Novel ideas

Caitlin Hudgins

Friday, Aug. 6, 2004 | 4:56 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

August 7 - 8, 2004

Children don't have to read Shakespeare to impress their teachers anymore. "The Adventures of Spiderman" is enough.

"We're just trying to get them to read anything," Nevada Library Association spokeswoman Joan Vaughan said. "As long as you're reading something, it's going to instill good habits in you, and eventually you'll expand out."

At the Nevada Library Association's 58th annual conference Wednesday through Saturday at Lake Las Vegas's Hyatt Regency, more than 250 library staff, vendors and supporters can attend discussion groups, networking events and workshops, including a couple on how reading comic books might lead to reading novels.

For children who have trouble learning to read, the conference will present a program called "Reading with Rover," which pairs struggling readers with a certified therapy dog that listens to children read for half an hour once a week.

"Struggling readers don't want to read in front of anyone," Henderson District Public Library youth services specialist Florica Hagendorn said. Children with learning disabilities, emotional concerns or language barriers feel comfortable reading in front of an attentive dog that doesn't threaten to criticize or interrupt them, she said.

For children already proficient in reading, the conference will also host the Nevada Young Readers' Awards, which honors books in four categories: picture book, young reader, intermediate and young adult.

Las Vegas Valley students nominated their favorite books and cast more than 30,000 votes for their top choices, Jen Fabbi, co-chairwoman of the Nevada Young Readers' Awards, said.

Two of the winning authors, Wendelin Van Draanen and Donna Jo Napoli, will attend the Young Readers' breakfast for a question-and-answer session and a book-signing.

Although organizers moved the conference from October to August to allow school librarians to attend during their vacation time, the conference doesn't focus solely on children's issues.

A diversity panel, including Carla Hayden, the American Library Association's first black president, will present "White Privilege in Library Land" to address libraries' lack of minority employees.

The small number of minority librarians was also noted by Nevada Library Association President Felton Thomas.

"We need to bring more minorities into the profession," because if 40 percent to 45 percent of United States citizens are minorities and only 8 percent to 10 percent of library employees are minorities, he said, "then people coming in the libraries don't see people who look like them."

Since libraries can sometimes be intimidating, it's important to ensure that all races feel comfortable visiting them, Thomas said.

But although Nevada's library staffs don't yet boast large numbers of minorities, they are loaded with foreign programs and materials, Vaughan said.

In addition to collecting the obvious -- Spanish books -- Nevada libraries also organize other minority programs. Upcoming events include a feng shui seminar, a screening of the Italian film "Life is Beautiful" and a "Traveling Tales: Africa" session for children in kindergarten through second grade.

"You try to structure your programs to reach (minority) groups as well as build up your collection so they'll come in and use your materials," she said.

Next week's conference will also include a speech by Community College of Southern Nevada history professor Michael Green entitled "What Makes Nevada Different -- Or Is It Different?" as well as information on continuing education, Internet resources, customer service, library salaries, remodeling and fund-raising.

After informational sessions conclude, attendees will have the opportunity to get to know each other with a lake cruise Wednesday and a fiesta Friday.

"We're a pretty small association, so there's a good chance you can eventually know everybody there," Vaughan said. "It (the conference) is good for networking and for attending programs so you can learn how to do your job better."

For more information, visit nevadalibraries.org.