The Vancouver Public Library is a Very Busy Place



VPL website

Fire drill?  False alarm?

I found no reports of oan actual fire.

Expanded Library on Poynette Village Board's 2013 To-Do List


Focus turns to library.  (Poynette Press, 12/19/2012)

Excerpt: At Monday night’s Poynette Village Board meeting, trustees briefly discussed new information on architectural studies of the village-owned “Little Blessings” building that provided options ranging from around $200,000 for a more basic renovation to around $750,000 for an extensive one. The issue will be put on the next village board agenda for discussion.


Related posts:
Catching up.  (8/23/2012)
Space crunch.  (3/8/2012)
Keeping the lines of communication open. 12/15/2011)
Poynette library board president takes village board to task for poor communication. (11/26/2011)
The library as Poynette's anchor store.  (11/10/2011)
Poynette redevelopment project includes space for library.  (9/29/2011)

State Election Campaign Contributors a Small Percentage of Wisconsin's Voting-Age Population

So Much From So Few.  (Wisconsin Democracy Campaign Big Money Blog, 12/27/2012)


And that puts Wisconsin in 9th place, according to an analysis by The Campaign Finance Institute (CFI).


About the CFI.

Word(s) of the Day: pablum/pabulum

Quite the do!




Merriam-Webster dictionaries list the senses of a word in historical order -- from oldest (1) to newest (3).


Pew Internet and American Life Project: Internet Use at Libraries

Survey results, posted 12/28/2012.

Although 26% of all Americans 16 years of age and older have accessed the Internet at a library (wired computer or wifi connection) in the past 12 months, 77% of respondents to the Pew survey say that it is "very important" for libraries to provide free access.


Friday, December 28, 2012

Vocabulary Lesson: "Surge"





An imprecise word choice especially in light of this.


Libraries See Opening as Bookstores Close. (The New York Times, 12/27/2012)

Excerpt: “A library has limited shelf space, so you almost have to think of it as a store, and stock it with the things that people want,” said Jason Kuhl, the executive director of the Arlington Heights Memorial Library. Renovations will turn part of the library’s first floor into an area resembling a bookshop that officials are calling the Marketplace, with cozy seating, vending machines and, above all, an abundance of best sellers.





Reading: Printed Books Still Lead Ebooks by a Significant Margin



E-book Reading Jumps; Print Book Reading Declines. (Pew Internet & American Life Project, 12/27/2012)


Demographic profile.  The higher the income and education levels, the higher the incidence of ebook use.

Audiobook use. 17% of book readers -- 13% of the population 16 and older --  have listened to an audio book during the past 12 months.


Related posts:
Ebook market pauses to take a breath.  (12/25/2012)
Year-to-date book revenues:  Jan-Jul 2011 and Jan-Jul 2012.  (11/1/2012)
Libraries get screwed when it comes to price of and access to ebooks.  (9/10/2012)
Millennials lead the way....to fewer bookstores?  (8/22/2012)
Ebooks sliding down the peak of inflated expectations.  (8/18/2012)
Adult hardcover book sales hold their own, paperbacks sales drop in 1st quarter of 2012.  (6/17/2012)
Library ebook circulation skyrockets @ the Greendale Public Library and throughout Wisconsin.  (5/29/2012)
In so many words:  Libraries will have a place at the table. (4/30/2012)
3M Cloud Library ebook lending service goes beta at select libraries.  (4/28/2012)
Pew Research:  The rise of e-reading, summarized. (4/5/2012)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution attempts to get a handle on the ebook era.  (4/2/2012)
And I quote from "Bringing Up an E-Reader".  (3/29/2012)
The Philadelphia Inquirer editorial board weighs in on ebooks and libraries. (3/19/2012)
Carl Zimmer responds to Franzen.  (1/31/2012)
It's only Monday but this is still the best ebook headline of the week.  (1/20/2012)
Jonathan Franzen has something to say about ebooks.  (1/30/2012)
As they have been doing all along, libraries adapt to technology.  (1/29/2012)
Floating an Idea: The Harvard Library Innovation Laboratory's Library License.  (1/17/2012) 
Getting in line @ your library for ebooks.  (1/15/2012)
The Post-Christmas ebook sales surge. (1/10/2012)
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)

Thursday, December 27, 2012

"Theater District" Plan Will Gobble Up Parking Lot Next to Worcester Public Library for Indoor Ice Rink


Worcester library board stands firm against rinks in parking lot. (Worcester Telegram, 12/21/2012)

Excerpt:  Residents and business neighbors in the area have praised the business group’s overall plan, which includes a vision of vibrant, pedestrian-friendly walkways, ornate lighting, parking improvements and mixed-use development. There are plans to close Federal Street to vehicle traffic to encourage the development of an “outdoor room,” and a plan for a pedestrian walkway that spans Portland Street from the old Telegram & Gazette parking lot, adjoining The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, to the Worcester Public Library

The sticking point with members of the library board — who have in general praised the redevelopment efforts — has been solely with the plan for the ice rink in the municipal parking lot. The task force has previously voted to recommend against placing the rinks there because of the impact it would have on access for library patrons, along with aesthetic concerns about how it fits in the neighborhood.

Work to Do, Words Yet to Live By @ the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation



Financial controls lacking at state jobs agency. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 12/26/2012)


Paul Lapides, associate professor of management and entrepreneurship, is director of the Corporate Governance Center at the Coles College of Business, Kennesaw State University, Georgia.


State jobs agency lost track of $8 million in overdue loans.  (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10/18/2012)


Richards (D-Milwaukee) represents the 19th Assembly District.


State economic development board not told of HUD criticisms. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 9/26/2012)




Sen. Lassa (D-Stevens Points) represents Wisconsin's 24th Senate District and is a WEDC board member.

WEDC Board members include.....
Officers 
Members

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Four Years of Flat Funding Results in a Loss of Monday Hours @ the Hudson Area Library


Library will be closed Mondays to save money. (Hudson Star-Observer, 12/20/2012)

The Hudson Area Library will be open 43 hours per week in 2013, down from 50 in 2012.

In another money-saving measure, the library will outsource the cataloging of library materials to Indianhead Federated Library System.

The text in the following slide is from the Star-Observer article.  (The title is Retiring Guy's.)

It certainly would be helpful to know what's being formulated.

A 'Limbo Rock' formulation, perhaps.  How low do they want to go?

$21.78.  Hudson Area Library per capita support 2011.

$40.81.  Average Wisconsin resident per capita support for all public libraries 2011.

[Both figures are from the Wisconsin Public Library Service Data.]

Related posts:
Funding the library on the cheap.  (11/1/2012)
Looking at the options for the Hudson Area Library.  (10/9/2012)

Library Video Collections: Another One Bites the Dust



Library giving away VHS tapes collection.  (Junean County Star-Times, 12/25/2012)

Excerpt: Chalk up another victim in the forced march of technology, which has left once commonplace items like the floppy disk and photographic film — and the library card catalog, for that matter — in the ditch.


 The Oshkosh Public Library first offered videocassettes for checkout in late 1984.



Waupun Public Library Patron Not in Pleasant Holiday Mood


Waupun man arrested for gun threat at library. (Fond du Lac Reporter, 12/22/2012)

Excerpt: Waupun Police Department officers responded to the Waupun Public Library for a man threatening to return to the library with a gun Friday afternoon. 

The 46-year-old man was found and arrested on Walker Street in Waupun and was taken to the Dodge County Jail on charges of threat to a department of commerce or department of workforce development employee, according to Waupun Police Deputy Chief Scott Louden.

2014 Anticipated Groundbreaking for New Cambridge Community Library


Decade-long Cambridge library effort closing in on goal. (Wisconsin State Journal, 12/25/2012)

Excerpt: The small existing library is squeezed into a second-floor wing of the village’s community center. The new facility would be connected to the center. At 6,800 square feet, it would be three times as big as the current library. 

In early December, the Cambridge Village Board signaled its intent to commit $400,000 to the project. The board of the neighboring town of Christiana recently voted to donate $54,000. 

The library group already has $612,000 in the bank, for a combined total of just over $1 million.

"The Bubbler" @ the Madison Public Library



Makerspace: Madison Public Library sees innovation centers as a key part of its future. (The Capital Times, 12/26/2012)

Excerpt: While brainstorming about ways to gather people together for creative exchange continued, the initiative was dubbed the “Bubbler.” The name — a Wisconsin word for drinking fountain — worked both for its local resonance and as term for a community gathering space, Vieau says. It stuck. 

As now envisioned, the Bubbler will be a program incorporating elements of the “maker” movement that will radiate out from the new central library downtown into the branch public libraries. It will be an ongoing series of workshops and demonstrations where people share skills and tools and where participants make anything from T-shirts to musical recordings to self-published books.

Related posts: 
Madison Public Library presents The Bubbler.  (11/22/2012)
Progress report, 2nd revised edition.  (11/3/2012)
Progress report.  (8/18/2012)
Work in progress. (6/5/2012)
Construction kickoff ceremony.  (3/28/2012)
Findorff awarded Madison Public Library construction contract.  (3/1/2012)
City of Madison to Rebid Central Library Project. (12/22/2011)
Madison Community Foundation awards $500,000 grant for new Madison Central Library.   (12/16/2011)
Retiring Guy takes a last look at the 1960s-era Madison Central Library.  (11/13/2011)
Madison Central Library prepares for move to temporary facility. (11/9/2011)
Madison Public Library misses cut on $4.5 million tax credit.  (9/14/2011)
Board to consider Plan B financing.  (9/1/2011)
Central library to relocate in November.  (7/27/2011)
Central library reconstruction project to proceed.  (4/29/2011)
Negotiations continue.  (4/27/2011)
Central library not a major issue with candidate or mayor Soglin. (4/19/2011)
Soglin wants to make sure ducks are in a row for Central Library Project.  (4/16/2011)
Latest design review.  (4/8/2011)
Midway Design presentation for Madison Central Library.  (2/25/2011)
Final design for renovated central library unveiled.  (12/8/2010)
And the beat goes on.  (4/14/2010)

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

The Ebook Market Pauses to Take a Breath


Simba research.  At any given time, one-third of haven't purchased a title during the past year.

Little Sign of a Predicted E-Book Price War. (The New York Times, 12/23/2012)

Except: One big reason for the lack of fireworks is that the triumph of e-books over their physical brethren is not happening quite as fast as forecast.

Year-to-date ebook sales up 34% through August 2012.....

.....compared to a doubling of sales in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011.

Macmillan chief executive notes that ebooks sales have been "soft of late".



Related posts:
Year-to-date book revenues:  Jan-Jul 2011 and Jan-Jul 2012.  (11/1/2012)
Libraries get screwed when it comes to price of and access to ebooks.  (9/10/2012)
Millennials lead the way....to fewer bookstores?  (8/22/2012)
Ebooks sliding down the peak of inflated expectations.  (8/18/2012)
Adult hardcover book sales hold their own, paperbacks sales drop in 1st quarter of 2012.  (6/17/2012)
Library ebook circulation skyrockets @ the Greendale Public Library and throughout Wisconsin.  (5/29/2012)
In so many words:  Libraries will have a place at the table. (4/30/2012)
3M Cloud Library ebook lending service goes beta at select libraries.  (4/28/2012)
Pew Research:  The rise of e-reading, summarized. (4/5/2012)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution attempts to get a handle on the ebook era.  (4/2/2012)
And I quote from "Bringing Up an E-Reader".  (3/29/2012)
The Philadelphia Inquirer editorial board weighs in on ebooks and libraries. (3/19/2012)
Carl Zimmer responds to Franzen.  (1/31/2012)
It's only Monday but this is still the best ebook headline of the week.  (1/20/2012)
Jonathan Franzen has something to say about ebooks.  (1/30/2012)
As they have been doing all along, libraries adapt to technology.  (1/29/2012)
Floating an Idea: The Harvard Library Innovation Laboratory's Library License.  (1/17/2012) 
Getting in line @ your library for ebooks.  (1/15/2012)
The Post-Christmas ebook sales surge. (1/10/2012)
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)

Authors' and Readers' Battle Zone: Fake Online Reviews

Giving Mom’s Book Five Stars? Amazon May Cull Your Review. (The New York Times, 12/22/2012)


J. A. Konrath/Jack Kilborn is the author of the Jack Daniels series.

Amazon general review creation guidelines.

The worst offender. The dispute over reviews is playing out in the discontent over Mrs. [Harriet] Klausner, an Amazon Hall of Fame* reviewer for the last 11 years and undoubtedly one of the most prolific reviewers in literary history. 

Mrs. Klausner published review No. 28,366, for “A Red Sun Also Rises” by Mark Hodder. Almost immediately, it had nine critical comments. The first accused it of being “riddled with errors in grammar, spelling and punctuation.” The rest were no more kind. The Harriet Klausner Appreciation Society had struck again.

[Oh, brother!  *Our top reviewers have helped millions of their fellow customers make informed purchase decisions on Amazon.com with their consistently helpful, high-quality reviews.]

This New York Times article has already been cited in the Wikipedia entry for Harriet Klausner.

50 Years Ago This Week: Vince Lombardi on the Cover of TIME


An eyeroll of an article title even back then.  "Vinnie, Vidi, Vici".

The opening is pure, unadultered TIMEese:   In A.D. 248, Emperor Philip lured 45,000 howling Romans to the Colosseum with a show that featured 60 lions, 30 leopards, 10 tigers, a rhinoceros, and 2,000 gladiators resolved to battle to the death. Today in the U.S., the beasts are all in zoos and the only gladiators around are the extras in Spartacus. But every Sunday from September through December, before their TV sets and in stadiums from coast to coast, some 40 million Americans are enraptured by a modern-day spectacle that even the Romans would enjoy.

You'll need a subscription to read the rest.

The Packers only loss of the 1962 season occurred against the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day.

Nine days after the publication date of the 12/21/1962 issue, the Packers defeated the New York Giants, 16-7, in the NFL championship game at Yankee Stadium.  (The first Super Bowl wasn't played until January 15, 1967, and you already know who won that game.)

The Packers finished the 1962 season with a 14-1-0 record, the Giants 12-3-0.