Saturday, February 25, 2012
"Not all good news" @ the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library
Page 1 of 3. Link to Strategic Plan.
Matthew Tully: For lovers of libraries, there's some good news, and some sobering statistics. Indianapolis Star, 2/24/2012)
Excerpt: The problems plaguing the system will remain. People are checking out fewer print books. While e-book rentals are skyrocketing, they make up only a small portion of the library's circulation. Although computer usage is strong and most libraries see strong traffic, iPhones and e-tablets have made it easier than ever to access information from home or the coffee shop. Meanwhile, all systems of local government will be under constant financial scrutiny in coming years.
Times are changing fast, Nytes said, and the library system must adapt. Her goals include keeping circulation strong by meeting the needs of a diversifying population and changing tastes, while also finding ways to expand the library's role in improving the educational outcomes of the city's children. Most important, she wants the library to serve as a source of pride for the city and a place for the community to gather.
Related articles:
2012 budget should allow library to restore reduced hours at branches. (10/17/2011)
An informed, engaged Indianapolis will find the resources for its public library. (7/4/2011)
Bramble's retirement leads to search for 21st-century visionary to lead IMCPL. (6/3/2011)
Library funding a front-burner issue. (6/3/2011)
Empty cup at the finish line? (4/30/2011)
Indiana House passes library funding bill before Democrats take a much needed road trip. (2/22/2011)
Indiana Senate moves more quickly than House on library bill. (2/10/2011)
No rest for IMCPL 'loyalists'. (2/9/2011)
'Library loyalists' provide a remedial lesson in funding priorities. (2/8/2011)
Legislative effort to provide more funding for IMCPL continues. (2/4/2011)
Show of support by IMCPL advocates. (1/25/2011)
Library angel. (1/17/2011)
Indianapolis Star editorial: "Give library a fair share of tax" (1/13/2011)
Sustainability in the form of a share of county income taxes. (1/12/2011)
Township deals comes undone. (1/8/2011)
Vote to restore library hours and rehire staff: Thanking God again in Wayne Township, Indiana. (12/16/2010)
Wayne Township's $200,000 for IMCPL: "Thank God it's a nice purpose". (12/8/2010)
Temporary fix (not yet approved ) to keep 4 IMCPL branches open. (11/19/2010)
ICMPL to lay off 37 employees. (11/12/2010)
Cuts in library hours, materials budget. (9/15/2010)
Library announces 26% cut in hours. (9/14/2010)
Indianapolis resident recommends book to local officials. (9/6/2010)
Library board votes to include 'shortfall appeal' option. (9/1/2010)
Library board to consider 'shortfall appeal'. (8/30/2010)
In close vote, library board cuts hours, staff. (8/20/2010)
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)
Property Donated for New Viroqua Library
Gundersen Lutheran donates former clinic site toward Viroqua library. (Vernon County Broadcaster, 2/24/2012)
Excerpt: The donation, through a deed restriction, allows for the construction of a new library on the site of the clinic. The old clinic building has been vacant since its offices moved into the Viroqua Area Medical Office Building in 2006.
The clinic property, valued at $300,000-$350,000, is to be part of the Viroqua Center, a multipurpose community center that will include a public library and a civic/business training center that is attached to Viroqua's Western Technical College campus. Preliminary designs on the Viroqua Center have been completed by the architect PSA Dewberry of Monroe, Wis., and the project is estimated to cost $5-$8 million.
Kathy Hanson of the Viroqua McIntosh Memorial Library Board said the library has been working since 2008 to address its need for more space and to make its facility more accessible to the community. Mike Pieper of Western Technical College said the donation to Western's Foundation includes a three-year deed restriction that earmarks the use of the clinic land for a library. If the library were not built on the site, Western could develop the site into space it shared with the community, Pieper said.
Related posts:
Future of Viroqua Center in Hands of City Council. (2/2/2012)
Viroqua Center Board established. (1/19/2012)
Viroqua Center collaboration. (1/13/2012)
Viroqua Center Board established. (1/19/2012)
Viroqua Center collaboration. (1/13/2012)
A move to plan B for Viroqua Center/Library Project. (10/25/2011)
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 long look at a new library facility. (11/6/2009)
Friday, February 24, 2012
Darryl Eschete Hired as Director of the West Des Moines Public Library
Chippewa Falls library chief headed for Iowa. (Eau Claire Leader-Telegram, 2/23/2012)
Excerpt: A frigid, snow-filled first winter in Wisconsin couldn't prompt Louisiana native Darryl Eschete to leave his job as Chippewa Falls Public Library director.
But alterations to Wisconsin employee public worker compensation combined with changes in his family life, a higher salary and a quality place to live convinced Eschete it's time to move on.
Eschete, 35, said Thursday he is leaving to become director of the West Des Moines Public Library in Iowa. He plans to begin his new job April 16.
He was chosen from among three finalists for the job. West Des Moines has a population of 61,000 compared with 13,500 for Chippewa Falls.
Eschete started working in Chippewa Falls in February 2010. He said he will make $96,000 during the first year of his new job, up from $58,970 in Chippewa Falls.
Darryl replaces newly retired guy Ray Vignovich, who previously worked at the Appleton Public Library. Ray served as Director of the West Des Moines Public Library since 1992.
Getting to Know Chapter 43 of the Wisconsin State Statutes: Part 12, Public Library Systems; General Provisions
Public library system; general provisions: "Prehistory".
43.17 Public library systems; general provisions. (Created in 1971.)
(1) BOARD TERMS.
(2) BOARD ORGANIZATION AND MEETINGS.
(3) FISCAL YEAR. The fiscal year of each federated public library system whose territory lies within 2 or more counties shall be the calendar year.
(4) SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION. Notwithstanding ss. 59.17 (2)(br) ["County Executive"] and 59.18 (2) (b) ["County Administrator"], responsibility for administration of a public library system shall vest in a head librarian who shall be appointed by and directly responsible to the public library system board.
(5) ANNUAL REPORT. Annually, at the time required by the division, each public library system shall report to the division on its operations, expenditures and territory served during the preceding year, shall submit a plan describing the program for library service to be carried out in the subsequent year and shall furnish such other information as the division requires.
(6) COOPERATIVE SERVICES. A public library system may contract with another such system, or with other libraries, library organizations or resource centers within this state or in adjacent states, to provide or receive library services.
(7) EXISTING EMPLOYEES. No person employed by a participating public library at the time of the establishment of a public library system shall lose, because of such establishment, any salary, fringe benefit or other employment rights in existence at that time.
(8) RETIREMENT. If any employee of a participating employer under the Wisconsin retirement system becomes, by virtue of the establishment of a public library system, an employee of that library system, the library system shall become a participating employer under the Wisconsin retirement system.
(9) CONTRACTS, BIDDING AND BORROWING.
(a) [Contracts, Bidding] All contracts for public construction made by a federated public library system whose territory lies within 2 or more counties or by a federated public library system whose territory lies within a single county with a population of at least 500,000 shall be let by the public library system board to the lowest responsible bidder in accordance with s. 62.15 (1) to (11) and (14). ["Public Works"] For purposes of this section, the system board possesses the powers conferred by s. 62.15 on the board of public works and the common council. All contracts made under this section shall be made in the name of the federated public library system and shall be executed by the system board president and such other board officer as the system board designates.
(b) [Borrowing] A public library system board of a multicounty library system may borrow money to accomplish any of its purposes, but the outstanding amount of such loans at any time may not exceed an amount equal to the system board’s receipts for the prior fiscal year. A federated public library system whose territory lies within 2 or more counties may obtain a state trust fund loan to accomplish any of its purposes, but the outstanding amount of a federated public library system’s state trust fund loans, together with all other indebtedness of the system, may not exceed an amount equal to the system’s receipts for the prior fiscal year.
(10) BORROWERS’ CARDS. Except as provided in sub. (11), all public libraries in a public library system shall honor the valid borrowers’ cards of a public library in an adjacent public library system, other than the Milwaukee County Federated Library System. The requirement under this subsection does not apply to the Milwaukee County Federated Library System.
(11) COST OF LENDING SERVICES.
(a) In this subsection, “loan” means a unit of service that involves the checking out of a single item from a library to an individual for use outside the library for a specific period of time.
(b) A public library in a public library system may refuse to honor valid borrowers’ cards of a public library in an adjacent public library system if, in the most recent year in which the public library honored such cards, the total amount of the reimbursement received by the public library from that adjacent public library system, and from counties and municipalities that are located in that adjacent public library system, is less than the adjusted cost incurred for that year by the public library in honoring the cards.
(c) For purposes of par. (b), the adjusted cost shall be calculated by determining the actual cost for each loan incurred by the public library honoring the cards for a given year in the manner provided by the rules promulgated by the department under s. 43.24 (2) (n) and multiplying that amount by the remainder calculated by subtracting 500 from the total number of loans made in that year by the public library to borrowers from the adjacent public library system. For purposes of this paragraph, a renewal of a loan constitutes a separate loan.
(d) Any reimbursement made by a county under par. (b) may not result in a reduction in the level of support for public library services provided by that county to residents of that county.
(e) If a public library in a given public library system refuses to honor the valid borrowers’ cards from an adjacent public library system, annual meetings shall be held between representatives of the affected public library systems to discuss the resulting lack of services to the affected borrowers and the costs of providing such services. The affected public library systems shall provide the division with written minutes of these meetings.
History:
1971 Senate Bill 47. 43.17 created.
1981 Assembly Bill 272. Wording to section 8 (Retirement) revised.
1985 Wisconsin Act 29. 43.17 (10) is created.
1989 Wisconsin Act 286. 43.17 (1), (2) and (6) of the statutes are amended.
1991 Wisconsin Act 272. 43.17 (10) is amended.
1993 Wisconsin Act 383. 43.17 (9) (a) is amended.
1995 Wisconsin Act 201. 43.17 (4) is amended.
1997 Wisconsin Act 150. 43.17 (2m) is created (Advisory Committee)
1999 Wisconsin Act 9. 43.17 (9) (1) is amended.
2005 Wisconsin Act 226. 43.17 (11) (b) is amended.
Related posts:
Part 1: Legislative findings and declaration of policy.
Part 2: Definitions.
Part 3: General duties of the State Superintendent.
Part 4: General duties of the Division.
Part 5: Council on Library and Network Development.
Part 6: Certificates and standards..
Part 7: County library planning committees.
Part 8: County payment for library service.
Part 9: Division review
Part 10. Standards for public library systems.
Part 11. Resource libraries.
43.17 Public library systems; general provisions. (Created in 1971.)
(1) BOARD TERMS.
- Every public library system shall be governed by a board appointed under s. 43.19 or 43.21.
- No person employed by a public library that is a member of a public library system may be appointed to the public library system board.
- Upon the initial establishment of a board, the members shall be divided as nearly as possible into 3 equal groups to serve for terms expiring on January 1 of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th years, respectively, fol-lowing their appointment.
- Thereafter, regular terms shall be for 3 years and shall commence on January 1. Vacancies shall be filled for the unexpired term in the same manner as regular appointments are made.
(2) BOARD ORGANIZATION AND MEETINGS.
- As soon as practicable after the initial establishment of a system, and thereafter in January of each year, the board shall organize by the election, from among its members, of a president and such other officers as it deems necessary.
- The board shall meet at least once every 2 months.
- (2m) ADVISORY COMMITTEE. Every public library system may appoint a public library advisory committee to, among other things, advise the system board about the status and needs of libraries in the system, serve as a conduit of information between the system board and individual libraries in the system and make recommendations to the system board relating to libraries in the system.
(3) FISCAL YEAR. The fiscal year of each federated public library system whose territory lies within 2 or more counties shall be the calendar year.
(4) SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION. Notwithstanding ss. 59.17 (2)(br) ["County Executive"] and 59.18 (2) (b) ["County Administrator"], responsibility for administration of a public library system shall vest in a head librarian who shall be appointed by and directly responsible to the public library system board.
(5) ANNUAL REPORT. Annually, at the time required by the division, each public library system shall report to the division on its operations, expenditures and territory served during the preceding year, shall submit a plan describing the program for library service to be carried out in the subsequent year and shall furnish such other information as the division requires.
Page l of 4
(6) COOPERATIVE SERVICES. A public library system may contract with another such system, or with other libraries, library organizations or resource centers within this state or in adjacent states, to provide or receive library services.
(7) EXISTING EMPLOYEES. No person employed by a participating public library at the time of the establishment of a public library system shall lose, because of such establishment, any salary, fringe benefit or other employment rights in existence at that time.
(8) RETIREMENT. If any employee of a participating employer under the Wisconsin retirement system becomes, by virtue of the establishment of a public library system, an employee of that library system, the library system shall become a participating employer under the Wisconsin retirement system.
(9) CONTRACTS, BIDDING AND BORROWING.
(a) [Contracts, Bidding] All contracts for public construction made by a federated public library system whose territory lies within 2 or more counties or by a federated public library system whose territory lies within a single county with a population of at least 500,000 shall be let by the public library system board to the lowest responsible bidder in accordance with s. 62.15 (1) to (11) and (14). ["Public Works"] For purposes of this section, the system board possesses the powers conferred by s. 62.15 on the board of public works and the common council. All contracts made under this section shall be made in the name of the federated public library system and shall be executed by the system board president and such other board officer as the system board designates.
(b) [Borrowing] A public library system board of a multicounty library system may borrow money to accomplish any of its purposes, but the outstanding amount of such loans at any time may not exceed an amount equal to the system board’s receipts for the prior fiscal year. A federated public library system whose territory lies within 2 or more counties may obtain a state trust fund loan to accomplish any of its purposes, but the outstanding amount of a federated public library system’s state trust fund loans, together with all other indebtedness of the system, may not exceed an amount equal to the system’s receipts for the prior fiscal year.
(10) BORROWERS’ CARDS. Except as provided in sub. (11), all public libraries in a public library system shall honor the valid borrowers’ cards of a public library in an adjacent public library system, other than the Milwaukee County Federated Library System. The requirement under this subsection does not apply to the Milwaukee County Federated Library System.
(11) COST OF LENDING SERVICES.
(a) In this subsection, “loan” means a unit of service that involves the checking out of a single item from a library to an individual for use outside the library for a specific period of time.
(b) A public library in a public library system may refuse to honor valid borrowers’ cards of a public library in an adjacent public library system if, in the most recent year in which the public library honored such cards, the total amount of the reimbursement received by the public library from that adjacent public library system, and from counties and municipalities that are located in that adjacent public library system, is less than the adjusted cost incurred for that year by the public library in honoring the cards.
(c) For purposes of par. (b), the adjusted cost shall be calculated by determining the actual cost for each loan incurred by the public library honoring the cards for a given year in the manner provided by the rules promulgated by the department under s. 43.24 (2) (n) and multiplying that amount by the remainder calculated by subtracting 500 from the total number of loans made in that year by the public library to borrowers from the adjacent public library system. For purposes of this paragraph, a renewal of a loan constitutes a separate loan.
(d) Any reimbursement made by a county under par. (b) may not result in a reduction in the level of support for public library services provided by that county to residents of that county.
(e) If a public library in a given public library system refuses to honor the valid borrowers’ cards from an adjacent public library system, annual meetings shall be held between representatives of the affected public library systems to discuss the resulting lack of services to the affected borrowers and the costs of providing such services. The affected public library systems shall provide the division with written minutes of these meetings.
History:
1971 Senate Bill 47. 43.17 created.
1981 Assembly Bill 272. Wording to section 8 (Retirement) revised.
1985 Wisconsin Act 29. 43.17 (10) is created.
1989 Wisconsin Act 286. 43.17 (1), (2) and (6) of the statutes are amended.
1991 Wisconsin Act 272. 43.17 (10) is amended.
1993 Wisconsin Act 383. 43.17 (9) (a) is amended.
1995 Wisconsin Act 201. 43.17 (4) is amended.
1997 Wisconsin Act 150. 43.17 (2m) is created (Advisory Committee)
1999 Wisconsin Act 9. 43.17 (9) (1) is amended.
2005 Wisconsin Act 226. 43.17 (11) (b) is amended.
Related posts:
Part 1: Legislative findings and declaration of policy.
Part 2: Definitions.
Part 3: General duties of the State Superintendent.
Part 4: General duties of the Division.
Part 5: Council on Library and Network Development.
Part 6: Certificates and standards..
Part 7: County library planning committees.
Part 8: County payment for library service.
Part 9: Division review
Part 10. Standards for public library systems.
Part 11. Resource libraries.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Nom de Plume Outwits Nielsen BookScan
Book is Judged by the Name On Its Cover. (The New York Times, 2/23/2012)
Excerpt: Just when Ms. O’Brien began to fear that “The Dressmaker” would be relegated to a bottom desk drawer like so many rejected novels, Ms. Newberg came up with a different proposal: Try to sell it under a pen name.
Written by Kate Alcott, the pseudonym Ms. O’Brien dreamed up, it sold in three days.
Ms. O’Brien and Ms. Newberg had cannily circumvented what many authors see as a modern publishing scourge — Nielsen BookScan, the subscription service that tracks book sales and is at the fingertips of every agent, editor and publisher — with a centuries-old trick, the nom de plume. It has been employed by writers from Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) to Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot) to Stephen King (Richard Bachman).
No, it's not 'change your name'.
Not Confidence Builders on a Political Resume
Top vote-getter Lewicki drops out of 4th District race. (Sheboygan Press, 2/22/2012)
Excerpt: Originally, Lewicki faced Todd E. Bonnell [he of the extensive Circuit Court Access list] 39, and Andrew P. Marks, 22, both of whom also had questionable backgrounds for political hopefuls.
Bonnell has misdemeanor convictions for cocaine possession and battery as well as three drunk driving convictions. Marks maintains a Twitter account loaded with sexually explicit messages.
Piano Play-a-Thon Results in Donations to Green County Libraries
Piano teachers donate $2,593 to libraries and MAC. (Monroe Times, 2/22/2012)
Excerpt: The Green County Piano Teachers presented checks to the five Green County libraries and to the Monroe Arts Center.
A total of $2,593 was earned through pledges by Green County piano students performing at the piano play-a-thon in December. About 150 students entertained shoppers at Monroe's Shopko.
Each library will use the donation to purchase music-related items and MAC will use the donation to help support the Sunday afternoon entertainment series.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Remodeled Twin Lakes-Randall Branch Library Open March 5th
Sneak peek at Twin Lakes Community Library. (West of the I, 2/22/2012)
Excerpt: In the new space, almost double the size of the old but in the same building, the Twin Lakes-Randall branch will have:
- More public access computers.
- More general seating.
- A larger children’s area with a family restroom.
- More shelves for future growth.
- A meeting room.
- Staff workspace.
- Friends of the Library storage area.
Getting to Know Chapter 43 of the Wisconsin State Statutes: Part 11, Resource Libraries
43.16 Resource libraries. (Created in 1989)
(1) (a) Each public library system shall have at least one system resource library.
Annually, prior to the expiration of its agreement with its existing system resource library, the public library system board shall negotiate with the member public library with the largest annual operating budget of all member libraries to serve as a system resource library in the following year.
[Negotiating contracts] If the board and the proposed resource library are unable to reach an agreement for the following year before the expiration date of any existing agreements with resource libraries, the existing agreements shall be extended for one year or until an agreement is reached with that proposed resource library, whichever occurs earlier.
(b) The procedure under par. (a) shall be repeated with member public libraries in decreasing order of the size of their annual operating budgets until an agreement is reached with a member public library to serve as a system resource library. Except as provided in par. (a), no agreement may extend beyond December 31 of any year.
(2) {Supplementary contact] If the member public library selected to serve as a system resource library under sub. (1) fails to meet all of the following requirements, the system board shall enter into a supplementary contract with the academic library with the largest operating budget of all academic libraries in the system area, or with a resource library in an adjacent system, that meets all of the following requirements:
[Resource library qualifications]
(a) The library has a collection of at least 100,000 volumes.
(b) The library is open to the public at least 50 hours each week.
(c) The library employs at least one full−time, permanent reference librarian with a master’s degree in library science.
History:
1989 Wisconsin Act 286. 43.16 is created.
Related posts:
Part 1: Legislative findings and declaration of policy.
Part 2: Definitions.
Part 3: General duties of the State Superintendent.
Part 4: General duties of the Division.
Part 5: Council on Library and Network Development.
Part 6: Certificates and standards..
Part 7: County library planning committees.
Part 8: County payment for library service.
Part 9: Division review
Part 10. Standards for public library systems.
(1) (a) Each public library system shall have at least one system resource library.
Annually, prior to the expiration of its agreement with its existing system resource library, the public library system board shall negotiate with the member public library with the largest annual operating budget of all member libraries to serve as a system resource library in the following year.
[Negotiating contracts] If the board and the proposed resource library are unable to reach an agreement for the following year before the expiration date of any existing agreements with resource libraries, the existing agreements shall be extended for one year or until an agreement is reached with that proposed resource library, whichever occurs earlier.
- The division shall notify the public library system board, the existing resource libraries and the proposed resource library of the extension and, during the period of extension, shall attempt to mediate an agreement between the public library system board and the proposed resource library.
- If the division determines that the public library system board and the proposed system resource library are unable to reach an agreement before the end of the one−year period, the division shall propose an alternative agreement, which shall be binding if it is acceptable to the proposed system resource library.
- If the alternative agreement is unacceptable to the proposed system resource library, the board shall negotiate with the member public library with the next largest annual operating budget of all member public libraries to serve as a system resource library in the following year. (am) An existing contract may be extended under par. (a) only if it was entered into on or after May 8, 1990.
(b) The procedure under par. (a) shall be repeated with member public libraries in decreasing order of the size of their annual operating budgets until an agreement is reached with a member public library to serve as a system resource library. Except as provided in par. (a), no agreement may extend beyond December 31 of any year.
(2) {Supplementary contact] If the member public library selected to serve as a system resource library under sub. (1) fails to meet all of the following requirements, the system board shall enter into a supplementary contract with the academic library with the largest operating budget of all academic libraries in the system area, or with a resource library in an adjacent system, that meets all of the following requirements:
[Resource library qualifications]
(a) The library has a collection of at least 100,000 volumes.
(b) The library is open to the public at least 50 hours each week.
(c) The library employs at least one full−time, permanent reference librarian with a master’s degree in library science.
History:
1989 Wisconsin Act 286. 43.16 is created.
Related posts:
Part 1: Legislative findings and declaration of policy.
Part 2: Definitions.
Part 3: General duties of the State Superintendent.
Part 4: General duties of the Division.
Part 5: Council on Library and Network Development.
Part 6: Certificates and standards..
Part 7: County library planning committees.
Part 8: County payment for library service.
Part 9: Division review
Part 10. Standards for public library systems.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Finding Joyce Carol Oates in Lockport, New York
I'm on a Joyce Carol Oates kick myself. Currently reading -- OK, listening to the audio version of -- Middle Age: A Romance (2001), which doesn't unfold in a surrogate setting for Lockport or Millersport. It's takes place, primarily, in Salthill-on-Hudson, an exclusive community about a half-hour's train ride north of New York City.
Prior to this, I listened to Black Girl/White Girl (2006), Missing Mom (2005), My Sister My Love (2008), and The Falls (2004). I swear Oates was inspired to write The Falls after watching Geraldine Page in the 1961 movie Summer and Smoke.
Excerpt: Would there be a Joyce Carol Oates if there were no Lockport?
She has asked the question of herself—without answering it. Here’s the most obvious answer: Yes, but she would be a different Joyce Carol Oates.
Oates was born in Lockport, grew up there and in nearby Millersport. Went to school there, ate lunches in downtown restaurants, attended movies in the Palace Theatre, hung out in the public library, walked the streets of the town. And when she was 18, she left, never to return except for short visits. And to write about it.
Niagara County, where Lockport is located, is Eden County in some of her novels and stories. Sometimes Eden County also seems to be Erie County. “We Were the Mulvaneys,” a 1996 novel, is set in Eden County, in a small town something like Millersport. “You Must Remember This,” a 1987 novel, is set in Port Oriskany, which feels like Lockport.
“I’ll Take You There,” a 2002 novel, is set in Strykersville, which feels like Millersport. (There’s a Strykersville in Wyoming County, but Oates’ town is eight or nine miles southwest of Port Oriskany, the wrong location and distance for the Wyoming County town.)
Prior to this, I listened to Black Girl/White Girl (2006), Missing Mom (2005), My Sister My Love (2008), and The Falls (2004). I swear Oates was inspired to write The Falls after watching Geraldine Page in the 1961 movie Summer and Smoke.
East Avenue entrance of the Lockport Public Library
Excerpt: Would there be a Joyce Carol Oates if there were no Lockport?
She has asked the question of herself—without answering it. Here’s the most obvious answer: Yes, but she would be a different Joyce Carol Oates.
Oates was born in Lockport, grew up there and in nearby Millersport. Went to school there, ate lunches in downtown restaurants, attended movies in the Palace Theatre, hung out in the public library, walked the streets of the town. And when she was 18, she left, never to return except for short visits. And to write about it.
Niagara County, where Lockport is located, is Eden County in some of her novels and stories. Sometimes Eden County also seems to be Erie County. “We Were the Mulvaneys,” a 1996 novel, is set in Eden County, in a small town something like Millersport. “You Must Remember This,” a 1987 novel, is set in Port Oriskany, which feels like Lockport.
“I’ll Take You There,” a 2002 novel, is set in Strykersville, which feels like Millersport. (There’s a Strykersville in Wyoming County, but Oates’ town is eight or nine miles southwest of Port Oriskany, the wrong location and distance for the Wyoming County town.)
Buffalo & Erie County Public Library Pushes for Special Legislative District
Picturing new chapter for libraries. (Buffalo News, 2/21/2012)
Excerpt: The Buffalo & Erie County Library operates now as a federated system with 37 library buildings run by 23 trustee boards. That includes the 15-member Library Board appointed by the county executive and the mayor of Buffalo, as well as 22 other boards made up of roughly 130 people appointed by local towns and villages.
Funding, however, is in the hands of the county executive and the County Legislature, leaving the library at times dealing with sudden budget cuts that have forced trustees to trim hours or close libraries.
In 2005 and 2006, in the midst of a county budget crisis, 15 libraries were closed. That left library trustees thinking about new ways to run the system. Then, in 2010, Collins proposed cutting millions of dollars from the library budget, rekindling the idea.
"I really think that if we are independent of the county and the county budget process, that we'll be able to chart our own course without having to worry about the political ups and downs," said Suzanne Jacobs, a Lancaster library trustee and president of the Association of Contract Library Trustees.
The library trustees are proposing to create a special library legislative district run by one independent board whose trustees are elected by voters. Residents would also vote on proposed increases or decreases to the library system budget, Jakubowski said.
Rockefeller Institute of Government: State & Local Government Jobs Continue to Decline in Most States
Link to February 17, 2012 Data Alert.
Homepage summary. While the private sector is starting to report employment gains, state and local governments continued to reduce jobs over the last year. State governments had 76,000 fewer jobs in January 2012 than a year ago, while local governments had 163,000 fewer jobs. Since the start of the Great Recession, however, private-sector job losses are double those in the public sector.
'Bookless' in San Jose is No Cause for Celebration
Budget Woes Prompt Erosion of Public Jobs, With a Heavy Toll in Silicon Valley. (The New York Times, 2/19/2012)
Excerpt: The smell of new carpet still lingers in the children’s section of the gleaming new Bascom Library and Community Center here, where signs promise “picture books” and “story time.” But the low, easy-to-reach wooden bookshelves are empty, along with the rest of the shelves in the state-of-the-art, 40,000-square-foot building.
The bookless library stands behind a locked chain-link fence with signs warning of 24-hour video surveillance, one of four libraries the City of San Jose has built but cannot afford to open.
The Quality of Wisconsin Public Library Reference Collections (1960)
Reformatted figure 12, "Per Cent of Public Libraries Holding at Least One Copy of Each of Thirty-Three Selected Reference Works", from pages 64-70 in Facing the 60s: The Public Library in Wisconsin. . (Based on 265 libraries reporting.)
Other survey findings:
- 18 libraries (7%) did not own a single title.
- 104 libraries (40%) owned at least 1 but least than 8 titles.
- 4 libraries owned all 33 titles.
- 135 libraries (50%) did not own any titles from the list of specialized reference books.
Related post.
Wisconsin Public Library Survey: "The Quality of the Book Collection" (1960)Here's another stroll, to the more recent past.
Needless to say, this bibliography hasn't been updated in quite some time.
Where the print reference collection used to reside at the Middleton Public Library. Note how the atlas case has been sent to stand on it own in the corner, like a misbehaving child.
Photo courtesy of Liz Dannenbaum (Taken in 2010)
The last time I checked, Middleton's remaining print reference collection took up about 60 linear feet of shelf space, about half of which consisted of local, many of them unique, titles. It's now shelved in the same range with back issues of magazines, another shrinking collection.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Hey, Bob, a Reference Librarian at the Allen County Public Library Could Have Helped You Out Here
Rep. Bob Morris (R-Fort Wayne), in explaining why he won't sign a Indiana House Resolution recognizing the 100th Anniversary of Girl Scouts of America.
A Girl Scouts of America training program last year used the Planned Parenthood sex education pamphlet “Happy, Healthy, and Hot.”
It's fiction, Bob.
There's even this handy-dandy form to fill out!
Here's the cover of the brochure.
International Planned Parenthood Federation
4 Newhams Row
London SE1 3UZ United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)20 7939 8200
Fax: +44 (0)20 7939 8300
Email: info@ippf.org
www.ippf.org
Wisconsin Public Library Survey: "The Quality of the Book Collection" (1960)
From "The Quality of the Book Collection", page 59. The checklist appearing in Figure 11 includes among the 85 significant adult books 49 titles selected as notable book of 1959 by the Notable Books Council of the American Library Association and 36 chosen by the New York Times Book Review as among the significant publications of 1959. Of the 85 titles, 19 are fiction and 66 are non-fiction.
It would be interesting to know what percentage of Wisconsin public libraries held this title at the time of the survey.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Still Available @ Your Local Public Library
Life Lessons in the Soapsuds. (The New York Times, 2/29/2012)
Excerpt: Soon I was checking out library books about split personalities — “Sybil,” “The Three Faces of Eve,” “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” — and devouring them in the privacy of my bedroom.
1 of 2 records
1 of 2 records.
1 of multiple records.
Excerpt: Soon I was checking out library books about split personalities — “Sybil,” “The Three Faces of Eve,” “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” — and devouring them in the privacy of my bedroom.
1 of 2 records
1 of 2 records.
1 of multiple records.
