Late Bulletins

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (www.imls.gov) is seeking proposals for a $1 million study on the future of librarians in the work force over the next decade. The study will analyze current and projected U.S. library work force data by state and region, by types of employers, and by functional specializations. It also will assess the likely demand and opportunities for master's degree–holding librarians over the next decade, the skills they'll need, the capacity of graduate schools to meet projected needs, and incentives for attracting strong candidates. The report will recommend strategies for their recruitment, education, and retention. It also will touch on the need for paraprofessionals and those with doctoral degrees. The study will be conducted under the 2004 Librarians for the 21st Century program.

A bill to reform the beleaguered Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System—which had previously stalled in the Georgia legislature—passed in April. SB 231 will abolish the library's current Board of Trustees, reduce the new board's size from 17 to 11 members, and authorize the county manager (not the board) to hire and fire the library director. The library has been rocked by a reverse discrimination suit, with three board members and Director Mary Kaye Hooker named as defendants, which was settled for $18 million, and a harsh study of Hooker's leadership and library procedures (see News, LJ 3/15/04 , p. 18ff.). The legislation is awaiting the governor's signature, expected no later than the beginning of May.

The American Library Association (ALA) and Working Assets are cosponsoring an online voter registration drive, "Register to Vote @ your library" (www.yourvotematters.org/ala). The Your Vote Matters site was created by Working Assets for nonpartisan, nonprofit organizations. Individuals can register to vote or update their registration information online. Voters in all states except New Hampshire, North Dakota, and Wyoming are eligible. Those who register through the site will help raise funds for ALA's library advocacy efforts, thanks to a grant from Working Assets. Also, ALA will award grants to the library that registers the largest number of voters and to the first five libraries that register 500 people. Working Assets will underwrite tip sheets, bookmarks, and buttons for library workers (www.ala.org/requestmaterials).

The British Library, with the Lisbet Rausing Charitable Fund, is launching a £10 million program to preserve some of the world's endangered archives. Library officials say the program responds to "worldwide threats to historical and cultural records," including wars, natural disasters, and neglect. Grant funds will be used to identify endangered records and relocate them in institutional archives in their home region. Original material will not be removed from places of origin but will be copied and maintained at the British Library, then made available globally to libraries and research centers.

Though the board of the Regina Public Library, SK, voted six to two for no mill rate increase in its 2004 budget, forcing the closure of three community library branches, library advocates haven't given up (see News, LJ 3/15/04 , p. 20). The Friends of the Regina Public Library went to court to try to force the city to hold a referendum on the closures. The referendum was demanded by petitions but rejected by the city council. A hearing was scheduled for April 15.