Index
- Promote ‘Speak Up’ cards to build local database of library supporters
- Member/Staff News
- Save the date: Cornerstone Award Reception is Nov. 20
- McMillan Memorial Library seeks new director
- 2014 Wisconsin Public Library Directory available
- Vote for the next Big Library Read title
- Reminder: 2015 LSTA application open until Sept. 8
- Lois Lowry: The library is 'still is the best game in town'
- Continuing Education Calendar
Promote ‘Speak Up’ cards to build local database of library supporters
Collecting and maintaining an up-to-date database of library supporters is vital to any effective advocacy effort, and the South Central Library System’s “Speak Up for Your Library” card is an effortless way to accomplish this goal.
Because SCLS maintains and manages the database of email addresses submitted by library customers who want to speak up for their library, all you have to do is find some space to display the cards, then promote them to library customers. You’ve already done the hard part of getting your customers to value the services and resources you provide, and the “speak up” card is the tool you can use to reach out to your supporters and call them to action.
You simply need to collect the cards and send them to Mark Ibach at the South Central Library System, and he’ll take care of entering the email addresses into the database. Or, you can promote our online sign-up form at www.scls.info/pr/speak_up. Either way, this is a no-cost program that will allow you to reach out to your library’s supporters. To get a list of those customers who are willing to speak up for your library, contact Mark Ibach.
Distribution of the cards in your library, or promotion of the online signup option, also allows SCLS to create a base of support for system-wide and state-wide advocacy efforts.
The speak up cards and posters are free (they do not count against your annual print allocation), and you can request copies anytime by contacting Mark Ibach.
Columbus Public Library bids a sad farewell to Kelsey Johnson-Kaiser (left) who served as the library's first ever Youth Services Director from February 2013 to the last day of our Summer Library Program on July 26. She brought great energy and creativity to the position and the community, and she will be missed. Kelsey is moving to the La Crosse Public Library, serving as a Youth Services Librarian in the main location. Replacing Kelsey, we are happy to announce the hire of Katrina Dombrowsky (right). Like Kelsey, Katrina was hired fresh out of her studies at UW-Madison SLIS, full of new ideas and insight into the world of youth services. We expect great things for Katrina and for Columbus.
At about this time a year ago, the Portage Public Library’s children’s area was a construction zone. On Thursday, it was a give-back zone. Instead of buying trinkets to give out as prizes to motivated readers, the Friends of the Library (with help from the Waddell and Reed Company) gave money to local charities. And the participants in the summer program chose which charities to support. Read more in the Portage Daily Register.
Save the date: Cornerstone Award Reception is Nov. 20
The 2014 SCLS Foundation Cornerstone Award Reception will be held Thursday, Nov. 20, at the 5100 Bar & Brill in McFarland. The time for this annual event is 5:30-7 p.m., and this year the Foundation will present three new library awards: Super Awesome Library Award; Program Wizard Award; and What a Great Idea Award.
The recipient for this year’s Cornerstone Award will be announced in the near future, as will nomination information for the three new library awards. Announcements will be made in Online Update and SCLS Top 5. The Nov. 20 Cornerstone Award Reception will follow the All Directors Meeting scheduled earlier that day at McFarland’s E.D. Locke Public Library.
For now, mark your calendars for Nov. 20 and plan to attend this annual fundraising event.
McMillan Memorial Library seeks new director
The Board of Trustees of McMillan Memorial Library in Wisconsin Rapids seeks a proven leader and manager for its award-winning public library serving 40,000 people in scenic central Wisconsin. Ron McCabe, the current director, is retiring in January 2015 after 23 years of service.
Wisconsin Rapids is a community that boasts a high quality of life, low housing costs, beautiful parks, and excellent educational institutions.
McMillan Library has a $1.7 million annual budget, 19 FTE including 6 FTE with MLS, and 45,000-square-feet of building with a 265-seat auditorium. Included in this space is a 5,000-square-foot Library Commons area with coffee shop. The library also has a $2 million Endowment and a high level of ongoing private funding. McMillan features excellent programs for all ages supported by a strong programming budget, and it is has of the nation’s best library concert series for adults.
Responsibilities include:
- community and interlibrary relations;
- personnel and financial administration;
- planning and development;
- services, collections, and equipment; and
- building and grounds.
Qualified candidates must have an ALA-accredited MLS and experience in public library administration. The salary range is $80,325 to $94,321, including excellent benefits and four weeks of vacation.
The Application Deadline is Sept. 12, 2014. To apply, send a letter of application with resume, including three references, to Personnel Committee, Board of Trustees, McMillan Memorial Library, 490 E. Grand Ave., Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54494, or email to Administrative Services Manager Vicki Steiner.
2014 Wisconsin Public Library Directory available
The 2014 Wisconsin Public Library Directory from the Department of Public Instruction’s Public Library Development Team is now online in PDF and Excel formats at http://pld.dpi.wi.gov/pld_lib_dir. The directory is based on data compiled from the 2013 Public Library Annual Report and subsequent, ongoing updates. Library directors are asked to please review the information for their libraries and report any corrections to [email protected].
The PDF version at http://pld.dpi.wi.gov/files/pld/pdf/wipldir.pdf includes a combined "Directory of Public Libraries and Their Branches" listed by city, followed by an alphabetical index of library and branch names. The document also includes system and resource library directory information.
The Excel file at http://pld.dpi.wi.gov/files/pld/xls/wipldir.xls has three sheets containing information for all 383 public libraries and services, 82 branches, and the state's 17 regional library systems. This Excel file is useful as a merge source for mailing labels or form letters.
-- from Channel Weekly (Vol. 16, No. 40 -- July 31, 2014)
Vote for the next Big Library Read title
OverDrive is preparing for the next Big Library Read this coming October, and they are excited to invite you, your library staff, and your readers to help select the next Big Library Read title. October’s title will be in the Young Adult category, and thanks to participating publishers, there’s a great selection to choose from.
To vote, simply visit www.surveymonkey.com/s/BigLibraryRead. Feel free to share this link with your readers, too.
The winning title and more details about the October Big Library Read will be announced in the coming weeks.
Reminder: 2015 LSTA application open until Sept. 8
The 2015 LSTA application is open at https://forms.dpi.wi.gov/se.ashx?s=56301B2D244BABD4; it can be found on the LSTA web page (http://pld.dpi.wi.gov/pld_lsta). There are recorded information sessions to listen to as well as an application guide and framework link to view for additional assistance. The form can be used for practice; applications are "official" when you click "submit application" on page 15 of the form. Online grant applications are due by 4:30 p.m. Sept. 8, 2014; a signed certification form must be postmarked by Sept. 8, or signed, scanned and emailed by the same time and date to Terrie Howe, LSTA Program Coordinator for the Department of Public Instruction.
-- from Channel Weekly (Vol. 16, No. 40 -- July 31, 2014)
Lois Lowry: The library is 'still is the best game in town'
In this interview, Lois Lowry, author of The Giver, which has been made into a soon-to-be-released motion picture, says she grew up in the 1940s in a small college town that was so close to the library she could walk to it by herself when she was 6 or 7 years old.
“To me it was an awe inspiring place," she says, although she admits being intimidated by the librarian.
Read more at atyourlibrary.org (includes video interview).