The winner of the 2004 MSIBA Humpty Dumpty Picture Book Award is Diary of a Wombat. It is very apparent that Jackie French must know a couple of wombats quite well because she pegs this character with perfection. This book is brilliantly illustrated by Bruce Whatley. He creates a wombat you can’t help but love with his charming illustrations.

The 2004 MSIBA Humpty Dumpty Chapter Book Award goes to Shannon Hale for The Goose Girl, which is a beautiful novel that will take readers on an adventure that they won’t forget. In this retelling of the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale, Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Isi, is Crown Princess of Kildenree and is not really comfortable in her role. A terrible accident lead to a misguided decision by her mother, but what begins as a journey to a new kingdom to be married off to a prince to make peace in the country turns into a tale full of magic, treachery, trust, and love. It’s a breathtaking read.

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'Pulpwood Queens' Heard From
(PublishersWeekly_com)

The proprietor of what may well be the only bookstore/beauty parlor in the country, Kathy Patrick, has become a well-known figure in Jefferson, Tex., not only for her unusual store but for the highly successful book group, the Pulpwood Queens, she runs from it and for the many notable author events the store has organized. She has drawn national attention for all these doings, including TV appearances on Good Morning America, and since she is also a dedicated book person (she used to be a book sales rep), it was perhaps inevitable that she would eventually give birth to one. Agent Marly Rusoff just sold her offspring to Warner's Amy Einhorn for U.S., Canadian and open market rights. Patrick will describe how following her dream—in her case, the love of books—changed her life, and will suggest how other women can do likewise.

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Emma Rodgers, co-founder and co-owner of Black Images Book Bazaar received the 2004 Wordspace Award for Outstanding Support of Literature on August 6, 2004.  The award is presented annually during the Wordspace Texas Unbound Festival.

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The Campaign for Reader Privacy ? sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, the American Library Association and PEN American Center ? will gather signatures in bookstores, libraries and on a new Web site, www.readerprivacy.org. Over the last year, Republicans, Democrats and Independents have joined to sponsor a
number of bills to amend Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act, including the Freedom to Read Protection Act (H.R. 1157) and the Security and Freedom Ensured (SAFE) Act, S. 1709.  "Booksellers are deeply concerned about the chilling effect of Section 215 and President Bush's stated intent to seek blanket reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act," said ABA Chief Operating Officer Oren Teicher.

Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act amended the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to give the FBI vastly expanded authority to search business records, including the records of bookstores and libraries: the FBI may request the records secretly; it is not required to prove that there is "probable cause" to believe the person whose records are being sought has committed a crime; and the bookseller or librarian who receives an order is prohibited from revealing it to anyone except those whose help is needed to produce the records. "This isn't about stripping law enforcement of the power to investigate terrorism. It's about restoring confidence that our reading choices aren't being monitored by the government," said Larry Siems, director of PEN's Freedom to Write Program.

The Bush administration opposes changes in Section 215. Attorney General John Ashcroft has characterized concern over the privacy of bookstore and library records as "hysteria." In his State of the Union message on January 20,
President George Bush called on Congress to reauthorize the provisions of the PATRIOT Act that are due to expire at the end of next year, including Section 215. More than 253 anti-PATRIOT Act resolutions have been passed nationwide in states, counties, cities and small towns ? including New York City, Kansas City, Mo., and Valencia County, N.M., in just the last two weeks.  "Our concerns about privacy are far from hysterical. The federal government has attempted to monitor library records before and it seems inevitable that they will use Section 215 to try again,"
said Judith F. Krug, director of the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom.

To demonstrate the unity of the book and library community, the groups also released a statement of support for proposed legislation that amends Section 215. The statement is signed by 40 organizations representing virtually every bookstore, library and writer in the country as well as 81 individual companies, including Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Borders Group, Inc., Ingram Book Group, Random House, Simon & Schuster and Holtzbrinck Publishers.

The organizations listed below strongly support federal legislation that addresses this problem: the Freedom to Read
Protection Act (H.R. 1157), the Library and Bookseller Protection Act  (S. 1158) and the Library, Bookseller and Personal Data Privacy Act (S. 1507). These bills strengthen protections for the privacy of bookstore and library records without preventing the FBI from obtaining crucial information. Under H.R. 1157 and S. 1158, the courts would exercise their normal scrutiny in reviewing requests for bookstore and library records. S. 1507 allows the FBI to follow the procedures authorized by Section 215 but limits searches to the records of "foreign agents" engaged in acts of terrorism or espionage.

We applaud the authors of these bills, U.S. Representative Bernie Sanders (H.R. 1157), Senator Barbara Boxer (S. 1158) and Senator Russell D. Feingold (S. 1507) as well as the Democratic and Republican sponsors and co-sponsors of this legislation. They have shown great courage by defending civil liberties during a time of crisis.
 

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