ALANEWS (November 18, 1994) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/alanews/alanews-941118 Note: conversion from a BITNET transmission format not suitable for mail delivery was locally attempted. This type of conversion may sometimes require "choices" to be made by the conversion program, based on the (lack of) support for various file formats on the target operating system. The "choices" made by LISTSERV may not be the ones you expected, since it does not know anything about the system you are using. However, you would not have been able to use the file at all if it had not been converted. If you have trouble using the file as you received it, please contact the person who sent it and arrange for an alternate delivery method. *------------------------------ Cut here -------------------------------* PUT ALANEWS 11-17-94 NEWS RELEASES November 18, 1994 This batch contains: 1. Education/Library Coalition advocates Technology Now 2. ALA receives $50,000 grant from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 3. ALCTS to sponsor Technical Services Workstations regional institutes 4. FOLUSA plans Author Breakfast; Focus on Friends program during Midwinter 5. Lillian L. Lewis 1994-95 ALA Minority Fellow 6. McDonald's supports ALA National Reading Program for third year 7. New WCHLIS publication highlights Omnibus Children and Youth legislation 8. Programs, speakers announced for 1995 PLA workshops 9. SEVEN CITIES TO SHARE $8.3 MILLION IN LIBRARY POWER GRANTS 1. For Immediate Release From: Pamela Goodes November 1994 Linda Wallace 312-280-5043, 5042 Education/Library Coalition advocates Technology Now WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The American Library Association (ALA) and four national education groups have announced a proposal to help the federal government provide incentives to link the nation's classrooms and libraries to the National Information Infrastructure. ALA President Arthur Curley made the announcement November 17 joined by leaders of the Council of Chief School Officers, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the National Education Association and the National School Boards Association. "The first hook-up is always the hardest to get," Curley explained. "Once library users and library workers realize the incredible potential that internet connectivity brings, they will want to make sure these services continue. Libraries must maintain a proactive role in getting on and using the NII." The groups also announced that an open letter has been sent to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Reed Hundt and Vice President Albert Gore. Hundt and Gore were congratulated on their vision in this area and were offered "a giant first step" funding solution. The solution is explained in a proposal recently presented to the FCC advocating the use of regulatory policy to benefit the public without raising prices or taxes. The plan was submitted to the FCC in response to its request for comment on whether and how the price cap plan "should be revised to help development of a ubiquitous, national information infrastructure." Part of the proceeding is to review how best to set the rates charged by local telephone companies for long distance companies to have access to their networks. The formula requires an annual rate adjustment that includes a "Consumer Productivity Dividend (CPD)," which the coalition maintains has not been going to consumers. The filing says "residential and small business long distance rates, in fact, have been increasing over the past two years according to the FCC's own analysis. At best, the 'dividend' has disappeared down a regulatory black hole, leaving the vast majority of consumers without any noticeable benefit." The proposal suggests that the FCC redirect the CPD into a program to pay for investments made by local telephone companies in educational and library infrastructure in their territories. "The voice of education must be heard on this issue," said Keith Geiger, president of the National Education Association. "Actual funding proposals, or even credible plans, to connections and libraries to the NII do not exist. There is no plan in existence, or even under development, that would come remotely close to providing the billions of dollars that such an effort is likely to cost. "A generation of learners will be shortchanged if we depend on the status quo," Geiger explained. "Our plan would generate approximately $300 million a year, every year." The estimated cost of connecting the nation's 84,578 public schools ranges from more than $2 million for basic access to nearly $113 million for high speed, advanced connections. The American Library Association is the oldest and largest association in the world. Its 55,000 members represent all types of libraries--public, school, academic, state and special libraries serving persons in government, commerce, armed services, hospitals, prisons and other institutions. 2. For Immediate Release From: Pamela Goodes November 1994 Linda Wallace 312-280-5043, 5042 ALA receives $50,000 grant from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation The American Library Association (ALA) has received a $50,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to support the planning phase of a national health and health care information network centered in public libraries. "The general public must have access to information about health care now more than ever," said ALA President Arthur Curley. "Libraries serve as credible, impartial, inexpensive hubs for networked consumer health and health care information." ALA, in cooperation with the Public Library Association (PLA), plans to implement a consumer health and health care information network in print and electronic media with public libraries at the hub of local and national information sources. The project will emphasize community health information needs and the building of local partnerships between libraries, information agencies and care providers. ALA will review existing models, assemble national partners and draft plans for a national network of health and health care information centers in libraries. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, established as a national foundation in 1972, is the nation's largest health care philanthropy. The Foundation makes grants toward four goals: assuring access to basic health services; improving the way services are organized and provided to people with chronic health conditions; promoting health and preventing disease by reducing harm from substance abuse; and seeking opportunities to help the nation address the problem of escalating medical costs. The American Library Association is the oldest and largest library association in the world. Its 55,000 members represent all types of libraries--public, school, academic, state and special. ALA is the chief advocate for high quality library and information services for the people of the United States. 3. For Immediate Release From: Pamela Goodes November 1994 Linda Wallace 312-280-5043, 5042 ALCTS to sponsor Technical Services Workstations regional institutes The Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) will sponsor four regional institutes in 1995 on Technical Services Workstations (TSW). The institutes will be held in Atlanta on March 17, cosponsored by SOLINET; in Dallas on March 20, cosponsored by AMIGOS; in Pomona, Calif., on May 1 cosponsored by PACNET, and in Minneapolis, Minn., on September 29 cosponsored by MINITEX.. The institute is designed for catalogers, managers and administrators planning to develop TSWs. It will feature several presenters including: Matthew Beacom, cataloger, Rare Books Team at the Yale University Library, who will demonstrate the Yale program to provide interactive, online training in cataloging and in the use of computers; Diane Vizine-Goetz, senior research scientist for the Office of Research, OCLC, Dublin, Ohio, who will show OCLC's Electronic Dewey classification and preview a prototype online LC classification; Bruce Johnson, senior library information systems specialist in the Cataloging Distribution Service, Library of Congress, who will show the published version of the Cataloger's Desktop and an early version of the Cataloging Distribution Services's Online LC Classification; Michael Kaplan, head of the Database Management Team and coordinator for OCLC/RLIN Operations in the Harvard College Library, Harvard University, who will demonstrate how macro-based cataloging has revolutionized the Cataloging Services Department at Harvard and introduce the current DOS-based workstation and the evolving Windows-Based product; and Janet McCue, head off the Technical Services Division, Mann Library, Cornell University, who will discuss the past and future of TSWs. TSW is a technology which brings all the tools for cataloging together online. The Library of Congress has stressed development of this technology as a means of increasing cataloging output and creating more cataloging in less time with fewer dollars. Grassroots development work in TSWs is beginning to develop momentum and new infrastructure developments, such as McGill's telnet packages and the upcoming releases of OCLC and RLIN under Windows, make integrating various off-the-shelf software packages increasingly feasible. Registration for the regional TSW institutes is $125 for ALCTS, SOLINET, AMIGOS, PACNET or MINITEX members, $175 for American Library Association (ALA) members and $225 for nonmembers. Registrations will be accepted until two weeks before the institute or until the institute is filled. For registration information, contact Yvonne McLean at 800-545-2433, ext. 5032, or e-mail to yvonne.mclean@ala.org. ALCTS is a division of the American Library Association. 4. For Immediate Release From: Pamela Goodes November 1994 Linda Wallace 312-280-5043, 5042 FOLUSA plans Author Breakfast; Focus on Friends program during Midwinter The Friends of Libraries USA will host an Author Breakfast on Monday, February 6, 1995, from 7:30 to 9 a.m., at the historic Union League Club, 1405 Broad St., Philadelphia. The breakfast will be held during the American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting, February 3-9. The breakfast will feature Mary Pope Osborne, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, Patrice Gaines and Winston Groom. Osborne is the author of "Molly and the Prince", "Moonhorse" and the Spider Kane series. Lephmann-Haupt is a New York Times Literary Critic and the author of "A Crooked Man," a novel about the dark side of Washington politics. Gaines will discuss her autobiography "Laughing In The Dark, From Colored Girl to Woman of Color--A Journey from Prison to Power." Groom is the author of "Forrest Gump" and "Shrouds of Glory, From Atlanta to Nashville: The Last Great Campaign of the Civil War," a nonfiction account of the civil war. Breakfast tickets are $16 each and are available by sending a check or money order to: Friends of Libraries, USA, 1700 Walnut St., Suite 715, Philadelphia, PA 19103. FOLUSA will also host a program titled Focus on Friends on Saturday, February 4, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. (check program for location). Several FOLUSA Board members will facilitate the session designed to address specific problems within FOLUSA groups and to determine solutions. Presenters will be: Jane Winslow, executive director, Friends of the San Francisco Public Library; Jane Rutledge, Indiana State Friends, Indianapolis; Peter Pearson, St. Paul (Minn.) Friends; Charlene Shucker, executive director, Friends to the Atlanta Fulton Public Library, and Judy Wolfman, president, Friends of the Broward County (Fla.) Library. 5. Immediate Release From: Pamela Goodes November 1994 Linda Wallace 312-280-5043, 5042 Lillian L. Lewis 1994-95 ALA Minority Fellow Lillian L. Lewis, former head of Math and Sciences Reference Services, Robert W. Woodruff Library at Atlanta University Center, is the 1994-95 American Library Association (ALA) Minority Fellow. She began her duties on September 1. Lewis is working for Booklist Publications. She will also conduct an independent project on recruitment of science majors to pursue careers in information science along with other duties. She has worked in the Library Network Summer Mentoring for Information Professionals in Black Colleges/Universities program sponsored by AT&T Bell Laboratories in Holmdel, N.J., as information scientist for Eastman Chemicals Company in Kingport, Tenn., and as engineering librarian and science/engineering reference librarian at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. Lewis has a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Spelman College in Atlanta and a master's degree in librarianship from Emory University in Atlanta. The ALA Minority Fellowship Program is designed to provide an opportunity for minority librarians to gain an understanding of association management, ALA's structure and operations and how policy is formulated and implemented. The fellow spends 70 to 75 percent of the one-year fellowship working in an ALA division or program office at ALA headquarters in Chicago, 20 percent on an independent special project and 5 to 10 percent in overall ALA activities and association management workshops. The fellow is paid a $30,000 stipend plus, medical, dental, life and disability insurance as well as relocation assistance to Chicago. For more information, contact: ALA Office for Library Outreach Services (OLOS), 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. Telephone: 800-545-2433, ext. 4294. The ALA Minority Fellowship Advisory Board, chaired by Gloria J. Coles, director of the Flint (Mich.) Public Library, provides oversight for the program. Other members are: Maureen Sullivan, Maureen Sullivan and Associations, New Haven, Conn.; Yolanda J. Cuesta, chief, Library Development Services, California State Library, Sacramento; Virginia H. Matthews, Madison, Conn.; Mattye Nelson, director, ALA OLOS; Susan Roman, executive director, Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), and Margaret Myers, director, ALA Office for Library Personnel Resources (OLPR). 6. For Immediate Release From: Pamela Goodes November 1994 Linda Wallace 312-280-5043, 5042 McDonald's supports ALA National Reading Program for third year The American Library Association (ALA) and McDonald's restaurants will continue their partnership to promote family reading for a third year. McDonald's will again provide a free ALA National Reading Program education kit to each of the 16,000 public libraries in the United States. The program, "Solve Mysteries - READ," features the art work of Edward Gorey, known for his work for the PBS "Mystery" series. It encourages children and families to "unlock the mysteries of the world" through books and reading together. By December, public libraries nationwide will receive a kit, including a program guide, theme posters, bookmarks, certificates, reading logs and stickers. Additional program materials are available through the ALA Graphics catalog. "'Solve Mysteries -- READ' addresses literacy as the key to unlocking the mysteries of education as well as drawing children and their families into the intriguing world of reading," said Arthur Curley, ALA president, in announcing the program. "We welcome McDonald's support in reaching out to our communities and demonstrating the mysteries that can be solved in the nation's libraries." The National Reading Program was developed by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the ALA, in cooperation with ALA Graphics. "McDonald's is committed to supporting family reading activities nationwide," said Ed Rensi, president and CEO, McDonald's USA. "Our continuing partnership with the ALA compliments our other 'Book Some Time Together' projects such as the book-based 'McDonald's Family Theater' television specials and local McDonald's reading programs across the country. Through these and other ongoing reading initiatives, we're supporting children's literacy worldwide." McDonald's is the leading foodservice retailer in the global consumer marketplace with more than 14,000 restaurants in 74 countries. About 80 percent of McDonald's restaurant businesses are locally owned and operated by independent entrepreneurs. The American Library Association is the world's oldest and largest library association with 55,000 members. It represents all types of libraries -- public, school, academic, state and special. 7. For Immediate Release From: Pamela Goodes November 1994 Linda Wallace 312-280-5043, 5042 New WCHLIS publication highlights Omnibus Children and Youth legislation "Kids Need Libraries-Now More than Ever", a new publication of the Committee on the White House Conference on Library and Information Services (WCHLIS), highlights the top priority of the 1991 conference - the Omnibus Children and Youth Literacy Through Libraries Initiative. The publication is a product of the former ad hoc American Library Association (ALA) WHCLIS Committee which has now become a subcommittee of the ALA Committee on Legislation. "This brochure is a cornerstone for kids and libraries both public and school," said Carol Diehl, committee chair. "It demonstrates, through research, that libraries do make a difference in kids' lives and provides decision-makers with information to establish school and public libraries as a top priority at the local, state and national levels." The brochure was introduced during the 1994 annual meeting of the WHCLIS Task Force. It received a commendation from ALA President Arthur Curley and members. With the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education H.R. 6, Improving America's Schools Act, recently passed by Congress, a new program of assistance for school libraries is in place. The program - not yet funded - could authorize up to $200 million for school library media resources. It was proposed in direct response to the recommendation of the 1991 WHCLIS for improved library services for children and youth. The "Kids Need Libraries" brochure is expected to be an effective tool in the campaign to achieve funding for the new Elementary and Secondary Education Act school library program. Copies of the brochure are available free by calling the ALA Headquarters Library at 800-545-2433, press 6. For more information, contact: Charles Harmon, ALA Headquarters Library, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611, or Carol Diehl, Chair, School District of New London, 201 E. Washington St., New London, WI 54961. 8. For Immediate Release From: Pamela Goodes November 1994 Linda Wallace 312-280-5043, 5042 Programs, speakers announced for 1995 PLA workshops The Public Library Association's (PLA) fifth series of Chicago Cluster Workshops will be held March 23-25, 1995, at the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago. The cluster will feature five different workshops: "An Appetite for Romance: How to Understand, Buy, Display and Promote Romance Fiction" will focus on the romance genre and its fast growing sub- genres. It is designed to teach participants how to effectively promote and meet the demand for these popular titles. Presenters will be Mary K. Chelton, independent library consultant from New Brunswick, N.J., award-winning novelist Nora Roberts and a panel of other top-selling romance authors. "Kids, Libraries and Technology: Making the Connection" will discuss available technologies as they relate to youth services, ideas for utilizing and managing a new system, and techniques for training staff and patrons. It will feature a panel of experts including Leslie Edmonds Holt, director of youth services and family literacy at the St. Louis (Mo.) Public Library. "It Could Never Happen Here: Preventing Violence in Your Library" is designed to prepare librarians and other library workers for dealing with emergency situations in a practical, cost-effective manner. Stevan P. Layne, Layne Consultants, Intl., Dillon, Colo., will serve as program organizer and presenter. Layne is a Certified Protection Professional (CPP) and a leading authority on preventing violence in the work place. "Special Delivery: Shaping and Sharing Your Library's Message" will explore the most effective ways to market a library, to mount a public awareness campaign and to mobilize community support. Presenters will be Jim Fleck of the Fleck Leadership Center, Columbia City, Ind., and Susan Goldberg, director of the Minneapolis (Minn.) Public Library. They will share their expertise and explain the most effective techniques for garnering library advocacy. "Library Lighting and Wiring for the Future" will provide information on library lighting design and wiring for technology for new buildings, additions or renovations. Jeffrey A. Scherer, an architect and public library designer from Minneapolis, Minn., and Robert H. Rohlf of Professional Library Consultants, Minneapolis, will serve as presenters. Workshop discounts are available for PLA members, American Library Association (ALA) members, two or more participants from the same library or system and for those who register before January 13, 1995. PLA members automatically receive registration information. Others should call the PLA Office at 800-545-2433, ext. 5PLA. The final advance registration deadline is February 15, 1995. PLA is a division of the American Library Association. 9. For Immediate Release From: Pamela Goodes November 1994 Linda Wallace 312-280-5043, 5042 Seven cities to share $8.3 million in Library Power grants Seven U.S. cities are the recipients of $8.3 million from the DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund to revitalize public elementary and middle school libraries. The grants were made as part of the National Library Power Program coordinated by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL). The grants, up to $1.2 million each, will go to local education funds in Atlanta, Ga.; Berea, Ky.; Nashville, Tenn.; New Haven, Conn.; Philadelphia, Pa.; Raleigh, N.C., and McKeesport, Pa. The funds will be used to help improve school library media programs for more than 126,000 students in 225 schools. "Library use and student achievement go hand-in-hand," said George V. Grune, chairman of the DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund. "When students combine classroom activities with library research, they develop a greater appreciation for their subject matter and learn a great deal more than otherwise might be possible." The new grants bring the Fund's total investment in public school libraries since 1987 to more than $40 million and the number of participating cities to 20. A total of 463,000 students in 702 elementary and middle schools will benefit from Library Power. The local education funds that received the awards are responsible for administering the grants and raising matching or additional funds to support the program. National Library Power Program sites receive technical assistance from AASL, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), and the Public Education Fund Network. No future Library Power grants are planned from the Fund pending the completion of a four-and-one-half year evaluation of the national initiative. The DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund started the National Library Power Program in 1988 in New York City Public Schools. In the first three years of the program, more than 100 school library media centers were renovated and improved in the city's schools. By the end of 1993, the Fund has expanded Library Power to 13 communities throughout the country. In addition to New York, current sites are Providence, R.I.; Cambridge and Lynn, Mass.; Rochester, N.Y., Tucson, Ariz.; Paterson, N.J.; East Baton Rouge, La.' Chattanooga, Tenn.; Miami, Fla.; Lincoln, Neb.; Cleveland, Ohio, and Denver, Colo.