| Volume 64 | Winter 2000 | Number 2 |
by Barry Brown
Montana
Representative
People
Alma Jacobs, long-time librarian at the Great Falls Public Library and
later Montana State Librarian, was selected as one of the top 100
Montanans of the 20th Century in an insert in the Great Falls Tribune,
December 19, 1999. After several tries, Ms. Jacobs was instrumental in
passing the bond issue which built the current Great Falls Public Library.
She also helped establish the first bookmobile service in Montana and
developed the forerunner of the statewide federation system. She served as State Librarian from 1973-1981 and oversaw the consolidation of state library collections. Among all her many other achievements, Alma Jacobs also found time to be one of the founding members of the Montana Committee for the Humanities, in 1972. As a black woman, Alma Jacobs was a powerful spokesperson against racism, sexism, and censorship.
Dawn Greenwood, Sidney School Librarian, received the Montana Reading Council's 1999 Teacher of the Year award!
Diane Gunderson, who works at the Montana State Library, received the 1999 Governor's Award for Excellence in Service. Diane's citation includes such things as her willingness to go the extra miles to respond to staff and librarians throughout Montana.
Richard Smith, Manager of the Montana Cassette Book Recording Team at the Montana State Prison, received a Special Certificate of Appreciation on May 13, 1999, for nine consecutive years on the Prison Recording Team, during which he has narrated 35 books and monitored 13.
Lewis and Clark Public Library welcomed Sarah McHugh, who recently
received her MLS from Syracuse University, as their new Adult Services
Librarian, and Matt Beckstrom, previously employed by the Montana
Department of Justice, as their new Network Services Manager. Lewistown Public Library hired Bridgett Johnson, previously their Youth Services Librarian, as their new Library Director.
Lee Kuhr has retired after 13 years as Director of the Blaine County
Library in Chinook. Diane Doughten, assistant Director for 13 years, will
take over as Director on 1/1/00. Delores Drennen, has retired effective
December 31, 1999, as the Library Director of Miles City Public Library.
Libraries
The Bitterroot Public Library won another blue ribbon for it's entry in
the Ravalli County Fair Parade in Hamilton on September 1, 1999. The
library's entry was "Growing Tomorrow's Readers". There were book jackets planted in the mulched garden along with colorful paper mache vegetables and Library Director Gloria Langstaff pushing a wheel barrow full of baby dolls behind the 1955 Ford truck.
The Missoula Public Library's Book Cart Drill Team, led in their routines
by stereotype shattering Library Director Bette Ammon, won a first place
prize for best Non-profit entry in the 1999 University of Montana
Homecoming Parade, and appeared prominently in a large picture on the
first page of section B of the October 10, 1999 Missoulian Newspaper's
Sunday edition.
The Flathead County Library hosted a children's program, on November 20, 1999 for the culmination of Children's Book Week, by John Zoltek,
conductor of the Glacier Orchestra, which introduced children to classical
music through stories and demonstration.
The Bozeman Public Library installed optional filters on terminals placed
in the library's children's area in November in response to parental
concerns. Bozeman is the only one of the five public libraries in Gallatin
County to have installed Internet filters. As part of of day long New
Year's eve celebration, December 31, 1999 at the Museum of the Rockies with the Bozeman Symphony, Pam Henley the Bozeman Public Library Children's Librarian presented several storytimes with a musical theme. Bozeman Public Library has been designated as a Sister Library as part of the White House Millennium Council project. There are 51 sister libraries, designed to pair U.S. libraries with others worldwide, focusing on programs to offer children and teenagers opportunities to learn about
other cultures. The Bozeman Public Library is paired with the Bermuda
National Library in Hamilton, Bermuda.
The Great Falls Public Library began using the services of a collection
agency starting in November 1999 (after an Amnesty Week in October) to
encourage the return of long overdue materials. The former policy of
sending three overdue notices was not effective enough in getting back
materials and the library had $65,000 in materials and fines outstanding.
The library will use Unique Management Services, an agency that works
exclusively with libraries and will evaluate the service after the initial
90 days. The Great Falls Public Library's brand new bookmobile, funded
entirely by an anonymous donation, arrived.
The Friends of the Lewis and Clark Public library sponsored a wide range
of activities in November 1999 to benefit children's services and raised
$4,000.
Missoula County Public Schools, after two years of planning, implemented an Internet-accessible automation system linking libraries in 18 buildings with a catalog of 230,000 items.
The Paul M. Adams Library at Rocky Mountain College in Billings has
doubled in size to 28,000 square feet with the opening of the new
Educational Resource Center a $4.2 million project.
The Montana Center for the Book, an affiliate of the Library of Congress
Center for the Book, and the Montana Committee for the Humanities will
sponsor a Montana Festival of the Book in Missoula, September 8-9, 2000.
The Montana State University Library is hosting the LOEX-of-the-West 2000 Conference. The conference theme is Creativity and the Art of Library Instruction, to be held at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana, June 7-10, 2000.
The Summer 2000 Montana Children's Reading Program theme is "Cosmic Connections at Your Library!". A program manual is available for only $9 (from Cindy Christin, Bozeman Public Library, christin@mtlib.org) and is a huge collection (342 pages) including planning and promoting, clip art, displays, story and puppet show ideas, web sites and more for several related themes.
The Montana State Library & Montana Library Association (MLA)
Montana's first library summer institute, funded with LSTA grant money,
will be held on the campus of Rocky Mountain College in Billings the week
of June 5, 2000.
Montana Library Network Director Bruce Newell has been traveling all over Montana gathering librarian's thoughts on the Montana Library Network's direction. A summary is available at http://msl.state.mt.us/mln/about2.htm or http://msl.state.mt.us/mln/revisedplan2.pdf
The Montana Library Association, Academic and Special Libraries Division held its fall retreat at Chico Hot Springs in Pray, Montana, September 30 - October 1, 1999. The retreat attracted 37 participants, including 17 speakers.
The Montana Library Association, Offline Retreat will take place February
25-26, 2000 at the Great Falls Public Library. Session topics tentatively
include public access computer security, standards (Z39.50, MARC, ILL),
OCLC's Site Search software, web page authoring, statistics, and plugins.
The next Montana Library Association, Annual Conference is in Billings,
April 27-29, 2000. The conference theme is Metamorphosis: New Tools, Old Trade. The conference will be at both the Sheraton and Radisson Northern hotels downtown with most activities at the Sheraton.
Suzanne Reymer, Montana State Library's Statewide Technology Librarian stationed in Billings, has volunteered to become MLA's new webmaster.
Legislation
The 57th Legislative session starts in less than a year. The Montana State
Library Law Revision Task Force began last summer to explore potential
legislative issues.
Three Ravalli County pornography laws have been struck down by a judge who found encroachment on the right to freedom of expression. District Judge Jeffrey Langton ruled on a lawsuit filed against Ravalli County by the Video Software Dealers Association, the Ravalli Republic newspaper and six bookstore owners, photographers and writers.
