Library Stuff

AP – “Government agencies would have to get a warrant or court order to obtain customers’ reading records from bookstores and online booksellers, under a bill approved by the state Senate. The legislation by Sen. Leland Yee is patterned after similar privacy protections that currently are in place for library records. The bill, SB602, passed the Senate unanimously and without debate Monday. It now goes to the Assembly.”

LA Times – “When Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa gave his State of the City speech Wednesday night, the focus was on education. But in one of the few moments that he didn’t talk about education reform — when he wasn’t getting his biggest applause of the night by talking about fixing potholes — he touched on public libraries.

KPCC’s Frank Stoltz reported that the mayor promised further cuts in city spending, and that “Villaraigosa offered few details, but did offer some good news — he wants to provide money to reopen libraries on Mondays and add park space.”

Schwarzenegger’s Push for Digital Textbooks – “Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is taking a page from high school science books in an effort to shrink California's $24 billion budget gap. In fact, he wants to take the entire book — and do away with it.”

Press Release – “Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today launched an initiative to make California the first state in the nation to offer schools free, open-source digital textbooks for high school students. The Governor directed his Secretary of Education Glen Thomas to ensure these resources are available for use in high school math and science classes by fall 2009, a critical first step in helping ensure digital textbooks are widely available to all California students.”