Monday Morning Eye-Opener 6/28/10

Good Morning and Happy 4th of July! In EYE-OPENER …

1) Input Sought for Reorganization Study
2) Time Well Spent @ AEA Tech Conference
3) Schaller Library Wins Grant
4) Meetings / Announcements This Week
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1) Input Sought for Reorganization Study

Work is well underway for the Reorganization Committee, a study group called by the legislature to restructure the delivery of library support services. These are the services you’re familiar with from the LSAs and the State Library.

The Reorganization Committee met on June 8 in Pleasant Hill and will be back there again on July 7. Leading up to the next meeting, the Committee is seeking input from the larger library community into what you consider to be essential support services critical to retaining in a new service model. Late last week, you should have received an email with this explanation, along with a link to a Survey Monkey. The survey link is http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/H7TDY3Q

You may have received this message a few times and if so, excuse the duplication. But this is an important effort and your opinion will be a valuable part of this process. Despite duplicate messages, answer the survey only once; it will remain open until July 2. From Northwest LSA, thank you for completing the survey!

2) Time Well Spent @ AEA Tech Conference

Jean and I could only attend one day, but without question, it was a day well spent! Last week’s Technology Integration Conference, sponsored annually by Northwest AEA and Prairie Lakes AEA, brings in national educators like Scott McLeod, Annette Lamb, and Elliot Soloway as keynote speakers. K-12 faculty from Iowa schools, along with AEA staff, fill in dozens of breakout sessions over the 3-day conference in Storm Lake.

We found so many applications to public libraries! Here are some websites we learned about in connection to the various sessions we attended. Most were new to us…are you aware of:

www.p21.org Partnership for 21st Century Skills developed by educators and business partners to prepare students for a 21st century workforce.

www.readwritethink.org Read-Write-Think includes podcasts that engage kids with books about silly subjects. Also instructs kids about what to say in their online profiles—and what NOT to say.

http://www.greatachievements.org/ Greatest Engineering Achievements of the 20th Century. Given my thing for historic milestones, this is a cool discovery for me. And a neat site to visit when you’re in the need for displays, bulletin boards, programming ideas, newsletters, or website news.


www.funbrain.com Part of the Family Education Network, Fun Brain packages teacher resources, parenting advice, homework help, and educational games galore for kids ages K-8.

www.iwaswondering.org A project of the National Academy of Sciences, I Was Wondering is an especially great website for girls, promoting women’s achievements in science.

www.generationcures.org This site is pretty amazing. “…Generation Cures is a kid-led, parent-enabled community all about kids helping other kids. Through original animation, games, and kid-produced videos, children learn how they really can make a difference. Families then turn ideas into action by gaming for good or creating their own fundraiser through this site. Money raised supports Boston’s Children's Hospital in world-changing research, helping kids across the globe…”



3) Schaller Library Wins Grant

In early May, Schaller Public Library learned it had received a $1,000.00 grant from Wal-Mart in Storm Lake. The grant was awarded in conjunction with the Storm Lake store’s reopening ceremony. Library Director Barb Jorgensen says the library will spend the money on 2 new tables and a new computer for kids. Thanks to Barb for sharing this story—and congrats on the grant!

4) Meetings / Announcements This Week

Northwest LSA Board meets tomorrow June 29 at NWILS office in Sioux City. The meeting begins at 10:00AM; the agenda is posted here
http://www.nwils.lib.ia.us/Archive/folder/juneflder/junebrdmtg

The next Career Reading Roundtable is this Wednesday June 30. The title up for discussion this time is The Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Pat Dawson is leading the discussion from 9:00—11:00AM. It’s online in Northwest LSA’s Adobe Classroom.

NOTE: Because July 4th lands on Sunday, NWILS office takes Monday July 5 as the holiday. The following Monday July 12 is a furlough day, so on both July 5 and 12, NWILS office will be closed. Which also means the EYE-OPENER goes on hiatus; EYE-OPENER will be back again on July 19. Have a great 4th of July bash!

Questions or comments? E-mail us at bmckewon@siouxlan.net or call 712-255-2939.