WVLS Digital Lites

OverDrive Training Opportunities and FREE Building Bridges Series for Public Libraries

2012-01-10T16:23:00.000-06:00

Are you looking for a way to refresh your OverDrive skills, Jane Richard, from WILS sent the following information as a reminder that OverDrive offers live and recorded training sessions throughout the year. Please follow the links below for more information:

View Now (http://overdrive.com/learningcenter/viewnow.aspx) : View the core courses at your convenience … plus pause, stop and fast forward to suit your learning style. Among the topics recorded: Kindle demo, community outreach, and patron assistance.

Resources: Spread the word about your OverDrive service through promotional and educational materials. All materials are free!
A relatively new resource is the Going Mobile Preview page with short how-to video series for iOS, Android and Kindle operating systems. These each run 20-30 minutes
long.

Another great opportunity to think about how Public Libraries can build bridges to the future and build community support will be offered in the "Building Bridges Series for Public Libraries"

Please join OCLC, host Chrystie Hill, WebJunction’s Director of Community Services, and guest speakers for the second half of this series of webinars designed to inspire and engage public libraries on topics of vital interest. Each program in the series will offer practical advice on issues that are top-of-mind in public libraries.

Communicating Your Value: Without sufficient funding, your service to your community can suffer. But you can effectively communicate your value to those who fund your library – learn how. Speakers to be announced shortly. January 18, 2012 Register now

Your Library’s Future: This look ahead will focus on (1) the critical services libraries should provide; (2) services that only the public library provides; and (3) communicating the library’s future plans to the community. Speakers to be announced shortly. February 2, 2012 Register now

Watch the earlier sessions in this series:

Principles of Advocacy: Public library professionals know the importance of demonstrating their value to their local communities. Are you looking for inspiration to jump-start your own advocacy efforts? Join us to better understand how ongoing community advocacy supports the vital role your library plays in the community Speakers included Mary Hirsh, Project Coordinator for PLA and Lynn Slawsky, Program Officer, Turning the Page 2.0 program through PLA, Janet Sawaya, Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Jennifer Pearson, Senior Manager of Advocacy Programs, OCLC. Topics included the Turning the Page program, the Geek the Library community awareness program and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funding public library advocacy programs. Watch now

Community Outreach: Hear from both a small and large public library on why they believe these partnerships are integral to their success. Guest speakers Gerry Meek, CEO of the Calgary Public Library in Canada, and Debbie Winlock, Director of the Page Public Library in Arizona will give you tips on how you can make this work in your community. Watch now

(Jane Richard, Wisconsin Library Services & Wisconsin Public Library Consortium)

Great Websites for Kids Has Been Redesigned.

2012-01-06T15:04:00.000-06:00

ALSC's Great Websites for Kids Relaunches With Fresh New Design

Great Websites for Kids (GWS) (www.ala.org/greatsites), the Association for Library Service to Children’s (ALSC) online website directory, has been completely redesigned. The updated site boasts a fresh and colorful kid-friendly look and interactive social media enhancements.

Clear, bright icons display subject categories and appear on every page, while eye-catching thumbnail images provide a visual preview of each great site represented. Special sections highlight Sites of the Week and Month, Most Popular pages and Top Rated selections. Prompts for each site offer “more selections like this.”

Visitors can actively connect with the site and further their online experience by rating sites; sharing their favorites on social media sites such as Facebook; and emailing recommendations to friends.

"Great Websites for Kids is a prime example of the essential work librarians do in disseminating high quality information,” said Mary Fellows, ALSC President. “The GWS transformation is a content-rich, visually exciting advancement for a terrific tool.”
The recent updates to GWS are part of a two-phase makeover for the popular site. Phase two improvements will take place in 2012 and include further development of “social” functionality and interactivity.

ALSC, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), is the world’s largest organization dedicated to the support and enhancement of library service to children. With a network of more than 4,000 children’s and youth librarians, literature experts, publishers and educational faculty, ALSC is committed to creating a better future for children through libraries. To learn more about ALSC, visit www.ala.org/alsc.
(American Libraries Direct, January 4, 2012)

2012 BadgerLunch Webinar Schedule Announced

2011-12-27T16:30:00.000-06:00

2012 - BadgerLunch Webinar Series

BadgerLink provides access to quality online information resources for Wisconsin residents at http://www.badgerlink.net/.

Want to learn how BadgerLink can help you?

Join BadgerLunch Sessions

Thursdays at Noon
30 - 45 minute sessions

To view the full announcement go to https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B5YmcgoABMUOODUxMDYwZjItZGM0NC00MjBmLWI0NTAtMDBlM2UyMmQ3MTk0

Discover BadgerLink

Find resources that you may not realize are available through BadgerLink!

1.19 Wisconsin Digital Archives: Find Information in Wisconsin’s Collection of Electronic State Documents

To Join Click: http://ow.ly/84pkS

1.26 Songbook Database: Easily Locate Sheet Music Available for Interlibrary Loan

To Join Click: http://ow.ly/84puX

2.2 BadgerLearn: Explore Wisconsin’s Collaborative Learning Space and Training Portal

To Join Click: http://ow.ly/84pEU

2.9 Consumer Reports: Connect to Expert, Independently Conducted Studies that Empower Consumers

To Join Click: http://ow.ly/84pZN

2.16 Found In Wisconsin: Uncover Wisconsin's Digital Collections

To Join Click: ht tp://ow.ly/84qni

2.23 How to Promote BadgerLink: Learn About Ways to Get the Word out About BadgerLink

To Join Click: http://ow.ly/84qpj

3.1 Q&A: Get the Answers to Your BadgerLink Questions

To Join Click: http://ow.ly/84qrZ

Kara Ripley, Reference and BadgerLink Training Librarian, Department of Public Instruction kara.ripley@dpi.wi.gov

World Book Night - April 23, 2012

2011-12-14T08:57:00.000-06:00

World Book Night U.S.: Honorary Chair & Book Picks Unveiled

World Book Night U.S., which also unveiled the WBN 2012 U.S. book picks and opened the registration process for those wishing to become volunteer book givers.

Author and journalist Anna Quindlen has been named the honorary national chairperson for World Book Night U.S., which also unveiled the WBN 2012 U.S. book picks and opened the registration process for those wishing to become volunteer book givers.

"What’s better than a good book?" Quindlen asked. "A whole box of them, and the opportunity to share them with new readers. The idea behind World Book Night is inspired, and as a writer and a reader I’m thrilled to be part of it."

World Book Night U.S. board chairman Morgan Entrekin said, "We are thrilled and flattered that Anna has agreed to join our cause. Her energy has already been a great asset to the campaign, and we look forward to her being a leading voice among the many for this ambitious effort to promote reading and a love of books across America."

World Book Night U.S. will enlist 50,000 volunteer book lovers to give away a million free books across the U.S. on April 23, 2012, to help promote reading. Volunteers can go to www.us.worldbooknight.org to register through February 1 by providing answers to several questions and picking a book to give out from the World Book Night U.S. 2012 list.

Regarding the book picks, World Book Night U.S. executive director Carl Lennertz said there will be 30, rather than 25: "We decided to expand several categories, notably from three to five YA/middle reader books, due to popular demand from booksellers and librarians, as well as adding a sci-fi novel, an additional mystery, and a surprise classic from an indie press. I am thrilled about this, as it broadens the appeal of the list to our two audiences: the 50,000 book givers and the million new readers we want to reach."

The books were chosen by a panel of independent booksellers, Barnes & Noble buyers and librarians through several rounds of voting. Thirty-five thousand copies of each World Book Night title will be printed as special, not-for-resale paperbacks, totaling over a million copies to be distributed nationwide. Copies of several of the picks will be shipped directly to military bases, and there will be an outreach to prison libraries.

The 30 World Book Night U.S. titles for 2012, in alphabetical by author, are:

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson (Speak)
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (Ballantine)
Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger (Da Capo)
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler (Beacon Press)
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (Tor)
Little Bee by Chris Cleave (Simon & Schuster)
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
Blood Work by Michael Connelly (Grand Central)
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz (Riverhead); a Spanish-language edition, La breve y maravillosa vida de Óscar Wao (Vintage Espanol), will also be made available.
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo (Candlewick)
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers (Vintage)
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger (Grove Atlantic)
A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick (Algonquin)
Q Is for Quarry by Sue Grafton (Berkley)
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead)
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving (Ballantine)
The Stand by Stephen King (Anchor)
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (Perennial)
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss (W.W. Norton)
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (Mariner)
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien (Mariner)
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (Perennial)
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult (Atria)
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson (Picador)
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (Back Bay)
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (Broadway)
Just Kids by Patti Smith (Ecco)
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (Scribner)
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (Knopf Books for Young Readers)

(Shelf Awareness, December 14, 2011)

Free Recordings Available From the Library 2.011 World-wide Virtual Conference

2011-12-13T16:26:00.000-06:00

Library 2.011 Website - What a Find!

The Library 2.011 World-wide Virtual Conference was held November 2 - 4, 2011. The conference was held online, in multiple time zones over the course of two days, was free to attend, and has been recorded! The School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at San José State University was the founding conference sponsor.

The recordings of the conference sessions can be found HERE.

In addition to the World-wide Virtual Library 2.011 Conference, the "library 2.011 future of libraries in the digital age" website offers librarians an opportunity to participate in various groups to discuss library related topics. Here are just a few of the topics:

Using Blog Effectively In Your Organisation

New Breed Programming

Distance/Off-Campus Library Services

New Librarian Experience
Training 2.0
School Libraries
Defining a Mobile Library
and more...

Sign up for a free account today: http://www.library20.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network

Grand Opening Children's Learning Center/Story Room

2011-12-13T14:20:00.000-06:00

Recently the the Mararthon County Public Library changed the children's space at the Wausau location. This new children’s Learning Center is debuting this Saturday, Decembe 17, 2011 @ MC PL Wausau.

Join us at 10:30, Saturday, December 17 @ the Wausau location as we celebrate the Grand Opening of the new Children’s Learning Center/Story Room. Perhaps you too will be transported to the seaside while looking at the wall art by our very own Kitty and Deb.

Stories, cake, fun and learning for all. Don’t miss it!
(Sharyn Heili, MCPL Blog December 12, 2011)

OverDrive Ensuring Access to the Largest eBook Catalog for Libraries

2011-12-12T13:17:00.000-06:00

At OverDrive, we always advocate on behalf of readers to have and maintain continued access to the largest eBook catalog from our partner libraries and schools. With evolving eBook and digital business rules, OverDrive must constantly adapt to the distribution rights and restrictions that authors and publishers require for library lending of their intellectual property. It’s our important role – and core to our mission – to advocate on behalf of our partner libraries, while upholding publisher usage requirements.

As a result of OverDrive’s cooperation with hundreds of forward-thinking librarians, we are proud to have the largest available catalog of popular eBook and digital content for library lending, negotiated over years, from nearly one thousand supplying publishers. Yes, we are navigating new terrain and challenges every day, while at the same time adding thousands of new titles from dozens of new suppliers who have joined the public library eBook lending channel – all as a result of this existing marketplace.

OverDrive always seeks to obtain the broadest catalog rights and permissions. We also advocate that the investment our library partners make in their OverDrive digital catalogs (cost of materials, MARC records, promoting audience, and decreasing staff costs) provides the highest return with growing circulation and turnover, while honoring the obligations we have from publishers and authors.

We serve a growing network of libraries, schools, corporations, government agencies and institutions, and every week add new publishers and thousands of new eBook titles. Each publisher or author has the ability, on a title-by-title basis, to set the permissions, copyright protection settings, price, and other rules associated with digital lending of their eBook or other digital content. These permissions are constantly under review by publishers, authors, agents, their associations, and many others that impact how we grow our catalog, which now exceeds more than 500,000 digital titles. Under the permissions set by authors and publishers, 99.9% of US public libraries served by OverDrive have access to the exact same catalog of eBook, audiobook, music, and video titles.

Here are a few of the restrictions and rules that publishers and authors require for access to their materials,which have been communicated to OverDrive’s library partners:

Geographic and Territorial Rights: Publishers make their content available based on the geographic territory for which they have rights, expressed on a title-by-title basis. This is why our Canadian, UK and Australian libraries see different catalogs when they log into Content Reserve/Marketplace.
Library, School, or Special Library Markets: Select suppliers (publishers, film studios, music labels, etc.) have the ability to (and a few do) make their content available only to schools or only to public libraries This may be because the supplier has granted “exclusive” rights to other publishers for these markets, or the publisher may have its own sales force that calls on accounts in these markets.
Different Formats and Different Re-distribution Rights: In some cases, multiple publishers may have the same book available, each providing different formats or different geographic permissions. As a result, we occasionally experience changes to title availability where a publisher or author signs a new distribution agreement that alters these rights.
Connection to Library Service Area: As Steve Potash communicated in writing to every one of our library partners earlier this year, select publishers set restrictions on their catalogs where the library allows access to the library’s digital collection by card holders that have no connection to the library’s service area. We are constantly working with library IT teams to test and validate patrons’ card status, before they can download copyrighted materials. In very few cases, where an institution does not restrict download access to only patrons with connections to their service area (such as residents, students, property or business owners) there may be limits on access to select publishers’ catalogs.

Every day we are engaged in discussions and negotiations with publishers along with upgrading our Content Reserve distribution platform to encourage publishers’ participation in the largest catalog of eBook, audiobook, music and video suppliers available for library lending. Increased and continued publisher participation is enabled by providing authors and publishers the ability to control how, where, and when their titles are made available for your selection. We take our trusted position very seriously, and are investing in our role to provide you with a growing “marketplace” of digital content.

To that end, if you ever have any questions or concerns about your service, please contact your OverDrive Account Specialist directly. We make every effort to get back to you within 24 hours. In this age of Internet gratification, we know news spreads fast and need to ensure what we communicate is accurate, objective, courteous and professional.
(Karen Estrovich, OverDrive Digital Library Blog, December 12th, 2011)

Reading Between the Lines

2011-12-05T16:09:00.000-06:00

It’s been quite a few years since I bothered to put out what passes for a Christmas village display at our house. As it was, Wendtville would be a pretty strange place to live, combining as it does the interests of a librarian and an automotive guy.

The first two units were a miniature gas station and a used car dealership, the second building so small that it didn’t even come with a light bulb. As we acquired and parked various vehicles from the same set, my husband wondered whether little ceramic vandals would roam through the dark car lot causing random acts of damage to the inventory.

So I bought a set of battery powered streetlights which were a royal pain to operate and sucked batteries faster than two kids with straws in a seven ounce bottle of soda. We soon found a little police car to keep the vandals in check and only turned the lights on to impress guests.

The larger automotive service station was added a year or two later along with a wrecker truck, two ceramic mechanics and a couple more cars. A gas war immediately broke out between the first gas station and the larger one down the street; pretty soon both registered identically higher prices.

There were also three libraries – the main building and two more branches accumulated as gifts from different sets – as well as a bookmobile. Little ceramic children carried their books past the gas pumps and squatted under the streetlights next to the used cars to read.

That might have defined the village limits except friends gifted us with a bank (to issue loans for the used cars), a city hall (to pay the librarians), a bookstore, a car wash and a fire station. The 1950’s style diner and classic cars parked all round a musical ice skating rink arrived next, thus making it possible for the little people to read, drive around in clean cars, eat and get gas. We placed the fire station next to the diner in case they served four-alarm chili.

Surrounded as we are these days by economic and political complexities, there’s a mighty temptation to attempt casting real life in a similarly ideal mold. Alas, we cannot pick and choose the component parts of our own village as we might assemble one manufactured by Department 56.

The people and opportunities in our community, however widely that is defined, are not so easily or permanently arranged. Nonetheless, what we acknowledge as well as what we ignore around us in real life sometimes amounts to the same sort of artificial village construction.

Other than in times of crisis, a sense of community is most often visible during the holiday season. Gifts are gathered for needy children and donations pour in for various charities. Efforts are made to reach out and pull into the circle those among us whose lives don’t usually connect. At this time of the year we sometimes realize our own actions can have an impact on others in ways that we weren’t otherwise aware.

It’s that sense of community connectivity and interdependence that has always appealed to me when watching the traditional holiday film “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Average citizen George Bailey wishes he had never been born and, with the temporary granting of his request, sees the town of Bedford Falls as it would have been without his influence. Each of us has the potential to make that same profound difference every day in a positive or negative sense.

A library, with its collection of diverse opinions and unlimited potential to access the writings of all humankind, represents a community of knowledge. In safety and privacy, library customers can freely choose to construct a personal information village by either selecting only that with which they are most comfortable or by gradually acquiring structures of more divergent thought.

My colleague David Polodna, former director of the Winding Rivers Library System, once ruminated on the way in which a community values its library alongside other municipal services.

“Libraries are as ‘essential’ as police and fire departments,” Polodna wrote in 2003. Even though a library isn’t thought of as an emergency agency, he continued, “Libraries work in proactive ways to inform, educate, and assist people to avoid the traumas in the first place. We offer programs and materials on fire safety, personal and home safety, and child rearing skills and responsibilities. In addition, we offer constructive recreational opportunities that can keep people away from the temptation of other activities that can get them into trouble.” There are many times when librarians provide answers in personal situations that could genuinely qualify as an information emergency.

At this year’s annual budget meeting in the town where I live, our chairman ably fielded a question from a taxpayer who complained he was being forced to support a library he never used. “You pay for the fire department and ambulance though you hope you don’t have to call them to your door. And you may not drive on all the town roads,” the questioner was told. “But the library is a positive thing for our community and nothing is stopping you from taking advantage of all it has to offer and getting more than your money’s worth.”

Amen.

Hopefully our citizens will remember the public library as one place in our village where they can find free illumination. May the glow of learning continue to shine from library windows throughout the holidays and upcoming year!

Kris Adams Wendt

Reading Between the Lines

2011-11-23T15:12:00.000-06:00

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayna

We are on the threshold of the holidays when the cookbook aisle at most public libraries is a busy place. Most women I know are about to throw themselves into turning out cookies like elves on espresso.

I am, however, a kitchen klutz who did hard time in Remedial Home Economics as a high school senior. Cookbooks given to me by well-meaning friends have actually become mildewed from lack of exercise. I’m the one who habitually brings raw vegetables and dip to the holiday feast. Or Jell-O accompanied by festive soda straws. Or cream liqueurs which, when camouflaged lightly with milk, fortify the real cooks in my family with what we started calling “enhanced calcium.”

Last weekend, while checking the cookbook cupboard for instructions on how to safely microwave a whole squash without attracting the attention of the Town of Newbold Volunteer Fire Department, I ran across a book called I Didn’t Know That: or Why We Say the Things We Say edited by Karlen Evins.

I didn’t know that I owned it and can only assume the slim paperback may have been fraternizing with my cookbooks because “I didn’t know that” is frequently heard in my kitchen. As in “I didn’t know that tin of baking powder was dated September 1975.”

The phrase “I didn’t know that!” is also uttered many times a week in our nation’s public libraries, where equal attention is paid to all questions – whether they concern matters that will have a significant impact on somebody’s life or just something trivial that’s bugging someone.

In her introduction, Evins tells the story of a new bride preparing her first Thanksgiving dinner by of illustrating how knowing what’s behind certain traditions may enable us to take a fresh approach to life’s ongoing challenges.

Evins wrote that as the young woman began to dress the turkey, “she cut off the ends of the bird and placed it in a pan. Her new husband, not certain of the proper cooking procedure, asked his bride, ‘Why do you cut off the ends?’ Her reply: ‘Because my mother always did it.’

“Later that day, the mother of the cook dropped by for lunch, and the newlywed husband thought it an opportune time to learn more about cooking turkey, so he asked his mother-in-law, ‘Why do you cut off the ends of a turkey before you cook it?’

“With as much consideration as the daughter had given the question earlier, the mother-in-law answered, ‘Because MY mother always did.’

“Finally the meal was prepared, the guests were seated and the grandmother of the bride was posed the same question by the now anxious and eager grandson-in-law. ‘Grandma, why do you cut off the ends of a turkey before you cook it?’ he asked.

“With trembling hands, the grandmother replied, ‘Well in my day, the pans were only this big!’”

Karlin Evins concludes, “This story illustrates a point and that is that our reasons for many of the things we do today make little sense logically, though at one time, perhaps they did.”

The homily could easily apply to library policies and procedures devised B.C. (before computers) or otherwise held onto long after the reasons for them have faded into the mists of bibliographic time.

Recent weeks have seen much speculation on how congressional cooks might influence what’s brought to the table in a presidential election year. Not only the federal budget table, but also in the sense of what’s on the actual dinner table of ordinary Americans hungry for a meaningful role in their government and a greater sense of economic well-being.

Speaking personally as a member of our notoriously fact-based profession, much of what passes for info-tainment in the political arena these days – at both the state and national levels and especially on the debate stage – is enough to drive a person to enhanced calcium.

From a librarian’s point of view, trying to set a national course without knowing or understanding our common history and literature is like wasting the ends of a perfectly good turkey. “I didn’t know that” is no excuse. “I don’t need to know that” is even worse.

If new cooks merely end up following traditional recipes that value concentrations of wealth and power but devalue working people, the turkeys will still be dry and tasteless regardless of being surrounded by different distracting garnishes or presented on a blue or a red platter.

Kris Adams Wendt

WPLC OverDrive Offers Publicity and Support

2011-11-21T16:33:00.000-06:00

At the recent WPLC board meeting, it was noted that Christmas is right around the corner. With that, we can probably expect another tidal wave of e-reader gifts and questions from their new owners. The bulked-up buying pool will be in effect by then, too, and more titles will be available, so traffic will be heavy.

To get ready, here are a few ideas for publicity and support.

PUBLICITY

OverDrive has a video with ideas on promoting the collection:

Community Outreach.
Maximize circs … get the word out Learn creative techniques for introducing new users to your OverDrive service. We'll showcase a range of promotional ideas from high circulating libraries that you can implement inside and outside your library.

View the slides and/or the recording: http://overdrive.com/LearningCenter/viewnow.aspx

Check out the marketing materials on the OverDrive site; most of these can be customizable. I'll distribute any that have been customized for WPLC as I see them, or let me know which you'd like.

SUPPORT

More OverDrive videos on the training site: http://overdrive.com/LearningCenter/viewnow.aspx; See both: the e-book explosion, and Patron assistance

Keep up with changes to the site by reading the WPLC list; I'll also post FAQs coming through the support email

(Jane Richard, WILS & WPLC)

Winning BIG Support for Your Rural Library - Webinar

2011-11-11T11:31:00.000-06:00

A Small but Powerful Webinar for Winning Big Support for Your Rural Library

Join this webinar for an introduction to the revised edition of the popular Small But Powerful Guide to Winning Big Support for Your Rural Library, a new toolkit from the American Library Association’s Committee on Rural, Native, and Tribal Libraries of All Kinds, Office for Literacy and Outreach Services, and the Association for Rural and Small Libraries. This webinar will introduce you to the tips and strategies presented in the toolkit, share the experiences of a rural librarian who has built support for her library, and introduce you to some of the additional advocacy tools and resources from the American Library Association.

Presenters: Miguel Figueroa, director, ALA Office for Literacy & Outreach Services; Susan Hill Pieper, director, Paulding County Carnegie Library (OH) and editor Rural Library Services Newsletter; and Jennifer Peterson, community manager at WebJunction, board member, Association for Rural & Small Libraries and chair of ALA Rural, Native, and Tribal Libraries of All Kinds Committee.

A Small But Powerful Webinar for Winning Big Support for Your Rural Library

December 14, 2011, Monday 1 pm Central time

Register here

If you have questions, or would be interested in attending a follow up webinar with other Wisconsin librarians, please contact Jane Richard:

Jane Richard

Wisconsin Library Services

Wisconsin Public Library Consortium

jrichard@wils.wisc.edu

728 State St., Room 464

Madison, WI  53706-1494

608/263-5051 //  fax: 608/262-6067

Make Tracks to the Gilman Public Library

2011-11-09T12:33:00.000-06:00

“Make Tracks to the Gilman Public Library”

The week of November 21-25 will be very exciting at Gilman’s WTCPL when Denise Korenuk, head librarian, and a team of volunteers, offer a variety of fun and educational activities and fundraisers during hunting season.

The activities will include:

· Wear Blaze Orange into the library and enter your name for Friday’s Grand Prize drawing.

· Bring antlers to display for the week and vote for your favorite rack. Only 5₵ per vote.

· Raffle baskets on display for SILENT AUCTION bidding all week. Drawing on 6pm Friday.

· Daily drawing entry for a free movie rental at the Gilman Corner Store with every item you check out from the WTCPL.

· Add your personalized leaf to the “Thankful Tree” every time you stop in.

· Deer coloring contest (Prizes for different age groups)

· Each day children can enjoy a different craft project and activity.

· Scavenger knowledge hunt going on all week.

· Check for Story Time each day.

The Gilman Library will host an OPEN HOUSE on Monday, November 21^st with holiday treats, coffee and apple cider. Live music will be provided by Jerry Teclaw from 5:30 until 7:30pm.

(The Gilman Public Library will be closed on Thanksgiving Day)

(Friends of the Gilman Public Library)

Windows XP at 10 - No Life Support

2011-10-25T14:57:00.019-05:00

Businesses That Have Not Begun the Windows 7 Transition May Find Themselves Scrambling

A Microsoft official said the company has no plans to extend Windows XP's looming retirement date in order to give companies whose business systems run on the aging OS more time to migrate to a newer version of Windows--and that could be a problem for those who have yet to begin the transition.

"There's absolutely no chance" that Windows XP's April, 2014 end-of-life date, when Microsoft will end all support, will be extended, said Rich Reynolds, general manager for Windows Commercial marketing, in an interview.

Windows XP officially turned 10 years old on Tuesday. Microsoft introduced the software back in 2001, following development under the code name Whistler. It featured numerous enhancements compared to its most immediate predecessor, Windows 2000. XP introduced a streamlined, task-based user interface that allowed users to more quickly find their go-to applications and files through the Start Menu or lockable Taskbar. That, along with improvements to power management, faster startup, new networking features like Internet Connection Sharing, and a general reputation for stability, made XP Microsoft's most enduring enterprise OS to date.

The company has had difficulty getting customers to upgrade to newer versions of Windows. Only a handful of enterprises moved to the widely-panned Windows Vista and it's only now, two years after its release, that businesses are starting to adopt Windows 7 in significant numbers.

About 25% of all currently deployed enterprise systems are now running Windows 7, though 90% of businesses have a plan to migrate the OS, according to Reynolds. Reynolds said he's worried that businesses that have not begun the Windows 7 transition may find themselves scrambling as XP's expiration date draws near. "What we're concerned about is organizations that haven't started yet," he said. Aircraft manufacturer Boeing, which began upgrading its 187,000 employee desktops to Windows 7 last year, won't have the rollout finished until next year, said Reynolds.

"It takes anywhere from twelve to fourteen months to do the planning and application remediation," he said. Microsoft is offering a number of tools to help business plan and execute the move from Windows XP to Windows 7.

Reynolds said very few organizations are planning to move directly from XP to Windows 8, which won't arrive until sometime next year and features a new, Metro-style interface borrowed from Windows Phone.

(Paul McDougall - InformationWeek on October 25, 2011)

Welcome Neillsville Public Library to V-Cat

2011-10-12T14:36:00.000-05:00

Neillsville Public Library officially joined the Wisconsin Valley Library Service shared automation system, known as V-Cat on October 11, 2011. The staff worked very hard to prepare for this switchover from their Follett automation system. Overall, things went smoothly on their first day of using V-Cat (or the SirsiDynix Horizon automation system administered by WVLS)

At one point on Tuesday, staff had patrons anxiously waiting in line to register for their new library cards. This was an exciting day for staff and the community.

We wish them success with the new system and welcome to V-Cat.
(Inese Christman, WVLS)

Reading Between the Lines

2011-10-06T15:13:00.000-05:00

Apple 2e circa 1986

"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something -- your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life." -- Steve Jobs

Last night’s announcement of the untimely passing of Steve Jobs, co-founder and CEO of Apple Inc, launched me on a search through my old “Bookmark” weekly newspaper column archives for first mention of Apple computer use as a library professional.

The retrospective viewpoint that follows below is mildly hilarious given all that has transpired in the intervening 25 years. The terminology as well as the technology was all new. The floppy disks were huge and actually still “floppy” in our first Apple 2e, the workhorse of the Apple line which was manufactured from 1983 to 1994 and has the distinction of being the longest-lived Apple computer of all time. One of the smartest things I ever did back then was print paper copies of my columns as a backup. All those disks have long since gone the way of the dodo along with all the machines that could read them.

The Bookmark February 11, 1986

The subject today is computers. Thanks to the generosity of a grant obtained by the Wisconsin Valley Library Service, the Rhinelander District Library now has one! I’ve been writing the Bookmark on the computer for the past three weeks.

That might not seem remarkable to you confirmed “hackers” out there, but you have to remember that I worked in a Children’s Department with one functioning electrical outlet until January of last year. Because there was no place to plug in an electric check out machine, we were still using a pencil dater (rubber numbers held by a metal attachment stuck on a pencil) the way librarians did in 1898 when our library opened its doors. A computer was out of the question until our recent building project.

For the next couple of years, our new computer’s main function will be to help our library participate in a “retrospective conversion” project. The first time I heard that term, it made me think of something a person would do to soup up the exhaust system on a street rod. What it means is converting information about a library’s collection from the traditional card catalog format to machine readable cataloging records. It’s called “retrospective” because it refers to going back through a library’s entire collection rather than just beginning to computerize library materials purchased after a certain date.

First, we make sure that the library owns all the books we think it does by taking an inventory to compare the holdings list (or “shelf list”) against what is actually on the shelves and out in circulation. Then, we see how many of our books match entries already in the statewide data bank, adding our own special code to the existing computerized list so other libraries will know we have these titles, too. Finally the titles unique to our collection here in Rhinelander are entered into the computer so that others using the data bank will know where to find them. We store the information on floppy discs and mail them in to the state for central processing.

Being involved in the statewide data bank will make inter-library loans more efficient. Did you know that we already plug into a mighty inter-library loan network through our library system? Persons doing research in Rhinelander are able to borrow materials from other libraries around the state and nation, and even other countries. Our borrowers aren’t limited to the collection purchased with local tax dollars that’s housed within the four walls of the Rhinelander District Library.

You don’t have to worry that you will walk through the library doors someday soon and see a computer sitting where the card catalog used to be. A computerized card catalog may be in this library’s future, but not immediately. Another advantage of having our holdings list stored in machine readable form is that we will not have to go through the time and expense of keyboarding in all the book titles all over again should we decide to automate the checkout procedure or card catalog later on.

Meanwhile, the computer will also be used to make some of the daily tasks performed by the librarians easier and more efficient. We are still getting acquainted with our new “partner” and working to overcome the fear of pressing the wrong button and sending everything we have done to data heaven!

October 6, 2011

Those of you who have been hanging around WVLS as long as I have will recognize the “retrospective conversion” as part of the WISCAT project. Rhinelander’s new computer “partner” had been purchased by WVLS with LSCA (now LSTA) funds, enabling us to join the 300 libraries already contributing their holdings to a database that was then being distributed to participants on microfiche. Two years later WISCAT offered holdings from nearly 700 libraries on four searchable CD-ROM discs. It would be another five years before Rhinelander’s library began working toward implementing a stand-alone automated system leading to eventual V-Cat membership.

Check here if you’re curious about WISCAT history. Under the leadership of recently retired RL&LL Director Sally Drew, the project made a tremendous difference throughout the state, particularly for rural and school libraries. WISCAT continues to provide important linkage for libraries unable to afford higher priced alternatives.

Thank you, Steve Jobs, for being our modern Thomas Edison and changing the way we store, share and access knowledge. Librarians are the original search engines; you put some remarkable tools into our hands and gave us the courage to do more than this 1974 library school graduate ever thought possible….back then a "blog" was just a typo begging for whiteout.

Steve Jobs timeline

Steve Jobs quotes

Kris Adams Wendt

New Things Added to WPLC OverDrive Site

2011-10-05T16:06:00.000-05:00

The news we have all been waiting for!
Library eBooks now available for Kindle.
Here is a newsrelease from the Wisconsin Public
Library Consortium (WPLC) that you can use and customize.

Kindle newsrelease, posters, flyers and graphics to customize
Here is the direct link to WPLC's Overdrive Kindle site.
There are 4951 available titles. Your customers will see the badge to the left on the Overdrive opening page so they can go directly to all the titles that work on Kindles.
___________________________________________________

In continued efforts to improve the user's experience, OverDrive has added thousands of free “eBook Samples” to the catalog for immediate access on reading devices and platforms. Patrons can experience stories immediately on their computer or mobile device and decide if they are right for them, ultimately reducing holds and wait lists.

When available, the word “Sample” will appear below a jacket. Curious customers can easily click and enjoy 10 percent of each title before deciding to check it out or not.

The eBook sample will show up in readers’ bookshelf and look just like a regular eBook download. With thousands of popular and bestselling titles to choose from, eBook samples will reinforce the library as the first stop for discovering and enjoying books, both online and off.

To read more see: http://overdriveblogs.com/library/2011/09/27/ebook-samples-give-customers-instant-access-to-content/

(Monday Memo, October 3, 2011 & WPLC List)

2011-09-29T16:12:00.000-05:00

WVLS ANNUAL YOUTH SERVICES

GRASSROOTS GATHERING!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Wausau Room, Marathon Co. Public Library

300 N. First Street, Wausau, WI

9:00 – 9:30 AM Coffee and conversation

9:30 – 11:00 AM WVLS Youth Services Annual Grassroots Meeting

11:00 AM to noon – Ability Awareness Training presented by Shari Brunes, Midstate Independent Living Consultants. Increase your understanding of ability awareness, assistive devices, technology, and local/state resources for library patrons of all ages.

Noon – 1:30 PM: Lunch on your own

1:30 – 3:30 PM Marion Dane Bauer presents “The Power of Story” Bauer is a remarkably prolific author who has received critical acclaim for her ability to step inside the viewpoint of a child, any child or young adult, in a wide variety of circumstances. She has written fiction and nonfiction, picture books, chapter books, young adult novels, writing guides, and much more; she has also contributed stories and articles for periodicals aimed at young people as well as teachers and librarians. Her best-selling novel On My Honor was named a Newbery Honor Book, one of countless awards and citations Bauer has received for her work over the years.

Please RSVP to Kris Adams Wendt

MARION DANE BAUER WEBSITE

COMMUNITY WIDE PRESENTATION

TUESDAY EVENING!

Young writers and their families are invited to join Marion Dane Bauer at 6:30 PM on October 25

for a family presentation

“My Story, Your Story: Creating Stories Together.”

John Muir Middle School Auditorium

1400 Stewart Ave, Wausau

A free journal will be distributed to the first 200 young writers attending the event, courtesy of the Marathon County Public Library.

Book sales/signing at afternoon and evening programs provided by Janke Book Store.

Co-sponsored by Wisconsin Valley Library Service, Marathon Co. Public Library and Wausau School District.

ALA Director Keith Fiels At T. B. Scott Free Library October 1, 2011

2011-09-23T08:37:00.000-05:00

ALA Director Keith Fiels Highlights Library Volunteer Reception

The public is invited to T.B. Scott Free Library from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 1 for the annual Volunteer & Library Supporter Appreciation Reception in the library’s Community Room.

Refreshments will be served, compliments of the library’s Endowment Fund.

Library volunteers will be acknowledged at the program, but all library supporters are welcome, including library patrons, taxpayers, library board members, and local government officials.

At 2:30 p.m., American Library Association Executive Director Keith Fiels of Chicago, who has written books on the future of libraries and strategies for library supporters, will give a presentation based on his article “12 Ways Libraries Are Good For The Country.”

Fiels’ talk will explore the many ways in which libraries can make a difference. From #1, Inform Citizens, to #3, Level The Playing Field, to #10, Offend Everyone, to #12, Preserve The Past, he will make you think about what libraries have meant to America, and what they can be in the future.

T.B. Scott Library volunteers have given about 1,000 hours of their time to the library every year, helping out the Youth Services department, keeping books in order through the Adopt-A-Shelf program, indexing obituaries, maintaining the library’s scrapbook, and helping staff with other projects.

Saturday’s program is also part of the library’s year-long celebration of the centennial of the opening of the historic Carnegie building to the public in August, 1911.

Contact the library at 536.7191 with any questions about Saturday’s program.
(Stacy Stevens, Director - T.B. Scott Free Library)

Free Webinar to Help Job Seekers

2011-09-16T11:56:00.000-05:00

Join us for a free webinar!

September 21, 2011 2:00 p.m. EST

"Finding Available Jobs & Internships: Target Your Search!"

With Career Management Expert Heather Huhman

Today's job market is undoubtedly competitive. Learn how to stand out in the sea of competitors, and land jobs and internships with Heather's expert strategies!

The expert tips and tricks Heather covers in this special presentation will help job seekers get hired.

You'll learn:

How to create a successful job search plan
Where job seekers should really focus their efforts
The best way to connect with target companies
And much more!

Don’t miss this chance to help your patrons and students work towards their goals!

Register here today: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/661269673

Please send your questions, comments and feedback on the webinar series to: webinar@learningexpressllc.com.
*After registering you will receive a confirmation email from gotowebinar@citrixonline.com containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server
Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4.11 (Tiger®) or newer

Space is limited!

Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/661269673
The Job & Career Accelerator™ team at LearningExpress, LLC

The Fast Track to Getting Hired!

2011-09-13T10:10:00.000-05:00

“Books won't stay banned. They won't burn. Ideas won't go to jail. In the long run of history, the censor and the inquisitor have always lost. The only sure weapon against bad ideas is better ideas.” — Alfred Whitney Griswold, Essays on Education

“Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read” has been observed since 1982 as a reminder to Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted. This year's event is September 24 - October 1.

Censorship is a red flag word for librarians and members of the other professions represented by the Banned Books Week co-sponsoring organizations listed below. In a democratic society it is our job to make different types of literature and information covering the widest possible range of viewpoints on different subjects available to the general public.

Reading, thinking, and voting citizens are expected to consider available information and make choices. As Dolly Parton once said, “I don’t need advice. I need information. I’ll make up my own mind.”

Everyone has opinions. No two people think exactly alike nor are required to do so. Under the US Constitution, the viewpoint of a particular person or group cannot be forced on all the other persons in society. No one has the right to say, “Nobody else can read this just because I say so.”

Book banning promotes the thought that different ideas and the people who believe in them are to be feared and eliminated. While a tolerant attitude is difficult to maintain when viewing, reading or hearing something that makes one’s toes curl, the concept is essential to guarding a place for our own ideas.

One of the reasons librarians have long been vigorous protectors of the first amendment right to intellectual freedom is because there is no universal agreement among library borrowers on what is objectionable. Throughout the history of libraries, almost every classic work of literature has been objected to at one time or another, including the Bible.

A library does not function as a controlled information source presenting only sanitized or “safe” ideas. Guided by a thorough book selection policy, librarians purposely seek to challenge readers with choices along a broad spectrum of human thought and experience.

If someone thinks a particular book is absolutely the worst thing printed since Gutenberg cranked up the first press, librarians will defend both his right to hold that opinion and express it. However, if the same person goes on to demand that book be permanently banned from library shelves, then he is treading on the constitutional toes of others who have an equal right to make choices, read and form opinions of their own.

Who knows, but that the next person to check out that same book might think it’s the best thing she ever read? Next Person might also be of the opinion that the ideas held most near and dear to First Person should be erased off the face of the earth and take steps of her own!

When books are challenged, restricted, removed or banned we all lose part of our birthright as American citizens in the resulting atmosphere of suppression. An author may make revisions, less for artistic reasons than to avoid controversy. The editor and publisher may alter text or elect not to publish for economic or marketing reasons. Staff in bookstores and libraries may find published works too controversial and choose not to purchase those materials for fear of reprisal. Unexpressed ideas, unpublished works, and unpurchased books are lost forever.

All of which is why librarians think it is better to add viewpoints to a public collection of books rather than subtract any. There are as many ways of looking at the world as there are grains of sand on a beach. Wouldn’t it be boring if everyone was the same? Wouldn’t it be frightening if everyone was forced to read and think as though they were?

Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association; American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression; the American Library Association; American Society of Journalists and Authors; Association of American Publishers; and the National Association of College Stores. It is endorsed by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. In 2011, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund; National Coalition Against Censorship; National Council of Teachers of English; and PEN American Center also signed on as sponsors. An ALA press release with links to websites of organizations listed above is here.

For more information on getting involved with Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read, please see Calendar of Events, Ideas and Resources, and the new Banned Books Week site. You can also contact the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom at 1-800-545-2433, ext. 4220, or bbw@ala.org.

Kris Adams Wendt

NOW WHAT? Life after MOE/MOMS and Local Relationship Building

2011-09-12T14:36:00.000-05:00

Thanks to successful lobbying by the League of Wisconsin Municipalities, maintenance of a three year average funding for public libraries (MOE) is no longer a condition for maintenance of membership support (MOMS). What we have come to think of as MOE/MOMS is gone.

The ability of DPI/DLTCL and individual systems to hold loss of system membership and system services over the heads of our local elected at budget time as incentive for doing the right thing by their libraries is also gone. The likelihood that MOE/MOMS will be restored to state statutes any time soon could make the Labors of Hercules look like blowing dandelion fluff.

The next two years are uncharted territory. Towns, cities, villages and counties are operating under a 2% levy limit cap. Shared revenue and road aids have been reduced. There are many aspects of the 2011-2013 state budget that will impact local expenditures in ways yet to be determined.

Library relationships with funding bodies will not be well served in the long term by threats of DPI/DLTCL and system sanctions, even if that was possible. There is value in working through this next year with a non-combative “we’re all in this together” attitude, allowing plenty of room for everybody to do their best under unique conditions.

Because local politics overlay the decisions made by municipal officials dealing with the fiscal here and now, there is potential for focused influence by citizens who need, appreciate, and depend upon services provided by their local public library. If the impetus to eliminate MOE/MOMS truly percolated up to League leadership from the front line ranks of municipal officials, then the key to changing that organizational dynamic rests with individual efforts of trustees, friends and librarians city by city, town by town, and county by county.

If MOE/MOMS has been the centerpiece, the Do Not Cross Line if you will of annual discussions between the director of the AnyTown Public Library and AnyTown Council members, then that director and library board may very well anticipate serious difficulties negotiating the 2012 budget now that the yellow tape has been ripped down. “Maintain this or we will lose that” will need to be replaced with a more comprehensive approach focused on the way library services change people’s lives in AnyTown on a daily basis.

Most Wisconsin public libraries have already been actively engaged in relationship building with the elected local officials who hold sway over their budgets, by showcasing the success stories of citizen library advocates alongside program publicity and statistics as part of their annual presentations. It’s time to step it up a notch.

As the state budget process unfolded earlier this year, library community advocacy efforts to save MOE/MOMS directed at state legislators also raised the consciousness of community advocates, who can now be redirected to pay attention to budget decisions made by officials at the local level. These citizen advocates should be asking: “We lost the MOE/MOMS fight in Madison; will our municipal council and board members now take advantage of that loss and to what degree?”

Having familiar trusted faces in the audience to speak up for libraries during monthly municipal meetings as well as budget hearings can make a tremendous difference. But it’s the informal conversations that are the most effective. Local lobbying is built on pre-existing relationships between library supporters and elected officials forged in neighborhoods and workplaces, Legion halls and beauty parlors, golf courses and bowling alleys, coffee and bridge clubs, church and civic organizations.

Each community is different; the keys to success for one library will not fit the strongbox locks in the community down the road. Networking citizen supporters is crucial to successful library advocacy in any year under any circumstances. For starters, check out these timely suggestions from WLA Legislative Committee chair Paul Nelson.

Kris Adams Wendt

Libraries: A Renewable Resource - 2011 WLA Conference

2011-09-12T09:18:00.000-05:00

Libraries: A Renewable Resource

The 2011 WLA Conference is a Chance to Renew YOU!

You work hard, and you deserve a chance to recharge your batteries! Renew YOU by participating in the WLA Annual Conference, Libraries: A Renewable Resource, November 1-4, in Downtown Milwaukee. Conference features include:

· Dozens of breakout sessions to refresh your perspective, plant new ideas, solve problems

· Exhibitors to share the latest products and services your library users need

· Keynote speakers to make you think, create, laugh and learn

· Receptions, parties, tours and awards to help you relax and renew your energy

Register by October 3 to get the best registration rates and a chance to win a free registration!

Here’s what past conference attendees say:

“Always worth the time and expense away from my desk.”

“My first WLA conference, very high quality compared to those in other states I have attended. J”

“I have never attended a WLA Conference that wasn’t top notch.”

To learn more about the conference, including hotel accommodations and registration, go to http://www.wla.lib.wi.us/conferences/2011/. Or, contact the WLA office at (608) 245-3640.

See you November 1-4 at the Hilton Milwaukee City Center and Frontier Airlines Center!

Contact: Brigitte Rupp Vacha, Conference Committee Liaison, ruppvacha@scls.lib.wi.us or Lisa Strand, WLA Executive Director, strand@scls.lib.wi.us or (608) 245-3640

Reading Between the Lines

2011-09-11T11:52:00.001-05:00

"Human kind cannot bear very much reality." -- T.S. Eliot

A decade has passed since live television broadcast of the second plane striking the south tower reduced a nation to numb incredulity and wounded our collective imaginations in unprecedented ways. That instant became the defining image of the new century.

There was no television at the library that morning. I streamed National Public Radio coverage off my desk computer, imagining horrible scenes cast against the fictional movie backdrop of “Towering Inferno.” When I finally viewed the real thing on CNN at lunch time it turned my insides to water.

The images defied verisimilitude, the mind disconnected. I’d only visited NYC once, as member of a church youth group tour in1969, three to four years before the World Trade Center towers were completed. Surely Godzilla would emerge from that rolling cloud of debris chasing New Yorkers down the street after the WTC towers collapsed. But it wasn’t a budget flick. It was real.

Events acquired a face when I received an email from a close friend. On that Tuesday morning, Sherry was walking along the fence enclosing the White House grounds on her way to the Commerce Department from her office building within the two block extended security zone.

When she reached LaFayette Square in front of the executive mansion, people suddenly began pouring out of its doors and from adjacent buildings like gerbils out of a shoebox. Secret Service agents armed with automatic weapons ran through the square yelling at everyone to evacuate the area. Additional heavily armed guards and anti-aircraft weapons appeared on the White House roof.

Sherry stood open-mouthed, momentarily transfixed by the scene around her until one of the agents shouted in her face, “What are you – stupid??!! RUN!!!” As she turned and sprinted down a side street a fighter plane flew over at a low altitude, scaring her witless. She made it back to her office by a circuitous route just in time to learn the building was being evacuated. Her eleven mile drive home to Maryland took two hours.

The last shred of protective detachment I’d been able to maintain as a shield against reality shattered as I read my friend’s message and realized what might have happened to her. Then I thought of the friends and family of the thousands who were injured, killed or missing – many of them simply blown to bits – and burst into tears.

Local author Vicki Houston was scheduled to be the featured speaker at the Rhinelander District Library’s first author series program the evening of September 11. We debated whether to cancel as the day wore on, finally deciding to go ahead out of the conviction that those who would come needed a touchstone of normalcy in a country turned upside down.

There were rumors of panic lines at gas stations as I phoned radio stations to confirm the program would be held. An angry call from an anonymous someone who labeled our decision disrespectful and dangerous added to the general tension. Hyper-vigilant, I kept an eye on two unfamiliar roughhewn men in the back of the room, only to learn during the question and answer period that they were fishermen, fans of Houston’s mysteries.

The forty-five people who attended observed a few moments of silence in sympathy with the victims’ families, as well as in recognition of our freedom to assemble, speak our minds and read what we choose. Our democracy rests upon a foundation that includes the free exchange of ideas without fear of reprisal. Libraries are an important part of that and not allowing the terrorist acts we had witnessed to shut our doors that night represented a small act of defiant patriotism.

Thousands of books have been published about 9-11. New information and opinions about events leading up to that day and its aftermath still swirl around us like gray ash floating out of the New York sky.

Among our freedoms is the ability to ask questions, check facts, and challenge the slogans we hear over and over again. Information and reason are key weapons in the arsenal against terror. Knowledge triumphs over fearful imagination. Librarians are the arbiters of knowledge and purveyors of the power it provides.

The Washington Post: New books about 9-11

Kris Adams Wendt

Wisconsin Library eBook Checkouts Go Over 1,000,000

2011-09-02T10:28:00.000-05:00

Wisconsin Library eBook Checkouts go over 1,000,000

Congratulations to the L.D. Fargo Public Library in Lake Mills for having the 1,000,000th digital checkout from the Wisconsin Public Library Consortium Digital Download Center

(http://dbooks.wplc.info).

The Digital Download Center is a collection of audiobooks, e-texts, music and video distributed through OverDrive, which is available to all library patrons in Wisconsin through the cooperative efforts of the state's 17 library systems. Library patrons have used the service more and more each year since the collection was formed in 2005.

How library eBooks work:

Library users with a valid library card are able to download eBooks directly to their mobile eBook readers and MP3 players, in addition to downloading to their computers. Titles will automatically expire at the end of the lending period. There are no late fees.

About the Wisconsin Public Library Consortium:

The Wisconsin Public Library Consortium (WPLC) was created in 2000 among Wisconsin public libraries and Wisconsin public library systems to provide all Wisconsin citizens with access to a collection of electronically published materials which they may access from home, work or school or from any library in the Consortium. http://www.wplc.info/

About OverDrive:

OverDrive is a leading full-service digital distributor of eBooks, audiobooks, music, and video. It delivers secure management, DRM protection, and download fulfillment services for hundreds of publishers and thousands of libraries, schools, and retailers serving millions of end users. OverDrive has been named to the EContent 100 as a company that matters most in the digital content industry. Founded in 1986, OverDrive is based in Cleveland, OH. http://www.overdrive.com

Patron comments:

"My tax payer dollars at work and I APPRECIATE it"-- Cathy, from Waukesha

"Be able to check and read books without ever leaving home. How cool is that??"--Paula, from Prairie du Sac

" I love using your system." Carol, from Richland Center

" Overdrive is such a wonderful feature....I love it!!!" Angie, from Brown County

(WPLC Press Release, August 2011)

Science Kits For Public Libraries Grant From IEEE

2011-09-01T08:38:00.000-05:00

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Chicago Section is pleased to announce the creation of the IEEE Science Kits for Public Libraries Grant. This Grant is made possible through the generous support of the IEEE Foundation and the IEEE Life Members Committee.

The Grant will provide funding to up to 20 public libraries for the development of math and science collections for pre-university students (K-12) through the creation of science kits - especially kits that provide prepared experiments for use by students and educators including parents, teachers, club leaders, and/or librarians.

At this time the grant is only open to libraries located in the territory of IEEE-Region 4 (Midwest including all or parts of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Ohio, and Wisconsin).

For more information, I invite you to review the attached press release, visit the website: (http://www.ieeechicago.org/ScienceKitsforLibraries/tabid/1574/Default.aspx), and/or email me at sciencekits@ieeechicago.org.

(Amy E. Killebrew IEEE Science Kits for Public Libraries)

OverDrive's Digipalooza Recap - August 25, 2011

2011-08-22T15:17:00.000-05:00

Digipalooza Recap

Thursday, August 25 at 10 a.m. Register here. OverDrive held their bi-annual conference during the last week in July. Join Mary Knapp from Madison Public Library, Charles Danner from Portage County Public Library, and Sara Gold from WiLS as they recap the highlights and latest OverDrive news.

This webinar will be recorded and posted here when available.

(Jean Anderson, South Central Library System, August 15, 2011)

The Post Recession Library - Free Webcast Event!

2011-08-08T10:10:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 1:00 PM CST How can libraries and librarians utilize the economic downturn to reintroduce themselves to their community? Now more than ever, libraries are uniquely positioned to lead their communities. Technology is no longer a luxury but a way to continue to provide services to a community that so desperately needs them. By embracing technology the library can reinvent itself in the midst of tough economic times. PANELISTS R. David Lankes, Professor and Director LIS Program, Syracuse University, School of Information Studies, NY Bill Pardue, Reference and Virtual Services Supervisor, Arlington Heights Memorial Library, IL Corinne Hill, Director, Dallas Public Library, TX
1 hour free webcast event \| Register at: www.libraryjournal.com/postrecessionlibrary
Can't make it August 17? No problem! Register now and LJ will notify you as soon as the webcast is archived and available for on-demand viewing at your convenience!

BadgerLatte Webinars for Fall 2011

2011-08-01T12:07:00.000-05:00

See how BadgerLink can perk up your classroom!

Thursdays at 3:30 (30-45 minute sessions)

The BadgerLatté webinar series explores BadgerLink’s rich collection of information tools. Each session covers one resource, database, or interface and is open to anyone who wants to learn. Fall 2011 is designed for teachers and library media specialists.

Curriculum - DATE / SESSION / TITLE

9.15 Ready, Set, Watch: Using ECB VideoLink in Your Classroom. To Join Click: http://ow.ly/5x0HY

9.22 Plan on Encyclopædia Britannica: Using EB Resources to Find Lesson Plans. To Join Click: http://ow.ly/5x0Mf

9.29 More than Books: Using TeachingBooks.net to Prepare Your Curriculum To Join Click: http://ow.ly/5x0Qk

10.6 Standardize Me: EBSCO’s Guide to Finding and Using State Standards. To Join Click: http://ow.ly/5x0TF

Professional Development - DATE / SESSION / TITLE

10.13 What’s New?: EBSCO’s Guide To Professional Development Materials, Part 1. To Join Click: http://ow.ly/5x0W7

10.20 What’s New?: EBSCO’s Guide To Professional Development Materials, Part 2. To Join Click: http://ow.ly/5x0ZA

Kara Ripley, Reference and BadgerLink Training Librarian Department of Public Instruction kara.ripley@dpi.wi.gov or 608.224.6165

BadgerLink is a project of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI), Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning. The project is funded through the Wisconsin Universal Service Fund with partial support provided by the Library Services and Technology Act using funds received from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

Reading Between the Lines

2011-07-22T16:47:00.000-05:00

When Roy Rogers died at age 86 on July 6, 1998, he took my childhood fantasies with him.

Roy lived what he believed, which is probably why his fans established such an immediate and total bond with our hero. So many of us felt we really knew him and that he would come if we were in trouble. His face was strong and handsome, with eyes that squinted and twinkled when he smiled in that warm and reassuring way that sent shivers from my Keds to the ends of my braids.

In those days, when grownups asked, “What do you want to do when you grow up?” librarianship was not my first choice. Long before I began alphabetizing my Nancy Drew collection by title and lending them to my friends with the aid of a spiral bound borrowers’ register, I had something else in mind.

"I want to marry Roy Rogers."

"He's already married to Dale Evans," my exasperated father insisted. "In real life. When he isn't acting."

Unable to shake my impossible dream (this was the 1950's and such explanations could only go so far), my parents finally gave up and decided to take advantage of the situation.

"Eat your liver," my mother would say, "or you won't grow up and marry Roy Rogers. Roy loves liver!"

I knew Dale was the lady who hung around Roy in the movies and on Saturday morning television. Her pictures remained ghostly white and ignored in my coloring books.

If Dale Evans was married to Roy Rogers now, I reasoned, I could still be his wife later. After all, dangerous things were always happening in The West and Dale seemed to need an intolerable amount of rescuing. Maybe – just once – Roy wouldn’t reach the quicksand, brush fire, kidnap hideout or scene of snakebite in the nick of time.

Then it would be my turn.

There’s a reason Buttermilk keeps coming home without her, Roy. She’s happier with the guys in black. Marry me, Roy, wait for me!

I set out to master the necessary Queen of the West job skills: (cap-gun) shooting, (clothesline) rope twirling, sneaking up on things and peeking out from behind large rocks, keeping a western hat on while running in clunky boots, recognizing bad guys, and herding (plastic miniature) horses.

The horse thing was my biggest problem. Repeated requests that my father park our 1951 Chevy in the alley and install a palomino in the garage met with predictable failure. Trips to riding stables were few and far between. They only served to underline the fact that neither the simulated action of the mechanical pony at the Mayville Five and Dime nor any amount of spirited bouncing on my spring horse came anywhere close to preparing me to someday handle Trigger.

Dale Evans Rogers died on February 7, 2001 at age 88, riding into the sunset to meet Roy who had been waiting for her along the happy heavenly trails.

All my plotting aside, this remarkable woman was ahead of her time as a positive role model for a generation of would be cowgirls. We learned about friendship, self-reliance, faith, loyalty and true partnership from watching Dale; that a woman could be as gutsy, smart and strong in or out of the saddle as any man wearing a white hat.

In the couple’s autobiography, Happy Trails; Our Life Story, Dale Evans Rogers wrote, “Little girls dream fantastic things. When I was young, I used to…dream that Tom Mix would marry me. Old Tom was the greatest movie cowboy of his day—so handsome and tall in his glittering silver saddle….I was quite certain he would wait for me to grow up, and that he would never change. I was going to make him mine. We would have six children together, then gallop our horses through the sagebrush and the world would be as sweet as could be.”

Dale’s dream about raising a house full of kids and riding the trails with a handsome cowboy hero really did come true. The boisterous adopted and blended Rogers family was multicultural forty years before the concept became a buzzword. The couple’s inspirational story contains values built on American bedrock.

In a sense, they adopted us all.

Recommended books:

Cowboy Princess: Life with My Parents Roy Rogers and Dale Evans (Cheryle Rogers-Barnett, Taylor Trade Publishing, 2003)

Roy Rogers: King of the Cowboys (Georgia Morris and Mark Pollard, Collins Publishers, 1994)

Happy Trails: A Pictorial Celebration of the Life and Times of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans (Howard Kazanjian and Chris Enss, TwoDot, 2005)

Kris Adams Wendt

OverDrive Training Month Registration Begins for September

2011-07-21T10:21:00.000-05:00

Training Month 2011 – Registration Now Open!

Register now for OverDrive’s Training Month 2011 … a perfect opportunity to learn what’s new for your OverDrive service, plus get a refresher on the basics. This program is free to staff members of OverDrive partners. No travel is required … all you need is a computer (with headphones or speakers) to attend.

Our core courses will be available as anytime recordings, plus two new ‘hot topic’ courses will be presented live starting September 12th.

Live courses…
 eBook Explosion! Tools to help you meet the challenge.

 2011 OverDrive Experience: Sleek, simple … smarter, faster.

You can register at our newly revamped Training Center, now called OverDrive Central: Online Learning Center. Register on behalf of a group or as an individual on the Registration page.

OverDrive Central is divided into four areas…
 View Now: Need training right away? View our core courses at your convenience … plus pause, stop and fast forward to suit your learning style.

 Register: Register here for live courses hosted by our Training team. These sessions focus on hot topics and are open to staff members from OverDrive partners.

 Resources: Spread the word about your OverDrive service through promotional and educational materials. All materials are free to our library and school partners.

 Networking: Have questions, comments, or feedback? Connect with us and other partners through Facebook, Twitter, and our blog. For more specific questions, you can email us directly.

Prizes (really great prizes!) will be awarded to winners of our Download Discovery raffle, a trivia contest comprised of questions from each session. Each time you attend a course (live or recorded) you’ll have another chance to enter.

Questions: For questions about Training Month 2011, please read our FAQs.

Whether you’re a repeat participant, or this will be your first year … you’re sure to learn something new at OverDrive’s Training Month 2011. We look forward to meeting with you!

Follow the action of Training Month 2011 on Twitter with the #ODtraining hashtag.
(Cassie Renner, training associate at OverDrive, July 21, 2011)

Seeking Synchronicity - New OCLC Report on Virtual Reference

2011-07-21T09:38:00.000-05:00

A new membership report from OCLC Research, in partnership with Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Seeking Synchronicity distills more than five years of virtual reference (VR) research into a readable summary that features memorable quotes that vividly illustrate very specific and actionable suggestions. Taken from a multi-phase research project that included focus group interviews, surveys, transcript analysis, and phone interviews, with VR librarians, users, and non-users, these findings are meant to help practitioners develop and sustain VR services and systems. The report asserts that the "R" in "VR" needs to emphasize virtual "Relationships" as well as "Reference".

Among the topics addressed are:
•The exaggerated death of ready reference

•The importance of query clarification in VR

•Ways to boost accuracy and build better interpersonal relationships in VR

•What can be learned from VR transcripts

•How convenience is the "hook" that draws users into VR services

•Generational differences in how people perceive reference interactions and determine success

•The need for more and better marketing

The report is based on a multi-year study funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS); Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey; and OCLC. A rich resource for further exploration of this important topic, it includes valuable statistics, lists of references, additional readings, and specific recommendations for what libraries and librarians can do to move VR forward in local environments.

Today's students, scholars and citizens are not just looking to libraries for answers to specific questions—they want partners and guides in a life long information-seeking journey. By transforming VR services into relationship-building opportunities, libraries can leverage the positive feelings people have for libraries in a crowded online space where the biggest players often don't have the unique experience and specific strengths that librarians offer.
(American Libraries Direct, July 20, 2011)

The Great Book Giveway!

2011-07-20T14:03:00.000-05:00

The Great Book Giveaway …and you’re invited!

• Host: Resources for Libraries and Lifelong Learning

• Phone: 608-224-5380

• When: Thursday, July 28 at 1:00 PM to Friday, August 12 at 4:30 PM

• Where: Resources for Libraries and Lifelong Learning, 2109 S. Stoughton Road, Madison, WI 53716

You are invited to visit Resources for Libraries and Lifelong Learning to select materials for inclusion in your library’s collection at no cost to you.

We are reducing the size of our physical collection as we refocus our mission to emphasize cost effective services and programs that meet the evolving needs of Wisconsin residents.

Authorized representatives of all publicly funded libraries in Wisconsin are invited (Monday - Friday) to 2109 South Stoughton Road from Thursday, July 28th through Friday, August 12 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Materials being distributed include books, VHS tapes, cassette tapes, LP records, hard-bound serials, and more. Libraries are encouraged to come prepared to transfer items personally. Small collections may be shipped through the South Central Delivery Service, but we do not want to overburden delivery with major shipments.

Please let us know by Tuesday, July 26 if you plan to send representatives. Please contact Patricia Stutz at patricia.stutz@dpi.wi.gov or 608-224-5380 to schedule an appointment.

The content of our collection can be viewed in WISCAT. Our collection is heavily weighted to non-fiction subjects and much of the collection is more than 5 years old. Feel free to print a pick list to make the most of your time here.

Because our collection is considered state property, certain terms and conditions apply to dispersal. Items selected from our collection cannot be resold through library book sales, nor can they be offered to single non-profit organizations, private libraries or private citizens. Details on appropriate use of materials selected from the collection will be forwarded to you upon your acceptance of our invitation.

Our collection includes an extensive collection of SAMS Photofacts. If any library is interested in acquiring this collection please let us know immediately.

If you have questions about the process, please contact Martha Berninger, Director, Resources for Libraries and Lifelong Learning, 608-224-6161.
We look forward to seeing you!
(WISPUBLIB, July 20, 2011)

E-Books: The New Normal - Virtual Summit

2011-07-08T14:05:00.000-05:00

In 2010, Library Journal and School Library Journal brought you our inaugural Virtual Summit on ebooks and the library market, Ebooks: Libraries at the Tipping Point. More than 2,000 participants from the library community joined us for this day-long virtual event to discuss how ebooks are shaping the future of libraries.

This year, we go one step beyond to bring you Ebooks: The New Normal. This one-day virtual conference will bring together public, academic and school librarians (K-12), vendors, publishers, and industry experts to address how libraries are leveraging the ebook opportunity to improve service and reach more users than ever before. The event offers something for everyone, from building an ebook strategy and collection to mastering the transition and even how to market ebooks to patrons.

WHAT WILL YOU EXPERIENCE?
• Forward-thinking presentations and panel discussions on the evolving concept of the book in a digital world

• Presentations focusing on current best practices for library ebook collections in libraries of all types

• Relevant research on ebook penetration and adoption by libraries and millions of library users
• Virtual vendor booths, live chats, vendor presentations, informative take aways, and prizes

• Unlimited access to the archived content for 3 months

Featuring individually focused tracks for the public, academic and school (K–12) library segments, with expert panelists and speakers including:

Lawrence Block, internationally renowned bestselling author

Robin Bradford, Fiction Collection Development Librarian, Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library

Eli Neiburger, Associate Director, IT and Production, Ann Arbor District Library, MI

Robin Nesbitt, Technical Services Director, Columbus Metropolitan Library

Joseph Sanchez, Instructional Design Librarian, University of Colorado Denver

Joyce Valenza, author, Power Tools, Power Research Tools and Power Tools Recharged

For more information visit http://www.ebook-summit.com/

READING BETWEEN THE LINES

2011-06-30T23:59:00.000-05:00

“The principle of free thought is not free thought for those who agree with us but freedom for the thought we hate.” -- US Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes

America was decked out in red, white and blue to celebrate her birthday on July 4, 2002, which saw the usual parades, picnics, and fireworks. Flags had been flying in abundance since 9/11 as her people recoiled from unprecedented national trauma.

For a change of pace, my mother and I decided to attend the Conover parade followed by activities in the community park. Looking back, I believe we may have unconsciously sought a return to a less complicated time. This small northwoods village where both my father and grandfather attended grade school seemed a likely place to recapture the true spirit of Independence Day.

It felt good.

We parked along County K between the community park and the post office, then carried our lawn chairs closer to the corner where the procession would turn east from the town road that runs parallel to highway 45. We watched a typical assortment of decorated vehicles representing various business and civic groups. Excited children waved small flags, scrambled for tossed candy and squealed at the fire truck sirens.

After an interval of nine years, there’s only one parade entry I recall in any detail and have thought about many times. A group of citizens had created costumes for an ensemble presentation of American patriotic symbols. There was an Abraham Lincoln, a George Washington, the Statue of Liberty, and a man dressed like Paul Revere cheerfully dragging something along the asphalt like an animal on a leash.

On closer inspection, that something turned out to be an effigy of an Arab with a rope around its neck.

Some people laughed. A few applauded. Many simply maintained uncomfortable silence following the effigy’s progress up the road with their eyes. The sunshine remained undimmed, the red white and blue flags hadn’t faded and the children still gamboled at the edge of the pavement waiting for the next handful of miniature tootsie rolls to be flung their way.

But it wasn’t the same.

Mother and I were quiet as we walked back to the car, passing the tall wooden sign marking the entrance to the community park where the Arab effigy now hung as though from a gallows. We decided to skip the picnic and go home.

I have struggled with the image of that disturbing piece of cloth ever since. If the effigy was labeled “Osama” instead of suggesting Middle Eastern people as a faceless group would it have been different? Perhaps. Following 9/11, there was a fair amount of frustration over the al-Qaeda leader remaining at large despite American boots on the ground in Afghanistan. Two of those Army boots belonged to my oldest nephew in 2002.

There was a need in those first raw months for something to kick, a way to reduce a big scary thing down to manageable size and dominate it, even laugh at it. Americans were angry. And we were afraid.

In 1918, my grandfather left Conover to “fight the Krauts” in World War I. That’s when “patriotism” born of war fears targeted Americans of German ancestry and led many like his own father to change their names and disguise their heritage. When my father’s generation went to war after Pearl Harbor, Japanese Americans were sanctioned and threatened in turn.

In recent years it’s been good to be at parades that proudly celebrate our country and its diversity with love, and without fear. It is my hope that exploiting anti-Muslim sentiments for political advantage will wither and die now that the most hated and visible symbol of al-Qaeda has at last met his ignoble end.

This July 4th, I’m proud to once again be working on behalf of the public library, a beloved and visible symbol of Americans belief in the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” in a free democratic society. Libraries stand ever ready to enrich our minds and defend our right to know, just as other institutions protect our safety and property.

Happy Fourth of July!

Kris Adams Wendt

OverDrive’s Training Month: September 12 – October 7, 2011

2011-06-30T11:29:00.000-05:00

Mark your calendars for OverDrive’s Training Month 2011… the perfect opportunity to learn what’s new for your OverDrive service, plus get a refresher on the basics.

This program is free to staff members of OverDrive partners. No travel is required; all you need is a computer (with headphones or speakers) to attend.

Our core courses will be available as anytime recordings, plus two new ‘hot topic’ courses will be presented live starting Sept. 12.

Recorded courses: Available anytime (and anywhere!) to help you prepare for Training Month. Listen at your convenience … plus pause, stop and fast forward to suit your learning style. All of our core courses will be available via our Training Center to help you catch up on the basics.

•Advantage

•Browse, Check Out, Download

•Collection Checklist

•Community Outreach

•Download Station

•Mobile Update

•Patron Assistance

•Reports

Live courses will be offered Sept. 12 – Oct. 7, 2011 hosted by our Training team. These courses will focus on current directions for OverDrive…
•Meeting the challenges of the eBook explosion

•Simple steps to connect your customers with digital books

Prizes (really great prizes!) will be awarded to winners of our Download Discovery contest, a trivia contest comprised of questions from each session. Each time you attend a course (live or recorded) you’ll have another chance to enter.

Registration opens July 18. Whether you’re a repeat participant, or this will be your first year … you’re sure to learn something new at OverDrive’s Training Month 2011.

By the way, if you’ve had a good experience in the past, please post a comment to let others know. Bonus: We’ll give you a ‘free’ entry to the 2011 Download Discovery contest if you comment before July 18.
More information on Training Month 2011 will be coming soon. Stay tuned!
(Cassie Renner, OverDrive Training Coordinator- June 27, 2011)

As Wi-Fi Havens And E-Book Centers, Public Libraries Aren't Going Away Soon

2011-06-28T14:30:00.000-05:00

The American Library Association has just published [1] its newest investigation into the state of the nation's public libraries, and the news is...actually rather good. You may think that odd in an era of ubiquitous alternative distractions to reading a real book--from iPads to Kindles--but it's really these new high-tech devices, along with the Internet that's keeping libraries flourishing. The one fly in the ointment is that funding cuts seem to be threatening many services.

While just a few years ago public libraries were all about borrowing books to read, or finding somewhere to study alongside handy text resources, the Net has changed much of this. Now 99.3% of the U.S.'s libraries offer Net access, via a public PC or open Wi-Fi, and 64% of libraries say they're the only free access point in their communities. With that figure stepping up to 73% for rural libraries, and 70% of libraries reporting that public use of their Net facilities increased in 2010, it's easy to see that the public library is still hugely relevant in a digital era.

But what are people doing in libraries nowadays? It seems that Internet nexus is extremely handy for people seeking jobs, via vacancy listings and other resources: 88% of libraries offer this, and 72% say their staff are helping clients fill in application forms. Meanwhile, 25% of libraries are in partnerships with government agencies and other groups to build e-government services--almost double the 13% figure from just two years ago. Though we live in a digital era that obviates many reasons to travel, it seems the library still is the social hub for data sharing.

Meanwhile, the percentage of libraries offering e-books has lurched upward over recent years, and now more than two thirds (67.2%) of all libraries offer e-book access in some form. That figure is up from 65.9% last year, and a measly 38.3% in 2007. We can maybe see where Amazon's selling all its Kindles from the next statistic though: 87% of urban libraries have e-books, compared to just 52% of rural ones.

Despite this compelling evidence that libraries continue to be vital hubs in many communities, the economic reality is not that great: 60% of libraries reported flat or decreasing budgets for this year, up from 40% in 2009. Similarly 16% of all libraries sliced their opening hours as budget cuts (and possibly increased tech-driven operating costs) impacted, and 17 states said that some libraries closed last year.

Have local governments overlooked the humble library, with politicians forgetting that the library PC is a vital lifeline for millions of U.S. jobseekers? Considering recent unemployment news [2], this seems shortsighted.
(Fast Company June 27, 2011, Kit Eaton)

Links:
[1] http://www.ala.org/ala/newspresscenter/mediapresscenter/presskits/plftas11/index.cfm

[2] http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/jun/03/us-nonfarm-payrolls-unemployment-white-house

Minocqua Public Library Grand Opening 2011-06-23

2011-06-23T13:56:00.001-05:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

Reading Between the Lines

2011-06-22T11:17:00.000-05:00

"A teacher affects eternity… he can never tell where his influence stops." – Henry Adams

Last Sunday on Father’s Day, my thoughts turned to my late father the teacher and the lessons I learned from observing his contributions to others.

It has been 70 years since my dad, Howard Adams, graduated from Phelps High School in 1941, the proud salutatorian in a class of 12 seniors. His educational odyssey continued at what was then the closest post-secondary school – Central State Teachers College in Stevens Point. He finished his degree at Lawrence University under the GI bill, and then earned his master’s attending night classes and summer school at UW-Madison.

Today, Dad would appreciate that graduates of Phelps and other small northern Wisconsin high schools are able to take advantage of the Nicolet Area Technical College University Transfer program en route to a four year college or university.

My father demonstrated an enthusiasm for knowledge that was contagious.

Men and women who benefited from the nearly three decades he devoted to education, first as a social studies teacher and then as a guidance counselor, still go out of their way to tell our family how he made a difference in their lives. Mr. Adams wasn’t as flashy as the more popular faculty members at Mayville High School, but teens knew he was somebody they could count on to keep their confidences and help them find answers.

I think of Dad as the original George Bailey from “It’s a Wonderful Life.” He taught me that none of us can ever know all the ways in which our words and actions will ultimately make a difference to those we encounter on our daily walk through our own wonderful lives.

That concept of cosmic connection – the sense of personal responsibility for setting events in motion to lift people up rather than tear them down – was his greatest legacy. Not only to his two daughters, but also to each young person he counseled for 27 years.

The hopes and dreams of each student were important in Dad’s eyes regardless of the educational path he or she chose to achieve success. Every occupation had merit and offered limitless opportunities for contribution through hard honest work.

He was a patient man who didn’t have to prove anything to anybody or seek recognition; he already knew who he was and that was enough. During the years Dad served as school liaison to the Salvation Army, few knew how often he quietly arranged for new pairs of shoes, winter coats or eyeglasses wherever he saw the need.

Despite chronic illness that forced his disability retirement at age 45, my remarkable and courageous father managed to retain his “think positive” attitude for the last two decades of his life. It was his final and best lesson.

From my parents and other memorable teachers and mentors, I learned that education is a journey, not a goal, and that we are ALL teachers by example. The value of education is measured in countless ways from cradle to grave.

Andrew Carnegie called the public library “the people’s university.” As information equalizers for all Americans, public libraries both parallel and complement the contributions made by their equivalent in schools and colleges.

Lifetime learning is also a key value for those of us working in school, academic, public and special libraries. We librarians do our best each day to make connections, offer a wide range of choices, and otherwise shake the tree of knowledge for everyone who depends on us to be there when needed. We will never know the countless ways our work has made a difference.

Kris Adams Wendt

Changes With The Economist and BadgerLInk

2011-06-20T11:54:00.000-05:00

Through BadgerLink, Wisconsinites have access to millions of journals, magazines, and newspapers.

Because of rising costs associated with providing access, starting one year from now in June 2012, EBSCO will no longer provide full text access to the magazine The Economist. However, EBSCO will continue to provide abstracting and indexing for this title.

Please note that lack of full text access to this title is not the beginning of a trend. This is a conscious choice by one of the BadgerLink vendors to reduce costs to its users.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact BadgerLink Technical Support using the webform found at http://dpi.wi.gov/rll/bl_sup.asp
(WISPUBLIB, June 17, 2011 - Kara Ripley, Reference and BadgerLink Training Librarian - Department of Public Instruction)

LITA and Top Tech Trends for 2011

2011-06-16T10:21:00.000-05:00

The Library and Information Technology Association (LITA) is piloting a new YouTube presence, and the Top Technology Trends Committee is excited to be a part of this effort. The Committee is working on a pilot project to share short, informal videos from past and present Top Technology Trends panelists. These videos will serve as current sound-bytes on technology trends of interest to the library community. It’s hoped that the number of videos will grow over time, and play a role in fostering a sense of community during the time between ALA’s Annual and Midwinter meetings. The Committee would like to thank Jason Griffey for producing the first video, available now at LITA LibraryInfoTech’s Channel: http://youtu.be/OVdZlvIcMok

(American Libraries Direct, June 15, 2011)

BadgerLunch Summer Webinar Series

2011-06-13T14:18:00.000-05:00

Focus on Reader’s Resources

Thursdays at noon

30 - 45 minute sessions

July 14, 21, 28, 2011

Not sure what to read next? Can’t find a book your reluctant reader wants to read? Join us Thursdays in July for resources in BadgerLink that will help you select summer reading materials.

July 14: TeachingBooks – Explore thousands of resources about fiction and nonfiction books used in the K-12 environment to encourage the integration of multimedia author and book materials into reading activities.

July 21: NoveList K-8 – Learn about this fiction database designed with a bright, appealing layout especially for elementary and middle school age students.

July 28: NoveList – Focus on readers’ advisory service! NoveList provides access to information on fiction titles as well as feature content includnig author read-alikes, book discussion guides, reading lists and more.

All sessions are open to everyone. Topics include a description of the information/learning resource, searching techniques, and helpful features. For a flyer with complete schedule and links to the webinars, visit the BadgerLink home page at http://www.badgerlink.net/ and click on the BadgerLunch Webinar Series Announcement link.

The archive of previous sessions is found at http://www.badgerlink.net/training.html

For more information, please contact:

Kara Ripley
Reference and BadgerLink Training Librarian
Department of Public Instruction
608-224-6165
Kara.Ripley@dpi.wi.gov

BadgerLink provides access to quality online information resources for Wisconsin residents at http://www.badgerlink.net/.

BadgerLink is a project of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI), Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning. The project is funded through the Wisconsin Universal Service Fund with partial support provided by the Library Services and Technology Act using funds received from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

BadgerLearn - A Collaborative Learning Space

2011-06-13T09:35:00.007-05:00

BadgerLearn is a joint project under active development by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s Resources for Libraries and Lifelong Learning (RL&LL), Wisconsin Library Services (WiLS) and the Wisconsin Public Library Consortium (WPLC). Our immediate vision is to be a place where librarians can discover & access resources of professional value. Some examples of the resources you'll currently find here include:

•Streaming tutorials about OverDrive e-book use
•Archived BadgerLunch webinars
•Streaming tutorials about Adobe Digital Editions
•Tutorials for productivity tools such as MS Word and Excel

BadgerLearn's ultimate vision is to be a sort of co-op where library staff can use existing resources and share new resources they develop with the greater community. By reducing the need to re-invent the wheel, librarians can spend more time doing what we do best: serving our users.

BadgerLearn continues to evolve. We've made some pretty major changes of the past weeks & we'd like to share just a few of them with you:

An introduction/tutorial video is now available on front page. This video describes some of the key search, browse, and user features.
The color scheme has changed to a more neutral palette. We'd love to know what you think!
You can now create a profile on BadgerLearn. Creating a profile allows you to access an ability to rate resources, and to post on forums (that's right, forums are coming too!).
Resource ratings. Users now have the opportunity to rate resources they encounter. The ratings you assign to resources are then used to suggest other resources you may be interested in whenever you click the "get recommendations" link in the navigation bar.
Lastly, the team is in the process of setting up forums, so that discussions can take place about training materials, as well as provide a venue for open discussion about BadgerLearn itself.

We've developed a survey. Feedback from this survey will help us to steer our ongoing development efforts, and we'd love it if you'd be willing to help us by taking it.
YOU CAN ACCESS THE SURVEY HERE.

Thanks for all you've done to help us so far. Your feedback has been invaluable & we've high hopes for the future.
-The BadgerLearn project team.

June Is AudioBook

2011-06-10T12:08:00.000-05:00

June is Audiobook Month

Are you looking for some fun ways to celebrate Audiobook Month? Well here are some great suggestions from Booklist Online.

Grab great Get Caught Listening promos
– sound clips of favorite authors to incorporate into a radio Public Service Announcement, posters to highlight your library’s audiobook downloads or physical collection, YouTube videos to add to your website – all highlighting the pleasures of listening to literature.

Teachers can use the audiobook fact sheet in summer reading packets to provide parents with the benefits of listening. Summertime is here and the time is right for listening!
(Booklist Online, June 1, 2011 posted by Mary Burkey)

Wisconsin Valley Library Service - Financial Assistant (Part-time)

2011-06-10T11:18:00.000-05:00

Wisconsin Valley Library Service - Financial Assistant (Part-time)

Due to a retirement, the Wisconsin Valley Library Service (WVLS) in Wausau, Wisconsin is seeking a part-time Financial Assistant. This position is responsible for various office, financial and human resource functions of the system which includes but is not limited to payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable and state/federal reporting requirements. Position reports directly to the WVLS Director.

WVLS is a federated public library system, located in Wausau, Wisconsin, and provides service to 25 public libraries in its 7-county area. For more information about WVLS, visit our web site at: http://wvls.lib.wi.us/

Qualified candidates should hold a 2- or 4-year degree in accounting and have 2-3 years accounting experience. Experience in use of QuickBooks and Excel software programs is required. Candidates must possess strong oral and written communication skills, enthusiasm for new and emerging technologies, ability to handle multiple projects, ability to work collaboratively with others, and a sense of humor. Candidates must have a valid driver’s license and the ability to travel independently.

Compensation range for part-time position: $16.46 - $20.32 per hour, depending on experience and qualifications. Attractive pro-rated benefits package is provided.

A complete job description is available at: http://wvls.lib.wi.us/Jobs/2011FinAsst.pdf

Submit cover letter, resume, and application available at: http://wvls.lib.wi.us/Jobs/WVLSjobapp.pdf with complete contact information for three references by June 27, 2011 to: Barbara Freimund at freimund@wvls.org or Financial Assistant; Wisconsin Valley Library Service; 300 N First Street; Wausau, WI 54403.

Position will remain open until qualified candidate is determined.
Equal Opportunity Employer.

Counterpoints to Access Wisconsin's statements regarding omnibus motion 489, the BCCB grant, and WiscNet

2011-06-09T09:23:00.001-05:00

Access Wisconsin statement: The UW created WiscNet despite a statutory prohibition and staffs it with $1.4 million per year in UW-Madison employees.

Counterpoint: WisNet was founded as a consortium of 24 equal partners from public and private colleges in 1990 with UW Madison administering the startup grants from the National Science Foundation. The network expanded beyond the original charter members using two subsequent NSF grants and then evolved a series of sustainable business models that permitted many other institutions to participate. The $1.4 million is funding that WiscNet pays to the UW for technical support rather than a UW subsidy to WiscNet. WiscNet has been providing Internet access and related services long before most telephone companies entered the market.

Access Wisconsin statement: Nothing in the Jt. Finance action prevents the UW from meeting its own telecommunication needs.

Counterpoint: Point #25 in the Jt. Finance action clearly prevents the UW from being a member or partner with any other entity that provides telecommunications services or information services. Taken at face value, this prevents the UW from being part of advanced research networks, like Internet2.

Access Wisconsin statement: Taxpayer money should not be used to subsidize a government agency such as UW-Extension to duplicate and compete with our services.

Counterpoint: Access Wisconsin members and other private sector telecommunication carriers in the state currently receive a subsidy of over $90 million annually in taxpayer money from the federal Universal Service Program as an incentive for expansion to underserved populations. WiscNet was designed to link public institutions in service areas where the private sector had declined comparable development of affordable infrastructure.

Access Wisconsin statement: On the UW grant, to add insult to injury, the UW planned to hire an out-of-state firm to lay the fiber optic cables.

Counterpoint: The UW reached out to numerous Wisconsin phone companies via an open bid process seeking their partnership on the grant. None agreed to participate.

Access Wisconsin statement: The UW grant would harm the BadgerNet network, which already offers reliable, affordable broadband services.

Counterpoint: While being very reliable BadgerNet is less than affordable to many community institutions. For example, a 100Mbps service is $6,000 a month and a 1,00Mbps service is $49,500 a month. While these costs may drop with renewal of the BadgerNet contract, reliable evidence of future affordability is not available at this time. The UW grant clearly shows a return on investment of 3.5 – 4.5 years. After that an institution will be able to get 1,000Mbps service for about $10,000 annually vs. $594,000 annually, which is the current BadgerNet rate.

BadgerNet is a beneficial network for many of our schools and libraries only because it is heavily subsidized ($16.8 million annually) by state funds (an indirect subsidy to the telecommunication carriers.) This state subsidy is limited. As schools and libraries need more affordable bandwidth not supported by the subsidy, they must pursue other options besides BadgerNet.

Access Wisconsin statement: UW’s grant claims to serve rural areas but it will also serve more urban areas like Wausau.

Counterpoint: As stated above, BadgerNet is less than affordable to many community institutions, in both rural areas and urban areas.

Access Wisconsin statement: At a time of limited pubic resources, these types of wasteful spending (i.e., UW grant) are unacceptable.

Counterpoint: Limited resources demand investment in quality services like WiscNet, supported by fair share contributions on a statewide basis.

General statement: WiscNet and the Building Community Capacity through Broadband (BCCB) grant are killing the Badgernet Converged Network (BCN).

Counterpoint: The availability of WiscNet services over the BCN are a major part of the value of the BCN. If WiscNet were no longer a service option, the BCN would still hold much of its value for site to site data connectivity at moderate data speeds, but would lose value as an Internet transport medium. In fact, many BCN consumers would be financially constrained to obtaining lower quality, but affordable consumer broadband Internet (ie. through Charter Business Cable, or through CenturyTel DSL). This direction could be a real disservice to the BCN.

The BCCB grant and the Community Area Network (CAN) projects are designed to build local, interconnectivity and the capacity to support large scale collaboration between local resource pools (ie. Universities, Colleges, Hospitals, Clinics, K12 schools Libraries, Emergency Services, and other public entities). The networks fill a service and infrastructure void, and would allow private telecommunications companies access to a lucrative high end service market that currently does not exist.

Information on Points 23-26 in Omnibus Motion 489

2011-06-08T20:16:00.000-05:00

Wisconsin Valley Library Service (WVLS), a local government library system entity which serves 36 public libraries and branches across 7 counties: Clark, Forest, Langlade, Lincoln, Marathon, Oneida, and Taylor.

I will open with some context, painting a brief picture of how WVLS and its member libraries consume network and Internet services. Then I will clarify each of the four major points of concern in omnibus motion 489, points 23-26, and explain how they will impact Central Wisconsin communities (from a library oriented perspective). While the Central Wisconsin library and K12 community will certainly be impacted, it is the Wausau community that will see the biggest direct impact as it is most effected by the millions of federal grant dollars that will no longer be available.

Opening Comments:
There has been much confusion as to the nature of WiscNet services vs. Badgernet Converged Network (BCN) vs. AT&T or other private telecommunications services so first, let me provide some context which should help clarify.

WVLS is a member of WiscNet and utilizes WiscNet as its Internet Service Provider (ISP), providing internet connectivity to all but two of our libraries over Wisconsin TEACH/Federal eRate subsidized Badgernet Converged Network (BCN) data lines. Our Wide Area Network (WAN) consists of the WVLS aggregation site or “central site” with 34 remote sites, each connecting back to the WVLS central site via BCN data lines.

So to use an apt analogy that I unfortunately can’t take credit for, BCN provides the hose, WiscNet (or another ISP) supplies the water. One can hook up their BCN hose to any of several State of Wisconsin approved ISPs. WiscNet is on that list and for WVLS and its member libraries, is the most cost effective. The conversation should not be about BCN vs. WiscNet, as that would be like having a conversation about garden hoses vs. a water source. It just doesn’t make sense.

The WVLS central site maintains two “circuits” or virtual connections over a single physical data line (two smaller hoses within a larger pipe). One of those circuits connects us to our WAN members; the other connects us and all of our WAN members to our Internet Service Provider, currently WiscNet. The total bandwidth connecting those remote sites back to WVLS is approximately 100 Megabits per second (Mbps). WVLS currently connects the WAN to the Internet at 30Mbps, about one third of the total potential consumption by member libraries. At first glance, only maintaining a third of the potential bandwidth consumption may seem like a disservice to the member libraries, but in actuality, the libraries average peak usage is just under the 30Mbps. That ratio is efficient for our system.

Our cost for Internet and membership services through WiscNet is approximately $12,500.00 annually and this is shared by our connected member libraries. Our cost for the central site BCN line is about $3000.00 annually and most of our connected members each have a $1200.00 annual cost for their own BCN lines. This combination of communications framework and low cost Internet data transport is a real boon to public entities like libraries and schools, especially those in the most rural areas.

Point 23:
[Telecommunications Services: Prohibit the Board of Regents, the UW System, any UW institution, or the UW-Extension, directly or indirectly, from doing any of the following: (a) receiving funds from any award from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) under the U.S. Department of Commerce for the Building Community Capacity through Broadband (BCCB) project; (b) disbursing, spending, loaning, granting, or in any other way distributing or committing to distribute any funds received with respect to, budgeted to, or allocated for the BCCB project; and (c) participating in the planning, organization, funding, implementation or operation of the BCCB project. In addition, require the Board of Regents to reduce the amount expended on telecommunications services during the 201-13 biennium by the total value of any funds, goods, or services that have been or will be distributed or committed to be distributed by or on behalf of the Board of Regents, the UW System, any UW institution, or the UW-Extension on or after May 1, 2011, to any participant, contractor, or supplier related to the BCCB project.]

Breakdown:
The Building Community Capacity through Broadband (BCCB) grant is intended to support demonstration efforts in four Wisconsin communities, one of which is Wausau. These are pilots, or demonstration exercises intended to discover the value of community owned Community Area Network (CAN) infrastructure. The grant funded project is explicitly designed to offer private telecommunication providers access, so they may compete for service offerings to connected public anchor institutions.

These demonstrations are designed to show public and private sectors, as well as community members and taxpayers the value a CAN might bring to all parties involved. Point 23 describes the elimination of University of Wisconsin’s leadership participation in this grant which, all things considered, would effectively kill it. The need for such intervention is questionable as there is no unfair competition created in the project. The grant dollars are not being utilized for a huge research project. It’s a matter of whether any business opportunities are created (successful BCCB project demonstration), or the market remains unchanged (unsuccessful or legislature prevented BCCB project demonstration). Private telecommunications companies will potentially benefit from a successful demonstration.

What it means to Wausau and Central Wisconsin constituents:
Wausau is one of the demonstration communities. Connecting many of the Wausau Area community anchor institutions (schools, libraries, colleges, hospitals, and various city-county services) is a planned project that has been in development for many years and has a long term plan behind it. Leadership in this CAN project is found in Chet Strebe, CIO of Northcentral Technical College. The BCCB project works in conjunction with a mission that’s already in place, allowing the Wausau CAN project to grow faster than expected in return for providing an example of what a CAN may offer to a community in the form of technology benefits.

Planning reports of the BCCB project indicate that this project would bring several million federal NTIA dollars into the community and would help further develop community owned infrastructure that is already in development. The BCCB grant is creating a (currently non-existent) network in Wausau to which local and national private telecom providers can connect and offer advanced services. Currently available private infrastructure is neither adequate nor cost effective to accommodate projected growth beneficial to public/private partnership and beneficial to economic expansion.

The prevention of this project would reach out beyond Wausau. As a CAN member/subscriber, WVLS would gain low cost access to additional bandwidth which would allow us to connect to our members via the BCN line at the full 100Mbps of the pricing tier we can afford. We would have a second data line via the CAN, which we could use to connect to the most competitive ISP available (in all fairness, likely WiscNet under current pricing models). This combination would allow us to serve nearly 100Mbps of Internet service to member libraries, along with all of our other network services. Maintaining our 30% peak usage ratio means the libraries could utilize a combined 300Mbps (an average of just under 10Mbps each) bringing their service levels in line with modern needs and demands. If the CAN stalls, we would be limited to sharing our 100Mbps BCN line with WAN and Internet connectivity limiting us to a maximum of 50Mbps of Internet served, or about 150Mpbs total library service, which is an average of just over 4Mbps each; a very limiting figure in today’s information rich societal needs.

Point 24:

[Modify current law to specify that the Board of Regents shall not offer, resell, or provide telecommunications services, directly or indirectly, that are available from a private telecommunications carrier to the general public or to any other public or private entity. Define telecommunications services as including data and voice over Internet protocol services, Internet protocol services, broadband access and transport, information technology services, Internet access services, and unlit fiber.]

Breakdown:
Point 24 is questionable as there is already an explicit statement (on page 8 of motion 489) that these actions are already discussed and prevented under current law. It is possible that the intent is to “update” current law with additional limitations and/or terminology, but the point is moot as the UW, to my knowledge, does not participate in any such actions (since they are already prohibited by law).

What it means for Wausau and Central Wisconsin constituents:
I find myself confused by the apparent redundancy of Point 24. This point may be better addressed by UW staff directly if any additional implications are to be considered.

Point 25:

[Prohibit the Board of Regents, the UW System, and UW institution, or the UW-Extension from becoming or remaining a member, shareholder, or partner in or with any company, corporation, non-profit association, join venture, cooperative, partnership, consortium, or any other individual or entity that offers, resells, or provides telecommunications services or information technology services to members of the general public, or to any private entity, or to any public entity other than the Board, the UW System, any UW institution, or the US-Extension.]

Breakdown:
Point 25 is already under heavy scrutiny by key members of the legislature. Staff members in Sen. Kapanke’s office (and possibly others) are working to revise the language. It basically states that the UW group of institutions can’t connect to anyone, anywhere, but themselves. This has generated media attention because it would put the UW into a very tight and small container. It is essential for the UW to be connected to the world; and vice versa.

What it means for Wausau and Central Wisconsin constituents:
The UW is a world renowned academic system and a vast and invaluable information resource for Wausau and all of Wisconsin. Preventing telecommunications connectivity outright, or even forcing it through the limiting constraints of current private sector infrastructure, would be detrimental to University of Wisconsin Marathon County, Northcental Technical College, local private colleges, many local and regional hospitals, local libraries, and K12s, and to other local public institutions. Losing access to the shared resources represented by the UW group would impede progress for Wausau’s Community Area Network and severely limit local public and private technology and network infrastructure growth for many years.

Point 26:
[Specify that WiscNet could no longer be a department of office within the UW-Madison Division of Information Technology beginning July 1, 2012, and delete $1,400,00 PR from the UW System related to WiscNet in 2012-13. Require the Legislative Audit Bureau to conduct a program audit and a financial audit of the Board of Regents’ use of telecommunication services and relationship with WiscNet.]

Breakdown:
WiscNet is a 501(c)(3) entity and separate from the UW group, and the specifically named UW-Madison Division of Information Technology. As a WiscNet member and service consumer and as a general technology services consumer, UW has an interest in minimizing the resources it commits to technology services.

What it means for Wausau and Central Wisconsin constituents:
The potential for damage to the Wausau and Central Wisconsin community is severe. Prohibiting UW from being a WiscNet consumer, coupled with not allowing UW to save costs by closely partnering with their cooperative, means increased costs all around. Even if WiscNet survives the loss of UW as an eligible consumer, WiscNet’s overhead would remain, and would be distributed among a smaller contributing pool of members. This will in all likelihood be unsustainable.

Final Comments:

If the telecommunications providers had the infrastructure, the capacity, and the pricing to offer the services needed by public sector in a way that was cost effective to taxpayer supported institutions, I would be all for utilizing the market competition to gain the best services and use my limited technology dollars to their utmost efficiencies. That landscape does not currently exist.

Reading Between the Lines

2011-06-01T21:39:00.000-05:00

“One World, Many Stories” is this year’s Wisconsin Summer Library Program theme. Many of our colleagues have been making the rounds of area elementary schools in recent weeks, visiting individual classrooms to promote summer reading at the public library.

I admire the children’s librarians who possess enough self-confidence to deliver the pitch without needing the camouflage crutch of a goofy costume. During the 27 summers that job was mine at the Rhinelander District Library, I found it much more comfortable to hide behind a character and costume that matched the theme.

The last “Reading Between the Lines” told the story of the year I almost got arrested as Super Librarian. Some other incarnations were as a raccoon, ringmaster, antique car driver, rock ‘n’ roll queen, gorilla chasing zookeeper, fisherwoman, tacky tourist, reading coach, Captain Book the pirate, and frontierswoman Sally Ann Thunder Whirlwind Crockett.

During the “Readlicious” summer of 1990, I spent three days in a rented chicken suit that reeked of cigars and lost 10 pounds being chased through the school district by library assistant Kay Pohnl, who was dressed as a meat clever wielding chef.

The Children’s Department traveling road show began in 1974 when the theme was “Yankee Doodle Rides Again.” I impersonated Doodle while our two high school pages, Cheryle Zettler and Arlene Warmouth alternated as the front and back ends of my faithful horse.

Cheryle literally should have quit while she was a head. During the next eleven years, she portrayed a burglar, a creature called The Whangdoodle, and a hodag among many others.

In 1978 for “Star Worlds at the Library” Cheryle played straight woman to my character of a lost space traveler named Koob (book spelled backwards). Covered head to toe by a hooded metallic fabric suit with gloves and boots, my identity and voice were further disguised behind a tinfoil-lined fencing mask.

Our skit called for me to suddenly enter a classroom or school library, interrupt Cheryle’s discourse on summer library fun and snatch a book to use as fuel for my disabled spacecraft. A bumbling attempt to “freeze” her with my finger when she thwarted the booknapping resulted in freezing myself instead. This allowed her to finish her speech while I stood motionless for a time before gradually thawing to deliver the exit line, “Take me to your library!”

One afternoon found us waiting for the first three grades from West Elementary School to assemble in their small basement library. I was hiding in a closet in the far corner of the room opposite the only exit where Cheryle was stationed. Excitement crackled in the air as weary teachers exhorted their charges to squeeze closer together so everyone could sit on the floor.

My sudden appearance was greeted by a tumultuous response. “Star Wars” had just been released and interest in all things galactic was at a fever pitch. As I waded through a sea of up-turned faces and reaching hands to a point about six feet from the door, I realized this was something more than the ordinary chemical reaction to our antics. Tiny hairs began standing up on the back of my neck.

The children started poking the calves of my legs as I stood frozen, then progressed to pinching my space creature bottom and delivering surreptitious karate chops to the backs of my shiny knees while I thawed. At my first step toward the exit several kids leaped for each leg and clung to my boots like sucking mud, dragging me down to the floor.

“Good grief!’ I thought, “They’re playing for keeps!”

The scene took on the texture of a South American soccer stadium riot as thirty children tried to rip the silver suit from my body to see what was inside. I was unable to defend myself because I couldn’t see anything and feared ending up unconscious in the middle of the floor clad in nothing but my underwear!

Until the day I check into that great library in the sky, I will never forget the look of pure ghoulish glee on the face of one blond-haired cherub who seized the opportunity (while I was momentarily pinned on the linoleum) to press his nose against the mesh of the fencing mask and gaze deeply into my panic-stricken eyes.

Fear gave me strength. Shaking the children off like a grizzly bear being pestered by a pack of beagles, I somehow regained my feet and charged for the exit, shouting, “TAKE ME TO YOUR LIBRARY!!!”

Cheryle and those teachers who realized I was genuinely in trouble had been unable to reach me or be heard above the melee. Now she and I fled across the hall to the furnace room, closed the metal door and put our backs to it until library aide Gerrie Martini sounded the all clear.

“Dear Space Creature,” began one of the many apologies delivered to my desk by day’s end, “We are sorry that we pushed you kicked you pinched you tripped you and shoved you and we will never ever do that again and if we do you can send us to the prinsibel (sic)!” The colorful spaceships decorating the letters proved it was worth a few bruises to capture the imagination of a room full of young readers.

We had a wonderful summer.

Kris Adams Wendt

Wisconsin Talking Book and Braille Library is a Summer Library Program Partner

2011-05-23T15:20:00.000-05:00

Librarians strive to serve everyone in their community. However, one audience that may be more difficult to support is youth with vision or physical disabilities. The Wisconsin Talking Book & Braille Library is here to help!

The 2001 Summer Reading themes "One World, Many Stories" for children and "You Are Here" for teens provide a wonderful opportunity to learn about diversity and other cultures.

The Wisconsin Talking Book and Braille Library has created theme related bibliographies and is offering incentives to encourage young readers to listen to the highlighted titles on their digital players. Applications for digital players are available at the Wisconsin Talking Book & Braille Library website.

This specialized library is one of four statewide resource contracts supported at the state level by Universal Service Fund money through the Department of Public Instruction. It offers audio books to children and adults who have a hard time reading standard print. This includes, but is not limited to those who have a vision impairment, physical handicap or reading disability.

Colleagues on the friendly staff at the Wisconsin Talking Book & Braille Library are happy to assist librarians throughout the state. Visit the website or call 1-800-242-8822 for more information!

Reading Between the Lines

2011-05-18T13:52:00.002-05:00

Comic book figures are all the rage at the multiplex this year as the Green Lantern, Thor, X-Men and Captain America leap onto the silver screen.

While women superheroes have chronically been in short supply, one of the more visible female counterparts of 20th century comic book lore was someone we book pushers could relate to.

Batgirl, aka Barbara “Babs” Gordon, was the daughter of Gotham City Police Commissioner Gordon. The cover of the comic book in which she made her 1967 debut carried the tantalizing question, “What is her startling secret identity?”

You guessed it! Concerned about the attention that her meteoric academic progress is generating, Ms. Gordon decides to cultivate a lower profile by earning a library and information science degree. After which she becomes head reference librarian at the Gotham City Public Library and fights evil in her spare time.

Although Gordon’s alter-ego was initially stereotyped as passively dowdy so as to give greater contrast to her exciting adventures as Batgirl, her depiction as a career oriented woman (albeit in a mainstream occupation deemed acceptable for an unmarried young woman) was symbolic of women’s empowerment in the 1960’s. By the 1970’s, the character had given her civilian identity a makeover by running for Congress.

One wonders how many little Batgirl impersonators getting dressed for trick or treat from 1967 to 1988 knew they were also “going as a librarian.” Let’s face it; even librarians don’t attend Halloween parties dressed as other librarians. (“Who are you supposed to be?” “Melvil Dewey!” “Uh-huh. Sure.”)

That does not mean, however, that librarians – particularly children’s librarians – don’t relish secret identities.

In May 1978, I spent a week dressed as a Super Librarian touring every classroom in 12 elementary schools to promote that year’s Summer Reading Program theme “Super People Enjoy the Library.” Wearing an eclectic costume combining blue leotards and red satin gym shorts, knee high black boots, and a Superman logo shirt with a scarlet lined U.S. Navy nurse’s cape, I used a red eye mask to conceal my true identity.

On the afternoon of Day Two, my loyal assistant Kay bet me five bucks that I wouldn’t walk from the Rhinelander District Library up Stevens Street to Zion Lutheran School and back.

In full costume. In broad daylight.

Hey, easy money!

Hands on hips, I strode along the sidewalk as though the only thing on my mind was a pressing appointment with the Green Hornet. We didn’t find out until later that a concerned citizen had actually called the Rhinelander Police Department to report some nut in a supersuit was roaming the city streets, presumably looking for a tall building worthy of leaping over in a single bound!

Luckily, the police chief’s secretary (whose secret identity was president of the Friends of the Library) was at her post when the call came in.

“Oh, don’t worry; about THAT!” Helen told the dispatcher. “It’s just the children’s librarian!”

Librarians may not wear a red cape in real life but we perform amazing interventions as superheroes every single day. Our greatest superpower is the ability to organize great collections of things so that they can easily be retrieved even after many years.

We don't get in the news much for saving the world, but we save most of the information that the world produces. And we know where to find it again, even on the Internet, which resembles a library tossed by vandals.

Librarian superheroes save people every day. We save them time and money. We save some from needless anxiety. We save others from unemployment and a lack of educational opportunities. We save them from boredom and poor consumer choices.

Sometimes, we even save lives. Not in the classic fireman’s carry from a burning building sense, you understand, but in myriad ways large and small that can make a profound difference, especially to a child.

Consider, for example, award winning author Gary Paulsen who ran away from home at age 14 and lived with relatives or on his own. He sold newspapers to make money for food and clothes. One day Gary went into the public library to get warm. The librarian there offered him his own library card and began recommending books to him. The way Paulsen tells it, "I don't think of any of the good things that have happened to me would have been possible without that librarian and libraries in general....It saved me, it really did."

Librarian superheroes save communities, too. Public libraries in Smallvilles across the nation are being faced with an unprecedented level of demand, expectation and responsibility due to a phenomenon I’ll call “rural shrink.”

Amidst economic upheaval and ongoing withdrawal of services and agencies from small towns – losing businesses, local doctors, closing post offices and government agency service centers – the public library has become more and more of a recognized community focal point, meeting place and access facility for a broad range of purposes. Not the least of these is meeting the need for high speed Internet access while assisting the technological disadvantaged to successfully negotiate the maze of a digital world.

The fictional Barbara Gordon fought evil in her spare time. Real librarians fight evil every single day behind the circulation desk – the evil of ignorance, of discrimination based on income or geography, of adversity that can only be mitigated by fair and equal access to information.

Super Librarian certainly deserves a rightful place in the League of Justice!

For a bibliography of Batgirl comics featuring librarian Barbara Gordon go here.

Kris Adams Wendt

WLA Support Staff One Day Conference May 25, 2011

2011-05-17T15:19:00.000-05:00

WLA's Support Staff Section will host its annual One-day Conference for support staff from all types of libraries on Wednesday, May 25, at the UW-Milwaukee Student Union.

At just $45 for members ($60 for non-members and $25 for students), with all meals included, this conference is a great value!

Breakout session topics include implementing RFID, support staff certification, degree completion, how to find and use free multimedia software, and more!

Joyce Latham, Ph.D., UW-Milwaukee School of Information Studies, will provide a keynote address on "This is What Democracy Looks Like: Supporting the Right to Know."

Take a look at the complete schedule and register online today!

Wisconsin Library Association Foundation Scholarships Available!

2011-04-26T15:38:00.000-05:00

APPLY NOW! - WLAF Scholarships Available Now!

Hoping to attend a workshop, conference, or other library continuing education program within or outside Wisconsin? Going back to school for a master's degree?

The Wisconsin Library Association Foundation supports several annual scholarships for library education (approximately $1000 - $1400) and continuing education (approximately $800 - $1100) for WLA members and prospective or continuing students.

Applications are due by June 1, 2011, and the eligibility requirements, forms and instructions are available at: http://www.wla.lib.wi.us/wlaf/Scholarshipsindex.asp . Awards will be announced in late July.
(Jane Pearlmutter, Associate Director, School of Library & Information Studies University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Reading Between the Lines

2011-04-18T16:39:00.000-05:00

Alice Laffin ran her rough hand lovingly over the glossy jacket on a new poetry book before sneaking a quick peek inside when nobody was looking. It was like sampling the green grapes at the grocery store. She couldn’t afford to buy a whole bunch, but every once in awhile when she craved a taste she would eat one that was rolling around loose on the green mesh.

She used to enjoy her visits to the public library so much; the endless choices and feeling of ownership empowered her. Alice sighed as she slid the volume back onto the shelf. It was too thin and would never last until her next visit. She had only enough credits for two more books on the precious library debit card purchased with Christmas money from her daughter. This day she would select the fattest short story anthology she could find, and then pretend each story was a separate title like the stacks of books she used to borrow.

It was those jokers at the state capitol, her brother Herb said; they did it. First they took all the sales tax money away from the cities and towns to fill the big budget hole they dug for themselves. Then they cut the shared revenue dollars that were supposed to come back for roads and municipal services.

That happened the same year that local governments were no longer required by law to maintain library support at a three year average. Alice wanted to stopper her ears when her brother got on his soapbox.

“Then everything really got screwed up,” Herb railed to anyone who would listen. “The gollywhoppers didn’t stop to think that the averaging funding thing was the glue that held the counties and towns together in cooperatives.”

Alice remembered the cooperatives. They were called “systems” and used to run the inter-library loan service and computer catalogs. Once the government councils realized they weren’t obligated to support their local library and tried mooching off neighboring communities, the whole thing went to pot. Nobody wanted to share anymore. Soon the only books Alice could borrow were the ones in her own library. There wasn’t any money for new books because each library now had to buy its own checkout and catalog system or go back to the cards in drawers.

Things got worse. When too many libraries closed and the rest were about to completely fall off the tailgate of the pickup truck of local budget priorities, Herb’s jokers changed public library law to replace “free” with “fee.” Permissive legislation they called it. Creating a new revenue stream. You don’t have to charge, they said. Though library boards resisted at first, most soon had no alternative.

Herb used to stroll to his village library and borrow books from all over the state on interlibrary loan, but it was too small to produce enough transactions to be cost effective and closed. People got a better deal at the big city library, but gas was over $6 a gallon now and the roads were terrible.

“You’re lucky you still have a library,” Herb said, “even if homeowners pay twice.”

Alice knew the remaining librarians were uncomfortable with the fees. Debit cards discounted the $3.00 flat rate per item paid by borrowers with minimum privileges. Permanent library cards carried a variable annual fee depending upon which service plan was selected. Only a lucky few could afford an unlimited family card.

Sometimes they offered coupon specials. Borrow one and get one free. Receive one children’s program pass with the rental of ten picture books. Swap a used paperback in good condition for 30 free minutes of computer time.

Alice wondered about low-income families with young children. Were students whose parents couldn’t afford a home computer or were otherwise unable to buy their information getting poorer grades? What about folks needing new job skills, consumer information or how-to books?

She had noticed the librarians were now stocking what “sold” instead of more expensive art history books and other items that appealed to the tastes of fewer borrowers. Soon the public library would no longer be a repository of all points of view. Was that what the government intended?

Happy Monday after National Library Week!

The genesis of that grim little parable you just read was a piece originally written 9 years ago when the threat to free library access was very real.

In the wee hours of March 15, 2002, the Wisconsin Assembly passed its version of the Budget Reform Bill on a 51 to 48 vote. Included was this provision: "Repeal the current law requirement that municipal libraries, consolidated county libraries and county library services shall be free for the use of inhabitants of the municipality or county by which it is established and maintained, subject to reasonable regulations prescribed by the library's board."

That effort to scuttle Wisconsin’s 1872 free public library law failed to find support on the Senate floor. Striking the onerous provision was among the first things agreed upon by the conference committee hammering out a budget reform package. Legislators were undoubtedly influenced by a deluge of outraged citizen letters from all corners of the state.

The “free” in free public libraries isn’t about cost, but about free and equal access to information regardless of income or location. While the means by which each public library realizes its annual operating budget is complex, shared community investment in what Andrew Carnegie called “the people’s university” allows everyone to take equal advantage of the service.

And 17 cooperative public library systems throughout Wisconsin efficiently share resources across municipal and county borders, as they have since they were created by the legislature in 1971.

Our governor and legislators are once again considering a budget bill which includes major reductions in shared revenue to municipalities, decreases in road aids, 10% cuts to state library aids and – most alarming – actual elimination of the three year average maintenance of effort for participation in a public library system. Librarians think of this funding requirement as Maintenance of Membership Support (or MOMS).

Eliminating MOMS opens the door to unintended consequences. Some libraries could be defunded to the point of closure. Others would become substandard orphans whose borrowers are restricted to only what’s on the shelves within their four walls. Public library system compliance would be thrown into chaos. And drawers filled with 3X5 cards could make a comeback as shared automated catalogs become unsustainable.

The “free” in free public libraries is all about freedom and must not be taken for granted.

Kris Adams Wendt

Ancestry.com Gets a New Look

2011-04-01T12:12:00.000-05:00

Ancestry.com is the world's largest online resource for family history, with more than one million paying subscribers around the world as of December 2009.

The Wisconsin Valley Library Service provides access to this database at all member library locations. On April 13, 2011, Ancestry.com (Library Edition) will get a new search interface, with a clean and crisp design that improves the overall user experience.

Here are some of the improvements to watch for:
 Improved look and feel for a more intuitive user experience

 Location filters allow searching across adjacent counties

 Map filters

 Name filters with Soundex

 Type ahead features

 Improved country and state pages

Browser Support
The new Ancestry Library Edition requires Internet Explorer version 7 or higher. In addition, Firefox version 3.x will also be fully supported.

Training and Technical Support
Watch for additional information about the new Ancestry Library Edition search interface, updated training materials, and new training webinars.

Get Caught Listening and Win BIG Cash!

2011-03-30T17:03:00.000-05:00

Need an audiobook promotion for your library? Why not piggyback with the Audio Publishers Association’s Get Caught Listening contest. You can grab the entry forms here: http://audiopub.org/getcaughtlisteningcontest.asp

Participants create a fun & engaging three-minute-or-less video promoting audiobooks to try for a batch of great prizes, from Audible.com subscriptions to a $5000 grand prize, with $1,000 & $2,000 prizes as well - that’s some serious cash! Maybe enough to entice your whole A/V department to go a little nuts in front of the camera promoting the library’s audiobooks? That cash could be turned into new titles for the collection!

Or how about suggesting the contest to patrons – perhaps the chance to become a big winner will prompt some brand-new listeners to take the download plunge. I’m a little bummed out that you must be over 18 to enter, so that excludes my middle school student audiobook fans from entering. But the entry form DOES allow minors in the video if there is a parent consent form. So your Teen Advisory group can be part of the show – as long as the adult librarian submits the entry. Get your entries in by May 15th. Good luck!

(Booklist Online, March 30, 2011)

Celebrate National Library Workers Day On April 12, 2011

2011-03-30T16:43:00.000-05:00

Celebrate the contributions made by all library workers – including librarians and support staff on the 8th annual National Library Workers Day, April 12, 2011.

Each year, thousands of communities celebrate National Library Workers Day, a time when library staff, patrons, administrators and Friends groups recognize how library services depend on the important work done by every library staff member. Celebration ideas are on the NLWD website; many are also taking the opportunity to submit library staff as Stars, describing the impact they have on their colleagues, patrons and communities.

The American Library Association-Allied Professional Association (ALA-APA), an organization that manages certification programs for library employees and advocates for better salaries and status for the library workforce, is the sponsor of National Library Workers Day. The day’s theme, "Libraries Work Because We Do!"

“In today’s information rich environment, librarians and library workers are more important than ever,” said Jenifer Grady, director of the ALA-APA. “With billions of visits and check-outs each year, libraries have become thriving technology hubs that millions rely on as their first or only choice for Internet access, particularly now during the current economic downturn.”

At a time when many Americans are facing job losses, working to gain new skills and seeking assistance in an increasingly digital world, U.S. public library workers are first responders in a time of economic uncertainty. Libraries bring together free access to computers and the Internet, a range of Internet-based resources and expert assistance to help people succeed and thrive online. In fact, 89 percent of libraries offer formal or informal technology assistance to library users, and 24% offer one-on-one technology training by appointment.

For example, the Chicago Public Library offers technology training workshops on basic computer skills, how to search the Web, how to download media; basic mouse and keyboarding skills and resume building and job searching.

This year, National Library Workers day coincides with Equal Pay Day, an awareness event to illustrate the gap between men’s and women’s wages. On this day, while library workers and libraries are being commended for their value to their communities, women in all professions will be strategizing about closing the wage gap. Data from the U.S. Census and a survey of beginning librarians show that female librarian salaries continue to be lower than male library employees. The wage gap for the nation remains with women earning 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. Library employees continue to receive lower salaries in comparison with traditionally male occupations with comparable education requirements and job responsibilities, according to the 2009-2010 Association of Research Libraries Salary Survey and the U.S. Occupational Outlook Handbook. Supporters are encouraged to wear red on Tuesday, April 12.

For more information about National Library Workers Day, please contact the Macey Morales, Manager ALA Media Relations, (312) 280-4393, mmorales@ala.org, or Jennifer Petersen, ALA PR coordinator, (312) 280-5043, jpetersen@ala.org, or visit the National Library Worker’s Day Web site at http://ala-apa.org/nlwd/
(American Libraries Direct, March 30, 2011)

Leap Grants for Libraries

2011-03-10T12:06:00.000-06:00

Better World Books' LEAP - Literacy and Education in Action Program is offering a wonderful grant opportunity for public libraries.

Better World Books is bringing grant opportunities to libraries to significantly impact local literacy efforts. Successful applications will use funds to advance a compelling literacy project that Better World Books can follow, document and share with its readers across the world.

The needs and opportunities of the communities libraries serve vary widely and there are countless worthy projects to support. This grant process is patterned off of the California State Library's 'Pitch an Idea' program and is intended to solicit a wide range of applications that reflect this diversity.

$75,000 in funding is available; maximum grant amount is $25,000.

Simplified Process:
Interested libraries need only submit a short two page project overview and those with the best proposals will be selected for a 30 minute conversation where they will pitch their idea. After reviewing all of the pitches, Better World Books will select the winners whose projects are most viable and ready to go. Selected libraries will then be asked to complete a more detailed project plan in coordination with Better World Books. After project plans are complete, the grants will be awarded.

Selection Criteria:
As you develop your Game Changing ideas, keep the following in mind:

•Projects should address the literacy needs of under served populations in their community; literacy needs are defined broadly: identifying, understanding, interpreting, creating, communicating, and computing information to live a more fulfilling and productive life

•Projects must be implemented between 5/16/11 – 12/31/11

•Libraries may pitch multiple projects or a single project totaling no more than $25,000 and no less that $5,000

•Libraries can present up to two Game Changing ideas, but only one idea per library will be chosen

•Each Game Changing idea must be fully supported by the Director and/or Library Administration

•Projects that involve partnerships with local government agencies are highly encouraged

•Projects that will have a measurable and long term impact on an under served population, and will continue to operate after grant funds have been utilized, will be looked upon favorably

Better World Books looks forward to reviewing applications that bring a fresh and inspired approach to challenging issues.

For more information about Better World Books' LEAP, click here.

Baker & Taylor Awards for Friends of the Library Groups

2011-03-10T11:54:00.000-06:00

The ALTAFF/Baker & Taylor Awards recognize Friends groups for outstanding efforts to support their library. Awards are given for a specific project culminating in the year prior to application, or based on the full scope of the group’s activities during that year. Applications are judged on the following:

Planning: Friends, library, and community involvement, use of resources, appropriateness of the activity, and measurable goals and objectives.
Implementation: Use of resources, public relations, task monitoring, and broad membership involvement.
Evaluation: Assessment of activity or program, measurable results.
Innovation: New idea or implementation, creative involvement of people, fresh use of public relations.
Community Involvement: Broad support by the community in planning and implementation.

Winning Friends groups receive a financial award and a plaque during the ALTAFF Gala Author Tea at the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference held each summer.

Applications for the 2010 Baker & Taylor Awards are now available. Submissions are due May 2, 2011.

Download the application form
Download the release form
(American Libraries Direct, March 9, 2011)

OverDrive Offers Two New Training Sessions

2011-03-08T15:22:00.000-06:00

OverDrive has scheduled two new training sessions to help librarians help your patrons. These are free and do not require advance registration. Just show and enjoy.

1 Browse, Check Out, Download - Friday, April 8th at 9:30 AM CDT (Access Code: 5736012)
Description: Learn how to browse, check out, and download OverDrive media. At the end of this course, staff should feel comfortable answering basic questions about your OverDrive service.
Duration: 1.5 hours.
Who should attend: All staff.

2 Patron Assistance: Become an OverDrive Download Library Specialist - Friday, April 29th at 9:30 AM CDT (Access Code: 5736001)
Description: We'll help take your understanding of your OverDrive service to the next level so you can share your knowledge through support and training. We'll review frequently asked questions, support tips, and online help resources.
Duration: 1 hour.
Who should attend: Project Coordinators, Technical Support, Community Outreach, Training, and Public Service staff.
__________________________________________________

CONFERENCE SETUP: Please complete all steps below.
The training will be conducted using ReadyTalk, which uses online web sharing and telephone conferencing.
Step 1: Conference testing and setup - At least one day prior to conference
1. Test your computer: Go to http://test.readytalk.com/.
If your computer is setup properly for the conference, you'll see a green circle with a check mark. If not, instructions will be provided to install an Adobe Flash Plugin.
2. Internet connection: OverDrive recommends using a hard line Internet connection rather than a wireless connection.
3. Audio connection: A speaker phone is recommended for the audio conference. If your location wishes to attend but cannot dial in due to limited phone lines, please contact your OverDrive Project Manager for additional information. ReadyTalk allows up to 96 locations to call in to each training.
4. Location: For the benefit of others on the call, please choose a quiet location for your training.

Step 2: Web Conference Login - 10 to 15 minutes before the training begins
1. Make a note of the ReadyTalk access code listed in this email for the date and time you are attending (from 'Conference Details').
2. Open your Internet browser and go to: http://www.readytalk.com/.
3. Locate the 'Join a Meeting' box. Enter your access code.
4. Next, Ready Talk will display the 'Participant Registration' screen. Please enter your information as prompted, and our staff will send follow-up information after the call.

Step 3: Audio Conference Login (required for audio) - 5 minutes before the training begins
1. Make a note of the ReadyTalk access code listed in this email for the date and time you are attending (from 'Conference Details').
2. Dial the appropriate number from your touch-tone phone. Participants within US / Canada: 1.866.740.1260
3. When prompted by the audio conference, enter your ReadyTalk access code.
(Mark Beatty, mbeatty@wils.wisc.edu - WiLS, 728 State St. Madison WI 53726 (608) 265-5719 http://www.wils.wisc.edu/)

Wisconsin Public Library Consortium List Has Moved!

2011-03-07T13:44:00.000-06:00

If you're wondering why you just got a "Welcome to the WPLC list" email when you were already a member, it's simple. The WPLC list has moved to a new host. The new address for the list is wplc@scls.lib.wi.us and the list information page is now at http://lists.scls.lib.wi.us/mailman/listinfo/wplc

Most of the archives are already there and we'll be updating it to include the most recent posts as soon as possible. There's currently an issue getting to any file that was sent as an attachment. Unfortunately the process which was supposed to update all of those links did not work correctly so links to attachments are still pointing to the old location. I'm still working on fixing that. Until it is fixed, you can right click on the link, copy the link location, paste it into the address bar and replace "mail.owls.lib.wi.us" with "lists.scls.lib.wi.us" and hit Enter. That will take you to the correct location.
(Cindy Weber, South Central Library System )

Martha Speaks Read Aloud Book Club Kits Now Available

2011-03-01T14:47:00.000-06:00

Bring the excitement of MARTHA SPEAKS to your library! The MARTHA SPEAKS Read-Aloud Book Club creates a fun environment for young kids to read and talk about books, and to learn about the many positive roles dogs play in our lives. A limited number of Martha Speaks Read Aloud Book Club kits are available for distribution to public libraries. These kits are free of charge. Please email readaloudbookclub@wgbh.org to receive your kit.

The Martha Speaks Read Aloud Book Club introduces children ages 4 to 7 to an engaging collection of dog-themed books and activities designed to foster their love of words and books. For more information visit http://pbskids.org/martha/parentsteachers/bookclub.

Email readaloudbookclub@wgbh.org to receive a full kit containing:

 Leaders Guide

 Community Guide Pages

 DVD

 Ten Books

 Sign-up Sheet, Flyer, Poster

 Martha Speaks Stickers and Pencils

 “Paws” stamp

Teen Tech Week™ Publicity Tools Available

2011-02-25T15:12:00.000-06:00

School and public libraries can promote Teen Tech Week™ (March 6-12) with online resources offered by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA).

Since 2007, Teen Tech Week, sponsored by YALSA, has ensured that teens are competent and ethical users of technologies, especially those that are offered through libraries such as DVDs, databases, audiobooks and videogames. Teen Tech Week encourages teens to use libraries' nonprint resources for education and recreation and to recognize that librarians are qualified, trusted professionals in the field of information technology.

The promotional effort for this year’s Teen Tech Week, held March 6- 12, is coordinated by ALA’s Public Information Office (PIO) and YALSA. It includes a number of online tools libraries can use to publicize Teen Tech Week activities:

 Sample Press Release
 Tips for Creating a Press Release
 Sample
 PSA
 Sample Letters to Editor
 Sample Proclamation
 Tips on Using the TTW Logo
 Downloadable audio PSAs (featuring Tom Kenny, the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants)

The 2011 Teen Tech Week theme of “Mix and Mash @ your library” fosters teen creativity and positions the library as a physical and virtual place for safe exploration of the many types of technology available at libraries, including DVDs, music, gaming, video production, online homework help, social networking, tech workshops, audiobooks and more.

For more information on Teen Tech Week, please click here.

Reading Between the Lines

2011-02-23T08:18:00.006-06:00

Brooke Sperry and her daughter Belanna send a message.

Democracy is messy!

“Democracy is messy….The answer to reforming our system is not to shut people out or diminish the ability of our people or institutions to participate in the process.”

-- Chuck Hagel, former US Senator (R-Nebraska)

Packer fever has given way to passion of a different sort in the Badger state – spectating the ongoing controversy over the governor’s budget adjustment bill being played out in and around the state capitol. Grassroots demonstrations are sprouting up in communities all across Wisconsin.

I happened to be in Madison on Thursday and Friday of last week attending a meeting of the Wisconsin Humanities Council. With the upcoming Library Legislative Day very much in mind, it was a good opportunity to scout the situation at the capitol and gather information to report back to WLA members who planned to make the trip and might be uncertain as to what to expect.

Unfortunately, Library Legislative Day was subsequently postponed to a date when library supporters might have a clearer picture of the budget picture (and better weather).

Protests against Governor Walker’s proposal to scale back union bargaining rights had been gathering momentum since the previous Friday. Between 15,000 and 40,000 people were gathered in and around the capitol during the two days I observed. That’s roughly half the seating capacity of Lambeau Field. The crowd on Saturday probably would have rivaled attendance in Green Bay on any given Sunday.

It is the biggest, loudest pep rally celebrating the First Amendment that you could possibly imagine.

Banners festoon all balcony railings and colorful homemade posters are carefully taped to the marble walls and pillars. Diversity doesn’t begin to describe the faces and voices standing shoulder to shoulder chanting, “This is what democracy looks like!” College students. Grandparents. Firemen and women in full turnout gear accompanied by bagpipes. Construction workers wearing hard hats. Teachers, nurses, DNR wardens, ironworkers, taxi drivers, long distance truckers and, yes, librarians. Moms and dads with children in strollers. Musicians and folksingers.

It was still possible last Friday to successfully maneuver to legislative office doors without any problems by using the staff stairways rather than the big marble ones and sticking to the outer corridor ring to avoid the rotunda where protestors were standing 15 to 20 bodies deep. Depending upon the size of the crowd and whether the senate or assembly is in session, members of the Capitol Police are now closing off certain corridors or sections for security reasons.

Despite the injudicious use by media and politicians of descriptors such as powder keg, riot, mob, and chaos in the streets, the capitol is a safe, albeit very noisy place these days. To the best of my knowledge, nobody has been arrested or taken to jail, although about a dozen people were ticketed for disorderly conduct.

On Saturday morning as I left Madison to drive north, Madison prepared for the biggest day yet. Eventually another 60,000 to 70,000 participants arrived – including for the first time a delegation of a couple thousand supporting Governor Walker.

At the end of the day, City of Madison Police issued a thank you to the demonstrators:

"On behalf of all the law enforcement agencies that helped keep the peace on the Capitol Square Saturday, a very sincere thank you to all of those who showed up to exercise their First Amendment rights. You conducted yourselves with great decorum and civility, and if the eyes of the nation were upon Wisconsin, then you have shown how democracy can flourish even amongst those who passionately disagree. As of 5:00 p.m., no major incidents had been reported. There have been no arrests. However, discourse and discussion was - at times - loud and heated. That was to be expected. As previously indicated, the goal of law enforcement has been to provide a safe environment for democracy to take place. That goal has been realized for yet another day."

In short, the huge crowds have behaved exactly as one might expect Wisconsinites to act. Exhausted, frustrated and determined to be sure, but as good decent citizens. They are pleasant and considerate. Kind.

Union members distributed foil wrapped bratwurst and bottles of water to those waiting to see a live broadcast of “The Ed Show” with Ed Schultz across the street from the capitol on Thursday and Friday evenings. Meanwhile, a small pizza place near the Capitol has been responding to phone calls from a dozen countries and thirty-eight states looking to donate free pizza to the protestors. Donors include citizens of China and Egypt.

After a week of continuous demonstrations, the stunning pile of marble that is Wisconsin’s seat of government – usually kept immaculate and well-polished by a conscientious overnight cleaning crew – has acquired a lived in look because it literally has been lived in 24/7. Outside temperatures at the end of last week were mild enough so as to allow the doors to be open for a greater exchange of air, but increased security and more seasonable weather has put an end to that. Friends who attended rallies on Sunday reported that the place had acquired the unmistakable aroma of a pair of dirty gym socks.

Democracy is messy….

That’s why volunteers from among the UW teaching assistants are signing up in shifts to clean the rest rooms and pick up the trash.

Speaking as a public employee who is also a taxpayer and a consumer, I am immensely proud of my state for not shutting its doors or diminishing the ability of our people and institutions to participate in the process.

This is what democracy looks like!

Kris Adams Wendt

OverDrive's eBook & Audiobook App Optimized for iPad

2011-02-17T11:07:00.000-06:00

Today, OverDrive released the "OverDrive Media Console for iPhone/iPad v2.2", which optimizes the experience on the Apple tablet. Whether users are reading an EPUB eBook, listening to an MP3 audiobook, or browsing the OverDrive Media Console library, they’ll now have the full iPad screen utilized for their enjoyment. Additionally, the app for iOS devices—including iPhone and iPod touch—now supports landscape and portrait orientation, and a new calendar icon displays the number of days left until the title expires.

To reflect iPad support, the graphics, help pages on your ‘Virtual Branch’ and the new eBook Devices Cheat Sheet (for you to distribute to staff and customers) have been updated.

The free app is available in the App Store, and can be installed on Apple devices running iOS v4.0 (or newer). Users with OverDrive Media Console already installed will be notified that an update is available.
(From Dan Stasiewski, marketing associate for OverDrive)

One World Many Stories - 2011 SLP Workshop is March 9!

2011-02-16T15:56:00.000-06:00

Wisconsin Valley Library Service

2011 Summer Library Program Workshop

featuring Patti Sinclair

Wednesday, March 9

1:15- 3:45 P.M.

Quality Inn Crescent Room

668 W. Kemp Street (Hwy 8 West), Rhinelander WI

Get motivated and enthused for SUMMER READING 2011!

Explore the SLP manual with the dynamic woman who has been its editor since 2003

Share “best of the best” ideas gathered from colleagues across the US, including…book recommendations, craft demonstrations, programs, games and more!

Network with other youth services librarians! (And yes, there will be door prizes!)

This free workshop follows the 24th annual Children’s Book Fest, co-sponsored by Rhinelander District Library, the School District of Rhinelander and Headwaters Reading Council. Come to the Quality Inn as early as 8:30 AM to browse the Cooperative Children’s Book Center exhibit and listen to CCBC librarians present the Best Books of 2010. (NOTE: Children’s Book Fest registration is $10/person and must be made separately.

PLEASE REGISTER for the WVLS SLP Workshop by Friday, March 4!

To sign up, ask questions or indicate a need for special accommodations, contact Kris Adams Wendt

ADVOCACY URGENTLY NEEDED: House considering two amendments critical to the future of libraries

2011-02-16T14:57:00.000-06:00

This week, the House of Representatives will consider two amendments to the FY2011 Continuing Resolution that are critical to libraries – one that would eliminate all Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) funding including Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funding and another that would halt all funding for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) orders seeking libraries and bookstore records of U.S. citizens.

E-mail via Capwiz or call your representative at (202) 224-3121 today and tell him or her to oppose Amendment #35 to the Continuing Resolution!

Amendment #35, submitted by U.S. Rep. Scott Garret (R-NJ), seeks to zero out the Institute of Museum and Library Services, eliminating all federal funding specifically for libraries.

Message to Your Representative:

Libraries are essential to every community, and federal funding is critical for ensuring library resources and services remain available to their constituents.
LSTA supports all kinds of libraries including school, academic, and public libraries.
Public libraries are the primary source of no-fee access to the Internet and are active in assisting the public with online job searches, e-government services, and lifelong learning.

E-mail via Capwiz or call your representative at (202) 224-3121 today and tell him or her to support Conyers’ amendment to the Continuing Resolution!

This amendment, sponsored by U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), would halt all funding for FISA orders seeking libraries and bookstore records of U.S. citizens. Currently, this vote is scheduled for this Thursday, February 17.

Message to Your Representative:

Vote YES on the Conyers amendment to the FY2011 Continuing Resolution to halt funding for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) orders that would seek library and bookstore records of U.S. citizens;
The Conyers amendment seeks to protect individual privacy and personal reading records from inappropriate access by law enforcement;
Like previous reader privacy bills, this amendment has bipartisan support;
Law enforcement access to the reading habits of individuals should be held to a higher legal standard in order to protect civil liberties and the right to read and access information.

In the weeks to come, extending your advocacy efforts to your senators as well as continuing to reach out to your representatives will be vitally important to protecting the future of libraries.

Questions as well as reports and feedback from your calls and e-mails are welcomed. Please contact Kristin Murphy or Lynne Bradley at the ALA Office of Government Relations, Washington Office.

District Dispatch - News for friends of libraries from the ALA Office

Ask? Away Basics - Free Webinars Available

2011-02-15T16:16:00.000-06:00

AskAway is an online information service available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The service is staffed by librarians from across Wisconsin, the United States and the United Kingdom. These librarians are online to help you find resources to satisfy your academic, professional, and personal information needs. You can access AskAway from anywhere there is an Internet connection including home, school, work, the library, or wherever there's Wi-Fi access.

Are you a librarian interested in understanding how to use AskAway? Join us for the free webinars (using Live Meeting) starting Feb 24th from 10am-11am and continuing the first Thursday of the month at 10am-11am. No registration is required.

February 24th - http://tinyurl.com/4foo759
Why AskAway? An Introduction to the AskAway virtual reference service

• What is AskAway?
• What unique value does it offer?
• Who provides the service, who uses it now and who can use it?
• How does it work?
• How is quality ensured?

March 3rd - http://tinyurl.com/4neooxv
AskAway Email service

• What is the AskAway Email service?
• How does it work?
• Who uses it?
• How to publicize it?

April 7th - http://tinyurl.com/4rw7ltx
AskAway’s Spanish-language Chat service

• How does it work?
• Who staffs the service?
• What resources are available to support the service?
• What agencies/organizations do we partner with?

May 5th - http://tinyurl.com/4sxu9c5
Chat service basics
• How do I pick up chat questions?
• How do I conduct an online reference interview?
• How do I send links to a patron?
• How do I end a chat?

June 2nd - http://tinyurl.com/4dvrct4
Email service basics

• How do I pick up email questions?
• How do I respond to email questions?
• How do I refer email questions to other librarians/agencies?

July 7th - http://tinyurl.com/6gbky2x
Marketing the AskAway service
• How should I talk to patrons, staff and board members about AskAway?
• What is my audience?
• How do I post links to AskAway?
• How can I build support?
• How do I reach out to the community?

August 4th - http://tinyurl.com/5tw9cs5
AskAway statistics for administrators and librarians

• How do I view statistics posted by DPI ?
• How do I download, view and interpret local statistics?• How do I review chat transcripts?
• How do I follow up with other libraries and QuestionPoint Quality Control?

For more information contact Martha Berninger at martha.berninger@dpi.wi.gov

State Superintendent Tony Evers writes to Joint Finance Committee Chairs

2011-02-14T18:18:00.000-06:00

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers wrote a letter to the co-chairs of the legislature's Joint Finance Committee on Monday, February 14, to express his opposition to some provisions in the proposed Budget Adjustment Bill.

"We ned to make tough decisions," Evers wrote, "but we must be careful not to abandon fairness and a sense of decency in the name of boldness. Strong measures are needed, but we are better served by reasonable reforms than by radical reactions."

Evers praised public employees who "have been and will continue to do their part to move Wisconsin forward and help balance the budget. Despite furloughs and freezes, public employees have provided vital public services with fewer peope, over longer hours, and for less money."

He noted the proposed bill will translate into an immediate salary cut of up to ten percent and urged elected officials to move forward without eliminating the long-standing rights of state and local workers.

February 15 Wisconsin State Supreme Court Primary – PLEASE VOTE!

2011-02-14T16:37:00.000-06:00

February 15 is Primary Election Day in Wisconsin. There is one statewide race on the ballot; that is for justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Four candidates will be narrowed down to two who will square off in April competing for a 10 year term.

The race is non-partisan, but news reports detailing experience and background of the candidates provides some insights.

The information below came from the League of Women Voters website where you will find additional Q&A on a variety of topics. Candidate websites are linked to their names.

JoAnne F. Kloppenburg
I’ve been a litigator and prosecutor at Wisconsin’s Department of Justice since 1989, serving under Attorneys General from both parties. My legal experience includes constitutional, appellate, civil litigation, environmental prosecution, administrative and some criminal law. I’ve argued numerous cases in circuit courts, the Wisconsin Supreme Court and Wisconsin Court of Appeals. I graduated with honors from UW Law School (1988), Yale (BA 1974), Princeton (MA 1976). I was a law clerk for Chief Judge Barbara Crabb, and interned for Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson. I’ve taught at the UW Law School since 1990 and volunteered in many legal and community venues.

David T. Prosser, Jr.
My 12 years as a Supreme Court Justice are my most obvious qualification. I have written 132 majority opinions and participated in 900 published decisions. Eighteen former state bar presidents and many judges have endorsed me based on my performance. No other candidate has judicial experience. In addition, I have worked at all levels of government and in all three branches of government: law teacher (UW, IUPUI); staff attorney, Office of Criminal Justice; administrative assistant to Congressman; elected district attorney; 18 years in Wisconsin State Assembly; Assembly Speaker; Tax Appeals Commissioner; Uniform Laws Commissioner. This breadth of experience is unprecedented.

Marla Stephens
I graduated Marquette Law School in 1981. I have represented people in the Wisconsin trial courts, courts of appeal and Supreme Court my entire career. I am the Appellate Division Director for the State Public Defender, the agency responsible for delivering legal services to the indigent in 72 counties. I served ten years as chair of the Wisconsin Judicial Council, which studies and makes recommendations to improve the court system. I held leadership positions with the State Bar of Wisconsin, including as a founding member of the Appellate Practice Section. I have authored articles on substantive and procedural law.

Joel Winnig
I am running to return independence and integrity to the Supreme Court. I have worked as an attorney for working people and small businesses for over thirty three years. I have used my law degree to fight for the rights of working people throughout Wisconsin. I have made the system work for those who had difficulty in achieving access to the justice system. I have been the lawyer for thousands of working families all over Wisconsin. I have handled the broadest variety of cases of any candidate in the race. I am the only candidate with significant private sector experience.

Reading Between the Lines

2011-02-14T12:24:00.000-06:00

Governor's budget adjustment bill sparks controversy

Governor Scott Walker unveiled his “budget adjustment bill” last Friday, targeting concessions by public employees and touching off what was already predicted to be a contentious legislative session focused on crafting the 2011-2013 biennial budget while dealing with budget shortfalls.

The legislature was not originally scheduled to be in session this week, but is likely to take up the governor’s proposal on Thursday after it is discussed on Tuesday by members of the Joint Finance Committee at 10 AM and the Joint Retirement Systems Committee at 2 PM. Committee votes will take place on Wednesday, setting the stage for action in both legislative houses on Thursday.

Joint Finance Committee co-chairs Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) and Rep. Robin Vos (R- Rochester) have invited public participation at the 10 AM meeting on Tuesday, with speakers limited to 2 minutes.

Labor unions representing public employees and other groups opposed to the measure are planning protest rallies on the Capitol Square at noon on Tuesday and Wednesday. Requests to flood legislative offices with calls, emails and letters were circulated statewide over the weekend.

All of which is going to make it more challenging for those attending and supporting Library Legislative Day on February 22 – coincidentally the same day the governor’s 2011-2013 budget proposal will be released – to be heard over the cacophony.

Libraries are neither Republican nor Democratic. Nobody is required to declare their politics at the door and librarians routinely leave their personal political orientation outside. As hard as it may be, we must as public employees also leave our personal reactions to the budget adjustment bill proposal outside as well.

But that doesn’t mean we should stop advocating for our libraries, our communities and the state funding that makes many of our services possible. A variety of helpful tools and briefing papers are found linked to the Wisconsin Library Association’s Legislation and Advocacy page.

Our mission is to identify and direct citizen library supporters through the battlefield under a banner of truce telling the library story in a way that both legislators and their staff members will notice because it is positive, reinforcing, and memorably personalized. The words “thank you” should appear in the subject line of an email or written on the outside of each envelope.

Stay informed! Links to the latest reports, press releases and news articles on all sides of the controversy may be found at the Wheeler Report website.

Not sure which legislators represent your service area? Enter voting addresses here to find out, as well as access contact information.

Meanwhile, the Economic Policy Institute briefing paper entitled “Are Wisconsin Public Employees Overcompensated?” makes interesting reading.

Kris Adams Wendt