More: Bests Books from NW Librarians

Here are some more "favorite" choices from librarians in NW:

Sue Sup @ Arnolds Park:
The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I read it out loud while my husband and I traveled on vacation and we liked it so much I would end up reading outloud in the tent by flashlight.

Faye @ Coon Rapids:
Boom by Tom Brokaw. I find it fascinating!

Joleen @ Rembrandt:
90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper by I lost my husband to cancer in 2000 and it was just good for me to read. I will see him again, PTL!

Carla Pitstick @ Fonda:
Moon Called by Patricia Briggs. It is first in the Mercy Thompson series, a paranormal fantasy that is a fresh and entertaining escape into an alternate present.

Meg Polly @ Whiting:
The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig. He had wonderfully vivid descriptions, good characterization, delightful humor, and an unexpected twist at the end.

If you haven't sent me your favorite choice, please do! This makes a great reading list for you for 2008!

Librarians' Choice: Best Books of 2007

Northwest Librarians have chosen their favorite books from 2007. Check out what they've been reading!

1. Dave Netz @ Sioux Center: After the Leaves Fall by Nicole Baart and

Winning the Future by Newt Gingrich.

2. Cheryl Hoekstra @ Alton: The Christmas Shoes by Donna VanLiere. It reminded me to appreciate all the small yet important things in my life.

3. Bonnie@ Northwest: John Paul the Great by Peggy Noonan. Really fascinating behind the scenes stories of his life. He's sure to be a saint someday!

4. Emily@ Denison: Animal, Vegetable Miracle: A Year of Food for Life by Barbara Kingsolver. It influenced the way I shopped for groceries, cook meats and think about food.

5. Jeannie Frerichs @ Akron: The Christmas Candle by Max Lucado. The best book I read seems to be the last one I just read!

6. Leann @ Primghar: Rescuing Sprite because it's an emotional read and inspires you to appreciate the pets you have and the small good things in life.

7. Misty Gray @ Storm Lake: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling.I loved it because I am a huge Harry Potter fan and my curiosity was quenced by the final installment!

8. Karen Kerns @ Rolfe: 19 Minutes by Jodi Picoult. Interesting!

9. Pat Bell @ Arthur: The Door Within series by Wayne Thomas Batson. There are 3 books in the series though they are written for young adults I liked them too.

10. Barb Jorgensen @ Schaller: Waiting for White Horses by Nathan Jorgensen. Such a great story line and lots of emotion and humor and compassion.

11. Janie @ Northwest: Splendid Solution by JEffrey Kluger. I knew someone who had polio and I had heard stories about how sick she was and this book really tells how bad it was!

12. Alvina Reitsma @ Sanborn: The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright. I think it reminded me a lot of my folks how as they are growing older you can see the love between them grow and grow.

13. Chris @ Ringstead: Heat by Bill Buford. It is a true story about an amateur's apprentice to a chef in Tuscany. I was just in Italy and I want to go back!

14.Kristen @ Correctionville: Glorious Appearing by Tim LaHaye.

15. Nathan Clark @ Emmetsburg/Ruthven: Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne. I was surprised by how well it grabbed me and kept me going.

16. Mindy Swieter @ Rockwell City: any of Karen Kingsbury's books. She is my favorite author. She makes me cry and I love that! Also Lean Mean 13 by Janet Evanovich. She makes me laugh.

17. Tena Hansen @ Milford: The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay. Wow! What characters. Thsi book is just rich with the kind of pople we might call characters. It's a juicy trainwreck. You'll love it.

18. Erin Wolf @ Glidden: Babylon Rising series by Tim LaHaye. It's about biblical archeology and is almost a DaVinci Code type of story. I found it intriguing and quite accurate.

19. Connie V.E. @ Melvin: Any book by Karen Kingsbury. I love her books.

20. Sue K @ O.C. and NW: Blue like Jazz by Donald Miller. I was hooked by his description of living a Christian life, and of being who God intended.

21. Karla Chase @ Orange City: Deliver Us From Normal by Kate Klise. It was a fun quick read about middle school. Also Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt.

More to come! After all there are 115 libraries in NW. But you now have a new reading list to start 2008 with!

Waiting for OverDrive

Are you gearing up for Overdrive? That's the soon-to-be consortium between Northwest and Central Library Service Areas to provide downloadable audio books from the company Overdrive. This consortium will make downloadable audio books affordable for member libraries and offer much wider selection for patrons.

Most libraries, of course, have purchased audio books on tape or CDs for many years now. Anyone who drives anywhere can make great use of these. How convenient is that, reading and driving at the same time? I'm always in favor of doing two things at once!

Downloadable audios, though, take things to a whole new level. While patrons will need an MP3 player, they'll now be able to download a whole book at once and then "read" while exercising at the gym, driving, hiking, vacationing, cooking...well, you pick the spot! Patrons will have the advantage of downloading books from home because the OverDrive content is web-based.

The price tag for this would be unreachable for most small libraries in the state. Even the mid size libraries would have trouble with this, but with the WILBOR Consortium (Western/Central Iowa Libraries Building Online Resources) all libraries will be able to have the Consortium's digital library available to them. So...be sure you sign on, sign up, sign in....Get your boards psyched up so you'll be able to get in on the ground floor. There will be more details coming...

P.S. The piggy picture above is my submission for WILBOR's mascot. Some consortium, some pig!

LibraryThing & NWILS Collection in a Virtual World

If you haven't had a chance to see LibraryThing yet, you really must. The cool thing about this site is that you have the ability to catalog an entire library, hold book discussions on any number of books, and see what everyone else in the world is reading.

I'm in the process of putting up Northwest LSA's library management collection. Here's a link to the titles on NWILS LibraryThing page right now. I love the book cover view, but you can search the whole collection much the same way as you do in the library: title, author, subject. You'll see we have quite a collection available and encourage you to use NWILS library science collection--it's all there for you to borrow!

You can become a thingamabrarian yourself when you sign up for LibraryThing and catalog your own collection (how about just the books you have in your own personal library!) Other virtual library catalogs out there now are shelfari and Goodreads; they're both similar to LibraryThing, but I don't have much experience with those. Have some fun exploring all 3. To find out even more about these 3 websites, check out this article by Mark Flanagan Book Clubs in the Ethereal World.

Coming to a Computer Near YOU

If you thought ICN classes were great because you didn't have to travel too far for c.e. credits, then hang onto your hat--WIMBA has arrived! Wimba refers to virtual classrooms, which the LSAs are able to use free thanks to the State Library's community partnership with WebJunction.

Wimba Rooms make it easy for public library staff and trustees to experience the online learning environment. From the comfort of your own PC at home or at the library, you can take online classes sponsored by WebJunction and other education providers--like Northwest LSA!

And talk about a great opportunity for this: the Iowa Small Library Association (ISLA) along with Northwest, Southwest, and Central LSAs, are organizing a totally online conference slated for January 16th. “Connection, Collaboration, Community: The Iowa Small Libraries Online Conference (ISLOC)” is in the dead of winter and you don’t even have to leave town! We’ll take the weather out of the equation and meet in cozy, virtual classrooms instead. Participants will log into various Wimba rooms to join one session or several. Here’s a preview of the sessions being planned:

AM Keynote Speaker: Michael Stephens of Tame the Web
PM Keynote Speaker: Pat Wagner of Pattern Research in Colorado
Concurrent Sessions:
¨ Cool Tools, Widgets, and Gadgets
¨ Collaborating with Colleagues on the Web
¨ The Interactive Library: Promoting Service Online
¨ Trustees 2.0—An Evening Session for Boards

Also on tap: a virtual exhibit hall, a gaming session over the lunch hour, and a virtual lounge where you can network with your colleagues across the state. Oh sure, you’ll need some stuff—like high speed Internet, a microphone, speakers, and such :-) Most importantly, you’ll need to run a set-up wizard to make sure your computer has the right components to best experience this new format. NWILS will provide set-up instructions in separate emails, so stay tuned for that.

NWILS has its own Wimba room. We’ll target several days throughout December for Northwest libraries to log into our Wimba room and get the feel for it. We’ll have informal sessions for people to just get acquainted with the environment. And more deliberate times set up for actual classes worth c.e. credit, again to get the feel for the online class format.

There’s no requirement that you sit glued to your computer all day long. Choose the topics that most interest you and log into those. If you’re only able to listen to the 2 keynote speakers, that will be great. If you’re only able to join over the lunch hour—or only available for the evening trustees session—that’s great too. Regardless of how much time you spend on January 16, do allow some time that day to participate. This is a sign of things to come, as more and more classes are certain to move online.

So protect your calendar on January 16, 2008, pour a cup of coffee, and join “Connection, Collaboration, Community: Iowa Small Libraries Online Conference” from your own computer at home!

Reader's Advisory

The State Library is currently holding a Readers' Advisory workshop. The term refers to advising the reader, putting people together with the books they love. This is a very participatory class with four assignment modules in two sessions.

The first class was held this week in a WIMBA room, so that meant no travel. From the comfort of home or office, you could sit at your computer and fully participate in the introductory session. (If you haven't had a chance to take a class in a Wimba room, you are missing lots of fun! If the instructor chooses to use a video camera, you can see the instructor, too.)

The next session requires participants to complete 4 practical ways to use Reader's Advisory in your libraries by developing a blog, listening to and writing scripts for a podcast (broadcasting one if brave enough) working with wikis, or just seeing what the future holds for Readers' Advisory.

For now, I want to share a few of the cool links offered for answering the dreaded "what do I read next?" question. Follow these links to take a look at what's out there.

Reader's Robot Reviews that reveal the appeal for readers. Search the databases using "appeal factors." This link lists several genres and the reader just has to decide certain characteristics of books that appeal and then lists of suggested books are generated from these characteristics.

What's Next Probably the most well known site from the Kent District Library. This lets you find out what book is next in a series. They also have a great Reader's advisory list in general, providing books and reading links.

Genreflecting both a reference book and a website for professionals (that's you) offering advice about books to readers

Based on the Book A cool site that lets you see books that have been made into movies. Sometimes, the movie title is not the same as the book title, so you can see that change as well.

Check some of these out if you haven't already. Would love to hear of other sites that you use regularly for your Reader's Advisory @ your libraries.

Going to PLA Conference?

No doubt you've heard: the Public Library Association National Conference is coming to Minneapolis, March 25-29, 2008. NWILS office can help coordinate carpooling to PLA, so if you're planning to attend the conference--and especially if you're willing to drive and take riders--will you comment here?

Please leave your name, library, and email address. And tell us these things:

if you're planning to attend PLA'08
the dates you're thinking of leaving and returning
if you're willing to drive and take riders (and how many...)

Leave any other comments or questions, too. Thanks!

Time for Blogging

Take just a few minutes to do a poll: How many of you are planning to get started on a blog? There have been lots of opportunity to take classes, to go out on the internet and see what other libraries have done so, are you ready to jump in and try it? Don't let the form intimidate you. Blogger, especially, has tried to make it as simple as possible. The hard part is really in keeping up with the writing every day or week or whatever you have determined will be your blogging schedule. But get your staff involved. Or patrons. NWILS has put up a page to link to all the Northwest Iowa libraries who are doing blogs. Be sure to check that out, too. They'll be an encouragement to you. We would love to put a link to your blog on this page as well. So be sure to let us know when you've got one up! Then, write away.

Sanborn Public Library holds Open House

Check out these pictures from Sanborn's open house for their new library this week. Kay Larson of Spencer took the pictures. It looks like it was a great day, and congratulations to Sanborn on their great new library! For those of you who are using digital cameras in your library be sure to check this photo slide program out. This is such a fun program to use to share photos. Thanks to Milford Public Library who has also used this program to post photos on their blog. If you're interested in trying it all you need to do is click on the box at the bottom of the photos. In the meantime: Enjoy the photo show:

Library Use Value Calculator

Just as you are beginning to think about getting a new budget proposal put together this pops up from the Maine State Libraries. How cool is this? A library value calculator! And, you can use their template to adapt the calculator to your own library! (just scroll to the bottom of the page to find out how to do that) Though it does require some html it can also be used 'as is'. I envision some fun uses with this one: put it on your website for your patrons to use so they can easily see how much they're getting out of their local library. Or... email a link to your city council members so they get the full implication of exactly how much you provide. When presenting a budget request to your council, board members, etc. you could have them use something similar to this even in paper form. You probably have plenty of ideas of how this could be used. Please share!

National Friends of Libraries Week

Friends of Libraries groups now have their very own national week of celebrations. FOLUSA (Friends of Libraries U.S.A.) is coordinating the second annual Friends of Libraries Week, October 21-27, 2007. The celebration offers a two-fold opportunity to celebrate local Friends Groups. Use the time to creatively promote your group in your community, raise awareness of their activities, and promote membership. This is also an excellent opportunity for your library and board of trustees to recognize the Friends for their ongoing help and support.

One of many ideas from the FOLUSA website is to ask your patrons, board, or staff to write "love letters" to your Friends Group and post them throughout the library.

Here’s a neat idea from Dubuque. The Friends of the Carnegie-Stout Public Library in Dubuque have embarked on an eBay auction program for some of the older and more collectible items they receive. As with all other Friends' funds, the proceeds from eBay sales will be used to support library programs, collections, and other needs not currently met by the library’s operating budget. To see a list of items currently up for auction by the Dubuque Friends Group, click here: Current Items for Auction on eBay.

Armstrong PL has done a variation of this idea, but with an individual patron offering to sell the books on eBay and return the profits to the library. No doubt others have gotten in on this action, too. For more Friends Group promotional ideas, visit the national website FOLUSA (Friends of Libraries U.S.A.)

Marketing and PR

Seemingly, the demise of the library--or at least its irrelevance--is on the horizon. According to Technological Change, Universal Access, and the End of the Library at : http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3858/is_200303/ai_n9223911)

Libraries have to find ways to attract new patrons, keep the faithful ones, and continue to remain relevant in the digital world. There is an even greater need today for information than ever before, so it's critical for libraries to be advertising what they have. There is much to brag about!

So, amid all the worrisome noises technology is making about the "the end of the book", what are libraries doing to promote themselves and their involvement in their communities? There has always been a need for publicity, but there seems an urgency now--we need to be more proactive.

Libraries need to do more than a simple list of new books published in the paper. Use websites and blogs. Start online book discussion clubs. One of the session at this year's ILA conference in Coralville will be "Shoot out at the PR Corral."

If you're in the market for display ideas, a good compliation can be found at http://www.scholastic.com/librarians/printables/index.htm as well as http://www.sjrlc.org/tradingspaces/toolkit/index.shtml

Be sure to check out WebJunction resources this week, because their tip of the week is about advertising your library: http://ia.webjunction.org/do/Navigation?category=14860

Let's hear some ideas for keeping the library's face "out in front." What props, signs, displays, and techniques are N.W. libraries using? What blogs, websites, tips, and techniques are you using to promote the library to center stage--and how successful are your efforts?

Banned Books Week

September 29-Octotber 6 Banned Book Week. What issues are NW libraries facing with "questionable" materials. Have any NW libraries experienced challenges to materials in recent years? How have you handled these challenges? Does your library have policies in place so you know what to do if someone should come in and complain about a particular item.

There is the issue of book selection as well. Since budgets seldom allow libraries to purchase as much material as you'd like, how do you decide what will be included in your collections? Ray Bradbury said in Farenheit 451: "You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them." How many NW libraries own any of the top 10 most banned books?

Visit ALA's website for more on Nanned Books Week www.ala.org and discuss your promotional plans here.

Library Makeovers

Another Lakeside Learning finished, and the State Library's Town Meeting for NW region is finished too. And given this was the theme of Town Meetings this year, what better blogging topic today than to find out what kind of "Makeovers" your library has been involved in lately? From use of fines on books, to cataloging systems, to programming...what's going well at your library?

Orange City and several other Sioux County libraries have implemented MotherRead programs. This program is designed to improve literacy skills for non-native speaking children as they enter school. This program is new to several libraries. How is it going?

Has anyone started to make plans for programming much like Manson Public Library encourages with their "Wild Wednesdays @ The Library?" Please chime in for a discussion on this or whatever else is on your mind!

Estherville PL 9/11 Program

This just in, thanks to Estherville Library Director Carolyn Walz. From the Estherville Daily News, this link opens to an article about Estherville PL's 9/11 commemoration plans today:
http://esthervilledailynews.com/News/articles.asp?articleID=5917

Hawarden PL 9/11 Program

This note from Valerie @ Hawarden PL regarding their 9/11 plans...

"...we're having a speaker who was one of the first people allowed in on a domestic flight. This gentleman flew in from Tulsa and worked as a counselor/chaplain with the firemen. It is quite a story! He moved to Hawarden a year or two ago--he comes to the library regularly and saw our ads for the movie--he told me about his experiences and some of the memorablia he has and I asked if he would be our program. I have had people talking and calling about coming--people who usually never come to a library program. I am anxious and excited to see how many people are in attendance tonight..."

September 11

Today marks the 6th anniversary of September 11th. By now you’re familiar with Estherville Public Library’s commitment to commemorating 9/11. Estherville P.L. has joined countless libraries across the country in sponsoring commemorative events on this date; Estherville stays open for 24 hours with special programming throughout the day. This year, Hawarden Public Library is commemorating the day with special adult programming, showing the motion picture United 93.

Since 2004, The September Project has been uniting libraries across the country and around the world in bringing attention to peace-keeping efforts, civics education, and humanitarian causes. “…The September Project encourages libraries and communities to come together in meaningful ways throughout the month of September. This is a grassroots effort to host public events in all libraries in all countries in September. Events explore issues that matter—like peace and freedom—and can include book displays, panel discussions, civic deliberations, film screenings, theatrical performances, community book readings, murals, kids’ art projects, and so much more. September Project events are free and organized locally. How can you participate? Organize an event at your library and tell us about it! We’ll post all events on this site as they develop around the world…”

The September Project has a really interesting blog. And it’s especially impressive to read about events that have been organized in other countries. In 2006, there were over 500 September Project events hosted by libraries in 30 countries. Read more here: http://theseptemberproject.wordpress.com/ And be sure to share news of your September 11 programs here...

Estherville Library on MySpace

Speaking of social networking, kudos to Estherville Public Library for creating a MySpace page—for the library! Two weeks ago, Estherville Library staff participated in a staff development day with a shortened version of “Flickr, Wikis, and Blogs.” The library’s page on MySpace is brand new; eventually they’ll tailor it to a teen focus. Check it out: www.myspace.com/esthervillepubliclibrary Now that’s continuing education in action—thanks to the Youth Services Staff & Paula Spoo for sharing this story!

Social Networking & Schools Studied

Northwest libraries have been hearing a lot about “the social web” lately, most notably from NWILS workshop “Flickr, Wikis, and Blogs—Oh My.” That workshop premiered in May and has since been repeated in some county settings around the region. Last month, the National School Board Association (NSBA) released a study entitled “Creating & Connecting: Research and Guidelines Regarding Online Social and Educational Networking.” The study was conducted by Grunwald Associates and underwritten by News Corp, Verizon, and Microsoft.

The study defined social networking as “…a cluster of technical functions that allow users to easily create, share, and respond to information…” Overall, the study provides real support for many points made by ALA regarding the importance of student access to the social web. Some valuable findings include:

60% of students report using social networking for education-related topics.
Negative experiences online are much lower than expected.
Parents are, in fact, much more involved in their kids’ use of technology than is commonly perceived.
Classroom use of technology is increasing, but school technology leaders are still skeptical of social networking applications.
The majority of school districts are using some kind of social networking software to communicate with students, parents, and the community.
Social networking does allow students to engage in creative expressions of all kinds.

The report also includes in-depth statistics and a list of recommendations for educators….find it here http://www.nsba.org/

Lakeside Learning Hotel is Really Lakeside!

We’re “putting the lake” in Lakeside Learning…for hotel arrangements, anyway! All programming on September 18-19 takes place at Buena Vista University. But this year, we’ve booked a block of 8 rooms at Storm Lake’s new King’s Pointe Resort. If an overnight stay would be cheaper than commuting—or just more convenient—then contact Janie soon to reserve a room (jbeauli@nwils.lib.ia.us) All rooms are non-smoking and will be $50.00 +hotel tax. (When you check in, please make sure the desk staff switches your room to your own credit card) And hey, if you haven’t actually driven by King’s Pointe lately, visit their splashy website http://www.kingspointeresort.com/

More About Lakeside Learning

Last week came news of NWILS premier fall education event. It’s Lakeside Learning, September 18-19 in Storm Lake. For a re-cap of Day 1:
Morning:
“Parents as Literacy Partners” with Mary Cameron
“Parents are critical to children's readiness for reading, learning, and school. Public librarians have a key role in helping parents learn how to help their children prepare. Mary Cameron will take participants through an overview of a parent-training model that librarians can use with teachers to train parents on early literacy strategies. A more detailed training will be scheduled for those making a commitment to participate in the project at a later date…”

Afternoon:
Online Safety for Kids & Parents (speaker pending)
Intergenerational Programming (large group discussion)
Wild Wednesdays @ Manson PL with Ann Schlapkohl (after school programming ideas)

Evening:
Paparazzi: Digital Photography @ The Library (Tena Hanson w/ ALA READ posters, Scott Zimmer w/ tips for teaching digital photos as a library-sponsored computer class, and Ann Schlapkohl w/ digital photo frames)

Now for the scoop about Day 2, the ever-popular Town Meeting presented by State Library staff. This year’s Town Meeting theme is “Extreme Makeover @ Your Library—You Can Do It! “…In the morning, a look at making over the library's physical space to make it more inviting. Then, we’ll consider the changing needs of our customers and what that means as far as "making over" our own attitudes and openness to change.

Afternoon sessions include:
Collection Development Makeover: Rethinking Buying and Weeding Patterns. The average library collection, regardless of size, follows the 80/20 pattern: 80% of circulation comes from 20% of the collection. This session will talk about how to rethink what we purchase and weed to break this barrier and circulate more of our collections on a regular basis.

Library Merchandising: Using ideas from both libraries and the retail industry, this session will address how to develop public libraries into more visually stimulating places. Discussion to include what we know about how customers decide what to check out, why library displays are important, ideas for displays, etc.

Making the Most of Your Library Web Site: This session is for all libraries with websites. Topics include publicizing your website; adding content that keeps drawing the public in; thinking about the website as a "branch" library that is open 24/7.

Online registration is ready, so don’t delay! Refer to the catalog for program fees and meal fees. And note: each part of LAKESIDE LEARNING requires a separate catalog registration; be sure to browse the c.e. catalog under Northwest LSA and under the State Library to find all programs http://www.statelibraryofiowa.org/cgi-bin/cecat/

BookSystems & Atriuum

Thanks to all who attended the demonstration of BookSystems' newest automation software called Atriuum. The demos were sponsored by NWILS and conducted by Bart Eby at BookSystems office in Alabama. And thanks to the staff at Orange City PL and Lake City PL for hosting.

Special pricing was offered to those who attended and by now, you should have received a packet in the mail with price details. Remember, the pricing offered at June's demonstration is good through July 31st. Returning the committment sheet will guarantee it for you.

As you set about upgrading or switching to Atriuum, use this space to share your progress and what you're learning...comment here!

Lakeside Learing Coming Together

Plans are shaping up for LAKESIDE LEARNING, coming up September 18-19 in Storm Lake. All programs remain at BVU, although we may switch our hotel to the new resort on the lake. Rumor has it we can get state rates there, so we may book our block of rooms there...stay tuned on that.

The Day 1 program has switched hands several times, but it’s finally coming together. Here’s a look:

Day 1 September 18
Morning:
“Parents as Literacy Partners” with Mary Cameron

Afternoon:
Online Safety for Kids & Parents (still tentative, hoping for police officer from Storm Lake as speaker…)
Intergenerational Programming (large group discussion, brief…)
Wild Wednesdays @ Manson PL with Ann Schlapkohl (after school programming ideas)

Evening:
Paparazzi: Digital Photography @ The Library (Tena w/ READ posters, Ann w/ digital picture frames, hopefully Scott Z. w/ tips for teaching digital photos as a library-sponsored computer class)

Day 2 September 19
State Library’s Town Meeting

We'll let you know when online registration is ready...in the meantime, make plans to attend LAKESIDE LEARNING @ Storm Lake, September 18-19!

Special Project Consulting Service Update

NWILS Special Project Consulting continues going strong. It’s been no problem having projects to outsource to our group of consultants. (Imagine how busy they all would be if I REALLY advertised!) Most recently, Susan has been working with Auburn PL and Sandi with Dickens PL. In future weeks, Ann will be heading to Sanborn and Tena to Quimby.

Also: within the framework of this consulting service, Susan is doing a staff development day for Milford PL on customer service. That’s coming up in August. A nice spin-off here is that NWILS gains another workshop to use and replicate, so obviously another great aspect of this service.

Still ahead is a wiki for the consulting group. There would be some real benefit to that, especially in developing agendas and training materials.

And here’s some exciting news: I have an opportunity to tout this shiny new service at 2 conferences, at the Rural Libraries Conference in September (Ohio) and at PLA in March (Minneapolis) It’ll be done as poster sessions, but still, I’m excited about sharing this consulting approach. Because it’s a new model for regional systems to consider, it’s innovative, and I suspect it’s unique (although I don’t know that for sure) But I do know it’s working! For these poster sessions, Sue and I are working on a slideshow using PhotoStory.

Remember, you'll find a list of the Special Project Consultants on NWILS website, along with allowable projects: www.nwils.lib.ia.us Let us know how we can help!

READ Poster CDs

NWILS now has 3 sets of READ Poster CDs and they’re all in use. Those of you who attended JAMBOREE in May saw this in action, thanks to Tena H from Milford PL doing a demo. Tena is going to demo the CDs again at LAKESIDE LEARNING. (September 18-19, BTW) Our nighttime gig is going to feature digital photography things like the READ posters, digital photo frames, etc.

One important note from NWILS Board meeting. The board is very supportive of this purchase for us, but they’d like to see the CDs used in a different way. Their idea is that county library associations buy the CDs from us and actually take ownership of them. This would accomplish several things:

NWILS is credited for a pilot project by purchasing the CDs first—that’s the carrot—you have to see it to sell it!

A county association could buy a set from us; ideally, all libraries in a county would contribute toward the purchase

Easier to do “train the trainer” or any kind of training in using them when the discs “live” in a specific county

It becomes a collaborative model for county associations

It’s great PR and a brand new project to demonstrate—and boast about—to county supervisors

To encourage this idea--this blog post! We'll also talk more about this at LAKESIDE LEARNING's evening program. Chime in with any comments or questions here...

Testimonials, Anyone?

I wanted to share these testimonials from JAMBOREE 2007:

“Blogging is so fun!! Now on to wikis!” (Val Haverhals)

“A shout out to NWILS staff for a great JAMBOREE…Janie, loved your hat!” (Faye Seidl)

“I’m very excited about the new programming ideas presented today…” (anonymous)

“Can’t wait to check out all the websites, especially the blogs and Flickr (anonymous)

“NWILS new consulting approach is good stuff, sounds great…” (anonymous)

“Bonnie, I had to share this with you. I like to watch Jeopardy like you like to watch ‘24’ J One of the categories this evening was Online Words. I don’t remember the exact questions, but 4 answers out of five in the category were: What is a blog? What is a wiki? What is an avatar? (which no one got except me!!) and What is RSS? You will be pleased to know I answered all four correctly and told my husband ‘I learned all this yesterday at JAMBOREE.’ Thanks for the education!” (Sandi Neary)

Lend your comments...what was your favorite part of JAMBOREE this year?

JAMBOREE Was A Hit!

Judging by audience evaluations and comments, C.E. JAMBOREE was a bonafide hit! Two days of programming, and one evening session, piqued interest in all things social on the “social web.” From Flickr to Delicious, from blogs to wikis to podcasts and more, we learned from each other about Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 concepts. All of which led me to a new phrase: Learning 2.0!

Turns out I didn't coin the phrase, so says eagle-eye researcher Kay Larson. But I like it and I think it really fits what happened last week. Because what happened was collaborative learning: sharing our “discoveries” on the web, explaining how to blend traditional services with technologies, and going home to put learning into practice.



For instance, in the days following JAMBOREE, Valerie Haverhals from Hawarden PL started a book discussion blog: http://hawardenbookdiscussion.blogspot.com/ Val tells me she also started a personal blog for an upcoming family reunion—and already a brother is asking her to teach him all about blogging!

Turns out there’s a new article freshly posted on WebJunction about blogging, check that out here http://www.webjunction.org/

Nathan Clark from Ruthven/Emmetsburg PL has started a wiki for the 1-2 person libraries, using WetPaint for the wiki design:
http://1-2personlibrary.wetpaint.com/home His Jamboree handouts are there, too.

And you can check out lots of great “Learning 2.0” photos on our Flickr page. That's Janie being a good sport in a "mysterious skit." At www.flickr.com, search Flickr Groups for “NWILS Library Fun Fotos." You can also join the Flickr group for Northwest and include your own photos of events @ your library. If you were at Jamboree, you should be getting an invitation to join the group--give it a whirl :-)

Through discovery and conversation, people shared so many cool websites, far beyond what was pre-printed on the handouts. I'll include follow-ups in future issues of EYE-OPENER and here, too. Remember to blog what you're learning and putting into practice!

Kids First Conference

I heard through the grapevine that the Kids First Conference was super this year (as every year) Any and all Northwest library staff who attended are encouraged to blog their Kids First Conference experience here...Thanks!

Trying to Add my Avatar

Some bloggers out there need to tell me how to make the avatar image show up on the page...suggestions, anyone?
http://lookup.avatars.yahoo.com/wimages?yid=bonfan24&size=large&type=jpg

Your Plans for National Library Week

No doubt, your plans are already in motion for celebrating National Library Week 2007. NLW this year is April 15-21 and the theme is “Come Together @ Your Library.” Amongst many programming ideas, you can also highlight 2 special days during that week: “National Library Workers’ Day” and “Support Teen Literature Day.” Read all about it on ALA’s website, where you’ll find scads of promotional materials, press releases, posters, bookmarks, prizes and more: http://www.ala.org/ala/pio/natlibraryweek/nlw.htm

And while you’re at it, how about blogging your plans for National Library Week with your Northwest colleagues? Please contribute your ideas here and share the fun!

More From New Mexico

Last day here in sunny ABQ. The weather has been really beautiful the entire time; makes for nice vacationing and conferencing. I saw a great T-shirt today that said "New Mexico: Not all that new, and not really Mexico." All true, but still a great trip!

Just to recap some of the many sessions I attended here at the Mt. Plains Library Conference. A session on interactive whiteboards made by Smart Technologies was especially cool--it's definitely going on my "wish list" of purchases for NWILS office at fiscal-year-end!. A session on legal policies issues was interesting, presented by people who attended the latest Lawyers for Libraries conference sponsored by ALA. "50+ Boomers and Seniors in the Workplace" was good too--lots of thoughtful discussion about the generaltional differences amongst workers in any profession--and how managers can best capitalize on peoples' strengths. And again, plenty of sessions on social networking and Web2.0/Library 2.0 concepts. This will all come back to Northwest Iowa in time for C.E. JAMBOREE.

I'll include more details about the Mt. Plains Conference in a series of EYE-OPENER articles beginning Monday. But it's time to be boarding instead of blogging!

Blogging From New Mexico

Hello to Northwest Iowa from sunny, warm Albuquerque! Thanks to NWILS Board, I'm blogging from the Mt.Plains Library Conference in ABQ, as the natives have nicknamed the city.

While there were many pre-cons to choose from on Wednesday (3/14/07) the conference started for me today with the opening session's keynote speaker Joseph Janes. Among his many credentials, Mr. Janes is the chair of Library & Information Science at the University of Washington. He writes "The Internet Librarian" column for American Libraries, has authored 8 books on libraries and technlogy, and was one of the co-founders of The Internet Public Library.

His presentation was great--and very funny--we need to bring him to an ILA conference sometime soon! "What Libraries Need to do Now--and Why" encouraged the audience to interact on the web in the same ways that our customers are already doing. We need to creat blogs and wikis, not to mention great websites. We need to make our own videos on YouTube and promote our services on MySpace.

All of which bolsters the need for NWILS to raise awareness and promote these concepts, encouraging libraries to blend traditional services with new approaches that technology affords. Guess what--much of this is the focus of C.E. JAMBOREE this year! More on the Mt. Plains sessions tomorrow and in EYE-OPENER...

Public Computer Instruction

The interest and need for computer instruction continues unabated. Lake City PL began a new series of computer classes in January. Michele is coordinating and teaching classes that blend traditional topics like WORD and EXCEL with trendier topics like Using the Internet for Travel, Advanced Email, Genealogy on the Web, and Internet Safety & Security. Classes run 2 hours and attendance is limited to 6 people.

We’d love to hear more topic ideas and strategies from other libraries providing computer instruction. Who’s offering classes on using digital cameras or demonstrating great websites for parents and kids? Who’s explaining blogs or acquainting parents and grandparents with social networking sites like MySpace and YouTube? NWILS Bulletin Board Blog is a great forum to share these and other ideas!

Promote Teen Tech Week

Make plans now to promote the first ever “Teen Tech Week,” March 4-10, 2007. Teen Tech Week is sponsored by YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association of ALA) The theme is “Get Connected @ Your Library” and there are lots of great posters and promotional materials available through the ALA Graphics Catalog or through the ALA Online Store www.ala.org

Why this promotion now? YALSA website explains: “…By developing Teen Tech Week, YALSA demonstrates the important role technology plays in teen life and the need for librarians to integrate the ways teens use technology into their programs and services, said Teen Tech Week chair Linda Braun. Teen use of non-print resources has increased dramatically in recent years, yet more and more teens are doing this from home instead of the library. According to a recent study by Harris Interactive, in 2005 86% of youth aged 8-18 have a computer in their home, and 74% have Internet access in their home. On average, 8-18 year olds spend 6 hours and 21 minutes per day using media (including TV, video/DVDs/movies, video games, audio media, computers and print media) According to Pew Internet Research, 71% of teens reported that the Internet is their primary source for completing school projects. Yet multiple studies have shown that the majority of teens lack the critical thinking skills and technical expertise to use the Internet and other electronic resources effectively. Teens need to know that the library is a trusted resource for accessing information and that librarians are the experts who can help them develop the skills they need to use electronic resources effectively and efficiently, remarked YALSA President Pam Spencer Holley…”

Programming ideas abound on YALSA website http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/teentechweek/ttw.htm

Get into the swing of things by blogging your plans and ideas for Teen Tech Week. Blogging...techie stuff...it all fits!

Progress on NWILS New Website

Sue and I have been happily (???) revamping NWILS website! We're moving it to PLONE, just like 60+ Northwest libraries will soon be doing. We're learning to create folders, pages, links, lists, and more. At first, this process was abit cumbersome and Sue was the very definition of "high anxienty." But...it's getting easier each day as we get more experienced. How do you get to Carnegie Hall? PRACTICE-PRACTICE-PRACTICE :-)

Seriously, it will be great for us to be using the same PLONE product as you'll be using--we'll be here to help. Look to upcoming EYE-OPENERS for reminders of the PLOW training classes required in round 2. See you on the web!