The Library Connection
The Monthly Newsletter of the Eastern
Shores Library System
www.esls.lib.wi.us
November is Native American Heritage Month
Volume 30 Number 10 October 2010
Click here for the Fall 2010 Bookmobile Schedule
Upgrading to Polaris 4.0
At the SLAC (Shared Automation Library Committee) meeting on Tuesday, October 19th, Paul Onufrak, Automation Librarian for Eastern Shores Library System, announced the tentative date for the next Polaris software upgrade. Right now March 16, 2011 is that date. Polaris is the software that powers EasiCat.
To view information about the upgrade check out the Polaris Power PAC Guide 4.0 , watch a brief informational video with information on the new Mobile PAC which is compatible with many Web browsers found on a range of mobile devices or learn more about auto-suggest functionality, part of the upgrade by clicking here.
WiLS & RL&LL Joint ILL Meeting: The Future of Resource Sharing
David Weinhold, Director of Eastern Shores Library System
WiLS
and DPI’s Resource for Libraries and Lifelong Learning hosted their
annual joint Resource Sharing and Interlibrary Loan conference in early
October at the Pyle Center in Madison.
About 80 people representing all types of libraries from all areas
of the state attended the session.
Keynoting
the conference was, Lars Leon, Head of Resource Sharing and Delivery
Service at Univ.of Kansas Libraries.
He spoke on the topic: What
will We (Resource Sharing) Be Doing in 3 Years?
He not only spoke to the changes in what is being shared, but also
the changes in the work that Resource Sharing/Interlibrary Loan (RS/ILL)
staff do.
Leon
stressed the importance of staff development at both the institutional and
personal levels.
At
the institution - staff should develop collaboration skills.
Managers need to recognize the strengths and skills of individuals.
Those strengths and skills should be used not only in the area
where the staff work, but also in other areas of the library.
RS/ILL staff that often spends time behind the scenes, in the back
room, should share duties at public service desks.
This latter recommendation occurs more in public libraries and
small academic libraries than at larger libraries.
On
the personal level - staff should develop complementary skills to those
they currently have. Staff
can use current skills in other departments, places, tasks in the library.
Leon asked that all staff learn facilitation skills.
Those skills improve one’s ability to cooperate and collaborate
on projects.
Leon
spoke about some current and future impacts on RS/ILL.
The marketplace impact on format of information creates issues of
forward and backward compatibility for electronic or magnetically stored
information. Do you have a
computer that can read a 5¼ floppy disk or a even a 3.5 inch?
The rapid change in formats creates storage and collection
development issues for libraries. Patron demand for types of formats and requests for the
esoteric information creates challenges on how to locate and fill those
requests. Some customers are
looking for direct delivery of the information to their home, office,
desktop computer, or their mobile device.
Publishers’ restrictions on licensed content make it difficult to
share some information outside one’s institution.
How does technology help customers and institutions that want
requests go unmediated directly to the provider?
Can we deliver more information electronically and reduce physical
delivery of materials? What
effect does resource discovery tools, e.g. WorldCat Local, have on the
RS/ILL service when patrons can discover information so easily?
The
conference include other sessions, one of which - Changing Formats of Info - Effects on Resource Sharing - had three
panelists address the question, “What is the effect of - mobile devices,
mobile content, copyright/licensing, patron expectations - on resource
sharing?”
Some of the comments from the panelists:
Changes
in formats hasn’t rid libraries or the world of other formats.
Remove fees from ILL so customers have no barrier to the information you
can get for them.
Determine whether you deliver content to mobile devices - are there
copyright concerns about scanning and sending?
There is value to publishers for the info we collect about the use of
materials, if only we could retrieve the data from our ILS.
Depending upon the publisher, a library may negotiate a license to share
electronic data.
The current economics of information requires public libraries to deliver
content system wide which requires co-op purchasing which still can be
pricey for individual libraries.
Purchasing content on local level for local use only goes against the
strong ethic of resource sharing in Wisconsin.
Other
sessions provide a quick overview of some future trends in RS/ILL.
At the UW System Libraries, they are developing a resource
discovery tool that retrieves results from all the UW System libraries and
some digital collections. This
development is underway because the UW’s current ILS vendor does not
offer such a service.
At
the Madison Public Library, the RS/ILL staff is piloting a Purchase on Demand service for some ILL requests.
A resource library service grant from South Central Library System
funds the service. The
decision for the staff to purchase rather than borrow is based on the
following factors:
Does the item have a high circulation potential after the ILL
request is filled?
Is the
item part of a series that the library collects?
Is the
item one of the missing items in a series?
Are
there many ILL requests for this item?
Is the
item not available through ILL?
Does
the item cost no more than $30?
Does
the purchase exceed $150 for all the customer’s requests?
The
Library will purchase the item from Amazon and submits an order when the
free shipping threshold is reached. After
the item is bought to fill the request, and is no longer needed to fill ILL
requests, it is added to the collection either in Madison or in one of the
system’s member libraries.
Children's
Librarians Corner
Creating Opportunities, for the Public and the Professional
Elizabeth (Betty) McCartney, Interim director at the Elkhart Lake Public Library
When I was first told that I was expected to write an article for the
Children’s Librarian Corner I panicked. What
do I know about Children librarianship? I
never expected to be a Children’s librarian and most of my professional
library experience was in Academic Libraries. After
taking a few, deep breaths and reading a couple of earlier columns I
decided to explore how my past experience as a reader and a parent will
help me as a Children’s Librarian at Elkhart Lake Public Library.
I grew up in a reading family. Books
and magazines were always available. I
remember my older sister reading The
Red Trailer Mystery (Trixie Belden) on a long summer vacation car
ride. She got very irritated because I wouldn’t stop asking why she was
laughing. I decided at that
moment I needed to learn to read so I could find out what was so funny. I must have been about 5. My
older sisters would read to me at night and later I would read to my
younger brother and sister. I
remember my father reading Pinocchio
to us and then taking all of us to see the movie.
I don’t remember going to the library until I was about 10
years old.
In the early 1960s my mother gave me the books To
Kill a Mockingbird and Uncle
Sam’s Cabin to read. We
had recently moved from Ohio to Georgia and these books had a great
influence on my life. In the
sixth grade my teacher read to us after lunch every day. I
remember her reading Charlotte’s
Web, A Wrinkle in Time and The
Island of the Blue Dolphins. She
challenged us to read as many Newberry Award winning books as we could. I
would go to the public library on Saturday afternoons looking for a new
book to read. The Library was
in an old church manse and very crowded. The
Nancy Drew books were shelved on a window sill and there were even books
shelved on the fireplace mantels. What
I remember best is how quiet and still the Library was.
Spooky.
By high school I was using the local college library and didn’t use a
public library again until moving to Plymouth about 17 years ago. I started taking my children to Cindy Stories and the Summer
Library Reading program. We
borrowed lots of books and movies. The
library was much more open and inviting then when I was a child. It was exciting and my children loved going to the library. I
would read to my children every night at bedtime. As
my children grew up I began to read along with them. We
fought over who got to read the latest Harry Potter book (ended up buying
two copies). My daughter and
I had great discussions about love and passion after we both read Twilight.
So, where am I going with this trip down memory lane? I want to take the best of my experience and make it happen for
the children and families of Elkhart Lake. I
want to make sure I create opportunities for children to get the right
book at the right time; that the library is welcoming and inclusive; the
library’s programs are interesting and well run; that parents are
encouraged to continue to be involved in their children’s reading life;
and that older children and peers play an important role in getting young
adults to read. I bet you
knew all that already. So I
have some catching up to do. I’m
looking forward to learning more from my Eastern Shores Library System
colleagues.
The Youth Services Meeting will be held Friday, November 12 at the U.S.S. Liberty Public Library in Grafton from 9:00 a.m. to noon. Contact Paula Siefert with questions or with items for the agenda at psiefert@esls.lib.wi.us or 920/208-4900 ext 310.
Local Library Funding
Mead Public Library
Proposed funding for the Mead Public Library would drop $303,000 in
2011, according to Sheboygan Mayor Bob Ryan's executive budget submitted
to the Common Council. That represents a drop in funding of 11.4 percent
from 2010. According to the Director of Mead Public Library, Sharon
Winkle, " This level of funding does not meet the Maintenance of
Effort (MoE) funding requirement for participation in Eastern Shores
Library System, so negotiations among ESLS, DLTCL, and the City will
likely start in early 2011".
The Sheboygan City Council will be acting on the Mayor's proposal in
November. Last year, the Council found the necessary funding for
2010 to meet the required funding so that Mead Public Library would remain
in compliance with the System's membership requirements. A recent
editorial in the Sheboygan Press stated that the Council would be making
some difficult choices for 2011 in regards to positions in the fire
department, police department, and the library. The editorial
lamented the fact that the funding proposed by the Mayor would jeopardize
the Library's membership in the Library System.
If the Library is not in compliance with the membership requirements at
the beginning of 2011, the Library System along with Division for
Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning is required to begin the
process of enforcing that requirement. This could mean the loss of
library system services if compliance is not achieved.
City and Town of Cedarburg
In
recent mediation discussions with the City of Cedarburg, the Town of
Cedarburg proposed to form a joint library for the Town and City of
Cedarburg. For 2010, the Town had left the joint library agreement
and participated in the county library service, paid the county library
tax, and thus reimbursed libraries for the service the Town residents used
at other libraries. If the joint library is resurrected, then the Town
would pay its library service appropriation to the Joint Library.
In response to questions from Town and City officials, David Weinhold,
ESLS Director, advised them that the Town and City should jointly create a
plan for library service and not rush into an agreement that may result in
a challenge to the Town's exemption from the County Library Tax. He
stated that the City and Town have time to plan for the joint library
during the first six months of 2011 and then would be ready to operate a
joint library in 2012.
The Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning listed the
following steps that the Town and City must take to establish a joint
public library.
A.
A library plan or agreement is formed which addresses the following:
1. The names of the municipalities which will be members of the
joint public library.
2. The statutory authority under which the joint library will
be established.
3. The size of the joint library board and proportionate
distribution of the members among the participating municipalities.
4. The method by which a school district representative shall
be appointed.
5. The initial terms of office which will be assigned to each
board member.
6. The municipality to be designated as the fiscal agent for
the library, that will handle the payroll and benefit administration for
library staff, pay library insurance costs, and handle library financial
record-keeping and auditing.
7. The disposition of existing and future assets of the joint
library in case of dissolution of the joint library.
8. The method by which annual budgets will be formulated and
costs apportioned among the participating municipalities.
9. The method by which library board appointments will be
re-apportioned with each federal decennial census.
B. The plan is approved by the participating municipalities
C. The plan is submitted to the Division for Libraries,
Technology, and Community Learning for an opinion regarding the
desirability and feasibility of the plan. The Division's opinion
will be contingent upon
the following conditions:
1. The joint library will be established under the
appropriate provisions of Chapter 43 of the Wisconsin Statutes.
2. A librarian who is eligible for the appropriate grade
level of Wisconsin public librarian certification from the Department of
Public Instruction will be appointed to administer the library.
3. The establishment of the joint library agrees with the long
range plan for library service in the community.
4. The municipalities party to the joint library agreement
will make a long term commitment to provide adequate financial support for
the library.
5. The joint library will be a member of a public library
system.
D. The plan is submitted to the Ozaukee County Board of
Supervisors for approval.
E. Draw up legal joint library agreement incorporating provisions of
the plan.
F. Submit final plan and joint library agreement to municipalities
for action and appointment of library board members.
Geography Awareness Week
The Third Week of November Each Year is Geography Awareness Week
This year's theme for November 14-20, 2010 is Freshwater! My Wonderful World's Geography Awareness Week site provides information about Geography Awareness Week to the public while the National Geographic Society's Geography Action website serves to provide resources for educators about Geography Awareness Week. Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis has a web site listing books and films Indiana
Helen E. Ehrlich Memorial
ESLS’s Bookmobile has received a memorial donation
in the name of Helen E. Ehrlich.
Helen, formerly of the Sheboygan Senior Community in Sheboygan,
died on August 31, 2010. She
loved to read large print fiction, especially best sellers.
Her daughter Anne Vogel checked out books for her at the bookmobile
stop in Howards Grove.
At the family’s request the memorial, over $1600, will be used to purchase large print and children’s books.
Interesting Items
* The Reference Workshop, The Social Library by Tasha Saecker will be held at Mead Public Library from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 9, 2010. Explore how to use Facebook and Twitter and promote your library to connect with fans and friends. Contact Theresa Dees at Theresa.Dees@meadpubliclibrary.org or call 920-459-4300 ext. 3431 by November 5, 2010 to attend.
* November is National Family Caregivers Month and National Hospice Palliative Care Month. Check out resources including the NHPCO's 2010 Marketplace Catalog and the AXA Foundation Family Care Resource Clearinghouse .
* The expiration date for the P4A antiques
reference subscription is 10/27/2010. Only Cedarburg Public Library will
still continue to be a subscriber after that date. Five libraries
in Eastern Shores have continued the subscription to Tumblebooks, they
are Cedarburg Public Library, Elkhart Lake Public Library, F. L. Weyenberg
Public Library of Mequon-Thiensville, Mead Public Library of Sheboygan,
and the Lakeview Community Library of Random Lake.
* Library Works has a few suggestions for Understanding & Enhancing Your Library’s Public Perception courtesy of Glassdoor.com, and Jamie Bryant writes about 7 ideas to get Kids Fired up about Reading in Your Library Is a Launchpad.
* A recent Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article, Oppressive Debt Forces Governments - and West Bend Schools - to Make Tough Choices included this statement: "The consequences are upon us. Three years ago, six librarians served West Bend's six elementary schools; this year, one librarian remains. Next year, there likely will be none". For the full story click here.
* Here's a "why didn't I think of that" story from the Wisconsin State Journal, A Real Toy Story: Madison Mom, Daughter's Library Kit a Finalist in Contest.
* Library
Futures, Staying Ahead of the Curve: Technology Trends in Libraries, is
a 90 minute College of DuPage Library Learning Network webcast that deals
with current and future technology in libraries. Panelists are: Eric Lease
Morgan (Head of the Digital Access and Information Architecture
Department, University Libraries of Notre Dame) and Marshall Breeding
(Director for Innovative Technologies and Research for the Jean and
Alexander Heard Library at Vanderbilt University and Executive Director of
the Vanderbilt Television News Archive).
* No federal tax forms from the IRS will be mailed to individuals or business taxpayers for 2010 due to the growth of electronic filing.
* Great news from Denise Cook, Ill/Cataloging Librarian for Eastern Shores Library System, As of November 1st “EasiCat has officially been connected successfully to WISCAT via Z39.50, and our old holdings have been deleted. This also now means WISCAT ILL should see your holdings in real time from this point on - meaning no more requests for items no longer owned, and no requests for items that are checked out or otherwise unavailable”.