NHLA: New Hampshire Library Association

Summer Reading Inspiration

Amy Graves | May 8, 2012 | via CHILIS: Children's Librarians of New Hampshire

Are you ready to “Dream Big – Read!” this summer? Maybe you were done planning your program February. Maybe you’re mostly done, but have a few more details to iron out. If you’re like me, you make the big plans ahead of time, and work out the details a bit more last minute. Wherever you are in your plans, you may want to take a look at the links below. Maybe you’ll find an alternative to that mediocre book in your owl storytime, or a craft to replace one you may not have been thrilled with. Who knows what you’ll find?

CSLP—

Beyond the manual, the Cooperative Summer Library Program (CSLP) website is the place to go for additional resources, graphics, fonts, and more. You do have to register to access all of the resources, but registration is free to anyone working in a NH public library.

[ edit: See Ann's comment for information about the CSLP forums. ]

Books—

TeachingBooks.net has a decent list of books that go with the 2012 theme. (Guess what? You can find it on the CSLP website!) Also, Ann Hoey had some suggestions on her Youth Services blog a few months back.

Flannel boards—

If you like to use flannel/felt stories and activities in your storytimes, there is no better resource than Flannel Friday. Every Friday, a growing number of children’s librarian bloggers share their latest project, or an old favorite. In March, they held a Dream Big – Read! Flannel Friday Extravaganza with bunches of night-themed flannel stories, as well as other programming ideas.

Crafts, decorations, and program ideas—

If you’re not using Pinterest as a programming tool, you are missing out. Haven’t heard of it? It’s a way to visually bookmark things you find on the web, but it adds a social aspect—you can view other people’s pins, follow people you like, and even “re-pin” things that others have posted. Pinterest is a favorite of many children’s librarians across the internet, and it’s bursting with summer reading ideas. I re-pinned some of my favorites as an example, but to each her own—I’m sure you will find ideas that I may have passed over. Searching for “summer reading 2012″ or “dream big read” or “cslp” will show you just how much is out there.

And for those of you who finished planning in February, you’ll be happy to know that there are people who are already getting started on their 2013 “Dig into Reading” plans! Go crazy and get a jump on 2013!

What other resources have you used for your summer reading plans? Tell us in the comments!

CHILIS, Dream Big Read, Summer Reading

Nominate a colleague for the READS Award of Excellence!

Mary Cronin | May 3, 2012 | via READS: Reference and Adult Services

The Award of Excellence is presented to a library staff member who provides outstanding service in the reference or adult services area. The award will be given at the READS Fall Meeting on October 26, 2012. Deadline for nominations is June 1, 2012.

Award of Excellence Criteria

Award of Excellence Nomination Form

Nominations, READS, READS Award of Excellence

Library Use Value Calculator – Updated for 2012

Amy Graves | March 3, 2012 | 0 Comments

The NHLA Library Use Value Calculator shows, on average, how much an individual or family would need to pay out-of-pocket if they purchased their books, movies, and other library services in stores. This nifty tool has been kicking around our website for years, but thanks to a recent suggestion, it has now been updated to include ebooks. The average taxpayer contribution figure has also been updated, based on the most recent NH Public Library Annual Report. We hope you find this tool useful. You can easily access it under the “Resources” tab in the top navigation bar.

Resources, Statistics, Value Calculator

Digital Summit and Membership Meeting on 6/1

Lori Fisher | February 24, 2012 | 0 Comments

**SAVE THE DATE!**

The New Hampshire Library Association will offer a day-long Digital Summit and spring membership meeting on Friday June 1^st at Hooksett Public Library. With many more questions than answers about digital media and how libraries can respond effectively, this summit hopes to provide the latest information on digital content as it relates to libraries and new ideas about how to integrate digital media into your library resources and services.

Panels and speakers include:

Speaker from ALA highlighting the latest news from publishers and vendors of digital media
Cheryl Abdullah, director of the Dover Town Library (MA) – a finalist for Library Journal’s 2012 Best Small Library in America (“Small” in national standards is under 10,000 population; Dover has a population of 6,000)

Breakout sessions at lunch including OverDrive Advantage subscribers; eReader lending; NHDB leadership discussion; staff training ideas; and “I don’t want to talk about digital anything at lunch”
Panel discussion: How to Justify Digital Content in your Budget
Panel discussion: Beyond Downloadable Books

The membership meeting is extremely important this spring. We plan to officially add two sections (YALS and IT), re-ratify our membership dues per our by-laws, and adopt a few by-laws revisions due to changes that have occurred since the last revision in 2006.

The cost to attend the day is FREE if you are an NHLA member and bring your own lunch. There will be a $10 fee for lunch, payable upon registration, if you so choose. Anyone with dietary restrictions should plan to bring their own lunch. If you are not a member of NHLA and wish to attend, you can become a member when registering. REGISTRATION FOR THIS SUMMIT IS REQUIRED EVEN IF ONLY ATTENDING THE MEMBERSHIP MEETING. This is to ensure we have a quorum of NHLA members.

Registration forms will go out on March 30^th, with a deadline of May 18^th. Mark your calendars for an information –packed day with your colleagues!

Conferences, Continuing Education, ITS, Membership, Professional Development

Libraries For Sustainability Webinar Series 2012 from ALA

Lori Fisher | February 22, 2012 | 0 Comments

Please join us for the kick-off webinar of the Libraries for Sustainability Webinar Series 2012 : Feb 28, 2012 2:00-3:00 (EST) – Call to Action and Collaboration!

ALA’s Task Force On the Environment (TFOE) has been engaged in environmental issues for over 20 years and done some tremendous work but has suffered from a lack of participation and lost momentum in recent years. Join us, and Maria A. Jankowska (UCLA Research Librarian and Editor of Electronic Green Journal), most recent TFOE chair, to understand what TFOE has accomplished, including pitfalls and successes – plus recommendations for next steps. Should this group be revitalized and/or is a change in direction indicated? What are some options for remaining engaged at the local and national levels? Where are opportunities for collaboration and action around broader sustainability issues?

Hopeful outcomes: Informal meeting at ALA 2012 in June to work on forming a new group; planning for sustainability-related presentations at ALA 2013! – Sign up now!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?hl=en_US&formkey=dGxWaVlSYS10amQ3aF9qVmxEbzdjM1E6MQ#gid=0

Time permitting, please review Maria’s recent article, Going beyond Environmental Programs and Green Practices at the American Library Association (http://escholarship.org/uc/uclalib_egj), which provides a helpful timeline of TFOE’s history and associated activities.

Webinar series facilitators: Madeleine Charney (UMass Amherst Libraries), Beth Filar Williams (UNC Greenboro), and Bonnie Smith (University of Florida Libraries).

Stay tuned for more webinars:

April 24, 2012, 2:00-3:00 (EST) – Exploring Sustainability Practices in Libraries June 12, 2012, 2:00-3:00 (EST) – Preparing for ALA Annual Informal Meeting August 28, 2012 2:00-3:00 (EST) – Action Plan Follow Up & Discussion

Questions? Contact Madeleine Charney at mcharney@library.umass.edu or Beth FilarWilliams at greeningyourlibrary@gmail.com

ALA, Continuing Education, Professional Development

2012 READS spring roundtables

Lori Fisher | February 22, 2012 | 0 Comments

The spring READS roundtables, on the topic of continuing education, will occur at the following dates/locations:

Friday 3/30 at Rye Public Library

Friday 4/6 at Boscawen Public Library

Monday 4/9 at Weeks Library, Lancaster

How do librarians keep their skills current in the 21^st century on a limited budget? Please consider attending one of these roundtables to discuss your continuing education concerns and/or to suggest free or cost-effective ways that you continue your own professional development.

The cost to attend the roundtables is $5 for a READS member, $10 for a non-member. For more information and a registration form, please visit http://www.nhlibrarians.org/reads/ to download the registration form and obtain additional information. Registration deadline is March 23^rd.

Continuing Education, Professional Development, READS

ALA Councilor Report from ALA Midwinter Dallas

Steve Butzel | January 28, 2012 | 0 Comments

Greetings from your ALA Councilor,

My trip to Dallas for ALA Midwinter was a busy one as usual. Here are some of the issues which I feel you should know about. If you’d like more information about these issues or other ALA topics, please do not hesitate to contact me. The more I get to know ALA, the more I am impressed, so I would enjoy speaking with you about your concerns.

Resolutions Passed

There were two significant resolutions passed by the ALA Council. The first was a Resolution on Publishers and Practices Which Discriminate Against Library Users. It stated that ALA opposes any discriminatory policies of publishers and distributors that adversely impact access to content by library users; and that the Working Group on Digital Content in Libraries be directed to review the situation and recommend appropriate action and/or appropriate parties who should be informed of this resolution.

While this resolution might sound like a no-brainer, there was some debate both in Council forum and on the floor. Some were concerned that the resolution, if too strongly worded, might offend the publishers with whom ALA is scheduled to meet next week. In the end, the Council stuck with the original, forceful language and the resolution passed.

The second was a resolution condemning the restriction of access to materials in Arizona schools following state legislation that led to the elimination of a Mexican American studies program in the Tucson Unified School District. While it took some time to sift through the numerous layers of the controversy and identify the real culprits, the resolution passed. For more info, contact me or visit any number of websites including http://www.oif.ala.org/oif/?p=3157, http://saveethnicstudies.org, http://nyti.ms/yd6mfp, http://huff.to/xm4AHq.

ALA Fighting For Libraries, Librarians and Library Patrons

Elsewhere in the Association, a great deal is happening. As I referred to above, leaders of ALA will be meeting with top executives from Macmillan, Simon & Schuster (S&S), and Penguin publishing houses, (which all do not allow libraries to circulate their ebooks,) on January 30^th,January 31^st and February 2^ndto voice the concerns of the Association. For more info, read this article from LJ, http://bit.ly/zr9qS8. In addition, the Working Group on Digital Content and Libraries (http://connect.ala.org/node/159669) will be meeting frequently throughout the year to study the issues and develop advocacy strategies.

The entire organization is also working hard to raise awareness of the White House Petition on School Libraries, http://wh.gov/Wgd, which asks that the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) provide dedicated funding to help support effective school library programs. 25,000 signatures are needed by February 4, 2012, in order for this petition to reach the desk of the President. We are more than halfway there, but time is running out!

A few other advocacy initiatives/resources to be aware of are:

The updated “The Small but Powerful Guide to Winning Big Support for Your Rural Library,” http://www.ala.org/offices/olos/toolkits/rural,
“Keeping Public Libraries Public: A Checklist for Communities Considering Privatization of Public Libraries.” http://www.ala.org/tools/outsourcing.
Advocating in a Tough Economy Toolkit, http://www.ala.org/advocacy/advleg/advocacyuniversity/toolkit.

A whole host of additional advocacy tools can be found on ALA’s Advocacy University website, http://www.ala.org/advocacy/advleg/advocacyuniversity/.

I could go on, but I’ll stop for now. Please let me know if you’d like me to come speak with your library co-op about ALA. I’d be happy to try and do so.

Respectfully,

Steve Butzel, NH Chapter Councilor on the ALA Council
skbutzel@cityofportsmouth.com

ALA, Reports

Save The Dates for Two Small Libraries Summits

Steve Butzel | December 29, 2011 | 0 Comments

As many of you may remember, NHLA and the NH State Library sponsored the first ever Small Libraries Summit back in April of 2010, and it was such a success, we’ve decided to sponsor it again for 2012. Even better, we are planning on expanding it so more librarians can come.

Specifically, we’re planning on holding a Summit meeting on Monday, April 2nd for librarians working in communities of 1,500 or fewer residents. Then, we plan to hold a second Summit meeting on Monday, April 16th for librarians working in communities between 1,500 and 3,000 residents. In both cases, we hope to be able to host about 70 librarians at the Local Government Center in Concord, NH.

More details will be announced in the future, but the Small Libraries Summit Committee would like you to save those dates in case you might want to attend.

If you have questions about the upcoming Summits, please send them to me.

Many thanks,
Steve Butzel, skbutzel@cityofportsmouth.com

Small Libraries Summit