The Book's The Thing

News from the world of books & libraries

lisa — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 20:35:43 +0000

‘Staggering’ Library Book Thefts (Wales)

” Chris Franks found more than 100,000 books had been stolen or not returned, with losses for Wales’ biggest council, Cardiff, running at £1,000 a week.

He said he is “staggered” and wants action, including a books amnesty.

Cardiff Council said it hopes a new system will combat thefts but there was “no evidence” amnesties worked. ”

From BBCnews:

Rushdie wins Joyce Award

” Accepting the James Joyce Award at University College Dublin, Sir Salman said he said he had learnt “a daring of language” from Joyce. ”

From The Independent:

Libraries Should be About Books

” Perhaps the peculiarly hybrid name of his department – Culture, Media and Sport – has clouded his judgement. But the Secretary of State, Andy Burnham, will today add his voice to calls by chief librarians for a revolution to modernise public libraries and “bring them into the 21st century”. In Mr Burnham’s words, this means banishing the image of libraries as “solemn and sombre places patrolled by fearsome and formidable staff” and making them “come alive for generations to come”. ”

From WashingtonPost.com:

Nobel Literature Head: US too Insular to Compete

” STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Bad news for American writers hoping for a Nobel Prize next week: the top member of the award jury believes the United States is too insular and ignorant to compete with Europe when it comes to great writing. ”

From The Independent:

Top novelist feels pressured to “dumb down”

” Margaret Drabble, one of Britain’s leading novelists and biographers, believes her publishers are pushing her to “dumb down” her work to appeal to a larger readership. ”

Knee-deep in homework

lisa — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:41:15 +0000

I’ve been a bad, bad blogger. I know. I could show you my syllabi, to prove I haven’t been off partying with Nancy Pearl, if need be.

Speaking of Nancy Pearl, my youngest child broke off the arm of my NP action figure. She can still “Shhhhhh!!!,” though. There’s hope she’ll pull through.

It’s mid-semester, or thereabouts, in the U of Wisconsin-Madison’s MLS distance learning program. Mid-semester means I have the oh-dear-god-how-will-I-do-all-this disorder. It all seemed so straight-forward at the beginning of the semester. I even got ahead of the game for a while. I felt so much better than everyone else, so superior.

Then the political debates started, and the stock market slid into a pit … So much to worry about, so much to watch on TV. I can’t let disasters pass without keeping myself informed.

And I can’t not watch the stock market slide, either.

I hope you’re all watching the SNL coverage of the election. Last night’s spoof of the most recent debates was hilarious. I loved the candidates wandering aimlessly in front of the camera. Classic.

Too, too much news going on now. Too much to keep track of, yet the profession’s all about information. I guess we just have to pick our poison and hope someone else fills us in on what we’ve missed. Otherwise you’ll drive yourself crazy trying to keep up on it all.

At least things aren’t boring.

Reference Librarian Award - Call for Nominations

lisa — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:33:19 +0000

Do you know someone who has significantly influenced reference librarianship?

Isadore Gilbert Mudge Award, sponsored by Gale Cengage Learning

An annual cash award of $5,000 and a citation will be presented to an individual who has made a distinguished contribution to reference librarianship. This contribution may include, but is not limited to, programming in a particular library or authorship of a significant book or articles in the reference field. The award is presented by the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). To nominate an individual, write a letter of nomination explaining why the individual is deserving of this recognition, citing specific achievements. Each nomination packet must include three to five letters of recommendation, a copy of the nominee’s resume or curriculum vitae, and any other appropriate supporting documentation.

Please send nominations by 15 December 2008 to:

Teresa Portilla Omidsalar, Chair

Isadore Gilbert Mudge Award Committee

J. F. K. Memorial Library

CSU Los Angeles

5151 State University Dr.

Los Angeles, CA 90032

On behalf of the committee,

Mark O’English

University Archivist

12E Terrell Library, Washington State University Pullman, WA 99164-5610

October is breast cancer awareness month

lisa — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:22:08 +0000

Please consider donating to the cause, for your mother, your sister, your friend, your daughter, yourself or someone you don’t even know who’s battling this disease.

Dr. Susan G. Komen needs “An Army of Women” to participate in breast cancer research. She’s especially looking for healthy women willing to donate blood, urine or tissue as needed in specific areas of the country for specific research programs.

To sign up for this important call for a cure see the official website. Dr. Komen is certain we can eradicate breast cancer within our lifetime if researchers have enough volunteers to study the causes of the disease.

Be a part of the cure. I’ve signed up myself. It’s the least I can do.

Let’s help the next generation remember breast cancer as a historical event, not a threat.

Time wounds all heels

lisa — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:07:38 +0000

I couldn’t believe how long it’s been since I last posted. I knew I’d been busy a while, but I didn’t quite realize how long.

The semester’s proceeding well. Nothing negative to say about it. I’m reading some great YA fiction in the YA course, learning about a mind-boggling array of online reference courses in the the reference course (go figure), and engaging in heated IF debate in Intellectual Freedom and Libraries.

I guess the only downside is every evening, after dinner, I disappear into the bedroom to “study.” Ever tried studying while lying prone on a comfortable bed? It results in a lot of forehead gashes from books I drop when I fall asleep. I’ve also ruined three shirts from highlighters I forget I haven’t capped bleeding into my shirt while I’m blissfully unconscious, dreaming Nancy Pearl and I are lunching at a little bistro across the street from the Library of Congress.

But I’m doing well keeping up with things. Granted, taking three courses in a semester is a little nutty (SEE: behavior, usual). I’m snowed under by reading, which to me isn’t exactly torture. And while I have papers to write there are no big, monstrous ones. I can knock off 2- 3 page papers in less time than it takes Barack Obama to work the word “change” into a speech.

This weekend I’ll probably be here at the library, off the clock, books and papers spread out, monopolizing an entire table. I have a short critical essay to write, notes to take for a book review, and at least 100 pp. to read - counting all three subjects.

No biggie.

Hold my calls, but if it’s Nancy Pearl tell her 12:30 on Friday works great for me.

Library-related news, various and sundry

lisa — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 17:41:41 +0000

Tough times affect libraries

From Sgvtribune.com:

” It’s an essential element of any community, but the public library is something Kathleen Newe believes most people take for granted.

“Think about it: It’s the only place in the community where everyone is welcome, whether you’re a senior who needs financial advice or if you’re a student, or out of work,” said Newe, a volunteer with the Friends of the Diamond Bar Library for nearly two decades.

There are sport teams, churches and clubs that people belong to, “but the library is the only place where every single person can go and feel welcome,” she added.

“And that’s a really important thing for people to realize.”

It’s an especially important point to consider in light of difficult economic times that have prompted many cities and counties to tighten their budget belts over the years, sometimes at the expense of local libraries. ”

Milwaukee Library to be Replaced by “Affordable Housing”?

From Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Online:

” The Villard Avenue Library could be replaced by a new building that combines affordable housing with computer-oriented learning facilities, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said Wednesday. ”

West Point Gets New Library

From The New York Times:

” The library was completed after more than 10 years of planning and construction at a cost of $65 million, and it took a hard fight to get the funds at a time when the military is fighting expensive wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“From the beginning, there were some in the Army who questioned the need” for a new library, said General Finnegan, the academy’s dean, in an interview before the dedication. Those doubters suggested that all the modern technical information a cadet might need was available online. “They said: ‘You already have a library. Students can just go on Google and get what they need.’ ”

That manic laughter you’re hearing?

lisa — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:02:50 +0000

That’s me.

Yesterday I posted gloating about how easy I have it this fall (grad school), how I only have five books to read for YA literature and that’ll be a breeze. Well, friends, I took another look at that email from my professor. Turns out the five books are just the first installment of 21 required YA novels, plus a textbook.

Twenty. One. Novels.

I love reading. I swear to you I do. But that’s not all I’ll have on my plate this semester. My Intellectual Freedom course has five required textbooks. Fortunately, my reference course has only one. Oh, but that course has a practicum. A 40-hour-during-the-semester practicum.

I need a library that will let me look over the shoulder of a reference librarian and be nicey-nice to your patrons for 40 hours this fall. Anyone?

Don’t make me go begging.

Grad School, Fall 2008

lisa — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:51:18 +0000

I hate when I write a long-winded blog post and accidentally delete it. You would have been regaled with the details of my fall semester had this not happened. Now you’ll only have the short form. I’m so sorry. I hope in time the wound will heal.

I’m taking three courses this fall: Intellectual Freedom & the Library, Young Adult Literature and my third course in Reference Services. Three courses sound like a little much, I know. But I took that many last spring and lived to tell the tale. Granted, I still have the dark circles under my eyes. The things I do for my career.

Online courses are easier than classes in a proper classroom. My first semester in the distance learning program of the U of Wisconsin - Madison SLIS required me to travel an hour each way to the satellite location for my classes. Between travel time and actual classroom time that ate up about ten hours a week. Ten hours! With online courses I have most of that time back; commuting time now being moot, I have more time to work on actual coursework. Plus, my children have the joy of my presence at dinner. They’re slowly coming to recognize me again, using photos from before I started grad school to jog their memories. One day maybe they’ll call me Mom again, instead of “that lady who sits where Mom used to sit.”

This fall I’m looking forward to my courses in Intellectual Freedom and Young Adult Literature. For the young adult course I’ll be reading these books:

Catcher in the Rye (the only re-read for me, and I can’t wait to see if I enjoy it as an adult)

Seventeenth Summer

The Outsiders

Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret

Chocolate War

Weetzie Bat

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist

Courses requiring reading aren’t a chore for me. Neither are courses requiring writing. A lot of people moan in agony at the prospect of writing papers. Not me. Though it’s a pain having to write so formally, citing sources and keeping track of little details, I’ll take that over tests any day. I think I’m in the minority on that.

This fall, my children - my middle son especially - will have a lot of homework. I have a son in elementary school (5th grade), a son in middle school (7th grade) and a daughter starting high school (9th grade). Three children, three different schools, spread out all over town. I’m breathing into a paper bag already.

Grad school. Work. Writing and occasionally reviewing. Living life. It’ll be tight, but when you enjoy everything you do it makes things easier. Someday I’ll look back on this and wonder how on earth I did it all, but right now it’s just a big blur. The MLS degree will give me a true feeling of accomplishment. And that’s worth all the chaos.

Then maybe I can get some sleep. I sure hope so. I’m exhausted already.

From the Ironic to the Litigious

lisa — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:05:47 +0000

One of the co-authors of 100 Places to See Before You Die dies from a fall at age 47.

From The Daily Mail online UK:

” The man who co-wrote the best-selling adventure travel guide 100 Things To Do Before You Die has died at the age of 47.

Dave Freeman had visited half the places mentioned in his book whose recommendations included a voodoo pilgrimage to Haiti and running with bulls in Pamplona, Spain.

He died after falling over at his home in Venice, California, and hitting his head. ”

The Kindle, and Ebooks in General, are Only Selling More Like Lukewarmcakes Than Hotcakes: Lisa Breathes a Sigh of Relief.

From The Register:

” The humble paper-based book isn’t burnt just yet. Amazon is keeping schtum as to how many e-books it has sold, but evidence is mounting that predictions of iPod-grade sales and billion-dollar revenues were a smidge optimistic.

Earlier this month CitiGroup predicted that Amazon would shift 380,000 electronic books during 2008, and would see annual revenue of over a billion by 2010. But it’s worth taking a moment to see where those figures came from as Amazon won’t release any official figures. ”

Salman Rushdie May Soon Have Company on the List of Authors Threatened by a Fatwah: Censorship is Alive and Well.

From Guardian.co.uk:

” A Danish publisher is in negotiations to buy Sherry Jones’s novel about the child bride of Muhammad, which was dropped by Random House in America and pulled from bookshops in Serbia.

The Jewel of Medina tells the story of Aisha, one of Muhammad’s wives, from the age of six to 18 when Muhammad dies. It was bought by Random House US for a reported advance of $100,000, but then dropped after the publisher was told by academics and security experts that publication was potentially more risky than Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses and the Danish publication of cartoons of Muhammad.

Last week, Serbian publisher BeoBook withdrew 1,000 copies of the book from shops across Serbia, following protests from an Islamic pressure group. BeoBook also apologised for publishing the novel. ”

Speaking of Salman Rushdie.

From Guardian.co.uk:

” For many high-profile public figures, a visit to the libel courts has become something akin to a trip to the casino: victory triggers a large windfall and a substantially enhanced reputation.

Yesterday, Sir Salman Rushdie achieved the latter, but notably turned his back on the chance of a big payday as his legal team forced an apology from a former policeman who had painted a disparaging picture of the author in a sensationalist book. ”

Misc. bits and bobs in the book world

lisa — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:13:52 +0000

Amazon’s big prediction for the ”Kindle”

From The Register UK:

” Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader will sell more than 380,000 in 2008, according to analysts at CitiGroup. UK retailer Waterstones agrees that e-books are the future and is putting Sony Readers into its high street stores. ”

The Shame of Book Abuse …

From The Guardian blog:

“ If you have a book, you have a purpose and a shield. This is fine to an extent, but usually belittling to the books you’re escaping into. When I’m abusing a book, I lapse into a kind of ravenous trance, reading too fast, remembering too little. When you can study a book review from start to finish without realising you’ve already read the novel in question, you can be pretty sure you’ve been perpetrating abuse. ”

Judging a book by its cover

From the New York Times:

Most authors have no control over their book covers. Roth, Palahniuk and Murakami are exceptions to the rule.