December 31, 2005
Libraries ban smelly people and public sex
The city of Dallas has provoked an outcry by banning smelly people from its public libraries. Advocates for the homeless say that the new hygiene policy stinks of prejudice.
A new code of conduct for the city’s 23 libraries outlaws bad body odour and other anti-social behaviour ranging from mobile phone use and fighting to bare feet and public sex. The rules prohibit visitors from “emitting odours (including bodily odours or perfumes), which interfere with the use of services by others”.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1964751,00.html
Library meets them at mall
Booking that more readers will buy into a casual haven.
[New Jersey] There is no Dewey decimal system at the newest annex of the Camden County Library System, and the main room isn't hushed and narrow. Plus, it has a prime spot, across from the Disney Store and down the hall from the food court.
Shelf Life, "a fun and convenient!" Camden County satellite branch, is on the first level of the Echelon Mall in Voorhees, making it the first mall library in the region and one of a small but growing number of such facilities around the country, according to the American Library Association.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/new_jersey/counties/camden_county/13520247.htm
Self-funded library rich with personality
FORSYTH [MO] - There's much more beneath the surface of the small library that sits on the corner of Main Street in Forsyth.
The UPS man drops a large box at the feet of Sara Shannon. Shannon tells him, “Thank you. Now I can mark them off the list. I love getting books.”
Shannon, who has worked for the Forsyth Library for nearly six years, had a lot to say about the 36-year-old library.
“If there was one thing I would like the public to know about this library, it would be that it is self-funded and operates with volunteers. The library wouldn't survive without the volunteers. They work so hard to keep it going,” she said.
The library is financially supported by a thrift store next door. Along with the store's support, the library receives donations and conducts fundraisers.
http://www.bransondailynews.com/articles/2005/12/31/news/news2.txt
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December 29, 2005
U.S. Library of Congress Adds 25 Films to National Film Registry
Library of Congress works to ensure listed films are preserved for all time
Washington -- In keeping with a 1989 U.S. congressional mandate aimed at ensuring the preservation of "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" American films, James H. Billington, librarian of Congress, on December 20 announced a roster of 25 motion pictures to be added to the National Film Registry.
http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2005&m=December&x=20051229160719mbzemog0.3820001&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html
Canadian libraries join race to digitize books
A major effort to digitize millions of books and other documents at libraries is beginning across Canada.
Canadian research libraries have formed a digitization alliance called Alouette Canada to get their books online.
http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2005/12/29/canada-libraries.html
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December 26, 2005
Hue private library to open in New Year
Researcher Nguyen Huu Chau Phan is expected to open the first private library in imperial city of Hue at the beginning of the lunar new year, offering readers access to over 10,000 rare and precious books.
The library, which will be named after Mr Phan's father, Nguyen Huu Dinh, will operate free-of-charge from Mr Phan's house at 18 Nguyen Hue Street. Mr Phan said his father had spent his life passionately collecting and preserving the books in the library.
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/lifestyle/2005/12/526174/
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December 25, 2005
National Library of China to provide free digital resources to public
The National Library of China (NLC) will provide free digital resources to the public, the People's Daily has reported.
http://english.people.com.cn/200512/25/eng20051225_230678.html
See also:
National Library of China
http://www.nlc.gov.cn/old/english.htm
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December 24, 2005
Kanawha schools to get no refund for libraries help
Circuit judge refuses to force state to repay $2 million
[Charleston, WV] A Kanawha County circuit judge has ruled that the Kanawha County school board is not entitled to reimbursement of $2 million that the school system pays to support county libraries.
http://wvgazette.com/section/News/2005122323
Girl to Santa: Reopen library
HAMPDEN [MA] - An 11-year-old girl has written a letter to Santa stating that all she wants for Christmas is "our little town library open again."
Anne Collins, of Hampden, who said she is home-schooled, said the Hampden Free Public Library, which was closed in July after a proposed override of Proposition 2½ failed, was like "a second home" to her.
http://www.masslive.com/chicopeeholyoke/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1135413798227150.xml&coll=1
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December 20, 2005
British Library to ban ink pens
The British Library is to extend a ban on pens to all its reading rooms to protect its precious collections.
From January, the home of the Magna Carta and Lindisfarne Gospels will only allow pencils.
Marks made with ink are difficult to remove and sometimes defaced books have to be withdrawn from use, a library spokesman said.
The pencils-only rule applies to all reading rooms at St Pancras in central London and Boston Spa, West Yorkshire.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/4547206.stm
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December 16, 2005
Heritage Health Index: Valuable Library Collections at Risk
Libraries hold the bulk of valuable collections in the nation and are least prepared among the holding institutions to care for them, according to findings in the Heritage Health Index, a survey conducted by Heritage Preservation in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Items held in special collections in libraries and other institutions are at risk.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6291703.html
See also:
Heritage Health Index Report
http://www.heritagepreservation.org/HHI/index.html
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December 15, 2005
Users to OCLC: Libraries Are "Books," Search Engines Trusted
The report is in, and it's not pretty. Information consumers told OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) that they view libraries as places to borrow print books, but don't know about the rich proprietary electronic content they can get there as well—and they say that search engines are by far their first resort when looking for information. The report, Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources, based on surveys of information users across six countries, follows up on The 2003 OCLC Environmental Scan: Pattern Recognition.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6291699.html
See also:
Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources (2005)
http://www.oclc.org/reports/2005perceptions.htm
2003 OCLC Environmental Scan: Pattern Recognition
http://www.oclc.org/membership/escan/toc.htm
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December 14, 2005
Iran has largest collection of handwritten books
LONDON, December 14 (IranMania) - Iran has the largest collection of handwritten books in the world, declared the Director General of Handwritten Books Department of Iran National Library Habibollah Azimi.
http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=38719&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs
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December 13, 2005
Library of Congress Shows Rarely Seen Color Photos from Depression
WASHINGTON (AP) - For people who didn't live through the Depression and World War Two, it may seem like they happened in black and white.
That's what makes some rarely seen color photographs of the era even more brilliant in a new exhibit at the Library of Congress.
http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/1205/285440.html
See also:
Bound for Glory: America in Color, 1939-1943 (Library of Congress Exhibition)
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/boundforglory/
HarperCollins Will Create a Searchable Digital Library
In the latest move in the battle between publishers and search engines, HarperCollins Publishers said yesterday it would create its own digital library of all of its book and audio content and make it searchable by consumers on the Internet. Web users will be able to search the HarperCollins archive via search engines like Google and Yahoo or the specialized programs of retailers like Amazon.com.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/13/books/13harp.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1134469288-TqkpOsmy1eyVOw5s7ZGZHQ
Stanford Boosts Scholarship on the Web
Journals made available on Google as libraries seek to save money, space
More than a million scholarly journal articles are available free through HighWire Press, a division of Stanford University Libraries.
Michael A. Keller stated that the aim of HighWire since 1995 has been to improve access to information and "to help nonprofit and responsible scholarly publishers compete as publishing entities in the Internet age." The service allows articles to be found through search engines such as Google and Google Scholar.
http://english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/article_view.asp?menu=A11100&no=260652&rel_no=2&back_url
See also:
HighWire Press
http://highwire.stanford.edu/
Google Scholar
http://scholar.google.com/
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December 12, 2005
Google Book Search: Not So Easy to Find the Library Link
Librarians and library users alike are starting to use Google Book Search (formerly Google Print) the way they use Google—and are now mining information from books. But does Google Book Search let its users easily find a library version of a book? Not unless the book is out of copyright, and Google doesn't yet explain that.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6290431.html
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December 11, 2005
In Our View - Filter Libraries
[Fort Vancouver, Washington] Here's a win-win solution for beleaguered Fort Vancouver Regional Library officials in their continuing battle to get a much-needed bond issue passed: Treat your electronic offerings the same way you treat your print offerings.
http://www.columbian.com/opinion/news/12112005news60677.cfm
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December 10, 2005
280 Buffalo-area library workers laid off
BUFFALO, N.Y. (UPI) -- About 280 full- and part-time employees at the Buffalo (N.Y.) & Erie County Public Library are preparing to be laid off before Christmas.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20051210-112908-1247r
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December 9, 2005
Fire and water threaten priceless Redwood Library artifacts
NEWPORT - The country's oldest circulating library suffered a major blow Friday night when many of its oldest and most priceless American artifacts suffered water and smoke damage during a fire at the Massachusetts storage center where they were being kept. Redwood Library and Athenaeum had moved the artifacts and books to Artex Fine Art Service in Dedham, Mass., during multi-million-dollar renovations to the library's home on Bellevue Avenue.
http://www.eastbayri.com/story/1820646425466.php
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December 8, 2005
Nativity Scene Reborn at Memphis Library
BARTLETT, Tenn. - Officials with the Memphis Public Library System have agreed to allow figures representing the baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the wise men back into a nativity scene on the Bartlett Public Library's community shelves. News of a letter to the library by an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund apparently prompted the mayor of the city of Bartlett to ask the library to reverse their decision to exclude the figures.
http://www.therealitycheck.org/TRCMediawire/adf120905.htm
Missing 'Black Sox' Volumes Returned to Campus Library
Two rare copies of a sports newspaper, including issues dealing with the 1919 Chicago White Sox gambling scandal, have been returned to the University of Illinois library.
The copies of Collyer's Eye -- which was credited with exposing the scandal -- were found on a table in the Urbana-Champaign campus library about 9 p.m. Tuesday, said Karen Schmidt , the associate university librarian for collections.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/07/AR2005120702249.html
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December 5, 2005
Library Worker Suspended for Putting Squirrel before Job
A staffer at the LaPorte County (Ind.) Public Library’s Coolspring branch received a one-week suspension for spending too much time attempting to rescue a squirrel trapped in the library’s ceiling.
http://www.ala.org/al_onlineTemplate.cfm?Section=alonline&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=110547
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December 3, 2005
Small libraries, big shock!
How surprised can one be when a Saudi high school student, when asked about the kind of books that he has at home, answers “some big, some small!”
This question was put to 60 high school students, half of whom admit that they do not have a collection of books at home, with only 6 understanding the meaning of “reading for pleasure!" Before delving into the justifications given by the young Saudi students for lack of reading, it has to be noted that this deficiency is found in all Arab societies.
http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=2922
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December 1, 2005
Library's Art Auction Fails to Meet Expectations
Defying high anticipation, one of two portraits of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart that have been in the New York Public Library's collection for more than a century failed to sell at Sotheby's yesterday in an auction that had generated advance controversy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/01/arts/design/01auct.html?ei=5070&en=aa917ef1924a673a&hp=&ex=1134363600&adxnnl=1&oref=login&adxnnlx=1134240723-TTNHBncKRArSngXi3BJ6Ig
Science in the web age: The real death of print
Despite clashes with publishers over copyright, Google's plan to make millions of books available online is turning the tide for efforts to digitize the world's literature. Andreas von Bubnoff tracks the demise of the printed page.
Vishwas Chavan travels a lot. An informatician based at the National Chemical Laboratory in Pune, India, he collects data on what types of animal live where in India to enter into a biodiversity database. Yet the specimens he hunts for have neither fur nor feathers, but yellowing pages and ageing dustjackets.
Much of the information Chavan seeks is in old, out-of-print tomes that are scattered around the world; about 2,500 of the 7,000 books he has unearthed were written in the first half of the nineteenth century. To find them, Chavan has spent years trailing around libraries. He dreams of the day when books such as these are scanned and made available as digital files on the Internet.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v438/n7068/full/438550a.html
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November 30, 2005
US Library of Congress evacuated after 'suspicious odor'
WASHINGTON (AFX) - US Capitol police evacuated the main building of the US Library of Congress after a suspicious odor sickened two police officers.
http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/afx/2005/11/30/afx2361992.html
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November 26, 2005
Biometrics scanner replaces trusty library card at this school
NORFOLK, Va. -- A library card is history at Chesterfield Academy of Math, Science and Technology. In its place: your finger.
http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/virginia/dp-va--librarybiometrics1126nov26,0,701693.story?coll=dp-headlines-virginia
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November 25, 2005
World Digital Library Planned, Google to Give $3 Million
The U.S. Library of Congress (LOC) announced the World Digital Library (WDL) project this week, which is intended to bring online "rare and unique cultural materials held in U.S. and Western repositories with those of other great cultures such as those that lie beyond Europe and involve more than 1 billion people: Chinese East Asia, Indian South Asia and the worlds of Islam stretching from Indonesia through Central and West Asia to Africa," according to Librarian of Congress James H. Billington.
http://www.marketingvox.com/archives/2005/11/25/world_digital_library_planned_google_to_give_3_million/
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November 20, 2005
Bowman grocery store to become city library
BOWMAN, N.D. - The former Red Owl grocery store's produce section could be the sight of a book signing. The dairy section could be replaced with computers.
http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/13219518.htm
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November 18, 2005
Gateway to European digital culture
A new initiative is creating worldwide access to European cultural heritage.
At a conference in Bristol the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) launched MICHAEL, a multilingual online catalogue, which aims to provide quick and simple access to the digital collections of museums, libraries and archives from European countries.
http://www.ngfl.gov.uk/news.jsp?sec=5&cat=99&res=90290
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November 16, 2005
Major university library in Iran capital burnt down
Tehran, Iran – One of Iran’s biggest university library’s caught fire in the early hours of the morning, state television reported on Wednesday.
http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=4443
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November 10, 2005
Sales tax to keep libraries running
Other services helped by increase
John Steinbeck is probably smiling today.
Voters in the writer's hometown of Salinas on Tuesday approved a half-cent sales tax increase that will keep the city's three libraries open -- including the one that bears the name of the city's native son.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/central_coast/13129892.htm
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November 9, 2005
Critics, rivals battle Google on digital library
Google's plans for a virtual library of millions of digital books has sparked competing efforts by Microsoft, Yahoo! and Amazon, whose less ambitious plans could avoid infuriating copyright holders who have attacked Google.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__business/&articleid=256055
Middle ground found in tussle over library porn
For many county residents, the months-long debate over whether to restrict access to the Internet in the county's seven-library system revolved around philosophical ideas.
Does a library patron's right to free access trump the protection of children from pornographic images?
http://www.thereporter.com/news/ci_3197269
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November 7, 2005
Microsoft to digitize British Library
The British Library is to begin digitizing its collection to make parts of it available online.
The library, which holds 13 million books, now plans to digitize 25 million pages of around 100 000 books from its collection, which will be available free on Microsoft's MSN Book Search service next year.
http://cooltech.iafrica.com/technews/528666.htm
Once Again -- The Difference Between Google Print & Google Library
After reading What's A Week On The Web Without Controversy? over at MediaPost, I'm literally shaking my head in disbelief at the confusion in the article and what it may breed among those who read it. So once again, I'm going to dive into what Google Print is, what it does and the difference between that and what I'm going to call Google Library. Perhaps some history will be helpful given all the debate in recent weeks.
http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/051107-233134
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November 6, 2005
Libraries lure students with lattés
From coffee to computers to slick database searches, the U is on the cutting edge of getting students back to the library.
First thing Friday morning, University of Minnesota sophomore Kristy Larson hit the new coffee bar in the basement of Walter Library. Before it opened this fall, she rarely came by the building. Now, she's a regular.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/5711623.html
Honesty is put on the shelf: Libraries must deal with a daring and eclectic group of thieves
From opera CDs to action films, from classic epics to the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, library thieves pursue a wide range of interests, as diverse as the collections they covet.
Libraries may enjoy sending materials out the door every day, but they hope those items will come back, eventually. Too often, items don't reappear, and libraries have to confront everything from outright theft of DVDs and CDs, to overdue books that never return.
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=113652
Librarysaurus Rex: why it went extinct
The scene: A bench in an Elmira park in the distant future. A father and son are sitting and talking. Let's listen in.
Dad: "What did you learn about in school today, son?"
Son: "My history teacher talked about something called a library. He said that in the old days most every town and city had at least one. What was a library?"
http://www.stargazettenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051106/COLUMNIST20/511060338
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November 1, 2005
Unpaid Library Fines Could Affect Your Credit
Many Libraries Turning To Collection Agencies
(CBS) Remember as a kid how hard it was to face the librarian with an overdue book? Well, now it may be even harder.
These days, overdue library materials are scary indeed. Library fines can actually ruin your credit rating.
http://cbs2chicago.com/seenon/local_story_305085442.html
Al-Mabarrat library buzzes with activity on first anniversary
Institution hopes to make 100,000 books available to community
BEIRUT: On the first anniversary of the The Al-Mabarrat public library which opened with high-flown ideas but no readers, the institution finds itself abuzz with school children of all ages doing homework or reading stories. "I was so surprised to see how many readers there were out there longing to have access to books," said Shafik Mousawi, the director of Al-Hassanein Cultural Center in charge of the Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah Library in Haret Hreik.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=19738
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October 31, 2005
Searching for Library Books with RedLightGreen
Google Scholar isn't the only online service that can help you track down and read scholarly or academic books and other content. The oddly named RedLightGreen is a powerful and highly useful alternative.
RedLightGreen is an easy-to-use search service designed to help you find and access library books, developed by RLG, a library organization based in California. This database is what librarians call a "union catalog" and contains bibliographic information for more than 120 million books. But it also includes plenty of other impressive features.
http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3560121
US Is Creating a Virtual Library to Help Restore Iraqi Science
Scientists working in the US State and Defense departments are championing a program intended to reconnect the once-vibrant Iraqi science community with researchers around the globe.
A program that began last year with a simple question asking what the US could do to help Iraqi scientists and engineers may soon bring thousands of scientific journals to Iraqi universities via an internet-based virtual scientific library. The virtual library would be a step toward replacing vast amounts of information lost in Iraqi libraries that were looted or destroyed in the wake of the US invasion in March 2003.
http://www.physicstoday.org/vol-58/iss-11/p24a.html
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October 30, 2005
Catching up with Brewster Kahle
He fights for open access to the world's digital library
Walking along the banks of the Charles River in Cambridge 25 years ago, an undergraduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology foresaw the impact that computer networks would have one day and decided there were two great causes he could devote his life to: encrypting digital information to protect privacy or building an online version of the Great Library of Alexandria.
Brewster Kahle picked the library.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/13035279.htm
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October 27, 2005
Library reflects liberty
“Who’ll be capable to recon all those thoughts to which the library has given the nest and wings?” - Valfrid Vasenius (1848-1912), the early director of Rikhardinkatu library.
Furniture influenced by English design, wooden desks with brass locks and massive security measurements dominated some of the first Finnish public libraries in the late 19th century. Customers read their books by the light of the smoking oil lamps and occasionally library reading rooms suffered from disturbances made by the customers. It almost seems like public libraries were a playfield for pure barbarians.
http://www.6d.fi/cover_story/page.2005-10-27.9711081374
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October 21, 2005
Wireless World: Libraries embrace wireless
CHICAGO (UPI) -- A library patron ambles out the door, book in hand, without stopping by the librarian. Is this theft? No, it's the new checkout procedure, made possible by Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, experts tell United Press International's Wireless World.
http://www.upi.com/Hi-Tech/view.php?StoryID=20051021-100605-6553r
Money Magazine Says Libraries Are Part of Disaster Preparation
In an article with a checklist of things to do in a disaster, Money magazine reminded readers that a library can be integral to preparedness and response. Among the pieces of advice: Get to the library.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6276029.html
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October 19, 2005
Dade libraries get the wireless Web
Public libraries have installed wireless Internet access, and now provide laptop computers to registered patrons, in hopes of bridging the digital divide.
Miami-Dade library patrons have always been able to slip away with a book to a quiet spot in the stacks.
Now they can tote a laptop computer back there, too.
The Miami-Dade Public Library System went wireless Tuesday, enabling cardholders to surf the Web anywhere in all 40 branches on one of 420 new laptops that will be loaned out. Visitors also can bring their own machines and tap into the wireless network.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/12941078.htm
Libraries search for better search engines
"Google of course!" said Serom Lee, in exclamation. "What else is there?"
The School of Engineering junior, like so many others, simply pulls up the Web site's homepage and types in her query. In fractions of a second, Lee - like thousands of other students - has her question answered.
But not efficiently enough for many University professors and librarians, the search engine presents its users with sites of varying degrees of academic credibility.
http://www.dailytargum.com/media/paper168/news/2005/10/19/University/Libraries.Search.For.Better.Search.Engines-1025241.shtml?norewrite&sourcedomain=www.dailytargum.com
See also:
Google Scholar
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October 17, 2005
Teaching With Tech
Podcasts, back channels, and bookless libraries come to campus
Notebooks open and water bottles at their side, the students in general biology at Johns Hopkins University wait for Prof. Richard Shingles to kick off his 11 a.m. lecture. "Please join the class with your CPS units," he announces, and suddenly there's a rumble of backpacks as more than 200 undergrads pull out thin blue devices that look like TV remote controls. The students punch in the course code on these gadgets and then place them on their desks. Meanwhile, Shingles grabs his tablet PC and begins to talk about ecological succession.
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/articles/051017/17elearn.htm
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October 13, 2005
L.A. County libraries set porn limits on computer users
Library computers will soon have filters that will prevent or reduce access to inappropriate sites. Children and adult computers will be separated more thoroughly.
Voicing concerns that children are exposed to pornography when other patrons view the material on county library computers, the Board of Supervisors authorized the county librarian on Tuesday to take tougher measures to prevent such situations.
http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/regstate/articles/1778061.html
Congress skeptical of FCC's Katrina proposal for school, libraries
Washington – Lawmakers have expressed concern that a federal plan to help Katrina-devastated schools and libraries may shortchange poor kids at schools elsewhere.
The proposal by the Federal Communications Commission seeks to provide money to eligible schools and libraries in the Gulf Coast so they can reconnect to the Internet.
The estimated 132 (m) million dollars would come from the commission's E-Rate program. It provides discounted Internet access and connection equipment to help expand Internet availability, especially in rural and poor areas.
Democrats said schools in other states could lose out on much-needed federal aid.
http://www.klfy.com/Global/story.asp?S=3949751
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October 12, 2005
The need for American Indian librarians
In the contemporary world, libraries are the primary institutions that teach about American Indians - to the world, and often to ourselves. And because everything that impacts Indian country on and off the rez - educational programs, social service programs, economic development, criminal justice, all tribal-state-local-federal government relations, the media, and public opinion - are informed by materials contained in libraries. In a world which continues to stereotype American Indians and which remains largely “clueless” of the facts about American Indians in American society, there needs to be American Indian library professionals to help guide information seekers to the facts about American Indians – past, present, and future, and to incorporate American Indian perspectives in those institutions that mandate how people are taught and what they learn.
http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7097
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October 11, 2005
College libraries more like Starbucks
CHATTANOOGA - Colleges are beginning to update their libraries, making them more like bookstores, complete with plush chairs, Starbucks coffee and the latest in research technology.
"People are somewhat expecting that," said Theresa Liedtka, dean of the Lupton Library at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. "The whole Barnes and Noble coffee shop thing is where a lot of this started. You get your coffee and your big comfy couch and do your research."
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/state/article/0,1406,KNS_348_4148271,00.html
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October 10, 2005
Veterans group mulches books at county libraries
[Houston, Texas] Jim Cabaniss, the president of AVIDD, led a group of up to 15 supporters at times, following a flatbed truck with a mulcher tied to it, starting at 9 a.m. at the library system's central branch in Conroe to the Montgomery, Willis, New Caney, Woodlands (South Branch), and Magnolia Libraries, holding a rally at each.
Cabaniss spoke from the tail of the flatbed truck on a makeshift loud speaker of the "filth and smut that have polluted our libraries." He orchestrated the shredding of 'symbolic' books - which he made clear were not the ones on the group's list but books he owned privately - representing what he wanted to do to the more than 70 titles the group was protesting.
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1574&dept_id=532215&newsid=15360192&PAG=461&rfi=9
Bullet shreds book, nerves inside library
A stray bullet came crashing through the rear window of the Mattapan branch of the Boston Public Library last week, whizzing past children working on computers as librarians screamed for patrons to duck down, according to police and a neighborhood activist who has spoken to witnesses.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/10/10/bullet_shreds_book_nerves_inside_library/
Franklin's 300th
The Legacy of the Businessman
Libraries turn the next page
In 1731, Benjamin Franklin organized a group of tradesmen, artisans and merchants to bring the knowledge of the world to their fingertips.
At that time, of course, the colonies didn't have Borders or Amazon.com. Book buyers sent their orders to England and Europe, and waited for their volumes to be delivered by return ship.
Public libraries didn't exist. Wealthy book lovers had private collections, as did the young colonies' three colleges - Harvard, Yale and William & Mary.
Franklin, at that time, couldn't afford many books, but he wanted to learn and to improve himself. And he knew that other ambitious artisans - whom he regarded, in that anti-aristocratic age, as society's most valuable members - did, too.
Following the approach he adopted again and again in Philadelphia, he built an organization to serve the greater good. Like-minded folk pooled their shillings to build their own library.
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/12862083.htm
Make your own library
Here is software that can help you digitise documents and create virtual libraries.
Are you are the kind of person who deals with data all the time and would love to store and share it fruitfully?
Here's software that can help you digitise documents and create virtual libraries. It is for use by both librarians and lay people.
A self-paced training module on digitalisation and digital libraries, Greenstone is a suite of software for building and distributing "fully-searchable, digital library collections."
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/ew/2005/10/10/stories/2005101000230400.htm
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October 7, 2005
Library worker credited with taking quick action in child assault
Des Moines, Iowa – Des Moines police credit a library worker for her role in the rescue of a missing toddler and the arrest of the man accused of grabbing her.
Detectives say Dorothy Kelly, the assistant director at the Des Moines Public Library, barked orders to her staff like a "field general" when she realized the child was missing.
http://www.whotv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3949745&nav=2HAB
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October 06, 2005
Yahoo Takes Friendly Approach to Book Digitization, Sidesteps Google Uproar
In an apparent response to the Google Print for Libraries Project, archrival Yahoo announced late last week that it would partner with several corporations, universities and non-profits to create a book-scanning project. But while Google has thrown much of its corporate heft behind the effort to digitize millions of copyrighted and out-of-copyright books held by five large research libraries—allocating millions of dollars and weathering criticism from publishers and authors—Yahoo’s role appears to be far more limited.
http://www.thebookstandard.com/bookstandard/news/publisher/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001261807
Group to protest over school library books
THE WOODLANDS [Texas] (AP) - A veterans group plans to demonstrate at Montgomery County libraries to urge removal of about 70 children's books from their shelves.
American Veterans in Domestic Defense president Jim Cabaniss says the books contain explicit material, such as pornographic pictures or promote homosexuality.
http://www.newschannel5.tv/News/Other/2726/Group-to-protest-over-school-library-books
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October 4, 2005
Federal trial of former regional library director opens
DUBLIN [Georgia] - The federal trial of David Wilson began Monday with the prosecution painting the former director of the Ocmulgee Regional Library System as a corrupt operator who misused funds and stole a library lawn mower.
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/12810662.htm
Over million books to be stored in digital libraries
New Delhi – The government will soon start an initiative that would involve scanning more than a million books and manuscripts lining the shelves of libraries around the country and make them available at the click of a mouse.
http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/oct42005/update725162005104.asp
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October 3, 2005
Europe aims to rival Google with digital library
The European Commission isn't about to sit back and let Google have control over digitizing the world's information--it's planning to turn Europe's "historical and cultural heritage into digital content."
According to an EC announcement on Friday, the aim of the project is to digitize and preserve records of Europe's heritage--including books, film fragments, photographs, manuscripts, speeches and music--and make it available online to all European citizens. To make this happen, the European Union is proposing high-level cooperation between the member states and has set a deadline of Jan. 20, 2006, for first comments on the plans.
http://news.com.com/2100-1025_3-5887579.html
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September 30, 2005
Medieval texts preserve African heritage
A collection of medieval manuscripts from Timbuktu which academics hail as proof of an African scholarly tradition go on public show on the continent for the first time on Friday.
Timbuktu in Mali, West Africa, has been trumpeted as the epicentre of Africa's intellectual heritage and the discovery of about 30 000 lost texts has challenged the stereotype of Africa as a continent with no written history.
South African President Thabo Mbeki has spearheaded a project to protect the texts from illegal trafficking and disrepair by building a new library in the old Islamic city.
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=588&art_id=qw1128087001391B263
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September 28, 2005
Psychic barred from séance at Ripon’s public library
Complaints from fewer than a dozen Ripon [California] residents led Mayor Chuck Winn to cancel an appearance by a self-proclaimed psychic at the local public library, leading to allegations of religious blackmail and censorship.
Winn said he was upholding community standards by preventing a speech from author Irma Slage, in which she planned to conduct a séance and channel audience members’ dead relatives. About 40 people showed up to the library Sept. 17 hoping to see the speech, according to news accounts. Slage said some of the complaints came from fundamentalist Christians.
“It took away my rights,” Slage said.
http://www.tracypress.com/local/2005-09-28-library.php
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September 27, 2005
ALA Proposes Major E-rate Reforms
In July the Federal Communications Commission announced the most comprehensive review of the E-rate program since it began in 1997. The American Library Association's (ALA) Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP), working with its E-rate Task Force, is proposing two major changes to the program and other short-term fixes.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6260392.html
See also:
FCC E-rate page
http://www.fcc.gov/learnnet/
Award for the library that lent support
[Edinburgh, Scotland] It is the last place you would expect to find teenage jobs.
But a library which was plagued by drunken youngsters has picked up a national award after throwing open its doors to them.
Sighthill Library saw off competition from 130 other projects to win one of four top prizes in the Scottish Executive's Standing Up To Antisocial Behaviour scheme.
http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=2000692005
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September 25, 2005
We dare not discard what's left of our libraries
[Biloxi, Mississippi] When I read the Sound Off of the Day on Wednesday's front page, I knew it was time to get this column into print. In case you missed it, here's the Sound Off:
[…]
I haven't checked on the status of any school libraries, but in Hancock and Harrison counties, the public libraries took a beating. The story in Jackson County is much, much better for bibliophiles.
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/thesunherald/news/editorial/12735489.htm
You authors are saps to resist Googling
A class-action lawsuit filed this week against Google by the Authors Guild, a biographer of Abraham Lincoln, a children's book author and a former U.S. poet laureate is further evidence that copyright traditionalists' knee-jerk defenses can be worse for business than the technology they fear.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-op-mediavore25sep25,0,185479.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions
Pay your library fines or pay the price
[White Plains, New York ] The next time you check out books or videos at your local library you might also want to check out its policy on overdue fines.
At least six municipal libraries in the northern suburbs turn to agency collectors to help them recover overdue materials and fines from patrons who fail to respond to calls to return them.
If the collection agency cannot get results, they may forward the list of delinquent borrowers to credit reporting agencies, such as credit bureaus. In the worst case scenario, the money owed to their local libraries would appear on their credit reports and could contribute to their being turned down for mortgages or car loans.
http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050925/BUSINESS01/509250325/1066/BUSINESS01
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September 24, 2005
Black library opened doors to the world
[Louisville, Kentucky] Bessie Green didn't have much to read at her Chestnut Street home, except for a few black newspapers, some old National Geographic magazines and newspapers she occasionally got from the white woman whose home she cleaned.
So she depended on the Western branch of the Louisville Free Public Library.
"Books are your freedom, child, don't forget that," Green told her 4-year-old granddaughter, Gloria Brady, in the early 1940s as they made their way up the tree-lined street for a visit to the library.
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050924/NEWS0102/509240380
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September 23, 2005
Laura Bush Gala Aims to Restock Libraries
Laura Bush Hopes to Restock Libraries Hit by Hurricanes
WASHINGTON— First lady Laura Bush hopes to send 5 million books to the schools and libraries in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama with the help of donations at her weekend book festival.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1154327
Google Print Pressures Libraries
A recently filed lawsuit claiming Google's digitizing of library books is a "massive" copyright violation will deter libraries from opening their collections to the search giant, which could ultimately doom the effort, say legal experts.
Libraries are not now a defendant in the U.S. District Court complaint against Google filed earlier Tuesday by The Author's Guild and three authors.
But three legal experts say they easily could be, given their willing participation by making book collections available to Google, which intends to make the titles and bits of each book available online.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1862933,00.asp
What's Wrong With Libraries?
Some personal reflections on the virtual versus the traditional models of literacy
Regular Line56 readers know by now that one of my passions is literacy; not construed as the mere ability to read and write, but the culture of literacy, whose vehicle is the book and temple is the library.
Alas, the library is a much disparaged institution of late. As author Steven Johnson puts it, "Hint: Stop reading the great authors and start playing Grand Theft Auto." Why? Apparently because our world has changed and the virtual experience of computing trumps the real experience of, say, libraries and books.
http://www.line56.com/articles/default.asp?ArticleID=6925
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September 22, 2005
‘U’ backs Google in lawsuit
Authors’ trade group says Google Library project violates copyrights
In response to a lawsuit filed against Google by the Authors Guild, Inc. — a non-profit organization of 8,000 published authors — the University [of Michigan] issued a statement yesterday affirming its support of Google and the company’s endeavor to digitize copyrighted works in the University library.
http://www.michigandaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/09/22/4332526fc980c
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September 17 2005
Bees storm venue, digital library opening cancelled
TIRUPATI [India, map]: The inauguration of digital library at Sri Venkateswara University was cancelled due to a peculiar reason, as honey bees stormed the venue, forcing the gathering, organisers and even the chief guest run for cover.
http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEA20050917020629&Topic=0&Title=Southern%20News%20-%20Andhra%20Pradesh&Page=A
Libraries are using anime to help get youths involved
A style of animation and comics that originated in Japan is popular with teens, who are lured to the library by workshops.
AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS [AZ] - Getting kids away from TV, video games and computer screens and into the library is not an easy job.
But librarians have a secret weapon: Comics.
Around the nation and throughout the Phoenix Public Library system, branches are luring in teens with workshops on anime and manga, a popular style of animation and comics that originated in Japan.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0917EVcomics17.html
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September 16, 2005
Health scare closes Mt. Vernon library
MOUNT VERNON [NY]—Dozens of union library employees were suddenly laid off yesterday as library officials, citing safety concerns, decided to close the building indefinitely.
The closing comes one day after the library reopened after it was closed for nearly a month as asbestos abatement continued and despite protests by staff who felt the building was not safe.
http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050916/NEWS02/509160361/1018
Libraries are as significant for women as for men
The other day an item in a local newspaper caught my attention and held it for a long time giving a spark to my thinking.
It said that the bookshelves at the US Library of Congress, if lined up, would stretch 853 kilometres — more than half the way from Jeddah to Riyadh in a single row, or to the holy city of Madinah and back in a single row.
Books are the initiator and result of knowledge, which through ages have proved to be a power and engine of growth and development of civilisations.
The state of affairs in the Muslim world, as far as books are concerned, is dismal and deteriorating.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2005/September/middleeast_September455.xml§ion=middleeast&col=
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September 15, 2005
Controversial book dropped Milan school board vote allows library to offer 'The Chocolate War'
"The Chocolate War,'' a controversial young adult novel set in a Catholic boys' school where bullying permeates the social system, can no longer be taught as part of ninth-grade English classes at Milan High School.
The Milan school board voted 5-2 Wednesday night to remove the book from the curriculum but to allow the 1974 novel by Robert Cormier to remain in the school library.
http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-14/11267954714560.xml&coll=2
Breaking Down the Google Print 5 Libraries
If you're interested in learning about the print book collections of the five libraries Google plans to scan/digitize (assuming all goes as planned), a new article in Digital Libraries: Anatomy of Aggregate Collections, uses data from OCLC's WorldCat (the largest bibliographic database in the world) to provide breakdowns and comparisons.
http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/050915-124812
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September 12, 2005
Theft of rare books, even by scholars, puts libraries on notice
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Scholars hunched over ancient documents have long been a familiar presence at Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, one of the world's largest repositories of rare books and maps.
But an X-Acto knife glinting on the floor near the seat frequented by one researcher was so out of place that a guard confronted E. Forbes Smiley III, demanding to know whether the implement was his.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0912B10wire12.html
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September 7, 2005
Japanese library restricts child porn
TOKYO, Japan (UPI) -- Japan`s National Diet Library has restricted public access to 120 publications in its collection to avoid violating a revised law against child pornography.
It is the first time the library, located in Tokyo, has limited access to such a large number of books since it was founded 57 years ago, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported Wednesday.
The library legally owns the publications and has made them available to the public as a rule. However, last year the law regarding child prostitution and child pornography was revised, outlawing access to books containing pornographic images of children.
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/asiapacific/article_1046479.php/Japanese_library_restricts_child_porn
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September 6, 2005
Debate growing over UNLV library computer use policy
LAS VEGAS – Debate is growing over a university library computer use policy that American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada officials say restricts research, but University of Nevada, Las Vegas officials say protects academic freedom.
The policy prohibits computer use "with the intent to intimidate, harass or display hostility toward others," including sending offensive messages or prominently displaying material that others might find offensive such as vulgar language, explicit sexual material or material from hate groups.
UNLV officials say the policy is based on language that the ACLU helped develop three years ago.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/computing/20050906-0833-nv-universitycomputers.html
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September 4, 2005
Libraries connect refuges to home
PIGEON FORGE [TN] - Local libraries have opened their doors to survivors from Hurricane Katrina trying to get information on their homes and to contact friends and loved ones through the Internet.
After seeing several families come in, librarians at the Pigeon Forge Public Library began extending their normal time limit for using the facility's 13 computers, and letting them move ahead of others on the list.
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1211&dept_id=169697&newsid=15154048&PAG=461&rfi=9
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September 2, 2005
Google opens digital library to European book publishers
Google Inc is asking European book publishers to submit non-English material to its Internet-leading search engine - a move that may ease worries about the company's digital library relying too heavily on Anglo-American content.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1479588,00110004.htm
Emigre library opens in Moscow
MOSCOW, September 2 (RIA Novosti, Irina Andreyeva) - Mayor of Moscow Yury Luzhkov said Friday at the opening of a library-foundation dedicated to the post-Bolshevik emigration, Russkoye Zarubezhye (Russia Abroad), that it could partly redeem "the guilt [the nation bears] to those who left our country."
http://en.rian.ru/culture/20050902/41279425.html
Libraries Respond in Katrina’s Wake
As the flood waters rose in the coastal sections of storm-tossed Louisiana, librarians across the state also rose to meet the needs of their own patrons and refugees. Though the outlook was grim following the destructive wrath of Hurricane Katrina, and the fate of thousands is unknown, Louisiana State Librarian Rebecca Hamilton told LJ that library staffers had mobilized quickly to keep services running. “People in Louisiana are unusually generous and libraries are staying open over the Labor Day weekend, staff are driving vans back and forth to shelters, and they’re issuing temporary library cards so refugees can borrow books and use computers to contact relatives via email.”
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6253141.html
More Hurricane Katrina news:
http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/hurricanekatrinanews/katrinanews.htm
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September 1, 2005
SWAZILAND: Community libraries prove the power of access to knowledge
MBABANE (IRIN) - African libraries are discovering new roles in society - no longer stuffy repositories of tattered books, but centres of community relevance where the youth can learn the habits of good citizenship.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/f02a6c99a42fef920aac9da8f7f013dc.htm
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August 27, 2005
Castro resolute in repressing his people
For years, Ray Bradbury's novel, Fahrenheit 451, referring to the temperature at which books burn, has been an inspiration to me and other millions around the world who believe in the freedom to read -- particularly in those countries whose dictators forbid dissenting books.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/12489651.htm
Rev. Graham Breaks Ground on Library
With self-deprecating jokes and a heartfelt call to never be "ashamed of the Gospel," the Rev. Billy Graham helped break ground in Charlotte on a library and museum aimed at telling his story long after he is gone.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-briefs27.1aug27,1,4196830.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&ctrack=1&cset=true
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August 26, 2005
Gates Checks Out Jobs In The Library
It seems you can't listen to everything on your iPod.
The Apple Computer (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) devices account for more than 21 million of the 28 million total portable music systems, and they are finding plenty of other uses beside music. Just not books: many U.S. libraries are now lending audiobooks available only in Bill Gates' Windows Media Audio format.
http://www.forbes.com/2005/08/26/apple-microsoft-ipod-cx_dl_0826autofacescan06.html
Public libraries should reach out to non-Arabs
DUBAI [United Arab Emirates] — Though Dubai is fast emerging as a melting pot of cultures, the Dubai Public Libraries comes across as an institute catering only to a specific community — that of the Arabs.
The lack of sufficient books in English has led to a general belief that the libraries are only meant for the nationals or the Arabic speaking people. Though the service and the dedication of the public libraries’ staff to improve these services is impeccable, the libraries’ collections of books leave much to be desired.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2005/August/theuae_August764.xml§ion=theuae&col=
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August 24, 2005
Library of Congress Marks Women Voting
WASHINGTON -- To celebrate the 85th anniversary of women's right to vote, the Library of Congress Web site has posted 448 photos of the suffrage movement, some going back 130 years.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/24/AR2005082400146.html
See also:
Photographs from the records of the National Women’s Party
Valparaiso reinstates library director after porn ruckus
[Valparaiso, Florida] City commissioners have reinstated their public library director who had been suspended after a registered sex offender and three boys allegedly used library computers to access pornographic Internet sites.
http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050824/APN/508240803
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August 23, 2005
Online library banks on urge to lend
Bookworms are being invited to join what is described as the world's first online cooperative library, My Book Your Book, which was launched last night.
The site allows people to borrow from complete strangers such works as Bruce Chatwin's In Patagonia and Yann Martel's Life of Pi. The website has ambitions to introduce thousands of paperbacks into its catalogue. Should anyone in Britain not already own at least one copy of The Da Vinci Code, the bestseller also features on the list, and there are plans to include books of all genres.
http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,6109,1554509,00.html
Fighter jet installed at Reagan Library
With the sun beating down on the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, a crowd of more than 600 people waited for a giant crane to lower a 43,600-pound [F-14 Tomcat] fighter jet into place Monday morning at the library's Peace Plaza.
http://www.venturacountystar.com/vcs/sv/article/0,1375,VCS_239_4023109,00.html
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August 22, 2005
Libraries can't share kids' information with their parents
Q -- My 5-year-old daughter kept a library book too long and owed a library fee. However, when I asked the library officials about the amount, I was told they couldn't tell me because of "privacy rights."
http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/20050822/NEWS/108220058
Raunchy Reading Hits Public School Libraries
Raunchy teen fiction is a problem in public school libraries. Titles like “Doing It” and “Rainbow Boys” feature scenes with teachers and adults having sex with students. Appalled parents are trying to get the books out of the reach of their middle school children but are finding some school boards refusing to enforce their own rules about what books should be on the shelves. One of those parents is Laurie Taylor of Fayetteville , Arkansas . She was astonished to find the book “It’s Perfectly Normal” available to her 13 year-old daughter.
http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0037602.cfm
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August 19, 2005
No one shows up for library budget hearing
[Linton, Indiana] The Margaret Cooper Public Library Board of Trustees conducted a public hearing Thursday night on the 2006 budget and additional appropriations, with no one from the public attending.
http://www.dailycitizen.com/articles/2005/08/19/news/librar.txt
Walnut Creek decides against eminent domain for library
WALNUT CREEK [California] - The City Council announced this afternoon that eminent domain will not be used to acquire private property in order to build a new downtown library.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/12427405.htm
Bangladeshi Boat Libraries Earn 2005 Gates Award
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation presented its sixth annual Access to Learning Award August 15 to Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha, a nongovernmental organization in Bangladesh, for its pioneering approach to bridging the digital divide by providing free public access to computers and the internet. Through the use of indigenous boats converted into mobile libraries and schools, the group provides educational services, access to technology, and computer training to poor communities in a Northern Bangladesh watershed. The boats, which anchor at remote villages, rely on generators or solar energy and mobile phones for internet access.
http://www.ala.org/al_onlineTemplate.cfm?Section=American_Libraries&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=102194
American Libraries Reach Out to Immigrants
The definition of a public library keeps on expanding in the United States. Over the years, American libraries have grown to include everything from books, magazines and newspapers to computers and videos to learning programs. Many are now offering those services in a growing number of languages as well, helping immigrants adjust to their new lives in the United States, and stay connected to the lives they have left behind.
http://www.voanews.com/english/AmericanLife/2005-08-19-voa41.cfm
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August 18, 2005
How Do We Preserve "Essence of Library"?
Laura Quilter provides an excellent guided tour through the debate here and elsewhere over the Google Print library project, then goes much, much further, asking what we should do next if we want to 1.) preserve what’s good about traditional libraries and 2.) fulfill the promise of today’s (and tomorrow’s) digital libraries:
http://www.corante.com/copyfight/archives/2005/08/18/how_do_we_preserve_essence_of_library.php
Online library answers health care questions during deployments
LOUISVILLE, Ky.--Service-members, their families and their health care providers have a new online Defense Department resource for deployment health issues.
The DoD Deployment Health Risk Communication Working Group and the Joint Task Force for Family Readiness Education on Deployments have joined together to create the Deployment Health and Family Readiness Library.
http://www.dcmilitary.com/army/standard/12_17/national_news/
The library can be found at
http://deploymenthealthlibrary.fhp.osd.mil/home.jsp
More information is at the Department of Defense Deployment Health Support Web site at
http://www.deploymentlink.osd.mil/
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August 14, 2005
Don't mix library issue up in eminent domain
EDITORIAL
The specter of eminent domain has always cast a long shadow. A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision now increases both the intensity and reach of that shadow so much so that we already see worrisome signs of it in our own back yard.
Officials in Walnut Creek appear to be toying with the idea of using eminent domain to force a woman to sell her family's homestead of 72 years so the city can build a new library. The city is in negotiations to buy the property but have hinted that eminent domain might be an option. It would be a bad option.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/12381612.htm
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August 13, 2005
Google halts effort to scan copyrighted library books
SAN FRANCISCO -- Stung by a publishing industry backlash, Google Inc. has halted its efforts to scan copyrighted books from some of the nation's largest university libraries so the material can be indexed in its leading Internet search engine.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0508130169aug13,1,5310404.story?coll=chi-business-hed
6000 rare manuscripts donated to Astan-e Qods Razavi Library by Supreme Leader
TEHRAN, Aug. 13 (MNA) -- Over the years, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has donated a total of 6000 rare manuscripts to the Astan-e Qods Razavi Library in Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi Province, the Astan-e Qods Razavi Public Relations Office announced on Saturday.
http://www.mehrnews.ir/en/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=217795
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August 12, 2005
Artist Returns to Livermore Library for a Spell
The Miami artist who whose mosaic for the Livermore (Calif.) Public Library was riddled with spelling errors came back to the library to correct her mistakes. Maria Alquilar originally refused to return to Livermore, claiming she was being treated as a “sacrificial goat,” but she agreed to make the corrections after the city council agreed to pay her $6,000 plus travel expenses, the San Francisco Chronicle reported August 9.
http://www.ala.org/al_onlineTemplate.cfm?Section=alonline&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=101783
Denver Library Yanks Spanish Books
DENVER -- Library workers are pulling thousands of Spanish-language comic books from the shelves following complaints of pornographic and violent content while officials determine whether some books should be permanently removed.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/12/AR2005081200003.html
Denver libraries put in a bind
Officials of the city's system, which this month pulled 6,000 racy Spanish-language picture books from its shelves, are worried that a full review of its 2.5 million books, CDs and videos may follow.
Racy, adult-oriented Spanish-language novellas stripped from shelves of Denver's public libraries are hardly the only picture books with strong sexual content available to children in the city's 22 branches.
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_2934810
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August 10, 2005
Artist fixes Livermore library mosaic mistakes
LIVERMORE, Calif. - An artist who created a mosaic of misspelled words returned to town to fix her much-maligned display outside the town's new public library.
Last year, the Livermore City Council paid Miami artist Maria Alquilar $40,000 to create an educational mural - and got a colorful, 16-foot circular mosaic of famous names riddled with spelling errors.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/12348974.htm
Map dealer pleads not guilty in thefts from Yale library
FBI inquiry turns up additional complaints
As a well-known map dealer pleaded not guilty Tuesday to stealing three valuable maps from a Yale University library, the president of Boston Public Library said 10 similar documents there are missing.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0508100157aug10,1,3559579.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed