January 2011

Another interview with Nancy Pearl, this one in the Christian Science Monitor. In response to the question asked by her fans: “Why did it take so long for her be named LJ’s Librarian of the Year?”, Pearl replied: “Once a librarian, always a librarian.”

From ReadWriteWeb blog at NYT.com

Worldreader, an e-reader nonprofit with a project in Ghana, and Clearwater High School in Florida, who also have an e-reader project, have found they are facing many of the same challenges. The kids each group serves are radically different in income and expectations. But they are quite similar in character.

The administrators of both projects have passed out Amazon Kindle e-readers to large groups of students with the intent of piquing interest in reading and providing a library’s worth of access. Among the biggest challenges shared by both? Kids are born hackers.

Full piece

About 485 campus positions could be cut because of a change in staffing formulas unanimously adopted by the Austin school board Monday.

The new formulas, which were proposed by Superintendent Meria Carstarphen under the cloud of several extremely bleak state budget forecasts, would cut 220 elementary and 229 secondary school positions plus another 35 parent support specialists from the district’s staffing formulas. The move saves the district $26.5 million, officials said.

The changes would require the board to approve declaring a financial emergency to terminate contracts at a later date. Several board members have said such approval is likely.

At the last minute, trustees changed Carstarphen’s proposal to save 52 elementary school librarian jobs. Another 22 librarian positions at the secondary school level, however, were eliminated from the formula, at least for now.

Austin American Statesman.

The book is dead? Long live the book!
Rubbishing those who hail the digital age as the end for books, publishing industry players and best-selling authors hailed a new dawn for publishing, with India’s voracious readers at its forefront.

Bird experts struggle to free a hawk from the dome of the main reading room. The hawk, nicknamed “Shirley” by staff members, has been trapped in the Library of Congress since Wednesday. (The bird has been recently fed and is in no immediate danger.)

Full story here.
Additional hawk updates from the LOC Blog.

With major publishers so far reticent to sanction a rental market for e-books, BookSwim.com, the New Jersey-based print-book rental company billed as “the Netflix of books,” told PW it plans to launch a new site called eBookToss.com, a virtual “e-book swap” that will facilitate the direct lending of e-books between consumers using the lending features enabled by platforms like the Kindle, and the Nook. “We’ve been talking to publishers about the concept of e-book rentals, but we don’t really know how possible that is,” BookSwim CEO George Burke told PW. “But, based on the announcement from Amazon in December [about enabling loans], we think we’ve found a model.” Burke said the site could go live as early as next week.

Full article at Publisher’s Weekly

Vt. woman facing charges for overdue library items
A Vermont woman is facing charges that she failed to return hundreds of dollars’ worth of books and videos from the library.

State Police say the 35-year-old woman from Concord has been cited on a charge of theft of rented property

Library protestors declare day of action
A “carnival of resistance” to library closures will take place on 5 February 2011, with over forty library “read-ins” scheduled in a coordinated protest over the threatened closures.

Local events are being organised from Hounslow, Brixton and Lewisham, to Somerset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Doncaster and Oxfordshire, with many writers – including Philip Pullman, Mary Hoffman, Malcolm Rose and Carole Matthews – due to take part.

Alderman proposes site for Obama library
Chicago Alderman Sandi Jackson says she thinks she has found the perfect site for the Barack Obama Presidential Museum and Library.

A NYC Upper West Side librarian says unruly tweens have become such a threatening menace to her and her staff that she needs police protection.

“They’re 12 and they have no respect for us,” said Bloomingdale Library manager Rebecca Donsky at a recent 24th Precinct Community Council meeting, her voice shaking with emotion as she pleaded for help controlling the youngsters.

Donsky said she asked her husband to get her pepper spray because she’s worried the pre-teens might jump her one night as she’s locking up at the end of a shift.

She’s regularly forced to kick out rude tweens, who have called her “b–ch” more times than she can count, Donsky said.

Full article