Sacramento Staffers Bewail Dumbing-Down of Collections

Staff members took their concerns over management practices to the Sacramento (Calif.) Public Library Authority Board May 24, speaking out against centralized purchasing of materials that they claim has led to a dumbing-down of collections.The board was presented with a petition containing 600 signatures from library workers, former librarians, and patrons protesting selection practices exemplified by the purchase of 30 DVDs of the film Jackass 2, the Sacramento Bee reported May 25.

So when a doctoral student who is researching for a dissertation on the sociological counterhegemonic effects of the "Jackass" series on 7th graders in California, comes to the library and the library doesn't own a copy, what does that say?

I have laughed till my side hurt watching Jackass on MTV! (Some of it is just my kind of humor!)  Who are we to judge what constitutes entertainment and how dumb something is?

ALA | American Libraries -

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National Library Legislative Day Radio Interview

...with Tom Gilson, of the College of Charleston.  This is a wonderful radio interview!  Listen here:

interview at radio station Fox102.3, Columbia, SC

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Holdrege Public Library

Holdrege Public Library
Originally uploaded by Nebraska Library Commission

Wow, this is a great wireless hotspot sign! "Laptop Friendly" is a very effective slogan.

Lunch Hour Vacation

Lunch Hour Vacation
Originally uploaded by crr29061.

LETTERS ABOUT LITERATURE 2007 National Winners

Hooray for South Carolina! and congratulations to Jordan Slisher from Westminister!

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Level I (Grades 4 - 5) Alexis Haaland, Bismarck, North Dakota, for her letter to Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief

Katja Saana Sinikka Martin, Alpharetta, Georgia, for her letter to Robert Frost, author of "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening"

Level II (Grades 7 - 8) Jordan Slisher, Westminister, South Carolina, for his letter to J. K. Rowling, author of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Elena Suglia, Kingstown, Rhode Island, for her letter to the unknown author of "Legacy of an Adopted Child"

Level III (Grades 9 - 12) Audrey Keranen, Iowa City, Iowa, for her letter to Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner

Amber Jin, Greenacres, Florida, for her letter to Elie Wiesel, author of Night

Letters About Literature: 2007 National Winners (Center for the Book: Library of Congress)

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Online Book Discussion - FREE!

Wednesday, June 6, 2007 beginning at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 1:00 Central, noon Mountain, 11:00 a.m. Pacific, and 6:00 p.m. GMT: Interview with David Weinberger, Author of Everything is Miscellaneous

David Weinberger will be discussing his new book, Everything is Miscellaneous, in which he explores how the new principles of disorder are remaking society, culture, education, business, media, politics, and--perhaps most importantly--libraries. This is the book that Karen Schneider described in the ALA TechSource Blog as "...dangerous. [It] takes all the precious ideas we are taught as librarians and throws them out the window." The dedication of the book, by the way, is "To the librarians." Weinberger, one of the co-authors of The Cluetrain Manifesto, is a fellow at Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet & Society and holds a doctorate in philosophy.

Online Programming for All Libraries: Events and Programs

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Summer Reading Splashdown 2006

Summer Reading Splashdown 2006
Originally uploaded by abbelibrary.

What a great way to start off summer reading! This was a photo from last year's summer reading kickoff in Aiken, SC. The local fire department cooled down all the kids with a splashdown in the library's back parking lot. Very Cool, literally!

koolWIRE

koolWIRE
Originally uploaded by crr29061.

Have you ever had a patron at the library ask about how to convert their WORD Document to PDF? Well here's a great way to do it via email! Check it out! www.koolwire.com.

SCLA Workshop - Save the Date!

Please save the date, Thursday, July 12, 2007, for a workshop that is being co-sponsored by the following groups: Roundtable for African AmericanConcerns, the Paraprofessionals Roundtable, Scholarship for DiversityCommittee, and the Trustees Section.Title: “It Takes a Village to Run a Library”Place: Midlands Technical College, Columbia, SCTime: 9:30am-3:00pmDate: Thursday, July 12, 2007This is being planned as part interactive, part panel discussion, a sessionthat will be enlightening, fun, and relevant to all of us who work inlibraries, no matter what type, no matter what size. Detailed informationabout the workshop, including speakers, and cost will be sent out soon.Stay tuned.

SCLA - - Home Page

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Author Reception at the State Library

IMG_3825.JPG
Originally uploaded by crr29061.

The Mayor of Columbia, SC, Bob Coble, stopped by at a recent reception for author, Frank Baker. It was a wonderful event and approximately 60 people attended. Frank's book, "Coming Distractions: Questioning Movies," provides "young readers the tools they need to evaluate the barrage of media messages that reach them every day. Value assumptions, product placements, and cues to act are embedded in each media message. This fun series embraces media as entertaining and useful but also puts readers in a position of strength, as they learn a systematic way to question pop culture and to recognize how influential media messages are." Check out amazon.com for more information on the book.

Library 2.0 Session

Library 2.0 Session
Originally uploaded by crr29061.

Here's a photo from a recent concurrent session I presented at the LIBRIS Conference in Orangeburg, SC, held at SC State University. There were a lot of great questions and enthusiasm for Library 2.0!

SCLA 2007 Annual Conference Wiki

SCLA 2007 Annual Conference Wiki
Originally uploaded by crr29061.

Check out our wiki! Thanks Paul!

SCLA Annual Conference Postcard

SCLA Annual Conference Postcard
Originally uploaded by crr29061.

Digital Talking Books

Digital Talking Books
Originally uploaded by crr29061.

Last week, Pam Davenport, our director of Talking Book Services, attended NLS meetings in Washington DC and got to hold two of the new types of digital talking book players from the National Library Services for the Blind.

Map of Online Communities

online_communities
Originally uploaded by .mw.

I just came across this map in Flickr and it's a nice representation of various web 2.0 concepts and technologies.

Photography Show and Sale

photos
Originally uploaded by crr29061.

While this is not very libraries related, I wanted to share that today marks the beginning of my first photography show and sale at Housecoffee, 116 State St., West Columbia. So if you're nearby, stop by for lunch or coffee and enjoy my photos :-)

Librareo

Librareo
Originally uploaded by crr29061.

In honor of libraries and librarians everywhere, Thomson Gale has created librareo (www.gale.com/librareo), a Web site dedicated to promoting, marketing, shouting from the mountain tops and generally praising libraries, librarians and the people who love them. Click on image for more info...

Building Community

This is a very well done library promotional video about building community. It is a promotional pieve from the Calgary Public Library.

The Hollywood Librarian Trailer

Very interesting! I can't wait till this comes out so I can watch it. It should be very useful in recruiting for the profession as well as helping do away with the stereotype of libraries only being older females who wear sensible shoes and have their hair up in buns.

Greenville Flickr Class

class photo
Originally uploaded by crr29061.

This has been a wonderful session and the students are learning a lot about flickr! Some may soon become flickrholics! :-)

flickr class at SC State Library

flickr class at SC State Library
Originally uploaded by crr29061.

We had a fun time today in the Flickr class. Check out all the notes on the image! I think they learned a lot and will use Flickr to promote their library services and events.

Meebo of IM Reference

Meebo of IM Reference
Originally uploaded by crr29061.

Very cool! Check out how Spartanburg County Public LIbrary is using Meebo for IM reference! You can also scroll down and chat with the director!

The Wild Place

The Wild Place
Originally uploaded by crr29061.

Check out this great look for a public library's children's web site! Very nice!

congressman gresham barrett

bill sudduth, me, david goble, congressman gresham barrett, and paul dove
Originally uploaded by crr29061.

We had a very positive meeting with Congressman Gresham Barrett in his office and discussed the importance of E-Rate, Library Student Loan Act, reauthorization of LSTA and much more.

group panorama

group panorama
Originally uploaded by crr29061.

We ended up having a very productive visit with our SC delegation! I certainly learned a lot about legislative issues. Check out all my other photos of National Library Legislative day http://www.flickr.com/photos/curtisrogers/sets/72157600166186352/.

NLLD poster at ALA WO

NLLD poster at ALA WO
Originally uploaded by crr29061.

I have learned so much about advocacy for libraries at this preconference! I highly recommend if you can get to library legislative day!

ilovelibraries.org preview

ilovelibraries.org preview
Originally uploaded by crr29061.

We got a preview of this new web site that is still being created and supposed to go live next month so stay tuned! BTW, this was part of the presentation at national library legislative conference in Washington DC.