January 29, 2010 issue

Prairie Views: Newsletter of the Prairie Area Library System

SYSTEM NEWS

FEBRUARY 10TH--AN IMPORTANT DAY FOR LIBRARIES!

Libraries throughout Illinois are participating in "Snapshot of a Day in the Life of Your Library" on Wednesday, February 10th.

Libraries will collect statistics, comments, and photographs from the day to show how busy libraries are and how libraries consistently provide invaluable services to our communities. Participants will use the collected information to promote their library to local elected officials, library boards, principals, State Representatives and Senators and members of the media.

Here is a form libraries may use on February 10th to record information.

MEMBER LIBRARY NEWS

Harvard Director Slated to Retire in June

Des Plaines Valley Library Officials Hope Third Referendum Is Charm

Voters Asked to Finance New Manhattan-Elwood Public Library

Congratulations!

YALSA has named Susan Bohn the winner of the 2010 MAE Award for Best Literature Program for Teens. The MAE Award provides $500 to the recipient and $500 to the recipient’s library and is sponsored by the Margaret A. Edwards Trust. Bohn, a school librarian, implemented the Animania program at the Hononegah Community High School in Rockton, Illinois. The Animania program attracted reluctant readers to the library and provided an opportunity for student involvement. The program brought students together and inspired the creation of a permanent club that focused on anime and manga.

CONTINUOUS LEARNING

The Future is Now: Library & Museums in Virtual Worlds

Everyone is invited to participate in The Future is Now:  Libraries and Museums in Virtual Worlds, an online conference to be held on Friday and Saturday, March 5-6, 2010 in OPAL, the webconferencing collaborative service, in Second Life, and in other three-dimensional virtual worlds.

Throughout this two-day conference there will be dozens of presentations, panel discussions, poster sessions, demonstrations, tours, and social events.   You need not be proficient in virtual worlds to participate in this conference.  Orientation sessions will be held prior to the conference dates.

Keynote Speakers:

• Marilyn Johnson, author of the new book, This Book is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All.  She also wrote The Dead Beat:  Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries.
• Tom Atkinson teaches Instructional Technology at the U. of Central Florida and has over 30 years of experience in designing, producing, delivering, and evaluating interactive instruction on mobile learning platforms and in virtual worlds
• Sharon Tettegah and Cynthia Colongne, co-authors of the 2009 book, Identity, Learning and Support in Virtual Environments.

Conference Website:  http://bit.ly/7L8M1j

Registration Fees:
* $25 for individuals who are members of the American Library Association (ALA).
* $45 for individuals who are not members of ALA.
* $10 for individuals who are students, retired, or between jobs.
* $75 for Groups (A group is defined as two or more individuals who are currently directly affiliated with an organization. Participating members of the registering organization need not be in the same location in the real world when they attend conference events.)

Register Now:  http://bit.ly/7cB88t

Poster Session Proposals:  Although the deadline for submitting program proposals has passed, the deadline for poster session proposals is Monday, March 1, 2010.  See the conference website for details.

Sponsor:  LearningTimes (http://www.learningtimes.org/), an open community of education and training professionals.

Conference Co-Organizers:  ALA VCL MIG (Virtual Communities & Libraries, Member Initiative Group), ACRL Virtual Worlds Interest Group, the Alliance Library System, and TAP Information Services.

Conference Archive:  We plan to record and archive as many events as possible. Only paid registrants, presenters, and members of the conference planning team will have access to the conference archive for 3 months after the conclusion of the conference. On June 6, 2010 the conference archive will be made available to everyone.

More Information:  Please contact Tom Peters (816.616.6746; tpeters@tapinformation.com)

Trendy Topics 2010: Social Networking for Libraries

Start your New Year right with a resolution to keep up with quickly changing library trends!  Alliance Library System and TAP Information Services are pleased to announce a dynamic monthly series of online workshops you can enjoy right at your desktop on these hot topics.

The first conference on Social Software for Libraries is scheduled for Tuesday, February 9.  Meredith Farkas of Norwich University and columnist for American Libraries, will be the opening keynote speaker at  10:00 Central.  She will address "Building Collaboration, Participation, and Community in Libraries."  Farkas will talk about how social software is opening up new opportunities for reaching out to patrons, providing library services, and transforming our websites.

Other speakers for this inspiring  day-long conference include:
Lauren Jensen talking about "Facebook and Libraries"
Joe Murphy speaking on "Twitter's Impact on Libraries"
Rhonda Trueman talking about "Social and Professional Networking in Second Life:  What We Didn't Expect"
Beth Duttlinger on "Technology Training Wheels"
Rebecca Teasdale on "Using YouTube to Promote Libraries"
Alison Miller on "Delicious and Other Tagging Technologies"
Matt Gullett on "Participate in the Story"
Cynthia Hart on "Social Metrics"

A full informational flyer can be found at http://www.alliancelibrarysystem.com/TrendyTopics/workshop1February9.pdf. Register at http://www.eventbee.com/view/trendytopics/event?eid=65537

FREEBIES, EXCHANGES & FOR SALE

St. Ambrose University Library has the following to give away:

Magazines for Libraries, 2008 16th edition.

If you are interested contact:
Joyce Haack, haackjoycea@sau.edu
Phone: (563)333-6247

Giveaways

1.  Still using overheads?   –
Overhead (transparency) rolls -  (1/4” x 50’) – I have 64 of them.  Whatever you can use.

2.  Film splicing tapes – many boxes –
(T35-DP)  (TRT-DP) ((T16S-DP) (TV05DP) (T8S-DP)  & gadgets/cutters

3.  Quill printout labels – (3 ½” X 15/18”) – 5000 PER BOX – tractor feed? - 2 boxes

4.  The Library Store, Inc. -  3 - across label sets – Economy – 1000 sets – 3+ packages

5.  Stack of catalog cards – 3 per page – runners along margin

If interested, contact:
Barb Peterson
Joliet West HS Library
815 727 6952
bpeterson@jths.org

YOUTH SERVICES & SCHOOL LIBRARY NEWS

2010 Best Books for Young Adults

(ALA, Chicago) YALSA has announced its 2010 list of Best Books for Young Adults. The list of 90 books recommended for those ages 12–18 meets the criteria of both good quality literature and appealing reading for teens. The list comprises a wide range of genres and styles, including contemporary realistic fiction that reflects the diversity of the teen experience, nonfiction that brings to teens an awareness of the world they live in and its history, and fantastical stories told in both narrative and graphic formats. The complete list, including annotations, can be found on the YALSA website.

PUBLIC LIBRARY NEWS

United States Department of Agriculture Designates $100 Million for Rural

Libraries

(ALA, WASHINGTON, D.C.) ­ The Secretary of Agriculture has allocated $100 million in United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Community Facilities funding for public libraries to provide educational opportunities and improve public services in rural communities. The funding will be provided primarily through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Funds may be used to construct, enlarge or improve public libraries. This can include costs to acquire land needed for a facility, pay necessary professional fees and purchase equipment required for operation. Funds can be used to purchase shelving, furniture, computers, audio-visual equipment, distance learning equipment and bookmobiles.

Depending on funding availability, USDA Rural Development will provide up to $500,000 in additional Recovery Act dedicated grant funds to each of the State Offices for library projects.

For more information on the program and how to apply, see the USDA Rural Development fact sheet.

Or, to reach the USDA Rural Development contact for a specific state, visit www.rurdev.usda.gov/ ­ adding the two-letter initial of the state to the end of the URL.

2010 SPLMI Applications Now Available

"Serving Your Public," the 17th annual Small Public Library Management Institute (SPLMI), sponsored by the Illinois State Library and hosted by the University of Illinois Springfield, will be held June 6-11, 2010.

Applications are available and are due no later than Monday, March 1, 2010 by fax or mail. Attendees will be notified of their selection in early April. Contact Nancy Smith at nancys@palsnet.info or ext 4466 or the Illinois State Library, Library Development Group at 217-782-7848 or 1-800-665-5576 for information.

ACADEMIC LIBRARY NEWS

Thriving While Surviving: The Complete 21st Century Librarian

2010 IACRL Conference
March 25-26, 2010
President Abraham Lincoln Hotel and Conference Center
701 East Adams Street
Springfield, Illinois

Join IACRL, a forum of the Illinois Library Association and a chapter of ACRL, for a statewide conference for academic librarians in Illinois.  The 2010 conference, Thriving While Surviving:  The Complete 21st Century Librarian, will offer inspiration as well as practical tips for how to thrive as a librarian in the 21st century.

Beverly Lynch from the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies and R. David Lankes of Syracuse University will each present a keynote address.  In addition, there will be more than twenty peer-reviewed sessions on the conference theme, invited sessions on the Google Book Settlement and next generation discovery systems, two preconference sessions, and vendor exhibits.

Complete Conference information is available on the ILA Web site.

AROUND THE STATE & NATION

2010 Bradley Institute Applications Now Available

The 16th annual Institute for School and Public Librarians: Linking, Learning & Libraries will be held June 13-18 on the campus of Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois.

Applications must be submitted by March 19th. A maximum of fifty school and public librarians will be selected, with the intent of maintaining a balance between the two types of libraries and geographic representation. Attendees will be notified of their selection by mid-April.

Additional information may be obtained from Ron Winner and Karen Egan at the Illinois State Library at 1-800-665-5576, ext. 1.

What's New @ WJIL: Library Partnerships

In this environment of increasing library usage compounded by staff cuts and decreasing budgets it is more important than ever for libraries to form strong partnerships in order to leverage limited resources and raise awareness of the impact of library services. Find out more about how you can identify partnerships and build collaboration in this issue of “What’s New @ WJIL.”

National Library Week Radio PSAs now available

(ALA, Chicago) – Two free, downloadable radio Public Service Announcements (PSAs) are now available to librarians looking to promote National Library Week (April 11-17, 2010) on their local radio stations.

Radio PSAs discuss the value of libraries to millions of Americans, along with the variety of resources libraries provide during tough economic times. The PSAs are available in both English and Spanish and can be downloaded at www.ala.org/nlw.

Downloadable PSA scripts are also available for radio stations that do not accept pre-recorded PSAs.

In addition to the radio PSAs, a free downloadable print PSA featuring Neil Gaiman, Honorary Chair of National Library Week and the 2009 Newbery Medal winner for “The Graveyard Book, is also available at www.ala.org/nlw. Gaiman’s love of libraries and librarians is no secret, as his many fans and Twitter followers know. Instructions on how to request a customized PSA are also available on the Web site.

Other materials are currently available in both English and Spanish, focusing on the 2010 National Library Week theme “Communities thrive @ your library.” They include a proclamation, sample press release and letter-to-the-editor. Libraries can download materials at www.ala.org/nlw.

Libraries planning to participate in “Communities thrive @ your library”-themed programming are encouraged to share their stories with the Campaign for America’s Libraries, by sending an e-mail to: atyourlibrary@ala.org.

ALA Graphics products supporting the “Communities thrive” theme are also available. In addition to the 2010 National Library Week poster and bookmark, libraries can also purchase mini poster and, new this year, a downloadable transit sign. National Library Week-themed Web files along with all Graphics products can be purchased through the ALA Store at www.alastore.ala.org/nlw.

GRANT NEWS

The American Dream Starts @ Your Library Grants

Deadline: Feb. 28, 2010

The American Library Association (ALA) received a $750,000 two year grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation to continue “The American Dream Starts @ your library”. This new round of funding will help 70 public libraries in Dollar General communities expand their literacy services for adult English language learners.

To be eligible, the applicant institution must be a public library or a public library with a bookmobile providing literacy services for adult English language learners, and must be within 20 miles of a Dollar General Store, distribution center, or corporate office. Each funded library will receive a onetime $5,000 grant.

To learn more about the American Dream Starts @ your library, the mini grants and to apply online, please visit http://www.americandreamtoolkit.org/.

New Grant Opportunity from NEH, ALA Public Programs Office Supports Picturing America Programs in Public Libraries

(ALA, CHICAGO) – The ALA Public Programs Office and the National Endowment for the Humanities are announcing a new grant opportunity for public libraries that received the NEH’s Picturing America collection of American artwork. Grants of $2,000 will be distributed to 30 public libraries to support public programs that highlight the Picturing America collection. Applications will be accepted Jan. 15 – March 31 at www.programminglibrarian.org/picturingamerica

To be eligible, the proposed program or program series must feature humanities content and include use of the Picturing America collection. All programs must take place July 1, 2010 – Jan. 31, 2011 and be open to public audiences. Some examples of eligible programs include: scholarly lectures, panel discussions, reading and discussion series, film viewing and discussion, poetry programs and exhibits. In June 2010, the National Endowment for the Humanities will announce the 30 libraries selected to receive the programming grants.

Libraries can find programming ideas and the online application at www.programminglibrarian.org/picturingamerica.

Prairie Views is the weekly newsletter of the Prairie Area Library System

All subscribers are encouraged to submit contributions and suggestions to prairieviews@palsnet.info. Submissions must be received by Tuesday to appear in the upcoming edition. To subscribe to or unsubscribe from this newsletter, please visit the following link: http://mailman.palsnet.info/mailman/listinfo/pviews