Cornelia

The Canadian Library Association has begun a Campaign for Canada\’s Libraries.


The purpose of this campaign is to \”educate government
decision-makers and the public on the importance
of libraries in the government’s new innovation
agenda and to the emphasize the need for a
Canadian Council of Libraries, a new National
Library building and the continuance of the Library
Book Rate\”.


Unfortunately, detailed information is only available on the members only section of the CLA website.

This rather
odd website is a \”proposal to change the county
library annual performance evaluation management policy
and appraisal of promotability rating procedures\”. It includes a
detailed proposal, proposed new evaluation forms, leadership
concepts, bibliographies,
Inside a Librarian\’s Amazing Brain, and more.


Someone sure must have been annoyed with library
management.

This rather
odd website is a \”proposal to change the county
library annual performance evaluation management policy
and appraisal of promotability rating procedures\”. It includes a
detailed proposal, proposed new evaluation forms, leadership
concepts, bibliographies,
Inside a Librarian\’s Amazing Brain, and more.


Someone sure must have been annoyed with library
management.
\”Order is essential for a happy flock! Official orders handed
down through the chain-of-command should never be questioned.
We want business as usual and the status quo to keep things
harmonious,\”says one of the turkeys in the Turkey
Pen.


On the other hand, \”the eagle\’s commitment to scientific truth
and his skepticism regarding superficial bureaucratic rules and
regulations gave him the courage and the optimism to survive and
to adapt to the continuously changing environment around
him.\”


The moral of the story is \”Fly like an eagle or roast like a turkey\”.

The National Library of Canada has a website called Celebrating Women\’s Achievements. In the Women in Canadian Librarianship and Bibliography section, the National Library highlights \”10 women who have made significant contributions to the development of library services and bibliographical research in Canada\”.


One of these women was Newfoundland librarian Jessie Mifflen.


Jessie Mifflen\’s mandate was to visit and establish public libraries in various parts of the province. In the early days, her visits were made by dogteam, bush plane, small boat and coastal steamer. Many of her trips took days and, in some cases, weeks. However, when she retired in 1972 more than 50 new libriares had been established throughout the province.


You can read about all ten of these librarians here.

Librarian Lane, on
Roth
Publishing\’s website, celebrates librarians and poetry. There is a \”Librarians are
Poets, Too\” contest (the Winners\’ Anthology is here) and even a Librarian-Poets Hall of
Fame.

Librarian Lane, on
Roth
Publishing\’s website, celebrates librarians and poetry. There is a \”Librarians are
Poets, Too\” contest (the Winners\’ Anthology is here) and even a Librarian-Poets Hall of
Fame.

Here\’s a brief excerpt from Allan Preston\’s poem \”The Comet\’s Tale\”:



For finally I am God among my own life

And it is in the comet that I reside.



So shrieks through silent seas of stars:

The comet\’s tale.



And an excerpt from Jim Wood\’s poem \”Dance While We Can\”:



Let\’s join in a circle of fire

do something — wildly irrational

so provocative — to find

the ticket to paradise.

In this article from the Independent, Jonathan Myerson
criticizes the many grown-ups who are reading Harry Potter these days.

Myerson classifies these grown-ups Harry Potter lovers into three categories:
Never-Readers, for whom Harry Potter is the first book they have read in eons,
Occasional Readers, who have been convinced by the hype to make Harry
Potter one of the few books they\’ll read this year, and Regular Readers, for whom
Harry Potter is just one of many books.

Myerson heaps scorn on these adults, but what I find most offensive is not his
opinion of Harry Potter in particular (I\’m not a great fan), but his attitude toward
children\’s books in general.

In this article from the Independent, Jonathan Myerson
criticizes the many grown-ups who are reading Harry Potter these days.

Myerson classifies these grown-ups Harry Potter lovers into three categories:
Never-Readers, for whom Harry Potter is the first book they have read in eons,
Occasional Readers, who have been convinced by the hype to make Harry
Potter one of the few books they\’ll read this year, and Regular Readers, for whom
Harry Potter is just one of many books.

Myerson heaps scorn on these adults, but what I find most offensive is not his
opinion of Harry Potter in particular (I\’m not a great fan), but his attitude toward
children\’s books in general.

He apparently believes that children\’s books are for children and adult books
are for adults, period.

\”When I read a novel, I look to it to tell me some truths about human life –
the truths that non-fiction cannot reach… I expect my life to be enlarged, however
slightly, by the experience of reading something fictional. I cannot hope to come
closer to any of these truths through a children\’s novel…\”

Myerson cannot have read many children\’s novels, because the best of them
are full of life-enriching truths.

\”To read a children\’s book is not escapism – it\’s evasion, it\’s retreat, it\’s
surrender,\”Myerson confidently declares. I think he\’s the one who\’s missing
out.

This Winnipeg Free Press article reports that the Winnipeg School Division has refused an offer from the Canadian Children\’s Book Centre to distribute a free book to every grade one student.

The reason for turning down free copies of John Bianchi\’s Young Author\’s Day at Pokeweed School? The book has the TD Bank logo on the front cover and a letter from the bank chairman on the first page.

This Winnipeg Free Press article reports that the Winnipeg School Division has refused an offer from the Canadian Children\’s Book Centre to distribute a free book to every grade one student.

The reason for turning down free copies of John Bianchi\’s Young Author\’s Day at Pokeweed School? The book has the TD Bank logo on the front cover and a letter from the bank chairman on the first page.

The board chairperson, Liz Ambrose, explains that the Winnipeg School Division\’s policy is to reject advertising.

\”Maybe our policies are stringent at times, but I think they reflect what those of parents are, and we spend a lot of time talking to parents,\” she said.

\”If you want your kid to come home with advertised items several times a week, then let us know.\”

In a National Post article, Julia McKinnell, a summer student at Oxford, describes the joys of being in the Bodleian Library.



She reports having to \”swear before a man in a gown that I wouldn\’t \”kindle fire therein\” or \”undertake to injure objects.\” After taking this solemn oath, she requests a few books for the fun of it.


You can read the whole article here.

In a National Post article, Julia McKinnell, a summer student at Oxford, describes the joys of being in the Bodleian Library.



She reports having to \”swear before a man in a gown that I wouldn\’t \”kindle fire therein\” or \”undertake to injure objects.\” After taking this solemn oath, she requests a few books for the fun of it.


You can read the whole article here.After requesting a book, the reader (as the Bodleian patrons are known) must wait for hours to receive it. Permission may not be granted for every book. Women are forbidden to look at the Shikshapatri, a Hindu manuscript. People wishing to see Chaucer\’s Canterbury Tales must first prove \”serious scholarly intent\”.

Richard B. Wright\’s novel Clara Callan has won big. Today the Canada Council announced that Clara Callan is the winner of the Governor General\’s Literary Award in the English fiction category. Earlier this month Clara Callan was awarded the Giller Prize.

Richard B. Wright\’s novel Clara Callan has won big. Today the Canada Council announced that Clara Callan is the winner of the Governor General\’s Literary Award in the English fiction category. Earlier this month Clara Callan was awarded the Giller Prize.

In diary and letter format, Clara Callan tells the story of an unmarried school teacher in small-town Ontario during the 1930s.


Other Governor General\’s Literary Award winners include Execution Poems by George Elliott Clarke (poetry), The Harps of God by Kent Stetson (drama), The Ingenuity Gap by Thomas Homer-Dixon (nonfiction), and Dust by Arthur Slade (children\’s literature – text).

Check out the new issue of The Marginal Librarian, written and put together by McGill library students. It includes poetry, a book review, a photo essay, and more.

Check out the new issue of The Marginal Librarian, written and put together by McGill library students. It includes poetry, a book review, a photo essay, and more.Here is the complete list of articles:


1. Canadian Library Association Conference 2001 – by Cornelia Penner

2. Ask Joy – by Joy Tillotson

3. Binary Books: The Etext Movement & the Publishing Industry – by Eric Anctil

4. Mercy Among the Children: A Book Review – by Ann McLaughlin

5. A Scrap-Book of Marginal Library Students\’ Lives – by Carolyn Littlejohns

6. Poetry & Rantings – by Robert Kelly

7. Haiku – by Ruthanne Price



Back issues are also available.