Index
- Register for System Celebration by Sept. 3
- Input sought on proposed SCLS governance model
- Member/Staff News
- Update on Sheboygan and maintenance of effort
- Winding Rivers Library System publishes Recommended
Wages for Directors for 2010
- Portage Public Library seeks director
- Libraries should engage in advocacy every day
- New Public Library Space Needs: A Planning Outline now
available
- Library Card Sign-up Month, Banned Books Week materials
available from ALA
- OverDrive announces Digital Library Blog
- Continuing Education Calendar
Register for System Celebration by Sept. 3
System Celebration 2009 will be held Thursday, Sept. 24, at Lake Windsor Golf Club in Windsor, located near the intersection of I-90/94 and Highway 19, just northwest of Madison. Invitations have been mailed, and the registration deadline is Thursday, Sept. 3. You can register online at www.scls.info/about/systemceleb/. All library staff members and trustees are invited to attend.
There is no charge for local elected officials, head librarians (or designee) of member libraries of all types, and current trustees of SCLS area library boards. You do have the option to pay for your meal if you believe there is an ethical conflict with SCLS paying for your meal. The meal cost for spouses/guests and other attendees is $20, and must be sent by Sept. 3 to South Central Library System, 5250 E. Terrace Drive, Suite A-2, Madison, WI 53718-8345.
This year's menu includes a choice of Chicken Marsala, Top Sirloin, or Pasta Primavera (vegetarian). These will be served with a baked potato, green beans almondine, and a mixed garden salad with raspberry vinaigrette dressing. Coffee, tea, milk and dessert are included. If using the online registration option, all questions must be answered before you can submit the form. If you are using the paper registration, remember to indicate your meal preference.
Please remember that if SCLS is paying for your meal, and you register but do not attend, we must still pay for your meal. If you are unable to attend, please cancel your reservation before Sept. 10 (there can be no meal refunds after this date). If you must cancel after Sept. 10, please arrange for someone else to attend in your place.
Input sought on proposed SCLS governance model
After the May all-library meeting about SCLS governance, the Governance Taskforce and SCLS staff took the feedback and created a new proposed governance model for SCLS. Documents describing the model and background information are available from the Technology Planning Blog.
The taskforce would like your feedback about the proposed model, and has created multiple ways for you to offer feedback, including an online form and online listening sessions. Details about how to offer feedback can be found in the post.
All feedback will be used in preparation for our Sept. 18 all-library all-day meeting to discuss and get buy-in for the new governance structure.
As we move forward, we feel that ongoing communication is essential. There will be updates sent through Online Update and directly to directors on a weekly basis.
--from Stef Morrill, Associate Director
E. D. Locke Public Library in McFarland sponsored two events as part of its Summer Library Program that were particularly well received. The first was a “Read-to-a-Dog” series and the second was “Great Big Faces,” featuring Paul Merklein. To see photos from each event, view the PDF.
The LINK Minutes and handouts from the June 11 meeting are now available at http://automation.scls.lib.wi.us/committee/link/2009/index.htm.
The July 2009 LINK Library Statistics Summary is posted at http://automation.scls.lib.wi.us/reports/circulation/circindex.html. Both PDF and Excel versions of this report are posted.
Walt Reandeau, who served as the director of the Sun Prairie Public Library and was very involved with WLA for many years, passed away Aug. 6.
The August issue of WSLL @ Your Service has been published at http://wilawlibrary.gov/newsletter/0908.html.
Update on Sheboygan and maintenance of effort
An article in the July issue of the Eastern Shores Library System Newsletter indicates that Mead Public Library in Sheboygan will comply with maintenance of effort (MoE) requirements for 2010. This will be accomplished by furloughing staff, giving money back to the city, and carrying money over.
Winding Rivers Library System publishes Recommended Wages for Directors for 2010
At the July Winding Rivers Library System (WRLS) board meeting, trustees adopted the recommended wages for library directors for 2010. The document is available as a PDF file for download.
Portage Public Library seeks director
The Portage Public Library is looking for an energetic fulltime director who can lead the library into the next decade. Ideal candidates will have a minimum of five years practical, recent library directorship, dynamic communication skills, knowledge of total library operations including budgeting, grant writing, planning, collection development, technology, personnel, property management, and the ability to work collaboratively with staff and share ideas/directions with staff, board, community, county, and other libraries.
The successful candidate will be effective at creative problem solving, visible in the community, and able to incorporate innovative community-solving programs into the library’s mission. The Portage Public Library is currently in the planning process for a building expansion and technological upgrades.
For full consideration, submit a cover letter, resume, credentials, completed application, and three professional references. A job description and application are available on the library’s website.
Send application materials to: Search Committee, Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater Street, Portage, WI 53901.
Libraries should engage in advocacy every day
Wisconsin’s biennial budget debate is now recent history, but projected county and municipal budget difficulties and the ongoing economic downturn make it imperative that libraries cultivate a base of supporters who are willing to “speak up.”
About 1,700 people have done just that, but more outreach work needs to be done to ensure that every community is represented. If your library isn’t already distributing the SCLS “Speak Up for Your Library” cards, now is the perfect time to start.
All that’s required of libraries is to prominently display the sign-up cards (available free of charge from Mark Ibach), or place a link on your library website to our online registration at www.scls.info/pr/speak_up/. We have a small “Speak Up For Your Library” logo available for this purpose.
If you choose to use the cards, simply collect them at your library and return them to Mark Ibach at SCLS through Delivery. That’s all there is to is. Individual libraries also can use the list to reach out to local residents when the need arises.
To support libraries in their advocacy efforts, SCLS also has created an Online Advocacy Toolkit available at www.scls.info/pr/advocacy/. The site defines advocacy as it relates to libraries and makes a case for why libraries should develop an advocacy plan. There also is information for developing that plan, and links to many other resources that libraries will find helpful.
The Advocacy Toolkit has sections titled “Advocacy Defined,” Developing An Advocacy Plan,” and “Making Your Case.” In the future there will be information under the category “Collecting Library Stories.” There are also links to the “Speak Up for Your Library” Campaign, WLA and ALA resources, as well as other miscellaneous resources from OCLC, WebJunction, and others.
These resources provide background information that will help you begin a formal advocacy program at your library. If you have questions, or would like further assistance, contact Mark Ibach, SCLS Marketing and PR Coordinator, at (608) 246-5612.
Updated ‘Public Library Space Needs: A Planning Outline’ now available
The popular tool for conducting a preliminary space needs assessment for Wisconsin public libraries was recently updated and revised by its author and former DLTCL consultant Anders C. Dahlgren, now president of Library Planning Associates Inc. The 30-page narrative outline and corresponding electronic worksheet can help public library staff and trustees estimate their library's future space needs to determine whether more comprehensive facility planning should be conducted. The DLTCL is grateful to Anders Dahlgren for donating his time to update this useful tool, and to the volunteer reviewers who provided comments for the revision: John Thompson of the Indianhead Federated Library System and Deb Haeffner of the South Central Library System.
The outline covers six broad types of library space -- collection space, reader seating space, staff work-space, meeting space, special use space, and non-assignable space (including mechanical space). It suggests how library goals relating to each of these areas can be projected to meet future needs and provides a way to translate resulting service assumptions into space needs. Using the library’s future service population and estimated collection size, the resulting simplified assessment of the future space needs can be compared against the available space in the existing building. The space needs estimate can be used to evaluate the adequacy of the present site or the amount of property that may be needed at a new location.
The link to the PDF version of the publication, as well as a link to the Excel-formatted worksheet, can be found at http://dpi.wi.gov/pld/plspace.html.
Library Card Sign-up Month, Banned Books Week materials available from ALA
September is the annual observance of Library Card Sign-up Month, and Banned Books Week will be observed Sept. 26 through Oct. 3, 2009. Promotional materials for these observances are available directly from the ALA.
In past years SCLS developed promotional materials for member libraries, but because of the limited number of print requests we are no longer offering these materials.
If you need assistance downloading any of the free materials from the ALA website, contact Mark Ibach.
OverDrive announces Digital Library Blog
OverDrive just launched the Digital Library Blog to help you better serve your patrons. The blog team will share tips and ideas on developing and maintaining a high-circulating digital collection.
- collection development tips,
- promotional ideas,
- success stories,
- special announcements, and
- other Digital Library news.
With the Digital Library Blog, you'll have a chance to leave comments and discuss the latest news with the OverDrive bloggers and other librarians. The blog team has already started posting, so view the Welcome post, check out the latest news and come back for regular updates.
Visit the Digital Library Blog at http://blogs.overdrive.com.
