Volume 10, April 10, 2014 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) DISASTER RELIEF GRANTS

2) SENIORS – ANOTHER KIND OF DIGITAL DIVIDE

3) DÍA! DIVERSITY IN ACTION

4) CELEBRATE NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK

5) 2014 TEENS’ TOP TEN GIVEAWAY

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

—————————————————————————————————————

1) DISASTER RELIEF GRANTS

The Libri Foundation is offering a limited number of special non-matching BOOKS FOR CHILDREN grants to libraries serving rural communities affected by recent hurricanes, floods, or other natural disasters. Libraries receiving these grants will be able to select $700 worth of new, quality, hardcover children’s books from the Foundation’s 600-title booklist. No local matching funds are required. Libraries will be qualified on an individual basis.

In general, county libraries should serve a population under 16,000 and town libraries should serve a population under 10,000 (usually under 5,000). Libraries should be in a rural area, have a limited operating budget, and an active children’s department. Please note: Rural is usually considered to be at least 30 miles from a city with a population over 40,000.

Application packets for these special grants may be requested by mail, telephone, or fax from The Libri Foundation. Applications must be postmarked by Thursday, May 15, 2014. Grants will be awarded Saturday, May 31, 2014. Information about the Disaster Relief Grants is available at www.librifoundation.org/relief.html. Contact information for the Libri Foundation may be found by visiting librifoundation.org.

—————————————————————————————————————

2) SENIORS – ANOTHER KIND OF DIGITAL DIVIDE

America’s seniors have historically been late adopters to the world of technology compared to their younger compatriots, but their movement into digital life continues to deepen, according to newly released data from the Pew Research Center. The report, Older Adults and Technology Use, takes advantage of a particularly large survey to examine both technology use by Americans ages 65 or older compared to the rest of the population, as well as usage within the senior population.

Two different groups of older Americans emerge: The first group (which leans toward younger, more highly educated, or more affluent seniors) has relatively substantial technology assets, and also has a positive view toward the benefits of online platforms. The other (which tends to be older and less affluent, often with significant challenges with health or disability) is largely disconnected from the world of digital tools and services, both physically and psychologically.

As the internet plays an increasingly central role in connecting Americans of all ages to news and information, government services, health resources, and opportunities for social support, these divisions are noteworthy—particularly for the many organizations (such as libraries) and individual caregivers who serve the older adult population.

To read a summary of findings, or access the entire report, visit sos.wa.gov/q/Pew-Seniors.

—————————————————————————————————————

3) DÍA! DIVERSITY IN ACTION

It’s April – time to celebrate El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day). Día is a nationally recognized initiative that emphasizes the importance of literacy for all children from all backgrounds. It is a daily commitment to linking children and their families to diverse books, languages, and cultures. As part of the celebrations, the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of ALA, is offering numerous free Día resources to download including:

• Webinars;
• Press Kits;
• Día Family Book Club Toolkit;
• Posters;
• Resource Guide.

Register your 2014 programs at the new Día website and you will help build a searchable database that will enable you to share your program information with other librarians and members of the public interested in learning more about Día programs happening around the country. Libraries that register will also receive Día stickers, buttons and bookmarks (while supplies last).

For more information on Día and to add your program to the database, visit dia.ala.org.

—————————————————————————————————————

4) CELEBRATE NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK

Libraries and librarians have a powerful and positive impact on the lives of Americans on a daily basis. Their stories are key to communicating the value of libraries. National Library Week (April 13-19, 2014) is the perfect opportunity to encourage your community to tell the story of how the library has changed their lives. All participants will be entered into a grand-prize drawing for a Kindle Fire, so encourage your library lovers to start tweeting, snapping photos, and sharing their stories today by visiting sos.wa.gov/q/stories.

ALA’s Campaign for America’s Libraries has a variety of tools and ideas to help you promote the 2014 theme of “Lives change @ your library.” Promotional materials include a sample op-ed, proclamation, press release and scripts for use in radio ads. Visit ala.org/NLW.

National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. It is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation’s libraries and librarians and to promote library use.

—————————————————————————————————————

5) 2014 TEENS’ TOP TEN GIVEAWAY

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of ALA, is giving away 40 sets of the 2014 Teens’ Top Ten nominees to libraries in need. Qualified libraries can apply now through May 1 for a chance to win a set of the 2014 Teens’ Top Ten nominated titles. Individual library branches within a larger system are welcome to apply. For more information about the giveaway, and the Teens’ Top Ten, visit www.ala.org/yalsa/teenstopten.

The Teens’ Top Ten is a “teen choice” list, where teens nominate and choose their favorite books of the previous year. Nominators are members of teen book groups in 16 school and public libraries around the country. Nominations are posted on Celebrate Teen Literature Day, the Thursday of National Library Week, and teens across the country vote on their favorite titles each year. Readers age 12 to 18 will vote online between August and Teen Read Week in October.

This year, new teen book groups will be selected to be the nominators for future Teens’ Top Ten lists. The book groups will serve during the 2015-2016 term. For more information and to apply, visit the Teens’ Top Ten website using the link above.

—————————————————————————————————————

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

Monday, April 14:

• ProQuest Research Library – With so many publications, how do you find the right one to search? (ProQuest); 11:00 – 11:30 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/PQ1017;
• Common Core and ProQuest Resources (ProQuest); 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/PQ1013;
• eLibrary for Schools (ProQuest); 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/PQ1014;

Tuesday, April 15:

• Introduction to the ProQuest Platform (ProQuest); 8:00 – 8:45 a.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/PQ1012;
• Managing patron-initiated ILL requests in WorldCat Discovery (OCLC); 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/OCLC15Apr;
• The Power of the PowerLink 4 Control Unit (AbleNet University); 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/ANU15Apr;
• Bozarthzone! Truth About Social Learning (InSync Training); 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/BZ15Apr;
• The Scoop on Series Nonfiction: What’s New for Spring 2014 (Booklist); 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/BL15Apr;
• The New Volunteer Manager’s Toolkit (VolunteerMatch); 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/VM15Apr;
• LGBTQ Book Buzz (Library Journal); 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/LGBTQBuzz;
• Beyond an Apple a Day: Providing Consumer Health Information at Your Library – Part 1 of 2 (Texas State Library); 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/TSL15Apr;
• ProQuest Research Library and K12 Central (ProQuest); 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/PQ1015;
• SIRS Discoverer (ProQuest); 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/PQ1016;

Wednesday, April 16:

• NCompass Live: Killing Dewey (NCompass Live); 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/NComp16Apr;
• Becoming a Valued Player: A Toolkit for Personal and Professional Success (AMA); 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/AMA16Apr;
• QIAT (Quality Indicators for Assistive Technology) Session 8: Professional Development and Training in AT (Assistive Technology) (AbleNet University); 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. PST: sos.wa.gov/q/QIAT8;
• Effective Strategic Planning Part 2: Plan Development & Implementation (4Good); 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/4Good16Apr;
• Andy Griffiths Book Talk (School Library Journal/Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group); 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/SLJAndy;
• WorldShare Management Services Live Demonstration: Print Collections (OCLC); 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/OCLC16Apr;
• From Baby to Preschooler: Early Childhood Health Resources (Infopeople); 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/Info16Apr;
• Grantwriters as Strategic Leaders: Your Crucial Role (4Good); 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/4Good16AprPM;
• Clinical Trials.gov (National Network of Libraries of Medicine, PNR, RML); 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/RML;

Thursday, April 17:

• The Supercharged Management System (Heritage Preservation); 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/HPSuper;
• Creating Interactive Videos from Really Boring Talking Heads, Lectures and Demo Videos (Training Magazine Network); 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/TMN17Apr;
• Digital Natives vs. Digital Immigrants in the Classroom: What do Educators Need to Know? (AbleNet University); 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/ANU17Apr;
• Playing by the Rules: Creating an Effective Volunteer Handbook (VolunteerMatch); 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/VM17Apr;
• Ask the Expert: Everything You Wanted to Know about Nonprofit Tax Law (GuideStar); 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/taxlaw;
• Who’s Using WorldShare ILL Now? Practical advice from real users (OCLC); 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/OCLC17Apr;
• Decision making: Crystal Ball or Magic 8 Ball? (Colorado State Library); 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. PDT: cslinsession.cvlsites.org.

—————————————————————————————————————

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

• Facebook: on.fb.me/FBWSL;
• Twitter: twitter.com/WAStateLib.

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

This entertaining bit of creative thinking was covered by the Leavenworth Echo, March 25, 1904, page 3:

WEDNESDAY’S FIRE SECOND THIS YEAR

 G.S. Merriam’s House and J.H. Mitchell’s Household Goods a Total Loss

SNOW BALLS SAVED THE HOUSE

 Mrs. H.A. Anderson’s Lodging House Saved by Heroic Work

 “As if to show how utterly this town is at the mercy of the elements, and how entirely helpless its people are at a fire Leavenworth had a recurrence of what has happened here several times before, only in this case it was not such a serious matter, and but for the fact that the fire broke out in the daytime, with people all around, and heroic work it might have been worse.”

“On Wednesday afternoon, just a few minutes after six o’clock an alarm of fire attracted attention to Mrs. H.A. Anderson’s lodging house near the Congregational church.”

“The facts, as near as can be ascertained are that Mrs. Mitchell, who lived in a three roomed cottage about twelve or fifteen feet from Anderson’s house, went over to a neighbor’s house for a few moments before the fire broke out and left a good fire in the heater, which is one of those air tight stoves with all drafts turned off. The gas accumulated and an explosion followed, or at least someone heard what sounded like an explosion and immediately after flames shout out of the building. With the exception of a trunk and a few bed clothes all of the household goods of J.H. Mitchell were destroyed, on which there was no insurance. Mr. Mitchell is night watchman at the Lamb-Davis Lumber mill and left to go to his work not ten minutes before the fire broke out. The building, which belonged to G.S. Merriam, was partially insured.”

“Mrs. Anderson’s lodging house, which is a large and substantial frame structure and stood only about ten or fifteen feet from the house which burned was only saved by the hardest kind of work. At one time the entire east end of the house was ablaze and no water to be had, or at least in such inefficient quantities that it served no purpose. Several hundred men were standing around with their hands in their pockets, gazing in mute and helpless astonishment at the fast disappearing house of Mr. Merriam’s and the blazing one of Mrs. Anderson’s when some one without, perhaps, the serious thought of saving it, yelled, ‘let’s snow ball it.’ The suggestion was taken up at once by the crowd, which appeared to be waiting for someone to tell them what to do, and in much less time than it takes to tell it the end of the house was hit by thousands and thousands of snow balls from the hands of men and boys. To the writer it was an odd sight to see men and boys throwing snow balls with all theirmight, with an earnest, serious look on their faces. Snow balling is usually done amid shouting and laughing, but here all was quiet as a funeral. It soon became evident that the snowballs were having an effect and soon where a few moments before the entire end of the house was ablaze, there appeared a black charred and smoking surface. The fire had, however, made enough headway so that it had begun to burn under the cornice where it could not be reached with snowballs. A ladder was finally procured and some men got upon the roof and by tearing away the shingles a few buckets of water put out the last bit of fire that was left.”

“Mrs. H.A. Anderson, a most estimable widowed lady who owned and kept the house, was once before burned out in Leavenworth, and at that time had no insurance. Her loss on building and household goods will amount to five or six hundred dollars, which is covered by insurance. She expressed great satisfaction and was very thankful for the heroic work that was done in saving her house.”

“A report got out that Mrs. Mitchell’s baby had been left in the house and was burned up, but this it was learned was not so as she had taken it with her when she went to the neighbors.”

The Leavenworth Echo is still with us, and as any library cataloger will tell you, it is nothing short of astonishing that it has kept the same title since 1904. We have nearly a complete run in the collection, issues from 1904-1995 are on microfilm and can be sent to your library via inter-library loan.

Also, thanks to WSL’s participation in the National Digital Newspaper Program, historic issues of the Leavenworth Echo from 1904-1922 are available online.

Mrs. Anderson’s Lodging House also still exists in Leavenworth, and is called, oddly enough, Mrs. Anderson’s Lodging House. It is “now the oldest commercial wood frame building in Leavenworth,” thanks to the quick thinking of the snowball thinker upper in the crowd back in 1904.

We in the “librarian” profession are always working hard to better ourselves. We read hundreds of books every week (at least!), we memorize data and statistics for kicks, and we constantly remind ourselves that “Wikipedia is not a primary resource, Wikipedia is not a primary resource …”

We do a lot, dear patrons, to educate ourselves on how to serve you better. Happily, now you can return the favor.

Ancestry Magazine recently posted an online article, “10 Tips to Becoming an Effective Library Patron,” and in it you can learn the hallowed secrets that will allow you to get twice the benefit out of your library in half the time. Mainly a tool for those who use their libraries for genealogical research, there are nonetheless some great tips here for any library researcher, such as:

1. Come Prepared
2. Use the Online Catalog
3. Learn the Library’s Classification System
4. Ask about Materials That Aren’t Catalogued
5. Go Easy on the Library Staff
6. Gather Handouts and Brochures
7. Go Beyond the Genealogy Department
8. Respect the Material
9. Don’t Forget Interlibrary Loan
10. Use All Available Resources

Want to learn more about becoming a better library researcher? Check out the full article over at ancestrymagazine.com (don’t worry, it’s free).

Your librarians will answer your questions, day or night.

Have you ever had a question you couldn’t answer? Has Google left you empty-handed – or overwhelmed? Have you considered asking an expert for help?

Your library has professional information specialists (we just call them librarians) who know how to go beyond Google to find you the information you need. And now asking a librarian is just as convenient as searching the Web.

Over 60 libraries in Washington State have joined together to form Ask-WA, a statewide cooperative of libraries in Washington that is in turn part of a larger, global cooperative. Using Ask-WA’s easy online chat service you can get a quality answer within minutes, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Ask-WA’s friendly librarians are ready to help you with any question — from checking that pesky fact to helping you get started on in-depth research. Whatever your question, Ask-WA has answers from a professional you can trust.

In August, 2009, Washington residents used Ask-WA services through their local libraries to ask nearly 7,000 questions. Those who use the service are thrilled, and within just the last month have left such positive comments as:

“The librarian who helped me was excellent and I loved how he was able to link things that he was talking about directly on to my computer. Fantastic service – thanks for having it!”

“This was so easy, a high school student could do it. It’s nice to get information from REAL people once in a while.”

“I had been looking for this book through the Internet and it took me so long and I didn’t find it. I should of known I could chat with someone and have them as a professional find it for me! It took them about 1 to 2 minutes! That was awesome! Thanks!”

“We are so fortunate to have this service available. Incredible!”

Have a question that needs answering? Need help with genealogical research, citation styles, finding research-quality resources, or just settling a bet? No question is too big or too small.

Get answers now through your library’s web site, or ask via the official Ask-WA page at http://ask.wa.gov. For more information, or to find out if your library is participating in Ask-WA, contact the staff at your local library.