Week in Review: News Roundup for Nov. 3-9, 2008

-- Library Journal, 11/9/2008

News Stories of the Week:

On Track to Approval, Google Settlement Faces Legal Hurdles
With last week’s settlement, four years of wrangling between authors, publishers, and Google is ostensibly over. Now, however, the battle turns to getting the sweeping class-action settlement past the various class members, and a federal court.

After Delay, OCLC Lays Out New Policy for Records Use and Transfer
OCLC on Tuesday released a newly revised policy governing records use. It emerged after some hiccups, including a leaked announcement last week and the posting on Sunday of a slightly different policy, followed by its removal just hours later. (For more, see previous story: OCLC Updating Records Use Guidelines; Confusion Over Effective Date)

Philadelphia Mayor Closing 11 of 54 Branches
Eleven of 54 branches of the Free Library of Philadelphia will close and 111 positions will be lost in what Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter called “mid-year revision of epic proportions,” an effort to cut $100 million in the face of a billion-dollar budget gap over five years, caused by a “dramatic decline in tax collections and increased pension costs.”

No Matter Who Comes to DC, ALA Warns of a “Very Tough Year”
As the nation votes for a new president, and numerous local and state races determine the power configuration of Congress, library supporters should remember that, whether red or blue predominates, it’s not going to be easy.

At Forbes Library in MA, Circulating Ukulele Is a Hit
For nearly two months, the Forbes Library of Northampton, MA, has been inviting library users to “Borrow a ukulele!” and they’ve done just that: the waiting list for the donated instrument now stands at 24.

Voters in Clackamas County, OR, Approve Library District
Despite the economic downturn and concerns that voters might assume a temporary infusion of federal aid could take care of short-term library funding issues, voters in Clackamas County, OR, by at least a 60% margin, approved a new library service district for the three-branch Clackamas County Library and ten city libraries. It will generate about $11.8 million to build two new libraries and increase hours.

Atlanta-Fulton Voters Approve Library Bond Issue, Including New Central Library
Despite a newspaper editorial urging a "no" vote, 65 percent of voters in Atlanta–Fulton County yesterday approved a $275 million bond referendum that would fund eight new libraries in the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System, two expanded libraries, and 23 renovated libraries, plus $85 million toward a new Central Library.

ebrary's QuickView Gives Browser-based Access to Ebooks/Documents
ebrary recently announced the launch of a web-based reader for their content platform, used by more than 1400 libraries worldwide.

Books & Features:

Michael Crichton Dies of Cancer
Best-selling novelist Michael Crichton lost his battle with cancer on November 4 in Los Angeles.

Michael Cunningham Wins 2008 Fairfax Lit Prize
The Fairfax Library Foundation has named Michael Cunningham winner of the 2008 Fairfax Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Literary Arts.

Black History Month Titles: African American Views
Founded in 1909, the NAACP has since been the major civil rights group in the United States, and it's still around. Next year, the organization celebrates its centennial in conjunction with the publication of NAACP: Celebrating 100 Years 1909–2009 in February, Black History Month.

Wyatt’s World: Reading to Remember—Studs Terkel

From the Print Edition:

Library Job and Pay Trends Highlighted in LJ's 2008 Placements & Salary Survey
Insights into librarianship's persistent gender gap are just the tip of the findings in LJ's annual Placements & Salaries Survey by Stephanie Maatta. It examines how each graduating class lands in the library and information science marketplace, with an eye toward identifying job trends and shifts in pay. Overall, the class of 2007 saw starting salaries 3.1% higher than the previous year's graduates, hitting an average of $42,361.

Global Warming's Library Challenge: Immediate plans and actions needed!
Like every institution that uses energy, consumes resources, and engages in construction or renovation, libraries have an impact on the environment and on the critical problem of climate change.

Reference Q&A: SAGE Knows Social Science
SAGE Reference has come a long way since it first launched its social science reference program years ago. What started out as a modest and focused list of multivolume sets has blossomed into a diverse and robust variety of titles with an interdisciplinary approach and a clever online strategy librarians are responding to positively.