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I Love Libraries News: 2007 Archive

December 20, 2007: The Schneider Family Book Award
Each year the American Library Association (ALA) awards authors and illustrators of books, videos, and other outstanding materials for children and teens. The Schneider Family Book Award is one of them. Three annual awards are presented for the best Teen (ages 14-18), Middle School (ages 11-13), and Children’s (ages 10 and younger) book. The winning books are selected for their excellence as an artistic expression of the disability experience. The disability portrayed may be mental, physical, or emotional. Winning authors receive an award in the form of a $5,000 check and a framed plaque, emblazoned with a silver and blue emblem featuring a circle of boys and girls holding hands around a globe, symbolizing the equality of all children. Since the inception of the award in 2003, winning titles have included characters who deal with depression, blindness, cerebral palsy, paraplegia, deafness, synesthesia, dyscalculia, physical disabilities, and stuttering. Read more...

December 20, 2007: Internet Safety, Libraries, and MySpace
It all started with the U.S. House of Representatives passing a bill on July 26, 2006, requiring schools and libraries receiving E-rate funds (a federal initiative providing discounts to public libraries and schools on telecommunications services, Internet access, and other closely related costs) to block access to social networking sites, such as MySpace, as well as access to a wide array of other content and technologies, such as instant messaging, online e-mail, wikis, and blogs. The Deleting Online Predators Act, or DOPA, was the name given to H.R. 5319, which passed overwhelmingly in the House by 410 to 15. (The U.S. Senate never considered the bill.) Read more...

December 18, 2007: Holiday Gift Guide for Teens
Nothing says happy holidays like a good book! If there’s a teen on your list, YALSA has a book to fit his or her interest. Looking for more? Check out YALSA’s archives of booklists and awards, dating back to 1997. (And take your teen to the library to check out all the items in this gift guide!)Read more...

December 14, 2007: Chasing Newbery
Over recent years, several parents have reported to ALSC that their child has read each and every Newbery Medal-winning book named since 1922 when the award was first given. Our hats are off to all those who have embraced this goal and faithfully read their way through decades of award-winning titles. That is quite an achievement. Twelve-year-old Sophie Blaylock of San Diego, Calif., achieved her Newbery reading goal and tells us all about it. Read more...

November 27, 2007: Idearc Helps Makeover Libraries
Idearc Media's community mission is to create communities of readers where its employees and customers live and work. Idearc Media, home to Superpages.com(r) and publisher of the Verizon(r) Yellow Pages, partnered this year with the American Library Association to refurbish reading areas in three public libraries. In addition to $20,000 provided to each library, Idearc Media employees volunteered their time and expertise to make the makeovers happen. In addition to a lot of sweat equity artists on the Idearc staff help turn visions into reality. Read more...

November 20, 2007: Ten Ways Adults Can Support Teen Reading
The National Endowment for the Arts released data this week showing that Americans—and teenagers in particular—are reading less than they did just a few years ago. The number of 17-year-olds who say they never read for pleasure doubled in the past twenty years to 19 percent. But remember, good reading habits start at home and at your library. If you’re wondering how you can help get teens to read, here are ten ways to start. Read more...

November 13, 2007: Festival of Maps
The Festival of Maps Chicago, with its theme of “Exploration, Discovery, and Mapping,” recently opened on November 2nd and continues into 2008. Festival events take place at over 30 locations throughout the city, highlighting “advances in modern cartography as they apply to our earth and the skies above.” Read more...

November 6, 2007: Reading Is Still Hot
I have been working successfully with the Reading for the Blind and Dyslexic Organization for many years. This organization provides special listening equipment and free audio of textbooks and novels to persons with vision problems. When information about the ListenNJ audiobook project was advertised, I thought that I could achieve the same success with the general school population and faculty as I experienced with the special education students. Read more...

November 5, 2007: The Digital Television Transition, Libraries and You
Television as you know it is about to change. By law, on February 17, 2009, television stations nationwide must stop transmitting signals in analog format and begin transmitting in digital. That process has come to be known as the Digital Television (DTV) Transition and libraries are set to play a big role. Read more...

October 30, 2007: Carvers Bay (SC) Branch Library: Gaming the Way to Literacy
Innovation happens in the most surprising places. If asked which US library is pushing the envelope on introducing interactive computer gaming in public libraries, how many would look to the most rural, poor, and isolated corner of a county in South Carolina? And if informed that this corner of the library world has a 30% illiteracy rate, a 15% unemployment rate, a poverty level exceeding 30% with up to 90% of school kids eligible for free or reduced-rate lunches, and a meager 2% rate for library card registration, what odds would you give that it can even keep its doors open? Read more...

October 23, 2007: Haunted Libraries
Bleak mansions and somber castles usually spring to mind when we think of haunted places, but ghostly phenomena—whatever the cause—can manifest in well-lit, modern offices as well as crumbling Carnegies. Of course, it helps if you inadvertently build your library on top of a graveyard. Read more...

October 19, 2007: School Libraries Promote International Understanding
On October 22nd school libraries around the world will be crossing borders to celebrate International School Library Day! Read more...

October 11, 2007: Celebrate National Friends of Libraries Week!
If you love libraries and aren’t part of your local library’s Friends group, you may want to consider joining. Friends of Library groups can be found in nearly every community and on many campuses across the country.  These groups, made up of volunteers, raise money and increase public awareness about their library. Read more...

October 9, 2007: Libraries are a Teen Oasis
The great comic actor Groucho Marx once said, “Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.” While Groucho definitely predates Will Ferrell, this sort of humor might appeal to teen readers during the tenth annual Teen Read Week™, celebrated this year October 14–20. Read more...

September 27, 2007: An Eye on Censorship
Within a week very recently, two similar tales were unfolding publicly in different parts of the country. In Mississippi, a high-schooler is holding on to her school library's copy of Ellen Wittlinger’s young adult novel Sandpiper. In Lewiston, Maine, a parent refuses to return Robie Harris' acclaimed sex education book It's Perfectly Normal. It's the bane of nearly every library's existence – too many books aren't returned by their due date. There's a litany of reasons for this: forgetfulness, lack of concern or, often, sincere attachment to or interest in the publication. Unfortunately, there's another, more disconcerting reason some people don’t return their books. They don't think anyone else should read them. Read more...

September 20, 2007: ALA Gets a Second Life
Over the course of the past nine months, both staff and members of the American Library Association (ALA) have been establishing a presence on ALA InfoArts Island in the virtual world of Second Life. After much hard work a Banned Books Week exhibit that mirrors the 2007 pirate theme has been created. It's complete with a “pirates' cove,” pirate ship, seagulls, and the occasional rat scuttling across the docks! Read more...

August 8, 2007: Back to School? Don't Forget the Library!
The summer is drawing to a close, and many children and adults are beginning to anticipate the start of a new school year. Amidst all your planning – supplies, registration materials, new clothes, arranging the logistics of the commute – don’t forget to make good use of ALL the libraries in your community. Read more...

August 8, 2007: Libraries That Matter
Libraries are perhaps our most enduring public institutions—priceless repositories of history, language, and culture. The dawn of the "information superhighway" threatened to make them less relevant, even obsolete. Yet now, these institutions are as prominent as ever, with a wave of innovation as the next generation of libraries extend their mission well beyond the storage of knowledge. Read more...

August 2, 2007: SKILLs Act Reinforces Importance of School Libraries, Librarians
Every day, students across the country visit their school libraries (now referred to as school library media centers) for everything from serious research to a little light reading. And they rely on the studied advice of the librarians at hand – similarly referred to as school library media specialists—to guide them in the right direction. Recently, the U.S. Congress took steps to ensure that students will continue to have this vital resource to their children’s educations: the Strengthening Kids’ Interest in Learning and Libraries (SKILLs) Act. Read more...

July 27, 2007: Harry Potter—Coming to the Libraries You Love
It would be hard to miss the building excitement this summer as readers of all ages anticipate the release of the next—and last—book in J.K. Rowling’s series of books about the young wizard Harry Potter: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Couple that with a new Potter movie coming to movie theatres as well, and it’s no wonder that “Pottermania” has reached an all-time high! Bookstores and movie theatres are clearly hoping to see record business from these releases, but local libraries are also offering ways for their patrons to celebrate the new book and movie. Read more...

July 3, 2007: Librarians Stormed the Halls of Congress on Library Day on the Hill 2007
On June 26, 2007, busloads of librarians and library supporters from cross the country descended upon Capitol Hill to call attention to the value of today's libraries, as well as the issues the library community is facing. At least 1,000 advocates from around the country, wearing red “Support Libraries” T-shirts, lobbied members of Congress on the urgent need for funding libraries threatened by closures, shortened hours, staff shortages, and diminished services; the importance of school libraries to the success of No Child Left Behind; and other critical issues. Read more...

June 28, 2007: Libraries in New Orleans and Gulf Region Continue Their Struggle To Rebuild
It's been 22 months since Hurricane Katrina, followed by Hurricane Rita two months later, devastated the Gulf Region. After the storms, libraries that were able to reopen did so as quickly as they could. Even with a staff of 19 (compared to the usual 216), the New Orleans Public Library was up and running as best it could right after the floodwaters receded.  Read more...

June 28, 2007: Student Contest Winner Sets the Theme for National Library Legislative Day
Danny Chapman of Lake Forest, Ill., is the proud winner of this year's National Library Legislative Day Student Theme Contest. The contest, which ran in late 2006, invited students from all over the country to submit ideas for the National Library Legislative Day theme and logo to be used on invitations, briefing materials and decorations. For his winning entry, "Check Out the Future," Chapman won a free trip to National Library Legislative Day, which takes place May 1, 2007, in Washington, D.C. He will be visiting Congress with a delegation from the Illinois Library Association. Chapman shares his thoughts for that day with ILoveLibraries.org. Read more...

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