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California Libraries e-Newsletter
February 18, 2010
President's Column
Driving to work this past week felt like a marathon run - dodging Yield and Danger signs, maneuvering around potholes (growing deeper by the day) and rough patches, looking out for other drivers and walking distractions (Will that man on a cell phone notice that he's starting to cross against the red light? No!). When a car paused at a busy intersection to let me slip in, with a nod and a wave, however, my stressful morning lightened and the sun seemed to shine a little brighter. For a moment I felt as though I had an ally on the road, my breathing slowed down and my heart eased.
With my Library Director's hat on, life in California libraryland in 2010 sometimes feels like running that gauntlet. For many of us heading into even tighter budget seasons this spring it can seem that we are being asked to do the impossible. Cut more, cut further...and then start thinking about doing even more with less in the coming years. While we rethink and reduce, our communities' need for our services and resources grows. We know that public libraries are truly "first responders" (thank you, former ALA President Jim Rettig) for families, students, seniors, the un- and under-employed in our cities, towns and counties. We know that public, school, academic and special libraries provide essential "information infrastructure" support for community, education and business activities and success. We are our communities' guides, teachers and allies.
I live in the central California coastal town of Pacific Grove, where the local city library has suffered tremendous budget cuts and is now open four days for 24 hours a week. As I mentioned in my inaugural speech, a local property tax measure dedicated to the Library was on the ballot two days after the conference ended. 65.91% of the voters approved the $96 per year parcel tax; however, it failed to achieve the 66.67% vote required to pass, losing by 30 to 35 votes. I can't tell you how disheartening that felt to me, as a resident who values libraries and the public good - and as someone who has had my life changed by what the library makes possible.
Fast forward to Saturday, February 6 - a rainy morning in Pacific Grove. Over 100 residents of all ages met together for a Library Summit - using the "Open Space" model of gathering input and sharing ideas. The interest, enthusiasm and support was palpable, as was the investment in time, energy and creativity. The results of this meeting will hopefully lead the way for a revitalized library and city. As one attendee shared at the close of the meeting, "With all these ideas and all these people who care, I'm sure the Library will stay open. I'm not going to let it close."
With my California Library Association President's hat on, I send the same message to each of you - members, colleagues, library-serving agencies, organizations and associations. With all that we bring to our work, to our constituents, and our communities, "all these ideas and all these people who care", we will get through these tough times. And working together is definitely better than going alone. I was humming the children's song that I learned so long ago at the Pacific Grove Library storytime - "The more we get together, together, together; the more we get together the happier we’ll be" - as I turned into traffic and sent back a wave to my ally on our shared journey forward. Now I send that wave, and that hope, to all of you!
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Kim Bui-Burton
Director, Monterey Public Library
CLA 2009-2010 President
The Monterey Public Library is an Institutional Member of CLA and directly supports our advocacy programs. Click here for more information on Institutional Membership.
Posted by claadmin at 9:58 AM
Executive Director's Column
Hello CLA Members!
I know we've barely met, but I'm hoping you wouldn't mind answering a question for me. Why do you choose to be engaged with CLA?
You're already a busy enough as it is. Having one more item on your to-do list some days is - let's face it - exhausting, but still, as an active CLA member, you choose to have one more item to do. When you have some downtime, you choose to spend it reading and sometimes responding to listservs, blogs or tweets. You choose to take time away from your daily routine to attend interest group and/or committee meetings, participate on webinars, and travel to conferences to enhance and expand your knowledge. Why? I know we've barely met, but I'm hoping you wouldn't mind answering a question for me. Why do you choose to be engaged with CLA?
Over the next few months you will receive short member satisfaction surveys to help us better understand the value CLA currently provides and what the opportunities are to not only exceed your expectations, but the California library community's expectations as well.
I want CLA to be the to-do on all of your lists. Thank you in advance for choosing to assist your CLA team in striving to provide the tools and services you expect from your professional association.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Holly Macriss
CLA Executive Director
CLA Members, click here to take a brief survey!
Posted by claadmin at 9:56 AM
ALA Corner
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION MIDWINTER MEETING - Boston, Massachusetts. January 14-19, 2010. Abridged version by Les Kong (ALA Chapter Councilor, California Library Association), based upon Notes by ALA Councilor James Casey.
According to ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels on January 19, 2010, the total registration was higher than expected, reaching 11,095 by Monday, January 18. By comparison, registration for ALA's Midwinter Meeting in 2009 (Denver) was 10,220 by Monday, January 26.
ALAWO (ALA Washington Office) UPDATE: The ALAWO presented a review of issues facing the Library community. ALAWO Executive Director Emily Sheketoff and Lynne Bradley, Director of the Office of Government Relations (OGR), described several emerging opportunities and cautioned that the need for active advocacy is more important now than ever. Bradley discussed how efforts to modify the USA Patriot Act - especially Section 215 - are reaching the point during the next few days where steps will be needed by library advocates to call members of the House-Senate Conference Committee. Senators Feingold and Durbin were noted as firm supporters of ALA positions on this issue.
OGR Associate Director Corey Williams reported that the settlement between Google and authors/publishers concluded in September 2008 has been amended and an ALA Task Force headed by Jim Rettig is investigating the implications for libraries. A final "fairness hearing" is scheduled to be concluded by the courts on February 18, 2010.
OGR Assistant Director Jessica McGilvray reported that the Obama Administration has taken productive steps to make government information more accessible to the public. Miriam Nesbit of the Office of Government Information Services (National Archives Office) is working in cooperation with ALAWO to review complaints about government agencies for not releasing information in a timely manner and also preparing recommendations for improving access to government information so that such measures as Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) will become less necessary.
Emily Sheketoff outlined the huge influx of money that could be headed to empower libraries in many areas - especially rural - to achieve broadband connectivity. Although ALA's own submission for the first round of broadband grants was not successful, OITP has every intention of trying again in round 2 (according to Alan Inouye, Director of OITP) and it is hoped that Libraries will check the "Know Your Stimulus" section of the ALAWO Web site "every day from now to March 15, 2010." Keri McGuire of OITP also discussed the release of information on Round two on January 15, 2010 and urged libraries interested in this development to download OITP's "latest publication, a profile of five library networks that successfully upgraded their broadband connectivity." [http://ala.org/casestudies]
Sheketoff discussed the opportunities faced by libraries upon the possible success of the "Jobs for Main Street Bill" in which $650 million to employ thousands of staff persons for public libraries who will be designated to help our patrons to use our libraries in developing job hunting and career development skills. She urges that we "inundate" the Senate with calls for the passage of our Library segment of this bill.
Sheketoff also explained plans to have a Library Advocacy Day Rally at 11 AM on June 29th in Washington, DC. This rally would be followed by a concerted effort by library advocates to lobby their Congresspersons and Senators on Capitol Hill. She indicated that in consequence of this effort, there will be no Library Legislative Day in 2010, but that this would resume in May 2011. To register for the Rally, contact the ALAWO at http://www.ala.org/lad
COUNCIL I: BARC (Budget Analysis and Review Committee) Chair James Neal reported on the highly skillful fiscal management of ALA during 2009. Anticipated revenue shortfalls for 2009 were addressed with corresponding expense reductions - including the elimination of positions and the use of furloughs. Since the Association ended the FY 2009 with a surplus of several hundred thousand dollars, incentives amounting to about $253,000 were provided to ALA staff as compensation for losses due to furlough days. The net revenue for 2009 General Fund was $213,296. An anticipated shortfall for 2010 based upon the first months of FY 2010 shall be addressed through measures similar to those initiated during 2009. The Endowment Fund Report by Dan Bradbury revealed that through careful management balancing and controlling risk, the Fund achieved market value of $28,680,000 by the end of 2009, and thereby recovered most of the losses that occurred since high point of its value was reached at the end of 2007 of $31.22 million. ALA President Camila Alire discussed the accomplishments of her first six months in office and progress made by her initiative, the ALA Advocacy University, and the establishment of advocacy tool kits for all types of libraries. ALA President-Elect Roberta Stevens highlighted her three initiatives for her Presidential year: (1) Frontline Fundraising training for libraries; (2) efforts by libraries to cultivate authors as library advocates in a program called "Our Authors, Our Libraries;" and (3) a contest by which youngsters will be encouraged to produce film clips for publication on YouTube with the theme "Why I need my Library."
Betty Turock (former ALA President) donated $100,000 for a push to fund the "Spectrum Presidential Initiative: National Initiative for Inclusivity in America's Libraries." Turock spoke about the need for greater diversity in the library profession and backed it up with this generous donation.
ALA-APA COUNCIL: It was reported by Keith Fiels and Rod Hersberger that the Library Support Staff Certification program will commence on January 25, 2010 and hopefully realize sufficient revenue to reverse the downward fiscal direction of ALA-APA. The ALA-APA ended 2009 with a deficit of $15,244 and has failed to repay any portion of the initial $250,000 loaned by ALA for startup back in 2003. The debt has been raised to $275,000 in order to give ALA-APA the opportunity for the Certification Program to establish a sufficient influx of revenue.
COUNCIL II: Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) President Kenton Oliver delivered reports on emerging challenges to our efforts to preserve intellectual freedom and privacy rights and introduced the new Executive Director of the Office of Intellectual Freedom, Barbara Jones. Rod Hersberger (ALA Treasurer) reported on the current situation of ALA's budget and steps anticipated for FY 2011 to contain what is expected to be another very challenging year of shortfall in revenue and rising costs. Libraries across the country are struggling with limited budgets and this will impact ALA revenues. He warned that one of the largest ongoing expenses is the rising cost of post-retirement health insurance benefits of ALA staff. Programmatic Priorities for 2010 to 2015 were approved unanimously by Council as a guide to Budget preparation for FY2011.
COUNCIL III: It was announced that Kevin Reynolds and J. Linda Williams were elected to the ALA Executive Board for the term 2010-2013. Martin Garnar, Chair of the Intellectual Freedom Committee, reported on current activities of the Committee. A "Resolution in Honor of the LeRoy C. Merritt Humanitarian Fund's Fortieth Anniversary" was approved by Council. The Fund had been "...founded in 1970 to help librarians who have been denied employment rights because of their defense of intellectual freedom or because of discrimination." Mario Ascencio, Chair of the ALA Committee on Legislation presented a report and several action items. "Resolution on Transparency and Openness in the Federal Government" was passed unanimously. "Resolution to Support Digital Information Initiatives at the U.S. Government Printing Office" was passed. "Resolution on Universal Access to Broadband" was passed unanimously. Beverly Lynch, Chair of the International Relations Committee presented a "Resolution on Rebuilding Libraries and Archives Damaged or Destroyed by the Earthquake in Haiti (passed unanimously)."
Jim Rettig (former ALA President) gave a brief report from the newly formed Google Book Settlement Task Force. This group will inform ALA Council as to the implications of this Settlement for libraries become more evident. Some programs concerning the Settlement will probably be set for ALA Annual in Washington, DC.
A "Resolution in Support of 2010 Spectrum Presidential Initiative" was passed unanimously. ALA Council remains firmly committed to expanding diversity in the Library profession.
Copies of the final wording of all resolutions an action items from Council Sessions will be posted and available on the ALA website .
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Les Kong
ALA Chapter Councilor
Posted by claadmin at 9:55 AM
Writer-to-Writer Challenge, Part IV
What is the Writer-to-Writer Challenge? Adult literacy learners of the California Library Literacy Services are invited to read a book, any book. It can be fiction or non-fiction, written at any level, and can be a book-on-tape. They then write a letter to the author describing how the book changed their lives.
This year 188 adult learners entered the Challenge from 43 library literacy programs all over California. Their letters, based on their writing skill levels, were divided into four categories: Emerging, Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced. There are two rounds of judging: In the first round a panel of librarians and literacy specialists carefully selected the finalists in each category. In the second round, groups of learners reviewed the finalists' letters and picked the winner and runners-up in each category.
The letters of the winners will appear as a Four-part Series, concluding with part four with a letter from the "Emerging" winner, who wished to remain anonymous:
Anonymous
Alhambra Civic Center Library
Dear Anne Frank,
Your story touched my heart! Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl was sad and painful to hear (on tapes). Tears came to my eyes as I listened and realized my past life was sad and painful too!
You were a young girl hiding in Amsterdam to escape the Nazis in World War II. But for me - living in North Korea - I was a child running away from Communism during the Korean War.
My mother passed away when I was five. About two years later, I was escaping to South Korea with my father and a bunch of people - refugees. We were hiding in caves, behind bushes, crossing mountains and rivers, sometimes with shots passing close to our heads and sides.
My father carried me on his back across water and when my feet were sore and tired. I had no shoes! In some villages, there were camps. We stayed in tents, and they gave us a ball of rice and a "pill" of salt to eat.
Once my father was taken away by soldiers with guns to become part of the North Korean Army, but he escaped at night. Then, we went farther south by boat, train, and, at last, walking across a frozen fiver to a safe place in South Korea.
We both had strong and brave fathers, Anne. They protected us. You were not happy to be missing school. I liked school too, but went for just a short time in second grade. After the war my father remarried. My step-mother and father had three children and needed me to help care for them, cook, carry water, feed farm animals, and do other farm work; but I wanted to go to school!
I married an American soldier when I was 23. I am lucky to be an American citizen now and learning English at Alhambra Library in California.
You were such a smart girl, Anne - a very smart girl! I feel bad about you dying in the concentration camp; but, I say, "Thank you!" to God for saving my life and giving us your book to read.
Thank you again!
Anonymous
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Alan Archer
President, CLA Literacy Interest Group
Posted by claadmin at 9:52 AM
A New Deal For Bernal, A New Day For Bernal Library
The Works Progress Administration, (renamed the Work Projects Administration in 1939) was good to the Bernal Heights neighborhood in San Francisco. It provided much-needed construction jobs which created the Aztec Street steps, the grading and paving of Bernal Heights Boulevard and the St. Mary's Park playground. Most importantly, the excavating, grading and wall-building of the Bernal Recreation Center's field and playground literally paved the way for the construction of the neighborhood's jewel in the crown: the Bernal Heights Branch Library.
A second New Deal of sorts, in the name of the City's Branch Library Improvement Program, employed trades people all over San Francisco for the past several years. It's interesting how today's economic reality parallels that earlier era and once again the building of civic structures symbolizes hope for people.
In Bernal Heights, CDX Builders of San Francisco was awarded the library job and its crew steadily worked on the renovation for almost two years, bringing architect Andrew Maloney's vision to life. The renovated and restored Bernal Heights Branch Library reopened to the public on Jan. 30, 2010.
Maloney works with the Library Design Studio of the City's Bureau of Architecture and his design for the renovation was an intelligent and thoughtfully elegant response to the original building, which was designed by the well known and significant local architect Frederick H. Meyer. The renovation, as the original building, will clearly stand the test of time. Maloney understands the bones of the building and is honored them through his work. This dusty architectural gem was being improved through his careful lead and the crew's steady effort.
The interior workmanship is of superior quality: wood veneers painstakingly matched through careful refinishing, thoughtful use of tiling and flooring and creative use of lighting and ceiling finishes. The Beaux Arts staircase seamlessly dovetails with existing walls. The entire newly installed lower floor, which houses the public restrooms, children's room, community meeting room, and staff rooms has detailing which is fully integrated with the upper floor - not an easy feat, considering it was once a basement.
The front exterior façade now provides an access ramp which is gracefully sculpted to include public seating. There are new lighting fixtures which echo nearby streetlamps and the era of the original building. A small veranda facing the corner provides a comfortable place for neighbors to converse and watch passersby. The south façade incorporates a second access ramp into the Children's Room which does not intrude upon the architectural lines of the building.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Lisa Dunseth
Bernal Heights Branch Manager
Posted by claadmin at 9:50 AM
Every Day is LegDay
The Contra Costa County Library Commission has always strongly advocated for the Public Library Fund (PLF). During an advocacy work shop at the 2009 CLA Conference, someone quipped that for me "every day is Leg Day." How true!
For three years, our Commission took a resolution to the Mayors' Conference to urge the Governor and legislators to preserve and fund PLF. The resolutions always passed unanimously Thus, all 19 mayors have been on record supporting PLF, and many mayors have also sent their own letters.
In 2006/07, I took resolutions to both California State Association of Counties (CSAC) and the League of California Cities for them to support PLF. Both passed their boards. Also, many counties added PLF to their long list of legislative priorities.
At the December Mayors' Conference (held at the new Lafayette Library and Learning Center), I congratulated one of my city council members on almost being mayor. Then in 30 seconds, I explained PLF and asked if I were to draft a letter to the governor for him, would he sign it. "Sure Al," he replied. As such, his letter went out in early January.
At the January Mayors' Conference, I introduced my self to Assembly Member Nancy Skinner (District 14). She is a library supporter, but at the time, was not familiar with PLF. However, after our brief conversation, Assembly Member Skinner is now a PLF supporter. Furthermore, I followed up with a letter giving her more background on PLF and the monetary amounts for the library jurisdictions in her district. Also at the Mayors' Conference, I talked with my state senator and his letter went out on January 28th.
Lastly, I attended the Board of Supervisors reorganization meeting and the new chair is sending a letter. And ditto for my own B.O.S. member.
So what's the secret to being a library advocate? There is no secret. Go where your elected officials gather and agree to draft the letters for them!
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Alan B. Smith
Library Commissioner
Contra Costa County Library
The Contra Costa County Library is an Institutional Member of CLA and directly supports our advocacy programs. Click here for more information on Institutional Membership.
Posted by claadmin at 9:49 AM
Legal Self-Help Websites
In this economic downturn, courts are seeing a rise in the number of lawsuits being filed. With layoffs, furlough days, and mounting debt, many people just cannot afford to hire an attorney. An increasing number of people are handling their own cases, writing their own legal documents, and conducting their own legal research. California's County Law Libraries' (CCCLL) primary mission is to provide Californians with free access to legal information, and to serve as a valuable resource in these types of situations. However, many users turn first to the Internet and/or their local public library when starting a legal research project. There is an abundance of legal information online, with varying degrees of credibility and accuracy. This abundance can be overwhelming for those unfamiliar with the law. For those of you faced with these types of legal reference questions, CCCLL Law Librarians offer this short list of legal self-help websites for general California legal information.
A great starting place for many people is the California State Court's Self-Help website. This website provides detailed background information, as well as procedural information, guidance on finding court forms, and tips for presenting your case in court. Guides are available for a large number of common legal issues, such as divorce, small claims, and evictions. Included in these guides are links to interactive versions of the required court forms.
A similar online self-help center is provided by the Santa Clara County Superior Court. Although this website is intended for those with cases before the Santa Clara Court, much of the background and procedural information, and information about forms, is relevant to those with cases in any California Superior Court.
Good websites for generating court documents in subject areas such as family law, small claims, and evictions are EZ Legal File (http://www.ezlegalfile.org) and I-CAN! Legal (http://www.icandocs.org/). Both websites ask users a series of simple questions, and use the answers provided to produce forms that can be filed with a court. The availability of these websites and subject areas covered varies by county.
Users looking for primary legal resources rather than self-help websites can conduct some research online. Primary resources, the law itself, are of three types: statutory, regulatory, and case law. California statutory law, which is passed by the Legislature and known as the California Codes, is available at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov.calaw. California regulatory law, which is promulgated by Executive Agencies and known as the California Code of Regulations, is available at http://www.calregs.com. Both websites offer fully keyword-searchable versions of the law.
California case law is also available online. The full text of California Supreme and Appellate Court decisions are available online at http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions. This website, powered by Lexis, provides very robust search features, allowing users to retrieve known cases and to search for cases by keyword. Sophisticated search limits are available.
Librarian-created mini-courses in legal research are available as well. CCCLL offers "Basic Legal Research: A Mini Research Class" at http://www.publiclawlibrary.org/research.html.
The Southern California Association of Law Libraries (SCALL) offers a free, full text online resource, "Locating the Law: A Handbook for Non-Law Librarians" on the SCALL web site at http://www.aallnet.org/chapter/scall/locating.htm.
CCCLL provides free chat reference service as part of the California AskNow project. Users can access this live chat service from the "Ask the Law Librarian" link on every page of the California State Court's Self-Help website, from links on many public law library websites, and directly at http://www.247ref.org/portal/access_law3.cfm. Although Law Librarians cannot provide legal advice, they can direct users to reliable sources of legal information, both online and at the user's local law library.
Legal self-help sites can provide a good start for legal research. However, users should understand that self-help websites are no substitute for legal advice or legal services. For users looking for more assistance or legal advice, LawHelpCalifornia (http://www.LawHelpCalifornia.org) offers free referrals to legal aid and court services, sliding scale legal programs, and lawyer referral services.
In addition to these online self-help resources, California is fortunate to have a county law library system. Link to your county's public law library at: http://www.publiclawlibrary.org/find.html.
These County Law Libraries are a valuable resource for self-represented litigants. County Law Libraries provide free access to the law, both in print and electronically, as well as trained and helpful staff to help users navigate the often complex world of legal research.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Karen M. Lutke, San Mateo County Law Library;
Mary Pinard, Sacramento County Public Law Library,
and John A. Zorbas, Butte County Public Law Library
Posted by claadmin at 9:47 AM
Long Live the E-Book! (TAX the E-Book!)
Apple's recent introduction of its new iPad e-book reader really got me thinking about e-books vis-à-vis the future of libraries. There are so many exciting possibilities for ways libraries could incorporate these devices into our mission, but there is one question that really needs to be dealt with before we can have a thorough discussion about how an "e-book economy" will work. That one question is this: Should e-books be taxed?
I must first admit a bias in my writing this article. Since I work at a public university, I have a keen interest in seeing a healthy state budget. And by "healthy" I don't just mean "big." I mean one that doesn't fluctuate as wildly as our current budget does. So, as I'm sure most of the readers of this newsletter do also, I watch the budget process (and read Richard Berta's emails about library funding) each year with a certain degree of trepidation and a great deal of frustration.
This year was very interesting because Governor Schwarzennegger convened a Tax Panel in September (euphemistically called the "Commission on the Twenty-First Century Economy") which took a hard look at the revenue side of the budget picture. There was one part of this commission's report that really hit close to home for libraries: the tax-exempt status of online content such as e-books. In my library, I have seen such a decline in purchasing of taxable print titles that it has really made me start to wonder about a few things: How long can this go on? Are libraries are in danger of partially cannibalizing their own budgets by moving all of their content to non-taxable media? Why does it make sense for us to pay sales taxes on CD's and the dead tree versions of books but not on albums from iTunes and e-books from Amazon?
Of course, I also look at this issue as a reader, because as a reader of e-books, I know that I would rather pay some taxes with the knowledge that I can expect a certain degree of service should there be anything wrong with my e-book. Just look at what happened last July when Amazon decided to pull copies of George Orwell's 1984 from the Kindles of unsuspecting consumers. Where were these consumers supposed to go for remediation in this case? A furloughed court system funded by the sales tax revenues from printed books?
In his state of the state speech, Governor Arnold Schwarzennegger made the point that "144,000 taxpayers pay almost 50 percent of all personal income taxes," demonstrating a problem with current tax policy in California. He went on to say "Now, think about that -- 38 million Californians have to rely on 144,000 people for their schools, their fire protection, their health care, their public safety and so many other services." It seems to me the same argument could be made for our current policy on exempting e-books from the sales tax.
If we think about all of the things a state government will need to accomplish for an "e-book economy," why should the e-books rely on the diminishing revenues from sales taxes on print materials?
Putting my example of the court system aside: How is the State of California supposed to fund things like broadband internet access, smart grids, or renewable energy projects to power these computers and e-book readers if the revenue only comes from an increasingly dwindling number of print materials?
Yes, I understand that tax policy is a complicated subject, but we as librarians and consumers do not take a look at this issue, who will? The publishers? I doubt it. Legislators? Don't hold your breath.
When Schwarzennegger's tax commission released its findings none of the legislators (predictably) went anywhere with it. So where does that leave us? Will libraries continue to be starved of resources because there isn't the political will to start taxing e-books? Or will we take the lead on this matter and advocate for a sustainable e-book tax policy in California?
All I would hope readers to take away from this article is this: The next time you see a receipt for an e-book from iTunes or Amazon that says "Tax= $0.00," just remember that you get what you pay for.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Tyler Rogers
Library Assistant, San Diego State University
Posted by claadmin at 9:45 AM
Making a Difference, One Teen at a Time
For the past three years I have had the great opportunity to be part of The Big Read. Our library has received the grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to put on a community wide reading initiative. The NEA provides many materials and statistics about why doing such an initiative can make a difference in your community and eventually the country. One of the target populations that the NEA points out as having a low literacy rate is teens. I know that that is a big shock to any librarian, but we wanted to see what we could do to help make a difference in the teens that live in our area.
We decided last year that we wanted to take the program out to the Juvenile Correction Center (JCC) that is located in our area. After all, this is a large group of troubled teens all together, what better place to start.
For most people this may be a little daunting but for us it seemed like the perfect opportunity. The hardest part for most people in creating a partnership like this is to find the golden contact, that one person who is on the inside who firmly believes in the program that you would like to take to their students. Luckily for us we had a contact already and so we were ready to take the next step. We had to develop a program that would be interesting for these troubled teens. The book that we had selected as part of the NEA's grant was To Kill A Mockingbird. As part of the program we went out and gave every student and staff member a copy of the book and a reader's guide. We learned a lot from that initial visit. We learned that kids who are in jail read a lot; they also don't like the fact that in the outside world, people are trying to ban books that they like. At this first visit we handed out approximately 150 books to their students and staff members.
The program was very well received. The staff later reported to us that there has been a positive effect that has manifested itself to everyone involved. By taking the program out to more than just the students and putting a copy of the same book into everyone's hands, from the teacher's and students to the line staff, doctors, nurses, group leaders, and secretaries. This wide spread contribution to literature made it possible for everyone involved to be able to talk about the book and the overall picture that it presents. This has allowed the staff to discuss with the students different problems that they encounter while using the book as the foundation for their discussion. Giving a book to each student made them cherish it a little more than they would have otherwise. These students and teachers have little and so having something that is theirs made a great impact on the students and made it all the more personal to them. By giving the book to everyone in their "community" it put everyone on the same page and made it so that everyone they had an encounter with was on the same page and had something in common to talk about.
One story that gave the students an opportunity to relate to someone else is the story of Idaho 7th District Court Judge Greg Moeller. He visited the students and told them how this book made him decide to become a lawyer and subsequently a judge. This story gave the students the opportunity to see how an ordinary book can change a person's life forever. Allowing the students to read this book, let them fall in love with it and see how it could have the power to change lives gives them the opportunity for life long application.
The goal of our program was to provide a step that would enable those students to change their lives. Teens are reading less and less and consequently there are teens that find ways to occupy their time that lands them into trouble. Teens who read more are better citizens throughout their entire lifetime. While this was the first time we had worked with this group, we feel that the effort we expended has given us a much better result than we could have hoped for.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Ray Lusk
Madison Library District, ID
Posted by claadmin at 9:43 AM
The Qilin
Like the mythical Chinese Qilin, a library is a different creature seen from each angle.
A qilin has a single horn on its forehead, a yellow belly, a multicoloured back, the hooves of a horse, the body of a deer, and the tail of an ox. Gentle of disposition, it never walks on verdant grass or eats living vegetation.
Public libraries are almost always part of a larger public entity - city, county, state or federal. They are a department or division of that entity, subject to all its rules and regulations. If the parent institution requires all payments over five dollars to be receipted in duplicate, library staff must do that whether or not the customer wants a receipt. Being part of a public entity, a library depends on public funding.
Libraries are like retail operations in that they have inventory, staff and services. People come into libraries expecting service at least as agreeable as they receive at a good retail store. This is different from what people may expect from other government offices. My husband did not have a great experience getting permits to fix our garage, but that did not really surprise us. Like retail operations, libraries have a lot of manual, time sensitive work behind the scenes. A county employee from another department who worked briefly at my Library told me "I never saw people work so hard!" Unlike a retail operation, in a library each successful transaction does not directly earn money. However, statistics showing, for example, many well attended story times and many items borrowed may help when asking for public funding.
At various libraries where I have worked, I have heard customers express the idea that library services including borrowing materials, enjoying materials in the library, and benefiting from children's programs are rights enjoyed by the community for free. This explains why there is often strong community resistance to cutting services or closing branches. It seems almost as if the library is seen like a church where all are welcome. Few other government departments arouse such sentiment.
The Qilin is gentle on the environment, and libraries are, too. Libraries are one of the original recyclers.
Since the Qilin was a mythical beast, it was never actually seen except in claims for the past. The Qilin's presence signalled a virtuous ruler, so scholars routinely brought up its absence as a sign of the decadence of their living times. But what if it had appeared? Would people say, this beast is a line item we don't really need, it has four legs and eats hay so give it to a cattle rancher. who surely has all the expertise needed? That's about what privitizing libraries is.
In my work as a member of the ALA International Relations Committee and International Relations Round Table, I have often been reminded of the fact that the United States' public libraries are seen arounnd the world as shining examples; librarians in other nations still see the U.S. as a leader in librarianship. That is not true in all other arenas. Will we let our libraries become mythical beasts that once existed in testimony to enlightened government, a long, long time ago?
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Eve Nyren
CLA Member
Posted by claadmin at 9:41 AM
Strategies for Managing Information in the 21st Century
"There are two basic rules of life: Change is inevitable, and everybody resists change." (Craine 2000) Changing professions or changes within a profession often runs a close second to losing a loved one. Deathlike feelings of change are now only a mouse click away. Librarians and Information professionals know that because of new technology, change manifests itself in the sheer volume of information which accumulates within organizations and among its professional ranks. Both struggle to manage the myriad of documents they produce and find in order to turn them into useful knowledge. Managing that change requires addressing the needs of the organization and its professionals as well as caring for the psychological impact change has on people within the organization. Understanding the newer fields of RIM and PKM plus the psychology of change is crucial for today's information professionals
Resource Information Management or RIM addresses the need for information management at an organizational level. In 2007 the digital information universe was 281 exabytes (1exabyte = 1 billion gigabytes), and in 2011 it will be 10 times that figure. (Weller - Collison 2008) Coupled with compliance issues, legal, international and societal expectations managing information growth is critical. Proper information handling can make a difference between winning and losing court cases, being fined for non compliance and keeping abreast of international competition. RIM monitors events in the business environment and creates advantageous information policies within the organization.
Organizations are now turning to a field known as Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) to address the information needs of its professionals. It is all about organizing and capturing the personal information and knowledge used by professionals who make organizational level decisions. Phil Schnyder sees the process as two steps. "Knowledge workers need to find ways to gather information wherever it may come from, but they also need to find ways to get back to it and use that information." (Miller 2005) His company ask Sam has created software that allows users to systematically gather information and organize it for personal use. This program is very similar to Vannevar Bush's visionary idea of a machine called a Memex (1945) which allowed a person to cross link ideas and use them when needed.
RIM and PKM allow people and organizations to survive and hopefully thrive in a harsh changing environment. Unfortunately, implementing these ideas can be hard on people in the organization. Gearing up for change includes gearing up the workforce. There are four processes that people in an organization typically go through before accepting change. Wise management is able to shepherd its employees through the "Comfort Zone," "The 'No' Zone", "The Chasm" and "The 'Go' Zone". (Craine 2000) RIM, PKM and solid understanding of the psychology of human nature are just some of the tools we will use as we step past the threshold of the 21st Century.
References
Weller-Collison, A., Kahn, R., & Wescott II, W. (2008, September). Skills for Building Success in the Electronic Business Environment. Information Management Journal, 42(5), 50-58. Retrieved July 22, 2009, from Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text database.
Miller, R. (2005, November). The Evolution of Knowledge Management. (cover story). EContent, 28(11), 38-41. Retrieved August 26, 2009, from Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text database.
Craine, K. (2007, September). Managing the Cycle of Change. Information Management Journal,41(5), 44-50. Retrieved July 22, 2009, from Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text database.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Shawn Stamm
CSUN/UNT MLIS Student
Posted by claadmin at 9:38 AM
Triplet Watch (Plus One!)
I am the mother of triplets plus one. I am also an attorney who works for the Los Angeles Public Library as a part-time messenger clerk. I have always loved books, music, and other media. The library has always been a favorite place to frequent, and now I get to go there every day, for work. I started with this job so that I could still be available to help my children with homework and pick them up from school.
I enjoy working there so much that I decided to apply to library school. I am now in my second semester and wondering "why, oh why, did I think I could so much." What is most interesting is to observe the effect this is having on my children.
My four daughters "play" library at home. They even play library when they have their friends over. I have a bookcase filled with books just for them. It is interesting to watch them tell their patron friends how many books they are allowed to check out, or advise which books they might enjoy better, or to tell their friends to use their "library voice" when talking. They even use the dining room as a "community room" and lead art projects.
I've also noticed an increase in the amount of books they read, the level of books that they read, and the variety of subjects between them. My oldest triplet enjoys fiction as well as non-fiction books about the weather. My youngest triplet enjoys fiction books about animals as well as non-fiction books about drawing, art, and animals. They are eight years old. My youngest daughter, age six, enjoys reading anything and constantly reads above her grade level, "borrowing" her older sisters' books. My oldest triplet will also grab my graduate books and articles from school and attempt to read those. I must admit, she can pronounce all the words properly, although then we have to grab a dictionary and clear the meanings so she will not go past any misunderstood words. I usually keep those books out of reach, as it means more work for this mommy. I am already short on time.
By now, you might be wondering about the middle triplet. What does she like to read? Well, getting her to read was quite difficult. I took her to the library, and she would spend hours picking a book, putting it back, picking another one, putting it back, and finally coming home with nothing. Eventually, after several trips, we found a book that she liked. The end result was well worth it.
She came to me one night with a look of awe on her face. "Mommy, mommy, can I tell you something?" I nodded my head. "I feel like I'm in the book; like I'm there." Goosebumps erupted all over me. My daughter who couldn't stand reading had discovered the magic of entering another world. She is hooked for life.
This is why I want to be a librarian. From my home life to my work life, I am helping people and making a difference. Every day in the library, somebody discovers something, learns something, or has an epiphany. Every day, I am a part of that. I cannot imagine a better career than to become a librarian.
Now back to my studies so that I can make this dream come true!
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Elizabeth Brenda Marshall
CSUN/UNT MLIS Student
Elizabeth Brenda Marshall is the mother of four children, works for the Los Angeles Public Library as a messenger clerk, is a licensed attorney in the State of California, and a graduate student at University of North Texas via the online program, California Cohort, in conjunction with California State University, Northridge. She is a member of CLA, SLA, ALA, and AALL. She is also a member of Romance Writers of America and Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.
Posted by claadmin at 9:37 AM
UNT and CSUN Partners in New MLIS Program
The University of North Texas Department of Library and Information Sciences and the California State University, Northridge have established a cohort program in the Greater Los Angeles area which began in Fall 2009. Combining the experience in offering the MLIS of UNT with the excellent facilities at CSUN's Oviatt Library, this program has provided an opportunity for a cohort of students to begin their studies.
Students attend an intensive four-day Institute during each of the first two semesters which are held at the Oviatt Library. University of North Texas faculty teach the classes at both Fall and Spring Institutes. A panel of distinguished, regional library leaders are also invited and speak to the cohort.
After the four-day Institutes, the rest of the classes are conducted online via Blackboard. Students have access to the combined print and electronic resources at the Oviatt Library and the University of North Texas. Additional synchronous communications allow guest lecturers to communicate to the students through Wimba, a collaborative learning software application, so students can communicate directly with the lecturer in real time.
The 50 students in the cohort have finished their first semester in which they took two classes: Introduction to Information Professions and Introduction to Information Access and Retrieval. This Spring they will be tackling two other challenging classes: Introduction to Information Organization and Management of Information Agencies. After these four classes, the students may choose to continue with the General Studies program or focus on a specialty such as Health Informatics, Information Organization, Information Systems, Law & Legal Informatics, School Librarianship and Youth Librarianship. The entire program can be completed in two years and is ALA accredited leading to a Masters of Science degree.
As opportunities present themselves, students want to contribute and play an active role in the library community. Students in the Greater Los Angeles cohort have participated in various library related events and have become members of several professional organizations: American Library Association, California Library Association, Southern California Association of Law Librarians, Special Library Association, Reforma and Library of Information Sciences Student Association. Students have also volunteered at several events such as in the LA as Subject, the 4th Annual Los Angeles Archives Bazaar hosted by USC and at the 2009 Annual CLA conference in Pasadena.
A second cohort is planned for Fall 2011. For more information about the program contact Dr. Phil Turner at phil.turner@unt.edu.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Carol Siu & Grace Rosales
UNT/CSUN class of 2011
Posted by claadmin at 9:36 AM
Will Kindle Kill the Library? As If!
For my birthday this year (forgive me if I don't tell you which one), a beloved relative gave me the new Amazon Kindle, which we have all seen touted as the next big thing in terms of books and literature. It's a fine device, and I like it a great deal. For one thing, I love being able to download a book to read anyplace I am, with just the click of a button. Many a bus ride in Los Angeles has been made more palatable by my ability to download the sample first chapter of some book and then read it for free. And, when I am doing my reading for my MLS classes as part of the Cal State Northridge/ University of North Texas SLIS program, almost nothing is nicer than to download full text journal articles to the Kindle and then make the type bigger so I don't get the dreaded Library School Eyestrain.
Publishers and publishers' agents apparently loathe Kindles because they lose money on people downloading e-copies of books instead of buying the more expensive, inky editions of the volumes. By that argument, though, publishers and agents have also long hated libraries, who have actually served as the ancient version of Kindles, lending out books for people who don't buy them. Those agents and publishers have clearly forgotten their childhoods, when a beloved librarian read them "Amelia Bedelia" at their Storytime for Twos session.
When the Kindle - and now its Sony analogue, The Nook - was first released, a variety of pompous (and oddly smug) prognosticators of technology gleefully predicted how these electronic devices would either spell doom for libraries or, at least, force libraries to totally change their shape and form. Who would need to go to a library to take out a dog-eared, sticky, hardcover copy of Steven King's "Under the Dome" when they could easily download it right to their lovely little electronic device? Maybe libraries would inevitably be forced to pulp all their books, feeding them into paper shredders one by one, and replacing them with Netlibrary or Amazon.com accounts, so people could instead check out Kindles and then download all the books to their hearts' content. Why, they could just chuck out all those unhygienic books entirely and replace them with computer consoles.
And, yet, having had this Kindle for a while now, I can assure you that librarians may sleep soundly in their beds. The Kindle is not likely to replace books. What I have discovered - and I admit, my discoveries are anecdotal - is that all the Kindle has done is create different classes of book. A voracious book lover will tell you that there are two kinds of books. There is the book you treasure. You buy it, fondle it like a lover, accidentally drop crumbs in the folds, get fingerprints all over the corners, read it again and again, put it on your shelf, and then leave it for your grandchildren as a cherished heirloom. Oh, my Narnias! Oh, those Oz books! Oh, Lord help me, those Harry Potters!
And then there are the books you really don't care too much about. The ones you read once and then forget. You know, the latest blah thriller or drab book about some old ghoul Senator that's out of date next week. No one is going to use a Kindle to download and buy books of the first type. It is the second sort of book, the impulse or "junk" reading, which is the Kindle's stock in trade. These are what I, at least, prefer to download.
But, let us not forget, that these not-so-valuable books cost dollars for you to have them Kindled - and at the library, you can just check them out for free (or, rather, paid for by our tax dollars)! Yes, you can Kindle the same book for ten bucks, but when you've read it, the e-copy just sits there in the virtual realm, with no physical body, until the Kindle breaks and then it's gone forever. It has no shelf space or corporeal purpose. And, if it is one of those second types of books I'm talking about in the previous paragraph, you're not going to read it ever again. I believe you can't even donate the rights to read the e-book to the library (and that is actually a commendable thing that libraries should be examining). Really, you might as well just check the hard copy out of the library and then return it.
We read that some libraries check out Kindles and allow patrons to download books to them. And, yet, this seems like a system that just hasn't been thought out yet to the point of being sensible. Amazon, we understand, charges much more to libraries to download books than it does to the general public. There may also be an additional "per download" licensing charge. This suggests that a paperless, electronic version of a book could be far more expensive than an old fashioned dog eared version of the same work. And, at the end of the day, the library doesn't even have a hard copy of the book to put back on the shelf for browsers to pick up!
Meanwhile, there's another aspect of the Kindle that is downright unsavory for all readers. As it turns out, just like at a library, the book you get Kindled isn't actually yours. In the library, by contrast, the book belongs to everyone. However, on your Kindle, the book belongs to Amazon.com (or to Sony or to whatever company is making the next version of the e-book). If you remember, a few months ago, Kindle deleted all copies of George Orwell's 1984 from the Kindles because of some kind of a rights issue. And now, as I discovered to my dismay, they have also disconnected the Kindle's "text to speech" option, which turned any Kindled book into an Audiobook.
Admittedly, I understand the reasoning behind this: It was another rights issue, and there is so much money to be made on audiobooks that they didn't want people to use the Kindle for such a thing. And, yet, I can't imagine a world in which a publisher could walk into my house or library and snatch a book or an Audiobook off my shelf. But they can do this on a Kindle. My 80-something year old grandmother, who happens to be blind and loved hearing books read via the Kindle's text-to-speech, was quite displeased when they disconnected the function without telling her.
For a reader, a Kindled version of a book that you can get for free at the library may have some transitory, "Fin de Millennium" glamour - but, at the end of the day, those ten dollar charges for books in which you don't really have sustained interest start to add up. And then, we'll all be back at the library.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Paul Birchall
Cal State Northridge/ University of North Texas, SLIS 2011
Posted by claadmin at 9:35 AM
January 21, 2010
President's Column
As I write this month's column, on a windy, storm-tossed morning in mid-January 2010 from my window above the Monterey Public Library's front door, I see glimpses of blue skies amid the advancing gray clouds. I watch rain on a distant hilltop, flying brown leaves and vibrant green new ones, bundled-up parents with small children, students and senior citizens pausing on the sidewalk as a fire engine blares away from the station, red lights flashing. For a moment, it feels as though we are in the eye of the great economic storm that surrounds us - the calm place after great upheaval and before the great unknown.
Make no mistake, these are discouraging and threatening times for California libraries and the communities we serve. Statewide budget turmoil affects every one of us - academic, law, public, school, special libraries and librarians - and our populations of users. National crises and international tragedies spill over into our neighborhoods, agencies and counties. "Everything is connected to everything else: as I learned in high school Ecology class - and I see expressed every day around me. And, while sobering, that simple fact also gives me great hope.
My feelings of optimism in the midst of such crisis and change may be partially due to the California Library Association's energetic and enthusiastic new Executive Director, Holly Macriss, who has accepted the position effective February 1, and the rest of CLA's hard-working association team. Holly has the experience and skill set to move CLA forward in these challenging times. I am very pleased that she has already begun working to bring herself up to speed on libraries; Holly attended the American Library Association Midwinter meeting in Boston this past weekend, has jumped into 2010 Conference planning and is rapidly getting acquainted with California's school, academic and special library organizations and communities. Holly will be introducing herself to all of you very soon - stay tuned!
Also brightening the horizon - the possibility of improved collaboration with California library schools and students, more chances to partner with other library associations, agencies and organizations on events and activities, expanded communication with CLA Interest Groups and all of you. Yesterday I was on a conference call with California Library Association leaders and California School Library Association leaders, preliminary to more specific conversations with CLA and CSLA leadership on ways we can better work together to advance our members' interests in these difficult times.
Those participants who traveled met in wet-and-windy Sacramento and the others called-in from storm-tossed southern and central California. Despite the statewide storm raging outside our meeting, inside we exchanged ideas, excitement and a shared sense of purpose for working together to improve educational opportunities for our memberships, increase communication and understanding between our respective groups and focus on commonalities, instead of differences. At CLA, we look forward to many more such conversations with all the library-serving agencies and organizations throughout California - and all of you. We will survive difficult times and Navigate the New - together!
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Kim Bui-Burton
Director, Monterey Public Library
CLA 2009-2010 President
Posted by claadmin at 9:52 AM
News from the Capitol
LEGISLATIVE ANALYST WEIGHS IN AND ASSEMBLY & SENATE BUDGET COMMITTEES BEGIN WORK ON 2010 BUDGET
On January 8, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger presented his 2010-11 State Budget, and in his letter to the legislature, he notes, "With our national economy still struggling to recover, California, like most states, must confront an additional budget gap of nearly $20 billion... My budget calls for even greater reductions in nearly every aspect of state government than were necessary in 2009." In fact, the Governor proposes a series of deep cuts to health and human services, prisons, and state employee compensation adjustments. A major component of the Governor's solution is predicated on the state receiving almost $7 billion in relief from the federal government. It is rumored that the legislative leaders and the Governor will head to Washington D.C. in the coming days to lobby the California congressional delegation and others to plead their case for additional federal funds for California. In the meantime, the Governor has officially called a "special session" of the legislature to address the state's "fiscal emergency," and the "special session" will run concurrently with the 2010 legislative session.
On January 12, the state's non-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) released their annual overview and analysis of the Governor's January Budget. The LAO acknowledges the "incredibly daunting challenges" that the legislature will face this year in order to close the $20 billion gap, and recommends the legislature act quickly in order to capture "full year" savings. The LAO's office said that while state leaders should actively request federal funding relief in complex areas such as Medi-Cal and Special Education, they caution that the "likelihood of Washington agreeing to all of the Governor's $7 billion in requests is almost non-existent." In fact, appearing before the Assembly Budget Committee on January 13, the Legislative Analyst, Mac Taylor, told the members of the committee, "I don't think there is any way you would get $7 billion (from the feds). It's probably closer to $3 billion."
The LAO also cautioned both the Assembly Budget Committee as well as their counterparts in the Senate Budget Committee that they should look to some of the Governor's proposals with a cautious eye, as "some of his proposals are not fiscally wise. For example, in In Home Support Services (IHSS), you will eliminate care to people who will ultimately go into more expensive skilled nursing." The LAO pledged to offer the two committees some alternative solutions in the coming weeks. Probably most sobering was the LAO's acknowledgement that even adopting the Governor's deep cut proposals, utilizing fund shifts, and seeking assistance from the federal government, etc. "is not going to solve your long-term Budget problems this year. You are still going to have a $5 to $6 billion problem next year. We need an ongoing solution." Thus, the LAO is suggesting the legislature consider fee proposals, new revenues, etc. in conjunction with cuts to programs.
The Senate and Assembly Budget Subcommittees will continue to hold hearings through the end of May on the Governor's proposal, as well as the LAO's comprehensive analysis and alternative recommendations, which should be available in mid February. As recently reported to CLA members, the Governor's Budget does not propose any cuts for library programs such as the Transaction Based Reimbursement, the Public Library Foundation, or the literacy program.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Mike Dillon & Christina DiCaro
CLA Lobbyists
Posted by claadmin at 9:51 AM
Writer-to-Writer Challenge, Part III
What is the Writer-to-Writer Challenge? Adult literacy learners of the California Library Literacy Services are invited to read a book, any book. It can be fiction or non-fiction, written at any level, and can be a book-on-tape. They then write a letter to the author describing how the book changed their lives.
This year 188 adult learners entered the Challenge from 43 library literacy programs all over California. Their letters, based on their writing skill levels, were divided into four categories: Emerging, Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced. There are two rounds of judging: In the first round a panel of librarians and literacy specialists carefully selected the finalists in each category. In the second round, groups of learners reviewed the finalists' letters and picked the winner and runners-up in each category.
The letters of the winners will appear as a Four-part Series, continuing part three with this E-newsletter with a letter from Beginner winner Evonne Macias:
Evonne Macias
Hemet Public Library
Dear Dave Pelzer,
My name is Evonne Macias and I attend the Hemet Adult Literacy Program. At this time, I am trying to earn my GED. I am 54 years old and have now read your book, A Child Called It. I really did not think there was another mom as bad as mine, but after I read your book I realized that there was. I found that I was anxious and angry as I read. I was looking for any kind of joy, a joy that neither you, nor I have ever had.
In the beginning, I saw a mother with much love for her children. Unfortunately, your childhood happened during a time when people did not want to get involved in other people's business, and no one would say anything. These kinds of abuses were ignored. I felt all your pain and cried with you as I read. I know that deep down it really hurts because you were just a little boy.
I also grew up with an alcoholic mother and she was also very abusive. I can't tell you how much I hated her, day after day, I was always crying. And yes it started when I was around 2 or 3 years old. Your story has opened my eyes to the reality of what has happened and to the truthful pain. In addition to an abusive mother, my dad walked out on us when I was three. He was a truck driver who carried heavy loads of hay for the dairies, also an alcoholic, and decided to live in his truck. I have three brothers and I was the only girl. We were all abused, but I had it the worst. My dad would come home and it would only bring us more pain.
I remember that in your book, your mother had all of the control. That was how it happened with me. She was, and still is to this day, in control of the family and people around us. My grandmother, grandfather, all her sisters and brothers, cousins, our school, teachers and friends all knew this was going on and yet, I just can't understand how nothing was ever done. Your story was a lot like mine. except a person helped you, a teacher I believe. That person gave you the courage to survive. I was very naive and I didn't have that courage.
It was also very hard for me in school I never could remember what I learned. Whether it was reading, writing or math; I just couldn't learn it. I was also never able to attend high school. I could not read or write at all. I did, however, go to grammar school for ten years, repeating kindergarten and third grade. When I was 18 my mother came home looking for one of my brothers and he was not home. She was very upset and drunk. She got out the broom and started to hit us. As I got up to see what was going on and hit me over the head very hard. I was upset and crying! Then my brother, who was out, walked in and she hit him too. He was 16 at the time. She hit us all again and then told us all to go to bed.
That day, I don't know how, but I found the courage to go away. I put a few things into a green suitcase and ran away. It was about 3 a.m. and I never went back.. Reading your book gave me hope.
Now at 54 I am in this adult literacy program hoping to learn to read and write, hoping to get my GED. Thank you for your courage. Now is not the time to sacrifice myself, but the time to go on beyond my limits into a new world.
Respectfully,
Evonne Macias
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Alan Archer
President, CLA Literacy Interest Group
Posted by claadmin at 9:50 AM
CALA-SCA Chapter at the 2009 CLA Conference
The Chinese American Librarians Association, Southern California Chapter (CALA-SCA Chapter) held several informative, interesting and fun programs at the 111th Annual California Library Association Annual Conference in Pasadena. The program entitled "When the Earth Quakes: From California To China" was sponsored by CALA-SCA Chapter and co-sponsored by the CLA Technical Services Interest Group and the CLA Chinese American Librarians Interest Group. A panel of distinguished speakers who shared their expertise and experience from their efforts on investigation and research, leadership and management in rebuilding and preserving invaluable collections from the earthquakes. The participants found the program greatly benefits them with methods and strategies that can be applied to earthquake safety, preparedness, reduction of damage and losses, and to preservation programs. Presentations of the distinguished speakers are summarized as followed:
- Dr. Jean-Pierre Bardet, Chair and Professor of the Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Southern California discussed about the "Earthquakes and art preservation." He has been invited to China to visit the May 2008 earthquake hard hit areas in Sichuan and to participate in the rebuilding plans for the areas. Dr. Bardet reviewed basic concepts in earthquake engineering and their applications to art and library preservation.
- Dr. Susan C. Curzon, Dean, University Library, California State University, Northridge, shared their valuable lessons learned from the Northridge Earthquake. She discussed the recovery efforts and the impact on services during the six years when the library was being rebuilt.
- Dr. Yong-Gang Li, Research Professor, Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, spoke on the devastating earthquakes in China and in California especially on the earthquake-generating faults in California. Dr. Li is an earthquake expert who has also been invited by the Chinese Earthquake Administration to study the internal structure of the Longmen Shan Fault (LSF) and rock damage at depth caused by the May 2008 M8 earthquake for selecting safe places to re-build the ruined cities and towns in the region. Dr. Li has done scientific investigation at the epic central area in China. He compared the results from the Longmen Shan Fault with those obtained from the San Andreas Fault to further our understanding earthquake physics. All of Dr. Li's efforts are an aid for earthquake prediction, mitigation, and relief in the current and future earthquakes in the world. In his presentation, Dr. Li introduced the information on hazards and scenarios of recent major devastative earthquakes in California and Sichuan as well as the preparedness we should care about earthquakes to be safe so as to reduce property damage.
- Sally C. Tseng, Honorary Executive Director of the Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA), shared the moving stories that touch everybody's heart from the earthquakes in China and the efforts and work of the Chinese American Librarians Association on Rebuilding Libraries in the Earthquake Disastrous Areas in China.
- Joy Wang was the moderator of the program. She is the President of CALA-SCA Chapter, and a librarian of the Soka University of America at Aliso Viejo.
From L- R: Dr. Yong Gang Li, Sally Tseng, Dr. Jean-Pierre Bardet, Dr. Susan Curzon, Joy Wang CLA CALA-SCA Chinese Banquet
As a traditional event at the California Library Association Annual Conference, the CALA-SCA 2009 CLA Chinese Banquet was held on Sunday, November 1, 2009, at the Fu-Shing Chinese Restaurant in Pasadena. The evening was filled with authentic Chinese food, live Chinese music performance and door prizes with a variety of Chinese gifts. With our great honor, Dr. Camila Alire, ALA President and Kim Bui-Burton, CLA President together with several distinguished California libraries’ directors and guests joined and made warm greeting speeches at the banquet. All the attendees enjoyed the evening with lots of fun and laughs and were introduced to the rich Chinese culture as embodied in the delicious Chinese dishes and the live professional performance of traditional Chinese music - PiPa.
Dr. Camila Alire ALA President, spoke at the 2009 CLA CALA-SCA Chinese Banquet
Kim Bui-Burton, CLA President and Director, Monterey Public Library, spoke at the 2009 CLA CALA-SCA Chinese Banquet
Jan Sanders, Pasadena Public Library Director, shared a good laugh with the attendees and Manuel Urrizola, Master of Ceremony, at the Banquet
Thank you for all committee members of CALA-SCA chapter, volunteers and long-term supporters who contribute extraordinarily to making the programs so successful and possible: We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to Sally Tseng, Ying Xu, Yong Yi Song, Manuel Urrizola, Wen Wen Zhang, Kuei Chiu, Zuo Wang, Joy Wang, Maggie Wang who worked very hard to make such great and successful programs. Special thank you to Ying Xu, Program Chair of CALA-SCA and Librarian of California State University at Los Angeles for her countless efforts on coordination of the events and Sally Tseng on developing the informative and educational program, to Manuel Urrizola and Wen Wen Zhang for their lively masters of ceremony at the Banquet.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Joy Wang and Sally C. Tseng
Chinese-American Librarians Association
Posted by claadmin at 9:49 AM
Deep Space Images Unveiled in San Jose
A crowd of 200, including a class of sixth graders from a nearby school, filled the lobby of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library (San Jose) on a recent weekday morning for the unveiling of unique, multi-wavelength images of the Milky Way. One view represents a composite of images captured by NASA's three Great Observatories: the Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, and Chandra X-Ray Observatory. A companion poster illustrates what each view looks like separately. None of them would have been visible to the naked eye. Dr. Michael Kaufman - professor of Physics and Astronomy at San Jose State University - delivered a brief talk, followed by a lively Q&A engaging participants of all ages. The King Library was one of only two locations in the San Francisco Bay Area chosen to host an unveiling event marking the close of the International Year of Astronomy, held in recognition of the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first celestial observations.
Related activities scheduled the following weekend significantly increased visits to the library's Children's Room. Visitors included a junior scout troop that took advantage of the opportunity to earn their astronomy badge. Lectures on varying aspects of space exploration delivered by Kaufman and his colleagues were also popular. They demonstrate the unique benefit enjoyed by San Jose as a result of the collaboration between the City of San Jose and San Jose State University in co-managing the King Library. The day's programming represented the combined efforts of public and university library staff, together with SJSU Physics and Astronomy Department.
NASA's images remain on view in the Fourth Street Lobby of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library throughout 2010. The library is located at 150 E. San Fernando at S. Fourth Street in downtown San Jose. Parking at the nearby Fourth Street Garage is free weekends before 6 p.m. For exhibit information, call (408) 808-2397.
A duplicate set of images is on display at the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland. Visit the following site for resources to develop your own space exploration programming: http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/iya/.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Lorraine Oback
San Jose Public Library
The San Jose Public Library is an Institutional Member of CLA and directly supports our advocacy programs. Click here for more information on Institutional Membership.
Posted by claadmin at 9:47 AM
Dropping in at the Library - The New Community
The other day, while working at my West Los Angeles area library, I noticed an unattended backpack on a table. Given that unattended bags are a no-no under most circumstances, and in this era of watchful terrorist activities in particular, I summoned one of the library's security guards, who took the bag away and stored it righteously in the Lost & Found room downstairs. It was only a few moments later when the owner of the bag, a seemingly unbalanced gentleman, in stained blue jeans, a torn hoody, and sunglasses, returned to his former table and started roaring that we had stolen his bag.
I attempted to approach the gentleman to mollify him, and to tell him that his bag was safely stowed in the Lost and Found, but he went right off on me, yelling and howling and calling me a variety of vituperative names that would shame my mother. I backed up on my heels, never turning my back on the patron, and attempted to inch my way to my desk, where the library's security guard panic button was kept.
The gentleman advanced upon me, blood and vengeance in his eyes and intentions - but then another patron rushed forward and tackled the first man. This second man was not dissimilar from the first: He was balding, with dirty blue jeans and a torn denim jacket. The two men rolled around on the floor, punching and hitting and biting. They picked themselves up and flung themselves at each other again, rolling onto a computer table and hitting the terminal, which fell over sideways with a crunch. Patron sitting at the Public Access Stations nearby leapt out of the way to preserve their skins.
Finally, the library's security guards showed up, pulled the men apart and dragged them off and away. Alas, it turned out subsequently that no charges could be pressed against neither man, as both of them were drunk and were in no condition to testify against each other. They were escorted to separate doors of the library, sent off, and ordered not to return - for 24 hours, which is the library's maximum banishment punishment (without a court order).
Now, I must confess in the spirit of disclosure that I am not actually a librarian - at the moment, I'm just one of the legions of paraprofessionals who work part time in a library, supporting the facility and the staff. And I am more than willing to entertain the notion that many other ways probably exist of defusing what was essentially an escalating situation than running for the panic button and pressing it.
However, I'm also actively obtaining my MLS at the new cohort programs offered by the University of North Texas on the campus of Cal State University Northridge. And, in none of my classes, can I recall being offered courses on how to deal with the predations and dangers of that comparatively small area of the general public that is utterly unhinged. This is not meant to be a criticism of my school in particular - I would venture to say that I am getting a fine education in library studies as part of my program. Yet, one can't help but notice that, as many of the definitions of what the place we call a library means to the public changes, many of the attempts to keep us relevant need to change as well.
Keeping relevant in terms of technology is not the question: I have seen much commendable analysis about how libraries to be atop the technological curve in order to survive. But there are other ways that the library has to remain relevant, as well
The other day, I was riding the Santa Monica Blvd bus in Los Angeles, and I found myself seated across from several itinerant teenage travelers - Street Kids, we would have called them back in the day. Caparisoned in Mohawks of many gaily decorated colors, with enough nose rings and eyebrow studs to cause an airport security detector to melt down in alarms and cries, the young hoboes were on their way to Hollywood to Hang Out. Even if one doesn't desire such a thing, it is impossible not to eavesdrop on a private conversation that takes place no more than six inches in front of your nose, and so I found myself accidentally treated to a run down of the daily life of the group of Street Kids, as they bivouacked their way from Portland to San Diego, with stops for booze and weed at all the various high spots up and down the coast.
"So, that place is great," one of the kids gushed, his tongue ring clanking noisily against his chipped front teeth. "They have comfortable chairs and a lot of computers, so you can go there and hang out and play whatever music you want to put on the Internet and whatever. They even show a movie once a day, for free, and you can just go there and watch it and take a nap! There's stuff to read and advice on where to get free food and condoms and stuff. It's great!"
Now, forgive me, but I totally figured that the kids were talking about my own library, which has many of those same services - the movies and the free Internet, anyway, though the naps and condoms are generally forbidden. But, it turns out that the kids were actually talking about a "drop in" center somewhere in Hollywood which catered to the needs of the homeless and the transient. Here's the thing, though. The kids might just as easily have been talking about my library - and yours as well, I venture.
You see, we are watching as libraries shift from being repositories of books to being community centers. And, we are witnessing an era in which that there is becoming a synthesis, not just of technology, with librarians being able to check out E-books and patrons discovering they can download audiobooks to their Iphones, but also of purpose. The line between the library facility being a book repository to being a Drop In Center is becoming thinner and thinner. And one can't help but think that it would behoove our training to reflect that. Not only should we learn how to perform an adequate Reference Interview, we also need to intern at a suicide hotline or work for a week or two behind the counter of a homeless shelter.
This next generation of librarian really needs to be far more than an expert in using Ebsco and Proquest and the Directory of Directories - we need to know how to forward someone to the nearest homeless shelter, or how to recognize schizophrenia, or how to exercise reflective listening for the troubled. Perhaps, in addition to courses in the high tech innovations in the world of Metadata Harvesting, we also need classes in how to deal specifically with the homeless or with the mentally ill or with the congenitally enraged because that is one of the library's purposes, too, as it turns out.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Paul Birchall
CLA Student Member
Cal State Northridge SLIS '11
Posted by claadmin at 9:45 AM
IMLS Western Regional Fellowship
Transforming Life After 50 - Fellowship Opportunity for Public Library Staff
The California State Library, Idaho Commission for Libraries, Oregon State Library, and Washington State Library are pleased to announce a year-long Fellowship opportunity funded by a grant from the U.S. Institute for Museum and Library Services, Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program.
This year-long Fellowship will provide continuing education scholarships for selected public library staff and professionals who wish to advance their library and information science skills related to improving services to and engagement with active, older adults. Up to 100 qualified applicants from California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington will be selected to participate. Fellows will be introduced to a new framework for serving and engaging adults ages 50+ that both promotes productive aging and establishes libraries as centers of lifelong learning and civic engagement.
For more information about this Fellowship and for the link to the online application, go to: http://transforminglifeafter50.org/innovators/imls-fellowship.
The Fellowship will run from July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011. Deadline for submission, including a Letter of Library Commitment from your current Library Director, is April 2, 2010. Selection of Fellows will be announced June 1, 2010.
If you have additional questions, please don't hesitate to contact either Suzanne Flint at 916-651-9796 OR Stephen Ristau, Fellowship Coordinator, at 503-281-4305.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Suzanne Flint
California State Library
Posted by claadmin at 8:43 AM
The Infinite Fragility of Being
"What's my email?" asked an elderly gentleman using one of the library's public computers.
"AOL," I replied, not missing a beat.
Not that I have added reading the subconscious mind to my reference skills - I just remember that fact because the last time he had asked the same question was when he had a seizure while waiting for me to get off the phone.
Bet that got your attention. It sure got mine.
Well, to clarify, I had picked up the phone for a customer who had been waiting while I helped a child find some books and then look up the Accelerated Reader points, while the gentleman (I'll call him Henry, not his real name) quavered "Miss..?" (I'll be with you as soon as I finish helping this customer.) "Miss, I need some help..." (I'll be with you in a few minutes.) "Miss, I'm having a seizure."
To customer on phone: I'm sorry, I have an emergency here, may I ask you to hold or call you back?
To Henry: Do you want me to call an ambulance?
Henry: No, it's just my hands. I just can't type this in.
So I sat down beside him and typed in his change of address form for the USPS. That went fine until we got to the blank for his email address, which he couldn't remember. Fortunately, it was just the provider he had forgotten, so I tried;
Hotmail?
No.
Yahoo?
No.
AOL?
Yes, yes, that's it! Let's do my wife's form now!
Ah, the wages of success.
After it all, he assured me he was able to drive home safely and tottered out the door with his walker.
What I took home from that encounter: Remember how fragile people are, even, or especially, when they are ganging up on the reference desk.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Eve Nyren
CLA Member
Posted by claadmin at 8:41 AM
Revamping the Community Reads Programming Model
Back in 1998, Librarian powerhouse, Nancy Pearl, began Seattle's "If All of Seattle Read the Same Book" with the book The Sweet Hereafter. At that point in time, this was an innovative programming idea and it made a huge splash in the Library world. Since then, the concept of an entire community reading the same book has taken hold across the nation.
Today, if you were to search the Internet for "community reads" one would retrieve thousands of relevant websites. There is enough information floating out there from various sources for someone to plan a program from start to finish with insider tips and tricks. Communities, Librarians, authors and publishers love it.
Well, mostly adult folks love it. Most communities focus on one book-hence the concept of a Community Reads, but in doing so neglect to reach other readers (or even non-readers). In 2008 my library, the Alameda Free Library, jumped on the bandwagon, though we changed the concept a little bit. Our program was named, "Across the Pages: an Alameda Community Reads Event." The goal was to truly make it a community event. We featured both an adult and a children's title: Bee Season by Myra Goldberg and The View from Saturday by E. L. Konigsburg. These books had similar themes and thus, crossover programming potential. I'd like to say that the program was a success, for not only were we able to reach a terrific adult population, but we also included our other, younger, population as well. (This other population, as I'm sure most of you are aware, constitutes over 60% of circulation in most, if not all, public libraries.)
Not satisfied with that success, we tried something else. Frankly, we needed something that would cost us less money than purchasing hundreds of the same title to fulfill our community's reading needs. What did we do? We went with a theme! Summer Reading Programs do it, why not implement a Community Reads with the same idea? Mystery at the Library, the Alameda Community Reads Program for 2009 was born. We were able to get several great mystery authors in, thanks to the Sisters in Crime group. We worked with our local Police Department, showed films for all ages, hosted book discussion groups, held several Mystery in a Box programs for kids and teens, and even hosted a fundraising Murder Mystery program. I'd have to say, the program was certainly a success, everyone sure got into the theme. We were able to include the entire community, all ages and most importantly, all reading levels.
In 2010 we're at it again. This time, we're focusing on Speculative Fiction. With a theme this broad, we're sure to have record participation. Our programs will run the gamut from a history of the Horror fiction genre to (hopefully) an appearance by the volunteer organization, the 501st Legion: Vader's Fist (check them out, http://501st.com, if they do come, I'm sure it'll draw a huge crowd!) We're also planning a scavenger hunt for all ages, movies for all ages, and an author visit or two to keep things interesting for our community.
It's fun to take a 'classic' program like a Community Reads and mix it up a little. Who knows what will be next, perhaps a Twitter/Facebook mashup program!
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Annemarie Meyer
Alameda Free Library
Posted by claadmin at 8:39 AM
Riverside County Library Hosts 2010 Arbuthnot Lecture
The Riverside County Library System, in cooperation with the University of California Riverside, will host the 2010 May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture featuring Kathleen T. Horning, a nationally known expert on children's literature and director of the Cooperative Children's Book Center at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Ms. Horning is well known to librarians and children's book experts as a very interesting a highly engaging speaker. "KT," as she is known to her many friends and admirers, is also the author of Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reviewing Children's Books. Her lecture will be titled "Can Children's Books Save the World?"
The lecture will be held on Thursday, May 13, at 7 p.m. at the Extension Center at 1200 University Avenue, adjacent to the UCR campus in Riverside.
The Arbuthnot Lecture is an annual event sponsored by the Association of Library Services to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association. Each year ALSC selects one library in the United States to host the event. Since its inception in 1970, the Arbuthnot lecture has only been hosted in California four times previously and never in the Inland area.
Ms. Horning is one of the most important voices in the area of library services to children and the advocacy of children's reading in the United States. In addition to her book, Cover to Cover, Ms. Horning also publishes the annual CCBC Choices bibliography, an annotated best-of-the-year list that many libraries use as a core collection development tool. She also serves on the United States Board on Books for Young People and is the recipient of the 2009 Scholastic Library Publishing Award from the American Library Association, sponsored by Scholastic Library Publishing.
While in the Riverside area, Ms. Horning will also visit libraries and meet with informally with area librarians.
Anyone who is interested in children's literature, libraries, education or early childhood development, will find this lecture very interesting and rewarding. Registration for the lecture will open online March 1, 2010.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Mark Smith
Riverside County Library System
CLA Board Member
The Riverside County Library System is an Institutional Member of CLA and directly supports our advocacy programs. Click here for more information on Institutional Membership.
Posted by claadmin at 8:38 AM
Why I'm A Librarian
I was asked why I want to become a librarian. After considerable thought, here is my response:
My father, who is now 93 years old, was and still is an avid reader. We did not agree on almost everything throughout my life-however there is a prevalent commonality between us. I spent many a day walking to the public library with him to pick out books (it was around the corner from our home) when I was a child. Everything could be discovered there-all the answers to my questions, all the information I wanted to know, all the fantasies that I could experience though my mind, all the places I wanted to visit were in books-and they all could be found in the library. I even bought a house across from this same library and live in it today. Upon sincere reflection I can honestly say that the library was one of the most honest, comfortable and sincere shared experiences I have ever had with my father.
I still do not see eye to eye with my father but we both still love the public library and its books. I hope to help others find the joy of the library experience by becoming a librarian and opening the world of information and books available to all - to expand their knowledge and hence their world as was done in my own life. Hopefully by taking this action I will also learn and grow and perhaps be as astute as my own father when I get to 93 years old.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Colette Chaffee
MLIS Student
Posted by claadmin at 8:37 AM
Youth Enjoy Digital Arts Lab
On November 11, 2007, Salinas Public Library Director Elizabeth Martinez introduced the idea of a Digital Arts Lab (DAL) to the Salinas City Council, as a place for youth to build their interest in graphic and digital arts toward a potential career. With financial support from the Rally Salinas Fund, and an Irvine Foundation award of $25,000 to purchase computers and equipment for the lab, the DAL opened in September 2008, and has grown in popularity and dramatically increased digital arts and literacy skills of the community.
DAL projects have ranged from introductory courses and hands on Learn and Play Demos led by community volunteers, California State Monterey Bay Service Learning Students and staff. Visitors to the DAL have free and unrestricted access to four Apple computers, two Apple notebooks, and an Apple Mac Pro. Each computer has the entire Design Premium Adobe Creative Suite, Apple iLife, and Final Cut studio software to explore. Programming and hands on courses have introduced patrons to editing and uploading their own digital photographs with Adobe's Photoshop CS3 and Flickr, creating musical scores and mash ups using Garageband, as well as introductory web design and search engine optimization seminars.
The DAL has attracted a variety of guests from area teens editing skateboarding films, to local fishermen creating video advertisements to be aired on local television. Everyone from Senior Citizens to young children can be found uploading music to their ipods using Apple's itunes, and both adults and children enjoy taking, editing, and uploading photographs from embedded webcams in each DAL computer.
Along with the endless software and digital art capabilities the DAL houses the equipment for the U Name It Teen Lounge which sits outside its glass doors. Featuring both a Nintendo Wii Xbox360Elite, the library features a variety of games daily, and hosts in house tournaments in partnership with the local gameshop, Gamecrazy. Recognizing the differences in skills level and taste, each tournament offers prizes and tips for all participants regardless of their abilities. Rockband and Guitar Hero tournaments bring together young adults as teams, and the physical demands of Wii sports get teens from across the community up and moving to the library.
For more information on the Salinas Public Library's Digital Arts Lab you can visit their online blog at www.digitalartslab.blogspot.com. Along with information regarding scheduling and programming you can also view online tutorials developed and created by Salinas Public Library Staff and volunteers. See also www.salinaspubliclibrary.org
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Carissa Purnell
Salinas Public Library
The Salinas Public Library is an Institutional Member of CLA and directly supports our advocacy programs. Click here for more information on Institutional Membership.
Posted by claadmin at 8:36 AM
November 25, 2009
President's Column
Hello California Library Association members!
As your President for 2009/10, I've had an eventful three weeks since the gavel was passed at Conference. From the unfortunate rupture with San Jose State University to the shocking closure of the City of Colton's libraries in Southern California to the successful recruitment of a strong and experienced Executive Director for CLA to the physical relocation of CLA's offices and transition to a new management structure - whew!
Thankfully, each of these adventures has been met with offers of help, great teamwork, problem-solving, kindness and goodwill. I am grateful to be working with so many others of talent and commitment across the state (and the country) to serve California communities, support California libraries, renew and revitalize CLA.
For those who were not able to attend the 111th Annual CLA Conference at Pasadena on November 1, I wanted to share an abbreviated version of my introduction of myself and my hopes for CLA the next year:
These are unprecedented times - for our communities, our libraries across the state, and for the California Library Association. We need to act creatively and realistically, envision a future beyond current limitations, and build toward that future. I applaud Past President Barbara Roberts, the Board and CLA staff for doing all of this during the past year.
Many of you may not know me. My name is Kim Ly Bui-Burton. I am the child of a first generation immigrant, and I share this heritage, and this poem I wrote for my father, with many of us living in California.
My Father's Pho
The broth is always steaming when I arrive;
oxtail-scented mist,
the way the morning began in his childhood,
fog rising off the Mekong,
the soup-vendor's cart close behind.
Pale half moons of onion - "oignon" -
that word the French forced on his tongue.
Ordered piles of beef:
"meat is a seasoning, not a meal."
Coriander's leafy green.
He remembers the colors steeping the hills,
add rice sticks, bleached as the stalks
harvested after American rain.
White ao dai, white bones.
The noodles curl thick in the pot.
All this my father gives me:
memory's meat; the salt of nuoc mam
and grief, heat of soup, his lost life.
He finishes with the sweetness of lime.
The first bowl is mine. I will eat.
I'm the Director at Monterey Public Library - the same library where I worked my first job - as a Page - when I was 16. As California's first Vietnamese-American Library Director (but not the last) giving back to CLA has long been something I've wanted to do.
Sixteen years ago, CLA took a chance on the future of a first-year San Jose State graduate student/single mom - me - by selecting me as a recipient of the Scholarship for Minority Students in Memory of Edna Yelland. That financial and professional support changed my life, as did the friendships and professional growth that CLA Conferences and activities have fostered and sustained. I am honored and humbled to be here.
And where is here? For CLA, this past year, and these past few weeks, has been one of challenge and change. In keeping with Past President Barbara Roberts' goals from last year, my focus is to continue the revitalization of CLA by:
- completing its infrastructure work
- expanding our relationships with other library organizations and stakeholders
- improving our value and usefulness to all of you - and your institutions and communities
- demonstrating respect, integrity, clarity and transparency in everything we say and do
When I think about library staff and library supporters across the state, I imagine that we live in the same world - communities struggling to survive difficult times; physical libraries as essential and poorly funded community anchors whether in cities, towns, rural areas, tribal lands, universities, community colleges, schools or businesses; residents young and old embracing and demanding technologies for productivity, creativity and connection; growing needs and shrinking resources.
But I can't be sure of that until I ask you - what are you facing? What do your communities need? What solutions have you found? What can your Library Association provide to transcend this difficult time?
With the help of the new Board you have elected to represent you in the year ahead, CLA's new Executive Director and increased CLA staff through our contract association management firm ARC, these questions will be asked - and answered - in the coming year.
We will invite our statewide library partners - including the State Library, InfoPeople, Califa, CALTAC, schools of library and information science, other library associations and more - to meet with the Board and myself to talk and think about how we will work more closely together.
We will reach out to all of you - professionals and paraprofessionals, community volunteers, new and seasoned CLA members, committees, interest groups and allies - so that your voices are heard in CLA's strategic planning process. The plan that we create - together - will set the course for CLA for the future.
As California libraries and California library supporters, we must act together. Our missions and populations may be different and diverse, yet they are overlapping. These differences cannot, must not, divide us.
Our strength comes from our diversity, our commitment to shared values, literacy and lifelong learning, our history, our dedication, our passion. I ask each of you to bring your whole self to the table for CLA as we join together to shape our future. Together, we will Navigate the New!
Kim Bui-Burton
CLA President
Posted by claadmin at 9:30 AM
CLA joins the Association Resource Center
On December 1st, 2009, the California Library Association officially entered into contract with the Association Resource Center (ARC) in Folsom, CA.
The Association Resource Center (www.4arc.com) specializes in association conference planning, management, and providing operational resources to the businesses it serves. Utilizing ARC's resources, CLA will be able to accelerate its revitalizion as an association, thanks in part to ARC's talented staff, wealth of knowledge pooled from multiple associations under contract as well as nearly 30 years of association management experience.
Utilizing this "economies of scale" model, CLA staff will be able to shift their focus onto forward-thinking tasks that will go to better serve CLA members and the library community at large. Additionally, staff will be able to collaborate with experts in a wide array of associations that are housed within ARC's offices. With these benefits at hand, we as staff are excited to enter this new partnership.
As such, the California Library Association has a new address, telephone, and fax number:
California Library Association
950 Glenn Drive, Suite 150
Folsom, CA 95630
Phone: 916.233.3298
Fax: 916.932.2209
Along with CLA's transition within ARC, the Association has added three new staff members:
Gretel MacLeod
Membership Services Associate
gretelm@cla-net.org
Dawn Wood
Staff Accountant
dawnw@cla-net.org
Kevin Kilkenny
Legislative Analyst
kevink@cla-net.org
CLA's new staff will collaborate with newly-appointed Executive Director, Holly Macriss, as well as Meetings & Conference Director, Stephen Hamilton, and Membership, Marketing & Communications Director, Richard Berta.
We look forward to serving you, our members, in the coming year.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Richard Berta
CLA Membership, Marketing, & Communications Director
Updated February 5th, 2010
Posted by claadmin at 9:28 AM
Your New Leadership Development Committee
We are now firmly operating under the new CLA bylaws that took effect in July of this year. Those bylaws established a brand new standing committee called the Leadership Development Committee to be chaired each year by the Immediate Past President. The committee members have staggered 3 year terms. When this committee was conceived, the idea was to have an internal CLA mechanism to identify and grow members for leadership roles in CLA so that candidates for election will be selected for skill sets rather than "popularity" and name recognition alone. This committee also serves as the nominations committee for CLA elections.
The Committee met for the first time at conference. Members to the committee are appointed by the sitting President, so I appointed this group while still President and will chair this committee for one year as Immediate Past President. I wanted the group to be representative of current leaders, up and coming leaders, and diversity in library and skills. As such, I am proud to introduce to you your very first Leadership Development Committee members:
Stacey Aldrich - State Librarian
Keri Botello - UCLA
Wayne Disher - Director, Hemet Public Library
Carey Gross - Literacy Coordinator, Butte County Library
Sandy Vella - UC Davis
Rosario Garza - CEO of SCLC
Gail McPartland - Deputy Director, Contra Costa County Library
Cheryl Gould - Consultant and trainer for Infopeople
Rivkah Sass - Director, Sacramento Public Library
Members have chosen staggered terms of 1-3 years so there will be vacancies each year for the next CLA President to fill. We all owe these talented individuals our thanks for taking on the "birth" of this committee. I feel very lucky to be working with them this year.
At our first meeting we established our overarching value as inclusiveness. We want to reach deep into the membership and identify members with the skills and interest to work in the governance of our organization. We will be looking for future CLA leaders who are ADROIT:
- Accessible
- Diverse
- Refreshed
- Open
- Inspirational
- Transparent
We established a timeline for elections next year, will be working on a message to be sent to the membership seeking those interested in working with CLA, and will be working on a "curriculum" for Board of Directors training. There has never been a formal Board training program, and speaking from experience, we very much need one.
In the future the committee may discuss and recommend campaign guidelines so everyone running for office has the opportunity to introduce themselves fully to the voting members.
Our next meetings will be virtual and start in the new year. This new committee has an important charge and we hope that as its first members we will set the stage for a very successful CLA leadership succession and election process for the future.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Barbara Roberts
CLA Immediate Past President
Posted by claadmin at 9:25 AM
The Gift Horse
Last week I received a free Sony ebook reader including a cd-rom "library" as a raffle prize from the 2009 ALA Conference.
At American Library Association Conferences there is always a huge exhibits area and many vendors there have various raffles and giveaways. I routinely let them swipe my exhibits card and then forget about it. After all, the chance of winning anything is pretty small. But this time I did win and was quite staggered by the generosity of the prize.
In a press release dated August 25, 2009, Sony announced "starting today, Sony's Library Finder application will go live. Library Finder offers visitors to the eBook Store by Sony easy access to their local library's collection of eBooks. Thousands of libraries offer eBooks optimized for the Sony Reader, and visitors can now find these libraries by typing their zip code into the Library Finder. Through the selected library's download website, visitors can check out eBooks with a valid library card, download them to a PC and transfer to their Reader."
The ebook I received was of the previous model that does not claim any access to library collections and now it did not seem as generous a prize as at first blush. Nevertheless, I was grateful and ready to get the hang of the device. "Never look a gift horse in the mouth," as the saying goes.
The reader software could not be installed on my work computer without disabling the virus protection software and even if I knew how to do that, I probably shouldn't. I brought it home and asked my ex-systems-analyst husband to install the software on our computer. Then I accessed it and was disappointed to see no books in the "library". I would have to buy ebooks to populate it. There were a few books preloaded onto the device, but I had recently read the only ones of interest to me.
I can report the reader is easy to use once an accessible ebook is chosen. The size of the print can be changed and it is easy to advance, go backward or search for a particular page. It is comfortable to hold. But I still prefer the kind of books you don't have to install, and can borrow for free from a library.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Eve Alison Nyren
Manager
Rocklin Library, Placer County Library
Posted by claadmin at 9:20 AM
Writer-to-Writer Challenge, Part II
What is the Writer-to-Writer Challenge? Adult literacy learners of the California Library Literacy Services are invited to read a book, any book. It can be fiction or non-fiction, written at any level, and can be a book-on-tape. They then write a letter to the author describing how the book changed their lives.
This year 188 adult learners entered the Challenge from 43 library literacy programs all over California. Their letters, based on their writing skill levels, were divided into four categories: Emerging, Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced. There are two rounds of judging: In the first round a panel of librarians and literacy specialists carefully selected the finalists in each category. In the second round, groups of learners reviewed the finalists' letters and picked the winner and runners-up in each category.
The letters of the winners will appear as a Four-part Series, continuing part two with this E-newsletter with a letter from Intermediate winner Larry Evans:
Larry Evans
Palmdale City Library
Dear Mr. Poitier:
My name is Larry Evans and it was at the age of fifty-one that I learned how to read. Your book was the first book I ever read from cover to cover. Thank you for the inspiration I received from reading The Measure of a Man. My comments will start with you growing up in the Bahamas. Being blessed with weather so warm and beautiful all year round to enjoy - what a life! That lifestyle would only be a dream for me. The closest thing I had to living on an island was an old television show called Gilligan's Island.
My hometown was somewhat like yours; we also carried water to drink and had to use an outhouse. It is easy for a country boy like me to relate to your life style as a boy. As I read your book about how you faced racism at a very young age, it made me think that racism is maybe part of the reason why it took me fifty-one years to read the English Language.
When you lived on Cat Island, there were only two Caucasians there and you were never introduced to the color of your skin; being told that you were not equal to whites after you moved to Nassau had to make you look at the world in a different way. As I read further you showed more pride and dignity in your book. Miami, Florida, is where you faced the common reality of America's racism; for example when the police forced you to walk down the street with a gun pointed at your back and said if you looked around, you would be shot. I could feel your frustration and hurt as you walked without looking around.
Leaving Florida was a good idea. But facing the mean streets of New York City, not to mention old man winter, was a harsh reality. When you joined the United States Army, it seemed like the right thing to do in order to escape New York's cold, cold winters. A lot of people would understand why a black man in the United States Army could not put up with racism in the 1950s and 60's. Returning to New York you started over.
The book especially held my attention when I read about how you learned how to read. You did this by reading the newspaper and with the help of a friend while you worked as a dishwasher in a restaurant. I continue to read with inspiration after you made your mind-up to become an actor and you became an excellent one. After I read your book, I sat back and thought of how much courage, strength and dignity you displayed throughout your life in all you did. My favorite part was reading how you refused to turn your back on your friends. Your book is my inspiration. Today I can read!
Sincerely,
Larry Evans
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Alan Archer
President, CLA Literacy Interest Group
Posted by claadmin at 9:20 AM
Librarians are Information Specialists
Librarians are information specialists, gatherers and keepers of knowledge. They help us hunt the information we need using their experience in a wide variety of ways and means. They understand the organization of information and are here to help you locate just what you need.
But not all librarians are in the local library you normally think of. Librarian means so much more today and the job of librarian is varied and sometimes extremely specialized.
Medical or Hospital Librarian - When your doctor needs information on a new technique or drug he uses specialized medical librarians that do the research for him or her. These librarians spend a lot of time reading medical journals and getting the information for the doctor to make an informed decision.
Corporate Librarian - These librarians keep all documentation and information organized for employees to access. When Disney's Imagineers need information on roller coasters or older Disney films for reference they go to their in house library and archives. Companies that use catalogues need them organized and data entered so products and information can be found when requested.
Specialized Librarian - Many animation facilities keep a library of art, scripts and drawings. These librarians need skills in the handling and storage of valuable and fragile artwork. Most have a background in film studies with emphasis on animation. Since many images are captured electronically experience with Photoshop is sometimes required.
The Getty and many museums use photo librarians to organize and identify photos of art in their collection. In a natural history museum there are collections of study bones, skins and artifacts that need cataloguing and organization. Archiving is another facet of being a librarian that is needed in museums and companies. Magazines like "People" have thousands of celebrity photos archived and must have them available when needed.
Film and Tape libraries are housed in broadcast facilities that need to be handled by people trained to handle film and deal with tape and its many formats.
Find what you love and do what you love is a saying I like to use. I think as a new Library Science student I will love being a librarian and I will love doing a librarians work at a facility in a field I love. Sometimes we need a little nudge to see the possibilities and the different opportunities to use a library degree for a career in a field you enjoy.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Lisa Reinert
MLIS Student & CLA Member
Posted by claadmin at 9:15 AM
SoCal CALA Chapter Welcomes Visiting Chinese Library Directors
After more than six months countless planning, arrangements, communication and coordination with major libraries in Southern California, the Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA) Southern California Chapter (CALA-SCA) IMLS Hosting Committee members: Sally C. Tseng (CALA Honorary Executive Director), Maggie Wang (CALA-SCA Past President) and Ying Xu (CALA-SCA Past President) welcome two visiting Chinese library directors: Ms. Jizhen Song of Chongqing Children's Library and Dr. Shuiqiao Wang of Yunnan Provincial Library to the Southern California. This Visiting Program was part of the "Think Globally, Act Globally" Project funded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS). We accompanied Ms. Song and Dr. Wang to visit six libraries with notable collections and exemplary services from July 14 to 18, 2009. They are: the County of Los Angeles Public Library (CoLAPL), Lawndale Library, Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL), LAPL Chinatown Branch, the Cerritos Library, and the Monterey Park Bruggemeyer Library.
CALA is a partner of this 2009 IMLS Grant Project. As a Chapter, we want to do our best to ensure these events were successful and Ms. Song and Dr. Wang received rich information resources, as well as had opportunities to introduce Chinese libraries to American colleagues.
Visiting highlights included:
- Ms. Song and Dr. Wang visited, observed and received first-hand information on library operations and services of major public libraries in Los Angeles area that are serving diverse communities.
- We met with library directors, managers, and department heads to discuss their roles and responsibilities -- shared information of each library’s administration, management, organization, policies, staff hiring and evaluation procedures, services, technologies applications, and together with their unique library architectures, and many more. There were discussions among Ms. Song, Dr. Wang and library directors and those presented.
- Each library was very thoughtful to provide a very informative guided tour, to look at the uniqueness of their notable collections, services, online catalogs and databases, and to observe the use of these public libraries. We were especially honored that directors from several libraries personally provided the guided tours during their busy schedules. Their warm welcome and hospitalities were deeply appreciated.
- We were invited to attend the Board of Library Commissioners Meeting at the Los Angeles Public Library. The Library Board is a new concept to the Chinese library directors. Ms. Song and Dr. Wang were very interested in this library management structure and they told us that they would bring this structure back to China.
- Ms. Song and Dr. Wang were invited to speak at the LAPL Thursdays@Central program and at the County of Los Angeles Public Library Headquarters on July 16 and 17 respectively. Sally Tseng worked very hard to prepare PowerPoint presentations for them. These presentations include introductions to Chinese libraries, public libraries, their administration, management, organizations, collections, statistics, services, rules and regulations, the National Cultural Information Resources Sharing Project, assessment of public libraries, the Chongqing Library, and theYunnan Provincial Library, etc. The presentations were very well received. The audiences were deeply impressed by the library buildings, organizations, services, assessment and evaluation systems, and projects of the Chinese public libraries. These presentations provided great opportunities to exchange information about library operations between China and the United States.
- Considering the limited time in visiting these large libraries for Ms. Song and Dr. Wang had each library was very kind to prepare package of handouts, CDs, and other items on library services for them so they could bring back to China. We sincerely appreciate the generosities of the above libraries for sharing their most informative, useful and invaluable resources with the visitors.
- In addition to the resourceful handouts, we were especially impressed by the department heads at the County of Los Angeles Public Library system for their well prepared PowerPoint presentations on their services of Children and Youth, Emergent Literacy, Teen and Young Adults, and Teens Services. They were very generous to let us downloaded their PowerPoint presentations for Ms. Song and Dr. Wang.
- Ms. Song and Dr. Wang were very impressed with these library systems, histories, beautiful architectures, interior designs and displays, their general and special collections, facilities, public and technical services, their strong commitments to excellence in users services, implementation of innovative programs to serve children, teens and adults as well as the library directors’ leadership in staff development, training and advancement. They told us that they greatly enjoyed the visits and learned much from each library which will be very helpful to their work. They will take the information and the valuable handouts back to China to share with their colleagues. They stated that libraries in China will be greatly benefited with what they had learned from these libraries. At the end of the tour, Ms. Song and Dr. Wang expressed their sincere appreciation toward all the libraries, the library directors and their staff participated in this IMLS Chinese Library Directors Visiting Program. They also expressed their heartfelt appreciation to the CALA-SCA Hosting Committee.
- The visit was exceptionally informative, productive and successful – exceeded our expectation! We are inspired by each library’s effective and quality services for the diverse community. We see good results for our hard work and Ms. Song and Dr. Wang had a great experience.
Acknowledgements:
First of all, CALA-SCA would like to thank IMLS for granting this Project. We sincerely appreciate all the library directors, administrators, department heads, library managers and staff for arranging and organizing very informative meetings, discussions, guided tours, warm welcome and hospitality. We thank them for their enthusiastic support in hosting these visits, for their well planned schedules, efficiency, effectiveness and leadership in making these fruitful and successful visits! We would like to especially thank all IMLS Grant partners who had worked very hard to contribute to the success of these visits. Special thanks to the leaders at the China Ministry of Culture, the Library Society of China, the Chinese American Librarians Association, the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and to Dr. Shuyong Jiang, Haipeng Li, and Dr. ShaLi Zhang for their able assistance.
We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to Don Buckley, Anne Connor, Martin Gomez, Robert Seal, Margaret Donnellan Todd, Helen Tsai, Sally Tseng, Kuang Pei Tu, Maggie Wang, Ying Xu for their thoughtful arrangements, coordination, and preparing handouts for us; to Debbie Anderson, Pam Broussard, Tina Carwile, Barbara Custen, Dan Golden, Dora Ho, Fred Hungerford, Terri Maguire, Melissa McCollum, David Mill, Jocelyn Mullen, Sophia Wang, Beth Wilson, and other colleagues at these 6 libraries, for the part they played in making these visits so successful. I would like to thank Jeanny Chan, Julia Chang, Wenwen Zhang for their excellent translations of the conversation into Chinese for our visitors which greatly enhanced their understanding of the discussions. All the above colleagues had worked very hard to contribute to the success of these visits and had done Great Jobs! Thank you very much!
L to R: Beth Wilson, Robert Seal, Sally Tseng, Margaret Donnellan Todd (County Librarian) County of Los Angeles Public Library), Shuiqiao Wang, Jizhen Song, Melissa McCollum, and Wenwen Zhang
L to R: Jeanny Chan, Jizhen Song, Shuiqiao Wang, Don Buckley (Cerritos City Librarian) Shuiqiao Wang, Sally Tseng, and Ying Xu.
L to R: Anne Connor (Director of the Los Angeles Central Library), Jizhen Song, Martin Gomez (Los Angeles City Librarian) Shuiqiao Wang, and Sally Tseng
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Sally C. Tseng
Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA)
CALA Honorary Executive Director
Posted by claadmin at 9:10 AM
Using Project Management to Relocate Your Library
Moving a Library is a daunting task. It can be even more daunting when you are the person who is responsible for moving all the technology from one location to another.
When the Anaheim Public Library secured capital improvement funding to do an ADA retrofit of the Central Library, it fell to me to create a plan for moving the technology for Adult and Teen Services to a temporary home while expanding the Children's services in an area that would remain in place and open during the renovation. Trying to implement some of the skills I learned from my various project management courses I started putting together my project plan. I created a template that I compiled from text book examples, course outlines and other webcasts. I start with a header that appears at the top of each page with the project title. The first line of the first page contains the project start and end dates. This is when the work is to be done. Then I write the project objectives. For some this is sufficient for the project charter which would then receive management approval. I already have been given direction to proceed so I go next into the work breakdown structure.
After that we get into the main body of the document and the fun really begins. I use a work breakdown structure in an outline format that shows all the tasks that need to get done. In this case I start with relocating a network switch from the Central Library to the temporary building and assign it to the City Networking team. I brought them into the planning process early so we make sure that everyone is aboard. Here is an example of the how this outline might look:
1. Install networking hardware in the building
a. Contractor to terminate fiber connecting the building to the city network.
b. City Networking Team to test cable runs to verify existing cables will carry data
c. City Networking Team to remove Central Library Network switch from the basement and move it to the Temporary Building.
d. Run patch cords from existing patch panel to the Network Switch
The next part of the document addressed relocation of public computers to the temporary building. Now we involved City's Facility Maintenance to ensure we had sufficient electrical capacity to meet our needs. After that the staff computers, and where they were going.
I also wanted to enlist as much help as I could in relocating equipment. The company that is responsible for maintaining the public copy machines was asked to help move that equipment. But moving the security detection system was a bigger hurdle. 3M technician time was a billable expense.
That brings me to the next section of the document: the issues list. Here is where I list out any and all potential problems and concerns that need to be addressed. Sometimes these were technical issues: i.e."Old security gate must be three feet from metal objects. Also, magnetic field will interfere with computers operations for computers within eight feet." Other items were notes to management regarding cost and needs for billing information. Then there were matters that affected the public: i.e. no wireless access planned for the temporary site. The point here is to get all potential problems and concerns on paper so everyone could have input on them.
This brings me to the list of responsibilities. The next part of the document is a table which outlines who is responsible for what and their contact information.
Now this can be as extensive or short as you need it to be. You can put in your entire list of stakeholders if you want to. However, the Project Management definition of a stakeholder is "anybody who perceives they might be affected by the project." That can be a lengthy list, so you might want to limit it to critical stakeholders: those who can actually kill or withhold funding from the project.
In my case I did not need to go that route. I just needed a list of contacts that were responsible for the work and funding the work. So I included my City Networking Team lead, library staff coordinating the move to the new building, the dispatchers for 3M and other third party agents who were responsible for moving their equipment, telephone people and the City Librarian.
The final section is a comments section. This is supposed to be an open space where anyone can say anything about the upcoming project. However, in the three projects I have used this template, nobody has ever written anything in. I have had several discussions with various stakeholders that resulted in alterations to the main body of the document, but not in the comments section.
So that was the planning part of the project and then the work got done. I am in the habit of marking completion dates on this document.
Finally, everything on the list gets done. But then new issues that had not been anticipated arise. To address these items for the future, I decided to add a new section to this document. I simply call it "Issues prior to project-closing" i.e. While we changed the hours of operation in the ILS system, we neglected to do so for the self-check machine receipts. Lessons learned and project closing are usually separate documents in project management, but for my purposes, they make a fine way of ending this project document. It keeps everything in one location for easy reference.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Thomas Edelblute
Public Access Systems Coordinator
Anaheim Public Library
The Anaheim Public Library is an Institutional Member of CLA and directly supports our advocacy programs. Click here for more information on Institutional Membership.
Posted by claadmin at 9:05 AM
Websites and Primary Resources
The Tulare County Library invites librarians to visit our reference blog, found on www.tularecountylibrary.org. This blog is accessible via the drop down menu under Ref/Research.
Our reference blog is updated monthly with quality (and free) websites, such as a site that helps people learn languages. Another, called "gethuman" gives the best way to reach a customer service person by phone. The newest site added is for the CFDA. Also, there is a great website for primary and preschool children further down. We invite your comments!
If you go to our digital resources further down on that menu, you'll go to the middle of a page. Scroll up and you'll see an icon for the oral histories digitized about the years 1941-1946. There are 101 interviews here, all very different, that shed light on the activities happening in the San Joaquin Valley of California during that time. Some people also went to San Francisco and Los Angeles, and their stories are here. Some went overseas. Some went to internment camps. Some went to other parts of the United States. There is a short abstract of each interview so you can pick and choose which primary resources you want to use.
Another digital resource is photos for the San Joaquin valley. Although this is available, it is a work in progress and can be searched by subject or location. Another icon there is Calisphere, a history site maintained at the University of California that includes pictures in California history from libraries all over the state, both academic and public.
Scroll down and you'll find papers from Allensworth, the small town, now a State Park in Tulare County founded by Colonel Allensworth, a black man, and settled by our black citizens one hundred years ago until the lack of water resources ended this community. You will also find cards with the various resources in our history room collection regarding Allensworth.
The icon called "Shades of Tulare County" contains pictures documenting the local history of our Japanese and Chinese populations. There are over 400 pictures and descriptions. Then in 2002, Tulare County's Sesquicentennial year, the library went to all our branches and collected historical photographs of life in Tulare County during the past 150 years. That collection can be searched through a pull down menu on the upper left side.
Finally, we've added special lists of books on our front page that changes every month.
One list includes books being read by members of our staff and the other is a theme related list of nonfiction books.
Calisphere was pleased to let us put their icon on our page so people could search for digital images all over this state. There is contact information there if you would like to do this for your web site also. This is just a short review of free resources developed or borrowed by librarians and staff members at the Tulare County Library. Now we invite you to write about special resources that you have on your websites that might interest the rest of us.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Judith Wood
Reference Librarian III
Tulare County Library
The Tulare County Library is an Institutional Member of CLA and directly supports our advocacy programs. Click here for more information on Institutional Membership.
Posted by claadmin at 9:00 AM
October 27, 2009
111th Annual Conference is Going Mobile!
For this year's Conference, CLA will offer attendees a free application for their Smart Phones, making it easier to quickly access important Conference information.
CLA and sponsor Boopsie bring you CLA 2009 Mobile...the fastest, easiest way to access Conference Schedules, Speakers, Exhibitors and other important information about the 111th Annual CLA Conference & Exhibition directly from your Smart Phone.
From your BlackBerry, G1, Palm, Windows Mobile or other phone, go to http://cla2009.boopsie.com from your Smart Phone's mobile browser. Downloading is easy and quick. Once you have downloaded the CLA 2009 Mobile App, you practically have the CLA Conference Program at your fingertips!
Also, keep an eye out for the Apple App Store version of "CLA 2009" for your iPhone or iPod touch - this will be launched as soon as the App is approved by Apple headquarters.
Please note:
- Access to a data network is required on your phone, so be sure you have an unlimited data plan
- This application works for Smart Phones only and is not accessible through your Personal Computer
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Richard Berta
CLA Membership, Marketing & Communications Manager
Posted by claadmin at 11:37 AM
President's Column
If it's October it must be fall (although here in the Palm Springs desert it's still in the low 90s!) and time to start thinking of costumes, candy and CONFERENCE! The final conference program is getting spruced up, last minute program changes are being made and scripts are being written. I hope everyone has taken a moment to note in the preliminary program the sessions they cannot miss and are busily planning their conference experience.
I can't wait to begin the conference with a big, joyful, and therapeutic belly laugh with Paula Poundstone as a way to bring to an end to this year of transition and change. I am very happy to report that all of the governance transition is nearly complete. Your Board of Directors made the necessary decisions in September and October to finalize all the loose ends as a result of our bylaws changes and Executive Director recruitments.
In September the Board approved a contract with Association Resource Center (ARC) of Folsom, CA to manage CLA. The contract assures that CLA will have the ability to end the relationship when we are ready, hire our Executive Director and take the Executive Director with us if/when we leave ARC. In the meantime when the contract becomes effective December 1, 2009 ARC will immediately increase CLA's staff to 3.8 FTE, provide modern office space, equipment and computer infrastructure and allow a new Executive Director and the Board to concentrate on planning for a bright future. The CLA office will move from Sacramento to Folsom.
The CLA Board of Directors is currently working with ARC to recruit for a permanent Executive Director. Final interviews should conclude in November. To obtain the most current, up-to-date information, make a point of attending the Second General Session and Membership Meeting on Sunday, November 1st, from 3:15pm to 4:45pm. At this meeting, you can catch up on all that has happened this year before hearing from the "Unshelved" duo of Barnes and Ambaum on "Surviving the Public."
As I pass the presidential gavel to Kim Bui-Burton, I am confident that your Board has made the right decisions for CLA at this time. CLA will be advancing into the next year in a healthy and proactive position, poised to plan ahead for future growth.
Please join me in Pasadena to celebrate our resilience and strength as an organization. CLA rocks!
On your mark, get set, get ready---GO TO CONFERENCE 2009!
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Barbara Roberts
CLA President
Posted by claadmin at 11:11 AM
State Capitol Update
Legislature Briefly Returns to Capitol to Tackle Unfinished Business
You will recall that the California State Legislature officially adjourned the 2009 session on Friday, September 11, and should have begun a 4 month long Fall/Winter recess. Instead, some policy matters were left undone in the final days of session, which required the legislature to return to the Capitol in recent weeks to dispense with several pieces of legislation, and to continue their work in the "Special Sessions" on Water, federal funding for education, and the overhaul of the state's tax system.
In our October 15 memo to CLA members, we reported that the State Senate recently returned to the Capitol, to address twenty important measures, including SB 67, by the Committee on Budget, a bill that fell victim to a stalemate between Senate Republicans and Democrats in the final days of session. SB 67 contained several technical "clean up" changes in order to implement the Proposition 1A Securitization program that more than 1100 cities, counties, and special districts have already enrolled in. In the final days of the session in September, Senate Republicans had refused to grant the necessary two-thirds vote for these 20 "urgency" measures, until agreement could be reached on issues important to their caucus, such as extension of the New Construction Home purchase tax credit. Fortunately, with these disagreements resolved, the Senate was able to conclude their work on the 20 bills during a one-day session.
On Monday, October 26, the Assembly reconvened for two purposes: the first was to address approximately 10 pieces of legislation that were coming back to their house from the Senate for a vote of "concurrence," and second, to continue hearings on the complicated water legislation. It should be noted that the Assembly did not need to address SB 67 during their session, as they had already passed the bill in September before the legislature officially adjourned. However, the Assembly did need to take up bills such as technical clean-up measures pertaining to the student aid program and K-12 education.
Also on Monday, as part of the "Special Session" on water, the Assembly and Senate Committees held a joint hearing and took testimony on a major water bill by Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, that could potentially address issues affecting the Delta, water storage, and water conservation. Senator Steinberg and Assembly Speaker Karen Bass are requesting that several public hearings be held this week and next week on the water legislation, to allow as many affected parties to participate in the process as possible. It is conceivable that the legislature may attempt to vote on a water package next week, if agreements are ultimately reached in this politically-charged battle.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Mike Dillon & Christina DiCaro
CLA Lobbyists
Posted by claadmin at 11:09 AM
Exposure to Library Experience through Engaged Mentorship
In our current economic times, libraries have had the opportunity to engage volunteers in their libraries to help with a variety of tasks. What a perfect time for library school students to take advantage of opportunities when presented to them to volunteer in libraries and receive practical experience. I have had the fortunate opportunity to welcome SJSU graduate student Susan Tockgo in to the library I manage; the Glen Avon Regional Library, located in the Riverside County System. It has been a pleasure introducing Susan to the everyday challenges and excitement that occur in a busy public library. I sincerely appreciate Susan's questions, enthusiasm and suggestions, which I believe has strengthened our mentoring relationship. Susan shares her experiences and challenges below:
What do you do when you are seeking a library position without library experience during this lean and challenging economy? As a graduate student, one method to gain a hands-on library experience is through formalized internship once you've completed certain amount of class units. But in the meantime, what opportunities are there to combine theory and practice in the hopes of achieving a better understanding of what librarianship is all about? As it turned out, I was able to find a volunteer position while attending the "Tricks and Tips for Getting Your First Professional Job " Spring Fling workshop sponsored by the Student Interest Group of CLA. I was able to make contact with a forward-thinking library professional with twenty-years of library experience and who subscribes to what the core values of librarianship are about: Stewardship, service, literacy and education, equity of access, intellectual freedom, and democracy. Tracie Carignan is the manager at Glen-Avon library, one of 34 branch libraries within the Riverside County Library System. And through her mentorship, I was able to gain practical day-to-day, hands on experience about librarianship. Here is a short-list of the experiences I gained:
- Learned about the overall library and organization.
- Observed through method of shadowing staff members and learn about their work and interaction with patrons.
- Was able to sit in on staff meetings for reference and circulation department. And sat in on branch manager's meeting.
- Observed problem-solving in action of various departments.
- Was able to interact with staff one-on-one and get to know their philosophy, method and approach to their work.
- Gained personal experience of assisting library patrons at the circulation and reference desk while being supervised.
- Gained knowledge and learn to use Sirsi-Dynix software for Acquisition, OPAC, and Circulation department.
- Gain new knowledge about the use of cataloging within library county system.
- Gained hands-on knowledge about Online Selection & Acquisitions.
- Learn about how to facilitate community outreach programs such as resume workshop.
I appreciate the fact I was able to gain additional insights about challenges to all facets of librarianship while volunteering these past two months at this library. Through her mentorship, I gained the perspective of observing not only other staff members at work but also the day-to-day challenges she faces daily as a manager. The important lesson I take away is the power and dignity shown through herself as an example of a manager with a can-do attitude toward her staff and when serving the public. In the future, I hope to follow her lead while finding gainful employment in a library.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Tracie Carignan
Manager- Glen Avon Regional Library
Riverside County Library System.
&
Susan Tockgo
SJSU Graduate Student
Posted by claadmin at 11:06 AM
2009 Writer-to-Writer Challenge
A Writing Competition for Adult Literacy Learners
What is the Writer-to-Writer Challenge? Adult literacy learners of the California Library Literacy Services are invited to read a book, any book. It can be fiction or non-fiction, written at any level, and can be a book-on-tape. They then write a letter to the author describing how the book changed their lives.
This year 188 adult learners entered the Challenge from 43 library literacy programs all over California. Their letters, based on their writing skill levels, were divided into four categories: Emerging, Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced. There are two rounds of judging: In the first round a panel of librarians and literacy specialists carefully selected the finalists in each category. In the second round, groups of learners reviewed the finalists' letters and picked the winner and runners-up in each category.
The letters of the winners will appear as a Four-part Series beginning with this E-newsletter.
Alan Archer
President, CLA Literacy Interest Group
***
Winner: Advanced Writer
Sima Tawakoli
Berkeley Public Library
Dear Paulo Coelho,
I am honored by "my good fortune of the world," as you would say to be able to read your novel The Alchemist in two different languages, Farsi and English. I read the Farsi version of The Alchemist almost one decade ago when I had started to work as an architect and instructor. I read the English version of your novel when my English tutor, Judy bought it for me one very pleasant morning this June in Berkeley. Maybe one day I will have a chance to read it in your language which I am sure will be the best to understand fully all of the magic of the book.
Your book had a deep influence on my life. I had some idea of going to other countries and The Alchemist made this decision stronger. Four years ago, I left my country, Iran, "to look for my treasure," like Santiago did. I can tell you that not just for me but for any person who goes after his or her treasure this book is like a model. All of the things that happened in any chapter in The Alchemist, such as being disappointed, upset, hopeful, or persistent, happen to us seekers. My: life right now is in the chapter where Santiago is working in the Crystal shop, after he feels he has lost everything by being robbed. Sometime I feel I have lost my precious things by leaving my country. I know that I have to pass a few more chapters to find my treasure.
When I read your book again in English, I just remembered how much I enjoyed it for the wonderful truths, like the time that the king talked to Santiago, helping him make his decision about taking his trip and The King told him about a baker who postponed making his decisions for decades and who was still a baker.
It was almost one year after I left Iran when my Mother called to say she just learned the reason for my trip. She wasn't happy when I left. One night when she was missing me so much she slept in my bed where she found The Alchemist under my pillow. She read the book thinking may be she would get sleepy. However, she couldn't stop reading until dawn. When she called me her voice was strong." Now," she said," I understand you."
Thank you, Paulo Coelho for helping me explain my reason for leaving. When I left home, I couldn't explain in words why I had to go. Silently the understanding came when my mother read your words.
Very truly yours,
Sima Tawakoli
Posted by claadmin at 11:05 AM
San Quentin REACH Visit - A Study in Contrast
I was honored to take my first look inside San Quentin State Prison on August 26th, 2009, while attending Project R.E.A.C.H.'s Student Acknowledgement & Check Presentation Event. This MLP-sponsored program, "Reach for Education, Achievement and Change with Help," trains and supports inmate tutors who mentor over 50 men per year in the development of literacy skills. Let me share with you what I saw, which became essentially a study in contrast.
Approaching the foreboding medieval-style castle entrance, I notice the hand-welded bars above tall arched windows. Yet the tower parapet is covered with 21st century satellite dishes.
While waiting in the "sallyport" for guards to hand-operate the ancient gates, there is some dread of what is to come. It is soon assuaged by stepping into a courtyard and gardens, beautifully maintained by inmate gardeners. Yet contrasts continue as we compare the religious facilities on the north side with the grimy Adjustment Center and Death Row on the south.
Continuing on our path, we walk on buckling pavement and follow a crumbling brick wall that opens to a smooth surface tennis court and immaculate baseball diamonds. Thanks to a recent successful fundraiser/rock concert, the baseball fields are a beautiful home to teams that beat all visitors. If it isn't great coaching, then it must be that continual "home field" advantage that makes them constant winners!
A walk past a spiritually active Native American firepit contrasts with our modern pre-fab modular destination. Nervous about inmate contact, I soon feel at home as we are warmly greeted by the five-member REACH Executive Council. They have been working for weeks to establish a list of inmates who are approved to attend the event, and who have each been given a hand-written "ducat." The only signs of modern technology are the nicely printed programs and the overactive air conditioner. Everything else, from setup to cleanup, runs by inmate hand labor.
Although dressed in well-worn denim shirts and pants, I see much pride in appearance with neat pressing and finely-stitched patches.
Despite the fact that many housing units and much of the yard are segregated, the REACH classroom is one place where all races learn together in friendly camaraderie and safety.
As my co-workers and I worry over the fat grams in our KFC box, I realize how eager my inmate dinner partner is to remove my container when finished, in the hopes of salvaging uneaten items. He is not displeased. All men ate voraciously, claiming the chicken and cake were "the best food we've had in months."
We forget that many of the older, long-term scholars have not partaken in the rapid changes of the outside world. One of the inmate "technical experts" remarked that he has never sent or received an email, and that when he left civilian life, "gas was 99 cents per gallon."
The ultimate contrast is the presentation, especially when we see diminutive Jane Curtis speak among men half again her height. Eyes look upon her with respect and love. Appreciation is evident for her and the work of prison co-sponsors Debra Sheldon and Tom Bolema. Along with three regular and several occasional "outside" tutors, they have provided a way for incarcerated men to improve their literacy skills.
As their printed program asserts: Project REACH is making a pronounced difference in the lives of those involved. Every time a man learns to read a new work, graph an algebraic equation, write a letter home, prepares for a successful passage of the GED - or simply sees that he can wish, ask for, and receive help with something that matters very deeply to him and his sense of self-esteem - it is a transforming experience. Project REACH and its participants are at the heart of every one of those transformations.
The two-hour visit, with its look at past versus present housing as well as learning conditions, speaks well for Project REACH. My view may be colored by my enthusiasm for the program, which attracts the most motivated of the incarcerated. Nevertheless, I am convinced that despite what goes on elsewhere in San Quentin, what goes on inside the REACH classroom promotes a brighter future for everyone involved.
Marin Literacy Program offers adult and family literacy programming through its Inmate Literacy Services both at San Quentin State Prison and Marin County Jail. Visit MLP website www.marinliteracy.org for more information. Jane Curtis is Coordinator of Inmate Literacy Services, and Kaaron Carver is Marin Literacy Program's Office Assistant.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Kaaron Carver
Marin Literacy Program
Posted by claadmin at 10:59 AM
September 23, 2009
President's Column
As conference comes ever closer, I am upbeat about registration and the potential for a really great conference. Thanks to Richard Berta at our CLA office, we now have weekly registration statistics. Compared to registration last year at this time for the San Jose Conference, numbers are up 10.5%! It is heartening to know how valuable conference is to our members despite the economy! So if you have not yet registered, consider doing so and come network with your colleagues. And remember the fun events and tours available. If you have just a few mad dollars to spend, the CLA's special events are a good bargain for a great time. Also, we have also just received confirmation that ALA President, Camila Alire will be at conference making a presentation on advocacy on Monday at 9 am. We will be pleased to have her join us.
I have been contacted by some Interest Group chairs who are already planning their year ahead. Many are interested in some sort of virtual option which is not only green but smart. The availability of the technology infrastructure for a truly virtual interest group is still pending until CLA has offices and staff that can accommodate it. However, in the interim, Groups are using conference calling, "Go to Meetings" and other creative options. For any CLA member who would like to form a new Interest Group contact the CLA office for information. I will be attempting to join all Interest Group meetings being held at conference to share your enthusiasm and hear about what you want to do.
CLA is in preliminary contract negotiations with the Association Resource Center, the association management company that may run our operations. The CLA Board will discuss the draft contract during a telephone conference meeting on September 24th and begin final negotiations for a planned decision by Conference. The Finance Committee has already reviewed the fiscal impact of the draft contract. In addition, the Board is very much aware that we need to find a permanent Executive Director and will also be discussing how best to achieve that.
It is my pleasure to be able to share that CLA is now an Associate Member of the Urban Libraries Council. This membership will allow CLA complete access to all the member benefits including events, committee participation, discussion listservs and research publications. ULC will be offering their Foresight 2020 Initiative as one of the Unconference topics in Pasadena. It is my hope that having access to all the research done by this remarkable organization will allow CLA to share ULC findings as appropriate with all CLA members, many of whom do not meet the membership criteria to be members individually. CLA also encourages any library meeting their membership criteria to become a member and increase California membership in this organization.
Your three presidents - current, immediate past and president-elect - are all busy with appointments and nominations. I am nearly complete with my appointments to the new Leadership Development Committee. Monique and her nominations committee are very close to having a slate for the regular election and Kim is working hard on her committee appointments for next year. I know I speak on behalf of all three of us when I say THANK YOU to all who have agreed to serve or stand for election. This state is blessed with CLA members who care about the organization, who believe in working together and are so very generous with their time.
I am so excited that we now have an electronic newsletter and I hope that you all forward it on to colleagues or fellow staff that may not be members. It’s a great way to understand what's going on with CLA as well as a way to introduce the possibilities of CLA to others. Please give me your feedback and share what you hear from others so we may make this member benefit the best it can be.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Barbara Roberts
CLA President
Posted by claadmin at 9:59 AM
Legislative Committee Update
Another Legislative Session has drawn to a close, and while the CLA Legislative Committee continues to monitor several issues related to local government funding, our attention has turned to planning for our Conference program. Effective advocacy is grassroots advocacy - moving beyond structured events such as Day in the District to engaging a broad base of library supporters in maintaining support for libraries. Committee members Deborah Doyle and Jan Sanders have put together an outstanding program on how to be an effective advocate whatever your role in the library. We hope you will join us on Monday, November 2 at 8AM to learn how you can be a more effective advocate from Lena Kennedy, a grassroots organizer for the Obama campaign, and Kristen Murphy of the ALA Washington Office.
The Committee has also been taking a close look at "how we've always done it" and will be recommending a number of changes to Day in the District, Legislative Day, and other CLA advocacy activities to the CLA Board of Directors. We're trying to find ways to make it more exciting, productive, and cost-effective for people to participate.
You may not realize that funding for CLA's advocacy efforts comes primarily from Institutional memberships. The cost of membership is small compared to the risk of losing library funding and support, so if your library is not an institutional member please encourage it to join!
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Kathy Gould, Director
Palos Verdes Library District
The Palos Verdes Library District is an Institutional Member of CLA and directly supports our advocacy programs. Click here for more information on Institutional Membership.
Posted by claadmin at 9:43 AM
State Capitol Update
PARTISAN BICKERING AT THE CAPITOL JEOPARDIZES IMPORTANT LOCAL GOVERNMENT BILL
On September 4, SB 67, a skeleton bill, by the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review was substantially amended to contain 28 pages of language pertaining to the Proposition 1A securitization or "Receivables Financing Program." You will recall, that under the agreement to shift $1.9 billion in property tax from cities, counties, and special districts during the July Budget negotiations, the state authorized local governments to borrow money to off-set the loss, using the state's credit worthiness, such as it is, to guarantee the loans. The bill creating the securitization program was AB 15 (4X) by Assemblyman Ted Gaines, which was signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger. However, soon after the bill became law, the Department of Finance, the State Treasurer's Office, and Bond Counsel requested a series of amendments to correct some technical problems. In addition to those changes, SB 67 would also ensure an accelerated schedule for the securitization of the Proposition 1A loans to occur no later than mid-November, and it scores a potential savings of approximately $200-$300 million in interest costs for the state.
Unfortunately, SB 67 fell victim to a series of late-night partisan bickering in the Senate, during the final hours of the 2009 session on Friday, September 11. The Senate Republican leader, Dennis Hollingsworth, expressed concern that procedural motions were being waived without the consent of the minority party, and noted that his side of the aisle was attempting to advance three pieces of legislation important to their caucus. He told the Los Angeles Times, "In order for us to achieve bipartisan agreements, we have to establish and maintain a level of trust that a deal is a deal. It's not one, two or three items that we're negotiating over. It's one big item - trust." Thus, when bills such as SB 67 were brought forward for a vote on the Floor that night, the Senate Republicans refused to grant their votes - which would have provided the necessary two-thirds vote for passage. Only one Republican, Senator Abel Maldonado, crossed party lines to vote in support of the measures. Senate Democrats, for their part, said that the Senate Republicans were holding up 20 critical measures in order to get Democrats to "cave on three unrelated demands." Failure to act, Democrats noted, would ultimately jeopardize bills pertaining to funding for domestic violence shelters and county funding for swine flu, and SB 67.
Local government groups were dumbfounded when they learned that this important clean-up measure (SB 67) had been part of the late-night fall-out between the Senate Democrats and Republicans. When the dust settled, and the legislature left to begin their Fall recess, the League of Cities, the California State Association of Counties, and the California Special Districts Association immediately sent a letter to Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Senate Republican Leader Dennis Hollingsworth. The letter requests that these two leaders "take expedited action to reconvene the California State Senate immediately to approve two budget clean-up measures of critical importance to both local government agencies and the state...We urge you, as leaders of our state, to work together - and if necessary with the leadership of the State Assembly - to take immediate action to pass these measures that are so vital to providing local services and keeping our streets, our neighborhoods, and all Californians safe."
Presumably, the only way that the legislature will be able to address SB 67 is to convene a "special session" to pass a similar measure as an "urgency bill." (An "urgency" measure takes effect 30 days after the Governor signs the bill.) There are already indications that the legislature may return in the Fall to participate in "special sessions" on water, tax reform, and education, so it is plausible that legislators could take up SB 67 during that same time period. CLA will continue to keep members posted as details emerge regarding this unforeseen development regarding the Proposition 1A borrowing.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Mike Dillon and Christina DiCaro, CLA Lobbyists
Posted by claadmin at 9:43 AM
Make a Splash in 2010!
As the theme for Summer Reading 2010 is Water, CLA staff is already diving headfirst into preparations for next year's summer reading activities. Each year, through our California Summer Reading Program, CLA staff and members help California's public libraries present invaluable summer reading programs that serve hundreds of thousands of children, teens, and adults.
As you read this, summer reading packets for summer 2010 are on their way to every public library building and bookmobile service in the state. The packets include theme-based planning manuals for children's, teen and adult programs, and CDs of program graphics that were created by illustrators Henry Cole and Ursula Vernon.
Any public library in California can choose to participate! Those who do have the opportunity to benefit from:
- Our resource-rich webpages
- Training sessions led by experienced California librarians;
- Partnerships we develop with other statewide organizations; and
- The opportunity to purchase incentives and other summer reading products at the lowest cost possible.
The pre-packaged Summer Reading Program that we provide for public libraries is developed each year by the Collaborative Summer Library Program, a grassroots organization comprised of librarians working on behalf of librarians. As California's representative to the Collaborative, CLA staff and members contribute to the development of the summer reading program, and convey feedback from California to the group.
The California Summer Reading Program is guided by a steering committee made up of youth services experts from CLA's Youth Services Interest Group, and, beginning this year, experienced adult services librarians who will advise on our new original adult summer reading program.
As you prepare for summer 2010, please remember that we are also collecting participation data for summer 2009. If you are expecting to see this year's survey, but have not yet received it, please contact Natalie Cole at ncole@cla-net.org for a link to the Zoomerang page and supplementary information.
Any questions about the California Summer Reading Program? Please visit us at the CLA Membership Booth at conference! Or email me at ncole@cla-net.org.
The California Summer Reading Program is a project of the California Library Association, supported by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Natalie Cole
CLA Programs Director
Posted by claadmin at 9:31 AM
AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner
All California libraries and library advocates can promote AASL's "Standards for the 21st-Century Learner" and "Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs." Implementing the AASL Standards includes the following goals and common beliefs:
Goals:
- Introduce and build awareness of AASL Standards
- Create understanding of the standards
- Develop a "shared" vision
- Sustain the vision
- Flexible. Common Vocabulary and Message. STAY ON MESSAGE. Keep it short, simple: This is who we are, and this is what we do, and this is why it matters.
Common Beliefs.
- READING is a window to the world
- INQUIRY provides a framework for learning
- ETHICAL BEHAVIOR in the use of information must be taught
- TECHNOLOGY skills are crucial for future employment needs
- EQUITABLE ACCESS is a key component for education
- INFORMATION LITERACY has become more complex as resources and technologies have changed
- The continuing expansion of information demands that all individuals acquire the THINKING SKILLS that will LEARNING has a social context
- SCHOOL LIBRARIES are essential to the development of learning skills.
What you can do right now:
1. Order or download Standards for the 21st Century Learner.
2. Develop a list of who to target with your message. Identify each individual's priorities/ interests and use key words to position the Standards. EX: a Chamber of Commerce would pay more attention to a statement on "technology skills are crucial for future employment needs" rather than "reading" or "equitable access".
3. Post and share Standards for the 21st Century Learner . Post print version in library, staff room, board meeting room. Post link on school and district websites, your blogs, "Tweet", and Facebook. State standards are coming soon!
Resources:
Standards for the 21st Century Learner
Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs
Standards for the 21st Century Learner in Action
The ALA Store has poster and bookmarks.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Jackie Siminitus
VP-Communications and Project Manager
California School Library Association
Posted by claadmin at 9:25 AM
A Success Story
The Partnership between the Iranian Community & the Sacramento Public Library
The Persian Language Advisory Committee of the Sacramento Public Library formed in 1993 when a local group of Iranian-Americans approached the library with a proposal to establish the Persian language collection. This led to the formation of the Persian Language Advisory Committee (PLAC), of the Sacramento Public Library. PLAC worked closely with the Sacramento Public Library and the Library Foundation to raise funds for the collection.
The Advisory Committee prepared a Needs Assessment of Sacramento's Iranian-American community and presented a proposal to the Library. The 1993 Assessment showed that there were more than 8,000 Persian Language-speaking residents in the area. Many of the residents requested literature in their native language and majority of the parents asked for resources that would enable their children to learn about the Persian culture, their heritage and the language. Additionally, the non-English speaking adults wanted books in their native Persian language. It was clear that the Persian community's needs weren't being met because the Sacramento community lacked a location to house the materials. The Sacramento Public Library was the perfect fit for the collection and has since been a great partner to PLAC.
PLAC’s efforts has led to a significant and growing collection of Persian language materials, featuring subscriptions to many resources such as Iranian magazines, newspapers, over four hundred CDs and videos, a thousand titles and two thousand five hundred volumes (including the Encyclopaedia Iranica). The Advisory Committee has also been allocating a thousand dollars annually to purchasing materials that will provide the community with information about the Persian/Iranian history, culture, arts and women studies in the English language.
Sacramento has truly been enriched by this comprehensive public collection. The growing Iranian population truly appreciates and values the resources available to them through the Sacramento Public Library. Today, PLAC believes there are approximately 25,000 Iranian-Americans in the Sacramento area.
A key program of the Advisory Committee has been subsidized by the Persian language classes offered to both the Iranian-American children and English-speaking adults. Thanks to the success of this program, more than 400 students have learned to read, write and speak in Persian since 1996.
The Advisory Committee also organizes and supports an annual Persian Language Speaker Series in the Persian and English languages. This draws hundreds of people from the Sacramento community to hear presentations in the Persian or English languages, from distinguished Iranian scholars, physicians, musicians, dancers, authors, and poets from around the world. Some of the most notable presenters have included: Dr. Ehsan Yarshater, Mr. Freydoon Moshiri, Dr. Ahmad Karimi Hakkak, Mrs. Simin Behbahani, Mr. Khorsandi, Mr. Parviz Sayyad, Mr. Oveisi, Mr. Ebrahim Victory, Maestros Anoushirvan & Shahdad Rohani, Dr. Foroughi, and Dr. Dr. Azita Sayan, Dr. Zahra Taheri, Mrs. Moghadam, Mr. Moshiri, Dr. Mahjoob, Dr. Farnoodi, Dr. Tahbaz, Dr. Javaheri, Dr. Fozouni, Mr. Khavarani, Dr. Astaneh, Mrs. Daroodi, Ms. Moneeroo Ravanipour, Ms. Asyeh Namdar, and Shahrnoosh Parsipour.
The mission of the Persian Language Advisory Committee of the Sacramento Public Library is to build a permanent collection of Persian language resources in the Sacramento library system, to celebrate and explore the rich cultural heritage of Iran by inviting Iranian scholars to the Speaker Series, and to offer Persian language classes to the Sacramento community.
The Iranian-American community in Sacramento is growing rapidly and many younger families have children who are at the age to begin Persian language classes. Furthermore, the successes of the Advisory Committee's programs have created a keen interest in Persian culture and language within the general community. Several Iranian organizations like; Iranian-American Chamber of Commerce, SHAFA cultural organization, MEHR and Radio Bamdad have sponsored programs in partnership with the Persian Language Advisory Committee.
For the past 13 years, PLAC's annual fundraiser, "Persian Night: Celebrating 955" has been put together by committee members and community volunteers. This annual event has raised over $400,000 over the years from the community at large and proceeds have been donated to the Library Foundation for the purchase of Persian language materials, Speaker Series and the Persian Language Classes. Each elegant gathering features a traditional Iranian cuisine with cultural music and dance as entertainment. The Iranian-American Chamber of Commerce, SHAFA cultural organization, MEHR Foundation, Radio Bamdad, have all played key roles in making these events a success. Those attending the fundraising events include local businesses, corporate leaders, elected officials, local dignitaries and library officials.
The activities created by the Persian Language Advisory Committee are not just for Iranians, they are for anyone interested in learning more about the Iranian people's culture and heritage.
I am pleased to share the story of this successful partnership between community members and the library administration with the California librarians. For further information, please contact me via email: info@sacramentopersians.org.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Haleh Motiey
Persian Language Advisory Committee Member
Sacramento Public Library
The Sacramento Public Library is an Institutional Member of CLA and directly supports our advocacy programs. Click here for more information on Institutional Membership.
Posted by claadmin at 9:09 AM
Exhibit Showcases Work of 200 California Teens
See how teens from libraries across the state documented the often overlooked parts of their communities in a new online exhibit of photography and writing sponsored by the California Council for the Humanities.
Also on the website, find free downloadable materials to help libraries and youth organizations replicate the project. Photographs and resources are on view at www.calhum.org/myplace.
In 2008, 21 libraries from Orland to National City, California, guided teens equipped with cameras and notebooks on explorations of their communities. More than 200 teens participated in the 10-week program called "How I See It - My Place." The exhibit features more than 300 photographs and descriptive writings of their findings.
Libraries and other youth organizations interested in hosting similar photography programs can find valuable materials on the website, including a downloadable program handbook with a week-by-week curriculum, scholar essays and other resources.
Also, hear about the project in person at the 111th Annual CLA conference, where the California Council for the Humanities staff and project participants will present their experiences working on the program, Saturday, October 31, from 2:15 - 3:30 p.m.
California Stories: How I See It: My Place is supported in part by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the California State Librarian. This project is conducted in partnership with Califa, a membership-based service bureau designed to provide cost-effective delivery of services, programs and products through a membership network of California libraries.
For more information, visit www.calhum.org or contact the California Council for the Humanities at 415-391-1474.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Shawna Sherman
Young Adult Librarian
Hayward Main Library
Posted by claadmin at 9:09 AM
Battle of the Books
Parents cheering from the sidelines. Fans wearing their schools' favorite colors. Is it a sporting event? It's Battle of the Books! In an effort to get students more excited about books and improve reading comprehension, the Santa Fe Springs City Library's Literacy Services started Battle of the Books with three local schools. Initially with 80 children participating, it has grown to 250 children and 4 schools with cheering parents leading the way. Library Director Hilary Keith comments, "It's a great way to get the whole community involved and get students excited about reading, plus we can strengthen our partnership with the local schools." Students typically read 30 books during the school year and work together in teams. On the night of the competition, practice really pays off as students answer rapid-fire to questions about the books. The winning team gets a trophy and bragging rights for the year.
In addition, in looking for creative ways to get families to read together, the Santa Fe Springs City Library came up with an idea - Pages in the Park. Our library, which is lucky enough to have a beautiful historical park under its auspices, held a potluck dinner and book discussion every month during the summer. "Getting kids to open up about books is a rewarding experience - for them and for us," says Literacy Supervisor Jerry Edwards. "Our Literacy group loves the idea - so now we'll be offering it as part of our regular children's literacy services throughout the year."
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Joyce Ryan
Librarian II
Santa Fe Springs City Library
Posted by claadmin at 9:05 AM
National Day of Service and Remembrance
The Huntington Beach Central Library Children's Department helped to promote the National Day of Service and Remembrance by inviting volunteers to participate in the Preschool Storytime and read stories aloud to the children.
The theme of the stories and songs were about helping each other, working together and cooperation. The volunteer readers were Grandma Bobbie from the Library's Grandparent Readers program and Raquel Ferreira-Caulkins, a professional volleyball player and coach, and a native of Brazil. Preschool Storytime closed with a puppet show narration of the book, Fox Stone Soup, in which the animal characters work together and share what they had to make enough delicious soup for everyone. The story was performed by Miss Barbara, Children’s Librarian, Grandma Bobbie and Raquel. The library program engaged current volunteers to show how working together and giving back to your community makes a difference.
The patrons who attended the program learned that volunteering is not only providing a necessary service to an organization but is also a lot of fun. There were many patrons asking how they can help by volunteering at the library and within their community. It was a successful day for inspiring our community members to get involved in volunteering.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Monica Miltko
Volunteer Services Coordinator
Huntington Beach Public Library
Posted by claadmin at 9:02 AM
Reference Musings
If one thing is for sure when working the Reference Desk, it is that things never seem to stay the same from one day to the next. Just when you think you've mastered the newest database change or the latest virtual reference tool, along comes something to throw the proverbial monkey wrench into the works.
This was brought home to me today, when our computers were inaccessible for some time and a distraught student needed to do some research. After the shock to my mind wore off (my first thought is - what do I do without my computers??? Where do I start?) I took a deep breath, cleared my mind, went back in thought (that is, instead of thinking of which database to search and which keywords to use - thinking of which Dewey number and which source to use) and headed for the reference section of the library, where, of course, there was the perfect subject encyclopedia for helping this student. I left her happily reading and writing.
There is no doubt that databases and the Internet are an absolute boon to our profession and help us provide excellent service, but I, for one, am most grateful for the everlasting (I hope) presence of our print reference collection. It also feels good to be the one to introduce young students to a brand new (to them) terrific source of information - the library collection and their librarian.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Karen Praeger, MLIS
Citrus College Library
Posted by claadmin at 7:55 AM
August 18, 2009
State Capitol Update
INITIATIVE SIMILAR TO ACA 9 BEING DISCUSSED
A constitutional amendment (ACA 9) by Assemblymember Jared Huffman would change the current 2/3 threshold for passage of local bonded indebtedness for the construction, rehabilitation, or replacement of public improvements, to a 55% vote of the voters of a city, county, or special district. It would also lower the vote requirement for a city, county, or special district to impose a special tax from a two-thirds vote of qualified electors to 55%. ACA 9 has been actively supported by CLA, along with the other local government associations, and unions. It has passed three policy committees in the Assembly, with Democrats voting "aye," and Republicans voting "no." It is opposed by the California Association of Realtors, the California Taxpayers Association, and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.
Unfortunately, ACA 9 requires a 2/3 vote for passage on the Assembly Floor, and with all Republicans expected to vote "no" on the measure, it's failure is all but certain. Our readers may recall that the education community suffered a similar fate a number of years ago, when their legislative attempts at reducing the 2/3 vote requirement for bonds failed. However, the education community was ultimately successful in running an initiative campaign to get a statewide ballot measure approved that now allows voters to approve school bonds with a 55% vote of qualified electors.
In light of the potential defeat of ACA 9, a coalition of the major local government organizations, as well as labor and other interest groups, are exploring the possibility of placing a statewide initiative on the ballot in 2010 that would incorporate most of the provisions in ACA 9. In addition to the provisions lowering the vote threshold from 2/3 to 55% for bonds and special taxes, the initiative also parallels the requirements in Assemblymember Huffman's measure, that city councils, county boards of supervisors, or a governing body of a special district would conduct annual audits to ensure that the bond proceeds have been spent on the specific projects. It would also require a public process that solicits a wide range of public comment from the community about the types of facilities that should be funded with the particular bonds. CLA will keep you informed as more information about the proposed initiative becomes available.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Mike Dillon and Christina DiCaro, CLA Lobbyists
Posted by claadmin at 9:32 AM
Legislative Committee Update
The primary focus of the Legislative Committee during 2009 has been the State budget and its impact on libraries. Library representatives across the State used Day in the District and Legislative Day in Sacramento to educate Legislators and their staffs about how public libraries use State-funded programs such as the Public Library Fund (PLF), Transaction-based Reimbursement (TBR), and Literacy to benefit local communities. Thanks to these efforts, and those of our CLA Lobbyists Mike Dillon and Christina DiCaro, the budget ultimately adopted by the Legislature maintained funding for these programs at last years' levels. This was a real achievement given the deep cuts to most other State programs!
Despite the preservation of PLF and TBR, libraries across the State are feeling the effects of reduced local funding and there is an ongoing risk that the State budget will deteriorate further. With that in mind the Legislative Committee is exploring new, cost-effective ways to engage people in advocating for libraries.
One thing is clear - maintaining legislative support for libraries requires more than just the efforts of the Legislative Committee and more than just visiting Legislators on Day in the District and Legislative Day. Libraries and their supporters need to build long-term relationships with the Legislators who represent them so that they understand the important role we play in our communities and know what is at stake when our funding is reduced. Take action today by looking up your local elected officials on CLA's Capwiz Library Advocacy website!
The Legislative Committee is here to support these efforts, and we'd love your input!
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Kathy Gould, Legislative Committee Chair
Posted by claadmin at 9:24 AM
Declaration for the Right to Literacy
Right to Literacy Convention delegates from across the country determined and voted on the first United States Declaration for the Right to Literacy. The Right to Literacy Convention was part of the National Community Literacy Conference in Buffalo, New York on June 13, 2009.
Delegates concluded that to ensure prosperity for the nation and self determination for the individual, changes at the national, regional and local level must take place.
Literacy leaders, using the model of the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, the first Women's Rights Convention, convened from across the nation. The need was clear; tens of millions of adults and children do not have the skills needed to succeed in life. Literacy is the number one tool to change that plight. The right to literacy must be a national priority.
The resolutions support five pillars of literacy:
1. Building the Community
2. Strengthening the Family
3. Ensuring People's Self-Determination
4. Improving the Workforce
5. Transforming the Literacy System
It is a truth held evident by our United States Declaration of Independence: that all men (and women) are created equal, and thus shall have the opportunity to pursue life, liberty, and happiness. To preserve these rights, we, residents of the United States of America, designate "literacy" as the foundation of such principles and organize our powers to enable every person to affect that ideal. In that pursuit, we acknowledge and agree, as we did in Seneca Falls in 1848 and again 100 years later as part of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, that education shall be guaranteed for all members of the human family...men, women and children. The realization of this vision requires that all residents, regardless of age or status, be able to read and write in order to participate fully and equitably in our democracy.
To see the resolutions and endorse the Declaration for the Right to Literacy go to:
www.literacypowerline.com
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Alan Archer, Chair, Literacy Interest Group
Posted by claadmin at 9:20 AM
Pump Up Your Programs
In 2005, San Diego County Library had 4,188 programs for youth, from birth to the age of eighteen. In four years, that number has nearly tripled, to 12,061 programs a year. Divided by 365 days, that's 33 youth services programs a day (a convenient stat to recall since SDCL is comprised of 33 branches and 2 bookmobiles)-a youth services program at each branch every day of the year. Program attendance more than tripled, from 96,002 to 289, 395. It's no surprise that other stats show correlating increases. Annual circulation, which was just under 4 million in 2005, is now solidly north of 8 million.
These great numbers can rightly be credited to our stellar staff and the steady leadership provided by library administration, but if one workplace habit can be identified as the reason for the increases, it staff's intentional promotion of best practices.
Best practices are by definition the ideas and procedures that work in most situations. Example: Taking a break from Wednesday morning storytimes for a few weeks to regroup or (gasp!) go on vacation? Best Practice: Invite families to make a Wednesday morning playdate at the library, a time for parents to get much needed peer contact and for the kids to socialize. There's no interruption in the family routine and when Wednesday morning storytimes reconvene, families return and hopefully feel just a bit more nurtured by the relationships they've built. This works whatever your community demographics. It is a proven best practice.
By sharing best practices, we've been able to replicate successful programs from one end of the county to the other. San Diego County Library produces and distributes three in-house email newsletters devoted to promoting best practices (Adult Services, Youth Services and Branch Best Practices). In a large system (we cover an area nearly 4,000 square miles), it's a convenient way to concisely share ideas, show photos, and offer contact info for follow up. For San Diego County Library, the email newsletter is another example of a best practice.
We've also made a concerted effort to package programs that work so they can be shared widely. We currently have more than two dozen kits for use as after school programs, activities like legos, card games, reader's theatre - plug and play programs. We've created more than two hundred (English and Spanish-language) storytime kits, complete with books, puppets, craft ideas and master copies of early literacy information to hand to parents. Staff who work with teens have several dozen teen program kits to use, including a recent carnival addition. Teen Services Librarian Jennifer Lawson and her Teen Advisory Guild (TAG) advisors put together a circuit of activities for teens to perform at the annual county-wide TAG gathering. In a race, teams of teens went from booth to booth performing wacky tasks like spelling words YMCA style and immunizing wild (stuffed) animals - maybe the most popular. The program was a great success - a best practice program - so Jennifer packaged the pieces with clear instructions to create a Teen Program Kit - one of a couple dozen that see heavy rotation through the branches.
Now teens who couldn't get to the TAG event can still enjoy the activities. Branch staff can spend their time interacting with teens, not starting from scratch, gathering bits and pieces, buying things they may not have use for after the program. By following best practices in packaging programs, the economy of scale is hard to deny. It saves material funds as well as our precious staffing hours. Doing more with less seems to be the directive these days. Identifying and promoting best practices will help us to do just that.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Pat Downs Bright
President, Youth Services Interest Group
Posted by claadmin at 9:13 AM
ALA Corner
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Chicago, Illinois. July 10-15, 2009
Abridged highlights by Les Kong, based upon notes by Councilor James B. Casey.
Attendance at the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago reached a record high at 28,941 - surpassing attendance for each of the previous three annual conferences.
ALAWO (ALA Washington Office): This briefing hosted by Bernie Margolis (State Librarian of New York) and Vivian Pisano (Chair, Organization for Information Technology Policy, and a CLA member) provided attendees with excellent information concerning the new opportunities and challenges ALAWO faces with the Obama Administration and Democratic Congress. Emily Sheketoff, ALAWO Director) described how the Obama Administration and the Democratic Congress have not been as supportive of our initiatives as was expected due to very tight budgets and economic uncertainty. LSTA (Library Services and Technology Act) appropriations have not been as large as requested, for example. The battles will be as difficult as they were under the past administrations and perhaps more challenging as Democratic majority support is sometimes divided. Kristin Murphy discussed Library Advocacy Day as an opportunity to lobby on Capital Hill on June 28, 2010 (Legislative Day for May 2010 will not be held).
BROADBAND FUNDING - ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act). Robert Bocher (Technical Consultant, Wisconsin State Library) led this discussion. Many parts of the US (especially rural areas) have inadequate speed of response time. Most of the US is at or below 1.5 mbs while only a small minority (is at or above 10 mbs). Much of the industrialized world is ahead of us in this regard. Chris McLean discussed how ARRA has funneled $7.4 billion into efforts to expand broadband access even to rural areas. The new ARRA is targeted at larger entities who may, at least, have the grant conversant on payroll who can fight the battle to secure such funding. [Libraries need to contact their Internet providers to find out how they might be able to join with their efforts to secure this ARRA money. The efforts of public libraries (individually) to secure such money have been de-emphasized in favor of those larger scale businesses and organizations.
ALA COUNCIL/EXECUTIVE BOARD/MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION SESSION: Budget and Analysis Committee Chair James Neal reported that revenue was down, but that efforts by the ALA Staff to reduce expenditures had anticipated the bad news and actually exceeded the lower than expected revenue so that the ALA will remain on a sound fiscal footing. Dan Bradbury, Chair of the Endowment Trustees, reported that ALA's endowment fund had reached $24,799,482. The endowment trustees have been managing our resources extremely well with an increase from $11,022,000 in 2000 to $30,554,000 in 2008. [Although the trustees emphasize their conservative investment strategies, the gains achieved over the years have indicated a fairly aggressive equity position.] Jenny Levine described the goals of ALA Connect to: providing a collaborative workspace, providing the opportunity for professional colleagues to link and also to enable them to for communities of common interest.
COUNCIL I: ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels responded to Council about steps towards implementation of the TFOEMP recommendations. Much work has been accomplished during the past six months, but this presentation by Fiels discouraged taking the steps needed to provide real time dissemination via streaming or broadcast of ALA Council deliberations so that those Councilors who could not attend in person would still be able to participate. He described the cost of live audio taping to be $11,000, the real-time streaming to be $55,000 per year and voting remotely by Councilors who are not present at $144,000 per year. Added to these costs in a recession plagued budget, Fiels cited comments by legal counsel about the possible threat of litigation if one or another of our Council Members decided to say something critical of someone while expounding from one of the microphones. Several Council members spoke out in favor of pressing forward with electronic participation.
ALA-APA COUNCIL: This session featured the financial reports of the ALA-APA organization as well as some progress reports concerning the emerging support staff Certification Program. It was reported that the Certification Program of ALA-APA has already had 13 graduates and 129 candidates currently enrolled. A much larger push for certification of library workers is said to be expected in early 2010. "A resolution on Support for Overtime Pay Protection" was supported in principle by the majority in Council, but errors and lack of clarity in the document itself prevented it from passing through this session. The resolution was finally brought back at Council III and passed by 77 - 64.
COUNCIL II: Among the important measures passed at this session was the ALA Policy Monitoring Committee action item calling for the elimination of the category of "Virtual Members" (6.16 in the ALA Policy Manual). Some Members of the TFOEMP viewed this measure as essential to the removal of "second class status" for electronic participation. The ALA Membership Committee Report sought and achieved a dues increase for organizational members of ALA in a measure to bring costs more in line with the levels existing for individual memberships. The Committee on Professional Ethics (COPE) Resolution on Ethics Education failed, however, due to the Committee's insistence on providing one firm - the Institute for Global Ethics (IGE) - with the task of providing Ethics Fitness Seminars to Members. The ALA Treasurer's Report highlighted the prudent steps taken by ALA Management and Staff to address the budgetary shortfall. The budgetary ceiling for ALA was approved.
Judith Platt, Freedom to Read Foundation President reported that she will be succeeded by Kenton Oliver. She recalled the great services provided by the late Judith Krug in fighting for intellectual freedom over many decades. Judith Platt noted that the Obama Administration's decision NOT to appeal a ruling by the 2nd Circuit Court that places limits on the government's ability to place gag orders when National Security Letters (NSLs) are issued has rendered that Court ruling final and represents a major victory for privacy rights. A case entitled U.S. v. Stevens is scheduled to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court during its 2009-10 session in which entire categories of speech could be denied First Amendment protection if the perceived value of the speech is deemed to weigh against "compelling government interest."
COUNCIL III: Committee on Legislation secured Council support for passage of a resolution requesting that the "...ALA President, with the advice of the Executive Board, convene an ALA wide representative group to continue to assess the proposed Google Book Search Settlement and its ongoing impact on ALA Members and member institutions and to make recommendations for action by the Association and its members." The Intellectual Freedom Committee (IFC) secured passage by Council of a number of important action items, including one seeking the "sunset" of Section 215 of the Patriot Act. Resolutions on accessibility of Library web sites and for accessibility of databases purchased by Libraries also passed. A resolution was also passed that will make accessible over the ALA website the recording of the entire deliberations of ALA Council beginning with the next Mid Winter Meeting (Boston, January 2010). Finally, I am pleased to report that, in an election of ALA state chapter councilors, I was elected to the Budget and Planning Assembly of ALA Council.
Copies of the final wording of all resolutions an action items from Council Sessions will be posted and available on the ALA Web Site.
Submitted to California Libraries by Les Kong, ALA Chapter Councilor
Posted by claadmin at 8:25 AM
August 14, 2009
President's Column
Have you found yourself wondering, "What the heck is going on at CLA?" Well my colleagues and friends, herewith is a detailed rundown of what's happened and what's next. I want to get you all up to speed.
Your leadership and task forces have been BUSY!
Task Force Work
Immediately after I took office at conference in San Jose last year, I appointed two task forces: a Technology Task Force headed by Gerry Calderon and a Transition Tool Kit Task Force headed by past president Margaret Miles. Both task forces completed their work. The Transition Tool Kit was distributed to members for help in understanding the upcoming bylaws changes and what it would mean to the structure of CLA and is available on the CLA website. The Technology Task Force's report to the Executive Committee recommended internal changes in hardware and software for CLA and is being used as an internal working document.
Sale of the CLA building and New Office
At the completion of Interim Executive Director Claudia Foutz's Business Assessment Report (8.2 MB), the Executive Committee made the fiscally sound decision to sell the midtown office building CLA had owned for many years. At the time the building was purchased it was envisioned as having excellent investment potential and a possible source for non-dues revenue. Over time, however, the building required various unexpected improvements that detracted from the anticipated non-dues revenue estimates. Continued ownership also required a substantial investment in improvements to bring the building into compliance with ADA legal requirements. However our mid-town Sacramento location remained in well sought after in the commercial real estate market. Without even listing the building, CLA received a competitive cash offer, with no contingencies, and at the close of escrow reaped over $350,000 in profit. These funds will be extremely important as we move forward in re-positioning CLA.
Interim ED, Claudia Foutz, found excellent office space to rent in the Natomas area of Sacramento, close to the airport and downtown. Through her association connections, for $1,000 a month we have office space that includes full janitorial support, furnishings, two offices, two cubicles, access to IT support, and use of one large and one small conference room. The CLA offices relocated to this space at the end of April. The new address and phone number are listed elsewhere in this newsletter issue. Of note, we share the building with the owner, the California Pharmacy Association.
Executive Director Recruitment
The Executive Board has completed two full recruitment cycles for a new Executive Director. It became clear, however, that before we can hire a new Executive Director, we must have adequate staff and infrastructure to support that person. Shortly after Claudia Foutz came on board as the interim ED, the administrative assistant moved out of state and Laura Fisher, the Administrative Director, became an independent consultant. However, Laura agreed to continue to work for CLA two days a week, and Richard Berta, with a degree in marketing, joined CLA as a full-time employee dealing with membership, communications, and marketing. The current staff now consists of Richard, full time communications, marketing and membership person, Laura, part bookkeeper/transition staff support, and Claudia, part-time Interim ED. Remaining fiscally prudent, CLA is delaying further hires until a new transition plan is completed.
Association Management Firms
In order to find an interim solution to CLA staffing and support needs, the CLA Board issued an RFP for an association management firm to take over operational support of our programs. The Board was looking for a firm that would have all the in-house staff needed to support a new executive director until such time as CLA is financially able to expand and hire its own in-house staff. Four responses were received, evaluated, and thoroughly considered. The Board voted to enter into negotiations with the Association Resource Center (ARC) who has over 45 support staff serving 19 associations. ARC is located in Folsom. Interim ED Claudia Foutz's contract has been extended for no longer than March 2010 to help with transition. ARC and Claudia will support my Conference Committee in providing you with an exceptional conference experience. At the same time, we will be working with ARC to continue the search for a permanent Executive Director.
Special Election
A special election was held in July for a new Vice-President/President Elect due to the resignation of Ken Haycock from that position. Kim Bui-Burton, Director of Library, Museum and Cultural Arts in Monterey won that election and has jumped into all the duties with only three months until she takes office as President.
Regular Election
The regular annual election will be held in September this year. The current Nominations Committee, headed by Immediate Past President, Monique le Conge, is working toward having a candidate slate ready. This year, due to the bylaws changes, as well as term expirations, we will be electing: Vice-President/President-Elect for 2011, Treasurer, and 6 at large members to fill out the new Board of Directors. If you would be interested in any of these positions, or know of someone you would like to nominate, please contact Monique at monique_leconge@ci.richmond.ca.us
In addition, as Vice-President, Kim is beginning her standing committee appointments and as President I am beginning to form the new Leadership Development Committee. There will be a call for volunteers for committees coming from the CLA offices, but feel free to contact either Kim or me, respectively, if you are interested in serving on the standing committees (Legislative, Finance, and all award committees) or the Leadership Development Committee. The Legislative Committee was not named a standing committee in the new Bylaws, but Kim will be making appointments will be made to that all-important group that will now be a Working Committee.
Conference 2009
Then of course, in addition to all this activity, the 2009 Conference Committee has been working incredibly hard to ensure that even with the economic down turn, shortage of CLA staff, and the fact that Halloween falls in the middle of conference, we will provide the best opportunity for all of us to get together for education, networking and rejuvenation. Early registration is open at 10% less than last year. I hope you all consider this investment in yourself and your staff and register for conference. I look forward to seeing you all in Pasadena!
"Reach Out!" Electronically
This newsletter, along with CLA's presence on Facebook and Twitter is our first foray into communicating with members quickly with 21st century tools. Our only full time staff member, Richard Berta, is to be commended for pulling us quickly into these mediums. I hope many of you are following along on Facebook and Twitter. I know our Second Life members are interested in having a CLA presence there too. And let me know if you'd be interested in being a Twitter "reporter" at conference this year!
State Librarian Vacancy
On behalf of CLA, I have sent a letter to Governor Schwarzenegger asking him to consider quickly filling the vacant State Librarian position now that the State has a budget. A response was received acknowledging the letter and thanking CLA for stating the importance of this appointment. Some Governor appointments are being made at this time, so let's hope this will be one of them.
Coming soon will be a strategic planning process complete with a membership/program gap analysis and SWOT that will be actively incorporated into the goals of the Board and reviewed by every future Board. This should result in continuity of purpose and forward movement. CLA is poised to develop into the incredible umbrella library professional organization it was always meant to be. We want to honor the past, and keep all that transfers into the future and modify where appropriate for transition and growth. This planning process will result in a dynamic strategic business and operational plan. There is much to do, but I know that with the continued support of all of you amazingly time generous members, CLA will rise to meet all your expectations.
Please let me know your comments, suggestions, questions and concerns at any time: barbara.roberts@palmsprings-ca.gov
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Barbara Roberts, CLA President
Posted by claadmin at 3:08 PM
July 15, 2009
President's Column
By Barbara Roberts, CLA President
Hello CLA!
Welcome to the first ever CLA electronic newsletter. Isn't it about time?
It is the purpose of this communication to "Reach Out!" to keep all members up to date on what's happening in CLA, libraries within the state, interest groups within CLA, CLA Board of Directors actions, CLA legislative reports and act as a forum for sharing not only news, but ideas and information as well.
Registration for this years conference will open soon! The conference committee has made a concerted effort to make this year's conference green, more pocketbook friendly, as well as providing a can't-miss educational and networking event. This year, we will continue to encourage online registration and thus save paper. Additionally, we have lowered fees for early-bird registration by 10% to reflect the budget cutbacks that all libraries are feeling. Take a good look at the offerings and we hope that we see you in Pasadena in October!
Certainly the big items on the table right now are the State budget and the President's Stimulus package. Check out the legislative news columns in this newsletter for the latest. And be sure to check out www.knowyourstimulus.org for the latest on the broadband stimulus funds application process.
The State's Broadband Task Force and Advisory Committees have been formed and librarians are at the table! Stacey Aldrich, Acting State Librarian, will be appointed to the task force. Additionally, through member recommendations, the CLA Board of Directors, nominated Stephanie Sterling Brasley, Manager, Information literacy Initiatives, California State University, Office of the Chancellor, Long Beach, to the Advisory Committee. I'm sure we will be hearing from them on the process for - and the progress of - broadband applications.
The election for our new Vice-President/President-Elect is so important for the continuity of CLA business. I hope you all voted and want to take this opportunity to thank both candidates for agreeing to run.
The search for the next CLA Executive Director and Association Management firm is still in process and I hope to have news for you about that in the next issue of this e-newsletter.
My thanks for the revival of California Libraries go out to CLA's Richard Berta, Membership & Marketing Associate, and Claudia Foutz, Interim Executive Director. It is their energy and creativity that made this publication happen. I also want to thank the IT Task Force, headed by Gerry Calderon, IT Manager at Sacramento Public, for their research and recommendations.
Please share what you think about this method of communication, both in form and content. Is it helpful? What would you like to see that isn't here or what do you think is superfluous? Do you feel it is a valuable member benefit? Email me and let me know: barbara.roberts@palmsprings-ca.gov
Please forward this newsletter to friends and colleagues who are not members; it might just pique their interest in joining. And do also share it with your jurisdictions so the benefits of institutional benefits can be better appreciated.
CLA wants to be relevant to you as members. We hope this e-newsletter is just the beginning of ways that we can do that. Enjoy!
Posted by claadmin at 9:31 AM
Recession-Proof Your Library
As we move into the second half of 2009, public libraries across the country have to prove their worth like never before. In these times, when funding is drying up for all but essential services, it is paramount that we be able to articulate just how vital public library services are.
How do we do this? We clearly align public library services with the benefits our funding organizations deem essential. Most likely, these include five perennial concerns: public safety, education, employment, housing and health.
What do essential services look like in public libraries?
- Safety: After school programs, during the hours many young people are without regular adult supervision.
- Education: Teacher cards that supplement school curriculum; basic computer instruction-fundamental skills many need so they can access/utilize all other computer-based resources; online databases that offer access to all, not just those who qualify for scholarships or can afford tuition.
- Employment: Assistance with resumes, i.e. software, free copies and workshops; opening the library earlier so users accessing job ads and applications online can get a jump start.
- Housing: Programs to help homeowners facing foreclosure; prospective/new homeowner workshops.
- Health: Preschool screenings before/after story time; healthy cooking classes for parents/families; coordinating with school districts to fund lunches, before and after school snacks at the library during out-of-school times; posting and distribution of local medical/health services.
How can we make our service models even more worthy of shrinking public dollars? We can leverage our assets by coordinating with other community-based organizations and governmental agencies.
- Perhaps you've partnered with the local Head Start to host monthly family gatherings in your community room because they don’t have a space large enough.
- Maybe the local employment bureau refers their clients to your library because you've dedicated workstations for job seekers.
Funders favor organizations who share resources for the greatest benefit of their constituents. Identifying and taking advantage of shared resources and missions can translate into a more secure position when funding streams run low.
Who are likely partners? They are any departments funded by your organization, i.e. fire, police, parks & rec. dept. Other partners could include: school districts, Y's, Boys & Girls Clubs, clinics, Chambers of Commerce, faith communities, apartment complexes, PTO's, credit unions, home school collaboratives, neighborhood watch groups, Red Cross, Salvation Army and other social service organizations.
Who will fare better during these tough times? Library systems that have stopped measuring their worth by their circulation statistics. They have learned their real value is demonstrated in their responsiveness to their communities, going beyond traditional library services to provide local service gaps, i.e.
- Help with homework after school - very few school libraries are open after 3 PM.
- Assistance with online forms/tests, including dedicated workstations/reserved hours for library users to complete paperwork that is only available online.
- Access to the community bulletin board/resource database that promotes services offered by all the other local organizations.
What can we all do to make our library systems more recession-proof?
- If you haven't yet, consider revamping programs/services to align with services your funding agency deems essential.
- Shore up connections and relationships with neighbor organizations, especially those with shared missions.
- Gather and broadcast the stories, photos, and yes, numbers, that help demonstrate how critical your services are to your constituents.
Let's step up and tell everyone: Public libraries provide essential services and deserve to be at the front of the funding line.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Pat Downs Bright
CYAS President
San Diego County Library
Pat.downs@sdcounty.ca.gov
Posted by claadmin at 9:15 AM
Conference News
PSSST! I'm going to let you in on the best kept secret of the year. The CLA Conference in Pasadena, Oct. 30- Nov. 2, is going to be a blast! Not only are we offering over 90 programs, but we've got comedienne Paula Poundstone, plus Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum, the hilarious creators of our favorite library comic-strip, Unshelved. After-hours, we're offering an awards/dessert event on Friday, a masquerade casino night on Saturday, and dine-around opportunities to eat at some the best restaurants in town on Sunday.
Let's see what else is scheduled: a One Book/One Conference discussion of Rick Wartzman's best-selling work Obscene in the Extreme, about the banning of The Grapes of Wrath in Kern county (lunchtime on Saturday); the first-ever joint Beatty/California Young Readers Medal breakfast, where you'll get to enjoy twice the usual number of authors with your meal-ticket (Sunday morning); and a closing session panel with this year's California Library Journal Movers & Shakers (Monday afternoon).
So, what's this all going to cost? Well, the good news is that we haven't increased conference registration fees. Better yet, we've reduced early bird registration cost by 10% from 2008 prices! Also, we've further reduced prices for unemployed CLA members so that they may take advantage of this premiere networking event. So be sure to register early and stay till the very end of conference. I look forward to seeing you in Pasadena!
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Cindy Mediavilla, Chair
CLA Conference Planning Committee 2009
Posted by claadmin at 9:15 AM
ALA Corner
As of July 1, 2009, with one week remaining before the 2009 Annual Conference, registration stood at 13,402, compared to 11,509 one week prior to the start of the 2008 (Anaheim) conference.
During the Annual Conference, the Washington Office offered many opportunities for members to learn more about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), specifically about the broadband funding program. In addition to following the latest news via http://www.ala.org/knowyourstimulus, members can also view a webinar on the Web site, which was held on Wednesday, July 8, that provided an overview of the application process. Members can e-mail questions to librarystimulus@ala.org. Answers will be posted on a Frequently Asked Questions page on the "know your stimulus" Web site.
ALA, along with the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) and the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) filed a brief on May 4, 2009, with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in response to a private settlement agreement reached among Google, the American Association of Publishers and the Author's Guild, which (if approved) resolves their legal dispute over the scanning of millions of books provided by research libraries.
In the filing, the library associations do not oppose approval of the settlement. Rather, the associations ask the judge, "to exercise vigorous oversight of the interpretation and implementation of the settlement to ensure the broadest possible benefit from the services the settlement enables." Further details may be found here.
Plans for the National Conversation on Privacy/Privacy Week initiative are being finalized after a period of seeking input, feedback, and advice from ALA leadership, members, and privacy organizations. There are new designs and a new brand for the campaign materials, which were be highlighted with the completed Privacy Revolution website at the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago.
At the ALA Midwinter Meeting, the ALA Executive Board received the final report of a special presidential task force on library education. Recommendations were referred to the ALA Committee on Accreditation which will respond to the Board at this conference.
The Committee on Accreditation is seeking comment on these recommendations from ALA members and other stakeholders and has set up a blog for that purpose.
The Task Force also identified core competences for beginning library generalists. At the 2009 Midwinter Meeting, the ALA Council approved these competences. All ALA members with an interest in library education are encouraged to read the report and share their ideas with the Committee on Accreditation.
The Library Support Staff Certification Program is well on its way to becoming a reality. The boards of six divisions - ACRL, ALCTS, ASCLA, LLAMA, PLA, and RUSA have approved the program, meaning they support the goals of the program, will assist as the program matures, will help recruit evaluators for the portfolios candidates will create, will help publicize the program, may offer courses, and may recruit candidates. The Library Support Staff Interests Round Table has also approved the program, and other units are being asked for their approval. The goal of this Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and ALA funded project is to create standards of practice for academic and public library support staff and a program to measure competency is one year ahead of schedule. If the ALA Executive Board approves the program, applications will be accepted beginning in January 2010.
Remembering...
- Judith F. Krug Memorial Service, Friday, July 10. The library world lost a great leader in April with the death of Judith F. Krug, the founding director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) and the Freedom to Read Foundation(FTRF).
Since her passing on April 11, 2009, the outpouring of support - from both within the library community and without - has been immense. For those who wish to sustain Judith's work and legacy, the Freedom to Read Foundation has established the Judith F. Krug Memorial Fund. Donations to the fund may be made online at www.ftrf.org, or sent to FTRF, 50 E. Huron, Chicago, IL 60611.
- ALA conferees were invited to BCALA's "Tribute to Dr. E.J. Josey,"
on Sunday, July 12. The BCALA membership meeting followed from 8:00-10:00pm in the same room. Dr. Josey, founder of BCALA (Black Caucus of the American Library Association) and ALA past president (1984-85) and ALA Honorary Member, died July 3, 2009. His legacy celebrates his dedication to the profession, library organizations and institutions, and to the countless librarians and others whom he mentored throughout his career. He was remembered at multiple events during the 2009 Annual Conference.
Annual Conference 2010 Capitol Hill Rally
In 2010, ALA's Annual Conference is in Washington, D.C., and the Washington Office will try something new in place of National Library Legislative Day.
Specifically, ALA will hold a big rally on Capitol Hill with members of Congress and senators speaking to the library group on Monday, June 28, 2010. Afterward, rally-goers will meet with their representatives and senators at their offices to talk about issues in their libraries. States will have banners, participants can carry signs with our library messages, and we will shout our message for all to hear!
Contact Kristin Murphy at kmurphy@alawash.org for more information. To learn more about National Library Legislative Day,
click here.
Some of the resolutions that will be discussed at ALA Council include:
- Resolution on Libraries and the Continuing Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan Accessibility for Library Websites
- Purchasing of Accessible Electronic Resources Resolution
- Resolution on Civil Marriage Equality Regardless of Sexual Orientation
- Intergeneration Day
- Single-Payer, Universal Health Care
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Les Kong, ALA Chapter Councilor
Posted by claadmin at 9:15 AM
Literacy Section Reorganized
There was no question in our minds. The Officers and Executive Committee members of the CLA - Literacy Section wanted to move forward as a part of the CLA reorganization and become an Interest Group.
The first question to arise was one of governance. Should we keep the same organizational structure: President, Vice President, Past President and Secretary? Or should we change to a different format, and if "yes", what would it be? We put this question out to our members and their responses gave us two new options:
1. Co-Chairs serving staggered terms, Past Chair and Secretary.
2. Chair and Vice Chair, Secretary and Assistant Secretary.
An additional suggestion was that we alternate our Chair position between Northern and Southern California in sync with the CLA conferences.
We put the above choices back out to the Literacy Section members for a vote and they selected the #2 option above, plus agreeing to alternate North and South.
We have had some very hardworking and dedicated Literacy Section members serving as CLA Assembly Members, and on the Legislative, Conference Planning, Membership and Continuing Education Committees. Internal to the Literacy Section, other very committed members have served as officers and committee members. We have worked diligently with one goal in mind: a strong, successful CLA. That will continue to be our goal as we make the conversion into the Literacy Interest Group. We look forward to being a vital part of the new CLA as it blossoms.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Alan Archer, 2009 President, Literacy Interest Group
Posted by claadmin at 9:10 AM
News from the Capitol
Legislative Business Continues While Budget Deal Remains Elusive
As the so-called "Big 5" members of the legislative leadership at the State Capitol continue to hold discussions behind closed doors, to bring about a resolution to the Budget stalemate, policy and fiscal committees continue in earnest, dispensing with hundreds of measures. Since very few of the members of the legislature are actively engaged in the Budget negotiations, this allows regular business to continue "as usual" at the State Capitol. The Senate and Assembly are scheduled to take their annual "legislative recess" for one month, commencing Friday, July 17, but without a Budget in place, those plans may be dashed. Democrat leaders in both houses are visibly frustrated in almost daily press conferences, as they update the media regarding the limited progress of the Budget talks. However, Assembly Republican Leader Sam Blakeslee contends that the 4 leaders and the Governor are making some strides, and he claims talks have been relatively productive.
As this report goes to press, we remain concerned that an ultimate Budget deal will have serious ramifications on the local government community. Reporting several weeks ago, we noted that the Governor and the Senate President pro Tem are now willing to re-engage on the issue of borrowing $2 billion in property taxes from cities, counties, and special districts. This action could likely be taken for two reasons:
1) Republicans in both houses are resistant to raising taxes to help balance the Budget, and
2) Each day that the Budget stalemate is prolonged, the size of the Budget deficit increases, as does the need to make even deeper cuts or find borrowing solutions.
CLA is actively advocating against any borrowing proposal that would harm public libraries.
Look for our regular legislative "News From the Capitol" reports for future updates on the Budget talks.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Michael Dillon and Christina DiCaro, CLA Lobbyists
Posted by claadmin at 9:10 AM
Interest Group Conversion
As of July 1, Sections and Round Tables will now be known as Interest Groups. This move reflects that of ALA, in which Interest Groups are designed to be more fluid, less bureaucratic, and more relevant to current interests of members. These groups can be formed by type of library, type of activity, a special interest (about anything!) or a geographic area. Any voting member of the Association is eligible for membership in an Interest Group.
Below is a list of former Sections and Round Tables that will continue as an Interest Group:
- Academic
- African American Librarians
- Chinese American Librarians
- Collection Development
- Library History Interest Group
- Literacy
- Marketing and Public Relations
- Reference
- Student Roundtable
- Technical Services
- Youth Services
For more information on this conversion, please read CLA's Transition Tool Kit. If you have any questions, please e-mail me at rberta@cla-net.org.
I hope you enjoy reading this month's issue of California Libraries. Please let me know what you think!
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Richard Berta, CLA Membership and Marketing Associate
Posted by claadmin at 9:01 AM
Legislative Committee Continues Fight for Library Funding
In these times of budget pressure, the CLA Legislative Committee is working harder than ever to protect library funding. Activities such as Day in the District and Legislative Day are organized by the Committee to empower library staff and supporters across California to educate elected officials about how libraries serve their constituents. The Committee also collects data to inform Legislators about the potential impact of State budget and other Legislative actions, encourages people to contact Legislators about specific issues, presents conference programs to help people become better library advocates, and works to make sure information about Legislative actions that impact libraries is distributed to people across the State via the Calix listserv, CAPWIZ, and the CLA website, blog, Facebook and Twitter pages.
Come to conference this year and participate in the Advocacy/Legislative workshop to learn more about the Committee functions and the role you can play in protecting and perserving libaries. This year, the Committee is exploring new initiatives to get even more people involved and we would welcome your input! Stay informed and involved and come see me and your collegues this year at Conference on October 30 through November 2 in Pasadena!
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Kathy Gould, CLA Legislative Committee Chair
Posted by claadmin at 9:00 AM