New Report #5

Mallory Phillips

November 24, 2009

LIB 103 News Report

Cheshire Library Retains True-Crime Book about Town Murders

By: Greg Landgraf: American Libraries

http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2009/november2009/chesirecrimebookstays111709.cfm?persistent=&expy_dt=

In 2007, three members of a family in Cheshire, Connecticut were murdered. The man accused of these murders is currently awaiting trial, but in the meantime he gave his perspective about what happened in a book titled, In the Middle of the Night: The Shocking True Story of a Family Killed in Cold Blood. The Cheshire Public Library Advisory Board voted 5-1 in favor of the decision to purchase two copies of this controversial book for the library. The one who opposed this vote did so because she was trying to protect a member of the community, and she believes that disputing a censorship issue would give too much credit to the book. A supporter of making the book available argued that not choosing this book because of its offensive material towards the victims’ family and friends would set a precedent that could be applied to almost every book. She also pointed out that by trying to keep the book out of the library has only made it more popular. If it would have been ignored it probably would have just vanished quickly to the remainder rack with other trashy books.

In a way I kind of disagree with their choice to put this book in their library. I feel as if they should have supported the victims and their families by trying to keep it out. Keep in mind that this killing took place in 2007, so only two short years later it was made available in the public library. I think if they would have given it a few more years before publication then people wouldn’t be as offended.

New Report #4

Mallory Phillips

November 12, 2009

News Report #4

It May Cost Too Much to Close Libraries in Reading, Pennsylvania

By: Beverly Goldberg, American Libraries

November 4, 2009

http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2009/november2009/readingfightsback110409.cfm?persistent=&expy_dt=

In late October, it was announced that Reading, Pennsylvania would have to shut down three of their four public libraries at the end of the year. This will lay off 9 of the 20 branch library workers, and leave the city with only one operating library. Officials say that the reason for this is that the library would be losing more than $650,000 in aid from its original operating budget. Reading residents have been showing their love for their neighborhood libraries. Some elementary school children even gave the mayor several containers full of dollar bills and change for the library. One child told the mayor that, “We need libraries because it’s important for us to read. It’s good for your mind.” Concerned citizens have been brainstorming ways to help out with this issue. They have thought of incorporating part-time library staff and volunteers to help keep the other three branches open. Trustees and library advocates rallied outside of the main library, giving out information about the budget crisis, and getting people to sign a petition to work on a funding solution.

I think it’s neat to see how much libraries mean to people. The citizens of this town are really involved in this issue and desperately want something to stop the shut down of these three branches of the library. It’s sad to see that everything revolves around money. They are taking away something that people love and rely on just because there is not enough funding for it. I thought it was cute that the elementary school kids got involved and gave the mayor some money to show just how important libraries are to them. Hopefully something can be done about this situation before 80,000+ citizens only have one library to go to.

Reading #5

Mallory Phillips

November 3, 2009

LIB 103

Reading #5

Information Navigation 101

By: Andrea L. Foster

Many people these days rely heavily on technology. College officials believe that students are unaware of how to do scholarly research because they easier, more simple search engines such as Google. This causes problems because students are not using reliable material for their academic research. Colleges are trying to encourage students to use more scholarly material by offering instruction on how to be more information literate. The vice president of Educause states that we all go to the Internet because it is more convenient, but it is important that we all develop research skills in order to effectively use it. Faculty members are frustrated with student’s overreliance on Google and other search engines because they feel that student’s do not know the difference between peer-reviewed scholarly sources and random Internet pages with false information. Since colleges are requiring graduates to be information literate, they are now giving tests to ensure this.

I do not necessarily believe that just because students use Google as opposed to libraries means that they are not information literate. Google has a lot of unreliable information, but it also includes scholarly stuff. The only reason why students use Google is because it is something that has been around for the majority of their lives and that is what is familiar to them. We did not start using libraries scholarly sources until we got to college. So, I think that we use Google more just because it is easier. I am glad that schools are incorporating these classes to help people become more information literate, and I think that once students complete classes like these then they will begin to rely of Google less and less.