Craig Buthod, Direktor der “Louisville Free Public Library” wurde zum Bibliothekar des Jahres 2010 ausgerufen/gewählt…bestimmt …

An ability to convert setbacks into opportunities is the key to the successful career of Craig Buthod, director of the Louisville Free Public Library (LFPL), KY. Buthod possesses a unique combination of optimism, managerial talent, political savvy, and a willingness to do battle, even after serious losses. This uncanny mix is why he was singled out from strong competitors to be LJ’s 2010 Librarian of the Year.

Im LibraryJournal gibt es einen Artikel über ihn … jaja - die Armerikaner… wann wählen wir denn in Deutschland den/die Bibliothekar/in des Jahres?!
Ich hätte da ein/zwei Vorschläge

Im Library Journal ist ein Artikel zum Thema “2009 Placements & Salaries Survey” erschienen - inklusive Statistiken.

Kurze Infos:

• The average starting salary for a librarian went down in 2008 for the first time in over a decade, from $42,361 to $41,579.
• There are fewer full-time jobs, more part-time jobs, and more non-librarian jobs.
• New graduates are having a harder time finding jobs and remain unemployed longer.
• Disturbing to me, being a public librarian, was that full-time librarian placements in public libraries fell bby an astounding 12.5% in 2008.

[via librarianinblack]

Ken Davis ist der Autor einer in Amerika bekannten Bücherserie namens “Don’t Know Much About“.
Er hat ein interessanten Artikel über die Notwendigkeit von Bibliotheken geschrieben - und plädiert dafür, daß die “Türen geöffnet werden - weiter, als je zuvor!”

Ken Davis nimmt als Aufhänger die Tatsache, daß drei Bibliotheken in New York 22% ihres Etats einbüßen müssen (der Artikel ist erschienen im libraryjournal.com).

Darin heißt es:

New York City´s three Library Systems face 22% Budget Cut.
943 emloyees would be laid off, many branches would offer no weekend service, city Council must approve budget by June 30.

Betroffen sind die Queens Library, Brooklyn sowie die New York Public Library.

Daher schreibt er:

They are not a luxury, but a lifeline

Underlying this reality are two simple facts. First, libraries do not have a vocal, powerful constituency. Unlike the police, teachers and fireman, they don’t have a potent union or benevolent association. There is no “Library Lobby” doling out campaign contributions. But far worse, libraries tend to be viewed by all too many people in power as a luxury.

In many of these minds, the public library is stuck with an antiquated image of stern ladies shushing noisy kids, retirees borrowing the latest bestsellers and –more recently—homeless folk camping out in a heated corner. They are all clichés. And dumb ones at that.

(…)

The public library is not just about borrowed books. It is about information –the great currency of our time. And the library has, by default, become the bridge in the digital divide because it offers free access to computers.  Can you imagine in this digital day looking for a job, submitting a résumé or a college application, or searching for housing without your computer? For millions of people, the library is their laptop.

(…)

Cut or kill the libraries and you yank away a shovel.

So please, Mayor IT Guy. And Mayors anywhere else, for that matter. Leave the libraries alone. Believe me. They are not a luxury, but a lifeline.

Hier gehts zum ARTIKEL

[via LibraryLoveFest]

Visibility @ your Library

In the latest in a series of videos in which respected Americans describe how they value libraries and librarians, astronaut Sally Ride recounts the importance of libraries to her storied life and career.

According to the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, “Ride was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in January 1978. In August 1979, she completed a 1-year training and evaluation period, making her eligible for assignment as a mission specialist on future Space Shuttle flight crews. She subsequently performed as an on-orbit capsule communicator (CAPCOM) on the STS-2 and STS-3 missions.”

She went on to serve as a mission specialist on STS-7, which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on June 18, 1983. This was the second flight for the Orbiter Challenger and the first mission with a five-person crew. She served in the same capacity on STS 41-G, which launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida on Oct. 5, 1984. This contained the largest crew to fly to date.

Ride subsequently was assigned to NASA Headquarters as special assistant to the administrator for long range and strategic planning.

In 2001 she founded her own company, Sally Ride Science [http://www.sallyridescience.com] to motivate girls and young women to pursue careers in science, math and technology.

The author of five science books for children, she is a member of the National Women’s Hall of Fame and the Astronaut Hall of Fame.

Contributed by Steve Zalusky, Manager of Communications, ALA Public Information Office

Im Februar wird in den USA in Schulbüchereien sowie in öffentlichen und privaten Bibliotheken aller Art der “Library Lovers` Month” gefeiert. In dieser Zeit haben alle, besonders aber Fördervereine von Bibliotheken, die Gelegenheit, sich für die Anerkennung der Arbeit von Bibliotheken einzusetzen und dazu beizutragen, dass Bibliotheken im ganzen Land ihre Dienste weiterhin anbieten können.

Auf der Seite gibt es viele, schöne Dinge zu entdecken… zum Beispiel könnt Ihr ECards verschicken oder hübsche Lesezeichen runterladen (Achtung: pdf).

Mehr könnt Ihr erfahren, wenn Ihr auf die Logosklickt:

via [netbib] und [dt. Bildungsserver]

… ist die Union County Library in South Carolina (USA).

Sie wurde vom Library Journal zur “Best Small Library in America 2009” gekürt. Die Bibliothek in der knapp 9000 Einwohner zählenden Gemeinde befindet sich in einem historischen Gebäude und wurde insbesondere für den Transformationsprozess ausgezeichnet, den die engagierten Mitarbeiter in den vergangenen Jahren vorangetrieben hatten, um aus einer eher unscheinbaren Bibliothek ein integratives, modernes, servicesorientiertes Gemeindezentrum zu machen.

Die Bibliothek hat eine klare Vision und Mission:

“The UCCL is the learning center for our community, the place people choose to explore ideas, the power of information and the pleasure of reading.”

Link: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6630781.html