A small sample, but interesting

A groundbreaking study shows kids learn better on paper, not screens. Now what?

This is interesting

Who Doesn't Read Books in America?

I can't imagine life without reading for pleasure, even though I don't have the time to do so that I once did. The Pew Research report predictably found that those who were older, poorer, less-educated, and those who were Latino were less likely to have read a book at least in part in the last year or *ever* visited a library. For some, it's probably that they may not be fully literate, and we fail in helping with that, I think, especially once they've gone through the system and are adults. I have one friend that can read, but almost never does, short of maybe skimming the newspaper. He is visually impaired, and was embarrassed having to use large print books as a child, and it was just more difficult. He never developed a love of reading and I'm still not convinced he's really very good at it, yet he makes fun of others he's encountered who obviously are functionally illiterate. I remind him on those occasions that it's something to be sad about, and to offer help about, not something funny or worth belittling someone.

We're better now at providing books to children whose families might not be able to afford them, and we can promote our library services, but many children live in areas where it is impossible to come to the library on their own if they're old enough, like I did when I was in my pre-teens and teens. My local library branch moved from across a major road from a residential neighbourhood to a business area two streets away, but the distance increased significantly, and to ride the bus, you now have to go downtown, transfer, and it's an hour and a half ride for a five minute trip by car. It's bigger, it's better, but if I didn't have a car, I couldn't really go anymore. Same goes for rural libraries. Urban ones may be easier to get to in some ways, but there are other factors such as crime and drug use that often happens right outside. So if the parent didn't grow up loving libraries enough to take their kids to the library, the children might not develop that love.

Latinos may be less likely read for socioeconomic or language-barrier reasons. There's not a lot available, at least here, in Spanish at most library branches or bookstores. That is, they may be literate in Spanish and have trouble finding books short of Amazon shipping them in. And they may have the same barriers as the other groups. We do have a branch here in Lexington that is an area of town which is heavily Latino which encourages Spanish among its staff and has more selection, as well as programming aimed at this group. I hope that can be expanded.

He makes some very excellent points

Neil Gaiman: Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming--A lecture explaining why using our imaginations, and providing for others to use theirs, is an obligation for all citizens

Do not discourage children from reading because you feel they are reading the wrong thing. Fiction you do not like is a route to other books you may prefer. And not everyone has the same taste as you.

Well-meaning adults can easily destroy a child's love of reading: stop them reading what they enjoy, or give them worthy-but-dull books that you like, the 21st-century equivalents of Victorian "improving" literature. You'll wind up with a generation convinced that reading is uncool and worse, unpleasant.

Yes, this is why librarians are so important: they have AND teach these skills

Op-ed: Old-school job skills you won’t find on Google

When we did in-depth phone interviews with 23 U.S. employers at Microsoft, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, KPMG, the FBI, the Smithsonian and other organizations, we found that bright new hires dazzle interviewers with their digital skills.

Once they were on the job, however, it became apparent that today’s graduates lacked essential low-tech, traditional research skills like popping into a co-worker’s office for help in interpreting results or scouring printed reports that were sitting on a shelf.

Employers were dismayed to find that most of these college hires were tethered to their computers. They rarely went beyond a Google search and the first page of results looking for “the” answer to a workplace problem

Thanks to Vanessa Irvin Morris for sharing.

This makes me think of Josh Hanagarne (the World's Strongest Librarian)

There is a comic called 'Baby Blues' that published two library-themed cartoons on March 3rd and 4th. Go to http://www.babyblues.com/index.php and choose the dates from the drop down box. It's the March 3rd one that reminds me of Josh--'Have you ever seen such huge biceps on a librarian?' He does a lot of weightlifting, bends nails, and tosses about kettleballs. :)

These two strips now grace my cubicle. The second 'Battling illiteracy, one dumb brother at a time' is especially apropos because although I don't work in a public library, I do run an early literacy project.

Anyway, I thought I'd share. Thanks to Tanya Feddern-Bekcan and Morgan Fuller of LIBREF-L for pointing these out.

Interesting initiative

I don't drink wine (although I do use it in libations), but Fledgling Wine has a very interesting philanthropic idea to selling wine:

The Fledgling Initiative aims to make awesome wine for the benefit of Room to Read, a non-profit organization extending literacy and educational opportunities to children worldwide. Every case sold will provide approximately 60 local language children’s books and promote education in the world’s poorest regions.

You can follow them on Twitter at @Fledgling.

RIF (Reading is Fundamental) is in danger of losing federal funding

Bush Budget Would Eliminate RIF

Founded in 1966, RIF:

has been funded by Congress and six Administrations without interruption since 1975. It is the oldest and largest children’s and family nonprofit literacy organisation in the U.S.

Not the greatest thing for the administration of a husband of a librarian to be doing, hmm? I love the last thing on the above news snippet that Birdie wrote:

WWLauraD?

Save RIF's funding by contacting your representatives in the Senate and House. I sent a message to: Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY), Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and Representative Ben Chandler (D-KY 6th).

Good to know we have some amount of future job security as librarians

Computer Literacy Doesn't Mean Information Literacy, Report Says

Another reason for consumer health services in libraries

Health Literacy Level Linked To Longevity