PNLA Quarterly, Vol. 63 No.3 Spring 1999
OREGON
Nancy Spaulding
Oregon Representative
People
Betsy Brubaker accepted a position as reference librarian at the Medford Headquarters of Jackson County Library.Kay Eldon, Assistant Director of the Newport Public Library received the City of Newport's Elton Pier Employee of the Year Award.
Sheryl Eldridge, formerly of Austin Texas, joined the Newport Public Library as Reference Coordinator.
Mary Ginnane, Oregon State Library, was among librarians honored at the ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom and the Freedom to Read Foundation's 30th anniversary celebration. Ginnane was recognized for her work in the development of the Oregon Intellectual Freedom Clearinghouse and for her many IL presentations at workshops and conferences. Melissa Hartley won a nationwide competition to name the ACRL web-based review service. Her winning submission was ChoiceReviews.online. Hartley works in the Catalog Division of the Valley Library at Oregon State University, Corvallis.
Dave Hegeman joined Oregon State Library as Information Specialist with particular focus on business reference.
Valery King is moving from the Technical Services department into the position of Government Information Library and Subject Librarian for Human Development and Family Services and Home Economics Extension at Oregon State Univesity.
Paula McMillen accepted the position of Librarian for Education, Psychology, and Sociology at Oregon State University. Previously, McMillen provided reference and instruction services in the Seattle Community College District.
Marjorie Napper retired from her position of Information Specialist after 30 years at the Oregon State Library.
Harold Otness retired in February, after 33 years of service at the Southern Oregon University Library.
Jackie Rose, Lake Oswego youth librarian, is named on the dedication page of Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher.
Sandy Tilcock, of Lone Goose Press in Eugene, is the new Director of the Knight Library Press, University of Oregon. A unit of Special Collections and Archives, the Press will publish limited edition books and commemorative works. Joe Toth joins the Oregon State University staff as Librarian for History, Political Science, Military Science and Peace Studies. Toth earned an MLS at Southern Connecticut University and has additional graduate degrees in Law and English.
A reception was held February 28th to honor Bonnie Wagner. She is retiring as Director of the Port Orford Public Library, a position she has held since 1976.
Nadine Williams is the new director of the Lane Community College Library. Prior to her ten years as the Principal Librarian in the Eugene Public Library, Williams worked in the Costa County Library System in California.
Three individuals joined the State Library staff. In December, Becky Beier became Executive Support Specialist in the administration office, and Jerry Curry started as Medical/Health and Safety Information Specialist. Kate McGann moved from the Jackson County Library to become OSL's Electronic Services Librarian. Ms. McGann's experience includes development of the Rogue Valley Business Information Network.
OREGON LIBRARY ASSOCIATION (OLA)
Make A Wave: Educate, Advocate, Lead was the 1999 OLA Conference theme. Held in Seaside Oregon, the three days focused on issues of advocacy for library services at the state, local and in-house levels. Phil Keisling, Oregon Secretary of State opened the conference and Beverly Stein, Multnomah County Board of Commissioners and Philip Margolin, aclaimed Portland author, presented at other events. Conducting research, website management, cultural diversity, OLA partnered with OEMA (Oregon Educational Media Association) for State Legislative Day on January 27th. Public, school, academic and special librarians met with their local legislators at the Capitol and asked for their support on an innovative proposed bill. For the first time, OLA's legislative agenda includes support for several different types of libraries. Public libraries benefit through an increased appropriation in Ready to Read funding. Monies are requested to expand the automated catalog and ILL system shared by colleges and universities and also to add schools to the Oregon School Library Information System (OSLIS). Legislators received the information positively. Another Legislative Day, and library related displays in the Capitol are planned for April 15th.A phone survey about public access to the internet in Oregon's public libraries was conducted at the end of 1998. OLA's Intellectual Freedom Committee received information from 128 of the state's 130 public libraries. Specifics of internet access policy and procedures varied from locale to locale, but the majority felt that the structure being used was successful for their community. Results of the survey can be found at www.olaweb.org/misc/ifcsurvey.shtml . ReadQuest is the 1999 Summer Reading theme in Oregon. Manuals, posters, stickers, tattoos and nifty T-shirts are available. Fine ordering information and artwork by Corvallis artist Skip Treaster at the OLA Children's Division webpage www.olaweb.org/csd/index.html.
Ellen Fader and Steve Armitage presented at the 1999 OLA Children's Division Mock Caldecott Workshop in January. Using small group discussions and Caldecott Committee procedures, the attendees selected Kathy Jakobsen for This Land is Your Land by Woody Guthrie (Little Brown). Honor books were David Shannon for No, David! (Blue Sky Press) and Brian Pinkney for Duke Ellington: the Piano Price and His Orchestra by Andrea Davis Pinkney (Hyperion).
News
Crook County Library Friends were honored at ALA Midwinter with the FOLUSA/HarperCollins award. The $10,000 prize was presented to the President of the Friends of the Crook County Library (Prineville, OR) and is earmarked for new books. The award is given annually to a Friends organization supporting a library with an annual budget of less than $750,000. The 100-member Friends group won for such activities as a successful bond measure campaign to build a new library. Groundbreaking took place December 3rd and completion is scheduled for fall 1999. Other activities included a Valentine's Day box lunch fundraiser, book sales, tote bags featuring the winner of a children's coloring contest and the sale of engraved bricks to be located in the entrance of the new library.Blind guest readers were featured at story times in five libraries in celebration of Braille Literacy Month. Salem Public Library, and the Albina, Gresham, Midland and Hollywood branches of Multnomah County Library joined the Talking Book and Braille Service to raise public awareness and encourage participation of blind children in library programs such as summer reading.
CascadeLink, a community calendar for the library community of Clackamas, Washington and Multnomah Counties in OR and Clark County is WA, is being published by Multnomah County Library. The url is www.cascadelink.org
Two conference scholarships were awarded to support staff by the Southern Oregon Library Foundation. Terry Goetz from Umpqua Community College Library attended the OLA Conference in Seaside and Bev Delladio, Jackson County Library System, will be attending this summer^Òs Support Staff Division Conference.
The Capitol Hill Branch of Multnomah County Library reopened on February 16th after a seven-month closure for extensive renovations. In addition to a new roof, upgraded heating, ventilation, plumbing, and ADA compliance, the improvements include support for 20 new public-internet accessible computer stations. Residents of southwest Portland will also enjoy increased open hours and an expanded collection.
Multnomah County's Woodstock Branch closed in January. In approximately 1 year, a new 7,500 square foot library will open on the same site.
Beaverton City Library was named as one of the nation's best public libraries. The January issue of American Libraries ranked the "top 20" in four population categories. Beaverton, the only Oregon Library that made the list, ranked 19th in the "over 100,000 population" category.
Patricia Polacco addressed a sell-out crowd at the Multnomah County Library's 1999 Children^Òs Author Lecture on March 10th. Her presentation "Teachers are Heroes" drew from her own life in intimate detail and universal themes. Attendees found themselves both laughing and teary eyed throughout the evening.
Fourth and fifth graders voted in a Mock Newbery election sponsored by the West Slope Community Library and Raleigh Park Elementary School. Their top choice, Holes by Louis Sachar, actually won the Newbery Award just a few days later. Honor books they selected were Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher and My Louisiana Sky by Kimberly Holt.