The Library Connection
The Monthly Newsletter of the Eastern
Shores Library System
www.esls.lib.wi.us
Volume 30 Number 12 December 2010
Click here for the Winter 2011 Bookmobile Schedule
Compliance with System Membership Requirements
On Thursday, December 16 Director David Weinhold held an informational session reviewing system membership requirements, the authority of the library system to enforce compliance with the requirements, and the process the Library system undertakes to achieve compliance at the Cedar Grove Public Library.
These are a few of the more noteworthy questions and answers:
Does
the library system lose state aid if the library is not in compliance?
No,
the library system does not lose state aid during the time that the
library is not in compliance. If
the library withdraws or is expelled from the library system, then the
state aid to the library system would be reduced.
Does
the compliance issue have any effect on the Resource Library contract?
No, not directly. As long as the resource library is able to carry out the contract and accomplish its contractual obligations, there is no direct effect from the compliance issue.
Are
other libraries in the state having MOE compliance issues?
There
is only one other library that is may have a MOE compliance issue for 2011
and that is the Appleton Public Library.
The libraries that had MOE compliance issues in 2010 are in
compliance for MOE for 2011, including the Milwaukee Public Library.
Would
service to non-libraried residents be affected by the library not being in
compliance?
No, the library is still a member of the library system during this time and it continues to provide library services to all system residents. If a library is expelled or withdraws it will still continue to serve non-libraried residents under the county library service program.
If
Mead loses system membership, would they be reinstated if they are able to
meet MOE in 2012?
The library would not lose system membership (withdraw or expelled) before the end of the calendar year. So if the library was to comply for 2012, they would remain a member of the system unless the library decided to withdraw.
If
Mead does not lose system membership, would they remain the resource
library for Eastern Shores? If
not; and the responsibility falls to another library, could you please
address the concerns of the other library being a net-borrower; as opposed
to Mead as a net-lender and how that will affect our patrons, wait times,
and request lists.
Mead
would remain the resource library for ESLS as long as the library has the
largest operating budget in the system and concludes the agreement to be
the resource library. The
resource library statute provides a method to contract for additional
resource library services if the eligible resource library is unable to
meet the resource library requirements.
There are other resource libraries in the state that are net
lenders.
Has
the Eastern Shores Library System considered how the effects of not
enforcing any penalties to Mead, by not meeting the MOE requirement, might
be a dangerous precedent to set for other municipalities which may result
in less funding for our own budgets?
Yes, and the Library System is required to enforce compliance with system membership requirements. Statutes allows the library system to withhold library system services if a library is not in compliance. The library system's decision to withhold services is subject to DLTCL(Division for Libraries, Technology and Community Learning) approval. The DLTCL could withhold the Library System’s state aids if we do not enforce the membership requirement.
For more information on compliance and other questions and answers from the session click here.
New Director Chosen for Elkhart Lake Public Library
Elizabeth (Betty) McCartney has been selected as the Director of the Elkhart Lake Public Library. Betty had been serving as Interim Director since this summer. The 24 hour per week position duties include all aspects of library administration.
A few of the duties of the director are: to attend
monthly meetings of the Library Board of Trustees, to jointly prepare and
propose the annual library budget with and for the Trustees, to plan and
supervise the work of the library, to maintain the libraries materials
collection by selecting, purchasing, cataloging and withdrawing books,
magazines, music and videos, and to supervise the part-time staff.
Children's
Librarians Corner
Try, Try Again
Ashley Pike, Patron Services Librarian of the Frank L. Weyenberg Library
This fall, our library
tried to do something a little different with our programming.
We have had adult book clubs in the past and the attendance was
spotty at best. So, we
thought, why not try to have a book club for children and teens. We
certainly have enough parents who come in and ask if we have book clubs
for kids, especially the home school groups.
So, we came up with two different ideas.
Our teen book club would be called “Novel in an Hour” and our
children’s book club would be called “Cliffhanger Club.”
For the teen’s
“Novel in an Hour” club, no one would have to read anything before
coming. Each book to be read
for the book club would be a complete surprise to the teens.
After they arrived, the book would be divided into sections (and by
divided I mean ripped apart- part of the fun for the teens to see a
librarian rip apart a paperback book).
Each teen would read their sections, even if it did not make sense
to them, and then we would go around the circle and each teen would
describe what happened in their section.
When everyone had finished summarizing, it would feel like you had
read the entire book in just an hour.
For the children’s
“Cliffhanger Club,” it would be more like a book talk.
The children attending would not have to read anything before
coming, instead they would just show up, listen to us talk about and read
from an assortment of books, and hopefully be inspired to check some of
the books out. For each
meeting, we would also do a book-related activity such as a scavenger
hunt, a game, or a craft.
So, we had these two
great book clubs that we were very excited about, but unfortunately little
attendance to them. No teens
came to our first two “Novel in an Hour” meetings, and only one child
showed up at our first “Cliffhanger Club.”
Once again, our book club efforts were not well attended.
Surprisingly though, while no teens showed up for our “Novel in
an Hour” club, we did have a lot of adults who asked about it and seemed
very intrigued by the idea.
While it was
disappointing that we did not get the attendance we would have liked for
the book club, it did give us some ideas.
Maybe doing book clubs for children and teens during the school
year is not a feasible idea- we are combating with extracurricular
activities, homework time, and dinner.
Either of these book clubs though, might go over extremely well
during the summer, so we will have to try them again at a time when
children, teens and their parents are looking for things for them to do.
And since we had quite a few adults inquire about the “Novel in
an Hour” club, maybe we will have to try such a book club for them as
well. For “if at first you
don’t succeed, try, try again.”
Could a Neighboring Library Join EasiCat?
At the SLAC (Shared Library Automation Committee) Meeting on December
14 the question of Fond du Lac Public Library joining Eastern Shores
Library System's shared automated catalog and circulation system was
discussed. The Fond du Lac Public Library Director, Ken Hall, send a
request to ESLS and inquired about being part of EasiCat. Hall is
considering all possible options for the library with budgets in
upcoming years expected to tighten. Logistical questions about participation
in EasiCat and delivery were discussed at the meeting. Fond du
lac Public Library will pay $103,000 in 2011 based on the Winnefox Library
System's shared automation formula to participate in the Winnefox Library
System's shared catalog. ESLS assesses each library equal
shares of the EasiCat cost which is approximately $10,000. ESLS
Director David Weinhold stated that he would prefer that FDL county would
become a member of ESLS rather than having the individual public
library join EasiCat.
Hall stated that FDL Public Library's options include: having a stand-alone catalog, participating in another system's catalog or joining another system. The latter would involve recommendations "from each of the boards of the libraries within Fond du Lac County. Municipal boards have to act upon the recommendation from the library boards and then the county board would have to act", according to a Fond du Lac Reporter story, December 17, 2010.
Library Legislative Day
Registration is now open to attend the 2011 Library Legislative Day on February 22. The event will be held at the Concourse Hotel and Governor's Club, One West Dayton Street, Madison. This is a new location for the event. Locally we have one new representative, Mike Endsley from Sheboygan Falls representing the 26th Assembly District. State Rep. Mark Gottlieb, of Port Washington, who will take over as the next Wisconsin Department of Transportation Secretary will be leaving his position in the legislature.
Get to know your legislators and engage them before Library Legislative Day!
Interesting Items
* The Internal Revenue Service has issued the 2011 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business. Beginning on Jan. 1, 2011, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be 51 cents per mile.
* Mead Public Library submitted photos for the Wisconsin Libraries Say Cheese day. Also included are photos from the Sheboygan Children's Book Festival. Check them out by clicking here.
* Ever wonder if databases are really worth the investment? Tumblebooks is subscribed to by five ESLS libraries: Cedarburg Public Library, Elkhart Lake Public Library, F. L. Weyenberg Public Library of Mequon-Thiensville, Mead Public Library of Sheboygan, and the Lakeview Community Library of Random Lake. The statistics for January through October show over 23,000 uses for 2010.
* D.C. Everest Senior High, located in Weston, Wisconsin has been participating in the Oral History Project and has just published Zaj Lus: A Hmong Children's Story Collection. "This collection of Hmong oral folktales have been passed down for many generations. These stories depict moral values and capture the essence of the Hmong Culture. The text is in both Hmong and English". For more information about the Oral History Project at D. C. Everest Senior High or for information on ordering items click here.
* Make plans to attend two new College of Du Page
web-conferences in 2011. On February 4, 2011, "Free Content for Library Collections"
will be presented by Michael
Galloway and John Mark Ockerbloom. Learn about free books and other
materials that are readily available on the Internet and how you can add
these materials to the collections you already provide access to at your
library.
On April 8, 2011. "Cataloging: New Perspectives", will be presented by Karen Coyle. What’s going on with Cataloging??? Over ten years after the publication of FRBR and two years after the final draft of RDA, we come to a decision point. The questions that are posed are not just about the adoption of new cataloging rules, but of possible new directions for library data. The report on the Future of Bibliographic Control advised us to increase sharing -- between libraries and with non-library communities -- and to move our data from siloed databases to an open web platform.
The teleconferences are approximately 90
minutes in length from 11 a.m. to 12:30 pm Central Time and hosted by
Eastern Shores Library System in its Meeting Room. Contact Director
David Weinhold for more information and to register at 920/208-4900 ext.
312 or weinhold@esls.lib.wi.us.
*WebJunction is hosting a free
webinar, E-Rate for Beginners, on February 2 (1:00 Eastern) with
staff from E-rate Central (http://eratecentral.org/).
"This program is a great opportunity for libraries to receive
discounts on telecommunications and Internet access, but applicants are
sometimes nervous about program complexity. However, recent changes in
program rules streamlined the application process for many libraries. This
one-hour webinar will cover the basics or E-rate including the overall
program, the application process and filing deadlines."
