Index
- Library night at the Duck Pond is July 1
- New ‘Talk of the Town’ airs
- Member/Staff News
- OverDrive support course to start June 29
- PLA partners with FTC to distribute materials to prevent scams of elderly
- Continuing Education Calendar
Library night at the Duck Pond is July 1
The Mallards and the South Central Library System (SCLS) have scheduled a Library Appreciation Night on Wednesday, July 1, 2015, to celebrate the important work that public libraries do. This is a great opportunity to celebrate the work of your library, and bring your library supporters together for an evening of fun at the Duck Pond at Madison's Warner Park.
Interested participants can purchase tickets through a special website portal set up just for libraries. Tickets are: $10 (which includes a Mallards baseball cap) or $16 (which includes a ticket and 90 minutes of all-you-can-eat ballpark food and soda).
To purchase tickets, visit www.MallardsGroups.com, then enter scls when prompted for the group password. At the bottom of the page click Buy, then choose your seats (green seats are available). Tickets must be purchased through the online portal by June 17.
To help libraries publicize Library Appreciation Night, SCLS has a poster and press release available on its website.
The evening will begin with the first pitch thrown out by a representative from Zimbrick Honda and children from SCLS member libraries (up to 5 per library). Libraries can sign children up for the first pitch by using a special form.
There will also be special library-related public service announcements on the large electronic message board (courtesy of Zimbrick Honda), and during the game the play-by-play announcers will read library-related public service announcements. The electronic message board announcements will continue during all games this summer.
Mallards game passes must be used on specific nights. The July 1 Library Appreciation Night is one of the games for which passes can be used, and on that night children will receive a free hot dog with their game pass. The other dates passes may be used are
- July 13 (7:05 game)
- August 3
- August 4
If you'd like more information about the relationship between the Madison Mallards and SCLS, contact Shawn Brommer, SCLS youth services consultant.
A special edition of CW 57’s Talk of the Town is now available (see below), and it features Middleton Public Library’s Jenny Carr and James Ramsey who talked about seed libraries.
The June Talk of the Town will feature Shawn Brommer, SCLS youth services consultant, who will talk about the importance of summer reading, and will explore the many other youth literacy efforts in which public libraries are involved.
Pam Hill, extension librarian at Portage County Public Library (PCPL), retired May 22. Pam was a librarian with the Wisconsin Rapids School District before joining PCPL in 2008. Laura Fuller, who has succeeded Pam in that position, worked at PCPL for 10 years in a variety of positions before returning to school to earn her MLS. She then worked as a librarian with the Stevens Point School District for 10 years before re-joining PCPL.
Deb McCabe, assistant director at PCPL, retired May 29. Deb has worked at PCPL since 1993, first as the Extension Librarian, then the Public Services Librarian, and became Assistant Director in 2001. A highlight of her career was what she called the “marvelously successful migration to LINK/Koha.” Before Wisconsin, she worked at libraries in Illinois, Iowa Texas, North Carolina and Kentucky.
Stacey Burkart (pictured at right) is the new director of the Verona Public Library, effective May 7, 2015. She has been on staff at the Verona Library for the past 10 years, most of that time as the Head of Youth Services/Assistant Director. "I am very proud of the work I've done over the years in Youth Services and am looking forward to bringing the same energy and enthusiasm to the challenges of being a director."
OverDrive support course to start June 29
The next OverDrive Support Course will begin on June 29 and continue through July 31, and registration is now open.
All course materials are online and can be reviewed at your convenience. There will be weekly readings, quizzes, and email questions, and while the course is online, it is interactive. Participants will receive weekly email questions from ‘pretend’ patrons and have to respond to their support request as if it were a real request.
If you have any questions, please contact Jean Anderson.
PLA partners with FTC to distribute materials to prevent scams of elderly
Chances are good that someone you know has been scammed. They may not talk about it, but if the statistics are right, it has happened. The truth is that sharing what you know can help protect someone who you know from a scam. People listen to someone they trust -- a friend, a neighbor, or a relative.
The Public Library Association (PLA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are working together to provide free materials to help libraries inform their communities about avoiding scams.
“Pas It On” is the FTC’s new scam prevention campaign with tips and tools for older adults, and it includes fact sheets and bookmarks on six topics relevant to older adults -- to help start conversations. Each comes with brief action steps people can easily pass on to others in their lives. The materials cover;
- identify theft,
- imposter scams,
- charity fraud,
- health care scams,
- paying too much, and
- “you’ve won” scams.
To get free fact sheets and bookmarks, visit ftc.gov/bulkorder and order as many as you need. You can also find these and other consumer education materials online at Consumer.FTC.gov. All of the FTC’s materials are free and in the public domain, which means you can put your library’s logo and branding on them or share them online.
Visit ftc.gov/PassItOn to find presentations, activities, and other resources.