The Library of Congress recently approved the establishment of two new state centers that will be affiliated with its Center for the Book: New York and Iowa. Another new state center, Hawaii, hosted its opening events in early February.
State centers extend to the grass-roots level the national center's mission of stimulating public interest in books, reading, literacy and libraries. State affiliations are for three-year periods, and each center (which has to provide its own financial support) must apply for renewal every three years. The addition of New York and Iowa to the national Center for the Book's reading promotion network brings the total number of affiliated state centers to 46, plus the District of Columbia Center for the Book.
New York Center for the Book
The New York Center for Books and Reading will be hosted by the E.S. Bird Library at Syracuse University. Dierdre C. Stam, the director, has wide experience in computer networks and in working with art museums and other cultural institutions. Major resources and partners in the Syracuse area include the Onondaga County Public Library, various Syracuse University schools, and Laubach Literacy International, which is headquartered in Syracuse. Plans are developing for a New York City base which will include Syracuse Uni- versity's Lubin House, Columbia University Library, and other organizations.
According to Stam, the New York Center for Books and Reading will focus first on publicizing and supporting activities of other organizations, and second on initiating direct programming where the need exists. For information, contact Dierdre C. Stam, E.S. Bird Library, Syracuse University, 211 Waverly Ave., Syracuse, N.Y. 13244, telephone (315) 443-2598, e-mail: dcstam@aol.com. The center's Web site is www.newyorkbooks.org.
Iowa Center for the Book
The Iowa State Library in Des Moines will host the new Iowa Center for the Book. Its coordinator is Roy Kenagy, Information Services Manager at the Iowa State Library, who emphasized the project's cooperative nature when the new center was announced: "We will enlist many different people and groups, but we are especially pleased by the early commitment to our endeavor by the University of Iowa Center for the Book and our state humanities council, Humanities Iowa."
The center's advisory panel will include Iowa's first lady Christie Vilsack; state librarian Mary Wegner; Chris Rossi, executive director, Humanities Iowa; and Timothy Barrett, director, University of Iowa Center for the Book. Additional members will represent all geographic areas of the state and a cross-section of Iowa's "community of the book," from author to reader.
Initially the Iowa Center for the Book will focus on coordinating and expanding existing book and reading programs. It is assuming coordination of Stories 2000, a multi-faceted literacy program established by Christie Vilsack. In partnership with Humanities Iowa, it will develop a Web-based events calendar, map, and directory of statewide book, reading and cultural events. It will work with the University of Iowa Center for the Book, which has a special strength in the book arts, to reach out to Iowa communities with presentations by book specialists in schools, colleges, public libraries, and adult education venues. It will initiate "All Iowa Reads," a statewide promotion effort that will highlight the state's 543 local public libraries as centers for reading in their communities.
For information about the Iowa Center for the Book, contact Roy Kenagy, Coordinator, State Library of Iowa, 1112 East Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50319, telephone (515) 281-6789, fax (515) 281-6191, e-mail: roy.kenagy@lib.state.ia.us.
Center for the Book Director John Cole at the opening with former Hawaii first lady Lynne Waihee, a member of the new Hawaii Center for the Book's advisory board. - Paul H. Mark
Hawaii Center for the Book Officially Opened
The inaugural event of the Hawaii Center for the Book, held at the Hawaii State Library in Honolulu on Feb. 1, featured an Asian Lion Dance, a reception, and remarks from Caroline Spencer, director of the library and state center coordinator. Also in attendance were Hawaii's first lady Vicky Cayetano, the Hawaii Center for the Book's honorary chairperson and this writer. The colorful event, which included traditional Hawaiian music, dancing, and food, was followed in subsequent days by Hawaii Center for the Book events in Maui and Kauai. The Maui program, held on Feb. 4 at the Kahului Public Library, focused on Deborah Iida, whose new book "Middle Son," is the centerpiece of the new "Maui County Reads" (Hawaii Center for the Book) book discussion project. In Kauai on Feb. 8, John Cole met at the Lihue Public Library with state librarian Virginia Lowell and Kauai librarians to talk about the Hawaii Center for the Book and potential projects that might take advantage of Hawaii's natural interest in oral history and language.
