LAURA BUSH GRANT
Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White has announced that the Illinois State Library is one of 33 institutions nationwide selected to receive a Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program grant to develop an institute where Illinois librarians can enhance their technology and leadership skills.
White said the State Library will use the nearly $420,000 grant to develop ILEAD U (Illinois Libraries Explore, Apply and Discover). The institute, which will be similar to the popular Synergy Illinois Library Leadership Institute, will consist of team- and project-based learning combining intermittent face-to-face meetings and online sessions over nine months beginning in October 2009. Participants will explore new forms of participatory Web 2.0 technology, hone their skills, and use the newly acquired skills to address the needs of their users.
"The Illinois State Library is proud of its strong commitment to continuing education, and providing librarians with the tools and resources necessary to address the ever changing needs of their patrons," White said. "Nowhere is the need for continuing education more important than in the area of technology. Librarians need to constantly enhance their skills to keep up to date with the latest technology, and ILEAD U represents an exciting, innovative new program to build technology and leadership skills among Illinois librarians. We are thrilled to receive this grant and are ready to embark on ILEAD U this fall."
The grant was awarded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and is named after former First Lady Laura Bush, who holds a Masters degree in Library and Information Science and was employed as a librarian. White congratulated the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign for receiving a Laura Bush grant to offer scholarships aimed at developing more youth services librarians.
LSTA GRANT UPDATE
ISL staff and volunteer reviewers have spent this week reviewing FY10 LSTA grant applications.
Applicants might have questions about the grant review process. EVERY application has been given due process. Reviewers read the applications individually, and then come together to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of every application. Comments from the reviewers are shared with every applicant. The recommendations of the review committees are the number one criteria for deciding if an application is approved. However, if the review committees recommend more applications than there is available funding, other criteria are taken into account for final selection. The criteria for selection is posted on the State Library website.
The guiding principles for the LSTA grant program, like all of our grant programs, are fairness, equity and accountability. The ISL received nearly $11 million in requests for grants this year, and only $3.5 million in funding is available. We hope to announce grant recipients in late August or early September.
THANK YOU GRANT REVIEWERS!
Thanks to the ISL staff and volunteer reviewers who have spent so much time this week carefully reviewing more than 500 LSTA grant applications:
Ann Adkesson; Lori Bell; Vandella Brown; Andrew Bullen; Elizabeth Clarage; Halle Cox; Jodie DePatis; Dawn DiVenti; Nanette Donohue; Juliette Douglas; Mary Downing; Arlene Dueker; Karen Egan; Leslie Forsman; Nancy Gillfillan; Cheryl Goza Smith; Pierre Gregoire; Dianne Harmon; Gwen Harrison; Judy Hoffman; Neil Kelley; Charlet Key; Lisa Korajczyk; Sheree Kozel-La Ha; Allen Lanham; Amy Maroso; Elsie Martinez; Bonnie Matheis; Ruth Miller; Patricia Morin; Patricia Norris; Jeff Owen; Chris Pyle; Jill Rodriguez; Suzanne Schriar; Alyce Scott; Nancy Scott; Nicki Seidl; Mark Shaffer; Brian Smith; Kathryn Sofianos; Mary Soucie; Connie Steudel; Julia Theobald; Jane Treadwell; Jeanne Urbanek; Ann Weller; Alissa Williams and Ron Winner.
OCLC CONTRACTS IN THE MAIL
FY10 OCLC contracts were mailed this week to participating libraries. Please note that a brief survey dealing with cataloging and resource sharing is included with this year's contracts. Return the contract and survey by September 30th.
ILDS UPDATE
Three new locations are being added this summer to the Illinois Library Delivery Service - Morton College (MRT) began service on July 1
- Kennedy-King College (KKC) began service on July 1
- Richard J. Daley (RJD) College will begin service on August 1 (please do not send items prior to this date)
Here is the revised ILDS label that includes the 3 letter ILDS code for each of these locations.
CUSTOMER SUPPORT CHANGES TO ILLINET/OCLC
As OCLC and ILLINET/OCLC at the ISL continue to work in partnership on behalf of OCLC member libraries, some important changes are about to occur.
Beginning July 1, OCLC members will contact OCLC Customer Support for all questions related to support for OCLC products and services. OCLC's team of support professionals will be available 14 hours a day, Monday - Friday, from 6 a.m. - 8 p.m. Central Time to assist with support needs for all OCLC products and services. In addition to product support specialists, the OCLC Customer Support organization is also comprised of a specialized team of librarians focused on providing consultative support to maximize the utility of OCLC products and services and to help assist library staffs in establishing greater workflow efficiencies.
ILLINET/OCLC at the ISL will continue to answer questions regarding OCLC billing and assist libraries with ordering procedures when needed. ILLINET/OCLC will also assist OCLC in keeping member libraries informed by communicating updates, enhancements, new product offerings, research, membership reports and other important information on OCLC member benefits.
OCLC Customer Support can be reached by phone at 1-800-848-5800 or e-mail OCLC.
To contact ILLINET, call 217-785-1532 or email ILLINET.
IMPORTANT UPDATE FROM LIBRARY SYSTEM STANDARDS COMMITTEE
The Library Systems Standards Committee has prepared a response to comments received about the Professional Development and Consulting Standards.
Find the response linked from the Library Systems page on WJIL, or go directly to the document.
The Library Systems Standards Committee is very appreciative to everyone who reviewed the draft standards.
NOVELIST
The NoveList & NoveList K-8 | NoveList Plus & NoveList K-8 Plus order form is now available.
NoveList and NoveList K-8 is an online readers' advisory service that helps librarians and readers find fiction books based on books they have read or topics in which they are interested.
NoveList Plus and NoveList K-8 Plus is an online readers' advisory service that contains information on fiction and nonfiction titles for all ages which can be searched using subject headings.
These services are available to ILLINET member academic, public, special and high school library buildings and to middle and elementary library buildings. The Illinois State Library pays 50% of each library building (location) fee.
Order forms received after October 30, 2009 will not be eligible for the Illinois State Library subsidy.
Please direct any questions to Gwen Harrison or call Gwen at 217-785-7334.
JUST DAYS LEFT TO ENTER EMERGING WRITERS COMPETITION
Time is winding down to enter this year's Illinois Emerging Writers Competition for poets and short story writers. The deadline to submit entries is June 30th.
Find application forms and other information.
E-RATE NEWS
The June 12 issue of Schools and Libraries News Brief provided numerous tips for completing a Form 486 online. For more information and tips on online filing, refer to the Tips and Troubleshooting document posted on the USAC website.
WJIL NEWS
In the latest What's New @ WJIL:
*Download a quick tutorial to enrolling in WJIL courses
*Use the Learning Cohort toolkit to get your organization learning together
*Manage your public access computers with 12 quick tips
*Attend a Webinar on how to create your own reading challenge program
*Learn about the latest LibraryU addition to the WJIL course catalog.
ISL IN THE NEWS
This week the ISL was featured in an Aurora Beacon News story about a construction grant we awarded to Somonauk Public Library. There was also an article in the Marion Daily Republican about the new section of the Marion Carnegie Library that was funded in part with a State Library Live and Learn Construction grant.
ONLINE WORKSHOPS NEXT WEEK
Log on to L2 to register for the following free workshops offered by ISL staff next week (in ISL Wimba Room):
Tuesday June 23 Local Holdings Maintenance, 9am-noon
Wednesday June 24 Cataloging with Connexion Browser, 1-4 pm
GOVDOCINFO
The State Department issued its ninth annual Trafficking in Persons Report this week shedding light on new facets of this disturbing global problem.
LITERACY SPOTLIGHT
Every week we honor a recipient of one of the literacy grants awarded by Secretary of State Jesse White and the Illinois State Library Literacy Office. We want to spend a few weeks profiling some of the winners who received Spotlight on Achievement awards recently for outstanding achievements by literacy students. This week we shine the spotlight on Jesse Veach, a student at Common Place, Peoria.
The oldest of twelve children, Jesse had to leave school following the sixth grade to help support his family. As an adult, he retired from Caterpillar after working there for 30 years. Jesse wanted to volunteer at the American Red Cross as a driver, which meant he needed to obtain a commercial driving license. He tried to enroll in the program at Illinois Central College but his reading level was too low. Jesse was referred to Common Place to improve his reading skills. He worked diligently to learn to read and was able to begin volunteering as a driver ten years ago at the American Red Cross. Two years ago, with improved reading skills, Jesse was able to obtain a full-time paid position as a driver. At the age of 76, Jesse proves that you are never too old to learn.
CULTURAL AWARENESS: DIVERSITY IN ACTION
Libraries can benefit from nearly 75 informative "how to" articles related to cultural diversity.
ILLINOIS DIGITAL ARCHIVES
The University of Illinois at Springfield has compiled a large and interesting collection of oral histories on a variety of topics.
INVENTOR OF THE WEEK
John Terhune of Chicago is this week's Illinois Inventor of the Week. Terhune was issued United States Design Patent Number D17,285, on April 26, 1887, for "Design for the Ornamentation of Album-Covers" including army badges and the U. S. flag.
UPCOMING EVENTS
January 11 Library System Standards Committee, videoconference
March 15-17 "On the Front Lines", UIS
March 26 "Empowering Library Staff to Meet the Needs of the Spanish Speaking Community", Bloomington Public Library. Register at L2.
[Subscribe | Unsubscribe]
|
