Louisville Mayor Includes 2 Library Projects in 2010-11 Proposed Budget

Shawnee Branch, Louisville Free Public Library

Link to May 26 WLKY.com news article, "Fairdale May Receive New Library: New Budget Plans Back Libraries".

Excerpt: Mayor Jerry Abramson announced as part of the 2010-2011 proposed budget there are plans to build a new library in Fairdale and an expansion of the historic library in Shawnee.

The expansion at the Shawnee library will cost $1.8 million and will be funded through a federal community development block grant.

The $2 million needed needed for the Fairdale library will come from the city's capital budget.

Fairdale Branch

Slightly more information is found in this May 26 Business First article.

Point/Counterpoint: 3DTV

Link to May 27 Multichannel News article, "3DTV Sales Forecast To Triple In 2011: Worldwide Unit Shipments Projected to Grow To 12.9 Million Next Year".

POINT
Excerpt: By 2012, 27.4 million 3DTVs will ship worldwide and by 2015 shipments will reach 78.1 million units, representing a compound annual growth rate of 80.2% between 2010 and 2015, iSuppli projected.

Three issues need to be resolved before there is "mass consumer acceptance" of 3DTVs, iSuppli analyst Riddhi Patel said: standardized video formats, content available and 3D glasses interoperability.

COUNTERPOINT
Link to March 11, 2010, Consumer Reports Electronics Blog, "First look at our 3D TV lab tests".

3/12/2010 comment

Thank you, James.  Thank you, Shana.

Librarians Do Gaga

[via boingboing]

Attention Dallas Public Library Budget Cutters: These Words Still Ring True

As librarian Cleora Clanton frequently pointed out in the 1930s,
"Probably no institution in the city touches the lives of the citizens at more points than the public library."

Texas A&M University Press

Link to April 16 Dallas News article, "Strong women play big part in shaping history of Dallas Public Library".

Additional excerpt: Clanton, who headed Dallas' library system from 1922 to 1954, defending it from budget cuts during the Great Depression and from right-wing political attacks early in the McCarthy era, is one of the library's many unsung heroines. Women, ranging from prominent civic leaders to underpaid librarians, have sustained the Dallas Public Library for more than 100 years.

The tradition began with May Dickson Exall, who organized the Dallas Federation of Women's Clubs in 1898 with the express purpose of securing a public library for Dallas.

The city had ranked as the largest in Texas in the 1890 census, having grown rapidly into a regional merchandising and manufacturing center. But civic leaders recognized that Dallas needed intellectual as well as economic resources if it was to compete on a national scale.

Related articles:
From 'sacred cow' to 'sacrificial lamb'.  (5/29/2010)
Axe is poised over library.  (5/24/2010)
Friends of Library board chairman speaks out.  (9/1/2009)
Dallas Public Library budget hacked (old-style).  (7/23/2009)

Dallas Public Library: From 'Sacred Cow' to 'Sacrificial Lamb'

Link to May 29 Dallas News article, "Library budget cuts a sad story for all of Dallas".

Excerpt:    Once upon a time, the Dallas Public Library boasted a $32 million annual budget.

Those were the good old days.

Unfortunately, those days are long gone – siphoned off by a revenue drought that, once again, has the city dipping into every well it can find to fill a projected $130 million budget gap.

It's a familiar storyline, to be sure – one that's playing out in cities across the state and the nation.

But the Dallas library, once a sacred cow of sorts, is beginning to feel more like a sacrificial lamb in the city's numbers-crunching game.

The library's budget was cut to $28 million two years ago. Last year, the city tapped it for $6 million more in cuts.

This year, city officials are looking to drain up to $9 million from the library's bottom line, which would drop it to as low as $13 million next fiscal year.

Enough is enough, say some library protagonists, who are more than ready to throw the book at City Hall.

Related articles:
Axe is poised over library.  (5/24/2010)
Friends of Library board chairman speaks out.  (9/1/2009)
Dallas Public Library budget hacked (old-style).  (7/23/2009)

"Habits of the Heartland" Puts Viroqua Wisconsin Under the Microscope

Published by Cornell University Press

Link to May 28 Vernon County Broadcaster opinion piece, "Sociologist’s impression of Viroqua an unflattering bar time exposé".

Excerpt:   While the city of Viroqua has been poked and prodded by other interested parties -- sociologists, marketers and armchair cultural anthropologists -- Macgregor’s look at the community was conducted because she says the city reminded her of her upbringing in small-town Connecticut.

“Viroqua attracted me because it promised to be an interesting case for a community study,” she wrote.

Macgregor, once an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Montana, went about studying Viroqua by living in Viroqua for a couple of years in the early 2000s.

In her book, she determines that the community is split into three subcommunities “The Alternatives,” “The Main Streeters” and “The Regulars.” To make this easy for everybody, “The Alternatives” are the Ridgers, the “Main Streeters” are the downtown business boosters and “The Regulars,” well, they’re just the folks who live here.

From the publisher's description of the book.  Although most Americans no longer live in small towns, images of small-town life, and particularly of the mutual support and neighborliness to be found in such places, remain powerful in our culture. In Habits of the Heartland Lyn C. Macgregor investigates how the residents of Viroqua, Wisconsin, population 4,355, create a small-town community together. Macgregor lived in Viroqua for nearly two years. During that time she gathered data in public places, attended meetings, volunteered for civic organizations, talked to residents in their workplaces and homes, and worked as a bartender at the local American Legion post.

Matt Johnson says pa-tay-toe.  Cornell University Press says po-tah-toe.

The book was originally published as a PhD thesis

According to WorldCat, UW-Madison Memorial Library owns a copy, as do 7 other libraries (5 U.S., 1 Canada, 1 UK.)

Kathy Neilsen Retires After Long Career as Teacher and Library Assistant

West Kindergarten Center, Baraboo, WI

Link to May 28 Baraboo News-Republic article, "Booking retirement: Library assistant, Neilsen, turning the page after long career".

Excerpt: Neilsen's teaching career began 46 years ago, though, in a one-room schoolhouse in Melrose, Wis.

There, she taught students in grades one through six, as well as serving lunch, cleaning the classroom, and supervising every single recess - duties she hasn't missed in the years since. She also taught fourth through sixth grade for a year in Adams County, and taught sixth grade at a school in Marshfield.

Once she moved to Baraboo, her decision to become a library assistant, after one year as an educational assistant at South School, was prompted by her love of books.

"One of my favorite things is watching them get excited about books and reading," she said. "I love reading to them.

"You look at them and their eyes are just glued."

Congratulations, Kathy!

LSU Library School Among Programs Targeted for Elimination

LSU SLIS

Link to May 29 2theadvocate.com article, "LSU to cut program".

Excerpt:  LSU is expected by Monday night ot propose eliminating several academic degree programs and institutes ranging from the School of Library and Information Sciences to bachelor’s degrees in German and Latin.

The “Phase I” plan calls for closing the Louisiana Population Data Center, architecture’s Office of Community Preservation and others.

Also, state funding would be eliminated for the United States Civil War Center, the Center for French and Francophone Studies and the T. Harry Williams Center for Oral History.

The proposals, which would save $3 million a year, come at a time of university budget cuts when more budgetary axing is anticipated in the summer of 2011.

"Illinois Was Exemplary At One Time"

Link to May 27 Southtown Star article, "Library system in for bad ending?"

Excerpt: "Forty-five years of tradition comes to a screeching halt," Flossmoor librarian Megan Millen said.

"This is very critical. It's ugly," New Lenox Public Library director JoAnn Potenziani said. Her library is part of the Prairie Area Library System, which also includes the Homer Township, Manhattan and Mokena libraries. That system is short $1 million of its $2.2 million budget.

"Illinois was exemplary at one time, one of the best library systems in the country," Potenziani said. "It's still in place, it's just been eviscerated. It's got us running scared."

System services that will end include continuing education and consulting for library staff. There will be more mergers among systems and possibly even libraries, as they all pare down to bare essentials.

"It's like we don't have a safety net anymore," Homewood Library director Cindy Rauch said. "You would think the state would have a back-up plan."

Related articles:
Layoffs and service cuts in store for North Suburban Library System.  (5/14/2010)
Illinois Library Systems Still Await the Remaining 65% of Their State Funding.  (3/6/2010)
State funding shortage may doom library systems. (2/14/2010)
"Save Illinois Libraries" Campaign Shakes Loose Some Funds. (1/22/2010)
Save Illinois Libraries: Tweeting Up a Storm of Support. (1/20/2010)
Sarah Long: Illinois Regional Library Systems and Boiling Frogs. (1/13/2010)
lllinois Regional Multi-Type Library Systems Hit with Cut in Funding. (8/13/2009)

Steelerstahl Must Have Ben on his Mind

You were always on my mind.

Link to May 28 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article, "Ravenstahl calls Carnegie Library's finances into question".

Excerpt:   Mayor Luke Ravenstahl plans to veto a measure giving the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh $640,000 because library officials have not assured him all branches will remain open, his spokeswoman said.

"We have no promise. We have no commitment," mayoral spokeswoman Joanna Doven said. "This isn't popular, but we're going to do what's right."

City Council on Wednesday approved the money for the library with an 8-0 vote. Council President Darlene Harris, who had questions about the library's finances, abstained.

Council would need six votes to override the veto.

"God bless him," said Councilman Bruce Kraus, who introduced the measure with six co-sponsors to ensure its veto-proof passage. "We've heard loud and clear the importance of the Carnegie Library of for the quality of life of the residents of Pittsburgh."

No council member said yesterday that his or her vote would change.

Related articles:
City council approves $640,000 grant for library.  (5/26/2010)
City council vote may save branches.  (12/1/2009)
Pittsburgh's declining population major factor in library funding crisis.  (11/8/2009)
Changes anger community.  (10/31/2009)

Marilyn Johnson Speaks Up for the Queens Library

Queens Library

Related article:

New York's public libraries face huge budget cuts.  (5/13/2010)

Who Speaks for the Hernando County Public Library?

Hernando County Public Library

Link to May 28 St. Petersburg Times article, "Staff, transit and library cuts loom as Hernando faces $8.3M budget shortfall".

Excerpt: Libraries also must cut $1 million, but [director of the office of management and budget George] Zoettlein, doesn't anticipate major cuts in services. Officials plan to pay for more operating expenses out of state library grants instead of the general fund. The library budget is roughly $3.3 million, $1.5 million of which is grant money.

"In an effort to keep all our branches open and keep staff in place, we will delay some maintenance projects, some maintenance services,'' said Jean Rags, director of health and human services.

That will also mean the newest best sellers won't be in every branch. New videos or audio materials may not be available. Lines to use computers and check out books will grow longer.

"We're trying to minimize the changes,'' Rags said. "It's important for us to do this to keep our branches open and be able to service our patrons.''

Hernando County Organization Chart

From the organization chart, the answer to the title question appears to be the Leadership Team.  However, according to its website, the 5-member Board of County Commissioners appoints citizens to various boards, committees and authorities which are related to County government activities, one of which includes....

Florida law appears to differ significantly from at least one aspect of Wisconsin library law.

Forbes Ranks 30 Master's Degrees

For comparison shopping purposes.
This edition offers new bonus lists showing careers 
with the most-improved outlook since the last edition.

Link to Forbes.com. article, "Best Master's Degrees for Jobs".  (via LISNews)

Excerpt: Colleges will hand out 1.6 million bachelor's degrees this year, according to the U.S. Census (another 762,000 students are on track for associate degrees). Yet with unemployment sitting at 9.9% and underemployment at 17.1%, many students are considering sitting out the anemic job market and pursuing graduate degrees.

With this in mind, Forbes set out to determine which master's degrees would provide the best opportunities, based on salary and employment, over the next decade. We turned to Payscale.com, which lets users compare their salaries with those of other people in similar jobs by culling real-time salary data from its 16.5 million profiles.

TOP 10
1.  Physician Assistant Studies
2.  Computer Science
3.  Civil Engineering
4.  Mathematics
5.  Physics
6.  Information Technology
7.  Human Resources Management
8.  Economics
9.  Geology
10.  Business (MBA)

BOTTOM 10
21.  Speech Pathology
22.  Accounting
23.  Social Work
24.  Psychology
25.  Library and Information Science
26.  Fine Arts
27.  Counseling
28.  Education
29.  English
30.  Divinity

Charlotte Mayor Supports Financial Help for Library

Link to May 27 Charlotte Observer article, "Foxx will veto budget if it doesn't aid libraries".

Excerpt: The Charlotte City Council tentatively approved 2 percent raises for city employees on Wednesday but disagreed sharply about whether to give the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library one-time financial help.

Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx told the Observer he would veto a budget that doesn't have money set aside to help Mecklenburg County, which would most likely use it for libraries. Even though the libraries aren't a city responsibility, he said the possible closing of 12 branches due to budget cuts is too severe.

But five council members - including Mayor Pro Tem Susan Burgess, one of Foxx's fellow Democrats - said they are adamantly opposed to giving Mecklenburg County money.

Related articles:
County budget:  Oh, yeah, this is fair.  (5/25/2010)
Bailout proposal not gaining traction.  (5/23/2010)
Library trustees vote to close 4 branches.  (5/20/2010)
Mecklenburg County tightens its belt.  (5/20/2010)
County manager cuts $14.7 million from library budget.  (5/18/2010)
2010-11 Mecklenburg County budget to be unveiled today.  (5/18/2010)
North Carolina woman plans on "going straight to the top" to keep Charlotte libraries open.  (5/16/2010)
Charlotte Mecklenburg officials ask local municipalities for $3 million contribution.  (4/30/2010)
Library Board chair speaks out.  (4/25/2010)
County commissioners seek ways to ease library cuts.  (4/23/2010)
Mecklenburg County needs to reduce $85-90 million deficit.  (4/16/2010)
County manager takes library board to task.  (4/10/2010)
Libraries now open fewer hours.  (4/6/2010)
"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)

Wisconsin State Legislature Retirements: 22......23........

Rep. Pedro Colon

Link to May 27 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article, "Colon, Newcomer won't seek another term
They join 21 other lawmakers who aren't running":.

Excerpt:  Colón, 42, who has represented the south side's largely Latino district for 12 years, said he wants to dedicate more of his time to his legal career and his family. He has two young daughters.

"Part of it is that you can't have family values if you don't value your family," he told the Journal Sentinel.

He called the decision a difficult one, but said it feels like the right time to leave the Assembly.

Colón did not rule out running for office in the future. He intends to stay active in the community. "I want to continue to be part of the conversation about leadership," he said.

But new leadership can't develop unless you get new leaders, said Colón, vice chairman of the powerful Joint Finance Committee.  [Emphasis added]

22nd Wisconsin State Legislator Not Running for Re-election

Link to May 27 GM Today article, "Another Wis. state rep to retire".

Excerpt: Rep. Scott Newcomer, a Hartland Republican, says in a statement he won't seek re-election in November. He didn't offer any reasons in the statement. A message left at his Capitol office wasn't immediately returned.

Newcomer has served in the Assembly since 2006. He did a stint as chairman of the Assembly Financial Institutions Committee.

Clarice M. Ruder, 1974 UW-Madison SLIS Graduate, Passes Away

Photo credit:  Abster at Picasa

Link to March 27 Marshfield News Herald obituary.

Excerpt: Born in Marshfield [Wisconsin] on May 31, 1948, she moved to Florida in 1974 soon after earning a master's degree in library science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her first job in Florida was as an adult services librarian at the Palm Beach County Public Library System. In 1976, she joined the Tampa-Hillsborough Public Library System, where she worked for 34 years primarily as the head of several progressively larger branch libraries, the last being the inviting new Jan Kaminis Platt Regional Library on Manhattan Avenue in South Tampa.

[snip]

Family, friends and library colleagues and patrons are invited to celebrate her life at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 1, 2010, at Brewer & Sons, 3328 S. Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa, Fla. No flowers please. Instead, remember Clarice by bringing a favorite book or DVD to the funeral home and the item will be donated to a local library.

A memorial service will take place this summer in Marshfield.

Art Linkletter, 1912-2000

Best-selling nonfiction book for 2 years running.

City Council Approves $640,000 Grant for Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

Link to May 26 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article, "Council votes on library funding".

Excerpt:   Pittsburgh City Council gave preliminary approval today to a $640,000 grant for the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh--money that officials said would help the system keep all of its buildings open and hours intact through Dec. 31.

But Barbara Mistick, library system president and director, said the system still is struggling to stabilize long-term finances in the wake of reduced state funding and flat contributions from the Regional Asset District.

The city previously gave the library system $600,000 to spend this year. Mayor Luke Ravenstahl has balked at giving the system more. Council members expressed a willingness to help the system with a second grant, but warned that it must seek new, permanent sources of revenue--and soon.

Related articles:
City council vote may save branches.  (12/1/2009)
Pittsburgh's declining population major factor in library funding crisis.  (11/8/2009)
Changes anger community.  (10/31/2009)

New York Public Library Uses Social Media to Get the Word Out

Link to May 25 socialmedia.net, "New York Public Library Uses Ghostbusters, Tillman And Social Media To Fight Budget Cuts".

Excerpt:   The New York Public Library (NYPL) is facing a $37m reduction in financing. The resulting reduction in services and job losses will inevitably reflect the huge scale of cuts which are outlined in the Mayor’s Executive Budget Proposal.

It is hard to argue against fiscal responsibility in these straitened times, but it is not hard to argue for fairness. The cuts heaped on the NYPL are more than four times greater than the next public sector service area affected. A disproportionate difference by any measure.

This decision may reflect a Philistinism in the Mayor’s office or maybe the bureaucrats saw an easy target to pick off. Who knows? The decision has been made. The question is what can people do to save their library system from being stripped to the bone?

“Luckily for us, social media is the great equalizer,” says Deanna Lee, Vice President for Communications and Marketing. “Don’t Close the Book on Libraries” is the title of the advocacy campaign “aimed towards getting restorations from the City Council and Mayor from the current proposed City budget cut”. Visitors first arriving at the main NYPL site will see a 'homepage hijack'.

Related videos:
Tillman skates for the New York Public Library.
Ghostbusters at the New York Public Library.

Related article:
Mayor's budget proposes $36,000,000 Cut to New York Public Library.  (5/7/2010)

Tillman Skates for the New York Public Library

Related video:
Ghostbusters at the New York Public Library.

Related article:
Mayor's budget proposes $36,000,000 Cut to New York Public Library.  (5/7/2010)

Turf Wars Likely to Hinder Efforts to "Reboot Government".

Link to May 25 New York Times article, "Hard Times Spur Ideas for Change.  States' Leaders Imagine Moves Big and Small".

Excerpt:   But despite the longest recession since the Great Depression and predictions already of new, gaping deficits in state budgets for at least the next two years, some of the most sweeping notions for overhaul remain just that — notions. And so, as more than a dozen states grapple with next year’s budgets, most of which take effect on July 1, many experts say politicians would be wise to do more than merely contemplate significant change — and may soon have little choice.

“We can incrementally hobble and muddle through, or we can stand back and be more strategic,” said Scott D. Pattison, the executive director of the National Association of State Budget Officers. “That’s the question: whether this will be the time when these ideas actually get carried out, or whether this is going to be a whole lot of reports that sit on a shelf.”

[snip]

One problem, said Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana, a Republican, is that “people like hanging on to the authority they have.”

A move to abolish township boards in Indiana failed to make its way through the state legislature, and efforts to abolish the office of lieutenant governor in states like Illinois and Louisiana have gained little traction.

Any chance that these organization will find a common agenda in Wisconsin?

Wisconsin Alliance of Cities

League of Wisconsin Municipalities

Wisconsin Counties Association

Wisconsin Towns Association

Apparently, the WTA has already thrown down the gauntlet.

Vallejo California Two Years After Declaring Bankruptcy

Link to Los Angeles Times article, "Lessons of hard times in Vallejo".

Excerpt: Evidence of municipal misery is widespread. Foreclosed homes are sold in front of the Civic Center so often that City Hall is plastered with signs warning auctioneers not to conduct business at the lobby information desk or the monument to fallen firefighters and police officers.

Sixty percent of all borrowers in the Vallejo area owed more on their mortgages than their homes were worth in the first quarter of 2010, according to CoreLogic, compared with 24% of borrowers nationwide and 34% in California.

Property and sales tax revenue are expected to drop 18% and 10%, respectively, in the current fiscal year. The city's general fund has plummeted 20% in the last two years.

Trees go untrimmed, potholes unfilled. The economic development staff has been slashed to one. Even Wal-Mart has decamped from this city of 121,000. Vallejo has stopped funding senior centers and libraries.  [Emphasis added.]

"The unofficial civic motto used to be, 'Vallejo, come for the crack, stay for the hookers,' " joked writer David Corbett, who moved here in 1994 and sets some of his gritty novels in a real or imagined Vallejo. "Since bankruptcy, it's been changed to, 'Vallejo, where your hope comes to die.' "

Link to May 25, 2008 cbs13.com news report, "Vallejo Facing Uncertain Road After Bankruptcy".

Excerpt: Many residents blame extravagant pay and benefits for police and firefighters for Vallejo's financial woes. Compensation for firefighters and police officers now make up 75 percent of its $87 million general fund budget, a much larger share than most California cities.

About that library funding.....

The John F. Kennedy Library in Vallejo is a branch of the Solano County Library, which means that the City of Vallejo doesn't collect a library tax.

According to California Library Statistics 2010, Solano County's FY2008-09 per capita total expenditures was $52.43, compared to the statewide mean of $34.69.  Materials expenditures:  $5.00 vs. $3.23.

Architectural Firm Selected for Madison Central Library Project

Link to May 26 Capital Times article.

Excerpt: After changing horses in midstream a few times, Madison Public Library Board president Tripp Widder informed City Council members Tuesday evening that a selection team chose the architectural firm Minneapolis-based architectural firm Meyer, Scherer and Rockcastle to lead the city's massive renovation of the downtown Central Library this year.

The decision must still be confirmed by the City Council and a resolution granting the firm a $1.8 million design contract will be introduced to the City Council at their June 1 meeting. Meyer, Scherer and Rockcastle was one of 11 firms who applied late last year to complete interior design work for the original Central Library plans, which included building a brand-new, six-story, glass and stone structure at the corner of West Washington Avenue and Henry Street.

Related articles:
State Journal editorial board sez Madison City Council made right decision on Central Library. (5/10/2010)
Council vote on library goes under the radar.  (5/8/2010)
And the beat goes on.  (4/14/2010)
Mayor Responds to Critics on Library Issue.  (4/13/2010)
Board Endorses Renovation Plan.  (4/6/2010)
Some Council Members Not Ready to Move Forward on Mayor's Renovation Plan.  (3/30/2010)
Council President Pro Tem to Introduce Resolution Approving Madison Central Library Renovation Project.  (3/28/2010)
'Dissatisfaction' with Collapsed Madison Central Library Project. (3/25/2010)
Fiore Departure Seen as Beneficial to Madison Central Project.  (3/23/2010)
Matter of Principle" Dooms New Central Madison Library.  (3/20/2010)
Madison Central: The Dream Dies, It's Now Time to Renovate. (3/19/2010)
Dispute over Construction Costs Threatens to Derail New Central Madison Library. (3/17/2010)
Madison Public Library Project Faces Delay in 2011. (3/9/2010)
Construction, Cost Concerns May Delay Madison Central Library Project. (1/25/2010)
New Madison Central Library Wins Council Approval. (11/11/2009)Capital Times Endorses New Madison Central Library. (11/10/2009)
Madison Council Begins Review of Mayor's Budget on Tuesday. (11/6/2009)
More Questions About Madison Central Library Project. (11/1/2009)
New Madison Public Library's First Change Order: Rooftop Garden.
(10/28/2009)
Call for Referendum on New Madison Central Library Not Attracting Support. (10/21/2009)
Madison Board of Estimates Rejects Library Referendum. (10/13/2009)
Some Madison City Council Members Want Referendum on New Central Library. (10/9/2009)
Wisconsin State Journal Editorial on New Madison Central Library. (9/13/2009)
New Madison Central Library: Let the Positioning Begin. (9/1/2009)
New Madison Central Library on Mayor Dave's Front Burner. (8/30/2009)
New Madison Central Library: Build or Renovate? (7/7/2009)
Motley Brown Not Reason Enough. (6/11/2009)
Fiore Plan Receives Unanimous Support. (6/5/2009)
Fiore Plan Gets Nod from Committee. (5/15/2009)
Public Forum Focuses on Central Library Options. (4/24/2009)
Developer Sweetens the Deal. (4/21/2009)
Visualizing a Remodeled Madison Central Library. (4/4/2009)
Renovation Plan Put on Table for Madison Central Library. (3/26/2009)
Residents Critique Proposals to Rebuild Downtown Library. (1/9/2009)
Competing Developers Defend Their Central Library Plans. (1/8/2009)
Comparison of Downtown Madison Library Proposals. (12/17/2008)
Two Proposals for New Madison Central Library. (12/3/2008)
Best Headline of the Week. (9/6/2008)

Crowded Field in Race for Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor

Links to the candidates for the

in Wisconsin.

Link to May 26 Appleton Post-Crescent article, "Wisconsin Rep. Tom Nelson, a Democrat from Kaukauna, announces bid for Wisconsin lieutenant governor".

Excerpt:   Nelson said his candidacy would add some geographic balance to the Democratic ticket as Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett seeks the governor's office.

His decision to run was further influenced by a conversation with Barrett, Nelson said. He left convinced that Barrett as governor would empower his lieutenant to play a significant role in state government.

Nelson stands among a crowded field for the post.

Nelson joins Democratic candidates G. Spencer Coggs of Milwaukee, Henry Sanders of Waunakee, James Schneider of Gotham and T. Anthony Zielinski of Milwaukee.

On the Republican side, Brett Davis of Oregon, Dave Ross of Superior, Rebecca Kleefisch of Oconomowoc and Ben Collins of Lake Geneva are registered to run.

Terry Virgil of Fort Atkinson is seeking the office as a Libertarian.

Democratic candidates

Coggs

Sanders

Schneider

Zielinski

Republican candidates

Collins

Davis

Kleefisch

Ross

Libertarian candidate

Virgil

Two Library Branches Survive Memphis City Council Cuts

Memphis Public Library

Link to May 25 Memphis Commercial Appeal article, "Memphis City Council committee approves budget cuts, without closing library branches, golf courses".

(Has anyone noticed a "recreational" theme in recent library budget cut posts?)

Excerpt: Memphis Mayor AC Wharton listens as a City Council committee goes over his proposed budget.

The Memphis City Council today approved $7.6 million in budget cuts proposed by Mayor A C Wharton, in a new plan that would not close library branches, or golf courses for the time being.

The full council voted in favor of the plan 12-1 today during an operating budget committee meeting.

Wharton originally had proposed $9 million in cuts, which included closing the Highland and Cossitt branch libraries and the 9-hole Riverside and Overton Park golf courses. His budget-cutting proposal today did not include library closings or summer camp fee hikes.

Related article:
Mayor proposes closing 2 library branches.  (5/21/2010)

Tasha Nails It

Link to May 25 Sites & Soundbytes post on Openbook.

Excerpt:  Perhaps it is old fashioned to think that people should be more cautious about this. But one wonders what in the world people are thinking with some of this. As an employer who Googles and searches on Facebook when someone applies to a position, this could be the difference between landing a job or not.

And from Retiring Guy's experience, it's the Google searches that provide the most eye-popping and enlightening moments.  The Web allows employers to read between the lines, complete with footnotes.

Moral of the story:  Don't be a blabbermouth.

The Honeymooners.  The "Blabbermouth" episode, January 1956 (when Retiring Guy attended kindergarten at Whittier Elementary School in Great Falls, Montana.)

"Going to Extremes": The Sequel

Retiring Guy loves the first book.

Link to May 25 Huffington Post, "Joe McGinniss Becomes Palin's New Gotcha-Journalist Neighbor".

Excerpt: Lots of different journalists choose to cover the ever-evolving celebrity of sometime-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin in lots of different ways, but only one man -- author Joe McGinniss -- has gone so far as to actually rent the house next door to the Palin's residence in Wasilla, Alaska. From that perch, McGinniss will study the Palin family's comings-and-goings for a book he's writing on the subject, which I guess has sort of taken a "Northern Exposure meets Rear Window" turn?

Looking forward to part 2.

Disappointed to find this copy/holding information in LINKcat.

7 of 49 locations.  Yeah, yeah, I know, 6 copies are on the shelf and we have a great delivery system.   But it's one of those classics that deserves to be browsed.

"To Kill a Mockingbird" Turns 50

Link to May 25 New York Times article, "A Classic Turns 50, and Parties are Planned".

Excerpt: In Santa Cruz, Calif., volunteers will re-enact every word and movement in the famous courtroom scene. In Monroeville, Ala., residents dressed in 1930s garb will read aloud from memorable passages. In Rhinebeck, N.Y., Oblong Books will host a party with Mocktails and a performance by the indie band the Boo Radleys.

All summer “To Kill a Mockingbird” will be relived through at least 50 events around the country, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the publication of a book that became a cultural touchstone and an enduring staple of high-school reading programs.

Its publisher, HarperCollins, is trying to tap into what appears to be a near-endless reserve of affection for the book by helping to organize parties, movie screenings, readings and scholarly discussions.

Link to 1960 NYT book review.

Mecklenburg County Budget: Oh Yeah, This is Fair

Link to May 24 Charlotte Observer article, "Speak out on county budget".

Observer "In My Opinion" columnist Dannye Romine Powell says it's "Time to step up and help local libraries".

Excerpt:  Libraries Director Charles Brown told me Monday that if the worst happens, "it will take years, if not decades, to rebuild on what is widely considered to be one of the most successful urban libraries in the nation."

Stop the worst from happening.

The City Council's final budget vote is June 7. The county adopts its budget June 15.

Start e-mailing our City Council members and commissioners today.

Tell them what it means to you to use your neighborhood library's computer for job and college applications, to borrow books you can't afford to buy, to sit in its air-conditioned comfort to feast on magazines.

Tell them how, thanks to the library, your children now read with flashlights under the covers, how one book has led them to another, until the habit of intellectual adventure has taken firm root. Tell them that libraries teach kids to strong-arm boredom.

Tell them that some things on the budget, and in life, are negotiable.

But that the pursuit of knowledge - free, accessible and open to the public - never is.

Related articles:
Bailout proposal not gaining traction.  (5/23/2010)
Library trustees vote to close 4 branches.  (5/20/2010)
Mecklenburg County tightens its belt.  (5/20/2010)
County manager cuts $14.7 million from library budget.  (5/18/2010)
2010-11 Mecklenburg County budget to be unveiled today.  (5/18/2010)
North Carolina woman plans on "going straight to the top" to keep Charlotte libraries open.  (5/16/2010)
Charlotte Mecklenburg officials ask local municipalities for $3 million contribution.  (4/30/2010)
Library Board chair speaks out.  (4/25/2010)
County commissioners seek ways to ease library cuts.  (4/23/2010)
Mecklenburg County needs to reduce $85-90 million deficit.  (4/16/2010)
County manager takes library board to task.  (4/10/2010)
Libraries now open fewer hours.  (4/6/2010)
"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)