The Library Connection

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

Volume 28 Number 6   June 2008

Click here for the Summer 2008 Bookmobile Schedule

Beyond Our Current Horizon, Part V

The Library System Board approved the contract with Polaris Library Systems Inc. on Monday June 9.  This contract is the first step in implementing the new hardware and software that will operate EasiCat in 2009.   

The contract is the result of the work by library system staff and member library staff serving on an Integrated Library System (ILS) Replacement Team and an ILS Negotiations Team.  The Replacement Team began their work at the end of 2007.  They gathered information about library automation products and vendors and scheduled demonstrations of those products.  They met with the vendors a number of times over the early months of 2008.  At the end of their evaluation, the Team recommended the Polaris library automation product.  Once the product was selected, then the Negotiations Team reviewed the Polaris agreement and made sure all the equipment and software needed to replace the Horizon software was included.  Library System Board members, a member library board member, and the Library System attorney also reviewed the contact.  Their suggestions were part of the negotiations and most became part of the contract.  The Team was also able to get a 22% discount on the total cost of the contract.   

The new ILS product will cost a little over $278,000.  The Library System has some reserves to apply to this cost and will finance the balance with a State Trust Fund Loan through the Bureau of Public Land Commissioners.  The member libraries are exploring methods that will distribute the cost over all system residents, since EasiCat is a benefit to all system residents. 

Paul Onufrak, ESLS Automation Librarian, has scheduled the first test load data extraction for the first full week of July.  A three day site visit by the Polaris implementation staff will be held at the ESLS offices on July 8-10.  

New hardware installations and data testing will take place July through September.  Staff training is tentatively scheduled for the first two weeks in September. The current implementation schedule has ESLS member libraries and Lakeland College discontinuing the use of Horizon on October 9 and going live with Polaris on October 16, 2008.  

Local Libraries Receive Awards and Grants

The Big Read Grant

Libraries in ESLS will be reading Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury as part of Mead Public Library’s Big Read Grant.   The Big Read is a project of the National Endowment for the Arts.  Partners for the project include the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest.  Several hundred copies of the book will be distributed free of charge to participating libraries.  “The idea of the grant is to reverse the very alarming trend of the large downturn in readership, especially that of high caliber literature” says Kim Dalhaimer, grant administrator.  The program will culminate with book discussions in September and October of this year.  Mead Public Library will be having special programs connected with the Big Read.    

The Big Read project was started in 2006.  By 2009, approximately 400 communities in the U.S. will have hosted a Big Read since the program's 2007 national launch.  More details on NEA and the Big Read project can be found at http://www.neabigread.org/ .  

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The NEA presents The Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest.

Two local libraries, the Frank L. Weyenberg Library of Mequon-Thiensville and the Lakeview Community Library in Random Lake will be receiving Picturing America.  Many area schools within Eastern Shores are also receiving the materials.

Children's Librarians Corner

Teens to the Rescue @ Elkhart Lake 

Nancy Van Voorhis, Director of the Elkhart Lake Public Library

First there was Pinball, then Ms. Pac-man, Frogger and now DDR and Guitar Hero. Gaming has always been a popular form of entertainment.  It’s great to see it come into a library setting. Instead of losing this age group to the video arcade, as happened in my generation, getting kids to socialize in the library is a great advantage.  I see teens returning to the library. 

The goal of gaming in libraries is to make teens feel comfortable and learn about the other resources available. Teens are the future of libraries.  They grew up with computer games, music CDs and DVDs, now they can be introduced to books. 

Our Wii machine arrived without many installation instructions so I asked a 5^th grader if he wanted to come and install it. Word got out and ten kids came in the building that day. The machine was hooked up within minutes and the games began.  

I have learned so much from this group of kids. You can calibrate the Guitar Hero to be faster for better scores, more controllers are better so you don’t have to keep switching them from program to program.  Board games are still popular as well as simple crafts.  We utilizing dollar stores for prizes and refreshments are a must.  Gaming is not replacing reading.  According to the teens I talked with they read and are looking forward to some of the YA sequels coming out this fall. Eragon & Harry Potter have been made into video games that require one to have read the book to get better scores. 

I also have adults wanting to play the Wii games.  We hope to start that in the fall with the help of the teens.  Negative comments about the program involved the initial cost of the Wii and the problem with added noise in the library.  I explained that the gaming equipment was paid for with grants and gift money. As for the myth that libraries should be quiet, story time and other social activities create the same level of audience participation as gaming. An advisory committee selected the games which were rated E for everyone.  

Some of the benefits of gaming in the library include building kids self-esteem and teaching teamwork. Since most games have a history, characters to develop and a storyline, gaming can also be used as a teaching tool. Libraries can focus on the educational values and follow their mission in selection of games that will introduce youth to other choices beside the popular genres.  Also remember that a lot of the gamers are already library users.  If they promote library services to non-users through this program we all benefit. 

As always the cat helped me with this so pardon any mistakes. She is sleeping peacefully using a corner of the laptop for a pillow. But when I turn on the game Frogger she will be watching the screen and playing along.  

ESLS Board Member News

David Weinhold, Director of Eastern Shores Library System 

The Eastern Shores Library System Board will welcome two new members starting June 23, 2008.

Don Dohrwardt, Ozaukee County Board Supervisor representing the Fredonia area, has been appointed to the Eastern Shores Library System Board to complete the term left vacant by the retirement of William Niehaus.  Mr. Dohrwardt has served a number of years on the County Board and is also a member of the Ozaukee County Library Commission.

William Goehring, Sheboygan County Board Supervisor representing the Town of Sherman and Random Lake area, has been appointed to the Library System Board to complete the term left vacant by the retirement of William Jens.  Mr. Goehring has a served a number of years on the County Board and recently completed two terms as County Board Chairman.  He is also the Chair of the Town of Sherman Board.

Thank you to two Retiring Board members 

William Jens has retired from the Eastern Shores Library System Board after serving for eight years as the Sheboygan County Supervisor representative.  Jens also served for 3 years from 1991 to 1994 prior to his election as County Board Chairman.  During his most recent term, Jens served as Treasurer of the Board and Chair of the Budget Committee since 2004.   

“Bill was an advocate for county library service,” David Weinhold, Eastern Shores Library System Director said.  “He saw the value in sharing the costs with libraried municipalities so that all county residents could have library service.”  Jens also supported the role of the Bookmobile as it served not only rural residents of the county, but also served residents of the former Sheboygan County Comprehensive Health Center and now Rocky Knoll Health Center.   

William Niehaus, Ozaukee County Board Supervisor, retired from the Library System Board after serving 2 years.  Appointed in 2006 as the representative for the Ozaukee County Board, Mr. Niehaus served on the Budget Committee for the Library System.

The System would like to thank both of them for their service and commitment.

Local Educator Honored

Sharon Abel was recently awarded the American Jail Association’s 2008 Civilian Employee of the Year.  Abel, employed by Lakeshore Technical College (LTC) is responsible for adult inmate education program at the Sheboygan County Detention Center and is constantly promoting community involvement to help her students achieve their education goals.  She has worked with the Literacy Council of the county’s Family Resource Center to provide volunteer tutors for the inmates and has successfully acquired grants worth more than $40,000 from the Sheboygan Country Crime Prevention Fund for library materials.   

Sharon,LTC, and ESLS have partnered in a book discussion grant entitled “Fighting Hate with Literacy.”   The project was made possible by an LSTA grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services.   Sharon expects to see at least 100 inmates benefit from the grant.  

This spring Abel presented “The Constant Flow: Managing the Chaos and Classroom Strategies that Work” at the first Jail Instructor Training Day for the Correctional Education Association - Wisconsin (CEA-W) where she involved the audience to illustrate techniques for establishing relationships with new students and strategies for making the classroom chaos productive.

Scholarships and Awards

ALA/Scholastic Library Publishing Announces 2009 National Library Week Grant

A $3000 Scholastic Library Publishing National Library Week Grant will be awarded to the library with the best public awareness campaign incorporating: “Worlds connect @ your library®”, the 2009 National Library Week theme.  

The grant is sponsored by Scholastic Library Publishing and is administered by the Public Awareness Committee of the American Library Association (ALA).  The deadline to apply for the grant is October 17, 2008.  National Library Week is April 12-18, 2009.  Grant proposals must use the theme, which incorporates the Campaign for America’s Libraries’ “@ your library” brand on all promotions and publicity.  

A grant application form and guidelines are available on The Campaign for America’s Libraries Web site at http://www.ala.org/@yourlibrary/nlwgrant .  Information also is available from the ALA Public Information Office, telephone: 800-545-2433, ext. 2148 or E-mail: mmcfarlane@ala.org.

Six scholarships are available to WLA members and prospective library school students for library education and continuing education. The scholarships are sponsored by the Wisconsin Library Association Foundation. Applications are due September 15, 2008. For details and copies of the application go to:  www.wla.lib.wi.us/scholarships/.

The six scholarships are: The George Bauer Continuing Education Scholarship ($800); the Gloria Hoegh Scholarship for Rural Librarians ($1,050); Library Education Scholarship ($1,300); Diversity Scholarship ($1,200); Sally Davis Scholarship ($1,250) and the Vida Cummins Stanton Scholarship ($1,400).

Frances de Usabel Outreach Services Award

Posted by: Leah Langby, Library Development and Youth Services Coordinator
Indianhead Federated Library System [wispublib]

The Outreach Services Round Table is the proud sponsor of the Frances de Usabel Outreach Services Award. The award is presented annually to a “library or librarian who has provided exemplary library outreach services to underserved populations.” The award may be for a specific project or projects or for outstanding lifetime achievement in outreach services.  Please consider nominating yourself, your library, or another person or library by August 1.   

Public, academic, school or special libraries and librarians are all eligible and encouraged to apply for this award. Nominees should be members of the Wisconsin Library Association but need not be members of the Outreach Services Round Table. The amount of the award is $500.  The award will be presented during the Award Ceremony at the WLA Annual Conference in November. 

The award is named in honor of the former Special Needs Consultant for the Wisconsin Division for Libraries, Technology and Community Learning, Frances de Usabel. Frances worked diligently and successfully to advance outreach services in Wisconsin public libraries for many years. The award is funded in part by the siblings of Frances de Usabel, who recognize the importance of outreach services and who wish to honor their sister’s work in this area. 

You can find the application at  http://www.wla.lib.wi.us//osrt/deUsabel.htm.    If you have questions about this award, please contact OSRT chair Laurie Magee at magee@oshkoshpubliclibrary.org or 920-236-5207.

Interesting Items

The Northwest Wisconsin Children’s Book Conference will be held on October 2^nd and 3^rd in Cable Wisconsin at the Telemark Resort and Conference Center.  Nancy Pearl will be the keynote speaker for the event.   Pearl, author of the best seller Book Lust, is a regular commentator on National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition” and hosts her own monthly television program Book Lust with Nancy Pearl on the Seattle Channel.   Pearl, famous the Librarian Action Figure modeled in her likeness was the 50^th winner of the Women’s National Book Association Award in 2004.    

For a description of the workshops, activities and biographies of the presenters and to register and to register for the conference visit the website at: www.telemarkeducation.com/book_conference.html. Early registration for the conference ends July first.  

* It's never too early to start thinking about next year. The upcoming themes for the Cooperative Summer Program are: 

2009 General Theme is Arts & Music
Children's Slogan: Be Creative @ Your Library
Teen Slogan: Express Yourself @ Your Library
2010 General Theme is Water
Children's Slogan: Make a Splash -- READ
Teen Slogan: Make Waves @ Your Library
2011 General Theme is World Cultures

* Eastern Shores Library System and Manitowoc-Calumet Library System will be providing training on the issue of adolescent literacy. DLTCL has make grants available to the library systems. 

Statewide assessments of reading achievement show that the proportion of students proficient in reading declines as they move from elementary and middle school to high school. This conference will launch a multi-year initiative that will champion high-quality teen services and build momentum behind Wisconsin's drive to create the most literate, well-educated citizenry and workforce in the nation.

This public library initiative is being planned in cooperation with State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster's adolescent literacy initiative that is targeted primarily to schools.

More information on the local training session will be available in fall. The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for LSTA grants.

* The 2008 Kids and Family Reading Report conducted by Yankelovich and Scholastic states, "Kids age 5 - 17 believe technology will supplement - not replace- book reading and say they will always want to read books printed on paper."  For more information go to: http://www.scholastic.com/aboutscholastic/news/readingreport.htm .

* The Frank L. Weyenberg Library of Mequon-Thiensville recently opened a new area dedicated to young adults. For more information check out their Spring 2008 newsletter at : http://www.supportlibrary.com/nl/users/flwl/mweb/path200-21.html .

* An interesting article on teen readers appeared in the Newsweek, May 14, 2008 issue. Check it out at: http://www.newsweek.com/id/136961/page/1 .  

* How ethical are you are your fellow staff members? Check out http://www.theethicsguy.com/  website by Bruce Weinstein, Ph.D., he is the professional ethicist known as The Ethics Guy®.

*  The recent economic impact study conducted by Northstar Economics for the Department of Public instruction found that Wisconsin’s public libraries contribute more than $4 for every dollar taxpayers invest. This shows libraries contribute three-quarters of a billion dollars to the state’s economy. To get a news release that you can tailor to reach out to your local media, go to http://www.wisconsinlibraries.org/materials/libraries.asp and look under “Economic Impact Study” for the news release template.  To read the entire study, including a 9-page executive summary, go to http://www.wisconsinlibraries.org. 

* Sheboygan County has updated their Aging and Disability Resource Center website.  Go to: http://www.co.sheboygan.wi.us/html/d_hhs_AgeDisResc_Cntr.html  to view the updated information.

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