The Library Connection

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

Volume 28 Number 1   January 2008

Click here for the Winter 2008 Bookmobile Schedule

Strategic Visioning Summit & Year of the Library's Future

David Weinhold, Director of Eastern Shores Library System 

It has been ten years since Wisconsin government sponsored a statewide conference on the future of library services. Given the advances in technology, changing demographics and service needs of Wisconsin’s citizens it is time to engage the library community and citizenry in envisioning a new and exciting future for Wisconsin’s libraries and information networks. Toward this aim, Superintendent Burmaster and the Council on Library and Network Development (COLAND) are sponsoring a Strategic Visioning Summit & Year of the Library’s Future as a focus for 2008. 

Eastern Shores Library System encourages librarians, library boards, and library customers to participate in the activities supporting the Summit.  Please go to the following webpage and provide the Summit with your vision of the library’s future.  Click on Visioning Questions on the left side of the page: http://dpi.wi.gov/coland/vision.html 

The Strategic Visioning Summit will: 

An umbrella concept of the "Year of the Library's Future" will create a focal point for other activities, such as:

The Summit will take place in the spring of 2008 and will make recommendations to the Superintendent in time for the 2009/2011 budget planning process. Recommendations from the Summit should be submitted to the Superintendent in May 2008.

In preparation for the Summit, COLAND seeks input from library practitioners, library organizations, library users, and library supporters.   They encourage people to think BIG about the following the questions:

1. How will the library of the future contribute to the quality of life in our communities?

2. How will the library of the future contribute to the health of our democracy?

3. How will the library of the future contribute to educational, economic and workforce development?

4. How will the library of the future contribute to the preservation of the heritage and culture of our communites?

Member libraries could invite board members or interest citizens to write white papers or scenarios addressing the above questions.  Children from grade school through high school could submit essays or posters illustrating a response to these questions.

An Executive Planning Group will plan the Summit and provide oversight for activities leading up to the Summit. The Executive Planning Group will have representatives from COLAND, DPI and partner organizations and will be responsible for: 

1. Developing a mission statement for the Summit and activities tied to the Summit.

2. Encouraging broad participation especially through virtual environment.

3. Identifying topics for the Summit and planning the agenda.

4. Identifying the format and schedule for the Summit.

5. Approving the meeting space and logistical arrangements.

6. Selecting the invited participants (80-100 persons).

7. Providing oversight on the invitations and preparation materials.

8. Soliciting input from the community of library users and library service providers.

9. Communicating broadly regarding the purpose and outcomes of the Summit.

10. Delivering Summit recommendations to the Superintendent by May, 2008.

Multiple ESLS Libraries to Receive LSTA Grant Funds

The Library Services and Technology Act will fund seven projects within Eastern Shores Library System in 2008 including two grants awarded to member libraries. 

Eastern Shores Library System has received four grants totaling $41,808.  Wireless Access for ESLS Libraries will be used to provide wireless access at public libraries in Cedar Grove, Plymouth, Oostburg, Saukville and Grafton. LSTA grant Wide Area Network Access 2008 will provide funding for ESLS’s share of telecommunications costs from TEACH.  Using Wireless Access for Bookmobile Library Service will provide funds to improve Internet access on the bookmobile by cooperating with community agencies within the bookmobile’s service area to provide wireless access.  A pilot project to promote literacy for inmates while addressing issues of respect was the basis for a grant awarded in the literacy category.  Fighting Hate with Literacy: A Book Discussion Group Project involves partnering with The Sheboygan County Detention Center, Lakeshore Technical College, the Ozaukee County Jail Literacy Program and the Ozaukee County Jail.

Sheboygan’s Mead Public Library will use LSTA funds to extend its digitization of historical Sheboygan County documents.  The grant, Sheboygan County Historical Documents is administered by Bob Thomes.  Thomas mentions that this grant will enhance a project that began 2 years ago and allow for some key items from Mead’s collection to be digitized.  Those items include: Judge Buchen’s Historic Sheboygan County, The History of Sheboygan County, Past and Present by Carl Zillier and Joseph Leberman’s One Hundred Years of Sheboygan.  Mead was one of six libraries that received a digitization grant.  

 U.S.S. Liberty Memorial Library in Grafton has received funding for the LSTA grant:  Homebound Delivery Service.  Director John Hanson states “funds from the grant will advance the mission of the library, which is to help meet the informational, educational, and recreational needs of the community by providing additional large-print resources and bimonthly home delivery services to elderly people with vision impairments.”  The service is available to all homebound residents of the Village or Town of Grafton.

 Eastern Shores Library System is also participating in The Battle of the Boxes- Competition on the Coast, a combined system effort with Manitowoc-Calumet, Lakeshores and Kenosha County library systems.  The grant is designed to attract community members to the public library through virtual gaming.  Elkhart Lake, Grafton, Sheboygan, Port Washington, Random Lake, and Saukville are participating in the grant.  Bob Hafeman from Manitowoc-Calumet Library System is Project Administrator.  Paula Siefert is the contact person for Eastern Shores Library System.

Children's Librarians Corner

"Out with the old - In with the New"

Lynn Mihm, Children's Librarian, Sheboygan Falls Memorial Library

I was lucky enough to be assigned the month of January to write an article for the Library Connection's "Children's Librarian Corner" for the new year of 2008. So I started to reflect on the saying - "Out with the old - In with the new."

Libraries are changing along with everything else in this society. We should be positive and embrace change, but we do not necessarily have to agree that all change is for the best. Technology is sweeping us along at a fast pace, so we need to accommodate change and use it in our community library.

The School District of Sheboygan Falls School is considering 4 year old kindergarten, which means the age level for story time will continue to drop. Our library has added a play area to the Children's Room. Through a generous donation from our "Friends" group we have purchased movable shelving to house our cardboard book collection, puppets, and wooden puzzles. We also bought toys, a children's table and chair set and an area rug for playing with transportation toys. Our preschool parents have many compliments for this area. We have found that our shelves are not messed up as much as they used to be.

The library is in the process of discarding cassette tapes for both music and stories for the CD version. We are decreasing our reference and children's periodical sections for more electronic versions. Another collection we eliminated in 2007 was the CD-Rom juvenile computer games, since it is very hard to keep these up-to-date when you can download games off the computer.

At our recent youth services meeting Karen Menzer explained how "video gaming" is the new way to expose children to learning skills rather than the old board games or book versions.

Adult collections are also changing rapidly. Music CDs and books on CD were in big demand in 2007, so do we eliminate the cassette versions? DVDs are replacing videos - but what about HD-DVD's? How fast will the patron change the player in their home and car? Will retired people be able to keep up with all the changes? Will the library have room to accommodate 2 or 3 versions of the same media? Every library is expected to provide wireless computers. Libraries need to re-adjust and accommodate change.

E-books are exciting, but I will still enjoy sitting down in my comfortable chair and reading a good book. Happy New Year!

Family Resource Centers of Sheboygan County
Resource and Lending Libraries  

Phil Duket, Drug Free Communities Project Coordinator and Jo Ann Dent, Literacy Council Project Coordinator

Sheboygan County families know the Family Resource Centers of Sheboygan County (FRC) as a resource for parenting programs, family support and enrichment classes and activities, and as a source of referrals to other county agencies.  Established in 1992, the mission of the FRC is Building Strong Families and Strong Communities.   

Through its Parents as Teachers home visiting program, the FRC provides support to new parents across Sheboygan County. The FRC also serves Sheboygan County families through its Military Families Connect Project, Drug-Free Communities Project, and Literacy Council Project.  These programs and services are intended to empower adults, children, families, and their communities through access to information, support, and the coordination of community resources.

In addition to classes and programming, the FRC maintains two Resource and Lending Libraries.  These libraries are located at the Family Resource Center sites in both Plymouth and Sheboygan.  The libraries serve as another method for the FRC to provide information and resources to the community.  The libraries include books and videos and are a source of information on a variety of topics related to families, such as:

General Parenting
Self Esteem
Newborn to First Year
Child Development
Toileting
Prenatal-Neonatal
Adolescence
Divorce/Separation
Health, Safety, Nutrition
Breastfeeding
Special Needs
Children’s Activities
Teacher Resources

The public is welcome to visit the FRC libraries and check out materials.  Books may be borrowed for four weeks and videos may be borrowed for two weeks.

The address for the Plymouth FRC is 1209A Eastern Avenue.  The Sheboygan FRC is located at 926 Broughton Drive.  The libraries are available during the regular FRC business hours. In Plymouth, the hours are:  Monday and Friday 9:00-1:00 pm; Tuesday and Thursday 1:00-7:00 pm; and Wednesday 9:00-5:00 pm.  In Sheboygan, the hours are:  Monday, Thursday and Friday 9:00-1:00 pm; Tuesday 1:00-7:00 pm, and Wednesday 9:00-5:00 pm. 

Contact us by stopping by, calling us at (920) 892-6706 or (920) 457-1888, e-mailing us at frc@excel.net or visiting our website at www.frc-sc.org ! 

Local Government Managers and Public Libraries: Partners for a Better Community

Created from new releases of the ICMA and the Public Library Association

“Regardless of the governance structure, libraries are essential to communities, making it vitally important that (city and county) managers and library directors form strategic partnerships to provide dynamic and responsive community support services.” – from the ICMA Management Perspective.

Earlier this year, the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) formed an advisory committee aimed at building city and county managers’ awareness of the critical role public libraries play in supporting community vitality and sustainability, as well as the important leadership role managers have in supporting libraries.

"One of our core responsibilities as managers within a community is to connect the dots horizontally and vertically to achieve the community's strategic objectives," according to advisory committee member Ron Carlee, county manager, Arlington County, Virginia. "We as managers need to think of public libraries as partners in this effort."

One result of the work of the committee, composed of 26 members, is a new ICMA Management Perspective, Local Government Managers and Libraries: Partners for a Better Community.  One of the members of the committee is Todd J. Schmidt, City Administrator for the City of Milton, WI.  Mr. Schmidt contacted Wisconsin librarians about this initiative while serving on this committee.

The publication features ways that libraries are used to address economic, educational, and social issues that challenge their communities, which include providing:

‚   A civic and economic anchor that attracts businesses and patrons to transitional neighborhoods. 

‚   A destination for creating community and civic engagement. 

‚   Services for hard-to-reach populations, including teenagers, immigrants, and senior residents.

‚   Internet access in a world that requires online transactions and communication for jobs, schools, and social services for those without computers. 

‚   On-line databases and support for start-up businesses and a developing workforce.

The report is located on the ICMA website at: http://icma.org/documents/Final_Mgmt_Prsptv_Libraries_(gates).pdf 

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation provided support for the ICMA library initiative.

DataFerret

* From: Neat New Stuff I Found This Week, http://marylaine.com/neatnew.html  Copyright, Marylaine Block, 1999-2007.

If you are looking for census data, economic data, population data, vital statistics data or just about any other kind of public use data from federal, state or local agencies DataFerret can help.  “DataFerret is a software application that ferrets out data you are looking for from TheDataWeb.”   TheDataWeb is a network of online data libraries developed by the U.S. Census Bureau.   It is accessed through DataFerrett a free software tool.  The software allows users to create a table with their data.  Charts, graphs and maps can then be generated from the table. Another feature of DataWeb allows users to contribute or publish their data to the website.  The DataFerrett software can be downloaded from the website. http://www.thedataweb.org/ .

Interesting Items

* Don't give up on attracting young adults (ages 18-30) to the library. A joint study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign found them to be the largest users of public libraries. Information on health, job training, government benefits and education are the most common reasons for them to use libraries. 

For more information go to: http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/12/31/internet.libraries.ap/index.html and http://www.pewinternet.org/report_display.asp?r=231 and http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=News&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=170287.

* The Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries Annual Conference will be April 30 - May 2 in Stevens Point. 

*  From tx-yac@lists.tsl.state.tx.us, January, 2008

The Library of Congress’s Center for the Book and the Children’s Book Council has announced that Jon Scieszka, author of “The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales” has been selected as the first National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature.  Scieszka will promote children’s books and reading in personal appearances and through the media. 

* On the ESLS website you can access the list of new DVDs and CDs acquired by clicking on the link and then the appropriate item type in Easicat. These links are on the home page or they can be accessed directly in EasiCat under the "New Media" tab. Check out the new files by clicking on: http://www.easicat.net/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=120005V60373D.30371&profile=es&menu=tab8&ts=1200059603765#focus 

* The John Newberry Medal has been awarded to: Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz. The Randolph Caldecott Medal has been awarded to: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. For more award winners and information go to: http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=News&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=170844s

*  Bookworm Gardens, "A children's garden based on books for exploration, inspiration and fun", which will be located in Sheboygan County, is planning to open in Spring 2009.  Many of the books have already received sponsorship. To checkout the books go to: http://www.bookwormgardens.org/books/. Many volunteer opportunities will also be available.  For the complete website go to: http://www.bookwormgardens.org/.

* Note from the cataloging staff: Spring is right around the corner and that means spring cleaning.  This includes your library shelves.  Deleting old items and cleaning up records will make any switch to a new automation system faster, easier and more cost effective.

* Rotating Collections for Seniors

As part of LSTA Extending the Services of Libraries to Seniors Eastern Shores Library System has three rotating collections available for check out by groups who work with seniors.  Each of the collections contains a variety of materials including large print books, regular print books, audio books, DVD’s and music CD’s.  An audio book reader is also included in each rotating collection. 

The collections are being housed at Plymouth Public Library and can be requested through EasiCat. The titles are Rotating collection: armchair travel; Rotating collection: adventure and Rotating collection: mystery.  Each collection circulates for a sixty day loan period.   

* Upcoming Workshops

Friday, February 8, a Web-conference on People Watching with a Purpose: Meeting Needs Before they Need it, 11:00 a.m. -12:30 p.m. at the ESLS offices.
Friday, February 22, a Virtual Reference Web-conference at the ESLS offices, 9:00am - 1:30pm.

Friday, March 7, another Web-conference this time on Library Spaces: Future Needs 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. the place to be determined.

Wednesday, March 12, is the Summer Reading Program Planning Workshop with Mary Tooley at the Manitowoc Public Library, 12:30p.m. to 3:30p.m.

Wednesday, March 19, there will be a Workshop with the CCBC at Mead Public Library. Details will be forthcoming.

Wednesday, April 16, another joint workshop with the  Manitowoc-Calumet Library System at the Manitowoc Public Library for the HOLA Workshop on reaching out to the Hispanic community. 

www.esls.lib.wi.us