L i b r a r i e s S o u t h w e s t A u t h o r D i n n e r
L y n d a C a r l b e r g A w a r d
1401 Nolan Trace — Leesvi l le, LA 71446
Winter, 2008
L ib ra r i e s Sou thwes tL ib ra r i e s Sou thwes tL ib ra r i e s Sou thwes t LLL SWSWSW ibrariesibrariesibraries
L y n d a C a r l b e r g ,
A M i g h t y O a k
Libraries Southwest
Allen, Beauregard,
Calcasieu, Cameron,
Evangeline, Jeff Davis,
St. Martin and Vernon
Parish Libraries;
McNeese State Univer-
sity and Northwestern
at Ft. Polk University
Libraries; Calcasieu
Parish School Librar-
ies and SOWELA Com-
munity Technical Col-
lege
Marguerite Hudson, au-
thor of Whiskey
Chito Woman
was the guest
speaker at Librar-
ies Southwest’s
annual author’s
dinner. This pro-
gram was sponsored
by Libraries South-
west and a grant from
The Center for the
Book. Approximately 50
people were in atten-
dance.
ager of the Louisiana Government Information
Network (LaGin) , moved up to become a li-
brary consultant and eventually became an
Associate State Librarian. As an
Associate State Librarian
Gretchen provided library ad-
ministrators, trustees, staff, and
friends with advice, information,
new ideas, and solutions per-
taining to many problems, ac-
tivities, and issues they faced in
their daily work. She retired
from the State Library in 2006.
Previous winners :
Sallie Farrell, 1998
Minnie Lou Lynch, 1999
Tom Jaques, 2000
Joy Lowe, 2002
Ralph Boe, 2004
Joe Landrum, 2006
The Lynda Carlberg Award was awarded
to Gretchen Fairbanks for her contribution to
Libraries, at Libraries Southwest’s recent
Author/Award dinner.
Gretchen Fair-
banks received an
MLS from LSU where
she became a mem-
ber of Beta Phi Mu
honorary fraternity.
She began her library
career at the East
Baton Rouge Parish
Library’s main facility
as a reference librar-
ian and the Library
and Information Ser-
vices Assistant before moving
up to manage the department.
From there she transferred to
the State Library of Louisiana
where she began as the man-
My job involves pretty much living in e-
mail. And, based on the amount of e-mail I get
and then need to deal with, so does everyone
else's. (I currently have more than 13,000 e-
mails in my in-box. And I need every one.
Really.) The trick is to see and be seen, and
that's getting increasingly difficult to pull off.
So it seemed like a good time to provide a
refresh on e-mail best practices. (And, full
disclosure: Most of these tips are based on
my own lessons learned — the hard way.
— by Debra Donston
1. Do keep it simple. Most people don’t
have time to read more than - a screen
of text, if that. In most cases, if you
need to write more, you need to pick up
the phone.
2. Don’t expect that readers will be able to
interpret tone. Maybe you were just
kidding, but you can’t be sure how your
sparkling wit will translate in black and
white.
3. Don’t clog up people’s e-mail in-boxes
any more than you need to. This means
sending multiple messages when one
will do, including unnecessary attach-
ments and using a graphical signature.
4. Don't ask people a laundry list of ques-
tions in an e-mail and expect that they
will be answered. Try to make it as easy
as possible for people to respond.
5. Don't "reply to all" unless it's absolutely
necessary. It's nice to congratulate
someone, but you don't need the entire
company to see that you've done so.
6. Do use your subject line wisely, Part 1:
When searching through tons of e-mail,
it's helpful if a subject line summarizes,
or at least is relevant to, the body of the
message.
7. Do use your subject line wisely, Part 2:
When totally switching gears, start a
new thread with a new, relevant subject
line.
8. Do think carefully about who's in the
"To" list and who's in the "cc" list. I've
seen people take issue with being cc'd
instead of being included in the "main"
list, upset at not being included in the
first place but then looped in later, in-
cluded anywhere in the first place ("Get
me off this distro!"), and so on.
9. Don't send messages to your corporate
colleagues from your personal e-mail
address and expect to keep in touch
effectively. Of course, sometimes mail
has to be sent from an alternate e-mail
account, but doing so consistently will
mess people up as it will be difficult to
search on your name for information.
10. Don't respond to an e-mail when ten-
sions are high. You'll regret it. Believe
me.
11. Don't send an e-mail you wouldn't want
forwarded. Because someone will. Be-
lieve me.
— eWeek.com, 10/12/07
E - M a i l s D o ’ s a n d D o n ’ t s
Page 2 L i b r a r i e s S o u t h w e s t
having a document you can write to the
International Revenue Service and re-
quest the letter:
International Revenue Service
Exempt Organizations
Determinations P.O. Box 2508
Cincinnati, OR 45201
— Eastern Express, Eastern Library Sys-
tem (NE), September 2007
A public library can qualify as a 501-
C-3 charitable giving recipient because it
is a publicly funded agency of local gov-
ernment. If a donor requires documenta-
tion before making a donation to your
library, you need to contact the IRS and
request a letter. Your library does not
need a letter as long as it is funded with
public funds, but if your donor insists on
I R S 5 0 1 - C - 3 D e s i g n a t i o n
Gene Davis is receiving one of the
most prestigious awards given in Louisi-
ana. He is receiving the Governor's Arts
Award in recognition of his work as a
music instructor and community partici-
pant. The award was presented in Baton
Rouge, Thursday, October 11, 2007. Mr.
Davis has been a long-time part of the
Vernon Parish Education and Community
scene. In addition to the many honors his
choirs and bands have received through-
out the state and region, Mr. Davis has
been the director of the Vernon Parish
Community Chorus for over 37 years.
The VPCC performs at Christmas and
Easter each year with the proceeds going
to the Ministers Alliance for helping peo-
ple in need. He is also a member of the
Vernon Parish Library Board. Currently,
Mr. Davis is Choral and Instrumental In-
structor at Vernon Middle School. He has
also been an adjunct instructor at NSU -
the Leesville/Ft. Polk Campus. Several
thousand students have been influenced
by Mr. Davis in his over 40 years as an
educator.
G e n e D a v i s : V e r n o n P a r i s h T r u s t e e
F o c u s o n L o u i s i a n a A u t h o r s
celebrating life, family and county living.
His books include: The Old House; Hearts
Across the Water; Wayfaring Stranger;
Wind in the Pines: and The Mockingbird’s
Song.
Chere Coen is a native of New Orleans and
award-winning arts and entertainment
journalist for Variety magazine in Los An-
geles. She has written
for the Baton Rouge
Advocate, Glendale
News-Press in South-
ern California, Gambit
Weekly in New Orleans,
Where New Orleans
and New Orleans City
Business, among many
other publications,
including ghost writing several non-fiction
books. Her titles include: A Cajun Dream;
The Acadians; The Letter; Emilie, Rose,
Gabrielle, and Delphine.
The Calcasieu Parish Library’s Focus on
Louisiana Authors Programs has featured
three Louisiana authors.
Pamela Thibodeaux, winner of the Coeur
de Louisiana, RWA 1999
“Diamond in the Rough”
Award, and the “Ruby”
Award in 2000. She is co
-founder and acting
President/Treasurer of
the Bayou Writers Group
in Lake Charles. Her
books are: Tempered Dreams; Tempered
Fire; and Tempered Hearts.
Curt Iles, author and
storyteller from Dry
Creek, La. He has
served as a teacher,
coach, and Administra-
tor at East Beauregard
High School. He is the
author of several short
stories focusing on
Page 3 W i n t e r , 2 0 0 8
“Libraries can be of indispensable service in lifting the dead
weight of poverty and ignorance.”
— Francis Keppel, Address at opening session of annual American Library Association
conference, St. Louis, June 28, 1964, speaking as U.S. Commissioner of Education
S c o f f i n g a t L i b r a r y F i n e s
The consequences are not small. A
debt going to a collection agency can
drop your credit score by 100 points
overnight, Watts notes. That means
beach reading you've hung on to since
last summer can raise the interest rate
you'll pay on your next car loan. Time to
sort through that stack by the bed!
— By Walecia Konrad in AARP, July/
August 2007, quoted in The Lamplighter,
Wisconsin Valley (WI) Library Service, August
Local governments are like the rest
of us - they're looking for more money.
Some are finding it by hiring collection
agencies to deal with unpaid parking
tickets and even library fines. "More and
more people are complaining about
this," says Craig Watts of credit scorer
Fair Isaac. "It started about 10 years ago
[with] strapped municipalities, especially
big cities."
Placentia Library District passed its
million-dollar milestone in Passport Ap-
plication revenue sometime in January
2007, Library Director Elizabeth Minter
reported this quarter. This represents a
total of 46,406 passport applications
processed since the program began in
December 1998.
The cumulative revenue for passport
fees and notary services from 1998
through the end of June 2007 was
$1,185,338. Customers who apply for
their passports at Placentia Library pay
the same fees as they would at a post
office or a passport office. However, the
difference is their processing fees are
used by Placentia Library District to sup-
plement its book budget. Placentia Li-
brary is also more convenient than other
application agencies because it is open
Saturday through Thursday, including
evenings and weekends.
In addition to having its busiest year ever
due to the new U.S. government travel identi-
fication requirements, Placentia Library staff
have been busy since March helping its cus-
tomers navigate the backlog in passport pro
cessing that applicants are experiencing
across the nation. Despite the fact that
the U.S. Department of State Passport
Services Office is financially self-
supporting, it simply does not handle
its current workload.
Library staff check the status of
the backlog on a daily basis and
advise our customers on how to get
their passports as quickly as possible.
For the meantime, however, the best ad-
vice is to plan to process an application or
renewal at least four to five months in ad-
vance.
— Notations, Placentia (CA) Library District,
Summer, 2007
hell of a lot to increase public awareness of
the value of and need for librarians and librar-
ies. And ALA wouldn’t have to put the touch
on members for a change. It would still have
millions sitting in the bank. I hope someone
will tell me why spending some of the ALA
endowment on this crucially important
agenda is a bad idea!
— John N. Berry III, Library Journal, October 15,
2007 : 10
….ALA should more loudly, more effec-
tively use all the media to explain to an in-
creasingly skeptical public the essential value
of libraries to society and to the communities
within which they exist. This priority moves up
the list every time some misguided politicians
or administrators decide to close libraries to
cope with budget deficits….
...Even a small piece, a quarter or a third
of that $31 million (endowment), could do a
P r o g r a m R e a c h e s M i l l i o n - D o l l a r M a r k
T h e E n d o w m e n t ’ s P u r p o s e
A d e b t
g o i n g t o a
c o l l e c t i o n
a g e n c y c a n
d r o p y o u r
c r e d i t
s c o r e b y
1 0 0 p o i n t s
o v e r n i g h t .
Page 4 L i b r a r i e s S o u t h w e s t
Only about 8
percent of us
create a lasting
legacy through a
charitable
bequest.
Page 5 W i n t e r , 2 0 0 8
Members of Libraries Southwest recently
toured Louisiana Binding Service, Inc., located
in DeRidder. This company moved to DeRid-
der from New Orleans after hurricane Katrina.
They specialize in disaster response and col-
lections recovery, as well as long term preser-
vation and conservation of govern-
ment or private records and archival
collections.
A Louisiana based company, it
was founded by brothers Scott and
Pat Williams in 1987.
L o u i s i a n a B i n d e r y
through a charitable bequest. Clearly
providing for one's loved ones is a para-
mount concern. However, including a
dear charity among your beneficiaries is
also an important consideration, both for
your satisfaction and the long term
needs of your favorite organizations.
Leave A Legacy Greater Williamsburg
hopes to encourage such charitable gifts
to benefit residents throughout the area.
— Ex Libris, Williamsburg (VA) Regional Library,
August 2007
Leave A Legacy is a program that
works to educate communities about
planned giving. The goal is "to inspire
beyond their lifespan when doing good
works." With this in mind, it is exciting to
report that Leave A Legacy Greater Wil-
liamsburg will hold its inaugural events
in September 2007.
A study published in 2000 found that
while 80 percent of Americans support
charities during their lifetime, only about
8 percent of us create a lasting legacy
S u p p o r t i n g t h e L i b r a r y
Mindset list for the class of 2011.
Beloit College (WI) recently released the
Beloit College Mindset List to its faculty.
This 70-item list, a creation of Beloit's
Keefer Professor of the Humanities Tom
McBride and Public Affairs Director Ron
Nief, provides a provocative look at the
cultural touchstones that have shaped
the lives of first-year students.
On the average, students of the class
2011 were born in 1989 and are 18
years old. "Latchkey kids for most of
their lives, students entering college this
fall think nothing of arriving home with
parents still at work, then emailing or
texting their friends, instantly updating
their autobiographies in Facebook or
MySpace, and listening to their iPods
while doing their research on Wikipedia.
Following are other observations from
the Beloit College Mindset List for the
Class of 2011 (complete Beloit College
mindset lists for classes 2002-2010 are
available at http://www.beloit.edul-
pubaffi'mindsetl):
What Berlin wall?
They never "rolled down" a car win-
dow.
Pete Rose never played baseball.
They have grown up with bottled
water.
Wal-Mart has always been a larger
retailer than Sears and has always
employed more workers than GM.
Being "lame" has to do with being
dumb or inarticulate, not disabled.
Stadiums, rock tours and sport-
ing events have always had cor-
porate names.
They're always texting "1 n other."
The World Wide Web has been
an online tool since they were
born.
They never saw Johnny Carson live
on television.
The Lamplighter, Wisconsin
Valley (WI) Library System,
September 2007
Y o u t h M a t t e r s
Page 6 L i b r a r i e s S o u t h w e s t
judging. We have five categories for
potential winners, from best tasting to
best doorstop. We will have six local
celebrity judges on hand to lend their
taste buds and their sense of aesthet-
ics. Also to entertain will be the Sigma
Eta Chorus with songs of the season.
The fun starts on Tuesday, December
18 at 5:30 p.m.
The Heron's Eye, Peabody (Columbia City,
IN) Public Library, November 2007
The holidays are many things to
many people, and so is fruitcake. Many
love the heavy, moist, earthy tastes;
some hate the thought of them; others
use them for door stops. In recognition
of this monumental dessert and its
place in our holiday celebration, the
Peabody Public Library is hosting the
first annual (hopefully) It's a Wonderful
Fruitcake Contest. Make your favorite,
let it stew a while, and bring it in for
I t ’ s a W o n d e r f u l F r u i t c a k e C o n t e s t
“Every library should try to be complete on something, if it were only the history of pin-
heads.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes The Poet at the Breakfast Table, ch. 8
out books.
Through the years I have forgotten their
names and faces. Oftentimes, I have won-
dered what happened to the little girl. Today,
she would be a grown lady. I hope she loves
to read, and realizes what a special grand-
mother she had. I have never forgotten that
wonderful lady or her mark. She made a
mark on my life. My love of libraries and my
life has been enriched by that mark.
This grandmother had wisdom and
knew the value of reading. I wish Library
Schools, Library Directors and Children’s Li-
brarians had some of this wisdom. It’s not
about costumes, arts and crafts or puppets...
but books and reading.
“Books are magic carpets
That fly you through the skies
And the wonder of the world
Will unfold before your eyes”
Howard L. Coy Jr.
Almost forty years ago, I was a college
student working at the Anna Meyer Branch of
the Ouachita Parish Library in Monroe, La.
This was when the library was located on
Jackson Street near downtown Monroe. One
evening an elderly lady came in with a small
girl. She wanted to get a library card for her
granddaughter, who she was raising. I gave
her a library card application form and asked
her to fill it out. She said she couldn’t write. I
said that’s ok, just fill the card out, we can
read it. She repeated that she could not write.
I finally said that I would fill the card out for
her, and she could sign it. She repeated
again, that she could not write. It took me a
while to realize the she really could not write! I
filled out the card for her and asked her to
make her mark on the signature line. She said
she wanted her granddaughter to learn to
read so she could be educated and have it
better than she had. She made her mark and
I witnessed the mark with my initials. She
brought her granddaughter in often to check
T h e V a l u e o f a n X
Recently a customer called to ask
"What happens to kids who misbehave
in the library? Do you just allow that to
happen?"
The answer is no. Our staff trains and
works hard to keep your libraries inviting
places to visit. How do we do that?
Every day, library staff evict custom-
ers whose behavior is disruptive to oth-
ers. Usually, this involves children, but
not always. After explaining our Code of
Conduct to them (we allow no one per-
son to disrupt another), the offender is
encouraged to come back the next day -
and follow our rules! When behavior
problems are frequent or severe, the
customer is evicted for six months and a
letter of explanation is provided for the
parent. In order to return following a six-
month eviction, a parent or guardian
must accompany the child to the library
for a meeting to clarify our rules.
Children are allowed to make one
phone call before leaving, but they must
then immediately leave library property.
Do we enjoy asking people to leave
the library? Certainly not! Do we feel
strongly that the library should provide a
welcoming - and non disruptive environ-
ment for ALL our users? Yes! And we
take our responsibility to maintain this
atmosphere very seriously.
This is a public building so these is-
sues will never be totally solved, but our
community needs to know that our ef-
forts will be continuing. So, please re-
member, if someone is disrupting your
use of the library, please tell a staff
member! And, if your children will be
coming to the library, please be sure
they understand our rules, as well as the
consequences for breaking them!
— Check Us Out, Cleveland Heights
-University Heights (OH) Public
Library, September 2007
U n r u l y C u s t o m e r s A r e E v i c t e d
“And we take
our
responsibility to
maintain this
atmosphere very
seriously.“
Page 7 W i n t e r , 2 0 0 8
Morehouse President to Freshmen: ‘Look
the part. Act the part. Talk the talk and walk
the walk.’
When 20-year-old Marcus Traylor
stepped onto campus last month on the first
day of the fall semester, he was struck by
something he had never seen before on the
Morehouse College campus: a group of 100
or more freshmen walking to class wearing
stylishly new maroon sports jackets, complete
with Morehouse insignia.
During his first two years, it wasn’t un-
common for Traylor to see fellow students
walking across campus wearing pajamas and
flip-flops to class.
That won’t happen under the college’s
new administration, and Traylor says that’s
OK with him.
“I saw the new sports jackets and
wanted one for myself. They are very profes-
sional looking, very smooth,” Traylor says. He
adds that he’ll have to pay for his own jacket,
while every member of this year’s freshmen
class was given one by the university. Next
year, the cost of the jackets for incoming
freshmen will be included in new student
orientation fees.
Morehouse could soon join a growing
number of university campuses that have
instituted dress codes. A handful of public
and private campuses, where students once
exercised the freedom to dress as they
please, have adopted stricter codes of con-
duct that prohibit sagging jeans, flip-flops and
even the wearing of baseball caps inside
buildings.
While other college campuses such as
Paul Quinn College in Dallas and the business
school at Illinois State University recently be-
gan regulating student attire this fall, Elise
Durham, media relations manager at More-
house College, points out that the school has-
n’t officially changed its policy, but has set
forth a set of expectations for students.
Still, candidates running for Morehouse
student government positions are debating
the issue, and the school’s new president is
also talking about it.
Morehouse’s new president, Dr. Robert
Michael Franklin Jr., wants to make being
smart cool again and put morality at the fore-
front of the college’s mission. The jackets are
the first step in that direction, according to
officials. It’s also part of the school’s new,
stricter dress and conduct expectations.
In two separate speeches to incoming
freshmen as well as returning upper-
classmen, Franklin emphasized a laundry list
of unacceptable behaviors and conduct,
which included cursing as well as the kinds of
clothing some students wear.
“We are Morehouse, and we will not toler-
ate sagging pants that gravitate far below
your waistline. No do
-rags; no baseball
caps inside build-
ings,” Franklin said
in his first public
address to students
last month. “No paja-
mas in the class-
room. You are men
of Morehouse. You
are better than that.
I will be watching
and expecting class
from you.”
“Look the part. Act the part. Talk the talk
and walk the walk,” Franklin emphasized to
students who gathered inside Martin Luther
King Jr. International Chapel to hear his
speeches.
Traylor doesn’t mind Franklin’s charge to
the Morehouse student body. “They’re getting
stricter on the dress code, and that’s fine. It’s
a show of pride. I think it’s a good move, a
move in the right direction.”
-- Tracie Powell
From Diverse Online 9/12/07
L o o k t h e P a r t . A c t t h e P a r t . T a l k t h e T a l k a n d W a l k t h e W a l k
Page 8 L i b r a r i e s S o u t h w e s t
Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are.
— Mason Cooley in Reader’s Digest Nov., 2007 : 77
- Even before the bell rings each morn-
ing, students at Centennial High School are
lined up to get into the library. But they aren't
necessarily looking for books.
They are waiting for a morning cup of Joe
at the Cougar Cafe, a coffee shop run by stu-
dents. Coffeehouses are springing up in high
school libraries around the country, marking a
big departure from the days when librarians
sternly prohibited food, drinks and talking.
Some health advocates wonder whether high
school students really need any more caf-
feine, or the calories in that caramel mochac-
cino. But school officials say these coffee
shops are promoting reading and studying by
attracting teenagers who might not otherwise
hang out in a library. “Once they have them in
there, they have their eyes and hopefully have
their minds for a little bit,'' said Doug Johnson,
a school library consultant from Minnesota.
The school library cafes are usually simplified
versions of the coffee shops at Borders or
Barnes &Noble bookstores. Centennial High's
cafe, which has been open for only a few
months, has an espresso machine and a milk
frother, and sells fancy coffee drinks, hot and
iced teas and hot chocolate. “School food
reflects the larger culture, so if there's a prolif-
eration of coffee shops in bookstores out in
the world, it's going to happen in schools,''
said Jan Poppendieck, a sociology professor
at Hunter College in New York who is writing a
book on school meals. Marketing students
work as baristas in the Centennial cafe, which
brings in about $200 a day. After expenses,
the cafe should make about $10,000 during
the school year, and that will be turned into
scholarships for the 10 to 15 student employ-
ees. The coffeehouse trend comes at a time
when many school systems around country
are removing junk food and soda machines.
“They're already providing horrible school
lunches. Now they're adding to that with 800-
calorie drinks,'' said Susan Levin, a registered
dietitian with the Physicians Committee for
Responsible Medicine. Many students load up
their coffee with sugar and cream or buy des-
sert-like coffee drinks, Levin said. Terry
Shrader, Centennial High principal, said the
Parent Teacher Student Organization consid-
ered whether it “Then they came in one morn-
ing and watched how many students walk
through the door with Starbucks or those
Vaults, caffeinated drinks,'' he said. “There's
not any increase in the amount of caffeine
they're drinking.'' The cafe uses 2 percent
milk, offers sugar-free syrups and decaf cof-
fee, and doesn't sell doughnuts or danish,
said Robbie Reed, the Centennial marketing
teacher who oversees the coffeehouse. John
Witmer, who has run a before-school cafe at
Hastings High School in Houston since he
became librarian in 2003, said it is extremely
popular with the 2,800 students. Before the
coffeehouse opened, “they were running
about 6,000 visits per year to the library and
checking out about 3,000 books,'' he said.
Now, “we're running about 65,000 visits and
checking out about 45,000 books.'' He has
used the money earned to eliminate library
fines, he said. On a recent school day at Cen-
tennial, 14-year-old Desmond Dwight, who
works at the cafe, was sitting at one of the
small round tables with friends. He said he
visits the cafe “because I can get a cup of
coffee and go sit and read a book.'' Would he
be reading in the library anyway if there were
no coffee? “I don't think so,'' he said,
“because it would be boring just sitting here.''
But 17-year-old Aaron Nall, a senior, said he
doesn't think his fellow students read any
more because of the cafe. “I think this place
is more a social scene than anything,'' he
said. “And it makes it loud if you're trying to
use the library.''
— By Travis Lollier, FRANKLIN, Tenn. (AP)
H i g h S c h o o l L i b r a r i e s O f f e r C o f f e e S h o p s
The school
library cafes are
usually simplified
versions of the
coffee shops at
Borders or
Barnes &Noble
bookstores.
Page 9 W i n t e r , 2 0 0 8
Nothing bad can happen if you haven’t hit the Send key. — David Shipley and Will Schwalbe
in Send
N e w s p a p e r B o o k C o v e r a g e , U p s a n d D o w n s
tion" instead of Sunday coverage. They prom-
ise "new features devoted to book clubs and
reading groups, literary movers and shakers,
and expanded bestseller lists."
The paper notes, "Our expanded books
coverage is built on a belief that a great many
of our readers have a rich and varied reading
life, beyond the newspaper. and while some
national statistics seem to suggest that read-
ing is on the decline, others make a different
case."
— from Publisher’s Weekly newsletter,
1/2/08
Chicago Sun Times books editor Teresa
Budasi wrote about the Grinch Who Stole the
Books Section, telling readers on Dec. 23 "the
Books section in its current form will cease to
exist after today," citing "the economic climate
of the news business." Reduced weekly book
coverage has been merged into the Sunday
Show section of the paper, along with other
arts and entertainment coverage.
On the other hand, next week the New
Orleans Times-Picayune "will debut The Read-
ing Life, which will feature expanded coverage
of books and the New Orleans literary scene
each week on the cover of Friday's Living sec-
Page 10 L i b r a r i e s S o u t h w e s t
Vernon Parish — especially in our hearts."
"Not only does Dr. Biggs provide out-
standing medical care to the citizens of Lees-
ville, he also provides enormous moral sup-
port to our military, both active duty and vet-
erans. He is an invaluable asset to our
community and we appreciate him greatly,"
stated Margie Morris, Protocol Coordinator.
Roger LeDoux, CEO Byrd Regional Hospital,
said, "Dr. Biggs has contributed to the health-
care needs of our community for almost half
a century, and is a living example of quality
family practitioners throughout rural America."
The 2007 Louisiana Rural Health Associa-
tion (LRHA) Awards Luncheon was held Oct.
15 at the Lafayette Hilton. Each year, LRHA
welcomes nominations for Rural Health
Awards from all members of the Association.
Otis B. Biggs, M.D., has been named the
Rural Health Practitioner of the Year by the
Louisiana Rural Health Association. The Rural
Health Practitioner of the Year award recog-
nizes a direct service provider (physician) for
leadership in bringing health services to rural
populations. Dr. Biggs was chosen for this
prestigious award for his contribution to the
healthcare needs of his community.
Dr. Biggs has practiced medicine in Lees-
ville for over 46 years. He has served as Chief
of Staff at Byrd Regional Hospital, as well as
numerous medical staff committees. Dr.
Biggs was nominated for the Rural Practitio-
ner of the Year award by Roger LeDoux, CEO
and Sam Fulton Marketing/Community Rela-
tions Director of Byrd Regional Hospital.
The nomination contained over 31 letters
from a variety of community members and
rural healthcare leaders recommending Dr.
Biggs for this prestigious award. According to
Mayor Betty Westerchil, "Dr. Otis Biggs is a
credit to the medical profession serving a
rural area and all mankind. He has made a
difference leaving handprints everywhere in
V e r n o n P a r i s h L i b r a r y T r u s t e e W i n s A w a r d
Dr. Otis Biggs (5th from right) is surrounded by family, friends and supporters. He was
honored as Rural Health Practitioner of the Year by the La. Rural Health Assoc.
YOU COULD MAKE a strong case that the
phrase "New Web" in this special issue's title
is redundant. More than any communications
medium before it, the Web is a permanent
work in progress that's always new.
Its ability to reinvent itself on the fly
stems in part from the way it continuously
upgrades itself to take advantage of the lat-
est advances in Internet access. For example,
the arrival of speedy, persistent broadband in
the late 1990s dramatically reshaped what
the Web could do for us; so did Wi-Fi a few
years later. Phone-based wireless data is
doing the same thing right now.
But here’s a secret of the New Web
that’s downright discouraging: On multiple
fronts, the United States is no longer among
the most Web-ready places on the planet.
Internet users in other countries - par-
ticularly Asian and Scandinavian ones-enjoy
Internet access that puts ours to shame.
Consider these ugly facts:
According to the UK-based Internet con-
sultancy Point Topic, the U.S. ranked a
desultory 24th in the world for house-
hold broadband penetration as of the
first quarter of 2007, lagging behind
countries large (South Korea, Japan, and
Germany) and small (Luxembourg, Esto-
nia, and Monaco).
The Communications Workers of Amer-
ica says that the average broadband
download speed in this country is 1.9
megabits per second-far pokier than in
high-speed nations such as Japan (61
mbps), South Korea (45 mbps), Sweden
(18 mbps), and Canada (7.6 mbps).
In the U.S., according to the FTTH Coun-
cil, just 1 percent of consumers have
ultrafast fiber-to-the-home connections.
That puts us 11th in its rankings, trailing
much of Asia and Scandinavia .
The Information Technology and In-
novation Foundation publishes broad-
band ratings of major countries based
on penetration, speed, and cost to con-
sumers. It relegates the United States
to 12th place. (Once again, Korea and
Japan are at the top of the heap.)
In the U.S., about 15 percent of mobile
phone users have the handsets and
plans needed to use high-speed 3G
data, says consultant Chetan Sharma;
in Japan, more than 60 percent do.
The Competition Solution
The reasons behind these alarming sta-
tistics are complex and controversial. And I
cheerfully admit to being a layman rather
than an expert on stuff like communications
policy and wireless spectrum allocation.
I do know that the consumers and busi-
nesses that pay for connectivity benefit from
competition-between providers, business
models, and technologies. So the utter domi-
nation of Internet access by a few monolithic
companies depresses me, as do develop-
ments such as the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court
decision denying small ISPs access to phone
companies' DSL lines. I also believe that alter-
native providers need a shot at the wireless
spectrum that will be freed up by the end of
analog 'IV broadcasts in 2009.
As a consumer, I care about this stuff.
As a voter, I'll be asking questions about
it as we head toward the 2008 elections. And
as a publication that aims to help smart peo-
ple make the most of the technology in their
lives, PC World will take stands on the state of
Internet access in America. The country that
invented the Internet shouldn't allow itself to
become an also-ran in the Internet era -- and
it's not too late to get back on track.
Harry McCracken,
PC World, Dec., 2007 : 15
W i l l t h e N e x t W e b R e v o l u t i o n L e a v e t h e U . S . B e h i n d ?
The country that
invented the
Internet
shouldn't allow
itself to become
an also-ran in
the Internet era...
Page 11 W i n t e r , 2 0 0 8
Page 12 L i b r a r i e s S o u t h w e s t
mation. "Your job is not to silence the
speaker, but to pay attention," ad-
vises Jamie.
3. Restate the problem. Jamie advises
ensuring you understand the guts of
the complaint. While rants and tan-
gents might happen, Jamie advises
staying calm and consistently pulling
the patron back to the root of the
complaint and not engaging in de-
bate. For example, try saying, "I'm
sorry. Is this the book you're con-
cerned about?" to get the patron
back on track.
4. Offer services. Once you understand
the problem, offer an alternative. A
question like, "Can I help you find
something else for your child?" pro-
vides an opening for continued dia-
logue, as well as the opportunity to
send this patron home with library
materials.
5. Offer a follow-up. If advised. The pa-
tron may want to continue with their
original concerns and it may mean
passing them on to the next in line
up the chain of command or paper-
work, such as a "Request for Recon-
sideration" form.
6. Follow up. If you have contact infor-
mation, let the complainant know
the outcome of your library's exami-
nation of the challenged material.
Remember being responsive does-
n't have to mean "agreement."
— ULC Exchange, September 2007
In his new book, The New Inquisi-
tion:
Understanding and Managing Intellectual
Freedom Challenges, Jamie LaRue exam-
ines the history of censorship, the funda-
mental role of libraries in defending free-
dom of information and the core docu-
ments of our profession. The book is a
sensible and practical approach to under-
standing and connecting with your com-
munity.
The New Inquisition provides specific
tips on how to deal with these informa-
tional challenges. Jamie advocates first
understanding who the challenge is com-
ing from and empathizing with their situa-
tion. He notes that the vast majority of
challenges come from parents of toddlers
and young teens, an important market
segment to the library. Parents are under-
standably concerned about what their
children are exposed to. If they're bringing
the challenge, they obviously use the li-
brary, value literacy and pay attention to
what their kids are reading. "They must
not be viewed with contempt," says Jamie.
Jamie advises the following steps in
responding:
1. Apologize. Your patrons had a bad
experience and deserve an apology.
"In these litigious times, many of us
are reluctant to express any sympa-
thy, lest it be viewed as an admis-
sion of guilt. Nonetheless, a simple
'I'm sorry' is both appropriate and
polite," says Jamie.
2. Don't be defensive. Listen. Com-
plaints may contain valuable infor-
R e s p o n d i n g t o M a t e r i a l C h a l l e n g e s
The book is a
sensible and
p r a c t i c a l
approach to
understanding
and connecting
w i t h y o u r
community.
“I have often thought that nothing would do more extensive good at
small expense than the establishment of a small circulating library in
every county, to consist of a few well-chosen books, to be lent to the
people of the county, under such regulations as would secure their safe
return in due time.”
Thomas Jefferson, Writings, vol. xxi, p. 282
by another company or organization for dis-
semination more broadly.
It costs the Open Content Alliance as
much as $30 to scan each book, a cost
shared by the group's members and benefac-
tors, so there are obvious financial benefits to
libraries of Google's wide-ranging offer,
started in 2004.
Many prominent libraries have accepted
Google's offer — including the New York Public
Library and libraries at the University of Michi-
gan, Harvard, Stanford and Oxford. Google
expects to scan 15 million books from those
collections over the next decade.
But the resistance from some libraries,
like the Boston Public Library and the Smith-
sonian Institution, suggests that many in the
academic and nonprofit world are intent on
pursuing a vision of the Web as a global re-
pository of knowledge that is free of business
interests or restrictions.
— New York Times, October 22, 2007
Several major research libraries have
rebuffed offers from Google and Microsoft to
scan their books into computer databases,
saying they are put off by restrictions these
companies want to place on the new digital
collections.
The research libraries, including a large
consortium in the Boston area, are instead
signing on with the Open Content Alliance, a
nonprofit effort aimed at making their materi-
als broadly available.
Libraries that agree to work with Google
must agree to a set of terms, which include
making the material unavailable to other com-
mercial search services. Microsoft places a
similar restriction on the books it converts to
electronic form. The Open Content Alliance, by
contrast, is making the material available to
any search service.
Google pays to scan the books and does
not directly profit from the resulting Web
pages, although the books make its search
engine more useful and more valuable. The
libraries can have their books scanned again
L i b r a r i e s S h u n D e a l s t o P l a c e B o o k s o n W E B
The Glenview Library jumped on board
earlier this year with the latest social network-
ing - a NEW MySpace account viewed at
http://www.myspace.com/glenviewya. This is
a forum for teens to learn about what is going
on at the library with programming, special
events and more. It is also a way for teens to
connect with other teen
library users. The site is
an excellent way for
authors to reach a spe-
cific audience by linking
up to different pages
where it can be viewed by multiple people.
Since opening the account in January 2007,
the library has had over 772 "views" and has
had over 130 "friends" link up to our page
that consists of teens, young adult authors,
libraries, sports teams, past program speak-
ers and others. Many positive comments have
been made on the library's MySpace page
from "friends" who are library advocates.
The page is moderated by Nicole Mills,
young adult librarian. Programs and events
are added as they occur. It is a great way to
reach teens who obtain much of their infor-
mation from these social networking sites as
well as teens outside of Glenview who might
be interested in attending an Anime Fest or
Game Night. Teens are encouraged to com-
ment on library programs, books and more
through the site. After each program, photos
are posted for everyone to view.
— Lines, Glenview (IL) Public Library, Fall
2007
M Y S P A C E a t t h e G l e n v i e w P u b l i c L i b r a r y
Page 13 W i n t e r , 2 0 0 8
Page 14 L i b r a r i e s S o u t h w e s t
Circulation, financial and leave reports
Salaries
Budget
Meeting room calendar
Reviewing all ILL requests for ordering
purposes
Reviewing all overdue notices for possible
replacement, etc.
Running reports monthly updates to
Dewey, long-standing patron requests, etc.
Daily checking building for needed repairs,
books and shelving for neatness and or-
der, needed building maintenance
Keeping web page, BLOG and Flickr site
up to date
Archives
Keep large screen TV behind circulation
desk updated with graphics and an-
nouncements
Work schedule for staff
Indexing local genealogical publication
Policy and Procedure manuals updated
Active in state library organization, re-
gional library organization and various
other committees, including Federal and
State Document Advisory Councils
Approves all purchases
Newsletter for regional library organization
Frequently helps with shelving library ma-
terials
Ensures that all materials are cataloged,
processed and on the shelf within five
days of arrival
Sends out Thank You notes for donations
And other miscellaneous duties including
all secretarial
What does your Library Director do?
Howard L. Coy Jr.
What a Library Director does varies from
library to library. The duties of directors in
large library systems will differ from those in
small libraries. Some directors in small librar-
ies will be responsible for the budget, fi-
nances, and work at the circulation desk,
empty trash, and all in between. Many times,
because everything seems to run so smoothly,
those outside the library really don’t know.
Some staff doesn’t realize what it takes to get
a book from the review to the shelf.
The following is a description of what one
director does in a medium-sized library sys-
tem. The library has a budget of $850,000,
book budget of $105,000, and a $40,000
audio-visual budget. An average of over 5000
items are cataloged and added to the collec-
tion each year, not counting the many State
and Federal documents. The library has a
bookmobile and two branches in addition to
the main branch. The library has a staff of 13
full-time employees and 7 part-time.
The Library Director is responsible for the
overall operation of the library. Specifically:
Responsible for the branches
Selecting books and audio-visuals and
periodicals for collection
Ordering books
Cataloging materials for collection
Repairing books
Inventory control of equipment
Regular weeding of collection and remov-
ing from automation system
Federal and State documents, including
selection, cataloging, checking-in, and
weeding
E-Rate
Grants
Interviewing and hiring employees
Publicity
Adult programming
W h a t D o e s A L i b r a r y D i r e c t o r D o ?
The Vernon Parish Library sponsored
a special program just before Christmas
while school was out for the children of
the parish. The Library prepared an over-
sized Christmas Card. Posters and infor-
mation was sent to the schools and day-
care centers to promote the
program. Mrs. Sylvia Davis,
professional storyteller pre-
sented the program, and after-
wards, the children signed their
name and wrote messages to
the soldiers at Fort Polk thank-
ing them for their service. The
card was then sent to the com-
manding General. Refresh-
ments were served, and each
child given a small bag of
treats.
C h r i s t m a s C a r d f o r t h e T r o o p s
Page 15 W i n t e r , 2 0 0 8
Mrs. Sylvia Davis, Storyteller, Santa and Mrs. Brenda Lewis,
Children’s Librarian
The survey results challenge the assump-
tion that libraries are losing relevance in the
internet age. Libraries drew visits by more
than half of Americans (53%) in the past year
for all kinds of purposes, not just the prob-
lems mentioned in this survey. And it was the
young adults in tech-loving Generation Y (age
18-30) who led the pack. Compared to their
elders, Gen Y members were the most likely
to use libraries for problem-solving informa-
tion and in general patronage for any pur-
pose.
Furthermore, it is young adults who are
the most likely to say they will use libraries in
the future when they encounter problems:
40% of Gen Y said they would do that, com-
pared with 20% of those above age 30 who
say they would go to a library.
This report is the fruit of a partnership of
the Univ. of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign and
the Pew Internet & American Life Project. It
was funded with a grant from the federal Insti-
tute of Museum and Library Services, an
agency that is the primary source of federal
support for the nation's 122,000 libraries and
17,500 museums.
The focus of the survey was how Ameri-
cans address common problems that might
be linked to government. The problems cov-
ered in the survey: 1) dealing with a serious
illness or health concern; 2) making a deci-
sion about school enrollment, financing
school, or upgrading work skills; 3) dealing
with a tax matter; 4) changing a job or starting
a business; 5) getting information about Medi-
care, Medicaid, or food stamps; 6) getting
information about Social Security or military
benefits; 7) getting information about voter
registration or a government policy; 8) seek-
ing helping on a local government matter
such as a traffic problem or schools; 9) be-
coming involved in a legal matter; and 10)
becoming a citizen or helping another person
with an immigration matter.
There was some variance in the results,
depending on the type of problem that peo-
ple confronted. For instance, those who dealt
The Pew Internet & American Life project
has released a new survey “Information
Searches That Solve Problems—How People
use the internet, libraries and government
agencies when they need help” can be found
at http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/231/
report_display.asp. The PDF of the report is
available directly at http:// www. Pewinter-
net.org/pdfs/ Pew_UI_LibrariesReport.pdf.
The summary from the PEW site --
There are several major findings in this
report. One is this: For help with a variety of
common problems, more people turn to the
internet than consult experts or family mem-
bers to provide information and resources.
Another key insight is that members of
Gen Y are the leading users of libraries for
help solving problems and in more general
patronage.
In a national phone survey, respondents
were asked whether they had encountered 10
possible problems in the previous two years,
all of which had a potential connection to the
government or government-provided informa-
tion. Those who had dealt with the problems
were asked where they went for help and the
internet topped the list:
58% of those who had recently experi-
enced one of those problems said they used
the internet (at home, work, a public library or
some other place) to get help.
53% said they turned to professionals
such as doctors, lawyers or financial experts.
45% said they sought out friends and
family members for advice and help.
36% said they consulted newspapers
and magazines.
34% said they directly contacted a gov-
ernment office or agency.
16% said they consulted television and
radio.
13% said they went to the public library.
Page 16 L i b r a r i e s S o u t h w e s t
I n f o r m a t i o n S e a r c h e s T h a t S o l v e P r o b l e m s — H o w P e o p l e U s e t h e
I n t e r n e t , L i b r a r i e s & G o v e r n m e n t A g e n c i e s W h e n T h e y N e e d H e l p
with a health problem turned to
experts more than any other
source, followed by family and
friends, and then the internet.
And those who had issues re-
lated to big government pro-
grams such as Social Security or
Medicare were most likely to go
directly to government agencies
for help, then the internet.
Most people were success-
ful in getting information to help
them address a problem no
matter what channel they chose
and no matter what problem
they faced.
A major focus of this survey
was on those with no access to
the internet (23% of the popula-
tion) and those with only dial-up
access (13% of the population).
This low-access population is
poorer, older, and less well-
educated than the cohort with
broadband access at home or at
work.
They are less likely to visit
government offices or libraries
under any circumstances. And
they are more likely to rely on
television and radio for help
than are high-access users.
— Greta E. Marlatt
Information Services Manager &
Homeland Security Digital Library
Content Manager
Dudley Knox Library
Naval Postgraduate School
411 Dyer Rd
Monterey, CA 93943
phone: 831-656-3500
fax: 831-656-2842
DSN: 756-3500
email: [email protected]
http://www.nps.edu/library/
https://www.hsdl.org