SinC Library Grant Program Extended

Sisters in Crime has extended its We Love Libraries! grant program into 2012.

From January through December 2012, SinC will give a $1,000 book-buying grant each month to a library selected via a random drawing.

Recent winners of the SinC We Love Libraries! grants include:

Lawton Public Library in Lawton, OK

Southeast Regional Library in Garner, NC

Plattsmouth Public Library in Plattsmouth, NE

River Road Santa Clara Volunteer Library in Eugene, OR

To be eligible for the grant, libraries must be located in the continental U.S. and must register for the drawing online. For complete program details, go to www.sistersincrime.org.

Is your library registered for the drawing?

San Bruno Public Library, Newport HS Library Win SinC Library Grants

The San Bruno Public Library and the Newport High School Library are the most recent winners of the Sisters in Crime We Love Libraries! book-buying grant. Each library will receive a check for $1,000 for the purchase of books for its lending collection.

The San Bruno Public Library, in San Bruno, California, is part of the Peninsula Library System, which includes eight public library branches and the San Mateo Community College libraries.

The Newport High School Library in Newport, Washington (pictured at right), is part of the Newport School District, which includes Stratton Elementary, Sadie Halstead Middle School and New Port High School.

To date, the SinC "We Love Libraries!" project has provided $1,000 book-buying grants to 18 libraries in the U.S. The library lottery program began in January 2010 and will continue throughout 2011.

Libraries may participate in the We Love Libraries! lottery by completing the online entry form at www.sistersincrime.org and uploading a photo of one or more staff members with three books in the library's collection written by Sisters in Crime members. A list of SinC author members can be found by clicking here.

At the end of each month, a library winner will be selected in a random drawing from the entries submitted online. Libraries must be located within the United States to be eligible for the funding.

Only one entry per library is required. Once an entry is on file with Sisters in Crime, it will remain active in the lottery selection process for the duration of the program.

The State of America's Libraries: The 2011 Report

By Kathie Felix

During this week's observance of National Library Week, the American Library Association released its annual “The State of America's Libraries" report.

The report provides information on current library trends including budget cuts, library use, the use of wireless internet services and computer access, the ebook evolution and related controversies, the most challenged books in the country and recent legislation affecting America’s libraries. The pdf version of the report is available on the ALA website here.

Some key components of the document appear below.

Budget Cuts

Taxpayers approved 87 percent of library operating measures on ballots across the country. However, according to U.S. mayors, local library hours, staff or services ranked number two in budget cuts, second only to cuts in maintenance and services at parks and gardens.

Library Use

A January 2011 poll conducted for the ALA by Harris Interactive found that:

• More than two-thirds of adults said a library’s assistance in starting a business or finding a job was important to them.

• 65 percent of those polled had visited the library in the past year (72 percent women, 58 percent men)

• 58 percent of those surveyed had a library card (mostly women and mostly working women and working mothers)

• 31 percent of adults ranked the library at the top of their list of tax-supported services

Increased Technology Offerings

Nearly 85 percent of public libraries offer wireless internet access and nearly two-thirds of these libraries extend wireless access outside the library. Computer usage at public libraries continues to increase.

Ebooks

For most libraries, ebooks are a small percentage of circulated items, although they represent the fastest-growing segment of borrowing. More than two-thirds of public libraries offer ebooks; almost all academic libraries offer them.

Last month’s announcement that HarperCollins will institute a 26-checkout policy for library ebooks raises the possibility that ebooks that are not repurchased would be available at a library for only about one year.

Most Challenged Books

The Top Ten List of Frequently Challenged Books published annually by the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom:

And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (which has been a target of censors since its publication in 1932)
Crank by Ellen Hopkins
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Lush by Natasha Friend
What My Mother Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones
Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
Revolutionary Voices edited by Amy Sonnie
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Recent Legislation

The legislative topics examined in the report include:

• The Library Services and Technology Act

• Legislation authorizing the use of libraries as relocation centers during disasters and emergencies

• Broadband-related issues such as an FCC-commissioned study that found libraries and other community organizations fill the gap between low home adoption of broadband internet technology and high community demand, library broadband funding via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the National Broadband Plan’s suggestions for the technology needs of libraries.

The American Library Association releases the State of America’s Libraries report each year during National Library Week.

SinC Library Grants Awarded

The Pecatonica High School Library in Pecatonica, Illinois, and the Hastings Public Library in Hastings, Nebraska, are the most recent winners of the Sisters in Crime $1,000 book-buying grants.

The Pecatonica High School Library (pictured at right) was the February winner of the SinC "We Love Libraries!" grant money.

The Hastings Public Library (pictured below) was the March winner of the SinC library grant.

Each month during 2011, Sisters in Crime will award a $1,000 grant for library book purchases.

To date, the SinC "We Love Libraries!" project has provided $1,000 to 16 libraries in the U.S. The library lottery program began in January 2010.

To Participate

Libraries may participate by completing the online entry form at www.sistersincrime.org and uploading a photo of one or more staff members with three books in the library's collection written by Sisters in Crime members. A list of SinC author members can be found by clicking here.

At the end of each month, a library winner will be selected in a random drawing from the entries submitted online. Libraries must be located within the United States to be eligible for the funding.

Only one entry per library is required. Once an entry is on file with Sisters in Crime, it will remain active in the lottery selection process for the duration of the program.