The Library Connection
The Monthly Newsletter of the Eastern
Shores Library System
www.esls.lib.wi.us
Volume 27 Number 9 September 2007
Click here for the Winter 2007 Bookmobile Schedule
County Shared Library Services Levy
David Weinhold, Director
Over the course of the past few months, the Technical Advisory Committee (member library directors) have been discussing a proposal to create a county shared library services levy - funding to pay for library services that are available to all residents of the county.
This proposal came out of discussions by the Ozaukee County Library Commission chair, Warren Stumpe, on methods to reimburse the county’s public libraries for serving county residents. As a result of his research, Stumpe concluded that it would be more equitable for the county to assess a levy on all county residents for library services that are used by all county residents.
Currently, the county library service levy is paid by county residents who live in non-libraried municipalities. Under Wisconsin Statutes, the county library service levy is to reimburse libraries for serving a county’s non-libraried residents. Municipalities with libraries are allowed to exempt themselves from the county library service levy because the libraried municipalities use a local library levy to pay for library service. Because of the exemption, funds for library services that are used by libraried and non-libraried residents are not able to be included in the county library service levy.
This proposal would include library services that are appropriate for funding by all county residents. The services would be determined by the member libraries and the library system and would be subject to review by the Department of Public Instruction and a county level public hearing. The request for funding these services would be made to the County Board during its annual budget process. If funding was approved, the county shared library services levy would be paid by all county residents. Municipalities with libraries could not exempt themselves from the county shared library services levy.
The discussions with the member library directors are to find those elements of the proposal that they can agree to. Those elements would be put into a final proposal for consideration by local library boards, the ESLS Board, and the Ozaukee County Library Commission. If approved by those agencies, we would seek the support of both County Boards and then the state legislators representing ESLS.
Preparing Staff to Work with Immigrant Youth
Connect for Kids Weekly, 9/5/07
According to the last Census, one in five children in this country today is an immigrant or the child of an immigrant, and the number is rising. This guide from the National Collaboration for Youth offers the context of the immigrant youth experience and practical tips for hiring, developing and retaining staff to work with this population. A free download of the guide from the National Youth Development Information Center is available at: http://www.nydic.org/nydic/staffing/workforce/PreparingStafftoWorkwithImmigrantYouth.htm
Children's
Librarians Corner
Parents as Reading Partners
Cindy Beyer, Children's Services, W. J. Niederkorn Library, Port Washington
This month our library, the W. J. Niederkorn Library in Port Washington, and the Oscar Grady Public Library in Saukville have combined efforts to start a school year reading program for families in our combined school district. We are calling the program “Parents as Reading Partners." The idea for the program originally came from the summer reading binder, but I felt that the program was better suited to run during the school year. Our local schools were thrilled that the libraries were offering an additional reading program and more than happy to help get the word out to as many families as possible.
“Parents as Reading Partners” main purpose is to encourage parents that have children that read on their own to continue to read aloud to them. Children need to be read to even after they master reading themselves. We have invited families to come into the library and sign a reading contract for the school year. Then they pick out a book that is of interest to their entire family. Once the family completes reading the book aloud they will fill out a reading survey that asks specific questions about the book and their impressions of the book. The families will receive a raffle ticket after they turn in the surveys. Monthly drawings will be held at the end of every month from September through May. The prizes are all family oriented items such as; board games, puzzles and/or sporting equipment. Luckily both of our libraries have strong “Friends of the Library” groups that have agreed to purchase the monthly prizes. The surveys will be kept at the library in a binder so other families can use it as a reference for book ideas.
I am very excited about this program for many different reasons. The most important one is that we can keep families coming into the library even though the summer reading program has ended. Second, it reminds families that it is still important to be a part of your child’s reading even as they get older. Many parents believe that once a child learns to read, their job is done. Children need parents to be involved in their education as long as possible. Third, I am happy that I could work with our neighboring library on a project that involves children in our area. With the two libraries working together with the school district we all become a stronger force that hopefully reaches many new families and children.
I hope that this program is well received this coming year. I will let you know how it goes.
College of DuPage Videoconferences Available
The following College of DuPage videoconferences are now available on videotape for ESLS library use. Please find them on EasiCat and place a request. Each videoconference is 90 minutes in length. For ESLS library directors: there are 1.5 contact hours towards re-certification for viewing this videoconference.
Next Generation
Librarianship: Where Do We Go from Here?
- - from the Soaring to Excellence 2007 series on February 9, 2007. This is a DVD.
Today's multigenerational library workforce faces a number of both
internal and external challenges. To meet these challenges, we need to
learn how to work together effectively, keep connected and current, and
draw on individuals' unique strengths. In a graying profession, we also
need to pay attention to succession planning, passing on institutional
wisdom, and recruiting, retaining, and mentoring the next generation.
Rachel Singer Gordon author of The NextGen Librarian's
Survival Guide will speak about Generational Issues, Effectively
Managing NextGen Librarians, What Can We Learn from Each Other, and How to
be Successful 21st Century Librarians.
Library Transformation:
Making It Happen - a presentation
from the Library Challenges and Opportunities 2007 series on March
23, 2007.
Richard M. Dougherty of Dougherty and Associates welcomes Leslie Burger,
Director of the Princeton Public Library in Princeton, New Jersey.
As President of ALA, she is well-versed in library issues in an era
of change. They will be joined by noted librarians: Lucy Hansen, Chandra
McKenzie, Josie Parker, and Nancy Tessman to discuss library
transformation, not as an abstraction or buzz word, but as something real
with hard, practical things necessary to make it happen. They will spell
out what needs to happen in facilities, budgets staffing management and
leadership to make transformation a reality.
The Best from the Web
- from the Soaring to Excellence 2007: Library 2.0 and Beyond
series on April 13, 2007.
Love it or hate it, the Internet is often a librarian's best friend ––
assisting us in serving our patrons and many times helping us do our jobs
better. However, as the World Wide Web continues to grow at an exponential
rate (blogs and wikis and RSS feeds –– oh my!), many of us feel
overwhelmed. Have you ever wished that everything could be simpler? Do you
sometimes long for a list of web sites that would get you through the most
challenging of workdays? If you answered yes to either of these questions,
then The Best From the Web is for you.
Kelly Watson and a panel of experts have compiled a toolkit of the
best the web has to offer library workers. Learn about web resources that
will assist you in your everyday job, whether you work at a public desk or
behind the scenes in tech services. Leave this session with your
"best of the web" toolkit and make your job of providing the
best information for your patrons easier.
Library Education:
Facing New Realities - - a webcast on
Library Education to Focus on Issues on April 27, 2007
This College of DuPage webcast will be co-hosted by Richard Dougherty and
Mike Jackson. Guests will be Dan O’Connor, chair of COE, Jan Sanders,
Director, City of Pasadena Public Library, and Janice Simmons-Welburn,
Dean of Libraries, Marquette University. The webcast will use
presentations from a Seattle ALA Mid-Winter forum on the issues
that face Library and Information Science Programs and their impact on
practitioners. The taped highlights of the forum are a point of departure
for this webcast which focuses on ideas that will ensure that library
educational programs remain vibrant and are responsive to the needs of
practitioners. Co-sponsored
by ALISE and ALA’s Committee on Education, the Seattle
forum, moderated by Don O’Connor, Chair of COE, featured brief
presentations by Michael Gorman, immediate past president of ALA, Leslie
Burger, current ALA president, Loriene Roy, ALA president-elect, Tom
Leonhardt, chair of COA, and John Budd, ALISE president.
The Relevance of
Libraries in a Digital Age - a
presentation from the Library Challenges and Opportunities 2007
series on May 11, 2007
James G. Neal,
the Vice President for Information Services and University Librarian at
Columbia University, will assemble a panel to discuss the future relevance
of libraries as we know them. The digital age has been with us long enough
to make some practical predictions of how traditional roles of libraries
will change in information selection, acquisition, synthesis, navigation,
dissemination, interpretation and archiving. New responsibilities in
information aggregation, publishing education, research and development
and policy advocacy will be explored. It promises to be a lively and
provocative session.
Making the Wireless Connection
Lakeview Community Library in Random Lake has announced that their library now offers wireless Internet access. Paul Onufrak, ESLS Automation Librarian has applied for a LSTA grant that will provide wireless access at member libraries in Cedar Grove, Oostburg, Saukville, Plymouth and Grafton. If the grant is funded, all libraries in Eastern Shores Library System would have wireless access available in their libraries.
Interesting Items
* A new bilingual series for children is available. It is written by a former bilingual school teacher and designed to increase gradually in reading difficulty with each book, The Matt the Rat series is for children ages 4-8. Visit http://www.harvestsunpress.com/ to preview samples and read reviews.
* According to Wisconsin Literacy, Inc.( http://www.wisconsinliteracy.org ) , October is Health Literacy month. At http://www.healthliteracy.com/hl_month.asp, you can find Health Literacy Month website tools.
* 12th PLA National Conference, March 25-29, 2008 will be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Visit the PLA Conference web site for program and registration information. Check back often as information on the website will be updated regularly with conference news and Minneapolis events.
* The Children's
Nursery and Its Traditions http://www.childrensnursery.org.uk/
Follow this link to complete texts and illustrations of many classic
children’s books. Some
examples of you can expect to find on the site are: Mother Goose, the
Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales, Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear,
Aesop’s Fables, and many more.
Featured on Neat new Stuff I Found This Week (September
21)
by Marylaine Block http://marylaine.com/neatnew.html
* Barbara Huntington, the Youth and Special Needs Consultant, has notified us that they have reached capacity for the 2008 SLP Workshop on October 16, 2007. Registration is now closed.
