Index
- Black Earth Public Library seeks new director
- Whole Person Librarianship: Building the Relationship-Based Reference Collection
- LAWDS training on use of Labor Market Indicator tools
- New titles added to SCLS Professional Collection
- Member/Staff News
- Register for RIPL Data Bootcamp
- Help measure residential internet speeds in your community
- Application open for ‘Building Your Data Confidence’ workshop
- Continuing Education Calendar
Black Earth Public Library seeks new director
The Black Earth Public Library is seeking an innovative Library Director to serve as chief executive officer of the library, implement library policies and projects, and provide leadership to meet goals for improving public library service to the community. With a team of one part-time Circulation Manager, one part-time Youth Services Librarian, and two part-time Library Assistants, the ideal director will excel at leading a small, but dedicated staff. The Village of Black Earth is located in a beautiful part of Dane County with parks, hiking trails, and other scenic areas nearby. Black Earth has the feel of a small, tight knit community while being conveniently close to larger cities like Middleton and Madison (just 20 miles away). In 2020, a $27M referendum was passed to create a combined elementary school at the same location of the Wisconsin Heights Middle/High School. Education and learning are highly valued in Black Earth and Mazomanie and the library has an excellent relationship with the schools.
The Black Earth Public Library, built in 1990, accounts for about 2,600 square feet in the municipal building on Mills Street. As Dane County’s smallest public library, it offers the community approximately 21,000 current items, as well as access to the Wisconsin Digital Library. The library has a service population of around 3000, and is a member of the South Central Library System. A variety of entertaining and educational programs for adults and children are offered throughout the entire year, and an established Friends group helps support fundraising. Black Earth Public Library is supervised by a five-member Library Board of Trustees, and is a department of the Village of Black Earth.
Under the direction of the Library Board of Trustees, the Library Director develops, administers, supervises, and coordinates the work of the library and staff, performs managerial duties related to personnel, budget, collection development, facilities maintenance, library operations, annual reporting, and service in conformity of the policies established by the Board of Trustees. The Library Director is responsible for developing and supporting all efforts necessary to maintain the library, that is responsive to the community’s needs for information, education, and recreation.
Minimum Qualifications
Hold or be eligible for a minimum of Grade III certification. The educational requirement for Grade III certification are the successful completion of 54 semester hours, half of which must be in the liberal arts and sciences, at a college or university approved by an accrediting association of more than statewide standing, including or supplemented by the successful completion of a basic library management course for public librarians approved by the Department of Public Instruction, Division for Libraries and Community Learning. A flexible schedule to attend meetings throughout the day and evening is needed. Some evening and weekend work is required.
Desired Qualification
Experiences working in libraries, working with governing boards, supervision, SCLS/Bibliovation, grant writing, web maintenance, and/or special needs/youth/outreach are highly desirable. Leadership skills and ability to form and maintain community partnerships is also desired. It is hoped that the successful candidate will have a desire to work on building plans, with the county libraries on racial equity and inclusivity initiatives, and to continue work on the recently completed strategic plan.
Salary and Benefits
The salary range is $36,000-$42,000 annually, depending on experience and qualifications.
The Village of Black Earth offers eligible employees the choice between multiple plans, allowing you to select the best option for you. Available plans include Dean Health Insurance, Group Health Cooperative, and Quartz--UW Health.
This position is a full-time salaried position and not eligible for overtime.
Application Deadline
The application deadline is Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021 at 5 p.m. To apply send a cover letter, resume and three references to Kirsten Rogers at [email protected] (or 1210 Mills St., Black Earth, WI 53515). Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. For more information and a full job description, please visit www.blackearthlibrary.org/job-openings.
People of color and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply. Black Earth Public Library is an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and differing opinions.
Whole Person Librarianship: Building the Relationship-Based Reference Collection
Since the first social worker was hired by San Francisco Public Library over a decade ago, libraries have continued hiring social workers at an exponentially growing rate. These new positions help staff respond appropriately to the needs of patrons who bring a whole spectrum of challenges with them to the library.
But what should you do if your library doesn’t have a social worker? How should library staff respond to patrons who have broken through our cobweb-thin social safety net? Where do we draw boundaries so that we maintain a library role within continuums of care? A webinar on March 4, 2021 at 10 a.m. will address these topics and more.
The response highlighted in this talk is that “relationships are the new reference collection.” Through this lens, and with the help of social work concepts like person-in-environment and reflective practice, all library staff can find their place in providing human services connections at the library. Participants will leave this webinar with new ideas and tools to apply to their own work.
Presenter Sara K. Zettervall, MLIS, MFA, is the co-author of Whole Person Librarianship: A Social Work Approach to Patron Services(Libraries Unlimited 2019), with social work professor Dr. Mary Nienow. This groundbreaking book, hailed by Booklist as “a relevant, skillfully crafted, highly recommended read,” is the first to be published on the growing field of library-social work collaboration and is based on original research with leaders in the field. Sara provides training and consultation on library-social work collaboration across the nation and the world, including as 2017 recipient of the Bogle-Pratt International Travel Fellowship to present in Zagreb, Croatia. Her work history encompasses innovative projects in public, school, and academic libraries. She engages in diversity and equity leadership through involvement in the American Library Association and by managing her website, www.wholepersonlibrarianship.com.
Register here.
LAWDS training on use of Labor Market Indicator tools
Two upcoming webinars will help library staff learn how they can help patrons improve their job search strategies using the Job Center of Wisconsin Labor Market Indicator tools. Maura Kirkham of the Department of Workforce Development will be presenting two identical webinars. Here are the registration links:
The sessions are open to library staff and staff of LAWDS partners. After the sessions, the recordings and slide deck will be posted on the LAWDS website. Public libraries or library systems, or LAWDS partners may choose to share them on their own websites.
Thanks to Jean Anderson and the South Central Library System for their help delivering these workforce development learning opportunities. This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
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.
- Digital Legacy edited by Heather Moorefield-Lang
- Virtual Voice Assistants by Win Shih and Erin Rivero
- Moving Forward with Digital Disruption by Bohyun Kim
- Library Privacy Policies by Jason Vaughan
- Responding to Rapid Change in Libraries: a User Experience Approach by Callan Bignoli and Lauren Stara
- 209 Big Programming Ideas for Small Budgets by Chelsea Price
- Constructing Library Buildings that Work by Fred Schlipf
- Proving Your Library’s Value: Persuasive, Organized, and Memorable Messaging by Alan Fishel and Jillian Wentworth
- Libraries and the Substance Abuse Crisis: Supporting Your Community by Cindy Grove
- Developing and Maintaining Practical Archives, 3rd By Gregory S. Hunter
- Management Basics for Information Professionals, 4th By G. Edward Evans and Stacey Greenwell
- Marketing with Social Media, 2nd Edited by Beth C. Thomsett-Scott
- 52 Ready-to-use Gaming Programs for Libraries edited by Ellyssa Kroski
- Ask Listen Empower: Grounding Your Library Work in Community Engagement edited by Mary Davis Fournier and Sarah Ostman
- Partnering with Parents: Boosting Literacy for All Ages by Mary Schreiber
- Impactful Community-Based Literacy Projects by Lesley S. J. Farmer
- Diversity, Equity, Inclusion in Action: Planning, Leadership, and Programming edited by Christine Bombaro
- 100+ Ideas to Inspire Smart Spaces and Creative Places by Elisabeth Doucett
- Library Marketing and Communications: Strategies to Increase Relevance and Results by Cordelia Anderson
- Rainy Day Ready: Financial Literacy Programs and Tools edited by Melanie Welch and Patrick Hogan
- A Trauma-Informed Approach to Library Services by Rebecca Tolley
- Risk Management and Insurance Manual for Libraries, updated by Sally Alexander and Mary Breighner
- Libraryland: It’s All About the Story edited by Ben Bizzle and Sue Considine
Madison Public Library recently helped an up-and-coming author publish the novel that he penned during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tikeh Tazeh took advantage of the time at home to finish writing and publish a 234-page novel entitled “Hat Trick.” Tikeh said he came up with the book because, as a soccer player and fan and also an avid reader, he was disappointed at the lack of soccer novels at his level. Read the complete article on the Madison Public Library website.
Register for RIPL Data Bootcamp
Is one of your New Year’s resolutions to get your library’s data in shape? Then, spend the winter with RIPL and participate in the Data Boot Camp Series! This free webinar series features curriculum from the RIPL 2020 national event.
These will NOT be webinars where you listen to a talking head the whole time. Instead, please come ready to participate in a variety of interactive learning activities, some of which will occur in small groups in breakout rooms.
Here is the schedule -- click on the links to learn more about each webinar and register.
Help measure residential internet speeds in your community
Note: This article is adapted from the DPI Broadband Speed Test Tookit prepared by IFLS Library System.
DPI is committed to improving digital equity in the state of Wisconsin. This year, they’re collecting data about internet speeds across the state. They need your help!
What they’re doing
DPI is collaborating with Measurement Lab (M-Lab) to collect data on internet connection speeds across Wisconsin. DPI will use M-Lab’s internet speed test data to create detailed reports and to provide maps of internet speeds across the state.
Why they’re doing it
The data will give the Governor’s Task Force on Broadband Access (and other broadband task groups) the information they need to target improvements where internet speeds and performance are poor.
Your input is critical! In order to get an accurate picture of the state, we need a lot of accurate data. That’s where you come in. The more data M-Lab can collect, the better we can model internet connection speeds across the state.
How you can help
Include a link to the M-Lab Speed Test on your library websites, Facebook pages, and any other communication platforms your library uses. The URL to link to the speed test is https://speed.measurementlab.net/#/.
Encourage community members to test their internet connection speeds at home, several times if possible! Include this in e-mails and newsletters, tuck into pick-up bags, encourage your trustees and volunteers to participate and share.
Share the URLs of pages where you have posted the link, so DPI can get an idea of how the speed test is being promoted around the state. (They’re looking for your social media posts as well as your website.)
Suggested language
"Test your home internet speed -- help identify areas in Wisconsin where internet access is slow."
"Want better home internet? We’re working on it and you can help. Three clicks, no questions. It’s that easy. Take the home internet speed test"
Toolkit
Kudos to IFLS Library System for sharing a toolkit with graphics to use for websites, social media posts, Facebook headers, newsletters, and bag-stuffers.
--by Rose Ziech for TechBits
Application open for ‘Building Your Data Confidence’ workshop
In an era of data-driven decision making, what does it really mean to strategically use data to support your work? Join Kim Kiesewetter of WiLS for a two-part series on research and data specifically tailored to library workers.
Part 1: By March 15, watch an archived one-hour webinar and read two reports on the foundations of research and data.
Part 2: On March 16 from 9 a.m. until noon participants will join together for an interactive virtual workshop to dig in and explore your library's "data ecosystem.” The workshop begins with participants finding and using library data and ends with building together a scenario that illustrates how to apply data locally.
Application is required, and must be submitted by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021. No prior data knowledge is required.
Read more in WI Libraries for Everyone.