Northwest Iowa Library Services
Monday Morning Eye-Opener

Good Morning! Today in EYE-OPENER:

1) Akron Library Hosting a Poetry Event
2) Let’s Just Say…They’re on Roll
3) Time to Try Online Resources
4) Career Reading Roundtable March 23

1) Akron Library Hosting a Poetry Event: Akron Public Library will celebrate National Poetry Month in April in a big way. The library is sponsoring “Rhyme Time on the Prairie,” an original 2-day event April 17-18. It begins on Friday April 17 with a dinner and poetry readings by 3 guest poets: Jeanne Emmons from Briar Cliff College, Jan D. Hodge from Morningside College, and Yvonne Hollenbeck from South Dakota. On Saturday April 18, there’s a luncheon and a series of 3 poetry-writing workshops. Each guest poet will have their books for sale both days. A brochure containing bios and background information about their books is available from Akron Library or from NWILS office.

”Rhyme Time on the Prairie” takes place at the Hole in the Wall Lodge in Akron, Iowa (14396 Diamond Avenue) If you haven’t visited the Hole in the Wall Lodge, what a great chance! It’s a hunting resort that also doubles as a venue for wedding receptions and business meetings. And check out the menu for this poetry program: Friday night’s dinner includes winter prairie salad, French onion soup, choice of salmon or chicken marsala, wine and other beverages. Saturday’s lunch is chicken salad croissants, fruit salads, desserts, and beverages.

Cost for Friday’s dinner and poetry readings is $32.00; cost for Saturday’s workshops and luncheon is $25.00. Interested area library staff and trustees are cordially invited! Just be aware that this event is open to the general public and seating is limited. Make reservations or direct any questions to Jeannie Frerichs at Akron Public Library by calling 712-568-2601 or by emailing akronlib@hickorytech.net

2) Let’s Just Say…They’re On a Roll: Last week, EYE-OPENER tooted news of some nice grant-writing going on in Palo Alto County. Emmetsburg Public Library and their Friends Group each received grants from casino funding. Ruthven Library received 2 separate grants and the Palo Alto County Library Association also received 2 grants, one for digital projectors and one to pay WILBOR entry fees for all the libraries in the spring enrollment.

But wait, there’s more grant news: Emmetsburg Public library just learned that it’s the recipient of 50 books from the Toyota Corporation. Emmetsburg is one of 200 public libraries in the U.S. to receive a collection of 50 books translated from Japanese literature. In a mix of fiction and non-fiction, the library will receive translated works from award-winning Japanese authors in mysteries, historical fiction, fantasy, horror, as well as non-fiction books on Japanese history and culture. This particular grant is sponsored by Toyota and the International Relations Office of the American Library Association.

Thanks to Nathan Clark at Emmetsburg / Ruthven Libraries for sharing this impressive news about successful grant-writing and successful county library collaboration. Pretty good story, huh? That’s why Nathan is joining the line-up of speakers at NWILS C.E. Jamboree to share how they did it. C.E Jamboree is May 5-6 at Prairie Lakes AEA in Storm Lake. Registration is open in the c.e. catalog, so beat the rush and register today 

3) Time to Try Online Resources: The State Library has announced a spring trial period for online resources. From now until April 15, you can try out several online products to see how useful they would be in your library. These represent some of the best Internet-based library resources available for K12, college, and public libraries, including:
 Access Newspaper Archive = a database of digitized Iowa newspapers
 BookFLIX from Scholastic = videos and read-along helpers to favorite children’s books; very child friendly
 EBSCO = add-on databases like Hobbies & Crafts, Small Engine Repair, Home Improvement, and Novelist; these are add-ons, not currently available in the current statewide EBSCOHost contract
 Facts on File = topic-focused database
 ProQuest = similar to EBSCOHost

The State Library partners with Iowa Area Education Agencies and the Iowa Educators Consortium to provide these free statewide trials. To access the trial databases, go to Iowa Educators Consortium website and follow the on-screen instructions. Consider this a chance to test drive some of the best information products on the market—for free during this trial period! Nothing to lose, everything to learn—give it a whirl  Contact Jay Peterson at the State Library with any questions (jay.peterson@lib.state.ia.us )

4) Career Reading Roundtable March 23: Have you been part of “Career Reading Roundtable” yet? It’s an online book discussion with a twist: a chance for library staff to read books on topics like public speaking, customer service, communication skills—books outside of library literature. But it’s the online discussion (in Central LSA’s Wimba Classroom) that sparks conversation about how to apply the ideas to library service. It’s a neat concept and one that lots of people statewide have been enjoying.

The next Career Reading Roundtable is Monday March 23rd. This time, the book is Good in a Room: How to Sell Yourself and Your Ideas and Win Over Any Audience by Stephanie Palmer. “Good in a room” is an expression that comes from Hollywood, where scriptwriters pitch their ideas to movie studios. Author Stephanie Palmer worked for MGM for 7 years, where she heard LOTS of ideas pitched. In the book, she explains why some ideas make it and some ideas don’t. Join the discussion next Monday to talk about how to apply her advice toward furthering library projects important to you—we’ll talk about how to be “good in a room.” This program runs from 9:00AM—11:00AM and is worth 2 c.e. credits. Register online in the c.e. catalog; once registered, you’ll receive an email confirmation with a link to Central LSA’s Wimba Classroom. See you then!

Previous issues of Monday Morning Eye-Opener are archived on NWILS website…