan Linowitz, who also said he was unaware of any type of fundraising activity being planned or taking place. Bray was careful to thank city budget-makers for funding the library at $3.5 million—a level that exceeds the state’s mandated library funding formula, which recently came under fire (AL, Mar., p. 20–22). At all three meetings, residents and

A potential citywide budget deficit of as much as $28 million has led the Trenton (N.J.) Public Library to develop plans to close all four of its neighborhood branches. Library Director Kimberly Bray announced the library board’s decision, which followed an across-the-board 10% cut in funding to all city departments, in an e-mail to staff September 10. Some 60 residents attended a September 23 city council meeting devoted to the closings—the third such meeting held over eight days—at which Bray described three options: Maintain the current operations, which would require about $1 million more than the city has offered the library; reduce the branches’ hours, with an allocation similar to last year’s; or close the branches, with the mandated 10% budget cut. Bray said all three options would require staff layoffs, the Trenton Times reported September 24.

Bray, who came to the library in April, is its fifth director in five years. The September 24 Trentonian said she told council members that the board had weathered annual budget crises during that period by dipping into a $1.8-million reserve fund. “In 2003, they used $423,000, followed by another $230,000 the next year,” Bray said. The following years saw withdrawals from the fund of $475,000 in 2005, $250,000 in 2006, and $120,000 this year. She

Trenton Library Plans to Close All Branches

A September 19 lunchtime visit to Jackson–George (Miss.) Regional Library System’s Lucedale branch nets Thelma Killian (center) a Friends of the Library gift basket, presented by library Manager Becky Wheeler (left), marking the 100,000th item checked out from the library during FY2008. One of Killian’s 13 checked-out items set a new annual circulation benchmark that breaks the library’s previous record of 95,341 items in FY2003. Library Assistant Evelyn Read joins in the celebration.

american libraries

The agency has also launched a “National Dialogue on Access to Environmental Information” on its website to seek input on developing a strategy to ensure greater access to environmental information. The American Library Association was among those who had challenged the closings of the libraries. “We are glad to see that the EPA has reopened these five libraries,” said ALA President Jim Rettig. “We hope that the federal government has obtained a better understanding of the importance of federal libraries through this difficult battle.” “We want to express our thanks to Congress for conducting the needed oversight and demanding that these EPA libraries not be closed,” added Rettig. “The American public will benefit by having important environmental information and library services made available to them again.”

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NEWS | U.S. & International council members denounced the planned closings. Council President Paul M. Pintella worried that the effect of closing the libraries may be permanent, warning, “When you cut off those branches, they may not grow back,” the Times reported. Senior Library Assistant Donna J. Moore agreed, recalling that a North Trenton branch closed in 1981 and never reopened. She added that some children would have difficulty reaching the main library, the only one that would remain open under the plan. Stressing that all city departments are affected by Trenton’s fiscal crisis, Bray told American Libraries, “No library wants to close its doors.” The library will soon submit its layoff plan to the state Department of Personnel; once it’s approved, the closures will be scheduled, which Bray expects will

occur no sooner than December. At this point, said Bray, the library would need approximately $500,000 to avoid the shutdowns, and even that amount would only forestall the full closures and allow partial operations. She said the library and its Friends group are seeking contributions from the private sector and foundations. Despite the crisis, Bray said it’s been gratifying to see how much residents value the branches. “The community outcry has been incredible. Even the most ardent library supporters have been stunned,” she noted, adding that the library hopes “to tap into those feelings” in seeking funds.

Nampa Board Restores Joy of Sex Books The Nampa (Idaho) Public Library board voted unanimously September

Patrons at Forbes Library in Northampton, Massachusetts, can now check out ukuleles and instructional DVDs. Local music store owner Joe Blumenthal (center, flanked by Forbes staffers Benjamin Kalish, left, and Jason Mazzotta) donated the instruments. “Only a tiny fraction of our population plays a musical instrument, in spite of the great deal of pleasure and satisfaction it brings,” Blumenthal said. “The circulating ukulele at Forbes will give people the opportunity to give it a try.”

american libraries

november 2008

A Uke for You

5 to return to open circulation The Joy of Gay Sex and The New Joy of Sex in the latest move in a two-year battle between area social conservatives and freedom-to-read advocates regarding the books’ presence in the library collection. The trustees’ decision to return the books to the stacks came two weeks after the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho wrote Nampa Mayor Tom Dale that the organization would file suit if the titles were not moved back to the shelves from the library director’s office within 14 days. The board had approved the books’ restriction in March, and reaffirmed the action in June, stipulating that it was complying with Idaho statute by shielding children from library holdings that could fall under the state’s harmful-to-minors statute (AL, Aug., p. 25–26). Declaring the sequestration policy to be in violation of the First Amendment, the August 25 letter from three pro-bono ACLU attorneys stressed that free-speech “precepts apply with particular force to public libraries.” Conceding that the books remained available by request, the correspondence went on to say that “even though a policy does not silence speech altogether, policies that suppress, disadvantage, or impose differential burdens upon speech are subject to exacting scrutiny.” Randy Jackson, who first filed his complaint about the titles in 2006, said in the September 9 Nampa Idaho Press-Tribune, “Some things are worth fighting for despite the cost. When it comes to material that by law is deemed harmful to minors, you shouldn’t let a law firm bully you into doing something that goes against your conscience.” Bryan Fischer, executive director of the American Family Association’s Idaho affiliate, backed Jackson in a September 8 Idaho Values Alliance press release that stated, “It’s an abysmal state of affairs when a single letter from cul-

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tural thugs can undo two years of patient and painstaking work on the part of Mr. Jackson, concerned citizens, and the library board.”

Archivist Sentenced for N.Y. Library Thefts

A New York state archivist who stole hundreds of historical artifacts beginning in 2002 from the New York State Library was sentenced October 2 to two to six years in prison. Daniel D. Lorello must also pay $125,500 in restitution, to be divided

among customers who returned the stolen items they bought from him, and forfeit his personal collection of historic artifacts and documents, worth some $80,000, to the state library, the Schenectady Daily Gazette reported October 3. Lorello pleaded guilty in August to second-degree grand larceny for the thefts (AL, Oct., p. 33–34). The attorney general’s office said October 2 that more than 1,600 of the items have been recovered. In a statement, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo

said, “In serving as a guardian of New York’s historical treasures, Mr. Lorello abused his position to steal priceless artifacts instead of protecting them for future generations.” State Education Commissioner Richard Mills said, “Access to the historical collections of the nation is a fundamental right in our democracy. When someone steals from those collections, we are all harmed. Fortunately, most of the items stolen by Mr. Lorello have now been recovered.” z

Global Reach

Music scholars were celebrating September 18 after the municipal library of Nantes announced it had stumbled upon a previously unknown score in its collection that had been composed by Mozart around 1787. Library staff came across the yellowing piece of paper in 2007 when they were sifting through their archives. Although it had been cataloged as part of the institution’s collection in 1870, the work had subsequently been forgotten.—The Guardian (U.K.), Sept. 19.

GERMANY

Berlin’s Central and Regional Library estimates that up to 150,000 of its holdings were stolen by Nazis from Jews, freemasons, social democrats, and other minorities persecuted between 1933 and 1945. A project to identify looted items is underway and could be completed by spring 2009. Because previous ownership traces have been removed and victims’ descendants are scattered across the globe, returning them to their rightful owners is expected to be difficult.—Die Welt, Sept. 14.

INDIA

A digital library for the blind, where the visually impaired can listen to electronic books, music, or online lectures for free, has opened in Beijing. Located in the National Library, the facility was jointly set up by the Information Center of the China Disabled Persons’ Federation, the National Library, and China Braille Publishing House. It opened October 14, on the eve of the International Day of the Blind.—Xinhua, Oct. 15.

NEW ZEALAND

The University of Waikato in Hamilton pulled a master’s thesis by philosophy student Roel van Leeuwen from its shelves in September after the subject of the study, far-right activist and occultist Kerry Bolton, complained to the vice-chancellor that it was libelous. School officials are examining the content for defamatory statements.—Wellington Dominion Post, Oct. 7.

CUBA

A plan to deliver a bookmobile from the United States started with two U.S. librarians, Rhonda Neugebauer and Dana Lubow, who had organized librarian delegations to the island and wanted to support Cuban librarians, who had told them that a bookmobile would be appreciated in the rural province of Granma to provide outreach services. After purchasing one on eBay, they decided that the best way to get it to Cuba was to avoid the U.S. Treasury Department travel restrictions and join the Pastors for Peace Caravan travel challenge. Lubow’s blog at www.travelpod.com tells their story.

Atif, the alleged Mujahideen militant killed in a September 19 police raid in Jamia Nagar, India, had formulated a unique code language to plan and execute the serial blasts in Delhi on September

CHINA

november 2008

FRANCE

13, say police sources. Five suspected militants revealed that in their code, blast sites 7 were called “library,” and the bombs were called kitaab, or “book.” A source said that if Atif were asked whether the 6 planned site was ready for planting the bombs, he would reply, “I have read books in the library; they are good.”—Indian Express (Mumbai), Sept. 24.

1 The Cardiff Council’s plan to sell 3 2 5 up to 18,000 books from local libraries to generate as much as 4 £3 million ($5.2 million U.S.) in needed revenue hit a roadblock in September when groups opposed to auctioning off Welsh heritage materials raised a protest. At a meeting in early October, Cardiff officials agreed to work with cultural organizations and Cardiff University to identify rare books that should be retained locally. Any funds generated from auction sales of less important items are slated for the support of Cardiff public libraries.—BBC News, Oct. 8; South Wales Echo, Oct. 9.

american libraries

WALES

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NEWS | Special Report

Book Festival Draws 120,000

“The National Book Festival is a joyous celebration of reading and an inspiration for new generations of creativity,” said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. “We are grateful to Mrs. Bush for making this a signature event in the nation’s capital for the last eight years. Her love of reading has inspired millions to enjoy the Library of Congress in Washington and online and to use their own hometown libraries everywhere.” During the festival, children enjoyed photo opportunities with favorite storybook and cartoon characters such as Curious George,

Clifford the Big Red Dog, Maya and Miguel, Super Why, Sid the Science Kid, and WordGirl. They sang along with PBS’s Steve Songs, enjoyed read-alouds with Ms. Fizzle, and explored Scholastic’s Magic School Bus. NBA legend Bob Lanier, NBA star Chris Duhon, and WNBA star Ivory Latta read aloud and encouraged young readers as part of the Read to Achieve program. More than 70 bestselling authors, including Library of Congress National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Jon Scieszka, Salman Rushdie, Tiki Barber, David Shannon, singer Dionne Warwick, Andrea Davis Pickney, Charles S. Smith Jr., Geraldine Brooks, Peter Robinson, Warren Brown, Cokie Roberts, Kimberly Dozier, Arthur and Pauline Frommer, Dan Chiasson, and Jill Allyn Rosser, all spoke and signed books for fans. The Library of Congress Pavilion featured demonstrations of the library’s pilot photo-tagging project with Flickr. Library staff also helped those with old books they treasure

learn techniques of preservation and conservation. Target, one of the festival’s supporters, passed out 25,000 children’s book totes and 30,000 water bottles, and hundreds of children walked away as new authors after they visited the Scholastic build-abook activity center. Authors visited their home-state sections in the Pavilion of the States to meet local fans. Also in this pavilion, a favorite feature for young readers and their families, “Discover Great Places through Reading,” was back by popular demand. For those who were unable to attend the festival or missed a pavilion, the authors’ presentations are being made available as webcasts on the festival homepage at www.loc .gov/bookfest. —Library of Congress Public Affairs Office

american libraries

november 2008

Plenty for the kids to do

Jenna Bush and her mother, First Lady Laura Bush, present their coauthored children’s book, Read All about It! Right, surprise guest Lynda Johnson Robb, daughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson, reads from her new book Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out.

Photos: Michaela McNichol (top); Susie Neel (above)

ore than 120,000 book lovers gathered September 27 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., for the eighth annual National Book Festival, organized and sponsored by the Library of Congress and hosted by First Lady Laura Bush. Festival-goers were entertained by their favorite authors, illustrators, and poets as they celebrated creativity and imagination in standing-roomonly theme pavilions: Let’s Read America; Pavilion of the States; Children; Teens and Children; Fiction and Mystery; History and Biography; Home and Family; and Poetry. This year, LC used the festival to showcase its efforts to digitize rare documents and books, including a draft Declaration of Independence with handwritten edits by the Founding Fathers, and previewed the World Digital Library, set to debut in April 2009. The 2008 National Book Festival marks the last year the event will be hosted by First Lady Laura Bush. She and her daughter Jenna Bush also presented their new children’s book Read All about It! from HarperCollins.

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Special Report | NEWS

Border Location Offers Unique Opportunities for Reforma Attendees

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sulted in the documentary Border Echoes/Ecos de una frontera, produced and directed by Lorena MendezQuiroga. “Librarians are like social workers,” Valdez told the luncheon group. “You do important work and are often not recognized by the public. Librarians are my best friends.” The other luncheon guest was local author Benjamin Alire Sáenz, a creative writing professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, where he teaches in the only bilingual creative writing program in the country. Border issues were also the topic

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resident Luís Chaparro only cultural institution that everycalled the 452 attendees, one feels welcome,” Gioia told the including 61 exhibitors, audience, calling libraries “one of the at the Reforma National foundational institutions of our deConference part of an extended mocracy,” and adding, “If we lose family. The gathering of the them, we will never recover.” American Library Association’s Gioia was followed by an emotional affiliate organizatalk by award-winning tion, the National “Librarians work in author Jimmy Santiago Association to Baca, who spent five the only cultural Promote Library years in a maximum and Information security prison and has institution that Services to Latinow devoted his life to everyone feels nos and the Spanwriting and teaching ish Speaking, was welcome.” others who are over—Dana Gioia, National coming hardship. Baca held September Endowment for the Arts talked extensively 19–21 primarChairman about how he found ily at the El Paso (Tex.) Convensolace in the prison lition Center, just blocks from the brary. “When you can’t read and write, border of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. killing becomes that much easier,” he The theme was “Bridging the explained. Gaps—Juntos @ the Border.” One of two luncheon speakers was After a musical welcome of a local Diana Washington Valdez, an El Paso version of “This Land Is Your Land” Times reporter whose investigation of by the guitar-playing El Paso Mayor the slayings of women in Juárez reJohn F. Cook, the conference kicked author David Bacon (right) off with a keynote address by Nation- Immigration addresses the closing session while Mayor John F. Cook (below, left) sings al Endowment of the Arts Chairman at the opening program that included Dana Gioia, who called on those of (from left) Jimmy Santiago Baca, Reforma President Luís Chaparro, Conference CoHispanic descent to make public Chair and El Paso Library Director Carol noise about the strong challenges to Brey-Casiano, and NEA Chairman Dana Gioia. get all Americans to read more. A California native of Italian and Mexican descent, Gioia said he grew up five blocks from the Hawthorne branch of the County of Los Angeles Pubic Library and visited the location five or six times a week from the age of 8 until high school. “It saved my life,” he said about the library. “Librarians work in the

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NEWS | Special Report

of the closing session with David Bacon, a writer and photojournalist on issues of labor, immigration, and trade. He is the author of two photodocumentary books, The Children of NAFTA (University of California Press, 2004) and Communities without Borders: Images and Voices from the World of Migration (IRL Press, 2006), which highlight the realities of immigrants in the United States and of Mexicans still living in Mexico. Bacon’s new book, Illegal People: How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants, was published by Beacon Press in September. He said that the word “illegal” describes social inequality. “If we don’t like reality, we have to change it,” Bacon urged. “We can’t just give it another word. “In libraries and schools, we don’t use the word ‘colored,’ we don’t use the word ‘Negro,’ we don’t use words that are even worse than that because we had a civil rights movement in the United States with millions and millions of people that changed social reality.” Bacon added, “The whole purpose of this illegality was to justify slav-

ery,” calling it “an old concept that was applied to people of color as a form of discrimination” that “gave way to the use of labor at a very cheap rate and as a money-making device.”

Bolstering bibliotecas

Sessions covered a variety of topics, including: “Adelante! Library Services for Your Latino Communities,” copresented by ALA President-elect Camila Alire, who in July 2009 will become the first Chicana to head the Association; an “Advocacy Institute” with Conference Co-Chair and El Paso Library Director Carol Brey-Casiano, a past ALA president, as well as current President Jim Rettig, ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels, and ALA Office for Library Advocacy Director Marci Merola; “Revisiting the Digital Divide and the Latino Community”; and “Trends in Marketing to Latinos: Implications for Libraries.” Conference attendees also had an opportunity to cross the border to tour the Biblioteca de la Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez and shop at the Mercado, as well as to visit El Paso’s historic missions—Ysle-

ta, Socorro, and San Elizario. It would not have been a traditional Reforma gathering without music and entertainment that included events at the Arts Festival Plaza and Alcantar Sky Garden as well as the outdoor awards banquet and dance amid the mountains surrounding McKelligon Canyon. The evening also included the presentation of the 2008 Arnulfo D. Trejo Librarian of the Year Award to Ron Rodríguez, head of access services at California State University at Fullerton. The award is named in honor of the late Reforma founding president who led the movement to increase collections of Hispanic literature. It was presented by Trejo’s widow, Ninja. —P.A.G.

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november 2008

Staff members of the Biblioteca de la Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juárez (left) talk about their facility. El Paso Public Library’s Ivonne R. Jimenez (left) greets author Benjamin Alire Sáenz, while dancers (below) provide entertainment at the awards banquet.

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  

   

                     

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  

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      

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10/07/2008 3:26:08 PM

Technology | News

Topic Modeling Research Grant to Yale

ale University Library has received a $749,990 National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for its “Improving Search and Discovery of Digital Resources Using Topic Model“We’re going ing” project. Topic modeling to look at the is an automated probability of text-mining techwords in full text nique that holds or metadata, and promise for quickly analyzing how the words large numbers of appear together.” digital documents —Youn Noh in library and museum collections. “We’re going to look at the probability of words in full text or metadata, and how the words appear together,” Youn Noh, Yale digital resources catalog librarian, told American Libraries. The software can then group those

Michigan Evergreen grows Niles District Library joined Branch District Library and Grand Rapids Public Library as pilot libraries on the Michigan Evergreen shared ILS October 6. The final four pilot libraries—Traverse Area District Library, Interlochen Public Library, Fife Lake Public Library, and Peninsula Community Library—go live on the system this month. Website usability Jessica Hupp offered a 57-point checklist for website usability at the Virtual Hosting blog September 4. Reminders in-

clude providing contact information, minimizing the number of needed plug-ins, using alt and title tags, and testing the site in different browsers and screen resolutions.

Read banned blogs At his Blue Skunk Blog September 23, Doug Johnson proposed a Blocked Bytes Week. Like Banned Books Week, Blocked Bytes Week would take on censorship and celebrate the freedom to read, but with an emphasis on the freedom to read online. WorldCat via iPhone OCLC has created a WorldCat interface designed for the iPhone or iPod Touch.

Yale University Library is processing, preserving, and archiving 1,500 audio tapes recorded in Osama bin Laden’s Afghanistan headquarters from 1988 through 2000. The collection includes recordings of religious sermons, celebrations after militant actions, and even bin Laden’s poetry. Yale spokesman Tom Conroy said in the September 25 Yale Daily News that the library has already digitized 335 of the tapes and expects that the archiving will be finished in a few years, at which time the collection will be available to researchers and students. “The library’s duty is to ensure the long-term preservation and access to these and other materials for decades and centuries to come, and for future generations of scholars,” Conroy said. When bin Laden and his cohorts fled his Kandahar compound in late 2001, they left behind the audiotapes, which were subsequently unearthed by CNN, who turned them over to the FBI. After concluding that the recordings did not contain any sensitive intelligence, the bureau decided to release them publicly. While the original audiotapes are being kept in a remote library shelving facility, Head of Collection Development William Massa said that researchers are welcome to use the library’s digital archive to access those that have already been restored and processed. Conroy said researchers can listen to the digital files in the original Arabic on a secure laptop in the library.

american libraries

november 2008

Tech News in Brief

sets of words together as “topics” that can be used as metadata. Partners in the project include the University of Michigan and the University of California at Irvine, which used topic modeling in a project that analyzed 330,000 newspaper stories to identify what subjects were written about most, and how the frequency of coverage varied over time. Yale’s project will apply the same technique to full-text digital books, images with metadata, and tagged objects. The project has three goals, Noh said. First is to demonstrate the viability of topic modeling for working with these types of materials. The researchers also plan to develop user interfaces that use the generated topics; specific features include faceted search and search rankings. Third, the researchers hope to encourage research in topic modeling by hosting workshops. —G.L.

Digitizing Bin Laden

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The interface can be accessed at mobileworldcat.org,

Enhanced Book Search API Google has released a collection of new tools for the Google Book Search application programming interface that allow book previews to be embedded on websites. The tools also allow sites to display fulltext search results from Book Search, and to integrate social features such as ratings and reviews. OverDrive compatible with Zune OverDrive has released its Media Console v3.1 update. The new release makes OverDrive’s audiobooks compatible with Microsoft’s Zune digital media player.

need to authenticate only once per session and can move between 360 Search and native resource interfaces.

Cloud computing prevalent Most Americans, 69%, use cloud computing applications, even though few are aware of the term, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project’s Use of Cloud Computing Applications and Services report. Webmail services are the most common activity, used by 56% of internet users, followed by online photo storage (34%) and online applications (29%). Convenience and flexibility are major reasons for utilizing cloud computing, while privacy is a major concern.

Firefox functions Firefox 3 is known for its extendability, but it has introduced Single Sign-On access also has some built-in functions that control for the 360 Search federated are frequently overlooked. PC MagaAmLib TL 08-01-08.ai PM search service. When activated, 8/1/08 users 2:18:29 zine reported on “8 Things You Didn’t Single sign-on Serials Solutions

Know You Could Do” September 29, including “smart bookmarks” that generate lists of sites dynamically based on user-defined parameters, the ability to change or remove the close button on each tab, or view saved passwords for any page (and password-protect that list).

Save sites for later At the Mashable blog September 15, Palin Ningthoujam identified 11 services for helping to collect URLs that are worth checking out but that you’re too busy to look at right away. Making his cut are Instapaper, which enables later viewing on computer, iPhone, or offline; ListMixer, which automatically deletes links after 30 days to keep the queue clean; Taboo, which remembers session information, such as how far you’ve scrolled, and form information; and Read It Later, which operates in the Firefox address bar. z

november 2008

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10/21/2008 1:06:13 PM

TECHNOLOGY | Internet Librarian

Google Stops A cautionary tale warns of technological hubris

ly!), selling TV ads on NBC cable networks, no doubt breakfast cereal and tea towels next. How far can it stray without losing focus? n Evil. No conspiracies here either, but if the dark suspicions or fears about privacy or ranking manipulation or whatnot were ever to be confirmed, that would be a blow, which might lead to the . . . n Loss of cool. A seemingly small tuffle about employee daycare made the front pages a while back. So much of its corporate image is based on being, well, Google, that if that starts to slip, tongues would wag. n Corporate sclerosis and lack of innovation. Aha. Not precisely the opposite of overreaching, but if Google ever stopped coming up with the Next Thing, it could begin to bore and thus lose the cool. A tricky business to keep growing and innovating and yet keep the wheels turning and do the old stuff well. Ask the folks in Redmond. So even though Google might appear to be a juggernaut, its position might be considerably more precarious than widely thought. And the Machine folks? Well, they all died, ruing their dependence and reliance on second-hand ideas. As the author says, “something ‘good enough’ had long since been accepted by our race.” Insightful words, from none other than E. M. Forster, written back in 1909 . . . but 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

november 2008

he Machine Stops” is a knew that. The reason seems to be cautionary tale about over- that as humanity became increasdependence on technolingly dependent, knowledge of ogy. In a future world, all maintenance and operation became of humanity lives, literally, within increasingly distant, leading to an the confines of the Machine, which inevitable breakdown. provides for all of their needs, both bodily and mentally. All communiPotential problems cation, entertainment, and inforGoogle’s not going to “stop,” of mation is provided via the Machine; course, barring cataclysm; no Nostravel outside is rare, real human tradamus stuff today. I found myself contact even rarer. The only signif- wondering, though, what might diicant activity is the sharing of ideas minish it. What chinks might lie in and thoughts; the greatest punishthat well-buffed armor? A few rument, for the minations: sin of not n It could Google’s position might believing in go out of busibe considerably more the Machine, ness. The ecoprecarious than widely is Homenomic climate lessness. is rough, and thought. The all-enits stock price compassing Machine is a trope in has taken a tumble of late, down science fiction; witness the Star Trek about 40% from its highs as I write. computer, sultrily but crisply voiced But its market share seems stable by Majel Barrett Roddenberry, that enough and it’s still got Microsoft answers all questions except when spooked. the plot requires difficulties, and its n It could be replaced or suppolar opposite Zero from the underplanted by a superior tool. But Cuil appreciated 1975 dystopian flick Roll- landed with a dull thud; Microsoft erball. Ralph Richardson’s dotty can’t get out of its own way; Yahoo is, librarian tries to coax something out well, Yahoo; and few other new playof Zero, into which all books have ers have tried of late. Onward. been entered, but he gets—nothing. n The Web as we know it might constrict, or give way to another (There’s as much social commentary medium. A long-term concern, to as James-Caan-in-studded-motorbe sure, though constriction by cycle-gloves in this film, which is worth a rental. Don’t miss the drunk- bandwidth or censorship isn’t unen party guests burning down a forest imaginable. n Overreaching or overextension. for kicks; it’d make a great double It’s possible—now that Google’s in feature with Desk Set.) the browser business (read that The cautionary part of the tale is Chrome license agreement carefulthat the Machine stops . . . but you

by Joseph Janes

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10/21/2008 1:06:44 PM

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10/08/2008 10:12:36 AM

TECHNOLOGY | In Practice

CMS for Next-Gen Websites Using Drupal to manage library web content

Anything is possible

In addition to allowing for static and blog content, Drupal offers hundreds of add-ons, called modules, to extend the software’s functionality. For example, wiki functionality can be added to a Drupal site to have

We can make our

pages that a ing with sites more dynamic, group of people Drupal, and can collaboracontracting participatory, and tively edit. Fofor their sereasier to manage— rums can also vices can be often without a huge budget. easily be added, significantly allowing your less costly patrons to participate in conversathan having a web designer on staff. tions on your site. It’s a nice change Once the design elements are in for libraries that manage various place, it is easy for staff to update and blogs, wikis, and forums separately add content to the site. from their main websites. With The Stowe (Vt.) Free Library Drupal, so much can be integrated. hired a web designer to create the Drupal first appeared on many beautiful design for its Drupallibrarians’ radar screens with the based website (stowelibrary.org). unveiling of the Ann Arbor (Mich.) The Idaho Commission for Libraries District Library’s Drupal-based uses Drupal for its E-Branch in a website (aadl.org) in summer 2005. Box project (icfl.idaho.gov/ This sophisticated website integrat- landing/e-branch-a-box), which ed static content seamlessly with helps Idaho libraries set up basic blog content throughout the site and Drupal websites so they can easily allowed patrons to easily participate manage site content on their own. in the library’s web presence. Once the software is initially inSince then, many libraries have stalled and configured, Drupal is transitioned their websites to pretty simple to manage, especially Drupal, and sites range from the with a WYSIWYG editor installed. simple to the highly customized. Content management systems alThe Jackson (Mich.) District Library low anyone to take on the role of (myjdl.com) uses an already existwebmaster and let libraries distribing Drupal theme, which means that ute the responsibility for updating JDL didn’t need to design the look web content among staff members. on its own. At Darien (Conn.) Tools like Drupal also enable Library (darienlibrary.org), staffers libraries to take their websites far created a lovely, clean custom debeyond the ordinary, enabling much sign that required significant work more participation among staff and on their part. patrons than was once possible. z If you don’t have anyone on staff with web design skills, you may need MEREDITH FARKAS is head of instructional to outsource responsibility for deinitiatives and liaison to the social sciences at signing your site’s look to an individ- Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont. She blogs at Information Wants to Be Free and ual or company. There are many web created Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki. design firms that specialize in workContact her at librarysuccess@gmail.com.

american libraries

november 2008

he past few years have seen tremendous growth in what is possible for a library’s web presence. No longer limited to static websites, we can now make our sites more dynamic, more participatory, and easier for staff to manage. And it doesn’t necessarily take a huge budget and a web design team to achieve any of this. Last month, I discussed the use of Wordpress blogging software as a library’s website (AL, Oct., p. 45). While this could be a great solution for libraries looking for better ways to manage web content, it is only one of many tools that can be used. A content management system (CMS) is software that enables web content development. With a CMS, the content is separated from the look of the site, and most CMS software makes it easy to manage that content without web design skills. There are many different kinds of content management systems; some are quite costly while others are free and open source. One popular open source CMS is Drupal (drupal.org), which makes it possible for libraries to easily manage web content and have both dynamic and static elements on their sites.

by Meredith Farkas

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10/21/2008 1:07:39 PM

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10/07/2008 3:16:20 PM

OPINION | Public Perception

How the World Sees Us “I wanted to be a children’s book author and a librarian.”

Political satirist WILL DURST, Arizona Daily Star, July 7.

SAM RONDOS, a neighbor of 1957 Oregon State University engineering alumnus

Actress JENNIFER GARNER, reminiscing about her childhood while visiting her home town of Charleston, West Virginia, People, Sept. 20.

“When you spend all your money on bombs, you don’t have money for books.” A character in the San Francisco Mime

or that I was the executor.”

“It’s the stuff of scholarly nightmares. You spend years working on a book, toiling in the archives, poring over sources, examining and re-examining data, only to discover that you’re not alone. Someone else is working on more or less the same book.” “That Noise Behind You? A Rival in the

Franklin A. McEdward, who died in May leaving $2.6 million to the university, primarily for its Valley Library, OSU media release, Sept. 17.

“What’s the hottest all-access card in town? A Chicago Public Library card.” TRACY SWARTZ, Chicago RedEye, Sept. 26,

Troupe’s Red State, a musical satire written

Stacks,” THOMAS BARTLETT, Chronicle of

noting that CPL borrowing is up 28% over

by MICHAEL GENE SULLIVAN, Santa Cruz

Higher Education, Sept. 26.

last year.

Sentinel, Sept. 12.

“America, a country more comfortable with guns than library cards.’”

“She had the banal sensibilities of a local librarian who’s moved to the big city and has started serious drinking and making semi-comical overstatements to disguise her obvious gaps.”

“It wasn’t a layoff due to performance. It was just purely a money thing. We miss them.” Library Board President DAN LLOYD, after the Carnegie Library of Homestead, Pennsylvania, endowment lost $300,000 on investments and cut two staffers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 18.

Novelist CHARLES BAXTER, The Soul Thief, Pantheon Books, 2008.

“Others in the nabe include Max Thieriot as a hunky young hobo, a perfectly cast Wallace Shawn as a newspaper editor, and, for screwball spin, Stanley Tucci and Joan Cusack as a traveling magician and a motoring librarian. The latter is, actually, hell on wheels.”

Hartford Courant editorial, Sept. 12, following the decision to close two branches of the Hartford (Conn.) Public Library.

november 2008

LISA SCHWARZBAUM, reviewing the film Kit Kittredge for Entertainment Weekly,

July 11.

A bibliophile’s bottle of wine, “WELL REaD,” from Orleans Hill Winery in California.

“When Frank fell and broke an arm a few years ago, I asked if he had a will, but he just laughed. He never married or had children, so I suggested he give whatever he had to his school, because he loved books and learning so much. I had no idea what his estate was worth

“Schroer’s case indeed rests on direct evidence, and compelling evidence, that the library’s hiring decision was infected by sex stereotypes.” U.S. District Judge JAMES ROBERTSON, ruling that the Library of Congress discriminated against Diane Schroer in 2004 by revoking a job offer after learning she was transitioning from being a man to a woman, Washington Post, Sept. 20. z

american libraries

“Children must be able to use the library as both a place to do homework and a haven from trouble, especially in areas where street violence has escalated to a frightening degree. The city can’t afford to close the curtain on hope.”

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OPINIon | On My Mind

Not Just the Facts Toward a library and information humanities

At no time has it been more imreading, and should librarians be portant for us to think about how we concerned about its decline? would like libraries to be and to exPierce Butler, one of the first auamine, using “discriminating critithors to use the term “library scicism,” the meaning of the phenomena ence,” observed in 1933 that “the of information, spiritual At no time has it been technology, and elements” more important for us to librarianship. of librarWhat, for exthink about how we would ianship ample, is the were “of like libraries to be. meaning of Jackutmost son County, Oregon’s decision last importance for civilized life.” But at year to contract the management of its that point the scientific method had public libraries to a for-profit compa- not been applied rigorously to librarny? Or of the decision by the Maraianship, and Butler argued that thon County (Wis.) Public Library to librarianship would “profit by bereplace its “librarian” positions with coming scientific without losing anylower-paying “customer service thing of its humanistic qualities.” librarian” positions? And what are we Butler was right. Librarianship to make of the National Endowment should be studied from both a scienfor the Arts’ finding that Americans tific and a humanistic vantage. Unforread less literature than they used to? tunately, as librarianship has become Science allows us to observe and increasingly scientific and technical— verify these facts: Private companies especially now that it has moved becan operate libraries more cheaply yond Butler’s “library science” to the (and perhaps more efficiently) than more abstract and empirical-seeming municipal governments. Lower sala“library and information science”—its ries save libraries money. And people humanistic qualities have become indo, in fact, read less, and with less creasingly endangered. proficiency, than they did 15 years It is time for a reintegration of ago. But in order to make sense of library science and library humanithese facts, we need to use the tools of ties. Scientific thinking is not enough the humanities: structured, critical to allow us to make good decisions. If inquiry, debate, and the positioning of we neglect critical analysis and debate facts within historical, philosophical, about what is important in our field, and human context. What is lost when we will have a very difficult time delibraries are run by profit-seeking ciding what we want libraries to be. z enterprises? What does it mean to think of library users as “customers” Bo Kinney (bkinney@u.washington. and to define librarians’ jobs as being edu) is pursuing MLIS and Master of Public Administration degrees from the University primarily about “customer service”? of Washington and is a coordinating library What is the cultural significance of associate at Seattle Public Library.

american libraries

november 2008

hen I explain to people that I am studying library and information science, I always cringe a little at the word “science.” It seems like such a misleading name for the field, given that so much of what librarians engage in—from reader’s advisory to reference, cataloging, and collection development—are humanistic pursuits. I feel as if I have to explain that science and the humanities are not opposed to one another, but rather—when handled properly—are complementary. Science is the process of observing and collecting facts, testing hypotheses, and making generalizations based on this process. At its best, science tells us what the world is like. But the humanities, at their best, help us understand the meaning of science. By examining scientific facts through the lens of human perception and experience, they help us think about how we would like the world to be. John Dewey once lamented the lack of “common ground . . . between the factual phenomena of political behavior and the interpretation of the meaning of these phenomena.” As he put it: “The alternatives before us are not factually limited science on one hand and uncontrolled speculation on the other. The choice is between blind, unreasoned attack and defense on the one hand, and discriminating criticism employing intelligent method and a conscious criterion on the other.”

by Bo Kinney

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10/21/2008 1:08:38 PM

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Are You Following Me? In today’s libraries, training is paramount, and that calls for leadership

ary Lou Brown works on a busy circulation desk. One minute she is teaching patrons to use the new self-checkout stations, the next minute she is answering questions about how to download audiobooks to an iPod. Later this afternoon Mary Lou will go to a meeting to discuss how customer service can be improved within the library—through training.

american libraries

october 2007

by Lori Reed and Paul Signorelli

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We have reached the point where nearly everyone working in libraries needs some basic knowledge on how to provide effective training.

titles used to describe those working in the field, show a profession in flux. Many libraries rely on staff with myriad other r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s — human resources, IT, Web design, reference, or even branch management—to also play key roles in providing training and inspiring learning within their organizations. For those libraries with staff formally designated to oversee the workplace learning and performance function, the range of titles can be wide, as shown by a quick informal survey: ”training officer,” “learning manager,” “staff development and training coordinator,” ”staff development manager,” “staff development librarian,” and ”organizational development manager” were among those we encountered. The training-teaching-learning function is receiving a lot of attention throughout the United States, as Scott Wilson, international relations manager for ASTD, told members of the Mt. Diablo (Calif.) Chapter of the organization at their July 2008 meeting. Training, he ex-

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Welcome to the 21st-century library. Everyone is a trainer; and trainers, under an increasingly wide variety of job titles, are assuming leadership roles. Without even noticing that it has happened, we have reached the point where nearly everyone working in libraries needs some basic knowledge on how to provide effective training—what many involved in professional organizations such as the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) refer to as “workplace learning and performance” opportunities—and leadership skills are crucial to our ability to deliver what is needed. Training is more important now than ever as library staff and library users find themselves immersed in a Web 2.0 world and need assistance in learning, using, and coping with new technology. “Learning is to libraries as breathing is to air,” says Helene Blowers, director for digital strategy at Columbus (Ohio) Metropolitan Library. “Libraries, because of both their vitality as community connectors and the vast storehouses of knowledge they contain, are in my mind homogeneous to learning, just as hydrogen and oxygen combined are essential” to sustain life. “I believe that a strong emphasis, both formal and informal, on organizational and employee development programs is essential to a library’s health and well-being,” Blowers continues. “When employees are continually encouraged to grow and learn it has a compound effect of doing the same to the community. The emphasis on continually developing and building employees’ skill sets goes beyond just the trainer’s or training department’s responsibility. Employee development is an emphasis that every leader should pay attention to.” At the heart of the situation is a basic shift from trainers-as-implementers to trainers-as-partners and even leaders-as-trainers in short- and long-term strategic planning, budget discussions, marketing, and every other issue facing library administrators and management teams. American Library Association President-elect Camila Alire has no doubt as to the “critical” importance leadership skills play for trainers. ”I would probably have a hard time hiring somebody in [a training director] position if I didn’t think they were already a leader,” Alire explains. ”If I had my druthers and could hire somebody, it would definitely be a trainer as leader . . . somebody who can bring a breadth of experience which includes a record of leadership.” The way training is perceived and promoted, and the

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plained, is developing as a profession in its own right. Through ASTD, it has a national organization that speaks on its behalf, a formal code of ethics, a defined body of knowledge, a means to use applied research to develop the field, and a credentialing mechanism. ASTD’s goal, Wilson told his audience, is to define workplace learning and performance as a stand-alone profession no longer seen as a stepchild to other divisions. If ASTD is successful, workplace learning and performance will be listed as a separate profession on the national census in 2010. The leadership elements of the profession are under discussion nearly every month in the association’s monthly magazine, T&D. Those active in ALA’s Continuing Library Education Network and Exchange (CLENE) Round Table have no doubt that leadership is an integral part of what they do. “There’s great overlap in the skill sets between trainers and leaders,” says CLENE board member Peter Bromberg, and he models that behavior through his work as assistant director for the South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative, based in Gibbsboro, New Jersey. “Good trainers have a strategic outlook. What I mean is ‘beginning with the end in mind.’ It’s a trait and a skill that is shared by all good leaders and all good trainers. Trainers need to see what the end result of a workshop or class is going to be and then work backwards. . . . They have to be able to see the big picture, the end result, and see how the pieces fit together to achieve that result.” Bromberg, himself a graduate of a master trainer program, sees significant numbers of people following the same path he has made from trainer to recognized leader. ”In New Jersey, many people in positions of leadership at the state library, the regions, and the more dynamic county and municipal libraries have gone through the New Jersey Train the Trainer program. Whatever training they got there seems to have served them well,” he observes, adding that his own master trainer experience “was transformative for me.” The continuing evolution of trainers as leaders goes even deeper than that, according to training consultant Mary Ross, who managed the staff training and development program at the Seattle Public Library for eight years: “I want to make a distinction between trainers and managers of learning. If you use the title ‘trainer,’ that puts them into a certain category of delivery. We’re not simply deliverers of training. It’s a function that’s much bigger than training. It includes many other solutions, such as coaching, self-directed learning, performance management, and mentoring in addition to training.” Ross continues, “If you are in charge of staff development and you’re limiting it to training, you’re missing the point completely.” Those involved in workplace learning and performance will increasingly be working as members

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The way training is perceived and promoted shows a profession in flux.

of management teams and other decision-making bodies, she believes; they need to be working at the organizational development level, involved in strategic planning, and taking a much broader view of what is needed when someone asks for a customer service workshop or any other learning opportunity.

Facilitation, not decision-making

american libraries

november 2008

Not all trainers see themselves making key decisions. ”I see myself as being more of a facilitator, doing some training, but I don’t necessarily see myself saying, ‘This is what we have to do,’” says San Diego County Library System Web Services Manager Polly Cipparrone. Having been part of Infopeople’s Master Trainer project in California in 2002 and recently completing Infopeople’s Eureka! Leadership Program workshops and weeklong institute, she sees her full-time training position as “a collaborative thing. Part of my leadership role is to help put people together and facilitate discussions. I want to work in partnership with everyone.” As the field of workplace learning and performance—or what we used to call training—evolves, library employees at

all levels and positions stand to play a larger role in leading their libraries. As we move beyond the role of a “trainer-order taker” to a role of influencing critical business decisions, employees involved with learning stand to emerge as leaders within their libraries and the library field. One conclusion we can draw is that if everyone in libraries is becoming a trainer, and if trainers have a leadership role to play, then everyone is potentially a leader. Some potential leaders bring their voices to the table through membership on staff-development committees, ad hoc committees designed to resolve specific training issues within an organization, or committees that approve the expenditure of training funds so members of staff can participate in workshops, conferences, and other special learning opportunities that would otherwise be inaccessible to them. As training programs evolve to meet the needs of those they serve, their very nature is shifting in ways that can only be good for all of us. A critical question, then, for those who provide training is: Are we following, or are we leading? z

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10/21/2008 1:10:31 PM

After-School SUCCESS Story O

hio’s Maple Heights School District was in a state of academic emergency. The district scored abysmally on its 2002–2003 year-end report card, meeting only 6 of 22 minimum requirements on the Ohio Department of Education’s state indicator scale. Graduation and attendance figures were poor, state proficiency scores were alarmingly low, and there were few, if any, after-school assistance programs in the community to which students could turn. Perceiving a need for action, the librarians at Cuyahoga County Public Library’s Maple Heights branch took it upon themselves to establish an after-school study program for the district’s at-risk students. The program, dubbed Youth Experiencing Success or “Homework . . .

By Robert J. Rua

Y.E.S.,” aimed to provide a place where kids could focus on their schoolwork, receive tutoring, and access the library’s collection of free learning tools. Libraries seem likely enough places to host after-school study programs, but they aren’t as common as you might think. It’s actually remarkably difficult to implement an Out-of-School Time (OST) program in a public library. A successful program requires a long list of indispensable components: a dedicated library staff; reliable, welltrained tutors; adequate program funding; support from the library’s board and director; and the cooperation of the local school district. The difficulty of bringing these components together harmoniously can keep a library’s OST program stuck on the drawing board.

american libraries

octOBER 2007

In six years of trial and error, a grassroots effort to save a school district has blossomed into a thriving after-school program helping thousands of at-risk students

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According to Jim Crayne, a Maple Heights elementary school teacher and after-school homework program coordinator, fear of success is also an obstacle to a greater abundance of library OST programs. “Libraries are worried about being overwhelmed,” says Crayne, “and often they feel afterschool homework programs are best left to the YMCA and Boys and Girls Clubs. That’s nonsense. It can be done.”

Still feeling their way

Homework Center Coordinator Jim Crayne works one-on-one with a student.

meeting some resistance) and helped the library obtain school textbooks—two critical factors in the eventual success of the program. He also established an effective tripart session model of homework, reading time, and educational activities that became the program’s calling card.

| american libraries

The first-year numbers were encouraging, but “Homework . . . Y.E.S.” still suffered from too-long study sessions (twoand-a-half hours), a sometimes counterproductive combination of students at widely different grade levels (grades K–10), and a lack of volunteers. Entering the second year of the program, session times were clipped to 75 minutes, and service was limited to grades K–6. “Our session times were a bit too long to hold the students’ attention,” explains Huffman. “The older students were finding the younger students distracting and the student-to-tutor ratio was not where we wanted it to be. Sometimes volunteers couldn’t make it to the sessions due to other obligations, leaving us understaffed. It was apparent we needed a change.” Enter America Reads, a federal program that collaborates with universities to train—and fund—university students to tutor urban youth in grades K–6. By partnering with Cleveland State University’s America Reads program, the library was able to improve its student-totutor ratio significantly. In addition, the paid tutors proved more reliable than volunteers. “America Reads was the key to making our program successful,” says Judy Cramer, CCPL branch services director and former Maple Heights branch manager. “Their tutors are well-trained, and they come to the homework sessions prepared to mentor. They’ve made a big impact on our program.” With America Reads on board, the number of student visits to the Maple Heights branch climbed over the 1,500 mark in the 2003–2004 school year, a significant increase in attendance from the previous year. This increase, coupled with positive testimony from program exit surveys

november 2008

America Reads to the rescue

Of course, there is also a problem of perception. Public libraries have long been after-school destinations for students, but their role has traditionally been passive. It is only in the recent past, in the wake of 2001’s No Child Left Behind Act, that libraries across the nation have begun to reconsider their roles as OST players. In 2006, the Urban Libraries Council held its first conference focused on OST programming in libraries. Martín Gómez, then ULC president, urged the librarians in attendance to make OST programs a priority, and to form collaborative bonds with community agencies to address the needs of parents and students. The funding was out there, insisted Gómez, but for libraries to get their slice of the pie, they had to get aggressive and establish influential programs. A high percentage of ULC’s 183 members offer some kind of after-school study program, but overall, the movement is still in its infancy. “Library OST homework programs are currently where adult literacy programs were 15 years ago. We’re still feeling our way,” said Gómez. The “Homework . . . Y.E.S.” program presents an interesting library OST case study. In 2003, it began as a grassroots effort of volunteers and librarians eager to address the needs of their community. Six years of trial and error later, the program has been expanded to eight Cuyahoga County Public Library branches and has serviced thousands of at-risk students. During its inaugural year, “Homework . . . Y.E.S.” was troubled with potentially crippling growing pains. CCPL Youth Services Manager Celia Huffman explains, “Initially, tutors were hard to come by, we still hadn’t worked out a best-service model, and we weren’t receiving much support from the local school system’s administration at the time.” In addition, a $1,000 grant from Sam’s Club represented the majority of the program’s budget. The library staff compensated by making creative use of preexisting core materials and computer terminals. “There were quite a few obstacles to overcome,” admits Huffman, “but we felt we had to move forward with the program whether the situation was ideal or not.” To help “Homework . . . Y.E.S.” take flight, the Maple Heights branch tapped Jim Crayne to coordinate the program. It was an important first step in the right direction. Crayne gave the library an invaluable advocate within the Maple Heights school system (where the program was

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Tutor.com and student grade card data, provided the library with convincing evidence that its OST program, renamed the “Homework Center,” was making a positive impact. In August 2004, the Ohio Library Council awarded the Maple Heights branch its first Innovation Award for breaking new ground in library service. In the fall, a second Homework Center based on the Maple Heights model opened at the Southeast branch. Two additional centers were added at the Brooklyn and Warrensville branches in 2005. Like Maple Heights, the three new centers were established in academically challenged communities. As the program expanded, its coordinators worked to compile additional qualitative and quantitative data. They hoped the mixed-method data would help garner support from county agencies. “We experimented with a few different survey methods,” says Huffman. “Telephone surveys got the best results. We also tried to work with the school systems to roll out grade card data whenever possible.” The mixed-method approach to data collection did help the Homework Centers get the county’s attention. In June of 2006, CCPL was given a substantial award from the board of county commissioners through the Family and Children First Council. These funds allowed the library to open additional Homework Centers at its Brook Park, Garfield Heights, and Parma-Ridge branches, and to add a second center, to serve students in grades 7 through 10, at the Maple Heights branch. In 2007, the Library opened a Homework Center at its South Euclid–Lyndhurst branch, bringing its total of Homework Centers to nine, and launched a program called “Family Literacy Nights.” The goal of this program, says CCPL Education Specialist Mark Faldowski, is “to get parents involved at another level, and to help them help their children with their studies.” Family Literacy Nights give parents the opportunity to meet and talk to the Homework Center staff and hear presentations from education experts on subjects like conflict resolution and developing study skills. These 2007 enhancements of the Homework Center program were made possible through a grant from the Cleveland Foundation. Huffman hopes the success of the Homework Centers program will spawn imitators. One lesson other libraries can take away from CCPL’s program, she says, is the value of patience. “If we had made our decision based on the first year at Maple Heights, we may not have continued with the Homework Centers, but look how it turned out today,” she notes. Collectively, the nine centers tallied 11,423 student visits in the 2006–2007 school year. The majority of visitors reported improvements in subject comprehension and grade scores as well as improved attitudes toward school and increased self-esteem.

s more public libraries offer some level of online homework resources for students—upwards of 83%, according to a recent ALA study— many are turning to services like Tutor.com’s Live Homework Help to round out, or even function as, their homework help centers. “Live Homework Help can really be the library’s homework center,” says Galen Warden, director of institutional marketing for Tutor.com, noting that about 40% of the company’s customers have some sort of in-library homework program. With LHH, students work one-on-one with a tutor, interacting through a live web-based interface that offers anonymity and connects them with one of more than 2,000 subject- and grade-specific tutors across North America—all with an average wait time of less than three minutes. Not only does the service help libraries help students, but the positive attention it receives helps build community support for library issues. At Worthington (Ohio) Libraries, Gale/Library Journal’s 2007 Library of the Year, LHH is offered at all three library locations via the internet and to patrons from home with a valid library card. While a designated homework center at the Worthington Park branch focuses on in-person help from librarians and volunteers, online resources like LHH and the statewide “HomeworkNow” service get a starring role in the library’s Ambassador Programs that promote the library’s services through visits to schools and businesses. “Eight years ago when Tutor.com sold its first LHH program, librarians had to convince their directors and boards that online homework help was a worthwhile investment,” Warden says, noting that Tutor.com works “hand-in-hand with libraries to help them make the case to their funders” with a resource center of press releases, memos, positive news coverage, and strong customer recommendations.

Even successful study programs must be careful not to rest on their laurels. Coordinators must continually examine community needs and then meet those needs with effective service delivery. “At the end of every school year,” says Huffman, “you have to look back and ask yourself, ‘How can we do it better?’” By doing so, libraries can effect positive change and solidify their place at the center of their communities. z

american american libraries libraries

november october 2007 2008

Patience pays off

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10/07/2008 2:52:47 PM

It’s Never Too Late to Retool An uprooted public librarian adjusts to a high-tech academic environment

by Mary Madden DeMajo

Following 27 years as a reference librarian at New Orleans Public Library (NOPL), I found myself relocated to Hammond, Louisiana, following Hurricane Katrina. This came as a complete surprise: I had expected to continue working at NOPL until retirement, after which I’d work part-time there. I was settled. I was comfortable. I enjoyed what I was doing and did it well. I had lots of friends among both staff and patrons. There was an easy predictability at work while I focused much of my attention on caring for an elderly parent and on raising a teenager at home. After Katrina, I had the good fortune to be hired by Southeastern Louisiana University’s Sims Memorial Library as a temporary, full-time, non–tenuretrack reference librarian. The Southeastern community consists of about 15,000 students and 800 faculty. One of

the priorities in the university’s strategic plan, Vision 2010, is: “To enhance and effectively utilize a progressive technological infrastructure. Southeastern remains on the forefront of evolving technologies. Recognizing that advanced technology is an integral component of all academic and administrative activity, state-of-the-art information delivery systems and academic computing resources are available to all faculty, staff, and students. A contemporary, reliable, and consistent technological foundation is fundamental to the operations of Southeastern.”

This was going to be a major change for me. At NOPL, phenomenal service is provided but on an extremely tight budget. Priorities are based on what the community and library board are requesting. There are always pressing needs

american libraries

october 2007

uch has been written about teaching information literacy to library users and about in-service training for library professionals and paraprofessionals, but little has been said about mid-career librarians who must retrain when moving from an environment with only basic technology to one that’s technology-rich.

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to be met, and staff strive to do the best they can with what they have, including the in-house design and maintenance of an excellent website. However, even pre-Katrina, resources were limited. As the library’s Master Plan: Speaking Volumes for the Future notes: The NOPL was under-resourced. . . . In 2004, the Library’s print holdings placed it below the 25th percentile in relation to its peer libraries in other cities. The number of volumes per capita—1.69 at the time—was below the lower quarter measure of 1.90, and well below the peer average of 2.80 . . . . In 2004, NOPL’s budget was approximately $18.45 per capita—placing it among the lowest of its peer libraries, at the 16th percentile.

In effect, I was moving from an underfunded environment with some basic technology to a comparatively well-funded one with cutting-edge technology. In my job interview at Southeastern I was asked: “In relation to this position, which duties do you feel you are best prepared for, and for which duties might you require further training?” I remember trying to impress upon the interviewers that I was experienced in dealing with all kinds of patrons, and that I was accustomed to moving quickly from children to businesspeople to undereducated people and getting all of them what they need. Then I took a deep breath and had to admit that I had

databases before consulting print sources. While Southeastern boasts a well-maintained print reference collection, it is definitely used less than the databases and other Web sources. In contrast, my public library patrons had often expected to find what they wanted in print. They specifically asked for books and sometimes needed to be guided to the databases.

Back to the classroom

In order to get a feel for the kinds of questions that come to the reference desk and how to deal with them, I audited the undergraduate library science course taught by the tenuretrack reference librarians. This turned out to be a gold mine. Topics included everything from the basics of database construction to MLA citation. Nine reference librarians teach the class, each responsible for designing his or her own one-hour course, but material found in every course is on the library’s website. Some of the instructors also have their students read Research Strategies: Finding Your Way through the Information Fog by William B. Badke (iUniverseIndigo, 2004). This freshman-level course also provided me with exposure to the students themselves. As I sat in the back row

| american libraries

waiting for class to begin, I observed a few students textmessaging, reading for other classes, or eyeing each other flirtatiously. Their T-shirts had messages such as “If my music is too loud, you’re too old!” Some were dressed as though they thought underwear actually was supposed to be part of their outerwear. I definitely was feeling old and a little culture-shocked, although amused. In order to enhance my understanding of this new environment, I began reading intently. I perused the ALA publications pages and the Libraries Unlimited website to get an idea of what recently published textbooks were available. Although the Southeastern Sims library holds a copy of Reference and Information Services: An Introduction by Richard E. Bopp and Linda C. Smith (Libraries Unlimited, 2000), I bought my own to underline and highlight as I chose. I also visited the Louisiana State University School of Library and Information Science website and reviewed course syllabi to get an idea of what concepts were being taught currently and what students were reading. I made a list of topics for further exploration and study. I reviewed the guidelines issued by the Reference and User Services Association (www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/rusa/resources/ guidelines/index.cfm) and found new definitions for the

never done chat, text, or even e-mail reference, since these had not been available at NOPL. I tried to emphasize that I was eager to be trained in all of these. Once I was hired, a major effort to retool ensued. First came mastery of the Sims Library website, including more than 100 databases on differing platforms, including EBSCOhost, ProQuest, Lexis-Nexis, and WilsonWeb. My previous experience had been with the public library module of EBSCOhost and before that with Gale. The database help screens proved to be invaluable: I learned by doing while I demonstrated search strategies for students. The chief difference between the public and academic library environments was that the academic questions were often more technical and required more in-depth searching. I was told that guiding students through the searches as they performed the queries for themselves was preferable to doing the searches for them. In the academic environment, librarians were to seek the “teachable moments” at the reference desk as well as in the classroom. This was a change in emphasis from the public library environment, where finding answers to specific questions for a variety of patron types was the norm. Another major change was that students expected to find everything they needed electronically. We always searched

november 2008

Learning to do e-mail and text reference service was a refreshing upgrade to my skills.

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terms â&#x20AC;&#x153;reference transactionâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;reference work.â&#x20AC;? I felt a need to organize a large amount of material into manageable segments. I reasoned that since all knowledge builds on previous knowledge, I would have to find my own series of starting points and move from each one to the next level.

Roving reference

While at the reference desk, I was introduced to the practice of having the librarian rove the reference room. In library school I had been taught to make eye contact and look receptive, but to wait for the patron to approach me unless I noticed someone who obviously looked lost or confused. Many students appear to be self-sufficient and tech-savvy, and some really are; others are merely too cool to ask for help from a middle-aged librarian. I found that I could field a larger number of questions by roving than by waiting for students to approach the desk. Usually I would bring a student I was helping to a workstation to direct him or her in how to do a search; this would break the ice for students at nearby workstations, who would then ask for help. This was also my first experience in providing tiered reference service. I was privileged to work with graduate assistants and student workers who are extremely capable. These millennials are particularly helpful regarding prob-

lems with the printers and showing incoming students how to schedule classes. They also provide peer-to-peer consultations, which many students prefer. I was careful to thank them for their help each time they rescued/trained me in handling technology-related issues and to give them muchdeserved credit for their expertise. They in turn deferred to me in handling in-depth reference questions. Learning to do e-mail and text reference service was a refreshing upgrade to my skills. I found it amazing to sit at a computer and respond to a query by supplying Web addresses and directions on how to do Boolean searches in databases or how to navigate the catalogâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;in most cases without actually handling books. I was taught to use a pleasant but neutral tone in the e-mails, and always to end with: â&#x20AC;&#x153;If we can be of further assistance, do not hesitate to contact us again.â&#x20AC;? I was surprised that many students and faculty respond back with a note of thanks. The Text-a-Librarian reference service was actually fun. The questions are sent to a telephone number but appear on our workstation screens as e-mails. To respond we use an SMS Optimizer, so I did not need to learn text-message shorthand. As a temporary employee, I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t ask for travel funds for conferences, so I actively sought out as much freely available

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information as possible. I began subscribing to reference related discussion lists. I joined LIBREF-L, devoted to library reference issues. I also tried DIGLIB, for digital libraries research, and ILI-L, for information literacy in-

networking with other librarians. I am surrounded by professionals all of whom have a passion for learning and for sharing what they know about new technology. Library and information science has been transformed

One of the easiest ways to acquire free retooling information and skills is by networking with other librarians. struction. Eventually I determined that I needed to spend about 30-45 minutes a day on reading lists and blogs; any longer and I am overloaded. I sought out free vendor-sponsored webinars whenever possible. Solinet workshops were also available, paid for by the Sims Library. I gained passing familiarity with terms such as: RSS, wiki, Flickr, Twitter, embedded librarianship, and Library 2.0. I regularly visited the Educause website, paying particular attention to the “Seven Things You Should Know About” page. Whenever a new term came up I jotted it down for further investigation, always searching for a starting point where I could mentally link new information to something I already knew. Of course, one of the easiest ways to acquire free retooling information and skills is by

marvelously during my working lifetime, and our only certainty is that this dynamic process will continue. Part of the transformation has been a shift in attitudes about the library environment. While librarian Louis Shores wrote of the necessity for a Quiet World (as he titled his 1975 autobiography), information specialists of today promote libraries that house collaborative workspaces—or bring the library to where the patrons are through such efforts as the laptop librarian. By observing and serving during this transitional period, I have developed a deep appreciation for both academic and public library environments and for the dynamic, knowledge-fostering components of each; and I continue to renew my commitment to my profession. z

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PUBL C L BRARY RAT Top 10 Libraries in 10 Population Categories

25,000

Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Library Columbus Metropolitan Library Cuyahoga County Public Library Multnomah County Library Hennepin County Library Salt Lake County Library System Baltimore County Public Library Denver Public Library King County Library System Pikes Peak Library District Public Library of Cincinnati And Hamilton County Howard County Library Santa Clara County Library Saint Charles City-County Library District Central Rappahannock Regional Library Madison Public Library Lincoln City Libraries Johnson County Library Kent District Library Stark County District Library Allen County Public Library Naperville Public Library Monroe County Public Library Santa Clara City Library Douglas County Libraries Medina County District Library Arapahoe Library District Salt Lake City Public Library Schaumburg Twp District Library St Joseph County Public Library Loudoun County Public Library Washington-Centerville Public Library Worthington Public Library Carmel Clay Public Library Euclid Public Library Newton Free Library Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library Geauga County Public Library Wheaton Public Library Lakewood Public Library West Bloomfield Township Public Library North Canton Public Library Porter Public Library Upper Arlington Public Library Wadsworth Public Library Elmhurst Public Library Plymouth District Library Lake Oswego Public Library St. Charles Public Library District Middleton Public Library Crystal Lake Public Library

State

Score

OH OH OR MN UT MD CO WA CO OH MD CA MO VA WI NE KS MI OH IN IL IN CA CO OH CO UT IL IN VA OH OH IN OH MA OH OH IL OH MI OH OH OH OH IL MI OR IL WI IL

879 871 830 803 802 796 789 776 747 743 892 876 856 814 811 793 788 755 754 748 945 901 897 878 873 868 865 860 857 855 949 916 914 914 900 896 882 882 879 878 933 922 909 900 896 893 887 886 884 884

american libraries

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50,000

100,000

250,000

500,000

Pop

echnology is a wonder; it can also be a horror,” says Thomas J. Hennen Jr., whose eighth public library rankings article appeared in the October issue of American Libraries (p. 56–61). Just after the issue went to print, Hennen discovered an unfortunate error that invalidated the results of this edition of Hennen’s American Public Library Ratings (HAPLR8). “I referred to the wrong data set in my computer files. The result was republishing the last edition, scoring and ranking every library the same for the 2008 as for the 2006 edition,” Hennen said. “I have now redone things, and I apologize to everyone for this terrible mistake.” AL is republishing the ranking tables here in order to correct the print record, and the new numbers are posted on the HAPLR website at www.haplr-index.com. They are also available in PDF format on the AL website. Libraries that use these ratings for publicity, to distribute to boards, or for other promotional purposes can download the corrected pages at www.ala.org/alonline. So what has actually changed in the statewide outlook over the past four years? New Mexico and Wyoming have increased their standings the most (from 42nd to 25th for New Mexico) and from 23rd to 15th for Wyoming. Maine, Arizona, and Florida have fallen in the standings the most (from 26th to 33rd for Maine, from 18th to 23rd for Arizona, and from 30th to 35th for Florida). Ohio, Utah, Oregon, Washington, and Indiana all maintained their relative spots in the top five. Mississippi, Louisiana, the District of Columbia, Alabama, and Tennessee took the bottom five spots for this year’s rankings. The top 10 libraries in each service population category are listed on the accompanying charts. Ranking number one in their respective slots are six Ohio libraries: Columbus Metropolitan Library (500 K), Washington-Centerville Public Library (50 K), North Canton Public Library (25 K), Twinsburg Public Library (10 K), Columbiana Public Library

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RAT NGS CORRECTED Twinsburg Public Library Wickliffe Public Library Hays Public Library Madison Public Library Orrville Public Library Peters Township Public Library Rocky River Public Library Darien Library Henry Carter Hull Library Way Public Library Columbiana Public Library Bridgeport Public Library Wright Memorial Public Library Crestline Public Library New Cumberland Public Library Bristol Public Library Dover Town Library Kinsman Free Public Library Grandview Heights Public Library Freeport Community Library Grand Valley Public Library Mt. Pleasant Public Library James Kennedy Public Library Bell Memorial Public Library Pelican Rapids Public Library Tracy Memorial Library Belleville Public Library Rock Valley Public Library Perry Public Library Soldotna Public Library Sodus Free Library Centerburg Public Library Flomaton Public Library Runals Memorial Library Seneca Free Library Utica Public Library District Conrad Public Library Dike Public Library Hazel L Meyer Memorial Library Upton County Public Library Hardtner Public Library Poland Public Library Wagnalls Memorial Library Browns Valley Public Library New Woodstock Free Library Clayville Library Association Meadow Grove Public Library Raquette Lake Free Library Silverton Public Library Washburn Public Library

State

Score

OH OH KS OH OH PA OH CT CT OH OH WV OH OH PA OH MA OH OH ME OH UT IA IN MN NH WI IA OH AK NY OH AL MN KS IL IA IA SD TX KS NY OH MN NY NY NE NY CO TN

956 936 930 921 911 905 902 901 899 893 953 933 919 907 907 906 906 899 899 891 924 914 914 900 898 885 883 878 875 870 921 917 914 900 898 890 887 877 876 870 892 890 880 875 873 870 863 860 858 852

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Library

Rank

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5,000

10,000

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november 2008

Top 10 Libraries in 10 Population Categories

>1,000

(5 K), and Grand Valley Public Library (2.5 K). The other four in the number-one slots are: Howard County in Maryland (250 K), Naperville Public Library in Illinois (100 K), Sodus Free Library in New York (1 K), and Hardtner Public Library in Kansas (less than 1 K). American Libraries sincerely regret this error and the confusion this has undoubtedly caused. Since they were first published in 1999, the HAPLR rankings have been used by many libraries to tout their success to local media, so we tried to get the correct numbers and rankings on the record as quickly as possible online and through American Libraries Direct. Hennen al so personally notified libraries that fell significantly down or off the charts entirely in the corrected ratings. How could such a mistake happen? Hennen offered what he called “an explanation, not an excuse”: “I referred to the wrong file on my computer. I have Excel spreadsheets for HAPLR data on my computer going back to 2000. Each folder has multiple spreadsheets with a variety of computations for various activities and reports. Last fall, when the late publication of the federal data caused the cancellation of the 2007 edition, I set up a file as a test for developing the next edition. I used the data for the 2006 ratings. I was testing layout, comparing to the forthcoming LJ Index, and looking at options for changing the elements used in the ratings. I filed the spreadsheet in the HAPLR2008 folder—as it turned out, a major mistake. “When the new federal data (fiscal 2005) for the 2008 edition was finally published, I placed that file on my ‘desktop’—the flip side of the major mistake I just mentioned. When it came time to write the American Libraries article and publish the 2008 website, I went to my HAPLR2008 file rather than to the correct desktop files; so close, so close, and yet so far! The result was republishing the last edition, scoring and ranking every library the same as for the 2006 edition.” All of us involved in publishing HAPLR8 offer sincere apologies to our readers. —L.K.

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ALA | Special Report

ALSC Institute Opens with a Utah “How Ya Doin’?”

grams for the new millennium. Other workshops examined how to host author visits and develop best-book blogs as well as tips on programming for English language learners. Award-winning authors Laura Vaccaro Seeger and Christopher Paul Curtis relayed entertaining experiences that influenced their books. Author Michele Goman, who is also teen services coordinator for the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, raced through a whirlwind review of graphic novels and gave many away. The author-editor teams of Sharon Creech with Joanna Cotler and William Joyce with Laura Geringer shared personal anecdotes about the late Bill

Morris, HarperCollins Children’s Books vice president and director of library promotion, during the first “Breakfast for Bill” funded by the William Morris Endowment. HarperCollins also provided free galleys and tote bags to breakfast participants. The entertainment agenda included a Utah trivia quiz, free westernstyle photographs, and a rooftop reception at SLCPL that included Wii gaming opportunities and tours highlighting the designs of architect Moshe Safdie. The next ALSC institute will be held in 2010 in Atlanta.—Betsy Diamant-Cohen, children’s programming specialist, Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore.

Photo: Carolyn Harnick

Provo (Utah) City Library Director Gene Nelson, donning a mustache and 10-gallon hat, joins Marsha Broadway from Brigham Young University.

american libraries

november 2008

hat can be better than a lively library conference with fabulous speakers, down-home hospitality, tons of networking opportunities, and a bit of silliness? A “Yee-haw!” welcome by Provo (Utah) City Library Director Gene Nelson, wearing traditional western garb, set the tone for the 265 attendees at ALA’s Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) National Institute held September 18–20 in Salt Lake City. Beth Gallaway of Information Goddess Consulting conducted two workshops—”Web 2.0: The Web, Interactive” and “Help! My Library Is Turning into an Arcade!”—where she explained internet applications and gaming, “Literacy is inherent to video games; if you can’t read, you really can’t play,” she told participants. Teri Lesesne, from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, deplored the current focus on raising test scores which “has resulted in a nation of children who can pass tests but cannot read critically and do not enjoy reading.” At “Naked Reading,” Lesesne provided tips on how to connect children with books. Author Carol Peterson encouraged librarians to jump into science programming with library-friendly experiments. Carla Morris, from Provo City Library, and Lisa Myron and Anne Nabaum, both from Salt Lake City Public Library (SLCPL), shared examples of successful pro-

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www.alastore.ala.org + toll free 866-746-7252 + fax 770-280-4155 Untitled-3 1

09/09/2008 12:36:24 PM

People | Announcements

Currents n Haverford (Pa.) College has appointed Laurie Allen coordinator for research, instruction, and outreach. n José L. Aranda has joined Doña Ana Community College in Las Cruces, New Mexico, as instructor for the library science program. n David Baldwin is the new associate dean of the library at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. n October 31 Robert D. Briell retired after 25 years as director of Warren–Trumbull County (Ohio) Public Library. n Valdosta (Ga.) State University has named Dawn Cadogan reference librarian and instructor of library science. n Patrick Carr has joined East Carolina University in Greenville, North Caro-

lina, as electronic and continuing resources acquisitions coordinator. n Ian Chan has been appointed web development librarian at California State University in San Marcos. n Margaret Cincotta became director of Garden City (N.Y.) Public Library October 13. n East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, has named Eleanor Cook assistant director for collections and technical services. n Christopher Cronin has joined the University of Chicago as director of metadata and cataloging services. n The County of Los Angeles Public Library has appointed Barbara Custen assistant director for public services. n David D’Onofrio re-

n Marshall Breeding, director for innovative technology and research at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, has been awarded a Fulbright Senior Specialist grant for a three-week automation project with an academic library consortium in Argentina. n Karen Fecko, Glastonbury (Conn.) High School library media specialist, has been named the school district’s teacher of the year. n Sandra Feinberg, director of Middle Country Public Library in Centerreach, New York, was inducted into the 2008 Suffolk County Women’s Hall of Fame August 13.

Christopher Cronin

cently became special collections librarian at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. n Jennifer Doty joined the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as city and regional planning librarian August 13. n July 1 Barbara DoyleWilch retired as dean of library and information services at Middlebury (Vt.) College. n Marguerite Dube has been promoted to director of Chester County (Pa.) Library. n The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County has promoted Greg Edwards to library services director. n On September 15 Elizabeth Fowler became director of Chesapeake (Va.) Public Library. n Stuart Frazer was promoted to head of access services at Old Dominion University Libraries in Norfolk, Virginia, September 16. n Pamela Gabourie is the new library development director at Portland (Oreg.) State University. n Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois, has appointed Bella Karr Gerlich university librarian.

Greg Edwards

Elizabeth Fowler

n Erin Germ joined the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, as systems librarian in September. n September 1 Meagan Griffin became electronic resources access librarian at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. n Lizette Guerra has been appointed acting librarian at the University of California at Los Angeles Chicano Studies Research Center. n East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, has named Amy Gustavson as instructional services coordinator. n Johnson County (Kans.) Library has named David Hanson web services manager. n Thomas Heverin has joined Temple University in Philadelphia as science librarian and Science, Engineering, and Architecture Library instruction coordinator. n Robert James has been named assistant director for user services at East Carolina University’s Joyner Library in Greenville, North Carolina. n Hancock County (Ind.) Public Library has named Jesse Keljo

american libraries

november 2008

cited

Dawn Cadogan

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Jennifer Mahnken

manager of corporate inclusion. n Dorothy Ormes is the new government documents librarian at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. n The University of Oklahoma in Norman has appointed Lina Ortega head of branch libraries. n Cary Osborne has joined the New Mexico State University Library in Las Cruces as political papers archivist. n Linda Rea, director of Hastings (Nebr.) Public Library, retired October 22. n September 29 Miriam Rigby was appointed social sciences librarian at the University of Oregon in Eugene. n Andrea Simzak joined the New Jersey State Library in Trenton as library associate in the reference services section September 4. n July 1 Holly Smith be-

came archival fellow in African American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. n Kristina Southwell has been appointed assistant curator of western history collections at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. n East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, has hired William Thomas as collections coordinator. n The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill appointed Jason Tomberlin public services librarian for the North Carolina Collection August 1. n December 1 Brian Westra becomes science data services librarian at the University of Oregon in Eugene. n Angela Whitehurst has been promoted to distance education coordinator at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. z

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

november 2008

Athenaeum. n Christina Baxter Mayberry has been named science and engineering librarian at California State University at Northridge. n Liz Miller has joined New Mexico State University in Las Cruces as cataloging unit head. n Jenny Mooney is the new community education and enrichment program supervisor at Jacksonville (Fla.) Public Library. n September 12 Kelly Moore became executive director of the Canadian Library Association. n East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, has appointed H. Clark Nall business reference librarian. n Judith Nichols has joined Brooklyn (N.Y.) Public Library as deputy director of external affairs. n September 10 Jerome Offord Jr. joined OCLC as

modeling of dozens of district libraries during the past decade. n Coleen Cole Salley, 79, cofounder and professor of the library science program at the University of New Orleans for more than 30 years, died September 16 of complications of Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease. Salley was active in bringing children’s authors to New Orleans and wrote the Epossumondas series of children’s books herself.

n Frances Chen, librarian at Princeton (N.J.) University’s School of Architecture Library, died September 13. Chen joined the university in 1965 and the School of Architecture Library in 1979. n Linda “Susie” Cochrane, 58, library supervisor for the Houston Independent School District until retiring in May, died of complications from colon cancer September 1. Cochran headed the construction or re-

Bella Karr Gerlich

obituaries

american libraries

reference librarian. n September 22 Pat Leach became director of Lincoln (Nebr.) City Libraries. n The U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, has named Alexis Linoski as electronic access librarian. n Patrick Loughney has been appointed chief of the Packard Campus of the Library of Congress’s National Audiovisual Conservation Center in Culpeper, Virginia. n John Lovett has been appointed director of special collections at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. n Chicago Public Library named Liane Luckman director of reference services October 6. n Pearl Ly has joined California State University at San Marcos as natural sciences librarian. n Kim Mahar recently became assistant library director at Olean (N.Y.) Public Library. n Johnson County (Kans.) Library named Jennifer Mahnken associate director for branch services July 27. n October 8 Paula Matthews became chief librarian/director of operations at the Boston

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Professional Development | Youth Matters

Encyclopedic Focus A classic reference resource brings entries alive

formational needs. The result is a newly engaging resource, with research-based information that reveals both humorous and dark perspectives on the world. (Videos explaining everything from “Why doesn’t Donald Duck wear pants?” to “How close has the Doomsday Clock come toward nuclear midnight?” blend expertise and science.) The videos allow viewers to learn what’s on young people’s and experts’ minds. What does this access cost? “Customers can subscribe to World Book Discover as a stand-alone product or add-on to a World Book web subscription at a discount,” Parello explained. “Prices are based on size of student/patron population. Prices for an add-on subscription start at $360 for medium-sized schools (500–1,000 students).” User data is not yet available for World Book Explains, which debuted in June. Anecdotally, the project seems to be taking off, thanks to the enthusiasm of outside partners and subscribing librarians, she indicated. Beyond creating segments about the federal government, World Book wants to hear more from users. “What we’re going to do is have the capacity for kids to submit questions online,” Parello said. “We’re going to find answers for them, in interesting and educational ways.” z JENNIFER BUREK PIERCE is assistant professor of library and information science at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. Contact her at youthmatters@ala.org.

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november 2008

hich came first, the where she went to ask about the first chicken or the egg? Thanksgiving, a Pilgrim reenactor This conundrum is responded (with some confusion, among the hundreds Parello noted, as the Pilgrims did of questions World Book plans to not label their experience as we answer via its new World Book Exhave come to do today), followed by plains videos. Developed in rea site educator and a Native Amerisponse to questions posed by tweens can, which offered a range of viewand teens, the videos, as World points about the meaning of Book’s Sarah Bright explains, offer Thanksgiving. “It’s a different way brief, insightful, and authoritative of looking at history,” she said. answers developed in The videos Online videos partnership with contain comprominent institutions from World Book mentary that around the nation. In Explains allow may not be this effort, World Book found in more viewers to learn conventionally joins a growing number of corporations what’s on young people’s neutral encylike Films Media clopedia enand experts’ minds. Group, the parent ortries, Parello ganization encompassing Films for noted. World Book consults but does the Humanities and Sciences, which not control the responses provided provide online streaming video by outside partners. The video concontent for educational use. tent is fact-checked and edited by Jennifer Parello, associate direcWorld Book, as is all other site contor of marketing at World Book and tent. chief videographer, has visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, ABC Framing knowledge News, and the National Civil War The videos form part of World Book Museum to record experts’ explana- Discover, a multifaceted online retions of all sorts of phenomena for source designed to meet young the first 100 World Book Explains people’s academic and life needs. videos. I talked with her between Content ranges from traditional encyclopedia information to guidance on filming trips to reach the goal of rehow to navigate institutions that proleasing at least 300 online videos this year that map to school curricu- vide health care and other services. Recognizing the growing populations la. “It’s growing organically,” she of learners for whom English is not said. “It’s a lot of work and a lot of their first language, as well as students fun.” Parello described the creative and whose learning styles make them less receptive to print, World Book created divergent perspectives that arise in audiovideo content to meet their inthe videos. At Plymouth Plantation,

by Jennifer Burek Pierce

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Working Knowledge | Professional Development

Giving Thanks

To begin, consider sending a handwritten note to someone who has earned your appreciation. To whom should you give thanks? Consider some of the librarians, libraryschool professors, coworkers, boss-

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

WORKING WISDOM

november 2008

Whom to thank

serving our libraries and our paes, or professional colleagues who trons, expecting little in return but have been of help to you once or the satisfaction of doing so. Realize many times over the years. that each of us has the power to enWhat if you have lost touch with rich the lives the person? Imagine the impact if all of our colWith the internet, losof us take time to send at leagues by letting them ing contact least one expression of know that we is actually gratitude to someone in notice and apquite hard preciate them. to do. Alour profession. Consider though it this your reminder that your thanks may take a little time, locating the are overdue. It is time to pay your person is well worth the effort. debt of gratitude to those who have Selfishly, giving thanks does wonhelped you along the way and who ders for the sender as well as the might not even know it. If you feel receiver. so inclined, share it with me for a future column. z What to say What should you say in your note? This seems to stump people enough to prevent them from writing. If necessary, make a draft. Notes get much easier with the practice of giving thanks! Just tell the person you were recently thinking about the time he . . . (fill in the blank), how much you appreciated it then, and Are you feeling a bit awk‑ still do. ward about expressing It can be as simple as that. Of your appreciation? I have course, you can also write a full letbeen in conversations with ter or describe in more detail why burned‑out librarians who that act (what they did or said in the feel invisible, and lament past) was so helpful or why it still the lack of sincere thanks means a lot to you. from others in their lives. Imagine the impact if all of us Recalling a kindness can take time this year to send at least bring back joy, and make us one expression of gratitude to feel appreciated and loved. someone in our profession. It is a Send out sincere thanks to way of caring for each other, and resomeone and let her share warding ourselves as librarians. in the joy as well. We spend our professional lives

ot long ago, I was recalling a time when someone had gone out of her way to make a big difference in my life. I had thanked her at the time, but that was several years ago. On impulse, I jotted a quick note reminding her of the kindness, and reiterating how helpful it had been to me. I was surprised to get a card in return! My benefactor had been in a slump, it seemed, and the unexpected note of thanks from me had helped make her world right again. We never know how much sharing our gratitude means to someone until we take the time to let him or her know. Management consultant Mark Horstman, in a podcast about thank you notes (www.manager-tools .com/2007/03/how-to-write-athank-you-note), commented that he keeps a basket of favorites he has received to reread when he is having a bad day. If you do the same, you know how uplifting these can be. Why not help create that experience for others?

by Mary Pergander

american libraries

An unexpected note can make all the difference

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Professional DEVELOPMENT | Books

Librarian’s Library Centuries of expertise between two covers

INDEXED. 296 P. LIBRARIES UNLIMITED, PBK., $50 (978-1-59158-547-3).

Comic Relief

As the popularity of graphic novels has exploded, we’ve had the benefit of a number of guides to familiarize us with the format. The Librarian’s

Because it’s intended as a basic guide, the comic books and manga, then book is refreshingly offers practical jargon-free.

Guide to Graphic Novels for Children and Tweens fills a gap in the literature by focusing on a younger audience—a tricky group, since so many graphic novels are geared to mature readers. Based on his own experience as youth services librarian at Broward County (Fla.) Library, David S. Serchay provides an introduction to the graphic novel format and its various incarnations, including

guidance on acquiring, managing, promoting, and maintaining a collection. The book concludes with a substantial annotated list of suggested titles and series.

INDEXED. NEAL-SCHUMAN, PBK., $55 (978-1-5570626-55).

All about Awards

What’s the different between the Alex Award and the Edwards Award? How did the Printz Award get started? These and other questions are answered in The Official YALSA Awards Guidebook, compiled and edited by Tina Frolund. Each of the three awards offered by ALA’s Young

NEW FROM ALA Winners Tell All Every year ALA’s American Association of School Librarians sponsors a competition to choose the National School Library Media Program of the Year (NSLMPY) Award winner. In Leadership for Excellence: Insights of National School Library Media Programs of the Year Award Winners, 24 school library media specialists describe their winning programs, which range from providing library orientation for teachers and working with parent volunteers to creating a website and holding a high-school “Middle East Peace Summit.” As editor Jo Ann Carr says in the preface, “each of these leaders exemplifies the multiple characteristics needed to build school library programs that meet the NSLMPY criteria.” Inspirational and instructive. INDEXED. 120 P. ALA EDITIONS, PBK., $39, $35.10 FOR ALA MEMBERS (978-0-8389-0961-4).

american libraries | november 2008

ow often have you tried to explain to people what you do, and what it means to be a librarian? In The Portable MLIS: Insights from the Experts, Barbara Ford, Michael Gorman, and David Tyckoson are just a few of the 18 leaders (with, we are told, almost 1,000 years of combined experience) who have set out to answer these questions. Following an introduction, “How to Think Like a Librarian,” by editors Ken Haycock and Brooke E. Sheldon, chapters discuss the profession’s core values and competencies. Concluding chapters discuss globalization and what it means for libraries, and examine future trends. Appendixes contain a wealth of resources, including key documents, sample policies, and a list of professional associations. Because it’s intended as a basic guide for “the beginner and layperson,” the book is refreshingly jargon-free.

by Mary Ellen Quinn

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ROUSING READS

INDEXED. 170 P. NEAL-SCHUMAN, PBK., $55 (9781-55570-629-6).

O Canada

The 47th Congress of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions was held in Québec City this past summer. To mark that event, Library and Archives Canada and the Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales de Québec have published Reaching Out: Innovation in Canadian Libraries. The book describes 40 library projects, some involving service to emerging clientele (teens, seniors, aboriginal people), and others breaking new ground in cooperation, digitization, architecture, and other areas. All the programs have one goal, shared by libraries no matter where they are: “full accessibility to reading and knowledge.” 122 P. LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA AND THE BIBLIOTHÈQUE ET ARCHIVES NATIONALES DE QUÉBEC. PBK., $29.95 (978-2-7637-8724-4) z

have one piece of advice for all the politicians and pundits who have been expressing incredulity over how this country’s financial managers could possibly screw up so badly: read more fiction. Bankers in literature are almost uniformly bad guys. Would Dickens have been surprised at the news that the Lehman brothers dove into the subprime market like a ravenous coyote attacking a nice plate of carrion? Would Steinbeck’s jaw have dropped at the revelation that a bunch of bankers put greed before common sense? At times of crisis in the external world, I firmly believe that the best strategy is to look inward, and the best way to do that is through fiction or poetry. Take Wordsworth. You would think he was strolling about Wall Street in late September, rather than wandering through England’s lake district in 1807, when he wrote these words: “The world is too much with us; late and soon / Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers.” Nineteenth-century England saw its fare share of capitalism run amuck, to be sure, but when it comes to getting and spending, wee Willy Wordsworth was a mere babe in the daffodil-strewn woods. His disgust, however, at a world gone wrong (“for everything, we are out of tune”) seems right on the money (note the ironical use of a financial metaphor). Some might argue, of course, that poets and novelists make unfair use of businessmen, reducing them all to objects of satire or symbols of wrongheadedness. It’s true that happens, but whether it’s unfair is another matter. There’s a very simple reason why businessmen and especially bankers can never be good guys in literary fiction: Any serious literary novel is about character rather than plot, and the deeper an author goes into his or her characters, the more the focus turns to the inner life.

The Inner Life Look at the books on the Modern Library’s list of the 100 best novels of the 20th century. There is one thing nearly all of these books have in common: Whether their plots, such as they are, happen to concern what transpired on a certain day in Dublin or how a Russian immigrant came to take a road trip with a particularly fetching nymphet, the best literary novels celebrate the inner life in all its forms—philosophical, erotic, or even perverse. Business and banking are worlds of surfaces and facts, and as such, they must always function in literature as convenient metaphors for external reality, what Margaret Schlegel in E. M. Forster’s Howard’s End calls the world of “telegrams and anger.” The forms of communication may have changed in the years since Forster’s time, from telegrams to telephones to television to emails to text messages, but the anger remains the same. It bears pointing out that, in Forster’s novel, Margaret Schelgel’s banker husband, Mr. Wilcox, is portrayed with some sympathy, which brings us to rule number two about bankers in books: When a banker turns out to be a sort-of good guy in the end, it is only after he comes to see the error of his ways, a realization almost always prompted by a woman who recognizes the supremacy of the inner life. That’s what literary fiction is all about: the supremacy of the inner life, and that’s why, at times when the outer world threatens even more than usual, everyone should tune out the nightly news and read a novel.

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

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

Bankers in Books

american libraries | november 2008

Adult Library Services Association is discussed at length. We get histories, criteria, annotated lists of award-winners, and more, including award trivia (Hollywood films made from Alex winners, first-time novelists awarded the Printz) and Edwards and Printz Award acceptance speeches. In addition, the book offers practical advice on using award-winners to strengthen collections and services, as well as reproducible handouts.

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SHOWCASE | New Products

Solutions and Services <<< www.civicacmi.com Creative Microsystems Inc. has introduced the Spydus library management system to the U.S. market. In addition to automating traditional library functions such as circulation, cataloging, and acquisitions, Spydus includes modules for interlibrary loans, selection, newspaper indexes, and more.

<<<

www.easybib.com

>>>

The Eco Auto-Smart disc repair machine from RTI cleans CDs, DVDs, or game discs in less than a minute and repairs most discs in less than three minutes. Measuring 12 inches by 9 inches by 16½ inches, the machine repairs discs quietly and without heat, using rotating microabrasive repair pads.

<<< www.printeron.net PrintSpots Library allows patrons to print from their own laptop computers on library printers. The system operates on the library’s wireless network, without the need for the user to install printers or drivers. It encrypts data for security and can be integrated with a library’s existing cost recovery system.

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

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november 2008

EasyBib is a free online service that helps students properly cite research sources. The application offers citation assistance for more than 50 types of resources and supports MLA and APA formatting. Users fill out a form with relevant information about the source, and EasyBib formats and alphabetizes citations for online viewing or exporting to Word.

www.discchek.com

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www.springer.com

<<< www.demco.com Demco’s BoomChair Rumbleseat is designed for gaming applications. The chair incorporates four speakers, two subwoofers, and an interactive vibration motor. It measures 32 inches by 42 inches by 29 inches, folds in half for storage, and is available in three color options.

Springer has launched the Springer Protocols Collection, containing more than 18,000 research protocols in molecular biology and biomedicine, with 2,000 protocols added annually. The database is integrated with SpringerLink to increase exposure to other content, and incorporates community features such as discussion forums and the ability to add commentary to published protocols.

CASE STUDY AUDIOBOOK LIBRARY WEBSITE ENRICHES BLIND USERS’ LIVES

| american libraries

ith the support of state libraries for the blind, working with common screen reader software that blind print-disabled residents of nine states have acusers rely on for internet browsing. cess to audiobooks online, free of charge. OverDrive, which specializes in creating custom The service, Unabridged (unabridged.lib.overdrive websites for public libraries to deliver download.com), is currently available to able audiobooks as well as residents of California, ColoeBooks, music, and video, rado, Delaware, Illinois, Masalso tested its free OverDrive sachusetts, New Hampshire, Media Console with blind Oregon, Texas, and Vermont. users. The audiobook player Through the site, users can software is required to play download any of thousands of Unabridged’s DRM-protected professionally narrated titles in content; built-in accessibility minutes. features make it possible for “Unabridged, at its most a blind user to burn audio basic level, is there to improve CDs and transfer downloads the quality of life for blind and to portable music devices. visually impaired users who Users also do not have cannot access entertainment in to wait days for the postal the same way a sighted person Unabridged allows print-disabled residents in nine service to deliver their latest states to access free audiobooks online. can,” says Tom Peters, Unselection. Nor do they have abridged project coordinator. to wait for a bus or find a Peters has been involved with the project since its ride to go to their local libraries for audiobooks on CD inception in 2004. Working with audiobook distributor or cassette. OverDrive and five of the current state library partners, Unabridged has also created a sister website, UnPeters spearheaded an effort to create a download abridged School Download Library (unabridgedsdl.lib library website that provides entertaining content while .overdrive.com), for K-12 students and teachers.

november 2008

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our humanities programs from the 2007-2008 school year are eligible for the 2009 Sara Jaffarian School Library Program Award for Exemplary Humanities Programming. Awarded annually, the Sara Jaffarian Award recognizes a school library or media center serving children K-8 that conducted an excellent humanities program during the prior school year. The selected program will receive: UÊf{]äääÊV>Ã Ê>Ü>À` UÊ« >µÕiÊÌ ÊLiÊ>Ü>À`i`Ê>ÌÊÌ iÊÓää Ê ALA Annual Conference in Chicago UÊ«À Ì Ê vÊÌ iÊ«À }À> Ê>ÃÊ>Ê model for other school libraries. The nominated humanities program can be focused in many subject areas, including, but not limited to, social studies, poetry, drama, art, music, language arts, foreign language, and culture. This includes programs supported by ALA grants such as the We the People Bookshelf on “Created Equal,” and Picturing America. Applications are now being accepted! Nominate your program from the 2007-2008 school year by December 1, 2008. For more information or to download an application, visit www.ala.org/jaffarianaward. Sponsored by the American Library Association Cultural Communities Fund and the National Endowment for the Humanities in cooperation with the American Association of School Librarians.

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Classifieds | PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

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

Print Deadline November 5 for the December issue, which mails about December 1. Ads received after November 5 will be published as space permits through about November 15.

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

Academic library LIBRARY DIRECTOR, Erikson Institute. The Edward Neisser Library at Erikson Institute in Chicago, Illinois, is seeking a professional librarian with a master’s degree in library science from an ALAaccredited program and 7-10 years of administrative experience including hands-on working knowledge of library routines. Experience or education in child development, early education, psychology, teacher education, or a related field is highly desirable. For complete details, please visit www. erikson.edu/jobs.

lAW lIBRARY

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

DESCRIPTION: The primary duties of the librarian are to develop, maintain, organize, and add to the library’s growing information base and repositories in all formats for the law school faculty, staff and students, as well as the university and public. Technical services functions such as cataloging, collection development, and other duties are also part of this position’s responsibilities. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS: Master’s degree in library/information science from an ALA-accredited program; familiarity of electronic legal information resources; familiarity with file formats, media/data migration, metadata, database management, and digitization techniques; and familiarity in a library’s cataloging area with knowledge of cataloging and classification policies, practice and tools such as OCLC. PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS: ABA-accredited JD or international equivalent; work experience in a law

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.

library or academic library; knowledge of current and emerging national cataloging standards (e.g., AACR2, MARC21, Library of Congress Classification, LCSH); and knowledge of and/or experience with Innovative’s Millennium system. OTHER INFORMATION: The position is a fulltime, 12-month, tenure-track position with rank of Assistant Librarian. Additional information is available at www. law.ttu.edu/lawlibrary/library/ and look for Position Opening link. Salary: Salary of at least $48,000, competitive and commensurate with experience and qualifications. The position will remain open until filled. To apply: Complete the online application at https://jobs. texastech.edu for Requisition #77521. 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.

DIGITAL INFORMATION LIBRARIAN, Texas Tech University Law Library. SHORT

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.

november 2008

“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.

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.

american libraries

Place a Job Ad

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CAREER LEADS | Academic Library

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Science and Engineering Librarian (2 Positions) Texas A&M University Libraries seeks two creative, energetic, and service-oriented colleagues to help meet the information needs of students and faculty in the areas of engineering and physical sciences. Responsibilities include providing innovative reference and instruction services and contributing to the development of the science and engineering collections. Both are academic appointments carrying full faculty status and responsibilities. RESPONSIBILITIES: Serves as the Librariesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; liaison to selected departments and programs within the Colleges of Engineering, Science, and Geosciences. Develops and shares subject expertise in assigned areas, working collaboratively with the Science and Engineering group, and the heads of reference, instruction, liaison, and collection development services. Delivers a program of outreach that includes library promotion and assessment of the needs of assigned groups. Provides library instruction, using traditional methods and instructional technologies. Provides reference service, including virtual reference. Develops and maintains subject and class guides using the librariesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; content management system. Drawing on knowledge of user needs and the librariesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; collections, participates in selecting print and electronic resources. Participates in committees and administrative groups. Participates in professional activitiesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;research, publication, and serviceâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;to meet the Librariesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s requirements for promotion and tenure. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS: American Library Association (ALA)-accredited Masters degree (or equivalent). Extensive knowledge of science and engineering reference tools or several college courses in engineering or physical sciences. Excellent oral and written communication skills. A commitment to strong customer service within and outside the libraries. Excellent interpersonal and teamwork skills, complemented by the ability to take initiative. Demonstrated ability to use basic desktop applications such as spreadsheet and presentation programs. Demonstrated ability to work independently. Demonstrated experience working with persons from diverse backgrounds. Knowledge of emerging information technologies. PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS: One year or more of experience in an academic library or science/engineering special library. One year or more of pre-professional or professional experience in a science or technical field. Degree in engineering or physical sciences. Substantial coursework or work experience in the field of chemistry. Environment: Founded in 1876, Texas A&M University, the seventh largest university in the nation, has an enrollment of over 48,000 students. Texas A&M was ranked third nationally among public universities in the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Great Schools, Great Pricesâ&#x20AC;? category in the 2008 edition of U.S. News & World Reportâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Best Colleges.â&#x20AC;? The Princeton Review, Kiplingerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, and Barronâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also have listed Texas A&M in similar ratings in their recent guides. Texas A&M University Libraries is a member of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and is the Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s principal research and information center, providing 3.9 million volumes, 5.6 million microforms, 52,000 print and electronic serial titles, more than 400,000 electronic books, and over 600 databases. The University Libraries ranks 18th among ARL libraries in materials expenditures, with an acquisition budget of $15.5m. There is a total budgeted staff of 268, including 85 librarians with faculty status. Librarians work in a sophisticated online environment utilizing Voyager, SFX, Metalib, Verde and a full range of automated information retrieval services. The facilities are well maintained with comfortable spaces for work and study. The College Station/Bryan community offers a variety of affordable housing options, an easy commute, excellent parks and public schools, numerous community arts programs, and proximity to Houston and Austin. The university hosts a wide variety of conferences, lecture series and seminars, bringing in newsmakers, leaders, pioneers, researchers, and public officials from around the state of Texas, the U.S., and the world. Benefits and Salary: Faculty rank and salary are commensurate with qualifications and experience; salary is not less than $45,000. Excellent benefits include choice of health plan options and paid life insurance; several retirement plans including TIAACREF; paid holidays and vacation; no state or local income tax. Application Deadline and Procedure: Review of applications began on October 24, 2008. The letter of application should address the responsibilities, qualifications, and experiences listed for the position. Your letter, vita, and the names, e-mail addresses and telephone numbers of three

professional references* may be sent: 1) Via email to jkthorn@tamu.edu (preferred method of receipt); or 2) faxed to Joyce K. Thornton, 979-862-5161; or 3) mailed to: Joyce K. Thornton, Associate Dean for

Faculty Services, Texas A&M Libraries, & ' 5000 TAMU, College Station,

University

TX 77843-5000. An Equal Opportunity Employer, TAMU Libraries is committed to faculty who

employing quality will enhance the rich diversity of our academic commu! " interested in receiving applications from a broad nity. In that regard, we are

particularly spectrum of qualified people#$% who

are representative of the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s diversity.

For more information about the Libraries see library.tamu.edu. For campus and community links see library.tamu.edu/about/employment/faculty-positions/campus-and-community-links.

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The Web Services Librarian takes a leadership role in the design and management of an evolving library web presence to meet the needs of the students, faculty, and staff of the University. This is an ideal position for a librarian with vision who can explore new ideas, learn new technology, and build consensus among teammembers. This position requires an MLS/MLIS/MIS or equivalent degree from an accredited institution. Pending degree candidates encouraged to apply. Rank: Senior Assistant Librarian Salary range: $57,060-$-62,096, commensurate with qualications and experience. For a complete job description, application instructions, and more information about the University Library, http://library.sonoma.edu/about/jobs/faculty. Review of applications starts Dec. 1, 2008. If needed, another review of applications may be conducted for those applications sent by Jan. 16, 2009. Sonoma State is an afﬁrmative action, equal opportunity employer.

MOREHEAD STATE UNIVERSITY

Morehead State University, recognized as one of the top public universities in the South by U.S. News & World Report invites applications for a tenure-track position as

YOUTH SERVICES LIBRARIAN. Starting salary range: $40,454-$52,590. Plan, conduct and publicize programs for children at our 3 library locations. Responsible for Summer Reading program, toddler times, preschool storytimes, after school programs and potential early literacy programs. Selects juvenile materials with assistance from other staff. Provides readers’ advisory and reference service to children and young adults. Works collaboratively with the Young Adult Librarian. MLS degree required. Experience is preferred but recent graduates will be considered. Visit our website at www.ocplva.org for additional information. EOE. A completed Orange County application form is required. Applications may be obtained from: Orange County Administration Office, P.O. Box 111, 112 W. Main St., Orange County, VA 22960; 540-672-3313; fax 540-672-1379 or online at orangecountyva.gov/human_res/documents/CountyApplication.pdf. Position starts Oct. 1, 2008 and is open until filled.

  

SALES

in the Camden-Carroll Library at the rank of Librarian I. For a full description and to apply, please visit our website at: https://secureweb.moreheadstate.edu/NovusHRapps/JobPostings. aspx. For questions about the online application, call (606) 783-2097.

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.

AC H I E V E . EXPERIENCE. SUCCEED.

w w w. m o r e h e a d s t a t e . e d u MSU is an EO/AA educator and employer with a strong commitment to community engagement.

pUblic library LIBRARY DIRECTOR. Passaic Public Library seeks a dynamic library director to lead main and branch library in multi-ethnic community of 70,000 in close proximity to New York City. ALA-accredited MLS; eligibility for New Jersey librarian cer tification. Five years of experience as director/ assistant director in an urban library. Salary commensurate with experience; excellent benefits package. Visit www. passaicpubliclibrary.org for full job announcement. Submit resume and 3 references to: Search Committee, c/o Michele Fornal, Passaic Public Library, 195 Gregory Avenue, Passaic, NJ 07055.

LIBRARIAN I Permanent and temporary part-time librarian positions available with the County of Los Angeles Public Library. People with bilingual skills and/or interest in children services especially needed. Monthly salary: $4,006-$5,255. Go to www.colapublib.org for job announcement and standard application. Contact Human Resources at (562) 940-8434 for interview appointment. M.L.S. required.

LIBRARY DIRECTOR. Progressive, fast growing White County, Arkansas, is

seeking energetic, experienced public library system director. Director will oversee and assist with planning all phases of library services for 7 branches with 15 FTEs; will work with a 13-member regional board and 5-member county board; will be responsible for budget preparation and represent the library to the public and governmental agencies. APPLICANTS MUST HAVE an MLS from an ALA-accredited school, at least 5 years of administrative experience, excellent verbal and written skills, cooperative spirit, political experience, technological knowledge, and a public library background. Experience with construction projects a plus. Beginning salary range between $50,000 to $56,000 based on experience. Retirement and health care provided. Letters of application, resumes and references should be sent to: Susie Boyett, White

november 2008

Just 50 miles north of San Francisco in beautiful wine country, the University Library in the new Jean and Charles Schulz Information Center thrives on innovation and creativity. We are seeking a motivated, energetic, and futureoriented professional to join our team and participate in a collaborative and constantly changing information environment.

Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA

County Regional Library System, 113 E. Pleasure Ave., Searcy, AR 72143. For complete information please visit www.wcrls.org.

american libraries

Web Services Librarian

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CAREER LEADS | Public Library Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation American Libraries is published monthly except June/July, a combined issue (11 times yearly), by the American Library Association, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. American Library Association, owner. Leonard Kniffel, editor and publisher. Gordon Flagg, managing editor. Periodicals-class postage paid at Chicago, Ill., and additional mailing offices. Printed in U.S.A. As a nonprofit organization authorized to mail at special rates (Section 448.31 Postal Manual), the purpose, function, and nonprofit status for federal income tax purposes have not changed during the preceding 12 months. Extent and nature of circulation: “Average” figures denote the number of copies printed each issue during the preceding 12 months. “Actual” figures denote number of copies of single issues published nearest to filing date, the September 2008 issue. Total number of copies (net press run): Average 66,840; Actual 67,064 Paid or requested outside-county mail subscriptions: Average 62,640; Actual 62,934 Paid in-county subscriptions: None Sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors, and counter sales: Average 1,995; Actual 1,986 Other classes mailed through the USPS: None Total paid and/or requested circulation: Average 64,635; Actual 64,920 Free distribution by mail outsidecounty: None; In-county: None Other classes mailed through the USPS: Average 55; Actual 43 Free distribution outside the mail: Average 1,034; Actual 1,280

Librarians’ Classifieds

WANTED

WANT TO BUY

UNNEEDED LIBRARY MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT WANTED. Books for Libraries, Inc., Jim Stitzinger, 23800 Via Irana, Valencia, CA 91355; 800-3215596; e-mail jstitz@pacbell.net.

CHEMICAL OR BIOLOGICAL AB STR AC TS AND OTHER SCIENCE JOURNALS. Contact: e-mail eva@ rpbs.com; 713-779-2999; fax 713779-2992.

THEOLOGICAL BOOKS AND PERIODICALS for seminary. Books for Libraries, Inc., Jim Stitzinger, 23800 Via Irana, Valencia, CA 91355; 800-321-5596; e-mail jstitz@pacbell.net.

FOR SALE

PERIODICALS AND SERIALS

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.

JOURNALS AND BOOK COLLECTIONS WANTED. Ten years of service, work worldwide. Managed numerous projects of 100,000+ vols. Archival Resource Company, PO Box 488, Collingswood, NJ 08108; JournalSets@Gmail.com; 800-390-1027; 215-701-1853 (e-fax).

DOCTORAL PROGRAM

Total distribution: Average 65,724; Actual 66,243 Copies not distributed (office use, leftovers, spoiled): Average 1,116; Actual 821 Total: Average 66,840; Actual 67,064 Percent paid and/or requested circulation: Average 98.34%; Actual 98% Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation (PS form 3526) for 2008 filed with United States Postal Service in Chicago, Oct. 1, 2008.

american libraries

november 2008

Total free distribution: Average 1,089; Actual 1,323

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FIND THE RIGHT BOOKS AND MEDIA

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

$99.50 / 22 issues per year Designed especially for building library collections. With hundreds of reviews identified by reading audience, each issue of Booklist offers greater selection support and is more trusted than any other magazine or journal. You’ll love the time-saving policy of limiting published reviews to recommended-only titles, as well as features like the best adult books for YA readers. “Booklist is a review journal I always consult when making purchasing decisions.” — Ed Sullivan, Library Media Specialist, Knox County Schools, TN

$39.95 / 6 issues per year Focused content that helps you connect children with high-quality books and media-based products. Articles written by teachers, librarians, authors, and media specialists are diverse, clearly marked for age-appropriateness, and annotated with bibliographies of related titles. Print and Web-based teaching resources help make reading activities fun and engaging. “In a time when connections between libraries and curriculum are so vitally important, Book Links is the perfect magazine for elementary libraries in our district.” —Karen Weiss, Elementary School Librarian

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

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COMMENTARY | Will’s World

The Bandwidth That Binds Desperately seeking succor from 24/7 surfing

I had a computer installed. My starting with Mortimer Adler’s addiction was almost immediate. Great Books pro-

For example, last month on my way to give a speech on the East Coast, I sat next to a clueness twit. I was probably asking for it because I had buried myself deeply into volume three of Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past. (I use big, thick books to ward off nervous travelers who want to chatter.) Undeterred, this guy, a stockbroker (now there’s a reputable profession), seemed genuinely surprised that I was a retired librarian. “An unusual career choice for a man,” he said. “I imagine that it didn’t pay very well, but on the other hand you’re obviously a reader and you probably enjoyed reading a lot of books on the job.” “Oh yes,” I lied, “I read thousands of books in my career. I always exceeded my annual reading goal, which meant I got a nice bonus every year at Christmas. That’s why I was able to retire early.” During the long flight, I recalled the frustration of knowing all these wonderful books were heading to the shelves and I didn’t have the time to read them. That’s why I wanted to devote my retirement to reading all the books I had always wanted,

gram. I knew that in order to become a serious reader, I would have to eliminate a number of distractions. So I cancelled my cable television service, donated my DVD player to Goodwill, and decided not to get a computer. While I had never been addicted to any of these devices, I realized that in retirement they might be too tempting. Have you ever started surfing the Net, and looked up two hours later with the guilty realization that you haven’t accomplished a darn thing? That’s precisely what has happened. For the first four months of my retirement, I was without a computer, and I blissfully read through all of Homer, Herodotus, and Plato. Then, thinking that I had established a modicum of mental discipline, I had a computer installed at home. I was soon surfing sports sites, looking up the whereabouts of high school classmates I hadn’t seen for 40 years, and visiting Weather.com at least two or three times a day, even though it hasn’t rained for at least six months. My first stop whenever I return from an errand is the latebreaking news on MSNBC.com. Every morning, I go online to check the stock market, and I don’t even have any money in it! That is my story. Can you help? z WILL MANLEY has furnished provocative commentary on librarianship for over 25 years and nine books on the lighter side of library science. Write him at wmanley7@att.net.

american libraries

november 2008

i, my fellow librarians, my name is Will, and I need your understanding, support, and kindness. Here’s my story. I have had an internet addiction now for eight months. The only reason that I decided to buy a computer and subscribe to an online service provider after my retirement was to make myself accessible to libraries and library associations that might want to contact me for a speaking engagement or a staff development day. I enjoy doing stand-up comedy for librarians. Much of the general public is completely clueless about what we do, so my shtick is to poke fun at the people who poke fun at us. Laughter is the best form of revenge.

by Will Manley

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10/07/2008 3:14:18 PM