March 12, 2010 issue

Prairie Views: Newsletter of the Prairie Area Library System

SYSTEM NEWS

Our Condolences

We are very saddened to report that Derek Hasse, a part-time driver at our Rockford office, passed away on Wednesday. A memorial service will be held in the Rockford area at a later date. Our thoughts and prayers are with Derek's family at this difficult time. 

PALS Board Meeting

The PALS Board of Directors will meet at 10am on Tuesday, March 16 at the LaSalle Public Library, 305 Marquette Street, LaSalle, IL 61301. The agenda and Director’s Report are now posted on the PALS website.

Systems Collaboration Meeting

Representatives from five regional library systems will meet at the Metropolitan Library System office in Burr Ridge on March 17, 2010, at 7:00 p.m. to discuss possible future collaborations. Attendees will include two board representatives and executive directors from each system: PALS, ALS, DLS, MLS, and NSLS. This meeting is open to system members and to the public.  Click here for meeting details and agenda.

MEMBER LIBRARY NEWS

Jesse White awards public library construction grants

Extreme makeover: library edition 

Princeton library gets ready for used book sale 

Rockford library staff, patrons settle in to changes

Snapshot Day:  Homer Township Public Library

Snapshot Day:  Plainfield Public Library

FREEBIES, EXCHANGES & FOR SALE

Sauk Valley Community College has a variety of items to give away. You simply need to arrange
pick up. See attached flyer.

If interested please contact: Jennifer Patterson, patterj@svcc.edu, or phone 815-288-5511
x237.

School and Youth Services News

New Read for a Lifetime titles

The 2010-2011 booklist for the Illinois State Library's popular and highly acclaimed Read for a Lifetime program for high school students is now online at the Illinois State Library website.

AASL “School Libraries Count!” longitudinal study now open

(ALA, CHICAGO) – The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) launched the fourth year of its longitudinal study on March 5. “School Libraries Count!” gathers basic data about the status of school library programs across the country. AASL will use this information to develop advocacy tools to support school library programs at the local, state and national levels. The survey may be accessed directly at http://www.aaslsurvey.org. The last day to complete the survey is April 30.

Rebecca Caudill Packet Creation Workshop

Sign up now for the Rebecca Caudill Packet Creation Workshop scheduled for Wednesday, June 9, 2010 at the Helen Mathes Library in Effingham.  The day will begin at 9:30 a.m. and conclude by 3:00 p.m.

Join with fellow librarians and teachers to create a packet of information and activities to accompany the 20 books selected for the 2011 Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award.  As participants, attendees will help to prepare a book summary, discussion questions, activities, reading recommendations, book talks, lists of related materials and web sites for each book on the list.

Each participant is assigned at least two titles to read and for which to be responsible.  However, everyone is encouraged to read as many of the books on the list of 20 as possible before the workshop.  Registration is available on L2. Please contact Ellen Popit at 800-455-4374, ext. 2024 or epopit@shawls.lib.il.us with questions.

AROUND THE STATE & NATION

There are still vacancies for the Institute for School and Public Librarians! 

The 16th annual Institute for School and Public Librarians: Linking, Learning & Libraries will be held June 13-18, 2010 on the campus of Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois.  Information is available at http://www.bradley.edu/continue/librarians/index.html.

Applications (https://lily.bradley.edu/ei/getdemo.ei?id=90&s=_3JS0MAQ2Q%20) must be submitted by March 19th, 2010. 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 1-800-665-5576, ext. 1.

Time to Step Up to the Plate @ your library®

(ALA, CHICAGO) Season five of Step Up to the Plate @ your library is now open for librarian registration. The American Library Association (ALA) and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s Step Up to the Plate program teams up two American classics – libraries and baseball – to promote information literacy and the library as an essential information resource.

Librarians can now start the spring training season by visiting the program’s website to register for free promotional tools to help promote the program locally. Step Up to the Plate launches to the public on Monday, April 5, to coincide with the start of the 2010 baseball season.

Tools include program logos in both English and Spanish, a downloadable poster and bookmarks and a toolkit that includes sample press materials and programming ideas.  The first 100 libraries to register will receive a Jackie Robinson “History Lives” poster from ALA Graphics.

GRANT NEWS

Launch of Penny Severns Summer Family Literacy Web-Based Grant Application

The Illinois State Library Literacy Office is pleased to announce that the Web-based version of the Penny Severns Summer Family Literacy Grant application is now available. Deadline for applications is March 26, 2010.

This Web-based application for the Penny Severns  Summer Family Literacy program is a PILOT PROGRAM.  The Illinois State Library is working toward automating all of our grant programs, from application to submission of reporting forms. This pilot application is the first step in that direction. Your input and suggestions regarding the pilot application process are welcomed.  Please submit feedback via email to Beth Paoli at bpaoli@ilsos.net so that we may document your suggestions.

If you encounter any problems or have questions in preparing the Web-based application, please do not hesitate to contact  the Literacy Office at 800-665-5576, extension 3,  or 217-785-6921.   

ADVOCACY NEWS

Advocacy Webinar Opportunities

Stephanie Vance, advocacy consultant used by ALA, has a number of upcoming advocacy webinars that could be worth your time. You can participate in one annually at no cost. Please check the schedule to register.

Among the selections:
March 16, Working smarter to achieve advocacy success
March 24, Assessing your advocacy efforts
April 14, Messaging in chaos
April 27, Advocacy 101

Legislative Briefing With Kip Kolkmeier, ILA Lobbyist

Subtitle: Can You Tell Me in English, Not Legalize, What Those Bills Really Mean?

This year, ILA will not organize an Illinois Library Day in Springfield. Instead, the focus will be for in district visits with our legislators on Friday, April 16th, or another date that works best in your schedule. This will be an opportunity to present them with data and stories gathered from library patrons during Snapshot Day as well as to give them information on library bills that are of importance to us.

Join us for an OPAL program at 10 am on Monday, April 12th to learn the latest on library bills awaiting action in Springfield. No time lost for a three or more hour long trip to Springfield. No working time lost to be out of your library. No tired feet from walking briskly around Springfield. No extra lunch expense on the road. No need to feed parking meters or pay at a parking structure. No cost for gas and no wear and tear on tires.

Those of you who’ve had the opportunity to hear Kip before know that he can take complicated bills that are pages long and summarize them in a paragraph so that their impact is understandable. This information is also of value to your board members as well as staff.

For registration, go to L2. 

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