Greg Landgraf's blog

In the Columbus Dispatch October 23, former Tennessee Deputy Governor Alex Fischer told a clear story about how important libraries are to a local economy. As deputy governor, Fischer led the state's economic development efforts. After the state successfully attracted a major project, Fischer asked the developers what made them choose Tennessee over other states.

With support from the American Library Association, Target has launched the nationwide Target Read With Me campaign to help increase children's reading proficiency by encouraging adults to read with children.

Young children whose parents do read with them have a significantly increased ability to read on their own by the end of third grade.

This is Banned Books Week, the American Library Association's annual celebration of the freedom to read. In honor of the festivities, author Chris Crutcher shares a tale of censorship at the Banned Books Read-Out, held September 25 at Chicago's Bughouse Square.

Via Tame The Web comes this tale of how a library made a very practical, immediate difference for two Italian teens visiting the U.S. for the summer. They went to the library to use the public computers, but intrepid librarian Justin Hoenke suspected they might want something more. Justin writes:

"Enter Google Translate.  It started with one simple message:

Ti prego di perdonarmi. Non parlo italiano, ma spero che se io uso questo strumento posso parlare con voi.

Preservation work on a draft of the Declaration of Independence reveals an intriguing word choice made by Thomas Jefferson. He originally wrote the phrase "our fellow subjects" in the section detailing U.S. grievances against King George III, but reconsidered and changed the phrase to "our fellow citizens" instead, symbolizing the break from the monarch's rule.

Illustration: 

Via the Cake Wrecks blog comes this collection of outstanding literary-themed cakes. In addition to the Harry Potter cakes above, made by Karren's Specialty Cakes in Hillsboro, Oregon, the blog found examples of cake art based on Lord of the Rings, Dr. Seuss, Shel Silverstein, Where the Wild Things Are, and more.

Via Tame The Web comes this video from the City of Tea Tree Gully Library in South Australia, and their creative farewell to their collection of VHS tapes. Enjoy!

One Book One City (or community, or university, or conference, or the like) programs have spread rapidly since librarian Nancy Pearl created the first one in Seattle in 1998. One Book programs encourage members of a community to all read the same book at the same time, and then come together to discuss it. Taking part is a great way to connect with your community--and it all happens at your library.

We're a few days after Valentine's Day, but in that spirit comes this story via SouthCoastToday of the romance that blossomed over a stolen library book.

In January, Paul Drake returned a book to the Fairhaven High School's Millicent Library that his father Woodland had, ahem, borrowed in 1940 to help a girl finish a report. Naturally enough, that girl would become Woodland's wife and later Paul's mother.