Whither Newspapers?

This morning, I attended a breakfast/informational session sponsored by NewsBank, vendor of our online subscription to the Sacramento Bee and other California newspapers. Here are some interesting statistics from Ken Doctor, former journalist and managing editor of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, who spoke about the "Changing Face of Content":

• 56 - average age of those who read newspapers in print


• 60 - average age of those who watch broadcast TV news


• 40 - average age of those who primarily use newspapers' web sites


• Yahoo! News - #1 Internet news site

Some surprising factoids:

• Americans read the news about 62 minutes per day. This has not changed over the last five years; what has changed is that more Americans are reading the news online now.


• 50% of Americans get their news at the GYM (Google, Yahoo!, MSN) daily; 25% more than once a day.


• 10% of news content is now blogs.


• 60% of broadband video is news footage. Reuters and AP make 1,000 new videos per month!

His conclusions: news and blogs may become indistinguishable, as television news and newspapers post additional information - much of it surprisingly comprehensive - and news stories on their blogs, and then the blog posts are, in turn, republished in print. This then leads to a few questions that have still to be answered: What is the newspaper of record? Print? Online? Are reader comments included?

What do you think? How do you get your news fix?

The NCAA Basketball Tournament: The Pleasure and Pain of it All

I was ten and the "Orange Express was rolling." This was the oh-so familiar phrase, describing the wonderment that was the Number 1 college basketball team in the nation for most of 1980/81 season: The Oregon State Beavers. In the early 80s, the state of Oregon had no more than 3 million residents. We were small, often times provincial and proud. The rise of the Beavers to national prominence made the state's chest swell with pride. We were beating UCLA, St. Johns, and so many other traditional national powers with some ease.

Then came March. We--as a state--were ready to take that next step toward the grail of grails. A national championship and a sort of rarefied air that we Oregonians so seldom breathed. The Beavers were paired with Kansas State, a team that wore amusing, duo-tone lavender/purple-colored uniforms. The setting was Pauley Pavillion on the campus of UCLA. National TV. Dick Enberg. Our Beavers -- Steve Johnson, Ray Blume, Mark Radford, Charlie Sitton, and Mark Radford -- looked ready. At least they looked ready.

K-State, a clear underdog, was able to hang with the Beavers. As the game went on, the Beavers seemed to play with more and more timidity while the Wildcats became increasingly confident. This season, one which had been so cherished, was ended when future NBA star Rolando Blackman hit a fall away jumper with two seconds left to give the Wildcats a 62-60 win.

I cried. And when I was done crying, I cried some more. The Beavers had lost and our dreams were dashed. Next year. Wow. We love it when the underdog wins, unless we happen to be the team that they vanquish.

For video of the that fateful day for Beaver fans and glorious one for Wildcat fans, click on the box below:



The K-States of this year's tourney are Davidson, Western Kentucky and Villanova. They beat higher seeds, bucking the odds. These teams and their accomplishments make the tournament such a spectacle.

See below a list of works that are held at the Sacramento Public Library on the beauty that is the NCAA Basketball Tournament, click here.

RINCON LATINO : LA INFORMACION CAUSA DOLOR

La escritora del blog más popular de Cuba, Yohani Sánchez recibió un desequilibrante mensaje este pasado fin de semana al acudir su blog Generación Y. ¿El mensaje? ... Error. El mensaje fue generado por las autoridades del gobierno castrista, el cual permite la existencia de otros blogs de origen cubana pero a costo de ser monitoreados diariamente. Yohani Sánchez, quien también es filóloga, escribe por que le sirve de auge a la frustración, la ansiedad y a la carencia de opiniones divergentes de no solo ella sino también de sus compatriotas. En los ultimos años, Cuba ha presenciado a un sinnúmero de trastornos tanto económicos como políticos. Incluso el gobierno no se ha librado de estos cambios (el hermano menor de Fidel Castro, Raúl, asumió al poder hace algunos días).

¡Leen Generacion Y para visitar a esta isla encantadora y a sus habitantes como Yohani Sánchez! Como la blogera gallega María Amelia visitenla y envíenla un saludo californiano elogiando su gran empeño.

Conference Time in Minneapolis

The Public Library Association is holding its annual conference in Minneapolis this year. I am lucky to be able to attend, for the first time!

Although it's springtime in the west, it's still pretty winter-ish here in the twin cities! This librarian has actually never seen snow before, so both the white stuff and the cold are "novel" experiences for me!

The conference will run through Saturday, and I'm looking forward to learning a lot about what other public libraries are doing.

RINCON LATINO : EL MAMBO Y EL REY CACHAO.

Según un informe del BBC Mundo.com (la versión del BBC en castellano) Israel López, Cachao, falleció este sábado en Miami por razones no reveladas. Cachao y su hermano, Orestes López tuvieron una grande resonancia en la música popular de Cuba en particular el Mambo. Durante la década de los 50, Cachao y su hermano montaron una carrera en componer fondos de película. Uno de sus sobrevivientes es Orlando López, Cachaíto, quien fue integrante del famoso Buena Vista Social Club. Hagan click en los enlaces para leer más sobre esta gran figura musical ó para reservar ejemplares de sus música.

Censorship Update

Intellectual freedom, or the right of everyone to seek and receive information from all points of view, is a cornerstone of the American library. It is also one that is being constantly challenged. Almost every librarian has encountered the customer who insists that we remove an item from our shelves. Often, the depiction of sex or sexual orientation brings a book to someone's attention. Other times it is because of graphic language or supposedly anti-religious views (like the very recently challenged Golden Compass). Whether or not we, as individuals, agree that certain materials are potentially offensive is irrelevant. Librarians by profession are fundamentally against censorship and are proponents of intellectual freedom. I thought I would highlight current censorship issues on the library's blog every now and again or when one becomes especially relevant. The following two recent incidents show two different outcomes of material being challenged in a library or a school.

• The often challenged picture book, King & King, was again brought into the fray in West Virginia when a school district was accused of indoctrinating its children with positive images of healthy and loving families that are headed by same-sex parents. (And Tango Makes Three, based on the true story of two male penguins that adopt an orphan penguin, was one of the most challenged books in 2006 for similar reasons.) The court, however, dismissed the case on several grounds stating that public schools do not carry the responsibility of shielding students from views that may be religiously unsupported.
• The Nampa Public Library in Idaho recently relocated the popular Joy of Sex series to the director’s office. From now on, if you want to reference this book for any reason, you have to go through administration. Randy Jackson is quoted as saying that the books are “pornography and very detailed.” However, he doesn’t feel that all sex books should be removed. Just the ones he looks at that he finds are too detailed and pornographic.

I'll keep you posted in the never-ending saga of censorship.

When We Were Colored

Eva Rutland, author of "When We Were Colored," and her daughter, Sacramento Bee columnist and Capital Public Radio commentator, Ginger Rutland, will be in the Central Library's Sacramento Room to discuss Sacramento's African-American past. Join us as we mix oral history with meaningful discussion with these two accomplished Sacramentans. Books will be available for signing and purchase.

Registration is required and can be done by calling 264-2920 or visiting the library's web site, http://www.saclibrary.org/.