madcow writes “Rocketboom’s Amanda has videoblogged the LII.org site. More of a shout-out really. Still, any pub is good pub, no?”
May 2005
1st Ladies of US and Bulgaria Support Library Exchange
The Reader’s Shop writes “http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=48056
Zorka Parvanova, Bulgaria’s first lady and US first lady Laura Bush have joined efforts in the American Bulgarian Library Exchange program. Laura Bush was invited by Zorka Parvanova to assume patronage of the ABLE program.
ABLE’s goal is to promote and apply American library practices to help Bulgarian public libraries transform into modern community information centers.
Laura Bush also expressed happiness that the US State Department’ Bureau of Cultural and Educational Affairs has decided to fund a project to create Community Information Centers in Bulgarian public libraries.
“The project includes buying computers for Bulgarian libraries; mounting a website about the project and with resources for Bulgarian citizens; training for Bulgarian librarians on how to become a community information center; and exchange visits of Bulgarian and American librarians.”
ABLE
Public Access Computing
Library board restores “Bill of Rights” to policy appendix
Steven M. Cohen writes “From The Johnson City Sun:
“A standing-room-only crowd of supporters for the American Library Association’s Bill of Rights filled the Central Resource Library Meeting Room last week when the Library Board voted 5-1 to restore the bill to the Collection Development Policy Appendix.”
“The board in April voted 4-3 to remove the bill from the appendix to the Library Collection Policy and related references within the policy.””
Book restriction motion rejected by House panel
Steven M. Cohen writes “From The Times-Picayune:
“A nonbinding resolution calling on libraries to keep “age-inappropriate books” out of the hands of children died in a House committee on 4-3 vote Wednesday.”
“The Committee on Municipal, Parochial and Cultural Affairs rejected House Concurrent Resolution 119 by Rep. A.G. Crowe, R-Slidell, after critics called it “book-banning” and censorship. The measure is dead for the session, but Crowe could come back with another resolution on the same subject.””
FBI requests new Patriot Act powers
Rich writes “The Senate Intelligence Committee will hold closed
meeting on Thursday to move legislation to allow the FBI to seize business or private records to investigate terrorism without first securing approval from a judge. Reports Reuters Reports.
ACLU has
this reponse
Mary Minow LibraryLaw Blog has two analyses of the changes.”
Odds Are It’s….[Potential Spoiler]
United Press International Online British bookies resumed taking bets Wednesday on which character gets killed off in the sixth “Harry Potter” novel.
Betting on which character will die began eight months ago after author JK Rowling confirmed a key character would be killed off. But after a rash of bets began pouring in from the British town of Bungay, where the book is being printed, Internet betting Web site Blue Square Tuesday suspended betting for fear the manuscript had been leaked.
After assurances from Potter publishers Bloomsbury there was no leak, the site reopened betting, but at prohibitive odds, the BBC said.
The favorite so far has been Hogwarts’ headmaster Dumbledore, whose newest odds Wednesday were 1-5.
New bookselling site offers publishers direct route to readers
Anonymous Patron writes “A Press Release for Fans of ‘Birdsong’ novelist Sebastian Faulks. Fans are being given the first chapter of his new novel free by a new website that sells books directly to consumers.
Lovereading.com is marketing its formal launch in June by giving away the first chapter of ‘Human Traces’, the latest novel by Faulks, in a move to get people to sign up to the site.”
The Upcoming Copyright Clash
Anonymous Patron writes “The Upcoming Copyright Clash is an essay by Canadian legal scholar Michael Geist. He takes a look at the past, present and future of Canadian Copyrights. Though he cites Avril Lavigne as an example of “unprecedented international critical and commercial success,” he still makes many good points.
“Copyright extension effectively constitutes a massive transfer of wealth from the public to a select group of copyright holders such as Disney.”
He argues Canada could provide global leadership by becoming
the first country in the world to create a comprehensive national digital library.”
“Ohio libraries are too valuable to the education of all Ohio residents…”
AshtabulaGuy writes “The Editorial Board of The Post (the student newspaper of Ohio University in Athens) published an editorial this week decrying budget cuts to Ohio’s libraries. The case made is necessary for review by librarians of all types as shown by this quote: “With Gov. Taft continually promoting the need for Ohio to compete in high-tech industries, the decision to cut library funding seems not only to contradict these economic goals, but also make them nearly impossible.””
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