The Library Connection
The Monthly Newsletter of the Eastern
Shores Library System
www.esls.lib.wi.us
Volume 31 Number 10 October 2011
Click here for the Winter 2011 Bookmobile Schedule
Creating Aging-Friendly Communities in Wisconsin: How Prepared is Your County for the Coming “Age Wave?” Part Two
This
is the second of three articles by Jane Jensen. Ms Jensen spoke
on July 20 during the Sheboygan County Government Works Week on this
timely topic.
In
2005, The National Association of Area Agencies on Aging-together with
several partners (e.g. the Metlife Foundation) conducted a national survey
of 10,000 communities wherein the focus was on assessing the extent to
which American communities had begun to plan for population aging.
A key finding in a report published in 2006 (Maturing
of America: Getting
Communities on Track for an Aging Population) was that fewer than half
(46%) had even begun to prepare for this important demographic trend.
The report state that “Although many communities have some
programs to address the needs of older adults, few have undertaken a
comprehensive assessment to make their communities “aging-friendly” or
livable for people of ages.
Findings from the 2010 follow-up survey reveals only limited progress
in advancing this goal. Indeed,
as a result of the severe economic challenges associated with the
recession, most communities have only been able to “hold the
line”-maintaining policies, programs and services already established.
Thus, they have not been able to move forward to the degree needed
to address the nation’s current “age wave.”
The survey captures encouraging steps forward in some areas, and
retrenchment in others. But overall, it appears that many communities are struggling
to maintain the status quo. Source:
National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (2011).
The Maturing
of America: Communities
Moving Forward for an Aging Population, Washington, D.C.
How prepared is your community
for the coming boom of older persons?
How will your community be impacted by population aging in the
areas of families/family caregiving, housing, transportation, health and
supportive services, arts and culture, lifelong learning, public safety,
civic engagement and volunteer opportunities, parks and recreation and
workforce development and education?
What might be possible community responses to these community
impacts?
A community can take steps in
order to become more “aging-friendly.”
Assemble a team of public and private leaders/stakeholders in the
community and provide education to increase awareness of population aging. Assess the community’s aging-readiness in areas ranging
from housing, nutrition and wellness to public safety and community
connectedness using a variety of assessment tools.
Take focused action and promote success. Set a long-term course and obtain the necessary resources.
For more information please
contact: Jane E. Jensen,
Family Living Educator, UW-Extension Sheboygan County, 5 University Drive,
Sheboygan, WI 53081
Telephone: (920)
459-5900 E-mail:
jane.jensen@ces.uwex.edu
W.
J. Niederkorn to Celebrate 50 Years
The W. J. Niederkorn Library of Port Washington will be celebrating 50 years at it's current address on Grand Avenue. Started in 1898 by the Woman's Club as the Reading Room Library, the Port Washington Public Library's name was changed fifty years ago when the founder of the Simplicity Manufacturing Company made a substantial donation "both financial and personal" to a new building project, according to The Story of William J. Niederkorn by Charles Larson, now available online in the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections, through an LSTA grant.
2011 also marks the tenth anniversary of the library building expansion and 113 years of library service to the residents of Port Washington. The Friends of the W. J. Niederkorn Library are sponsoring a celebration at the County Inn and Suites in Port Washington at Noon on Sunday, November 13th. A luncheon will be served. Reservations are necessary and interested persons should contact the library at 262-284-5031 by Friday, November 5th.
After lunch guest author Wendy Webb will be speaking about her novel, The Tale of Halycyon Crane. Book signing will follow the program. For more information visit the library website by clicking here.
Search for more local information in the
University
of Wisconsin Digital Collections (UWDC) or go directly to the Ozaukee
County Local History collection. The go live
date for the Ozaukee County Local history collection is November 1.
If you encounter problems using the collection please contact Alison Ross
at aross@esls.lib.wi.us . 
Sources for this story: The Story of William J. Niederkorn: http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/WI/WI-idx?id=WI.OzNiederkorn
Port Washington 1835 to 1985: http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/WI/WI-idx?id=WI.OzPortWash1985
Tea and Service: 100 Year History of the Port Washington Woman's Club: http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/WI/WI-idx?id=WI.OzTeaService
Children's
Librarians Corner
Early Release Day Movies
By Beth Kiskunas, Cedar Grove Library
A challenge we continually face at our library is trying to meet the
ever-changing needs of our community. One of our most successful ventures
has been our Early Release Day Lunch and a Movie. At least 4 times each
school year, our school district has an early release day where the
students are dismissed at noon. Of course, this has all working parents
scrambling to find child care for their young children.
Since our library is within walking distance of the elementary school,
we started offering lunch and a movie on those days. This offers parents
freee adult supervision for their children from noon until 2:30 p.m.
The parents are responsible for getting the children to the library, but
since there is a steady stream of students between the two points on Movie
day, only the kindergartners really need any supervision.
The students bring their lunches along and are shepherded into our
community room. There they sit on the floor or on a limited amount of
chairs. Most prefer the floor. They are given one half hour to eat and
then all food must be put away in their backpacks outside the room and the
floor must be clean before the movie starts—a wonderful way to get the
room clean. We usually show as current a movie as possible.
If the children don’t own the movie, they are much more
attentive. For example, we will be showing Cars
2 on November 4. Attendance averages between 80-100 children. We have
one staff person who supervises the kids and remarkably little discipline
problems. These events dramatically increase foot traffic through the
library and give us positive publicity in the community.
How
To Organize Program Planning
David Weinhold, Director of Eastern Shores Library System
Recently a question came
to the Association of Rural and Small Libraries (ARSL) message list on how
to organize and track the planning of library programs.
This is a summary of the responses.
Create a template in an Excel spreadsheet so you can track a number of items and keep track of budgeted and/or anticipated costs. When planning programming, you might want to include the following:
Staff needed
Experts/speakers
Equipment needed
Space/Room
Costs
For example: If you are going to plan the program Cooking on a Budget, you will need a staff member or two to greet and moderate the evening; a cooking expert; a meeting room w/cooking facilities or a table with table-top electric skillets, etc.; seats for the audience; budget for food prep; Also possible door prizes, aprons etc....
You also might want to
break down your year into "quarters" and plan that way. Keep in
mind the major events of each quarter (tax seasons, holidays, etc.)
Libraries are challenged by limited staffing for events, so plan
accordingly. Determine what
you can do; do not overwhelm yourself or your staff.
Other programs can include book displays, book discussion groups,
special displays, special guests, receptions, etc. Don't forget the
children's department. Summer Reading Programs are extensively planned for
by most libraries, but don't forget other programs based on authors’
birthdays, holidays, etc. Use
Chase's Calendar of Events for inspiration.
Make sure you have an
idea of places you can publicize the event.
For example, one librarian writes a weekly library column for the
local newspaper. It is read
both in print and online. She also has a library message list that reaches over 5,000
people; posts to four Facebook accounts and Twitter; puts information on
the library web-page of the Town website; has a printed and online
calendar; and she usually puts things in the monthly community newsletter
that her Town publishes which goes into the water bill and is read both
online and in print (it reaches over 8,000).
All of these promotional avenues are free.
Know your community needs
as you plan your programming. If you live in a predominantly over 55
community, you may not have much need for a week day story-time, but a
Saturday one might go over because of visiting grandchildren. In a village
or city with lots of free musical, theatrical and other events for the
public, there may not be much demand for adult programming at your
library. Try to have some of those events presented or scheduled at the library.
Another thing to be take into consideration is when the programs are scheduled. Depending on your community no one may attend anything the two weeks right before a holiday like Christmas or the week before Thanksgiving as everyone is otherwise occupied. On the other hand, since schools are dismissed for some holidays, you may wish to consider some kid’s programming during the day.
Also, keep in mind that not all libraries include funds in their budget for programming. Many of them rely on their Friends groups or try inexpensive programs, relying on volunteers. For example, one reply stated that its library’s programs come from the patrons who use the library...this is another good reason to strike up conversations with patrons while checking them out, after a program, or while you are helping them find items. Those patrons may provide the program for free or a nominal fee.
You can borrow lots of great ideas from the ARSL conference handouts by clicking here.
From the 2011 conference, you can look at: “Do It Yourself Programming” and “Adult Programs on a Zero Budget” presentations. And there are more helpful hints in the archives from previous years’ conferences.
And for the program planner, a respondent stated: “...It never hurts to schedule one month to be used as a planning or 'mental health' month.” Programming can be very intensive and you need time to take a break and be refreshed.
Author Visits
Author M. T. Anderson, a participant at the Sheboygan Children's Book Festival spoke to a small group of volunteers about one of his presentations. Mr. Anderson related his experience at North High School where he spoke to students for his scheduled time and then due to such great interest by the students extended it to three hours! With many school districts facing cutbacks partnering with the Sheboygan Children's Book Festival can be a great way to bring an author to your school.
This blog post by author Jay Asher (Thirteen Reasons Why), 31 Days of Authors: Author Firsts (by Jay Asher!) also relates the great experience of author and teens. Generally, authors are not speakers, yet they are expected to speak in public about their books, often to a large audiences. It is one thing to speak to children, but speaking to a room full of teens and trying to keep their attention can be intimidating. The authors participating in the Sheboygan Children's Book Festival were very well received.
Contact Jo Ann Dent or Karin Menzer of the Sheboygan Children's Book Festival Committee for more information on how your school might have an author visit next year!
Jo Ann Dent's email: childrensbookfest@gmail.com or contact Karin Menzer at Mead Public Library by calling 920-459-3404 and asking to speak with Karin.
Fall Reference Workshop
Kim Dalhaimer has announced that the Fall Reference Workshop will be held on Wednesday, November 30 at Mead Public Library in the Rocca Meeting Room. According to Kim, "Two techno wizards from Best Buy will show us how to use various e-readers, including demonstrations of how to download books." Other functions connected with these products will also be presented.
Watch for more information from Kim in the next few weeks.
Ozaukee County Service Request
On October 6, the Ozaukee County's Executive
Committee approved a request to modify the Ozaukee County Library Service
Plan to reimburse the libraries at the 85% level. Currently the
plan, reimburses some of the libraries at the 85% level and some libraries
at the 70% level. The proposed reimbursement level provides an
additional $5,028 to libraries that serve Ozaukee County non-libraried
residents.
The libraries that benefit from this change are: Elkhart Lake, Kohler, Oostburg, Plymouth, Mead Public Library, Sheboygan Falls, and F.L. Weyenberg Library of Mequon Thiensville. Although the reimbursement level for these libraries is increased, the County Library Service appropriation for 2012 is $17,284 less than the current year's appropriation. The County Library Tax rate decreases a penny, from $0.27 per $1000 of equalized value to $0.26 per $1000 of equalized value.
The plan now goes to the full County Board for approval on November 2.
Sheboygan County Service Request
A
public hearing on the 2012 Sheboygan County budget, which cuts the
property tax levy slightly but raises the tax rate by 5 cents was held
on Tuesday, October 25.
News From the Area
According to Port Washington’s September Board of
Trustees minutes their “ book drop was recently vandalized with
gasoline. The library lost 5 books and had to pay $100 to replace them.
There was a lot of staff time needed for clean up”. The
good news is one patron donated $100 and another brought in cookies for
the staff in support of their efforts.
Director David Nimmer is collecting information on motion detectors and other lighting options for the exterior of the library. The library will also be adding an automatic fire extinguisher that would go off if the book drop hits 145 degrees.
The
U.S. S. Liberty Memorial Library Pubic Library of Grafton has just adopted
new policies regarding Vacation
and Paid Time Off and a new Grievance
Procedure. According to Director John Hansen, " The
new policies should not have much of an impact on staff, since they are
similar to current policies. The
grievance policy was updated to include a hearing officer in one of the
steps of a grievance." The Village of Grafton not only posts
the agendas and minutes in a timely manner online, but also the
accompanying materials.
Commenting on the
recently formed committee to investigate shared library services with
Cedarburg he stated, "There is no current initiative to consolidate
library services with Cedarburg. It was decided that both library boards
would meet somewhat regularly to discuss collaboration."
Interesting Items
* Dr. Steve Matthews of the 21st Century Library Blog writes about the Five Challenges Every Librarian Must Face.
* From Will Manley, "a trustee for the Livermore (CA) Public Library, and the author of nine books on the lighter side of librarianship", the post Will Unwound comes Bad Boss Behaviors. Watch out for the employee pot luck.
* News from the Swiss Army Librarian, Warner Video Restricting DVD Sales to Libraries .
* It will cost 45 cents to mail a First-Class letter on January 22,2012. For other postal increases click here.
* Shirley Lukenbill, a lecturer at the School of Information, University of Texas at Austin has shared a program designed by graduate students in computer science at the University for school librarians, Order in the Library. To try it click here.
* Preparing for a
Disaster: Writing and Updating a Comprehensive Disaster Preparedness and
Emergency Response Plan for Cultural Collections on November 13, 2011;
10:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. at the John Michael Kohler Art Center in Sheboygan.
This is a one-day disaster plan writing workshop held in conjunction with the
Wisconsin Federation of Museums. A MACC Preservation Specialist will
discuss all aspects of writing a Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Response
Plan specifically for collections. you'll receive: practical instruction
on writing a plan outline for your cultural institution; relevant articles on
disaster topics; and examples of other Disaster Plans. You'll learn
response priorities and how to best deal with the different types of disasters
that could affect your collection. Writing a good disaster Plan can be the
most important collection care measure your institution ever takes! Learn
more and sign up here.
* This is an interesting article on preserving your digital photos by Butch Lazorchak of the Library of Congress, Four Easy Tips for Preserving Your Digital Photographs .
* Texting questions to Ask a Librarian is now available at UW-Madison.
