THIS WEEK AT THE ILLINOIS STATE LIBRARY (December 7, 2007)
Jesse White, Secretary of State and State Librarian
Anne Craig, Director

IN THIS ISSUE:

• Last Week for Construction Grant Applications!
• E-R-XPO Next Week!-Vendor Focus Sessions Schedule Available
• TRACES Bus
• New Year’s Resolutions? Try Ask?Away!
• 2008 Family Reading Night Order Form Available
• New Delivery Service Website
• E-Rate News
• Staff Work Week
• Literacy Spotlight
• Gov Doc Info
• Cultural Awareness: Diversity in Action
• Illinois Digital Archives
• New Titles in the ISL Collection
• Inventor of the Week
• Spread the News About E-news!
• Upcoming Events

GRANT TALKIN’…STAYIN’ CONNECTED-LAST WEEK FOR CONSTRUCTION GRANT APPLICATIONS!
Full FY 2008 Public Library Construction Grant applications must be postmarked or delivered to the State Library by NEXT FRIDAY December 14, 2007. Information is available online.

Please refer all inquiries to: H. Neil Kelley at 217-782-1891 or Mark Shaffer at 217-524-4901. In order to qualify for a FY2008 Public Library Construction Grant, the applying public library must have previously submitted a Letter of Intent by the October 19 deadline.

E-R-XPO

ILLINET member academic, public, school and special library staff are invited to attend the free Illinois State Library Electronic Resource Expo (E-R-XPO) on Thursday, December 13, 2007 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Schaumburg Township District Library, located at 130 South Roselle Road in Schaumburg, Illinois.

Sponsored by the Illinois State Library and the Schaumburg Township District Library, the E-R-XPO will showcase electronic resource products and feature Try-It! Illinois 2007 participating vendors.

• One-on-one contact with product representatives and focus sessions will be offered.
• Electronic resource representatives will highlight various databases applicable to all types of libraries (academic, public, school and special).
• Participating electronic resource representatives include but are not limited to: Gale, Encyclopedia Britannica, Alexander Street Press, Rosen Publishing, CQ Press, Morningstar, HW Wilson, World Book, EBSCO and ProQuest.
• There is no charge to attend the E-R-XPO.

School librarians are encouraged to bring their principals and/or superintendents. Public library trustees are also invited to attend.

Boxed lunches will be available for purchase. To reserve your boxed lunch, contact Kris Kenney at kkenney@stdl.org or 847-923-3328.
Payment for lunch must be made the day of the event.

Register Online.

For more information, contact Gwen Harrison at 800-665-5576 (press 1 then select extension 1) or 217-785-7334.

TRACES BUS
Earlier this year the State Library was pleased to host an educational exhibit on German/American civilian internment during World War II. The exhibit, housed in a traveling bus, was offered by TRACES, a non-profit educational organization created to gather, preserve and present stories of people from the Midwest and Germany or Austria who encountered each other during World War II. In spring 2008 TRACES will be bringing a different bus with a different exhibit to Illinois and other midwestern states. "Behind Barbed Wire: Midwest POWs in Nazi Germany" has proven to be a very popular exhibit in the past. Libraries and other organizations that would like to learn more about possibly hosting a showing sometime between mid-March and early-June can contact Eric Brandt or 651-292-8700. Slots are limited, and are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.

ASK?AWAY-RESOLVE TO PROVIDE YOUR LIBRARY WITH 24/7 REFERENCE SERVICE!
As you think about your New Year’s resolutions, why not resolve to make your library a great educational asset within your community? Ask?Away Illinois can expand reference services to your community and patrons 24/7. Act now to take advantage of a FREE trial demonstration period from Jan 15 – May 15, 2008. Your patrons and you will both benefit from 24/7 access to a reference cooperative for all your questions. There is no staffing required during the trial period, and with a start up of five hours staff time, you will have access for your patrons. Transcripts and follow up options allow you to expand your patron reference services. Contact Natalie Tagge or visit the Ask?Away website for more details.

2008 FAMILY READING NIGHT ORDER FORM AVAILABLE
Thanks to everyone who contributed to another successful Family Reading Night this year. The order form for posters and bookmarks for Family Reading Night 2008 (mark your calendars now for November 20, 2008) can be found online.

NEW DELIVERY SERVICE WEBSITE
The new Illinois Library Delivery Service (ILDS) will begin on January 2, 2008. A terrific website has been established with answers to questions you might about the new ILDS. Visit the website, Illinois Delivers.

E-RATE NEWS
If you file paper forms, be sure to use the newest version of the forms:

• BEAR form, invoice for discounts on services you’ve paid in full
• Form 486, Receipt of Service Confirmation
• Form 5500, Adjustment to Funding Commitment and Modification to Receipt of Service Confirmation Form

It’s not too early to file a Form 470 for the next funding year. You must file a new Form 470 if you:

• Are seeking non-contracted tariffed or month-to-month services
• Intend to sign a new contract
• Want to extend an existing contract but did not indicate your interest in voluntary contract extensions on the establishing Form 470 that led to that contract

Your Form 470 MUST:

• Be based on your technology plan
• Be detailed enough for bidders to understand your requirements
• Be posted for the correct categories of service (Telecommunications Services, Internet Access, Internal Connections, and Basic Maintenance of Internal Connections) for the services you are requesting
• Indicate whether you have issued or will issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) and, if so, where it is or will be available to potential bidders
• Encompass all entities that will receive services – including non-instructional facilities (NIFs)
• Be posted on the USAC website for at least 28 days before you select a service provider, sign a contract, sign and date your Form 471, or submit your Form 471

(USAC’s "Schools and Libraries News Brief," November 30, 2007)

STAFF WORK WEEK

• The State Library hosted an Illinois OCLC Users Group (IOUG) board meeting Monday and Tuesday. Staff taking part included director Anne Craig, Suzanne Schriar, Sue Burkholder, Debra Aggertt, Natalie Tagge, Bill Echelbarger and Jill Heffernan.
• Lawren Tucker took part in an Illinois Library Association Public Policy Committee meeting.
• Patricia Norris, Sharon Ruda, Neil Kelley, Mary Downing and Debra Aggertt took part in a Small Public Library Management Institute (SPLMI) planning committee meeting at the University of Illinois at Springfield.
• Mary Downing took part in a Reaching Forward South board committee meeting.
• Talking Book and Braille Service staff Sharon Ruda, Deborah Hurley and Larry Weyhrich met with a National Federation of the Blind Newsline representative. Sharon also took part in a LobeLibrary directors meeting and was an exhibitor at a Low Vision Fair in Chicago.
• Vandella Brown attended the re-opening of the Illinois Early Childhood Intervention Clearinghouse.
• Cyndy Colletti made literacy grant site visits to Youth Service Bureau in Streator, Regional Office of Education Whiteside County in Sterling, Sauk Valley Community College in Dixon, Spoon River College in Canton and John Wood Community College in Quincy.
• Myra Johnson made a literacy grant site visit to Evanston School District 65 and LSTA grant site visits to Evanston Township High School and Evanston Public Library. Myra also attended and made a presentation at the Northern Illinois Adult Education Conference in Bloomingdale.
• Mark Shaffer made literacy grant site visits to the Regional Office of Education Randolph/Monroe Counties in Chester, Southwestern Illinois College in Cahokia, Urbana School District and Parkland College in Champaign. He also attended a Senior Celebration planning meeting.

LITERACY SPOTLIGHT
De La Salle Institute, Chicago

De La Salle’s Tolton Centers have provided quality adult education classes and tutoring to urban adults in Chicago since 1991. They have received adult literacy funding from the Illinois State Library’s Literacy office since FY94. Tolton Centers serve in neighborhoods on the south and west sides where literacy and income levels are low and high school dropout rates and violence levels are high. Lack of employment, adequate medical care, affordable housing and childcare, drug use, and high teen pregnancy rates impact single mothers struggling to raise their children. Tolton Centers remain a beacon of hope and support for those adults who seek a better life for themselves and their children through education. Tolton makes a difference in the lives of adult students it serves by helping them to improve literacy skills so they can move toward becoming more informed citizens, productive workers, and parents who are able to support their children’s literacy.

Learn more about the State Library’s Literacy Office.

GOVDOCINFO
Today is Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has posted this year’s presidential proclamation marking the event at their website. You can read the proclamation at the Veterans Affairs Office.

CULTURAL AWARENESS: DIVERSITY IN ACTION
During the month of December, the ISL Diversity Program is celebrating cultural holidays of the season with a display of materials and books in the Illinois Authors Reading Room. Here is a short quiz featuring Chanukah, Christmas, Islam and Kwanzaa: (The answers appear below.)

1. Ramadan is celebrated by Muslims around the world. Ramadan marks the month the prophet Mohammed is believed to have had WHAT revealed to him by God?
   1. a law of granting amnesty to prisoners;
   2. a law to celebrate the moon;
   3. a holy book or Koran.
2. Kwanzaa is a Kiswahili word meaning "the first fruits of the harvest." It:
   1. is a cultural festival during which only Nubian descendants celebrate and reflect upon their heritage;
   2. is an African-American holiday that lasts seven days beginning December 26th;
   3. was founded in Africa in the 1800′s.
3. Chanukah, or Hanukkah, meaning "dedication", is celebrated by Jewish people for eight days beginning the 25th of the Hebrew month Kislev (November-December).
   The festival commemorates a miracle of:
   1. eight candles in their candelabrum;
   2. six dedicated rabbis;
   3. eight-sided toy tops, or dreidels.
4. Even today, most methods of Christmas celebration are based on ancient pagan practices. Most historians agree that Jesus Christ was born in March, so why do we celebrate it in December?
   1. December is when the Great Mother Goddess gives birth to the baby Sun God;
   2. The harvest god and the god of light were worshiped in Rome the last days of winter;
   3. In 274 AD Roman Emperor Aurelian proclaimed it.

(ANSWERS: 1. c, 2. b. 3, a, 4. b. Resource: World Book Encyclopedia.)

ILLINOIS DIGITAL ARCHIVES
This week we offer a Pearl Harbor related poster from the State Library’s highly-acclaimed collection of World War II posters.

NEW TITLES IN THE STATE LIBRARY COLLECTION

• Patrolling Baghdad: a military police company and the war in Iraq, by Jack Erjavec & Jeff Arias. Thomson Delmar Learning, 2007
• Black Hawk: the battle for the heart of America, by Kerry A. Trask. Henry Holt, 2006
• Box: how the shipping container made the world smaller and the world economy bigger, by Marc Levinson. Princeton University Press, 2006

ILLINOIS INVENTOR OF THE WEEK
Octave Chanute of Chicago is this week’s Illinois Inventor of the Week. He was a railroad engineer and pioneer in aviation. On May 18, 1897, he was granted Patent Number 582,718 for " Soaring Machine" . He received several patents. The Illinois State Library Patent & Trademark Library is available to assist you with your patent and trademark questions. Contact us at (217) 782-5659.

SPREAD THE NEWS ABOUT E-NEWS!
Our weekly newsletter is the best source available to find out what’s going on at the State Library-everything from grant offerings and important meetings to news about electronic resources. We’re glad to have you as a subscriber, but if you know of anyone else you think should be getting E-news from the ISL, let us know and we’ll sign him or her up, or have him or her contact Pat McGuckin. Join the more than 6,000 subscribers who depend on E-news every Friday to find out what’s happening at the State Library!

UPCOMING EVENTS

• December 11-Illinois State Library Advisory Committee, ISL
• December 13-ISL Electronic Resources Exposition (E-R-XPO), Schaumburg Township District Library
• December 14–Deadline to submit entries for "Letters About Literature" writing contest
• December 14– Full construction grant applications must be postmarked or delivered to the State Library (see above)

Questions about "E-News from the ISL" should be referred to Pat McGuckin, Illinois State Library or 217-558-4029. Please let me know if you ever have trouble accessing any of the website or e-mail links listed in the weekly newsletter.