Index
- SCLS announces ‘Trustee Update’ newsletter
- State budget contains positives for public libraries
- Member/Staff News
- Automation announces new emergency pager number
- CCBC hosts Beverley Naidoo Lecture Nov. 15
- LSTA meeting, public hearing scheduled Nov. 14 & 15
- Remember ALA resources when planning advocacy efforts
- Libraries encouraged to complete survey on services for the poor
- Continuing Education Calendar
SCLS announces ‘Trustee Update’ newsletter
In an effort to keep library trustees and members of county library boards better informed about library issues, SCLS has begun publication of a quarterly newsletter called “Trustee Update.” The first issue, which will be delivered soon, is also available online at www.scls.info/pr/trustee/.
The newsletter will be published in February, May, August, and November, and will be sent to the home addresses of
- board members of SCLS public libraries,
- members of county library boards within SCLS, and
- members of the SCLS Board.
Library directors will receive an email announcement each time a new issue is published. You can help by sending suggestions for topics to either Cheryl Becker or Mark Ibach.
State budget contains positives for public libraries
Nearly four months after the start of a new fiscal year, Gov. Doyle signed the state budget on Friday, Oct. 26. The budget contains several items that directly impact public libraries, and they are outlined below.
- The municipal levy limit is 3.86 percent for budgets passed in 2007 for 2008, or the percentage of net new construction. The Net New Construction report is available at www.dor.state.wi.us/equ/nnc.html. Click on "Go to Report," and then on the name of your county in the "bookmarks" on the left.
- Payments to libraries from counties are exempt from the levy limit. Please be sure members of your county library board, and county board of supervisors, are aware of this, especially if you and they have been waiting for this information to make final decisions about the county library budget.
- For 2009 budgets passed in 2008, it appears that the levy limit will be 2 percent (or the percentage of net new construction). This means that you should try to get the best increases you can this year, because next year you will be more limited.
- Maintenance of Effort has been preserved, which means municipalities must appropriate at least as much for its library for 2008 as the average of the library appropriation for 2005, 2006, and 2007.
If you have specific questions about the budget, contact Cheryl Becker, SCLS Public Library Administration Consultant
Representing Columbus Public Library, Peggy Kindschi participated in the 2nd annual Halloween at the Firehouse on Oct. 28. A crowd of over 600 children plus numerous adults visited. Participants included the fire and police departments, Water & Light, library, senior center, F&M Bank, and State Farm and American Family Insurance. Dressed as Inspector Gadget, Peggy won first place for costume design, the prize for which was a carbon monoxide detector. She also took the opportunity to hand out candy and small prizes plus bookmarks and literature about the library.
The October 2007 LINK Library Statistics Summary is posted on Automation's website.
LINK News & Tips for the month have been posted to the Automation website. Topics Include: Circulation Reminders; New Pager Number; Important LINK Dates/Deadlines; Recent LINK Memos; and Upcoming Workshops.
Nichole Fromm, SCLS Technology Project Support Specialist, will be leaving her position at SCLS Administration as of Nov. 16 to become the OCLC Services Librarian at WiLS. “I'm very excited about the new job” Nichole said, “but I will miss SCLS very much; though I'm sure many of our paths will keep crossing. My two years here have been wonderful.
The November issue of WSLL @ Your Service has been published at http://wsll.state.wi.us/newsletter/0711.html.
Automation announces new emergency pager number
Automation has a new emergency pager number -- (608) 376-0505 -- which should be distributed to all appropriate staff, especially those who works nights and weekends.
Help Desk staff are available at (608) 266-6394 Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 9 pm. and Saturday from 8:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. (closed Sundays). Please call the Help Desk first for assistance. If all phone lines are busy or if no one is available, please leave a voice mail message. In an emergency you can reach the person on call by dialing the pager at (608) 376-0505. Before using the pager, however, please leave a voice mail during open hours and allow at least 15 minutes for the office staff to return your call.
An emergency exits if critical workstations are not functioning, or if you see this TAP message displayed on a Dynix screen: "Last completed cycle on TAP process [#] was xx:xx [time, e.g. 10:09]. *** Please verify. There COULD BE a serious time delay***" You do not need to report TAP messages like "TAP index is running."
If an emergency arises on Sunday (or any other times the SCLS Automation office is not staffed), please use the pager. Because of possible delays in transmitting your phone number to the pager, please wait at least 15 minutes before calling the pager again if your call has not been returned.
If you have any questions about this process, please contact Lauren Blough, Automation Project Manager, at (608) 266-6306.
CCBC hosts Beverley Naidoo Lecture Nov. 15
"Don't Fence Me In: Border Crossings as Writer and Reader" is the topic of a Nov. 15 lecture by author Beverley Naidoo. Sponsored by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC), the lecture will begin at 7 p.m. in Room 5120 Grainger Hall, 975 University Avenue, UW-Madison Campus.
Beverley Naidoo has written several novels for children and young adults that deal with issues of race, class, and social justice, including “Journey to Jo’Burg,” “The Other Side of Truth,” and “Web of Lies.”
Most of her books are set in South Africa, where she was born and raised, or in England, where she lived in exile. She uses stories to help children and teens understand the lives of children growing up in dire circumstances. She will talk about her work in this free public lecture sponsored by the Cooperative Children's Book Center and the Friends of the CCBC Inc.
LSTA meeting, public hearing scheduled Nov. 14 & 15
Wisconsin's LSTA (Library Services and Technology Act) Advisory Committee will meet in Madison Nov. 14 & 15 at the Crowne Plaza, 4402 E. Washington Avenue, to discuss grant proposals and make award recommendations for LSTA projects to take place in 2009.
As a part of the meeting, there will be a public hearing beginning at 10 a.m. on Nov. 14 for interested individuals to make suggestions on the LSTA program for 2009. Final guidelines for the 2009 LSTA program will be developed in March 2008.
If you are unable to attend the public hearing, written comments may be submitted by letter, fax, or e-mail to Mike Cross, P.O. Box 7841, Madison, WI 53707-7841; fax number (608) 266-2529. Testimony must arrive by 4 p.m. Nov. 13 for inclusion in the hearing.
--from Channel Weekly (Vol. 10, No. 7, Nov. 1, 2007)
Remember ALA resources when planning advocacy efforts
The ALA Committee on Rural, Native, and Tribal Libraries of All Kinds has several excellent tools to help develop library advocacy efforts, and despite the names they’re appropriate for libraries of all sizes.
A Small but Powerful GUIDE to Winning Big Support for Your Rural Library reflects the responses to stated advocacy needs of small rural librarians, with clearly stated strategies for self-advocacy and resources from the Association and elsewhere. It is the result of support from ALA members, members of the Association for Rural and Small Librarians (ARSL), the Association of Bookmobile and Outreach Services (ABOS), and others who responded to either a 2003 survey of advocacy needs and strategies, or a solicitation for success stories from these same librarians.
The Small But Powerful Online Toolkit to winning Support for Your Rural Library also serves as a reflection to these responses with actual tools and downloadable templates to support these strategies.
If you need assistance with your marketing or advocacy efforts, contact Mark Ibach, SCLS Marketing & PR Coordinator.
Libraries encouraged to complete survey on services for the poor
The OLOS Subcommittee on Library Services to Poor and Homeless People and the ALA Social Responsibilities Round Table's Task Force on Hunger, Homelessness & Poverty have developed a survey for completion by ALA members by Nov. 15, 2007. Their goal is to determine the level of member awareness and implementation of the guidelines of ALA Policy 61, Library Services for the Poor.
The two units hope to collaborate on the development of useful tools to support the policy's guidelines for addressing the needs of today's poor and homeless people in library communities across the country.
For more information, read the policy (English or Spanish) from the ALA Handbook on Organization.
For more information, contact Shawn Brommer, SCLS Youth Services and Outreach Coordinator.