Volume 12: April 5, Year for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) WSL RELEASES LSTA 5-YEAR EVALUATION

2) DEADLINE APPROACHES FOR LIBRARY COUNCIL VACANCIES

3) RESOURCE SHARING GRANT CYCLE NOW OPEN

4) YOUTH SERVICES & OUTREACH POSITION AVAILABLE

5) LETTERS ABOUT LITERATURE CHAMPIONS ANNOUNCED

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

—————————————————————————————————————

1) WSL RELEASES LSTA 5-YEAR EVALUATION

As required by law, the Washington State LSTA Five-Year Evaluation Report was submitted to the Institute of Museum and Library Services on March 27, 2012. The purpose of conducting an LSTA Five-Year Evaluation is to independently evaluate the activities supported with federal LSTA funding. The evaluation provides an opportunity to measure progress in meeting the targets set in the approved five year plan and is designed to help state libraries make more effective resource allocation decisions in their upcoming five year plans.

As stated in the report’s executive summary, “The WSL’s most significant strength is their ability to convene and promote collaboration between and among libraries of all types in the state. Building on this strength, analysis of past performance, and emerging priorities for WSL and Washington libraries has surfaced six main recommendations for the Washington State Library with regard to future activity funded through LSTA.” Visit www.sos.wa.gov/library/libraries/dev to read the entire LSTA Five-Year Evaluation 2008 – 2012 report.

For those of you who have contributed to the development of this report through your participation in focus groups, telephone interviews or surveys, thank you. If you have questions, contact Jeff Martin, Acting Library Development Program Manager at 360.704.5248 or at jeff.martin@sos.wa.gov.

—————————————————————————————————————

2) DEADLINE APPROACHES FOR LIBRARY COUNCIL VACANCIES

Applications are currently being accepted for two Library Council of Washington positions. One position represents Special Libraries; the other represents Public Libraries serving fewer than 100,000 persons. The Library Council of Washington advises the State Librarian and the Office of the Secretary of State on statewide library issues and the expenditure of federal LSTA funding.

Applications must be postmarked by Friday, April 6, 2012 to be considered. These positions begin September 2012. More information is available at www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/vacancy. If you have questions, please feel free to contact Jeff Martin, at 360.704.5248, jeff.martin@sos.wa.gov, or Anne Yarbrough at 360.704.5246, anne.yarbrough@sos.wa.gov.

—————————————————————————————————————

3) RESOURCE SHARING GRANT CYCLE NOW OPEN

The purpose of the Connecting Libraries through Resource Sharing (CLRS) grant cycle is to provide grant funds for collection development with materials that are rotated between partnering libraries, thus encouraging cooperation among public libraries in counties, or those with contiguous borders, where inter-local agreements to share materials do not exist, or did not exist before participation in a previous CLRS grant cycle.

Grants of up to $715 per library may be awarded qualifying partnerships. A single application from each group of partnering libraries is required. A partnership must include two or more public libraries; with one library acting as the lead library in both the application process and, if awarded, the grant implementation.

The application deadline is Friday, June 1, 2012. More details may be found at www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/grants. For additional information or questions, contact Carolyn Petersen, CLRS Project Manager, 360.570.5560 carolyn.petersen@sos.wa.gov or Anne Yarbrough, LSTA Grants Manager, 360.704.5246, anne.yarbrough@sos.wa.gov.

—————————————————————————————————————

4) YOUTH SERVICES & OUTREACH POSITION AVAILABLE

The Washington Talking Book & Braille Library (WTBBL), a program of the Washington State Library and the Office of the Secretary of State, is seeking a Youth Services & Outreach Librarian. This part-time (30 hours per week), permanent, entry-level position is located in Seattle. Statewide travel will be required to implement outreach events and activities.

For more information, including job description, qualifications, and application instructions, visit www.sos.wa.gov/office/employment.aspx.

—————————————————————————————————————

5) LETTERS ABOUT LITERATURE CHAMPIONS ANNOUNCED

“Letters About Literature” encourages young readers to write letters to their favorite authors, competing at the national level to win a $500 Target gift card and $10,000 for their community or school library. This is the seventh year Washington State Library has sponsored the competition as part of Washington Reads.

Clare Doran, a sixth grader at The Bush School in Seattle, is the 2012 Level 1 champion. Samantha Smith, an eighth grader at Blue Heron Middle School in Port Townsend, is the Level 2 champion. Oliver Reed, a tenth grader at North Central High School in Spokane, is the Level 3 champion. The three champions’ letters have been sent to the Library of Congress for the national competition. The results of the national judging will be released in early May. Read the winning letters at www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/LAL2012.

Approximately 5,500 Washington students entered the 2012 contest. 98 semifinalists advanced to round 3 state judging. All state semi-finalists will receive an award certificate in the mail. There will be a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda in Olympia at 11:00 a.m. May 11 during which the winners and semi-finalists will be acknowledged for their achievement.

To learn more about the 2012 competition, judging, and to see a list of the participating schools, use the link provided above. Thank you to all the students, teachers, librarians, and families who participate in Washington’s Letters About Literature program. Keep reading and writing!

—————————————————————————————————————

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

Monday, April 9, 2012:

• Deflection on WorldCat Resource Sharing (OCLC); 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. PDT;
• Everything I Need and Want is in the Teen Section: YA Spatial Practices in New U.S. Public Libraries (SJSU SLIS); 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. PDT;

Tuesday, April 10, 2012:

• The New Science of Building Great Teams: Analytics for Success (Harvard Business Review ); 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. PDT;
• 25 Twitter projects to engage your community and benefit your business (O’Reilly Community); 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. PDT;
• Custom Holdings on WorldCat Resource Sharing (OCLC); 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. PDT;
• ProQuest Research Library – With so many publications, how do you find the right one to search? (ProQuest); 11:00 – 11:30 a.m. PDT; www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/PQ245;
• Virtual Connections (WebJunction); 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PDT;
• Picture These: What’s New with Graphic Novels (Booklist); 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PDT;
• Apps for Speech Therapy and Autism (Accessible Technology Coalition ); 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PDT;
• Spring Adult Book Buzz (Library Journal); 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. PDT;

Wednesday, April 11, 2012:

• Snapshot Day: What It Is and How Your Library Will Benefit from Participating (NCompass Live); 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. PDT;
• Advanced Searching: Beyond the Single Search Box (ProQuest); 11:00 – 11:45 a.m. PDT: www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/PQ242;
• Intermediate Tips & Tricks for Microsoft Office 2010® Level 200 (New Horizons ); 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. PDT;
• Patron-Initiated Resource Sharing (OCLC); 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. PDT;
• Before You Seek a Grant: A Checklist for New Nonprofits (GrantSpace ); 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. PDT;
• Information Professional to Intelligence Analyst: Translating your LIS Skills (SJSU SLIS); 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. PDT;

Thursday, April 12, 2012:

• K-12 ProQuest Administrator Module (ProQuest); 8:30 a.m. PDT: www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/PQ243;
• Maximize the Value of Your OCLC ILL Subscription (OCLC ); 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PDT;
• K-12 Introduction to the New ProQuest Platform (ProQuest): www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/PQ244;
• History Study Center (ProQuest); 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. PDT: www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/PQ246;

Friday, April 13, 2012:

• eLibrary for Schools (ProQuest); 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. PDT: www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/PQ247.

For more information and to register (for those not linked above), visit the WSL Training Calendar at www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/training.

—————————————————————————————————————

Volume 8, March 1, 2012 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) 2012 LSTA GRANT CYCLES OPENING THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 2012

2) FIRST TUESDAYS – READERS’ ADVISORY ON FACEBOOK

3) FREE WEBINAR – EARLY BILINGUAL LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

4) REGISTER NOW FOR THE DÍAS DE CINE READING CLUB

5) WHAT DO TEENS WANT?

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

Read the rest of this entry »

Volume 8, February 16, 2012 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) TWO WTBBL WEBINARS: YOUTH SERVICES AND DIGITAL DOWNLOADS

2) FREE BOOKS FOR DISCUSSION KITS OR COMMUNITY READS

3) DOES YOUR LIBRARY NEED A MAKEOVER?

4) IT’S ALMOST TIME TO TURN THE PAGE

5) HAS YOUR LIBRARY’S FACEBOOK PAGE FLATLINED?

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

Read the rest of this entry »

Volume 7, October 20, 2011 for the WSL Updates mailing list

 Topics include:

1) WANTED – ONLINE RESOURCES CONSULTANT

2) MORE THAN JUST BOOK SALES

3) DON’T MISS THIS YEAR’S EARLY LEARNING SYMPOSIUM

4) SEEKING NOMINATIONS FOR CUTTING-EDGE LIBRARIES

5) SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE FOR 2012 ALA MIDWINTER MEETING

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

  Read the rest of this entry »

The Washington State Library free Fall Workshop is almost here!

Baby boomers and the generations that follow are seeking new ways to use their skills and experience to make a difference in their communities. While libraries are uniquely positioned to benefit from these volunteers, there is a disconnect between the volunteers’ intent and their actual participation because they do not find the volunteer opportunities they seek. Multiple studies have shown that boomers’ interests in volunteerism are vastly different from those of current “senior volunteers,” and that organizations seeking to recruit them will need to adjust their volunteer engagement practices.

WSL’s free fall workshop is focused on just that – how to start or “re-tool” a volunteer engagement program that will not only capture the talents of these potential volunteers, but will reap the benefits of ongoing support for the library that comes from having these persons meaningfully engaged.

This course will provide tools, techniques, resources and models for volunteer engagement so that participants will be able to: understand the potential for engaging high impact, skilled volunteers to assist libraries – baby boomers and the generations that follow, engage this talent to extend the library’s capacity in the community and to benefit from these new library advocates and supporters, understand what motivates volunteers in order to create diverse and meaningful skilled volunteer positions to attract a broad range of community volunteers, implement the elements of a successful volunteer engagement program; address potential barriers to volunteer engagement, including union issues and staff resistance; and understand current trends and issues in volunteer engagement, including online recruitment and legal issues.

Presented by Carla Lehn, The Lehn Group. For session dates, times and locations, and to register, click here.

Workshop sessions are from 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. and include lunch and light refreshments.

This workshop is funded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) through the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA).

Theresa Connolly, Audio Production Supervisor for the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library (WTBBL) is the Washington State Library (WSL) Employee of the Year.

The transition to digital talking books in both physical form (cartridge) and downloadable form on the internet has increased access and equity for the blind. Whereas many libraries similar to WTBBL are only recently switching to digital production of local books, thanks to Theresa’s leadership, WTBBL is far ahead of the game.

Theresa worked at WTBBL for 15 years and put the digital system in place. Then she left, returning in 2008 when WTBBL became a direct service of WSL to “finish what she started.”

“Theresa exemplifies the best characteristics of WSL staff,” notes Acting State Librarian Rand Simmons. “Theresa is easily one of the most fair, just, and thoughtful people I know,” adds WTBBL Manager Danielle Miller, “and her return wasn’t simply to see digitization through, but to improve information access for people often marginalized and with scant resources.”

In the last year, Theresa made WTBBL the only library in the nation to offer locally produced books for download; she was the first to try and master the Nation Library Service encryption program; the first to test and master the Book Wizard Producer program for marking up digital books; and she presented and spent hours and hours helping her peers to help their own programs meet standard set by WTBBL and Theresa’s Audio Production Department.

“During the last year, Theresa also juggled training new volunteers, preparing books, editing, building, and uploading books with a complete change in audio recording and production software and hardware,” Miller notes. “Throughout all the changes and hiccups, Theresa kept her department going and in fact produced more books than ever before and began a project to make older titles available in digital format.”

Theresa would say she is not a technology person, and while that may be true to her, from Miller’s perspective she is the best kind of technology person: one who takes time to play and try and fail, and discover the best way to explain to another person. She also is aware there will be exceptions and work-arounds and she deals with these with humor and grace.

“I chose Theresa as the State Library’s Employee of the Year because she exemplifies an ideal employee of the Office of the Secretary of State and the Washington State Library,” Simmons remarked. Miller adds, “She is smart, committed, capable, creative, unrelenting, and a joy to her colleagues and the patrons she serves, both internal and external.”

Volume 7, July 28, 2011 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) IMLS NEEDS YOUR INPUT

2) THE BOTTOM LINE ON VOLUNTEERS

3) MORA AWARD APPLICATIONS DUE AUGUST 15

4) BUILD-A-BEAR GRANTS

5) HOW TO SECURE FUNDING FROM FOUNDATIONS

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

Read the rest of this entry »

David Junius, Volunteer Coordinator at the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library (WTBBL), is featured in the first Spirit of Service column in the Library of Congress National Library Service Update (January-June 2011).

David has been with the Library since August 2008 and he brought with him a rich background in nonprofit organizations (Seattle and San Francisco) and a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Washington. David is a natural fit. WTBBL hosts around 400 volunteers annually who contribute about 32,000 hours, the equivalent of 15 full-time staff members. He reports that the per hour value of a volunteer in Washington is more than $21.00 bringing the annual contribution of WTBBL volunteers to more than $670,000.

WTBBL Director, Danielle Millers say, “David has a real knack for getting along with anyone. He is kind and fair with all our volunteers, and we do have a very, very diverse group. David is great at finding the best fit for a volunteer and making them feel good about what they are doing. We are very lucky to have him!”

As the Outreach Coordinator, David promotes WTBBL and its services through presentations, exhibits at information fairs and the Reading Matters newsletter which he edits.

It is a pleasure to have David on the staff of the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library and the Washington State Library. Rand Simmons, State Librarian (Acting).

Volume 7, July 21, 2011 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) LAST CHANCE FOR EBOOK READER PILOT QUESTIONS

2) LAST CALL – LCW SPECIAL LIBRARIES REPRESENTATIVE

3) RECRUITING, USING, AND RETAINING VOLUNTEERS

4) FREE ADVOCACY TRAINING – REGISTRATION CLOSES JULY 27

5) FREE ONLINE CONFERENCE – TRENDS IN LIBRARY TRAINING

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

Read the rest of this entry »

Volume 7, July 14, 2011 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) WANTED – LCW SPECIAL LIBRARIES REPRESENTATIVE

2) FREE BOOKS FOR DISCUSSION KITS OR COMMUNITY READS

3) HELP SHAPE THE FUTURE OF IMLS

4) BOTTOM LINE ON VOLUNTEERS – DATE CORRECTION

5) BOOK GROUP BUZZING

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

Read the rest of this entry »