Category #1 – 80% of total monies fund projects that create additional usable space (i.e. new buildings, additions, and renovations).

Category #2 – 20% of total monies fund projects that improve existing space (i.e. handicapped accessibility, correcting building and fire code violations, remodeling to accommodate new technologies, and energy conservation).

For further information, see the Construction Grants web page.

A Notice of Intent form is due by June 1.  Applications are due by September 4.  Please email Tom Newman if you have questions.

Highlights:

• There is no longer a http://ct.webjunction.org website.
• If you use an old ct.webjunction.org address,  you should be re-directed to the corresponding page on the new website.
• WebJunction has a separate and improved online course center which requires its own login.  A link to this course center is provided on the web-page above.  Use your existing WebJunction CT username and password to access.  If you haven’t taken a course in the past year, you will have to re-apply for a Connecticut account.

If you have any questions about the new WebJunction Connecticut, please contact me.

Go to  http://collect.btol.com/ to enter non-resident Connecticard loans for each month from March 2011 through February 2012.  THE DEADLINE IS FRIDAY MARCH 16 at 4 P.M. At that time your library’s Ccard report form will be locked.  Though there is no formal “certification” required at completion of the form, you are required to have accurate and complete figures in place by the deadline, or you will not receive a reimbursement payment.  The online form for March 2011- February 2012 will not be available after the deadline.

Please contact Tom Newman at tom.newman@ct.gov if you have any questions.

As part of the upgrade, online self-paced courses will be made available in a separate system so that WebJunction members can plan and manage their course-taking more easily.  As a consequence of this change, however, you will lose a record of all incomplete courses that you are still enrolled in on February 29.  You should complete those courses before the 29^th, if you can.

Also, all WebJunction Connecticut members who have logged into WebJunction since July 2010 will automatically have their membership account transferred to the new WebJunction website.  If you have not signed in since then, however, you will want to do so before February 29 or lose your account.

The State Library looks forward to its continued partnership with WebJunction in providing professional development and continuing education opportunities for Connecticut’s library staff.

Thanks go out to all those who filled out the Annual Report and Application for State Aid this year.

Also, as was done last year, the State Library is offering a suite of Excel charts customized for your particular library.  These charts

• show your library’s 2011 statistics and compare them to state averages and averages of towns with a similar population,
• show your library’s statistical trends since 1996 (based on figures provided in annual reports each year),
• may be copied and pasted into any document or presentation.

To ask for your library’s charts email Tom Newman, tom.newman@ct.gov .

Go to Automatic Chart-Makers to see an example of the charts, or to create charts yourself  (including one that compares your library to 4 other libraries of your choice).

Questions?  Contact me.

Possible reasons for this decline in statewide library use include:

• The 2011 winter was particularly harsh.
• The popularity of e-books and e-book readers.  For reasons beyond the library community’s control, publishers and distributors have been very slow to sell e-books to libraries.  There is pent-up demand there which most libraries have not been able to meet.
• The recession is over.  Many libraries receive a bounce in library use during recessions. Library use statistics usually flatten out during the rebound from a recession.
• Libraries have reduced their hours in response to budget cuts.
• Budget cuts have forced libraries to reduce library materials expenditures.  This trend has gone on for several years.  Normally it takes a couple years for this sort of reduction to effect circulation.
• Budget cuts have also reduced expenditures on programs, which reduces program attendance and library visits.

A preliminary version of the Statistical Profile of Connecticut Public Libraries is now available for those who would like to refer to this resource during the early budget season.  Please report errors/problems to Tom Newman.  The official version of the Profile will be available on January 1.

Presented by Carol Tenopir, Chancellor’s Professor, School of Information Sciences, Director of Research and Director of the Center for Information and Communication Studies, College of Communication and Information,Univ. of Tennessee

Wednesday, November 9, 2011
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Online

For additional details and registration information visit:  Measuring the Outcome and Value of Libraries