Wednesday, August 7, 2013

WebJunction Crossroads August 2013


 
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Crossroads

The monthly newsletter from WebJunction.
L.E.A.R.N. bus patrons at the library
L.E.A.R.N. bus patrons at the library; still photo from the Whitehall Public Library LEARN bus video.

Question of the Month

What new programs would you like to start at your library?
Take the poll »

Programming for Community Connections

The programs that libraries offer to the public are vital to their connections with the communities they serve. The range of programming ideas is impressive, with some very tech-focused, some traditionally book-focused, and everything in between. This month we offer a taste of that variety and hope it engenders new ideas for your library.
Key Resources:
·         Programming to the Core: 10 innovative library programs: innovative library programs that resonate with the traditional core of books and community.
·         Where Teens and Technology Meet: engaging teens with digital media: This August 8 webinar looks at the award-winning Howard County (MD) Library and their STEM-based tech programs that have teens clamoring to get involved.
·         LibraryYOU: Library as Content Creator: view this webinar archive to see how libraries, large and small, can set up community content creation projects.
 
 
 

Preparing Libraries for the Affordable Care Act

As the splash page at HealthCare.gov says: "The Health Insurance Marketplace is coming soon." To help libraries prepare for that imminent reality, WebJunction and partners at ZeroDivide have launched a new project to provide information regarding opportunities and resources to connect patrons to health and wellness information. On July 26, WebJunction hosted the webinar Libraries & Health Insurance – Preparing for October 1, which was attended by over 1000 individuals eager to learn more about existing ACA resources and expectations for local library engagement as the country prepares for the October 1, 2013 open enrollment date. Many resources are already in place and more are on the way.
Read more about the Libraries & Health Insurance webinar »
Stay tuned to the eHealth project »
Home page of HealthCare.gov
Home page of HealthCare.gov.
 
 
 
Happy hour learner
Happy hour learner; photo courtesy of Susan Green, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, Charlotte, NC.

A Happy Hour for Library Staff Learning

Happiness is contagious and so is inspiration. When Jami Carter, director of the Tooele Library (UT) delivered a webinar on her compelling Self-Directed Achievement program, at least one attendee was inspired to spin off her own brand of the innovative staff development idea—Happy Hour. As soon as the webinar had concluded, Susan Green, branch manager for the Morrison Regional branch of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library (NC), walked around her library and talked to every employee she could find, asking them, "If you had one hour per week for self-directed training, ...can you think of something you would work on?" The response was enthusiastic. Now, six months later, Green can report that her staff love Happy Hour.
·         Read more »
·         Watch the Self-Directed Achievement archive and get inspired »
 
 
 

Spotlight on Digital Literacy Resources

Digital literacy is infused throughout WebJunction, reflected in resources developed through participation in a number of programs and projects. Recent efforts include participation in EveryoneOn and Edge, ongoing efforts with Digital Inclusion and Building Digital Communities, and the resources created through Project Compass, which included a focus on the digital literacy skills required in workforce development. In addition, we periodically publish articles and news, offer webinars, and collect other quality resource links to help libraries at all levels build essential digital literacy skills in their communities. Now you’ll find all these resources and links collected in one place.
Digital literacy class
 
 
 
Geek the Library Hands
Geek the Library Hands; photo courtesy of Julie Hildebrand, Independence Public Library, Kansas.

Geek the Library Makes a Difference in Kansas

Geek the Library is featured in Campaigns that Made a Difference 2013, a superb publication that resulted from a 2013 ALA Emerging Leaders project. Under the sponsorship of PLA, five emerging leaders set out to discover nine examples of successful public awareness campaigns in public libraries around the country. For Independence Public Library (page 22), it was the Geek the Library campaign that helped the library connect with the community and provide "the jolt of positivity that a library and community needed in the middle of a deep recession." Julie Hildebrand, director of this small Kansas library, appreciated the campaign resources. "What made this program so appealing for us is that everything was on their website. Everything was already at your fingertips. We never would have pulled it off ourselves."
Learn more about how the Geek the Library program can make a difference for your library at the next informational webinar on August 13.
 
 
 
 

Big Shift: the E-Book Ecosystem

As demand for e-books in public libraries has risen, access has not kept apace. While publishers and distributors have been trying to figure out the best new business models for selling e-books, libraries have sometimes been caught in the middle of their business deliberations and have historically not fared well against the consumer when it comes to buying e-books. In August of 2012, OCLC received a planning grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to work with public library leaders to research the e-book ecosystem, survey public libraries about e-book use and reach, and work toward strategies to expand e-book access in public libraries. The work is now summarized in the Big Shift report.
graphic of hands and ebooks
 
 
 

Spotlight on WebJunction Partners

 


WebJunction Partners Lead Library Programming

We like to highlight some of the great work that is going in our WebJunction Partner states. This month, we included their stories in the feature article Programming to the Core. Look for the WebJunction icon to read more about these programs shared by our partners.
From WebJunction-Florida:
Book Vending Machines
: The Florida Division of Library & Information Services produced a webinar to highlight three libraries in Florida that have deployed book vending machines.
From WebJunction-Idaho:
SPLAT Reaches Out in Idaho
: Nine members of Idaho Commission for Libraries’ Special Project Library Action Team (SPLAT) visited four libraries in southeast Idaho this summer to share their tech and digital knowledge with library staff and members from the local communities.
From WebJunction-Pennsylvania
Get on the L.E.A.R.N. Bus
: The Whitehall (PA) Public Library sponsors regular bus transportation so that recently resettled refugees have an opportunity to visit the library, sign up for library cards, check out materials, use the computers, and participate in Family Night Storytime.
A library worker reloads and scans items for their book vending machine
A library worker reloads and scans items for their book vending machine; still photo from the Florida Division of Library & Information Services webinar.
 
 
 

July Poll Results

 

Results of July Readers' Poll on Preferred Formats for Summer Reading

In the heat of summer reading season, we asked about your preferred reading format for the beach, campsite or other summer destinations. As responses rolled in during the month, there was a neck-and-neck tie between "pack an ereading device and print books" and "only print books and magazines." But as of July 31, the print-only crowd eked out the lead by two votes. The modest vote for packing only electronic devices was impacted by the large number of respondents who expressed their very practical concerns for the preservation of devices in the face of sand, water, and possible theft. (Is that a subliminal vote for the power of print?)
Many readers added specific comments about their preferences, with roughly equal numbers of champions in these categories: pro-ereader/device, pro-codex/print, format agnostic/ambivalent, and purely practical. A sampling of the more emphatic comments:
·         "If I can't read it on my phone, it's probably not gonna happen"
·         "I'll always love print books!"
·         "I am equally at home reading print or e."
·         "Wouldn't take a device to the beach, SAND, WATER."
Poll results in graph form
 
 

Register for Upcoming WebJunction Webinars

 
 
 

Where Teens and Technology Meet: engaging teens with digital media

August 8, 2013
At Howard County Library System’s HiTech Digital Media Lab, teens are developing critical 21st century skills and being guided toward careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Founded on innovative teaching methods which demonstrate that teens learn most effectively through hands-on projects and peer-to-peer communications, HiTech provides curriculum that is both self-paced and structured, offering an array of classes and projects for youth to select. The community response has been remarkable. Youth are on waiting lists to register for opportunities to explore and learn about STEM principles while having fun in the process.
Presented by Angela Brade, Chief Operating Officer, Support Services, Howard County Library System
 
 
 
 
 

Marketing Libraries: What the not-for-profits can learn from the lots-of-profit

August 29, 2013
You built it and promoted it, but they didn’t come? Libraries can learn from marketing strategies that for-profit organizations use. Get beyond the one-off approach to promotion. Explore how to build "ambient awareness," establishing your library as an authoritative source and a definitive provider of services for the community. Learn how to use social media not only for communication, but as a tool to monitor and document the impact of the Library. Get your whole team onboard to tell the library’s convincing story of its impact on your community.
Presented by: Ned Potter, author of the Library Marketing Toolkit, speaker and academic librarian at the University of York, UK
 
 
 
 
 
 

Building a Digital Dodge City

September 10, 2013
Building a digitally inclusive community requires buy-in and engagement from all sectors, with libraries playing a lead role alongside government, schools, businesses, and individuals. Using the principles and steps in Building Digital Communities: A Framework for Action, Dodge City (Kansas) is engaging stakeholders, aligning interests, setting community-wide goals and developing demonstration projects. Join us for a conversation with the Dodge City leadership team discussing why they have prioritized a community-wide initiative, what the challenges are in working with multiple sectors (with diverging goals!), what they expect from the project and what they recommend to others considering a similar path.
Presented by:
·         Cathy Reeves, director, Dodge City Public Library
·         Jane Longmeyer, Public Relations manager, City of Dodge City
·         Greta Clark, professor, director of Multicultural Education, Dodge City Community College
 
 
 
 
 

Leaving Fort Ref: Frontiers of Embedded Librarianship

September 24, 2013
At the innovative Douglas County (Colo.) Libraries, librarians don’t just wait for the questions to come to them. They leave the building and embed the public library in the community. Through a series of projects and experiments, the Douglas County librarians have explored a new dimension of modern reference service, one that places their expertise at points of need to respond to the questions the public didn’t take to the library. By helping to define and answer questions in context, the embedded librarians add value to their community.
Presented by: Jamie LaRue, director, Coble Galston, business librarian and Amy Long, Parker Library manager, Douglas County Libraries (CO)
 
 
 
 

Listing of Other Training Events

Training opportunities from non-WebJunction sources are compiled monthly and shared by Jamie Markus, Library Development Manager for the Wyoming State Library.
 
 

Recent Webinar Archives

Listen to these most recent programs:

Listing of All Webinar Archives

If you missed any of our live webinar programs, you can view and listen to the recording at any time on WebJunction. All of WebJunction's webinar archives are now listed on one page. Use the list in the right column to browse by topic.
 
 

Thanks to our Partners

Through the generous support of the following state library agencies, WebJunction offers webinar programs for free to all who wish to attend:
·         Florida
·         Idaho
·         Illinois
·         Indiana
·         Maine
·         Minnesota
·         Mississippi
·         Montana
·         North Carolina
·         Ohio
·         Pennsylvania
·         Texas
·         Virginia
·         Washington
Read more about our Partner Program.
 
 
 

Join the Discussion

WJ members are sharing library news and resources in our satellite communities on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Join in!

New to WebJunction?

Take this short video tour of the website to get oriented.
 
 
 
About this Newsletter
Crossroads is a free publication produced by WebJunction, distributed monthly in an electronic format. To subscribe, go to webjunction.org and enter your email address.

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