Index
- Larry Martin to receive Cornerstone Award at Nov. 2 reception
- What should a modern Integrated Library System offer?
- Member/Staff News
- Sept. 1 is deadline for Foundation Library Award nominations
- Public Library System Redesign (PLSR) regional meetings planned
- Upcoming Tech Continuing Education
- Continuing Education Calendar
Larry Martin to receive Cornerstone Award at Nov. 2 reception
Now in its ninth year, the SCLS Foundation Board has selected Larry J. Martin (right) as the recipient of the 2017 Cornerstone Award.
This year’s Cornerstone Award Fundraising Reception will be held from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017, at the 5100 Bar and Grill, 5100 Erling Ave., McFarland, WI.
Larry is the Executive Director of the 25,000-member State Bar of Wisconsin and Director of its charitable arm, the Wisconsin Law Foundation. He is the State Bar’s chief executive officer and recommends and participates with elected leadership in formulating its policies and programs and is responsible for their implementation. As Executive Director, he oversees the management of the State Bar operations, finances and its human and capital resources, including the development of staff leadership, diversity, training, and building capacity within the organization to meet member needs.
“Larry is very deserving of this recognition,” said Janet Pugh, President of the SCLS Foundation Board. “He has been a long-time supporter of libraries, and was instrumental in the creation of the Foundation.”
Prior to becoming Executive Director on July 1, 2017, Larry served for six years first as the State Bar’s Member Services Director and then as its Associate Executive Director.
Before joining the State Bar, Larry served in a variety of executive leadership positions running non-profit and professional associations, as well as a public servant in state government. He is the former Executive Director of the Wisconsin Library Association, Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, and the first Executive Director of the Dane Fund, now known as Forward Community Investments, a community development loan fund fighting poverty and promoting long-term economic self-sufficiency. In addition, he has served in State Government as Chief of Staff to the Lieutenant Governor, Executive Assistant in the Department of Regulation and Licensing, and as a Senior Advisor to the Governor.
Larry’s community involvement has included service on the South Central Library System Board and he was a founding member of the South Central Library System Foundation.
In addition, he is an active volunteer in the Midvale Heights Neighborhood Association and Our Lady Queen of Peace Church.
The Cornerstone Award Reception is open to everyone, it is free of charge, and there is no need to register. There will be light refreshments and a cash bar.
Mark your calendar and make plans to join us for this annual celebration of libraries, and the people who make them great!
What should a modern Integrated Library System offer?
What should a modern Integrated Library System (ILS) offer to the library staff and patrons it serves? That is the question that SCLS libraries will try to answer as they do an evaluation of the current marketplace this fall.
So where will we start? What are we looking for? Most likely we will start by making sure that any potential ILS meets the basic needs that we already have. We know that our ILS needs to handle the library staff functionality (circulation and technical services) easily and efficiently. Holds management is super critical to a very large public library consortium such as ours. However, much has changed in the ILS world since the last time we looked and we will need to make sure that we understand what new options are out there. One place to look is Marshall Breeding's annual Library Systems Report. In the most recent article, he speaks of the great changes in the market place (vendors buying up other vendors).
Perhaps what will make the options available to us stand out from each other is what we are calling the "Patron Interfaces.” This certainly includes the Public Access Catalog, but it is so much more. We need better integration with other databases and online resources such as digital books. We need integration of enhanced content such as reviewing tools. The mobile app has now become a critical component. We want digital library cards and better "discoverability,” including through web browsers (AKA linked data). But, is there even more?
Perhaps the next step up will be seamless integration of the catalog with a library's website. One of our library directors, Carrie Portz from Spring Green, just shared with me the following article about this: "What Library Will Create the First Real Website? (Please Stand Up)." I found this to be very enlightening reading and this idea may give us something new and exciting to strive for.
--by Vicki Teal Lovely, Technology Services Coordinator
Laura Schmiedicke is the new Adult Services Coordinator at Monroe Public Library. Her expertise in, and broad knowledge base of, public library practices will beautifully support the Monroe community to preserve and cultivate the library as “a place to gather and grow!” Laura recently succeed in broadening the appeal of Monroe’s Adult Summer Reading program to a wider and larger audience. Using this momentum, her first goals as Adult Services Coordinator will be to bring diverse and varied voices to the adult book collection, adapt the reference collection to today’s users, and increase the number of current artists in the Music CD collection. Her aim is to bring more people, especially younger adults, to the library through programming, collections and marketing. Laura received her MA in Library and Information Studies in 2014 from UW-Madison and has been at Monroe since January 2016 as Marketing and Programming Librarian. During that time, she established a Graphic Novel collection, a PaperCraft event, and the Wanderlust book club, all for adult patrons. Laura will continue these endeavors in her new role as well as retain the Marketing responsibilities for the library as a whole. She is excited to use her talents to continue to promote our library to the community as a hub for learning, education, and fun.
The August 2017 issue of WSLL @ Your Service is now online. In this issue: Back to School (education resources; New Books; Tech Tip; Library News; and August Snapshot.As always, your comments are welcome. Please direct them to the editor, Kristina Martinez.
Sept. 1 is deadline for Foundation Library Award nominations
To help celebrate the innovative and important work public libraries do every day, the South Central Library System (SCLS) Foundation will again present four library awards as part of the 2017 Cornerstone Award fundraising reception.
The Cornerstone Award Reception will be held Thursday, Nov. 2, at the 5100 Bar and Grill in McFarland. There is no cost to attend the reception, and there will be a cash bar and free refreshments. The 2016 event raised about $12,000.
Library staff members, trustees, friends, or residents can nominate their library for any of the awards, which are described below.
To make an online nomination for one of the four library awards, simply click on the award name. All nominations must be submitted by 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 1, 2017.
- Super Awesome Library Award -- For the library that was overall awesome in 2017. Maybe they handled a tough situation with grace. Or took a new approach. Or found a lot of money under a rock and did something really cool with it. Or got a lot of local support and kudos because they play well with others. Or are just plain super awesome every day.
- Program Wizard Award -- For a super creative, innovative and fun library program created by library staff. In the library or out. For babies or seniors or anyone in between. A one-off or a regular series. If Dumbledore thinks it's worthy of Wizard status, nominate it!
- Giddy Up Partner Award -- For those strong community partnerships that add value to the library and the community as a whole. It takes two, baby! Or three... or four. Nominate the library and its partner(s) and describe the amazing stuff they’re doing together.
- Outstanding Library Volunteer Award -- To recognize that outstanding volunteer who is instrumental in making your library what it is. This new award is presented annually to an individual who through their contributions has had a significant impact on library service in a single community.
Public Library System Redesign (PLSR) regional meetings planned
Join members of the Public Library System Redesign (PLSR) project Steering Committee on Tuesday, Aug. 15, at 9:30 AM to hear about their plan for upcoming Regional Meetings. These meetings will take place at different locations across the state in late September. Library and system staff, as well as their trustees, plus any other interested parties, are all invited to attend.
There will be ample time in this Q&A for your questions. In fact, most of the time will be available to hear from you. It would be very helpful, though not required, if you could submit your questions in advance. You can email questions to [email protected].
Here’s how you can connect to the session:
- From your computer, tablet or smartphone.
- You can also dial in using your phone.
- United States: +1 (646) 749-3122 Access Code: 668-396-901
The Steering Committee met on Monday, Aug. 7, and the recording is available. The Committee discussed the following documents, among other topics:
- In-Person Meeting Agenda Outline
- Schedule of PLSR Steering Committee Meetings and other activities
- Upcoming Steering and Regional Meeting Dates
- PLSR Steering Committee Clarifications for Workgroups
- August 2017 Workgroup Updates
Upcoming Tech Continuing Education
Laura Solomon, the Library Services Manager for the Ohio Public Library Information Network, is the morning speaker for this year's Tech Days. The workshop will be held on Sept. 12 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Fitchburg Public Library and registration is now open. Choose from six different breakout sessions for the afternoon including STEM Programming with No Budget, #Hashtag: Promoting Your Library through Social Media, and our own Craig Ellefson and Tamara Ramski talking about the Digitization Kits.
If you're not attending the Wisconsin Library Association Conference, check out this opportunity. On Oct. 18, Library Journal and School Library Journal are hosting their 8th annual FREE TechKnowledge (formerly the Digital Shift) Virtual Conference. This year's theme is Creating Equity Through Technology. Among this year's presenters are Jim Neal, the President of the American Library Association.
If you are attending the Wisconsin Library Association Conference*, we are pleased to have some great technology programs for you including a keynote from Linda Liukas, a Finnish computer programmer and children's author, and Jessamyn West, library technologist, will be the WLTF luncheon speaker on Thursday. Registration will be open soon!
Also in October, the iSchool at UW Madison has a new course called 25 Free Tools for Librarians* that sounds awesome. Among the tools that will be covered are Wunderlist, Todo, Notability, Dragon, Convertible, Instapaper, and Kahoot.
Happy Learning!
If you have questions about Continuing Education (CE) in general, or the use of CE grants, contact Jean Anderson.
* SCLS Member public libraries may use CE Grant funds to attend.