Index
- Help Us Fill Our Bin!
- Public Library Staff Compensation Survey Now Available
- Solar Eclipse Viewing Glasses Available For Public Libraries
- Enhancements to Magazine Access Coming to Libby
- Survey on Intellectual Freedom Challenges in Wisconsin Libraries
- 2023 WLA Conference Registration is Open, SCLS Offering Scholarships
- Meet the DPLA Digital Equity Project
- Continuing Education Calendar
Help Us Fill Our Bin!
Calling all foodies and community experts!! We are looking for donations to the WLA Foundation’s Silent Auction at WLA Annual Conference 2023. This is YOUR chance to showcase your local businesses and services. This is year’s WLA Annual Conference is being held in Middleton at the Madison Marriott West convention center October 24-27.
Here are examples of what we are looking for:
- Non-refrigerated food items special to your community (cookies and sweets, cheese, wine, etc.)
- Guest passes to local events or venues
- Gift cards
- Crafts from local artisans
Proceeds from the silent auction benefit the WLA Foundation and support its mission: To support the role of Wisconsin libraries as essential institutions. The WLA Foundation supports Wisconsin libraries through: honors and awards for exceptional service and literary merit; scholarship in library studies and continuing education; the Wisconsin Library Heritage Center; and special projects on behalf of the WLA.
PLEASE have your items to SCLS by Monday, October 16th c/o Mark Jochem or Heidi Oliversen. Contact Mark or Heidi if you have any questions.
Public Library Staff Compensation Survey Now Available
A final report on the Public Library Staff Compensation Survey is now available. The purpose of the report is to provide staff salaries and position classification information to help library boards determine appropriate compensation to attract and retain the best possible employees for the positions.
Prior to using the report, library directors are encouraged to review the Wisconsin Public Library Staff Compensation Summary Report and toolkit to effectively utilize the data presented in the report. The complete report and toolkit are available at https://www.srlaaw.org/compensation-study.
Highlights from the report include:
- Participation: The survey engaged 305 participants (or 80% of public libraries in Wisconsin), predominantly from the Western, Southeast, and Northern regions.
- Data Collection: Participants were asked to review a list of 46 survey job titles and descriptions, and to provide their pay range, annual work hours, benefit eligibility, paid leave eligibility, and MLS requirements.
- Total Rewards: Participating libraries commonly provide benefits such as Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) participation, health insurance, bereavement/funeral leave, and dental insurance.
- Compensation: Statewide, Library Directors earn an average of $27.56-$31.37. Compensation often correlates with population size; municipalities exceeding 50,000 residents pay $49.73-$66.73.
The survey is part of a Library Services Technology Act-funded (LSTA) library staff compensation study coordinated by the System and Resource Library Administrators Association of Wisconsin (SRLAAW) and conducted by Carlson Dettmann Consulting.
The Compensation Survey supports the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s 2023-2027 LSTA goal to support the recruitment and retention of library staff, including administrative, professional, and support roles, reflecting their diverse communities.
Solar Eclipse viewing glasses available for Public Libraries
With an Annular Solar Eclipse in 2023 and a Total Solar Eclipse in 2024, the STAR Library Education Network's SEAL (Solar Eclipse Activities for Libraries) initiative (with major funding support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation) is distributing approximately 5 million solar eclipse viewing glasses to libraries in all 50 states and all US territories and protectorates. Please check out the SEAL website to learn more and to request glasses for your library.
Enhancements to Magazine Access Coming to Libby
Libby will be rolling out some enhancements to the user experience with magazines in September.
- One tap to read: When a user discovers a magazine anywhere in the app, they can open it and start reading with one tap, generating a checkout for your library.
- Streamlined access: Instead of appearing alongside ebook and audiobook loans, magazines will be moved to a new dedicated section of the Shelf summary, called the Magazine Rack. From the Magazine Rack, users will see the latest issue of their magazine subscriptions and any other issues they choose to keep. This will help users find their favorite magazines in one convenient place.
- Note: To save space on a user’s device, magazines are not automatically downloaded for offline use. Instead, users can manually choose which issues to download.
- Easier subscriptions: Users can subscribe to magazines via a new, convenient Subscribe option from magazine search results and title details pages. When a new issue is released, it will automatically be added to the user’s Magazine Rack and generate a checkout for your library.
- Improved discovery: From their Magazine Rack, users can navigate to the Newsstand, a new view of a user’s recently opened issues and other popular magazine titles in your collection.
Survey on Intellectual Freedom Challenges in Wisconsin Libraries
The newly formed WLA Intellectual Freedom Committee is conducting an anonymous survey of the Wisconsin library community to gather data about censorship challenges, the feelings/confidence level of library staff in managing those challenges, and feedback on the kinds of resources needed to better prepare library staff to manage challenges.
Please share the survey link with your member library directors and encourage participation.
Responses will help lay the groundwork for creating a more holistic challenge reporting system and inform the Committee as they work to develop resources to support Wisconsin libraries.
The survey will close on September 29.
2023 WLA Annual Conference Registration Open, SCLS Offering Scholarships
The 2023 Wisconsin Library Association (WLA) Conference is officially open! This is your opportunity to be part of an event that promises to be enlightening, inspiring, and empowering. We hope to see YOU October 24- 27 at the Madison Marriott West in Middleton! Check out the WLA Website for all the details.
SCLS is offering scholarships for up to four public library staff members to attend the full conference. The scholarship (up to $1,000) covers registration at the member and early bird rate, lodging, mileage, and some meals. Applications are open now through September 13, 2023. Here is the link for more information
Meet the DPLA Digital Equity Project
September 15, 2023 at 1:00 pm CT, join Celeste Contreras, community ambassador to the Milwaukee Women’s Art Library, and Derek Webb, head of archives at UW-Milwaukee Libraries, to hear about their DPLA-funded Digital Equity Project.
Since November 2022, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries and the Milwaukee Women’s Art Library community ambassador have engaged with Milwaukee’s women’s and non-binary art community to identify potential new contributors and break down barriers to access and participation. This partnership has helped bridge the gap between institutional support and grassroots community-led collection-building, and has worked to build trust between small community organizations and large, established institutions like UWM. Recollection Wisconsin has provided guidance on personal digital archiving, community digitization efforts, and making digital projects knowledge accessible to a wide range of practitioners in the Milwaukee artists’ community.
Celeste and Derek will share news about the project, current progress, challenges and successes, and lessons learned from the community ambassador model.