Idaho Report

by Janet Strong

Idaho Representative 

Many items included in these news notes were extracted from the Idaho State Library Newsletter.

People

Peggy Cooper has joined the Albertsons Library/Boise State University as Collection Development Librarian.

Sherry Thomas, Parma School District Librarian, received the 1999 Progressive School Library Media Award. The award is sponsored by the Winnebago Software Company and the Idaho Library Association.

Connie Pentzner, former head of the Winchester Branch, is new director of the eight-branch Prairie-River Library District.

Rosemary McLeod is the new librarian at the Winchester Branch.

Lori Keenan, Director of the Latah County District, plans on retiring April 30. She has been director for 11 years.

Philip Eldredge was honored by the City of Caldwell on January 3 for his 25 years of service on the Board of the Caldwell Public Library.

News

Albertsons Library/Boise State University will host the 2000 GEAC/ADVANCE Users Group meeting during the last week of March. Since there are installations in many countries, this conference will bring people from England, Canada, Ireland, and Australia to Boise for meetings and training.

Governor and Mrs. Kempthorne read to children at the Boise Airport to kick off the Third Annual Idaho Family Reading Week. Southwest Airlines, Operation Wishbook and the Idaho Department of Education sponsored the event along with the Idaho State Library.

Reference sleuthing of Dennis Baird, reference librarian at the University of Idaho, has resulted in the publication of several booklets about early Idaho history. A forthcoming publication is "Samuel Black's 1829 Fort Nez Perces Journal."

Idaho Library Association

Chris Ashby is the new chair-elect of the Academic Division. He replaced Karin Ford, who is now working for OCLC/WLN.

The 2000 Conference planning is proceeding well. The conference will be in Lewiston in October. Some of the confirmed speakers are Michael Eisenberg, keynote and preconference; Adrien Taylor, on-line reference; Joe Reese, dealing with Young Adults in the library; Kevin Booe, home schoolers in the library; Terry Collins, fundraising; Paul Jones, YA services; and Mary Bushing, project development.

For the first time in 17 years ILA did not hold its annual Legislative Breakfast. The first week of the legislative session, which was when the breakfast was scheduled, was cancelled when the Speaker Pro Tem of the Senate passed away suddenly of a heart attack on the opening day. Lynn Melton, Legislative Chair, prepared packets to give to the legislators. ILA did not have any major bills to take to the Legislature this year.]

The spring regional conferences will be held April - May this year. Two regions in Eastern Idaho are experimenting with holding a combined conference. Each committee secures its own speakers. The goal is to provide professional development and collegiality in a one-day conference and attract folks who may not be able to attend the larger, annual conference.

Libraries

The new two-million-dollar Post Falls Public Library was opened in grand style with a two-day open house December 10-11, 1999.

The Priest Lake Library District was approved during the November election. The Stanley Community Public Library District has moved into a new building.

The new Potlatch Branch of the Latah County Library District open on January 30, 2000. The new building is 4,000 sq. ft. compared to 915 sq. ft. in the old building.

Vallivue (near Caldwell) and Caldwell high school districts have opened their libraries to the public Monday through Thursday after shcool until 8:30 pm. Materials are available for in-library use but cannot be checked out. Canyon County, in which the two districts are located, has the highest percentage of population in Idaho unserved by public libraries.

Intellectual Freedom

The Ada Community Library board voted to continue shelving the book Daddy's Roommate in the youth nonfiction section in response to religious conservatives who wanted it placed in the adult section.

Wood River Middle School in Hailey has received a formal complaint about The Chocolate War (1986) by Robert Cormier. The ILA Intellectual Freedom Committee is providing help and support to the school librarian. This book was the third most frequently censored book in 1999 in the United States.

Christoper Pike books are being censored in Caldwell and Nampa. Eight books were permanently pulled from the shelves of the West Middle School Library in Nampa. West's principal stated on television that no more books would be added to the library unless an adult read them first. The books at West were purchased from the approved list of books for the Accelerated Reader Program. Pike books have been temporarily removed from Caldwell's Syringa Middle School and Nampa's South Middle School. The ACLU and the Intellectual Freedom Committee of ILA are working with the schools on this issue.

Return to PNLA QuarterlySpring 2000 Table of Contents