Contents of August 2005 American Libraries

News Fronts

6  ALA

• Cultural Program Fund Monies Still Needed 
• ALA Collaborates on Mapping Project 
• New Jewish Lit Award Offered
• ALA Named NISO Maintenance Agency 

12  Washington

• Congress Advances Patriot Act Reauthorization 
• Library Groups Accept High Court’s Grokster Decision
• Washington on the Web 

14  USA and International 

• Gay Pride Exhibit Leads to Countywide Ban 
• Publishers Question Google Print Library Project
• States See Boost in Library Funding 
• Niagara Falls Public Library Faces Closure 

Special News Reports

30  Information Professionals Intent on Impact

      BY SUSAN S. DiMATTIA
      Special Libraries Association Annual Conference.

32  Medical Librarians Focus on Cultural Transformation

      BY PAMELA A. GOODES
      Medical Library Association Annual Meeting.

34  Soggy Calgary Fails to Dampen Spirits

      BY MADELEINE LEFEBVRE
      Canadian Library Association Annual Conference.

35  Publishing Industry Show Draws 2,200 Librarians

      BY LEONARD KNIFFEL
      BookExpo America.

Features

48  Cover Story:
      Bound to the Word

      BY BARACK OBAMA
      Guardians of truth and knowledge, librarians must be thanked for
      their role as champions of privacy, literacy, independent thinking,
      and, most of all, reading.

42  Documents to the People

      BY CHARLES A. SEAVEY
      Musings on the past and future of government information.

45  Google Print vs. Onsite Collections

      BY THOMAS MANN
      Don’t send your paper copies off to remote storage just yet.

47  Are Your Students Prepared?

      BY LYNNE OLVER
      Build an A+ college-prep collection by following this checklist.

78  Public Libraries Struggle to Meet Internet Demand

      BY JOHN CARLO BERTOT, CHARLES R. McCLURE, and
      PAUL T. JAEGER
      New study shows libraries need support to sustain online services.

Conference Coverage

53  Steamy Chicago Breaks ALA Record

      Tackling the big issues, 27,900 attendees made the
      Windy City the most popular venue in ALA history.
      Plus: Council and Executive Board coverage, p. 73–77.

Departments

5  ALA President’s Message

      “Why Library Education Matters”
      BY MICHAEL GORMAN

36  Thus Said

37  Reader Forum

39  Editorial

      “How Does a Collection Get Developed?”
      BY LEONARD KNIFFEL

41  On My Mind

      “Academia’s Two-Culture Dilemma”
      BY MARY K. CHELTON

70  Technically Speaking

      “Me Too!”
      BY ANDREW K. PACE

80  Currents

83  Grassroots Report

      “Library Students Making a Difference”
      BY JENNIFER BUREK PIERCE

84  Internet Librarian

      “Eleven Minutes”
      BY JOSEPH JANES

86  Working Knowledge

      “Safeguarding against Employee Fraud”
      BY ELISA F. TOPPER

87  Librarian’s Library

      BY CATHLEEN BOURDON

89  Quick Vids

      “Reality 101”
      BY GARY HANDMAN

90  Datebook

93  Career Leads

103  Index to Advertisers

104  Will’s World

      “Don’t Judge Patrons by Appearances”
      BY WILL MANLEY