Monday Morning Eye-Opener 3/15/2010

Good Morning! Today in EYE-OPENER:

1) National Library Week April 11-17
2) National Library Workers Day
3) Emmetsburg and P.A. County Reap More Grants
4) Meetings / Events This Week

1) National Library Week April 11-17: Easter is 3 weeks away—and we despaired that spring would never come! Hopping right behind the Easter Bunny comes National Library Week April 11-17. This year’s theme is Communities Thrive @ Your Library and this year’s spokesperson is author Neil Gaiman. Since 1958, National Library Week has been sponsored by the American Library Association, alongside many educational and corporate partners.
To jumpstart plans, you can find a wonderful array of promotional materials and programming ideas at the NLW website. PSAs and press releases too, plus links to many resources that support the “Community” theme. Just one example: ProgrammingLibrarian.org is an online resource center developed by the ALA Public Programs Office to assist libraries in developing cultural and community programs. The site includes authoritative resources for planning, implementing and evaluating community programs
And for all shutterbugs out there, “Library Snapshot Day” celebrates all types of libraries through photos. The Iowa Library Association is a partner here, encouraging Iowa libraries to take pictures of people using your library on any given day during NLW. Share your 3 favorites with ILA’s Flickr group—and hey, while you’re at it, share your photos with Northwest LSA too! We’re always in the market for fresh photos of Northwest libraries in action. We’ll add them to our website, blog, and our Flickr group, too. There’s more instruction about Library Snapshot Day at ILA’s website.

2) National Library Workers Day: Here’s a hidden gem—but what a great addition to National Library Week. It’s Tuesday April 13—National Library Workers Day. The day’s theme is “Libraries Work Because We Do.” Staff really is the library’s most valuable resource, so what better day for a staff appreciation party  Find posters, t-shirts, buttons, and more at the NLWStore. Back at National Library Workers Day website, there are countless stories telling how library boards, Friends Groups, and city personnel have thanked their library staff with a day-long celebration. Be sure to do something special for your staff on Tuesday April 13!



3) Emmetsburg and P.A. County Reap More Grants: Emmetsburg and Palo Alto County boasts from fierce grant writers. Nathan Clark, director at Emmetsburg and Ruthven Libraries, just shared an impressive list of grants awarded to the libraries by the Palo Alto Gaming Development Corporation. This is just for instance:
• At E’Burg and Ruthven: each library receives a 52” flat panel TVs wall-mounted to loop slideshows publicizing library programs, community events, new and forthcoming books
• At Mallard: digitized Mallard newspapers
• At Emmetsburg: a one year subscription to Tumblebooks, online e-books for the kids collection
• At Emmetsburg: $20,000.00 for new library furnishings and amenities—a total library makeover
• At all 5 Palo Alto County libraries: $500.00 each to support gaming programs; most libraries will use the funds to purchase a Nintendo Wii, software, and accessories.
At last year’s C.E. JAMBOREE, Nathan presented a session on the county’s grant writing success. This year at JAMBORE, we’ll hopefully hear from the libraries using flat panel TVs for promotion; Milford and Onawa are also using in-house TVs to promote library events. Thanks to Nathan and the Palo Alto County libraries for sharing this story!

4) Meetings / Events This Week
Wishing everyone a festively green St. Patrick’s Day on Wednesday March 17th .
Library Technology Conference 2010, Wednesday March 17th in St. Paul, MN. This two day conference provides a mix of sessions highlighting many of the technologies affecting how users interact with libraries and how libraries are using technology to create new and better ways to manage resources. For more information go to http://digital commons.macalester.edu