Yuma County District Library

Link to July 26 Yuma Sun article, "San Luis library nearly ready".

Excerpt: The library is one several new district branches funded by a $53.7 million bond issue approved by Yuma County voters in 2005. New library branches previously were completed and open in Yuma, Somerton, Wellton and the Foothills.

New Pueblo Library Promises to Become Heart of a Community

Link to April 9 Pueblo Chieftain article, "New library opens to public".

Excerpt: An enthusiastic crowd poured through the doors of the new Pueblo West Library Wednesday as the expanded building officially opened to the public.

The green ribbon was cut by Latino and Pueblo West Chamber of Commerce officials after a lengthy ritual in which members of the Masons’ Grand Lodge of Colorado installed a cornerstone, just as they did several years ago for the main branch in town.

Pueblo West residents have been watching for months as workers from H.W. Houston Construction nearly quintupled the size of the suburban library branch. The existing brick building grew steadily eastward with expanses of glass and steel to offer 28,000 square feet of floor space.

Jon Walker, executive director of the Pueblo City-County Library District, pointed out to the crowd that gathered for the grand opening that the children’s library alone, at 4,000 square feet, is about the size of the original branch

Ask Me What I Think About Online Classes

Link to August 8 New York Times article, "As Classrooms Go Digital, Textbooks are History".

Excerpt: “In five years, I think the majority of students will be using digital textbooks,” said William M. Habermehl, superintendent of the 500,000-student Orange County schools. “They can be better than traditional textbooks.”

Schools that do not make the switch, Mr. Habermehl said, could lose their constituency.

“We’re still in a brick-and-mortar, 30-students-to-1-teacher paradigm,” Mr. Habermehl said, “but we need to get out of that framework to having 200 or 300 kids taking courses online, at night, 24/7, whenever they want.”

"Whenever they want." Does this also apply to students' future work schedules?

Teachers teach whenever they want.

Administrators administrate whenever they want.

Parents parent whenever they want.

Hey, baby, it's a groovy world!

Video: Louisville Free Public Library Damage

Keep in mind that the lighting is poor because the building is without power.



Also link to August 7 Louisville Courier Journal article, "Main Library staff move out of waterlogged offices".

Appleton Letter Writer Misread Referenced Article

Rosemary Garfoot Public Library, Cross Plains
Wisconsin's first green library

Link to August 8 letter to the Appleton Post-Crescent, "Library decisions need to include taxpayer wishes".

Excerpt: The July 19 Wisconsin State Journal pointed out that Verona, Cross Plains, McFarland, Madison, Fitchburg and Fort Atkinson are about to expand or add facilities. Increased circulation and added technology seem to be the universal reason.

Here's a portion of the actual report.
Verona, Cross Plains, McFarland and Madison have added new facilities in recent years, while others have expanded. Cottage Grove residents in November rejected a plan for a $7 million library, but Fitchburg residents approved a plan that will lead to the construction of a $14 million library adjacent to city hall. About $4 million needs to be gathered through fundraising.

[One of the others includes the Middleton Public Library, 2003-2004.]

Increased circulation and technology are certainly factors in library facilities planning, but space needs is the general driving force.

"We have just run out of room," said Nancy Price, president of the [Dwight Foster Public Library] friends group and who has a taco pie recipe in the book. "We don't think we'll have a problem selling them."

Braille Literacy Crisis

First of all, congratulations to Gabriella Welsh, 10, of Loyal Wisconsin, for winning for national Braille reading contest for the 4th year in a row!

Link to August 8 Marshfield News Herald article, "Girls wins Braille contest".

Excerpt: There is a Braille literacy crisis in America," according to the National Federation of the Blind Web site, www.braille.org. "Only 10 percent of all blind children learn to read and write using Braille. In response to this crisis, the National Federation of the Blind has launched the largest Braille literacy campaign in history. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar -- the first United States coin with readable, tactile Braille -- will go to support Braille literacy."

Link to the Wisconsin Regional Library for the Blind & Physically Handicapped.

Madison's Monroe Street Library to be Closed for Remodeling

Link to August 7 Capital Times article, "Monroe Street library closing August 22 for remodeling".

Excerpt: The remodeling includes a reconfigured and relocated service desk, a new ceiling, updated lighting, fresh carpet and paint and furniture upgrades, including comfortable reading chairs and new computer tables.

The remodeling is being funded by the city, the library foundation, the Monroe Street Library League, neighborhood associations, and individual donors.

Membership of Capital Facilities Committee for Appleton Public Library Project Approved

Link to August 7 Appleton Post-Crescent article, "Addition of two Foundation members clears council".

Excerpt: Aldermen voted 13-2 to approve adding two Appleton Library Foundation members to city's Capital Facilities Committee. The panel will decide whether to build a new library or remodel the existing one, select a site if necessary or design a new facility.

Consultants have recommended the city build a new, 140,000-square-foot library, estimated to cost $33 million, in the downtown area.

Wednesday's vote settles a debate over who would lead the planning effort — the city panel or a separate committee under jurisdiction of the library board.

Council president Ald. Curt Konetzke will oversee planning efforts by the Capital Facilities Committee, which he said will meet on Monday of weeks that the council meets.

Mead Public Library: Closed Next Week for Furloughs -- and Renovations

Link to August 7 Sheboygan Press article, "Mead library to close doors for furloughs. Renovations also taking place during closure.

Excerpt: The library — including the drop-off box and all phone and e-mail communication — will be closed Monday, Aug. 10 through Saturday, Aug. 15. No library materials will be due during the closure.

"This is something we really regret doing. We don't like to inconvenience the public. We don't like to do this to our staff … (but the Library Board was) trying to reduce expenditures by about 3 percent, and this is a way we can try to live up to that," said Mark Zehfus, library business manager.

Seattle Public Library Hot Spots

Not what you might think.

Link to July 29 Seattle Times article, "5 library branches hit 90 degrees inside, are closed".

Four of the affected locations are historic buildings without air-conditioning, including this beautiful 1910 Carnegie.

The temperature reached 103 degrees in Seattle on Thursday, July 29 -- the city's hottest day ever. Unlike most other parts of the U.S., air-conditioning is not the norm here. According to numerous other news stories, only 30% of King County Metro buses are air-conditioned.

Current weather conditions in Seattle? Closer to what those of us who live outside the Pacific Northwest would expect: 66 and hazy, with a few showers possible. Must feel downright chilly compared to last Thursday.

Louisville Free Public Library: Damage Estimate Now $5 Mil

The bad news from Louisville gets worse.

Link to August 6 Louisville Courier-Journal article.

Excerpt: Flood damage at Louisville's Main Library is much worse than first believed and was estimated conservatively Wednesday at $5 million by the director of the Louisville Free Public Library.

Tuesday's flood destroyed at least 50,000 books and wiped out all or most of the building's mechanical and computer systems, as well as heavily damaging elevators and three bookmobiles and buckling walls. The initial preliminary damage estimate was $1 million.

Link to photos of library flooding cleanup.

How to help: If you want to donate to the library's recovery, send a check to The Library Foundation, 301 York St., Louisville, Ky. 40203, Attn: Flood.

What Makes Sammy Run?: A Forgotten Classic

5 copies in LINKcat. (3 in storage.)


Link to Budd Schulberg's obituary in the New York Times.

Excerpt: The son of a movie mogul, Mr. Schulberg was twice ostracized by Hollywood and twice fought back with his typewriter. The first time came in 1941, with his first novel, “What Makes Sammy Run?,” a depiction of back-lot back stabbing. The story’s antihero, Sammy Glick, a product of the Lower East Side, is a young man on the make who will lie, cheat and steal to achieve success, rising from newspaper copy boy to Hollywood boss on the strength of his cutthroat ambition. “The spirit of Horatio Alger gone mad,” Mr. Schulberg said.

The book cut so close to the bone that Mr. Schulberg was warned that he would never work in the film industry again.

70,300,000 Online Newspaper Readers in June

(Too lazy to look for an illustration, so I'll share a pic of our back yard.)

Link to August 5 newspaperproject.org post, "One in Three Internet Users Visited a Newspaper Site in June".

Other June stats:
3,500,000,000 page views
38 minutes and 24 minutes per month average. (Holy schnikes! Retiring Guy is in SERIOUS Lake Wobegon land.)

Louisville Free Public Library: Wet, Dark

And smoky, too, from the sound of it.

Link to August 5 Louisville Courier Journal article, "Wet Main Library now also dark".

Excerpt: A small electrical fire early Wednesday knocked out power at the Main Library, compounding problems related to extensive flooding that ruined at least 10,000 books in the basement.

Library Director Craig Buthod said Wednesday morning that contractors had pumped out more than a foot of the floodwater left standing in the basement by Tuesday's deluge. But about 2 feet of water remained before a thorough damage assessment could be made.

How to help

If you want to donate to the library's recovery, send a check to: The Library Foundation, 301 York St., Louisville, Ky. 40203, Attn: Flood.

(Library website unavailable at time of posting.)

Director Position Open at Portage (WI) Public Library

Here's the job ad.

And here's some info from the (preliminary) 2008 Wisconsin Public Library Annual Report Data.

Municipal/total service area population
10,120 / 19,649

Resident/nonresident /total borrowers
6,409 / 5,155 / 11,464

Hours open per week: winter/summer
61 / 58

Square footage: 18,300

Book & serial volumes: 60,178
Audio: 2,696
Video: 2,144
Periodical subscriptions: 164

Public internet computers: 10

Circulation 222,820 (Children's, 58,740)

Library visits: 166,712

Interlibrary loan (member of LINK consortium)
Sent to other libraries: 61,096
Received from other libraries: 70,118

Programs/attendance
217 / 5,809

FTE staff: 8.25

Income
City: $370,061
County: $130,328
All other: $91,627
Total: $592,016

Beautiful library.

Historic community.

Great colleagues.

The Portage Public Library is a member of the South Central Library System.

'Crack' Research Goes "Phfft".

Fox & Friends host Gretchen Carlson has egg on her face. (Probably not the first time). After conducting some "crack" research on the Cars for Clunkers program, she proclaimed that only 2 (t-w-o) deals had been approved in her home state of Minnesota.

Well, she did get the "2" right, but forgot about, or simply ignored, the "%".

So let's do the math. 7500 transactions (as reported by Minnesota Public Radio) x .02 (that's another way of indicating 2%, Gretchen) = 150.

More than 2. At least the way I learned math.

Next time, Gretchen, take the advice shown above.

fox news. feigning balance.

Chippewa Valley Works Together to Address Budget Issues

Link to August 4 Eau Claire Leader Telegram article, "Chippewa Valley leaders sound budget warning".

Excerpt: About 70 people gathered Tuesday night at Chippewa Valley Technical College for a meeting organized by Citizen Alliance for Strong Communities. The group, formed last year, is a collaboration among local government entities (including the cities of Eau Claire and Altoona, the Altoona and Eau Claire school districts, Eau Claire County and Chippewa Valley Technical College), labor unions, the Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce and the Realtors Association of Northwestern Wisconsin.

The alliance hopes to boost the public's awareness of budget problems as well as its involvement in decisions about government services.

Flooding Causes $1 Mil+ Damage at Louisville Public Library

Link to August 4 Louisville Courier-Journal article, "Main library hit hard by flooding".

Excerpt: [Library Director Craig] Buthod said up to 4 feet of water had poured into the basement of the Main Library, much of which is used for operations. Buthod said at least 10,000 books, audiobooks, CDs and DVDs were damaged. Many of the items were new and awaiting distribution to the branches. Buthod said the average cost per item was conservatively $20.

All three Bookmobiles parked at the Main Library were damaged by floodwaters, and water pressure blew out some basement windows. Conference and meeting rooms and offices located in the basement and their furnishings and finishings also were damaged.

Perhaps more seriously, all the Main Library's boilers, air-conditioning controls, chillers and air-handling equipment were water logged, with the extent of the damage impossible to assess until the water is pumped out, Buthod said. Some of the mechanical equipment was less than 10 years old, but some of it is much older, he said.


Link to WAVE-TV story and photos.

Excerpt: Louisville's main library faces a big cleanup after flooding rains.

Waterlogged library books were strewn across the lower level of Louisville's main library on Tuesday after a thunderstorm soaked downtown and flooded parts of the city.

Libary Director Craig Buthod says computers and "tens of thousands of books" have been lost to the water damage. He says three bookmobiles, staff vehicles and even his car were under water in the underground parking garage.

Cutbacks at the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County

Link to July 31 vindy.com post, "Library announces cutbacks in service".

Excerpt: The library system’s financial predicament was brought on by a $1.8 million annual loss of state funding between 2001 and 2008. This year’s loss consists of $1,566,579 in state funds and $135,000 in interest income, for a total of $1,701,579. State revenue is projected to drop an additional $684,000 next year, he said.

Currently, the libraries are collectively open 740.5 hours per week, down slightly from 761.5 hours a week prior to a May 2009 cutback.

Main library will lose its evening hours Wednesdays and Thursdays. Thirteen branches will each lose one day a week of library service. The only branches that won’t be affected will be Lake Milton and North Jackson, each being open only 24 hours a week.

Hours Reduced at Washington County (Ohio) Public Libraries

Washginton County Public Library (Marietta)

Link to July 24 Marietta Times article, "Hours to change at all libraries in county".

Excerpt: [Library Director Justin] Mayo said patrons have been understanding about the cuts, and he's gotten many calls from people asking how they can help. Some ways to assist the library include donating DVDs and books on CD, volunteering and donating to the Marietta Library Foundation.

People can also purchase periodical subscriptions for their local library, but are asked to contact the library before doing so.

92 Jounal-Sentinel Employees Lose Their Jobs

Link to August 4 Editor & Publisher post, "'Milwaukee Journal Sentinel' Cuts 92 Jobs, 6.2% of Workforce".

Reason given: declining advertising revenue.

Maine Librarians Forced to Implement Patchwork Delivery System

Where are those delivery vans?

Link to July 17 Portland Press Herald article, "Book swapping slows to crawl at libraries". (Thanks to David Weinhold for the heads-up.)

Excerpt: Librarians are shuttling books around Maine in the trunks of their cars this week, after the loss of a delivery service that supports the statewide interlibrary loan program.

The courier hired to move books between libraries, NCS Logistics of Scarborough, backed out of its contract Monday, dealing a blow to a program that gives patrons at the state's smallest depositories access to titles from some of its largest.

The move sent staffers at about 140 public and private libraries scrambling to find ways to maintain the flow of books. Some have resorted to lugging books from one library to another on their own.

I'll be flying into Portland on Friday, August 14, then driving to Fredericton, New Brunswick, via I-95. Family vacation. Unfortunately, we won't have time to make anything but the standard pit stops.

Lorain Morning Journal Editorial: "Everybody Wins with Healthy Libraries".

Link to July 26 Lorain (OH) Morning Journal editorial, "Libraries need to become a priority for Ohio lawmakers".

Excerpt: As of 2008, public libraries got 2.22 percent of the state's total general tax revenue. The new funding formula was pushed by public libraries, who wanted to benefit as state funding grew. Unfortunately, the opposite happened as the economy soured. The funding formula for libraries was reduced to 1.97 percent in the new state budget.

For decades, Ohio generously supported its public libraries, and our communities enjoyed libraries that were the envy of the nation.

Norwalk (OH) Public Library: Director Takes One for the Team

Link to August 1 Lorain (Ohio) Morning Journal article, "Norwalk library director retires to save staff jobs".

Excerpt: Times are so tough economically for the Norwalk Public Library, its director has decided to retire to save staff members from getting laid off. On Thursday, four library employees were laid off and another five employees will be laid off by Sept. 1 in order to save money, Director Martin Haffey said.

Haffey's decision to retire Sept. 1 saves another five employees from being laid off.

"It's going to be sad to leave," said Haffey, who has led the library for more than 14 years.

Haffey made the announcement Thursday night at a special meeting of the library board where pending cuts to the budget were discussed.

Chippewa Falls PL Celebrates 40 Years at its Current Location

Link to August 2 Eau Claire Leader Telegram article.

Excerpt: The Chippewa Falls Public Library feels a bit cramped for space, librarian Rosemary Kilbridge says.

"I feel like we're pretty crowded, as we move in shelves to squeeze in all these formats," Kilbridge said. "I'd like to have more floor space."

Kilbridge has worked at the library for 30 years, including the past 20 as head librarian. In that time she's seen the growth of computers, DVDs, CDs and media on shelves, competing for space with books.

Author, humorist, and foremost library advocate Michael Perry will be there to help celebrate on Wednesday, August 5.

Editorial Applauds Brandon Library Fundraising Efforts

Link to August 3 Fond du Lac Reporter editorial, "Public steps up to help fund Brandon Library renovations".

Excerpt: The project will include a refinished original hardwood floor; new carpeting and tile work; and energy efficient lighting.

When the renovation is complete, the library will feature a tin ceiling replica, new woodwork and a restored Brandon High School light fixture.

Chillicothe and Ross County Public Library to Review Options at August 12 Board Meeting

Northside Branch

Link to July 26 Chillicothe Gazette article, "Library must make tough choices for its next chapter".

Excerpt: Faced with a $720,000 deficit, the board and director Jennifer McKell met with the public this week to discuss several options, including the closing of the Northside branch in Chillicothe.

The board is faced with a thankless task, forced upon them by a staggering economy and a shrinking state budget. Cuts are inevitable and necessary. They appear to be conducting a logical, but no doubt painful, process to make the right call.

Ohio Library Seeks 1-mill Property Tax in November

Link to July 30 Chillicothe Gazette article, "Pike library seeks levy to offset funding loss."

Excerpt: The library board met in special session Monday, where it decided it was best to let Pike County residents decide if they want services restored or if they are OK with further cuts in hours and resources. This is the first time in the library's 70-year history it is asking the community for a local property tax, said director Tom Adkins.

Reductions made so far this year at the Garnet A. Wilson Public Library of Pike County:
1. Materials expenditures
2. Layoff notices given to 10 employees
3. Hours of operations cut twice

Further cuts might need to be considered, including cutting back branch schedules to 12 hours per week.

Massillon Public Library: "Deep Cuts"

Link to July 24 IndeOnline.com post, "Deep cuts".

Excerpt:

Massillon Public Library employees and patrons will soon be feeling the teeth as the state officially begins crunching its budget.

After losing 31 percent of its state funding both this and next fiscal year, the Massillon Public Library will be forced to lock some doors, park the Bookmobile and turn off the lights on weekends.

"It's very difficult (to make these decisions)," Massillon Public Library Director Camille Leslie said. "We see our funding continuing to erode and it is cause for concern. We will do the best we can, but it's going to be difficult."


Measures approved by library board.
1. Mandatory furlough for all library employees, August 10-15.
2. No Sunday hours through 2010.
3. Elilmination of some bookmobile stops.
4. Increase in fines.
5. Charge of $1 for obituary requests processed through the mail.

Director Camille Leslie says it's likely additional cuts will have to be made.

Stark County District Library Director Explains Need for Service Reductions

Link to July 27 CantonRep.com post, "Library cuts are necessary because levy doesn't offset reduction in state funding".

Excerpt: During this recent budgeting nightmare, we have repeatedly heard the question from our library customers about why the library is considering a reduction of services when it has a local operating levy that voters approved last November.

It is because that levy is only 30 percent of the library's revenue for its operating budget.

The state's Public Library Fund represents 60 percent of the revenue for that budget.