Retiring Guy's Digest: 2010-03-28

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Association of American Publishers: Estimated Book Publishing Industry Net Sales 2002-2009

Finally! A solid number for e-book sales. Huge % growth since 2002 but still just 1.3% of total book sales. But, as they say, it bears watching.

Appleton Public Library Reference Supervisor (Take Retiring Guy's word for it; this is a great place to work!)

1. Call the newly elected members of your city council/village board and your county board to offer your congratulations. Extend the same courtesy to a newly elected mayor, village president, etc.

2. Invite them to visit the library.

3. If possible, schedule the visit at a time when the library is busy.

(Better yet, attend the council/board meeting at which new officials are sworn in and extend the invitation in person. This is a particularly effective approach at the local level. Admittedly, it can be unwieldy to attempt this type of contact before or after a county board meeting.)

Why is this important?

On average, your municipality and county provide 81% of your library's revenue.

And then be sure to keep everyone in the loop throughout the year. An email distribution list works well. More traditionally, Retiring Guy used to place monthly reports and newsletters into the council members' (paper) in-boxes on the day before a council meeting. Whatever works. (And whatever options are available.)

Manhood Crisis Erupts in L.A.

Link to April 7 Los Angeles Times article, "L. A. mayor calls for temporary shutdowns of some agencies".

Excerpt: The political feud between Villaraigosa and the council -- and the threat to shut down services and stop paying employees -- flabbergasted some officials. Councilman Paul Koretz called the mayor's threat "bizarre" and warned that Villaraigosa and the council were engaging in "a crazier and crazier game of chicken."

"It's absolutely a manhood contest. That's what it's been from the very beginning," said Koretz, who represents much of the Westside.

The mayor directed acting City Administrative Officer Ray Ciranna to prepare to shut down parks, libraries and other general fund services starting Monday. Public safety, trash collection and revenue-generating agencies would be exempt.

Related articles:
Cutting Library Hours. (4/6/2010)
More News Under the Same Headline. (3/24/2010)
Save America's Libraries (The Los Angeles Story). (03/23/2010)

CNET News: Is Net Neutrality Dead? (FAQ)

Marguerite Reardon answers our questions in her April 6 "Signal Strength" column.

1. What is Net Neutrality?

2. So what did the court actually say in its ruling?

3. The FCC is currently working on drafting Net neutrality regulation. How will the court ruling affect those efforts?

4. Will the FCC appeal the court's decision?

5. But won't the new official regulation be meaningless, because the FCC has no authority to regulate the Net? Will Congress have to pass legislation to make the FCC's role clearer?

6. What would reclassifying broadband services mean?

7. How likely is it that broadband will be reclassified a Title II telecommunications service?

8. Is it likely that Congress will take action to pass a Net neutrality law or some law reclassifying Internet traffic?

9. What are Internet service providers, such as AT&T and Comcast, expected to do? They got what they wanted, so will they be monkeying with everyone's traffic?

10. The FCC has just come out with its comprehensive 10-year National Broadband Plan, which is a blueprint for getting affordable broadband access to every American. Will this court ruling affect those plans?

11. So what does all of this mean for broadband consumers?
Right now, it means very little. Consumers are not likely to see any change in their service as a result of this court ruling. They will be able to access the same services and Web sites they have always been able to access. They will likely continue to see new services being added to the Net. And they will not likely face any degradation in service.

Related articles:
Net Neutrality: The Opposition Gathers Force. (10/19/2009)
Shining a Light on Anti-Neutrality Research. (10/15/2009)
Net Neutrality: The Goliaths are not amused. (9/22/2009)

Today's letter writers most in need of a library reference desk

Muslim mosque should be a concern to all. (Sheboygan Press)

Effects of presidential election being felt now. (Green Bay Press Gazette)

Government hand outs [sic] discourage American pursuit of happiness. (Oshkosh Northwestern)

We're losing freedom as price of health care. (Appleton Post-Crescent)
Obamacare is now law, and I'm not a happy churl. (As in sense 4a or 4b?)

Chumley, I don't think churls are supposed to be happy.

Do You Know the Way to the Monona Public Library?

The author of The Front Porch Times blog certainly does!

Link to April 3 post, "10 reasons why I love the Monona library".

[Thanks to John DeBacher.]

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Cutting Library Hours: Charlotte Mecklenburg this week, LA next week; who's next?

Related article:
Villaraigosa calls for shutting down some city departments amid budget crisis. (Los Angeles Times, 4/6/2010)

Excerpt: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called Tuesday for all city agencies -- except for police, other public safety and revenue-generating departments -- to close for two days a week starting April 12 because of the city's continuing budget crisis.

It appears that the reduced service hours announced in the LAPL's March 25th news release don't cut deep enough.

Wisconsin Gubernatorial Candidates and Libraries: Building a Common Agenda

Here are the raw materials.

Scott Walker for Wisconsin Governor

Mark Neumann for Governor

Tom Barrett for Governor

Issues? Click on "Creating Jobs".

Keith Richard, Librarian

Retiring Guy has longstanding issues with Keith's care of AV materials.

Link to April 4 (London) Sunday Times article, "It's only books 'n' shelves but I like it". (via Twitter)

Excerpt: SHHH! Keith Richards, the grizzled veteran of rock’n’roll excess, has confessed to a secret longing: to be a librarian. After decades spent partying in a haze of alcohol and drugs, Richards will tell in his forthcoming autobiography that he has been quietly nurturing his inner bookworm.

He has even considered “professional training” to manage thousands of books at his homes in Sussex and Connecticut, according to publishing sources familiar with the outline of Richards’s autobiography, which is due out this autumn. He has received a reported advance of $7.3m (£4.8m) for it.

The guitarist started to arrange the volumes, including rare histories of early American rock music and the second world war, by the librarian’s standard Dewey Decimal classification system but gave up on that as “too much hassle.” He has opted instead for keeping favoured volumes close to hand and the rest languishing on dusty shelves.

Cataloging, obviously, is not his forte.

Former Community Library Director Alleges Slander

Link to April 5 Kenosha News article.

Excerpt: The former director of the Community Library District has filed a lawsuit against a library board member, alleging slander and libel, along with a complaint with the state contending she was a victim of discrimination.

Mary Ellen Close filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development March 29, contending that age and sex discrimination were a factor in her demotion and later termination by the Community Library Board. Close, director of the library for 26 years, is 61.

Close also filed suit against Ken Mangold, a member of the library board and a town of Randall supervisor, saying that he harmed her reputation in the community and caused her to lose her job through slanderous false statements.

Community Library in the news.
Former Library Director Sues for Wages after Firing. (3/16/2010)
Position Announcement: Library Executive Director, Community Library, Salem, Wisconsin. (2/5/2010)
Former Director of Community Library: From Demotion to Dismissal. (1/29/2010)
Community Library Board Member Wields Machete to Address $1,000 Deficit. (12/06/2009)
New Community Library Representative to Wilmot School Board . (11/11/2009)
Demoted director to fight for job. (10/30/2009)
Library Board confirms interim director. (10/27/2009)
Community Library Soap Opera Continues. (10/23/2009)
Community Library Update: "What we have here is...failure to communicate. (10/09/2009)
Community Library Board of Trustees: Riding Roughshod? (10/01/2009)
Library Board's "Positive Direction" Takes an Immedia te Detour. (9/30/2009)
West county library group under fire. (1/29/2009)

Madison Public Library Board Endorses Renovation Plan

Monday, April 5, 2010

Charlotte Mecklenburg Libraries Now Open Fewer Hours

43 hours per week at regional branches.

41 hours per week at community branches.

"New library hours start today". Charlotte Observer, April 5, 2010.

Related articles:
"Save Our Libraries Sunday". (3/29/2010)
Charlotte Mecklenburg users owe average of 55 cents in fines. (3/27/2010)
Library announces new hours for branches. (3/26/2010)
Library Board applies a Band-Aid to its bleeding system. (3/25/2010)
Follow-up on Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Board vote. (3/25/2010)
Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Board votes to keep all branches open. (3/24/2010)
Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Board presented with 2 budget-cutting alternatives. (3/24/2010)
More and bigger cuts looming on horizon. (3/23/2010)
Charlotte Mecklenburg Library System Rethinks Closings. (3/22/2010)
A New Day is Dawning in Charlotte/Mecklenburg County. (3/21/2010)

Charlotte Mecklenburg libraries haven't seen such large-scale reductions since the Great Depression. (3/17/2010)

Snopes.com: "Arbiters in the Age of Misinformation"

Kansas City (MO) Public Library facade: fact-checked

Link to April 5 New York Times article, "Debunkers of Fiction Sift the Net".

Excerpt: It is one of the paradoxes of the Internet.

After the death of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Snopes dissected a letter purporting to explain why he was unfit for acclaim. It was the site's most searched subject soon after.

Along with the freest access to knowledge the world has ever seen comes a staggering amount of untruth, from imagined threats on health care to too-easy-to-be-true ways to earn money by forwarding an e-mail message to 10 friends. “A cesspool,” Google’s chief executive, Eric E. Schmidt, once called it.

David and Barbara Mikkelson are among those trying to clean the cesspool. The unassuming California couple run Snopes, one of the most popular fact-checking destinations on the Web.

For well over a decade they have acted as arbiters in the Age of Misinformation by answering the central question posed by every chain letter — is this true? — complete with links to further research.

The popularity of Snopes — it attracts seven million to eight million unique visitors in an average month — puts the couple in a unique position to evaluate digital society’s attitudes toward accuracy.

After 14 years, they seem to have concluded that people are rather cavalier about the facts.