Index
- New Waunakee Public Library grand opening is Aug. 1
- Member/Staff News
- New titles added to SCLS Professional Collection
- Register now for Tech Days East or West
- WLA now accepting applications for 2019 Awards
- Marketing webinar series scheduled in October
- Continuing Education Calendar
New Waunakee Public Library grand opening is Aug. 1
Over a decade of planning and hard work by countless community members and area leaders has resulted in a brand-new, state-of-the-art 40,000 square foot public library in the Village of Waunakee. We are proud to invite you to the ribbon cutting and grand opening for the new Waunakee Public Library on Thursday, Aug. 1 at 2 p.m.
The new library, located at 201 North Madison Street, transforms a previously blighted and contaminated alloy foundry property into a community amenity and gathering place. The Village of Waunakee worked closely with national, state, and county government units to purchase the former Waunakee Alloy property, clean up the contaminated site, and build a unique "library in a park" that takes advantage of the site's scenic location on Six Mile Creek and close connection to downtown.
The new library building features much more space for visitors to browse, read, and gather with family, friends and neighbors. The building features a Community Hall for large gatherings and events, four additional meeting rooms, nine study rooms, and plentiful public areas to read, sit, work, and play. Waunakee’s past is given recognition through “History Hall.” A new trail connection along Six Mile Creek brings front-and-center the physical beauty of the community. Artwork crafted by local artists adorns the walls…and so much more! More information about the new library is available on the library website.
Please join us on Aug. 1 to celebrate. Tours will be given during an open house which follows the brief ribbon cutting ceremony at 2 p.m. The Open House will run until 6 p.m.
The July issue of WSLL @ Your Service is now online. Your comments are welcome! Please direct them to the editor, Carol Hassler.
In this issue:DFI Lien and Trademarks Database-- The Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) recently released the UCC and Trademark Filing System, a new website which allows users to search and file trademarks, tradenames, and UCC filings (read more); New Books-- Our two featured titles this month areLegal Guide to the Business of MarijuanaandA Layperson's Guide to Legal Research and Self-Help Law Books. Our July new book list is included (read more); Tech Tip-- It's a given that most people have more than one email address. If you have a Gmail address, there's a twist on "multiple emails" that you may not have heard about before (read more); Library News-- Holiday closures, brand-new CLE classes on open meetings and administrative code research, and other library news (read more); July Snapshot-- This event, held in the Wisconsin State Capitol, celebrated Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson's 43 years of service on the Wisconsin Supreme Court and her upcoming retirement in July (read more).
New titles added to SCLS Professional Collection
The following titles have been added to the SCLS Professional Collection, which is available to staff at member libraries.
- The Complete Guide to RFPs for Libraries edited by Frances C. Wilkinson and Sever Bordeianu
- Book Club Reboot: 71 Creative Twists by Sarah Ostman and Stephanie Saba
- Making Surveys Work for Our Library: Guidance, Instructions, and Examples by Robin Miller and Kate Hinnant
Register now for Tech Days East or West
You have six opportunities to attend a Tech Days series workshop. Breakout session topics and presenters vary with venues, so check the complete list to see what and who will be where and when. There is no charge to attend a Tech Days workshop.
Registration is open for Tech Days East workshops:
- Tuesday, Sept. 10--Franklin Public Library, Franklin (Milwaukee County) -- register
- Wednesday, Sept. 11 --Gordon Bubolz Nature Preserve, Appleton (Outagamie County) -- register
- Thursday, Sept. 12 --Monona Public Library, Monona (Dane County) -- register
Each day includes a keynote presentation, and concurrent breakout sessions and hands-on learning activities on topics like coding, digitization, partnering with the Girl Scouts, VR, free CRM software, tech classes for adults & seniors, DPI scanning kits, and computational thinking and connected learning in youth services.
Registration for Tech Days West workshops will open in August, so save one of these dates:
- Tuesday, Nov. 5 --Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College, Rice Lake (Barron County)
- Wednesday, Nov. 6 --Marathon County Public Library, Wausau (Marathon County)
- Thursday, Nov. 7--Jake’s Northwoods, Sparta (Monroe County)
Comments from previous attendees of Tech Days:
"This session was AWESOME! I came away with a ton of great programs that I know we can easily implement at my library."
“I've been wanting to have something similar for my own library for a while, and the presenters made the whole process seem more manageable and doable than I had thought. “
“The presenter definitely knew her stuff, in terms of presenting the material and answering questions, and I came away feeling very excited and inspired.”
Library directors will receive a total of six technology-related contact hours for attending a full Tech Day.
WLA now accepting applications for 2019 Awards
Honor the innovative and exceptional library services, staff, trustees and supporters in Wisconsin. Nominate an individual, group or library for one of the 2019 WLA Awards.Applications are due Aug. 1.
Visit https://tinyurl.com/maauyj3 for a list of awards or see the list below. The criteria, application form and instructions to apply are listed under each individual award on WLA’s website. Winners will be honored at the 2019 WLA Annual Conference during the Awards and Honors Reception.
If you have questions, Contact Anna Palmer, Awards and Honors Committee Chair, at [email protected].
WLA 2019 Awards
- Citation of Merit -- Conferred upon Wisconsin citizens who are neither librarians nor library trustees, who have made outstanding contributions to quality library services. This award may be given to a group of people or an individual.
- Library of the Year Award -- Presented to any type of Wisconsin library, library system or library network for distinguished achievement in service. The staff, library board or administering body, and the community or people served shall all be involved in the work for which recognition is sought.
- The Muriel Fuller Award-- Conferred upon a library professional or paraprofessional in recognition of outstanding accomplishments which have significantly improved and benefited library services.
- Programming Innovation Award -- Presented in recognition of programming leadership in providing innovative and excellent library programming in Wisconsin libraries. Nominated programs may be stand-alone programs, series, passive or cooperative. Programs for all age groups are eligible.
- Special Service Award -- Presented to a group of people or an individual for noteworthy achievement as evidenced by substantial activities and exceptional service to the library profession. The Wisconsin recipient or recipients shall have influence and reputation beyond the local community.
- Trustee of the Year Award -- Conferred upon an outstanding Wisconsin library trustee. The trustee must be in actual service during all or part of the year in which he or she is honored.
- WLA/DEMCO Librarian of the Year Award -- In recognition of a librarian's outstanding leadership and accomplishment in library service. The librarian must be currently employed, at the time of selection, in any field of librarianship in Wisconsin and must be a current member of the WLA.
Marketing webinar series scheduled in October
The Wisconsin Valley Library Service, Northern Waters Library Service and Southwest Wisconsin Library System are proud to present a webinar series this October called “Marketing the Value of Your Library.”
Webinars will be presented at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 1; Tuesday, Oct. 15 and Tuesday, Oct. 29. This series is geared toward public libraries of all sizes, with presentations by some of the top library marketers in the country. These three webinars are related and sequentially will build on one another.
Register today for one, two, or all three webinars. Each webinar is worth 1 contact hour toward public library certification.
- How (and Why) to Do a Simple External Communications Audit, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 1 p.m., presented by Kathy Dempsey (register) -- The way you communicate with the outside world has a lot to do with how people perceive not only your own library, but all other libraries as well. It affects usage, reputation, brand, and even funding.
Since most libraries create their fliers, bookmarks, posters, web pages, social media posts, brochures, etc. as they’re needed, they usually don’t look at them as a whole. This webinar will lay out the steps to perform an external communications audit so you can clearly see the big picture. Then it will recommend how to make your message and branding consistent, which can elevate your library’s place in its community.
This process is very scalable; libraries large and small can get visible results. Whether you give this project a month or just an hour, you can make your communications more visible and impactful. - Creating Compelling Copy—aka Persuasive Writing and How to Effectively Tell Your Library’s Story, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 1 p.m., presented by Jennifer Burke (register) -- Librarians are masters of stories, but are we as good as we could be at telling our own story? We know that people respond enthusiastically to stories, more so than statistics, numbers, or dry facts. Marketing is just a form of storytelling, using some consumer psychology and persuasive language. Creating marketing messages is different than writing a news article, or a personal blog post. Marketing is about inspiring action.So how can your words inspire your library’s audience to take the action you want? You don’t have to be a master marketer or copywriter to take advantage of best practices that can apply to all the forms your message may take – from social media posts to speaking with community stakeholders.
Learn some of the ‘tried-n-true’ copywriting hacks and formulas that have driven years of success in the marketing world. Learn to share messages that matter and the stories that will resonate with your community. Tell your library’s many stories in ways that connect and inspire action. - Effective Messaging for Library Support, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 1 p.m., Presented by Patrick Sweeney (register) -- The language and messages that we use to express the value of librarianship are only effective if we understand who we’re speaking to. Unfortunately we have little or no data on effective messages that activates library supporters. Even worse is that we have little knowledge about the demographic make-up of library supporters. However, if we want our advocacy to be efficient and effective, we have to reach the right people, at the right time, with the right message. That means working with local small and big data, segmenting and creating audiences, as well as testing messages to gauge effectiveness against measurable results.
The best part is that isitdoesn’t have to cost you anything to increase the effectiveness of your advocacy! Even small and rural libraries with little to no marketing budgets can implement the strategies thatwill be explored in this webinar. We’ll especially look at how to find free or inexpensive local data, andbuild and deploy messages to increase their effectiveness, and build local support for our libraries with limited staff.