Index
- Library Board Composition Spelled Out in Chapter 43
- Registration Open for Trustee Training Week 2021
- Changes to Claiming WI Unemployment Insurance
- Member/Staff News
- WLA Conference Programming Committee Accepting Proposals
- President’s FY 2022 Budget Request Includes $265 Million for IMLS
- $15 Million in American Rescue Plan Act Grants Now Available for Museum and Library Services
- Former President Barack Obama will headline ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition Virtual Closing Session
- Continuing Education Calendar
Library Board Composition Spelled Out in Chapter 43
A number of questions have come up recently from library directors and trustees about library board composition, more specifically about how many non-municipal residents can serve on the library board, whether the school district representative factors into this count, and whether any county appointments to the library board also count.
First, let’s look at the statutory language in 43.54(1)(a), which reads in part:
…Members shall be residents of the municipality, except that not more than 2 members may be residents of other municipalities…
The statutory language is clear that library trustees must be residents of the municipality, except that not more than two members may be residents of other municipalities, which means another city, village, or town. This language is important because the question about the school district representative selected by the district administrator flows from it.
It is the interpretation of the Division for Libraries and Technology (DLT) at the Department of Public Instruction that if the school district representative lives outside the municipality, that person counts as one of the two allowed. This opinion is available in a DLT website FAQ.
In the section of the FAQ related to non-resident appointments, the DLT writes:
There is no requirement that residents or representatives outside the library's municipal area serve on the library board. The statute does permit that no more than two board members may reside outside the municipality [43.54(1)], but if the mayor or municipal board president does not wish to appoint representatives from outside the municipal boundaries, that is their choice. However, if the school superintendent's selection resides outside the municipality, the village must appoint that person, and the appointment would count as one of the two possible representatives from outside the municipality.
Appointing non-municipal residents to the library board is optional, so it’s important to note that because Chapter 43 sets these guidelines, neither the municipal board nor the library board can approve guidelines, ordinances, or bylaws that set a different standard.
The online FAQ from the DLT further states that trustee appointments by the county board “do not count in the limit of two non-resident appointments, and the appointments add to the number of board members for the library board.” This county appointment authority is at the discretion of the county board, and most counties within the South Central Library System do not make such appointments.
As is always the case, if you have questions about this statutory language contact Mark Ibach at 608-246-5612 or [email protected].
Registration Open for Trustee Training Week 2021
Webinars scheduled Aug. 23-27
Registration is now open for Wisconsin Trustee Training Week 2021, which will be held Aug. 23-27. There will be one webinar each day from noon to 1 p.m. on a topic that’s relevant to public library boards, friends, and trustees. Webinars are available free of charge and are open to anyone.
The schedule of presentations is as follows:
- Monday Aug. 23 -- Wisconsin Library Ecosystem -- What is a library ecosystem and why is it important? In general terms, an ecosystem is a complex network or interconnected system. In the webinar, you’ll learn about the different partners involved in this ecosystem, beginning with a statewide perspective on how Wisconsin’s public libraries work. You will then move through the public library system and the importance of system membership, then finish with libraries at the local level. Along the way, you’ll explore the statutory language that comes into play at each level, and presenters will provide links to resources that can be helpful.
- Tuesday Aug. 24 -- Departures & Arrivals: Transitions and Succession Planning -- Trustees will learn how to successfully prepare for the departure of a director due to retirement or moving to a new library. This session will cover what the current director and board must put in place prior to the placement of a new director and discuss the role of trustees in successfully onboarding a new director and the transition of them into their new role. Presenters will provide a checklist of items to prepare for new library directors that will be supplied after the presentation.
- Wednesday Aug. 25 -- Self-awareness for Social Justice Ally-ship -- In this session, participants will be invited to explore privilege, prejudice, and inclusion through story-telling and critical self-reflection. This session is interactive and will explore both individual and collective aspects of practicing social justice.
- Thursday Aug. 26 -- Library Ethics 101: What Would You Do? -- Public libraries face ethical issues all the time. This session aims to create an open discussion about library core values and ethics. Inspired by a session at the 2020 Public Library Association Conference, the program provides real library ethical scenarios, followed by a discussion with a panel of experienced trainers. Presenters will discuss sticky situations when personal ethics and professional ethics differ. This is a highly interactive session, and audience participation is encouraged. Attendees will leave with a list of helpful resources and books.
- Friday Aug. 27 -- Trustee Leadership: Bringing it All Together -- It’s the end of Trustee Training Week! It’s time to take what you’ve learned and apply it at your library. Join this discussion about how to support and develop the library’s vast, interconnected ecosystem by applying servant leadership.
You must register for each webinar individually at www.wistrusteetraining.com. More information, including bios of the presenters, is also available at the link above, and you can also access recordings from the 2015-19 webinars.
Trustee Training Week is sponsored by the South Central Library System, with financial support from other Wisconsin Public Library Systems, plus the Division for Libraries and Technology and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
Recordings of other SCLS Continuing Education webinars are available on the SCLS website.
Changes to Claiming WI Unemployment Insurance
Guest post by Mark Jochem
The Wisconsin unemployment insurance (UI) work search waiver, started May 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, removed the need for UI claimants to actively search for work. The waiver meant that people could avert financial disaster while staying safe.
Beginning May 23, that work search waiver disappeared. Wisconsinites filing for unemployment insurance benefits (with certain exceptions) must now complete and document four work search activities per week. More information about the types of work search activities that are allowable, and specifically how libraries can help their patrons with the UI claims, were provided in a second Wisconsin Libraries for Everyone blog post linked at the end of this article.
In the meantime, there are many resources available to patrons and library staff alike throughout the state. Here is the information for the South Central Library System: A comprehensive set of resources which can assist visitors throughout their job process. The Resources for Job Seekers webpage is available to help with a variety of needs including: the job search and application process; filing for unemployment; finding local SCLS county resources; addressing barriers to employment; accessing education and training; and finding services and support. All information and resources are available on the open-web.
DPI’s Job Seeker Collection has everything you need, including specifics for your county.
Library staff looking to learn more about how they can help job seekers and partner with the workforce development system in Wisconsin should check out the Libraries Activating Workforce Development Skills (LAWDS) Project. The LAWDS Project is a three-year initiative to help library staff become more knowledgeable about workforce development and foster connections with state and local workforce development professionals. This project is funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
For more information, contact Mark Jochem, Workforce Development & Lifelong Learning Specialist, South Central Library System, at 608-630-0270. More information is available in a second post on June 3 2021.
Becky Anderson (pictured at right) is the new director of the Rock Springs Public Library. Becky grew up in Rock Springs and is familiar with the many changes this village has seen. The library has had many locations over the years and soon will have a new home at 251 Railroad Street. Becky graduated from UW-Stevens Point with a Bachelor of Science, French Major, and emphasis in education. This helped in raising her four children Emily, Nathaniel, Anna, and Joseph. These four, along with their mom, made many trips to the Rock Springs Library. Becky is also a Teacher at the St. Peter’s Daycare in Reedsburg. Becky worked as a library assistant the summer of 2017 and was asked to assist again at the end of March. Drawing from this experience and as a mom and daycare teacher, she applied for and was offered the director position, and accepted! She lives in Rock Springs and in her spare time loves the outdoors (walking, swimming, gardening), cooking, drawing, reading, sewing, and spending time with her family.
The June issue of WSLL @ Your Service is now online. Please send questions or comments to the editor, Carol Hassler. In this issue:Unlock Lexis Digital eBooks -- Last month we announced the arrival of our new ebook collection, Lexis Digital, a collection of eBooks that you can read from your home or the office. Learn how to find eBooks in our catalog (read more); Simple Search in HeinOnline -- If you've been on HeinOnline lately, you might have noticed a big change: the tabs across the top of the search box are gone. Learn how to use the new simple search in HeinOnline (read more); New Books -- Our two featured titles this month are Environmental Aspects of Real Estate and Commercial Transactions and Handling Federal Discovery (read more); Tech Tip -- Learn how to use browser add-ons to save passwords and other form data, such as your library card number (read more); Library News -- We share news about welcoming in-library users in July, plus new CLE webinars for the summer (read more); June Snapshot -- We're getting ready to welcome researchers back into the library! Our re-arranged reading room is this month’s feature photo (read more).
WLA Conference Programming Committee Accepting Proposals
The WLA Programming Committee is now accepting proposals for the 2021 WLA annual conference! The conference will be held in Green Bay from November 16-19 at the KI Convention Center. The Conference already boasts a fantastic lineup of keynote speakers, including Sarah Vowell, Nigel Poor, and Felton Thomas, Jr. Now you are invited to share your expertise and experiences with your colleagues this November.
Over the past year, libraries have dealt with unprecedented challenges and have risen to meet these issues with kindness, perseverance, and creative solutions. Come share your story at the WLA Conference and join trustees, academics, public librarians, special librarians, paraprofessionals and more as we grow together as a profession.
This year’s theme is Back on Track. Use the tracks and hot topics listed below to help shape your proposal. Your proposal does not have to line up with a particular track or hot topic. These are suggestions for what the Wisconsin library community wants to learn more about.
Tracks this year include:
- Academic
- Archives/Local History
- COVID Responses
- Leadership/Library Management
- Wellness
- Programming/Community Engagement
- Social Justice/Issues and Advocacy
- Technology and Digital Services
- Youth and School Librarians
- Support Staff
- Small Libraries
Hot topics they are looking for:
- Data and Analytics
- Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
- Managing E-Resources
- Funding and Support
- Digitization
- Staff training
- Self-care
- Privacy
- Accessing Government Data
- Collaboration
- Community Outreach
- Customer Service
- Navigating a Pandemic and Post-Pandemic World
Submit program proposals here. The deadline is July 7.
President’s FY 2022 Budget Request Includes $265 Million for IMLS
Proposed Budget Recognizes IMLS’s Critical Programs and Services
President Biden released the Administration’s FY 2022 Budget Request to Congress on May 28, which includes $265 million for the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
The agency’s Congressional Justification, which contains detailed information on the President’s Budget Request, is now available on the IMLS website.
IMLS, which marks its 25th anniversary this year, advances, supports, and empowers America’s museums, libraries, and related organizations through grantmaking, research, and policy development. The agency’s programs reach all types of libraries, including public, academic, school, tribal, and research; and all types of museums, including botanic gardens, aquariums, and zoos, as well as art, history, science, children’s, and Tribal museums.
The President’s proposed FY 2022 request recognizes and builds upon the agency’s critical programs that have worked to sustain museums, libraries, and American communities before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. It emphasizes equity with respect to library, museum, and information services for the nation, and includes support for museum services in the areas of African American and Latino history and culture.
“Museums and libraries are crucial to culture and community in our country, representing civilizational values, local heritage, and the aspirations of each individual in the community to share in and develop that heritage. They bring us together in many voices in a great resounding chorus,” said IMLS Director Crosby Kemper. “The administration’s budget request recognizes the resiliency, the diversity, the reach into self and community development that they promote.”
Highlights from the budget request include:
- $197,472,000 for library grant programs authorized by the Library Services and Technology Act:
- Grants to State Library Administrative Agencies
- Native American and Native Hawaiian Library Services
- Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program
- National Leadership Grants for Libraries
- $37,284,000 for museum grants authorized by the Museum Services Act:
- Museums for America
- Museums Empowered
- Inspire! Museum Grants for Small Museums
- Native American/Native Hawaiian Museum Services
- National Leadership Grants for Museums
- $5,231,000 for the grant program authorized by the African American History and Culture Act;
- $4,000,000 for the grant program authorized by the National Museum of the American Latino Act;
- $4,513,000 to support and conduct policy research, data collection, analysis and modeling, evaluation, and dissemination of information to extend and improve the nation’s museum, library, and information services.
COVID-19 has amplified the importance of the nation’s museums and libraries as trusted institutions that provide vital services to the communities they serve. Since the beginning of the pandemic, IMLS has maximized investments in the museum and library communities through the CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act. Strategic partnerships, such as the REopening Archives, Libraries, and Museums (REALM) research project, along with the agency's ongoing grant programs, have also provided financial and informational support to museums and libraries as they responded to the crisis.
$15 Million in American Rescue Plan Act Grants Now Available for Museum and Library Services
Applications for Pandemic Response Funding Due June 28
The Institute of Museum and Library Services today announced a new funding opportunity for museums, libraries, and Native American and Native Hawaiian communities. The $15 million federal investment will provide direct support to address community needs created or exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and in assisting with recovery.
"Museums and libraries have stepped up to provide their communities with essential services and access to all kinds of health, job, government, educational, social, and cultural resources," said IMLS Director Crosby Kemper. “As places begin to reopen, these institutions will continue to be trusted spaces dedicated to sustaining communities. This funding will allow them to continue lifting up their communities and enabling people to thrive.”
The American Rescue Plan Act allocated funding to IMLS to enable libraries, museums, federally recognized Tribes, and nonprofit organizations serving Native Hawaiians by supporting the vital programs and services they provide to their communities.
Proposals to this grant program may continue, enhance, or expand existing programs and services, or they may launch new ones to address emergent needs and unexpected hardships. Reflecting IMLS’s goals of championing lifelong learning, strengthening community engagement, and advancing collections stewardship and access, successful projects for this grant program will:
- Advance digital inclusion through approaches that may include, but are not limited to, improving digital platforms, online services, connectivity (e.g., hotspots), and creating digital literacy programs, as well as creating new processes and procedures needed to sustain a robust online environment.
- Support hiring new staff and training or retraining existing staff to ensure a workforce that has the appropriate knowledge, skills, and abilities.
- Build community-focused partnerships, networks, and alliances with organizations with an emphasis on complementing, rather than duplicating, resources and services.
- Support the creation and delivery of online and in-person educational, interpretive, and experiential programs and exhibitions for learners of all ages.
- Provide trusted spaces for community engagement and dialogue to foster recovery and rebuilding.
- Support efforts to collect, preserve, manage, and interpret documentary sources and tangible objects representing all aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic experience.
The deadline for submitting applications is June 28, 2021, with award announcements anticipated in October 2021. A free informational webinar will be made available on-demand on the IMLS website.
For More Information
To apply for this grant, as well as other available IMLS funding opportunities, please visit the IMLS website.
Former President Barack Obama will headline ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition Virtual Closing Session
Former President Barack Obama will close the ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition (Virtual) Closing Session. He will appear from noon to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, June 29, 2021, in conversation with Lonnie G. Bunch III, the 14th secretary of the Smithsonian and first African American appointed to the role. They will be introduced by Julius C. Jefferson, Jr., president of the American Library Association.
Obama will discuss A Promised Land, the stirring first volume of his presidential memoirs that was released in November 2020 by Crown, an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House. In it, Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his identity to leader of the free world, describing in strikingly personal detail both his political education and the landmark moments of the first term of his historic presidency—a time of dramatic transformation and turmoil.
Few presidents have walked a more improbable path to the White House. Born in Hawaii to a mother from Kansas and a father from Kenya, Barack Obama was raised with help from his grandparents, whose generosity of spirit reflected their Midwestern roots.
After working his way through college with the help of scholarships and student loans, Obama moved to Chicago where he worked with a group of churches to help rebuild communities devastated by the closure of local steel plants. That experience honed his belief in the power of uniting ordinary people around a politics of purpose and in the hard work of citizenship to bring about positive change. In law school, he became the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review. He then returned to Illinois to teach constitutional law at the University of Chicago and begin a career in public service, winning seats in the Illinois State Senate and the United States Senate.
On Nov. 4, 2008, Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States, winning more votes than any candidate in history. He took office at a moment of crisis unlike any America had seen in decades -- a nation at war, a planet in peril, the American Dream itself threatened by the worst economic calamity since the Great Depression. And yet, despite all manner of political obstruction, Obama’s leadership helped rescue the economy, revitalize the American auto industry, reform the health care system to cover another 20 million Americans, and put the country on a firm course to a clean energy future -- all while overseeing the longest stretch of job creation in American history. On the world stage, Obama’s belief in America’s indispensable leadership and strong, principled diplomacy helped wind down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, decimate al-Qaeda and eliminate the world’s most wanted terrorists, shut down Iran’s nuclear weapons program, open a new chapter with the people of Cuba, and unite humanity in coordinated action to combat a changing climate.
As secretary of the Smithsonian, Bunch oversees 19 museums, 21 libraries, the National Zoo, numerous research centers, and several education units and centers. Bunch was the founding director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. He is the first historian appointed to the role.
Registration for the conference is open. Media interested in registering for the session may contact Macey Morales, deputy director, ALA Communications and Marketing Office at [email protected].
ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition attendees will have access to more than 200 educational sessions in the areas of Library Services, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Leadership, Teaching & Learning, Technology, Library Workplace, and more. Additionally, many of the News You Can Use series; interactive Discussion Groups; and President and Chair Programs provide an excellent opportunity for attendees to share thoughts amongst their peers.
The conference launches on Wednesday, June 23 with a full day dedicated to The Library Marketplace, showcasing as many as 300 exhibitors offering innovative resources for libraries; 11 presentation stages that will highlight notable and genre-specific keynotes; publisher-led spotlight sessions on new book titles; networking opportunities, giveaways, and more.
Get updates from the 2021 ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition (Virtual) website alaannual.org and follow the hashtag #alaac21 and social media: Instagram, ALA Twitter, and ALA Facebook.