Library Juice 7:8 - April 16, 2004
Contents:
1. What are you reading?
2. Links...
3. Meeting Demands: A Library Imperative
4. Twenty Years Since '1984'
5. Archivist Groups Oppose Nomination of Allen Weinstein
6. The Library and the Community (1924 book review)
7. On Kevin Starr's Retirement
8. TV Turnoff Week
Quote for the week:
"There are all sorts of ways that library materials might be balanced
uponthe basis of opposing interests, values, and opinions. Furthermore, the
idea of balance has numerous relations."There is, for example, the dictum tha the collection should represent
All Points of View. Since every book expresses a view distinct from that of
every other, the addition of any book to the collection disturbs that
"balance," however slightly."Special pleading for O.K. values is also closely related to the notion
of balance. That a book is "for" or "against" Patriotism, Morality, or
Religion - or for that matter, Freedom, Democracy, or Civil Rights - hardly
seems sufficient reason for either its automatic selection or rejection.
"For America First" and "We shall overcome" may be seen as admirable
sentiments or not, depending on one's point of view, but they are not
principles of book selection."Neither, to be sure, is Public Demand. When a librarian says of a good
book, "It will be a shelf-sitter," this may not only be a bad guess and a
weak excuse for rejecting it; it is often also a presumptuous downgrading
of the public's intelligence, which must be assumed to be at least as
considerable as our own."As we know from the Fiske report, there is a silent veto that operates
here too. A weasel approach to book selection taken by librarians who
either lack the courage of their convictions or else lack convictions is
most conveniently covered by the shibboleth of Public Demand."- Ronald Landor, "The Fallacy of 'Balance' in Public Library Book
Selection," Library Journal, February 1, 1966.
Homepage of the week: Sarah L. Johnson
http://www.libraryjobpostings.org/AboutMe.htm_________________________________________________________________________top
1. What are you reading?
Library Juice readers.... I did this in 2001 and it worked pretty well...
I'm interested in knowing what you're reading (fiction, non-fiction,
periodicals, whatever) and what kind of recommendation you would give it.
I will compile your responses into a feature in the next issue. Please
state your name and your general location and job.Please drop me a line and write me a paragraph or two. I am especially
interested in hearing from non-US readers.Thanks very much,
Rory Litwin
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2. Links...
-----
Information, free no more
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-14/1080803604121350.xml"Bloomfield's may be the first public library in the nation to charge
library card holders for the Internet," national library officials said.[ sent by Don Wood to PUBLIB ]
-----
Google Watch's alert page about Google's GMail
http://www.google-watch.org/email.html[ sent by Google Watch to undisclosed recipients ]
-----
Lawfully surfing the Net: Disabling public library Internet filters
to avoid more lawsuits in the United States
by Mary Minow
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_4/minow/The state of copyright activism
by Siva Vaidhyanathan
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_4/siva/[ from First Monday ]
-----
Class takes to street to protest censorship /
Academy of Art's expulsion of pupil angers authors, too
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/04/08/BAGNF61TM449.DTL[ found surfing ]
-----
Techie Librarian
a list for metadata people
http://lists.topica.com/lists/techielibrarian[ sent to me by Barbara McGlamery ]
-----
Newsletter of the Independent Online Booksellers Association
http://www.ioba.org/newsletter[ sent to the CALIX list by Michael McGrorty ]
-----
The nature of meaning in the age of Google [Information Research]
http://informationr.net/ir/9-3/paper180.html[ Library Link of the Day - http://www.tk421.net/librarylink/ ]
-----
Spolo?enské funkcie kni?níc v dávnej minulosti a najbli??ej budúcnosti
(The Social Functions of Libraries in the Bygone Past and Near Future)
http://www.cvtisr.sk/itlib/itlib031/rankov.htm[ found in logs ... if anyone out there can tell me what this article
says, please drop me a line.... ]-----
Blackened books and a chilling message
Library at United Talmud Torah elementary school in suburban Montreal
firebombed.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20040406.MONTREAL06/TPStory[ sent by Toni Samek to the SRRT list ]
-----
Librarians Gone Wild!
http://www.laughinglibrarian.com/wild2.htm[ sent by Brian Smith to Underground Librarians ]
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3. Meeting Demands: A Library Imperative
Margaret E. Monroe, Library Journal, February 1, 1963
The sturdy defense, presented with a cocksure swing of the head, "I believe
in giving people what they ask for," is often the response to an
exhortation that the "demand theory" of book selection, or the "demand
theory" of reader assistance, lacks something in its approach to the public
library's collection and services.Why has furnishing the reader with what he asks for been put on the
defensive? What is there that makes a reader's request a paltry thing?
The defenders of the demand theory stoutly assert the privilege of the
reader to go his own merry way to damnation without a librarian rushing to
his rescue with a reader ladder just before the flames close in.Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous,
there shall be no more cakes and ale?Can it be said that readers have abused the privilege of the public library?
Taxpayers (nonreaders all!) question whether each must buy his neighbors'
cakes and ale. Has the librarian - administrator of the community
information center and director of a significant educational institution -
settled for the role of proprietor of a house of respite reading? Thus the
battle is engaged.Let me speak a word for demand as a basis for library service - not as a
theory but as an actuality. Bluntly, if there is no demand, there is no
service. The library's collection exists even when idle on the shelves;
the staff remains available even if there are no takers; but services exist
only in the librarian's act of assisting a reader who wants the service.
So demand is the most precious thing a librarian can ask: it is the
reader's testimony of faith that the library may have something he really
wants; it denotes the flexing of a mental muscle, a function to be fed and
cultivated.What are the problems the librarian faces in meeting readers' demands? Some
demands upon the librarian may be outside the objectives of the library to
provide; some demands may not be stated in terms of the real wants of the
reader; some demands may not go far enough to provide the assistance the
reader could well use. Demand is only the first element in the complex
equation of service. Librarians clarify requests daily and suggest
additional materials or service once they understand the reader's purposes.
There can be no simple commandment in librarianship: Thou shalt meet
demand. Perhaps the closest the librarian can come to a formulation is:
Thou shalt listen to and attempt to understand the reader's demand.RELEASING THE READER FROM BONDAGE TO HIS DEMAND
As Harry Miller Lydenberg pointed out (_Bulletin of the New York Public
Library_, March, 1936, p. 187), the general reader would often be in the
embarrassing position of "starving in the midst of plenty" if it were not
for the help the librarian provides in selecting from the wealth of
possibilities the materials which he needs. The reader, aware that
librarians answer some questions, fashions his dilemma into a "question" so
that it may be "answered" and the dilemma solved. "Do you have a book
about personality?" he asks. Hopefully the librarian has such a book as he
may need, although it may not be a book "about personality." The skillful
librarian, at home among books and sensitive to the reader's difficulty in
posing the problem which needs solution, releases the reader from the
bondage of his inexact demand.Chales Elliott, a British librarian of distinction, has commented that the
reader should be given "not what he wants, not what we think he ought to
want, but ... the best that he is able to assimilate." (Charles Elliott,
_Library Publicity and Service_. London: Grafton, 1951, p. 27.) This is
no counsel to the creation of a frustrated readership. This is, instead, a
rejection of reader service limited to the request from a reader whose
conception of the library's potential is incapable of envisioning the
satisfaction of his need at its best level. Elliott is counseling the
librarian to open up the library's resources relevant to this particular
reader's needs, interests, and abilities. Let the reader choose from
knowledge of the wealth of possibilities, not out of ignorance or poverty
of imagination.RELEASING THE LIBRARIAN FROM SUBSERVIENCE TO DEMAND
In these days of heavy library use and tremendous outpouring of
publications, librarians must establish priorities among demands for books
and services. No librarian can afford to be at the mercy of a particular
demand. The most effective path to establishing priorities among demands
for service is through clarification of library objectives and a full
knowledge of the relevant needs of library users. A "demand theory" can
never relieve a library of the obligation to clear objectives, and no
statement of objectives phrased solely in terms of "meeting demands" is
plausible since obviously there are demands which could conceivably be made
of any library which never would be filled. The statement of which
demands will be honored constitutes a statement of library objectives.With a statement of library objectives in hand, the study of the library's
community then becomes relevant to the identification of those needs which
the library will attempt to meet. Then, when demand comes knocking loudly
on the door, as librarians we are ready to answer: "Yes, I'll be pleased to
talk with your group about books on insurance," or "No, I am sorry, we are
not able to release staff to work on that project for you, but we'll be
glad to give you a start with the bibliography"; or "Yes, our program
specialist will be glad to help your committee wiht planning and I know
that we have books and films on your topic." The librarian with full
knowledge of his community and its needs is released from subservience to
demand but cultivates and guides demand to fulfill the library's
objectives.The ability of the librarian to anticipate demand - in books or services -
is a major factor in achieving excellence of library function. When
important and legitimate demands arrive, the materials are there and the
staff prepared to provide the information and the help required. Quick,
effective response to demand has much more to commend it than merely the
stout iteration that "our responsibility is to meet demands." Let us not
scurry like mice at the sound of a demand but lead like lions in the
filling of important needs which the reader's demand identifies.EDUCATING DEMAND
The problems posed by the "demand theory" of collections and services are
not confined to the need for clarification and amplification of the
reader's request nor to the librarian's perception of priorities among
demands. The quality of service performed by a library is directly related
to the quality of demand from its community. The library, therefore, if it
is to improve its service must be in a position to educate its readers'
demands.If, as the foregoing discussion has consistently implied, librarians are to
determine which demands they will meet in terms of library objectives and
community needs, then they must be in a position not only to reject demands
which are unsuited to the library's purposes or are less significant in the
light of community needs, but they must also be in a position to
encourage the demand for services which will enable the library to
fulfill its objectives and to meet community needs. If, for example, a
library's service is not to remain on the primitive level of supplying
casual reading or providing quick information, then its readers must be
ready to demand more significant materials and more complex services. If
the readers are not making these more significant demands, then they must
be encouraged to do so.To the supporters of the "demand theory" the education of the reader's
demand may seem the very height of manipulation and brain-washing. Let me
suggest that it has become accutely necessary in our time to distinguish
between manipulation and education lest our proper fear of manipulation
deprive us of education, that essential function upon which the continuity
of civilization depends. The librarian's education of demand should
release, not control, the curiousities and interests of its readers; it
will increase the diversity of materials to be be read, viewed, and
heard, not limit the range; it will improve the skill with which the
library user makes independent judgments, not substitute the librarian's
judgment for his own.How can the poublic librarian function to improve the quality of demand so
that these proper educational results are achieved? Let me suggest four
approaches.First, we interpret to our users and potential users the range of materials
and services which are available to them, and make this clear in terms of
relevant interests, talking to parents as parents, church members as church
members, busienssmen and businessmen. We seek them out to tell them about
the materials and services they can "demand" from the library.Second, we can provide our users with the opportunity to become more
competent library users. As skills in using the library catalog and
bibliographies, as skills in reading and in critical judgment of ideas to
be found in books and films - as these skills are improved they will be
more frequently exercised, and demand will mount.Third, as public librarians we work with others in our community to create
the climate for those things which produce demands for significant library
service: the climate for intellectual curiousity, for scientific
investigation of problems, for informed decision-making, for delight in
reading. As the community climate for such values improves, demand for
significant use of the library increases. The public library cannot
control the community climate, but it, together with its colleague
agencies, can cast the weight of its influence toward these social values.Finally, in the daily service to readers we can exploit each request for
service to its fullest usefulness for the reader who asks for help. Yes,
"exploit," not the reader but rather the occasion for the reader's benefit.
Such exploitation of the occasion avoids overburdening the reader with
unwanted materials or assistance, but opens up the materials and services
which will meet the *reader's* purpose and which are within his interest
and ability to use with satisfaction.One of the pleasantest remarks to the ears of a public librarian is the
comment from the city mayor, the clubwoman, the businessman, the student,
the lawyer, the city editor, the teenager: "Oh, I never realized we could
get this here, and you've been so helpful!" This is the mark of a first
step in educating demand and in improved library service.In sum, the public library is a community service that functions only
through meeting demands, and at the same time it is a social institution
with particular responsibilities which it can fulfill only as it encourages
an improved quality of demand through raising public expectation of library
service and through stimulating public aspiration for knowledge and ideas.
The public demand is the seed of intellectual life which the library
nourishes and cultivates for the best uses of the individual and for the
purposes of society.Copyright 1963 Reed Business Information. Used by permission.
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4. Twenty Years Since '1984'
From: MCR <iskra[at]earthlink.net>
To: srrtac-l[at]ala.org, plgnet-l[at]listproc.sjsu.edu
Reply to: iskra[at]earthlink.netTwenty Years Since '1984'
For your delectation, see item below about the National Council of
Teachers of English and their plan to use George Orwell's dystopian
novel '1984' for a nation-wide reading and discussion project.
Please note the areas of continued and pressing relevance of '1984'
even twenty years on from that once ominous date.
Mark R.PS: BTW, the so-called Friends of Cuban Libraries (FCL) continues to
claim that Orwell's 1984 is not available in Cuba. Nothing could be
farther from the truth. It is generally available an dis certainly
not banned or -- as the FCL's founder , Robert Kent would ghave it
-- 'burned'. In fact there was a kind of national discussion of the
book, last year I think, which was reported on in the pages of the
government newspaper 'Granma'. In Granma too, there apppeared
assessment of Orwell's workwhich were interesting and sophisticated.MCR
------------------------------------------------
'1984+20' : Nationwide Reading and Discussion of Orwell's Novel
Planned for October 2004The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is sponsoring a
nationwide reading and discussion of George Orwell's classic novel
1984 in October 2004. Educators and students in high schools,
colleges, and universities, and citizens in libraries, community
organizations, and book discussion groups are invited to read the
book and discuss its prophetic nature and what it might teach us
about life in the contemporary United States. The '1984+20' project
aims to promote awareness, discussion, and debate about the key
roles of language in politics and culture.The term 'Orwellian' has experienced a recent resurgence as public
officials, corporations, media, and interest groups grow bolder in
their use of manipulative language as a tool for sculpting public
policy. In 1971, NCTE resolved to 'find means to study the relation
of language to public policy, to keep track of, publicize, and
combat semantic distortion by public officials, candidates for
office, political commentators, and all those who transmit through
the mass media.' That intent continues today at a time when the role
of the U.S. in the world, terrorism, national security, and access
to health care and education are very much in the public
consciousness. NCTE believes that infusing vocabulary with Orwellian
terms like 'doublethink' ('the power of holding two contradictory
beliefs in one?s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them')
and 'newspeak' (the purpose of which is 'not so much to express
meanings as to destroy them') will help strengthen critical and
analytic conversations everywhere.Many of Orwell's themes in 1984 resonate in modern times "the role
of public relations specialists in engineering language to shape
public opinion; the short-lived memory of media and the ability to
dispose of historical realities 'down the memory hole';
ever-shifting icons of evil as the focus of popular rage" all of
which can potentially distract the populace from matters over which
they might actually exercise some control.NCTE anticipates that the '1984+20' project will bring a broad range
of individuals into meaningful conversation through classroom and
face-to-face discussions, as well as discussions via media such as
the Internet, including Weblogs and online forums, and other venues
such as student essays and projects, community events, film and
video projects, and conferences. Educators, administrators,
librarians, students, media, community organizations, nonprofit
groups, techies, publishers, writers, artists, activists,
bookstores, and others are encouraged to join NCTE in this historic
effort. NCTE will provide support in the way of background
resources, classroom lessons, and online forums.For more information and to find out how you can get involved,
contact Lyndsey Tate at 800-369-6283, ext.. 3630, or at
ltate[at]ncte.org.The National Council of Teachers of English, with 60,000 individual
and institutional members worldwide, is dedicated to improving the
teaching and learning of English and the language arts at all levels
of education. For more information, please visit www.ncte.org/.
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5. Archivist Groups Oppose Nomination of Allen Weinstein
The following statement has been issued by the following
organizations:Society of American Archivists
Organization of American Historians
Association of Research Libraries
Council of State Historical Records Coordinators
Northwest Archivists, Inc.=====================================
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2004 11:17:55 -0400
To: nchpb[at]lists.oah.org; nchmb[at]lists.oah.org
From: Bruce Craig <rbcraig[at]historycoalition.org>
Subject: STATEMENT ISSUED -- FINALThe following statement has been issued on behalf of the archival,
historical and other communities. Organizations that wish to sign on
should contact the SAA to have their organization's name added to the
list.----------------------------------------
Statement on the Nomination of Allen Weinstein to Become Archivist of
the United StatesApril 14, 2004
We are concerned about the sudden announcement on April 8, 2004, that
the White House has nominated Allen Weinstein to become the next
Archivist of the United States. Prior to the announcement, there was no
consultation with professional organizations of archivists or
historians. This is the first time since the National Archives and
Records Administration was established as an independent agency that the
process of nominating an Archivist of the United States has not been
open for public discussion and input. We believe that Professor
Weinstein must-through appropriate and public discussions and
hearings-demonstrate his ability to meet the criteria that will qualify
him to serve as Archivist of the United States.When former President Ronald Reagan signed the National Archives and
Records Administration Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-497), he said that,
"the materials that the Archives safeguards are precious and
irreplaceable national treasures and the agency that looks after the
historical records of the Federal Government should be accorded a status
that is commensurate with its important responsibilities." Earlier in
1984, when the National Archives Act was being discussed, Senate Report
98-373 cautioned that if the Archivist was appointed "arbitrarily, or
motivated by political considerations, the historical records could be
impoverished [or] even distorted."P. L. 98-497 clearly states that, "The Archivist shall be appointed
without regard to political affiliations and solely on the basis of the
professional qualifications required to perform the duties and
responsibilities of the office of Archivist." In 1984, House Report
98-707 noted, "The committee expects that [determining professional
qualifications] will be achieved through consultation with recognized
organizations of archivists and historians." The law also states that
when the Archivist is replaced, the President "shall communicate the
reasons for such removal to each House of Congress." President Bush has
not given a reason for the change, and there is no evidence to suggest
that it is being made because of John Carlin's resignation.
We agree with these statements and believe that the decision to appoint
a new Archivist should be considered in accordance with both the letter
and the spirit of the 1984 law.We call on the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs to schedule open
hearings on this nomination in order to explore more fully 1) the
reasons why the Archivist is being replaced and 2) Professor Weinstein's
qualifications to become Archivist of the United States. Among other
issues, we believe it is important to learn more about Professor
Weinstein's:* Knowledge and understanding of the critical issues confronting
NARA and the archival profession generally, especially the challenges of
information technology, and the competing demands of public access to
government records, privacy, homeland security, and ensuring the
authenticity and integrity of all records.* Thoughts on how NARA should balance competing interests for
protecting sensitive or confidential information with those seeking to
gain access to records created by government agencies.* Ideas for continuing essential programs as well as important new
archival initiatives, such as the Electronic Records Archives project.* Thoughts on fully supporting the National Historical
Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), whose grants have been
instrumental in starting and supporting the production of published
editions of historical documents and in helping to raise the level of
archival practice at state and local levels.* Experience and demonstrated ability to lead and manage a large
government agency such as NARA.* Plans for protecting the professional integrity and political
non-partisanship of NARA as a governmental agency.Association of Research Libraries
prue[at]arl.orgCouncil of State Historical Records Coordinators
tslavin[at]coshrc.orgNorthwest Archivists, Inc.
jodi.allison-bunnell[at]umontana.eduOrganization of American Historians
oah[at]oah.orgSociety of American Archivists
ericson[at]sois.uwm.edu
527 S. Wells St.
5th Floor
Chicago, IL 60607
312/922-0140
fax 312/347-1452
http://www.archivists.org/
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6. The Library and the Community (1924 book review)
_The American Public Library._ By Arthur E. Bostwick. Third edition,
revised and enlarged. D. Appleton and Company. $3.Reviewed by John Cotton Dana in _The Nation_, June 11, 1924
Two or three generations ago public libraries were few and rather
constrained in their activities, but it was nevertheless possible to point
to certain fairly obvious results of the presence, and use, of their books.A community of 450,000, which consumes yearly 140 million newspapers, is a
different community from what it was when it comsumed a few thousand only.
And an institution which was mildly helpful then will be only negligible
now unless it adopts methods of administration that make it affect its
larger community. Formerly - and largely still - a library was content to
gather books and make them easily accessible to the public. But now,
before the public even approaches with interest these easily accessible
books it has been deluged with print, has waded through print, has been
influenced by headlines, true news, false news, and doctored news until it
enjoys a degree of sophistication of which our ancestors of two or three
generations ago had no conception.The amount of print produced and consumed by the people of this country is
today so much greater than it was, say, fifty years ag that it puts the
portion of that print which public libraries furnish in an entirely
different position from that which it once occupied. This relative change
in the position a public library's books now hold in the world's reading
should lead to drastic changes in library management. Hence the fact that
the third edition of Mr. Bostwick's "The American Public Library" does not
touch upon the changes forced on our public libraries, especially within
the last fifteen years, is a disappointment to those who approach it with a
realization of these changes.The book is a survey of activities in modern American libraries, New York
predominating as an example especially in the descriptions of branch
libraries, on account of Mr. Bostwick's experience as cheif of circulation
in that city. As its preface indicates, it is "a succinct record of facts
put into readable shape" and a "bird's-eye view of library economy." It is
concerned to a considerable extent with technique, but this it treats from
the standpoint of the lecturer rather than from that of the instructor,
with intention to convey a knowleddge of what is done, not wiht an attempt
to teach how it is done.While I agree with Mr. Bostwick on many points, I note a few omissions. No
method of keeping pamphlets other than in envelopes filed vertically is
described, though a short chapter could have been given to the importance
and the technique of handling such loose material. Maps are mentioned only
as accessories to reference work, though in at least one large library many
are dissected, mounted on single sheets of linen, folded, enveloped, and
lent as books. No mention is made of other Wilson publications than the
Readers' Guide. In regard to the connection between museums and libraries,
no account is given of lending collections issued to teachers and others, a
practice quite successfully carried out in one of our libraries for some
years. And several recent books and articles written by librarians on the
new type of museums are not added to the bibliography. The only statement
referring to useful museums quoted is that of an English librarian made in
1903. The growth and activities of the Special Libraries Association since
1909 is not recorded and certain references have not been brought to date.
Some recognized time-savers, of use particularly to new librarians, are not
mentioned.Mr. Bostwick ignores certain well-known differences of opinoin which exist
between librarians on matters of theory. Yearly inventories, which he
considers obligatory, are thought wasteful by others, who hold that money
needed for direct service and book purchase produces merely ngative
statistics when used for inventories. This conclusion does not condemn
inventory-taking per se but would make it an occasional sorrow insted of an
annual duty. No inventory keeps a book from being walked off with; it
often incites to restrictions, band restricted books are only half alive.
Whether library buildings of the future will be built as community
clubhouses with provisions for drama and the movies is doubtful and not, to
all, a desireable prophecy; and the suggestion of sound-proof concert
chambers accompanying reference collections of music also meets with strong
opposition. Standardization of training of library workers and censorship
are subjects too large and too lightly touched upon by Mr. Bostwick to call
for discussion here; though one may say that the necessity for reading
"from cover to cover" all but a few novels before pubchase is a
pronouncement to which some librarians are far from signatory._________________________________________________________________________top
7. On Kevin Starr's Retirement
Recent News
Date: 04/03/04 09:22 pm
From: Backwage[at]aol.com
To: newlib-l[at]usc.edu, plgnet-l[at]listproc.sjsu.edu
Reply to: Backwage[at]aol.comKevin Starr has retired. The word of the event spread throughout the library
world with the characteristic speed of bad news, and then followed a silence
as the library, in all its thousand parts, returned to customary paths.Dr. Starr is one of the rarest of creatures, perhaps the sole representative
of a species: a public official about whom practically nobody has a hard word
to utter. In his management of the State Library he was every bit what he is
in his other pursuits: a gentleman of the old-fashioned sort, which is to
say, a man whose effectiveness did not come at the expense of a certain grace.
For a decade he navigated the perilous corridors of the state's bureaucracy as
if there were nothing more to it than knotting one of his bow ties. He
brought the gloss and reputation of a famed scholar and writer to the job, and
those who considered him less a librarian than a professor soon learned how
devoted he was to both trades, and how he dissolved the barriers between those
callings with skill, charm and a passion that he made contagious among staff and
any others who worked with him.Now that desk is empty and we await his successor. Because Dr. Starr did
such fine work, we may have forgotten that not every person is capable of such
results. We may forget because his skill was such as to make the thing look
easy in all its elements. We were lucky in his choice, and we should do whatever
we can to approach such good fortune again, for much is riding on the
outcome. The State Librarian is more than the executive of a department; more even
than the sum of the duties in the job description. The State Librarian is as
much or more than anything else the defender of library standards in
California. Whoever takes that job will come into office in a time of unprecedented
trial and challenge. There is no poll or survey which places this state in the
upper half of the country in terms of library funding; we find ourselves in the
midst of a demoralizing fiscal crisis whose effects surpass the worst that
many of us can recall. For the first time, California's libraries are
declining, shrinking, even closing; not in isolated cases but in frightening numbers.
The promise that communities made in creating libraries is being broken; in
Starr's view, this is "part of a larger 'timeout' that the American people --
not just Californians -- are giving themselves these days as to what public
programs they want to continue to support."The next State Librarian will have that to consider and deal with, and
wartime honeymoons are notoriously brief. That will be her burden, but ours is not
merely to watch and wait -- not now, when so much is at stake, when the public
seem willing to renege on their old promises, even to cherished institutions
like the library. We would be less than responsible to ourselves and our
public if we did not make clear our expectations for the next State Librarian-- a
person who will have so much to do with the fate of our libraries in these
troubled times. It is time to raise our voices, before the die is cast.Michael McGrorty
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8. TV Turnoff Week
MEDIA ADVISORY/ APRIL 15, 2004
CONTACT: Frank Vespe/ 202-333-9220TV-TURNOFF WEEK 2004 TO KICK OFF WITH A BANG
Events around the country launch
10th Annual celebration
WASHINGTON, DC - Free Swimming Night in Portland, OR. Open gym at Shakopee
Area Catholic School, near Minneapolis. A Hobby Fair in Park Ridge, IL,
outside of Chicago. A children's fair in Mendocino, CA.What do they all have in common?
They are some of the ways that local organizers plan to mark TV-Turnoff
Week 2004, the 10th anniversary of the Week which will take place April
19-25. TV-Turnoff Network, the nonprofit organization that coordinates the
Week, projects that about 7.6 million children and adults in all 50 states
and numerous foreign countries will participate."There are an untold number of good reasons to participate in TV-Turnoff
Week," said TV-Turnoff Network Executive Director Frank Vespe. "And there
are just as many creative ways that people are going to celebrate a Week
without the tube."More than 19,000 volunteer TV-Turnoff Week organizers are working hard to
make TV-Turnoff Week 2004 the biggest, best - and most fun! - TV-Turnoff
Week yet. From banners to bookmarks, from story tellers to swing dancers,
books to basketball, they're employing just about every tool imaginable to
bring the event home.And no wonder. With television clearly linked to the rising rate of obesity
among children and, most recently, to increased likelihood of attention
deficit disorder, helping children to break free of TV is a critical part
of raising healthy, active kids."TV-Turnoff Week 2004 is not just about turning off the television,"
commented Vespe. "It's really a chance to discover and celebrate all there
is to do beyond the television, and that's what our organizers help
participants to do."Back in Washington, DC, TV-Turnoff Network will be hard at work with two
contests for participating children. The organization will once again run
its TV-Turnoff Week Poster Contest, with the theme of "What I do When I
Don't Watch Television." In addition, TV-Turnoff Network is adding a new
short essay contest this year; kids will be asked to write short essays,
focusing on their physical activity during the Week, entitled, "What I Did
to Get Up and Go During TV-Turnoff Week."And on Thursday, April 22, TV-Turnoff Network will throw itself a party in
Manhattan, celebrating the organization's 10th anniversary.TV-Turnoff Network is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to
encourage children and adults to watch much less television in order to
promote healthier lives and communities. Our website is www.tvturnoff.org/.
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L I B R A R Y J U I C E
ISSN 1544-9378
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