Index
- Portage Public Library seeks director
- April workshop topics include Teen/Tween, Beyond Bias
- Wisconsin Author Project launches with BiblioBoard
- Member/Staff News
- Library Awards for Innovation
- Look Up at the Sky and Celebrate Earth Day -- and Beyond -- with NASA
- Continuing Education Calendar
Portage Public Library seeks director
The Portage Public Library seeks a well-organized and energetic leader to direct its operations. This position requires an MLS from an ALA-accredited university, eligibility for a Wisconsin Grade 1 public library certification, and five years progressively responsible library experience. Previous experience as a public library director is strongly desired. Successful candidates will have excellent verbal and written communication skills, interest in current library technology, fiscal knowledge, and ability to work effectively with a library board, library employees, and the community.
The city of Portage is conveniently located 30 minutes north of Madison in Columbia County, with a population of just over 10,000. For more information about Portage, please visit the city’s website at http://www.portagewi.gov. The library building was updated with a beautiful expansion and renovation in 2012 and is now a 24,500 square foot facility in the heart of downtown. The Portage Public Library’s collection consists of approximately 75,000 items, current annual circulation is 172,000, and it has an operating budget of $752,000.
The Library Director reports to anine-member Board of Trustees and is responsible for the overall management of the library. Essential duties include building and maintaining the collection, managing the library budget, supervising library staff, overseeing facility maintenance and improvements, liaising with library stakeholders such as city administration and volunteer library groups such as Friends of the Library and Library Foundation. The director is the public face of the library and promotes the library within the city of Portage and throughout the surrounding area. In addition, the director is the resource librarian for Columbia County. The resource librarian’s duties include providing administrative support and consultation to the Columbia County Library Systems Board, the directors of the 10 other public libraries in Columbia County, and the Columbia County Board of Supervisors. A complete job description is available on the Library’s website at http://www.portagelibrary.us/employmentopportunities.
This position is classified at Grade O on the recently evaluated City of Portage Compensation Matrix, which has a salary range of $63,045- $94,578. Salary will be commensurate with education and experience and includes an excellent benefits package.
Interested candidates should submit a cover letter, resume, and three professional references to Library Director Search Committee, c/o Portage Public Library, 253 W Edgewater Street, Portage, WI 53901, or email to [email protected]. The application deadline is April 17, 2018.
The City of Portage is an equal opportunity employer.
April workshop topics include Teen/Tween, Beyond Bias
Two April Workshops will be of interest to library staff members, and registration is now available through the South Central Library System Continuing Education Calendar. These workshops are:
- Teen/Tween Programming Workshop, with the title Breaking Boundaries: Serving Teens and Tweens, will be held Friday, April 13, at the Wintergreen Resort in Wisconsin Dells. It will feature Chris Baker, the teen services coordinator at Portage Public Library. There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to serving teens and tweens -- every teen & tween is unique, and every community has specific assets, needs, and challenges. Despite these differences, all teens and tweens need to feel safe in neutral spaces where they feel welcomed by adults who support and believe in them. Join your colleagues and learn about ways to intentionally serve teens & tweens, create safe spaces for them, and provide experiences that allow them to be genuine and practice authentic growth. (more information and registration)
- Beyond Bias: Exploring Racism and Privilege, will be held Wednesday, April 25, at DeForest Area Public Library. Through shared self-inquiry, analysis, and large group discussion and activities, we explore bias, and race-based privilege, and its impact on and cost to every member of our society. YWCA Madison works to eliminate racism and empower women. Through programs in race and gender equity and more, they create real change for women, families, and communities. (more information and registration)
Wisconsin Author Project launches with BiblioBoard
We are excited to share that Wisconsin’s Digital Library is growing to include some new products and services from BiblioBoard, beginning with the Wisconsin Author Project.
Through this project, made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, libraries are helping local authors get the recognition they deserve for writing great books. Wisconsin residents who are authors of self-published adult or young adult fiction will be invited to submit their book, and winners receive $1,000, the opportunity to be a featured author in BiblioBoard’s Indie Rock Stars digital library collection, inclusion in Popup Picks for three months, a book review from Library Journal, and the chance to present at the Wisconsin Library Association Annual Conference in October.
The Wisconsin Author Project is only the beginning. An upcoming webinar will cover information about upcoming new initiatives including the introduction of Pressbooks, book writing software that lets users create print and ebooks in all the formats needed to publish, and Popup Picks and BiblioBoard Core, two ebook collections. These will also be available to all Wisconsin residents later this spring!
If you or your library colleagues are interested in learning more about this and other upcoming WPLC projects in collaboration with BiblioBoard, join us for a free informational webinar on Monday, April 9 at 1 pm. The webinar will be recorded and there will be an opportunity for Q&A as well. (register)
If you have any questions at all, contact [email protected].
Jessica Bergin(right) has been named director of the Baraboo Public Library, and she will begin her appointment on April 23. She is leaving Portage Public Library where she has been director since 2016. Before moving to Wisconsin, Jessica was library director at Delaware Township Library in Valley Falls, KS. Previously she worked in Electronic Resources and Reference for four years at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. Prior to that appointment she served the public in Senior Outreach Services and Reference at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library. Jessica holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Painting from the University of Kansas, and a Masters of Library and Information Studies from the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO.
The Lester Public Library of Vesperis excited for the chance to introduce the community’s children to STEAM concepts through circulating science kits and programming. The library recently received a letter that its application has been approved for funding from the IEEE Science Kits for Public Libraries project. It is one of five winners out of a total of 35 applications. With the funds received from the IEEE-Region 4 Fund Grant the library will purchase materials for a new science kit collection available for circulation. Plans include: three sets of varying difficulty Snap Circuits, Dash and Dot Robots with tablet, Lego Boost Building and Coding kit with tablet, and Code & Go Robot Mouse Activity Set. The library will have programming that introduces each kit and then release them into circulation. Also, four game kits will be purchased for circulation: Thinkfun Rush Hour, 3 Little Piggies Deluxe, Robot Turtles, and Laser Maze.
Libraries are the epicenter of our communities, and they provide vital access to information. They encourage new readers, support lifelong learners, and delight book lovers of all ages. Penguin Random House proudly recognizes the importance of libraries -- not only for their work to build and grow a reading public, but for the ways libraries transform individuals and advance community progress.
With this belief, Penguin Random House has created the Penguin Random House Library Awards for Innovation to honor and highlight public libraries and librarians. This award acknowledges extraordinary public library programs/services that engage citizens in reading and strengthen the social and cultural fabric of their community.
The application deadline is April 15, 2018. The award guidelines and application are available online.
Look Up at the Sky and Celebrate Earth Day -- and Beyond -- with NASA
by Theresa Schwerin, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies/GLOBE Observer Team
The March STAR Net Webinar series featured NASA resources for library staff to use in their Earth Day programming this spring. If you missed the live event, or would like a refresher, check out the recording of this fast-paced, interactive webinar.
It included a presentation on citizen science with NASA’s GLOBE Observer Clouds by Marilé Colón Robles, NASA GLOBE Clouds Team Lead, and Jessica Taylor, NASA Physical Scientist. In addition to easy-to-understand background on clouds and tips for cloud observing, Marile and Jessica showed ideas for hands-on activities, arts and crafts, and books for story time that will help you make cloud observing part of your library programming whether you’re planning for a special event like Earth Day or ongoing programs.
PowerPoint Slides from the webinar can be found atwww.starnetlibraries.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Celebrate-60-Years-of-Earth-Observations-with-NASA.pdf
Libraries can also download the GLOBE Observer App at https://observer.globe.gov/about/get-the-app.The GLOBE Observer Referral Code for the app is: library (all lower case). Please use this referral code when you download the GLOBE Observer app and first register, and be sure to give to your patrons to use. The app and use are completely free. The referral code helps identify which users learned about the app at a library event.
Programming Resourcesare included at the bottom of the Earth Day event resource page at http://www.starnetlibraries.org/earth-day.