Florida's Cooper Memorial Library Celebrates Its First Anniversary, Quietly

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Link to August 21 Daily Commercial article, "Library celebrates anniversary".

Excerpt: The new $12.7 million, 50,000-square-foot library at 2525 Oakley Seaver Drive on the Lake-Sumter Community College's Clermont campus was a joint venture between Lake County, LSCC and the University of Central Florida. It replaced both the college library and a temporary library facility previously in downtown Clermont.

Inside, a 7,000-square-foot children's section is as big as the entire downtown library was, with a separate story-time room (the circular section noticeable on the outside architecture), a puppet theater, computers, a garden and plenty of kid-sized tables and chairs.

Westerville Public Library Celebrates 80th Anniversary

Link to August 18 This Week article, "Library to celebrate 80th anniversary".

Excerpt: The Westerville Library has seen significant growth in the last 80 years.

On its opening day, Dec. 15, 1930, the library housed 3,000 books in the basement of the Baker House at the corner of Grove and Park streets. In its first year, it circulated 300 items.

By 1933, the library had outgrown the space and was moved to the second floor of the newly renovated city building at 21 S. State St.

The library moved to its own home in 1955, at its current location at 126 S. State St. In 1998, renovations increased the library's size to 66,000 square feet, adding the atrium, shelf space, the technology center, study rooms, gift shop and history center.

The library again expanded in 2006 to add space to the children's and media areas, and to the history center. Those renovations also changed the library's look from South State Street.

Last year, the library circulated 2.1-million items, making it the fourth-busiest library in the state, library director Don Barlow said. It also was recently named one of the top 10 best libraries of its size in the country.

Galesburg Public Library Looks at a Bare-Bones Budget

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Link to August 20 Galesburg Register-Mail article, "Library eyes bare-bones budget".

Excerpt: The picture is discouraging at every turn. In 2010, $27,000 was cut from the book budget. The proposed budget cuts that line item again, from $143,400 to $135,000.

“We don’t have the money, but the other issue is we’re out of space,” Kroll said.

Library Director Pam Van Kirk said no money is spent on books without much thought.

“We’re weighing every purchase,” she said.

As technology use increases, the library is attempting to get by with aging computers.

“This past year, we had no money to buy new computers,” Kroll said, “and we won’t this year.”

No capital projects have been budgeted and the library still has the same phone system originally installed in City Hall. There have been two phone system upgrades since then at City Hall.

Kroll said, in essence, there is one phone line at the library. Of the three actual lines, one is dedicated to the fax machine, one is for Van Kirk, leaving one for the public. Most calls have to be answered in circulation, where employees are trying to wait on patrons.

Cherry Valley Public Library Keeps on Truckin'

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Link to August 19 Rockford Register-Star article, "Economy making it hard for Cherry Valley library to grow".

Excerpt: The Cherry Valley Public Library posted another year with record usage as it continues to wait for the chance to expand its building.

The economy is the source of increased use and the culprit that keeps expansion unaffordable, said Eve Kirk, library director.

“When the economy is low, people look for ways to economize and library use goes way up,” she said. “How do we balance this? We just keep going. We just keep finding ways to make room.”

Library usage in Cherry Valley has grown each year for more than a decade. The number of people to pass through the library grew an additional 1.5 percent last year, up to 111,931 visits. It had a nearly 28 percent increase in attendance to library programs. There also was a 2 percent increase in total circulation and more than 950 new library cards. The Library District’s population is estimated at around 20,000 people.

Related article:
Catch-22 keeps library expansion plans on hold.  (2/2/2010)

History of the Internet

Found this at Resource Shelf.

Pizza Hut.  What a pioneer!


Via: MBA Online

Carl Nolte: "Print is not dead -- libraries booming".

Mission Branch Library

Link to Carl Nolte's 'Native Son' column in the August 15 San Francisco Chronicle.

Excerpt: I thought I'd pay a nostalgic visit to the Mission branch of the public library on 24th Street, near Mission. My little brother and I used to go up there on summer afternoons and check out adventure books by Rafael Sabatini ("Captain Blood" was a favorite) or by P.C. Wren, who wrote about brave Englishmen who joined the French Foreign Legion.

I went by on Wednesday afternoon. I expected a mostly empty place, quiet, with dust motes in the air and the familiar library smell of print. The joint was packed, hardly a seat to be had in the second-floor reading room.

Downstairs were shelves full of reserved books and CDs, ready for pickup by folks. Their names were wrapped around the reserved books: Navarro, Ko, Velez, Van Duzen, Huang and Kelly, the full mosaic of people who live in the Mission these days.

Oops! Well, at least Carl used last names only. Let's hope Mission's library materials on the hold shelves are well wrapped.

Carl otherwise delivers a great library message.

Comerica Makes Donation to 2 Dallas Branch Libraries

North Oak Cliff Branch Library

Link to August Dallas News article, "Comerica donates $50,000 to two Dallas libraries in light of budget cutbacks".

Excerpt:   Dallas City Hall and Comerica Bank announced Thursday that the company is donating $50,000 to adopt two libraries in southern Dallas.

The Polk-Wisdom and North Oak Cliff branch libraries will benefit from the donation at a time when City Hall has had to slash funding for library staff and materials.

The donation, made through the Friends of the Dallas Public Library, will be used "to purchase new materials including books, magazines, children's materials, educational films and educational computer software for the two library branches considered to be the most in-need by the organization," a news release stated.

Polk-Wisdom  Branch Library

Related articles:
Another successful summer reading program, another round of budget cuts.  (8/15/2010)
City Manager's recommended budget includes lotsa library and park employee cuts.  (8/9/2010)
Attention library budget cutters:  These words still ring true.  (5/29/2010)
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)

Libraries: "The Great Good Place in a City"

Libraries:  Essential Partners

Link to August 21 Charlotte Observer 'Viewpoint' by Neal Peirce, "Libraries: 'Great Good Places'".

Excerpt: The silver lining for communities, note library sources, is that threats of actual branch closures create such a strong pushback that most communities compromise with cuts that go no further than constriction in staff or branches.

The reality, says Audra Caplan, director of the Harford County, Md., Public Library and president of the Public Library Association, is that the role of public libraries has changed dramatically in the last 10 to 15 years. And computers and job-search assistance, while highly significant, aren't the whole story.

"We've turned ourselves into community centers," notes Caplan. "We have meeting rooms that get booked by community agencies, chess clubs, any not-for-profit. We bring in authors, we sponsor civic engagement-type programs. And we're attracting a larger share of the population - even teens, or parents with toddlers."

So what about serious research? "It's still healthy," Caplan insists. She acknowledges Google and Wikipedia are popular on the available computers. But libraries also subscribe to specialized and sometimes costly subscription databases - business, legal, health and other - and electronically extend the access to even their smallest branches. As for books (remember them?), libraries' per capita circulation has increased roughly 20 percent over the last decade.

And in a sense, libraries are as varied as America. Many provide specialized services, including translation and English instruction, to America's large populations of new immigrants. Some let patrons check out not just books but fishing poles, backpacks and garden tools.

North Carolina: Charlotte Mecklenburg Library's Cuts are the Deepest

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Link to August 21 Charlotte Observer article, "Libraries in Mecklenburg took bigger cuts than many.  County's cuts to library system came as nearby counties spent more or staved off reductions".

Excerpt: Most area county governments - the primary funding source for many libraries - are spending slightly more on their libraries in this fiscal year, which began July 1, than in the past fiscal year, according to an Observer survey of 13 regional county budgets.

Lincoln County commissioners, for example, gave their library system about $35,000 more this year for materials, upgrades to its Internet system and an additional employee.

Five of the region's systems are dealing with overall reductions. In some cases, including Mecklenburg, the cutbacks began earlier this calendar year.

Nationally, about 15 percent of libraries say they've reduced their hours in the past year, a figure three times higher than the year before, said Sari Feldman, immediate past president of the Public Library Association.

Even more libraries report having insufficient staff to meet growing demands, particularly from those seeking help to find work.

North Carolina's state librarian Mary Boone and Mecklenburg library Director Charles Brown, however, say they believe Mecklenburg's cuts were the deepest in the state.

Related articles:
Group to study library merger.  (7/28/2010)
Book stores help out the library.  (7/21/2010)
Libraries hope to expand hours with volunteers at 4 branches.  (7/20/2010)
Another change in hours.  (7/18/2010)
Matthews branch library sends out plea for volunteers.  (7/13/2010)
Most county commissioners cool to sales tax hike.  (7/9/2010)
New hours in effect.  (7/6/2010)
Charlotte Observer editorial board laments the passing of the Novello Festival of the Book.  (6/28/2010)
Shuttered branch could  become Friends' used book store.  (6/25/2010)
A reduced future.  (6/23/2010)
Interlocal cooperation pact.  (6/22/2010)
Three branches close.  (6/19/2010)
Town of Mint Hill perspective.  (6/18/2010)
Five towns tentatively OK $730,000 for libraries.  (6/18/2010)
Carmel, two other branches to close.  (6/16/2010)
Now that the ax has fallen.  (6/16/2010)
Commissioners to vote on budget today.  (6/15/2010)
Charlotte Mecklenburg Libraries:  It's complicated.  (6/9/2010)
Mayor wins straw vote at emotional council meeting.  (6/7/2010)
Editorial:  Should city 'stay in its lane' on libraries.  (6/4/2010)
County commissioners restore some cuts to libraries.  (6/4/2010)
Straw votes begin on Mecklinburg County budget.  (6/3/2010)
Charlotte Mecklenburg Libraries continue to look for one-time financial help.  (5/31/2010)
High school junior speaks out eloquently for libraries.  (5/30/2010)
Mayor Foxx on the art of governing.  (5/30/2010)
Mayor supports financial help for library.  (5/27/2010)
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.  (4/30/2010Library 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)

Spotlight on Westwood College

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Link to August 20 Wisconsin State Journal article, "For-profit colleges come under fire in Wisconsin".

Excerpt: State regulators confirm Westwood never applied for approval.

Other major for-profit online colleges, such as Capella University, are licensed in Wisconsin by the Educational Approval Board, which oversees for-profit colleges and technical schools, out-of-state nonprofits, and Wisconsin nonprofit colleges incorporated since 1992. Among those exempt from its oversight are the University of Wisconsin system and schools regulated by other agencies, such as cosmetology or real estate.

David Dies, executive secretary of the EAB, said that "technically speaking," thousands of schools like Westwood could violate state statute by signing up Wisconsin students without board approval. However, Dies said, the board doesn't have the means or the will to oversee them all.

In response to questions from the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, Westwood spokesman Gil Rudawsky didn't deny the college lacked official approval in Wisconsin but wrote in an e-mail that the "licensing of online colleges in individual states is an ongoing and developing issue across the country."

But Westwood appears to have put some effort into developing a basic online library for its students.

Here's a list of research databases.  (Of course, it's not possible to determine if there are certain use restrictions for Westwood students.)

Westwood also provide subject content pages.  Many colleges provide these for specific courses.

But Retiring Guy is still a little bothered by the Noel Levitz reference in the first screenshot.

According to Noel Levitz®,"Westwood College students are significantly more satisfied with their educational experience than students at other colleges".

But then take a look at the highlighted portion of Eric Goodman's resume.

Just sayin'.

Attention-Grabbing Headline of the Day: "Recession hits smartphone makers in the chips"

Link to August 20 San Jose Mercury News article.

Excerpt: The seemingly recession-proof smartphone is suffering from a side effect of the rough economy: Manufacturers simply can't build enough of the gadgets because chip makers that rolled back production last year are now scrambling to play catch-up.

The chip shortage means Apple's rivals are having trouble making enough phones to compete with the iPhone, a problem expected to persist through the holidays. It's also affecting wireless carriers, some of which are seeing delays in improving their networks, and it could even raise computer prices.

There isn't an across-the-board shortage of chips, but rather problems with certain components here and there. If just one of the 20 to 30 critical chips that go into a smart phone is unavailable, the whole production line screeches to a halt.

Sprint Nextel, for instance, couldn't satisfy demand for HTC's EVO 4G, the first phone to use a faster "4G" network, in parts of the country. Motorola said shortages of a wide range of chips, from memory to camera sensors to touch-screen controllers, are contributing to problems supplying enough of the new Droid X phones to Verizon Wireless. The carrier's online store reports a two-week wait for shipping orders.

In Close Vote, Indianapolis-Marion County Library Board Cuts Hours, Staff

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Link to August 20 Indianapolis Star article, "Library board backs cuts to hours, staff".

Excerpt: The city's libraries will reduce hours across branches and cut staff next year, but leaders warned of more drastic measures to come if the system can't boost its revenue.

The Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library Board voted 4-3 Thursday to cut the system's weekly hours from 1,324 to 980 at Central Library and the 22 branches, a drop of 26 percent. Staff will be trimmed to match the reductions, but library officials have not yet said how many will lose their jobs.

Library officials are still figuring out new hours for the branches, but most would trim 15 to 19 hours per week by opening a couple hours later, closing a couple hours earlier and closing an additional day during the week.

The cuts were passed as a precursor to the library's $37.9 million 2011 budget, which is about 5 percent less than year's $40 million budget and was presented for the first time Thursday.

Related articles:
Library grapples with its sustainable future.  (8/16/2010)
Library projects a $7.3 million deficit by 2014.  (7/29/2010)
Library board sez no branch closings in 2011.  (7/15/2010)
Library supporters question Pacers deal. (7/15/2010)
High performance government team report.  (7/11/2010)
Library board delays decision on libraries.  (6/5/2010)
Another big turnout for libraries.  (5/13/2010)
Mayor vows to keep library branches open.  (5/12/2010)
Residents speak up for their libraries.  (5/11/2010)
The neighborhood library as refuge.  (5/2/2010)
Indianapolis Star editorial board keeps library funding issue front and center.  (4/25/2010)
Efficiency experts look for ways to keep branch libraries open.  (4/23/2010)
More than 1400 sign petition to keep Glendale branch open.  (4/20/2010)
Editorial:  Find resources for library.  (4/19/2010)
What's in store for Indianapolis-area libraries?  (4/17/2010)
Indiana Pacers bailout talks continue.  (4/16/2010)
Postscript.  (4/15/2010)
Look what's at the top of Indianapolis's to-do list.  (4/14/2010)
A Challenge to Indianapolis-Marion County:  Stand Up for Libraries.  (4/13/2010)
Library rally caps?  Get real, sez IndyStar editorial.  (4/12/2010)
Will Indianapolis rally for its libraries?  (4/12/2010)
Library considers branch closings.  (4/9/2010)

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Ads in Ebooks

Link to August 19 Wall Street Journal article, "Get ready for ads in books".

Excerpt from 'subscriber content preview': With e-reader prices dropping like a stone and major tech players jumping into the book retail business, what room is left for publishers' profits? The surprising answer: ads. They're coming soon to a book near you.

To understand why this is inevitable, consider the past few years. The historically staid and technology-averse publishing ecosystem has been ripped apart and transformed.

Here's an interesting comment on this topic.

If the authors of this story had ever actually read an older book, they would have had nothing to write about here.

Until recent times, ads were included in most books, mainly ads for other books (a natural choice) but also for magazines and other products. [RG's emphasis; see below.)

Libraries routinely removed ads from books that they re-bound, and often from magazines too -- a crime against history for which generations of librarians are now slow-cooking in hell.

But those ads were there when the books were published.

I think this person means to say (compare bolded phrase above) "almost exclusively ads for other books by the same publisher".

Cases in point.  (Yes, I just rummaged through my collection of old paperbacks.)

1961 paperback edition of The Amboy Dukes by Irving Shulman, published by Bantam Books.

At the back of the book are two 'full-page' advertisements (reproduced above): one for Marilyn Monroe: An Uncensored Biography ("On sale wherever paperbacks are sold") and two titles from Robert Sheckley's Stephan Dane international crime novel series ("Buy them wherever paperbacks are sold").  All 3 titles are published by Bantam Books, of course.

Inside the back cover is an order form for a whole slew of Bantam titles.  ("BESTSELLERS OF THE YEAR!", the headline exclaims.)

1971 paperback edition of On the Road by Jack Kerouac, published by New American Library's Signet imprint.

Opposite the title page is a coupon to order "other Signet novel's you'll want to read", including The Dharma Bums, The Graduate, You Can't Go Home Again, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Two more coupons are at the back of the book:  "Other Signet titles you will enjoy" and "Signet non-fiction titles of special interest".

1978 paperback edition of The Basketball Diaries by Jim Carroll, published by Bantam Books.

At the back of the book, you'll find a "handy coupon for ordering" 13 paperback books, all published by Bantam Books.

There's another coupon on the following page for the Bantam Book catalog.  "Here's your up-to-the-minute listing of over 1,400 titles by your favorite authors."

Last, and certainly not least, as far as the author was concerned, is a promotion for Carroll's Catholic Boy, "on Rolling Stone records and tapes".

Retiring Guy doesn't think the Wall Street Journal article on ebooks ads is addressing publisher 'self-promotion'.

Maybe it will be something like this Toyota-ized Merriam-Webster webpage.

The authors certainly do have something to write about

And one more thing.

As for libraries routinely remov[ing] ads from books that they re-bound, and often from magazines too...

Say it isn't so!

Not familiar with this practice, Retiring Guy says, "Please step into my confessional."  Can anyone confirm?

South Brunswick Post Managing Editor Decries Censorship

Link to August 17 editorial by South Brunswick (NJ) Post managing editor Hank Kalet, "'Voices' deserves library space".  (via LIS News)

Excerpt: The book's removal on grounds it may be vulgar - again, according to whom? - raises questions about what other books could end up on a conservative hit list or any list of books some interest group might deem offensive.

Consider the list of books that have been targeted in the past: "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain; "Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger; "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee; "Slaughterhouse Five" by Kurt Vonnegut. Authors as varied as Anne Rice, Judy Blume, John Steinbeck, William Faulkner and Ray Bradbury have been on the wrong end of the censor's pen.

Each of these books raised significant and often difficult questions about the larger culture - about race relations, gender roles, sexuality, war, etc. - questions that demanded answers, but that too many at the time were unwilling to consider. Instead, fear ruled, and the books were banned.

That's what has happened with "Revolutionary Voices." The impulse to remove books we do not understand from the shelves of school and public libraries - or to keep them from being published in the first place - is an affront to our freedoms and incompatible with our democratic values.

Santa Clara University's Global Social Benefit Incubator

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Link to Mike Cassidy's August 19 column in the San Jose Mercury News, "Social entrepreneurs bring lessons to Silicon Valley".

Excerpt: But the entrepreneurs who participate in Santa Clara University's Global Social Benefit Incubator tend to follow their hearts in a different way.

The 19 so-called social entrepreneurs represent for-profit and nonprofit companies working to make life better in Tanzania, Uganda, India, Ghana and other developing countries. They are working to solve problems by bringing refrigeration to remote dairy farms in India, producing very low-cost hearing aids with solar-powered batteries or using cloud computing technologies to provide cheap cell phone service to rural Madagascar.

And to further their causes they have come to Santa Clara's manicured campus for two weeks to learn about value creation, distribution channels and "servicization of business models."

Libraries Remember: Commemorating 9/11

Bensenville Community Public Library District

Link to August 19 Daily Herald article, "Bensenville library to commemorate Sept. 11".

Excerpt:   Bensenville Public Library will be open for 24 hours Sept. 11 as part of the Libraries Remember program to commemorate the attacks of 2001 and to celebrate the role libraries play in preserving a free society.  [Emphasis added.]

Anyone aware if other libraries are hosting this type of event?

New Library Included as Part of Oak Creek Civic Center Project

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Link to August 17 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article, "Oak Creek eyes old Delphi plant for civic center".

Excerpt: The Common Council tonight will discuss the future of the 85-acre former Delphi property, 7929 S. Howell Ave., and that could include new municipal buildings.

For some time, the city has discussed building a civic center, which would be a combination of a new City Hall and library, as well as a new fire station.

In a report to council members, officials said putting the library and City Hall at the old Delphi site could be the "cornerstone of a new city center," which could also include housing, restaurants and retail establishments.

La Crosse Public Library: Top Ten Reasons to Climb the Stairs to Reference

This clever promotional idea is going into my LIS 635 (Reference and Information Service) folder.

Why a Building Project Needs a Contingency Fund

"Change orders" are an unavoidable part of the process.

Dwight Foster Public Library

The original building

Link to August 18 Daily Union article, "Library changes approved".

Excerpt: Two change orders for the Dwight Foster Public Library [link to "Foster Growth" blog] expansion and renovation project were approved by the Fort Atkinson City Council on Tuesday.

The council took that action unanimously during its regular session.

Connie Meyer, library director, outlined the change orders, saying the library project continues to move forward.

"Even though Joe Daniels (Construction) discovered some unexpected existing conditions, we are on time and on budget, as we had budgeted contingency dollars understanding that it was important to plan for such possibilities," Meyer told the council members.

The construction change orders were recommended by the architect and the library construction committee, as well as the library board.

The total cost of change order No. 1 is $43,961.54, while change order No. 2 costs $68,121.64. These two change orders, plus $34,351.11 in non-construction reductions, will reduce the contingency fund balance from $330,000 to $183,566.

Gov. Doyle to UW Regents: More Tough Times Ahead

LINK

Governor believes strongly in the Wisconsin Idea.  Will that be the case with our next Governor?

Link to August 20 Appleton Post-Crescent article, "Tough times ahead for higher education".

Excerpt: The state faces a $2.5 billion shortfall in the next two-year budget, but the university is seeking an $83 million increase in its budget over that time. That budget will be considered by Doyle's successor and the next Legislature next year.

Faced with record-high state budget shortfalls in the last two years, the university system already has been forced to make budget cuts, increase tuition and furlough faculty and staff.

"We are still in the middle of a very deep recession," Doyle said. "It takes real management to come through a difficult time. Management that is based on maintaining really high values, maintaining a clear vision of what you want to accomplish, then figuring out how to do it when you don't have all the resources you want to have."

Green Bay Police Pay More Visits to Public Library

Link to August 20 Green Bay Press-Gazette article, "Police kept busy checking out library".

Excerpt: Besides packing swimming pools and emptying beverage coolers, Green Bay's recent hot spell is being blamed for a spike in police calls to the Brown County Central Library.

Police were summoned to the library seven times in the first 11 days of August, mostly for disturbances or harassment issues reportedly involving homeless people, said Lt. Jim Runge, a police spokesman. In August 2009, there were only four calls for police at the library, 515 Pine St.

"The numbers aren't off the charts," he said, "but they're certainly higher than what we want."

Library officials acknowledge that they've had to call for police help more often than usual at this time of year, but say it's not the homeless causing all the problems. Director Lynn Stainbrook said the vast majority of library users, including the homeless, are well behaved, and that the public can expect to use the facility without being harassed.

"It's the nature of public locations," said Stainbrook, who heads a library that includes the central facility and eight branches. "You have lots of people around, and you have some who don't obey the rules."

Warren, PA 16365: Retiring Guy's Hometown Library Faces Reduced Funding

Link to August 18 Warren Times Observer article, "Library faces reduced funding".

Excerpt: In addition to reduced funding, Warren Public Library is dealing with changes in the way state money is distributed.

During Monday afternoon's meeting of the Warren Library Association board of directors, library executive director Patty Sherbondy said the most recent state budget came with a 9.1 percent decrease in funding for public libraries.

The funding will be received in 12 monthly installments; previously the library received a lump sum in January. Prior to the lump sum distribution system, 80 percent was received in January and the remainder was doled out in April. The library received its first monthly payment in the amount of $30,317.84 on Aug. 4.

Board President Rob Kaemmerer hypothesized that the new method would make it easier for the state officials to change their minds.

"It gives the opportunity for the state to reach back and hold back funding," he said.

Buffalo & Erie County Library Could Lose 25% of Funding

LINK

Link to August 19 Buffalo News article, "Library system faces layoffs, closures due to budget shortfall".

Excerpt: The Buffalo & Erie County Public Library could be forced to lay off workers, reduce hours and close branches to meet a $7 million shortfall in 2011, the board of trustees was told Wednesday.

Most of the shortfall comes from the county government’s announced reduction last month of $4.6 million, which would drop its current library commitment by 21 percent, from $22.1 million this year to $17.5 million in 2011.

Other funding gaps would bring the system’s total revenue deficit to nearly $7 million, or 25 percent of the $27.5 million budget for 2010, warned Bridget Quinn-Carey, the library’s director.

The Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library

LINK

Pew Research: Americans Need Less Stuff

Link to August 19 Pew Research Social & Demographic Trends report, "The Fading Glory of the Television and Telephone".

Link to full report.

Even the home computer has peaked as a necessity.

'MythBusters' to the Rescue

Link to August 19 Daily Tech post, "U.S. Tech Industry's Growing Demand for Talent Draws Concern".

Excerpt: A growing demand for workers trained in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in the U.S. has companies looking for alternative ways to secure their work forces.

Nearly 30 percent of industry workers are 50 to 59 years old. An anticipated wave of retirements in those industries has companies concerned about finding and retaining qualified workers in the U.S.

Some businesses are taking measures to increase their efforts by partnering with schools, calling for higher national education standards, and sponsoring more student competitions, according to Reuters and a special report from Aviation Week.

"It's not so much that the source of supply is not there," said the CEO of avionics maker Rockwell Collins Inc., Clay Jones. "It's that the source of supply in the United States may not be there."



Link to August 19 cnet news post, "MythBusters' Kari Byron getting kids hooked on science".

Excerpt: For Byron, a longtime co-host of the mega-hit Discovery Channel show "MythBusters," demonstrating the amazing strength of eggshells is just one favorite moment of "Head Rush," the new show she's hosting that's aimed at getting middle school kids hooked on science.

Premiering on Monday, the commercial-free "Head Rush" will air each weekday on the Science Channel and give Byron the chance to spin the magic that has made her so popular on "MythBusters" in the hopes of showing kids that science is exciting and worth a whole lot of their time.

Whatever it takes, I suppose.

50 Years Ago in Publishing: "The I Hate to Cook Book"

It's back!

Link to Leite's Culinaria

Link to August 19 New York Times article, "A Classic Cookbook Returns, Canned Soup and All".

Excerpt:   Ms. Bracken was an advertising copywriter who, like other typical American mothers, was also tasked with preparing dinner for her family nearly every night. Fed up with the monotony of cooking, she quizzed her girlfriends — women equally bored with cooking the same meals over and over again — for their recipes and wrote a book.

She shopped the manuscript around to six male publishers, saw them each reject it and then found a female editor at Harcourt, Brace who loved it. After it was published in 1960, “The I Hate to Cook Book” became a smash hit, eventually selling more than three million copies.

The new edition is catching fire.

And a handful of Wisconsin libraries still have the 1960 edition in their collections.

Paging Mark Twain*

*

Link to article

Link to August 18 Technologizer post, "The Tragic Death of Practically Everything".  (Having a little fun at Wired's expense.)

Wisconsin Taxpyers Alliance Report: "How County Administration and Finances Stack Up"

Request a free copy here.

Watch Out for Those Activist Judges

Link to Mark Fiore's website.

So that's why the break room refrigerator was so empty lately!

Township of Ocean Library

Link to August 17 app.com ["From the Jersey Shore to You"] article, "Cops: Homeless man found living in Ocean Township library".

Excerpt:& After a search of the building by officers Mark Del Tin, Alon Bercovicz and Matthew Guido, Sgt. Gregory Schenck and detectives Matthew Jackiewicz and Michael Legg, discovered Jones hiding in the basement. Jones told police he was living in the basement of the library for almost two weeks unnoticed, Peters said.

Police also discovered Jones took several books to the basement, and had taken food items from the employee break room, Peters said.

The Bruce Springsteen Special Collection at the Asbury Park Public Library

LINK

Link to August 16 Philadelphia Inquirer article, "Asbury Park, N. J.: The Glory Days are back".

Excerpt:    If you're a Bruce Springsteen fan, have we got a trip for you.

Even if your reaction to that famous salutation is "Hi!" "Hey!" or "Huh?" the folks in Asbury Park will be equally happy to meet you.

This friendly seaside community, indelibly linked to Springsteen's 1973 debut album, "Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J." has plenty to offer , whether you're among the fans making pilgrimages, or just want to have fun, relax and enjoy the beach.

Just ask Jorunn Elnes of Rjukan, Norway , or the E Street Band's Clarence Clemons.

"It's the most beautiful beach and the most beautiful boardwalk," Clemons said in a recent AP interview.

He has the wholehearted agreement of Elnes, who took time off from her banking job to visit Asbury Park three times in the span of a year.

Jersey Shore author-historian Stan Goldstein says the boardwalk is the "best it's been in more than 30 years."

Goldstein remembers the giant Exxon sign that brought this fair city light and the now-razed Flamingo motel, whose name may have inspired the fictitious Flamingo Lane of Springsteen's song "Jungleland."

Clemons fondly recalls a carousel with handcrafted horses, and driving around an informal route known as "the circuit," referred to in Springsteen's "Night" and "4th of July, Asbury Park."

That was before Asbury Park became a city of ruins.

Public Libraries: Home to Many Formats

(A 'sidebar' document Retiring Guy prepared as part of the Middleton Public Library's ongoing planning process.  It should be pointed out that Middleton dropped the cassette formats in 2008 and added Playaways the same year.  Note:  A revision for this fall's LIS 712 class should include online/digital formats, including access to fulltext online databases.)

Link to August 19 La Crosse Tribune article, "Libraries new home for DVDs".

Excerpt: Before Carlyn Ellis and her husband go to Norway, the couple went to the library.

She picked out several DVDs about the country they soon will visit.

"You just don't see this selection anywhere," Ellis said as she perused the travel DVD section.

Library patrons increasingly are checking out much more than books. DVDs have become a huge part of what libraries offer, with more than 2.1 million DVDs a day loaned out nationwide - more than the 2 million Netflix ships each day or the 1.4 million Redbox rents, according to the Online Computer Library Center.

Offering DVDs is just part of the evolution of libraries, La Crosse Public Library Director Kelly Krieg-Sigman said.

"We feel very strongly about the importance of libraries providing access of the record of human expression and ideas, no matter what the format," Krieg-Sigman said. "When the human experience was limited to print, that's what libraries had."

U.S. Edition of Lolita Published 52 Years Ago Today

1959 National Book Award winner and finalists.

50 Years Later, 'Lolita' Still Seduces Readers, NPR, 9/15/2005.  (Lolita was first published in France in 1955.)

Full disclosure:  Lolita is the only book by Nabokov that Retiring Guy has read.

Still in demand.  (LINKcat screenshot)

And Stanley Kubrick did a great job translating the book to film.

The "Ground Zero Mosque"

Here's what all the fuss is about.

Link to August 18 New York Times 'City Room' column, "The Mayor, the Mosque and Public Response".

LIS News favorite comment: As someone who lives and works in lower Manhattan, I’ve noticed that one’s hysteria over Park51 seems to be inversely proportional to one’s proximity to it."