Performer ShowcaseThe Library Connection
Volume 24 Number 7 October 2004
Performer ShowcaseEastern Shores Library System and Manitowoc-Calumet Library System recently sponsored a Performer Showcase at the Mead Public Library in Sheboygan. Twenty two performers and thirty two staff members from area libraries and library systems attended.
It was a full day for everyone! Each performer presented a 10-minute sample of his or her talent. ESLS Director David Weinhold, as the master of ceremonies, kept the event moving and on schedule. Many of the performers were able to spend most of the day there, visiting with the librarians and also sharing information with each other.
Performers who attended included magicians, storytellers, musicians, singers, jugglers, a henna tattoo artist, a naturalist with her bird, and a scientist.
Customers at Mead Public Library in Sheboygan can now purchase an original work of art from a recycled cigarette vending machine. Mead is one of 70 locations in the country (and the first library) to offer this service.
For $5 the buyer will get a small original artwork packaged or created to be the size of a carton of cigarettes. More than 400 artists are currently selling their artwork through Art*o*mat. Artworks include small paintings on a block of wood, a ring, a toy robot, stained glass, handmade paper, or a puzzle. Contact information is included on each package if the buyer wishes to purchase more items from the artist.
The proceeds are shared by the artist, the Friends of Mead Public Library, and Art*o*mat's creator. The Kohler Foundation helped to fund expenses associated with the Art*o*mat installation.
Check out the web site http://www.artomat.org or look for Mead's machine on the first floor, near the elevators.
David Weinhold, ESLS Director, has been elected
vice-president/president-elect of the Wisconsin Library Association. He
will be the vice-president next year and will assume leadership of the
organization during 2006.
David has been a member of WLA since 1977, following his graduation from
Southern Connecticut State University. He began his career as the library
director at the Sheboygan Falls Memorial Library and then spent 10 years as the
coordinator of the Sheboygan County Library System (later the Eastern Shores
Library System) before being named the director in 1990.
He has been involved in various WLA activities--including parliamentarian,
conference committee chair, and secretary. His other activities include:
Chair of the LSCA Advisory Committee, Chair of the DPI delivery service advisory
committee, and a member of the Joint Legislative Council Special Committee on
Public Libraries.
The statement he wrote when he accepted the nomination includes this
paragraph: "Schools and municipalities are making decisions that
de-emphasize libraries. In these decisions, libraries are viewed as
peripheral to the learning process, not integral to the development of children.
Libraries are not viewed as an essential service in the municipality - that
citizens can individually pay for library service. I hope that my
leadership can raise the voice of the Association to counteract these
efforts."
Congratulations, David!
For other WLA election results, click here
Several libraries in the Eastern Shores Library System were hosts to Kristine, a young woman from Germany. Kristine accompanied a group of German students to Sheboygan Falls, but because she is in her first year at a university, she did not attend high school classes with the other students. Instead, she had the opportunity to visit several different libraries and observe how they meet the needs of their customers.
She spent two days on the bookmobile, a day at Lakeland College and another at UW-Sheboygan. While at Mead, she spent time with a reference librarian and in the children's room where she observed several children's programs. Kristine is majoring in American Studies and Book Science. She hopes to pursue a career in librarianship.
John DeBacher has been appointed to the position of Consultant for Public Library Administration with the DLTCL. John will begin his duties with the Public Library Development Team on December 1.
John DeBacher brings a wealth of experience to this position. He has been Director of the Monona Public Library for more than 10 years and previously served as the Director of the Big Rapids Community Library (Michigan). He has also worked for the Chicago Public Library and the Center for Children's Books. At the Monona Public Library, John expanded services, supervised a major renovation and expansion of the library, and established the state's first distance learning classroom in a public library.John holds a B.A. in English from Grinnell College and a Master's degree in Library Science from the University of Chicago. John currently serves as Chair of the Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries and has been active in other cooperative library efforts.
YA librarians and school media specialists looking for fiction to appeal to young boys may want to borrow "Life is Tough: Guys Growing Up, and Young Adult Literature" from the Reference and Loan Library. The book includes annotated bibliographies focusing on books that can be recommended to help boys navigate adolescence, improve literacy, or find a good read. Adolescent issues and themes covered in the book include coming-of-age, sexuality, and decision-making. Several fiction genres are covered, including fantasy. The book may be borrowed through established interlibrary loan channels.
Children's
Librarians CornerOn shows like "Mission: Organization" and "How Clean is Your
House?" one of the top priorities is throwing out or giving away the stuff
we don't need, don't' use, don't want, or is no longer credible. Not long
ago I did a search for someone who wanted material on Hawaii. One of the
items I pulled up had a copyright of 1959. I am sorry to say it is in the
juvenile section along with a few others that have copyright dates from the
early 60's. I didn't think this customer or any other would find these
useful.
The Bookmobile is limited to about 30,000 items. The collection is
housed in movable stacks to save space and therefore rent. Every year I
try to go through at least one collection of materials to discard items and make
room for others. Every few years we do a major weeding. Is this fun?
No. But it is very important.
In the article "Bridging the value gap: Getting past professional values
to customer value in the public library" by Gary Deane (Public Libraries,
Sept/Oct 2003) Eleanor Jo Rodger states,
"Valuable does not necessarily correspond with the library staff's
ideas of importance. It is customers, one at a time, who define a
library's value. This value is realized in the usefulness, the
quality, and the availability of the library's products and services, as well as
in the customer support that accompanies them. It is also found in the
image that the library presents to the customer, an image that must be carefully
defined and managed by the library."
Charlie Robinson, director emeritus of Baltimore County Public Library states
this more clearly for us: "The value of a library does not depend on
how many books it has; it depends on how many books it has that people actually
want to use."
As Mr. Deane states, "In many
libraries, inventory management is an oxymoron at best and a total quagmire at
worst. Shelves and catalogs are filled with material that is unwanted, obsolete,
or both. This is completely antithetical to value because it frustrates and
inconveniences customers in their search for what they want." Weeding
your shelves of unwanted material will also help to clean up EasiCat, making
those items more useful to staff and customers.
Click here for Thanksgiving bookmarks that you can print for your customers.
The Library of Congress Center for the Book and the Wisconsin Center for the Book are sponsoring a "Letters about Literature" contest for children and young adults. There are 3 competitive levels, based on the child's grade.
To enter, children write a personal letter to an author, living or dead, from any genre--fiction or nonfiction, contemporary or classic, explaining how that author's work changed their way of thinking about the world or themselves.
If the schools in your area are not participating or if your library is used by parents who homeschool their children, you have an opportunity to promote this contest. The guidelines and entry coupon can be found at http://www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook/letters-participation.html
The Public Library Development Team has created an email list to facilitate the exchange of CDs that libraries have received as a result of the recent settlement by Attorneys General. CDSWAP is an open list. Feel free to use the list to announce CDs that you want to swap.
To subscribe to CDSWAP, send an email to: majordomo@badger.state.wi.us
In the body of the message (leave the subject blank) enter only the
following text:
subscribe cdswap
then send the email. You will receive a return email message when you have
been subscribed.
To send a message to CDSWAP, address it to: cdswap@badger.state.wi.us.
If you have any problems or questions related to the list, contact Bob Bocher, 608-266-2127, robert.bocher@dpi.state.wi.us.
Eastern Shores Library Director David Weinhold recently attended a workshop where the presenter gave 12 steps to reinventing your library. Click here to see his report, including a description of each of the 12 steps and suggestions for implementing them.
There is a difference in the size of the English Language Learners (ELL) population from one geographic area in the U.S. to the next. The West had the largest number of ELL students in 1993-94 and continues to have the largest number in 1999-2000. The Northeast population of ELL students decreased during this time from 15 percent to 10 percent. During the same time the Midwest's ELL student population rose 1.4 to 2.6 percent and South's ELL student population rose 3.5 to 4.5 percent. The Midwest still has the lowest percentage ELL students of any geographical region.
Nationally, over one-half of all ELL students attended schools in which less
than 1 percent of the students used English as their second language.
Seven percent of the ELL students attended schools in which at least one-quarter of the student population were ELL students. The schools with
the highest percentage of ELL students were primarily located in the West.
A new monthly magazine -- Asian Wisconzine -- will begin coverage of and for
Wisconsin's Asian communities starting in January 2005. The purpose of
the publication will be to connect diverse Asian cultures in one publication.
Monthly features will include Asian American columnists (from Northeast Asia,
Southeast Asia, and South Asia), Asian American success stories, and a focus
article on one Asian culture. For more information about the magazine,
or to subscribe, visit www.asianwisconzine.com.
The Described Video Service (DVS) has reached a new agreement with several
motion picture studios that calls for the release of audio described movies in
DVD format as soon as they become available in that format. The first
movie to be released under the new agreement is "The Passion of the
Christ." When libraries purchase movies in the audio described
format they are encouraged to mark them in Braille. Contact Barb
Huntington for sources that often do Braille labels free for
libraries. For information about the DVS home videos, go to http://main.wgbh.org/wgbh/pages/mag/about/news/dvshvnewreleases.html