September 2006

Barbara Kemmis writes “In October 2006, the American Theological Library Association (ATLA) will launch the first ever Theological Libraries Month to highlight the vital role libraries play in theological education.

Librarians everywhere will understand our challenge, says Dennis A. Norlin, ATLA executive director. It’s a common belief that any day now online resources will replace the library or reduce the expenses. Neither is happening.

Read on…

Instead, like all library directors, those at theological libraries are being called upon to play a pivotal role. They must navigate today’s expensive balancing act of preserving and making accessible valuable resources. The decisions theological librarians make about allocating budgets, formats, technology, and preservation all have a direct impact on the teaching and research that takes place at their institutions, says Norlin. If anything, theological libraries are becoming more rather than less important to their institutions.

We want to support our members efforts to let their patrons know their value and importance. Libraries and librarians are at their service, offering more than their patrons imagine, says Barbara Kemmis, ATLA director of member services. Some of our members may participate simply by posting the Theological Libraries Month logo on their library’s website. Others will get even more actively involved, accessing the wealth of resources we are offering on a special section of our website to implement a wide range of activities.”

Bound books are not yet a thing of the past.

But people with technological savvy are increasingly reading reference books on a computer screen and listening to Shakespeare via headphones.

The Chula Vista Public Library and other public, academic and corporate libraries around San Diego County are tapping into this phenomenon by building a database full of popular titles that can be downloaded to computers and portable listening devices.

“We’re definitely offering more opportunities for people who like to do things online,” said Jeri Gulbransen, communications manager for Chula Vista.

In The Toronto Star James Grainer says The city’s new breed of second-hand- book peddler is a former punk rocker.
Whereas the used-book scene of the 1970s and ’80s was dominated by, as Hanna puts it, “old hippies selling their cool stuff” in clusters of stores along Queen W. and Harbord, the new-model second-hand stores are run by old punk rockers selling their cool stuff in the newly hip neighbourhoods further west. (Babel co-owner Randy Harnett can attest to this trend: he’s opened two locations of She Said Boom! Records & Book over the past decade, and three of his ex-employees, including Hanna, have opened combo book-record stores of their own.)

…get ready

…the one

the only…

Angelina Jolie (YES!) will star in the movie adaptation of Atlas Shrugged , the ambitious 1,100-page novel (circa 1957) by Russian-born American writer and philosopher Ayn Rand, Variety reported yesterday (and here reported by The Book Standard).

Rand, who also wrote the novels Anthem and The Fountainhead , which was made into a movie in 1949, was also known for her Objectivist philosophies, which she developed and included in many of her books, including Atlas Shrugged. This movie has been ‘in the works’ for several years now.

Ana Menendez Has A Unique outlook on Banned Books Week.
World leaders may be good for books, but bans are better. Judy Blume, one of the best-selling young adult authors of all time, also holds the distinction of being one of the country’s most frequently banned authors, earning her popularity even Chavez couldn’t improve.

”It’s human nature,” said Larra Clark, spokeswoman for the American Library Association. “If someone tells you can’t have something, it increases your interest in it.”

In all, nine prominent Latinos shared their memories of public libraries Saturday at the San Antonio (Texas) Central Library during a program called ” Testimonios: How the Library Changed My Life.”

For architect Jose Garcia de Lara, the public library was an institution of higher learning. He said college was not part of his family, but he knew he wanted to be an architect. So he read every book he could find on architecture.

I guess this is more of a “Who Did It” than a “who dunnit?” A homeless woman pleaded guilty Friday to setting fire to books in the gay/lesbian and African-American sections of a Chicago Public Library facility in the Lake View neighborhood, for which she was sentenced to 94 days in jail, then released for time served.

Erica Graham, in her early 20s, homeless with a last known address in the 3100 block of North Broadway, pleaded guilty to one count of attempted aggravated arson, according to Cook County State’s Attorney General’s office spokesman Andy Conklin.

Cook County Criminal Court Associate Judge Dennis J. Porter also ordered her to serve 24 months on probation and fined Graham $545, according to Conklin.

This Press Release says The award-winning MyMediaMall digital book collection is celebrating its first anniversary with the addition of downloadable videos that are free and available 24/7. Patrons of participating Illinois libraries can check out and download the new videos, as well as popular digital audiobooks and e-books from the comfort of their own home. The videos and books can be enjoyed on a wide range of portable devices.

The LA Time can’t resist another Punny librarian headline: “A Long Overdue Departure” or For Delta Librarian, The End: After decades of doing battle with illiteracy, poverty, racism and the elements in Mississippi, Ronnie Wise is walking away.People just don’t realize the stress of a Mississippi librarian’s life, he says. People don’t understand what it takes to keep those front doors open — or what’s at stake if you don’t. Reading, Wise believes, is life. Illiteracy, therefore, is death. He witnesses its stranglehold every day. Shopping at the grocery store, standing in line at the bank or post office, he’s constantly accosted by strangers trying to conceal their secret behind the same lie. “Excuse me,” they say. “Forgot my glasses — could you tell me what this says?”

A small sign at the entrance of a public library in Newport News makes it clear that shouting, sleeping and chewing tobacco are taboo inside.

The rules also ban weapons in libraries.

But the Virginia Citizens Defense League has informed the City Council that a firearm ban in the city’s libraries breaks a Virginia Code that prevents cities or its agencies from making rules on carrying guns in public places. Exceptions include courthouses and in or around schools. A Bit More