Monday Morning Eye-Opener 5/24/2010

Good Monday Morning! In EYE-OPENER …

1) Make a Splash with Wii Games
2) Sign Up for ENRICH IOWA
3) It’s WILBOR Time
4) Meetings / Announcements This Week

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1) Make a Splash with Wii Games

With summer library programs about to begin, why not make a programming splash with Wii games? Some libraries have Wii game systems, thanks to grants or friendly neighborhood Friends Groups. But if your library hasn’t acquired one yet, you can borrow a Wii, along with 4 games, from Northwest Library Services.

Northwest LSA purchased a Wii game system last spring and it’s checked out briskly to area libraries since. We retrieved it at JAMBOREE, so at the moment, it’s here in the office waiting to go out again. The Wii rents for $10.00 (plus postage and shipping insurance as needed) Libraries can rent the game system and 4 games:

MarioKart

WiiSports (tennis, baseball, golf, bowling, boxing)

Rayman Raving Rabbids

Endless Ocean - Dive. Discover. Dream

Endless Ocean will fit right into this year’s summer library theme “Make a Splash @ Your Library!” This would make a great cooperative program for all libraries in a county or adjoining counties—one can reserve it and others in the vicinity can pick it up without the shipping and insurance costs—we’re cool with that! Better yet, plan joint programs and gaming days among your county libraries.

Find more explanation and NWILS rental policy on our website here

http://www.nwils.lib.ia.us/spcollendpol/wiirental

2) Sign Up for ENRICH IOWA

June 25 is the deadline for libraries to sign up for ENRICH IOWA. Summer is the annual sign-up period for ENRICH IOWA, which includes 3 distinct programs:

¨ Open Access

¨ ILL Reimbursement

¨ Direct State Aide

Open Access reimburses libraries for checking out materials to people outside their own city or county. ILL Reimbursement subsidizes the cost of lending books through SILO. And Direct State Aid rewards libraries for meeting service standards. All 3 program comprising ENRICH IOWA are administered by the State Library

This year, the State Library is not mailing paper copies of the sign-up form or the terms of agreement. You can find it all on this webpage http://www.statelibraryofiowa.org/ld/enrich-ia The ENRICH IOWA sign-up is a simple 1-page form asking for library contact information, a check mark in any or all of the boxes indicating which programs your library will participate in, and a signature (library director’s signature is fine here) Return the completed signed ENRICH IOWA Letter of Agreement by mail to the State Library by June 25. You may also fax the Agreement to 515-281-6191 or email it to Toni Blair at toni.blair@lib.state.ia.us

Northwest LSA joins the State Library in encouraging you to complete this from in a timely way—ENRICH IOWA is too important to you and your neighboring libraries to pass up! Call with questions...

3) It’s WILBOR Time

This is a story that bears repeating because the time is now! Time to spring into action and join WILBOR in this open enrollment window. Two years old and growing, WILBOR is a consortium providing affordable access to downloadable audio books. The consortium is managed by Central, Northwest, Southwest, and Southeast LSAs; the vendor is OverDrive. In two years, WILBOR has grown to over 100 participating libraries and the collection has grown to over 3,000 titles.

Here’s the skinny: the annual base price is $300.00 plus 10cents per annual circulation of audio books in FY’09. In addition, there is a one-time setup fee of $500.00 assessed by OverDrive. The operative word here is a one-time fee. In subsequent years, the annual price drops back to the $300.00 formula. Libraries must commit to staying with the consortium for at least 18 months.

Service for new participants goes live on July 1. Two letters of agreement are required to be signed and returned to Central Library Services by June 18. Northwest LSA has copies of both letters of agreement, along with a cover letter explaining the conditions for joining.

We’ll provide promotional bookmarks and hook you up with websites for technical support. OverDrive will offer webinars and Northwest LSA staff and those on our consulting team will provide plenty of assistance, too. So make this the year to join 41 other Northwest participating libraries—and over 100 in the Consortium. Join WILBOR and provide a great new service for your community!

4) Meetings / Announcements This Week

Northwest LSA Board meeting tomorrow, May 25, this time at Lake View Public Library. The agenda is posted on NWILS website; area libraries are welcome to attend.

And speaking of WILBOR and audio books, how about this timely news from the folks at Booklist: there’s a webinar on June 8 at 2:00PM CST called “Now Hear This: Audio Books A-Z.” In this informative hour-long webinar, Booklist Media editor Sue Ellen Beauregard will be joined by audiobook expert Mary Burkey, as well as representatives from Books on Tape/Listening Library, BBC Audiobooks America, and HighBridge Audio, for an exciting discussion of audiobooks. Discussion will include the latest titles featuring popular readers, how to integrate audiobooks into book club promotions, finding crossover titles that fit the bill for summer listening, and much, much more.

Find registration links on NWILS website here http://www.nwils.lib.ia.us/Archive/folder/juneflder/trn

After the cruelest of winters, it’s great to welcome the official start to summer! Next Monday May 31 is Memorial Day; NWILS office will be closed. The following Monday June 7 is a furlough day due to state budget cuts, so NWILS office will also be closed on June 7. This means that Monday Morning Eye-Opener will be back on June 14. Enjoy the Memorial Holiday kickoff to summertime!