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ISL E-news

[ISL-Announce] E-news from the ISL 04/18/2008

By WJIL Project Team | April 18th, 2008 | Comment?

THIS WEEK AT THE ILLINOIS STATE LIBRARY (April 18, 2008)

Jesse White, Secretary of State and State Librarian
Anne Craig, Director

IN THIS ISSUE:

ILLINOIS PUBLIC LIBRARY ANNUAL REPORT FY2008
The Illinois State Library is pleased to announce the opportunity for public libraries to work with Bibliostat, a division of Baker & Taylor, to utilize its Collect product for submitting the Illinois Public Library Annual Report (IPLAR). Collect is a web-based program utilized for collecting data, and provides a new format, new functionalities, and full compatibility with the federal public library data collection program.

An IPLAR information packet is being mailed today to every Illinois public library director. The packet includes username and password, an overview, and information on what’s new and different. For more information or questions, contact Ron Winner at the State Library at 217-785-1168. Ron will be conducting future information sessions about the FY08 IPLAR via OPAL or Wimba, so check back here more information.

GRANT TALKIN’…STAYIN’ CONNECTED
The State Library will be offering workshops at the regional library systems during the next few months to explain requirements for obtaining an Illinois State Library Public Library Per Capita and Equalization Aid grant. ISL staff will go over the grant application and explain requirements that will be in place for the next three years to obtain a grant. The first workshop will be held on May 29 from 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon at La Salle Public Library. The event will also be videoconferenced to the following Prairie Area Library System sites: Shorewood Service Center, Coal Valley Service Center, Rockford Service Center, Sterling Public Library, Sycamore Public Library, Kankakee Public Library, and Highland Community College in Freeport.
Additional workshops are scheduled for July 29 at Metropolitan Library System, Burr Ridge Office from 9:00 am- 11:00 am and Tinley Park Public Library from 12:30 pm – 2:30 pm.
Persons wanting to participate should sign up at the system whose training they will be attending, and participants may attend a workshop at any of the systems offering training. While the workshops are not mandatory, participation is encouraged. Contact Mary Downing at 217-782-5506 or Jeanne Urbanek at 217-524-0050 for more information.

BOOK DONATION TO ISL
Author Philip Campbell Reed donated a copy of his new book “Spring Place Names and Historical Data on Springs, Licks and Selected Water Wells in Illinois” to the State Library’s collection this week. In the acknowledgements section of the book, Reed thanks ISL staffers Dennis Weller, Tom Huber, Arlyn Booth and Raymond Collins for their assistance as he was conducting research and writing the book. Well done, staff!

READ FOR A LIFETIME
Just a reminder to coordinators of Read for a Lifetime programs that final reporting forms for the 2007-2008 school year are due at the State Library. Send forms to Jeanne Urbanek at 300 South 2nd Street, Gwendolyn Brooks Building, Springfield 62701, or fax the form to Jeanne at 217-782-1877.

ONLY TWO WEEKS LEFT TO APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIPS!
Each year Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White awards up to fifteen $7,500 scholarships to help pay for the education of students seeking their Masters of Library and Information Science degree. Complete information and applications are available online. The deadline to apply this year is May 1.

STRATEGIC PLAN UNVEILED
For three years a committee of State Library staff, representing every ISL division, has thoroughly examined all facets of State Library operations with the goal of developing a comprehensive strategic plan for the coming few years. We are pleased to say our strategic plan for 2008-2011 has now been finalized, and you can read our plan on the ISL website.

Thanks to all of the ISL staff that worked so diligently to develop our blueprint for the future.

STAFF WORK WEEK

  • Anne Craig, Suzanne Schriar, Kathleen Bloomberg and Patricia Norris attended an OCLC WorldCat Local meeting at Lincoln Trail Libraries System in Champaign.
  • Anne Craig and a number of ISL staff hosted a meeting of the ILLINET Network Advisory Council.
  • Patricia Norris attended the Rolling Prairie Library System board meeting.
  • Ron Winner attended the Lewis and Clark Library System board meeting. He also conducted, for regional library system consultants, a rollout of the Bibliostat Collect product for the IPLAR FY08 and ILLINET FY07 statistics (see item above).
  • Karen Egan took part in the Shawnee Library System board meeting.
  • Mary Downing attended the DuPage Library System board meeting and visited Manteno Veterans Home to discuss a grant they receive from the ISL. She also made LSTA grant monitoring visits to Limestone Public Library, Herscher Commuity Unit School District, Bensenville Public Library, WoodDale Public Library and Gail Borden Public Library in Elgin.
  • Connie Frankenfeld took part in a CARLI workshop on sharing metadata in Champaign.
  • Lynn Bierma and Dianna Hamblin took part in a CARLI/I-Share Resource-Sharing forum at the University of Illinois at Springfield.
  • Natalie Tagge conducted two virtual workshops on QuestionPoint’s new widget interface called the Qwidget.
  • Vandella Brown and Cheryl Goza Smith attended a “Dialogue on Immigration” at the University of Illinois at Springfield.
  • Mark Shaffer attended a Senior Olympic meeting.
  • Dorothy Whitney attended the Southside Literacy Coalition Meeting at Providence House Academy, the Westside Literacy Coalition Meeting at Erie Neighborhood House and a Chicago Citywide Literacy Coalition Planning Seminar provided through the Fry Foundation at the Harold Washington Library.

E-RATE NEWS
If the status of your Form 471 in the Form 471 Application Status Tool is “Awaiting Applicant Documentation“, your initial reviewer is waiting for you to respond to the list of questions that was faxed or emailed to you. If you do not understand why your application is in this status, contact your initial reviewer or, if you don’t know who your initial reviewer is, contact the Client Service Bureau at 1-888-203-8100.

(Schools and Libraries News Brief, April 11, 2008)

LITERACY SPOTLIGHT
Every week we honor a provider who receives a literacy grant from Secretary of State Jesse White and the Illinois State Library Literacy Office. This week we shine the spotlight on Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills. When prospective students at Moraine Valley Community College are determined to have less than the required reading level for classes, counselors refer these learners to the adult literacy tutoring program. One student was having difficulty in adult basic education. Unemployed, he realized he needed further education to obtain stable employment. With tutoring, his reading scores improved enough to place him in more advanced classes. This student found a job and continues to study for the GED test. Another student working towards obtaining a heating and air conditioning certificate was having considerable difficulty. He was matched with a tutor who worked at an engineering firm that worked with heating and air conditioning. If he had questions his tutor could not help him with, she asked the engineers at the firm and brought the answers back to him. This student earned his certificate and has had multiple job offers. He has also offered to tell his inspiring story to new tutors. Through the adult literacy tutoring program at Moraine Valley, both of these students, as well as other adults in the community, have been given the opportunity to increase their skills and to pursue their goals.

Learn more about the ISL Literacy Office and the hundreds of literacy providers who receive grants from us.

WEBJUNCTION ILLINOIS NEWS
Shining the light on library lighting, a successful bilingual lapsit program, the Johnsburg Public Library and High School reach the community through an LSTA grant, and a hint of changes to come on WJIL. You can find it at “What’s New @ WJIL“.

GOVDOCINFO
A lot of us are thinking about summer vacations, and the Illinois Department of Natrual Resources has information about Illinois state parks, natural areas, conservation areas, recreation areas, and fish and wildlife areas. You’ll find information on camping, hiking, biking, fishing, hunting, state park lodges and resorts, educational programs and hundreds of great ideas for places to visit and things to do in outdoor Illinois.

CULTURAL AWARENESS: DIVERSITY IN ACTION
The library community is proud of its efforts to promote diversity. As we mark the end of National Library Week, have a look at some well known figures in history who were librarians. David Hume, a British philosopher, economist, and historian was a librarian at the Library of the Faculty of the Advocates at Edinburgh, Scotland from 1752-1757. Pope Pius XI was a member of the College of Doctors of the Ambrosian Library of Milan and was chief librarian. He reorganized and updated the Library of the Vatican in Rome, Italy. Giacomo Girolamo Casanova, the legendary 18th century lover, worked as a librarian with the Count von Waldstein in Bohemia. He produced an autobiography, HISTORIE DE MA VIE, which was not published in its original uncensored manuscript form until 1960.

ILLINOIS DIGITAL ARCHIVES
One of Chicago’s most popular tourist attractions is the world renowned Field Museum. Check out IDA’s collection of images from the Field Museum.

ILLINOIS INVENTOR OF THE WEEK
In honor of National Library Week, William F. Eastman of Sterling is this week’s Illinois Inventor of the Week. Eastman was issued Patent Number 184,355, on November 14, 1876, for “Improvement in Book Binding.” He was assigned several printing related 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

  • May 9 – Illinois OCLC Users’ Group Annual Meeting-”Back to the Future: Technological Evolution of Libraries Revisited”, ISL.
  • May 12-FY09 LSTA grant applications due at ISL
  • May 14-Spotlight on Achievement and Spotlight on Service awards for literacy students and volunteer tutors
  • May 31-Deadline for submissions to “Essays About Lincoln” contest
  • June 1-6-Small Public Library Management Institute, University of Illinois at Springfield
  • June 5-”Empowering Library Staff to Meet the Needs of Spanish Speakers”, North Suburban Library System, registration is free.
  • June 8-13-Institute for School and Public Librarians, Bradley University, Peoria
  • June 11-ILLINET Network Advisory Council, ISL
  • June 30-Deadline to enter Illinois Emerging Writers Competition

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.

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