Online Update

Index

Copies of ‘Speak Up for Your Library’ available free from SCLS
WLA urges libraries to contact legislators immediately
Automobile repair databases available in May
Member/Staff News
Culver's National Library Week Program evaluations due May 16
Jay Robinson says thank you
PBS ‘Point Of View’ useful for planning adult programs
Mileage reimbursement form available online
Understanding, complying with open meetings law

Continuing Education
CEs

 

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Copies of ‘Speak Up for Your Library’ available free from SCLS

Copies of the SCLS video presentation “Speak Up for Your Library,” which aired at the April 21 annual meeting, are available free of charge to member libraries. The video features patrons from across the system talking about the value of the library and its importance in their lives.

The 15-minute video is available free of charge on either DVD or VHS. To order a copy, send an email to Mark Ibach, Coordinator of Marketing and Public Relations.

 

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WLA urges libraries to contact legislators immediately

According to the WLA, nine votes are needed in the legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance to approve increased public library system aids, but only five to seven votes are committed to the WLA position (according to the WLA’s latest count).

Librarians who are constituents of Assembly Republicans or Joint Finance Committee members are urged to contact their legislators immediately to request an increase in public library system funding. If you can get library users and trustees involved, even better! To find out the name of your legislator and the committees on which he/she serves, go to http://165.189.139.210/WAML/.

For more information on system aids, please see the WLA website at http://www.wla.lib.wi.us/legis/systemaids.htm, or contact the WLA office at (608) 245-3640 or LD&L Committee Chair Tom Hennen at (262) 896-8080 (thennen@wcfls.lib.wi.us).

Go to WLA Legislative Activities & News (www.wla.lib.wi.us/legis/) for ongoing updates, including more about the following:

• The Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance issued a report on public library funding, and WLA responded with a news release and talking points for members to use with their local media. The WLA release was sent to nearly 100 media outlets statewide.
• WLA's Government Information Round Table opposes the GPO's plan to print only the 50 Essential Titles for Public Use in Paper Format, beginning Oct. 1, 2005, and President Terry Dawson sent a letter to several federal officials outlining the WLA position.
• If you haven’t read the latest, link to the studies released in Florida and South Carolina on the economic impact of public libraries. Florida's public libraries return $6.54 on every $1 invested by all sources; South Carolina estimates $4.48 total indirect and direct ROI for every $1 spent by local and state governments.

-- From the WLA e-newsletter

 

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Automobile repair databases available in May

Due to incompatibility with the recommended IE security settings for the Mitchell OnDemand 5 database, SCLS will not conduct a trial of the database at this time. However, trials of the two other automobile repair databases -- EBSCO Auto Repair Reference Center and Gale Chiltonlibrary.com -- are available until the end of May.

Information about accessing the trials and completing the evaluation form are available on the "Resources For SCLS Public Libraries Only" (a password is required for this page). Please try out these two databases and complete an evaluation form.

 

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Member/Staff News

Adam Field began work May 9 as a library assistant at the Wyocena Public Library.

The Albany Public Library recently received a monetary donation to fund a new library building. Wayne and Jan Albertson, on behalf of Wayne's parents Eleanor and the late Wayne Sr., have offered the funds to build this new library in memory of Wayne Sr. and Eleanor Albertson, who wanted to give something back to the Albany area. The Albany Public Library Board and the Albertsons working together to obtain a site that can accommodate a building to meet the library’s present and future needs.

Shawn Brommer, SCLS Youth Services and Outreach Coordinator, was recently elected to the 2007 Caldecott Award Committee.

The Kraemer Library and Community Center in Plain is now home to a beautiful great horned owl (see photo at right), thanks to a generous donation by Bill and Jan Emer of Plain, Donna Grauvogl of North Freedom, and Jim Langdon of Windsor. Bill Emer found the owl on the road near his farm on County N in Sauk County, apparently hit by a car. The family contacted the DNR and obtained the necessary permits to have the taxidermy work done and the owl donated to the Kraemer Library. Jan Emer's sister, Donna Grauvogl, did the taxidermy work and Jan's son, Jim Langdon, crafted the pedestal and glass display case. This family project is a very welcome addition to the Kraemer Library in Plain.

Don Litzer, employed since 1996 at McMillan Memorial Library in Wisconsin Rapids and presently its Head of Adult Services, has accepted an offer to be a Librarian II in the Historical Genealogy Department at Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The Department is widely acknowledged to be a premier genealogical research destination. It collects comprehensively for genealogically significant material in all of North America, and its collection of over 300,000 print items and over 325,000 microforms also includes material from many foreign countries, especially the British Isles and Germany. The Department developed and maintains PERSI, the Periodical Source Index, and is an LDS Family History Branch Library.

Poynette Area Public Library recently began offering patrons wireless Internet access, available anywhere in the library.

Jill Steinmetz, age 58 of Verona, passed away at her home on April 29, 2005, after a brief battle with cancer. Jill was a technical librarian at the Verona Public Library for more than 15 years, and she loved her job, the patrons and her colleagues. Memorials may be sent to the Verona Library.

 

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Culver's National Library Week Program evaluations due May 16

The annual Culver's National Library Week Program ended April 30, and hundreds of children participated systemwide. SCLS librarians again overwhelmingly praised this program, which encourages children and their families to visit the library.

Please be sure to return your library's program evaluation form to Shawn Brommer at SCLS by Monday, May 16. The evaluation form is available online at www.scls.info/ys/.

Send thank you notes and cards to Jennifer Leahy, Marketing Manager, Culver's Franchising System Inc., 540 Water Street, Prairie du Sac, WI 53578.

 

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Jay Robinson says thank you

Dear friends in SCLS and at SCLS libraries:

Thanks much for the kind wishes and bon voyages as I catch a wing toward a new land. I have appreciated working with you all these past two years and wish you all the best.

Peace, Jay.

 

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PBS ‘Point Of View’ is springboard for planning adult programs

We would like to point you to a useful resource for planning adult programs at your libraries. PBS recently announced the schedule for Season 18 of “P.O.V” — a cinema term for "point of view." P.O.V. is public television's annual award-winning showcase for independent non-fiction films.

According to the program website (www.pbs.org/pov/), in its 18th Season P.O.V. "explores what men really want in life. Sons and fathers, boys and men; they are the subjects of many of the films in the 18th season of the award-winning P.O.V. documentary series, premiering Tuesday, June 21, 2005, on PBS. Family and faith play a particularly prominent role this season, as filmmakers make intensely personal documentaries about complicated relationships and enduring legacies."

A preview of the 2005 season is available at www.pbs.org/pov/tvschedule.php and a PDF of the schedule is available at www.pbs.org/pov/utils/pressroom/2005/POV_season18_1sheet.pdf.

Each program has an accompanying website with a host of background and resource material, including discussion guides that can help you sponsor a program in conjunction with the broadcast.

This fall, we plan to organize an opportunity for libraries to get together and share ideas for adult programming at libraries.  PBS/Wisconsin Public Television is just one of many potential partnerships we will explore at that time.

-- Cheryl Becker and Shawn Brommer

 

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Mileage reimbursement form available online

The SCLS mileage reimbursement form is now available online -- in PDF and Excel formats -- on the "member only" portion of the SCLS website (www.scls.info/pro/).

 

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Understanding, complying with open meetings law

“Municipality,” the monthly magazine of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities, published a "Legal Comment" on "Understanding and Complying with Wisconsin's Open Meetings Law" in the April 2005 issue. The article is also available at www.lwm-info.org/legal/2005/04april/comment.html.

Remember that library board meetings are subject to the Open Meetings Law, so library directors will want to be sure their boards understand and comply with the law.

For more information, libraries can also contact Cheryl Becker, Public Library Consultant, at (608) 246-7973 or by email.

 

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Continuing Education -- www.scls.info/ce/

Upcoming CEs

May 18 -- Strategic Planning, with Sandra Nelson, author or co-author of four of the books in the Public Library Association Results series, Nashville (TN), SCLS Administration, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

May 19 -- Leaping Tall Buildings: Creating a graphic novels collection (compressed video broadcast) with Eric Norton, 9:30 a.m.-12 noon., with broadcast sites at McMillan Public Library, Wisconsin Rapids, and Hollis Rudiger, Cooperative Children’s Book Center, School of Education, UW–Madison, SCLS Administration and Portage County Public Library, Stevens Point (Prairie Room).

May 26 -- What Do I Read Next? (Hands-on Workshop) with Liz Amundson, Madison Public Library, 9:00-11:00 a.m., SCLS Training Room, Suite E, Madison.

June 6 -- AncestryLibrary & HeritageQuest (Hands-on Workshop) with Jean Anderson, Sun Prairie Public Library, 9 a.m.-11:30 a.m., SCLS Training Room E.

June 16 -- FISH!: Catch the Energy. Release the Potential (video presentation) with Christine Ray, Manager, Learning & Development, Highsmith Inc., 9:30-11:30 a.m., SCLS Administration.

August 25 -- Reader's Advisory on the Latest Titles and Hot Authors, with Jane Jorgenson, Reference Librarian, Madison Public Library-Ashman Branch. Site and time (1.5 or 2 hours) to be announced.

September (date TBA) -- Reference USA Business, with Tana Elias, Madison Public Library, 9-11:00 a.m., SCLS Training Room E.

September 9 -- Lapsit Programs for Babies and Walkers, with Jane Marino, director of the Bronxville (NY) Public Library and author of "Babies in the Library" and other books for the very young child, 9 a.m.-noon, with broadcast sites at SCLS Administration and Portage County Public Library, Stevens Point.

September 22 -- Bridging the Generation Gap (compressed Video Broadcast), with Deborah Spring Laurel, Laurel & Associates Ltd., Madison (WI), 9 a.m.-noon, with broadcast sites at SCLS Administration and Portage County Public Library, Stevens Point.

September 26 -- Ancestry Library & HeritageQuest, with Jean Anderson, Sun Prairie Public Library, 9 a.m.-11:30 a.m., SCLS Training Room E.

 

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