WA Secretary of State Blogs

WSL Updates for December 7, 2017

Wednesday, December 6th, 2017 Posted in For Libraries, Grants and Funding, Letters About Literature, News, Training and Continuing Education, Updates | Comments Off on WSL Updates for December 7, 2017


Volume 13, December 7, 2017 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) LETTERS ABOUT LITERATURE 2018

2) EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE WORKSHOPS

3) ZINES CONTEST DEADLINE NEAR

4) EVALUATE HEALTH APPS

5) IMLS GRANT OPPORTUNITY

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

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1) LETTERS ABOUT LITERATURE 2018

The Letters About Literature contest encourages young readers in grades 4-12 to read a book and write a letter to the author about how the book changed their view of the world or themselves. Students can write about works of fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. Entries in Spanish are accepted and will be translated for the Washington State judges.

Letter writers compete at three levels: Level 1: grades 4-6; Level 2: grades 7-8; Level 3: grades 9-12. State judges select the top letter writer in each level and the three winning letters advance to the national competition. The three state champions will each receive a $125 cash prize and the champions, runners up, and honorable mentions will be honored at an awards ceremony. State semifinalists will receive an award certificate in the mail. National winners receive a $1,000 cash prize and national honor winners receive a $200 cash prize.

Entries may be submitted through a school or library, or individually. Individual entries must be signed by a parent or guardian. The entry deadline for this year’s contest is January 12, 2018 for all levels. For more information and entry forms: sos.wa.gov/q/LAL2018.

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2) EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE WORKSHOPS

Work that is focused on public service can be both rewarding and costly. Being mindful of our own work narrative and understanding how we deal with conflict are two key areas that require our attention. Participants in this 3-hour workshop will learn how to: identify and adjust their self-talk; understand their personal work mission; develop awareness of cycles of conflict; and improve clarity and effectiveness of communication.

Registration is now open for “Self-Talk and Emotional Intelligence: Improving your Work Narrative.” Workshops are offered January through March 2018 in Vancouver, Tacoma, Marysville, Seattle and Richland. For more information and to register, visit sos.wa.gov/q/EI.

This workshop is sponsored by the Washington State Library and is funded in part by the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) through the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA).

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3) ZINES CONTEST DEADLINE NEAR

The deadline for the Washington Historical Zine contest is fast approaching but it’s still not too late to create your Historical Zine! All entries must be postmarked by December 15th. For more information and the entry form, go to sos.wa.gov/q/Zine.

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4) EVALUATE HEALTH APPS

Today mobile applications connect more people to health, wellness, and fitness information than ever before. How can librarians help consumers and patients navigate the growing field of wellness applications? Across all mobile platforms, fitness and health applications are some of the most popular and most frequently downloaded. By better understanding how to evaluate applications, librarians can help patients and patrons make informed decisions about the apps that they choose to download.

“There’s an App for That! Consumer Apps for Health & Fitness” is the next session of the PNR Rendezvous monthly webinar from NNLM PNR. No registration is required.

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5) IMLS GRANT OPPORTUNITY

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is accepting applications for the second cycle of the FY 2018 National Leadership Grants for Libraries (NLG-L) and Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program (LB21). This is the final opportunity to apply for the FY 2018 NLG-L and LB21 grant programs.

The NLG-L program invests in projects that address challenges faced by the library and archive fields and generate results such as new tools, research findings, or models that can be widely used. The LB21 program supports professional development and training projects for libraries and archives.

From the preliminary proposals received by the February 1 deadline, IMLS will select applicants and invite them to submit full proposals by June 8, 2018. Informational webinars will be held Tuesday, December 12 at 11:00 p.m. PST and (repeated) on Thursday, December 14, 12:00 p.m. PST with program staff to answer questions from potential applicants. Recordings of the webinars will also be made available on the IMLS website. For information about how to participate in the webinars or to access the webinar recordings, visit the IMLS webinar webpage, which includes information about system compatibility.

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6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

Monday, December 11

Tuesday, December 12

Wednesday, December 13

Thursday, December 14

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DISCLAIMER: The State Library regularly highlights third-party events and online resources as a way to alert the library community to training and resource opportunities.  By doing so, we are not endorsing the content of the event, nor promoting any specific product, but merely providing this information as an FYI to librarians who must then decide what is right for them.

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WSL Updates for July 27, 2017

Wednesday, July 26th, 2017 Posted in For Libraries, Grants and Funding, News, Training and Continuing Education, Updates, Washington Center for the Book | Comments Off on WSL Updates for July 27, 2017


Volume 13, July 27, 2017 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) STEM PROGRAMS – FIRST TUESDAYS

2) WASHINGTON READS – ONE STATE/ONE BOOK

3) WELCOME TO SKILLPORT

4) LIBRARIES READY TO CODE

5) IMLS GRANTS WEBINAR

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

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1) STEM PROGRAMS – FIRST TUESDAYS

There is a wealth of information available regarding STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) but how does one decide what type of STEM program(s) to implement into the classroom, library, grade level, school or district? This free webinar explores possible ways to implement STEM ranging from simple to complex depending on the amount of time and energy you feel that you can allocate to STEM.

“Implementing STEM Programs: to fit your time constraints and comfort levels,” will be presented by Jane Rizika, Teacher Librarian, East Olympia Elementary School, August 1, 2017, 9:00 a.m., Pacific Time. sos.wa.gov/q/FirstTuesdays.

First Tuesdays is designed as a continuing-education opportunity for staff of libraries in Washington State. This free web presentation allows attendees to share their skills and successes and learn about new topics. The special-subject presentations, lasting about 60 minutes, are recorded so that others may listen at their own convenience. Past sessions are archived here: sos.wa.gov/q/Broadcasts.

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2) WASHINGTON READS – ONE STATE/ONE BOOK

By now we hope you’ve heard about the new partnership between the Seattle Public Library and the Washington State Library – the Washington Center for the Book. A major goal for this partnership is to bring all of Washington State and all types of libraries together through literature. We are in the early stages of planning a statewide Washington Reads program and your library’s information and input would be very helpful to us as we move forward. If they haven’t already done so, please ask your community reads coordinator to help us with our planning by filling out a short survey or fill it out yourself, if you’re that person. Here’s the link: www.surveymonkey.com/r/N6QMJ7D. Thank you!

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3) WELCOME TO SKILLPORT

Staff of all types of libraries in Washington now have free access to Skillsoft (via Skillport), a learning management system with access to online self-paced courses and instructional videos. There are hundreds of available topics ranging from using Microsoft Office and Windows, to leadership essentials, to creating budgets. It’s easy to set up a series of classes on a specific topic, too. Register for free and select Washington as your state – you qualify through the Washington State Library’s partnership with OCLC WebJunction.

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4) LIBRARIES READY TO CODE

Applications are being accepted through August for Libraries Ready to Code grants from ALA and Google. The goal is to fund a cohort of school and public libraries to develop resources to help get U.S. libraries “Ready to Code.” The $500,000 pilot program is part of Phase III of Libraries Ready to Code, an ongoing collaboration between ALA and Google to ensure expert library professionals are prepared to develop and deliver programming that promotes computer science and computational thinking among youth, two skills that will be required for challenges and jobs of the future.

25 to 50 participating libraries will receive funding from ALA, along with consulting expertise and operational support from Google. Individual libraries may use funding for devices, staffing, marketing and other costs associated with piloting an educational toolkit developed in partnership, by libraries, for libraries.

The toolkit, set to release in conjunction with National Library Week in April 2018, will consist of computer science resources that libraries find most useful for designing and implementing youth computer science programming. This cohort of libraries will also initiate a community of practice to sustain momentum and build expertise across thousands of school and public U.S. libraries.

To apply for Libraries Ready to Code grants, visit www.ala.org/tools/readytocode.

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5) IMLS GRANTS WEBINAR

Learn more about the National Leadership and Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Grants programs from IMLS (the Institute of Museum and Library Services) during the third informational webinar to be held on Monday, July 31, 12:00 p.m. PDT. Use this shortcut link to join the webinar: sos.wa.gov/q/GrantsWebinar.

National Leadership Grants for Libraries (NLG-L) support projects that address significant challenges and opportunities facing the library and archives fields and that have the potential to advance theory and practice. Successful proposals will generate results such as new tools, research findings, models, services, practices, or alliances that will be widely used, adapted, scaled, or replicated to extend the benefits of federal investment.

The Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program (LB21) supports developing a diverse workforce of librarians to better meet the changing learning and information needs of the American public by: enhancing the training and professional development of librarians, developing faculty and library leaders, and recruiting and educating the next generation of librarians.

For more information on IMLS grants, visit www.imls.gov/grants.

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6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

Monday, July 31

Tuesday, August 1

Wednesday, August 2

Thursday, August 3

Friday, August 4

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DISCLAIMER: The State Library regularly highlights third-party events and online resources as a way to alert the library community to training and resource opportunities. By doing so, we are not endorsing the content of the event, nor promoting any specific product, but merely providing this information as an FYI to librarians who must then decide what is right for them.

Subscribe to WSL presents: News from Washington Libraries!

The Washington State Library has gone social! Friend/follow us at:

 

WSL Updates for January 12, 2017

Thursday, January 12th, 2017 Posted in For Libraries, Grants and Funding, Training and Continuing Education, Updates | Comments Off on WSL Updates for January 12, 2017


Volume 13, January 12, 2017 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) LSTA ANNUAL REPORT

2) WRITING EFFECTIVE EMAIL

3) FREE COMPUTERS – MIA LAB GRANTS

4) TEEN VIDEO CHALLENGE

5) IMLS GRANT OPPORTUNITIES

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

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