By Marianne Ryan

The more things change, the more they remain the same—or do they? While history was brought to bear in numerous respects during the past year, some significant changes occurred on the government information landscape. That said, this year’s list of notable titles reflects an enduring interest in aspects of the past mirrored in current reality.

The federal budget deficit and elusive budget agreement between Republicans and Democrats meant that adequate funding for education and libraries remained elusive as well, with significant cutbacks occurring for yet another year and taking its toll on information services. On the federal level, the government began to scrutinize the proliferation of .gov websites, striving to eliminate overlap. On the state level, the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) took a hit. And, finally, a cut to the Census Bureau’s Statistical Compendia Branch eliminated the Statistical Abstract of the United States—though that had a happy ending (see below). Nonetheless, the Notable Documents Panel had plenty to choose from in selecting this year’s gov docs.

GPO leadership

In January 2011, William J. Boarman became the 26th Public Printer of the United States. His recess appointment to lead the Government Printing Office (GPO) lasted only until the end of the calendar year but was marked by a number of accomplishments, including assessing Congress’s needs for—then reducing accordingly—print distribution of titles such as the Federal Register, resulting in considerable cost savings. On Boarman’s watch, GPO continued to increase the number of born-digital items it distributed, partnered with Google and other vendors to provide ebooks, and continued the transition to the Federal Digital System—FDsys—with GPO Access becoming archive-only. GPO’s tribute to its history, Keeping America Informed: The U.S. Government Printing Office; 150 Years of Service to the Nation, was published and is one of the year’s notable titles. Upon his departure, Boarman named his deputy and chief of staff, Davita Vance-Cooks, as acting public printer, making her the first woman to assume that post in GPO’s history.

The FDLP

Ongoing fiscal challenges and other struggles that libraries face continued to impact their participation in the Federal Depository Library Program. For only the second time in history, two depository libraries—the State Library of Michigan and the University of Nevada, Reno—dropped regional status within a single calendar year, opting to serve as selective depositories instead. That left both those states without a regional to serve them. In addition, 18 selective depository libraries left FDLP in 2011, and so far five more have dropped out in 2012. But one library—Towson University, MD—rejoined, bringing the total number of depository libraries to 1,201 as of this writing. In an effort to consider more effectively possibilities for FDLP’s role in the digital environment, GPO contracted with Ithaka S + R to explore sustainable ­solutions.

Expanding its use of social media, GPO launched a Facebook page in 2011 and established a presence in Foursquare and Yelp. In November, the agency released the Member Guide as its first app for web and mobile devices. It then collaborated with the Library of Congress to develop an app for the Congressional Record and most recently another for the FY13 federal budget. Information is now available on a variety of platforms via more than 100 apps created by agencies governmentwide.

Government in the cloud

While more than one Wikileaks brouhaha raged in the background, the federal government embarked on an overhaul of its entire IT strategy and its web presence. In a February 2011 directive, the Obama administration mandated that agencies think “cloud first.” Per the White House’s Federal Cloud Computing Strategy, the time had come to improve efficiencies and security, eliminate redundancies, and transform IT from an asset to a service. Among the inefficiencies identified was the government’s web presence, which had grown unmanageably large and unwieldy. In June 2011, the President ordered a freeze on new government websites and an analysis of existing ones by the agencies that maintain them. A .gov Reform Task Force was charged to make recommendations to improve or eliminate websites that are redundant, out-of-date, or counterintuitive.

Requiem for Statistical Abstract

Government websites aren’t all that landed on the chopping block in 2011. Early in the year, librarians around the country were dismayed to learn that the Census Bureau budget for FY12 made no provision for the Statistical Compendia Branch, which produced the venerable and beloved Statistical Abstract of the United States, and, thus, the 2012 edition would be the last produced by the Census Bureau. Then, in late March, content provider ProQuest announced its intent to pick up where the government left off and publish Statistical Abstract in both print (to be copublished with Bernan Press) and online beginning with the 2013 edition. The upshot is there should be no interruption between the final taxpayer-funded version and the inaugural privatized one. Statistical Abstract received a number of nominations as a 2011 Notable Document and was given a lifetime achievement award by the Dartmouth Medal committee in 2011.

The 2011 list

Nominated documents reflect an interest in political issues, historical happenings, and personal enrichment. This year’s list includes titles on wars past and present, international relations, diversity and gender equality, infrastructure, and the environment—as well as health, education, and welfare writ large. The vast majority are available online, many with print counterparts. Contact information for publishers and distributors appears at the end of the list. The Notable Documents Panel thanks all who participated in the nominating process.

FEDERAL DOCUMENTS

Beneath the Surface: Thirty Years of Historical Geography in Skagway, Alaska. by Becky M. Saleeby. U.S. Dept. of Interior, Alaska Regional Office. 2011. 228p. illus. maps. SuDoc# I 29.2:SU 7/3.
In a single volume, the National Park Service has summarized 30 years of archaeological fieldwork in Skagway, AK, and in the surrounding villages and ghost towns that served as supply stations and recreation spots for the estimated 100,000 individuals who sought their fortune along the Yukon River in the 1890s. Illustrated with historic photographs of street scenes and images of many of the artifacts retrieved from privies and trash pits, this absorbing document illustrates domestic and professional life on the Alaska frontier.

Bumble Bees of the Eastern United States. by Sheila Colla & others. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Pollinator Partnership. 2011. 103p. illus. map. SuDoc# A 13.2:B 39/8. purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo13132
Designed for use as a field guide, this volume fills the needs of melittologists (those who study bees) of all ages for a quick and easy way of identifying the 21 species of bumble bee (genus bombus) most commonly encountered between the Atlantic coast and the Mississippi River. With close-up color photographs, body part diagrams, maps, and charts; beautifully browsable.

Cathlapotle and Its Inhabitants, 1792–1860: A Report Prepared for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 1. by Robert Boyd. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Svc. 2011. 209p. illus. maps. SuDoc# I 49.111:15.
Cathlapotle village, located on the Columbia River in Clark County, WA, was the most important village of the Yakama Indian Nation. This report tells the story of that people from the time of their first contact with Europeans until their ultimate removal to the Yakama Reservation. Told through the eyes of whites, this chronicle of the Yakama contains long excerpts from the journals of Lewis and Clark and the Wilkes Expedition and observations of early fur trappers and traders from Astoria and the Hudson’s Bay Company. With drawings, engravings, and watercolors by 19th-century explorers to the reports of the 1855 Walla Walla Treaty Council.

The Center of the World, the Edge of the World: A History of Lava Beds National Monument. by Frederick L. Brown. National Park Svc., Pacific West Regional Office. 2011. 348p. illus. maps. SuDoc# I 29.58/3:L 38.
This NPS tract portrays the human history of north-central California’s Lava Beds National Monument region from its beginning as the ancestral homeland of the Modoc. Artifacts, hieroglyphs, and rock paintings illuminate the lifestyle of these people before the arrival of the Hudson’s Bay Company. Drawings by Edward Kern and Charles Preuss illustrate Capt. John C. Fremont’s expedition into the area in 1846. The lava beds were designated a national monument by presidential proclamation in 1925.

Confronting the Nation’s Fiscal Policy Challenges: Statement of Douglas W. Elmendorf, Director, Before the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, U.S. Congress. U.S. Congressional Budget Office. 2011. Online. SuDoc# Y 10.2:P 75/9. purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo12665.
The so-called Super Committee created by the Budget Control Act of 2011 was charged with formulating a bipartisan recommendation for dealing with budget challenges created by an aging population, the rising cost of health care, and declining revenues. On November 21, 2011, the committee acknowledged that it had failed to reach consensus regarding legislation; however, it did release this document, which outlines its research findings and its budget predictions. Written for nonspecialists, it presents a dire outlook if voters are unable to overcome their partisanship.

Freedom by the Sword: The U.S. Colored Troops, 1862–1867. by William A. Dobak. U.S. Army Center of Military History. 2011. 553p. illus. maps. SuDoc# D 114.19:SW 7. GPO Stock# 008-029-00542-5. $38. purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo10905.
In what may be the definitive “operational history” of black troops in action during the Civil War, Dobak describes the differences in how freedmen and runaway slaves were recruited, how they lived, and how they were trained. Most important, it considers how gallantly these men performed in combat at a time when many of their own leaders questioned whether they would be willing to fight for their own freedom and for that of their families. Much of the documentation comes from the “War of the Rebellion” ­series.

Keeping America Informed: The U.S. Government Printing Office; 150 years of Service to the Nation. U.S. GPO. 2011. 149p. illus. SuDoc# GP 1.2:IN 3/2. GPO Stock# 021-000-00212-7. $21. purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo8534.
Liberally illustrated with historical photographs and facsimiles of famous government documents, this volume will appeal to a wider audience than depository librarians. Historians and history buffs who have an interest in government and how it interacts with both the private sector and public employee unions will find a compelling story that focuses on the federal government’s obligation to keep citizens informed about its activities.

Legacy of Excellence: The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, 1862–2011. by Paul Stone. U.S. Army Medical Center & School, Borden Inst. 2011. 251p. illus. SuDoc# D 101.2:AR 5/104. GPO Stock# 008-000-01043-9. $65.
In 1862, shortly after the Battle of Antietam, army surgeon general Brigadier Gen. William Hammond ordered the establishment of the Army Medical Museum. Surgeons working on Civil War battlefields were encouraged to preserve anatomical specimens, such as severed limbs and diseased organs, and send them to the museum for further research. From the start, the museum made its displays of specimens and instruments, as well as its medical library, available to the general public. Under the leadership of later curators, such as John Billings and Walter Reed, the museum evolved into the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. Readers interested in the history of science, especially medical science or in the devastating effects of Civil War weaponry on the human body, will be fascinated by the hundreds of graphic photographs.

Macondo: The Gulf Oil Disaster: Chief Counsel’s Report. U.S. National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill & Offshore Drilling. 2011. 357p. illus. SuDoc# PR 44.8:D 36/M 23. GPO Stock# 040-000-00787-3. $35. purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo4390.
The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill was created by President Obama and charged with investigating the root causes of the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. The committee concluded that the cause of the blowout was not mechanical. Instead, a number of poor management decisions, combined with an inadequate regulatory structure and an indifferent regulatory agency, overwhelmed the safeguards designed to prevent such disasters. Plenty of illustrations and photographs offer a glimpse into the technology of offshore oil rigs.

Mexico’s “Narco-Refugees”: The Looming Challenge for U.S. National Security. Strategic Studies Inst., U.S. Army War Coll. 2011. 40p. SuDoc# D 101.146:N 16. purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo13768.
This report focuses on the growing challenge to American immigration and national security policy posed by Mexicans who involuntarily cross the border in order to escape the violence of the brutal drug cartels that operate in their country. Current immigration policy allows refugees to seek political asylum in the United States when they are targeted victims of religious and political persecution. Alternatively, those who have been directly threatened by drug lords have been returned to Mexico as the U.S. authorities to whom they must appeal are suspicious of undocumented border crossings that don’t fall under the umbrella of current policy.

Navy Medicine at War: The Complete Series. Navy Medicine Support Command, Visual Information Directorate. 2010. 6 discs. color & b/w. 201 min. SuDoc# D 206.24:W 19/DVD.
This six-DVD set documents the history of navy medical activities during World War II from Pearl Harbor to the bombing of Japan. It contains plenty of archival footage combined with reenactments. In addition, it relies on interviews with surviving veteran sailors, as well as doctors and nurses who share their eyewitness accounts of life aboard the ships in the South Pacific more than 60 years ago.

The Senate’s Civil War. U.S. Senate. 2011. 33p. illus. SuDoc# Y 1.3:S. Pub. 112-7. www.senate.gov/reference/Index/Civil_War_Senate.htm.
A collection of photographs, maps, political cartoons, and other materials that emphasize the crucial role played by the U.S. Senate during the Civil War and Reconstruction. The online supplement includes full-text versions of the documents that are only summarized or cited in the book, such as the Final Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, various speeches extracted from the Congressional Globe, and letters and memoirs by Senate members who saw the Capitol building transformed into barracks and that document the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson.

Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2012. 131st ed. U.S. Census Bureau. 2011. 1004p. illus. SuDoc # C 3.134:2012. GPO Stock # 003-024-09088-1. $44. purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS2878.
In addition to being the quintessential statistical resource of all time, Statistical Abstract is a Notable Document for 2011 simply because this edition will be the last produced by the Census Bureau and distributed through FDLP. Future editions will be published commercially, so librarians will still have options for maintaining the continuity of their print collections. A classic reference tool.

Then Came the Fire: Personal Accounts from the Pentagon, 11 September, 2001. U.S. Army, Center of Military History. 2011. 328p. illus. SuDoc# D 114.2:P 38. GPO Stock# 008-029-00545-0. purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo13501.
In 2011, there were many publications designed to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001. In addition to the 59 people aboard the flight that struck the Pentagon, 125 people in the Pentagon were killed. The editors of this memorial volume have collected the stories of eyewitnesses, including the military and civilian personnel who escaped the burning building and first responders and reporters at the scene. It also includes hundreds of photographs.

U.S. Army Order of Battle, 1919–1941. by Steven E. Clay. Combat Studies Inst. 2010. illus. maps. SuDoc# D 110.2:B 32/2/v.1-4. purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo4474.
This massive encyclopedia outlines the command structure of the U.S. Army. It contains an entry for each individual unit and provides information such as name of commanding officers, assigned headquarters, and brief history and focuses on where and when the unit experienced combat. The volumes covering World War I were published in 1939; for World War II, 1984. This latest series addition covers army units between the two World Wars and required 20 years of painstaking research.

Weather Spotters Field Guide: A Guide to Being a SKYWARN Spotter. U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Weather Svc. 2011. 68p. illus. SuDoc# C 55.108:SP 6/4. purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo11809.
Since the 1960s, SKYWARN, a program of the National Weather Service, has trained thousands of volunteer, on-the-ground weather spotters to recognize the initial signs of potentially hazardous weather. These volunteers are a vital link in NWS’s alert and warning process. The Field Guide is their working reference manual and contains many “first signs” photos, policy and procedures for reporting dangerous weather, and safety tips for weather spotting.

STATE & LOCAL DOCUMENTS

North Dakota

Crossing the Water: An Oral History of the Four Bears Bridge. by Calvin Grinnell & others. North Dakota Dept. of Transportation. 2010. OCLC# 694787162. 4 discs. color & b/w. 160 min. Free (limited quantities upon request).
“The three bridges known as ‘Four Bears’ and the Garrison Dam had a profound effect on the people living along the Missouri River and on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation,” per the program packaging. Using historic photos and footage and the words of those there at the time, this DVD set lets “the bridges reemerge, taking their place in a landscape of memories and taking their physical shape in a graceful new span across the Missouri River.”

North Dakota Trail Guide. North Dakota Parks & Recreation. 2010. OCLC# 670095591. 43p. illus. maps. Free. www.parkrec.nd.gov/activities/attachments/state_trail_guide.pdf.
North Dakota offers outdoor enthusiasts a wide choice of trails for exploring the state’s diverse terrain, beautiful scenery, and historic landmarks. Whether seasoned or novice hikers, longtime residents, or new visitors to the state, users of this guide will find the basics of what’s needed to explore North Dakota’s varied outdoor offerings, including location, amenities, and contact info for 18 trails located in state parks, state forests, recreation areas, and nature areas.

Sundogs and Sunflowers: Folklore and Folk Art of the Northern Great Plains. by Timothy J. Kloberdanz & Troyd A. Geist. North Dakota Council on the Arts. 2010. 339p. illus. ISBN 9780911205213. OCLC# 656158780. pap. $34.95.
With more than 1000 folklore texts representing the peoples and cultures of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wyoming, Montana, and Canadian provinces, from 2010 to decades past, this volume covers ghost stories, weather, folk beliefs, medicine, language, and lore. Over 300 photographs depict the rich colors of art, traditions, and life on the Great Plains.

Ohio

Ohio Statehouse: A Building for the Ages. by Cheryl J. Straker & Chris Matheney. Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board, dist. by Donning Co. 2011. 80p. illus. ISBN 9781578646821. OCLC# 790407726. pap. $13.95.
In the year of its sesquicentennial, the Ohio Statehouse, Senate Building, Atrium, and grounds and many of the political leaders who have made a lasting impression on Ohio politics are celebrated in this book, which aims to offer readers a glimpse of the history, architecture, and symbolism of Ohio democracy.

Stream Fishes of Ohio—Field Guide. by Brian Zimmerman. Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife. 2011. 78p. illus. maps. OCLC# 740435870. Free. www.dnr.state.oh.us/Portals/9/pdf/pub5127.pdf.
Fish are far harder to observe than most other wildlife. But for the adventuresome naturalist who doesn’t mind getting a little wet, this resource provides for easy identification of 76 of Ohio’s most common stream fish species. The colorful guide includes photographs and descriptions of each of the featured species along with maps of some of the principal rivers and streams that crisscross the state. The title also provides general information on stream ecology and conservation, Ohio fishing license requirements, references, and a glossary. For aspiring ichthyologists.

Oklahoma

Fast Forward: Regional Transit System Plan (RTSP). Indian Nations Council of Governments. 2011. 144p. illus. maps. ISBN 9781885596888. OCLC# 747978209. Free. www.fastforwardplan.org.
Facing new and evolving challenges, agencies and institutions in Tulsa have taken the opportunity to engage the public, study alternative transportation solutions, and create community visions to help guide regional success. This resource compiles the findings of extensive transportation studies of existing services, historic transportation models, community input, and city infrastructure into a plan that will guide the future of regional transportation in the Tulsa area.

ODOT 100: Celebrating the First 100 Years of Transportation in Oklahoma. by Bob Burke. Oklahoma Dept. of Transportation, dist. by Oklahoma Heritage Assn. 275p. illus. maps. ISBN 9781885596888. OCLC# 787978209. pap. $25.
Well before statehood, Oklahomans began building roadways and advocating actively for better road conditions. On March 16, 1911, the Oklahoma Legislature passed House Bill 318 creating the Oklahoma State Highway Department. Since then, Oklahoma’s developing transportation system has seen vibrant growth, from Route 66 to the aeronautics industry. Through historic photos, maps, and text, this volume provides a look at the colorful and vibrant history of Oklahoma’s highways, waterways, railroads, turnpikes, and aeronautics.

Texas

Aquifers of Texas. by Peter Gillham George & others. Texas Water Development Board. 2011. 172p. illus. maps. OCLC# 787271257. Free. www.twdb.state.tx.us/publications/reports/numbered_reports/doc/R380_AquifersofTexas.pdf.
This study provides an overview of nine major and 21 minor Texas aquifers. Summaries describe the geology, hydrology, and water use of the aquifers, while the report discusses water issues and reviews groundwater basics and management. Although this report is technical in nature, it serves as a layperson’s guide to Texas groundwater resources.

Virginia

A Community-Based Food System: Building Health, Wealth, Connection, and Capacity as the Foundation of Our Economic Future. by Eric S. Bendfeldt & others. Virginia Cooperative Extension Svc. www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/3306/3306-9029/3306-9029-PDF.pdf. 2011. 40p. illus. maps. Free.
Interest in local foods is increasing throughout the United States. Leaders in the Martinsville, VA, region realized this growing awareness could help foster a community-based food system, thus contributing to the economic, social, and environmental stability of local farms and neighborhoods. This report defines a local food system, assesses the Martinsville region’s setup, and highlights many potential health, economic, and synergistic outcomes that result from building a vibrant community-based food system.

Federal Health Care Reform: Do Recent Changes in Federal Health Care Reform Have You Puzzled? State Corporation Commission, Commonwealth of Virginia. 2011. www.scc.virginia.gov/boi/pubs/hcrpuzzle.pdf. 27p. illus. Free.
Many questions and much misinformation arose after the passage of the Affordable Care Act. The Bureau of Insurance in Virginia took action to offer its residents clear information about new health-care and insurance requirements. This guide provides Virginians with straightforward answers to common questions about the act and sister legislation passed in the state; it also outlines the rights and responsibilities of the insured.

Virginia Memory Project. Library of Virginia. 2011. www.virginiamemory.com. Free.
The Library of Virginia maintains vast and varied collections of print materials, manuscripts, archival records, newspapers, photographs and ephemera, maps and atlases, rare books, and fine art. Virginia Memory offers a wide array of complementary digital collections, representing the history of Virginia’s government, life, and local color. This website also serves as an online classroom with lesson plans, featured collections, and guides for educators to incorporate digital materials into their traditional classroom settings. A worthwhile resource for genealogists and historians, too.

INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTS

Against the Odds: Disadvantaged Students Who Succeed in School. Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development, dist. by Bernan & Renouf. 2011. 198p. illus. map. bibliog. ISBN 9789264089952. pap. $54. www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/against-the-odds_9789264090873-en.
Why do some socioeconomically underprivileged students succeed in the classroom while so many others fail? This report uses data collected through the Programme for International Student Assessment—a study that evaluates education systems worldwide by testing 15-year-olds—to answer this question. The narrative is accessible to a wide audience.

Atlas of Global Development. 3d ed. World Bank & HarperCollins, dist. by Bernan & Renouf. 2011. 144p. illus. maps. ISBN 9780821385838. pap. $29.95. eAtlas of Global Development: data.worldbank.org/atlas-global.
Through the use of thematic maps, charts, tables, and clear prose, this book portrays progress in the struggle against a wide range of global problems. The publication was accompanied by the release of the eAtlas of Global Development, a free online resource that allows users to create customized maps, import and export data, and graph more than 175 statistical series over longer periods than covered by the print atlas. Everyone from high school students to professors will find these resources fascinating.

Combating Discrimination on Grounds of Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity: Council of Europe Standards. Council of Europe, dist. by Bernan & Renouf. 2011. 111p. ISBN 9789287169891. pap. $38.
The Council of Europe—a major human rights organization—has developed 18 standards, resolutions, and recommendations concerning the rights of lesbian, gay, bi­sexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons. This compilation serves mainly as a reference for European governments and NGOs but also provides model language for legislation, regulations, and policy statements worldwide. A reader with no legal training can immediately grasp this material. Suitable for both law libraries and LGBT studies collections.

Discrimination on Grounds of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Europe. Council of Europe, dist. by Bernan & Renouf. 2011. 132p. maps. ISBN 9789287169136. pap. $18. archive.equal-jus.eu/884.
This “largest study ever made on homophobia, transphobia and discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity in the 47 member states of the Council of Europe” based its findings on transcripts of interviews with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons; government statistics; and other data collected from 2004 to 2010. Subtopics include perceptions of LGBT persons; crimes committed against them; their access to health care, education, and employment; and relevant legislation. Thematic maps enable the reader to visualize key data. This publication brings intolerance to light but also shows how far the movement for LGBT rights in Europe has come.

European Drug Prevention Quality Standards: A Manual for Prevention Professionals. European Monitoring Centre for Drugs & Drug Addiction, dist. by the EU Bookshop. 2011. 284p. illus. ISBN 9789291684878. pap. Free. www.emcdda.europa.eu/attachements.cfm/att_145539_EN_TD3111250ENC.pdf.
This manual—the work of dozens of experts in the field—provides the first European framework on effective drug abuse prevention. It outlines planning, implementation, and evaluation of prevention and aids the understanding of how people, interventions, organizations, and strategies contribute to positive outcomes. Though substance abuse-prevention professionals are the intended audience, anyone studying this phenomenon will want to consult this well-­documented source. With an attractive layout, clear prose, and a superb glossary.

FAO in the 21st Century: Ensuring Food Security in a Changing World. Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, dist. by Bernan & Renouf. 2011. 239p. illus. bibliog. ISBN 9789251069134. pap. $62. www.fao.org/docrep/015/i2307e/i2307e.pdf.
More than one billion people worldwide suffer from malnutrition, and the challenge of providing access to food is becoming more daunting as the global population is expected to exceed the nine billion mark in 2050. Part 1 of this resource details the current knowledge of food insecurity and its causes, as well as the international community’s efforts to eradicate it. Part 2 identifies policies that will ameliorate the problem, with emphasis on proposals of the Food and Agriculture Organization. With appealing graphics, this title is intended for ­nonspecialists.

The Great Recession and Developing Countries: Economic Impact and Growth Prospects. ed. by Mustapha K. Nabli. World Bank, dist. by Bernan & Renouf. 2011. 634p. illus. ISBN 9780821385135. pap. $35.
The financial crisis of 2008 to 2009 spread like a contagion from the United States to the rest of the world and raised questions about how low- and middle-income countries could protect themselves from external shocks. The ten case studies here analyze precrisis growth, the effects of the crisis, and policy responses in Brazil, China, Ethiopia, India, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, Turkey, Vietnam, and Poland. The text, which is accompanied by more than 150 illustrations and 80 tables, is accessible to undergraduates.

The Hidden Crisis: Armed Conflict and Education. EFA Global Monitoring Report 2011. UNESCO, dist. by Bernan & Renouf. 2011. 416p. illus. bibliog. ISBN 9789231041914. pap. $48. unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0019/001907/190743e.pdf.
More than 40 percent of children in countries engaged in armed conflict are not in school. This report documents the effects of war on education and proposes a wide-ranging agenda for action. It contains 85 graphs, as well as many poignant and sometimes extraordinary photographs. With more than 90 pages of international education statistics.

Looking Ahead in World Food and Agriculture: Perspectives to 2050. ed. by Piero Conforti. Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, dist. by Bernan & Renouf. 2011. 539p. illus. ISBN 9789251069035. pap. $110. www.fao.org/docrep/014/i2280e/i2280e.pdf.
This collection of essays offers an assessment of where agriculture is headed and what must be done to meet the world’s food demands in the coming decades. It addresses issues such as the effects of using crops to produce biofuels instead of food, the impact of climate change on yields, and the inadequacy of investment in agricultural research and development. The clarity of the text makes this a useful source for both scholars and interested citizens.

Police Perception Survey 2011: The Afghan Perspective. UN Development Programme, Afghanistan Country Office. 2011. 155p. illus. maps. bibliog. Free. www.undp.org.af/Publications/KeyDocuments/2011/PPS-Eng%20Version-2011%20Final%20Lowest%20Res.pdf.
The authors present the results of the third annual public opinion survey concerning the Afghan National Police (ANP), and it is full of unexpected details. For instance, 30 percent of the 7000 Afghan interviewees reported that someone in their household had seen an ANP member use illicit drugs, and only 20 percent think the ANP is ready to operate without the support of international forces. On the positive side, 45 percent of respondents believe the performance of the ANP in their area has improved in the past year.

Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation: Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. ed. by Ottmar Edenhofer & others. Cambridge Univ., dist. by Bernan & Renouf. 2012. 1076p. illus. bibliog. ISBN 9781107023406. $200; pap. ISBN 9781107607101. $100. srren.ipcc-wg3.de/report.
In this massive volume, the world’s leading body on climate change assesses the technological development, costs, potential, and environmental and social effects of hydropower, bioenergy, and solar, geothermal, wind, and ocean energy. Each chapter includes a detailed table of contents, an executive summary, an extensive bibliography, and many color illustrations. Readers seeking in-depth knowledge of renewable energy technologies and related issues will find this work invaluable.

World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development. World Bank, dist. by Bernan & Renouf. 2011. 426p. illus. maps. ISBN 9780821388259. $50; pap. ISBN 9780821388105. $26. Full report: http://ow.ly/atJTB. Free iPad app.
The authors examine gender inequality and the potential role of governments in ending it. While many countries have made dramatic progress in this area, others lag far behind. This title explores the causes of these disparities and makes specific policy recommendations. For the first time, the World Development Report is available as an iPad app that is attractive, easy to use, and free. It contains information not available in the print version and guides the user toward the most important content.

If you want to change the world, you need to be in the right place at the right time. You need a good idea, vision, motivated peers, and the determination to make a difference.

This year, a small and mighty group of librarians put this formula to the test as they organized an international movement to participate, educate, and advocate at South by Southwest Interactive, the leading conference for innovative, technology-driven ideas, applications, and entrepreneurship. South by Southwest (SXSW) is a multipart phenomenon, including film, music, and interactive conferences; SXSWedu, an educational innovation conference; the SXSW Trade Show; and more, along with multiple unconferences, fringe festivals, networking events, and ­receptions.

This year’s South by Southwest Interactive get-together (SXSWi) attracted 24,569 attendees, up 27 percent from the 19,364 in 2011. By numbers alone, the 2011 figure is roughly equal to last year’s American Library Association annual conference in New Orleans, with 20,186 attendees. However, SXSWi represents only one part of the massive crowd that takes over Austin, TX, every year in March, as registered participants may sign up for any or all of the festival’s components, and countless more individuals arrive and “go badgeless” simply to engage and participate in the adventurous surge of fresh energy and enthusiasm characteristic of SXSW.

Talkin" in Texas: SXSW has become increasingly important to librarians interested in emerging technologies. Bottom photo: conference activists include (top row, l.-r.) Oliver Sanidas, Jonathan Smith, Carson Block, and Heather Block; (middle row, l.-r.) Eric Frierson, Lisa Carlucci Thomas, and Paul Vinelli; (bottom row, l.-r.) Andrea Davis, Karin Dalziel, Anne Slaughter, and Cindy Fisher. Top two photos by Lisa Carlucci Thomas, group photo ©2012 Mona T. Brooks

Why SXSW?

New and emerging technologies are put to the test here, in real time. Many of the cutting-edge tools and services adopted by libraries in recent years have catapulted to success after making waves at SXSW. Twitter sparked an SMS-enabled, micro-communications revolution in 140 characters or less at SXSW 2007. Mosio, developer of Text a Librarian, won the 2008 SXSW Interactive Award for Mobile. In 2009, Foursquare and Gowalla opened the doors to location-based services and incentive-oriented “check-ins”—setting the stage for the explosion of cross-industry, mobile, social, and gamified inter­actions. Wolfram Alpha won Best of Show at the 2010 SXSW Interactive Awards, and Group messaging app GroupMe won Breakout Digital Trend in 2011. This year’s breakout winner? Pinterest.

SXSW 411

South by Southwest began as a music festival in 1987. In 1994, the conference expanded to include film and interactive sessions. Through word of mouth, critical successes, and outstanding increases in participation, “South by” gained significant interest and momentum by providing an annual opportunity for creative convergence, trend­spotting, and trendsetting.

Today, SXSWi attracts professionals from around the world responsible for developing and implementing new technologies in their respective industries and fosters essential opportunities for colleagues to meet and learn from cross-disciplinary experts. For anyone designing, developing, and delivering services at the intersection of information and technology, SXSWi is the place to be. For librarians, SXSWi offers learning and outreach potential beyond the standard fare of library ­conferences.

To present at SXSW, you first write and submit a proposal using the SXSW PanelPicker (panelpicker.sxsw.com). Proposals are then made available for public voting and comments; community feedback is weighed as part of the decision whether to include or deny the program. Final programming is determined by 30 percent staff feedback, 30 percent public votes, and 40 percent advisory board recommendations. The 2013 SXSW PanelPicker opens June 25, 2012.

SXSW: libraries, archives, & museums

While SXSWi gained widespread popularity in the technology and start-up communities, attendance among librarians, archivists, and museum professionals has grown slowly. Jessamyn West, an early library SXSW attendee who blogs at librarian.net, wrote in 2007, “South by Southwest is a big conference thing…. It’s made of music, movies, and something they call ‘interactive,’ which is basically Internet. It’s an interesting conference that I went to once in 2000, and it changed my life pretty much forever.”

The not-so-secret truth about SXSW is that nearly everyone you ask about the conference responds with that sentiment: the experience stays with you long after you’ve gone home. By 2009, West blogged about library-relevant proposals in the SXSW PanelPicker process and asked the library community to “please help me get more library content into SXSW.” That year, over a dozen library proposals were submitted to the SXSW PanelPicker, yet only a few were selected. Nonetheless, SXSW awareness and interest began to grow in the library, archives, and museum communities. In 2011, The Atlantic noted that there was “a panel or a meet-up showcasing librarians every day” during the conference and declared “SXSW 2011: The Year of the Librarian” (ow.ly/asgwG).

Following SXSW 2011, librarian Andrea Davis of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA, launched a concerted effort to push libraries, archives, and museums headfirst into the SXSW scene. Inspired by library-related panels, participants, and presentations, Davis recognized the need to amplify awareness of SXSW and engage librarians, archivists, and museum professionals as active players in the conference. She established the #sxswLAM hashtag and a Facebook group to organize all discussions and planning activities for the 2012 PanelPicker process. She also created Facebook events for the PanelPicker deadlines and worked with Myrna Morales of the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester and Cindy Fisher of the University of Texas at Austin to rally colleagues and unite like-minded projects via Facebook. The #sxswLAM = Librar* + Archiv* + Museum* Facebook group now boasts 241 members, and the #sxswLAM brand has expanded to include a Facebook page, Twitter @sxswLAM, and website.

Librarians & SXSW 2012

As word spread about the #sxswLAM efforts, more and more individuals joined the cause. Librarians collaborated to develop a list of relevant and timely topics, make introductions among peers doing similar work to create diverse panels that would offer depth and perspective to key issues, and provide support and feedback throughout the proposal writing and PanelPicker process. Over two dozen proposals were submitted, and an estimated one-third of these made it into the final SXSW program. Sessions included:

• The Great Library Swindle: Your Rights Are at Risk (Carson Block)

• Read/Write Library: Mapping a City Through Media (Nell Taylor)

• Making Stories: Libraries & Community Publishing (Amy Buckland, Char Booth, Michael Porter, Nate Hill)

• Guerrilla Marketing @ Your Library (Cathleen Ash)

• Digital Immortals: Preserving Life Beyond Death (Adam Ostrow, Airdrie Miller, Bill LeFurgy, Evan Carroll, Richard Banks)

• Creating an Internet of Entities (Drew Vogel, George Oates, Pete Warden, Tyler Bell)

• Radically Open Cultural Heritage Data on the Web (Adrian Stevenson, Jon Voss, Julie Allinson, Rachel Frick)

• Libros digitales para todos/eBooks for Everybody (Alvin Hutchinson, Martin Kalfatovic)

Visit the #sxswLAM website (www.sxswlam.info) for details and to listen to the audio recordings from these ­programs.

In addition to colleagues preparing to make the trip to Austin in March, numerous supporters in the professional community contributed encouragement, time, constructive criticism, and even cash to the SXSW movement. John Chrastka, president of AssociaDirect, a Chicago-based marketing and communications firm, kicked off a fundraising effort through Facebook and raised $500 through peer pledges, which supported marketing materials and a ­#sxswLAM-branded swag. These efforts extended the reach of librarians interested in being involved in SXSW and awareness of the collective benefit of conference representation. In several cases, these colleagues had eager thoughts of personally attending but cited limited or nonexistent support from their local institutions, or felt unable to make a viable request to attend owing to lack of local understanding of the relevance of SXSW. The dynamic and inclusive nature of the #sxswLAM group offered the opportunity to be connected to the cause and promote innovative thinking.

The next breakout stars

At SXSW 2012, I led a discussion group with #sxswLAM members to talk about the how, what, and why of the #sxswLAM movement. Davis and Fisher outlined the mission and vision and distributed #sxswLAM swag, while Oliver Sanidas, of the Arapahoe Library District, CO, and Carson Block, a library IT consultant who runs Carson Block LLC, discussed the challenges of keeping up with emerging technologies in the library community, the disconnect between the perception and reality of IT in libraries, and value of cross-industry conversations. Block described the response he received at SXSW 2011 when he’d tell new contacts that he was a librarian. “ ‘What technology is there in a library?’ they would ask. This is what we have to bridge. The people creating our digital present and future are here now, today, right outside.”

In fact, his remark was no exaggeration, as our meeting took place right in the middle of the SXSW Startup Village, which “brings together the [meeting’s] start-ups, entrepreneurs, investors, and cutting-edge digital tastemakers” (sxsw.com/­interactive/startupvillage)

Harry McCracken, Time.com’s Technologizer columnist, wrote about Block’s session:

“Block said that sheer apathy is one of the greatest threats that libraries face—a point that was underlined by the sparse attendance at his presentation,” McCracken wrote. “I’m part of the problem: I moved to San Francisco in 2002 and didn’t get around to visiting its excellent main library until nine years later. Nevertheless, I left [Block’s] presentation both inspired and worried. We’ve always needed libraries; now, more than ever, libraries need us.”

Jonathan Smith, of California State University in San Bernadino, described the dual role of SXSW librarian participants: “There’s so much creative energy here”—it helps librarians “think outside of the library box”—and “on the flip side, it’s important to be a library evangelist” and talk with SXSW participants about how libraries serve an essential purpose transforming and supporting technology development.

Davis tells entrepreneurs, “libraries are the biggest usability playground you have,” with a diverse and engaged user community willing and interested to learn about emerging technology tools. Anne Slaughter, of the Oak Park Public Library, IL, and Karin Dalziel, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, weighed in on the “innovator’s dilemma”—libraries help to curate information and are incorporating new tools and techniques to do so, yet, Slaughter sums up the catch: “There are ways that our community expects us to be, and they equate libraries with books.” The solution? “It’s up to us to come to these conferences, bring back new ideas, demonstrate value, and adapt to the changing en­vironment,” says Eric Frierson, St. Edwards University, Austin.

Making new contacts at SXSW is critical to this mission. Libraries may choose to outsource expertise to implement new technologies and programs, or bring in technologists and entrepreneurs to enhance library teams. “We’re looking to hire,” says Frierson. As more libraries include digital media centers, hacklabs, and maker spaces, so expands the need for inspired, diverse, creative, and technical professionals to be employed in our libraries and partners in our technology initiatives.

Get Involved: SXSW 2013

If you want to change the world, there’s no day like today. SXSW 2013 planning is in full swing, and #sxswLAM members are gearing up for another round of creative collaboration in support of library technology, advancement, and advocacy at SXSW. Proposals for next year’s conference may be submitted starting June 25. Join #sxswLAM on Facebook to get involved, learn how to develop your idea into a proposal, ask questions about SXSW, and be a part of SXSW 2013. Why SXSW? In the words of Brad King, assistant professor of journalism at Ball State University, Muncie, IN, and a member of the SXSW Advisory Board, “We bring people with big ideas together with other people with big ideas and then encourage them to go off and create their own, new big ideas, together.”

Resources and more info on Storify.

Marriage. That’s how many librarians describe collaborative efforts with other organizations to fund and construct new library buildings, including joint-use facilities, to serve their communities.

As this whirlwind tour of over a dozen projects across the country illustrates, libraries nationwide have joined forces with private developers; nonprofit housing authorities; colleges and universities; municipal, county and state governments; and others to share land and buildings. At times, construction partnerships have revitalized neighborhoods and led to innovation in service delivery.

“Libraries in general have become much more willing to talk about nontraditional ways of partnership in terms of facilities and shared space, so we are seeing a lot more of it,” says Louise Schaper, a library consultant and former executive director of the Fayetteville Public Library, AR, who is the project manager for LJ’s New Landmark Libraries (www.libraryjournal.com/nll).

The projects take all forms, but there are several primary types of partnerships:

• Shared sites: The library and at least one other organization build on land owned by at least one partner.
• Shared buildings: The partners each set up house in a building that one or all of the partners paid to build. They share ownership, or one partner leases from another. Often, they share parts of the building, such as meeting rooms and common areas.
• Mixed-use development: The library and its partners enter a condominium agreement. Often the library owns the site, and each partner owns its own space in the development.
• Integrated libraries: Two libraries with combined staff in the same building serve customer groups once served ­separately.

Benefits abound

Sharing a building with another organization can save money because costly necessities, such as elevators, bathrooms, and boiler rooms, need not be duplicated, says Clint Kinney, city manager of Fruita, CO, where the library and recreation center share a building.

A library-developer partnership for a multiuse building may attract grants and tax credits for urban redevelopment or affordable housing, says Paula Kiely, director of the Milwaukee Public Library, which has partnered with two housing developers. Indeed, private developers see the high foot traffic as a plus for retail sites, says Joe Huberty, a partner at Engberg Anderson in Milwaukee.

In the public arena, some government agencies struggling with dwindling sales tax revenue see libraries as partners that bring cash to the table, says Bruce Flynn, a principal at Barker Rinker Seacat Architecture in Denver.

Projects that work can transform a neighborhood, says Mark Schatz, principal at Schwartz/Silver Architects, the Boston firm that designed Boston Public Library’s (BPL) Grove Hall branch, which shares a building with Grove Hall Community Center and is also an addition to Jeremiah E. Burke High School in Dorchester, MA. Libraries built with partners in Boston, Milwaukee, and Rifle, CO, have been credited with helping spur economic development and bringing a sense of community to their ­neighborhoods.

Collaborating with outside organizations on construction can be a new experience for many library directors, and it’s not easy, says Dennis Humphries, principal at Humphries Poli Architects in Denver. “Labor is in the center of collaboration. It takes work,” Humphries says. “It should push you to a higher level.”

Successful partnerships occur when all the organizations involved have a unified vision for the communities they serve, says Patricia Senn Breivik, the former dean at San José State University Library, CA. Breivik, now VP of consulting firm Nehemiah Communications, helped lead the integration of staff at San José Public Library and San José State to build the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, which set the benchmark for integrated public-academic libraries and was the 2004 LJ/Gale Library of the Year.

Such partnership, however, doesn’t always come naturally. “Things like that often don’t happen unless the key person is retiring or leaving for another job. It’s hard to break down barriers,” says Bob Fonte, director of the Stark County Park District, Canton, OH, where a library and nature center share a structure.

Library leaders may need to reenvision their roles in their communities. “Librarians have to see themselves as leaders in their cities, not just in the libraries or universities,” Breivik says.

Best Practices

Often successful library building partnerships arise from the desire to address a community problem or need, ranging from the challenge of saving money to helping a user group improve their lives, says Louise Schaper, a library consultant and the former executive director of the Fayetteville Public Library, AR (the Gale/LJ 2005 Library of the Year).

Beyond solving the problem at issue, the partners should consider other factors, says Schaper, also the project manager for LJ’s New Landmark Libraries (www.libraryjournal.com/nll). “On the more practical side, there’s a lot that needs to be thought out in advance, so there is no disappointment in the end,” Schaper says.

A partnership’s success will be determined by librarians’ abilities to communicate clearly and compromise. “Everyone involved must be willing to put all their cards on the table in terms of the venture being considered, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, potential downsides, and fears and hopes. All these things need to be identified and talked through,” Schaper says.

Library directors, architects, and other professionals involved in building construction can offer suggestions to guide their peers who are looking for partners in a library project. LJ’s 2012 Library by Design supplement offers a whirlwind tour of more than a dozen buildings where libraries partnered with another organization to share land or the structure itself or in some cases to integrate operations.

Library leaders who have been in partnerships emphasize the importance of forthrightness and inclusiveness in decisions that have far-reaching and long-lasting consequences for their partners, employees, and communities. They also need to engage their constituents and staff and their partners. To build the Rifle Library in partnership with that western Colorado city, says Amelia Shelley, executive director of the Garfield County Public Library District (GCPLD), as many library and municipal staff as possible were invited to give input. “We knew it would impact everyone. We wanted them in the know,” Shelley says.

LOOK FOR PROPERTY

Library systems, such as King County Library System (KCLS), Issaquah, WA (the Gale/LJ 2011 Library of the Year), with experience in combining with cities and developers to construct buildings, advise the hiring of experts in real estate law, construction, and other specialties to gain invaluable information, says Kay Johnson, KCLS facilities director.

Look for partners and experts with experience with large projects because libraries don’t operate like commercial, retail, or residential developments, several architects say. An owner’s representative can negotiate conflicts and stand by the library’s side, says Paula Kiely, director of the Milwaukee Public Library, which has worked with two residential developers to build two branches in conjunction with apartments. “We are, after all, library directors, and we’re not schooled in construction techniques,” Kiely says.

PARTNERS ON PAPER

Libraries require specialized design and construction to support the weight of books and to protect materials from water or fire damage that may occur in the units above it, says Joe Huberty, a partner at Engberg Anderson. Architects also can make peace and find the best solutions for all those concerned, says Humphries Poli Architects principal Dennis Humphries. This holds true even in a good relationship, says Mary Stein, interim codirector of the East Baton Rouge Parish Library (EBRPL), LA. Stein also is assistant library director over administration and the manager of the EBRPL’s main library, which is being replaced at another site in a parish park.

“Our architect described it as follows: ‘this is basically a marriage, and we are all bringing something to the table,’?” Stein says. “The architect was like the premarital counselor making sure we worked things through.”

Piles of paperwork will define the partnership, first with a broadly written agreement that states what each partner brings to the building and mutual goals, says KCLS’s Johnson. Each partner must narrow down goals to four to six top priorities that will guide future discussions and resolve disagreements, says Bruce Flynn, a principal at Barker Rinker Seacat Architecture.

Once the initial agreement is approved by the library board and other decision-makers, staff will hammer out an interlocal agreement spelling out the details, Johnson says. The agreements should set clear time lines and hierarchies for making decisions, says Mindy Linetzky, who oversaw construction or renovation of 24 libraries for the Department of Public Works City and County of San Francisco, including two partnerships.

Cost limits and the handling of finances should be in the agreements, says GCPLD’s Shelley. Libraries sharing a building will sign a lease or condo agreement that addresses maintenance costs and dissolution of the partnership, if necessary. “You have to have a structure in place to work out the things you didn’t even think of,” Schaper says.

Libraries have long shared acreage with other organizations as part of a civic campus, but today’s partnerships provide more than a convenient location for government services.

Rifle Library l Garfield County Public Library District l Rifle, CO

Seeking to develop a walkable, livable downtown on a limited budget, Matt Sturgeon, Rifle assistant city manager, approached the Garfield County Public Library District (GCPLD) about finding a site in the commercial core for the replacement of the tiny Rifle Library.

The library-owned land in downtown was too small, and the city had an adjacent parcel. Together, the two agencies could maximize their land, says Amelia Shelley, GCPLD executive director. As a result, the library, city, and its Downtown Development Authority agreed to a complicated land swap. They closed a road and built a $10 million library and a much-needed two-level parking structure, paid for with a $1.7 million state grant, Sturgeon says. Since the library opened in 2010, the downtown has attracted a multiplex theater, and this summer the community will dedicate a ten-mile trail near the library, he says.

“It’s not enough to build a library,” Sturgeon says. “Everything we do is because dollars are so limited. We just push the envelope as much as we can. Understand that to do that, we have to work with as many people as we can.”

Funded mainly by a 2006 bond measure, the library will eventually share an elevator, stairs, restroom, and entryway with a future city hall. The library paid for a larger computer server and boiler rooms in anticipation of that addition, Shelley says.

The library’s cozy indoor and outdoor seating near windows and on patios and a second-story terrace offers views of the rugged mountains, red cliffs, and blue skies of this small Western Colorado community, says Bruce ­Flynn, library design principal at Barker Rinker Seacat, the building’s architect. Inside, brightly colored, technology-friendly spaces allow for different types of use and collaboration. A historic stained-glass window commemorates Theodore Roosevelt’s visits to Rifle. The library and current city hall share a plant-lined plaza featuring Wi-Fi.

“The library is kind of the last best place where you can accommodate all members of the community across cultures, across socioeconomic boundaries, across the generations,” Flynn says. “We are huge believers in the library as the heart of the community.”

North Beach Library l San Francisco Public Library

The North Beach Library has long shared a site with the Joe DiMaggio Playground, but the relationship has been less than ideal. A disagreement over land prices in the 1950s resulted in the existing library coming to rest on top of a tennis court, says Julie Christensen, government liaison for the Friends of Joe DiMaggio Playground.

Plans are now under way to replace the aging branch with a $14.5 million building on the triangular parcel bordered by Columbus Avenue and Lombard and Mason Streets—the library’s original location planned 60 years ago. “Obviously, we’re correcting a wound. It was a mistake to develop a library on a park in the 1950s,” Christensen says.

The library will be triangular, and each point will feature two levels of windows, offering three separate reading areas for children, teens, and adults, says architect Marsha Maytum, principal at Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects, San Francisco. Each point will showcase views of a few of San Francisco’s iconic sites—Coit Tower, the Transamerica Pyramid, and the spires of Saint Peter and Saint Paul Church—Maytum says.

Solar panels and angled clerestory windows to draw natural light will make the building greener, says Mindy Linetzky, the Department of Public Works City and County of San Francisco administrator who oversaw the $106 million bond measure to construct or renovate 24 libraries. North Beach is the last of these projects.

The city also plans to close the short section of Mason Street between the new library and the playground in hopes of restructuring the playground, which features a pool; basketball, tennis, and bocce ball courts; and two small baseball fields. Changes include relocating the children’s play area from near a bus stop to a central spot, making it safer, Christensen says. A retaining wall will be removed and the site graded to improve pedestrian flow, Maytum says. The city and playground Friends group is seeking grants to fund the $5 million needed to update the space.

Improving both the library and the playground will serve the neighborhood’s rich blend of ethnicities, generations, and socioeconomic extremes. “This allows the library to step up its programming efforts and cater to those distinct groups,” Christensen says. “It is our Lions Club, our bowling club. It’s the place where our neighborhood really comes together”

Main Library l East Baton Rouge Parish Library l LA

The search for a new site for East Baton Rouge Parish Library’s Main Library in Independence Park has deepened an existing partnership with the Recreation and Park Commission for the Parish of East Baton Rouge (BREC), which owns the park.

Construction started this winter on a $43.5 million project, which includes the new library, its outdoor Internet Plaza and gardens, and a cybercafé, which BREC is building. With the library’s planned 120 computers, both agencies will serve the needs of Louisianans who lack access to high-speed technology, says Mary Stein, interim codirector and assistant library director over administration and manager of the Main Library. Already librarians are brainstorming how they can “buddy up” with their parks partners to commingle and enhance programs for both park and library users once doors open in early 2014. “If they are here, we want them to use the whole of the park,” Stein says. “Ideally, you could spend a whole day here.”

Partnering makes sense for the library district. While it is a separate political entity from the park and parish, it is required to have approval of the Baton Rouge mayor and council for grant applications, budgets, and even the payment of authors and performers. “There are a lot of cooks in that kitchen,” Stein says. Partnerships with the park, which answers to its board, can mean streamlining some of that approval process.

Determining a location for the library at Independence Park that would not disturb established gardens was difficult. The resulting long, skinny site has southern exposure that offered a challenge to architect Denelle Wrightson, director of library architecture at Dewberry in Dallas. Library users will be bathed in natural light but kept cool when Southern temperatures soar in public areas on the north side. Back-of-shop functions will be on the south side, Stein says. A stained-glass window in the children’s area both depicts swarming purple martin swallows and filters the view of the shipping yard. On the roof, a terrace offers a place to read or enjoy the park.

Park staff can open airport-sized bathrooms after hours, and chair storage has inside and outside access so that both agencies can use the furnishings, Stein says. The gardens surrounding the library will be upgraded as well, Wrightson says, and the park district will maintain them. “They are using the library as a catalyst to create these other public spaces for the community, including a courtyard and reading gardens and terraces in the park.”

Libraries sharing buildings with centers of recreation and learning report that their partners bring exposure to new users. Libraries are also forming partnerships to share buildings with other agencies focused on education, such as colleges and historic societies. In the East Bay Area of California, the Lafayette Library and Learning Center building is shared by the library and the Glenn Seaborg Learning Consortium, a partnership of 12 education, science, and arts institutions.

In Central Arizona, the Prescott Valley Public Library’s (PVPL) partnership with North Arizona University and Yavapai College offered added classroom space to the institution, and, three years after opening, 50 university students attend class in the library building, says Stuart Mattson, PVPL library director. Still, librarians look to deepen the partnership. “It’s really exciting, and there’s been a lot of potential and still is a lot of potential for development as far as interaction between students and library staff,” says Kathy Hellman, PVPL manager. “We’re still getting a handle on what we as librarians can offer to students and faculty.” (For more on this project, see “Case Study: Experimenting with Design and a New Staffing Model,” in Fall 2011 Library by Design at ow.ly/advN1.)

Fruita Branch l Mesa County l Public Library District l CO

Hundreds of new library users discovered the Fruita branch of the Mesa County Public Library District (MCPLD) as a result of sharing a building with the city’s senior and recreation centers. The $10.2 million, 7000 square foot branch opened in February 2011 on city-owned land. Annual circulation skyrocketed by 57 percent, from 86,549 items in 2010 to 136,239 in 2011, says Bob Kretschman, library district public information manager.

“It gets a lot of business that we didn’t have in our old branch,” says Eve Tallman, MCPLD director. “It’s a natural combination where people can feed their mind and exercise their bodies.”

The partnership was born when the library had passed a bond referendum and was looking for land at the same time the city had been unsuccessful at getting voters to raise taxes to build a recreation center, Tallman says. Fruita city manager Clint Kinney offered the library free land, if the new branch joined the planned recreation/senior center complex. Voters approved, boosting the city’s sales tax by 1¢. The library district put in $2.4 million, and the city raised $2 million in grants and donations.

The city’s architect Sink Combs Dethlefs subcontracted with Humphries Poli Architects to design the library. Humphries Poli principal Dennis Humphries says the combination intrigued him. “There’s a significant sharing of resources,” Humphries says. This allowed the library to concentrate on features that would enhance services.

Tallman worked with Humphries to ensure that the sound of basketballs would not impact readers. The library also sacrificed its dream of drive-up service, offering a walk-up window instead. “That way moms don’t have to unload all the kids from the car seats,” Tallman says.

The library district has a 99-year lease with a buyout clause, and so far the city is pleased with the partnerships. “They bring a lot of people to the community center that wouldn’t normally come,” says Kinney. “It’s an incredibly symbiotic relationship.”

Grove Hall Branch l Boston Public Library l Dorchester, MA

A challenged neighborhood got a “shot in the arm” when Boston Public Library’s (BPL) Grove Hall Branch was collocated with the expansion of Jeremiah E. Burke High School and the Grove Hall Community Center, says Mark Schatz, principal at Schwartz/Silver Architects, the Boston firm that designed the colorful building.

Librarians, who worked to tailor the collection to the neighborhood’s diverse needs, have heard from library users that the library promotes feelings of safety and community, says Christine Schonhart, BPL’s director of branch libraries.

The combination of the school, library, and community center in one of Boston’s largest and most diverse neighborhoods was part of Mayor Thomas Menino’s Community Learning Initiative. The first two stories are open to the public as the library and community center, Schatz says. The school library occupies the third floor. The gymnasium is on the fourth. After school, the gym and the school library are open to the public. Gym noise is masked by special materials, Schatz says.

To bring in natural light and attract passersby into the branch library, Schatz created a two-story brightly multicolored glass façade that sets it apart from the school and community center, which has red brick façade similar to the brick art deco school. A “funky” bright red stairwell connects the different levels of the library, school, and gym, striking the balance between keeping the school sections secure during the day and inviting the public in at night. “We wanted a lot of glass,” Shatz says. “We didn’t want it to look corporate. We wanted it to be playful and a lot fun.”

One form of fun: the library brings in performers and musicians to make the most of a jazz lounge for quiet contemplation. Also, on the second floor, teens have their own area, including a quiet space. The library added a YA librarian to the tutors offered by the Boston Centers for Youth and Family, Schonhart says. “It changes a library especially when a teenager can recognize a space just for them,” she says. Something’s working: in the first year, branch circulation rose almost 40 percent and an impressive 1200 new library cardholders signed up.

Perry-Sippo Branch l Stark County Library District | Canton | OH

To play up the partnership between Perry-Sippo Branch and the Exploration Gateway of Stark County Park District (SCPD) in Canton, OH, architect Dan Meehan drew inspiration from bodies of water and trails.

Geometric designs resembling waves, fins, and tree rings adorn bookshelves and other fixtures. The shelves are positioned like schools of fish, says Meehan, a principal at Holzheimer Bolek + Meehan Architects, LLC, in Cleveland. Information trees are constructed of material that changes color as library users walk around them. Kids can walk under an aquarium to enter the children’s area. An open deck offers views of Sippo Lake. Hiking trails start at the library building. “You sense it’s more than a library,” says Meehan of the branch, which replaced a building destroyed by fire in another location. “It’s a real special space.”

Behind the scenes, the staffs of the Exploration Gateway and the library share locker and break rooms, aiding cross-pollination, Meehan says. The library leases from the nature center, and the organizations share an entry/­exhibit hall.

The combination has resulted in the nature center and the library door counts hitting 200,000 and 140,000 each year, respectively, says Bob Fonte, director of SCPD. He says he expected between 25,000 and 50,000 people in the first year.

“The beauty of it is you sit out on the deck of the library and look out on the lake and in the winter by fireplace and look out window.” Fonte says. “It’s a psychological respite.”

Charles E. Miller Branch & Historical Center l Howard County Library System l Ellicott City, MD

The Howard County Historical Society has enjoyed increased visibility over the handful of months since it moved this past winter into the Howard County Library (HCL) System Charles E. Miller Branch & Historical Center. “The rewards have been incredible,” says Lisa Mason-Chaney, historical society executive director. “Working with the library staff has been a wonderful experience, and being located in the library has given the historical society much greater visibility.”

In January, the historical society had an unheard of 223 visitors, signed up 30 new members, and tripled its volunteer hours, says Valerie J. Gross, HCL president and CEO.

When the library system decided to replace its aging, cramped Miller branch with a two-story 63,000 square foot building, inviting the historical society to join them seemed to be a smart move, Gross says. The library’s mission of education and bringing history to life would be bolstered by joining forces with the historical society. The society’s extensive archival collection features Babe Ruth’s marriage license, for instance. In turn, the society’s experts would add to the library’s historical expertise, and the thousands of library users would be exposed to the historical society, Gross says.

The Miller branch embraces both the past and future with historic displays and solar panels and a vegetative roof. The library worked with the society to design a 1000 square foot reading and research room that’s shared with the branch. The historic collection is kept in a secure climate-controlled, windowless room with restricted access. The shared room acts as an archives reading room when the historical society is open, restricting what users can bring in when rare documents are being examined, Gross says. When the archive is closed, library users can bring drinks and backpacks into the space. The society pays a portion of the utilities in lieu of rent.

“We worked with them to design the Historical Center, a vision that brings history to life in unprecedented ways,” Gross says.

A branch library in Portland, OR, is considered to be part of the first public-private housing partnership. Since it opened, other libraries nationwide have entered into similar arrangements, with lessons learned for ­libraries.

This partnership between a library and a developer resulted in the Hollywood Library, a small retail space occupied by a coffee shop, and the medium- and low-income Bookmark Apartments in Portland on land owned by Multnomah County Library (MCL), says Michael T. Harrington, library facilities and operations manager. Starting in 1999, the library system studied the feasibility of mixing library, retail, and housing environments. The building opened in 2002.

MCL then worked with a development consultant to issue a Request for Proposals for the building. Sockeye Development, LLC, a subsidiary of developer Shiels Obletz Johnsen, received the contract and manages the apartments and the coffee shop lease. The library system then embarked on other mixed-use partnerships, including Sellwood Library.

“It’s one of our busiest branches,” says Harrington of Hollywood. “It would have been nice to have more space.”

Cities with redevelopment agencies and strong nonprofit housing authorities tend to be where many of these partnerships occur.

Mission Bay Branch l San Francisco Public Library

Another example of a library in a mixed-use development is Mission Bay, Honorable Mention for LJs 2011 New Landmark Libraries, and its partner Mission Creek Senior Housing in San Francisco. Architect Bruce Prescott helped ensure the library and the nonprofit housing developer shared “real partnership and not just a land exchange” by designing a space that would be welcoming to all ages, especially seniors, says Mindy Linetzky, who oversaw the library’s $106 million bond measure to construct or renovate 24 libraries for the Department of Public Works City and County of San Francisco.

Burien Library l King County Library System l WA

King County Library System (KCLS), LJ’s 2011 Library of the Year, has extensive experience with partnering with different organizations and guiding other libraries. KCLS has partnered with developers, nonprofits, and municipal governments to build or lease libraries, including mixed-use facilities. KCLS partnered with Burien City to build a combined city hall and library on municipal land. The building opened in 2009, but construction required compromise. The municipal government wanted the library to occupy two floors of a three-story civic building with the “presence” of a “dominant agency,” says Greg Smith, KCLS director of facilities management services. The library prefers single-story structures because they cost less to staff; however, the joint venture saved both partners money. The partnership brought the city a state grant to pay for a parking garage, Smith says.

The library’s legal agreement came in handy when a change in city leadership led to a request to pay a smaller share of the maintenance costs, says Kay Johnson, KCLS director of facilities development. Since opening, the library has attracted people to downtown Burien, where they can enjoy a park and other amenities. “We have a good building, and it’s a good way to spend public funds,” Smith says. “It’s a gathering place.”

When plans to build the Newcastle Library as part of a mixed-use development of condos and commercial building on KCLS-owned land stalled, victim of the developer’s inability to get financing during the recession, KCLS decided to construct a stand-alone library, expected to open this summer, Smith says. The process involved revisiting the agreement with the developer, which has a two-year deadline to obtain financing that expires this year, allowing KCLS to look for another partner, if necessary. “We spent quite a bit of money on attorney fees,” Smith says. “It was the lengthy process to get the library built, and it had to be redesigned.”

Lesson learned, KCLS changed its approach with another library-housing partnership for its proposed Renton Highlands branch, Smith says. This project is proceeding. “We’re kind of waiting to see how that plays out,” Smith says. “We’re designing the building so that if we need to we can pull out and build it by itself.”

Villard Square Branch l Milwaukee Public Library

Milwaukee Public Library (MPL) owns land in prime locations, lending bargaining power when it came to finding a partner for a building that combines housing with a replacement for the Villard Square Branch. It also opened the door to innovative programs such as laptop checkout and roving reference.

“They were astute enough to recognize that their libraries were on pretty valuable land,” says Joe Huberty, a partner at Engberg Anderson, an architectural, planning, and design firm with offices in Milwaukee. Additionally, Director Paula Kiely had positioned MPL as an innovative player in the community that actively helps people enrich their daily lives, Huberty adds.

The library and apartments geared toward grandparents raising their grandchildren opened last October. The project reduced costs for both the library and developer, which received tax credits, Kiely says.

At 12,770 square feet, the new library is smaller than the 15,000 square foot building the project replaced, but it feels larger, in part because of huge windows and the flexibility built into the design, Kiely says. The meeting room, for example, is divided by sliding glass panels so it never feels cut off from the rest of the library. The room doubles as a reading area or a teen study space.

The exterior windows entice community members to visit as they walk or drive past, Kiely says. Moving to a new building offered the opportunity to install radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology and self-check, pilot roving reference for the entire library system, and 40 laptops for in-library checkout. “People want to use computers where they are comfortable, not necessarily next to someone,” she says. Year-to-date figures for this February indicate that library visits were up 126 percent, and circulation rose by 108 percent.

A handful of library building partnerships have resulted in libraries integrating operations with their partners. Librarians working in these environments joke that they are married to their building partners.

In Australia, integrated-service libraries are commonplace, generally a combination of public libraries and schools, serving students and the community at large. In the United States, joint libraries and integrated service are unusual, and when they occur, they tend to be between public and academic libraries. At least one joint academic-public library has broken up when the Irving City Council and the North Lake Community Library ended its two-year partnership in 2004 with North Lake College in Texas after a new college president started, says Dewberry’s Denelle Wrightson.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Library in San José, CA, has set the standard for these partnerships. The eight-story King library was the brainchild of then–San José mayor Susan Hammer and then–San José State University president Robert Caret. The pair wanted to forge deeper connections between the community and the university, says Jane Light, San José Public Library director.

Hammer and Caret immediately encountered opposition in part because they didn’t go through the city council and other political and bureaucratic channels, Light says. Different stakeholders feared that their interests would suffer under an integrated library, she says.

They also needed to find money for construction and move other university offices from the old Clark Library to elsewhere on campus, says consultant Patricia Senn Breivik, who worked with Light to bring the partnership to fruition. She was then San José State University Library dean. “You don’t announce a major thing like this without having 60 percent of the funding in hand, and they didn’t have it,” says Breivik, adding fundraising was easier with such an inspiring project.

Breivik and Light were challenged by merging two different organizations with different cultures, structures, labor groups, and pay scales. Public and academic librarians shadowed one another on the job. Each institution brought strengths that enhance the other, such as the public library’s strong collection of language materials and the academic library’s history collection. The two library leaders set up committees on every possible issue, and the committees worked through policies and procedures and made recommendations; library staff gave input at open hearings.

“We really believed it had to be truly integrated. There were no models at that level,” Breivik says. “The library is still the crown jewel for the downtown area.”

Notable to the project are the library’s two main entrances, connecting it to the campus and to the community. Those told the community that the university was opening up its doors to the city, Breivik says. Today, the King Library sees up to 12,000 people each day. It was LJ’s 2004 Library of the Year (www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA423793.html).

“The message to a lot of families where no one had ever gone to college or dreamed about going to college was: ‘You can do it,’ ” says Breivik. “It’s only one step beyond your public library.”

Virginia Beach/Tidewater Community College joint library | VA

The King Library in San José inspired librarians at Virginia Beach Public Library (VBPL) and Tidewater Community College (TCC) to strive to combine TCC’s library with a new public branch, says Marcy Sims, director of VBPL.

The city and college even hired the same architects, Anderson Brulé of San José and Carrier Johnson of San Diego, to work with RRMM Architects of Norfolk to design a 120,000 square foot facility that will open in 2013 with the goal of providing seamless service to students and the general public. Construction began in ­February.

The college and city decided to partner in 2004 when former TCC president Deborah DiCroce and Virginia Beach city manager Jim Spore realized that each institution planned to build libraries across the street from each other, Sims says. “We’re really creating new territory for the both of us,” Sims says. “We realized that we aren’t that different. Our end goal is quality service to our ­customers.”

The floor plan was driven by anticipating users’ experiences and the California architects’ desire to build as green as possible. The building, shaped like a crescent bisected by four glass rectangles, includes a clerestory designed at an angle to act as a “light machine,” capturing sunlight in the arched section of the building. Inside, users will have comfortable seating. “We looked at creating spaces that people would want to gravitate to for either study or leisure reading,” Sims says.

Like the King Library, Virginia Beach’s first floor will be for people on the go. It will have a “marketplace” layout featuring popular fiction and nonfiction, CDs, and DVDs, Sims says. Many of the library’s 380 computers will be on the first floor, including individual and collaborative workstations and spots for quick printing.

A 35′-wide, 400′-long walkway called “Main Street” follows the arced wall, connecting the different sections of the branch and four open stairwells. Main Street ends in the “Living Room,” with newspaper and magazine racks and fireplace seating.

The upper story will be quieter and filled with more scholarly resources, carrels for library users to settle in with a laptop or a book, and collaborative study rooms. “We’ll have a lot of small group study rooms to address how students do their work today in a team environment,” Sims says.

South Mountain Community Library | Phoenix

The spacious South Mountain Community Library’s open floor plan, flowing from one area into another, inspires users to look outside of themselves and imagine possibilities, says division chair for the Library and Teaching & Learning Center Amy MacPherson. “When you walk into the building, the vista, the horizon is so far in front of you that it allows for expansiveness of thought and creative thinking.”

The 51,600 square foot, two-story library opened in August 2011 with an integration of library staff from Phoenix Public Library (PPL) and South Mountain Community College.

The building’s exterior features a stratified copper rain screen that protects the building from heat and weather. Its texture calls to mind library card barcodes, says James Richärd, principal and architect at richärd + bauer, which designed the library. Many of the interior walls are constructed of glass etched with designs and textures inspired by the community’s agricultural heritage, including asters, citrus groves, and sorghum and cotton fields.

The college paid for almost two-thirds of the building. The city library system provides the bulk of the collection. The cultural shift that the staff from the public and academic libraries underwent and continue to experience during the merger of operations was reflected in integrating the reference and circulation desks. Different cultures can have different priorities, says Annette Vigil, one of two South Mountain comanagers. (Vigil works for PPL and comanager Lydia Johnson, a college faculty librarian, reports to MacPherson.)

“We are married in this building,” Vigil says. “This is a great experience. We are figuring it out as we go along.”

Like the King Library, South Mountain offers grab-and-go items, such as DVDs and new releases, on the ground floor, where the children and teen areas also are located. That energy combined with people heading to and from community meeting rooms can generate noise that is dampened by variegated cedar slats backed with acoustical material lining the ceiling and some walls.

The collection on each floor is laid out similarly; for example, nonfiction about children is found on the second floor directly in the same area that children’s picture books are located on the floor below, Richärd says. The upper floor is designated a quieter area; frosted glass encloses study and activity rooms. In the study areas, whiteboards called “wall talkers” stretch from floor to ceiling. “You can write from the baseboard to as far as you can reach; you can have big ideas,” MacPherson says. “We have 44″ screens in the study rooms so you can project huge and not have everyone huddled around a laptop.”

Both MacPherson and Vigil emphasize that the operation does not save money; instead, it offers the college and community at large access to a greater number of resources. Like the King Library, South Mountain has opened its doors to everyone. Tots who first come to the library for baby story time will grow into teens who enroll in college because they have always gone to college, notes MacPherson. “An integrated library allows me to change many more people’s lives.”

We talked about creating powerful value messages, getting buy-in from staff and stakeholders and crafting message points.

I am amazed at two things: 1) we are all trying to crack the same nut; 2) libraries are eager to figure this out using limited resources – while understanding the value of a clear and concise marketing message.

Seems like everyone understands the need to define ourselves outside the usual parameters of value: historically we’ve said that libraries are where the public accesses reliable information sources. “We help navigate Google.”

Yet nearly all in the room agreed that this is no longer enough – maybe even true – because these aren’t the kinds of questions we are being asked today. Our public has learned to navigate the web and Smart phones; the library has to be about something more:  something tied to community goals.

Figuring this out isn’t easy. It requires discipline to ask tough questions and honest assessment. What are the important issues facing your community today and how can you position your library to be the unmistakable answer to the problem?

This post has been edited to remove Orange County, FL, from the list of those that have declined to collect the book.

Brevard County Public Libraries garnered widespread national media attention when library services director Catherine Schweinsberg pulled the system’s copies of the bestselling novel Fifty Shades of Grey from circulation.

“It didn’t meet our selection criteria. That’s the bottom line,” Schweinsberg told LJ in explaining her decision. She called the book pornography, a category which the collection development policy does not include. (It does, however, include considerations of popular demand and the legitimacy of entertainment.) She also pointed to reviews that pan the book’s writing.

Schweinsberg compared her choice to that of libraries that declined to purchase the title in the first place, which include Leon County, Charlotte County, and Collier County, FL; Gwinnett County, GA; and Brown County, WI.

Schweinsberg pointed out that the Brevard County system’s collection development budget has decreased by 60 percent. However since some 19 copies had already been purchased by the system’s 17 libraries when the decision was made, those resources had already been expended. Schweinsberg is pulling the copies as they are returned, and says she doesn’t know yet what the library will do with them.

The individual branch directors of Brevard County order books independently. “There’s no collection development team or section like bigger libraries have,” Schweinsberg told LJ. “Some did buy it; some didn’t.” It’s even possible the book was purchased by a computer rather than a human, in response to patron requests. “There are automated acquisition plans here in this system; I can’t say for sure this was one of them,” said Schweinsberg. (LJ attempted to speak with some of the directors who made the purchasing decisions; some did not answer and one refused to comment.)

Some patrons had already been loaned the books, which are being pulled as they are returned; the 200-odd patrons who had placed holds on the title have been notified that they will not receive it.

“Who knew this was going to be a cultural thing for this little piece of work?” asked Schweinsberg, saying that the book had been purchased before reviews made it clear how much BDSM and sexual content the book contained, as well as before Fifty Shades became the bestselling mainstream cultural phenomenon that it is today.

“We certainly didn’t go into it thinking we were censoring. We just felt it was part of the selection process, but it got on the shelf,” said Schweinsberg.

However, that’s not how it looked to local resident Linda Tyndall, who started a petition to ask the library to reverse its determination. (At press time, the petition had 377 signatures.)

“As a reader myself, and mother of an avid reader, it’s horrifying because you wonder, ‘What’s next?’”, a local news station quoted Tyndall as saying.  Another quoted her as saying, “We’re adults. We can make these decisions ourselves.”

However neither popular demand nor public outcry has caused the county to reconsider its decision. “It’s not going to go back on the shelf … the decision was made to take it off and that’s the decision we stand by,” said Don Walker, county spokesman, according to Florida Today.  Walker told My Fox Orlando that the county’s reconsideration policy provided a mechanism for members of the public to request that a book be taken off the shelves, but not that it be put back on.

The library staff is planning to review its book selection policy going forward, as it does periodically, but not to revisit this particular title.

“There’s sex in a lot of other ones. Obviously. And we have them. But this one is every page until it becomes the whole point of the book,” said Schweinsberg.

Brevard does, indeed, “have them”: though Schweinsberg distinguished between classics with erotic content, such as the works of Anais Nin, and Fifty Shades, on the grounds of literary merit and importance to the canon, it is a harder case to make for such Brevard holdings as The sisters of APF: the indoctrination of soror ride dick, Thong on Fire, and Getting’ Buck Wild: Sex Chronicles II, which are among the 158 titles classified as “erotic fiction” in Brevard’s holdings. (That doesn’t count the 19 books under erotica, or well-known BDSM titles such as Exit to Eden and The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, which are among the Brevard holdings classified simply as fiction.)

In Schweinsberg’s 32 years with the county, only one other title has been pulled – Madonna’s 1992 Sex. And though it had already been ordered, she said, it had not yet been placed on shelves or circulated. “Brevard County Libraries has defended and stood up for many, many books over the years,” she told LJ.

Library Groups Respond

Faye C. Roberts, Executive Director of the Florida Library Association (FLA) told LJ that FLA takes “no position on a specific library’s policy of materials selection,” and referred to its Intellectual Freedom Manual, which includes the Library Bill of Rights and links to various interpretations of it issued by the American Library Association (ALA).

In one such piece, ALA wrote: “Librarians have a professional responsibility to be inclusive, not exclusive, in collection development and in the provision of interlibrary loan.  Access to all materials and resources legally obtainable should be assured to the user, and policies should not unjustly exclude materials and resources even if they are offensive to the librarian or the user.  This includes materials and resources that reflect a diversity of political, economic, religious, social, minority, and sexual issues.”

Deborah Caldwell-Stone, deputy director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, told LJ, “If the only reason you don’t select a book is that you disapprove of its content, but there is demand for it, there’s a question of whether you’re being fair. In a public library there is usually very little that would prevent a book from being on the shelf if there is a demand for the information.” While she said selecting a book in the first place is a complicated art she is unwilling to second-guess, “pulling a book because of disapproval of its content presumes that some kind of censorship is going on.”

Caldwell-Stone says buying the book in the first place presupposes that “whoever has the authority to purchase books knows the collection policy and has applied it,” and says therefore before pulling it the library should go through its official reconsideration process by committee, just as it would if an external person objected to the title.

She was even blunter with My Fox Orlando, saying “Once the book is acquired… removing it on the basis of content raises censorship issues that we would be concerned about.” The Office of Intellectual Freedom’s official statement, however, is much more inconclusive.

According to My Fox Orlando, The National Coalition Against Censorship sent a letter to Schweinsberg calling on Brevard to return Fifty Shades to the shelves.

The Case for Collection

Robin Bradford, collection development librarian at Indianapolis Marion County Public Library, told LJ why she bought the book: “I’d gotten a few patron requests before they were easily available for libraries, but even if I hadn’t gotten any requests, I would have bought them. Despite all the media attention about the sex, the book is, at its heart, a relationship story. … boy meets girl and hijinks ensue, they live happily ever after. The sex in the books isn’t gratuitous. It certainly isn’t pornography of ANY kind, soft, hard, mommy, or otherwise.”

Besides, adds Bradford, “It’s at the top of the bestseller lists. It’s on the Today show and Good Morning America, and Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz. It’s on the radio. Heck, even Saturday Night Live did a skit about it. How much more mainstream can you get than that? It’s on the shelves at Kmart and Target and Kroger, as well as bookstores. If you can find it all those places, patrons should be able to find it in their local libraries.”

The Indianapolis library currently has 265 copies of Fifty Shades and more than 500 holds; the ebook has 70 copies and 200 holds.

SPONSORED BY: Oxford University Press and Library Journal
DATE AND TIME: Thursday, June 14, 2012, 2:00-3:00 PM EST/11:00 AM -12:00 PM PST

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The proliferation of free online resources has caused user habits and expectations to change drastically in the last decade, and there is no doubt that they will continue to evolve along with technology trends and advancements.  Publishers, specifically reference publishers, have needed to meet these demands and have striven to exceed them – delivering new and innovative ways to access authoritative facts quickly, easily, and accurately.  Some now deliver the next step in the research experience – providing effortless pathways beyond the facts and figures of free resources or standard reference, making the user’s journey into encyclopedias, scholarly works, and journal articles effortless and seamless.  These publisher initiatives have the potential to revolutionize the role of reference in the library, and the way reference is used by researchers at every level.

Why are traditionally-published reference resources still necessary?  What are publishers doing to make them accessible, usable, and discoverable in the library and on the free Web?  How are these changes impacting reference’s presence in the library?  How are user habits affecting how reference is published, developed, and utilized?  Register now to hear our esteemed panel, including Oxford University Press’ Robert Faber, Editorial Director for Reference (UK), Dave Tyckoson, reference librarian and Associate Dean at California State University, Fresno,  and Dinah Birch, Professor of English Literature and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange at the University of Liverpool and Editor of the newest edition of the classic Oxford Companion to English Literature, 7th Edition, on a panel moderated by Library Journal and School Library Journal Reference Editor Etta Thornton, as they tackle the topic of the ever-changing role of, and need for, authoritative reference in today’s libraries in the “Wiki age.”

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Robert Faber – Editorial Director for Reference (UK), Oxford University Press
Dave Tyckoson – Reference librarian and Associate Dean, California State University, Fresno
Dinah Birch- Professor of English Literature, University of Liverpool

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