June 9th Library News Round-Up

+ Calera breaks ground on city’s new public library (from Clanton Advisor) – “The official groundbreaking of the new Calera Public Library was held this week.bMayor George W. Roy, the City Council, city department heads and Library Director Janet Greathouse removed the first shovels-full of dirt from the new facility’s site on the frontage of Alabama Hwy. 25 near Oliver Park.”

+ Friends of the Library represent great potential – (from Milford Mirror) – ” A Friends of the Library group can do much good when it comes to raising extra funds for the library, spearheading improvement efforts, and organizing book discussions, story hours, reading groups and other library-oriented events”

+ City Awarded $113,241 For Library Murals – (from The Santa Monica Mirror) – “The City of Santa Monica has been awarded $113,241 by the California Cultural and Historical Endowment (CCHE) to underwrite the conservation and installation of the historic Stanton Macdonald-Wright murals in the new Santa Monica Main Public Library.”

+ KPL law library receives a tribute – (from The Western Herald) – “The Kalamazoo Public Library and the Raymond W. Fox Law Library were recognized by the state of Michigan for providing research materials and pro bono attorneys to the community in collaboration with the Kalamazoo County Bar Association.”

+ Canton librarian serves the public gladly – (From The Detroit News) – “Rebecca Havenstein-Coughlin has made it her mission to promote reading to the people of Canton. One of the first librarians hired to help launch the library 25 years ago, Havenstein-Coughlin, 47, has gone beyond helping patrons find books.”

+ Library funding still an issue – (from The Clayton Tribune) – “About $500,000 in state funding needed for a 3,000-square-foot expansion of Rabun County Library remains in doubt.”

+ Library Tax Approved – (from Polk Democrat) – “Beginning in October, residents of unincorporated areas of Polk County will pay a new property tax – probably a half-mill – to support the countywide library system. The tax will be dedicated for that purpose. At present, the county commission supports a countywide library cooperative, but the amount of money is determined each year at budget time, causing anxious moments for library supporters.”

+ 7 Day Library Service Urged – (from Mercury News) – “Mayor Ron Gonzales on Wednesday proposed a seven-day schedule for all city libraries, a move he said is necessary to give families and working people better access to the city’s 17-library system. Gonzales made the announcement during his annual June budget message, delivered this year at Biblioteca Latinoamericana, a branch library just south of downtown. Branch libraries in San Jose have never run on a seven-day schedule.”

+ S.O.S. for the library branches – (from Wellesley Townsman) – “One-hundred-and-one-year-old Wellesley resident Bessie Henriksen gets a ride to the Hills Branch Library every week to read the book review magazine Publishers Weekly and check out her selection of titles for the week. She’s tried going to the main library before, but the larger and more imposing building is much more difficult for her to maneuver around. If the branches close, Henriksen will lose one of the few contacts she has with the community.”

+ Braselton Preps to Check-Out New Library – (from WNEG) – “Bev Adkins knows books. She’s been Braselton’s librarian for three years. “When I started working here, this library was only in the front room,” she says. “It was open one day a week for three hours. That was it!”

+ Library Budgets – (from WXIX) – “Governor Taft wants lawmakers to restore funding to cities and libraries based on new estimates that Ohio will have an extra one-point-three billion dollars for the next budget. Taft says the money from revised revenue and Medicaid spending estimates should restore funding cuts still in the Senate version of the two-year budget.”

+ Library Heeds Call for Sunday Hours – (from Columbia Flier) – “Howard County’s Central Library in Columbia will remain open on Sundays this summer after customers said they wanted more weekend access to the facility”