The funding increase supports a new vision for the public library system, which is focused on building seamless access to information and services through Alberta’s public library network.

“This is an investment in Albertans,” said Premier Ed Stelmach. “We want to help libraries provide seamless access to books, resources and people for the benefit of all Albertans no matter where they live, work or read.”

Budget 2009 allocates $32 million for public libraries - a $9 million increase over last year. Of this increase, $7 million will go directly to local library boards and regional library systems to deliver basic library services and respond to community needs. The remaining $2 million increase will be invested in technology, helping further the new vision as well as promoting collaboration and innovation within the library network.

“This means someone in Hanna will have the same access to books, programs and DVDs as someone in Calgary,” said Municipal Affairs Minister, Ray Danyluk. “To improve access to library services we plan to harness technology and help libraries work together. It just makes sense.”

Alberta’s vision for libraries builds on feedback heard through extensive MLA-led consultations with library stakeholders last fall.

“Through our consultations, we encountered many Albertans who are passionate and committed to quality library service in their communities,” says Jeff Johnson, MLA for Athabasca-Redwater and chair of the MLA Committee. “We appreciate their ideas on how to create a solid framework for world-class public library service for Albertans.”

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Media inquiries may be directed to:
Jody Korchinski, Communications
Alberta Municipal Affairs
780-427-8862

The Value of One...the Power of Many
Public Libraries Supporting Albertans

SLA@Pratt is the Pratt School of Information and Library Science Student Chapter of the Special Libraries Association, the career fair is aimed at students in the New York metropolitan area on Library and Information Science Courses, and will enable them to meet with a variety of industry recruiters and listen to a variety of scheduled speakers from the publishing industry.

SLA@Pratt will be the first annual SLA career fair, this will provide opportunity for a question and answer session with established figures within the publishing industry, and allow professionals to share their experiences with students.

Based on experience of working with the editors of 200 journals these author workshops provide insight to help new or potential authors and give them the best possible chance of publication helping authors progress successfully through the various stages from pre-submission of the manuscript, to revision and, finally, publication.

James Comments “The career fair is a great opportunity for students to find out more about the publishing world. Emerald is dedicated to providing a network of support for these students and to helping provide them with the necessary knowledge to take with them in to the working world.”

For further information regarding the event visit http://mysite.pratt.edu/~sla/

Salt Spring Island (B.C.) Public Library Goes Live with Evergreen
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Norcross, GA – April 20, 2009

Salt Spring Island Public Library has become the 15th library in British Columbia’s SITKA consortium to go live with Evergreen, the consortial-quality open-source library automation software.
Salt Spring Island Public Library’s migration to Evergreen is one more step in a process that will see up to 34 SITKA libraries running Evergreen on a shared catalog by the end of 2009. Equinox Software Inc., the support and development company for Evergreen, is providing ongoing 24/7 technical support for SITKA’s Evergreen implementations.
“SITKA exemplifies the power of Evergreen to pull libraries together into resource-sharing systems,” said Brad LaJeunesse, Equinox company president. “Evergreen’s consortial-based architecture and its growing feature set give Evergreen libraries outstanding return on investment.”
SITKA is following a gradual approach to moving libraries over to Evergreen; libraries opt-in on their own schedules. Many libraries are anticipated to join over the next several years when their existing automation vendor contracts expire.
The idea of a library in Salt Spring Island first began in the early 1930s. Today the library serves 6,000 patrons and holds 51,000 bibliographic titles.

About Evergreen
Evergreen is consortial-quality, open-source library software initially developed to support Georgia PINES, a resource-sharing consortium with over 270 public libraries. Evergreen was designed from the ground up to be robust, fault-tolerant, service-oriented, and standards-based. Evergreen nimbly evolves to meet the needs of very large, high-transaction, multi-site consortia, while elegantly scaling down to the smallest library sites.
The growing, multinational Evergreen development community has shepherded Evergreen through a series of carefully-planned releases that have further strengthened Evergreen’s consortial capabilities while adding popular and useful functionality. Evergreen 2.0, due out in 2009, will add acquisitions, serials, and reserves to Evergreen’s outstanding functionality.
From its debut in September 2006, Evergreen has earned acclaim and praise from users worldwide, including a Technology Collaboration Award from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Additional Evergreen implementations include other consortial projects such as Michigan Evergreen and Evergreen Indiana, and libraries such as Kent County Public Library in Maryland, Marshall Public Library in Missouri, the National Weather Center Library, and the University of Prince Edward Island.
Other libraries contracting with Equinox software for future Evergreen services include King County Library System (a public library system in Washington State), the thirteen libraries of Natural Resources Canada, North Texas Regional Library System, and the newly-formed, 11-library consortium, South Caroline LENDS. A number of libraries “go it alone” with Evergreen by providing their own migration and support, which further demonstrates the power, ease, and reliability of this state-of-the-art library software.
For more information about Evergreen, see http://evergreen-ils.org.
About Equinox Software, Inc.
Founded by the original Evergreen designers and developers, Equinox Software is a growing team of skilled developers and other professionals who provide comprehensive support for Evergreen, the consortial-quality, open source Integrated Library System (ILS). Equinox develops, supports, trains, migrates, integrates, and consults on Evergreen, and engages with the rapidly expanding Evergreen community. Instead of one-size-fits-all support, Equinox works closely with libraries to ensure Evergreen is implemented in the manner that best fits their individual needs.
In addition to support, custom development and integration services, Equinox offers complete Evergreen hosting packages for libraries wishing to outsource their ILS infrastructure. Equinox also provides consulting services for libraries seeking more insight into the value proposition of open source software.
Press contact: Corinne Hall, corinne@esilibrary.com, 678-269-6113
For more information on Equinox Software, please visit http://www.esilibrary.com.

Evergreen is open source software, freely licensed under the GNU GPL. Evergreen and the Evergreen logo are trademarks of the Georgia Public Library Service.

Australia’s Fremantle Press recently purchased the rights to “Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait” by Australian K. A. Bedford. The rights were purchased from EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing, an imprint of Hades Publications Inc.

EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing released “Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait” last August in time for the World Science Fiction Convention in Denver, Colorado. It has received international attention with reviews, mentions, interviews, and awards. More recently, author K. A. Bedford received the prestigious Australian Aurealis Award for Best Science Fiction Novel and received nomination for the P. K. Dick Award in the United States.

“Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait” marks K. A. Bedford’s fourth science fiction novel. His previous novels, “Orbital Burn” (2003), “Eclipse” (2005), and “Hydrogen Steel” (2006) have also received international attention. “Eclipse” won the Aurealis Award for the Best Australian Science Fiction Novel in 2005. “Orbital Burn” and “Hydrogen Steel” have been nominated for the same award in the year of their publication.

EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing released their first book in 2000, “The Black Chalice” by Marie Jakober. “The Black Chalice” received three major awards and garnered high praise from reviewers around the world. EDGE was built on a solid foundation of knowledge and experience. Owner/President Brian Hades has previous experience in the publishing industry through publishing books on theater, magic and performing arts. He has gained the knowledge of the Speculative Fiction genre through various ports: as a reader, as a publisher, and as a fan. EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing encourages, produces and promotes thought-provoking and well written science fiction and fantasy literature. Since 2000, Hades Publications Inc. has grown to include: EDGE, Tesseract Books, Dragon Moon Press and Absolute XPress; between the four presses, Hades Publications has released over 150 titles and growing.

Fremantle Press released their first book in 1976 — a poetry anthology. Fremantle Press began as a small press who was dedicated to five or six new works of poetry and prose but quickly grew to include creative non-fiction titles. This growth led to their success: AB Facey’s “A Fortunate Life” (1981). “A Fortunate Life” received praise by reviewers as ‘the quintessential Australian pioneer story’. To date, it has sold more than 750,000 copies and is still under license to Penguin Books. Today the press published books under twelve different genres including Science Fiction. The press is known for its excellence and breadth. With their careful selection of titles designed to appeal to a wider audience, Fremantle Press published twenty-four new titles a year and reprints many popular titles. By the end of 2007, the press had published more than seven hundred titles.

For more information about EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing, please visit: http://www.edgewebsite.com

For more information about “Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait or K. A. Bedford, please visit: http://www.edgewebsite.com/books/timemachinesrepaired/tmr-catalog.php

For more information about Fremantle Press, please visit:
http://www. fremantlepress.com.au

If you would like to schedule an interview with K. A. Bedford, please contact:

Justyn Perry
Marketing Manager
EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing
Justyn@hadespublications.com
403.254.0160

Australia’s Fremantle Press recently purchased the rights to “Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait” by Australian K. A. Bedford. The rights were purchased from EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing, an imprint of Hades Publications Inc.

EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing released “Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait” last August in time for the World Science Fiction Convention in Denver, Colorado. It has received international attention with reviews, mentions, interviews, and awards. More recently, author K. A. Bedford received the prestigious Australian Aurealis Award for Best Science Fiction Novel and received nomination for the P. K. Dick Award in the United States.

“Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait” marks K. A. Bedford’s fourth science fiction novel. His previous novels, “Orbital Burn” (2003), “Eclipse” (2005), and “Hydrogen Steel” (2006) have also received international attention. “Eclipse” won the Aurealis Award for the Best Australian Science Fiction Novel in 2005. “Orbital Burn” and “Hydrogen Steel” have been nominated for the same award in the year of their publication.

EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing released their first book in 2000, “The Black Chalice” by Marie Jakober. “The Black Chalice” received three major awards and garnered high praise from reviewers around the world. EDGE was built on a solid foundation of knowledge and experience. Owner/President Brian Hades has previous experience in the publishing industry through publishing books on theater, magic and performing arts. He has gained the knowledge of the Speculative Fiction genre through various ports: as a reader, as a publisher, and as a fan. EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing encourages, produces and promotes thought-provoking and well written science fiction and fantasy literature. Since 2000, Hades Publications Inc. has grown to include: EDGE, Tesseract Books, Dragon Moon Press and Absolute XPress; between the four presses, Hades Publications has released over 150 titles and growing.

Fremantle Press released their first book in 1976 — a poetry anthology. Fremantle Press began as a small press who was dedicated to five or six new works of poetry and prose but quickly grew to include creative non-fiction titles. This growth led to their success: AB Facey’s “A Fortunate Life” (1981). “A Fortunate Life” received praise by reviewers as ‘the quintessential Australian pioneer story’. To date, it has sold more than 750,000 copies and is still under license to Penguin Books. Today the press published books under twelve different genres including Science Fiction. The press is known for its excellence and breadth. With their careful selection of titles designed to appeal to a wider audience, Fremantle Press published twenty-four new titles a year and reprints many popular titles. By the end of 2007, the press had published more than seven hundred titles.

For more information about EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing, please visit: http://www.edgewebsite.com

For more information about “Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait or K. A. Bedford, please visit: http://www.edgewebsite.com/books/timemachinesrepaired/tmr-catalog.php

For more information about Fremantle Press, please visit:
http://www. fremantlepress.com.au

If you would like to schedule an interview with K. A. Bedford, please contact:

Justyn Perry
Marketing Manager
EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing
Justyn@hadespublications.com
403.254.0160