Library Development staff at the Washington State Library have long compiled information on our activities to share with our advisory committee, the Library Council of Washington. We do this four times a year in conjunction with the Library Council meetings held in March, May, September and November. We have now taken this report, converted it to a PDF format and posted it at http://www.sos.wa.gov/_assets/library/libraries/Serving_Libraries.pdf.

While not inclusive of everything we do it highlights our activities in several key areas. These are: 1) consulting with library staff, local officials, and others; 2) meetings attended; 3) presentations made; 4) site visits; 5) service to library related organizations; and 6) short updates on projects, programs and services undertaken by Library Development staff at the Washington State Library. Hopefully this will increase your understanding of what we do to support libraries throughout the state. It might also give you thought regarding activities we undertake that could also serve your library and its staff.

For instance, did you know that Joe Olayvar adapted the workshop presentation he did at WALE and presented basic pc troubleshooting as a TechSoup webinar? Or that Gary Bortel is working with Cathlamet Public Library on a proof of concept pilot project using Koha as an integrated library systems platform for small libraries? Or that Evelyn Lindberg is working with small public libraries providing webpage training in conjunction with the development of a web front-end / content management system back-end (Drupal) to make it possible for small libraries to more easily provide online content for their patrons and other website visitors? These are just three examples of the work occurring everyday within Library Development at the Washington State Library.

We hope that you will follow us throughout the year as we continue to serve the libraries of Washington State, and through our library community, the residents of our State.

Jeff Martin, Library Development Program Manager, Washington State Library

3.21 EveryoneOn and Connect2Compete

http://www.everyoneon.org/ and http://www.connect2compete.org/

Someone asked the other day what all the fuss is about. Do libraries really need to pay attention to this national campaign? At this point we don’t know if the campaign will create a ripple or a splash, or if it will gain a huge amount of momentum over the three years of the campaign.

What we do know is that it allows another layer of society to have access to technology and Internet services at modest prices. For those most poverty stricken, the available technology and access to Internet will still be out of their reach. In this sense, and in either case, libraries will still be a critical piece of bridging the digital divide.

What we also know is that the campaign directs people to their local library, Goodwill, and other digital literacy training providers. From the EveryoneOn website, people will be able to access a search box which will return a list of libraries and other providers within a certain distance from the city and state, or zip code that is entered. For public libraries, at a minimum, their location and contact information will be provided. Libraries also have the opportunity, at the branch level, to enter information about the services they provide at each location.

My guess is that with the number of national organizations behind this effort, awareness of the campaign will not be an issue. Some four billion dollars of direct contributions and in-kind funding are being directed to this effort. Intel, Best Buy, Citi Group, Morgan Stanley, Four H, Boys and Girls Club, IMLS, United Way, TechSoup, National Urban League, Microsoft, ALA, Goodwill, Cox, Time Warner, Cablevision, Brainfuse, CareerBuilder, Learning Express, Sesame Street, and a host of others have signed on.

I would suspect libraries will be contacted whether or not they post more information to the EveryoneOn site. March 21, 2013 is the national kickoff to this three year campaign. Library staff should be prepared to be contacted by the ones and twos, the tens, the hundreds, and for the largest library locations perhaps the thousands, all of whom will want to know more about the services and the trainings their local library provides.

Jeff Martin, Library Development Program Manager, Washington State Library

 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.

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

The first phase of the legislative session is over, the first bill cut-off has been reached. Bills that were not voted out of committee are technically dead for session.  They could be revived by a procedural motion on the Floor, but this is rare.

Bills that did pass out of committee, and do not have any fiscal impact on the budget go straight to the Rules Committee which is the “gate-keeper” to the Floor of the House or Senate.

For bills that have a fiscal impact they have moved to the Senate Ways & Means or House Appropriations.  To remain alive, these bills must be voted out of their respective fiscal committee by (March 1, 2013).  From there they go to the Rules Committee.

Bills can still be amended in fiscal committees or the Floor, but not in Rules Committee.  When this happens the amendments are usually rolled into a Substitute bill.  This can result in a total rewrite of the bill. 

As bills continue to move through the process and are amended, we will continue to send these updated versions. Bills marked with strike-through indicate those bills which are technically dead. 

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.

NoaNet, the Columbia County Health System, and the Columbia County Rural Library District are hosting an open house on Tuesday, February 19th from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. to celebrate the completion of broadband expansion to Dayton. The event will be held at Dayton Memorial Library, 111 S. 3rd Street, Dayton, WA 99328.

Learn how high-speed Internet access will benefit Dayton and SE Washington. Dayton is one of 170 communities throughout Washington State that will be served by this expanded high-speed broadband network. It is envisioned that hospitals and other health care organizations, libraries, schools, colleges and universities, and emergency responders can receive benefit from enhanced connectivity.

Read more about broadband coming to other communities in Washington State by linking to http://www.washingtonbroadband.org/news.aspx and scroll  down to the section, “In the news…”

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.

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.

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 library, like other institutions, is not an isolated and independent structure. It is organically related to the rest of society and, therefore, it is influenced by many social forces, including the distribution of the population, wealth, economic trends, taxation methods, trading areas, improved communication and transportation, the increased mechanization and the resulting leisure, and the trend toward regionalism. The development of the library as an institution appears meaningful only when its development is related to the impact of these social forces…” 

“If the effectiveness of the library as a social institution is to be increased, library development in the future must be planned along the lines indicated by the social trends which are now apparent.”

“As a whole, the modern library is conceived by the professional librarian predominantly as an institution serving a group rather than a storehouse of books. That is, the stress is on use, rather than on keeping and preserving material.”

If you guessed that this was written about the modern library in the digital age you would be wrong. Credit must be given to June Voss Strother who in 1938 included these words as part of the introduction in her Master’s Thesis, The Development and the Adequacy of the Library as an Institution in the State of Washington in fulfillment of the Masters of Arts at the University of Washington.

I would agree that the public library then and now is about much more than being a storehouse of books and of keeping and preserving materials. The public library is integral to its community and the people living there. The public library is there to serve the needs of residents and must adapt to changes in information and society if it is to remain relevant.

Jeff Martin
Acting Library Development Program Manager
Washington State Library

The 2012 CE Forum brought together Continuing Education and Training Coordinators from State Libraries across the nation. Over three days, August 27 – 29, 2012, numerous activities took place such as: the Coordinators presented selected training successes and challenges in their states; broadband adoption and digital literacy implementation was discussed; the groundbreaking Edge Benchmarks were reviewed; and an very active session on “Envisioning the Future of the Library” took place. The Envisioning the Future session allowed participants to discuss future trends in libraries and how those trends impact training needs in libraries across the nation.

What would a get-together be without a bit of downtime and fun. A reception was held Monday evening at WTBBL and dinner on Tuesday night was served at Pasta Freska. Both provided time for much conversation and interaction.

Many comments were received acknowledging the great organizational work done by Jennifer Fenton to put the 2012 CE Forum together. Many comments were also received complimenting Rand Simmons for his work as emcee. Washington Talking Book and Braille Library staff made the reception on Monday night a great success and a fun event. Library development staff provided great support both before and throughout the event.

A huge shout out for a very successful 2012 CE Forum. Thanks to all for your great work in moving the CE Forum forward.