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Anne Ford writes: “In the 2019 election year, American Libraries, in partnership with PLA, tracked more than 100 library referenda across 24 states. A large selection of them appears here and will appear in our January/February 2020 issue. While this year’s referenda crop appears less bountiful than last (in 2018, we featured 146 across 33 states), the rate of success is higher: Nearly 90% of this year’s votes ended in the library’s favor (as compared with last year’s rate of nearly 80%). In terms of the number of referenda approved, Ohio and New York were the front-runners; each boasted 20 or more victories. Colorado, too, had a big year, with at least eight measures passed.”

American Libraries feature, Nov. 12
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Matteo Di Franco writes: “In a previous post, conservators discussed the challenges of preserving manuscript fragments. But catalogers also face fragment frustrations. One of the biggest challenges for catalogers is the reconstruction of the origin and provenance of the manuscripts up to their acquisition by the library, a problem that becomes even more difficult in the absence of documents. In such cases, it is down to the manuscripts themselves to provide clues to their history. Catalogers and conservators gather evidence from script, inscriptions by scribes or previous owners, decoration, construction, organization, and physical details.”

Cambridge University Library Special Collections, Nov. 12
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Nick Guy writes: “For a few bucks, a good USB car charger can charge your phone and other devices faster than the port that came in your car. After testing more than 60 models, we think the best car charger is the dual-port Nekteck PD 45W Type-C Car Charger. You can fast-charge phones, tablets, and laptops from its USB-C port, and simultaneously charge a second phone on its USB-A port. No other charger offers as much power for a better price.”

Wirecutter, Nov. 12
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Campbell County (Ky.) Public Library has four branches serving 92,000 residents, about 9% of whom are living below the poverty line. When an instructor at an early literacy skills workshop mentioned that something as basic as lacking clean underwear can keep some children from staying in the classroom, the library’s managers brainstormed a creative way to help. CCPL runs a campaign November 1–December 31 each year to collect new underwear for kids in sizes 4–16. The campaign has been so successful that it now gets help from Captain Underpants creator Dav Pilkey.

American Libraries Spotlight, Nov./Dec.
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Anne Ford writes: “As a college student, Tiffini Travis (now advisor for information literacy and library instructional assessment at California State University, Long Beach) had to deliver a class presentation. So she stood up. She looked at the faces all around her. And she ran out of the room. How do you go from fleeing the room to completely losing your fear? In large part, the answer is practice. But while rehearsal is necessary, it’s insufficient. Speaking effectively in front of others requires certain strategies. And Travis, along with several other librarians who regularly present in front of audiences, has many tips to offer the tongue-tied.”

American Libraries feature, Nov./Dec.
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Colleen R. Lee writes: “As a former 6th-grade English teacher, I miss teaching kids how to be writers. As a school librarian, I realize that reading and writing go hand in hand and there is no reason writing cannot be a part of my library. For the last three years, I have sponsored a writing club for 4th- and 5th-grade students. Our membership started out at 25 students, and we have grown to 56 students this year. The main objective of the writing club is to let kids have fun with writing. Each year, we start off with getting prepared for National Novel Writing Month in November.”

Knowledge Quest blog, Nov. 12
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Elisa Shoenberger writes: “Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple opened up new narrative horizons for me. A fiction book composed of lists, transcripts, and more? Yes, please. I began seeking out books with unusual narrative structures, which isn’t the easiest category to find. It gave booksellers a big challenge when I asked for recommendations. I wanted more. But I found that many of these books were just too hard to navigate. But one day at The Book Cellar in Chicago, a bookseller presented me with a YA book that fit the bill, and I found others. So here are seven clever YA books out there with incredibly innovative structures.”

Book Riot, Nov. 12

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