Volume 6, October 21, 2010 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) SDL NEEDS ASSESSMENT SURVEYS

2) GO TO THE WEB AND SAY AHH

3) WSL STAFF REMEMBERED

4) BULLYING SURVEY CLOSES THURSDAY AT 11:00 P.M.

5) FREE PRESERVATION WEBINAR SERIES

6) GRANTSTATION SUBSCRIPTION RENEWALS

7) PUBLIC LIBRARY INTERNET USE STUDY DEADLINE

8) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

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Volume 6, September 30, 2010 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) SDL NEEDS ASSESSMENT SURVEYS

2) WSL CONTRIBUTES 115,000 PAGES TO CHRONICLING AMERICA

3) FIRST TUESDAYS PRESENTS SUMMER READING PREVIEW

4) FREE PRESERVATION WORKSHOPS

5) LAURA BUSH 21ST CENTURY LIBRARIAN GRANTS

6) STRETCH DONATIONS FOR NOLO BOOKS

7) TRAVEL GRANTS TO ATTEND ALA MIDWINTER

8) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

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Volume 6, September 23, 2010 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) NEW DIGITAL COLLECTION – KIONA-BENTON CITY HERITAGE

2) 2009 WASHINGTON PUBLIC LIBRARY STATISTICAL REPORT

3) THERE’S STILL TIME TO TAKE THE SURVEY

4) SPARKS! IGNITION GRANTS

5) GREAT STORIES CLUB GRANTS FROM ALA

6) MUSEUMS FOR AMERICA GRANT PROGRAM

7) AMIGOS ANNOUNCES WESTERN RESOURCE SHARING AGREEMENT

8) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

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Volume 6, September 9, 2010 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) APPLY FOR A POSITION ON THE LIBRARY COUNCIL OF WASHINGTON

2) REF22 PRESENTS CHAT REFERENCE WITH TEENAGERS

3) HANDS-ON EAUDIOBOOK ORIENTATION SESSIONS

4) IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO REGISTER FOR EARLY LEARNING SYMPOSIUM

5) MY SKILLS MY FUTURE

6) ALCTS RDA E-FORUM

7) YOURS, MINE, OURS – LEADERSHIP THROUGH COLLABORATION

8) FREE ONLINE TRAINING NEXT WEEK

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Volume 6, September 2, 2010 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) FIRST TUESDAYS PRESENTS the Career Bridge database

2) CONNECTING THE DOTS WEBSITE

3) FIND AN EARLY LEARNING FAIR IN YOUR AREA

4) BOOKS FOR BABIES

5) CIRCLE OF LEARNING SCHOLARSHIPS

6) ALA ANNUAL CONFERENCE FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

7) UPCOMING FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES

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Volume 6, July 22, 2010 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) GETTING POLICYMAKERS TO LISTEN – ONE THING THAT *ALWAYS* WORKS

2) AMERICAN HERITAGE PRESERVATION GRANTS

3) INFORMATION LITERACY PROGRAMS FOR LIBRARIANS

4) TO UPGRADE MS OFFICE OR NOT

5) PICTURING AMERICA SCHOOL COLLABORATION PROJECTS

6) LOOK FOR A JOB USING ONLINE SOURCES

7) MATCH YOUR SKILLS TO THE BEST CAREER FOR YOU

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Volume 6, July 1, 2010 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) WASHINGTON READS – WASHINGTON AS PLACE

2) FIRST TUESDAYS – ELLUMINATION!

3) FREE ONLINE CLASSES FROM WSL AND AMIGOS

4) WSL OFFERS FUNDING FOR ARSL-ABOS CONFERENCE

5) OPPORTUNITY TO ORDER DISCOUNTED FLIP CAMCORDERS

6) COME TO THE FAIR

7) E-GOVERNMENT TOOLKIT RELEASED

8) TEN SOCIAL MEDIA TIPS & SECRETS

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Volume 6, June 10, 2010 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) BCR TO LYRASIS TRANSITION HAPPENING NOW

2) EARLY LEARNING – TIME IS RUNNING OUT TO HAVE YOUR SAY

3) LOUISA MAY ALCOTT LIBRARY GRANTS

4) FLIP-IN’ OUT @ THE LIBRARY

5) NEW POSSIBILITIES IN COOPERATIVE CATALOGING?

6) TALK UP YOUR VALUE IN 30 TO 60 SECONDS

7) CREATING INVITING LOW COST TEEN SPACES

8) CHRISTIAN FICTION BOOK BUZZ

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The American Library Association released on January 12th a new report detailing economic trends in US libraries and providing an outlook for 2010. Says ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels: “This report was prepared to inform and assist library leaders as they plan in these very difficult times. It succinctly brings together diverse strands of data from the past decade to provide a useful benchmark for the library community and its advocates.”

There’s some great data in the report worth looking at, including some of the following snippets about public libraries:

• 25.4 million Americans reported using their public library more than 20 times in the last year, up from 20.3 million households in 2006.
• The average number of  in-person public  library visits rose to 12.7  in 2009 from 9.1 in 2006.
• Use  of  the  public  library  by  computer  (from  home,  work  or  school)  doubled from 2006 to 2009 (6 times per year, up from 2.9 times in 2006).
• 22% of Americans visited their public library by computer from home, office or school more often in the last 6 months. This percentage may seem low, but it is about 51 million Americans.

The report contains a lot of information about the economic situations of libraries in the past ten years, and uses graphs and charts to help display information in a meaningful way. You can download the full report (or library type-specific reports), and view the full press release, over at the ALA web site.

The last few months I have been reading the emails posted on the ALA Libary Service to Prisoners Forum, and I have been very interested in the different ways the libraries handle the material and what they are able to do in each library. There seems to be a wide range of what the libraries offer, as well as how they are managed.

Here in Washington State we run the prison libraries similar to a public library, but we really don’t have any programs that we offer through the library. This has a lot to do with staffing and funding, as we lack quantity in both of these areas. However, we do have it better then some libraries who do not have any funding at all and rely on donations from other sources. Then I look at libraries like  the correctional libraries that are run by Hennepin County Library in Minnesota. This library manages to find time and funding to print out a newsletter, “Freedom Ticket“, publish inmate poetry books, host author events, writer’s workshops, and more. Does this make us less of a prison library?

I don’t think it does. We provide an essential service to the inmates with books and CDs covering a wide range of interests. Re-entry and education are also  priorities for our library and we do our best to provide the best possible service. Truthfully that is what it all comes down to at a prison library or any library for that matter; providing the best possible service. Libraries that “only” have donated material, have dedicated library staff who take the time to solicit those donations, to process those donations for check out, and to keep them coming to the inmates. Their efforts are appreciated by the inmates and truthfully their patrons are the ones who count in the grand scheme of libraries, even prison libraries.

Not all prison libraries are the same, but all do the best they can with what they have; money and staffing are always nice, but are not always available.