Send news items to Robert Upton, Editor. Email, Fax: ( 505) 476- 9761 Phone: ( 505) 476- 9764
February 21, 2000; # 1342
READ ACROSS AMERICA
You're never too old,
Too wacky, too wild,
To pick up a book
And read with a child.
In churches and chambers,
Let's gather around.
Let's pick up a book,
Let's pass it around.
So join us March 2nd,
In your own special way,
And make this America's
Read to Kids Day.
March 2 is NEA's Read Across America Day. This year, the National Education Association will commemorate
Dr. Seuss's 96th birthday as America's favorite reading event by calling for every child in every school in the
country to read with a caring adult.
BRIEFINGS
Bookbinding news. New Mexico Bookbinders of Albuquerque has recently been re- purchased by its original
owner, James Salazar, from Joel Widman. Widman Enterprises, Ltd. bought the well- known company back in
March 1998. Salazar, who first purchased the company in 1978 after working in it for 26 years, came out of
retirement to re- purchase the company when Widman placed it up for sale. The present company is in no way
affiliated with Widman Enterprises, Ltd. or Joel Widman.
At the time that Widman Enterprises, Ltd. ceased operation, the New Mexico State Procurement Contract for
bookbinding was re- bid and Bookbinders of New Mexico was successful in winning the co- contract with
Houchen Bindery of Utica, Nebraska. The term of the regular contract will expire in April of this year and will
be offered for bid. The company plans to offer pick up and delivery service on a scheduled basis as it did in the
THE HITCHHIKER
Archived copies of The HITCHHIKER found HERE
past, with weekly service within Bernalillo County and statewide as needed.
Bookbinders of New Mexico has a new address at 2400 Morningside NE in Albuquerque, and can be reached at
Box 30908, Albuquerque, NM 87110; ( 505) 830- 1499 or FAX ( 505) 830- 1498. Salazar told Hitchhiker that the
company looks forward to working with New Mexico librarians once again and welcomes their suggestions.
E- rate requests. The Schools and Libraries Division ( SLD) reports that over 36,000 E- rate form 471
applications were filed by the window deadline of January 19, 2000 and that $ 4.7 billion dollars was requested.
Over $ 1 billion was requested for telecom services discounts, $ 363 million was requested for Internet access,
with the remaining balance of $ 3.3 billion being requested for internal connections discounts. Priority One
discounts ( those for telecommunications and Internet access) consumed over half the available funding, which
means that internal connections discounts will probably not be funded for libraries in lower discount levels.
Eighty percent of applications were filed online this year. In New Mexico, fifty- seven percent more public
libraries filed year three applications than filed in year two and the number of applications in all discount
categories tripled. SLD predicts that the rejection rate may be slightly higher than year two simply because of
the large number of applicants and the large amount of money requested in year three.
SLD has mailed over 23,000 form 471 receipt acknowledgment letters to date. Reminder: There is a two- week
window ( from the date of the letter) to correct items such as data entry errors, or SPIN numbers. No request for
an increase of funds or change in size of the request can be made. Funding decision letters should be mailed the
first week of May. Watch the Hitchhiker for regular news and updates.
Grand Opening. The New Mexico Environment Department Library will celebrate Earth Week during New
Mexico Month of the Library with the Grand Opening of a new Geographical Information Systems node on
Friday, April 19. The NMED Library received a grant of $ 10,000 from the U. S. Geographical Survey in
October of 1999 to create GIS metadata and give statewide accessibility to NMED GIS information. A hands-on
demonstration of GIS, the BNA Environment Library on CD, and the new web version of the NMED
Library catalog will take place from 1- 3 p. m. followed by tea, coffee, and goodies. Call Ann Baumgarn at ( 505)
827- 2633 for more details.
Are public libraries non- profits? The consultants in Development Services receive this question from time to
time, most recently when a non- profit foundation was seeking tax relief for the support it provided to the local
public library. Thaddeus Bejnar, the director of the State Supreme Court Library, provided this answer:
" Public libraries are exempt under two definitions.
1. 26 USC 115: Gross income does not include income derived from … any essential governmental function
and accruing to a State or any political subdivision thereof, or the District of Columbia;
2. A library is also tax exempt under 26 USC 501 ( c) ( 4): Civic leagues or organizations not organized for
profit but operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare, … and the net earnings of which are
devoted exclusively to charitable, educational, or recreational purposes."
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Native American libraries workshop. Santa Fe Indian School will hold its third annual spring workshop,
" May Our Stories Be Unbroken: More Practical Resources For Librarians and Library Aides Serving In Native
American Schools and Communities," at the Santa Fe Indian School on March 9- 10. Storyteller Michael Lacapa
will entertain at the banquet. For more information and registration forms, call the Library Media Center at
( 505) 989- 6322. Deadline for registration is February 25.
Surveytools. John Whitman, who was in New Mexico to put on the recent workshops sponsored by the State
Library on customer satisfaction surveys for public libraries, did a case study on satisfaction leadership for the
Los Alamos Laboratory Library which he is willing to share through his Surveytools web site. Click on
" Library Resources" to download the free paper, " Customer Focus at the Los Alamos National Research
Library: Understand ' em and Give it to ' em!"
Wanted. Brother John M. Davies, OSB, of the Pecos Benedictine Monastery is looking for a volunteer with
experience in setting up library collections to organize the Monastery library and train one or two of the
monastic community in library work. The library is not large, but includes audio tapes, some videos,
periodicals, and archives. The volunteer would be invited to have lunch with the monastic communities and its
guests on the days he or she is in the library. Please contact Bro. Davies at ( 505) 757- 2285 or 757- 6600 ext. 233
or leave a message on the voice mail giving your telephone number for further contact. The Pecos Benedictine
Monastery is located 25 miles south of Santa Fe on US Highway 84 in the beautiful Pecos River valley. The
mailing address is P. O. Box 1080, Pecos, NM 87552- 1080.
PEOPLE NOTES
Darlene Gurule, is the new librarian at the Cuba Community Library. She will be at the library full- time, and
will be building a volunteer group to help her. Darlene was raised in Cuba and spent a summer in the library as
a VISTA volunteer. When she saw that there was an opening, she applied and is now working to expand library
service in the community with an after- school reading program for kids 5- 7, and to establish the library as a
local information center. The library has two computers attached to the Internet, which attracts a lot of local
interest as well.
On February 7 the Los Alamos County Library System added Olivia Li to their staff. Olivia will manager the
White Rock Branch Library. She comes to Los Alamos with a Bachelor of Law degree from Peking University,
and an MLS from the University of Maryland. Olivia spent two years at Dowling College Library in Oakdale,
New York, managing their cataloging department, one year at the Economic Policy Institute Library in
Washington, D. C., and one- and- a- half years at the Law Library of the Baker & Botts Law Firm in Washington,
D. C.
Sylvia Holmes, the children's librarian at Silver City Public Library, has a feature article in the March issue of
Today's Librarian. The title is " Summer Reading Programs: A Case Study In Teamwork" and can be found on
pages 14- 15 along with a staff photo.
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Robert Upton or Angela Salazar
( 505) 476- 9764 ( 505) 476- 9783
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