McMillan Library Promotes Its Summer Library Program Activities

Link to June 27 Wisconsin Rapids Tribune article, "Summer marked with library entertainment".

Excerpt: McMillan Library's Summer Library Program for children is in full swing. Bring your children or grandchildren to the library for a great summer of reading, crafts, games and live performances. The program will continue through July 29.

Everybody's an Editor

Link to June 25 cnet news post, "Michael Jackson's death roils Wikipedia".

Excerpt: As news organizations reported Michael Jackson's hospitalization on Thursday afternoon, Wikipedia editors were wrestling with the problem of whether to allow an unverified report of the singer's death to appear on the online encyclopedia.

The entertainment site TMZ.com reported at 2:20 p.m. PDT that: "We're told when paramedics arrived Jackson had no pulse and they never got a pulse back."

Some Wikipedians repeatedly deleted references to Jackson's alleged demise, saying in separate comments that "This is not yet verified," "He's not dead," "Premature edits," and "ONCE AGAIN, HE IS NOT DEAD, JUST STOP."

Oshkosh Revisits Security System Issue

Link to June 26 Oshkosh Northwestern article, "Library board considers speeding up security upgrade".

Excerpt: At Thursday's meeting, Library Director Jeff Gilderson-Duwe presented two options for speeding up the process for completion to mid-2011 or December 2012. Board member Kathy Bermingham also requested Gilderson-Duwe research a third option to see what it would take to tag items by mid-2010.

Why Library Reference Collections are Shrinking

Answer found here.

The Trickle-Down Effect

From Wall Street to Main Street to Your Street.

Link to June 25 La Crosse Tribune article, "Smaller municipalities brace for big cuts to state aid".

Excerpt: Shrinking state aid promises to squeeze all of Wisconsin’s municipalities, but leaders of the smallest say they’re bearing an unfair share of the cuts.

Towns and villages, on average, stand to lose 11.2 percent of their shared revenue under the most recent incarnations of the nearly complete biennial budget.The revenue cuts are driven by slumping sales tax and property tax revenue. But the hyper-local, bare-bones operations are shouldering too much of the reductions, town and village officials say.

And on a related note, the following report was passed along to me this morning.

I was talking to our village clerk this AM and she was at a League of Municipalities meeting ( I can't remember their official name) but it was statewide/state officials and she told me that the libraries were indicated as number one place to be cut in funding. I didn't know if you were aware of this particular discussion but I thought I would pass it along. ( a lot of the "reasoning" was everyone can get their info from the Internet of course)

A few thoughts.

First of all, if your city officials still think that "everyone can get their information from the Internet", you got your work cut out for your between now and when your municipality approves its 2010 budget.

Secondly, since the League's membership is comprised of 189 cities and 389 vlllages, I'd be interested to learn (1) how many members were at this meeting and (2) whom they represented.

And finally, if this was indeed a serious discussion, the follow-up needs to be enhanced preparation on the part of library directors and library board member for their 2010 budget deliberations. If library directors don't know which city/village officials are for library services or which are agin 'em, they'd better find out right away.

That's step 1.

Step 2 is building a network of community library supporters -- people willing and eager to speak up. And if you haven't done any budget disaster planning, I like to think it won't be a case of too little/too late starting up a local library advocacy program from scratch.

Whatever the case, you need to...........

"Science Day with Mr. J" at Iola Village Library

Excerpt: Who knew science could be so much fun?

As Mark Janssen, aka Mr. J., a science teacher from Little Chute High School, lay on a bed of nails to demonstrate pressure and froze a flower with liquid nitrogen to instantly make it crumble Tuesday, about 50 children from Iola learned science is a little like magic.

"How is it doing that?" several children yelled to Janssen during his "Science Day With Mr. J." presentation at the Iola Village Library.

His show was part of the library's summer programming, which aims to keep kids learning even though school is out.

New Cedar Rapids Library Sports Hefty Price Tag

Link to June 24 Cedar Rapids Gazette article, "New Cedar Rapids library to cost $45 million".

Excerpt: A detail spotted by a Gazette reporter in a City Hall handout prompted the head of the Cedar Rapids library board to say Wednesday in a press release that, yes, a new library may cost $45 million.

Susan Corrigan, library board president, defended the price tag on Tuesday night when asked about it at the city’s open house to discuss flood-damaged city buildings. Corrigan noted that $45 million will cover buildings, materials, furniture and parking.

The Public Library Crisis in Ohio

From the Save Ohio Libraries website.

The Governor wants to cut the budget for public libraries by 50%. About 70% of public libraries in Ohio are funded solely by this fund, so cutting the already shrinking budget means library closures, layoffs and cutbacks in hours and materials.

Blu-ray. Not Ready for Prime Time?

Link to June 23 techdirt post, "Surprise, Surprise: Blu-Ray Still Not Catching On".

Excerpt: The latest numbers suggest, indeed, that despite Blu-ray "winning" the standards battle, it likely missed the big window for succeas, as many people just don't see the point in buying yet another new box and having to get movies all over again -- especially as online delivery is becoming more and more effective and efficient.

Architectural Firms to Make Presentation to Mukwonago Community Library Board

Link to June 23 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article, "3 to offer Mukwonago library plans".

Excerpt: After hearing the presentations, the board will accept comments from the public from 8:30 to 9 p.m.

The firm selected will work with the community, library and library board to develop conceptual plans and preliminary cost estimates for the proposed expansion.

Library officials have said the expansion is necessary because the library building at 300 Washington Ave. is too small. The building, constructed in 1996, is about 12,200 square feet.

Officials are planning for a 24,000-square-foot addition, according to information posted on the library's Web site.

Expansion of the library has been discussed for years. In 2004, the addition was estimated to cost $5 million, with $1 million to be raised from donations.

Marathon County Budget Update

Link to June 24 Marshfield News Herald article, "Marathon County Board prioritizes budget".

Excerpt: Education, parks and other quality-of-life programs could be among those to suffer cuts in Marathon County's 2010 budget if officials follow a "prioritization process" that began with community input.

County Board members heard the results Tuesday of a survey in which they ranked spending priorities, with public safety at the top, followed by health, helping vulnerable populations -- the poor, elderly and infirm -- and transportation. Lowest on the priority list were education and community development.

I don't hear good news for libraries in this report.

A key question: How was the survey administered?

Ohio Governor Proposes to Hack Library Funding

Link to June 22 Dayton Business Journal article, "Libraries respond to 'devastating' Ohio funding cuts".

Excerpt: Libraries across the region are responding to a last-minute cut to the state budget that would eliminate more than $200 million in direct funding.

Gov. Ted Strickland announced plans Friday to remove $213.4 million in funding to Ohio’s public libraries to fund other budget priorities. The funding for Ohio’s libraries would drop to half of 2008 levels under his proposal.

To put this figure in perspective, the state of Ohio provided 62.1% of all funding (local, state, federal, other) to its public libraries in 2006. The average is 9.2%. (Source: Public Library Survey, Fiscal Year 2006, Institute of Museums and Libraries, December 2008.)

Link to June 20 Ohio Library Council alert.

Link to June 21 Oshkosh Northwestern article, "Oshkosh Public Library turns off security system".

Excerpt: For the past four months, the Oshkosh Public Library has been operating without a security system protecting more than 300,000 books and other materials that make up its collection.

A new automated checkout system—installed in February—is not compatible with the old system at the library. Each piece of the collection needs to be retrofitted with radio frequency identification tags and new security gates must installed before the alarm system will once again work.

A Storyteller, not a Pornographer

Link to June 22 Blogging Censorship post, "Interview with Brent Hartinger, author of challenged book, Geography Club".

Excerpt: Kids’ Right To Read’s Jaime Chosak interviewed Brent Hartinger, author of the young adult novel Geography Club. Parents recently asked for the removal of the book from shelves in the West Bend Public Library in Wisconsin.

Read to Rover Program at Bay View Library

Link to June 21 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article, "Books get 'dog-eared' as part of library reading program".

Excerpt: It's 10 a.m. Saturday and 9-year-old Holly Peksa is ready to read a book about dogs to a dog.

"Dogs come in more shapes and sizes than any other mammal," she reads as Riley, a certified therapy dog and great listener, sits at her feet. "Dogs naturally get along with humans  . . .  they want to be part of a group."

For three years, Holly has been coming to the Bay View Library, 2566 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., for the free Read to Rover program, a 25-minute reading session with a specially trained dog.