LISNews: Librarian News

Louisiana Rebirth: Restoring the Soul of America is the name of the initiative to drive the rebuilding of Louisiana's tourism and cultural industry.

To help accomplish these goals, Landrieu and Davis designated the State Library to serve as a clearing house, offering people a gateway to information that will put them in contact with resources available to rebuild their lives;

Story at the Baton Rouge Advocate.

An Alaska Department of Education and Early Development press release reports:

Education Commissioner Roger Sampson has named Kay Shelton Director of the Division of Libraries, Archives and Museums. The appointment also gives Shelton the title of Alaska State Librarian.

Kay Shelton is the first permanent director of the Alaska State Library since the departure of Karen Crane in December 2002. Kay had been in acting director status since February 2005.

The staff of the entire division cheered Kay's appointment when it was announced this morning and look forward to her continued leadership.

BC writes "What a great service! I know what Talking Books mean to many people but the State of Washington considers what else their users need:
Reports The Seattle Times
Let your eyes dance over the words. Maybe this is the first newspaper you've read today. Maybe it lingered on your coffee table for a day or two before you got to it. Maybe you read the sports first, took a peek at local news and then dove into the supermarket ads to see what was on sale.

But what if you couldn't see at all? What would you do then?"

Daniel writes "Story in Juneau Empire http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/021005/loc_200 50210001.shtmlOfficial Department of Education & Early Development Press Releasehttp://www.eed.state.ak.us/lam/Newsflash.htmlDaniel's take: We finished boxing up the collection today so the carpet could be cleaned or removed to prevent mold. The whole staff was really great and worked very well together. Pictures were floating around the office. When we get them posted somewhere, I'll post a link to them.About 10 staff have been moved to temporary workstations while not involved in recovery efforts. We'll all be displaced for awhile, but me longest of all. The water pipe burst directly above my ceiling and pretty much destroyed my office, so the asbestos abatement people say. We were EXTREMELY FORTUNATE the pipe burst at 6am and not at 11pm when the building would be empty.People who've seen my office can't decide whether "toast" or "oatmeal" best describes the damage."