May 18th, 2012
Lecture on Modern Library
On 4th May, 2012, Dr. Philip Calvert (senior lecturer at School of Management and Information, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand) had a presentation and discussions with staff and graduate students of Faculty of Library and Information Science about the concept “Modern Library”.
Dr Philip Calvert at his presentation. Photo: Nguyen Hang/USSH
The main content that Dr. Philip Calvert focused on this dialogue was the role of technology in modern library construction; challenges that libraries have to face in selecting and applying modern technologies in the context of technological exploration; approaching methods and the use of technology for students majoring in library- information science; and modern library in the tendency of connecting and interacting through the “social media” – social networking sites, web 2.0 information users in the modern library.
Dr. Philip Calvert and staff, lecturers and students of the Faculty of Library- Information Science discussed topics about web 2.0, library access point in the modern libraries, features of modern libraries; digitalization of documents with the challenge of copyright, softwares of building digital libraries, technology products which support users with special need, etc.
Prof. Tran Thi Quy, Dean of Faculty of Library and Information Science on behalf of staff and students expressed her gratitude to Dr. Calvert for his enthusiasm and his precious spending time for the presentation. Dr. Tran Thi Quy hoped that the cooperation between the Victoria University of Wellington and the Faculty of Library and Information Science would continue to develop further in the future.
Dr. Calvert thanked the kindness and welcoming spirit from teachers and students of Library- Information Science Faculty. He also presented his confidence in the process of cooperation of both parties in the future.
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May 18th, 2012
John Spears, Executive Director of the Naperville Public Library, has been re-elected to the board of Reaching Across Illinois Library System (RAILS).
One of two multi-type regional library systems in the state, RAILS serves more than 1500 public, private, university, and school library members, representing more than 3700 library facilities in a 27,000 square mile area of northern and western Illinois.
RAILS provides delivery service to support Illinois’ vast inter-library loan program, technology support for more than 800 libraries’ electronic catalogs, and Talking Book Services that serve persons with visual or physical disabilities who cannot read conventional print material.
Currently Vice President of the Board and an At-Large Member, Spears’ new three year term will begin July 1. Spears believes this is an important time for the new library system. “With the changes that have occurred in Illinois libraries over the past several years, the role of the regional library systems is more important than ever,” he notes. “The next three years will be extremely pivotal in determining the structure of resource sharing between libraries throughout Illinois, and I am honored to have been reelected by my peers to serve on the Board.”
For more information visit www.naperville-lib.org.
The Naperville Public Library serves a population of more than 142,000 at the Nichols Library, 200 W. Jefferson Ave., the Naper Boulevard Library, 2035 S. Naper Blvd., the 95th Street Library, 3015 Cedar Glade Dr.; and our website, http://www.naperville-lib.org. The Library’s collection includes magazines, newspapers, large-type books, CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray Discs, books on CD, eBooks, downloadable audio books, music and movies; online resources, and, of course, books. The Naperville Public Library supports all residents of Naperville in their lifelong pursuit of learning, enjoyment and inspiration by providing excellence in public library services, resources and programs. For more information visit http://www.naperville-lib.org.
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May 15th, 2012
Writer’s Coffee Shop
E.L. James’ ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ has taken the publishing world by storm, with many deeming the steamy erotic novel “soccer-mom porn.”
And while it certainly isn’t suitable for children, a lot of adults are upset that the libraries in Brevard County, Fla. have banned the book from its shelves.
Cathy Schweinsberg, library services director, pulled the novel from circulation after reading it, a move that’s galvanized anti-censorship advocates.
“We absolutely think it was a violation of the First Amendment,” said Maria Kayanan, associate legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida. “It’s undemocratic and it’s un-American, and if people don’t want to read it, they shouldn’t read it. [But] they can’t just remove the book from the shelves based on one individual’s misguided sense of moral propriety.”
Judith Doan, a 75-year-old local artist, says the ban makes Brevard County “look very narrow-minded and biased, like we don’t have the intelligence to decide what to read and what not to read.”
But for the time being, Brevard is standing by its decision, citing the library system’s policy that “materials are selected to serve the broad, general interest ranges of [residents],” and that responsibility for the books on its shelves “rests with the local library director.”
What do you think? Should ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ be available at your local library?
[USA Today]
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May 15th, 2012
The San Antonio Public Library is pleased to announce that it has partnered with the San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA) to provide use of its computers and internet access at all of its 26 locations to anyone wishing to submit a Section 8 housing application to SAHA from May 15 – June 1. This is the first time in several years that the waiting list is opening. Applications are only being accepted online and with the possibilty that many applicants may not have immediate access to a computer or the internet, the Library’s public terminals are a logical option.
While the application window is only from May 15 – June 1, applications will be placed in a pool to be added to the waiting list and not on a first come first served basis. A computerized system will determine the order in which an application is processed for consideration. After June 1, applications can still be submitted, but they will be added sequentially after the first group.
Visit the San Antonio Public Library’s web site at http://mysapl.org, which will provide a link to click through to the SAHA web site or go directly to http://www.saha.org/section%208/html/waiting-list-opens.html from anywhere. Please have your social security number and the name of your child’s school ready (if applicable). Also, please be sure that all of your information is correct as changes cannot be made once the application is completed.
SAHA representatives will be on-site at Central Library and the following branch libraries: Thousand Oaks, Memorial, Carver, Johnson and Mission. These representatives will be available to answer questions about the application process.
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May 12th, 2012
Lt. Governor Timothy P. Murray and ALA President Molly Raphael
On May 8, 2012, Worcester Public Library, the second largest public library in Massachusetts, enjoyed both political and intellectual support for its strategic planning. ALA President Molly Raphael addressed the Library Board to provide perspectives on directions for public libraries. Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Murray, a long-time supporter of libraries and a former president of the Worcester Library Board also participated in the meeting.
Raphael addressed broad-ranging topics under the rubric of “The Future of the Public Libraries and National Trends.” Perhaps the biggest lesson from her speech is that while larger trends are critical to understand and translate to the local situation, ultimately public libraries must demonstrate their value to the community. For the most part, funding is locally-based, whether from the government or fundraising.
As libraries evolve, we must not lose sight of our professional norms and values. In particular, libraries always have been the resource in the community to level the playing field—the place where all people can come to further their educations, careers, and other interests. In a world with increasing information complexity and commercialization of information access, the role to ensure equitable access—regardless of the ability to pay—is more important than ever.
Molly explained at the event that equitable access is currently problematic in the e-book realm. Some publishers, including four of the six largest ones, will not sell to public libraries—at any price. Individuals who can afford to purchase these ebook titles are free to do so, but cannot access these e-books at public libraries under any circumstances.
Worcester Public Library Board Meeting, May 8, 2012
Public libraries must change and do so more rapidly than in the past, if we want to not just survive but thrive. Molly discussed the OITP policy brief Confronting the Future: Strategic Visions for the 21st Century Public Library (PDF) as a useful way of planning. Roger Levien, the author of this report, visualizes each of the following dimensions in which the library can use to decide where the library should position itself:
- Physical to virtual libraries
- Focus on the user: Individual to community libraries
- Collection to creation libraries
- Portal to archival libraries
Head Librarian, Mark Contois, and ALA President Molly Raphael
I was thrilled that we were able to receive such great strategic advice and political support as we consider the future of our library.
Wei Jeng-Chu,
Member, OITP Subcommittee on America’s Libraries for the 21st Century
Associate Head Librarian, Worcester Public Library
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May 12th, 2012
The San Antonio Public Library will celebrate Asian and Pacific American Heritage Month with free cultural events at two local branches.
Saturday, the Hula Halau Ohana Elikapeka dance troupe will play and dance to Hawaiian music at 2 p.m. at the Landa Library, 233 Bushnell Ave.
On May 26, local musician Tomoe Kumashiro will perform at 1 p.m. at the Forest Hills Library, 5245 Ingram Rd. Kumashiro will play traditional Japanese music on the koto, the national instrument of Japan.
For more information, call the Landa Branch Library at 210-732-8369 or the Forest Branch Library at 210-431-2544.
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May 9th, 2012
Friends First Vice President Sherri Garber setting up for the 2011 Friend book sale. (Planet file photo)
The Princeton Public Library Board of Trustees voted this morning to abandon efforts to consolidate two separate library fundraising groups, the Friends of the Library and the Princeton Public Library Foundation.
Library Trustee Andrew Erlichson proposed that the trustees drop the consolidation idea “recognizing the importance of the contributions the Friends make and their stated strong desires to keep their own organizational structure.”
Instead, he and others suggested that a joint committee be created to improve communication between the library, the foundation, and the Friends. The trustees approved the proposals, with President Katherine McGavern casting the lone vote against dropping the consolidation effort.
For more than 50 years, the Friends group, an independent non-profit organization, has provided financial support to the library. The Friends hold an annual benefit and run an extremely successful annual used book sale to raise money for the library. The group has won several national honors for its work, including the Gale Cengage Library Development Award.
Over the past two years, the group has given $700,000 to the library, and has also pledged $100,000 to the library’s endowment fund. A 21-member council oversees the work of the Friends.
“Our success is based on an esprit de corps and a sense of pride,” Friends President Julia Bowers Coale said. “We work for the library with a sense purpose — to raise money for the library — but we are not directed by staff, and we are not told what we can and can’t do. There is a high level of group autonomy.”
The library trustees have been looking at the possibility of merging the Friends with the foundation for more than a year. But some Friends members said they only learned of the merger proposal in February and were not included in previous discussions.
“It is as if you already decided it was a done deal and then you came to us. That is the way we have been taking it.” Coale said. “There is a question of trust in the relationship with the library. Right now the trust part is on pretty weak footing. We need to try to adjust that.”
Coale told the trustees the Friends are in favor of what is best for library. “But it is really important to us that we be part of the process,” she said. “It seems to us that we are the public — we are part of the public in `public’ library. If the library wants to expand, it should expand into the public, but not draw it into itself.”
If the Friends and foundation merged, the library trustees would appoint the members of the new fundraising organization. One Friends member told the trustees that forcing the Friends to merge would be bad for morale and would squander the human capital the Friends offer. “It would be like throwing it in a trash in a can and lighting a match to it,” she said.
McGavern said the trustees have the legal responsibility to do what is best for the library, and that after reviewing the facts and research on the issue, she feels strongly a merger of the organizations would be best. “Uniting the Friends and the foundation would allow the library to be much stronger in its development efforts going forward,” she said.
“It seems it would make a difference in the structural way we do business that would be to library’s benefit, not in just a casual way,” she said. “I understand the human capital issue. The last thing we want to have happen is to do damage to people who do the phenomenal job you do.”
Erlichson argued that consolidation is not worth pursuing if it demotivates the Friends though.
“We do argue and have to beg for money (from the Friends) sometimes, but the total amount sometimes is as little as $30,000,” he said. “That’s one percent of the library budget. It’s a 1-percent problem, a 1-percent problem that is not worth solving.”
by Krystal Knapp on May 8, 2012 · 0 comments
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May 9th, 2012
by Quinn Welsch
Horizon Reporter
The Whatcom Community College library may be making some changes to its layout this summer as librarians plan on reorganizing space to accommodate students and their jobs.
Besides additional computers, librarian Kiki Tomilla said the library hasn’t changed significantly in at least seven years.
On any given afternoon in the library, the sound of murmuring students, the drone of air-ducts, and fingers ticking away on keyboards creates a gentle white noise. Despite the relative peace, students concerned with the noise level have said they would like to see some changes.
Reorganization of the library will also help the library’s staff. Student needs come first, said Tomilla, who is the chair of the library space planning committee.
Tomilla said the library’s reorganization comes at no cost and consists of a simple plan: rearrange furniture, and replace dated technology – such as DVD for VHS, and slowly transfer conventional books to ebooks. The library’s rearrangement will also maximize working space for the librarians.
“We’ve got shelving, we just need a space to put the shelving,” said Tomilla. “Library practice says you need to leave X amount of room per shelf for growth. We are now not following that rule.”
There are two questions written on a discussion board set up in front of the circulation desk. Why do you come here? is the first. The answers range from “To study in a quiet environment,” “HW,” and “to look at girls.”
The second question: What do we need? “Quiet!!” is one answer, adding in parenthesis “I shouldn’t have to book a conference room to get quiet, but I do. So sad,” another is “More tables to study at,” and “More study areas.” The answers go on and are stacked up in multiple pages in Tomilla’s office.
The main complaint Tomilla hears from students is that it’s becoming harder to find a quiet place for studying.
The library’s high ceiling and thick walls make for strong acoustics and allow voices to sound louder and clearer than usual. John McConnel, a bearded librarian at the reference desk, said that noise from upstairs travels to the library’s main floor and can become a nuisance.
At certain times the noise is ambient, said McConnel. He takes a moment to listen to the sounds of the library, “There’s a little bit of noise coming from everywhere, so nothing sticks out,” he said. In the evening, when the air ducts stop humming, McConnel said, the library becomes dead quiet, making even the smallest noises distracting.
Tomilla said the plans for this summer are only “Band-aids.” She would like to see low cost fixes in the library after the summer but does not know a price. If the campus planners accept a proposal for such fixes, she said, “We’ll be looking under rocks for money. We just need to be creative.”
Library director Linda Lambert wrote in an email that there are no current plans for a renovation. But there is a possibility that the library may see even bigger changes further down the road. Lambert wrote that plans for a learning commons is still “on the list for possible capital projects for the 2013 – 2015 biennium.” Each biennium is a two year budget cycle. The learning commons would incorporate the learning center services and the campus library in a new building.
Nate Langstraat, vice president of administration services said the 2013 – 2015 cycle would merely be the design phase. If the project is approved, he said it would be constructed in the 2015 – 2017 cycle and cost upwards of $30 million at the state’s expense. Langstraat is optimistic about the learning commons, but said that the project depends on the state’s “revenue forecast.”
Because the project would be state funded, any new plans must be posted via publicly for construction contractors to bid on a request for proposal. Contractors will provide a projected cost, and their plans for completing the project. The Washington State Department of Enterprise Services will then coordinate with campus planners to decide which bid is most beneficial to Whatcom.
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May 5th, 2012
Hillsborough County recently implemented an e-book program
for elementary and middle school students throughout the county. The online library,
called “Read on myOn,” was funded by the Hillsborough County school district,
along with community partners such as the Hillsborough County Public Library
Cooperative. The myOn library offers access to over 2,000 e-books that students
can read wherever they have Internet access. The goal of the project was to
offer students from less-advantaged communities easier access to reading
materials. Now, access to myOn has expanded to also include students from all different types of schools in the area. You can read more about this program here.
During an initial pilot version of myOn, some parents voiced
concerns over the lack of a parental controls option on myOn. They were upset
about certain books that featured autopsy scenes and witchcraft, among other
things. For more about the parents’ objections, click here.
In response to those concerns, Capstone Digital, the makers
of myOn, have added a parental controls option. Parents can now delete from
their children’s accounts any books that they deem to be inappropriate.
Capstone Digital has also blocked for elementary school students some of the books that during the pilot
version stage were seen by some parents as graphic or inappropriate.
The FLA Intellectual Freedom Committee thinks this touches on the issue of intellectual freedom in
libraries. According to the American Library Association: “Library policies and procedures that effectively
deny minors equal and equitable access to all library resources and services
available to other users violate the Library Bill of Rights. The American
Library Association opposes all attempts to restrict access to library
services, materials, and facilities based on the age of library users.” However,
the ALA does also state that: “We affirm the responsibility and the right of
all parents and guardians to guide their own children’s use of the library and
its resources and services.” For more from the ALA on this topic, click here.
What do you
think? We would like any feedback you may have, about this or other
intellectual freedom issues you may see appearing in Florida libraries. Add a
comment to this blog post or email Robin Shader, the chair of our Intellectual Freedom committee, at rshader@baycountyfl.gov,
or myself at zenglish@evergladesuniversity.edu, and the rest of the committee will discuss your comments over email.
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May 5th, 2012
CEDAR RAPIDS – Grace Ehle is just old enough to remember the downtown Cedar Rapids Public Library that was flooded in 2008.
Learning about the forthcoming new library inspired the 12-year-old Prairie Creek sixth-grader to donate all the savings in her piggy bank.
“I heard about the plan and I thought it was going to be really cool,” she said, standing outside the towering steel structure that will become the new downtown library.
Zach Voss , of Iowa City and his son Hayden, 2, play in the sand pit during the Cedar Rapids Public Library groundbreaking celebration, at the corner of 4th Avenue and 5th Street, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Saturday, May 5, 2012. The new library is expected to open it’s doors in the summer of 2013. (Nikole Hanna/The Gazette-KCRG)
More than 200 people joined Grace and numerous other children Saturday, May 5, 2012, to celebrate the groundbreaking of the new library in the 400 block of Fourth Avenue SE.
Katie Geiken, executive director of the Cedar Rapids Library Foundation, noted that the demolition of the TrueNorth building on the site began in December, with construction starting in January.
“We wanted to have a pretty day” for the groundbreaking, she said. “We figured we could celebrate whenever we wanted.”
Geiken said asbestos at the site has been remediated, but the discovery pushed back the library’s opening to late summer 2013.
The delay didn’t dampen the spirits of library supporters, who told stories of what having a public library means to them.
Bailey Zaputil, 16, a Kennedy High School 10th-grader, won an essay contest by describing how the library felt like home to her.
“I grew up there, pretty much,” she said, describing the summer reading program and other activities she enjoyed before the flood damaged the building. “It felt like a part of my childhood had been taken.”
Zaputil and other teens influenced the design of the new building by providing input on furniture and other amenities for the young adults section.
The library is being funded by $26.5 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency; $10 million from the state I-Jobs program; $4 million in city local option sales tax; $1 million in public grants and $4.3 in private fundraising, for a total of $45.8 million.
A Library 3.0 fundraising campaign continues, with money going into a library endowment, Geiken said.
The 3.0 refers to the third city library in downtown Cedar Rapids. The first is now the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, just across Greene Square Park from the new library.
“This doesn’t happen very often,” said Library Director Bob Pasicznyuk.
Pasicznyuk pointed out amenities, including more than 250 parking spaces; 40 behind the building and most in the ramp next to the library.
Technology will be an integral part of the building, and beyond, with free Wi-Fi extending into Greene Square Park.
Pasicznyuk said the children’s area will be double the previous size and include giant iPads to learn letters and reading.
“I think this is going to be some of the most coveted space in town,” he said.
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