Online Update

Index

Aug. 27 is reservation deadline for System Celebration
Language translation now available in EBSCOhost
Update on proposed move to OCLC from WISCAT ILL
CE to focus on ‘Customer Service for the Latino Community’
Sequoya Branch workshops designed to help enhance book sales
CE grants for July 2004
Smokey Bear birthday card contest winners announced
Aug. 21 ‘Book’n It!’ run/walk will benefit Sun Prairie Public Library
Member/Staff News
Upcoming CEs

 

Aug. 27 is reservation deadline for System Celebration

Invitations for the Sept. 9 System Celebration have been mailed and the reservation deadline is Friday, Aug. 27. This event is our annual thank you to the staff, trustees, and mayors/village presidents of SCLS member libraries for their support and efforts throughout the year.

This year’s System Celebration will be held at the Dorf Haus Restaurant in Roxbury, near Sauk City. The Social hour begins at 6 p.m. and the dinner and program follow at 7 p.m.

Awards to be presented during the program include:

• Library of the Year Award -- Recognizes a public and/or multitype library for its innovative user service(s). The library will be recognized with a certificate and a check for $200 (if one award is given) or $150 each (if both a public and multitype award are given);
• Public Official Award -- Recognizes the outstanding contributions to a library or libraries by a mayor, village president, city administrator, supportive council member, legislator, or any other public official who does not serve as a library trustee;
• Special Award -- Recognizes a friend of the library who has worked to promote and/or improve library services and who is not a trustee or public official. The person does not have to be a member of an official Friends group;
• Chester Pismo Snavely Award for a Nifty Activity -- Recognizes a library, other organization, or persons' out-of-the-ordinary nifty activity or library service. SCLS staff makes this selection; and
• Trustee of the Year Award -- This award is given for each county. Local and county library trustees who have served during 2003, and have rendered outstanding or special service to libraries are eligible. Winners are honored with a monetary award to their local library.

Reservations can be mailed to SCLS, or you can complete an online reservation at psw.scls.lib.wi.us/about/systemceleb/rsvp.html. Payment for the meal, regardless of whether you register online or mail the reservation form, must be delivered by Aug. 27 to the South Central Library System, 5250 East Terrace Drive, Madison, WI, 53718-8345.

 

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Language translation now available in EBSCOhost

Users of EBSCOhost can now translate full text articles from English into either Spanish, French, or German. Once you’ve conducted your search and have clicked on the title, you’re ready to translate the displayed article. Look for the “Choose Language” drop-down menu at the top of the full-text article. You must first select a language for translation, then click on the “Translate” button.

In addition to translating articles, the entire EBSCOhost interface can be viewed in any of 11 languages by clicking on a drop-down menu in the upper right hand corner of the page. This selection affects only the interface pages, not the full-text articles that result from keyword searches.

 

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Update on proposed move to OCLC from WISCAT ILL

A proposal to move to OCLC from WISCAT ILL for placing and managing interlibrary loan requests has been discussed and approved by the SCLS public library community at several levels. The proposal was distributed to SCLS library directors and ILL staff through e-mail lists. Interested individuals were invited to attend the Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Committee meeting to discuss the proposal.

Following unanimous approval by the ILL Committee and others present at the ILL meeting, the Public Library Advisory Committee (PLAC) and the SCLS Board of Trustees have endorsed the proposal. The next step for SCLS staff is to work out details with WiLS staff before the end of August, and with Reference and Loan thereafter. We expect to make this change before the end of 2004.

SCLS public libraries will receive progress reports in future issues of Online Update.

 

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Smokey Bear birthday card contest winners announced

As part of this year’s Summer Library Program, the Wisconsin departments of Natural Resources and Public Instruction sponsored a Smokey Bear 60th Birthday Card Contest for students in Pre-K through fifth grade. Contest winners from throughout the South Central Library System are listed below.

Three examples of cards are shown here. Click on the small image with the artist’s name to view a larger image of the card cover and inside.

First prize winners received a Smokey Bear backpack and stuffed Smokey toy. They are:

• Stefanie Wolosek, 5th Grade, Plover Branch -- Portage County Public Library (card sent to state DNR office for display);
• Kayla Ferris, 3rd Grade, DeForest Area Library;
• Sydney Freedlund, 3rd Grade, Pittsville Public Library;
• Shelby Freedlund, 4th Grade, Pittsville Public Library;
• Annelise Odders, Pre-Kindergarten, Plover Branch -- Portage County Public Library;
• Preston Pape, 1st Grade, Sauk City Public Library;
• Bobbie Pauloski, 4th grade, Rosholt Branch -- Portage County Public Library; and
• Brittany Schyvinck, Age 8, Reedsburg Public Library;

Second prize winners received a Smokey Bear baseball. They are:

• Margaret Johnson, 5th grade, Cambridge Public Library;
• Sarah Luher, 5th Grade, Prairie du Sac Public Library;
• McKenna Noska, 3rd grade, McMillan Memorial Library, Wisconsin Rapids;
• Peyton Tepp, 4th Grade, Portage County Public Library;
• Blaise Tubbs, 2nd Grade, Charles & Joann Lester Library, Nekoosa; and
• Neil Yeska, 2nd grade, Almond Branch -- Portage County Public Library.

 

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CE to focus on ‘Customer Service for the Latino Community’

Public libraries across the country are serving an increasing number of Spanish speaking patrons. Some are fortunate enough to have staff members that speak Spanish, but many others struggle with the challenge of meeting the needs of this growing population. Does your library fall into this second group? Do you find yourself wondering how you can better serve the needs of this population?

If you answered yes to one or both of these questions, it is a sure indicator that you should mark your calendar to attend this workshop, which will offer suggestions for providing great customer service to Spanish youth and their families—especially when language is a barrier. The program will focus on how to effectively communicate with patrons, market materials, and implement new programs and services for the Spanish speakers in your community.

The compressed video program will be held from 9:00 a.m. until noon on Thursday, Sept. 23, at SCLS Administration, 5250 E. Terrace Drive, Madison, and Portage County Public Library Prairie Room, Stevens Point. The presenter is Rhonda Puntney, Youth Services and Special Needs Consultant, Lakeshores Library System (WI). The CE is free for SCLS members and members of systems that have an intersystem agreement with SCLS, and $20 per person for non-member libraries. The registration deadline is Sept. 10, and you can register online at psw.scls.lib.wi.us/ce/currprog.html.

For more information about the program content, contact Donna Hussin at (608) 246-5613 (or by email) or Shawn Brommer at (608) 246-7974 (or by email).

 

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Sequoya Branch workshops designed to help enhance book sales

The Madison Public Library’s Sequoya Branch recently announced two free workshops designed to help libraries enhance book sales. “Books in (Cyber)Space: Using Online Resources to Maximize Your Book Sale Profits” will be held Sept. 21, and “Preparing Used Books for Sale: A Hands-On Workshop” will be held Oct. 7.

Both workshops are scheduled from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Seqyoya Branch Library at 513 South Midvale Blvd, Madison.

The Sept. 21 workshop will be presented by Terese Floren, Friends of Sequoya. Participants will learn about the advantages of selling selected books through established online venues. The Friends of Sequoya’s experience over the past year, which netted more than $2,000 from the sale of 14 books, will be used as an example. The first part of the workshop will present guidelines that will help you choose the books on which to do price research, while the second part of the evening will talk about selling books online. The registration deadline is Sept. 7

Brian Shea of Demco Inc. will present the Oct. 7 workshop, during which he will talk about evaluating books to determine if they are worth repairing, and if they are how to best accomplish it without diminishing it’s value. Each participant should bring two discarded books and a pair of scissors. They will also need to purchase a repair kit for $5.50 (quantity discounts are available). Books will be torn apart and various repair techniques will be demonstrated. The registration deadline is Sept. 20 to allow time to order sufficient repair kits.

For more information, or to register for either (or both) of these workshops, contact Ann Michalski, Sequoya Branch Library, at (608) 267-1981 (annm@scls.lib.wi.us).

 

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CE grants for July 2004

A Total of $778 was awarded in July for continuing education grants.

They went to:

• Katie Conway, North Freedom Public Library, Basic Public Library Management Online Course; and
• Trudy Lorandos, Verona Public Library, Basic Reference Online Course.

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Aug. 21 ‘Book’n It!’ run/walk will benefit Sun Prairie Public Library

New to this year’s annual Sweet Corn Festival in Sun Prairie is a 5K & 10K run and fun walk sponsored by the Sun Prairie Public Library. Entry fees constitute a donation to the Sun Prairie Public Library Foundation, which raises funds to support the library.

“Book’n It: Run for Reading” is the theme of this inaugural event, that begins at 8 a.m. at the park shelter across the street from the library, 1350 Linnerud Drive. The entry fee for the run/walk is $20. In addition to the run/walk, the Friends of the Sun Prairie Public Library will hold a parking lot book sale from 8 a.m. until noon in the library parking lot to benefit the Library.

A registration form, route map, and more information are available on the library Web site at www.sunprairiepubliclibrary.org.

 

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Member/Staff News

Svetha Seshadri Hetzler has been named the new Children's Librarian at the Middleton Public Library, replacing Eve Robillard who is retiring Sept. 3 after 12 years at the library. Svetha (pronounced Schwe-tha) previously worked as head of youth services at the Southwest County Regional Library in Boca Raton, FL, and as children's librarian at the West Babylon (New York) Public Library. She has extensive experience in programming for all age groups, collection development, supervision, and volunteer activities. Her official start date is Tuesday, Sept. 7.

Robert Mader is the new library system analyst at Marshfield Public Library. He comes to the library with seven years of experience as a network analyst at Riverview Hospital in Wisconsin Rapids and five years as a software engineer with ESE, Inc. Marco Fortini, the former systems analyst, recently accepted a position as a programmer analyst at the Marshfield Clinic.

Meagan Statz is the new Adult Services Librarian at the Prairie du Sac Public Library. She received her Masters in Library and Information Studies from UW-Madison in May 2004. She also has seven years of library experience at the Rosemary Garfoot Public Library in Cross Plains.

 

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Continuing Education --