Save Our Rockford Library (SOL) Calls for More Public Input in Library's Strategic Planning

Rockford Public Library's digital strategy defended. (Rockford Register-Star, 1/14/2012)

Excerpt: SOL members said they became especially concerned when reading about plans to close library branches, acquire the Sullivan Center, require fewer staff and weed out the library’s print collection so it can be more easily housed.  One proposal notes that the library could strive for a 90/10 ratio of digital-to-print. 

“The money spent on staff, branches and books would be funneled into the collection budget” to be spent on digital materials, said Rachel Leon, a member of SOL. “Most libraries are careful to tread into uncertain and unregulated waters of eBook lending. Publishers continue to pull their titles away from library eBook lending. ... The board is gambling with our tax dollars in uncharted territory.” 

Frank Novak, executive director of the library, said those concerns stemmed from memos and reports from him to the library’s board that were never voted on and were not made public until Friday’s news conference.“

Those are things that I’ve looked at for the long term,” he said, “what could happen in the long run.”

Save Our Rockford Library (SOL) blog.

Related article:
Rockford Public Library will boost spending on digital and audio books in 2012. (10/13/2011)
Supportive editorial for Rockford Public Library needs a fact checker. (9/1/2011)
Rockford Public Library circulates 0.05 ebooks per capita in 1st half of 2011. (7/13/2011)

Rockford Public Library Hours Survey a Toss-Up So Far. (11/21/2010)
Branch closures off the table. (10/21/2010)
Library considers a Branch Anywhere future.  (9/14/2010)
Library patrons deal with a new reality.  (3/23/2010)
Reductions in staff, cuts in hours leads to adjustments all around. (2/2/2010)

Rockford Public Library staggers into 2010. (1/8/2010)]

Rockford library board OKs union contract. (11/17/2009)

Advocating for the Rockford Public Library. (11/12/2009)

Rockford Public Library's projected $1.7 million deficit. (11/3/2009)

Rockford Public Library: "Library cuts coming". (9/15/2009)

Rockford library board delays action on shortfall. (7/21/2009)

2011 a Year of Record Circulation @ the Mount Prospect Public Library

Ten years after expansion, Mt. Prospect library sees record circulation. (Daily Herald, 1/11/2012)

 Excerpt: It was 10 years ago that the Mount Prospect Public Library received voter approval for a building expansion. 

 That’s a good thing, officials say, because in the last five years the library has seen demand for circulated items shoot up 30 percent. 

 In 2006, a total of 816,716 items were circulated. Last year, that number reached 1,063,364 items, the most ever recorded at the library, officials said. 

 Circulation figures measure the number of physical items — books, CDs, DVDs — checked out at the library. The figures do not include e-books. 

 “We would not have been able to handle this demand in the old building,” Executive Director Marilyn Genther said.

Wisconsin Central Time (Marathon County)

Marathon County launches Central Time campaign. (Wausau Daily Herald, 1/14/2012)

Excerpt: The Marathon County Development Corp., or MCDEVCO, released Friday a promotional video and multifaceted marketing campaign that officials will use in efforts to attract new business and industry and people who are interested in moving here. The move follows the first phase of the campaign, in which a circular, multicolored graphic and Central Time slogan were rolled out and incorporated into MCDEVCO and county logos.

And this is the Marathon County Public Library, which certainly deserves a mention in this 10 1/2 minute video.

Props to the Oshkosh Public Library

Letter to the editor:  Librarians helped with setting up e-reader.  (Oshkosh Northwestern, 1/13/2012)

The service I received at the Oshkosh Public Library recently was wonderful. 

I brought my Kindle to the reference desk for help with a problem I was unable to solve on line or on the Kindle. The ladies at the reference desk gave me interactive help with an "We are all in this together" attitude. The smiles were nice, too! 

Not only was my problem solved, but I was reminded of the privilege to have our excellent public library. Thank you for being there for me.

The Fight for Libraries in the United Kingdom

According to Public Libraries News (What's Happening to Your Library?), 426 libraries (335 buildings and 91 mobiles) currently under threat or closed/left council control since 1/4/11 out of c.4612 in the UK, complete list below. Librarian professional body CILIP forecasts 600 libraries are under threat (inc. 20% of English libraries).

Website notes that this map has not been updated since the summer due to lack of time.

Library supporters to unite for 13th March rally. (The Bookseller, 1/12/2012)

Excerpt:   Heather Wakefield, Unison head of local government, said: "Cutting libraries is not an easy solution for councils to save cash – it is a literacy time bomb for deprived communities."

Community groups are being held to ransom by government plans to force them to take over the running of services, or lose them. These groups don't have the time, skills and resources to take over the jobs of experienced library staff."

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Viroqua Center Collaboration

Architectural plans for new Viroqua Center

All eyes on Viroqua Center: Project interesting to communities with similar needs. (Vernon County Broadcaster, 1/11/2012)

Excerpt: The collaborative nature of the Viroqua Library Task Force's Viroqua Center is drawing statewide attention. 

The task force held two meetings, Friday, to recap the research gained to date and review the current schematic plan for the facility. 

The Viroqua Center is an ongoing collaboration between the McIntosh Memorial Library, Western Technical College and other possible community partners. Through the partnership a new library would be created along with space for a business and training facility that would have space for arts and theatre. The entire project would be linked together through common spaces and include striking architecture designed by PSA Dewberry. The cost estimate for the project is between $5 million-$8 million. The project has so far received two grants from the state of Wisconsin totaling $522,500.

Viroqua's McIntosh Memorial Library is a member of the Winding Rivers Library System.

Related posts:
Plan B for Viroqua Center/Public Library project unveiled. (12/16/2011)
A move to plan B for Viroqua Center/Library Project. (10/25/2011)
Site plan for new Viroqua Library as part of complex of 4 buildings. (9/2/2011)
Library applies for $750,000 Community Development block grant.  (8/25/2011)
Fingers crossed for grant for new library.  (6/26/2011)
Library project gets aid from city.  (6/7/2010)
New library moves into conceptual design phase.  (5/28/2001)
New library cost estimate:  $5.7 million.   (5/20/2010)
Library building project update.  (3/15/2010)
Viroqua's McIntosh Memorial Library Space Needs Study Update.  (1/16/2010) 
Viroqua's McIntosh Memorial Library Space Needs Task Force.  (12/28/2009)
Viroqua's long look at a new library facility.  (11/6/2009)

Two Portage Businessmen to Lead Library Fundraiser Effort

Library picks duo for fund drive; Culver’s Stevenson, Liegel will lead effort. (Portage Daily Register, 1/10/2012)

Excerpt: Two local businessmen and brothers will serve as the co-chairmen of the Portage Public Library's effort to fundraise for a $1.5 million expansion project.

Chad Stevenson and Jeff Liegel, the owners of the Portage Culver's restaurant and several others in the region, were tapped as the campaign leaders by a fundraising task force. 

Library Board member Addie Tamboli, also a member of the task force, called the news "fantastic." 

"They bring great energy in their support for the community and the children of the community," Tamboli said Tuesday. "I think it is pretty evident that they are very giving and caring people." 

The fundraising campaign hopes to raise about $800,000 from the community to support the project, which has also gotten a boost from the city of Portage and the Bidwell Foundation. Those two entities are expected to kick in $700,000.

Related posts:
Funding for library expansion included in City of Portage 2012 budget. (12/9/2012)
Library moves forward with building expansion fundraising campaign.  (11/26/2011)
Decision delayed on request for library expansion funding.  (11/2/2011)
Council member on Portage Public Library expansion project funding: "We may just not want to it".  (10/28/2011)
Board president makes pitch to council for library expansion funding.  (10/15/2011)
Board to make case for building expansion to council.  (10/13/2011)
Library board to make case to council for building expansion.  (9/15/2011)
Library moves forward with building expansion.  (8/12/2011)
Board approves feasibility study for library expansion.  (7/1/2011)
Board reviews estimates for expansion project.  (6/22/2011)
Library expansion plans continue to develop.  (2/9/2011)
Library expansion to focus on youth services.  (10/15/2010)
Putting together the financial pieces for building expansion.  (5/12/2010)
Library seeks community input for expansion.  (1/13/2010)
Board discussion rental property options.  (11/11/2009)

"The Other America" and the War on Poverty

Published in 1962.

LINKcat:  1 copy in storage

WorldCat:  35 WI holdings

When a Socialist's Book Swayed the Nation. (Daily Yonder, 1/12/2012)

Excerpt:    Lyndon Johnson, a seasoned New Dealer from Texas who ascended to the presidency after Kennedy’s death, wasted little time in making poverty a national issue. Invoking Kennedy’s memory, he launched his War on Poverty on January 8, 1964. The Economic Opportunity Act that Johnson sent to Congress reflected his broad-ranging approach to alleviating poverty in rural and urban areas. The legislation addressed poverty on many fronts: 

• It proposed a Job Corps and work training and work-study programs to help poor youths complete their educations and develop skills; 

• Boosted community development with a Community Action Program based on “maximum feasible participation” to give American communities the opportunity to develop their own comprehensive plans to fight local poverty; 

• Set up Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), a domestic Peace Corps program to recruit volunteers to counter poverty; 

• Proposed a loan program as an incentive for those who hired the unemployed. Congress, at Johnson’s behest, created the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) to coordinate the War on Poverty, leaving a legacy of positive government activity that included Head Start for disadvantaged school children, food stamps, Medicare, and Medicaid.

American Booksellers Association Welcomes 37 Bricks-and-Mortar Establishments to Its Membership in 2011

And one of them, Arcadia Books, is located in Spring Green, Wisconsin.

37 ABA Member Stores Open in 2011. (Bookselling This Week, 1/12/2012)  

Excerpt: Thirty-seven ABA member bookstores opened in 2011, including six branches of existing businesses and eight that sell primarily used books. 

Two of the new indie booksellers — Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia, and Hello Hello Books in Rockland, Maine — opened after waging successful campaigns to garner financial support from their local communities.

Glenn Grothman Has a New Way to Put Your Tax Dollars to Work

LINK

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Glenn Grothman Doesn't Want You to Follow the Money

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Helping out "the best governor of my lifetime".

2011 Wisconsin Bill 292

Senator Ron Johnson (Errand Boy-WI)

Five U.S. Senators Are Perfect Koch Servants, Americans For Prosperity Reports. (Think Progress Green, 1/11/2012)

Wisconsin's Senator Ron Johnson shines with a 100% rating on the AFP congressional scorecard.

Send him a note of congratulations.

Riding the "Downton Abbey" Wave

If You’re Mad for ‘Downton,’ Publishers Have Reading List. (The New York Times, 1/11/2012)

Excerpt: The British melodrama “Downton Abbey” is already the darling of American public television. Now it has become a marketing tool for booksellers and publishers hoping to tap into the passion of the show’s audience. 

Publishers are convinced that viewers who obsessively tune in to follow the war-torn travails of an aristocratic family and its meddling but loyal servants are also literary types, likely to devour books on subjects the series touches. 

So they are rushing to print books that take readers back to Edwardian and wartime England.

More about "Downton Abbey":
Chronicle of Higher Education "Downton Abbey" Forum.

If you like Downton Abbey.  (Arapahoe Library District)

If you like Downton Abbey...Similar books and films for obsessive fans! (New York Public Library)

6 Fun Facts About Downton Abbey’s Highclere Castle. (TIME, 1/9/2012)

Premiere Episode of Season 2 of 'Downton Abbey' Averages 4.2 Million Viewers on PBS. (TV by the Numbers, 1/10/2012)

2 copies in LINKcat; 48 holds

Milwaukee Public Library's Ad Campaign Goes Social

The House GOP in Action

Too busy "deconstructing" America.

Activists Protest Detroit Branch Closures

Detroit library branch closures ignite protests. (Detroit Free Press, 1/4/2012)  

Excerpt: A group of local activists protested the closure of a Detroit city library branch Tuesday, calling it an integral hub in a neighborhood around 7 Mile desperate for havens. 

About 18 protesters organized by the group By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) circled and chanted in front of the Detroit Public Library Commission's Lincoln branch at 1221 E. Seven Mile. In December, Detroit police arrested 10 adults and one child protesting the library branch's closure.

Related articles:
Protestors Occupy Lincoln Branch of the Detroit Public Library. (12/22/2011) \
Library to close 4 branches.  (11/28/2011)
Efforts continue to save Detroit's Chase branch library. (9/10/2011)
Speaking up for the Chase branch.  (9/6/2011)
6 branches being considered for closure. (8/24/2011)
Library commissioners reorder 10% pay cuts for top 3 library administrators.  (7/8/2011)
Ernie Hallwall memorabilia.  (6/9/2011)
Library commission aism high.  (5/25/2011)
Library u-turn:  no branch closures, no layoffs.  (5/21/2011)
The next thing you know..... (5/20/2011)
My boss has a 2010 Buick LaCrosse....   (5/19/2011)
Detroit Public Library revised its math.  (5/17/2011)
Detroit Public Library does the math....incorrectly.  (5/14/2011)
Residents speak up against branch closings.  (5/8/2011)
The library takes a page from the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates.  (5/7/2011)
The news just keeps getting worse. (5/6/2011)
The Detroit Public Library needs some good news (and this isn't it).  (5/5/2011)
Rainy day fund keeps fewer branches from closing.  (4/29/2011)
Proposal to close 18 of 23 Detroit branches sparks anger. (4/22/2011)
Few expenses spared in South Wing remodeling of library.  (4/22/2011)
Downward spiral.  (4/16/2011)
Library reduces staff by 20%. (3/4/2011)
Budget woes. (2/5/2011)

The Laurel Public Library Presnets?

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Online Annual Report: Frisco (Texas) Public Library

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Reefer Madness 2012

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Reality check courtesy of Katha Pollitt in The Nation:

Technically, Paul would overturn Roe and let states make their own laws regulating women’s bodies, up to and including prosecuting abortion as murder. Add in his opposition to basic civil rights law—he maintains his opposition to the 1964 Civil Rights Act and opposes restrictions on the “freedom” of business owners to refuse service to blacks—and his hostility to the federal government starts looking more and more like old-fashioned Southern-style states’ rights. No wonder they love him over at Stormfront, a white-supremacist website with neo-Nazi tendencies. In a multiple-choice poll of possible effects of a Paul presidency, the most popular answer by far was “Paul will implement reforms that increase liberty which will indirectly benefit White Nationalists.”

Wisconsin Read to Lead Task Force Recommendations

LINK

What's wrong with this picture?

From the "Dear Fellow Wisconsinites" letter signed by Scott Walker and Tony Evers.

As a result of the Task Force’s work, we are advancing an aggressive action plan to improve reading outcomes in Wisconsin, including:
 • Early literacy screening for all four and five year old kindergartners;
 • Improvements to teacher preparation programs around early reading, including a new, more rigorous, reading exam for reading educators;
 • Aggressive professional development opportunities to enhance the skills of current reading educators, including a new online professional development portal and an annual reading conference; and 
• Creation of a public-private partnership to engage Wisconsin philanthropies and businesses around the goal of ensuring every child can read by the end of 3rd grade. 

Optimists Almost in the Majority in Watertown, Wisconsin

LINK

Really?

Wisconsin Builders Association Treasurer Submits Report to Governor Walker

In his role as Chair of the Commission on Waste, Fraud, and Abuse.

Walker waste panel identifies nearly a half billion in savings. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1/10/2012)

Excerpt:  But not all of that money would necessarily lead to new savings for the state - some savings have already been achieved by other state agencies, some would go to federal taxpayers and some are dependent on action by outside groups such as Congress.

Rakowski donated $7,265 to Scott Walker in 2009-2010.

General Motors CEO Receives Shipment of Old Calendars

Luxurious year? Automakers switch focus to U.S. luxury market at 2012 Detroit auto show. (mlive.com, 1/10/2011)

Excerpt:   “Luxury is something that some people are willing to pay for,” he [chairman and CEO Dan Akerson] told reporters Tuesday after GM unveiled its new 2012 Buick Encore crossover at Cobo Center.


Then again, maybe the 1% will soon be the only ones who can afford to buy new cars.


James Riswick is not particularly impressed.

 So....could you make this a little more tinkly and sun-drenched?

Approaching the 150th Anniversary of the Morrill Act

LINK to Library of Congress

The Agricultural College Lands in Wisconsin, by W. H. Glover. Wisconsin Magazine of History, March 1947.

The Wisconsin Library Association Supports Assembly Bill 473

2011 Assembly Bill 473

Wisconsin Library Association

Must Have Been Mostly Tourists at the Mass JoAnna and I Attended Here

Daily Number: 93% to 63% - Where Christians Live: Large Global Shifts in Last Century. (Pew Research Center , 1/10/2012)

Wisconsin Council on Children and Families: Policy Changes Affecting Working Families in 2012

LINK

The Post-Christmas Ebook Sales Surge

E-books sales surge after the holidays.  (USA Today, 1/9/2012)

Excerpt:   It's reflected on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list, which tracks combined sales of e-book and print editions. The latest list, based on sales data from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1, shows a remarkable burst of digital book sales after e-readers were unwrapped as gifts — for 42 of the top 50 titles, the e-book editions were the most popular format. The previous high, in July, was 25 of the top 50. 

For e-books, "the two weeks after Christmas is what the two weeks before Halloween is to pumpkins," says Michael Norris, an analyst with Simba Information, a market research firm.

Other informational tidbits.

• 1 in 5 U.S. adults read ebooks on a variety of devices.
• 5,000,000 Amazon Kindles sold since its release less than 2 months ago.
• Print books comprise 80% of sales, though this number will continue to ebb.
• 40,000,000 iPads sold in 2011.  (Caveat.)  You can count me in this group.  It's the device I used to share photos and brief commentaries during a recent trip to Paris.

Quote from Amazon veep:   

"For anyone who cares about books, it's never been a better time to be a reader. The choices have never been greater — what to read, when to read it, and how to integrate books into your daily life."

I'll probably incorporate this comment into the session 8 small group discussions during this semester's Public Library course @ UW-Madison SLIS.  It's not all blue skies and bright sunshine out there.

Related posts:
Honey, we've been 'trying' it.  For years.  (12/25/2011)
Chris Bohjalian on our totemic connection to books.  (12/20/2011)
Hold that bricks-and-mortar bookstore obituary.  (12/13/2011)
Your local public library: The greenest option of all in the ebooks vs. print books debate.  (12/11/2011)
Go directly to Amazon, do not pass library.  (11/3/2011)
Ebooks in U.S. public libraries.  (10/22/2011)
How ebook buyers discover books.  (9/27/2011)
Cookbooks make the transition to digital publishing.  (9/27/2011)
Redefining what an ebook is and who gets to publish it. (9/19/2011)
The L.A.Times on ebooks: An Amazon tablet, push into interactivity. (9/16/2011)
The Economist:  "Great digital expectations".  (9/16/2011)
Lev Grossman presents a short history of the reading device..  (9/6/2011)
Speaking of gadgets, here's the latest iteration of ebooks.  (8/25/2011)
Sounds like another digital divide in the making.  (7/30/2011)
Libraries and ebooks:  Any book, not any time soon.  (6/1/2011)
On the distinction between the book reader and the book owner.  (5/10/2011)
Demand for ebooks grows exponentially in Wisconsin.  (5/2/2011)
Struggling to find an ebook common agenda between libraries and publishers.  (4/5/2011)
Ebooks and libraries:  "The challenges just keep piling up".  (3/28/2011)
Publishers Weekly tracks ebook sales.  (3/18/2011)
Word is getting out:  Ebooks @ your library.  (3/18/2011)
Ebooks continue to gain market share.  (3/17/2011)
Publishers look to bottom line in formulating ebook policies for libraries. (3/15/2011)
News stories on HarperCollins ebook decision go mainstream.  (3/5/2011)
9 years of book sales:  trade and ebook.  (2/17/2011)
Will ebook readers be wooed by Barbara Cartland?  (2/12/2011)
The impact of ebooks on libraries.  (2/11/2011)
OverDrive news release: Library eBook circs up 200% in '10. (1/10/2011)
Mashable: 5 ebook trends that will change the future of publishing. (12/29/2010)
Christmas 2010 the tipping point for ebooks?  (12/24/2010)
Ereader as brown paper bag.  (12/9/2010)
The ebook reader compatibility surprise.  (12/3/2010)
Ereader ownership:  Survey says....  (11/30/2010)
David Carnoy asks, "Does the Kindle pay for itself?" (11/29/2010)
Need to repair that ebook reader?  (11/19/2010)
Who uses an ereader:  Survey says....  (9/22/2010)
Book industry wrestles with print vs. pixels.  (9/2/2010)
Coming soon to a screen near you:  Ads in ebooks.  (8/20/2010)
Ebooks now comprise 8.5% of book sales. (8/12/2010)
Genre paperback publishers drops print.  (8/6/2010)
Ebooks and libraries.  (5/4/2010)
Ebooks eliminate a free form of adversiting:  the book jacket.  (3/31/2010)
Ebooks: another round of false promises?  (3/19/2010)
The skinny on ebooks.  (3/8/2010)
Hardcover vs. ebook:  Breaking down the costs.  (3/1/2010)

Does she get paid for this?

It's unanimous!

Will South Carolina save him?  Don't count on it.

Wonder if any libraries have taken SI up on this offer

The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. An intellectual history. (Slate, 2/9/2010)