Here I am again with another interesting look at American Libraries. The March issue had many different and interesting articles covering lifelong learning, additional information of library related events throughout the world, plus a report on the ALA Midwinter Meeting that took place in Philadelphia. While my goal was to tell you about one interesting article each month, I found that in this issue there were just too many interesting things just to pick one! So since a couple of the interesting information found in this issue a rather small, I decided to highlight the many articles I found interesting. Enjoy!
One of the first things to catch my eye in this month’s issue was a one page article about two 16 year old high school juniors from Tampa, Florida who raise money for libraries in Kenya. The article is “Girls Raise Cash for Kenya” and appears on page 28. Believing in Gandhi’s words “We must become the chance we want to see in the world”, these two teenagers, Danielle Rodriguez and Megan Adams, started Literacy Leads to Hope, which is a fundraising initiative that supports the American Friends of Kenya (AFK) organization. Their goal has been to raise enough money to build and set up a library in Thika. So far they have raised $40,000 from a benefit fundraiser and $35,000 from a Canadian Baptist church towards their $120,000 goal that they hope to raise, which is the estimated cost of construction. There are already desks, books, a computer, and shelves that are waiting in storage fort he building. Not only have they raised money for their cause, but they have met the mayor of Tampa, who declared “Literacy Leads to Hope Day” on November 13 in the city. They are also continuing their fundraising by reaching out to schools by trying to raise money through t-shirt sales and sales of Tumaini (Swahili for “hope”) dolls that the girls created themselves. The money they raise and will raise goes to the American Friends of Kenya organization, earmarked for the library. For more information, visit their website at www.literacyleadstohope.com.
Looking at the technology news in the library world, the Library of Congress is teaming up with Flickr “to broaden public access to the 14 million photographs and other visual items in LC’s collections” (30). The project will begin with 3,000 photos that will be posted in an area called The Commons (www.flickr.com/commons) that will contains photos from the library’s most popular collections, the George Grantham Bain Collection and Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information. Only images, which have no copyright restrictions know to exist, will be included in this project. There are hopes that the public will enhance the collections utility by helping with key caption information for the many photos that are missing this information.
The next interesting article I read called “Story Quilt: Poems of a Place.” It talks about the town of Galway, New York and the social history project of the Galway Public Library. The Galway Public Library received a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts, which was administered through the Saratoga County Arts Council. With this grant and many volunteers, they gathered a collection of poems and little stories “comprising the symbolic quilt of the town’s collective history” (51). They collected poems that people wrote, or material to create a poem, dealing with the past through the present of the town. Instead of relegating these poems to paper or being archived somewhere, they decided to have the poems performed “for the entire community to share and celebrate” (51). After the first year was a success, they applied for a second grant to continue collected poems and stories to add to the collection, ending up with close to 300 poems by the end of 2006. Eventually by 2007 they published a book containing 122 of the poems and artwork from local artists called Story Quilt: Poems of a Place. The whole community got behind the project and showed its support by funding the publication of the book themselves through contributions from individuals, businesses, organizations in Galway. By doing this, they were able to allow all the proceeds from the sale of the books to be put back into the library’s arts and literary programming fund.
Last, but not least, there was a whole section of information about the events and presentations the occurred at the Midwinter Meeting that was held in Philadelphia in January. In addition to all the information and brief overviews of the main events from the meeting, there is also information about the candidates for ALA President in 2009. Each of the candidates had a page to tell about their experience and what they pledge to do if elected. There is also an article where each candidate answers questions from the different people in the audience. Voting began March 17, so if you are an ALA member take this opportunity to vote.
Well that is all for this month’s American Libraries. If you are an ALA member, you can access the magazine for free through the website.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Let's Hear It From The Jury and New Year's Resolutions for the Librarian Professional
The first issue for this year covers both January and February, so I will be telling you about 2 interesting articles I read. So here it goes and enjoy!
The first article I thought was interesting was “Librarians in the Jury Box” by Nancy Kalikow Maxwell. The author of this article talked with attorneys and did research on trial technique handbooks to find out if her hunch that librarians make highly desirable jurors was correct. When talking with the attorneys, the author found that they feel that librarians make excellent jurors and are preferred when selecting a jury. One reason is because “librarians are interested in the facts and not generally swayed by innuendo or subjective beliefs.” Other reasons are because librarians “listen to reason” and “librarians are organized, practical, conservative, and careful…conservative, I don’t mean politically, but rather they are the kind of people who pay their bills on time. They would focus on the facts and not be swayed by the big picture a plaintiff tries to paint.” Much of the research of the handbooks show that librarians are potential jurors because they are described as intelligent, are seen as literary people, and people who can empathize.
Of course this being said, the article goes on to say how not all librarians are created equal when it comes to being desirable as jurors. Catalogers could be seen as too requiring of “everything in a case to fit together too neatly” while school librarians are “reportedly make good jurors because they are accustomed to making do with available materials.” Public librarians are preferred as defense jurors in criminal cases because they are exposed to a “variety of aspects of life” and are “less likely to be shocked by the details of a crime.”
The last part of the article talks about looking like a librarian. One of the things materials counsel lawyers to consider when selecting jurors is physical characteristics. One reference cautions against selecting a person who is frowning over half-glasses, thin people, and people with thin lips, thin hair, and angular features. Other sources advise lawyers to choose people that are heavy, round-faced, jovial looking as the most desirable for the jury as well as smiling jurors. I found this article interesting because it gave an incite to how we can be perceived by other professions and other people.
The other article I found interesting is a short article on twelve resolutions for the New Year at your library. It is called “Be It Resolved…Twelve resolutions for the New Year at your library” by Mary Pergander. The article goes into some ideas/resolutions on making a difference in your professional career and your library. The resolutions on her list are:
The first article I thought was interesting was “Librarians in the Jury Box” by Nancy Kalikow Maxwell. The author of this article talked with attorneys and did research on trial technique handbooks to find out if her hunch that librarians make highly desirable jurors was correct. When talking with the attorneys, the author found that they feel that librarians make excellent jurors and are preferred when selecting a jury. One reason is because “librarians are interested in the facts and not generally swayed by innuendo or subjective beliefs.” Other reasons are because librarians “listen to reason” and “librarians are organized, practical, conservative, and careful…conservative, I don’t mean politically, but rather they are the kind of people who pay their bills on time. They would focus on the facts and not be swayed by the big picture a plaintiff tries to paint.” Much of the research of the handbooks show that librarians are potential jurors because they are described as intelligent, are seen as literary people, and people who can empathize.
Of course this being said, the article goes on to say how not all librarians are created equal when it comes to being desirable as jurors. Catalogers could be seen as too requiring of “everything in a case to fit together too neatly” while school librarians are “reportedly make good jurors because they are accustomed to making do with available materials.” Public librarians are preferred as defense jurors in criminal cases because they are exposed to a “variety of aspects of life” and are “less likely to be shocked by the details of a crime.”
The last part of the article talks about looking like a librarian. One of the things materials counsel lawyers to consider when selecting jurors is physical characteristics. One reference cautions against selecting a person who is frowning over half-glasses, thin people, and people with thin lips, thin hair, and angular features. Other sources advise lawyers to choose people that are heavy, round-faced, jovial looking as the most desirable for the jury as well as smiling jurors. I found this article interesting because it gave an incite to how we can be perceived by other professions and other people.
The other article I found interesting is a short article on twelve resolutions for the New Year at your library. It is called “Be It Resolved…Twelve resolutions for the New Year at your library” by Mary Pergander. The article goes into some ideas/resolutions on making a difference in your professional career and your library. The resolutions on her list are:
- Can you name three librarians colleagues working in similar roles in nearby libraries?
- Is there at least one professional journal you read cover to cover each month?
- Attend a professional conference, if you can.
- Subscribe to at least on RSS feed on a library topic of interest.
- Are you a technology superuser?
- Share your librarianship ideas more broadly.
- Vote, not just in the political elections but your library organizations also.
- Take a local or web-based continuing education class related to your own information needs.
- Serve on a committee in your library, school, or professional organization.
- Nominate a librarian for an award.
- Apply for a grant.
- Take a vacation, and visit a library.
She encourages librarians to complete at least two or three completely.
I hope you have enjoyed learning about a couple interesting articles in the January/February 2008 issue of American Libraries, a publication of the American Library Association. If you like what you have seen and want to read more or you want to read more interesting articles on the library world, check out the January/February 2008 issues of American Libraries!
What is going on in the library world?: American Libraries Goal
As one of my goals this year, I am reading American Libraries magazine each month and then emailing everyone that works in my library system about an interesting article I read. I sat here getting ready to work on the March issue and a light bulb went off. Why not only email my summaries, but also post them on my blog! So here it goes and enjoy!
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