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“For pottage and puddings and custard and pies,
Our pumpkins and parsnips are common supplies,
We have pumpkins at morning and pumpkins at noon,
If it were not for pumpkins, we should be undoon.”
(from a Pilgrim rhyme – 1630)

You might think that the idea of pumpkins fits only into the context of October and Halloween, etc. I disagree. The pumpkin, with its vivid color and mellow flavor, is an apt symbol of autumn. To be sure, its flickering face lights Halloween night but its cinnamon-laced pies scent Thanksgiving morning too… along with the tantalizing aroma of roasting turkey. M-m-m-m!

WORDS ARE FUN
I like words – especially when they take on an unanticipated twist as they do in this sentence…” Make sure your coordinates are included on all your publicity pieces.” I always thought of using the word ‘coordinates’ in terms of either (a) matching parts of an outfit or (b) degrees of latitude/longitude on a map but now its meaning seems to have stretched to cover what we used to refer to as ‘contact information’ – e.g., name, position, employer, regular and cell phone numbers, street and email addresses, web sites, etc. Isn’t English a funny language?

CARNEGIE AND HIS LIBRARIES
Early this year I found in my email an interesting article called “Stepping Up: Shaping the Future of the Field” by John King, Dean of the University of Michigan School of Information. Part of Mr. King’s paper talked about Andrew Carnegie. He said, “You all know something about the Carnegie Libraries. I want to delve a little deeper into that story. Andrew Carnegie came to the U.S. from Scotland as a boy of 13. He was, literally, a self-made man, an innovator…He became history’s first billionaire…Carnegie was the second richest person in American history, behind John D. Rockefeller. Carnegie’s wealth has been estimated at 100 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars. He gave almost all of that money away. By contrast, Bill Gates is ranked the fifth wealthiest person in American history at $61 billion… Carnegie gave to purposes that he felt would help the average person. Most of that money went to libraries. Why? Carnegie’s own words, written in 1889, give some sense of his aspirations:

“I think it fruitful in the extreme, because the library gives nothing for nothing, because it helps only those that help themselves, because it does not sap the foundation of manly independence, because it does not pauperize, because it stretches a hand to the aspiring and places a ladder upon which they can only ascend by doing the climbing themselves. This is not charity, this is not philanthropy, it is the people themselves helping themselves by taxing themselves.”

This was the Age of Enterprise. Carnegie confronted a world filled with cruel realities - the subjugation of women and minorities, the brutal cruelty of infant and child mortality and an average life span, in even the most advanced countries, of less than 50 years. He was not willing to stand down in the face of that cruelty. He stood against it, and by his benefaction, he enabled us to do so as well. I don’t want to paint Andrew Carnegie as a saint – he was not a saint…But he was not afraid to confront the meanness of the world around him. He did not know the path to salvation, but he believed that people, once empowered, would find that path.”

Mr. King goes on to confront what he calls “a pernicious and costly myth about the world of libraries.” He explains it this way… “It is common to refer to libraries as part of the class known as ‘cultural institutions.’…--The implication of this appellation is that libraries are the consequence of a prosperous and cultured society. Under this model, prosperity gives rise to sufficient social surplus to create and sustain institutions that reflect and nurture culture.” Mr. King says, “I find this notion fundamentally backwards. Libraries are not the consequence of progress and prosperity, they are the cause of progress and prosperity…The creation of key collections in Europe in the 16th century preceded and were essential to the Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution, upon which the foundations of the modern era were built. This was Carnegie’s point in 1889. We don’t build libraries because we are prosperous and successful: we build them because we want to become prosperous and successful.”

“Well,” Mr. King says, “we built a lot of libraries in the past 115 years and we staffed them with a lot of librarians…If we were following Andrew Carnegie’s sense of things, we did it for a purpose – to facilitate human aspiration and endeavor. The result, looking back, seems pretty clear to me: We won!” To read Mr. King’s entire article, click on http://dlist.sir.arizona.edu/739/ 

If I had nothing more to be thankful for at this time of year – the very notion of libraries would be enough.

-- Heather Eldred

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IN THE SYSTEM

WLA HONORS ALICE STURZL AND THE RHINELANDER DISTRICT LIBRARY

Pictured above at the 2005 WLA Awards Banquet are: [left picture] Kris Adams Wendt, director of the Rhinelander District Library; [right picture] Alice Sturzl, School Library Media Director, School District of Laona, and WVLS trustee; and Janet Baer, Rhinelander District Library Board President and WVLS trustee. (For more photos click here.)

Alice Sturzl received the SPECIAL SERVICES AWARD, which is reserved for individuals of noteworthy achievement as evidenced by substantial activities and exceptional service to the library profession.

Rhinelander District Library received the LIBRARY OF THE YEAR AWARD, which is given annually to a Wisconsin library for distinguished achievement and service.

CREATIVE FUNDRAISING IDEA FROM TOMAHAWK
With tightening budgets and increasing expenses, many libraries are finding creative ways to make money. The Tomahawk Public Library found a way to boost their library collection through birthday invitations!

Earlier this year, a Tomahawk Public Library mother requested copies of the library’s “memorial/in honor of” forms to enclose in birthday party invitations for her son’s birthday. No gifts were exchanged and everyone loved the idea! The parent then brought all the completed forms and money to the library and the children’s librarian selected the new titles. An “in honor of” book plate was placed in each new book. When the books were ready to circulate, the mother’s son checked out all the new books purchased “in honor” of him and had a book party with his friends! (edited from YSS Press; Fall 2005)

YOUTH MATTERS

KIDS NEED TO BE OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THEIR FUTURE
Based on research conducted since 1958, Search Institute has identified 40 developmental assets that all young people need to grow up to be healthy, principled and caring adults. The more assets a young person has developed, the more likely they are to make positive choices. Conversely, the fewer assets a young person has developed, the more likely they are to become involved in risk-taking behaviors. It has been found nationwide that most students have fewer than half of these 40 assets. The list of 40 developmental assets as well as tips for focusing on each one is too long to include in its entirety here, but may be requested from Beth Sillars at the WVLS office (715/261-7255 or sillars@wvls.lib.wi.us). Following is the featured asset for November:

ENTRIES SOUGHT FOR ‘LETTERS ABOUT LITERATURE’ READING/WRITING CONTEST
The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, in partnership with Target Stores and in cooperation with affiliate state centers for the book, invites readers in grades four through twelve to enter “Letters About Literature,” a national reading and writing contest.

To enter, readers write a personal letter to an author, living or dead, from any genre – fiction or nonfiction, contemporary or classic – explaining how that author’s work changed the student’s way of thinking about the world or themselves. There are three competition levels.

• · Level I for children in grades 4 through 6
• · Level II for grades 7 and 8
• · Level III for grades 9 through 12

Winners receive cash awards at the national and state levels. Information on the contest and the entry form can be found on the Center for the Book web site at www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook/lal-participation.html  Entries must be postmarked by December 1, 2005. (South Central Library System’s Online Update; 10/28/05)

OVER THE COUNTER

GIVEAWAYS FROM MCPL
The Marathon County Public Library is offering the following periodical sets to any interested Wisconsin library.

BOUND MAGAZINES:

• · The Century 1882-1908
• · The Forum 1886-1940
• · Harpers 1855-1959
• · Independent 1905-1928
• · McClure’s 1895-1914
• · National Geographic 1888-97; 1913-56
• · North American Review 1890-1939
• · Outlook 1897-1935
• · Review of Reviews 1892-1937
• · Scientific American 1914-1933

(Some of the volumes are in poor condition.)

UNBOUND MAGAZINES & NEWSPAPERS

• · American Mercury 1944-1961
• · Current History 1917-1941
• · New York Times Book Review 1930-1960

(Many issues are in poor condition.)

Interested libraries should contact Mike O’Connor at 715/261-7234 by November 18th.

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INFO TO GO

What actions can you advise friends, colleagues, and clients to do to protect themselves? Following are several suggestions from “Another Phine Kettle of Phish: Identity Theft Prevention” by Carol Ebbinghouse, California Law Librarian, in Searcher: The Magazine for Database Professionals (November/December 2005):

• · Credit Report. Go to http://www.annualcreditreport.com, or call (877)322-8228, to request a credit report. You will go through a simple verification process and receive a report by mail.
• · Fraud Alert. If you think you may have been a victim of identity theft, put a “fraud alert” on your credit with any one of the credit reporting services; this service will then contact the other credit reporting services. With this one call, you will get free credit reports and be contacted for permission before any new credit is established in your name for 90 days.
• · Freeze Credit. In some states, you can have a ‘freeze’ put on your credit reports to prevent credit reporting agencies from sharing your information without your permission. In other states you must become a victim of identity theft before you can do this. A freeze literally freezes your credit report at that bureau for years. Only you can unlock it with a PIN. (A current list of states that allow people to freeze credit is available at http://www.ncsl.org/programs/banking/SecurityFreeze_2005.htm )
• · ChoicePoint Check. If your state doesn’t have a law requiring a citizen to be notified when information is compromised, check out the information that ChoicePoint (http://www.choicetrust.com) has on you. Go to the consumer division to print out an application. Mail it in to find out what information is in your files from public records, criminal files, property owned, cars and boats, professional licenses held, even business sanctions. Allow several weeks for delivery.
• · P.O. Box. If you don’t have a locked mailbox or someone trustworthy to receive packages at home, get a postal box at a nearby center.
• · Temporary Credit Card Numbers. Ask your credit card issuers for substitute or temporary credit card numbers for Internet purchases.
• · Browser Alerts. Download a free Web browser toolbar to alert you if you access a known phishing Web site. The Anti-Phishing Working Group recommends Earthlink’s ScamBlocker. Download it for free at http://www.earthlink.net/earthlinktoolbar.
• · Computer Security. Make sure your computer has the latest security patches and updates.
• · Social Security Checks. Check the Social Security Earning Statements that came in the mail before your most recent birthday to make sure the earnings for last year were correct. If the statement reflects more income than you made, someone else is probably using your number!
• · Photo ID. Inquire whether your bank can add a photo ID to your credit card and/or debit card. If so, get one. On the back of every card (in permanent ink) write in the signature block, “PHOTO ID REQUIRED” or “CHECK PHOTO ID.”
• · Assess Risk. Take the Identity Theft Test at http://www.idtheftcenter.org/idthefttest.shtml or take the Better Business Bureau quiz at http://www.bbbonline.org/idtheft

For more information about identity theft prevention, read this comprehensive 11-page article in its entirety, at http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/nov05/ebbinghouse.shtml.

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2005 NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS FINALISTS ANNOUNCED The 20 Finalists for the 2005 National Book Awards, announced October 12th, include a few of America's most well known and pre-eminent authors and represent extraordinary writing from the last year.

THANKSGIVING BOOKMARKS
Try these sites for printable Thanksgiving bookmarks for your customers:

ESSENTIAL GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS
What are the essential 3-5 print Government Document reference sources that you can’t work without in answering reference questions (e.g., laws, codes, statistics, etc.)? This question was part of a web-based survey from librarian, author, and web trainer, Diane Kovacs, that was posted to Govdoc-l, publib,libref-l, LIS-LINK, Dig_REF, ERIL-L, Buslib-L, LawLibRef, and livereference this last summer. Following are the resources that received the most votes:

MCPL OPENS CATALOG TO WEB SEARCHERS EVERYWHERE!
Marathon County Public Library is now participating in a new OCLC service called Open WorldCat. The Open WorldCat program makes records of library-owned materials in OCLC’s WorldCat database available to Web users on popular Internet search, bibliographic and bookselling sites.

To see how this service works: Go to http://www.yahoo.com and type in “travels in a prison nation”. Click on the record that says “Find in a Library”. This record will take you to an OCLC WorldCat bibliographic record. In the “Enter location information” box, type in “Wisconsin” or your local zip code. Marathon County Public Library shows up as library that owns this title. If you click on the MCPL link, you will be taken directly into MCPL’s Horizon Catalog and be able to see the status of the item.

If a “Find in a Library” record doesn’t appear, you may need to download “Find in a Library” browser tools for Yahoo, Firefox and Google. For installation instructions, visit http://www.oclc.org/worldcatdownloads/

“Opening” WorldCat records to the Web helps Marathon County Public Library and other participating libraries and institutions provide a fast, convenient service to current and potential users through familiar Internet channels. Open WorldCat points more people – even those who don’t typically visit libraries – to library collections as a first source of information. It promotes the value of libraries on a scale greater than any library or group could achieve alone.

Editor’s Note: Other interesting information about WorldCat:

	· Approximately 66% of print books cataloged in WorldCat are held by five or fewer libraries. (Library Journal; 5/15/05)
	· Open WorldCat was recently named one of the top 100 websites by PC Magazine. (Innovative Press Release; 9/7/05)
	· On August 11, 2005, the one billionth holding was entered into the WorldCat database. Built and maintained collectively by librarians, the WorldCat database merged catalogs of thousands of OCLC member libraries. (OCLC/WiLS Weekly Summary; August 14-20, 2005)
	· On average, a new record is added to the WorldCat database every 10 seconds. To watch the world’s largest bibliographic database grow, see http://www.oclc.org/worldcat/grow.htm
	· OCLC Research has updated its list of the top 1,000 titles owned by member libraries – the intellectual works that have been judged to be worth owning by the ‘purchase vote’ of libraries around the globe. To see the top 1,000 titles, visit http://www.oclc.org/research/top1000/complete.htm  (ResourceShelf; 8/13/05)   Back to top

HAVE YOU ENCOUNTERED THIS E-MAIL VIRUS?
I thought you would want to know about this e-mail virus. Even the most advanced programs from Norton or McAfee cannot take care of this one. It appears to affect those who were born prior to 1975. Symptoms include: · Causes you to send the same e-mail twice. Done that! · Causes you to send a blank e-mail! That too! · Causes you to send e-mail to the wrong person! Yep! · Causes you to send it back to the person who sent it to you. Who me? · Causes you to forget to attach the attachment. Well darn! · Causes you to hit “SEND” before you’ve finished. Oh no – not again! · Causes you to hit “DELETE” instead of “SEND.” And I just hate that! · Causes you to hit “SEND” when you should “DELETE.” Oh No! It is called the “C-Nile Virus.” (Source unknown)

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WEB SITES OF INTEREST (tourist traps on the information superhighway!)

ALA TechSource Blog     http://www.techsource.ala.org/blog/
This companion blog to the subscription ALA TechSource features some of the profession's best thinkers on the possibilities for libraries in new technologies: Karen G. Schneider, Michael Stephens, Jenny Levine, Tom Peters, and Teresa Koltzenburg.
(Neat New Stuff I Found This Week; 11/4/05; http://marylaine.com/neatnew.html; Copyright, Marylaine Block, 1999-2005)  

Gingerbread Heaven  http://creativeladiesministry.com/gingerbread.html
A collection of links to sites about making gingerbread cookies and cakes, gingerbread houses, and related crafts.  Includes sites with photos, recipes, and instructions for making gingerbread and faux gingerbread houses (such as out of cardboard, graham crackers, and sugar cubes).
(LII New this Week; 8/3/05; Copyright 2005 by Librarians’ Index to the Internet, LII) 

Great American Public Libraries:  The 2005 HAPLR Rankings  http://www.haplr-index.com
The seventh annual assessment of the nation’s public libraries, compiled by Thomas J. Hennen, Jr., director of the Waukesha County Federated Library System.  Three Wisconsin libraries – Madison Public Library, Middleton Public Library and Brown Deer Public Library – rank in the top 10 of their respective population categories nationally in the 2005 ratings.
(American Libraries; 10/05)

Let’s Talk Turkey   http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Lets_Talk_Turkey/index.asp
For tips on safely cooking your turkey, visit the USDA’s Poultry Preparation Fact Sheet.
(WSLL @ Your Service; November 2005) 

LibrarySpot.com    http://www.libraryspot.com/
This site is a free virtual library resource center for educators and students, librarians and their patrons, families, businesses and just about anyone exploring the Web for valuable research information.
(RefDesk Site-of-the-Day; 7/25/05; http://www.refdesk.com )

Official USPS Abbreviations    http://www.usps.com/ncsc/lookups/usps_abbreviations.html#states
List of official abbreviations from the United States Postal Service (USPS) to use when addressing mail.  Includes abbreviations for states, military areas (such as “AE” for Armed Forces Middle East), street suffixes, and secondary unit designations (such as for apartment, penthouse, and room).
(LII New this Week; 10/27/05; Copyright 2005 by Librarians’ Index to the Internet, LII)  

Updates on Wisconsin Laws

• Wisconsin Open Meetings Law    http://www.doj.state.wi.us/AWP/OpenMeetings/2005-OML-GUIDE.pdf
  A new compliance outline of the law was printed in August 2005.  It is available from the Wisconsin Department of Justice in print form, or via this link in a PDF file.

• Wisconsin Public Records Law    http://www.doj.state.wi.us/dls/docs/publicrecords805.pdf  
  Do you wonder how long to keep those boxes and boxes of library records?  The Wisconsin Public Records Law is also available from the Wisconsin Department of Justice in PDF at this web link.  A committee is also working on a Model Records Retention Schedule that is in draft form.  Information about the committee and a copy of the draft is available at http://dpi.wi.gov/pld/retensch.html

(edited from Arrowhead Library System’s Monday Memo; October 31, 2005) 

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS

ATTENTION: WESSLER SCHOLARSHIPS are available to cover some/all costs associated with attendance at reference and/or interlibrary loan continuing education events. If interested in becoming a Wessler Scholar, contact the WVLS office (715/261-7250) for more information. The application form and more information are available at http://wvls.lib.wi.us/About/wessler.htm 

LAMPLIGHTER

is a monthly newsletter of the Wisconsin Valley Library Service. 
300 N. First Street / Wausau, WI 54403
Contributions are welcome!

Back issues are available at http://wvls.lib.wi.us/Newsletter/newsindex.htm 
(Note: Web links in past issues are not checked for currency and may no longer work.)

Contributions are welcome! News items should be submitted by the first of the month.
WVLS serves Clark, Forest, Langlade, Lincoln, Marathon, Oneida, and Taylor counties.

When the most recent issue becomes available, readers are alerted by a notice posted to WISPUBLIB, or sent an email.
To subscribe to WISPUBLIB, send an email message to wispublib@badger.state.wi.us  In the body of the message (subject line is ignored) type: subscribe WISPUBLIB. Then send your email. To have The Lamplighter emailed to you without subscribing to WISPUBLIB, contact Barbara Freimund at 715/261-7252, or email freimund@wvls.lib.wi.us