From: "Cornwall, Daniel D (EED)" <dan.cornwall@alaska.gov>
Subject: Friday Bulletin, October 10, 2008
Date: October 10th 2008

10/10/2008

Contents:

·         FUN COLLECTIONS

·         WHO SUPPORTS AND FUNDS PUBLIC LIBRARIES, AND WHY?

·         OCTOBER IS THE LAST CHANGE TO JOIN ALN AND WIN MONEY FOR YOUR LIBRARY

·         FAIR USE AND ONLINE VIDEO GUIDE

·         WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT THE BOYS?

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FUN COLLECTIONS

In a blog, Pop Goes the Library (using pop culture to make libraries better), we learned that Reed Memorial Library in Ravenna, Ohio, has a collection of cake pans that it loans out to patrons – and they are even in the online catalog!

To read more: http://www.popgoesthelibrary.com/2008/07/fun-friday-reed-memorial-library-cake.html.  To see photos http://www.olin.lib.ia.us/images/cake-pans.jpg/image_view_fullscreen

WHO SUPPORTS AND FUNDS PUBLIC LIBRARIES, AND WHY?

OCLC was awarded a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to explore attitudes and perceptions about library funding and to evaluate the potential of a large-scale marketing and advocacy campaign to increase public library funding in the U.S. The findings of this research are now available in the 212-page OCLC report, From Awareness to Funding: A study of library support in America. Though this study was based on data from the United States, there are findings in the report that could be applicable to any library seeking to understand the connections between public perceptions and library support.

Among the findings from the report:

• Library funding support is only marginally related to library visitation
• Perceptions of librarians are an important predictor of library funding support
• Voters who see the library as a 'transformational' force as opposed to an 'informational' source are more likely to increase taxes in its support

OCTOBER IS THE LAST CHANGE TO JOIN ALN AND WIN MONEY FOR YOUR LIBRARY

The Alaska Library Network is growing and growing! ALN now counts over 40 libraries as charter members.  For a complete list of members, go to the Membership Directory page. To become a member, go to the Membership Information page.

Until October 31^st, libraries may join as a charter member and be entered into a prize drawing. First prize is $1000, second prize is $500. Prizes can be spent on any non-personnel expenditure at your library. In addition, paid members can participate in all upcoming ALN programs.

Upcoming ALN events: Board of Directors elections before the end of 2008 and installation of the Board and ALN annual membership meeting at the AkLA conference in Kodiak in March 2009.

FAIR USE AND ONLINE VIDEO GUIDE

Fair use is the right to use copyrighted material without permission or payment under some circumstances. The Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video describes best practices that help creators, online providers, copyright holders, libraries and others interested in online video interpret the copyright doctrine of fair use related to that media. The document is available for free at http://centerforsocialmedia.org.

WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT THE BOYS?

It seems just about everybody has something to say lately about getting boys to read.  A recent article in the Wall Street Journal by John Hechinger entitled Problem: Boys Don’t Like to Read. Solution: Books That Are Really Gross talks about the emerging genre that publishers are pushing everything from Vlad the Impaler, to 24/7: Science Behind the Scenes, a series inspired by CSI, to Oh Yuck: The Encyclopedia of Everything Nasty.  Hechinger calls this Blood-and Guts Lit!

People are blogging about reluctant readers, web casts are being produced, and entire books are being written on the subject.  Those of us that work or have worked on the front lines in elementary libraries know that getting the average boy to read and love it is one of our greatest challenges. Greg Hill, director of the Fairbanks Public Library, reports a thriving “Guys Read” program in that city.

Some resources for encouraging reading for boys:

·         Guys Read, sponsored by Jon Scieszka, is a fun site for boys with book lists and links to author pages.

·         Boy Trouble, an article in Chicago Magazine

·         Books for Boys – from Chicago Magazine, September 2008.

·         Great Books for Boys – from Family Education website

·         NPR article: Guys Read: Encouraging Boys to Love Books

·         Boston Globe (Boston.com News) article: An Adventure in Finding Books for Boys

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=================================

Daniel Cornwall
Head of Information Services
Alaska State Library
PO Box 110571
Juneau, AK 99811-0571
(907) 465-1315 ph
(907) 465-2665 fax
E-Mail: dan.cornwall@alaska.gov

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    Everyone else! - http://library.state.ak.us/

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Any opinions expressed in this e-mail are mine alone and not those of my employer unless explicitly stated.