Mark Bartlett is the new head librarian of the New York Society Library, the city's oldest continuing existing library. He had been interim director since December 2005. Bartlett joined the library in 2004 as head of cataloging from the Arizona Ross-Blakley State University Law Library, Tempe, where he was associate librarian and head of technical services. The subscription library was founded in 1754 and is open to all for reading and reference, with circulation and other services by subscription.
Mendell Morgan dean of library services at the University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, has announced his retirement after 31 years of service, citing family responsibilities. He plans to work reduced hours for the next couple of years. Morgan recently was in the public eye when he unilaterally decided to cancel the university's print subscription to the New York Times in protest of articles that exposed a government program that monitored international financial transactions in the hunt for terrorists. He later rescinded that decision.
Emily Rogers has been appointed assistant professor of library science and reference librarian at Odum Library, Valdosta State University, GA. She recently completed the MSLIS program at the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign.
NCLIS Commissioners Oppose Proposed Consolidation Plan
The U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) is not going gentle into that good night. With plans to consolidate the NCLIS functions into the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the NCLIS board voted 11-1 to oppose the draft plan, saying it does too little to reference the agency's statutory advisory and policy development role. "In the legislation which created the Commission, our first responsibility is to advise the President and Congress on the implementation of policy with respect to library and information science," said Commission Chair Beth Fitzsimmons. "We are surprised that this critical authority is given so little attention in the draft document.... Instead, the primary emphasis in the plan is on the Commission's work with the National Center for Education Statistics in implementing the Library Statistics Cooperative Program, which is referred to as one of the Commission's 'main functions.' This is not the case."
The Commissioners also expressed concern that "the proposed merger of the statistics, policy development, and funding programs" would compromise the integrity of three essential but separate programs. Also, they pointed out that NCLIS's responsibility for U.S. national library standards and its formal position in the standards community as a voting member of the National Information Standards Organization (NISO) would be eliminated, but is not referred to in the draft proposal from IMLS. They also said that the consolidation proposal would not provide "more efficient and effective delivery of public services" with respect to libraries and information science. "This is a process," said IMLS spokeswoman Eileen Maxwell, who said it was premature to respond to NCLIS's criticisms. We're asking for comments from the entire field. We'll review them and share and discuss them with the entire field." Comments on the draft plan will be accepted by IMLS until August 31.
J'Accuse! U. of Chicago Press to Publish French Librarian's Views on Google Book Search
French National Librarian Jean-Noel Jeanneney made international headlines in January 2005 when he penned an editorial in Paris-based Le Monde expressing alarm over Google's plan to digitize books from five prominent university libraries, saying that the plan would favor Anglo-Saxon ideas and the English language. Now, he's aiming for American book sales. In November, the University of Chicago Press will publish a book of Jeanneney's brief but pointed criticisms of Google Book Search, tentatively entitled Google and the Myth of Universal Access. In the 90-plus page book, Jeanenney repeats and expands upon his sense of outrage and concern over Google's plan. Although he writes that he experienced neither "irritation nor distress" at Google's plan, he admits to a "sense of anxiety" and sees in Google a marauding, American/Anglo-Saxon and commercially-driven plan that could both threaten European language and culture and make English the world's de facto lingua franca. "What is at stake is language," he writes. "We can see how the use of English (in its American form) threatens to become more prevalent at the expense of other European languages—all of them."
In his initial Le Monde editorial, Jeanneney, a historian who heads France's national library, said the Google venture constituted "a risk of crushing domination by America in defining the idea that future generations have of the world." Despite a pervasive aversion to what he sees as the potential for the commercially-driven dominance of American culture, typified by Google, Jeanneney offers several European insights into the effects of digitization efforts on world culture, and his sense of outrage has indeed lent itself to some positive developments, including a European digitization effort. He also presents a compelling case for more collaboration and planning to create a truly universal, universally beneficial online library and he is bullish on the future of libraries and librarians as intermediaries of knowledge. "While a little digitization distances us from intermediaries of knowledge," he writes, "A lot of digitization will bring us closer to them." American librarians will also note the endorsement of a familiar figure—Fresno State library dean and American Library Association immediate past president Michael Gorman. "Jean Noel Jeanenney has seen through the hype and misdirection that have surrounded the project now called Google Book Search since its inception," Gorman blurbs.
LC Responds to ALA Criticism; Offers More Collaboration
In response to concerns over changes in cataloging policies announced this spring, Library of Congress (LC) officials said they will do more to collaborate with the library community. "We erred in not giving the library community enough time to make local changes when we announced the decision in April, and for that I have offered apologies," said associate librarian for library services Deanna Marcum in a statement. She added that LC "has worked closely and collaboratively with dozens of ALA [American Library Association] and international bodies on cataloging policies and practices," and that LC's "commitment to collaboration is unchanged." LC did not initially address criticism made by ALA officials at a Congressional oversight hearing last month.
In her statement Marcum suggested LC was open to working more closely with librarians and ALA on future decisions. "I do not disagree with the substance of ALA's testimony," she said. "We, too, take seriously our role in the broader community. For this reason, I am in the process of establishing an external advisory committee on the future of bibliographic control. There are enormous challenges confronting all libraries as they integrate digital content and related services into the traditional library. We need to consider, together, how best to respond to those challenges to meet the needs of our users."
Does an Unannounced $35M Gift Mean SMU Will Win Bush Library?
More intrigue surfaced this week in the race to land the George W. Bush presidential library after it was disclosed that Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, long considered a front-runner, had received a $35 million gift from Dallas businessman Ray Hunt. The gift, according to the Dallas Morning News, was used to purchase a shopping center that could become the library site. The extraordinary gift was made last fall, but curiously remains unannounced by university officials, who told reporters details of the gift have not been finalized. The news, however, became public last week in court records filed in a case brought by Gary Vodicka, a resident who filed suit last year alleging that SMU forced residents out of a condominium complex to make way for the library. Meanwhile, First Lady Laura Bush said this week that a decision on the library was unlikely before 2007. SMU, the First Lady's alma mater, is one of three finalists for the Bush library, along with Baylor University in Waco and the University of Dallas.
In a Show of Support, Map Dealer Gives to Yale Library
Yale officials this week announced that William Reese, president of William Reese Company, a firm dealing in rare books and manuscripts in New Haven, has donated $100,000 to the Yale University Library to support the future of the Map Collection in Sterling Memorial Library. Yale University Librarian Alice Prochaska said she will match the gift with funds reallocated from the library's budget. "With Mr. Reese's advice and support, the Library will now begin to raise additional significant funding," she added. "We will seek to endow the position of Map Curator, to support the creation of a full electronic catalog with digitized versions of the holdings of this great collection, and to support and extend the high-powered consultative service in Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) that the staff provide."
The gift was especially welcome news, following the recent conviction of E. Forbes Smiley, who was busted by Yale librarians, eventually exposing the theft of nearly 100 rare maps from libraries around the world. "I wish to offer profound thanks to William Reese for this gift and for his unwavering support of the Map Collection during the difficult times that followed the recent thefts," Prochaska said. Since Smiley's arrest, she noted, Reese has also worked with Yale to inventory the library's map collections and to advise the library on many other issues in the wake of the thefts. In a letter to Prochaska, Reese called the Yale Map Collection an "extraordinary resource" and pledged his continued support.
Best Sellers in Religion, January 2006–present, as compiled by YBP Library Services
Women at the Beginning: Origin Myths from the Amazons to the Virgin Mary
Geary, Patrick J.
Princeton University Press
2006. ISBN 0691124094. $19.95
Islamic Imperialism: A History
Karsh, Efraim
Yale University Press
2006. ISBN 0300106033. $30.00
Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon
Dennett, Daniel Clement
Viking
2006. ISBN 067003472X. $25.95
Faiths of the Founding Fathers
Holmes, David Lynn
Oxford University Press
2006. ISBN 0195300920. $20.00
American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation
Meacham, Jon
Random House
2006. ISBN 1400065550. $23.95
Liberal Conscience: Politics and Principle in a World of Religious Pluralism
Swaine, Lucas
Columbia University Press
2006. ISBN 0231136048. $35.00
People of the Dream: Multiracial Congregations in the United States
Emerson, Michael O.
Princeton University Press
2006. ISBN 0691124515. $24.95
Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions
Armstrong, Karen
Alfred A. Knopf
2006. ISBN 0375413170. $30.00
Religion and Politics in the International System Today
Hanson, Eric O.
Cambridge University Press
2006. ISBN 0521852455. $70.00
Family Transformed: Religion, Values, and Society in American Life
Ed. by Steven M. Tipton
Georgetown University Press
2005. ISBN 1589010663. $26.95
Uncompromising Positions: God, Sex, and the U.S. House of Representatives
Oldmixon, Elizabeth Anne
Georgetown University Press
2005. ISBN 1589010728. $44.95
Demons and the Making of the Monk: Spiritual Combat in Early Christianity
Brakke, David
Harvard University Press
2006. ISBN 0674018753. $49.95
Mighty and the Almighty: Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs
Albright, Madeleine Korbel
HarperCollins
2006. ISBN 0060892579. $25.95
Minds and Gods: The Cognitive Foundations of Religion
Tremlin, Todd
Oxford University Press
2006. ISBN 0195305345. $30.00
For Prophet and Tsar: Islam and Empire in Russia and Central Asia
Crews, Robert D.
Harvard University Press
2006. ISBN 0674021649. $29.95
Women of Karbala: Ritual Performance and Symbolic Discourses in Modern Shi'i Islam
Ed. by Kamran Scot Aghaie
University Of Texas Press
2005. ISBN 0292709366. $55.00
Rabbi's Wife: The Rebbetzin in American Jewish Life
Schwartz, Shuly Rubin
New York University Press
2006. ISBN 0814740162. $35.00
Rolling Away the Stone: Mary Baker Eddy's Challenge to Materialism
Gottschalk, Stephen
Indiana University Press
2006. ISBN 0253346738. $35.00
Religion in Ancient Etruria
Trans. by Jane Whitehead
Jannot, Jean-Rene
University of Wisconsin Press
2005. ISBN 0299208400. $70.00
Islamic Masculinities
Ed. by Lahoucine Ouzgane
Zed Books
2006. ISBN 1842772740. $75.00
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