http://www.scholastic.com/aboutscholastic/news/readingreport.htm 

In part it reminds us that 75% of kids age 5-17 agree with the statement, “No matter what I can do online, I’ll always want to read books printed on paper,”

Other key findings from the report:

• A majority of KIds say they like to read books for fun.
• One in four kids age 5-17 read books for fun everyday.
• Kids believe that technology will complement - not replace - book reading.
• The majority of kids (62%) prefer to read books printed on paper.
• Nearly 2/3 of kids ages between 9-17 have extended the reading experience via the internet.
• Parents overwhelmingly view reading as the most important skill a child needs to develop.
• Trouble finding books they like is a key resaon kids say they don't read more frequently.
• 82% of parents say they wish their child would read more books for fun.

I know there's a lot of truth to the statements about parents views. I know I am pleased and grateful when I catch my 2nd grade daughter curled up on her bed reading a picture book or an exciting new Junie B. Jones chapter book. I also find myself catching the girls in front of the TV more times than I would like. I know that when a new book comes home from the school or public library.....the book usually wins out over the TV. Without a new book in hand...the TV wins out. My wife and I have to keep making sure that the girls keep picking out and have daily access to books that they love.

To all those parents and grandparents out there....take the time to stop by your local public library and pick out a new book or two for that special child in your life. You will both feel better....I promise.

Morning Stories, a weekly podcast of stories from ordinary folks, aired Heal this book in December 2005.  This podcast is about an art exhibit that the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) did with books that had been damaged by a homophobic and misogynistic patron. From the transcript:

This person used the card catalog and did a subject search and found books about gay and lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues, books about H.I.V. and A.I.D.S. and books about women’s health issues generally. And some false hits – almost comical things– a book about the Enola Gay, a book by Peter Gay, so this person was determined.

The SFPL invited people to make art out of the books that were vandalized:

In the early months of 2001, San Francisco Public Library staff began making grim discoveries in the book stacks at the Main Library. Shoved under shelves and hidden from public eye were vandalized books, ranging from gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender topics to women’s issues and books on HIV/AIDS. Staff collected over 600 badly damaged books. The torn and slashed books were deemed beyond repair and withdrawn from the Library’s collection. The offender was eventually caught and charged with a hate crime.

I recommend looking at some of the art pieces while you listen to the podcast. This project is powerful, transformative, and beautiful.

It might have something to do with the fact that I usually avoid writers who are still living. I prefer dead guys (or gals), like C.S. Lewis. No writer has had so significant an influence on my life as Lewis and I feel that, generally, living writers just don't live up to his standard. But since I respect every opinion Kari gives about books, I decided it was time to take the Piper Plunge. She actually sent me a little book of his called The Dangerous Duty of Delight, just to whet my appetite. And she succeeded.

I looked up John Piper in our good 'ole Hawaii Library System catalog and, go figure, only one book came up. Our libraries here do the best they can, but the state of Hawaii is in a deficit crisis (like the rest of the world) so funding is at a record low. No new books for my library this year. But at least they have one (better than none) and you can imagine my shock when I saw the title: Don't Waste Your Life.

Don't Wast Your Life?! My eyes almost popped out of my head! This is exactly what I've been dwelling on lately. If you read my post, One Life, One Gift, you know I've been arrested by how precious and singular is the gift of life. Now I find John Piper has written an entire book on the topic!

I went to the library, searched through the beautiful, dusty shelves of books and found it in the Social Science and Philosophy section. I'm only on page 48 but I am thrilled by what he is saying. In keeping with the theme of One Life, One Gift, I want to share some passages with you. It's a big chunk of text, but believe me, it's worth it.

The opposite of wasting your life is living life by a single God-exalting, soul-satisfying passion. The well-lived life must be God-exalting and soul-satisfying because that is why God created us (Isaiah 43:7; Psalm 90:14). ...

How serious is this word "single"? Can life really have that much "singleness" of purpose? Can work and leisure and relationships and eating and lovemaking and ministry all really flow from a single passion? Is there something deep enough and big enough and strong enough to hold all that together? Can sex and cars and work and war and changing diapers and doing taxes really have a God-exalting, soul-satisfying unity?

This question drives us to the very same place where we ended Chapter 2, namely, to the death of Jesus on the cross. We ended there because living for the glory of God must mean living for the glory of Christ crucified. Christ is the image of God. He is the sum of God's glory in human form. ...

These Lives and Deaths Were No Tragedy

In April 2000, Ruby Eliason and Laura Edwards were killed in Cameroon, West Africa. Ruby was over eighty. Single all her life, she poured it out for one great thing: to make Jesus Christ known among the unreached, the poor, and the sick. Laura was a widow, a medical doctor, pushing eighty years old, and serving at Ruby's side in Cameroon. The brakes failed, the car went over a cliff, and they were both killed instantly. I asked my congregation: Was that a tragedy? Two lives, driven by one great passion, namely, to be spent in unheralded service to the perishing poor for the glory of Christ--even two decades after most of their American counterparts had retired to throw away their lives on trifles. No, that is not a tragedy. That is a glory. ...

An American Tragedy: How Not to Finish Your One Life

I will tell you what a tragedy is. I will show you how to waste your life. Consider a story from the February 1998 edition of Readers Digest, which tells us about a couple who "took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruise on their 30 foot trawler, play softball and collect shells." At first, when I read it I thought it might be a joke. A spoof on the American Dream. But it wasn't. Tragically, this was the dream: Come to the end of your life--your one and only precious, God-given life--and let the last great work of your life, before you give an account to your Creator, be this: playing softball and collecting shells. Picture them before Christ at the great day of judgement: "Look, Lord. See my shells." That is a tragedy. (Excerpts from pages 43-46.)

Thank you, John Piper, for writing these words and for pleading with us not to waste our one and only precious, God-given life.

I encourage you to take a look at John Piper's website, www.desiringGod.com. My favorite section is the Resource Library where you can find sermons, conference speeches, and whole books on line all for free. Now I can read every Piper book, even though my local library only carries one!

Happy reading to all of you!

Lord, "Give me one pure and holy passion. Give me one magnificent obsession. Give me one glorious ambition for my life, to know and follow hard after you!"

Finally!  I have been saying that ALA needs a new website for so long, my head hurts.  ALA is the national professional organization of librarians and a librarian’s primary responsibility is ensuring the equal and easy access to information and a website is one of the primary ways that American’s find information today (for good or for bad).  So I always asked myself, why is it that the ALA has one of the worst websites on the internet.  They should have the best! 

Now at least we are one step further.  Thank you, ALA for taking one giant leap into the late nineties.  I’m excited for the time when you decide to step into the new millennium and do something even more forward thinking.  Although, I’m guessing that I’ll have to wait until 2010 to see that.  Alas, I’ll take what I can get.

I would like to relay to you the epic journey that materials take from entering the library collection to being discarded as stinking, torn, rotting waste (generally after about a month of exposure to the public).  My goal is to inform you why it is a very, very good idea to wash your hands after a visit to the library.

Let's start by taking a look at who those mysterious people behind the desk are, and why they seem to be able to afford better cars than you.  The library district used in this blog is only an example of a bureaucratic system, and yours may differ.

The Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees is a group of pretentious fogies who put combinations of letters after their name, such as Ph.D, or Ph.E, or MLISPHDPHEURMUNQ.  They exist in the form of stuffy backlit portraits that hang threateningly near Worker's Rights posters as a reminder that even though there is a Union in place to protect workers, you will never really be safe.  The Board's main function is to keep an eye on the Executive Director.  And by "keep an eye on," I mean "play golf with."

Human Resources
This is a legion of undead souls highly trained in the art of torture and deception.  Once a month, they translate the policy manual into a different dead language so that any employee who wishes to fight them has no defense, and will generally die shortly after passing through the office doors.

Just for kicks, once a year they force the men in the district into a tiny room for sexual harrassment training.  In between each man, they place a woman who has just turned eighteen, been surgically enhanced to stretch her blouse to its limits, and been fitted in a miniskirt the size of a single atomic particle.  The first man to exhale is made an example of by being shot in the face.  They proceed to warn of things not to say to women in the workplace, such as "Nice sweater," or "How are you today?" or "Good morning."  All of these and more are considered degrading to women and will result in immediate execution.  In one video clip, they portray a lesbian in an office setting by showing a standard woman in a red plaid lumberjack outfit wielding a chainsaw.  Very few men can watch this without cracking a smile, and only the strong make it through the day alive.

The Executive Director
The Executive Director is an enigmatic spirit that drifts around the library district wreaking havoc wherever he goes, generally in a car more expensive than your house.  He has the ability to be in more than one place at a time by using a slave species, known as:

Regional Branch Services Directors
The henchmen of the Executive Director, the BS Directors are in place to filter out progressive ideas.  A BS Director in this district, for example, has recently decided that patrons who call on the telephone come above patrons who are physically present.  Even if an employee is in the middle of a sentence with a physical patron, said employee is to immediately break all manner of conversation or assistance to answer the telephone.  If the physical patron objects, the employee is to strike them over the head with the phone until the objecting patron can no longer stand upright.  If the employee fails to abide by these BS rules, they will be reported immediately to:

The Branch Manager
The Branch Manager of an individual library branch is required, by policy set in place by the Board of Trustees, to work only on the 32nd of every month.  Beyond that, they serve no other purpose and all of their job functions are re-routed to:

Department Heads
Deparment Heads are highly sophisticated beings.  There are generally four in each library:  Reference, Reader Services, Circulation and Young People's Library.  You must kill all four in order to reach the next level, unless you have a magic flute, in which case you can warp past them.

Librarians
Librarians are people who have spent many years and many more dollars on education, have countless hours of their life invested in the district, and are well rounded, highly experienced and know one extremely important thing about their job:  it doesn't matter.  In olden days, they were essential to the everyday functions of the library, making decisions that benefited the public who's taxes funded the institution.  Now those essential functions have been outsourced to individuals with titles like "Liaison to the Department of Community Outreach," which sounds like a highly trained specialist but is in fact generally an inanimate object, such as a box of frozen waffles or, in the interest of equal opportunity, someone specially trained in polishing the Executive Director's stick shift.

Library Assistants
Library Assistants are individuals who are just as skilled as Librarians, have an equal amount of experience and know-how, but do not have a receipt to prove it, such as an MLIS, which is a combination of letters that means pretty much nothing.

Information Technology
Why is a department with such broad sweeping power so low on the list?  Because they like it that way.  If they were in their rightful place near the top, it would mean that they might actually have to come to work once or twice a year.  At our example district, the I.T. department is hidden behind an inconspicuous door in the basement.  On the outside of the door is an indecipherable locking mechanism, a doorbell, and a peephole.  Beyond that, nothing is known about the department besides their love of practical jokes. Example:

Recently, the librarians have made it known that their computers are a bit out of date.  Most librarians at this district are using circa-1983 computers that are the size of Chryslers.  So the I.T. department went ahead and brought in shiny new computers with Intel Core 2 Duo processors and Windows Vista Business Professional Super Ultra, disabled every single imaginable feature and scattered them around the district for patrons to browse the library catalogue, basically rendering them multi-thousand dollar web-browsers that can only browse one site.

The employee computers were replaced with eggrolls.

Circulation Department
As their name suggests, Circulation's main function is to circulate patrons they don't want to deal with to other departments.  Within this department, however, begins the journey of library materials, and this journey begins with the lowest employees on the totem pole, employees who are considered lesser than the homeless who sleep in the periodicals room.  Yes, I am talking about:

Pages
Lower than carpet lice, the page's duty is to shelve books.  Beyond that, they are as good as dead.  At least, that is what everybody thinks...

Tune in next time for Part II: Why are the Books Sticky?

LA HEREDERA DEL MAR is a translation of THE HEIRESS OF WATER, which won the 2007 International Latino Book Award for “Best First Book”, was a Borders Original Voices Selection and was the first Las Comadres National Book Club selection ever. About HEIRESS, Isabel Allende wrote, “Barron’s exuberant prose yields an immensely entertaining reading experience. You are fraught with the certainty that she is the gatekeeper of the secrets of the sea.”Visit Tinta Fresca.com for this month's review, namely, “En esta magnífica novela se entrelazan las pasiones humanas y los elementos naturales. . .” Please visit this link for the complete review: http://tintafresca.us/index.php?/FICCION/LA-HEREDERA-DEL-MAR

Caridad Pineiro just received the cover for her December 2008 release, SOLDIER'S SECRET CHILD, from Silhouette Romantic Suspense. To see the video trailer for this novel, please click here.

Also, in October, Romance Novel Television will be featuring Caridad in their 13 Days of Halloween event. For more information, visit www.romancenovel.tv.

 
Multi-genre author Mayra Calvani was recently interviewed by Norm Goldman for BookPleasures.com on the subject of book reviewing. Please click here to read the full interview.

L.M. Gonzalez is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15th through October 15th) by hosting a number of authors who have Hispanics/ Latinos as primary or secondary characters in their books. Please click here to visit her blog and check out the interviews with the authors.

L.M. Gonzalez is also pleased to announce that she sold a short story, A LOVE FOR ETERNITY, to The Wild Rose Press for their Vintage line. A LOVE FOR ETERNITY is a time travel story where the heroine goes back to 1955.

Rogelia's House of Magic by Jamie Martinez Wood has been nominated for the Tomas Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award.

Also check out these upcoming events with our NuncaSola members!

October 4, 2008
Caridad Pineiro and fellow author Rayna Vause

Collingswood Book Festival
10:00 am to 4 pm
Outdoor Street Festival Along Haddon Avenue
Downtown Collingswood, NJ , www.collingswoodbookfestival.com

October 5, 2008
Jamie Martinez Wood at the LA/Orange County Pagan Pride

Title of the talk: The Role of Play in Magic and Ritual
Description: At its heart, magic is play - a childlike dance with symbols, intuition and nature. All too often the realm of magical practice has become rigid and serious with implications that you can do something wrong. With the Fool's enthusiasm and Fae energy, we hold lightly to our desires, allowing the joy of happiness to flow through us. In this way, magic becomes real, not imagined; fun, not work; a joyful expression of the light essence that lives brightly in each one of us.

October 10-12, 2008
Meet Jamie Martinez Wood at the FairieCon

A fantasy conference and tradeshow about all things faerie and fantastical. There is a Good Faeries Ball and a Bad Faeries Ball (which I've heard is held at a haunted brothel!).
Convention Center in Philadelphia, PA
Booksigning and tarot/numerology readings at my booth, which will be in the Realm of the Muse pavilion. I'd love to meet my East Coast sisters and to prove it, I'll send five best customer passes to the first five ladies who contact me at jamie@jamiewood.com

October 14, 2008
Irete Lazo The Accidental Santera Book Tour

Tuesday, 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
The Cigar Bar & Grill (Tour Launch Party)
850 Montgomery Street
San Francisco, CA 94133
415.398.0850

October 16, 2008
Irete Lazo The Accidental Santera Book Tour

Thursday, 7:00 pm
Eso Won Books
4331 Degnan Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90008
(323) 290-1047

October 20, 2008
An Evening With Margo Candela, Mary Castillo, Reyna Grande and Jamie Martinez Wood

Come spend an evening with these dynamic authors who will talk about their inspirations and paths to publishing, as well as answer your questions! The panel and book signing starts at 7:00 p.m., Monday, October 20 at the Signal Hill Public Library, 1770 E. Hill Street in Signal Hill, CA. For more infomation please call (562) 989-7323 or visit www.marycastillo.com.

October 21, 2008
Irete Lazo The Accidental Santera Book Tour

Tuesday, 5:00 -7:00 pm
Nuyorican Poets Café
236 E 3rd St.
New York, NY 1009
212-505-8183

October 22, 2008
Irete Lazo The Accidental Santera Book Tour

Wednesday, 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Hue-Man Bookstore & Café
2319 Frederick Douglass Blvd
Between 124th and 125th Streets
New York, NY 10027
212-665-7400

October 24, 2008
Irete Lazo The Accidental Santera Book Tour

Friday, 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Book People
603 N. Lamar
Austin, TX 78703
512-472-5050

October 25, 2008
Irete Lazo The Accidental Santera Book Tour

Saturday, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
The Twig Book Shop
5005 Broadway
San Antonio, TX 78209
210-826-6411

October 25, 2008, 3:30 to 5:30 pm
Caridad Pineiro will be signing books and meeting fans at the
New Jersey Romance Writers Literacy Book Fair

New Jersey Put Your Heart in a Book Conference
Woodbridge Hotel and Conference Center
515 Route 1 South & Gill Lane, Iselin, New Jersey (NJ) 08830
Phone: 732-634-3600 Fax: 732-634-0258 www.hotelwoodbridge.com

October 28, 2008

Irete Lazo The Accidental Santera Book Tour

Tuesday, 8:00-10:00 pm
Books & Books
265 Aragon Ave.
Coral Gables, FL 33134
305-444-9044

October 30, 2008, 7pm
Latina Panel and Booksigning with Jamie Martinez Wood, Mary Castillo, Margo Candela, and Sandra Lopez

Libreria Martinez
110 N Main Street Santa Ana, CA
714-973-7900
Free hologram bookmarkers by Get Flipped.

November 1, 2008
Irete Lazo The Accidental Santera Book Tour

Saturday, 1:00 – 3:00 pm
Garden District Book Shop
2727 Prytania St
New Orleans, LA 70130
504-895-2266

November 18
Jamie Martinez Wood

Presentation
Orange County Public Library Association Fall meeting

November 20, 2008
Irete Lazo The Accidental Santera Book Tour

Thursday, 7:30 pm
Readers Books
130 E. Napa St.
Sonoma, CA 95476
707-939-1779

November 24, 2008
Irete Lazo The Accidental Santera Book Tour

Monday, 7:30 pm
Capitola Book Café
1475 41st Ave # G
Capitola, CA 95010
831-462-6297

I had some very concerned thoughts as I read the New York Magazine article that was highlighted on the Library Link of the Day . The article titled - The End - details the current challenges and serious issues facing the book publishing industry. So I started thinking.... and I ended up with some questions I can't answer and some thoughts to ponder:

If publishers are all chasing the few and perhaps rare "mega, bestseller title" that seems to be the only way publishers can make a profit.... then fewer mid-list titles get published. Over time the backlist begins to shrink.... the breadth of new titles diminishes..... choices become limited....... hmmmm.

What happens to libraries as the pace of published titles slows down based on the challenging economic realities for publishers?

If Amazon begins to control an ever larger slice of the bookselling world and the "publishing" world.... do they become ... just another wholesaler resource? Or will Amazon choose to only sell directly to the public and cut both bookstores and libraries out of the book consumer supply chain?

If the "Kindle" or whatever the next generation electronic gadget becomes a true book replacement...   where does that leave libraries?

If traditional marketing: book reviews, newspaper advertising, author tours and booksignings can't be shown to actually improve the sales of books.... then all these activities will go away. How and who will control or influence the word of mouth or "viral marketing" that will lead to increased customer book demand?

If the currrent trend of a smaller and smaller book reading adult population continues...... who will actually read all those books currently on library shelves? If the books go away... because circulation declines significantly........ what will libraries do with all that empty space?

As publishers possibly shift toward producing books as web based "movies" or online story "experiences" and the actual printing of books on paper diminishes..... will the library be needed as the "place" people go to to borrow books? And if they aren't going to the library for "books"...what will they go there for?

I don't have the answers to any of these questions. I don't even know for sure if any of these things will come to pass.

But what if they do..... will libraries be ready?

We were so delighted to hear from Lauren Ledet once again, proof that her community and her library can overcome, can unite, and can persevere again and again. I've said it many times before: Welcome back, Terrebonne, we're glad you're safe.

Here's Lauren's report:

Hi friends,

After the last two weeks, Terrebonne has finally gotten back on its feet and is ready to (partially-fully) participate in the September Project.

Much like the 2005 hurricane season featuring Katrina and Rita, Terrebonne Parish witnessed back-to-back hurricane’s that nearly devastated the parish. First, Gustav made a direct hit on our parish with the eye making landfall on our coast and basically traveling up the entire parish. Our damages were thankfully minor (trees, power lines, roofs, and the worst: no electricity for nearly two weeks).

Then, we dodged Ike’s direct hit, but were inundated by his storm surge. Over half our parish was underwater due to the storm surge caused by Ike. In some homes, the water level reached over five feet. Luckily, no libraries were directly affected by the storm surge. For Gustav, however, we did see windows blown out and roof damage to branches, and that eventually resulted in mold growth. That’s being dealt with currently. Of our nine branches, four are back up and running, one being our book mobile!

So, because of our shortage of branches and our reopening to the public only this week, we are really having a condensed version of the program this year. On September 28 the community band will play a patriotic concert at the Main Library. Other than that, we will have a display of photographs of the USS New York, built of scrap metal from the World Trade Center that was melted down in a foundry in Amite, Louisiana, about 100 miles from Houma. We had many things scheduled here (a voter registration drive, broadcasts of presidential debates, and library card sign ups with a diplomatic twist), but I think, for now, we’ll make do with our safety, our lives, and our libraries!

Thanks,

Lauren

These thoughts surrounded me as we heard from Roma Baristaite, of the Povilas Visinskis Public Library in Lithuania. She was kind enough to include photos of her library's program, which truly brought to life her library, her patrons, and her community. I've never visited Lithuania, but now I feel a bit closer, and a lot more curious.

Roma sent several photos, and this one, above, caught my attention. The intense focus intrigued me; proof that Roma and her colleagues organized a compelling event.

Here is what Roma sent to our listserv about her library's program:

On September 11th we watched the documentary film "9/11" (2002, USA). The participants had possibility to remember the tragic events in USA, in 2001. After the film they discussed about the situation in the USA and World today, how everything is changing after events in 2001, and what can we do, that it would never happen again.

Also there is Poster exhibition "September 11th by the World Press". The visitors have possibility to knowledge of information, what was written in the World Press on the next day after September 11th event. This exhibition is till September 28th."

In response to Roma's post, another librarian, Rachel Carpenter, from the James P. Adams Library at Rhode Island College shared,

I want to let Roma Baristaite and the Povilas Visinskis Public Library know how much I appreciate reading about their September Project program and viewing the photographs. For me, this really underscores how a feeling of community with people elsewhere in the world can develop from such sharing of experiences and knowledge. I'm deeply touched. This is just what the September Project is all about. Thank you and thanks to the Project and all participating organizations."

Nicely said, Rachel. What you describe is what David and I dreamed of five years ago, and it is overwhelming and beautiful to read your words and nod my head in agreement. Thanks to everyone for being a part of it.

Freedom and Independence in Virtual Worlds: a Conversation with Tom Bukowski

Sunday, Sept. 21, 1pm SLT
Virtual American Anthropologist Amphitheater, Anteater Island, SecondLife

The Alexandrian Free Library is pleased to present a second discussion led by Tom Bukowski, author of the book Coming of Age in SecondLife. This discussion will focus on the concepts of freedom and independence, and how these concepts are expressed in a virtual world such as SecondLife. It will be the first September Project event ever held in SecondLife.

We will consider topics such as these: What does freedom mean in a place where you can literally look and behave like anyone or anything you wish? How do individuals and communities on SL decide what customs they will follow? Why do many people on SecondLife choose to participate in lifestyles that severely restrict their virtual freedom? What does independence mean in a world that belongs to a private corporation? How much of what we do on SecondLife is determined by the code that runs SL and how much is actually open to
our own choice?

Now this is the beauty of SecondLife: wherever you may be on September 21, consider checking out this event!

The September Project: Celebrating Democracy and Citizenship in a post 9-11 World

Will Your Vote Be Counted; Is Electronic Voting Safe? Part 1
Wednesday, September 17 at 6:00
Movie and Discussion moderated by Dr. Bill Kovarik, from Radford University School of Communication. Free viewing of the documentary about the Diebold voting machines, and one woman’s quest to uncover the truth.

Will Rogers, One Man Show by Steve Huppert
Tuesday, September 23 at 6:30
Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate; now what's going to happen to us with both a Senate and a House?

Will Your Vote Be Counted; Is Electronic Voting Safe? Part 2
Political Conversation on National & Local Issues
Sunday, September 28 at 2:30
Featuring a panel discussion with: Radford’s Voting registrar, Tracy Howard; President of the League of Women Voters, Dr. Mary Houska; and from Radford University: Dr. Prem Uppuluri, Information Technology. Moderated by Dr. Clay Waite, School of Communication.

Is Harry Potter Dangerous?
Tuesday, September 30 at 6:30
Featuring a panel discussion with professors from Radford University English Department: Dr. Renee Dickinson, Dr. Kathryn Kelly and Dr. Robert Williams

All events are free and open to the public and will be held at the Radford Public Library.

When the going gets tough do the tough stop caring? This is a thought that came to me after I read Patricia Martin's post Cause Marketing's Fate Tied to Economic Woes. The idea that economic uncertainty brings causes or issues we'd normally stand tall for to the bottom of the heap is a bit jarring. Is this a reaction born of selfishness or simply the way we humans are hardcoded?  A couple of weeks ago, papers and library conversation were sprinkled with the "news" that there seems to be an upswing in library usage as the economy begins to get a bit crunchier. Would these same users attend a community forum to discuss the future of their libraries? Would they give to a library's annual fund? Ulimately times of uncertainly are ripe with opportunity. How are we considering telling our story during this particular time? How are speaking of our value when "value" begins to have several meanings?

John is now the Executive Director at Puget Sound Access, a non-profit that facilitates communication through community events and media. We're pleased to welcome John, Puget Sound Access, the ACLU of WA, and the King County Library System as participants in this year's September Project! Here's their program:

Puget Sound Access and the Washington State ACLU are partnering for a series of events celebrating free speech around Constitution Day at selected King County Libraries.

Our "Freedom to Speak!" presenters include:

* Porter Bayne, Founder, Ameritocracy.com
* Darcy Burner, Candidate, 8th Congressional District
* Dow Constantine, King Council Council Member
* Robert Cumbow, Attorney
* Judy Endejan, Attorney
* Bob Hasegawa, State Representative
* Charles Johnson, Supreme Court Associate Chief Justice
* James Neff, Seattle Times Investigative Editor
* Paul Nelson, Founder, Global Voices Radio
* Sue Parisien, Assistant Attorney General
* Larry Phillips, King Council Council Member
* Bill Ptacek, Director, King County Library System
* Jan Strout, Co-director, Reclaim the Media
* Dave Upthegrove, State Representative

These free public moderated panel discussions and question and answer sessions will be held from 7-9PM at King County Libraries in Auburn (9/17), Burien (9/17), Woodinville (9/17) and Bellevue (9/18).

The events will also be broadcast in full on Puget Sound Access television and be available as streamed media on the Web.

More information -- including pre-event videos, links to Free Speech book resources, and an interactive Free Speech news article time line -- are available at the Freedom to Speak Website at civildialogues.org.

If you're in the Seattle area this September, don't miss out on these events!

More later. . . .

I don't know about y'all, but when I hear about a book coming out that I really want to read, it drives me nuts until I can get my hands on it! It doesn't matter if I hear about it two years out from it's publication date. I still think about it every time I'm at the library or bookstore. Like Jamie Ford's Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. What the heck!? It's still not out. I went to the library in December and was like, "Excuse me, but can you put that book on your 'to order' list." The librarian looked at me cross-eyed and told me that it wasn't even in the system. Maybe she thinks that I'm psychic!

Anyway, with all these 2009 debut interviews I think I'm going extra nuts. So I thought I'd ask, how long do you anticipate books? Do you remember to look for a book you heard about months before?

Also, here's a link from a nice aspiring writer who is trying to put his talent to good use in donating portions of any sales to victims of the 9/11.

Status: I'm pretty sure tomorrow could not be any more exciting. Not only do I get to make the final decision on agents, but also, Nate moves to Austin tomorrow! We have been long distance for a full year now although we saw each other every weekend. But as of right now I have not seen him for a month and a half! Now, he's coming to stay for good! Plus, Monday is our three year anniversary. Ok, done being corny. (At least until tomorrow.)

A Fundamental Freedom
"The library is the Ellis Island of ideas. We welcome ideas from all and provide a place where they clash, meld, morph, and synthesize to challenge society and energize its public discourse."
(ALA President, Jim Rettig)

Banned Books Week-- September 27 through October 4 --helps librarians remind people of a fundamental freedom they exercise every time they use their library, i.e. their right to READ.

Good luck with your programs, and please send us your thoughts and photos of your events!

Palin twice asked the librarian what she thought about banning books, to which the librarian responded it was a lousy idea she couldn't go along with. Later, Palin told the local paper that any questions she'd raised about censorship were only "rhetorical."Story at ADN

There is a very interesting article on PlanetSave about the number of trees it takes to make all the books that are published in a year... 30 MILLION TREES!!!

You can go here to read the article.

So this is what I want to say about this. I think it is better to reuse than to recycle. Don't get me wrong, recycle, recycle, recycle. But know that when you recycle, the whole can or the whole paper or the whole book or the whole plastic cup is not getting 100% recycled. There is waste. And, each and every day, we are consuming more and more. This means that what we make from recycling is actually less than we currently use, so more must be made to account for what we will consume. Does this make sense? I'm sure it does... you're all smart.

Reusing, however, re-uses 100% of that item. There is no waste biproduct, there is no additional resource usage, nothing more is added to this environment. So, Re-use is always better than re-cycle.

OK. There are exceptions. Don't re-use plastic water bottles, too many toxins. But, you don't even have to buy the plastic water bottle in the first place... buy a SIGG. And, don't re-use the obvious, like prophylactics, or syringes... that's not only bad, it's disgusting... those you should recycle. I'm in a weird area right now and think it is best to move on.

So... some great ways to reduce your footprint when it comes to books:
BookCrossing, or buy a Kindle, or the good old fashion library, which is my reading method of choice!

The most stressful part is passing on all my knowledge.  I should have started blogging it years ago. Oh well

My work people are throwing me a going away party on Friday, which is really nice.  It's a potluck at the administration offices after hours.  I might have to have an after-after party at the pub.

The first public workshop held on August 20, 2008 for the Downtown Newhall Public Library project involved hands-on group exercises, which challenged the creativity of the participants to provide preliminary site plan studies for the proposed Old Town Newhall Public Library. Additionally, participants were asked their opinions on a number of pre-selected images pertaining to library design and the Downtown Newhall Specific Plan. The goal of this particular exercise was to determine a schematic direction for the ultimate look and feel of the library site and building. The workshop also included an open discussion of important local narratives and storylines that could potentially be used as part of the design concept. 

The workshop culminated with a priorities board establishing the visual hierarchy of the design elements and concepts for the new library.  Approximately 30 to 40 member of the public attended the first public workshop. The next public workshop will be held on September 30, 2008 from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm at Hart Hall at the William S. Hart Park.  In this second workshop, participants will be reviewing the results from the first public workshop as well as providing a series of design options based on the directions given by the community participants.

Some thoughts that have occurred to me in the past few weeks as far as when to hang out the sign (or "when to say No Way!)...

-No Vacancy--when it comes to making declarations, decisions or policies simply because it's what they want to hear

-No Vacancy--for taking the Easy-in-the-Short-Run and Deal-with-it-Later leadership

-No Vacancy--for putting off questions, discussions and decisions that are crying for attention.

Here's the deal with hanging out No Vacancy signs--everyone, well most everyone, knows that the No Vacancy sign really means "don't bother me," "don't rock the boat," or "I don't want to deal with this now (ever)."

So, let's flip it around. Let's take down the No Vanancy Signs...and try "Welcome" or "Newly Envisioned" or "Ask Me" signs instead.