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

This ALA Washington office webinar will reveal the secrets to getting policymakers at all levels-whether your local city councilperson, a state legislator or a member of the U.S. Congress-to take libraries seriously. If you’re looking for more funding, a better policy environment or just a little positive attention, this is the session for you.

Learn the differences between being heard and being agreed with and how you can move policymakers from one side to the other. Look at five critical steps to capturing the attention and support of your policymakers that are effective either as a follow-up for attendees of the ALA Legislative Advocacy Day rally or as stand-alone efforts to boost awareness. Attendees will come away from the session with a concrete plan for moving forward on core relationship-building activities.

This session is open to library staff and leadership, friends, trustees, students-anyone who supports libraries. Oh, and the one that always works? Well, you’ll have to join the webinar to find out!

Tuesday, July 27, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. PDT. Register for this free ALA Washington Office Webinar at bit.ly/dfNy4l.

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2) AMERICAN HERITAGE PRESERVATION GRANTS

Small and medium-sized libraries, museums, and archives have until September 15, 2010 to apply for grants of up to $3,000 to help them conserve endangered and fragile materials that typify the American experience. The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the Bank of America Charitable Foundation have partnered to make this funding available. More information about this opportunity, including links to the grant program guidelines and general criteria for libraries and museums may be found at www.imls.gov/collections/grants/ahpg.htm.

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3) INFORMATION LITERACY PROGRAMS FOR LIBRARIANS

Complete information literacy program kits for preschool through high school are available from the Indiana Library Federation and the Leading Edge Librarians. These are appropriate for use by school or public librarians. Each program was developed using the same format for ease of use. Included are:

• Detailed program directions for presenter;
• Audience program handouts and suggestions for extended activities;
• Planning forms, budgets, and timelines;
• Samples of publicity and suggested advocacy;
• Surveys and evaluations;
• Bibliographies.

The Leading Edge Librarians Academy is a group of empowered educator-librarians who are trained to design, pilot and package high-impact library programs that incorporate information literacy skills for library patrons. Over 30 of these fully developed program kits can be found via this shortcut link: www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/edge.

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4) TO UPGRADE MS OFFICE OR NOT

The latest version of Microsoft’s Office was released last month. Should you upgrade? Help your nonprofit or public library determine what’s new with the new Office and why there may be some compelling reasons to make the switch.

In this free webinar co-hosted by TechSoup and Microsoft, Elliot Harmon from TechSoup, author of What Your Organization Should Know About Office 2010, will be joined by a Microsoft expert to highlight some of the new features of the Office suite. They will review new features like Web Apps for improved online collaboration, the Social Connector tool to bridge your Outlook to social media tools, as well as improvements to built-in image and video-editing features. They’ll also discuss the pros and cons of upgrading at your organization, compatibility with older versions of the Office suite, and how you can go about upgrading your donation through TechSoup or Microsoft Software Assurance.

Tuesday, July 27, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. PDT. The webinar is free, but space is limited so register today via this shortcut: www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/Office.

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5) PICTURING AMERICA SCHOOL COLLABORATION PROJECTS

Building on the national distribution of Picturing America, the National Endowment for the Humanities invites proposals for local and regional projects that foster collaboration between K-12 teachers and humanities scholars to encourage engagement with the rich resources of American art to tell America’s story. Priority will be given to collaborative projects designed to help teachers incorporate Picturing America images into the teaching of core subjects in the following Picturing America historic themes: leadership, freedom and equality, democracy, courage, landscape, and creativity and ingenuity.

The application deadline is October 7, 2010. For more information, visit www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/PASCP.html. This announcement courtesy of GrantStation and the Washington State Dept. of Commerce.

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6) LOOK FOR A JOB USING ONLINE SOURCES

Are you finding yourself being a job counselor for many of your library users? This free webinar will provide you with relevant, practical links for assisting job seekers. Learn which sites have the best results and are easy for people to use independently. Tips will be shared on building a strong online presence in regards to job searches. The presenter, Carolyn Davidson Brewer, has been a librarian for over 12 years and has also worked as a social worker assisting with Texas Workforce Solutions.

Wednesday, July 28, 12:00 – 1:15 p.m. PDT. For more information and to register for this Texas State Library Webinar, use this shortcut: www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/TXjob.

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7) MATCH YOUR SKILLS TO THE BEST CAREER FOR YOU

Are your current job responsibilities more difficult than others you’ve had? Do you feel like you might be in the wrong career? Are you looking for a better job, one better suited to you? Led by best-selling author Chuck Martin, this webcast explores the results of a two-year study of high performing business people. This research reveals the cognitive characteristics or strengths found in successful people by job title, department and industry. You will learn:

• How to quickly and easily determine your 12 Executive Skills;
• How strengths and weaknesses play out at work;
• How to leverage your own strengths;
• How to identify and leverage the strengths of those you manage;
• How to determine what are the best types of jobs for you;
• Where others with the same strengths as yours are successful.

Wednesday, July 28, 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. PDT. For more information or to register for this free American Management Association webcast, follow this shortcut: www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/strengths.

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