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ASSOCIATION OF JEWISH LIBRARIES ANNOUNCES AFFILIATION WITH AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

The Association of Jewish Libraries has become an affiliate of the American Library Association as of January, 2010. Among ALA’s twenty-eight affiliate organizations, there are a number that, like AJL, represent religious or ethnic library services, including the American Indian Library Association, the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association, the Catholic Library Association, the Black Caucus of ALA, and the Chinese American Librarians Association.

AJL was welcomed into the fold with a warm “Congratulations!” by ALA’s Alicia Bastl, liaison for affiliates. “AJL’s mission is to support Judaic libraries and promote Jewish literacy. ALA wants to do the same for American libraries. Our goals overlap and reinforce each other. We hope that this new affiliation will help AJL grow and strengthen even as it helps ALA diversify,” said Susan Dubin, AJL President. “This is a great opportunity for us to educate the library world about AJL and its many activities.”

Affiliates enjoy representation at ALA conferences and in ALA print and online publications. Benefits of membership began immediately for AJL, when the winners of its 2010 Sydney Taylor Book Award were announced on the ALA website alongside their other children’s literary prizes such as the Newbery and Caldecott medals.

The Association of Jewish Libraries, established in 1966, has over 1,000 members worldwide. AJL promotes Jewish literacy through enhancement of libraries and library resources and through leadership for the profession and practitioners of Judaica librarianship. Visit the AJL website at www.jewishlibraries.org, and visit http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/affiliates/affiliates/AJL.cfm to see AJL’s presence on ALA’s website.

Source: "People of the Books," column of AJL President Susan Dubin, February 24, 2010.

Information Searches that Solve Problems

"Members of Gen Y are the leading users of libraries for help solving problems and in more general patronage."
"For help with a variety of problems, more people turn to the Internet than consult experts or family members to provide information and resources."
Source: PEW Internet & American Life Project. The PEW Center is an independent opinion research group that studies attitudes toward the press, politics, and public policy issues.

School Libraries Do Make a Difference

Research Studies from 1993 to 2005 in Sixteen States - and updated in 2006.
The data listed below were gathered in research studies from 1993 to 2005 in sixteen states. Each
of the elements named had a positive, measurable impact on student achievement. These studies
and other information about school libraries are presented in School Libraries Work!, a research
foundation paper published in 2004 and updated in 2006 by Scholastic Library Publishing,
www.scholastic.com/librarypublishing. More...
(http://www.schoolibrary.org/pdf/Librarystudytable9_07.pdf)

(Source: Susan Dubin, AJLSC member, Off-the-Shelf Library Services, and Vice-President/President Elect of Association of Jewish Libraries.)

And Now, Folks, Behold the 15-Minute Publisher v
By ANTHONY RAMIREZ

Source: The New York Times
August 2, 2007

In the Middle Ages, a book was a big production. It might take a year for a monk to copy a manuscript, which is Latin for “written by hand,” onto a specially prepared calf, sheep or goat skin and then to decorate it with silver or gold.

In the mid-15th century, Johannes Gutenberg, a German goldsmith, sped up book production considerably with the invention of movable type. A single book page might take half a day, faster if workers showed industry.

Today, the book business is faster still, but few things are as fast as something called the Espresso Book Machine, the product of a high-tech publishing venture that has nothing to do with caffeine.

Yesterday, in the lobby of a Midtown branch of the New York Public Library, three visitors — a graduate student, a Hong Kong publishing executive and a sixth grader — stood in various states of awe as a Rube Goldberg contraption produced a book from digital code to hefty paperback in under 15 minutes.

The book machine, which occupies the space of two deli-style ice cream freezers, looks like office photocopiers attached to a tinted stereo cabinet and computer terminal. It hums, makes spitting noises, moans and then belches out a newly glued book, fresh as bread and almost as hot. ...more....

U.S.Patriot Act as It Affects Libraries

To keep current, refer to "U. S. Patriot Act and Intellectual Freedom" on the website of the American Library Association, Office of Intellectual Freedom.

Yiddish collection evaluated at Los Angeles Public Library

Mark L. Smith, Yiddish scholar, has written an article about the LAPL Yiddish book collection, for distribution to those interested. It is copied here in full text.

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