The Library Connection
Volume 24 Number 5 July / August 2004
Paper copies of The Library Connection will
no longer be printed and distributed. Please check our website at http://www.esls.lib.wi.us/
for our electronic newsletter.
Eastern Shores hosted a Legislative Meeting with area legislators on July 23 at the Cedar Grove Public Library. Present were State Representatives Dan LeMahieu, Mark Gottlieb, and Steve Kestell and State Senator Joe Leibham. Aides for State Representative Terry Van Akkeren and State Senators Mary Panzer and Alberta Darling also attended.
The directors of the Cedarburg, Plymouth, 0ostburg, Elkhart Lake, Grafton, and Cedar Grove libraries, as well as the ESLS director and two staff members represented Eastern Shores. Nancy Lewis, ESLS board president, moderated the session.
All of the directors spoke about the value they place on the services they receive from the system. They also noted how they must use local funds to provide the services that the system can no longer provide because of the loss of state aids. EasiCat was given as the reason for the increase in circulation and delivery. All stated that their patrons were extremely happy with the service and that a standalone circulation system could not begin to provide the same amount of information at the same cost. Libraries have not had increases in staff and some have had to cut their book budgets. Other libraries have had to shorten the number of hours they are open.
David Weinhold, ESLS Director, summed up the concerns by reminding the legislators that libraries are a partnership of the municipalities, the counties, and the state. Locally, the municipalities that operate public libraries and the two counties provide about $7,000,000 for library service. The state aids received by ESLS are equal to about 7% of that amount. David believes that an amount equal to 10% of the local funding would be reasonable. He also summarized a letter that he sent to Gov. Doyle explaining the cost effectiveness of working cooperatively. The letter explained how, due to the 5 years without an increase in system state aids, local libraries have had to pick up more and more costs for services. He urged the governor to "restore the state's commitment to the partnership."
The legislators commended libraries for cooperating and working together to provide services more economically. They agreed that, in the light of the concern about the economy, the state should be encouraging other types of cooperation similar to that of libraries.
The plans for the performer showcase co-sponsored by Eastern Shores and Manitowoc Calumet Library Systems are moving right along. We will have 24 performers at the showcase demonstrating their craft to library staff who do the program planning for the summer library programs and other family programs. Each performer will present a 10 minute sample of their talents. Performers will begin promptly at 9:30 a.m.
We have magicians, musicians, storytellers, a juggler, and a henna tattoo artist. Mark the day on your calendar--Thursday, October 7 at Mead Public Library in Sheboygan.
In a recent issue of Whirlpools, the newsletter of the Winding Rivers Library System, Marcia Sarnowski had a great article on communicating. She developed a list of "I" words to keep in mind when you are communicating with municipal officials. We have excerpted the following with her permission.
Identify: make sure the library staff and trustees are aware of the names, areas represented, and contact information of those who serve on the community's governing body. You could create a library display featuring local information, including a list of the current elected officials. If your website contains a link to your city or county web page, promote this feature in your display.
Invite: consider arranging a field trip to the library after a council meeting. Give them a brief tour, pointing out new resources, and demonstrating the library's automated system. Be sure to tell them how they can use EasiCat and BadgerLink from home or their offices. Even those individuals who are not regular customers may become more inclined to support the library if they see what you have to offer.
Inform: Don't attend only the budget request session. Try to attend at least one other council meeting during the year. Offer a brief report of what's happening at the library during the public comment time. Compare the use of your library to school sporting events or any other activity in your town. And remember to thank them for their support!
Inquire: What issues and concerns are major for them right now? Will the issue be the same five years from now? Will there be new ones? Can the library help to address these issues? Be sure to listen to their answers.
Infiltrate: Encourage trustees to run for local offices or serve on municipal committees. This would give them a networking connection to the governing body and could facilitate communication and collaboration opportunities for the library.
Imagine: What would it be like to be a member of the council? What kind of information and assistance would help you to create a better future for the citizens you represent? How can the library's materials, programs, and services respond to community needs? How can the library change to be more responsive to those needs? Just imagine the opportunities you have to make the case for the library as a valuable community resource, and a valued community partner!
To reduce voice mail "tag," answer these questions when you reach the voice mail of the person you're calling:
1. Why did you call?
2. What do you need?
3. When will you be available for a call back?
You take special care to make every piece of written communication flawless. But you could be undermining your hard work by letting outdated and over-used phrases creep into your writing. These expressions irritate the reader and reduce your credibility. Here are some of the worst offenders:
1. Needless to say: If it's needless, don't say it.
2. I am writing this letter to inform you that. It's obvious that you're writing a letter and that a letter informs.
3. At your earliest convenience. Better: Give a specific date. You may mean next Tuesday, but the reader may find 2006 more convenient.
4. Please be advised that. That phrase is utterly meaningless.
5. Thanking you in advance. A simple "Thank you" will do.
6. In the event that. Just write "If."
The list of library courses offered by Wisconsin institutions that are applicable toward public library director certification has been updated for the 2004-2005 school year and is available on the web at http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/dltcl/pld/courses.html . The list is maintained to help directors of Wisconsin public libraries search for courses in subject areas prescribed by Wisconsin statutes for certification purposes. The courses included on the list allow for discussion of topics and materials relevant in a public library setting. The four required courses are: Public Library Administration, Selection of Materials, Organization of Library Materials, and Provision of Reference and Information Services. Courses included on the list are those taken for academic credit, as well as those determined by the Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning to be equivalent to comparable credit courses.
If you have any questions about public librarian certification, contact Peg Branson at 608/266-2413 or peg.branson@dpi.state.wi.us.
Columbia St. Mary's (CSM) and Eastern Shores Library System recently concluded an agreement for medical reference services from CSM. As part of this agreement, librarians from CSM agreed to present a workshop for ESLS member library staff. The workshop will be held on Thursday, September 16 at 9:15 a.m. at the Mead Public Library, Sheboygan.
The presenters will be Sharon Wochos, Manager, Library Services, Columbia St. Mary's Libraries, Milwaukee and Nancy Morris, Librarian, Kacmarcik Education Resource Center, Columbia St. Mary's Ozaukee. Attendees will learn how staff and patrons can access the databases, books, and journals available at CSM. Nancy and Sharon will demonstrate their favorite health websites and their favorite reference books. They will help librarians learn how to identify authoritative sources. They will also do some database searching on EBSCO and PubMed, particularly the medical and consumer health databases on EBSCO.
Contact Mark Zehfus, Reference Liaison at Mead Public Library if you are interested in attending.
Attention Public and School (K-12) Librarians: The American Library Association (ALA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) are accepting applications for the We The People Bookshelf on "freedom" grants. Part of the NEH's We the People initiative, the annual grant project will award sets of 15 classic books for young readers to 1,000 libraries across the country. Libraries interested in receiving the collection are required to develop and host a program to introduce the collection and its theme of freedom to students and/or patrons.
Guidelines and applications for Round One are available online at www.ala.org/wethepeople until October 20, 2004. Applications for Round Two will be accepted from December 16, 2004 to February 16, 2005.
Government Printing Office officials have held preliminary discussions with librarians about creating a backup library to supplement federal depository library collections. GPO officials describe the new concept as a "collection of last resort."
Government books, historical documents and microfiche, the staples of the nation's Federal Depository Library Program, may need more protection in an unsafe world, according to Government Printing Office officials. This last resort collection would:
• Support the program and other GPO activities including information sharing and print-on-demand for publications sales.
• Encompass all types of material including objects born digital and acquired by discovery or harvest, digital preservation masters resulting from print processes, digital preservation masters scanned or otherwise produced from analog originals, and access copies of digital objects derived from the preservation masters.
• Be maintained in geographically dispersed locations.
Art encourages kids to use material in different ways and see what happens. For example, when kids press playdough on a penny they see the print left in the dough. It's a new way to use playdough! Making art also lets kids express feelings and tell stories.
1. Let your child be in charge - There is no right way to do art. Every artist does things differently. Provide material and see what your young artist creates. Put material in an easy-to-reach place so your child can choose to do art on his or her own.
2. Enjoy art together - Encourage your child to tell you about his or her artwork. Talking helps your child think more deeply about the work. As your child explains and describes, he or she is also building important language skills. Point out things you see in your child's work. Ask questions to learn more: Tell me about your picture. What a colorful painting! What part was the most fun to do?
3. Read Together - As you read, "Let's Make Rabbits," by Leo Lionni, look at the pictures. Ask, How did the artist make this rabbit? What else could you use to make rabbits? Encourage your child to make a picture with cut or torn paper and tell a story to go with the art. Other books include: "Lucy's Picture," by Nicola Moon, "Cherries and Cherry Pits," by Vera Williams, "Chalk Box Story," by Freeman, "Oops! I made a Mistake," by Hood and the "The Crayon Box that Talked," by De Rolf.
4. Play Together - Gather tape and glue, brightly colored paper, scraps of fabric, and other objects. Then let your imaginations go wild!
5. Appreciate your child's Art - Scribbling is important. Coloring outside the lines is fine. Show that you value your child's art.
Libraries can provide displays of art and craft books, videos, or hold an art program, and make copies of recipes available. I had a program at the library called, "A Picture is worth a thousand Words," by Jean Harder of Hilbert. Jean put paper around the room and left children come up and try painting with sponges. It was amazing what types of talent she drew out of the children by talking to them while they painted.
No-Cook Play Dough
1 cup cold water
1 cup salt
2 teaspoons oil
3 cups flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
food color (optional)
Mix water, salt, and oil. Gradually add flour and cornstarch. Mix and knead.
Divide and add food coloring to each part. Or, use markers to draw on white dough. Store playdough in zip-lock bags.
Bringing Children and Books Together was the title of a workshop presented by Massachusetts' storyteller Tom McCabe. Like its title it captivated, educated and motivated me. Tom's ideas were simple, useful and so very practical. In the course of this article I will attempt to take you through the day long workshop.
First Tom told us of his website, www.tommccabe.com He has, on this site, a Personalized Bookmark, a Personalized Story, and a Custom Certificate of Accomplishment that can be printed with the name of a specific child. He also mentioned that he has found that his friendship pins, a small safety pin with two beads, makes an excellent motivator with children. He gave them out to workshop participants that aided in his stories. In this section he also mentioned how to utilize volunteers. He said identify a computer whiz, a construction person, a sewing person, a transport person, a storage person, and an editor. He said to ask for a certain hour commitment per year from each person, track it, and never exceed it even if the person wants to do more.
Section two of his talk was about passive activities to promote reading. Some of his ideas were:
1. Modeling,
2. Ask a child what they are reading these days,
3. Message boarding where you put up a board like they do in conventions for people to write where they are or to leave messages for each other- some monitoring of the board will be necessary.
4. A never-ending story in a binder where people can keep adding to it.
5. Setting up a poetry and story corner. One cute idea he had was to create a sandwich board with artists' tablets that can be slipped over the shoulders of a child who can walk around the library to promote a parent reader who will read to all the children present instead of just their own.
Section three encompassed simple activities such as:
1. Dress in a simple literary character costume for a day and let kids guess with a friendship pin being the prize. A minor character might make the game more challenging.
2. Have riddle and fact books available to mention a fact to the kid when you interact with them to entice them to read about the fact. Did you know that during World War 2 Hedy Lamarr, the actress, owned most of the patents for guidance systems because she designed them before she became an actress.
3. Literary Scavenger Hunts - Tom's encyclopedia, Tom Sawyer, Wrinkle in Time and Charlotte's Web Hunt are all available on-line. He said to link with a teacher who might use this as a tool in her classroom and then share the results with the library to place in a binder.
Section four was a voice workshop for reading aloud.
Section five was on biography. He stressed having children read a very simple child's book on the biography subject to see if the child is truly interested in reading a harder book and doing a report on a particular person.
Section six dealt with developing young authors. First pick a character, then a problem (kids can get a problem by you keeping a box for people to write down their problems or things that bug them) then asking imagination questions, feeling questions and finally they solve the problem. One idea he also had was to do thesaurus charades. Have the person act out a verb. If the audience does not correctly identify the word, write the synonym or antonym on a board. Tom demonstrated by doing the word "meander".
Section seven dealt with using books with math and mapping activities. I thought the mapping activities would be good for the 2004 summer reading theme.
Section eight was on storytelling including audience participation stories. Tom mentioned the formula of taking a story creating five actions and then finding three times to use them in the story. He went on to talk about reader's theater and creative dramatics. To eliminate the need for expensive scenes, Tom said to have the kids draw the scene. Make a book of each scene by each kid. Then when the production is staged say Scene one and all the parents flip to that scene in their kids book, hold the book up and picture the scene. Do that for every scene.
Section nine was on poetry.
Section ten was on an annual public event such as a stone soup potluck no meat allowed for safety's sake, a bedtime storyhour or a themed parade.
Tom's resource handbook is online. It is definitely worth the time it would take to read. His workshop was fantastic. Tom was at my lunch table along with librarians from a Jewish school, a Catholic school, and an inner city Milwaukee public school. All of us felt we got ideas we could easily utilize in our diverse settings.
The PBS show ZOOM wants kids to get involved in the November election and increase voter participation in their community. They have a ZOOM Out the Vote guide to help them.
You can order a set of 50 of these guides --will come in August. Email to: zoom_intoaction@wgbh.org Include your name, title, organization, address, phone, and work email
Check out www.pbskids.org/zoom in August for downloads and printouts your kids can use to launch their voter registration drive.
Books For Soldiers is a soldier support site that ships books, DVDs and supplies to deployed soldiers and soldiers in VA hospitals, via a large volunteer network.
If your library has any old but usable paperback books that you have received as a donation and cannot add to your collection or are discarding, here is a program that might be able to use them.
The American Library Association has launched a new page on its website that features state-by-state budget-cut information. You can search by type of library, name, or city to see what is going on around the country.
The site also includes links to ongoing library funding coverage in American Libraries and to ALA's "Issues and Advocacy" pages, which includes suggestions on how to get involved. Library advocates can also submit stories of how funding issues have impacted their communities.
Marti Hearst, a professor at the School of Information Management and Systems at the University of California, Berkeley, has developed a prototype search program designed to turn Web searches into something that approximates browsing the stacks of a library. The Flamenco search tool uses descriptions of archived items--in Hearst's tests, 35,000 images from an art collection--to display items grouped by criteria such as artist, period, medium, and subject. Users searching for representations of flowers in the 18th century, for example, could see results grouped by decade or by variety of flower. Flamenco can show groups of results that include paintings and sculptures of irises, or paintings of irises and roses. Hearst said the tool allows users to "compare and contrast, discovering new categories and relationships." Bruce Horn of Ingenuity Software is working on a tool that would allow a similar type of browsing on a computer, helping users find relevant resources that might be distributed in many places around a hard drive.
For detailed information about author appearances on television shows as well as listings of book mentions and book reviews, see Motor Online http://www.motor-online.com/tvradiolinks.htm . The service monitors nationally broadcast TV and radio programs and develops comprehensive listings of books, music, magazines, videos, film and software featured on more than 60 programs.
The Annual Wisconsin Library Association Foundation Silent Auction needs your help. They are planning to introduce something new this year at the WLA Conference and YOU can be a part of it. Because not everyone is not able, or willing, to donate an item of $50.00 or more for the auction, they have another way that you can contribute.
They plan to assemble "Mystery Bags" with a regional emphasis. In these bags will be items of interest to bidders from around the state, each bag identifying a geographic area where the items could be used. Suggested items could include coupons for restaurants, theater and movie tickets, sports events, OR anything else that could be useful for anyone living or visiting in your area. No item is too small for these "Mystery Bags" so they hope more WLA members can be a part of contributing to the annual fundraiser.
Contact the Silent Auction chairs with questions Pat Bakula, 414-352-1370, pbakula@webtv.net or Alice Sedgwick, 262-243-9279, ssedgwic@execpc.com Coupons or items can also be sent to the WLA office at 5250 E. Terrace Drive, Suite A, Madison 53718-8345 or to Alice Sedgwick at 12934 N. Colony Dr., Mequon 53097.
The 2004 Annual Conference, Your Library: Your Choice, features great programs and speakers with the opportunity to develop new skills, share fresh ideas, refresh and recharge for the year ahead.
Kick off the week with keynote speaker Nancy Pearl, author of Book Lust and the model for the librarian action figure! Have lunch with Avi. Hear Larry Watson, this year's Banta Award winner. Catch up with technology trends, including RFID, blogging, and wireless access. Learn about political developments and opportunities to advocate. Brainstorm new programming ideas for all ages. Then join your fellow library professionals at a dessert reception at the Riviera Ballroom, an early morning breakfast cruise on Geneva Lake or "A Royal Revelry."
The Youth Services Section is going to help you get in the mood for "Dragons, Dreams and Daring Deeds," the theme for the 2005 SRP, by sponsoring "A Royal Revelry" on Thursday, November 4 from 9 p.m. - 2 a.m. The evening of magical merrymaking will include costume judging, period music, strolling performers and more! Knights, jesters, nobility -- come one and all! You''ll return to your library with new ideas and resources to help you take on any challenges you might face.
Sharon Winkle, Director, Mead Public Library will be on the panel for Rethinking Wisconsin Libraries, Wednesday, November 3. The panel discussion will be on library districts. Library districts are a public library alternative to municipal, county or joint libraries. Though not currently an option for Wisconsin communities, they are legal in 27 states, including Illinois and Michigan. This alternative governance structure offers both opportunities and challenges for library growth and operations. A distinguished panel will present details regarding possible district legislation for Wisconsin, explore some of the situations where district libraries may make sense for a community, and, finally, discuss some of the differences between district and municipal libraries from an administrative perspective.
On Friday, November 5 Vonna Pitel, IMC Director, Cedarburg High School will be on the panel for Training and Promotion of Badgerlink. This panel discussion will highlight training and promotion for Badgerlink, an information resource available to library users in all types of libraries throughout the state of Wisconsin. What training and promotional materials are available from the DPI BadgerLink program? How do various libraries (school, public, academic) use the BadgerLink provided databases to teach information literacy to our users?
David Weinhold, Director of Eastern Shores Library System is a candidate for the 2005 WLA Vice President/President elect position.
Register for the Conference by October 1 for early bird prices!
WLA
is sponsoring a photo contest of the Library Lady Action Figure. Take her
on your vacation, pose her in a "tableau," or include her in that next
picture of your library! Perhaps you'll catch her at a staff meeting or a board
meeting
Details:
1. Pictures must be no larger than 4 7/8" x 4 ¾" or the size of a single CD jewel case.
2. Pictures must be displayed and submitted in a single CD jewel case.S
3. Include a caption.
4. Include name of individual or WLA unit submitting the picture.
5. Deadline: Friday, October 22, 2004.
6. Send to: Nancy Fletcher, Waukesha County Federated Library System, 831 N Grand Avenue #220, Waukesha, WI 53186 You can also send it on the delivery van.
Awards will be given in the categories of "Farthest Away," "Most Extreme," and "Most Creative."
For more information, contact WLA conference store manager Nancy Fletcher at (262) 896-8245 or nsfletch@wcfls.lib.wi.us .