Volume 26, No. 1 - FEBRUARY 2007
 Published by the Texas Library Association
Beating the Drums for Libraries:

PLEASE NOTE:
Conference runs from
Wednesday through
Saturday this year!

Do you know your way to San Antonio?

If not, just follow the thousands of library supporters, vendors, and librarians who will convene at the 94th TLA conference.  The 2007 TLA Conference, Strong Libraries, Strong Communities, will feature over 230 programs and events that explore every aspect of library development. Some of our featured speakers this year include internationally renowned author Isabel Allende, ABC’s 20/20 correspondent Lynn Sherr, school specialist Stephen Krashen, Unshelved comic strip creators Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, advertising legend Tim McClure, educational expert Hall Davidson, and library instruction guru Randy Hensley.

FEATURED SPEAKERS

Isabel Allende took the literary world by storm with the publication of The House of the Spirits, a novel which chronicled four generations of a Chilean family against the backdrop of Chile’s brutal history. Her most recent work, Portrait in Sepia, chronicles the story of a woman determined to solve the mystery of a past she cannot remember.

Lynn Sherr has been a correspondent with ABC’s newsmagazine 20/20 since 1986 and has covered a wide range of stories specializing in women’s issues, social change, and investigative reports. She has received numerous awards, including an Emmy and a George Foster Peabody Award. Her books include Failure Is Impossible: Susan B. Anthony in Her Own Words, Tall Blondes, and her most recent work, Outside the Box.

Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum, co-creators of the library-based comic strip Unshelved, capture the drama (high and low) of library land. They assure us that most of their content is based on real life experience. Certainly, the use of bacon as bookmarks has a ring of being too weird to be fake…

PARTY ON. . .

Bienvenidos a San Antonio at the 2007 Welcome Party. The San Antonio Museum of Art will serve as host and is home to the region’s finest display of Greek and Roman antiquities, Asian art, and European and American paintings. The Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Latin American Art houses the museum’s extensive collections of pre-Colombian art, Latin American folk art, Spanish Colonial art, and contemporary Latin American art.

The President’s All-Conference Party will take place at the grotto area of the convention center. Just imagine a waterfall tumbling through a garden with bright stars lighting a perfect spring evening. Now picture yourself with your friends, drinking the fruits of a margarita machine, enjoying the music of Jazz, Blues, and Diamonds, and relaxing out in a perfect San Antonio evening.

In addition to the food, cash-bar drinks, and music, you’ll also be treated to a one-time gathering of the Men of Texas Libraries – yes, those brave and stalwart souls who donated their time (and bodies) by posing for the calendar being sold to raise funds for the TLA Disaster Relief Fund. Meet the models, drink some margaritas, and enjoy a true evening of San Antonio good times.

  


 TLA 2007
SPEAKERS
PARTIES
LOGISTICS
SPONSORS

Legislative Update

TLA News

Library News

Names in
the News

ALA to
Celebrate Anniversaries

by Sara Albert

ALA President-Elect Loriene Roy cares about celebrating community, collaboration, and culture, and wants to celebrate notable events in library history. She is gathering examples of library anniversary events that will be occurring during her ALA presidential year, June 27, 2007 through July 2, 2008.

Events include library openings, closings, and renovations; organization foundings and first conferences; births or deaths of people important in library history; and any other noteworthy library-related event that will be celebrating a milestone anniversary during Roy's term as ALA President. We especially want to highlight centennial anniversaries.

We have already gathered over 200 anniversary events, but we need your help to reach our goal of at least one anniversary for each day of Roy's presidential year. You can share your library anniversaries through an online submission form at www.lorieneroy.com. Please take a minute to help us complete this exciting project.

 

Help us avoid the "ROOM TOO FULL" signs

In order for staff to assign the appropriate size meeting room for each function, please complete the session preference form when you preregister. The session preference form can be completed online, or can be submitted by fax or mail. This information is invaluable for knowing how many attendees plan to attend each session and helps reduce the possibility of meeting rooms overflowing.   

Hotel rooms are still available!

Have you made your housing reservations for TLA 2007?  Even though the housing has been active since April of 2006, rooms are periodically added to the blocks, and there are still conference hotels available from which you can choose.  For more information, access the housing form on the TLA website or contact Ambassadors by sending an email to txla@ambassadors.com or by calling 1-800-243-1205 for assistance.

Soon to be mailed!

The 2007 conference program is scheduled to be mailed in early February to all TLA members.  Please note that we will be printing only ONE conference program which will include all presentation abstracts, speaker information, and photos, etc.  Please make sure you bring your program with you to conference since the publication that will be distributed onsite will be a pocket-size version that will only contain the name of the event, and the day, time, and location for each function.  Conference program details are posted on the TLA website at www.txla.org.

Take your conference program to …well…conference!

Be sure to take your copy of the mailed conference program with you to conference. It will have the full program details. The pocket program you will receive at conference will have the event names and locations but not the session descriptions. The daily conference newsletter will contain updates and the latest news; and the Exhibits Directory & Buyers Guide will contain exhibit hall information.

Exhibit Hall Regulations: “No Wheels” policy is back – by POPULAR demand!

On December 2, 2006, the TLA Executive Board reinstated the “no wheels” policy in the exhibit hall for the 2007 annual conference, meaning that attendees and exhibitors will not be allowed the use of wheeled carts in the exhibit hall. This decision was based on many factors, including the feedback from both attendees and exhibitors who experimented with the use of luggage carts at the Houston conference in 2006. The Executive Board and staff of TLA thank you for your cooperation as we ensure the safety and enjoyment of all individuals in the exhibit hall.

Changes for ticketed events 

For the all-conference ticketed meal functions, please note that if you are purchasing tickets on the preregistration form, events are listed slightly differently than in the past. For example,

  • Library Friends, Trustees, and Advocates Round Table Luncheon is now the Opening Author Session sponsored by Library Friends, Trustees, and Advocates Round Table;  
  • Texas Bluebonnet Award Luncheon is now the Author Session with TBA Winner;
  • Children's Round Table Breakfast is now the Author Session with Mo Willems;  
  • Closing Luncheon is now the Closing Author Session with the Unshelved Librarians; and  
  • Evening with the Authors Dinner is  now the Dying to Meet You Speed Dating  Author Session. 

One Book, One Conference

In honor of keynote speaker Isabel Allende's participation in this conference, the Conference Program Committee has selected her Portrait in Sepia for this year's One Book, One Conference. Join in a discussion of Isabel Allende's epic story that explores the lives, loves, struggles, and secrets of a family in 19th century revolutionary Chile. Read the book and come ready to participate in the third TLA One Book, One Conference. Coleen Grissom of Trinity University will lead the discussion.

Drill Team Contest: On Your Mark,  Start Your Cart!

It's time once again to begin the quest for glory and library fame. The 2007 Texas State Champion Book Cart Precision Drill Team Championship will be held at the TLA annual conference. If your drill team is ready for prime time, go to http://www.txla.org/conference/teamrules.html for the complete rules and application. The number of teams will be limited and selected on a "first come first served" basis, so apply early. The Championship will be held Thursday, April 12, 2007  from 5:00 - 6:30 pm at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. TLA's winning team will again be invited to the national competition in Washington, D.C. at the American Library Association Annual Conference.

Send any questions to Sharon Swarner sswarn@neisd.net

GO!

Exhibits Extraordinaire!

You won’t want to miss the opportunity to visit with over 450 vendors in the TLA Exhibit Hall. This year, conference attendees can enjoy the exhibit hall during uncontested time from 1 pm to 2 pm on Thursday and Friday, and the Exhibit Hall Rush Hour will take place on Thursday from 4 pm to 5 pm.

Conference Sponsors

The Texas Library Association expresses its most sincere gratitude to the
following companies for their sponsorship of 2007 Annual Conference Events:

  • Badge Holders: Compass Point Books/Picture Window Books

  • Book Cart Competition: Demco, Inc.

  • Closing Author Session (Luncheon): ThomsonGale

  • Conference Programs

  • “Invigorate Collaboration”: The Gumdrop Companies

  • “The Power of Pleasure Reading”: Highsmith, Inc.

  • The Conference Times: The Gumdrop Companies

  • Diversity Fair: Demco, Inc.

  • Exhibits Directory & Buyers Guide: Librarian’s Yellow Pages

  • Exhibit Hall Café: The Gumdrop Companies

  • Exhibit Hall Patio Café: Davidson Titles

  • Exhibit Hall Rush Hour: Escue & Associates

  • General Session I: netTrekker d.i.

  • General Session II: Brodart Company

  • Hetherington Fun Run/Walk: ProQuest

  • Information Center: The Gumdrop Companies

  • Internet Room: Veicon Technologies

  • Net Fair: netTrekker d.i.

  • Pocket Program: The Gumdrop Companies

  • President’s Party: Baker & Taylor
    PARTY SPIRITS   EBSCO, Encyclopaedia Britannica

  • Small Community Libraries Round Table Dessert Social: Star Books;  Biblionix

  • TALL Texans Leadership Institute: Demco, Inc.

  • Texas Bluebonnet Award Luncheon: Bound To Stay Bound

  • Post Conference Survey: The Gumdrop Companies

  • Welcome Party: Ingram Library Services Inc.

  • Wireless Internet Service: SirsiDynix

 TLA thanks Texas High School Project, ThomsonGale, PermaBound, & ABC-CLIO 
for their support of the “Strong Libraries, Strong Scores” mini-conference on April 12.

Scholarships, Awards, Grants & Conference Stipends

  • Demco/TLA Research Grant

  • Garrett Scholarship

  • Greg Escue & Associates Conference Stipend

  • Highsmith Awards

  • Proquest/SIRS Intellectual Freedom Award

  • Quality Books – NMRT Professional Development Grant

  • Texas Book Festival Grants

  • Texas Center for the Book & Texas Association of School Librarians: “Letters about Literature”

  • Tocker Foundation Conference Stipends

  • Van Dusen-Brady-Tobin Scholarship

  • Walter H. Escue Scholarship
     

Conference Schedule Revised

2007: April 11-14, San Antonio
2008: April 15-18, Dallas
2009: April 1-4, Houston; was Apr. 22–25
2010: April 13–16, San Antonio
2011: April 12-15, Austin
2012: April 24-27 in Houston; was Apr. 17-20, Dallas
2013: April 9–12, San Antonio
2014: April 8-11 in Dallas; was TBD

 

Legislative Update

The 80th Legislature has convened. While state budgeters estimate a large surplus, the Legislature passed a measure that would limit state spending increases over the biennium. Much of the budget surplus will be consumed by increases caused by formula funding and property tax reductions.

The Legislative Budget Board recommendations (which serve as the basis for the appropriations process) include the reinstatement of most of the 10% cut the State Library and Archives Commission was asked to include in its Legislative Appropriations Request (LAR). Most of that 10% cut (approximately $1.3 million a year) had been taken from the Loan Star Libraries program. That funding has been initially restored in the starting budget document.

TLA Legislative Day

TLA’s Legislative Day was Tuesday, February 6, 2007 in Austin.  Legislative Day is a critical time for library supporters to visit with elected officials to inform them of library initiatives and to ask for their support.

All delegates received training on issues on Monday, February 5 at 7 pm or had the option of an abbreviated overview on Tuesday morning at 8 am. Legislative Day ended this year with a special reception at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, which once again exhibited some of the state’s most prized archival documents, including the Travis letter from the Alamo and the Texas Declaration of Independence of 1836.

ISSUES

Some of the issues that TLA is supporting include the following:

K-12 Statewide Database Access

Given the State’s termination of Texas Library Connection in 2003 and the strong momentum built last session for the State Library to facilitate school database access, school libraries need to move toward state support for database costs. The library community will work toward establishing funding for statewide K-12 databases through TSLAC and/or TEA.

TexShare

Given the growing demands of TexShare users and the need to continually grow the program, TLA will request additional funds.

Direct Aid to Public Libraries

The library community will support TSLAC’s exceptional item request of $10.3 million per year for direct aid to public libraries. This very successful program provides direct funding to all public libraries in Texas.

State Library Sunset

The Texas Sunset Advisory Commission staff has recommended the reauthorization of the agency. It also recommended action concerning the Systems formula, competitive grants, county librarian certification, and digitization projects. TLA will support the reauthorization of the agency and monitor the reauthorization bill.

Public Library District Legislation

Sales tax-based library districts and property-tax based district representatives are seeking clarification to current statutes. TLA will monitor and support improvements to library district legislation.

For a full list of issues, go to: http://www.txla.org/html/govt_aff.html. Also, to keep current with the latest state library legislative news, subscribe to Texline, a free irregular publication emailed whenever library policy news is breaking. To subscribe, send an email to gloriam@txla.org.

State Library Update

The State Library and the Library Services Act (LSA) Advisory Board are beginning the process of crafting a new funding formula for Library Systems program funds.  The Texas Sunset Advisory Commission has given initial approval for the existing System program formula to be moved from statute to the agency’s rule-making authority. The Legislature has final approval and will have to approve the recommendation, which is expected to be a part of the agency reauthorization legislation. If the measure is approved, the existing statutory formula would likely be repealed from the Government Code and the agency would need to propose a formula to allocate Systems funding for FY 2008 (begins September 1, 2007).

The LSA Advisory Board considered various scenarios, including the option of using the current formula (through Fiscal Year 2008) to give stakeholders ample opportunity to craft a new formula structure and reach consensus. The group also discussed the potential to work on an accelerated schedule to create a new formula structure in time for FY 2008.  Agency staff did note that, either way, the State Library would have to begin the process for posting a rule with a formula for 2008, whether the formula is the same as the current one (in order to allow more time for crafting a rule) or whether a revised formula is completed in time for FY 2008.

TLA Announcements

TLA Elections

TLA elections for Executive Board candidates and officers in several units participating in online balloting will begin in February.  Be sure to cast your vote by March 21, 2007 (11:59 PM CST). Only members who renewed their membership by February 1, 2007 are eligible to vote.

Membership

Be sure to renew your TLA membership for 2007 by logging onto the TLA “Members Only” section of the TLA website (www.txla.org). You can also update all your contact information so that we can ensure that all TLA publications are sent to the correct physical and email addresses.

Proposed New TLA IG for Teens

Texas teenagers have quickly become an integral part of libraries today.  With young adults making up 23% of today’s library users, they are a population that cannot be ignored.  An increasing number of libraries have expanded services to young adults, and one of the leading factors is the need to allow young people to voice their ideas! 

My name is Valerie Jensen with the Chambers County Library System.  I am currently working on forming an interest group officially named, “Texas Teens 4 Libraries,” to be made up of librarians, teachers, and most of all, teenagers.  Currently, there is no organization for teenagers within the Texas Library Association; my goal, along with other supporters, is to allow them the opportunity to have their own “group” to discuss, share, and promote ideas to their peers and other members of this group. 

Promoting advocacy to our young people is important. Giving teens the opportunity to have a voice at the state level benefits librarians, teachers, and the entire state.  If you are interested in helping to establish this group or want to be more involved, please help me by signing a petition.  You can sign the petition through a few options: 

  1. Simply email me with your typed signature, TLA member number, and a brief sentence stating you are in support of “Texas Teens 4 Libraries.”

  2. Fax your signature, TLA member number, along with a brief sentence stating you are in support of “Texas Teens 4 Libraries.”

  3. Sign in person at TLA in San Antonio!  I will be walking around with my petition in hand. 

Thanks so much for your support!

Valerie Jensen, Chambers County Library System, vjensen@co.chambers.tx.us, fax number:  409-267-5181

Library Announcements


SAPL Receives Top National Honor

The San Antonio Public Library was one of three libraries nationally to receive a National Award for Museum and Library Service. First Lady Laura Bush presented the awards at a ceremony at the White House on January 8.

These awards are conferred annually by the Institute of Museum and Library Services to museums and libraries that have demonstrated a long-term commitment to public service through innovative programs and community partnerships. They include prizes of $10,000 to each recipient and help raise public awareness of the good work the institutions are doing in their communities.

The San Antonio Public Library is striving to make its city of 1.2 million people a community of learning. The library has a strategy that addresses the cultural mosaic of the San Antonio community and is helping to boost library usage, especially among the hard-to-reach, low-income, Spanish-speaking population. The San Antonio Public Library can now boast that its programs and services bring approximately 10,000 people a day through the doors of its many branches.

SAPL was represented by community member Debra Torres, a Born to Read mom who has an eighth-grade honor student; Library Director Ramiro Salazar; and Jean Brady, chair of the San Antonio Public Library Board of Trustees.

Celebrate!

El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children's Day/Book Day), known as Día, is a celebration of children, families, and reading held annually on April 30. The celebration emphasizes the importance of advocating literacy for children of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

Through the support of Target, libraries nationwide may receive up to 200 complimentary bilingual brochures upon submitting information to ALSC about their Día celebrations. Beginning February 1, an online event submission form will be available via the Día Web site at http://www.ala.org/dia. Those who register their Día event information by April 1 will receive free brochures and bookmarks, while supplies last.

ALSC and Target will provide mini-grants of $5,000 plus a suite of Día-themed promotional materials to eight model public library systems.

Selected library systems/libraries will be known as Día 2007 Super Sites. Grant funds will support efforts to purchase culturally relevant books for permanent collections or giveaways, or to fund Día programs. Super Sites also will receive a display banner, bookplates, bookmarks, and bilingual brochures featuring recommended children’s books and tips for parents on reading to/with their children.

Be sure to check the website (http://www.patmora.com/dia.htm) of  Día creator Pat Mora’s for information on applying for the 2007 Pat Mora Award for Dia celebrations.

Library Research and Reports

AASL launches survey because “School Libraries Count!”

 The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) is launching a longitudinal survey of school library media programs.   The “School Libraries Count!” survey opened on January 18, 2007 and will gather data on changes in the field to gain understanding of the state of school library media programs nationally.

 

While national estimates will be developed on the basis of survey responses from a stratified random sample of public schools, all K-12 schools, public and private, are invited to participate on a voluntary basis. 

 

The brief survey's 20 questions cover the library media center's hours, staff and selected staff activities, collection, technology, usage, and expenditures.  More information about “School Libraries Count!” is available at:   http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/schlibrariesandyou/schoollibrariescount/survey.htm.

TLA Names in the News

Lisa Charbonnet has accepted a new part-time role as library district coordinator for the new East Travis County Gateway Library District.

Victoria Kemp, formerly of the Irving Public Library, is now technical services manager at Flower Mound Public Library.

Tish Mulkey will retire from Plano ISD at the end of this school year.

Stephenie Neely, managing librarian of Daniel E. Ruiz Branch (Austin Public Library) was among the top 25 librarians honored by The New York Times.

Deaths

Valentine Poska passed away Thursday, January 18, 2007. He was a faculty
member and periodicals librarian at San Antonio College for 25 years, retiring in 1986.

UNSPAM TLA!

Well, since you are reading our online newsletter, you are way ahead of the tech curve! Please share the following information with any colleagues who don’t seem to know what has happened to their copy of TLACast:

  • We need to have a current and correct email address for all TLA members. Otherwise, individuals won’t get any email notices of newsletters or announcements. You can update information in the Members Only section of the TLA website.
  • Once we have your email, please be sure that your network administrator “un-spams” TLA messages. Believe it or not, not all networks understand that TLA messages are not spam! That’s almost un-American (at least, un-Texan), but it happens! So please ­ – advocate to your colleagues: UNSPAM TLA. (Quite cleverly, we will also be including this message in print publications.)

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