 |
 |
|
|
November 2001 Issue Volume XXXVIII, Number 9
WHEREAS, library systems were established by the Wisconsin Legislature in 1972 to promote interlibrary cooperation and service delivery; and
WHEREAS, these library systems have been highly successful in fulfilling their statutory charges; and
WHEREAS, each Wisconsin municipality which supports a public library reaps great benefits from membership in a public library system; and
WHEREAS, the State of Wisconsin has not supported library systems at the statutory level of 13% (while at the same time the State requires counties to support public libraries at a level which represents 70% of the actual cost of service); and
WHEREAS, Governor McCallum’s veto of $250,000 in library system funding will cause the elimination and/or reduction of many programs vital to quality library service across the state;
NOW, THEREFORE, BY THE AGREEMENT OF THE MEMBERS OF THE MUNICIPAL EXECUTIVES OF CENTRAL WISCONSIN, IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED that this organization encourages our area’s legislators to support an override of the Governor’s veto of $250,000 for system support in the second year of the biennium; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization encourages our area’s legislators to strongly support all possible increases in system funding until state support reaches the statutory 13% level.
-- Approved by the Municipal Executives of Central Wisconsin, an organization dedicated to serving Central Wisconsin municipalities.
In Crises, We Need Librarians More!
In the November 1, 2001 issue of Library Journal, John Berry, Editor-in-Chief said, "Libraries are the only agency with a mandate to provide free, full information to the people. Librarians are the only government officials with that mission. No one has ever said it better than the trustees of the Boston Public Library when, in 1852, they convinced the city fathers that the people needed a public library:
'It is of paramount importance that the means of general information should be so diffused that the largest number of persons should be induced to read and understand questions going down to the very foundations of social order, which are constantly presenting themselves, and which we, as a people, are constantly required to decide, and do decide – either ignorantly or wisely.'
In a free society, information – and its necessary twin, free expression – is not a luxury but the difference between ignorance and wisdom."
Books, Bagels and Coffee Beans
From the first sip to the last drop, the winter reading program was an overflowing success. More than 2,400 adults participated in the "Books and Bagels" program between January and March. Participants who read or listened to eight books during this time received a special coffee mug provided by the Tulsa World and a coffee card for free cups of coffee at Gypsy Coffeehouse, St. Louis Bread Co., Steve’s Books, Borders, and Novel Idea. Those who completed the program also were entered in a drawing for gift certificates, books, and gift baskets with coffee and goodies.
The event kicked off at Central Library, which was transformed into a coffeehouse scene for the day. This was an opportunity for readers to sign up for the program, share their literary knowledge, drink coffee and eat bagels from St. Louis Bread Co. Events ranging from special author appearances to book discussions high-lighted the program.
The library system also used this opportunity to allow customers to have a covered drink while they browsed the stacks for their favorite fiction. The idea was so well received that library policy now permits covered drinks inside throughout the year.
Look for a bigger and better reading program this winter. Committee members are planning for great prizes and fun giveaways. --(LAD, November 2001 as seen in Open Book, (Tulsa [OK] City-County Library System, Summer 2001)
Does Your Library Have Musty Books?
Got musty books that you’d like to freshen up without causing them more harm and spending a lot of money? Well, then ask your cat! She will tell you that you can borrow some of her kitty litter, unused, of course, to help you with "eliminating" the musty odors. (Sorry, I’m punning badly again!) Here’s what you do:
If the books still smell musty after a few days, then replace the litter and repeat the process.
Got no cat and don’t want to buy the litter? Well, if you have a charcoal grill, then place the books in the plastic bag leaving the end open and place it inside a larger bag of charcoal briquettes. Like the litter, the charcoal will absorb the smell, BUT you have to be very careful that you don’t get any charcoal on the books.
Ignorance and hate are powerful, but so are education and knowledge. In light of the New World Horror, it seems tremendously important to strive for understanding and tolerance of other cultures – with our hearts, and heads. Ignoring the ever-growing diversity within our own country doesn’t seem an option. Public libraries, always responsive to the needs of community members, will continue to accept and celebrate cultural diversity. Perhaps they will play an even larger role in the years to come. As bastions of knowledge, libraries would certainly be an appropriate setting for a renaissance of cross-cultural discovery. (Kimberly Hundley, Editor-in Chief of today’s librarian, November 2001 issue.)
As we think about what we have to be thankful for this month, it seems obvious to me that we should include our various roles as providers of open access to information – that’s no small responsibility!
Library Rage – The terms ‘road rage’ and ‘air rage’ have quickly made their ways into the American lexicon. They respectively refer to episodes of belligerent, angry, and Narcissistic behavior on the parts of automobile drivers and airline travelers…'Library rage’ is not a household term, but it defines behaviors that have become distressingly familiar to staffs around the country. Overbooked public Internet-access terminals, misunderstandings about lost or overdue books, unreasonable reference demands, staff shortages, cultural differences, overcrowding, and frustrated expectations – all of these can infuriate patrons, especially in the present day ‘me first’ culture of instant gratification. Libraries must incorporate the five principles of customer service that are common to the best stores and corporations: giving respectful attention to customers, providing adequate information, offering service at the customer’s convenience, having reasonable guidelines for in-store behavior, and making sure people are comfortable. These are discussed in the February 2001 ViewPoints which you can access at www.demco.com. As other professions and service providers grapple with the issues of declining civil behavior and uncontrolled rage, so too must libraries. Library policies, procedures, and staff behavior need to be patron-centered, positive and proactive. This will largely prevent angry encounters with patrons, and can be achieved by incorporating the five principles of customer service.
Are We Experiencing the Third World War? – While in Appleton at the
WLA conference, I attended convocation at Lawrence University where Nobel Peace
Prize winner, Lech Walesa (the shipyard electrician who galvanized the
Solidarity movement and went on to become Poland’s first democratically
elected President) was given an honorary degree. Walesa said we are witnessing
the third world war but that it will be a war of "air"- of intellect
and of technological thinking against crudeness and naked violence. He pointed
out that we now live in one "globalized bloc" without yet having the
structure needed to support it. He said there are three major issues to deal
with at the global level: border issues; anti-Semitism, racism and ethnic
cleansing; and terrorism. He suggested that the problems we are challenged by in
today’s world can be met by the capacities of our intellect and technology.
--Heather Eldred
Imagine a World Without Public Libraries
Our society, increasingly dependent on information for survival, would quickly become even more divided between the information haves and have-nots. Libraries have long been called the "people’s university," allowing citizens who cannot afford to continue their education by traditional means to keep up with what is going on and to make informed choices that will improve their lives and their standard of living. Libraries contain the written records of our civilization. The greatest thoughts of humankind are carefully preserved in libraries for the edification and enlightenment of today’s thinkers and for the merely curious.
What other organization in our community provides the breadth and depth of services to all, for ‘free’ - as does the public library? Library users do not have to belong (or not belong) to a certain group, be physically sound, well-educated, wealthy, or even literate. Libraries serve everyone from the cradle to the grave - literally. In addition to being the community’s information center, many times the library is also the local cultural center. Libraries provide access to a wide range of materials in various formats, books, magazines, CDs, spoken-word audio tapes, framed art, sheet music, and video tapes that often are not available in commercial video stores. Libraries have free programs for all ages – storytimes, chamber music recitals, book talks, literacy tutorials, political speakers, etc. Any organization can use our meeting rooms. Libraries are truly whatever their communities want them to be. What other tax-supported institution can make that claim?
At this time when Wisconsin’s Kettle Commission is recommending that communities share services with each other to get the greatest return on tax dollar investments, Wisconsin’s libraries stand tall as excellent examples of how tax-supported services can network to provide better services by working together than any of us can alone.
In Wisconsin, public library users are fortunate to have a library system network that includes all types of libraries sharing their collections. Residents of the WVLS area can use their local library card to access information or specific materials through interlibrary loan or through on-site service at libraries all across the state.
We can’t even imagine what life would be like without public libraries…and we sure don’t want to find out! (Adapted from a paper by Jane Belon Shaw, President, Board of Trustees, Warrenville (IL) Public Library District)
ALA Announces AccessAbility Program
As part of The Campaign for America’s Libraries, the American Library Association (ALA) is pleased to announce AccessAbility @ your library, a recently launched national program, developed by Easter Seals and ALA. The goals of the program are to educate children and adults about people with disabilities and to promote the library as a community resource for people of all ages and abilities to obtain information about disabilities.
ALA has compiled reading lists for children and adults to use in the AccessAbility program. The lists were prepared by members of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) and the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA), divisions of ALA. The lists will be made available through Easter Seals affiliates to local libraries participating in AccessAbility @ your library, and also can be accessed on ALA’s web site at www.ala.org/news/v7n10/adult.html and www.ala.org/news/v7n10/children.html
Easter Seals will be approaching approximately 20 libraries in targeted areas to pilot the program, which may expand to additional sites. For more information, please contact Joan Fishman in the Easter Seals national office at 312/551-7136. Program information can also be obtained from the Easter Seals web site at www.easter-seals.org.
AccessAbility @ your library is one way in which ALA is working to implement
its new Library Services for People with Disabilities Policy, which was passed
in January 2001.
(Computers in Libraries, November/December 2001)
Recently I received an inquiry about the availability of a Braille typewriter or printer for loan. A local library user wanted to communicate in Braille with a grandchild who was visually impaired. After suggesting the resources of the Assistive Technology Loan Center at Northcentral Technical Institute College in Wausau, I discovered the HotBraille.com website.
HotBraille.com provides tools that enable communication among people with visual impairments, as well as their family and friends. HotBraille.com provides the only web-based Braille transcribing service that delivers tangible custom Braille. Using their "Send Braille" feature you compose an address and a message on their website. HotBraille.com will transcribe your message into Braille and send it to the provided addressee. Your message may not be longer than two Braille pages - which is equivalent to approximately 250 words, or one printed page.
HotBraille.com is an accessible website that anyone can use and navigate its many resources, and all services are currently offered free of charge. --Beth Sillars
Holiday shopping? Disabilities Resources Monthly mentions in their November 2001 issue that two of their favorite toy guides have been updated:
The Oppenheim Toy Portfolio 2002 Edition: The Best Toys, Books, Videos, Music & Software for Kids (9th edition, 2001), by Joanne and Stephanie Oppenheim with James Oppenheim, again includes an excellent chapter on "Using Ordinary Toys for Kids with Special Needs. " Featuring short reviews of many specific products, this 326-page paper-back costs $12 and can be ordered from Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, 40 E. 9th Street, Suite 14M, New York, NY 10003; phone 212-598-0502; web site: www.toyportfolio.com.
The Toys R Us Toy Guide for Differently Abled Kids (8th edition, 2001) is a 56-page catalog of off-the-shelf toys that are appropriate for children with differing abilities. The toys were selected by the nonprofit National Lekotek Center, and are coded to indicate specific developmental skills. Pick up a free copy from local Toys R Us stores, or contact the National Parent Network on Disabilities, c/o Sarah Fugich, 6613 E. Church Street, Suite 100, Douglasville, GA 30134; phone 770-577-3307; email sfugich@hotmail.com; web site: www.npnd.org. A hypertext version can be found at www.amazon.com - click on "Toys & Games and scroll down to the Toys R Us link.
The ALA Public Programs Office is now accepting applications for "Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature," a new traveling exhibition. The "Frankenstein" exhibit examines the intent of Mary Shelley’s novel, "Frankenstein," and encourages audiences to discuss Shelley’s and their own views about personal and societal responsibility as it relates to science and other areas of life.
If your library is interested in hosting the "Frankenstein" exhibition between November 2002 and December 2005, please visit www.ala.org/publicprograms/frankenstein/ for more information and to download a grant application and guidelines. Applications must be postmarked by December 14, 2001.
In addition to the exhibition, participating libraries will receive interpretive and educational materials that help audiences examine Mary Shelley’s novel and how it uses scientific experimentation as a metaphor to comment on cultural values, especially the importance of exercising responsibility toward individuals and the community in all areas of human activity, including science.
The exhibition and related materials were developed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) of the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the ALA, and funded by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).
If you have any additional questions, please contact Susan Brandehoff at sbrandeh@ala.org
Honor a Paraprofessional in 2002!
Library Journal will honor one library worker with the third annual Paraprofessional of the Year Award in its March 1, 2002 issue. The award recognizes the essential role of paraprofessionals, now the largest constituency of library workers, in providing excellent library service and places emphasis on the efforts of the winner to further the role of paraprofessionals in the library profession. The editors of Library Journal see this honor as equal in importance to LJ’s annual Librarian of the Year Award, which debuted in 1989 and recognizes those who hold the MLS.
Deadline for nominations is January 2, 2002.
Criteria for candidates for LJ’s Paraprofessional of the Year are:
* Excellence in job performance, including contribution(s) enabling the library to serve its constituents and/or its community (whether town, college/university, school, or corporation) better;
* The encouragement of reading and the use of library resources;
* A commitment to free access to information for all;
* Having made efforts to build support groups, networks, and organizations to promote new career paths, excellence in library work, better pay, improved communication in libraries, and the breading down of barriers between support staff and the MLS librarians with whom they work.
Submissions
Nominating letters should name the candidate and describe in 500 words or fewer why the nominee deserves the award. Supporting letters and accompanying material will be considered, but the nominating letter itself will be of prime importance.
Nominations may be emailed to fialkoff@lj.cahners.com or sent to: Francine Fialkoff; Library Journal; 245 W. 17th Street; New York, NY 10011.
I Made It Myself: Holiday Crafts on the Web
Homemade Holiday Gifts - The readers of The Dollar Stretcher www.stretcher.com/index.cfm send in their ideas for nice holiday gifts. Suggestions include flavored oils, teas and coffees, candles, fancy chocolate-covered spoons, and baked goods in decorated baskets.
Free Christmas Craft Projects - Craftown, the "crafter’s resource center," posts this long list of gifts to make for the holidays. www.craftown.com/xmas.htm
One Stop Craft Shop: Free Pattern Links - Visit this Canadian crafts directory to find hundreds of the best free craft patterns on the Web. Sample crafts include beading, woodworking, sewing, and stained glass. www.bumblebeeee.com/free_pattern_links.htm
Making a Christmas Elf Costume - Here are directions for making a simple elf tunic and hat, using a child’s body as the pattern http://sd.essortment.com/christmaselfco_rkqw.htm
Elf Costume Shoes - Debbie Colgrove, the About.com guide to sewing, offers free patterns and instructions for making elf shoes out of felt and "Giffy Grip" fabric paint. http://sewing.about.com/library/weekly/aa120799a.htm?once=true&
Christmas@marthastewart.com - Let Martha Stewart teach you how to make holiday wreaths, Christmas stockings, ornaments, cards, and homemade snow globes. www.marthastewart.com/channels2k/tocs2k.asp?idContentType=7&tocid=29
Hannukah Themes and Activities for Kids - ChildFun.com offers great ideas for celebrating the Festival of Lights. Come here for songs to sing while eating latkes (recipe provided), instruction for making reidels out of small milk cartons, and edible menorahs.
HanuKat - Join HanuKat and the DreiDells for eight nights of crafts and activities. Make a "fortune teller," a dream catcher, and a HanuKat diorama. www.hanukat.com/
Kinara Centerpiece - To celebrate Kwanzaa, the African-American holiday that begins on December 26th and lasts for 7 days, make the seven-candled Kinara out of small terra-cotta pots set in a large saucer. www.kidsdomain.com/craftkinara1.html
(edited from article by the same title in Searcher: The Magazine for Database Professionals, November/December 2001)
Christmas Time at Kid's Domain - Celebrate the holidays with everything from crafts and online games, to coloring pages and eCards. www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/xmas/index.html
Christmas Family Projects - Visit this site for a generous array of craft patterns and projects for the whole family. Included are creative techniques to make a variety of Grinch and Max related gifts. http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/christmascrafts/index.htm
Teachers.Net Lesson Exchange: Comparing Christmases - Amanda Thompson offers a lesson in which elementary school students use a Venn diagram to compare Christmas customs in the United States with those in other countries. The lesson requires the use of books and materials discussing the celebration of Christmas around the world. www.teachers.net/lessons/posts/1421.html
Christmas at Alphabet Soup - Donna O'Briant offers a collection of activities related to Christmas, best suited for use with preschool and kindergarten classes. Activities includes songs, poems, recipes, crafts and more. www.alphabet-soup.net/christmas.html
Christmas! Christmas! Christmas! - Rosie Winters provides information about Christmas. Topics include Christmas traditions, songs, stories, poems, recipes, and more. www.night.net/
Homemade Cozy Christmas - Find a collection of decorating ideas, recipes and crafts, all with a Christmas theme. http://tequilacountryhome.8m.com/christmas.html
WLA Foundation to Sponsor Intellectual Freedom Institute
Plans are moving along for an institute next winter intended to serve as an incubator for renewed collaboration and networking among Wisconsin organizations with an interest in supporting intellectual freedom.
The institute is a major undertaking by the WLA Foundation to stimulate a support system which will benefit most particularly the library community but also an even wider group. The WLA Foundation voted to make it possible for 60 persons, representing 15 organizations, to attend a one-day institute to accomplish the following:
* Identify key information access and intellectual freedom issues;
* Determine whether there is a need for future collaboration, and if so, identify future collaborative framework; and
* Select strategies for post conference activity.
Involving other organizations with which librarians, library workers, and library trustees have a natural partnership will give this effort strength. Each organization will be invited to appoint two or three leaders from its group. A professional facilitator will help plan and carry out the day’s activities.
The planning committee and the WLA Foundation emphasize that they hope the institute will only be the first step toward activities that will eventually involve all WLA members who choose to be involved on an ongoing basis and to support members as challenges to intellectual freedom arise. By bringing together organizational leaders we can stimulate activities that will build a strong support system for intellectual freedom in Wisconsin.
Initially referred to as a conference, the planning committee selected the title "An Intellectual Freedom Leadership Institute: Exploring Future Collaboration," to more accurately reflect the nature of the event. The institute is planned for February 4, 2002 at the Westwood Center in Wausau. Members of the planning committee appointed last spring by the Foundation Board are: Carolyn Winters Folke, Chair; Boris Frank; James A. Gollata; Ginny Moore Kruse; Gretchen M. Revie; Lisa Strand; and organization representatives Dianne McAfee Hopkins, WEMA; Christopher Ahmuty, ACLU of Wisconsin; Michael Goodman, Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters; and Michael Cross, DLTCL. –Carolyn Winters Folke (WLA Newsletter, September/October 2001)
The Illogic of Internet Filtering
The Internet is a scary place. Sure, it’s a communications tool of astonishing reach and an unprecedented source of news and information. It’s also home to countless places touting sex, drugs, hate, violence and more sex – a lot like the rest of the world, actually. In both places, there’s plenty of stuff you might not find tasteful or want your children to see.
In real life, the best we can do is make conscious choices, teach our children well, and leave the house every day to face the big, messy world outside. On the Internet, there’s another choice – filtering.
Touted as the antidote to offensive content, filtering software has proliferated along with the growth of the Net itself. The various products on the market – which essentially block access to web pages with naughty words – allow parents, educators, and employers to filter content on either individual PCs or whole networks of computers. Since numerous legislative efforts to limit offensive material online have failed (they didn’t survive free speech challenges), this do-it-yourself filtering software seemed like a reasonable alternative.
However, the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), passed by Congress last December, has changed the playing field. CIPA mandates the use of filters in all schools and libraries that receive funding under federal programs – about 6 out of 10 of the nation’s public schools and libraries.
That pesky First Amendment aside, the problem isn’t just that Internet filters don’t work well. It’s that the very nature of how filtering software weeds out inappropriate content means they never will. A new report from the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), "Internet Filters: A Public Policy Report," documents just how spectacularly most filters fail.
The problem begins with the sheer number of sites, according to NCAC, which requires filters to rely on "mindless mechanical blocking" triggered by the identification of certain key words and phrases. And when actual human judgement enters the equation, the results are subjective at best. The result is that popular products like Net Nanny, SurfWatch, and Cybersitter all blocked House Majority Leader Richard "Dick" Armey’s official website upon detection of the word "dick."
One test of Cybersitter, which claims its keyword blocking feature "looks at how a word or phrase is used in context," obviously found something objectionable about Robert Frost when it deleted "queer" from ‘Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening’ (‘My little horse must think it queer/ To stop without a farmhouse near’).
The list of the dozens of sites wrongfully blocked strays from the troubling to the outright bizarre…With all the over-blocking of legitimate sites, you would think the filters do a good job blocking the truly bad stuff. But even when it comes to spotting porn, many of the programs don’t know Dick from, well, dick. Consumer Reports found that Cyber Patrol failed to block almost a quarter of the sites off a list of 86 ‘easily located’ sites touting graphic sex, violence, drugs, tobacco, crime or bigotry. Net Nanny…failed to block over 80% of objectionable sites.
The bottom line is that we need better alternatives to protecting children online, including parental guidance and Internet use training. As for the federal mandate to use filters, "Each local library board should make its own decision," says the ALA’s Deborah Caldwell-Stone. The NCAC report can be found in its entirety at www.ncac.org/issues/internetfilters.html (Adapted from Christine Triano’s article, "Dick Armey and the Pussycat: The Illogic of Internet Filters" as seen at www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=11731)
December 13 - WVLS Executive Committee meeting - Marathon County Public Library, Wausau - 11:45.
December 24 - WVLS office closed.
December 25 - WVLS office closed.
January 18 - Soaring to Excellence Seminar - "Bring order to the chaos: using search engines efficiently" - NTC, Wausau Campus - 11:00-1:00. Refer to page 8 of the October issue of the Lamplighter for further details.
January 18 - American Library Association Midwinter Meeting - New Orleans.
January 19 - WVLS Board of Trustees meeting - Marathon County Public Library, Wausau - 9:45.
February 4 - "An Intellectual Freedom Leadership Institute: Exploring Future Collaboration" - Westwood Center, Wausau - refer to p. 8 of this issue of the Lamplighter for details.
March 12-16 - Public Library Association National Conference - Phoenix, Arizona - check out the PLA web page - www.pla.org - for more information.
March 22 - Soaring to Excellence Seminar - "What- ever happened to carbon paper? : a look toward the future for librarians, library assistants and the printed word" - NTC, Wausau Campus - 11:00-1:00 - refer to page 8 of the October issue of the Lamplighter for further details.
ATTENTION: WESSLER SCHOLARSHIPS are available to cover some/all costs associated with attendance at reference and/or interlibrary loan continuing education events. If interested in becoming a Wessler Scholar, contact the WVLS office (715/261-7250) for more information. The application form and more information are available at http://wvls.lib.wi.us/About/wessler.htm
a monthly
newsletter of the Wisconsin
Valley Library Service
300 N. First
Street / Wausau, WI 54403
| EDITOR: Marla Sepnafski Phone: 715/261-7252 FAX: 715/261-7259 |
 msepnafs@wvls.lib.wi.us |
Contributions are welcome!
News items should be submitted by the first of the month.
WVLS serves Clark, Forest, Langlade, Lincoln, Marathon, Oneida, and Taylor counties.
