The Library Connection
The Monthly Newsletter of the Eastern
Shores Library System
www.esls.lib.wi.us
Volume 30 Number 7 July 2010
Click here for the Summer 2010 Bookmobile Schedule
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In This Issue: |
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| County Library Service Plans Approved | Money Smart Week |
| Bilingual Programming | Helping Job Seekers Webinar |
| Accessible Materials to Visually Impaired through OverDrive | Interesting Items |
County Library Service Plans Approved
David Weinhold, ESLS Director
When the Joint County
Library Service Planning Committee submitted the Final Report for County
Library Services 2011 - 2015 in December 2009, both the Ozaukee County
Board and the Sheboygan County Board went through a process of reviewing
the report and recommending action on the report.
In Ozaukee County,
presentations on the Report were made to the County Board, interested
citizens and municipal officials, and the governing boards of both
libraried and non-libraried municipalities.
Those governing boards responded with resolutions approving the
plan, resolutions asking for changes in the plan, or resolutions not
approving the plan. The County Board of Supervisors received this information and
used it in their review of the plan.
Supervisor Dohrwardt representing the Village of Fredonia,
requested that the Joint Committee’s recommendations be amended to
reinstate the reimbursement of public libraries method used in the 2005 -
2010 plan which reimburses libraries either at 85% or 70% of the cost of
serving non-libraried residents. That
amendment and the amended plan was approved by the County Board in May
2010.
In Sheboygan County, the
Report went to the County Board’s Executive Committee for review and
consideration. Supervisor
Goehring, representing the Town of Sherman, requested that the Joint
Committee’s recommendation be amended to reimburse Sheboygan County
libraries using the recommendations in the Joint Committee’s report and
to reimburse Ozaukee County libraries at the same level those libraries
are reimbursed by Ozaukee County. The
Finance Committee concurred with the Executive Committee’s amendment.
This amendment and the amended plan was approved by the County
Board in July 2010.
Budget Requests for 2011
As the Administrator of
the County Library Service Plans, the Library System recently approved
requests for appropriations to fund the County Library Service Plans for
2011. Based on each
County’s 2011 - 2015 plan, those requests will reimburse libraries in
the System and the adjacent counties for serving the Counties’
non-libraried residents. The requests will also provide funding for bookmobile service
and for two capital items: EasiCat hardware and software and a Bookmobile
Vehicle Reserve Fund.
The request in Ozaukee
County is for $534,799 for the library service to the 17,407 non-libraried
residents of Ozaukee County. The
appropriation includes $451,347 for the Reimbursement of Member Libraries,
$4,828 for Reimbursement of adjacent county libraries,
$65,113 for Bookmobile service, $8,125 for a Bookmobile vehicle
reserve, and $5,386 for a share of the replacement EasiCat hardware and
software.
The request in Sheboygan
County is for $1,160,986 for the library service provided to the 37,299
non-libraried residents in Sheboygan County.
The appropriation includes $978,021 for the Reimbursement of Member
Libraries, $24,122 to reimburse Adjacent County libraries, $135,235 for Bookmobile service, $16,875 for a Bookmobile
vehicle reserve, and a request for $6,733 for a share of the replacement
EasiCat hardware and software.
Those requests will be
considered by each County’s respective budget oversight committee and a
decision on the appropriations will occur in late October or early
November.
Libraries have been asked to participate in Money Smart Week this October. A simple way to participate is to display books on the topic. However, before October rolls around you might want to re-evaluate your adult collection and update your materials. Adult book displays may include these topics: starting your own business, life insurance, funeral planning, long term care, the stock market, investments, personal finance, economics, saving energy, cooking for less, ... you get the idea. Library Booklists has a number of bibliographies on financial fiction. Also check out Library Journal's Best Business Books of 2009, the May 1 Library Journal's Collection Development article on Small Business Start-Ups and the July 2010 Library Journal's Collection Development article on The New Retirement.
If you can, dedicate a computer to the Money Smart week web site or to your own financial web sites. For more information about materials and web sites for children and teens read the Investing in our future article from the May 2009 Library Connection.
Don't forget to inform your public that using the library is one of the best and easiest ways for people to be smart about their money.
Children's
Librarians Corner
Bilingual Programming
Connie Meyer, Bookmobile Librarian
Does your library offer a bilingual storytime? If not, now might be a good time to start thinking about planning one.
Libraries across the country are conducting programs in Spanish/English, Chinese/English, and Vietnamese/English to name a few. Communities with a growing number of Spanish speaking residents could consider a Spanish/English program, but don’t forget bilingual story programs can benefit English speaking children too. In her article Raising Bilingual Children, Alexandra Pafilis, Community Programs Manager, Chicago Children's Museum urges us to start as early as we can introducing our children to a foreign language. She further states “exposure at an early age to multiple languages can have a positive effect on later language learning.”
Preparing for a bilingual story time doesn’t have to be an onerous task. Many Spanish language children’s books, like My Colors/Mis Colores by Rebecca Emberley or Toddler Two/Dos años by Anastasia Suen (both available in EasiCat) are simple enough to be read aloud by people who are not fluent in Spanish. You can also choose books with simple text that could be translated into Spanish, or choose a book with a Latino character. In some bilingual programs librarians read parts of the story first in English and then in Spanish. You could decide to present the entire program in English but include songs, finger plays or nursery rhymes in Spanish and a multicultural craft. The Utah State Library has on it's webpage pdf files of thematic translations of popular finger plays and stories in English and Spanish. They state this information is posted "in the long-held librarian tradition of sharing resources and ideas." The site also has an annotated list of English/Spanish titles and some very helpful tips on how to get started.
If
your Spanish is very limited and you don't feel comfortable reading the
Spanish part of the program by yourself, ask someone in your community to
help. Consider asking the
Spanish teacher from a local high school, one of your regular library
users, a parent, or another member of your staff who speaks Spanish
fluently. Whenever possible consult with and partner with
agencies in your community who work directly with members of the Spanish
community. As you work
through the planning process someone from one of your partnering agencies
may know individuals who are willing to help you get started.
Advertise the fact that you're looking for a volunteer who is
fluent in Spanish.
Two other helpful sources are: Programming with Latino Children’s Materials by Tim Wadham (in EasiCat) and Katie Cunningham's Planning and Implementing Bilingual Storytime: Recommended Resources page.
Most important, don't forget to promote the program in your community. Place flyers advertising your bilingual storytime at area churches, banks, doctor's and dentist's offices. Post a flyer at the local grocery store. Advertise in local newspapers and on the radio and whenever possible advertise in both Spanish and English.
Worth Noting:
On Thursday, July 22 Mead Public Library held a
Spanish language story time program. A
volunteer, Aurora Bonilla,
read stories in Spanish from a collection books she owns and has shared
with her own children in the past.
Although the attendance was less than hoped for Aurora would like to do another program and Karin is hoping with expanded marketing to reach a larger audience.
Helping Job Seekers Webinar
Jeannine Mjoseth, Institute of Museum and Library Services Public Affairs Officer
WebJunction is providing a free webinar, Helping Job Seekers: Using Electronic Tools and Federal Resources. The Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration will provide an overview of the public workforce system and will present the electronic tools most helpful to library staff assisting unemployed workers.
Participants will also learn how to direct patrons to the right tools for their needs and to find local Workforce System partners. The presentation will include an online tour of the O*NET System, CareerOneStop.org and America's Service Locator as well as occupational crosswalks, job search and resume preparation, and state job banks and labor market information.
To register for the webinar that will take place August 11 from 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. ET, please click here.
IMLS is working with WebJunction to offer this one
session webinar. 
Accessible Materials to Visually Impaired through OverDrive
Kathy Schneider, WiLS
Now available to members of the Wisconsin Public Library Consortium through OverDrive is LEAP. LEAP ( Library eBook Accessibility Program) offers a free membership with Bookshare to visually impaired patrons of OverDrive partner libraries. Patrons who qualify for LEAP can login and download up to 20 accessible eBooks each month from Bookshare's collection of 60,000 eBooks, newspapers, and other electronic titles. Each patron’s membership at Bookshare is for one year. Bookshare provides these titles with free software and support for their use.
Information on how the registration process works and the partners at Bookshare (www.bookshare.org)
can be found on the WPLC website at http://www.wplc.info/current/leap/.
An overview of LEAP is also available on the WPLC
site.
Interesting Items
* Check out how Skype is being used in libraries. The News Herald of Ohio has an interesting article on various technologies and the cost to libraries.
* The Sheboygan Children's Book Festival received a $10,000 Wisconsin Humanities Council grant. As the Sheboygan Children's Book Festival approaches, now is a good time to check your collection for materials owned by the participating authors-illustrators : Kathi Applet, Avi, Calef Brown, Lois Ehlert and David McLimans.
* Flip Video has partnered with TechSoup to make its pocket-sized digital camcorders available to eligible nonprofit organizations.
Flip Video's simple camcorders can be used by people with any level of video experience to create, edit, and share movies. Nonprofits can use these camcorders to give their staff, volunteers, and constituents the ability to further their causes through digital storytelling. For more information click on the link above.
* CNN Tech reports that it takes longer to read an e-book on a Kindle 2 or iPad than by holding the actual book in your hands. Read the whole story here.
* Read the new Library Management Today : a practical journal for library managers online periodical.
* The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has reported that the Wisconsin State Supreme Court, in a case involving Wisconsin Rapids teachers ruled that "e-mails that teachers send from work on school accounts should not be released for public review if the teachers say they are personal." However, according to the the article, "The four separate opinions, which total 107 pages, notes that while the Wisconsin Rapids Schools' policy allows some personal use of e-mail, it also clearly warns employees that such e-mails are not private or secure."
* Why are hardbacks "better" than e-books, David Carnoy , Executive Editor at CNET.com has his top ten reasons on the Huffington Post.
* Check out other upcoming WebJunction webinars by clicking here.
