The Library Connection

The Monthly Newsletter of the Eastern Shores Library System
www.esls.lib.wi.us

Volume 32 Number 8  Aug 2012

SHEBOYGAN CHILDREN’S BOOK FESTIVAL
  October 12 – 14, 2012
Volunteer Now!

Click here for the Fall 2012 Bookmobile Schedule

Consultant as Interim Director

At the ESLS Library System Board of Trustees meeting on Monday, August 27 the Board voted to retain a consultant as Interim Director.  The Board agree that former ESLS System Director David Weinhold would be the best candidate due to a "learning curve," especially at budget time.  The Interim Director will be taking on the regular Director's duties but will also have as a priority investigating the possibility of merging with an adjacent library system.  Due to the merger situation the Board felt it was in the best interest of the System to retain a consultant and not hire a full time employee at this time.  This will save the System approximately $50,000 a year.

As soon as the Interim Director is hired the services of Bernie Bellin will no longer be needed.  Mr. Bellin  had been hired as a Consulting Library System Director for ESLS starting July 1, 2012.   It is hoped Mr. Weinhold will be retained in early September for a six month contract and then on a month to month basis.  The Board is hoping to receive monthly updates on the merger question.  

World Book Night 2013

A number of ESLS member libraries participated in World Book Night 2012.  The organizers are looking for library organizational participants.  WORLD BOOK NIGHT 2013 library organizational participants are making a commitment to (1) be a site for individual “book giver” volunteers* to pick up their shipment of books and (2) be an active advocate in their community for World Book Night 2013 and literacy.  (*Individuals in your community interested in being a “book giver” volunteer will be asked to complete the application on the World Book Night website.)

For more information about being an organizational participant and applying click here and then open the attachment in the middle of the page.  If you are interested please return the form to Danielle M. Alderson at dalderson@ala.org, fax to 312.280.5013 or mail to Attn:  Danielle M. Alderson, American Library Association, 50 East Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611.

World Book Night will be April 23, 2013.  The application deadline is October 1, 2012. 

Children's Librarians Corner

Book Bingo: Garnering Excitement for Books Through Games

Allyson Obermeier, Plymouth Public Libary

There are some kids who just naturally love reading.  They beg their mom or dad to bring them to the library, they check out stacks of books, and they eagerly tell you about the most recent story that has enthralled them.  Then, there are the kids who need a little more encouragement.  They may enjoy attending programs and performers at the library, but when it comes to checking out books, one or two titles are plenty.  As a youth librarian, I always want to make books more exciting and desirable, especially to those kids who might not see them that way yet.  That was why I decided to hold a game of Book Bingo as the final program for this year’s Summer Library Program. 

Book bingo is similar to regular bingo, but the participants win free books when they get a BINGO.  The game cards also feature book titles in the spaces instead of letters and numbers.  This was a wonderful way to help books become fun and exciting as part of a game.  I was also glad to be able to give books to kids to keep as their very own.  I won’t go into great detail about how I conducted my book bingo games here, but I will give a few highlights of what I learned to help anyone who’s considering a similar program.

· Split up the older kids and younger kids.  I held two sessions of book bingo on the same day: One in the morning for kids 7 years old and younger with an adult, and one in the afternoon for kids 8 years old and up.  The reason for this was to guarantee that anyone who couldn’t read comfortably on their own would have an adult to help them.  This saved me the trouble of running around, checking cards for the title I had just called out.

· Plan the prizes.  For my game, the first time anyone got bingo (five spaces blocked off in a vertical, horizontal, or diagonal row), I gave them a certificate to be exchanged for one free book after the game.  If anyone got bingo a second time, I offered them a sticker or a bat ring rather than another free book.  You may also consider offering a small prize to everyone who shows up, such as a book mark. 

· Make sure everyone wins at least once.  I didn’t take this into consideration when planning this program, and I really wish that I had.  While children need to learn that they can’t win every time, I feel that in this situation it’s more important to get books into every child’s hands than to teach hard lessons.  There were several kids who didn’t win a book and were very upset by it.  Next year, I will adjust my strategy so that every child gets bingo at least once. 

· Have a large selection of books to choose from.  Luckily, I had plenty of books at my disposal that had been previously purchased.  I put out different sets of books for the younger and older kids, but tried to keep a wide variety for each group and not make broad assumptions about reading levels.  For the younger kids I included everything from board books to shorter chapter books.  For the older kids I put out easy readers along with the shorter and longer chapter books.  I had both non-fiction and fiction titles in a variety of genres.  I wanted the kids to be able to find the book that suited them the most, especially since it would be their book to keep.

These are just a few of the things I learned during my book bingo program.  If you would like to know the particular mechanics of this program, please contact me at 892-4416, ext. 108.  I’m happy to share!  The great thing about Book Bingo is that it can be used to promote the library and reading for almost any event or time period.  The game truly does make the books more exciting, which was evident to me by the passionate reactions I witnessed both from the kids who did win books as well as those who did not.  These days, anything we can do to increase interest in reading is worth a try.

News From the Area

Mead Public Library is offering a Spanish Language Book Discussion Group.  The Discussion guide is Assistant Professor of Spanish José Álvarez-García, Lakeland College.  Participants should be able to read the works in Spanish and be able to easily take part in a discussion in Spanish.

In case you didn't get a chance to see the episode of History Detective, which included footage at the W. J. Niederkorn Library of Port Washington, you can watch the full episode by going to: http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/investigation/nazi-spy-toys/ .

ESLS Automation Librarian Paul Onufrak has installed Envisionware software at the public libraries in Plymouth, Saukville, Elkhart Lake, Cedarburg, Oostburg, and Kohler.  According to Paul, "the software is used to facilitate patron use of public Internet computers.  To use a computer controlled by Envisionware, patrons enter their barcode and PIN at the Envisionware prompt.  The patron can use the computer for a set period of time, usually 60 minutes."  This eliminates the need for library staff to maintain manual sign-up sheets and gives more accurate statistics. 

The Saukville and Oostburg libraries are using an additional module of Envisionware software to control printing from the public computers.  Any print jobs sent to the network printers are released by the circulation staff after payment. Starting in September, the printing module will also allow for patrons who bring in their own laptops to print via wireless to the library printers.  

The Literacy Council Project of the Family Resource Center will soon be moving to the Family Resource Center office in Plymouth.  The Literacy Council Project will continue to serve adult learners across Sheboygan County.  The upcoming move will consolidate all Family Resource Center programs in one location while continuing to provide direct services that help adult learners improve their reading and English language skills.

The Literacy Council Project has strong community partnerships in place in Sheboygan, Plymouth, Sheboygan Falls, Random Lake, Cedar Grove, Oostburg, and all across Sheboygan County.  Those partnerships play an extremely important role in ensuring that students know how to access the literacy services available to them.  Information about the Literacy Council services and volunteer opportunities are available online at www.frc-sc.org or by emailing frcliteracy@excel.net.

As of September 28, the Literacy Council Project’s new address will be 1500 Douglas Drive, Suite B, Plymouth, 53073 (in the Generations Building) and the new telephone number will be 920-892-6706.   

$1,000,000 more 

The ESLS Board of Trustees approved the grant application for the digital content buying pool at the August meeting.  To keep the statewide buying pool at one million dollars, $200,000 of LSTA funds has been allocated towards this goal.  For ESLS member libraries to participate in the Wisconsin Public Library Consortium (WPLC) and have access to the OverDrive collection they will need to contribute towards the remaining $800,000.  The $800,000 is divided amongst the library systems based upon a population and usage formula devised by the WPLC participants.  The U. S. S. Liberty Library Director John Hanson, who is on the LSTA Advisory Committee, reported at the Shared Library Automation Committee meeting on August 21, that the original LSTA funds that were going to be allotted to the buying pool was only $100,000.

The total cost for ESLS is $31,421 with $6,284 coming from the LSTA funds.  The other $25,135 is divided among the libraries according to director certification; Communities with library directors with a Grade One certificate: Cedarburg, Grafton, Mequon, Plymouth, Port Washington, Sheboygan and Sheboygan Falls will contribute $2,285; Grade Two: the Bookmobile, Lakeland College, Random Lake and Saukville will pay $1,523 and the communities of Cedar Grove, Elkhart Lake, Kohler and Oostburg will be contributing $762 to the pool.   

These are the Overdrive circulations by library from Jan 1, 2012 - July 31, 2012.  This is total OverDrive circulation, as ESLS libraries have also been purchasing titles for a system collection.  Library Directors can separate out statistics for the OverDrive Advantage collection. 

Don't Forget to Use These System Resources

Libraries may reserve computer labs for in-service training or use them with the public for programming. You have the option to use 10 laptops or 5 laptops.  Book these through Paula Siefert at 920-208-4900 ext 310 or psiefert@esls.lib.wi.us.

Bi-Folkal Kits are available through interlibrary loan.  Contact Alison Ross at 920-208-4900 ext 314 or aross@esls.lib.wi.us if you have questions.

The Ellison die machine and dies are available.  Seasonal dies include: apple, pumpkins, acorn, oak and maple leaves, moon and various Christmas dies including a gingerbread man. To view all the dies available and submit a form click here. Contact Paula Siefert at 920-208-4900 ext 310 or psiefert@esls.lib.wi.us if you have questions.

Workshop Opportunities

Eastern Shores Library System is a sponsoring partner of the workshop, Change in the Workplace being held at New Berlin Public Library on Thursday, September 27 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.  This will be a humorous, interactive and thought-provoking program. Presenter Debra J. Schmidt will help you "find out how to identify barriers to change, build rapport and reduce conflict."  

Debra J. Schmidt is  an author, consultant, trainer and professional speaker and owner of Loyalty Leader® Inc.. 

Coming in October, also at the New Berlin Public Library: Leadership Styles and Communication: The keys to your success!    To register for either workshop just click on the link for the workshop mentioned.

NISO webinars on E-books.  This is a series on the use of e-books within library services and the issues about this.  The webinars are being hosted by the F. L. Weyenberg Library of Mequon Thiensville from noon to 1:30 p.m.  Linda Bendix, Director of the F. L. Weyenberg Library is taking care of the local registration for the sessions.

The next NISO Webinar: Understanding Critical Elements of E-books: The Social Reading Experience of Sharing Bookmarks and will be at 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. on September 12. 

Also check out the upcoming WebJunction webinars by clicking here.

Interesting Items

* Bookworm Gardens at the UW-Sheboygan campus got a great review in the Madison State Journal this week.  Check out the article or better yet, while the children are in school, stop over and look around.  Bookworm Gardens is also a Community Partner of the Sheboygan Children's Book Festival.

* There will be a Youth Services meeting on Friday, October 5 at the Eastern Shores Library System offices.  The meeting will be from 9:15  to 12:30.  Please contact Paula Siefert if you have any questions or items to be discussed at the meeting.  Contact Paula at 920-208-4900 ext 310 or psiefert@esls.lib.wi.us.

* Don't forget Overdrive Training Month starting September 5.  Training month is free and included is "a completely new series of on demand learning modules, most running 5 to 20 minutes, to be released September 5 via our Learning Center".   To register go to http://www.overdrive.com/learningcenter/registration.aspx  

* As the CCBC will not be able to come to ESLS next year viewing their CCBC Shorts will be a great way to learn about brand new titles.  You can watch on Wednesdays: September 19, October 17, November 14, and December 12 at 9:00 a.m. The Shorts are sponsored by South Central Library System but open to public librarians. To register click on this link: 
http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/events/details.asp?catId=3

* The Beloit Mindset List for the Class of 2016.  

* Ozaukee County will review the County Library Service Appropriation Request for 2013 on Thursday, October 4, 2012 at 1:00 p.m. in the Ozaukee County Administration Building. Sheboygan County will review the budget request on Wednesday, October 3 at 3:30 p.m. in the Sheboygan County Administration Building.

www.esls.lib.wi.us