Courtesy of the Legislative Planning Committee, Washington Library Association Library Related Legislation. The Washington Library Association (WLA) tracks state legislative activity that will potentially affect Washington Libraries. Their tracker is posted weekly on this blog.

For information on the legislative process or becoming involved, see the WLA site referenced above.

Courtesy of the Legislative Planning Committee, Washington Library Association Library Related Legislation. The Washington Library Association (WLA) tracks state legislative activity that will potentially affect Washington Libraries. Their tracker is posted weekly on this blog.

For information on the legislative process or becoming involved, see the WLA site referenced above.

Courtesy of the Legislative Planning Committee, Washington Library Association Library Related Legislation. The Washington Library Association (WLA) tracks state legislative activity that will potentially affect Washington Libraries. Their tracker is posted weekly on this blog.

For information on the legislative process or becoming involved, see the WLA site referenced above.

Courtesy of the Legislative Planning Committee, Washington Library Association Library Related Legislation. The Washington Library Association (WLA) tracks state legislative activity that will potentially affect Washington Libraries. Their tracker is posted weekly on this blog.

For information on the legislative process or becoming involved, see the WLA site referenced above.

Two universities in Washington State were awards three grants by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Laura Bush 21st Century Librarians Program

This grant program supports efforts to recruit and educate the next generation of librarians and the faculty who will prepare them for careers in library science. It also supports grants for research related to library education and library staffing needs, curriculum development, and continuing education and training.

Washington State University Libraries – Pullman, WA
Award Amount: $499,186

“Collaborative Stewardship: Providing Sustainable Digital Heritage Training for Tribal Libraries, Archives, and Museums” is a three year partnership among Washington State University, the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries and Museums, the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center, and CoDA, the Center for Digital Archaeology, at the University of California Berkeley. The project will provide: 1) yearly hands on training workshops, 2) a national online digital workbench registry to connect tribal archives, museums and libraries with key resources, 3) set of online resources and web-based tutorials that cover the lifecycle from digitizing to curation, sharing to preservation, all grounded in international standards based protocols as well as the incorporation of tribal cultural values and needs into the process, and 4) a “stewardship kit” that will include a set of guidelines to enhance the video tutorials and a clear step-by-step process detailing the stewardship models. These infographics and multimedia materials can be accessed and downloaded for local stewards to create and implement their digitization and preservation plans.

National Leadership Grants for Libraries

This grant program enhances the quality of library services nationwide by supporting innovative projects that can be widely replicated. Areas of funding include education, research, digitization, and library-museum collaboration.

Research-Support research that investigates key questions that are important to museum, library, and archival practice.

University of Washington – Seattle, WA
Grant Program: National Leadership Grants for Libraries
Program Category: Research
Award Amount: $471,054

The University of Washington, in partnership with Project Information Literacy, will conduct a large-scale quantitative study investigating how recent college graduates find, evaluate, and use information for lifelong learning once they leave campus, particularly in areas such as staying competitive in the workforce, engaging in civic affairs, and personal development. From the data collected and analyzed, researchers will study graduates’ information needs and the information systems they employ as lifelong learners. In related analysis, the team will also study the role libraries currently play in lifelong learning as well as opportunities to enhance lifelong learning that are feasible, practical, and affordable.

Planning Grants allow project teams to perform preliminary planning activities that could lead to a subsequent full project, such as needs and feasibility analyses, solidifying partnerships, developing project work plans, or developing prototypes or proofs of concept. Applications for Planning Grants must include at least one formal partner in addition to the lead applicant.

University of Washington Libraries – Seattle, WA
Grant Program: National Leadership Grants for Libraries
Program Category: Planning Grants
Award Amount: $80,035

The University of Washington Libraries and the Music Library Association (MLA) will conduct a one-year project titled, “National Forum on Online-Only Music: 21st Century Sound Recording Collection in Crisis.” Today’s music industry is increasingly favoring online-only, direct-to-consumer music distribution. This project will examine the possibility of creating an online option to access music collections in library environments. UW and MLA will hire five expert consultants, hold one planning meeting, bring stakeholders together in three national forum meetings, analyze content of the meetings, and develop approaches to the issues including, ideally, a licensing scenario in which libraries may purchase and provide access to online-only music.

Nineteen tribes were awarded funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for Native American Library Services grants.

Native American Library Services Enhancement Grants

Native American Library Services Enhancement Grant projects may enhance existing library services or implement new library services, particularly as they relate to the goals in the updated Museum and Library Services Act (20 U.S.C. §9141):

Makah Tribal Council – Neah Bay, WA
Award Amount: $129,436

On behalf of the Makah Nation, the Makah Cultural and Research Center (MCRC) will undertake a multifaceted project that will include the research and development of lectures, information kits, a booklet, a traveling photo exhibit, and instructional videos documenting the important annual cultural celebration called Makah Days. It will also include a lecture series on Makah genealogy to assist tribal members in understanding their personal and family history and how they fit into the fabric of the tribe. The ongoing community need for enhanced technology skills will be addressed with a series of computer classes in partnership with the local high school that will be free to community members. Honors students will provide one-on-one mentoring alongside the instructor. Collections policy and preservation plans will also be developed for the ever-expanding manuscripts collection in the MCRC.

Suquamish Tribal Council – Suquamish, WA
Award Amount: $147,493

The Suquamish Tribe will provide programs, instruction, and resources that will foster positive relationships between the generations—youth and elders, students and teachers, and the community at large. The “Connections: Relationships, Resources & Reading Project” will bring together a team from the Suquamish Tribal Library, Chief Kitsap Academy, Tribal Education Department, Suquamish Museum, Elders Council, and Youth Council as well as the North Kitsap School District, to engage students with culturally relevant learning styles and rigorous academic curricula. An important component of the project will pair students with elders in a reciprocal mentoring program in which elders will share their cultural knowledge with students who will digitally record their stories and, in turn, share their technological expertise with the elders. The new resources developed with this grant will provide fresh and accurate materials for the new “Since Time Immemorial: Tribal Sovereignty in Washington State” statewide curriculum.

Native American Library Services Basic Grants

The Native American Library Services Basic Grant is noncompetitive and distributed in equal amounts among eligible applicants. Basic Grants are available to support existing library operations and to maintain core library services. The Education/Assessment Option is supplemental to the Basic Grants. It is also noncompetitive and must be requested. The purpose of the Education/Assessment Option is to provide funding for library staff to attend continuing education courses and training workshops on- or off-site, for library staff to attend or give presentations at conferences related to library services, and to hire a consultant for an on-site professional library assessment.

Quinault Indian Tribe – Taholah, WA
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Stillaguamish Tribe of Washington – Arlington, WA
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Kalispel Tribe of Indians – Usk, WA
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Port Gamble Band of S’Klallam Indians – Kingston, WA
Year: 2013
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe – Tokeland, WA
Year: 2013
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Makah Tribal Council – Neah Bay, WA
Year: 2013
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Spokane Tribe of Indians – Wellpinit, WA
Year: 2013
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Upper Skagit Indian Tribe – Sedro Woolley, WA
Year: 2013
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe – Sequim, WA
Year: 2013
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Lummi Indian Business Council – Bellingham, WA
Year: 2013
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Samish Indian Nation – Anacortes, WA
Year: 2013
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Lower Elwha Tribal Community Council – Port Angeles, WA
Year: 2013
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Suquamish Tribal Council – Suquamish, WA
Year: 2013
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Squaxin Island Tribe – Shelton, WA
Year: 2013
Amount: $6,000
Grant: Basic Grants

Nisqually Indian Tribe – Olympia, WA
Year: 2013
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Yakama Tribal Council – Toppenish, WA
Year: 2013
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Nooksack Indian Tribe – Deming, WA
Year: 2013
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Seven museums or similar entities in Washington State have been awarded over $800,000 by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the Museums for America grants program. One museum was awarded funds under the Sparks! Ignition Grants for Museums.

Museums for America

The Museums for America (MFA) program supports projects that strengthen the ability of an individual museum to serve its public.

MFA grants support activities that strengthen museums as active resources for lifelong learning, as important institutions in the establishment of livable communities, and as good stewards of the nation’s collections.

Each museum award followings under the appropriate grant category..

Learning Experiences

IMLS places the learner at the center and supports engaging experiences in museums that prepare people to be full participants in their local communities and our global society.Projects should provide high-quality, inclusive, accessible, and audience-focused learning opportunities; provide access to collections, information, and educational resources; encourage the use of technologies; and develop programs for specific segments of the public.

Bellevue Botanical Garden Society – Bellevue, WA
Award Amount: $149,600; Matching Amount: $153,716

The Bellevue Botanical Garden will expand and enhance their existing interpretive programs to include a number of new tools. Building upon a previous IMLS-funded project, the garden will produce a new interactive visitor map, install interactive touchscreens in the new visitor orientation room, and develop an application for use on mobile devices. The garden will also design a project evaluation program so the staff can understand and respond to changing visitor interests and demographics over time. Designed to be intuitive and visually engaging, these new tools will pique the visitors’ curiosity and encourage them to be plant explorers and lifelong learners.

Seattle Aquarium Society – Seattle, WA
Award Amount: $103,821; Matching Amount: $103,829

The Seattle Aquarium will design, implement, and evaluate an aquarium classroom program, giving middle school students opportunities to experience how science is actually done. The project is designed to increase science and ocean literacy and STEM performance, and improve attitudes towards animal conservation. The museum will develop the program content in cooperation with practicing scientists, emphasizing the process by which scientists arrive at their conclusions. The project will include two introductory science-process inquiry activities and two content modules based on sea otter research conducted at the aquarium and ocean acidification research by a leading government researcher. The project deliverables will also include one kit based on each research module for interpretation in the aquarium galleries; one for community outreach programming; and one each for the outreach activities conducted by the researchers’ labs. The final product will be a set of guidelines for creating a research-based inquiry activity in cooperation with an active scientist.

Pacific Science Center Foundation – Seattle, WA
Award Amount: $117,340; Matching Amount: $120,619

Pacific Science Center will implement Exploring Earth System Science, a two-year project designed to increase visitors’ literacy of Earth system science through the delivery of programming on Science On a Sphere, a global display system using computers and video projectors to display planetary data on a six-foot-diameter sphere. Museum staff will develop nine content strands covering topics such as earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, and ocean science, with an emphasis on issues related to climate change. A rapid response framework for presentations about emerging natural disasters will be developed so that staff will be prepared to interpret data when a natural disaster occurs. As a result of the project, staff and volunteers will be prepared to provide an enhanced Science on a Sphere experience for community members who visit the museum.

Burke Museum Association, University of Washington – Seattle, WA
Award Amount: $120,557; Matching Amount: $121,201

The University of Washington’s Burke Museum will redesign its website to more effectively serve its visitors and support the museum’s mission, vision, and strategic goals. This project will draw on state-of-the-art user-experience research and proven approaches to design and create a new website that will incorporate visitor-centered technologies that are now commonly used by the news media. The result will be a website inspired by the vision and goals of the museum that meet the needs and expectations of its audience, draws people to the site through their own passions, curiosities, and interests, and more effectively fosters learning.

Community Anchors

IMLS promotes museums as strong community anchors that enhance civic engagement, cultural opportunities, and economic vitality.Projects should harness a museum’s expertise, knowledge, physical space, technology, or other resources in order to address a specific need originating in the community. Museums may undertake the project alone or in partnership with one or more community organizations.

Seattle Art Museum – Seattle, WA
Award Amount: $150,000; Matching Amount: $353,316

The Seattle Art Museum will test new strategies in programming, research, and community-building to broaden and deepen participation by young adults ages 18-35. Based on lessons learned from prior research and a pilot engagement project, the museum will integrate social and interactive experiences with artists and community leaders into several traditional programs. The museum will pilot and evaluate a rewards/participation card to help it evaluate young adult participation patterns to better serve and communicate with them. The project will also include an expansion of the museum’s community partners program, which involves cultural/creative/civic partners in using museum events to share their work more broadly. IMLS funds will be used to support key staff; honoraria for the artists involved in programming; and the development of the reward/engagement card. While targeting young adults for increased participation and membership, the program will also benefit the public at large with a dynamic roster of museum experiences and better awareness of the city’s cultural and civic organizations.

Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience – Seattle, WA
Award Amount: $150,000; Matching Amount: $167,269

The Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience will produce a newly designed tour program to empower the Asian Pacific American community to share their stories, help stimulate the local economy, and promote the historic and cultural vibrancy of the district. The Chinatown International District, on the National Register of Historic Places, is Seattle’s lowest-income neighborhood, struggling with multiple issues that threaten its preservation. The revision of the tour program will emphasize community storytelling and audience engagement. A volunteer docent program will serve as a starting place for community member involvement, and technology capabilities will be improved to better analyze data and grow audiences. The project will provide staff and volunteer professional development and increase visitorship to the museum and the neighborhood.

Collections Stewardship

IMLS supports exemplary stewardship of museum collections and promotes the use of technology to facilitate discovery of knowledge and cultural heritage. Projects should address high priority collections care or conservation issues.

Note to applicants: The FY2014 Museums for America grant opportunity encompasses those types of proposals that were previously solicited through the Conservation Project Support program. IMLS maintains its commitment to collections care, conservation, and preservation, and encourages step-by-step, progressive approach to conservation.

No museums in Washington State were awarded funds under this category in 2013.

Sparks! Ignition Grants for Museums

The Sparks! Ignition Grants for Museums program is a special funding opportunity within the IMLS National Leadership Grants for Museums program, which supports projects that address problems, challenges, or needs of broad relevance to museums. These small grants encourage museums to prototype and evaluate specific innovations in the ways they operate and the services they provide resulting in new tools, products, services, or organizational practices.

Center for Wooden Boats – Seattle, WA
Award Amount: $24,748; Matching Amount: $1,302

The collection, storage, and care of large objects present ongoing challenges for museums of all sizes. The Center for Wooden Boats will test photogrammetry on large collection items, or macro-artifacts, to measure size and monitor changes over time. Changes in dimension can help alert collections managers to the need for active or preventative conservation treatment. The project team will develop, test, and refine a procedure for using photogrammetry to monitor dimensional stability on a variety of watercraft and other maritime macro-artifacts, resulting in procedures that will ultimately be usable in vastly different museum environments and subject areas.

Courtesy of the Legislative Planning Committee, Washington Library Association Library Related Legislation. The Washington Library Association (WLA) tracks state legislative activity that will potentially affect Washington Libraries. Their tracker is posted to the WLA web site and we will also post it weekly on this blog.

For information on the legislative process or becoming involved, see the WLA site referenced above.

And here is what survived and what didn’t during  the 63rd Legislature – 2013 Regular Session

On to Special Session!!

Courtesy of the Legislative Planning Committee, Washington Library Association Library Related Legislation. The Washington Library Association (WLA) tracks state legislative activity that will potentially affect Washington Libraries. Their tracker is posted to the WLA web site and we will also post it weekly on this blog.

For information on the legislative process or becoming involved, see the WLA site referenced above.

The EveryoneOn launch is Thursday, March 21, 2013.

 EveryoneOn is a national campaign powered by Connect2Compete, a national nonprofit organization bringing together leaders from communities, the private sector, and leading foundations. Through EveryoneOn programs and the power of technology, the lives of Americans will be improved – regardless of their age, race, geography, income, or education level.

The use of technology to access educational content is necessary to ensure future generations can compete in the global economy and to prepare them for the 21st century workforce.

Connect2Compete will help Americans access technology through three exciting offers: free digital literacy training, discounted high-speed Internet, and low-cost computers.

View the April 25^th C2C PSA video at http://everyoneon.org/about-us.

EveryoneOn has the reach to distribute PSA materials to 33,000 media outlets nationwide.

EveryoneOn has an SMS text-based message response program to help people find free computer and Internet training. 

English speakers text CONNECT to 30364. Spanish speakers text CONECTA to 30364.

EveryoneOn has a toll-free 1-855 phone number to help people find free computer and Internet training. 

People can call 1-855-387-9166 to find free computer and Internet training classes near them.

EveryoneOn has a website where people can use an online training locator tool.

Computer users can link to EveryoneOn.org, type in their zip code or their city and state to find free computer and Internet training classes near them. http://everyoneon.org/ and http://www.connect2compete.org/

All of the TV, radio, print, outdoor and digital PSAs from the EveryoneOn campaign direct people to one or more of the resources named above and will connect people to local digital literacy training providers.

EveryoneOn also has a Facebook presence and is on Twitter too.

Find EveryoneOn at http://www.facebook.com/EveryoneOn and #EveryoneOn

Libraries have been key players in providing computer and information literacy training and now are key players in ensuring the residents of their communities have access to digital literacy training.

EveryoneOn has a national reach but will also be very visible at the local community level during the three-year campaign. Libraries need to continue to be seen as meeting community needs in these very important ways. Entering information about your library’s digital literacy services into the EveryoneOn training tool will create additional awareness of your library for all of your community to see.

Want to learn more?

The EveryoneOn campaign toolkit is now available!

The Ad Council has created resources to describe the importance of EveryoneOn and to promote digital literacy in local communities. Libraries can begin using these materials at any time if they are ready and interested. Additional resources will continue to become available in the coming months. The toolkit currently includes:

• Background information
• Downloadable posters and graphics
• Tips on using the campaign materials and spreading the word

NEXT STEP:  In the coming weeks, libraries will be invited to view a webinar that will discuss EveryoneOn, the toolkit materials and how they can be used to support these efforts.

REMINDER:  The campaign launches on March 21, 2013, and several cities are working directly with Connect2Compete to host a local event to support EveryoneOn. We look forward to additional activities and roll-outs in communities across the US over the next three years!