December 2008

A Favorite Children’s Author Writes His Own Tale

…Knucklehead, by Jon Scieszcka. “Knucklehead” is Scieszka’s own tall tale, a memoir organized like a collection of snapshots about growing up with five brothers in the Flint, Mich., of the 1950’s. Ever the teacher, in this slim volume ­Scieszka writes a model memoir. Or as he puts it, when you are getting in trouble “it’s good to be the one telling the story.”

Scieszka gets children, and he gets their humor. Especially boy humor. He tells the truth about what really goes on when parents aren’t looking. Want to hear more? The book is reviewed in the New York Times Sunday Book Review.

If you go in for crazy knuckleheaded kids stories, you might want to check out this accompanying blog from the paper entitled “Are You a Knucklehead”?.

December 20, 2008 by Authors

A Canadian Library Plans for Its Future

The Penticton (BC) Public Library has served the community for almost a century and in these changing times, it needs to grow.

Established in 1909 with a stock of 500 books, its collection now totals about 120,000 including DVDs and audio books.“People like their books,” says chief librarian Larry Little. “People like their public libraries. Libraries are the one democratic institution that is freely available for everybody. We have 17,000 people registered.”

BC Local News reports: “The real key for us is building for the future,” said Little, and plans have been in the works for a long time. “Ten years ago, the library approached city council about expansions to this facility. At that time the museum was included. We had a meeting here in November 1998 to show council just how desperate the library and museum were for space,” said Little.

From that, council agreed to put money towards development of a concept plan, the first draft of which was completed in November 2003.
“Where we are at right now in 2008, we’re asking council for funds to do detailed planning — about $125,000 for the library and museum complex.” “This will be the fourth year we’re asking,” said Little. “This is an old building and the infrastructure is in need of revitalization.”

December 20, 2008 by Librarians Libraries

Empty Shelves, Filled With Imagination

WHEN Geri Ellner began her job this school year as the librarian — or in the current parlance, as a library media specialist — at the Brooklyn Collegiate, a public school for Grades 6 through 12 in Ocean Hill, Brownsville Brooklyn, she did not have much of a book collection.

Many of the shelves in the small library, illuminated by harsh fluorescent lights, were bare, and many books were outdated or not particularly age-appropriate, like a children’s volume titled “Now We Are Six.” For the children’s books, she created a section entitled Memory Lane.

So Ms. Ellner, who has been working in the school library system for 10 years, did what she could to improve the library with a limited book budget of $3,244 for the school year. New York Times.

December 20, 2008 by Libraries School Libraries

On Obama’s Pick for Secy of Education and Learning to Read

President-elect Barack Obama has chosen Arne Duncan to be the next Secretary of Education.

Gary Stager, “teacher educator, education journalist, speaker, school reformer” is not happy with the choice of Duncan, whose appointment he considers to be just another ‘social promotion’.

CEO of Hooked on Phonics, Judy L. Harris, is not happy with what Gary Stager had to say about the appointment; specifically, “”Gary Stager is entitled to his opinions regarding President-elect Obama’s selection of Arne Duncan as Secretary of Education and education policy generally. However, it is unfortunate he has tried to trivialize my views by likening my company and its product — Hooked on Phonics, a product that has helped millions of children learn to read — to a sponge (with all due respect to the folks at ShamWow). ” Here’s the rest of her statement.

December 19, 2008 by Libraries School Libraries

Stevens, Oliver seek 2010 – 2011 ALA presidency

Stevens, Oliver seek 2010 – 2011 ALA presidency: Roberta Stevens and Kenton L. Oliver are candidates for the 2010-2011 presidency of the American Library Association (ALA). Stevens is currently outreach projects and partnerships officer at the Library of Congress and project manager for the National Book Festival.

Since 2001, Oliver, executive director of the Stark County District Library in Canton, Ohio, has overseen a library district serving an area of 256,000 residents with 11 locations. Prior to that, in a career spanning more than 30 years, he has been associate director for branch services for the Johnson County Library in Overland Park, Kan.; library director of the Olathe Public Library in Olathe, Kan.; and head of public services for the Daniel Boone Regional Library in Columbia, Mo.

December 19, 2008 by American Library Association Libraries

Cheney claims power to decide his public records

Dick Cheney’s lawyers are asserting that the vice president alone has the authority to determine which records, if any, from his tenure will be handed over to the National Archives when he leaves office in January.

That claim is in federal court documents asking that a lawsuit over the records be dismissed. Cheney leaves office Jan. 20, potentially taking with him millions of records that might otherwise become public record.

“The vice president alone may determine what constitutes vice presidential records or personal records, how his records will be created, maintained, managed and disposed, and are all actions that are committed to his discretion by law,” according to a court filing by Cheney’s office with the U.S. District Court on Dec. 8.

December 19, 2008 by Google Legal Issues

Gates Foundation supports bigger tubes in libraries

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is revisiting its commitment to American libraries by awarding $6.9 million in grants to upgrade public libraries in seven states to faster Internet connections.

The grants announced Thursday will help libraries in Arkansas, California, Kansas, Massachusetts, New York, Texas and Virginia. The money goes to Connected Nation, a nonprofit broadband advocacy group, and the American Library Association.

December 19, 2008 by American Library Association Internet Libraries

Second Circuit Court Gags NSL Gag Order

On Tuesday, December 16, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit established important restrictions on the power of the federal government to impose gag orders on recipients of National Security Letters (NSLs). Currently, the recipient of an NSL cannot challenge a gag order for one year, and the chances for success are limited by a provision of the law that requires judges to regard as “conclusive” government assertions that secrecy is necessary to protect national security. The Second Circuit ruled that these provisions limit First Amendment rights.

More from Bookweb and on pdf, Doe v. Mukasey (ACLU) Suit.

December 18, 2008 by Legal Issues

The state of the Delicious hive mind in 2008

From The delicious blog:

“I talk to a lot of people who use Delicious — on the forum, by email, on Twitter, and more — so I have a sense of what individuals think about the service, but I thought it’d be fun to check out what large numbers of people do on Delicious when they’re not asking for new features, reporting bugs, or praising the arrival of bulk edit. Let’s see! Here are people’s top ten searches on Delicious for 2008, with some commentary”

December 18, 2008 by Uncategorized

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