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<H1><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A name=Top></A>Letter To
Libraries Online</FONT></H1>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">An Electronic Newsletter from
the Oregon State Library.......Volume 18, Issue 12, December
2008</FONT></P></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
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<DIV align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><B><A
name=Board></A>Library Board News</B></FONT></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P align=center>GOVERNOR SUPPORTS STATE LIBRARY BOARD RECOMMENDATIONS</P>
<P>In his 2009-11 budget proposal released on December 1st, Governor Kulongoski
is supporting several of the recommendations of the State Library Board made in
their recommendations to the Governor last August. The Governor’s recommended
budget includes a $15.7 million budget for the Library, up 6.3% from the 2007-09
budget. The Governor’s budget proposal supports continued funding for the Ready
to Read Grant program at $1 per child per year with a $1,000 minimum grant. The
proposal also recommends shifting funding for 1.5 Library Development Services
staff positions from Federal funds to state funds to meet new Federal policy
requirements. In addition, the Governor’s proposal recommends a new student
worker position be added to Talking Book and Braille Services and additional
funds for databases for Government Research Services. The Board’s proposals to
increase Ready to Read Grant funding to $2 per child, and to enhance the search
capabilities on the Oregon.gov website were not included in the Governor’s
proposal. “The Board is very grateful for the Governor’s support for our
programs, despite the serious state revenue problems he is dealing with,”
commented Yvonne Williams, Chair of the State Library Board.<BR></P>
<P align=center>STATE LIBRARY BOARD HOLDS WORK SESSIONS IN HILLSBORO</P>
<P>The State Library Board will meet at the Hillsboro Public Library on December
5th. After a tour of the year-old main library, the Board will hold three work
sessions in addition to dealing with Board business. The first work session will
give the Board an opportunity to discuss how the Library plans to deal with the
problem of Oregonians who do not have public library services or who have
substandard library services. Two other work sessions will focus on funding for
the L-net e-reference service, and whether the Board should consider evaluating
their practices in 2009. After the work sessions the Board will consider a new
long range plan for Talking Book and Braille Services and hear three appeals of
staff decisions to deny Ready to Read Grants in 2008-09. The Board will also
revisit their prioritization of State Library programs, at the request of the
Legislative Fiscal Office, and will elect new members to Board Advisory
Councils. An Open Forum is planned for 10:30 a.m. Anyone may address the Board
on any topic at the Open Forum. The Hillsboro Public Library is located at 2850
NE Brookwood Parkway in Hillsboro.<BR></P>
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<DIV align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><B><A
name=OSLNews></A>State Library News</B></FONT></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P align=center>DIGITAL TALKING BOOKS ARRIVE IN 2009</P>
<P>In 2009, Talking Book and Braille Services will begin making the switch from
4-track cassette books to digital flash-drive media. In the coming months, our
patrons will receive a letter inviting them to add their names to a request list
for the digital machines. After the first shipments of digital machines and
books are checked in to TBABS we will begin sending the first machines out to
patrons. The current news from the National Library Service is that TBABS will
begin receiving digital players in May 2009. We are obligated to send machines
to our registered U.S. Veterans first which should take about two to three
months. This means that the first players for our general population could be
going out by September or October 2009. </P>
<P align=center>READY TO READ GRANTS COMING THIS MONTH</P>
<P>The Ready to Read Grants will be mailed to public library directors by the
end of December. Included in this mailing will be a list of the libraries
receiving grants this year and descriptions of the projects they plan to
implement with their Ready to Read Grant in 2009. </P>
<P>2007-2008 was the first Ready to Read Grant cycle that benefited from the
increased grant amounts and minimum grants of $1,000. The State Library is
pleased to report that 15% of libraries receiving Ready to Read Grants in
2007-2008 added one or more best practices to their library services for
children. We encourage libraries to add best practices which not only benefit
children and teens’ literacy development, but also show the legislature the
impact of the increase in Ready to Read funding.<BR></P>
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<DIV align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A
name=PS></A><B>P.S. (From the State
Librarian)</B></FONT></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P>When I click the handy “My Reading History” button on the webpage at my
public library, up comes a list of everything I have checked out so far this
year. I have personally contributed to the circulation statistics of the Salem
Public Library by checking out 82 books and CDs, with one month still to go in
2008. If I don’t check out another thing the rest of the year, I will still have
checked out over five times the number of items the average Oregonian did last
year (15). Don’t let anyone tell you that the State Librarian is not walking the
talk. </P>
<P>Here are some of the best books I’ve read this year that I am happy to
recommend to you:</P>
<P><I>Human Smoke; the Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization</I>
by Nicholson Baker (Simon & Schuster, 2008).<BR>An odd, but haunting book
made up entirely of selected newspaper accounts that Baker uses to argue that,
contrary to common belief, WWII was not our <A
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_war">just war</A>.</P>
<P><I>1001 Books to Read Before You Die</I> by Peter Boxall (ed.) (Universe
Publishing, 2006).<BR>What librarian can resist a title like that! The list was
chosen by Britons so it has the biases that one would expect, but it’s still
great fun to see what you might have already read, and still need to read.</P>
<P><I>The Invention of Curried Sausage </I>by Uwe Timm (New Directions, 1995).
<BR>One less book to read before I die. I now see how it made the list.</P>
<P><I>The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great
American Dust Bowl</I> by Timothy Egan (Houghton Mifflin, 2006). <BR>If you
haven’t read this National Book Award winner yet, it will help you put our
current economic difficulties into perspective.</P>
<P><I>Kafka Comes to America: Fighting for Justice in the War on Terror</I> by
Stephen T. Wax (Other Press, 2008).<BR>The head of the Oregon Federal Public
Defender’s office tells the inside story of the Brandon Mayfield case and the
tragic plight of innocent men we have imprisoned at Guantanamo.</P>
<P><I>Books: a Memoir</I> by Larry McMurtry (Simon & Schuster,
2008).<BR>Most librarians will enjoy reading about McMurtry’s lifetime love
affair with rare books.</P>
<P><I>Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: 28,000 Miles in Search of the Railway
Bazaar</I> by Paul Theroux (Houghton Mifflin, 2008).<BR>Our greatest
contemporary American travel writer repeats the trip he took three decades
ago.</P>
<P><I>Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution – and How it Can
Renew America<BR></I>by Thomas L. Friedman (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008).
The first half of this book will scare the bejesus out of you, and the second
half may give you some grounds for hope.</P>
<P><I>Wild Beauty: Photographers of the Columbia River Gorge, 1867 – 1957</I> by
Terry Toedtemeir and John Laursen (OSU Press, 2008).<BR>Three cheers for the
Oregon State University Press! The quality of the this book (photos and text
both) is stunning. Makes the perfect sesquicentennial gift.</P>
<P>Best holiday wishes from all of the staff at the State Library. – Jim
Scheppke</P>
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<DIV align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><B><A
name=Contacts></A>Contacts at the Oregon State
Library</B></FONT></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Technical Assistance:
503-932-1004.<BR><BR>Library Development: 503-378-2525, <A
href="mailto:marykay.dahlgreen@state.or.us">MaryKay Dahlgreen</A>, <A
href="mailto:mary.l.mayberry@state.or.us">Mary Mayberry</A>, <A
href="mailto:darci.hanning@state.or.us">Darci Hanning</A>, <A
href="mailto:ann.reed@state.or.us">Ann Reed</A>, <A
href="mailto:jennifer.mauer@state.or.us">Jennifer Maurer</A>, <A
href="mailto:katie.anderson@state.or.us">Katie Anderson</A>.<BR><BR>Talking Book
and Braille Services: 503-378-5389, <A
href="mailto:susan.b.westin@state.or.us">Susan Westin</A>.<BR><BR>Government
Research and Electronic Services: 503-378-5030, <A
href="mailto:robert.hulshof-schmidt@state.or.us">Robert
Hulshof-Schmidt</A>.<BR><BR>State Librarian: 503-378-4367, <A
href="mailto:jim.b.scheppke@state.or.us">Jim Scheppke</A>.<BR><BR>LTLO Editor:
503-378-2464, <A href="mailto:robin.d.speer@state.or.us">April Baker </A><A
href="mailto:april.m.baker@state.or.us"></A>.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><I>Letter to Libraries Online</I>
is published monthly by the Oregon State Library. Editorial office: LTLO, Oregon
State Library, 250 Winter St. NE, Salem, Oregon 97301-3950, 503-378-2464,
editor: <A href="mailto:robin.d.speer@state.or.us">April Baker.</A></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><I>Letter to Libraries Online</I>
is available free of charge and is available only in electronic form on the
publications page at the Oregon State Library's homepage: <A
href="http://www.oregon.gov/OSL">http://www.oregon.gov/OSL</A>. Opinions
expressed in the articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of
the Oregon State Library. News items or articles should be sent to <A
href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Robin/My%20Documents/Intranet/Library/robin.d.speer@state.or.us">April
Baker</A>, or mailed to LTLO, Oregon State Library, 250 Winter St. NE, Salem,
Oregon 97301-3950.</FONT></P>
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