Volume 5, October 29, 2009 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) LETTERS ABOUT LITERATURE 2009-2010

2) FIRST TUESDAYS PRESENTS THE CHARITABLE TRUST DIRECTORY

3) ADVOCATE FOR WASHINGTON LIBRARIES AT ALA

4) NEW ADDRESS FOR WSL BLOG

5) WESTPAS RECOVERY TEAM HEADS FOR AMERICAN SAMOA

6) FREE WEBINAR – HELPING JOB SEEKERS IN THE LIBRARY

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1) LETTERS ABOUT LITERATURE 2009-2010

The Letters About Literature contest for 2009-2010 has begun. Entries must be postmarked by December 12, 2009. Letters About Literature encourages young readers to read a book and write a letter to the author about how the book changed their view of the world. This is the fifth year Washington State Library has sponsored the competition as part of Washington Reads.

To learn about this year’s contest, please visit the Washington State Library’s Letters About Literature website at www.secstate.wa.gov/library/lal/.

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2) FIRST TUESDAYS PRESENTS THE CHARITABLE TRUST DIRECTORY

Don’t forget the First Tuesdays webinar at 9 a.m. on November 3rd. This month’s program will be a detailed presentation about a wonderful tool for helping individuals and organizations get together with local charities and trusts: the Charitable Trust Directory, a Washington State publication. Here is the link with directions for signing onto the program: www.secstate.wa.gov/quicklinks/wimba.

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3) ADVOCATE FOR WASHINGTON LIBRARIES AT ALA

Will you be attending the ALA conference in Washington D.C. June 24-29, 2010? If so, WLA’s Federal Relations Coordinators would love to hear from you. Each May, Rand Simmons and Kristie Kirkpatrick coordinate a team of library advocates for National Library Legislative Day (NLLD) in Washington, D.C. Advocating on behalf of the Washington Library Association (WLA), the trip involves educating our state’s legislators about issues that affect our libraries and library users.

Because this year’s ALA conference will be held in DC, NLLD, which will be called Library Advocacy Day, is being combined with that event and held on June 29. Rand and Kristie hope to involve library directors (or designated staff) who might be attending ALA in this important legislative process. Please contact them if you would like to participate:

• Kristie Kirkpatrick, 509-397-4366, [email protected]
• Rand Simmons, 360-570-5585, [email protected]

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4) NEW ADDRESS FOR WSL BLOG

The Washington State Library blog is changing its address from blogs.secstate.wa.gov/library to blogs.sos.wa.gov/library. This is the first visible part of a larger address change for the Office of the Secretary of State, of which the Washington State Library is a division. All of the agency web site and e-mail addresses will eventually be changed as well. The changes will be phased in between now and the end of the calendar year.

Further announcements will follow as various address changes are implemented. In the meantime, the old address will remain active for as long as necessary to ensure all subscribers and visitors have become accustomed to the new address.

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5) WESTPAS RECOVERY TEAM HEADS FOR AMERICAN SAMOA

A task force dedicated to preserving vital records has departed for American Samoa in the wake of the devastating tsunami of September 29. Lynn Ann Davis, Head of the University of Hawaii at Manoa Library Preservation Department, is leading a WESTPAS (Western States and Territories Preservation Assistance Service) recovery task force to the island chain. The task force will work with government agencies and libraries to recover documents and holdings damaged by salt water from the tsunami.

A year ago, Davis taught WESTPAS disaster preparedness workshops in Pago Pago. During the two-part workshop participants completed disaster preparedness plans for each institution. The importance of advanced training and planning was demonstrated by successful post-tsunami salvage efforts in Pago Pago.

Founded in 2007, WESTPAS is a regional library and archives preservation service. Its initial goal is to deliver education and training workshops on disaster preparedness, response, and collection salvage to staff of libraries and archives in 14 participating states and territories. In Washington, WESTPAS disaster preparedness workshops are co-sponsored by the Washington State Library and the Washington State Archives. For more information on WESTPAS, visit www.westpas.org or contact Gary Menges, the WESTPAS trainer for Washington: [email protected].

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6) FREE WEBINAR – HELPING JOB SEEKERS IN THE LIBRARY

Your library has been helping the unemployed and underemployed (aka job seekers) in your community for a long time. However, the declining economy over the past year has dramatically increased the demands on library staff, services, and resources. Would you like to learn about some successful programs in other libraries? Do you wonder if there are some new ideas you could try for getting patrons started? Would you like to know the resources other libraries recommend to job seekers? Are you interested in partnerships but feel unsure who to talk to?

This Infopeople webinar will help you by introducing three successful programs, giving you a fresh look at getting started in helping job seekers, providing information about some “best resources,” and exploring agencies and organizations you may consider partnering with. At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Assess where job seekers are in the job search process
• Identify at least three new job search resources
• List local agencies or organizations to pursue as possible partners

This free Infopeople webinar is scheduled for November 10, 2009, 12-1 p.m. PST. Pre-registration is not required. For more information and to participate, use this shortcut link: www.secstate.wa.gov/quicklinks/jobseekers. If you are unable to attend the live event, you can access the archived version the next day. Check the archive listings at www.infopeople.org/training/webcasts/list/archived.

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