Closing Libraries

At the BCCLS System Council yesterday representatives from the 75 libraries that form our cooperative voted to suspend the borrowing privileges of Northvale citizens. The reason: Northvale citizens have voted not to fund their small library and probably soon will close it entirely. Perhaps you have been following the story in the Record.
And then my cousin forwarded me the link to this NPR article on "A Country Without Libraries."
Closing Libraries - is it the right thing to do? I understand taxpayers want to avoid increases in taxes, but at what cost?

Neil Gaiman talks about libraries

Nat Geo Music

This one is for fun, and some cross-cultural exposure as well. The theme of the library's summer reading program is "One World, Many Stories." And music is one way to tell a story, so click on over to Nat Geo Music, and listen to music from around the world. We don't guarantee you'll like all of it, but we think you'll enjoy the adventure!

5 Myths About the 'Information Age"

From The Chronicle Review

Confusion about the nature of the so-called information age has led to a state of collective false consciousness. It's no one's fault but everyone's problem, because in trying to get our bearings in cyberspace, we often get things wrong, and the misconceptions spread so rapidly that they go unchallenged. Taken together, they constitute a font of proverbial nonwisdom. Five stand out: read more

The Library Card As A Pop-Culture Fiend's Ticket To Geek Paradise

NPR blogger Linda Holmes discovers her local library....and we can't figure out why she wasn't a library user all along!
After discussing the many things she found in the library she concludes:
Is that it? It's ... not remotely. They had magazines, they did have encyclopedias and research materials, obviously, and basically, if you have a small child, they will do everything short of holding your kid by his feet and dipping him in fonts of wisdom. There's story time, there are tutoring rooms (which were in use when I was there), there's a book club (they're reading As I Lay Dying at the moment), and OH RIGHT, it's staffed with people who clearly would really like it if you came up and asked them questions about books or anything else.

The point I'm trying to make is that as a pop-culture-adjacent person, you may think that public libraries are not particularly relevant to you. But I felt like since we've talked about movie pricing, e-book pricing, and a lot of other business models, it was only fair to bring to your attention my experience with this bizarre business model that's so crazy it just might work.

You'll enjoy reading the entire post so click to read.

What Will Happen When the Librarians Are Gone?

Elegy for librarians After all the budget cutting's done, who'll be around to help us ask the sharper questions?

Libraries Break Out: line item shows small cost for big service

A March 31, 2011 editorial in the Bergen Record comments that "PROPERTY TAX bills will have a new line item, and, in this case, it’s a good thing. Towns will now break out the amount paid toward their municipal or joint public libraries in the same way other towns provide a separate line for their contributions to county libraries. The law was signed by Governor Christie last week.

Library funding is a very small part of a municipal tax bill. Residents will see this clearly with the new layout. But local libraries’ diminutive cost relative to schools, police and the rest, belies their outsized contribution to their communities. They are community center, coffee klatch, job center, classroom and newsstand rolled into one. They provide a safe place for children after school, and a space for adults to relax during the day. Some host free tax preparers for older adults. Others host English classes for their newest residents. A public library is a concrete expression of civic values. And separating its cost from the general tax levy will drive home its bang for the buck."

Read the entire editorial

Current Event Resources

The Newark Public Library has put together two pages of links to information on:

1) Tragedy in Japan

2) Crisis in Libya

These should be useful for assignments and also for the informed and interested citizen. Keep up the good work, Newark PL!

Library Card Catalog Cabinets Used for eReader Storage - eBookNewser

Library Card Catalog Cabinets Used for eReader Storage - eBookNewser

If you’re old enough, you might recall how libraries used to have card catalogs. This was back before you could look stuff up on the computer...

Library's Budget Request is $76,000 Lower Than Last Year; No Furloughs Planned for Now

Library director says borough appropriation would be $2,208,490

Confessions of a Book Slob

Confessions of a Book Slob

Can you be a devoted reader and not care much about books as objects?

Lifehacker recently pointed to a post at Apartment Therapy from last year that offers five tips on caring for books, an earnest list of advice that runs from the patently sensible (“Don’t store books too close to a heater, in direct sunlight or in damp places where they could become mildewed”) to the fastidious (“To condition the spine…”). If you own valuable books, or simply prize your collection of paperbacks, the list is worth a look. I write if, because I realize that sometime in the past few years, I’ve gone from someone who cared for his shelves—organizing books by author and theme (if never alphabetically) and standing back from the clean rows with arms crossed in satisfaction—to an inattentive owner, as likely to re-shelve a book where it belongs, or even to find it a shelf, as I am to attend to other optional matters of household hygiene
.

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2011/03/confessions-of-a-book-slob.html#ixzz1G9eszNS4

How Irish Libraries Celebrate Library Week

7 books to help you understand Libya

7 books to help you understand Libya

What to read for background on Libya? The shelves of English-language libraries and bookstores are not exactly crammed with options. However, there are a handful of works – from histories to fiction to travel literature – which offer a good general grounding in the country's background and culture. Here, at least for starters, are some interesting suggestions.

- Marjorie Kehe, Monitor book editor

HarperCollins Puts 26 Loan Cap on Ebook Circulations

HarperCollins Puts 26 Loan Cap on Ebook Circulations

For BCCLS patrons who use ListenNJNW to download ebooks onto the new readers they received for Christmas, HaperCollins has limited the license to 26 checkouts. After that, the license expires and that title will no longer be available to patrons. Bad news for libraries and ebook users.

Authors are Helping to Spread the Word on the Importance of Libraries

“Sharing education, sharing a book…that’s what changes the world.”
NY Times bestselling author Brad Meltzer.

Mapping America, Every City Every Block

Did you see this interactive census map from the New York Times?
Put in your zip code to check out your neighborhood.
Browse local data from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, based on samples from 2005 to 2009. Because these figures are based on samples, they are subject to a margin of error, particularly in places with a low population, and are best regarded as estimates.

Author Jon Katz on the importance of libraries

Here's a blog post by author Jon Katz (used to live in Montclair before moving to New York State to live on a farm with his dogs) about what libraries meant to him growing up.

Governor's Budget Imperils NJ Libraries

Brad Parks, author of FACES OF THE GONE, wrote a great editorial in Sunday's Star-Ledger about the Governor's proposed budget cuts:

"They’re talking about the 74 percent reduction to library funding in Gov. Chris Christie’s proposed budget, which includes a 50 percent cut in direct aid to libraries and the elimination of several statewide programs — like interlibrary loan, which was used 3.8 million times last year.

The cuts, which add up to $10.4 million, could also cost New Jersey access to $4.5 million in federal matching funds which, among other things, currently provides internet access for roughly two-thirds of the state’s 306 public libraries..."
Read more

Save New Jersey Libraries

THREATS TO NEW JERSEY LIBRARIES
(message from Highlands Regional Library Cooperative)

As many of you know, Governor's Christie's budget proposes cuts to the following budget lines: Library Network Aid, Per Capita Library Aid, Virtual Library. Additionally, the budget proposes moving the State Library under the auspices of Rutgers University, and there is a bill pending (A2555) to eliminate the 1/3 of a mil minimum funding for municipal libraries. For more details on these threats see NJLA's Legislative Alert.

We are working with the library community to develop an advocacy plan to address these threats. As our advocacy efforts develop we will be in touch with HRLC members through our listserv, webpage, blog, and all channels at our disposal.

We are asking for the restoration of 10.4 million dollars to local libraries. These funds provide libraries with Internet connections, website and email hosting, interlibrary loan, delivery of library materials, electronic resources, as well a library for the blind and handicapped.

Here are things you can do:

Use the talking points from Norma Blake


Point supporters to this Capwiz Link: http://capwiz.com/ala/nj/home/ and ask them to contact their state reps and the Governor to fight for funding. Capwiz makes it EASY!! Also, you can sign up for legislative alerts (and encourage other to do so too) here:
http://capwiz.com/ala/nj/lmx/u/?jobid=145361623&queueid=4898333736

Encourage your friends, family, and customers who support library service to Become a Library Champion so we can continue building our base of support.

Bookmarks for you to print and distribute! http://njla.pbworks.com/Library-Champions-Bookmarks (thanks to Heidi Cramer for providing)

Join (and encourage your friends, family, customers and colleagues) the Facebook Group Save NJ Libraries!

Register for the HRLC Annual Membership Meeting and Advocacy Rally

Need to book a flight?

If you're planning on booking a flight and want to get the best deal, read "Booking a Flight in the Frugal Way" by Frugal Travelers Matt Gross of the New York Times.

And you'll want to visit the library in person or BCCLS on-line to check out some travel guides for your destination. Perhaps you'd like to read some fiction set in your destination country. Here is a list from the Morton Grove Public Library's Webrary, or do a Google search of your own with relevant terms like "fiction set in England," etc.

Do you sometimes wonder why you love to travel in light of all the waiting and lost luggage and the confusion of finding your way? Jonah Lehrer offers some scientific conjecture in "Why We Travel," in The Frontal Cortex blog.

Bon Voyage!