EYEOPENER (lots of good stuff this time):
1) Planning
for Results @ NILC Conference: Each year, North Central LSA in
Mason
City sponsors an annual
conference in partnership with the Northern Iowa Library Cooperative. Attendance is open to public, school, or
college libraries and always draws a statewide crowd. This year’s topic for the 2-day event is
Planning for
Results, August 9-10,
2005 at the
North
Iowa
Area
Community
College in
Mason
City. Here’s a
description:
“…If
you thought that planning was too hard or too time-consuming to be practical or
useful for your library, this conference is for you! Sandra Nelson, author of The
New Planning for Results: A Streamlined Approach,
will teach library managers a process that can be used to create a
forward-looking plan for any public library or school library media center,
regardless of organizational structure or size.
Dynamic and flexible,
The
New Planning for Results
will assist libraries, with shoestring or generous budgets, to anticipate and
prepare for change. Library managers
will be equipped to survey the environment and transform services to effectively
meet changing community needs…” {NCILSA
website}
Early
bird registration is $65.00 before August 1st; after August
1st, registration will be $75.00.
This conference is worth 15 credits.
A copy of New Planning for
Results is
required for this class; purchase information is included on the registration
form. For the complete program schedule, building location, hotel information,
and driving directions, go to North Central LSA’s
website:
http://www.nclsa.lib.ia.us/nilcconference.htm
Many
of you have heard me sing the praises of PLA’s “For Results” series in general
(there’s 5 titles out now) and the planning piece in particular. To date, I’ve facilitated 7 Planning for
Results projects for Northwest libraries in Emmetsburg,
Estherville, Hawarden, Farnhamville, Lake City, and Denison, with Manson coming
on this fall. It’s a great model to
follow and since Mason City is a do-able drive for many Northwest libraries, do
take advantage of this opportunity to begin Planning for
Results at your library.
2) Newbies to EBSCO = Sign Up
Soon: Earlier this month, libraries that have not
subscribed to EBSCOHost in previous years received a letter of encouragement
from the State
Library. That letter outlined the many advantages of
EBSCO access for communities large and small, along with
a listing of the databases and an order form.
For
Iowa’s public
libraries, EBSCO is amazingly affordable thanks to a partnership between the
State
Library and the AEAs; they bear
the majority of the cost for providing statewide access. The local cost to subscribe to EBSCO is only
$25.00 plus $.025 per capita (for public libraries) If you need convincing, read this from
the State
Library’s letter:
“…EBSCOHost
is especially important for small libraries because it gives your community
access to thousands more magazines that you could normally afford to buy. For the price of 1-2 best sellers, you can
make this wonderful information resource available to your community….accessed
24/7 from home or work. Iowa
public libraries should actively provide timely, accurate, and useful
information for community residents.
Access to EBSCO supports this important role…” {State
Library}
The EBSCO databases
contain literally thousands of magazines, most in full text, along with
reference books like Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, EBSCO
Animals, and Our States.
Don’t let lack of training hold you back. Remember, NWILS can bring EBSCO training
to-your-door. Here’s hoping for 100%
EBSCO sign-ups from Northwest libraries this year—call with any
questionsJ
3) Scholastic’s Sweepstakes For New Harry Potter Book: Here’s a great story by way of PLA regarding
this summer’s newest Harry Potter book Harry Potter and the Half-Blood
Prince, due out in mid-July.
Scholastic is holding a sweepstakes for public libraries nationwide to
win the first author-signed copy of the American edition. Scholastic is printing an unprecedented
initial 10.8 million copies of Harry
Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, a
U.S. publishing
record.
Any public library in the
U.S. can take
their chances by sending in the sweepstakes entry from this link on Scholastic’s
website:
http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/librarysweepstakes
In a move
worthy of a covert CIA operation, here’s how the winning library will receive
their prize: “…Author
J. K. Rowling will sign the book in the United Kingdom, and it will travel to
America under tight security to be presented to representatives from the winning
public library and the winning city or town at Scholastic's corporate
headquarters in New York City on the morning of July 15. The book will then be kept on display under
lock and key at Scholastic until the July 16, 12:01
a.m.
release time.
‘Harry
Potter has been such a wonderful gift to readers, and we are thrilled that
Scholastic has decided to hold a special Harry Potter and the Half-Blood
Prince sweepstakes for public libraries,’ said ALSC President Gretchen
Wronka. ‘The winning public library and
its community will treasure this very special copy of J.K. Rowling's sixth
book.’
‘In
2003, Scholastic donated the first signed copy of Harry Potter and the Order
of the Phoenix to the New York Public Library. For Harry Potter and the Half-Blood
Prince we want to share that possibility with every town and city nationwide
- no matter how large or small,’ said Scholastic Executive Vice-President
Barbara Marcus. ‘Scholastic is committed to supporting our public libraries, and
this seems a fitting way to recognize their importance, and to say thank you to
communities across the U.S. that have embraced J.K. Rowling and Harry
Potter’…” {PLA
Newsletter}
Bonnie
McKewon
Director,
Northwest
Iowa
Library Services
Conference program for the
Joint Conference of the Association of Bookmobile and Outreach Services and the
Association of Rural and Small Libraries at
http://www.clarion.edu/rural .Link to
joint conference.
