Visit a Library in Costa Rica with Sandi Neary!

Even though I leave the US, can't stay away from libraries. In Costa Rica they are called la bibiloteca two of the pictures are of the library at Tilaran Costa Rica, one of the outside and one of the librarian, Pamela Mejies. She did not speak English, but loved having her picture taken. I have pictures of the inside, but will share those after I get back, if you are interested! Notice the shortened "La bib" over the entry door.

Ed and Leslie Woods are the overseers of the Casa de Sol (house name we rented). Anyway, Leslie is starting a library in Nuevo Arenal, village about 11 Kms from here. She just hired a librarian last Saturday. They are working with a librarian from Nicaragua using interns from the US to establish libraries in many small CR towns. I think one day next week they will be in Nuevo Arenal and Leslie said I could go with her to meet them.

The libraries concentrate mainly on children's books and activties. This is the easiest way to introduce library use, and educate kids. More use of the library as the kids become adults. It will perpetuate itself! There are a few English paperbacks in the libs just to help the English speaking residents. These are donated by the residents. Leslie said also she is meeting with the "city council" next week, to see if they can get "public support" for the Neuvo Arenal lib. Sound familiar? Notice the international lib sign includes a child!

Just couldn't resist telling you about this! Weather is about 85 in the day and 60s at night. We are enjoying immensely.

Promoting Books-Reading Blogs

If you are reading blogs these days then perhaps you've seen this site: The Red Room which is a wonderful place to connect readers to authors and consequently librarians to books! It's a Great place for insight, for blogging ideas and for finding out what's new in the world of books.

Or check out this website from Michael Sauers. He was a speaker at the Small Libraries conference. If you missed him, at least you get to see what he's writing these days: Traveling Librarian.

There are countless children's lit blogs. So many that you could spend considerable time during your day just glancing at each one. I recommend choosing one or two and then enjoy those over a cup of coffee. They're great fun.

At any rate, if you're not reading blogs...catch up! (Good start if you're at this site!) If you are reading blogs, please tell us which ones you enjoy so we can share!

25 Skills Every Librarian Should Have

So you're a librarian! Aren't you amazed and challenged by the complexity of the job! Librarians are incredibly talented, funny and creative people. The things they need to be able to do would challenge most normal people, but we do it and make it look like the easiest job in the world. This is the librarian's job list. We have to be able to:

1. Cover books.


2. Organize and run meetings.


3. Negotiate with employees, city hall,Supervisors.


4. Be Flexible!


5. Repair books.


6. Manage 2-4 year olds in a story hour.


7. Shovel the walk in the Winter.


8. Know basic computer troubleshooting.


9. Know some basic household fix it tricks, like how to stop the toilet from running.


10. Be able to navigate computer data bases like SILO, EbscoHost,First Search.


11. Do Reader's Advisory-hook people up to the books they love.


12. Read Blogs and Wikis


13. Use RSS feeds.


14. Multi-task.


15. Operate a digital camera and be able to download pictures and touch them up.


16. Read books to kids using 'voices'


17. Form relationships with teenagers.


18. Develop a 'contacts' list of people who can help you out for programs or for fixing things at the library.


19. Shmooze with the locals-you need others.


20. Promote the Community.


21. Be calm in crisis.


22. Be passionate and enthusiastic about your job.


23. Embrace change, because it's going to happen no matter what!


24. Be an Advocate


25. Be Flexible!

Please add your two cents worth. Everyone of these 'skills' deserves a blog post of its own!

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...