LISNews: Librarian News

Coca-Cola, the Canadian Library Association and the Canadian Association of Children\'s Libraries join together to support Share the Story reading circles. This new initiative will \"help to eliminate waiting lists and lottery systems for popular storytimes\".

Apparently Coca-Cola is \"sensitive to the issue of marketing to children\".

More.

From the Japan Times:

Thirty-nine local governments in Japan stopped providing \"mobile library\" services in the three-year period up to fiscal 2000, according to a study released by the Japan Library Association.
Their demise was caused by declining use of the mobile libraries and hard financial times at local governments, said the study, made available to Kyodo News on Saturday.

The public borrowed about 15 million books from mobile libraries across the country last year, down from 21 million books 10 years ago, it said . . .

More.

The winners of the An Chomhairle Leabharlanna The Library Council\'s fifth annual essay contest have been announced. The topic of this year\'s essay was \"Without my library...\" Young people in two age categories (under 14 and under 18) shared their ideas on life without libraries.

Here\'s a sample of the winning essay in the under 14 category:
The bus grinding to a halt, and a young woman stepping smartly off and moving toward the glass doors of the library. A bitter wind tugs at her hair as she crosses the busy street. Reaching the swing doors she grasps the handle firmly and pulls hard. The door stays put, not budging in the slightest. She pulls again, harder this time, but again to no avail. Peering through the glass, she can see oaken shelves empty, greying computers dormant in the corner. She turns bitterly and heads back to the bus stop and begins her laborious wait for the next bus.

According to an article in The Spectator,The British government has issued a new Public Library Standard, which requires libraries to completely purge their stacks over the next 8.5 years. According to Julia Lewis, \"The government is forcing libraries to sell, and sometimes pulp, great works of literature in the name of vibrancy and multiculturalism. Among the books being thrown out are those that represent the best of English and American writing, as well as translations of European classics and works by contemporary authors. The government’s policy is well-meaning but misguided.\" More