Monday, April 25, 2011

Current SLIS student's YA Lit for Adults reading program in the news!

Toni Streckert, a current SLIS student and the Outreach and Teen Services Coordinator at Monona Public Library is in the news this week! 
Monona Public Library
Streckert, a self-described "book pusher," noticed adults who were looking for tight, fast, well-written reads in the YA section-- not the adult fiction shelves.  Since she has a great appreciation for YA lit--"they have some of the most exciting, concise writing"-- she started recommending titles.

Her innovative YA Lit for Adults Bookclub has garnered lots of attention locally as a great place for adults to confess their love of Young Adult literature and get new perspectives and book recommendations. Librarians, school teachers, parents, and lovers of literature who were drawn to the genre come to Monona to talk about a new book every few weeks and share their opinions.

Unwind by Neal Shusterman for May 17th
 The next meeting is on May 17th, and the group will read Unwind by Neal Shusterman. 

Check out the full article here:
Book clubs appreciate grown-ups' newfound attraction to teen lit
OR log onto Monona Public Library's website to sign up for the next meeting!

UW SLIS alum Lillian Wallis leaves massive gift to Hennepin County Library

Lillian Wallis
Who says the good die young? 

Lillian Wallis, who graduated from the UW School of Library and Information Studies in 1950 died at 85 in September, 2010 after a long life of travel and library service.  But what might have been a sad post on the loss of a great librarian who really believed in how libraries could serve and enrich a community has turned into a much more fitting elegy:  celebration!

Lillian, who retired as technical services chief from Minneapolis Library in 1987, willed the bulk of her estate-- $646 thousand dollars-- to Hennepin County Library.  In typical librarian fashion, she organized her life and her finances in such a way that her legacy and impact on her community will continue long after her death.  Her gift stipulated that the money should be used to buy popular titles that circulate.  Brava, Ms Wallis!

Read the full article from the Star Tribune here: 
Librarian leaves $646K gift for Hennepin bookshelves

Friday, April 22, 2011

The zombpocalypse as a teachable moment

McPherson College has created a zombie survival guide to teach incoming students library and information literacy.  Arm yourself heavily and check it out!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

ALA calls on Congress to restore support to libraries in FY2012 budget

Check out the eponymous article here:
ALA calls on Congress to restore support to libraries in FY2012 budget.

This press release, of April 15th, is about the deep cuts to library services that the new federal budget bill, H.R. 1473, could make.  The bill includes a $28 million cut to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), and shuffles the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program (which is the only federal program for school libraries) off on the Department of Education to determine funds for school libraries. 

ALA is making a case to Congress as the budget process moves forward.  ALA President Roberta Stevens  says:
“These cuts in funding hurt people throughout the United States who depend on libraries. We are putting our nation at a disadvantage as we compete in a world that realizes and values the importance of being educated and informed.”

Sunday, April 17, 2011

An interesting question for future librarians - McMastergate!

Anyone who has an RSS feed to librarian blogs is probably aware of the comments made by Jeff Trzeciak, a librarian at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada.  Trzeciak gave an invited presentation at Penn State.  Though the organizers of the program instructed Trzciak to be controversial, they may not have predicted the reaction of the blog-o-sphere to his comments.

What were these controversial statements?  Basically, Trzeciak said that he would no longer hire librarians for his organization, instead hiring PhDs and IT specialists.  You can watch the presentation here.  You can then read through some of the myriad responses, so graciously compiled by John Dupuis, of Confessions of a Science Librarian.

As new librarians hoping to enter the job market in the near future, how do we feel about Trzeciak's statements?  What about our knowledge and expertise sets us apart from other researchers?  How can we justify our training for our positions?

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

The 2011 State of America's Libraries Report is now available!

Today, ALA released the 2011 State of America's Libraries Report.  Some highlights of the report include statistics on:
- How job-seekers and entrepreneurs use libraries
- The percentage of the public that visited libraries
- And how taxpayers view libraries in their hometowns.  
Check out the Special Issue Digital Supplement at the link below, and tell us what you think!

The 2011 State of America's Libraries Report.

Librarians: Masters of the info universe

When the economy looks bleak for just about everyone, sometimes it's hard to believe that you're on the right track in a degree program.  Well, here's a good reason to be confident in an LIS education:  CNN thinks librarians rule the world!
 
This morning's article, titled Librarians: Masters of the info universe, CNN librarian Kerith Page McFadden highlights some of the important things librarians are capable of doing in a world increasingly overloaded and information-sick, and gives an ego-boosting run-down of some of the famous thinkers and leaders who have been librarians or library workers.  Check out some these highlights, be confident in your degree, and celebrate National Library Week with us!

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Past library workers include world leaders and a famous lover...guess who!
  • "Star Wars" creator George Lucas has his own research library on his Skywalker Ranch.
  • The chief librarian of Basra, Iraq, saved 30,000 books by removing them from library before it was destroyed.
  • A librarian found one of Beethoven's final compositions at Palmer Theological Seminary when she was clearing out the archives.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

eBooks are Here!

In November, the campus libraries signed a license with EBL (eBook Library) which allows the campus to purchase eBooks.  All eBooks can be found by searching either MadCat or Forward.  All titles may be previewed for 5 or 10 minutes and then must be checked out by signing in with your NetID for a 24 hour loan period.  EBooks may be downloaded to your eReader such as a Nook, Sony Reader, or iPad, but all eBooks are also viewable online.  You may print up to 20% or copy up to 5% of a books content every 6 weeks.  The campus currently has unlimited access so multiple people can be reading the book at the same time.

The SLIS Library, in keeping up with reader trends, has started purchasing a few titles in eBook format. Check out the eBooks we have purchased so far:
To find all the eBook databases to which UW-Madison subscribes check out this link.

In addition, EBSCO is currently hosting a trial period of its eBook content.  This can be accessed through Academic Search Premier and clicking on the New Features tab in the upper right-hand corner.

Take some time and explore the future of books!  And don't forget that SLIS students and faculty can check out a Kindle, Nook Color, The Book, or iPad at the SLIS Circ desk for up to a week of eBook exploration.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

New edition of Introduction to Public Librarianship is out!

Distinguished UW SLIS alum, Kathleen la Peña McCook has a new book out!  
 
The latest edition of Introduction to Public Librarianship from Neal-Shuman Publishers includes lots of examples from Wisconsin libraries and is a great entree to this aspect of librarianship.  Check it out!