Index
- We need your feedback to plan the 2007 SCLS Annual Meeting
- Press release highlights local value of the Summer Library Program
- System Celebration scheduled Sept. 20 in Waunakee; award nomination online
- Member/Staff News
- Online Readers’ Advisory service called “Book-Alikes” now available
- April continuing education opportunities
- Discount available on Creative Zen Nano Plus mp3 players
- LSTA Advisory Committee April meeting and public hearing
- Library Customer Service DVD available for loan from Reference and Loan
- Summer Continuing Education Courses from UW-Madison SLIS
- UW-Madison Friends ready to sell another 15,000 books during semiannual sale
- CCBC Choices 2007 now available
- Woman’s Day article highlights impact of public library to change lives
- ALSC announces Bookapalooza Program to give away books
- Library Journal video series adds spice to reading groups
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services celebrates 100th anniversary of Rachel Carson's birth with online book club
- Continuing Education Calendar
We need your feedback to plan the 2007 SCLS Annual Meeting
The 2007 Annual Meeting will be held May 11 at Devil's Lake State Park, and this year we’re trying something a little different -- there will be no keynote speaker. Instead, the focus of the meeting will be discussion, with plenty of time to share and gather ideas from your fellow SCLS librarians.
The agenda will be casual (as will be the dress and atmosphere!). In fact, you have two opportunities to help shape the agenda:
- Complete the Annual Meeting Survey -- One of the two primary components of the day will be a series of brief presentations, followed by discussion on each. For this portion of the meeting we need your feedback! The committee and staff have brainstormed topics for discussion, so now we need you to complete the Annual Meeting Survey to let us know which topics you'd be most interested in, or suggest a new topic. Take a few minutes to complete the survey by March 23, 2007.
- Bring your questions and discussion topics to the meeting -- The other primary component of the day will be a time for discussing topics suggested that day. For this portion of the meeting, just bring the questions you'd like to discuss with other SCLS member libraries to the meeting. We'll post a complete agenda and registration form after we hear from you on discussion topics. Look for it at www.scls.info/about/annualmeeting.
If you have any questions or comments about the annual meeting, contact Stef Morrill at (608) 245-5799 (or by email or IM).
Press release highlights local value of the Summer Library Program
Librarians already know the immense value reading and literacy play in the education of Wisconsin children, and the 2006 Summer Library Program within the South Central Library System (SCLS) resulted in an estimated $23.8 million in value to local communities by helping children stay on task with educational progress.
Earlier this week we mailed a press release to all member public libraries that participated in the 2006 Summer Library Program highlighting the local value of the summer library program. We also attached a spreadsheet with the 2006 data from all of the public libraries within SCLS. We know that summer reading is critical for the maintenance and improvement of children’s reading skills, but this data shows that the program also provides direct monetary value to participating communities.
We encourage you to contact us if you have questions about the press release and accompanying data, and we urge you to present this information to your local media and emphasize the important role your library plays in your community.
System Celebration scheduled Sept. 20 in Waunakee; award nomination online
System Celebration 2007 will be held Thursday, Sept. 20, at Sweet Sophie’s Restaurant & Hall in Waunakee. Be sure to reserve the date, and submit your nominations for our annual awards.
System Celebration is our annual thank you to the staff, trustees, and mayors/village presidents of SCLS member libraries for their support and efforts throughout the year, and our awards are an important component of that recognition.
All award nominations -- which may be made by library staff, trustees, Friends, citizens, etc. -- must be submitted at www.scls.info/about/systemceleb/. The deadline for nominations is Friday, April 27, 2007, and all nominations must use the online form.
Madison Public Library recently received $270,000 from the estate of a former Sheboygan school teacher, part of a $810,000 gift left to three libraries. Myrtle Hansen of Sheboygan died in 2002 and left much of her estate to her sister, Hazel, who died in November 2006. Hazel decided the remaining money should go to libraries, and because her sister earned her master’s degree in Madison, she directed some of the estate to Madison Public Library.
Jennifer Friedman is the new patient librarian at Mendota Mental Health Institute. She received her MLS from UW-Madison in 1995 and since then has worked in medical libraries and state library agencies in Wisconsin and North Dakota. Jennifer can be contacted at (608) 301-1196 (friedjl1@dhfs.state.wi.us).
Online Readers’ Advisory service called “Book-Alikes” now available
For the past several months we’ve been telling you about a new online service being offered by SCLS. Staffed by volunteers from several SCLS libraries, the service matches up readers with books to suit their stated likes and dislikes.
We feel the service (which now has the name “Book-Alikes”) has been sufficiently road-tested to let interested SCLS libraries link from their web pages to the online form at www.scls.info/reference/reads. For help adding the link, contact Nichole Fromm, SCLS Technology Project Support Specialist, at (608) 246-4521 (or by email or IM).
You may also start telling your patrons about the service, and promotional material will be available in the near future.
Any staff members interested in offering their readers’ advisory expertise to the project should contact Cheryl Becker, SCLS Library Administration Consultant, at (608) 246-7973 (or by email or IM).
April continuing education opportunities
Here are some brief descriptions of April CE programs being sponsored by SCLS.
- The Best from the Web -- April 13 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., delivered to your desktop, College of DuPage Session, with Kelly Watson and a panel of experts -- Love it or hate it, the Internet is often a librarian's best friend, helping us serve our patrons, and many times helping us do our jobs better. However, as the World Wide Web continues to grow at an exponential rate (blogs and wikis and RSS feeds – oh my!), many of us feel overwhelmed. Kelly Watson and a panel of experts have compiled a toolkit of the best the web has to offer library workers. Learn about web resources that will assist you in your everyday job, whether you work at a public desk or behind the scenes in tech services.
- Parenting Counts: Train the Trainer Workshop -- April 20 from 9:30 to 12 noon at South Central Library System Administration Offices, 5250 E. Terrace Drive, Suite A-2, with Kristina Stadler, Wisconsin Public Television -- Participants will learn how to incorporate the "Parenting Counts" child development curriculum in programs for parents and caregivers of young children. In addition, information on developmentally appropriate practice methods will help you improve the efficacy (and enjoyment) of storytimes and other early childhood activities at your libraries.
- Attorney General Opinion on Library Video Surveillance -- April 25 from 9:30-11:30 at South Central Library System Administration Offices, 5250 E. Terrace Drive, Suite A-2, with Mike Cross (DPI), Bob Hunter or Al Lee (Attorney General’s office), and Lisa Strand (WLA) – This may not be a topic you think about every day, but if you do have a video surveillance system at your library (or are thinking of installing one), you may want to invest some time and attend this program. It will feature a panel discussion, with plenty of time for questions and answers. The session also will be available through OPAL, but you will have to submit your questions using the text feature (no voice participation). Participants also can submit their questions to Jean Anderson (by email) before the program and she will forward them to the panelists. Find out more about what the current law says and how it’s been interpreted to apply to libraries and patron confidentiality. You’ll also learn about some possible legislative proposals WLA is supporting.
And here’s a sneak preview of May CE opportunities.
- Being a Dynamic Book Discussion Leader -- May 16 from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at South Central Library System Administration Offices, 5250 E. Terrace Drive, Suite A-2, with Gary Warren Niehbur, Director of Greendale Public Library and author of Make Mine a Mystery and Read’em Their Writes.
- Money Matters! Tips for Planning, Preparing, & Getting your Public Library Budget -- May 24 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at South Central Library System Administration Offices, 5250 E. Terrace Drive, Suite A-2, with Cheryl Becker, Public Library Administration Consultant.
- Brain Snack: Develop a Library Marketing Plan, Part 1: Creating the Plan -- May 25 from 12 noon to 1 p.m. OPAL Session, with Mark Ibach, Marketing & Public Relations Coordinator.
For more information about these and other CE programs, visit the CE Calendar, or contact Jean Anderson, CE Coordinator, at (608 246-5613 (or by email or IM).
Discount on Creative Zen Nano Plus mp3 players available
Member libraries are eligible for the OverDrive "Gear2Go" program, which makes OverDrive digital audio book-compatible mp3 players available to libraries and library staff at a discount. SCLS will soon place a coordinated order for the Creative Zen Nano Plus 1GB. More information about the player is available at Creative.
If you’re interested, please contact Nichole Fromm at (608) 246-4521 or by email before April 9, 2007, and let her know how many you would like to order. (Sadly, we can't choose the color - the players in the last order were all white.) Your library will be billed for the players, approx. $58 each, including shipping, after they arrive.
LSTA Advisory Committee April meeting and public hearing
The LSTA (Library Services and Technology Act) Advisory Committee will meet April 4 and 5, 2007, to make recommendations on the LSTA five-year plan for 2008-12, and on the preliminary budget and grant categories for the LSTA program for 2008.
The meeting will take place at the Comfort Inn, 4422 East Washington Avenue, Madison. A public hearing will be held April 4 from 1-2 p.m. in conjunction with the meeting. Interested individuals may offer comments and suggestions on the LSTA program for 2008-12 at this public hearing. Those unable to attend the hearing may submit written comments to Peg Branson by fax at (608) 266-2413 (peg.branson@dpi.state.wi.us). Written comments must arrive by April 3 for inclusion in the hearing. A draft LSTA five-year plan and preliminary Ideas for 2008 will be available on the LSTA website in the next couple of weeks.
If you have questions about the LSTA program, contact Peg Branson at (608) 266-2413 (peg.branson@dpi.state.wi.us).
--from Channel Weekly (Vol. 9, No. 23 -- March 8, 2007)
Library Customer Service DVD available for loan from Reference and Loan
Putting Customers First! is a new 38-minute training program for library staff on how to provide outstanding customer service in person, on the telephone, and online, to both internal staff and external library customers.
It defines good customer service and examines strategies used by the Columbus (Ohio) Metropolitan Library and the West Palm Beach (Florida) Library to apply customer service principles to a library setting. The program looks at a library's appearance and style as one of the elements of customer service, and covers some of the challenges presented by newer technologies such as email and chat transactions. The DVD was produced by Library Video Network in 2006, and is closed-captioned. The Reference and Loan Library's call number is DVD V-165.
DVDs and videos may be requested from Reference and Loan through normal interlibrary loan channels; by calling R&LL's circulation/AV booking department at (888) 542-5543 (in-state) or 608-224-6169; by fax at (608) 224-6178; or by email at rllill@dpi.state.wi.us.
--from Channel Weekly (Vol. 9, No. 23 -- March 8, 2007)
Summer Continuing Education Courses from UW-Madison SLIS
Here is your chance to spend a week in Madison this summer! UW-Madison SLIS summer continuing education courses are listed below. Visit www.slis.wisc.edu/continueed for course descriptions and registration information.
Courses in Madison include:
- Grant Writing -- June 4-7, 2007, Instructor Jane Pearlmutter
- Summer Camp by the Lake: Public Library Administration -- June 25-29, 2007, Instructor Kelly Krieg-Sigman
- Travel Opportunity: Librarians’ Tour to Scotland -- July 14-25, 2007, Tour Director Jane Pearlmutter
- Summer Camp by the Lake: Cataloging – Aug. 13-17, 2007, Instructor Debra Shapiro
- Puppets in the Library – Aug. 20-24, 2007, Instructor Susan Santner
SLIS also will offer online graduate credit courses this summer from June 18 through Aug. 12. The courses are “Cataloging and Classification,” “Collection Management,” and “Digital Libraries.”
There also will be online skills courses offered in cooperation with a national network of educational institutions. Courses will focus primarily on technical topics, but several will present non-technical subject matter. While the courses do not have a library focus, they may be useful to anyone who needs to develop these skills. See www.slis.wisc.edu/continueed for more information.
If you have questions about these or other programs, contact Anna Palmer at (608) 263-4452 (ahpalmer@wisc.edu).
UW-Madison Friends ready to sell another 15,000 books during semiannual sale
The Friends of the UW-Madison Library semiannual used book sale will be held for the 23rd time March 21-24 at Memorial Library.
Most of the materials for Wisconsin’s largest used book sale, which features more than 15,000 books on nearly any subject, are donated primarily by UW-Madison faculty, staff, students and area residents. Sale proceeds support various activities, such as an annual lecture series, grants to campus libraries for acquisitions, preservation and conservation, and grants-in-aid for visiting scholars who come to campus libraries to pursue humanities-related research from around the world.
This spring’s sale will offer special collections of books in literary criticism, history of science and philosophy, theater and drama, South Asian studies and the UW Press.
The sale will be in room 116 at Memorial Library, 728 State St. A preview sale ($5 admission) will be held from 5-9 p.m. March 21. The regular sale, open to the public at no charge, will be from 10:30 a.m. until 7 p.m. March 22 and 23. On March 24 the sale will run from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., and patrons can bring a bag and fill it for $3.
Individuals may make tax-deductible donations of books, CDs, LP records and videos any time during the year by simply leaving them in the "Open Return" book drops at most campus libraries. Materials also may be dropped off at the Lake Street dock of Memorial Library each weekday from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
For more information, contact the Friends at (608) 265-2505 (friends@library.wisc.edu).
CCBC Choices 2007 now available
This year’s edition of the Cooperative Children’s Book Center’s annual best-of-the-year list highlights 245 titles published for children and teenagers during 2006. In addition to descriptions of each of the recommended books, the Choices booklet includes author/title and subject indexes, and a commentary on the 2006 publishing year.
CCBC Choices is created by the librarians at the Cooperative Children’s Book Center of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is published by the Friends of the CCBC Inc. The Friends make Choices available at no cost (except postage) to Wisconsin librarians, teachers, and interested others in the state.
Copies of CCBC Choices 2007 are being sent out this week to all Wisconsin public libraries through the statewide system youth services liaisons. If you would like additional copies sent to your library, contact Megan Schliesman (schliesman@education.wisc.edu) and indicate the System to which your library belongs.
Woman’s Day article highlights impact of public library to change lives
In the March 6, 2007, issue of Woman's Day there is an article titled "The library changed my life." The four winning stories include:
- a mother who turned to the library during a bout with post-partum depression;
- an Indonesian immigrant who used books from her childhood public library to learn English;
- a mother who used the library to help find her place in a new community; and
- a blind writer and teacher who uses the free books-on-tape service from the Library of Congress as an everyday escape.
Woman’s Day received nearly 2,000 "heartfelt, funny and touching essays" in response to a call for entries, the most it has ever received. Later this year, ALA will make many of these stories available through a searchable online database.
ALSC announces Bookapalooza Program to give away books
The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), recently announced that applications are being accepted for its new Bookapalooza Program. The program offers three libraries a collection of materials that will help transform their collection and provide the opportunity for these materials to be used in their community in creative and innovative ways.
Each year the ALSC office receives almost 3,000 newly published books, videos, audiobooks, and recordings from children’s trade publishers The materials are primarily for children age birth through 14 and are submitted to ALSC award and media evaluation selection committees for award and notables consideration. The Bookapalooza Program was created to find new homes for these materials once the award and notables selection process is completed for the year.
For the pilot year, libraries must be located in the United States and the applicant must be a personal member of ALSC. Details and applications are available on the ALSC website at www.ala.org/alsc (click on "Awards and Scholarships”). The application deadline is April 15, 2007, and winners will be notified by May 1, 2007.
Library Journal video series adds spice to reading groups
Reading groups are gaining in popularity across the country, and you’re no longer limited by the walls of your meeting space. A series of online programs by Library Journal expand the bounds of reading groups and help breath new life into an already vigorous literary experience.
Join Barbara Hoffert, editor of Library Journal’s Book Review, and a panel of experts to discuss topics like author phone calls, video conferencing/webcasts, poscasting, alternative book group idea, and reading guides.
Join the discussion today at www.libraryjourn.com/learn. No registration is necessary.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services celebrates 100th anniversary of Rachel Carson's birth with online book club
Rachel Carson introduced the "common" American to many of the ecological and environmental concepts that many of us take for granted today. She wrote about important scientific issues (i.e. pesticide risks) in an easy-to-read style that anyone could understand. To honor the 100th anniversary of her birth, and the achievements of its most notable employee, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is sponsoring an on-line book club to discuss the works she authored and the issues she raises therein.
A highlight of the centennial celebration is the Rachel Carson Online Book Club, which continues through November 2007. The forum will focus on the life and work of Rachel Carson, including her role as a female leader in science and government. Silent Spring, Carson’s most well known book which alerted the public to the dangers of pesticides and sparked a firestorm of controversy in its wake, will be showcased, as will some of her lesser known texts on the sea, and the truly inspirational “The Sense of Wonder.”
Distinguished guest moderators will participate in the online discussions. Author and Carson biographer Linda Lear launched the first session on March 1. Each month, a moderator will start the book discussion with an opening statement. Then, in dialogue with book club participants, the moderator will provide weekly installments and add comments on the discussion throughout the month. Discussions will encompass current environmental issues like global warming and will extend to personal attitudes toward the natural world.
The Rachel Carson Online Book Club is sponsored by The Friends of National Conservation Training Center (NCTC). Participation in the online book club is open to everyone.
For more information, contact Anne Roy, National Conservation Training Center (Anne_Roy@fws.gov) or Nancy Pollot, Oregon Fish & Wildlife Office (Nancy_Pollot@fws.gov). Visit the book club website at http://rcbookclub.blogspot.com.
For more information about Carson visit www.fws.gov/rachelcarson/.
