Index
- Annual Report Webinar scheduled Jan. 12
- Madison Public Library and Hip Hop Architecture Camp Recognized for Community Impact and Leadership in Urban Libraries Council’s Innovations Initiative
- Sneak peek -- New technology coming soon!
- Member/Staff News
- Holiday comment contest to win an Xbox 360 Kinect
- Three SCLS libraries named LJ Star Libraries
- Registration open for 2018 Wild Wisconsin Winter Web Conference
- Encourage library users to ‘Speak Up’
- Pat Carterette Professional Development Grant
- Continuing Education Calendar
Annual Report Webinar scheduled Jan. 12
Mark your calendar now for the Annual Report Webinar, which will be held on Friday, Jan. 12, 2018, at 10 a.m. This webinar is perfect for new directors, or anyone who wants information about what's new or just a refresher about the timeline and process for the report.
You can register now through the SCLS Calendar.
Madison Public Library and Hip Hop Architecture Camp Recognized for Community Impact and Leadership in Urban Libraries Council’s Innovations Initiative
Madison Public Library’s collaboration with Hip Hop Architecture Camp was recently recognized as a “Top Innovator” by Urban Libraries Council (ULC) in the Race and Social Equity category.
A panel of expert judges selected Madison Public Library’s collaboration with Hip Hop Architecture Camp from a pool of over 250 submissions as one of 10 library practices that best embodies the 21st century library’s role as a community leader and pioneer for positive change.
“Now, more than ever, libraries must act as leaders in their community to provide resources that many have taken for granted,” said ULC President and CEO Susan Benton. “During times of economic and social difficulties, these libraries have stepped up to the challenge of inspiring change while helping their communities thrive.”
The award was originally presented to Library Director Greg Mickells at the Urban Libraries Council Annual Forum in St. Paul in October, and was presented again at the Madison Common Council meeting on Dec. 5 at 6:30 pm.
The library partnered with Michael Ford, UW-Madison, MOD Media and others to host a four-day camp at the Central Library in the spring of 2017, where over 50 young participants built an ideal community that helped inform city planning processes through partnership with Imagine Madison. The goals of the camp were to increase the number of people of color in architecture and to retell the history of architecture and urban planning as it relates to communities of color. From this partnership came input into Madison’s urban planning process and outcomes through Imagine Madison, a forthcoming redesign project at the Goodman South Madison Library, and an expansion of the Hip Hop Architecture Camp to cities nationwide.
“This is an innovative example of what Madison Public Library can accomplish when we open our doors to the voice and the expertise of our communities. The Camp did not originate as the Library’s program, rather, it reflects our partnering with individuals and organizations. This approach enables us to introduce library services to more people and to learn from them how our library can be a resource for their communities,” said Greg Mickells, Library Director.
“It was great to have the support of Madison Public Library in launching this initiative and tackling issues of diversity and inclusions in S.T.E.A.M. related field in an innovative way," said Michael Ford. "Without the help from the library, members of the City's planning department and Madison residents who volunteered, I'm not sure the camp would have been able to grow to what it is today -- a nationally recognized program funded in part by Autodesk. I hope this award and display of willingness to partner on innovative projects results in more community organizations approaching public libraries to implement their programs.”
The library plans to host a second Hip Hop Architecture Camp with Michael Ford in the summer of 2018.
The full list of 2017 ULC Innovations can be viewed at UrbanLibraries.org. Learn more about Hip Hop Architecture Camp at hiphoparchitecture.com/.
Sneak peek -- New technology coming soon!
Here at SCLS we have been testing some new and fun technology to lend out to our libraries. The newest is Virtual Reality through Sony's PlayStation 4 gaming console. If you are unfamiliar with virtual reality or VR, see Craig Ellefson's post earlier this year for more information about virtual reality v.s. augmented reality.
VR with the PlayStation 4 is a great way to experience and test VR without the higher cost of an Oculus Rift. The system contains one PS4 console, a VR processing unit, the VR headset, camera, controllers and lots of cables. We have downloaded a couple games to play and test out the VR world. We also have made YouTube available to watch 360° videos.
Here is a short description of the games available to play:
- Discovery: A simple version of Minecraft. Use the controllers to build a world.
- Job Simulator: A good game to get a feel for interacting with VR. Simulating different places of occupation you can control the world around you with the controllers with no rules.
- VRog: Become a frog and hop from lily pad to lily pad eating bugs. This game is simple and only requires the headset to use.
- Tiny Trax: Using the controller you race tiny cars around different tracks. Think of it as hot wheels with a birds-eye view.
- Carnival Games VR: Play classic carnival games to earn tickets for prizes!
The VR kit is currently being tested at one of our system's libraries, but will be available for libraries to check out in the beginning of 2018! This kit would be an awesome program to offer to teens or adults but not small children. Check the SCLS equipment page early next year to see if the VR kit is available and to schedule a time to let your patrons experience VR.
--by Emily Peterson for TechBits
Callie Armstrong, who has worked at Marshall Community Library since March of 2013, will become the library director effective Jan. 2, 2018.
The Monroe Public Library recently welcomed Janel Keizer (at right) to the team as the Programming and Senior Outreach Librarian. Janel comes to the library with a military background, having served 34 years in the Air Force. When she returned to school for her master’s degree (UW-SLIS ’12), she found librarianship a natural fit for her continued desire to make an impact in the world and forge connections between people. She has lived in Monroe for 20 years, raising three children, which makes her well-suited to bring local flavor to the library’s adult programming. She enjoys spending time with seniors and is excited to bring the connections and materials of the library to them in her outreach duties. Monroe staff said they are glad to have her on board!
It didn’t take long for Portage Public Library to upgrade its video game collection. The library currently has 179 video game titles on its shelves -- up from just 20 titles in September. That’s already good for third-most in the South Central Library System, according to Chris Baker, the library’s teen services and technology coordinator. “It’s neat that a tiny library like Portage can offer such a huge, and hopefully relevant, collection for the public,” he said. The push to add video games in Portage isn’t over yet, he added, estimating the library could offer patrons as many as 300 video games by the end of next year. Read more in the Portage Daily Register.
Holiday comment contest to win an Xbox 360 Kinect
Here's an opportunity to win a gently used Xbox 360 Kinect with three games for your library! The game console comes with 4GB of memory, one Kinect sensor, two wireless controllers, all the connecting cables and is wifi capable. The games included are Kinect Sports (Boxing, Track & Field, Soccer, Table Tennis, Beach Volleyball and Championship Bowling), Dance Central 2, and Kinect Adventures (20 different heart-pounding adventures).
How can you enter? Simply leave us a comment and share one or more of the following:
- your favorite post(s)
- things you've learned about through TechBits that you're using at your library
- topics you'd like us to cover
- an area of technology you're interested in for your library
Official Rules
To enter, leave a comment on this post by Monday, Jan. 1, 2018. We will draw a winner at random. Provide your real e-mail address so we can get in touch with you later (it will not be posted on the Internet). Anyone can comment (we're very interested in the feedback!), but you must be an employee of a South Central Library System member library to win. The winner will be announced on the blog.
We'd like to make TechBits as interesting and relevant as we can, and every comment and bit of feedback helps! If you would like to comment, but not be entered to win, just say "comment only" in your comment.
--by Craig Ellefson for TechBits
Three SCLS libraries named LJ Star Libraries
Five Wisconsin libraries have been named 2017 Library Journal Star Libraries, three of which are from the South Central Library System. The Star Library Index compares libraries against their spending peers on five measures: circulation, e-circulation, library visits, program attendance, and public Internet computer use.
This year’s honorees are:
- Madison Public Library($10 million to $30 million in expenditures) received four out of five stars with a score of 1,059. With a municipal population of 264,922, Madison’s per capita numbers were 14.8 circulations, .9 e-circulations, 7.9 visits, .4 program attendance, and 2.7 public internet computer uses;
- North Freedom Public Library($50,000-$100,000 in expenditures) received four out of five stars with a score of 1,837. With a municipal population of 1,486, North Freedom’s per capita numbers were 15.1 circulations, .4 e-circulations, 7.4 visits, 1.2 program attendance, and 4.3 public internet computer uses; and
- Lettie W. Jensen Public Libraryin Amherst ($10,000 to $50,000 in expenditures) received four out of five stars with a score of 1,485. With a municipal population of 1,047, Lettie W. Jensen’s per capita numbers were 18.1 circulations, 1.0 e-circulations, 8.3 visits, 1.1 program attendance, and 1.2 public internet computer uses.
The other Wisconsin Libraries named LJ Star Libraries were LaCrosse Public Library ($5 million to $10 million in expenditures) and Ogema Public Library ($10,000 to $50,000 in expenditures).
More information about the 2017 Star Library Index is available on the Library Journal website.
Registration open for 2018 Wild Wisconsin Winter Web Conference
Registration is open for the Wild Wisconsin Winter Web Conference 2018, scheduled Jan. 23-25. The Wild Wisconsin Winter Web Conference is a statewide virtual conference developed by the Nicolet Federated Library System and co-sponsored by all other Wisconsin library systems.
A series of 60-minute web presentations focusing on public libraries will be presented each day from speakers all over the country, so attend what you want -- one...four...eighth…or all 19!
The online conference opens on Jan. 23 with keynote speaker Carolyn Brewer addressing “Librarians and Bartenders: Why People Need Us.” The Jan. 24 program features 10 online presentations on a variety of topics, and another eight presentations will be offered on Jan. 25.
More information and registration links are available on the conference website.
Encourage library users to ‘Speak Up’
As we approach the end of 2017 and start into 2018, now is the perfect time to make a renewed push to encourage residents who value the public library to speak up.
We know you don't have the time to manage such an email list on your own, so that’s why we’ll do it for you. All you have to do is distribute and collect the South Central Library System’s “Speak Up for Your Library” card, and we’ll take care of managing the database of email addresses for you. 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.
Just collect the completed 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 were re-designed in 2017, and are still free (they do not count against your annual print allocation). You can request copies anytime by contacting Mark Ibach.
Pat Carterette Professional Development Grant
This grant, in honor of the passing of American Library Association (ALA) past-president, Pat Carterette, is designed to honor her passion for professional development in the field of library and information sciences. A former staff development coordinator at the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library and the first Continuing Education Coordinator for the State Library of Georgia, Pat's legacy focused on providing outstanding educational opportunities for her colleagues to grow and develop within their career field.
The grant will be awarded to an individual on an annual basis to provide monetary support (up to $1,000) to participate in continuing educational event(s) to keep current in his/her career field. Monies may be used to participate in continuing professional development event(s) offered by the American Library Association (ALA), an ALA-related unit or association, State Library Associations, ASTD, the American Management Association (AMA), or any other Learn RT Board approved activity/event. Grant monies will be available to the recipient during a 12-month period spanning from one ALA Annual Conference to the next. Grant funds can be used to cover registration, travel, lodging, or other expenses related to the event. Documentation/receipts will be required prior to payment. If the recipient is participating in a ALA or ALA-related event, monies will be transferred internally instead of being paid to the recipient. Recipient must be an active member of the sponsoring organization hosting the conference/event if the registration fee is higher for non-members. Any un-used grant monies can be applied to other events as long as it meets the above criteria -- funds un-used at the end of the award period will be forfeited.
Grant applications are due by Feb. 15, 2018, and the selected recipient will be notified in May 2018. The award will be presented during the LearnRT Training Showcase at the ALA Annual Conference. Funding for this grant comes from gifts and donations made in Pat's honor and through the proceeds from LearnRT pre-conference events and sponsorship of the LearnRT Training Showcase. Gifts/donations for the continuation of this grant can be directed to:
Pat Carterette Professional Development Grant
Attn: Kimberly Redd
ALA/HRDR
50 East Huron Street
Chicago, IL 60611