43n1_final.qxd 12/16/2003 3:08 PM Page cov1 cover cov1 43n1_final.qxd 12/16/2003 3:08 PM Page cov2 Baker & Taylor 4c page cov2 43n1_final.qxd 12/16/2003 3:08 PM Page 1 The U.S. Government Printing Office congratulates the Tulsa, Oklahoma City-County Library as the winner of its first-ever Federal Depository Library of the Year award The award, presented at the 2003 fall Federal Depository Library Conference, cited the Tulsa City-County Library for excellence in providing public access to Government information and for innovative approaches to increasing that access via the Internet. he Federal Depository T Library Program (FDLP) was established by Congress to ensure that the American public has access to its Government’s information. The mission of the FDLP is to disseminate information products from all three branches of the Government to nearly 1,300 libraries nationwide. Libraries that have been designated as Federal depositories maintain these information products as part of their existing collec- tions and are responsible for assuring that the public has free access to the material provided by the FDLP. For more information: www.gpo.gov/fdlp Make the Connection at a Federal Depository Library A Service of the U.S. Government Printing Office 43n1_final.qxd 12/16/2003 3:08 PM Page 2 The Library Corp. 4c page 2 43n1_final.qxd 12/16/2003 3:08 PM Page 3 OCLC 4c page 3 43n1_final.qxd 12/16/2003 4:41 PM Page 4 43n1_final.qxd 12/16/2003 3:08 PM Page 5 Renée Vaillancourt McGrath Feature Editor Kathleen M. Hughes CONTENTS Managing Editor January/February 2004 Vol. 43, No. 1 Government regulations 33 Read This! It Will Change Your Life The Making of a Creative Reader Peggy Christian 41 Mother Goose on the Loose Applying Brain Research to Early Childhood Programs in the Public Library Strategic partnerships Betsy Diamant-Cohen 47 California DREAMin’ A Model for School-Public Library Cooperation to Improve Student Reading Mark Smith 53 READ/Orange County Changing Lives through Literacy Shari Selnick IN EVERY ISSUE 8 Editor’s Note 28 Tech Talk Renée Vaillancourt McGrath A. Paula Wilson 9 From the President 58 News from PLA Luis Herrera Kathleen Hughes 16 Tales from the Front 59 On the Agenda Jennifer T. Ries-Taggart 60 By the Book 18 Perspectives Jennifer Schatz Nann Blaine Hilyard 64 New Product News 26 Internet Spotlight Vicki Nesting Steven M. Cohen PLUS . 6 Readers Respond 30 InterViews 12 Verso Making Meaning: An Interview STARs (Story-Telling Adult with Elizabeth Birr Moje Readers) Shine in Chicago Linda W. Braun JoAnne M. Grant 59 Index to Advertisers 24 Book Talk 66 Instructions to Authors A Slave to Reading: An Interview with Annie Proulx Brendan Dowling The Public Library Association is a division of the American Library Association, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611; www.pla.org. Cover design by Jim Lange, Jim Lange Design, Chicago Interior design by Dianne M. Rooney, American Library Association, Chicago 43n1_final.qxd 12/16/2003 3:09 PM Page 6 EDITORIAL FEATURE EDITOR: Renée Vaillancourt McGrath MANAGING EDITOR: Kathleen M. Hughes CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Hampton (Skip) Auld, Steven Cohen, Rochelle Hartman, Nann Blaine Hilyard, Vicki Nesting, Jennifer Ries-Taggart, Jen Schatz, Paula Wilson EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: Brendan Dowling ADVISORY COMMITTEE Isabel Dale Silver, Chair, Champaign, IL; Marilyn Boria, Elmhurst, IL; Nancy Charnee, New York, NY; Barbara Custon, Pasadena, CA; Nann Blaine Hilyard, Zion, IL; Reading and Comprehension Marcia Schneider, San Francisco, CA; Luren E. Dickinson, Jackson, MI; Cindy Lombardo, Orrville, OH. I heard about the literacy theme for the January/February 2004 issue of Public EX OFFICIO: Jo Ann Pinder, Gwinnett County Public Libraries on the Healingstory electronic discussion list. I have no papers or research Library, 1001 Lawrenceville Hwy., Lawrenceville, GA to submit. But, as a pre-K, second-, and fifth-grade teacher (twelve years) and special 30045-4707; [email protected] education therapist (ten years) in poverty areas, I can tell you this truth about literacy PLA PRESIDENT: Luis Herrera, Pasadena Public Library, 285 E. Walnut St., Pasadena, CA 91101-1556; and reading comprehension: [email protected] A child cannot hear without the experience of being heard. PUBLIC LIBRARIES (ISSN 0163-5506) is published A child cannot understand without the experience of being understood. bimonthly at 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. It is Through these two experiences, a child develops an “inner voice” that can con- the official publication of the Public Library Association, a division of the American Library nect with meaning to both internal and external experiences. “Connecting with mean- Association. Subscription price: to members of PLA, ing” means the ability to develop a cohesive sense of narrative continuity in one’s life. $25 a year, included in membership dues; to nonmem- A child cannot “read for meaning” unless the child first has developed his or her own bers: U.S. $50; Canada $60; all other countries $60. Single copies, $10. Periodicals postage paid at inner voice. Only then can the voice of the author find a way to connect with felt- Chicago, IL, and at additional mailing offices. meaning to the child’s experience of life.—Bob Seigetsu Avstreih, Retired Teacher, Traveling Storyteller/Musician, [email protected] POSTMASTER: send address changes to Public Libraries, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. SUBSCRIPTIONS What Comes Around, Goes Around Nonmember subscriptions, orders, changes of address, and inquiries should be sent to Public Libraries, Sub- Interesting article on rotary reference wheels (“What Goes Around: Telephone Refer- scription Department, American Library Association, ence Rotary Wheels” by Sharon McQueen and Douglas Zweizig in the Sept- 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611; 800-545-2433, ember/October 2003 issue of Public Libraries)! My library, the Inglewood, California press 5; fax: (312) 944-2641; e-mail: subscriptions@ ala.org. Public Library, has had a reference wheel for years. (I think I remember it from the ADVERTISING late ’60s.) Our reference desk is generally staffed by two librarians, and our wheel enables us to perform ready reference and control materials most likely to be muti- William N. Coffee, c/o Benson, Coffee & Associates, 1411 Peterson Ave., Park Ridge, IL 60068; (847) 692- lated or in high demand without having to bump into a colleague. 4695; fax (847) 692-3877. The wheel is three-tiers high, with a fourth tier that’s actually the top of the axle PRODUCTION and rotates with the one just below it. We try to maintain materials in LC class order, ALA PRODUCTION SERVICES: Troy D. Linker, Kevin except for the Information Please books that are alphabetical by title on the bottom Heubusch; Ellie Barta-Moran, Angela Hanshaw, Kristen tier and the investment services on the top. McKulski, and Karen Sheets. We don’t have a separate telephone reference desk, although we did have a sepa- MANUSCRIPTS rate line people could call to have numbers looked up in our reverse directories (we Unless otherwise noted, all submissions should be sent to no longer offer that service).—Sue Kamm, Head, Audio-Visual/Stack Maintenance the feature editor, Renée Vaillancourt McGrath, 248A N. Divisions, Inglewood (Calif.) Public Library Higgins Ave. #145, Missoula, MT 59802; publiclibraries@ aol.com. See the January/February issue or www.pla.org for submission instructions. It’s the Collection, Stupid INDEXING/ABSTRACTING Public Libraries is indexed in Library Literature and Current Index to Journals in Education (CIJE), in addi- Gary Deane’s article, “Bridging the Value Gap,” and Michael Sullivan’s “Fragile tion to a number of online services. Contents are ab- Future of Public Libraries” (both in the September/October 2003 issue of Public stracted in Library and Information Science Abstracts. Libraries) arrived in our library like thunderbolts. We had just finished the final draft MICROFILM COPIES of Pickering (Ontario) Public Library’s Long Term Plan, which had been fondly (and Microfilm copies are available from University Micro- unofficially) titled “It’s the collection, stupid.” Based on an analysis of client use pat- films, 300 N. Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48103. terns and the results of a client survey, the data showed what all our surveys going The paper used in this publication meets the minimum back more than a decade had shown: our clients want books and media far more than requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed continued on page 10 Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. ∞ ©2004 by the American Library Association All materials in this journal are subject to copyright by the American Library Association and may be photo- copied for the noncommercial purpose of scientific or Public Libraries encourages letters to the editor. Letters are used on a space-available basis and educational advancement granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976. For other may be excerpted. Preference will be given to letters that address issues raised by the magazine. reprinting, photocopying, or translating, address Acceptance is at the editor’s discretion. Send to Renée Vaillancourt McGrath, 248A N. Higgins requests to the ALA Office of Rights and Permissions, Ave. #145, Missoula, MT 59802; [email protected]. 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. 43n1_final.qxd 12/16/2003 3:09 PM Page 7 B&N.com 4c page 7 43n1_final.qxd 12/16/2003 3:09 PM Page 8 EDITOR’S NOTE ne of the goals of the PLA Many People, the One Community, One Book Initiative,” Strategic Plan, approved by which taught participants how to plan still the PLA Board of Directors Many Books more One Book inititatives. at the ALA Annual Con- The concept of having large numbers of ference in June 2002, is for Renée Vaillancourt McGrath people read and discuss the same book is not “PLA [to] be a strategic Feature Editor new.