LISNews: Librarian News

The Reader's Shop writes "The Seattle
Times reports that many libraries across the country are trying to
keep up with the growing Spanish-speaking population by adding books, magazines
and movies in languages other than English.

In some places critics are saying that taxpayer money should not be used for
a population that can include illegal immigrants or on proposals that promote
languages other than English.

The growing trend in bilingual collections is seen in rural areas as well as
large cities across the nation.

In Denver, "Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., sent a public letter to Denver Mayor
John Hickenlooper asking if the library was considering Spanish-only branches
or converting to Spanish-language material at the expense of English material."
Mr. Tancredo is an outspoken critic of U.S. immigration policies.

Janet Cox, adult-services supervisor at the Pueblo Library District, stated,
"We provide material to meet the needs of the people in the area, whether that
be in English or Spanish or another language.. . That's important. That's what
libraries do."

Denver
Public Library
Congressman
Tom Tancredo

"

Christina writes "David Bigwood of Catalogablog pointed to this article on SpaceRef.com. It seems that the NASA employee union has unsuccessfully tried to set up a town meeting to discuss the library's weeding of dumpsters of print materials."

For librarians and booksellers alike, ISBNs are a critical identifier of which titles they have on the shelf, and which ones they'd like to acquire. R.R. Bowker is increasing the ISBN number to 13 digits, so it's time to get the low-down on these big numbers coming down the pike.

Here's information from Bookweb, and here's a seven page FAQ in pdf format.

Kelly writes "Get a free copy of one of the better translations of the Koran for your library (web url to order it online is explorethequran.orgUSAToday, which is where I saw this mentioned says, "Americans curious to crack the mysteries of Islam are about to delve by the thousands into the challenging text that inspires Arabic calls to prayer, worldwide pilgrimage and jihad: the book known to Muslims as The Holy Koran. Baraa Jaghlit packages up Korans for shipping in Beltsville, Md.
Almost 4,000 people have jumped at an offer from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) to send a free copy of Abdullah Yusuf Ali's translation of the Koran (also spelled Qur'an) to whoever wants one. Publisher Amana Publications stands ready to ship as many as 25,000 starting this week..." For more information, go to

usatoday.com"