American Libraries articles from April 2007

American Libraries archives from April 2007

Chicago Toddles No More
April 1, 2007... There are two kinds of Chicago song lovers: those who prefer "My Kind of Town" and those who prefer "Chicago," in which the city is referred to as "that toddling town." I have always been one of the latter. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Working...

Changing Library Education: Instructional Program Transformation Is Key to the Profession
April 1, 2007... I didn't intend to get involved in the ongoing debate about library education. Many ALA presidents before me, most recently Michael Gorman, have done a great deal to focus our attention on the need to more closely marry education and practice in...

Corrections.(Correction notice)
April 1, 2007... The Polaris Read poster photo in the January issue (p. 57) was taken by Art Zemon Photography. Author James Grippando's name was misspelled in the March issue (p. 8). The ALA Midwinter Meeting vendor panel (Mar., p. 61) is sponsored annually...

And Tango Makes Three tops most-challenged list.(ALA)(ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom lists the most-challenged books for 2006)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell's award-winning And Tango Makes Three about two male penguins parenting an egg from a mixed-sex penguin couple tops the 2006 list of the most-challenged books by parents and administrators due to the issue...

Climate-change messenger.(ALA)(Fred Stoss)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... Fred Stoss (left), ALA Task Force on the Environment cochair and associate librarian, Science and Engineering Library at State University of New York at Buffalo, discusses his 2005 Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science "World Data...

AASL continues Rowan's recognition.(ALA)(American Association of School Librarians, Rowan University)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... ALA's American Association of School Librarians has continued its national recognition of the master of arts, school library media specialist degree offered by the Department of Special Educational Services/Instruction at Rowan University in...

ALA scholarship honors Cicely Marks.(ALA)(American Library Association Cicely Phippen Marks scholarship)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... A new ALA scholarship in honor of the late Cicely Phippen Marks will be awarded in June to a student enrolled in an ALA-accredited master's degree program in library and information studies with an interest in federal librarianship. The...

Public administration courses approved.(ALA)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... The Certified Public Library Administrator Program (CPLA) Certification Review Committee, part of the ALA-Allied Professional Association, approved 28 candidates and eight more program courses during ALA's Midwinter Meeting in Seattle. ALA's...

ALA/Arts Island opens in Second Life.(ALA)(Second Life online community )(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... ALA now has a space in Second Life, the online community of more than one million users and home to a growing number of library organizations. According to Jenny Levine, ALA internet development specialist, the Association has one-half...

Teen Literature Day set for April 19.(ALA)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... ALA's Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) will celebrate its first Support Teen Literature Day April 19, part of ALA's National Library Week celebration. Support Teen Literature Day will include an event with the Chicago...

Woman's Day seeks library stories.(ALA)(Woman's Day magazine)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... Woman's Day magazine, in conjunction with ALA's Campaign for America's Libraries, is collecting stories on how its readers have used the library to start small businesses. The magazine announced the initiative in its March 6 issue, where...

Workers Day stars sought.(ALA)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... Who is your favorite library worker and what makes him or her special? The ALA-Allied Professional Association is searching for National Library Workers Day (NLWD) stars in honor of the annual observance, to be held April 17--the Tuesday of...

Grant-recipient number breaks record.(ALA)("Let's Talk About It: Jewish Literature and Imagination" grants)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... A total of 95 public and academic libraries--the largest number ever awarded under a single application deadline--will receive "Let's Talk About It: Jewish Literature and Imagination" grants in a joint project of ALA's Public Programs Office...

El Paso to host Reforma conference.(ALA)(El Paso, Texas)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... Reforma, the National Association to Promote Library and Informational Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking, will hold its third National Conference September 18-21, 2008, in El Paso, Texas. Conference planning and a call for...

ALA-APA unveils union wiki.(ALA)(American Library Association, Allied Professional Association)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... The ALA-Allied Professional Association: The Organization for the Advancement of Library Employees announces the creation of ALA-APA Union, a user-contributed wiki at ala-apaunion.pbwiki.com. The editing password is apaedits. Designed as...

The professor and Dwyane.(ALA)(Paula Gillespie and Dwyane Wade )(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... A new poster in Milwaukee's Marquette University's Read poster series features Miami Heat basketball star Dwyane Wade and associate professor of English Paula Gillespie. Wade, a former student of Gillespie's, recently read in her class during...

COA announces accreditation actions.(ALA)(Committee on Accreditation)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... ALA's Committee on Accreditation (COA) has announced actions taken during the 2007 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Seattle under the Standards for Accreditation of Master's Programs in Library and Information Studies 1992. COA has continued the...

Literacy across the Waters.(ALA)(book donations in the Fiji Islands)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... U.S. Ambassador Larry Dinger and local children's television program host Ateca Toganivalu distribute books to children at the Lower Civic Center Auditorium in Suva, Republic of the Fiji Islands. The program was part of the Fiji Library...

Election polls open.(MEMBERS-ONLY ALERT)(2007 American Library Association election)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... Polls opened March 15 for the 2007 ALA election. All paid ALA members as of January 31 are eligible to vote and must submit their ballots by April 24, 11:59 p.m., Central time. For detailed election information, visit www.ala.org and...

Librarians to invade congress.(ANNUAL CONFERENCE UPDATE)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... Library groups and associations will have a unique opportunity to showcase their value and importance in the halls of Congress during ALA's Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., by submitting display proposals to the ALA Washington Office....

Capitol Steps to appear at Bash.(ANNUAL CONFERENCE UPDATE)(ALA/ProQuest Scholarship Bash)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... Political satirists Capitol Steps will headline the ALA/ProQuest Scholarship Bash June 23. The annual event provides scholarships for graduate students and has raised a total of $1 million. Tickets are $35 and available at...

Keynote speakers.(ANNUAL CONFERENCE UPDATE)(Auditorium Speakers Series)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... Entertainment legend and children's author Julie Andrews will headline the Auditorium Speakers Series. Her June 25 appearance will be hosted by American Libraries and sponsored by HarperCollins as part of the magazine's 100th anniversary...

Former editor recalls transition to upbeat.(FROM THE CENTENNIAL BLOG)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... Congratulations centenarian! Today's 100 is yesterday's 65--oh, let's say 30. American Libraries looks positively coltish. Couldn't score a senior discount if it tried. It was looking less sanguine, however, when I arrived from New York as...

Alsc
April 1, 2007... BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE The Association for Library Service to Children's (ALSC) award programs, advocacy initiatives, and partnerships support our core purpose of creating a better future for children through libraries. Learn more at...

Newbery-Winner's "Scrotum" Reference Raises Ruckus
April 1, 2007... A thread on a school-library discussion list about the 2007 Newbery Award winner The Higher Power of Lucky catapulted the practice of school librarianship onto the front page of the February 18 New York Times. By late February, it had also...

Fathers of Children of Men.(U.S. & International)(Timothy J. Sexton and Alfonso Cuaron for "Children of Men" movie)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... The author and screenwriters of Children of Men received the Friends of the University of Southern California Library's 19th annual Scripter Award for the best film adaptation of a book February 18. At the ceremony, screenwriter Timothy J....

Sports Illustrated: libraries don't need swimsuit issue.(U.S. & International)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... Librarians on Publib and other discussion lists discovered in the first week of March that none of them had received the February 14 "swimsuit issue" of Sports Illustrated. Inquiries to publisher Time Warner eventually resulted in a statement...

Chicago gets $1 million for computer training.(U.S. & International)(Chicago Public Library)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... The Bank of America Charitable Foundation has donated $1 million to the Chicago Public Library so that it can provide free computer training to the public. The funds will create the Computer Smarts Program to offer instruction in areas from...

Deficits Bedevil Nation's School Librarians
April 1, 2007... Cash-strapped officials in at least two school districts were once again eyeing as expendable the salaries of library media specialists as budget planning for FY2008 intensifies. In California, the board of the Merced City School District...

Tall Torah to Texas.(U.S. & International)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... Craig Turner (right), president of Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas, accepts a rare Torah scroll measuring more than 2 feet high from HSU alumnus Doyle Kelley. The scroll, believed to have been prepared in a South Arabian Jewish...

Social Networking under Scrutiny
April 1, 2007... Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) reintroduced February 16 the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA), which was passed once before by the House 410-15 in July 2006 before dying in the Senate (AL, Sept. 2006, p. 9). The bill (H.R. 1120) withholds federal...

Filter-Policy Review Blocks Funding Threat
April 1, 2007... The board of the Monroe County (N.Y.) Library System agreed February 28 to conduct a 60-day review of its central library's longstanding policy of honoring requests by adults to unblock explicit websites and, in the meantime, to refuse all such...

Minneapolis library to join county system.(U.S. & International)(Minneapolis Public Library to join Hennepin County Public Library)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... The beleaguered Minneapolis Public Library voted 7-1 to merge with the Hennepin County Public Library at an emotional March 7 board meeting. If approved by the state legislature, the Minneapolis system--which has struggled since 2003 with...

Audit: FBI Misused USA Patriot Act
April 1, 2007... Poorly trained FBI agents underreported the number of times the agency issued National Security Letters (NSLs) to obtain financial and telecommunications records in antiterrorism investigations, neglected to provide proper justification for...

Passaic Assesses Plan to Close Aging Branch
April 1, 2007... At what board President Craig Miller characterized as a "raucous" three-and-a-half-hour meeting February 27, the Passaic (N.J.) Public Library board of trustees received community input on a plan to close its 104-year-old Reid Memorial branch,...

Miami parent won't wait for Vamos.(U.S. & International)(Dalila Rodriguez views on "Vamos a Cuba")(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... The mother of an elementary school student has checked out two controversial books from a Miami-Dade County public school, saying she wants to prevent children from getting the wrong impression about life in Cuba. Dalila Rodriguez, a member...

Settlement ensures library stays put.(U.S. & International)(Central Library of Springfield, Massachusetts)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... Ending a court battle that lasted nearly two years, the mayor of Springfield, Massachusetts, and the president of the city's Museums Association signed an agreement February 27 that eliminates the threat that the Central Library will be...

Presidential libraries go online.(U.S. & International)("Presidential Timeline of the 20th Century" multimedia online archive)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... Twelve presidential libraries spanning the Herbert Hoover to Bill Clinton administrations have teamed up to create the Presidential Timeline of the 20th Century (presidentialtimeline.org), a multimedia online archive launched February 15....

Providence may sell downtown library.(U.S. & International)(Providence public library)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... Facing financial pressures that have resulted in layoffs, cuts in operating hours, and threatened branch closings (AL, Sept. 2006, p. 14-16), the Providence (R.I.) Public Library is considering selling its historic downtown Central Library...

Looming Bush Library Sparks Access Debate
April 1, 2007... In the wake of resistance to the selection of Southern Methodist University in Dallas as the site for a George W. Bush Presidential Library and Policy Institute by a group of SMU faculty, some archivists and historians are trying to broaden the...

Mesa County exhibit provokes controversy.(U.S. & International)(absence of library disclaimer during an exhibit)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... The American Civil Liberties Union's Colorado chapter has asked the Mesa County (Colo.) Public Library to clarify its policies on religious displays in response to a local group's exhibit that is critical of homosexuality and divorce, the...

By the numbers.(U.S. & International)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... 528 Amazon Sales Rank of Susan Patron's The Higher Power of Lucky (Atheneum/Richard Jackson) on February 17, and 31 Amazon Sales Rank of The Higher Power of Lucky on February 18, the day a New York Times article reported on the...

Vintage vehicle sets scene.(U.S. & International)(Patten Free Library, Maine)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... A 1939 Buick sits among the stacks at Patten Free Library in Bath, Maine, for the January kickoff of The Grapes of Wrath Midcoast Community Read, part of the National Endowment for the Arts' The Big Read initiative. Originally owned by...

Speck-tacular fun in Oswego.(U.S. & International)(Chinese New Year's party at Oswego Public Library)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... A miniature pot-bellied pig named Speck (pronounced "Shpeck") and his owner Monique Frey help kids at Oswego (N.Y.) Public Library get into the holiday spirit at a Chinese New Year's party February 16. As 2007 is the Year of the Pig,...

Million-dollar facelift.(U.S. & International)(San Francisco Public Library's new West Portal branch)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (with scissors) joins San Francisco Public Library Commissioner Jewelle Gomez (left), Supervisor Sean Elsbernd, and City Librarian Luis Herrera (far right) at the February 10 reopening of SFPL's new West...

Ben Cohen
April 1, 2007... Ben Cohen, cofounder of Ben and Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream, has spent the past decade in the pie business--pie charts, that is. President and founder of the 10-year-old group Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities (www.sensiblepriorities.org),...

Videos Threaten Net Capacity
April 1, 2007... Librarians concerned about the efficacy of their internet connectivity are keeping an eye on reports that the recent proliferation of online videos on such popular websites as YouTube is pushing Web capacity to its limits. Many in the telecom...

SirsiDynix leads all customers to Rome.(Tech News)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... SirsiDynix announced March 13 that it planned to develop a new integrated library system, code-named Rome, that it said would blend "the strengths and best features of Unicorn, Horizon/Corinthian, and other solutions to create a new,...

Going Where Patrons Are: Outreach in MySpace and Facebook
April 1, 2007... Libraries have a long tradition of bringing services wherever their patrons are located, through such approaches as bookmobiles and branches in strip malls and community centers. This has also become the case in the online world. While most...

One Stage at a Time: Migration, Grief, and a New Generation
April 1, 2007... I had a presentation that I got some fun mileage out of a few years back. It was called "The 10 Stages of System Migration." I put together my parody of "The Five Stages of Grief" around the time that Sirsi had purchased DRA, and many libraries...

Ex Libris has released MetaLib version 4.0.(ANNOUNCEMENTS)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... Ex Libris has released MetaLib version 4.0, introducing a new topic-clustering tool for meta-search results. Topic clusters, as well as author, date, and journal-title facets, are generated on the fly as search results are returned. MetaLib's...

When Sagebrush sold its library automation division to Follett last August, it retained a robust and well-known book service.(ANNOUNCEMENTS)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... When Sagebrush sold its library automation division to Follett last August, it retained a robust and well-known book service. That service, formerly Sagebrush Books, has now been rebranded as Tandem Library Services, focusing its 50 years of...

W(h)ither Print? A Coda for the Codex
April 1, 2007... I don't recall what I wrote in my ad-missions essay for library school, some (ulp!) 25 years ago, which is probably just as well. I doubt it was of the "I love books" variety--although of course I do and always have, including the six stacked by...

How the World Sees Us
April 1, 2007... "Libraries are places where you can lose your innocence without losing your virginity." Writer GERMAINE GREER on her favorite word: "library," Guardian Unlimited (U.K.), February 12. "This is scary stuff. And I don't know what's more...

The Closure of a Library: Tax Caps Starve Communities-And Their Libraries
April 1, 2007... On April 6, public libraries in Jackson County, Oregon, are set to close, eliminating service for 195,515 people (AL, Mar., p. 14). Soon after, libraries in neighboring Josephine County (pop. 80,761) will close as well. Shutting down a...

Equity by Design: 2007 Library Design Showcase
April 1, 2007... A person's right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views." Those words from the Library Bill of Rights ring true in modern library architecture. Today's library designers recognize the...

AIA/ALA Library Building Awards
April 1, 2007... The following libraries are winners of the 2007 Library Building Awards, sponsored by the American Institute of Architects and ALA's Library Administration and Management Association. The biennial award recognizes distinguished accomplishment in...

The Fairest Libraries of Them All: Forty Years Ago, Architects and Librarians Joined Forces to Honor the Best in Library Design
April 1, 2007... After decades of friction, architects and librarians buried the weapons of the jabbing t-square and the overdue book fine some 40 years ago to jointly sponsor biennial awards for the best design of libraries. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Unlike...

Our Kind of Town: How the Chicago Public Library Is Changing the City
April 1, 2007... Building or renovating 52 libraries in 17 years would be a feat for any community. That this renaissance occurred in Chicago--the city that "makes no small plans"--is perhaps not surprising. That it has occurred when many library systems are...

Building Libraries versus Schools: Why Do Libraries Cost More Than Schools?
April 1, 2007... According to Melanie Hennigan, AIA, LEED AP principal of Grimm + Parker Architects in Calverton, Maryland, there are several reasons: Libraries are significantly taller from floor to ceiling than school buildings. Schools typically have...

Human Error: When Good Intentions Meet Bad Planning, Library Users Pay the Price
April 1, 2007... The library director beamed appreciatively toward the bright new circulation desk in the equally new entry of the just-opened library. Looking beyond the entrance, she took note of the colorful young adult area and the inviting periodical...

Largo (Fla.) Public Library.(Currents)
April 1, 2007... Largo (Fla.) Public Library has hired Joyce Bak as genealogy librarian.

Auburn (Ala.) University.(Currents)
April 1, 2007... Amia Baker has joined Auburn (Ala.) University as business librarian.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.(Currents)
April 1, 2007... Polly D. Boruff-Jones has been appointed associate dean for teaching, learning, and research at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

Columbia Public Library.(Currents)
April 1, 2007... March 19 Michael Ciccone became associate director for collections at the District of Columbia Public Library.

Smith Public Library.(Currents)
April 1, 2007... Laura Condit has joined Smith Public Library in Wylie, Texas, as technical services librarian.

Triangle Research Libraries Network.(Currents)
April 1, 2007... The Triangle Research Libraries Network has promoted Mona C. Couts to director.

Palm Beach County (Fla.) Library System.(Currents)
April 1, 2007... The Palm Beach County (Fla.) Library System has appointed Douglas Crane manager of the Wellington branch.

Mid-Continent Public Libraries in Independence.(Currents)
April 1, 2007... Ted Derrick has become audiovisual collection development librarian at Mid-Continent Public Libraries in Independence, Missouri.

Southeastern Library Services.(Currents)
April 1, 2007... Katie Dunneback has joined Southeastern Library Services in Bettendorf, Iowa, as consultant.

Chicago Public Library.(Currents)
April 1, 2007... Dorothy Evans, children's services librarian at the South Shore branch of Chicago Public Library, retired February 28 after 64 years with the library.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.(Currents)
April 1, 2007... The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill appointed Kirill Fesenko head of the Carolina Digital Library February 19.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.(Currents)(Melissa S. Gomis appointd as instructional technology librarian and Jaena M. Hollingsworth appointed as liason officer)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... Melissa S. Gomis has joined Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis as instructional technology librarian, and Jaena M. Hollingsworth has joined the library as liaison to the English department.

United States Geological Survey.(Currents)
April 1, 2007... Richard Huffine recently became national library coordinator for the United States Geological Survey. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Cornell University.(Currents)
April 1, 2007... Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, named Anne Kenney interim university librarian effective February 1.

Pearl River (N.Y.) Public Library.(Currents)
April 1, 2007... Carolyn E. Johnson recently retired as director of Pearl River (N.Y.) Public Library after 38 years.

Stanford (Calif.) University Graduate School of Business.(Currents)
April 1, 2007... After 20 years, Peter Latusek has retired as resources manager at the Jackson Library at Stanford (Calif.) University Graduate School of Business.

Emory University.(Currents)
April 1, 2007... Dayna Leebaw has been appointed business research librarian at Emory University in Atlanta.

Palm Beach County (Fla.) Library System.(Currents)
April 1, 2007... Palm Beach County (Fla.) Library System has promoted Deborah McElroy to manager of the Royal Palm Beach branch.

District of Columbia Public Library.(Currents)(Anne Menzies appointed as associate director)(Elissa Miller appointed as coordinator)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... April 2 Anne Menzies became associate director for neighborhood libraries for the District of Columbia Public Library, and Elissa Miller joined DCPL March 19 as coordinator of new branch services.

Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering, and Technology.(Currents)
April 1, 2007... January 1 Mary K. Moeller became chief operating officer at the Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering, and Technology in Kansas City, Missouri.

Tampa Bay (Fla.) Library Consortium.(Currents)
April 1, 2007... Michelle Oleson recently joined the Tampa Bay (Fla.) Library Consortium as member services assistant. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Phoenix Public Library.(Currents)
April 1, 2007... Phoenix Public Library has named Laurel Prysiazny library services administrator for Burton Barr Central Library. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Maricopa County (Ariz.) Library District.(Currents)
April 1, 2007... Jeremy Reeder has been named branch operations coordinator for Maricopa County (Ariz.) Library District. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]