July 20, 2010

NEWS

To fend off branch closings, the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library will cut its materials budgets 20 percent, trim summer hours, eliminate some positions, and have employees pitch in on their Public Employees' Retirement Fund contribution. » » »

California's cash-strapped San Joaquin County is considering outsourcing the running of its libraries to LSSI to the chagrin of citizens. Two local groups have voiced concern over the lack of public input on the matter. » » »

Mount Vernon PL Reinstates Laid Off/Demoted Staff
The Mount Vernon PL, NY, also benefited from the public's ardor. After 13 staffers were laid off and eight others demoted, locals presented a 1500-signature petition to the city council, which anted up the funds to reinstate all the positions. » » »

Fired Lexington CEO Suing Board/Chair
Kathleen Imhoff, who was fired from her post as the Lexington PL's CEO in 2009, is suing the library's board and chair for breach of contract, lost career opportunities, and defamation. The suit seeks fulfillment of Imhoff's contract ($137,035 a year), plus compensatory damages of $1 million for lost wages in her ongoing career, $1 million for gender discrimination, plus $3 million in punitive damages for defamation.» » »

Blatant Berry: A Captain, Not a Figurehead
“Any figurehead can decorate the prow of the good ship library,” contends Berry, “but what ALA really needs is a captain to take command and lead the members into battle for the hearts and minds of the citizens and the votes of national, state, and local politicians to get the meager share of the public budget that would make libraries strong.” » » »


Wyatt's World

Wyatt's World: Slow Reading—Five Books To Practice With

 

Review

Crump, James. Walker Evans: Decade by Decade.

Hatje Cantz Verlag. 255p. illus. bibliog. ISBN 978-3-7757-2491-3. $75. PHOTOG

Evans's reputation was initially established by his Depression-era collaboration with James Agee on Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. That tribute to Southern sharecropper families, as well as Evans's work for the Farm Security Administration, had a profound influence on later artists. However, from the 1940s through the 1960s his celebrity underwent a long dry spell during a commercial association with Fortune magazine, and it was only after Evans partisan John Szarkowski succeeded Edward Steichen at the New York Museum of Modern Art's photography department in 1961 that he was rehabilitated among the artistic cognoscenti. His 1930s and post-1960 photos remain those for which he is best known. This book addresses the full span of Evans's oeuvre, and makes a decisive case that a cohesive visual unity runs throughout. Its 216 photographs, many taken from the Fortune archive, others from earlier series such as a 1933 trip to Cuba, enliven the pages. Crump opens with an interesting biographical account of the Evans-Szarkowski association, propelling his central point of Evans's qualitative consistency. VERDICT The best book on Evans in years, this will appeal to photography pundits. A desirable purchase for libraries with photography buffs.

—Douglas F. Smith, Berkeley P.L., CA




Xpress Reviews

Xpress Reviews—First Look at New Books
Peter Robinson’s Bad Boy, Stephen White’s The Last Lie, Frank King’s Walt and Skeezix: The Complete Daily Strips, 1927–1928, and other reviews just in. » » »

HIGHLIGHTS

Eye of the Beholder: Fall Art Books Preview
Art comes in all shapes and sizes, and this roundup of 81 forthcoming titles runs the gamut from comic book supers to movie poster art to Michelangelo and other stalwarts. Prices range from $19.95 to $125, so there's something for all budgets. » » »

LJ ALERT

Call for Nominations—Political Winners (and Sinners) of the Year
 Politically speaking, it’s a roller coaster for libraries as the recession hits Libraryland. Tell us about the people who launched preemptive strikes to sustain the library, helped save it, or threw a monkey wrench into the works—whether on a local, statewide, or national level. Look for our coverage in the Sept. 15 Library Journal. Send nominations by August 1 to Rebecca Miller. Full details here.  



Job of the Week

Sales Executive
Davidson Titles, Inc.
Various
Talented Sales Executive Wanted for Established Educational Sales Company Davidson Titles, Inc. is one of the recognized national leaders in book sales to school libraries, public libraries and curriculum departments. Our sales force is one of the most professional and well respected in educational sales. Davidson Titles, Inc. is a privately owned company that is still run and controlled by the family that started it over 30 years ago. For more information, visit our about page. » » »


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