AMERICAN LIBRARIES DIRECT
March 28,
2007

Contents
U.S. & World News
ALA News
Booklist Online
D.C. Update
Division News
Round Table News
Awards
Seen Online
Tech Talk
Actions & Answers
Poll
Calendar

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Sponsor: Sirsi Dynix

U.S. & World News

Federal judge blocks COPA
A federal judge struck down March 22 the contentious Child Online Protection Act (COPA), which made it a crime for commercial websites to allow access to “harmful” material without first verifying user ages. In his ruling, Senior U.S. District Judge Lowell Reed Jr. stated that computer software filters serve to protect children from such controversial material—without violating free speech....

Digital preservation at LCBillington calls on Congress to reinstate digitization funds
Testifying before the House Subcommittee on Legislative Branch, Librarian of Congress James H. Billington made a case March 20 for reinstating in FY2008 the $47 million cut from LC’s National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program. The remaining FY2007 funding for the program was eliminated in February as part of House Joint Resolution 20....

Virginia governor signs filtering law
Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine signed legislation March 22 requiring the state’s public libraries to install internet filters to block offensive material but allowing adults who are conducting research to have the filters disabled. The legislation, which passed the House 85–12 and the Senate 31–9, was supported by the conservative Family Foundation of Virginia, which has been calling for such a measure since 2004....

Sacramento internet-use policy strives for balance
The authority board of the Sacramento Public Library adopted an internet-use policy March 22 intended to balance the protection of children with the right of adult patrons to view potentially offensive materials. But the new policy appeared to please none of the 12-member board, comprised of members of the board of supervisors and city council, and other city officials....

British Columbia Legislative Library interiorCanadian legislative library closure creates seismic rift
The fate of the 90-year-old space housing British Columbia’s Legislative Library in Victoria has shaken its 29-member staff, who were told March 16 to box up the collection in preparation for a seismic upgrade that would close the library indefinitely and necessitate the transfer of 14 people to other government departments. House Speaker Bill Barisoff admitted that a legislative management committee would determine how the library space would be used after work was complete; among the options is to create offices for lawmakers and their staffs....

Daniel P. MulhollanCRS director tightens access to agency reports
The director of the Congressional Research Service issued a memo March 20 requiring prior approval from high-level staff before the agency’s reports can be given to members of the public. Daniel P. Mulhollan stated, “To avoid inconsistencies and to increase accountability, CRS policy requires prior approval at the division level before products can be disseminated to non-congressionals.”...

ALA News

Cover of The RoadOprah chooses The Road
Community college, middle and high school, and public library organizational members of ALA as of April 4, 2007, will receive from two to eight complimentary copies of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road from Knopf as the Oprah Book Club’s newest selection, announced March 28. This is the second title for 2007, following The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier in January. Visit the ALA website to enroll your library....

Beverly Goldberg and Daniel Kraus in Magnum A.L. behind-the-scenes #1The making of “Magnum, A.L.”
Following the amazing success of the American Libraries video “Magnum, A.L.,” this behind-the-scenes studio footage reveals some (but not all) of its trade production secrets, captured surreptitiously by ALA Membership Marketing Manager John Chrastka. For other outtakes, see numbers two, three, and four, as well as several stills....

Burger releases statement on Jackson County closures
A cut in federal funding resulted in 15 public library branches serving Jackson County, Oregon, with a $7-million deficit—nearly 80% of the system’s budget. ALA President Leslie Burger has released a statement on the April closure of Jackson County’s libraries....

2007 Diversity and Outreach Fair
ALA invites its members to participate in the 10th Annual Diversity and Outreach Fair on Saturday, June 23, 3 to 5 p.m., in the Washington Convention Center during ALA Annual Conference. This year the fair will focus on bookmobile and other innovative services to underserved communities....

cover of 7: The Mickey Mantle StoryFeatured review: Historical fiction
Golenbock, Peter. 7: The Mickey Mantle Novel. Apr. 2007. 304p. Lyons, hardcover (978-1-59921-270-8).
Whereas Jim Bouton’s nonfiction Ball Four (1970) turned iconic New York Yankee centerfielder Mickey Mantle into a human being, Golenbock’s novelized version of Mantle’s life turns the human being into a pathetic case history—suspended adolescence overlaid with multiple neuroses. Cleverly, Golenbock uses the Bouton book to set up his otherworldly premise: Mantle, dead of liver cancer, finds himself in heaven and desperate to apologize for his wrongdoing. He turns to Leonard Shechter, coauthor of Ball Four, to write the true story of his life. The novel takes the form of a confessional, with Shechter questioning Mantle, and the Mick responding with the candor he avoided when he was a boozing, “puss-chasing” superhero....

@ Visit Booklist Online for other reviews and much more....



D.C. Update

Portion of subway mapMetro buses and trains
The Washington Metro, or simply Metro, is the rapid transit system of Washington, D.C., and neighboring suburban communities in Maryland and Virginia, both inside and outside the Capital Beltway. In Maryland, service is provided in Prince George’s County and Montgomery County; in Virginia, service extends to Fairfax County, Arlington County, and the city of Alexandria....
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority; Wikipedia

Washington taxiWashington taxi tips
How much does it cost to take a taxi from the National Gallery of Art to the Jefferson Memorial, or from downtown to one of the airports? It may depend on which taxi you hail and where you board. Fares are calculated with curiously designed zone maps—not with meters. But informed consumers can make the zone system work for them. Here are some tips....
Washington Post Visitors Guide

Division News

PLDS statistical database debuts this year
PLA is offering access to its new PLDS Online Database, which features the same information as the PLDS Statistical Report, but in a user-friendly, dynamic web-based format. By ordering a one-year subscription to the database, users will be able to search the Public Library Data Service datasets and create customized reports....

World Wrestling Entertainment logoWrestleMania Reading Challenge in Detroit
World Wrestling Entertainment’s Bobby Lashley and Rey Mysterio and WWE Hall of Fame inductee Jimmy Hart will host the WrestleMania Reading Challenge Finals at the Detroit Public Library Saturday March 31, from 10 a.m. to noon. They will be joined by authors Chris Crutcher and Paul Volponi at the main library, 5201 Woodward Avenue, in the Friends Auditorium. The event was designed as a means of extending YALSA’s Teen Read Week....

YALSA interviews Ypulse blogger Anastasia Goodstein
In this podcast (15:20) Kelly Czarnecki interviews Ypulse blogger Anastasia Goodstein. Anastasia’s new book Totally Wired: What Teens and Tweens are Really Doing Online was published by St. Martin’s Griffin in March. The interview covers what librarians can learn from the book, teen social-networking safety, and what’s next after MySpace....
YALSA blog, Mar. 26

Marian Wright EdelmanEdelman to keynote ALSC President’s Program
Marian Wright Edelman, president of the Children’s Defense Fund, will be the featured speaker at the ALSC Charlemae Rollins President’s Program, Monday, June 25, in Washington, D.C. Edelman, who will address the state of America’s children in her keynote speech, has been an advocate for disadvantaged Americans for her entire professional life....

Richard A LanhamALCTS Interactive Futures Conference features Richard Lanham
ALCTS will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a special conference, “Interactive Futures: A National Conference on the Transformation of Library Collections and Technical Services," June 20–21, in Washington, D.C., at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center on Pennsylvania Avenue. Richard A. Lanham, UCLA professor emeritus and author of The Economics of Attention, will give the opening session address....

New AASL e-Academy courses
The AASL e-Academy will offer three new continuing education programs starting on April 23. The courses—on programming, reluctant readers, and children’s literature—will be offered via a partnership with the University of North Texas project LE@D....

AASL disaster preparedness workshop in D.C.
AASL will offer a workshop addressing disaster preparedness for school library media specialists during ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., June 22. Terrence Young, a Beyond Words grant recipient, will lead a panel of school library media specialists in a discussion....

ASCLA preconference on staff development
ASCLA is offering a preconference on staff development and performance management on Friday, June 22, during the ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. Attendees will learn about organizational strategy, performance management, and how to create and sustain a plan for staff functionality development....

Nursery Rhymes bookletNew PLA booklet expands literacy efforts for young children
Nursery Rhymes, Songs, and Fingerplays, a collection of more than 80 of the best rhyming verses for children (including classics as well as lesser-known rhymes), is available for purchase at the ALA Online Store. The booklet is published by PLA in partnership with the West Bloomfield Township (Mich.) Public Library, which originally produced it as part of its Grow Up Reading initiative....

Round Table News

Always learning
Loretta Dunne offers some continuing-education advice to librarians who want to keep up with trends and technologies, including classes, certificates, and post-master’s graduate courses....
NMRT Footnotes 36, no. 3 (Feb.)

Awards

Sarah ThomasSarah Thomas receives Melvil Dewey Medal
Sarah Thomas, university librarian at Cornell University, is the 2007 recipient of the ALA Melvil Dewey Medal, which recognizes distinguished service to the profession of librarianship. Melvil Dewey Jury Chair Winston Tabb cited Thomas in particular for her leadership in cataloging and bibliographic standards and practices, both nationally and internationally....

Peter JasziPeter Jaszi honored with Patterson Copyright Award
Peter Jaszi, director of the Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Law Clinic at American University’s Washington College of Law, is the 2007 recipient of the ALA Office for Information Technology Policy’s L. Ray Patterson Copyright Award: In Support of Users’ Rights. An early leader and advocate for copyright law in the public interest, Jaszi has been at the forefront of intellectual property and copyright law....

Jenna FreedmanJenna Freedman named Futas winner
ALA has awarded the Elizabeth Futas Catalyst for Change Award to Jenna Freedman, coordinator of reference services at Barnard College library in New York City. The $1,000 Futas award honors a librarian who takes risks, helps new librarians, works for change, and inspires colleagues. Freedman’s zine collection at Barnard, her establishment of Radical Reference, and her work with the ALA Presidential Task Force on Better Salaries were cited by the award jury....

Brett Butler Entrepreneurship Award winners
Annette Bailey, digital assets librarian at Virginia Tech University, and Godmar Back, assistant professor in the Virginia Tech Computer Science Department, are the 2007 recipients of the LITA/Brett Butler Entrepreneurship Award. In summer 2005, they jointly developed an open source Firefox browser extension, LibX, which delivers library resources to users by seamlessly integrating access to them into the Firefox browser....

Front row from left, Liberty High School librarians Alison Schultz and Connie King; back row, paraprofessionals Annie Schroeder and Nancy Laven.Liberty High School library wins award
The Greater Kansas City Association of School Librarians recently awarded the Liberty (Mo.) High School Library Media Center as its Library Media Program of the Year. The group said the staff—which includes librarians Connie King and Alison Schultz, and paraprofessionals Nancy Laven, Sue Kellermeyer, Annie Schroeder—has created a “dynamic book collection and online resources, and works hard to strike a balance between the two.”...
Liberty (Mo.) Tribune, Mar. 21

Call for Braverman Award submissions
The Progressive Librarians Guild seeks LIS student papers on an aspect of the social responsibilities of librarians, libraries, or librarianship for the Miriam Braverman Memorial Award. The winning entrant will also receive a $300 stipend toward attendance at the 2007 ALA Annual Conference in Washington. The deadline for entries is April 30....
Progressive Librarians Guild

Native Hawaiian grants available
The Institute of Museum and Library Services invites proposals for the Native Hawaiian Library Services Grant. The grant program, with a total budget of $519,700, will be awarded to nonprofit organizations that primarily serve and represent Native Hawaiians....
Institute of Museum and Library Services, Mar. 26

History Channel logoSave Our History grants
The History Channel is awarding $250,000 in grants of up to $10,000 to fund partnerships between history organizations and schools or youth groups on projects that teach students about local history and actively engage them in its preservation. Libraries are definitely eligible. Applications are due June 1....
History Channel

Seen Online

New and improved libraries, on CBS
(requires Windows Media Player 11 or Real Media Player)
The CBS Early Show explores the ways libraries are reinventing themselves in the 21st century, with a visit (4:21) to ALA President Leslie Burger and the Princeton (N.J.) Public Library....
The Early Show, Mar. 23

Provo librarian’s book imitates life
When a librarian at the Provo City Library at Academy Square pitched her idea for a children’s book to a national publisher, the proposed title got her in the door. The story behind The Boy Who Was Raised by Librarians might be even better than the title because there is a real boy who blossomed under the wings of Provo’s librarians, later married an English teacher in the library, and is about to graduate from college....
Salt Lake City Deseret Morning News, Mar. 27

Don’t read this while working
Several research reports, both recently published and not yet published, provide evidence of the limits of multitasking. The findings, according to neuroscientists, psychologists, and management professors, suggest that many people would be wise to curb their multitasking behavior when working in an office, studying, or driving a car. In short, the answer appears to lie in managing the technology, instead of merely yielding to its incessant tug....
New York Times, Mar. 25

Seattle Central Public LibraryHow the Seattle library stacks up
Columnist Lawrence Cheek writes: “Three years after the Seattle Central Library opened to starbursts of praise, including mine, I am trying to understand why, when I need to spend a working day at a library, I retreat to the Bellevue Regional instead of Seattle’s downtown flagship. And why, after guiding at least a dozen out-of-town guests through it, I’m becoming less enthusiastic about Seattle’s crystal palace on each successive visit.”...
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Mar. 27

Saad Eskander on rebuilding Iraq
PBS Now on the News correspondent Maria Hinojosa speaks (17:38) with Saad Eskander, director of the Iraqi National Library and Archives, about the painstaking struggles he faced rebuilding a looted and burned library after the U.S. invasion in 2003. Eskander, who returned to Iraq after the war started, talks about how a modern, fully-staffed library was able to emerge under his leadership, and the dangerous challenges that remain....
PBS Now on the News, Mar. 23; British Library

Citizendium logoA new pedia in town
Larry Sanger, a cofounder of Wikipedia, this week launched an alternative resource, Citizendium. His goal is to capture Wikipedia’s bustle, but this time avoid the vandalism and inconsistency that are its pitfalls. Like Wikipedia, Citizendium will be nonprofit, devoid of ads, and free to read and edit. Unlike Wikipedia, Citizendium’s volunteer contributors will be expected to provide their real names. Experts in given fields will be asked to check articles for accuracy.....
Associated Press, Mar. 25

Smithsonian chief quits amid inquiry
Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence M. Small, the banker who took over the world’s largest museum complex seven years ago, resigned under pressure March 26 following revelations regarding his housing allowance and office and travel expenditures. Among other controversies, Small had upset historians and filmmakers seeking access to institution archives when he signed a semi-exclusive deal with Showtime in 2006 to mine the Smithsonian’s resources for a documentary film channel....
Washington Post, Mar. 27

Biblioteca VasconcelosBiblioteca Vasconcelos closes indefinitely
(in Spanish)

The $30-million Biblioteca Vasconcelos public library in Mexico City, which opened last June, closed indefinitely to the public March 18 because of structural problems. Officials at the National Council for Culture and the Arts suspended services so that the faults can be addressed. Director Ignacio Padilla said the library was opened prematurely by the Fox administration....
El Universal (Mexico City), Mar. 15

Tech Talk

How hackers crack passwords
John Pozadzides writes: “If you invited me to try and crack your password—you know the one that you use over and over for like every web page you visit—how many guesses would it take before I got it? Here is my top 10 list. I can obtain most of this information much easier than you think; then I might just be able to get into your email, computer, or online banking. After all, if I get into one, I’ll probably get into all of them.”...
One Man’s Blog, Mar. 26

Raise your web profile
Search engine optimization (SEO) is all about using keywords effectively in the structure and content of your website. In this chart, find out how to use title tags, heading tags, hyperlinks, metatags, and alt tags to create keyword-rich content....
PC Magazine, Mar. 21

Hectic Pace logoBooks getting more digital
The International Digital Publishing Forum has announced a conference in New York City for May 9. Digital Book 2007 will feature digital publishing and mobile device innovations. Librarians might remember the IDPF as the OeBF, or Open eBook Forum. It dropped the old moniker when it became clear that the group was essentially a trade organization, and not primarily an effort to create an open e-book standard....
Hectic Pace blog, Mar. 28

Wireless LAN security myths that won’t die
George Ou writes: “It’s been two years since I wrote ‘The six dumbest ways to secure a wireless LAN,’ and it’s probably been one of my more successful blog entries ever. I’m going to update the information with more defined categories and better explain why they’re so bad from an ROI (return on investment) and security perspective.”...
Real World IT blog, Mar. 26

PALINET podcast with John Brice
John Brice is director of the Meadville (Pa.) Public Library and system administrator for the Crawford County Federated Library System. Nine years ago, he initiated a small open source project in his library system to fill a need for an internet router. Now the library system’s web server, mail server, public workstations, and internet filtering application all use open source software. This spring, his system will go live with the Koha open source integrated library system....
PALINET, Mar. 23

Focal length and aperture on a lensCamera focal length and aperture explained
The focal length of a lens determines its angle of view, and also how much the subject will be magnified for a given photographic position. The aperture range of a lens refers to the amount of light that the diaphragm can let inside the camera to reach the sensor....
Photo Tips blog, Mar. 22

Open content now easier to search
Danish open source company Index Data has launched a new service to help libraries provide open content resources to their users. The initial phase of this service offers e-books, open access digital repositories, encyclopedia articles, and human-reviewed internet resources. This service is being offered without charge. As an example of the benefits of metasearching open resources, Index Data has made available a prerelease demo version of its MasterKey search tool that has these open content resources as targets....
Index Data, Mar. 26

101 shareware and freeware programs for techies
How can a person limit juicy downloads to 101 freeware and shareware choices? Tough calls, but the tools below are ones that every techie needs, or at least should ponder. Topics include audio, browsers, internet surfing, iPod tools, MySQL database tools, security, utilities, and tweaks....
The Free Geek, Mar. 21

Malmö City LibraryFKI Logistex to provide circ services to Malmö
Danish library automation company FKI Logistex has won a contract to deliver a fully automated item-handling and sorting system to the Malmö City Library in Sweden. The new FKI Logistex system employs self-service check-in kiosks to automate the returns process and the cross-belt Compact Sorter automatically sorts checked-in books, magazines, CDs, DVDs, and videotapes for easy reshelving....
FKI Logistex, Mar. 28

Actions & Answers

Colbert invents librarian catchphraseLibrarians are hiding something
On the Colbert Report of March 26, during an interview with Electronic Frontier Foundation cofounder John Perry Barlow, Stephen Colbert invents the phrase “Librarians are hiding something” as an example of something he can stake out as his exclusive intellectual property (at about 2:50). Immediately after coining the term, Colbert makes two factually mistaken claims—that he has trademarked the phrase, and that he can prohibit others from using it without his permission....
Technorati, Mar. 26; YouTube, Mar. 26

America's Perfect Storm coverAmerica’s perfect storm
A report (PDF file) from the ETS Policy Information Center, America’s Perfect Storm: Three Forces Changing Our Nation’s Future, looks at the convergence of three powerful socioeconomic forces that are changing our future—substantial disparities in reading and math skills, widening wage gaps, and sweeping demographic shifts. National test results show no evidence of improvement over the last 20 years. Scores are flat and achievement gaps persist. Hope for a better life—with decent jobs and livable wages—will vanish unless we act now....
Educational Testing Service, Jan.

Debating the future of the reference desk
If you want to get into a contentious discussion with a reference librarian, suggest that you think it’s time to get rid of the reference desk. At a recent debate at Columbia University, Steven Bell and Sarah Watstein took opposing views on eliminating academic library reference desks by 2012....
ACRLog, Mar. 26

ARL report shows changes in global collection patterns
A report analyzing Association of Research Libraries member library cataloging data in the OCLC WorldCat database presents evidence of changing patterns of collecting books with foreign imprints. The analysis found that, on average, fewer than five ARL libraries own copies of any foreign-imprint book represented in WorldCat; and three ARL libraries hold any given East Asian book and six hold any given book published in Latin America....
Association of Research Libraries, Mar. 19

Improving and extending services
Walt Crawford writes: “Healthy libraries change, continuously and with continual feedback from your patrons and the rest of your community. The next few chapters consider aspects of balanced change in libraries: Improving and extending existing services, implementing and promoting new services, telling your story and hearing other stories while avoiding hype, thinking about competition and cooperation (trying to minimize the first and maximize the second), and coping with success—or failure.”...
Cites & Insights 7, no. 4 (Apr.)

Still from Nebraska Library Commission videoNow hiring in Nebraska
The Nebraska Library Commission put together this PSA about library jobs to counter the prevailing impression that librarians “shelve books all day.” The young audience finally admits that library work is “cool.”...
Nebraska Library Commission

Law librarians should drive their stock up
Salaries are all over the place. A 2006 survey of 73 law firms by The American Lawyer found that while 8% of respondents said they paid their top librarian more than $200,000 a year, about a quarter of the firms paid them between $75,000 and $100,000. Meanwhile, associate librarians will likely earn far less than first-year associate attorneys and less than the information technology staff or paralegals....
The Recorder, Mar. 21

Bank of America donates $200,000 for Philadelphia library café
The Bank of America Charitable Foundation announced March 13 that it will donate $200,000 to Project H.O.M.E., a nonprofit organization committed to ending homelessness in Philadelphia, to support the construction of a wireless internet café at the Free Library of Philadelphia. The café will provide formerly homeless individuals and at-risk teenagers the opportunity to gain useful job skills and ease their transition into the workforce....
Bank of America, Mar. 13

International digital preservation systems survey
The Getty Research Institute is surveying the status of digital preservation systems. The deadline for completing the survey is March 30. Results will be shared at the Digital Library Federation Spring Forum, April 23–25, 2007, and with all respondents who provide contact information....
Getty Research Institute

Still from Medieval helpdeskMedieval helpdesk
This video (2:38) makes fun of newbie computer users by illustrating how silly some of their questions are by showing an analogous medieval situation. The original is taken from the show Øystein og jeg on Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation in 2001. With Øystein Backe (helper) and Rune Gokstad (desperate monk)....
YouTube, Feb. 26

Get ready for National Poetry Month
Some fun and creative ways to promote poetry to kids—or to the “children-at-heart”—this April can be found in Sylvia Vardell’s Poetry Aloud Here! (ALA Editions, 2006). One is to “Contact radio stations about hosting a live, on-air poetry reading at either the school, the library, or the radio station.”...
ALA Editions blog, Mar. 26

31 essential knowledge management sites
Lucas McDonnell writes: “I was asked a few days ago if I could put together a listing of some interesting knowledge management blogs and sites for someone who was interested in learning a bit more about what KM is and how it can be applied. So I’ve put together 31 great resources that can help you learn about and apply knowledge management.”...
unCommon Knowledge blog, Mar. 19

The 1963 NLW theme was "Read -- the fifth freedom, enjoy it."  The meter slogan on this postal card doesn't use the theme.National Library Week: The postage
In 1957 the National Book Committee, a joint committee of ALA and the American Book Publishers Council, recommended the establishment of a National Library Week. The first NLW was observed May 16–22, 1958, with the theme “Wake Up and Read.” Metered mail provides a great vehicle for promoting the theme....
Library History Buff, Mar. 26

Annual Conference 2007 logo

Find events and resources for job-seekers and tips for a successful conference.


Ewan McGregor Read poster

Scottish actor Ewan McGregor not only reads children’s author Beatrix Potter, he starred as Potter’s publisher and fiancé Norman Warne in the 2006 film Miss Potter. NEW Read poster from ALA Graphics.


Holocaust Memorial Museum

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Jewish Information Committee of ALA’s Ethnic and Multicultural Exchange Round Table have planned a special free event on the Holocaust at ALA Annual Conference on Friday, June 22, from 9 a.m. to noon.


In this issue
April 2007

Chicago Public Library’s Architectural Renaissance

2007 Library Design Showcase

Building Libraries versus Schools

Human Error: When Good Intentions Meet Bad Planning


From the CentenniAL Blog

Delivery desk at the Louisville (Ky.) Western Colored Branch Library, ca. 1926.

Early diversity efforts. At the 1922 Annual Conference in Detroit, about 100 librarians attended the first annual meeting of the Work with Negroes Round Table, chaired by Ernestine Rose of the New York Public Library. The reports on the Round Table’s meetings published in the ALA Bulletin are a bizarre mix of overt racism, progressive ideas, and overt racism masquerading as progressive ideas. They make for lively, if often unsettling, reading. At the 1922 conference (p. 361–366), for example, Marion P. Watson of the New York Public Library’s 135th Street branch presented the results of a survey on work with black patrons that she had sent to 122 libraries around the country....

AL 100 logo


Career Leads from
ALA Joblist logo

Electronic Resources Management Librarian, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. An opportunity for an energetic, service-oriented librarian with strong communications skills to provide e-resources and access data management expertise for the Acquisitions/Rapid Cataloging Unit of the Sheridan Libraries....

@ More jobs...


ALA-APA non-MLS Salary Survey cover

Useful for non-MLS- accredited professionals seeking employment in academic and public libraries, this ALA-APA Salary Survey covers 62 positions in all departments: associate librarians, library technical assistants, copy catalogers, interlibrary loan assistants, information technology managers, human resource managers, administrative assistants, and accountants.


National Legislative Day logo

National Library Legislative Day, May 1–2, is an event in which people who care about libraries can participate in advocacy and issue-training sessions, interact with Capitol Hill insiders, and visit congressional member offices to ask Congress to pass legislation that supports libraries.


Public Perception
How the World
Sees Us

Back in the 20th century, a library card was your ticket to read everything that was ever published. Now you can do that on the internet, of course.”

—CBS-TV Early Show coanchor Harry Smith, in a segment on “The Return of Libraries,” Mar. 23.


Lawyers for Libraries logo

ALA will be presenting the Mid-Atlantic Regional Lawyers for Libraries Training Institute in Philadelphia, May 17. Lawyers for Libraries is designed to build a nationwide network of attorneys committed to the defense of the First Amendment freedom to read and the application of constitutional law to library policies, principles, and problems.


Poll
What do YOU do?

How much of your professional reading is done online?

Click here to ANSWER!


Results of the
March 14 poll:

How does your budget forecast for FY2008 compare to the current fiscal year?

20%
Better

28%
Worse

39%
Same

12%
Not sure

(64 responses)

This is an unscientific poll that reflects the opinions of only those AL Direct readers who have chosen to participate.


Ask the ALA Librarian

Poster session

Q. We're thinking of having poster sessions at our state conference. Do you have any tips for us?

A. Poster sessions are a popular means for sharing current research or the mechanisms of recent projects. And yes, there are resources available from ALA and its units for you to use as models for your own program. The ALA Poster Sessions site has a brief list of pointers, “Tips for Presenters,” along with lists of the topics presented at the last two conferences and pictures. Find out more on the ALA Professional Tips wiki.

The ALA Librarian welcomes your questions.


Calendar

Exhibits:

Boston Athenaeum: Through July 13: “Acquired Tastes: 200 Years of Collecting for the Boston Athenaeum.”

Boston Public Library: Through Apr. 1: “John Adams Unbound.” Through May 1: “Crooks, Rogues, and Maids Less Than Virtuous.”

Bryn Mawr (Pa.) College: Through June 3: “Bound and Determined: Identifying American Bookbindings.”

Chicago Public Library: Through Apr. 15: “One Book, Many Interpretations.” At Woodson Regional Library: Through Dec. 31: “Black Jewel of the Midwest: Celebrating 75 Years.”

Huntington Library, San Marino, California: Through May: “Constable: The Great Landscapes.” Through June 3: “First Freedoms: The Los Angeles Times and the Right to a Free Press, 1881–2006.” Apr. 28–July 29: “Linnaeus in the Garden.”

Lloyd Library and Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio: Through May 31: “In Rousseau’s Own Hand—His Book, His Notes, and Botany.” Through June 30: “Botanical Art from Harper Studios.”

National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland: Through Feb. 26, 2008: “Visible Proofs: Forensic Views of the Body.”

Newark (N.J.) Public Library: Through May 11: “The Irish in Newark and New Jersey: Four Centuries of American Life.”

New York Public Library Humanities and Social Sciences Library, New York City: Through May 6: “A Rakish History of Men’s Wear.” Through June 16: “Russia Imagined, 1825–1925: The Art and Impact of Fedor Solntsev.” Through July 7: “Dawn of the American Revolution, 1768–1776” and “Selections from the C.W. McAlpin Collection.” Through Aug. 31, 2009: “The Gutenberg Bible.”

Princeton (N.J.) University: Apr. 1–Sep. 4: “Boris Godunov.”

Queens Library, Jamaica, New York: Through Apr. 15: “The Beaded Prayers Project.” Through Apr. 27: “Latin Roots: Jackson Heights/Corona.”

San Diego State University: Through Sep. 7: “Beyond the Batter’s Box: The Hall of Fame Life of Tony Gwynn.”

San Francisco Public Library: Through June: “Forever Victorious: Artifacts from the Wing Lee Laundry Archaeological Dig.” Apr. 1–June 30: “Alphabet Soup: A Selection of Alphabet Books.” Apr. 28–June 24: “Documenting China: Contemporary Photography and Social Change.”

University of California at Irvine: Through May 30: “Picture This: Five Centuries of Book Illustration.”

University of Southern California, Los Angeles: Through May 15: “100 Artists’ Books” and “The Face of Poetry.”

University of Texas at Austin, Harry Ransom Center: Through July 29: “The American Twenties.”

University of Wisconsin at Madison: Through June 29: “Making Maps, Mapping History.”

Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut: In the Sterling Memorial Library: Through Mar. 31: “World’s Fairs and the Landscapes of the Modern Metropolis.” Through Apr. 19: “Middle Eastern and Islamic Cuisine.” Through Apr. 30: “Early Women Healers and Health Advocates: Works by Women from the Historical Medical Library.” Through May 31: “Madness in Mesopotamia” and “Bound by Tradition: The Influence of Historical Bindings on Artists’ Books.” June 4–Sept. 27: “Poison America: Sharon Gilbert Bookworks.”

@ More...


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American Libraries Direct

AL Direct is a free electronic newsletter e-mailed every Wednesday to personal members of the American Library Association.

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