NJLA Blog -- The Official Weblog of the New Jersey Library Association: May 2008 Archives

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May 30, 2008

Membership Recognition -- 25 Years

Since 2005, the Member Services Committee has been recognizing those members of the Association with 25 years or more of continuous membership. In this short time, we have honored over 100 loyal NJLA members! We want to thank the following people for their 25 years of service to NJLA. Their contribution of time and talent makes NJLA the strong organization it is today.

The 2008 class of honorees includes:

Joan M. DelleCave
Maureen Gorman
Karen Haase-Gray
Elizabeth McCall
Kevin Mulcahy
Karen Novick
Paul Rigby
Linda M. Risden
Joanne Roukens
Michael Utasi

Pictured: (Left to Right) M. Utasi, L. Risden, E. McCall, M. Gorman

Posted by member at 10:49 AM | Comments (0)
Category: Conference 2008 Member Services Committee

May 21, 2008

Library to float EIRC plan

Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Gloucester County Times
By Jessica Beym
jbeym@sjnewsco.com
WASHINGTON TWP. The library board plans to approach the township council Thursday with a proposal to purchase an educational office building on Delsea Drive and refurbish it into a new, larger municipal library.

Mike Allen, chairman of the library board of trustees, said the board will present appraisal figures and conceptual plans for the Education Information Resource Center (EIRC).

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Library to float EIRC plan
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
By Jessica Beym
jbeym@sjnewsco.com
WASHINGTON TWP. The library board plans to approach the township council Thursday with a proposal to purchase an educational office building on Delsea Drive and refurbish it into a new, larger municipal library.

Mike Allen, chairman of the library board of trustees, said the board will present appraisal figures and conceptual plans for the Education Information Resource Center (EIRC).

If the council signs off on the plan, it could mean the end of a decade-long struggle to find a larger library to suit the township's population.

"We have a tentative agreement to ballpark figures," Allen said. "The whole purpose of the meeting is to let the township council know where we are and give them a chance to think about it."

While he wouldn't release the appraisal figures, Allen said the library board has enough money to purchase the building outright, rather than do a lease-purchase agreement.

However, Council President Michelle Martin said it's highly unlikely the council will make any formal decision Thursday because it still has yet to see the municipal budget.

"Nothing will happen until after that budget has been presented to us and we can see from there what needs to be done," Martin said.

Martin said she doesn't know if the library board will ask the township council to help pay for certain fees associated with securing bonds to pay for the purchase.

"That's part of their presentation, to show us they can do this," Martin said. "They might have the upfront money, but do we have to take out a bond for 20 years? The project could be great, (but) I just don't know that we're ready to do that."

Mayor Paul Moriarty believes otherwise.

"I think that's important that we press forward," said Moriarty. "The library's finances and their decisions on how to go about making a better and bigger library should be independent from the township."

The 20,000-square-foot building on Delsea Drive would be an ideal facility for a new library, Allen said. It's double the current size of the Margaret E. Heggan Library on East Holly Avenue and is already used for similar library use.

Allen pointed out it's also a much more viable choice than purchasing the 46,000-square-foot Skater's Choice skating rink on Holly Avenue an option that had been mulled over by the board and local officials since August.

"EIRC is really a much better facility than the skating rink and even the skating rink owner acknowledged it's a better facility," Allen said. "But we didn't take Skater's Choice off the table until this came along."

During the discussions about Skater's Choice, issues were raised regarding the size of the parking lot, the extra space in the building, the costs of turning the dark rink into a well-lit library, and some financial issues that the owner was facing.

The EIRC building, however, is also just down the road from the current library and is used for educational training for local teachers and teacher aides.

"It's pretty much an open building," Allen said. "Part of it right now is designed to be a library facility. They have a lot more offices and there's a printing center in the building that we probably wouldn't use. And it's a convenient location. It's not in the center of town, but it's a convenient location."

Allen said the library board will be meeting tonight to discuss the proposals and the plans will go before the council Thursday at 6 p.m. in the municipal building.

"They have to concur that we can do this because this building would belong to the township, and the township council is the one that has ultimate approval," Allen said.

Posted by tumulty at 6:46 PM | Comments (0)
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May 13, 2008

Holocaust Book Program

One of the more interesting programs sponsored by the Children's Services Section at this Conference was a program on Holocaust books for children. The presenter was Kathe Pinchuk, this year's chair of the American Jewish Library Association's Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee. Ms. Pinchuk gave her audience some tips on reviewing and evaluating books on the Holocaust and then provided with an excellent list of recommended titles for a wide variety of ages. Her powerpoint presentation and an annotated list of recommended books have been posted to the handouts section of the wiki, so don't miss them.

Pat Vasilik
Children's Coordinator
Clifton Public Library
Clifton, NJ

Posted by childrens at 3:18 PM | Comments (0)
Category: Conference 2008

Program recommending Spanish language books for Children

Lucia Acosta, from the Princeton Public Library, presented a great program at the conference, talking about the importance of including Spanish language materials in our public library collections and highlighting some of the books in Spanish that she thinks are outstanding. Lucia is not a big fan of bilingual books. (A biligual text often interupts the flow of the book, especially picture books, and very often the Spanish translation suffers.) Her recommended list of books for children will be posted to the wiki soon, so watch for it.

Posted by childrens at 3:11 PM | Comments (0)
Category: Conference 2008

May 9, 2008

NJLA Conference 2008

Within my work history, my previous experience with professional shows was horticulture. Just try to imagine the garden section at your local Home Depot or Lowe's picked up, reorganized into booths over the size of a football field, and then assigned a small group of knowledgeable but surreally excitable representatives. I cannot say that I got very excited over a new type of PVC pipe or a reformulated herbicides or the latest in tractor technology. To be fair, I cannot say that I got very excited over shelving systems or databases or book distributors, but I think it is only because I don't have access to the library system checkbook. Overall, it was an enjoyable introduction to the professional librarian convention scene.

My wife and I are librarians for different branches of the Burlington County Library System. The conference was a great way to spend the day with her while we both broadened our professional horizons. And with the various conference offerings, we were able to take in different presentations and compare notes on the car ride home. The only thing I missed was the chance to chat and do some social networking with some of the other librarians present; but this was more of a product of our conference schedule than actual opportunity. In any event, I found the programs that I attended to be interesting and relevant to what I do on a daily basis.

There was one observation that I found that will not shock or surprise anyone who was in attendance nor in the library profession and it will sound like such an obvious statement that some who read this might think I'm being a bit obvious. But it was something that stuck in my head, so I will try to put this as diplomatically as possible: the female to male ratio is somewhat askew. And by somewhat askew, I mean to say "noticeable to the point where I remarked to my wife about it and she looked me like I was a simpleton". It was something apparent in graduate school as well, but when you see it on such a large scale, it really drives the point home. It is in sharp relief to the very male dominated horticulture industry that I was a part of before library science (although I cannot think of one little girl that I have met who has said, "When I grow up, I want to apply pesticides!"). Personally, gender ratio doesn't matter to me, but the scientist within wonders as to the causes and whether it will maintain the status quo for the future.

I'm not sure of the exact causes, but studies indicate libraries tend to lose male patronage at puberty. We (the royal "we") seem to have a hard time regaining them so it is no surprise that they would be less inclined to make a career out of it. I will leave any discussion on how to reclaim these patrons to more experienced and better educated peers, but my inexperienced and non-educated belief is that, with the continuing digital revolution, we will see the gender balance tip closer to parity. It will be interesting to see how it unfolds along side the ongoing information revolution.

I look forward to next year's conference.

Andy Woodworth
Librarian
Bordentown Library
Burlington County Library System

Posted by conf08 at 11:36 AM | Comments (0)
Category: Conference 2008

May 8, 2008

Jersey City Bookmobile returns

by Lysa Chen
Thursday May 08, 2008, 1:33 PM

The Jersey City Free Public Library's new Bookmobile will begin routes Monday, two years after the previous Bookmobile went out of commission.

The 33-foot, disabled-accessible Bookmobile, which will be unveiled at 5 p.m. tonight before the library's "Casino Night & Silent Auction" event, will alternate between two weekly schedules, which can be found at http://jclibrary.org/libinfo/bookmobile.php.

The Bookmobile will stop at various locations in Jersey City, including community centers, day cares and senior centers.

"There are people who have a hard time getting to a library, so we're bringing the library to them," said Library Foundation Treasurer Mike Ryan.

The air-conditioned mobile library features a television and DVD player, a satellite dish and three computers and can hold 2000 books, Ryan said.

The Bookmobile cost $222,780.84 and was paid through proceeds from Library Foundation fund-raisers since 2005.

"The old Bookmobile looked like an antique bus, kind of embarrassing for a big city," Ryan said. "The new bus is something a city like Jersey City deserves. It's as big as the city is."

Posted by tumulty at 6:49 PM | Comments (0)
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FBI withdraws digital library's national security letter

By PAUL ELIAS
Published: Wednesday, May 07, 2008

A nonprofit digital library has successfully fought an FBI attempt to seize information about one of its users, and is calling on other groups to challenge government agencies attempting to obtain online customer information without a judge's order.
The FBI presented the San Francisco-based Internet Archive with a national security letter in November asking for a library patron's records. The group sued the agency a month later, alleging the letter violated free speech rights because they prohibit recipients from talking to anyone else about them.

The Internet Archive said Wednesday the FBI agreed to withdraw the letter last week and make the case, which had been filed under seal, public. Sections of the lawsuit and supporting documents detailing what and who investigators were looking into have been blacked out.

National security letters are used to compel businesses to turn over customer information without a judge's order or grand jury subpoena. They are most typically served on Internet service providers and telephone companies demanding billing records, subscriber information and other electronic communication transactional records.

The companies receiving the letters are barred from telling customers who are the targets of the FBI demands.

The FBI defended its demand Wednesday on the Internet Archive in particular and the letters in general as important weapons to fight terrorism.
"The information requested in the national security letter was relevant to an ongoing, authorized national security investigation," Assistant FBI Director John Miller said in a statement. He said the NSLs "remain indispensable tools for national security investigations and permit the FBI to gather the basic building blocks for our counterterrorism and counterintelligence investigations."

The FBI didn't explain what prompted the agency to settle this case.

The FBI issued nearly 200,000 of the letters between 2003 and 2006 but has been challenged in court only three times, said American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Melissa Goodman, who represented the Internet Archive.

Goodman said the FBI has lost all three challenges, including in a case last year that a federal judge in New York ruled the letters unconstitutional. The government has appealed that decision.

"Without judicial or public oversight, there is literally nothing stopping the FBI from issuing improper demands for records," Goodman said.

FBI Director Robert Mueller has conceded that the bureau improperly used NSLs without proper authorization and in non-emergency situations between 2003 and 2005, but has told Congress the FBI had since instituted better safeguards.

Goodman and others involved in the San Francisco case, including Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle, declined to discuss any details about the information the FBI sought or the name of the patron.

Another Internet Archive attorney, Kurt Opsahl of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the library collects "extremely limited nonpublic information" and that publicly available data was given to the FBI.

The Internet Archive was launched in 1996 in collaboration with the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, and other public organizations to provide a permanent record of Web pages. Its Wayback Machine function lets users access some 55 billion pages of archived Internet pages that may no longer be available for viewing anywhere else.

Posted by tumulty at 6:47 PM | Comments (0)
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May 6, 2008

Borough needs local library

Letter to the editor Asbury Park Press may 6, 2008
As a professional writer, words are everything to me. And it was through my hometown library — the Eatontown Public Library — that I first learned to truly love words. Some of my earliest memories are of trips there with my mother, who treated the outings as sacred, thrilling events. That's what they became.

I remember the children's corner, outfitted with a table and chairs and low shelves that brimmed with classics I asked my mom to read to me over and over again, from "Green Eggs and Ham" to "The Little Airplane." I remember graduating to the young adult section, and then across the aisle, not far from the librarian's desk, to adult books, which I devoured quickly, wanting to be like my mother, who would check out four books at a time and manage to keep them all going at once.

It wasn't until high school, when I was researching a report, that I made my first foray into the Monmouth County Library. I found it too big and too intimidating and, while I eventually got used to its vastness and grew to appreciate it, it was never the same as my first library — small, yet brimming with literature, filled with a priceless, small-town intimacy and yet containing endless worlds.

When a friend told me recently that the Eatontown Public Library could soon close, I felt sadness and dread, even though I have not been in the place for at least a decade. I thought of how it touched my life and how it must have touched so many others, and how its purpose — to nurture, teach and foster love of words in a close-knit environment — would not be replaceable by that of the larger county library, even though that one, too, is necessary. How can my hometown not have room in its heart for both?

How can Eatontown have room for countless shopping malls and fast-food places — even a topless dance joint — but not for one single library? Please tell me we are smarter than that.

Beth Greenfield

NEW YORK

Posted by tumulty at 9:48 AM | Comments (0)
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May 5, 2008

West Paterson library's circulation way up

By VIRGIL DICKSON, HERALD NEWS | 04/30/08 02:11 AM

Robert Lindsley, director of the Alfred H. Baumann Free Public Library in West Paterson, says the key to a 42 percent increase in circulation is all about giving people what they want. (TYSON TRISH / SPECIAL TO THE HERALD NEWS)
WEST PATERSON -- The Alfred H. Baumann Free Public Library has experienced a 42 percent increase in circulation this year by making available DVDs, CDs, mp3 players, videogames, enhancing selections of best-selling books and being readily available to the community.

But the catalyst behind its resurgence is Robert Lindsley, a 33-year part-time veteran employee promoted to library director in November 2006. He has been credited with implementing an aggressive plan making the library more attractive to patrons.

"It was about meeting demand," Lindsley said in explaining the library's improvement in general circulation.

The increase exhibited by the Baumann Library over the past year was more than the 25 libraries in the Passaic County Library System, according to a 2007 report. Though West Paterson is smaller, the library had a higher print and electronic circulation checkout volume than larger libraries such as Paterson, Clifton and Passaic, according to Passaic County library officials.

In assuming the helm, Lindsley immediately sought to expand services and programs and the work paid off, according to county library officials.

By extending library hours and ordering additional copies of in-demand DVDs and books, as well as enhancing home deliveries for seniors and the disabled, more items were checked out, rising from 21,635 in 2006 to 30,804 in 2007. County library officials attribute the growth to Lindsley's promotion to library director.

"I think (the circulation increase) has a lot to do with Bob Lindsley being more present in the library," Christi Sayre, interim executive director of PALS Plus (Passaic County Library System), said last week. "He has a ton of energy that is being focused right into the library."

The average circulation improvement for other Passaic County public libraries was 9 percent, county library officials said.

Lindsley's increase in hours came about because of a state requirement that a municipality with at least 7,500 residents must have a full-time library director or risk losing library aid.

Library board members voted to boost Lindsley's workload from 20 hours a week to 35, and increase his salary from $32,000 to $75,000 annually. The library, located on Brophy Lane, owns 45,000 books, CDs, DVDs and has an annual budget of $550,000. There are 10 employees, including Lindsley, at the library; four are full-time.

The library saw a 14 percent increase in borrowers from 4,241 in 2006 to 4,834 last year, Lindsley said, adding that he requested the library study after noticing an increase in print and electronic items being checked out. When he observed the 42 percent increase, he was stunned.

"I didn't realize it would be this dramatic," Lindsley said.

"It is really important to have the materials people are interested in," Lindsley said.

Families are beginning to look at the public library as a place for entertainment and social gathering during the current economic slowdown in New Jersey. Lindsley said it was a positive indication that the public was utilizing the broad spectrum of print and electronic materials available at the library.

"We are here to be a service organization," he said.

Libraries are more popular than ever, according to Rebecca Miller, executive editor of the Library Journal in New York City.

"I would say nationally, circulation has gone up as the trend towards offering more downloadable books and videos has grown," Miller said. "People are getting what they want, and what they need."

According to the Institute of Museum and Library Services, library visits nationwide totaled 1.4 billion in the 2006 fiscal year, up from 1.1 billion in 2000. Circulation also has increased from 1.7 billion in 2000 to 2.1 billion in 2006.

Lindsley said he has only been tracking borrowers for the past year, but since 2000, the library's circulation has gone up from 37,589 to the current 45,000.

One West Paterson woman said she is enjoying all the new services at the library.

"Everything is so accessible," said Delpha Hunter, 36. "They have done a great job."

Posted by tumulty at 3:09 PM | Comments (0)
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Fate of new library in residents' hands

By JARED KALTWASSER • STAFF WRITER • May 5, 2008

Home News Tribune
SOUTH PLAINFIELD —Direct democracy will return to the borough this week, as the fate of a proposed new library is placed in the public's hands.

Today is the first day of "Democracy Week,' a revival of the borough's beloved, if short-lived "Democracy Day' tradition. During the last half of the last decade, residents participated in nonbinding votes on all capital expenditures over $1 million. The tradition will return this week in an expanded five-day format, as residents are asked to opine on a $4.5 million bond ordinance to build a new library.

Democracy Day was created by the borough's Democrat-controlled council in 1994. It started out as an annual event, but fizzled out after 2001.

"I think it was mostly because there just weren't many projects that kind of fell into that category," said Mayor Charles Butrico, who first was elected to the borough council in 2001, and was elected mayor in 2006. "That's my only thought. It didn't fall out purposely."

Democracy Day never fell out of residents' memories. Frank Mikorski, a former school board member, has been a vocal advocate of bringing Democracy Day back.

"When the school district has its budget, it has to be approved," he said. "When the school district wanted a referendum, it had to be approved by the people. Why should it be any different for the municipality?"

The library plan has been in the works for about four years, and one of its champions has been former Councilwoman Kathleen Thomas, a Democrat, and also a library trustee. But Thomas lost a re-election bid in November, just as the final library plans were about to be unveiled. The election gave the Republican Party a 4-2 majority on the borough council, and the Republicans decided to use the library issue as an opportunity to be Democracy Day back. A vote to do just that passed 4-2, along party lines, in March.

"The Democrats campaigned for years on Democracy Day, anything over $1 million the voters will approve," said Republican Council President Robert Bengivenga Jr. "I'm agreeing with them and obviously they didn't agree this year. I'm just revamping something that they let die."

Bengivenga also pointed out that when the new library first was discussed, cost estimates were closer to $3 million, and a now-defunct state grant program was expected to pay one quarter of the costs.

But what Bengivenga calls a restoration of direct democracy, Thomas calls the misapplication of a good principle.

"I think that Democracy Day is a great idea for projects that haven't yet been started," she said. "(This is) something that's already been started."

The library project is an attempt to solve a space crunch at the 6,330-square-foot library. Library Director Sundra Randolph said books and library materials are stacked anywhere space can be found in the library, and she said the cramped quarters make it difficult for the library to host events.

"The biggest need is the meeting room and the children's craft room," Randolph said. "Anytime we have any kind of program, it's got to be out there in the middle room or it has to be on a Tuesday or Friday night when we're closed."

To solve that problem, library officials want to build a new, two-story, 15,000-square-foot library on a three-quarter-acre lot just down the street from the library's current location on Plainfield Ave. The new location would be just northwest of the South Plainfield Funeral Home, which is at 2456 Plainfield Ave.

There will be financial ramifications no matter what happens at the polls this week. The borough already has spent about $800,000 on the project in the form of architectural and engineering fees, and the purchase of the land.

Randolph said that $290,000 of that spent money is money loaned to the borough by the library's foundation. If the library isn't built, that money would need to be paid back.

If the library proposal does pass, the potential tax impact for a resident living in a home assessed at the borough's average assessed value of $117,200 would pay an extra $30 per year. But Thomas said much the tax impact will be blunted because the new debt will come as older borough debt is retired.

But Anthony Mondoro, a former Democratic council member, said he's mainly concerned with the proposed location of the library. He's looked over the plans and says library officials are trying to squeeze the building on to a too-small plot. Among other concerns, he believes the building won't be set far enough back from the curb, and that the 22 planned parking spots won't be sufficient.

Plans do call for a sidewalk to connect the new library lot to overflow parking at the municipal building.

Mondoro believes the borough could find a more suitable site, or expand the current library. Thomas said the latter is impossible because the current library lies in a flood plain, where building would be disallowed by state regulators. But Mondoro said other building has already occurred in the neighborhood, at elevations lower than the library's.

Mondoro, who was out of office by the time the first Democracy Day was held, said he isn't just opposed to the planned library, he's also opposed to Democracy Week.

"I feel the people who are appointed, who are elected to the job, should do the job and they should understand all the issues, they should look at the pros and cons," he said. "I don't think many of the people who are going to vote on this issue really know the story of the library."

But Democracy Week will go ahead. And even though the vote is nonbinding, the entire council agreed during a meeting in March that if the proposal passes, they will fund it. The council's two Democrats, Joseph Scrudato and Raymond Petronko, said they support the library regardless of the vote.

Polls will be open Monday through Saturday, except Wednesday. Tuesday and Thursday voting will be open until 8 p.m. Residents must bring a photo ID and be registered to vote or listed as a property taxpayer in order to vote.

New borough Clerk Joann Graf said the Department of Public Works built a special voting box for the event. Ballots have also been made up, asking voters to vote "Yes' or "No' on the library, but also asking them to leave comments about the library, or any other issue on their mind.

"I'm excited to see the comments becuase "Yes' or "No' that's one thing, but the real meat of it and what I see Democracy Day being is the comments," Graf said.

Graf said she expects the heaviest turnout on the first and last days of voting. When polls close Saturday at 3 p.m., Graf said officials will begin counting the votes, with representatives from the library and council observing.

Randolph said she's prepared no matter what voters - and borough council - decide. But she said being at the center of the return of Democracy Day isn't exactly a comfortable spot.

"I don't consider the library political at all," she said. "As long as I've been director here, we as a library in particular and even the trustees have really tried to stay out of politics."

Jared Kaltwasser can be reached at (908) 707-3137 or jkaltwasser@mycentraljersey.com.

Posted by tumulty at 11:14 AM | Comments (0)
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May 2, 2008

Wood: What we should do to get kids to read

Wednesday, April 30, 2008 BY JANINE WOOD

Before they become adults who don't read, we must guarantee our children long stretches to revel in solitude.

MOM, there's a lot more to life than reading," my 14-year-old son said as he rushed in from school one afternoon and texted another reading-averse boy down the block.

"That's a girl's book," he later said when I asked him to spend some quiet time with "Jane Eyre." "And, anyway, I only read at night."

So when my local library offered a talk on why boys don't read and what parents can do about it, I signed up. Many of my neighbors had the same idea: We went, desperate for advice on how to get our boys off the technology and into the books.

Here's what the reading expert said: Boys don't read because they don't like stories, poetry or tales about relationships. They prefer nonfiction – science, math and instructional booklets. He suggested parents entice boys with material they enjoy, such as sports statistics instead of sports stories.

Several audience members nodded in agreement. Yes, their sons fit that description. They probably couldn't read "Robinson Crusoe," but they could zip through a LEGO manual.

Quiet attics

Call me a renegade, but I'm not falling for this latest theory. Several decades ago, my brother fell in love with Cathy and Heathcliff and never once questioned the gender-correctness of "Wuthering Heights." He plowed through Jane Austen, and continues to be a serious reader today. What's changed?

With my suburban house serving as an anthropological study on the behavior of teenage boys, I've constructed my own theory: Boys don't read because they are never alone. Many years ago, C.S. Lewis, in his autobiography, "Surprised by Joy," said: "I am a product of long corridors, empty sunlit rooms, upstairs indoor silences, attics explored in solitude. ... Also, of endless books."

Today, there aren't any quiet attics, only crowded sports arenas and a frenzied push toward socializing. On the rare occasion a boy – or any child, for that matter – finds himself alone, we worry and tell ourselves we'd better get him back on track – always playing, always competing, always moving toward the next event, until, dulled by distraction, he becomes unable to concentrate on the pleasurable work of reading.

"My son never reads," commiserated a father of a 16-year-old boy recently. "He plays fantasy football."

Maybe solitude will be a concept our children study but never experience. "Oh, yeah, solitude, wasn't that something done by monks in the 13th century?" they'll ask. But isn't a certain amount of solitude – and boredom – necessary for reading?

As a child, I found refuge in the unfinished basement of a suburban split-level, its concrete walls lined with books. Like C.S. Lewis, I had no restrictions on what I could read.

Big payday

Unfortunately, quiet rooms with books and soft lights have been replaced by home entertainment centers and Internet access – hubs of whirring activity and plasmatic imagery.

At my house, I try to create a suburban sanctuary amid the chaos: I turn off the television during the week. Music goes off early in the evening. I don't have cable, and I keep the Internet password a secret. The rest of the time, I bribe, beg and cajole. Mean? Maybe. Are there arguments? Yes. But I'm hoping for the big payoff someday: an adult who reads.

So while theories proliferate on why boys don't read – their brains work differently, women teachers assign books that appeal to girls, boys like silly stories – I think the answer is less complicated. Before they become adults who don't read, we must guarantee our children long stretches of time to revel in solitude.

"Don't come in, Mom," my son said one evening when I knocked on his bedroom door. Later, I found what he had tried to keep hidden – a corner of his room, surrounded by blankets, with an outdoor lantern hanging above a pillow. Scattered about, a few books.

I wonder how many other boys are reading in corners, far from the world's unremitting noise.

Janine Wood is a homemaker and writer in Deerfield, Ill. This article appeared in The Christian Science Monitor.
Before they become adults who don't read, we must guarantee our children long stretches to revel in solitude.

MOM, there's a lot more to life than reading," my 14-year-old son said as he rushed in from school one afternoon and texted another reading-averse boy down the block.

"That's a girl's book," he later said when I asked him to spend some quiet time with "Jane Eyre." "And, anyway, I only read at night."

Several audience members nodded in agreement. Yes, their sons fit that description. They probably couldn't read "Robinson Crusoe," but they could zip through a LEGO manual.

Quiet attics

"My son never reads," commiserated a father of a 16-year-old boy recently. "He plays fantasy football."

As a child, I found refuge in the unfinished basement of a suburban split-level, its concrete walls lined with books. Like C.S. Lewis, I had no restrictions on what I could read.

Big payday

Unfortunately, quiet rooms with books and soft lights have been replaced by home entertainment centers and Internet access – hubs of whirring activity and plasmatic imagery.

I wonder how many other boys are reading in corners, far from the world's unremitting noise.

Janine Wood is a homemaker and writer in Deerfield, Ill. This article appeared in The Christian Science Monitor.

Posted by tumulty at 12:08 PM | Comments (0)
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$5 million library proposed in South Plainfield

By JARED KALTWASSER • STAFF WRITER • May 1, 2008

SOUTH PLAINFIELD —About 50 people met Thursday at the borough's public library to discuss a proposal to build a new $5 million library, a matter which is up for a public vote next week.

"I think the point that was closest to my heart was that the public schools and the library are the heart of a community,' said Cheryl Nagel-Smiley, a member of the library's board of trustees.

The new $5 million library is the subject of "Democracy Week,' which starts Monday at borough hall and runs through Saturday. Democracy Week is a non-binding election in which residents will be asked whether they want the Borough Council to issue $4.5 million in bonds to help fund the library.

The Borough Council's six members have said they would support the library if the public approves it.

Most of the residents who asked questions during the 70-minute public comment period that opened the meeting asked about how the building would look, where individual services and collections would be located, and how the size of the 15,000-square-foot new building would compare to the current 6,330-square-foot library at 2484 Plainfield Ave.

Anthony Mondoro, a borough resident and former councilman, said he was concerned that the lot was not big enough to house the proposed building. The new library would have 22 parking spots, with a walkway leading to overflow parking at borough hall. The new library would also have an upstairs meeting room that can hold 90 people.

"The meeting room holds 50? 90?' he asked. "Where are they going to park their cars?'

Sundra Randolph, the director of the library, said the overflow parking would be ample, and she said more often than not, the 22 spaces would be plenty.

"If you don't come when there's a children's program here, 20 parking spaces is more than enough,' Randolph said.

The project's engineer and construction manager were also on-hand to answer residents' questions.

Those who spoke Thursday were largely supportive of the proposal. But Eric Aronowitz, president of the library's trustees, said he had hoped for a larger crowd.

During the election, voters will also have a chance to leave comments on the library or any other borough issue. Borough officials have said those comments will be important as they make their decision forward.

If the proposal is approved, officials said Thursday that construction could start as soon as this year and be complete by next spring.

But nobody Thursday was counting their chickens yet.

When a resident asked Randolph if she had a "wish list' of items the library would need to furnish the inside of the new building, Randolph said no.

"If the building goes forward, we will make a wish list,' Randolph said. "We haven't made a wish list because we don't know if the building is going forward.'

Jared Kaltwasser: (908) 707-3137; jkaltwasser@mycentraljersey.com

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