Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 27 Palatine, IL 60095 Cognotesala Highlights Philadelphia Midwinter 2003 ALA Announces Award Winners Avi, Rohmann receive 2003 Newbery, Caldecott medals Avi, author of Crispin: The Cross of stripped of home and possessions. Accused Lead, and Eric Rohmann, illustrator and of murder and wanted dead or alive, author of My Friend Rabbit, are the 2003 Crispin flees his village and falls in with winners of the John Newbery and a juggler, Bear, who becomes his protec- Randolph Caldecott medals, the most tor and teacher. Relentlessly pursued by prestigious awards in children’s literature. Crispin’s enemies, the pair flees to solve They were among the award winners an- the mystery of his identity and fight the nounced January 27 during the ALA Mid- injustices of feudalism. winter Meeting in Philadelphia. Consid- The 2003 Caldecott Medal for illustra- ered the “Academy Awards” of children’s tion was awarded to Eric Rohmann for My book publishing, the Newbery and Friend Rabbit. In the book, Mouse shares Caldecott Medals honor outstanding writ- his brand-new toy airplane with his friend ing and illustration of works published Rabbit, and no one can predict the disas- in the United States during the previous trous — but hilarious — results. It’s a light- year. hearted celebration of a friendship that will Crispin: The Cross of Lead is an ac- last – even if whatever Rabbit does and tion-filled page-turner set in 14th-century wherever he goes, trouble follows. England. “Asta’s son” is the only name Five Newbery Honor Books were ALA President Maurice J. (Mitch) Freedman and ALSC President Barbara Genco the 13-year-old title character has ever display the Newbery and Caldecott award winning books as the ALA honors the top known when he is suddenly orphaned and Continued on Page 11 authors and illustrators at the awards press conference. Librarians Rally to Save America’s Libraries By Deb Nerud We must join together to fight to save BryanLGH College America’s libraries!” of Health Sciences (NE) Reducing funding to libraries affects Librarians and supporters crowded everyone, especially those with the least into the Pennsylvania Convention Cen- amount of resources, such as low income ter on January 24 to rally and demon- individuals, the elderly, and students. strate enthusiasm for financial support of There is a direct correlation between the America’s libraries. “Never has there economy and library usage. “As the been a greater need to save America’s economy deteriorates, library use goes libraries from falling victim to budget up,” stated Freedman. cuts,” began President Maurice J. (Mitch) “We must not forget our campaign for Freedman. “We are competing for money better salaries for librarians and library work- with programs ranging from basic ser- ers, to save the library’s most single valu- vice to combating terrorism, but librar- able resource, the library staff,” he added. John Ayala, Fullerton College, Fullerton, CA, left, and Andrew P. Jackson, Langston ies are fundamental to democracy and “Westchester Library System (NY), Hughes Community Library, Corona, NY, join hands with other attendees for "We Shall communities. Too frequently we are over- has laid people off, discontinued Satur- Overcome" at ALA's 2003 sunrise observance honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. See related story on page 12. looked when funding decisions are made. Continued on Page 4 Page 2 Cognotes 2003 Midwinter Highlights Scholarship Bash Offers Mo’ Music in Toronto Few musical acts can move from op- Marion J. Caffey directs and created ductors as Zubin Mehta and Leonard era to Big Band with effortless grace, but Three Mo’ Tenors. He conceived the idea Bernstein. imagine, the same three voices crossing in response to the lack of opportunities Dixon has performed with the Lyric seven musical forms and spanning four for African-American performers in the Opera of Chicago, Portland Opera, Vir- centuries of music in one evening. Well, world of opera. With the 1997 opening ginia Opera, and Columbus Opera. As a imagine it no longer. The Three Mo’ Ten- of Street Corner Symphony at the Brooks concert soloist, he has performed with ors will take you on a musical journey! Atkinson Theatre, Caffey now has the the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at ALA is proud to welcome the distinction of having performed, con- Ravinia, Denver Symphony and Three Mo’ Tenors to the 5th Annual Concordia Orchestra at the Lincoln ALA/ProQuest Scholarship Bash, Symphony, Wheeling Symphony, to be held in Toronto on Sunday, Elgin Symphony and Rachem Sym- June 22, 2003. Tickets are available phony Chorus in Detroit. on the Annual Conference website Young has performed as a principal and the Annual Conference Regis- soloist in the major art centers of over tration form. 20 countries. He has had roles written Cultural historian Brenda Dixon Gottschild Three Mo’ Tenors was inspired by for him by Tan Dun (Marco Polo), An- performs as she delivers the Fourth Annual the incredible versatility of African- thony Davis (Amistad, Under the Arthur Curley Memorial Lecture. American operatic tenors. With these Double Moon, The Life and Times of three tenors, you can sit back while Malcolm X), and John Adams (The The Dancing Body they take your spirit, body, and mind Death of Klinghoffer), and has appeared As a Measure on a fantastic, memorable and awe- with Simon Rattle, Esa-Pekka-Salonen, inspiring musical journey through the Sir Roger Norrington, and Ollie of Culture Topic of worlds of opera, Broadway, jazz, blues, Knussen. soul, spiritual and gospel. ceived, written, directed and choreo- “No matter what the style, extrava- Curley Lecture The Three Mo’ Tenors are currently graphed on Broadway. The performers gance and fancy display are integral ele- By Rochelle Hartman on tour across the United States. The are Victor Trent Cook, Rodrick Dixon ments of vocal music,” says Wynne Bloomington (IL) Public Library ALA/ProQuest Scholarship Bash will be and Thomas Young. Delacoma of the Chicago Sun-Times. Urging the audience to move closer your opportunity to see this group of dy- Cook received a 1995 Tony Award “Three Mo’ Tenors covered the stylistic so that she could feel their warmth, namic, original performers for a fraction nomination for Smokey Joe’s Café. He map with élan, tossing in some wonder- Brenda Dixon Gottschild launched into of their normal ticket price, while help- has many off-Broadway and Broadway fully hokey choreography in a medley a performance from a movement theater ing ALA provide scholarships to future credits, and has toured throughout the of soul tunes that ranged from ‘Love piece, Tongue, Smell, Color, written by librarians. To date, the ALA/ProQuest U.S., Europe, and Japan. As a soloist he Train’ to ‘Midnight Train to Georgia.’ Go she and her husband Helmutt Gottschild. Scholarship Bash has raised over has performed at the White House, Avery see Three Mo’ Tenors if you have the Her performance was a launching point $350,000 for library school scholarships. Fisher Hall, John F. Kennedy Center, and chance. They are three tenors who in- to discuss movement and dance and its Help us reach the $500,000 mark. Boston’s Symphony Hall with such con- deed offer much more.” importance as a transmitter of cultural influence. Goodman Raises Independent Reporter’s Voice Delivering much of her talk in the form of a letter to lecture namesake By Frederick J. Augustyn, Jr. Arthur Curley, a librarian with a passion The Library of Congress for the arts, particularly dance, Dixon As the featured speaker at the Gottschild challenged her audience to President’s Program January 26, Paci- consider the sizable, and even prevalent fica News radio and television journalist Africanist influence in American art and Amy Goodman addressed the topic of culture. She describes herself as a per- “Patriotism, Freedom, and Information.” former and cultural historian who pio- An award-winning proponent for neered the investigation into the open access to information and a me- Africanist presence in European-based dia activist since 1996, Goodman is an American concert dance. exception in what she termed the “en- Focusing on dance, the work of tertainment industrial complex” which George Balanchine in particular, but pro- too often excludes contrary points of viding examples throughout American view. culture and daily life, including language, Goodman fondly recalled the benefits dress, and music, Dixon Gottschild gave that she derived from her local library evidence of the Africanist influences that while growing up. “The public library in have infiltrated and pervaded Euro- my community was our second American culture. home…one of those precious public One such example comes from the spaces” that we need to cherish and pre- popularity of baggy pants with young serve. These reading centers are too of- Speaker Amy Goodman takes questions after her presentation at the President’s Program. Americans. Dixon Gottschild traced ten eclipsed by enticingly comfortable baggy pants to garb worn by inmates of book store chains whose motivations to Niemoller, an independent, conscience- quently the preferred mode is not avail- prisons, most of whom have historically serve their clientele are not the same as driven exemplar who lost his life to Nazi able. She noted that many Americans, been African-Americans. This transmit- libraries. terrorism, Goodman enjoined that all of from all parties, are concerned about the tal and infiltration of cultural elements Expanding upon the images displayed us should speak out for others lest there curtailment of civil liberties that anti-ter- serves to weave a more rich, vibrant fab- in a video containing news reports from be no one left to speak out for us. This is rorist measures sometimes cause. ric in American society.