July
12, 2006
AL Direct is a free electronic newsletter e-mailed
every Wednesday to personal members of the American
Library Association.
Contents:
U.S. & World News
ALA News
Booklist Online
New Orleans Update
Division News
Awards
Seen Online
Actions & Answers
Poll
Datebook
AL Direct
FAQ
Homeless
residents sue Worcester library over borrowing restrictions
The Legal Assistance Corporation and the American Civil Liberties Union
have filed a class action lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts,
charging that the Worcester Public Library is unfairly restricting the
borrowing privileges of residents who live in homeless shelters....
Nampa
library keeps Joy of books, loses donor
Business owner Larry Knapp has announced that he will withhold a $10,000
donation he had considered making toward a new library facility to protest
the Nampa (Idaho) Public Library board’s decision to retain The
Joy of Sex and The Joy of Gay Sex in the collection. “Why
would you want to create a larger problem?” Knapp said....
Northeastern
flooding takes a toll on archives, libraries
River cities in the northeastern part of the United States took a multimillion-dollar
hit in late June and early July from heavy rains that caused flooding
damage to libraries in at least six states and the District of Columbia....
Buffalo
dissolves Informatics School, returns LIS to education
The State University of New York’s University at Buffalo announced
June 16 that it was dissolving its School of Informatics, with its two
components—the Department of Library and Information Studies and
the Department of Communication—moving back to their former homes
in the Graduate School of Education and the College of Arts and Sciences,
respectively....
Fired
director sues American Library in Paris board
Following a contentious annual membership meeting attended by some 130
members of the American Library in Paris June 20, Library Director Shirley
Lambert revealed that she is filing suit against the board of directors
for unemployment compensation under French law....
2007
National Library Week Grant
Libraries across the United States are invited to apply for the $5,000
Scholastic Library Publishing National Library Week Grant, which will
be awarded to a single library for the best public awareness campaign
incorporating the 2007 National Library Week theme, “Come together
@ your library.” This year’s application deadline is October
16. National Library Week is April 15–21, 2007....
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Ung,
Valdes-Rodriguez, Berry to keynote JCLC opening general session |
RFID
in libraries: Privacy and confidentiality guidelines
The Intellectual Freedom Committee adopted these guidelines on the use
of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology in libraries at ALA
Annual Conference in New Orleans June 27....
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Featured
review: 
Officials
tout ALA success as tourism turning point
ALA Annual Conference was a major milestone for the New Orleans convention
industry. The Convention Center staff spent much of its time allaying
fears of nervous attendees each time bad news from New Orleans hit the
national cable news networks—whether it was mold infestations, leaky
levees, or the return of the National Guard for crime control....
New Orleans City Business,
July 10
ALA
and NOLA
Going to New Orleans was an act of bravery on our part and a demonstration
of our values as a profession. We came to attend to business, further
our education, and network with colleagues. But more importantly, we came
to help rebuild the city, to build it better....
Leslie Burger’s Blog, July 6
New
Orleans PL rebuilding campaign
NOPL has been overwhelmed by the generosity of people across the country
who have donated an estimated 1 million books of all kinds, conditions,
and subjects. (Can anyone use hundreds of Russian grammar books?) They
are grateful for the assistance and will put all the books to the most
appropriate uses possible. However, due to extreme storage and staff limitations,
they are now asking people to help out in other ways....
New Orleans Public Library
Anderson
Cooper gets standing ovation
at PLA President’s Program
Author and television news anchor Anderson Cooper received a standing
ovation following his June 25 keynote address to the PLA President’s
Program at ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans....
ACRL
membership survey, part one
Steven Bell summarizes the demographic findings of the division’s
May survey. The goal of the survey was to evaluate member satisfaction
and determine what the members most value about their involvement in ACRL....
ACRLog, July 10
ACRL
joint institute on scholarly information
ACRL, along with the Association of Research Libraries, will offer a second
Institute on Scholarly Communication, December 6–8, at Duke University
in Durham, North Carolina. The inaugural institute at UCLA in July had
far more applicants than could be accommodated. The deadline for applications
is August 15....
@
your library song
Singer/storyteller Bill Harley wrote a special song, called “@ your
library,” for ALSC’s Kids! @ your library public-awareness campaign.
A full-length version highlighting Harley and a chorus of children (mp3
file) can be downloaded from the ALSC site, as well as two other versions
and PDF files of the lyrics
and sheet
music....
AASL
honors Laura Bush with a Crystal Apple
AASL President J. Linda Williams presented the division’s Crystal
Apple award to the First Lady at the “School Libraries Work: Rebuilding
for Learning” National Town Hall Meeting during Annual Conference
in New Orleans....
Google
to open facility in Ann Arbor
Search-engine company Google plans to open an office in the Ann Arbor
area that will employ 1,000 people within five years to handle advertising
that appears on its internet search engine, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm
and company officials said July 11. Google’s involvement with the
Ann Arbor area is not new. In December 2004, the popular search engine
announced a partnership with the University of Michigan to scan books
from the school’s library....
Associated Press, July 11
Tax
dollars to fund study on restricting FOIA requests
The federal government will pay a Texas law school $1 million to do research
aimed at rolling back the amount of sensitive data available to the press
and public through freedom-of-information requests. Beginning this month,
St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio will analyze recent
state laws that place previously available information, such as site plans
of power plants, beyond the reach of public inquiries....
USA Today, July 5
MySpace
may face legislative crackdown
Politicians July 11 accused MySpace.com and other social-networking sites
of failing to protect minors from sexual predators and other malign influences
and said a legislative crackdown may be necessary. During a hearing before
a House of Representatives subcommittee, lawmakers argued over the merits
of compelling schools and libraries to cordon off access to such sites....
CNet News, July 11
Does
freedom to read apply to DVDs?
The culture wars have returned to the Loudoun County (Va.) Public Library
system—or, more precisely, to the tidy rows of DVDs at its seven
branches. The library system’s 440 R-rated movies are especially
popular. They are also provoking a public battle between the county’s
Board of Supervisors and the library board of trustees....
Washington Post, July 9
FLA
files amicus in lawsuit against Miami-Dade school board
(Word
file)
The
Florida Library Association filed an amicus curiae memorandum in
U.S. District Court in support of the lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Florida
and the Miami-Dade Student Government Association against the Miami-Dade
County School Board for its removal of the book Vamos a Cuba and
the book series “A Visit to...” from Miami-Dade School Board
libraries and classrooms....
Florida Library Association, July 8
Screens
to hide porn at Pima County
The Tucson-Pima (Ariz.) Public Library will install privacy screens around
its computers so passers-by won’t be exposed to pornography. The
county board of supervisors adopted that policy July 11 in response to
concerns about viewing of online pornography at library branches....
Tucson Arizona Daily Star, July 12
Discord
deepens between Providence library board, city
The Providence (R.I.) Public Library’s board of trustees voted unilaterally
July 10 to create a corporation to oversee taxpayer money spent at the
library. The new entity would be run by public appointees designated by
the city. The problem is, as several board members pointed out, the city
hasn’t agreed to the plan....
Providence Journal, July 11
Sharing
keeps rare books public
Like a medieval alchemist, a good librarian can make magic by bringing
together the right book and the right reader. The Newberry Library in
Chicago and Midwestern colleges split the cost of expensive antique volumes
that might otherwise have gone to collectors....
Chicago Tribune, July 6
Small
businesses profit from library resources
A small business owner in Iowa or Missouri who needs help putting together
a business plan can find it in states such as New York and Pennsylvania—at
libraries that are dedicated to serving entrepreneurs with their traditional
catalogs of books and with extensive online resources....
Associated Press, July 5
Simmons
GSLIS faculty in Middle East to train Iraqi librarians
Iraqi librarians are being trained to preserve their nation’s damaged
library collections under an NEH grant awarded to the Simmons College
Graduate School of Library and Information Science and Harvard University
Library. Dean Michèle V. Cloonan and other Simmons representatives
are in the United Arab Emirates for a second round of training. The UAE
University at Al Ain is hosting the participants, who are blogging daily
about the experience....
Simmons GSLIS: Dispatches from the Field
Scholastic
helps rebuild Gulf Coast school libraries
In an effort to help school libraries in the Gulf Coast region, NBC Weekend
Today is joining forces with Scholastic, the children’s publishing
and media company, to launch “Today Turns the Page: A Book Drive
for the Gulf Coast.”...
NBC Weekend Today, July 7
The
basics of tagging
Tagging refers to the process by which users assign terms meaningful to
them to a resource in the online environment. The rise of social bookmarking
websites have skyrocketed tagging systems into the mainstream. Jenn Riley
explains what it is, what can be done with it, and who should be using
it....
TechEssence, July 8
Videos
promoting teen services
The Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, North Carolina,
has produced several videos that promote its library programs and services
to teens. “Fairy Tales Gone Bad” and others are available for
viewing on YouTube....
Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County
Can
history be Open Source? Wikipedia and the future of the past
A historical work without owners and with multiple, anonymous authors
is almost unimaginable in our professional culture. Yet, quite remarkably,
that describes the online encyclopedia known as Wikipedia, which contains
3 million articles (1 million of them in English). Roy Rosenzweig describes
the pluses and minuses of its use as a historical encyclopedia....
Journal of American History 93,
no.1 (June)
UK
libraries in metamorphosis
Three British public libraries were in desperate need of redecoration,
upgrading, and transformation. The Love Libraries campaign website shows
how the Coldharbour (right), Newquay, and Richmond libraries blossomed
into 21st-century facilities within 12 weeks....
Love Libraries
New
Aussie biblioblog
Libraries Interact is a new collaborative blog for Australian libraryland.
You do not have to be Australian, a librarian, or a blogger to contribute.
It welcomes library-related reflections, job postings, notifications of
events, pointers to interesting sites, discussion of the biblioblogosphere,
and blathering....
Libraries Interact
July
13 is Summer Learning Day
Summer Learning Day is a time for communities to celebrate the importance
of high-quality summer learning opportunities in the lives of young people
and their families. Host
an event in your community on July 13 that showcases your program....
Center for Summer Learning
Botanical,
horticultural, and plant libraries
Peruse this useful list of the websites and the online catalogs of CBHL
member libraries....
Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries
Barbara
Bush Foundation literacy grants
The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy has announced its 2007
national grant competition. The Foundation’s grant-making program
seeks to develop or expand projects that are designed to support the development
of literacy skills for adult primary-care givers and their children. A
total of approximately $650,000 will be awarded; no grant request should
exceed $65,000....
Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, June 26
ATLA
celebrates 60 years
The American Theological Library
Association celebrated its 60th anniversary with a record-breaking
annual conference hosting over 400 people. Held June 21–24 in Chicago,
the ATLA conference was praised by the association’s executive director
as the largest and most impressive gathering ever....
Christian Post, July 6
Choice
Reviews Online, version 2.0
ChoiceReviews.online has been totally redesigned and will be relaunched
as CRO2 (Choice Reviews Online Version 2.0) later this summer. CRO2 will
have a new user-friendly interface and expanded functionality. CRO2 subscribers
will have access to 115,000 Choice reviews, as well as all editorial
content from recent issues of Choice....
Often the
most effective way of proving a point is to tell a story illustrating
that point. The ALA Washington Office uses success
stories to prove to elected officials how the legislation they
enact and fund reaches their communities effectively. Stories help to
illustrate the answer to the question “Why fund libraries?”
Submit or find stories in this database cosponsored by ASCLA.
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Canada’s Atlantic
Provinces Library Association 2006 Conference has partnered with
CODE, a Canadian charitable organization that promotes education and literacy
in the developing world, to participate in CODE’s Adopt
a Library Program. It has officially adopted the Sebeta Reading Room
in the Oromia Region in the South West Shoa Zone of Ethiopia.
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