The Library Connection
The Monthly Newsletter of the Eastern
Shores Library System
www.esls.lib.wi.us
Volume 31 Number 2 February 2011
Click here for the Winter 2011 Bookmobile Schedule
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In This Issue: |
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| Network Bandwidth in ESLS | Awaiting Opinion |
| Storytime Participation | Failure to Return Library Property |
| News From Our Libraries | Dates to Remember |
| Interesting Items | |
Network Bandwidth in ESLS
Paul Onufrak, Automation Librarian for ESLS
In 1998, ESLS and the Manitowoc-Calumet Library System (MCLS) began a cooperative network service to provide libraries in each system with Internet access. ESLS hosted the central network equipment and each library (19 total) had a 1.5Mbs circuit( called a T1 line) back to the system office. ESLS had a total of 10Mbs from TEACH/BCN. Of this original 10Mbs service, 5Mbs was allocated to handle traffic from the libraries and 5Mbs was allocated to handle Internet traffic to WiscNet, our Internet Service Provider (ISP). In 1998 Internet traffic was still mostly text based with minimal graphics, and this was sufficient for several years.
Prior to 2006, ESLS and MCLS upgraded the service at the system to 25Mbs, with 15Mbs to the libraries and 10Mbs to WiscNet.
In 2006, all of the routers at the libraries and the system office were replaced with newer models.
In 2008, system bandwidth was upgraded from 25Mbs to 45Mbs - 25Mbs between libraries and 20Mbs to WiscNet. TEACH installed fiber to the ESLS office.
In 2009, the state Department of Administration (DOA) in cooperation with the Department of Public Instruction (and input from library systems) submitted a $23 million federal grant to install fiber to 467 schools and libraries in the state. This included all libraries in ESLS and MCLS. With this grant, MCLS decided to pursue separate service for themselves and their member libraries as soon as the increased bandwidth and equipment are available.
In February 2010, the grant was conditionally awarded. The grant would pay for the installation of the fiber, as well as replace the necessary network equipment at the schools, libraries and systems. It would provide library systems up to 100Mbs service at no cost increase ($250/month) and service for libraries up to 20Mbs at no cost increase for them ($100/month).
During Spring 2010, MCLS and ESLS start planning the separation of service details.
Throughout 2010 there are signs of discontent from DOA with the grant award. The actual implementation of the grant was continually postponed.
ON February 11, 2011 TEACH customers were notified by DOA that the state had turned down the grant.
What does this mean? With the information available as of today, the best course of action is to increase ESLS/MCLS bandwidth to 100Mbs and move all libraries up to at least the 3Mbs level. The priority is to replace aging and/or insufficient network equipment at both ESLS and member libraries. The main router and network switch in the ESLS office needs to be replaced this year not only due to age, but with an increase in service up to 100Mbs, the current router could not handle that type of service.
MCLS has indicated that they will remain part of the shared network service through 2011. The cost of the upgrades is between $10,000 and $15,000. The ESLS System Board has been notified of the situation and work is being done on the best plan to cover the costs of the new equipment. The hope is to make the transition to the new equipment and service as seamless as possible.
Awaiting Opinion
On November 30, 2010 a letter was sent by the Eastern Shores Library System Board to the Mead Public Library Director, the Mayor of the City of Sheboygan and the Sheboygan Council President informing them that the 2011 appropriation from the City of Sheboygan is $162,345 less than the required amount per the maintenance of effort (MOE) funding requirement in Wisconsin State Statute 43.15(4)(c) 5. As the MOE was not met by January 1, 2011 Mead Public Library is not in compliance with the system membership requirements for 2011.
The Mead Public Library Board has requested more time to determine when the library will "be able to achieve compliance with the maintenance of effort requirement". Therefore, the City of Sheboygan "has asked Attorney General J. B. Van Hollen to offer an opinion interpreting Wis. Stats. S. 43.15 (4)(c) 5. The City's request is to specifically clarify whether "unspent funding appropriated by a municipality...for library services for a prior year" is not to be included as funding from a municipal governing body for purposes of computing the 3-year average".
The request for an opinion was sent to the State Attorney General at the end of November by both the City of Sheboygan and Sheboygan County. At the beginning of December Michael Cross, Director of Public Library Development for DPI commented on the MOE requirement in his letter to the Attorney General "To use an example, if a library anticipated carrying forward $10,000 of a municipality's 2010 appropriation into 2011, that $10,000 cannot be included as part of the municipality's 2011 MOE amount. The municipality cannot claim a previous year's unspent appropriation as part of a following year's maintenance of effort, even though the source was the municipality. Under the statute, municipalities can only count support dollars once and that is for the year the original appropriation is made".
All governmental bodies are still awaiting the Attorney General's opinion at this time.
Children's
Librarians Corner
Storytime Participation
Sandy George, Youth Services Librarian, Plymouth Public Library
During preschool story times, I like to select
stories that invite some participation from the audience. I ask questions,
or invite the kids to make animal noises, or leave the last word in a
couplet hanging so the kids can fill it in. This kind of participation
helps to pull kids even further into the story as they become involved in
its telling. It can also make storytime a lot more interesting for
me as a storyteller when I have some automatically generated feedback from
your audience.
Sometime
books make generating this interaction very, very easy by asking
questions. Take a book I read recently during my dinosaur story time: the
much-beloved How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight! written by Jane Yolen
and illustrated by Mark Teague. Each page asks a question about how
a dinosaur acts at bedtime: "Does a dinosaur slam his tail and pout?
Does he throw his teddy bear all about?" As you read this story out
loud the text practically demands that that the kids answer each question
with a firm "no!" as they pull together with Papa and Mama in
favor of very good dinosaur behavior.
But I have to admit that there is one story that has never gotten an
audience to be excited about participating in all the times I have read
it: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems. This book is
a modern classic, and one that has been touted by reviewers and librarians
for the very thing I cannot get it to do - get kids to participate. I
don't know what it is, but I just cannot get the kids to work with me when
I read this story. In this book a bus driver must step away from his
vehicle and asks readers to keep the bus safe from the pigeon. Pigeon then
spends the rest of the book begging the reader to please, please, please
let him drive the bus anyway. Despite the fact that this story provides
the perfect format for kids to naturally involve themselves in the story
and say "no" to Pigeon, for some reason, I just can't get my
kids to do it. Most of the time the kids are silent. Occasionally they
half-heartedly think it would be a good idea to disregard the bus driver
and hand over the keys to Pigeon. I've tried this story with different
audiences, I've tried adding some additional prompting as I read - nothing
works!
What is the moral of this story? Not every book works for every librarian,
and not every story time trick works with every child. As a librarian I
can't just take other people's word for it when I plan storytimes - I
have to find books and activities that I'm comfortable with and make them
my own. That, not great reviews make storytime special.
Failure to Return Library Property
Would a city resident think that taking a street sign or a shovel off a department of public works truck is stealing? Then why is it so hard to think of taking library materials and not returning them as theft?
Recently, a City of Sheboygan resident was fined $603 for failure to return library materials. Diane Kallas, Circulation Services Manager for Mead Public Library stated "He actually owes us over $800 in lost materials and fees". Mead Public Library has a procedure for dealing with overdue items hoping to avoid this problem. First overdue notices are sent and then lost notices. If the items have not been returned by this point the account is sent to a collection agency, Unique Management Services, Inc. Mead pays $8.95 per account to Unique Management Services, Inc. "If they haven't made the proper response", said Diane "and they have lost items that are 12 or more weeks past due and the balance is over the threshold amount I then send them a letter telling them that if they don't return or pay for their lost items in 3 -4 weeks, they will be referred to Municipal Court and a citation will be issued". Then the Police Department (often Community Policing ) picks up the paperwork.
Diane stated, "I have to have a lot of good documentation so the police (and possibly the Judge) can easily see the lost items on the person's account. They issue a citation for all of the lost items. Some people will then respond by returning the lost items, and if they do that, even if they don't pay their fees, I don't pursue it any further. But if they don't take care of the lost items or make payment arrangements, then they have to go to Court".
Diane said that If people can't pay the full amount right away (most of them can't) they have to make payment arrangements with the City Attorney and stick to it to avoid jail time. She doesn't have to go to the court sessions unless someone wants to contest the citation. She was subpoenaed once for that purpose.
"I
have to tell you, this takes A LOT of time, so I've only been pursuing the
really big accounts" explained Diane. Unfortunately, Diane says she
used to pursue accounts over $100 with at least one lost item.
But now she's going after
$300 or more on the "low end".
News From Our Libraries
W. J. Niederkorn Library
The W.J. Niederkorn Library is getting ready to celebrate 50 years at its location in December. The building officially opened in December 1961, and the library plans to kick off the anniversary year by distributing free book bag as long as supplies last. Look for more upcoming celebration activities during the year.
Saukville Public Library
A Sony E-Reader and a Nook were purchased by the library for educational purposes. They will not be available for check out, however, in March, the library will be hosting several classes to teach people how to use their new e-readers. Library Director Jen Gerber said, "Overdrive has thousands of e-books available and the the selection committee recently added 600 new titles. All of the e-books on OverDrive are compatible with the Nook, the Sony Reader and Apple iPod devices (not the Kindle)". Director Gerber reported that after Christmas, the digital collections saw a 180 percent jump in usage.
Dates to Remember
March 8, 2011
Summer Reading Services for Kids with Disabilities 2:00 p.m. Webinar presented by Rhonda Puntney, Youth Services and Special Needs Coordinator for the Lakeshores Library System. Ronda will share summer reading program tools and resources for kids with hearing and visual impairments, as well as cognitive disabilities. Click here to register.
March 11, 2011
"Free Content
for Library Collections" presented
by Michael
Galloway and John Mark Ockerbloom, A
College of Du Page Web-Conference.
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.
March
11, 2011
Spring
Youth Services Meeting 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. at the Oostburg Public
Library. Contact Paula Siefert at 920/208-4900
ext 310 or psiefert@esls.lib.wi.us
for more information.
March 16, 2011
Polaris upgrade, EasiCat will not be available. The delivery service will be running, weather permitting.
March
17, 2011
Social Media,
Libraries, and the Law 2:00 p.m. This Webinar is available at your the
computer. It will last approximately one hour. This WebEx Event is free of
charge and registration is ONLY done on the day of the event on the WebEx
server. No Passwords are required. Click here
to register.
April
8, 2011
"Cataloging:
New Perspectives" by presenter Karen Coyle. A College of Du Page
Web-Conference. A
teleconference approximately 90 minutes in length - 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Central
Time. Hosted by Eastern Shores Library System in its Meeting Room
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.
April 13, 2011
CCBC Workshop at the F. L. Weyenberg Library, 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
CCBC librarians Merri
Lindgren and Megan Schliesman will talk about Great New Books for Children
and Great New Books for Teens, highlighting selected books from CCBC
Choices 2011, for the Eastern Shores Library System on Wednesday, April 13,
at the Frank L. Weyenberg Public Library in Mequon. Books included in CCBC
Choices 2011 will be avialable for hands-on book examination.
For registration information, contact Paula
Siefert by email or call 920/208-4900 ext 310.
Friday, April 15
and Wednesday, April 20
Reference Workshop Morning sessions at Mead Public Library The Gadget Box from
the Wisconsin Public Library Consortium will be available. Contact Paula Siefert at 920/208-4900 ext 310,
psiefert@esls.lib.wi.us
or Kim Dalhaimer at kim.dalhaimer@meadpubliclibrary.org
The Gadget box contains a: Canon Power Shot digital camera, card reader, memory cards and USB flash drives, Creative MuVo mp3 player, Creative Zen Video mp3 player, Flip Video camera, Garmin ETrex GPS unit, iPad, iPod Nano, iPod Touch, Kindle, Kindle 3G, Netbook, Nook, Palm, PlayStation Portable and Webcam.
Interesting Items
* Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other the new book by Sherry Turkle provides insights into the generation of iPads, iPods, Facebook, texting and all others types of new technology.
* In honor of the Academy Awards, check out the guardian.com.uk's library clips from the movies. Billed as "sacred, spooky, sexy locations... just three more reasons to save our libraries, which never do things by the book on screen".
* Wonder how to organize the library bookshelves, check out this YouTube feature called, Organizing the Bookcase.
* Not just for parents, but for anyone working with teens: Teenage as a Second Language by Barbara R. Greenberg.
* The Pepsi Refresh Project is back with some changes this year. This year's line-up: Arts & Music, Education, Communities and a fourth category, the Pepsi Challenge. The Project starts in April so start brainstorming. To get an idea of what has been funded click here.
* Good news/Bad news: It may soon be possible for individual libraries to get usage statistics for OverDrive. Paul Onufrak, the Automation Librarian is working on that project. However, some publishers may begin limiting the number of times an item is lent on OverDrive. One publisher has mentioned the number 26. That title would then need to be repurchased if it was still wanted in the database. Considering OverDrive is a statewide database this might be a problem.
