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

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

IN THIS ISSUE:

• Electronic Resources
• World War II Classroom Project
• Letters About Literature
• Grant Talkin’…Stayin’ Connected
• Library System Standards Committee
• Per Capita Grant Workshops
• Staff Work Week
• E-Rate News
• Literacy Spotlight
• Gov Doc Info
• Cultural Awareness: Diversity in Action
• Illinois Digital Archives
• Inventor of the Week
• Spread the News About E-news!
• Upcoming Events

ELECTRONIC RESOURCES
Illinois State Library Director Anne Craig issued the following statement Wednesday:

As many of you know, the budget appropriated by the Illinois General Assembly for the State of Illinois has recently received significant cuts by the Governor to balance FY2009 (July 1, 2008-June 30, 2009) expenditures and revenue. The budget for the Secretary of State’s Office was cut by approximately $26 million. The Illinois State Library, along with all departments within the Secretary of State’s Office, must cut expenditures in order to accommodate these significant budget reductions.

The Secretary’s longstanding commitment to excellent service to the residents of our state remains foremost among all other considerations. Unfortunately, one of the specific appropriation reductions to the office’s budget was the reduction to the budgetary allocation that supplies funding for electronic resources and the delivery of library materials throughout the state.

Because the office recognizes the importance of the delivery service of library materials, we have worked to ensure that even with the significant budget cuts this landmark program will not be disrupted.

However, as a result of the budget reductions, statewide subscriptions supported by the Secretary of State’s Office for the following electronic resources must be cancelled, effective immediately:

Periodical Abstracts
Wilson Select Plus

We realize that the budget reduction may impact services to library patrons statewide, but we want to reaffirm the office’s commitment to maintaining and supporting a robust delivery service of library materials.

Please feel free to call me with any questions or concerns.

More information about FY2009 electronic resource offerings from the Illinois State Library has been posted to our website.

WORLD WAR II CLASSROOM PROJECT
The State Library is proud to be hosting 45 high school students and 50 adults (teachers, university representatives, Learning Technology Center directors, and Illinois State Board of Education staff) next week for training on how to conduct video interviews with World War II veterans. All interviews will be digitally recorded and made available at the Illinois Digital Archives. Ten World War II veterans are scheduled to come to the State Library Tuesday, where they will be interviewed in meeting rooms throughout the building. The educators were eager to work with the State Library because of Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White’s Veterans’ History Project, as the material the schools generate can be included in the VHP as well as the Library of Congress’ Veterans’ History Program. Veterans will fill out the Secretary’s VHP form. Adults will be matched with high school students to form 15 teams. The teams will receive training, hardware, video equipment and software necessary to capture veterans’ stories. Reporter Mark McDonald is scheduled to visit and tape a program for Illinois Stories, to be broadcast on WSEC-TV, Springfield’s public television station.

The Area 5 Learning Technology Center based in Edwardsville is coordinating the training session. The program is being funded by a grant from the Illinois World War II Memorial Board. State Library staff will be available all week to assist with research, scanning techniques, interviewing skills and video production.

LETTERS ABOUT LITERATURE
Each year the State Library and the Illinois Center for the Book sponsor “Letters About Literature” in partnership with the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and Target Stores. Letters About Literature is a reading and writing promotion for students in grades 4 – 12 where students read a book and write a personal letter to the author explaining how the book changed his/her perception of the world. Students can participate through their schools, youth programs, libraries or individually.

State and National winners are selected from three different judging levels based on the grade of the participating student. National winners receive a $10,000 grant for their school or community library and National honorable mentions receive a $1000 grant for the same.

Letters About Literature informational packets are sent to public and private schools across Illinois in early September, and Illinois libraries are more than welcome to be added to this mailer. If you would like to have your library added to the mailing list or have questions about Letters About Literature, please contact Bonnie Matheis, Coordinator of the Illinois Center for the Book at 217-558-2065.

The deadline to enter the 2009 Letters About Literature competition is December 14, 2008. State winners will be announced in April 2009 and national winners will be announced in May 2009. For additional information about previous Letters About Literature competitions and winners, feel free to go to the Illinois Center for the Book website. Specific information about the 2009 competition will be posted to the website in early September.

GRANT TALKIN’…STAYIN’ CONNECTED
ISL Associate Director for Grants and Programs Patricia Norris extends thanks to the four individuals who joined her in Springfield and Chicago to interview applicants for the 2007-2008 Illinois State Library Training Grants:

• Karen Danczak Lyons, Chicago Public Library
• Ted Schwitzner, Illinois State University Milner Library
• Pam Van Kirk, Galesburg Public Library
• Sandy Ringstrom, Prairie Area Library System

LIBRARY SYSTEM STANDARDS COMMITTEE
The committee roster for the Library System Standards Committee is nearly finalized. During the next twelve months, the committee will be revising the library system standards with input from the Illinois library community. Committee members include:

• David Carlson (Chairman), Dean of Library Affairs, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
• Tom Dorst, Associate Director for Administration, CARLI
• Shirley May, Byrnes, Executive Director, DuPage Library System
• Marilyn Boria, Director, Elmhurst Public Library
• David Joens, Director, Illinois State Archives
• James Quisenberry, President, Lincoln Trail Libraries System
• Mike Steiner, Programs and Policies, Office of the Secretary of State

One additional appointment is pending.

Illinois State Library staff members working with the committee are:

• Anne Craig, Director
• Lawren Tucker, Chief Deputy Director
• Patricia Norris, Associate Director/ Grants & Programs
• Joe Natale, Exec. Asst. to the Director for Planning & Outreach
• Kathleen Bloomberg, Associate Director of Operations

PER CAPITA GRANT WORKSHOPS
The State Library is 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 review the grant application and explain requirements that will be in place for the next three years to obtain a grant. 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.

Grant workshops are as follows, with more to be scheduled:

• July 29–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.
• July 31-For Shawnee Library System, 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at Rend Lake Market Place, Mt. Vernon, and 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Marion Carnegie Library
• August 4-Rolling Prairie Library System, Decatur, 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.
• August 6-Lincoln Trail Libraries System, Champaign 1:30 – 3:30 p.m.
• August 22-Lewis and Clark Library System, 1-3 p.m

STAFF WORK WEEK

• Anne Craig attended a grant meeting in Washington, D.C. at the Institute for Museum and Library Services. She also spoke to a group of librarians from China at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign.
• Patricia Norris conducted interviews in Chicago with students seeking ISL training grants.
• Vandella Brown attended the Rolling Prairie Library System board meeting.
• Ethel Snyder and Vicki Strohm were among a group of Secretary of State employees honored at a reception Monday for service to the office. Ethel was honored for 40 years of service and Vicki for 35 years.
• Andrew Spiro of the Talking Book and Braille Service has received his 10-year employment certificate and Mark Shafer of the Library Development Group and Literacy Office received his 15-year certificate as Secretary of State employees.
• Joe Natale, Bonnie Matheis and Pat McGuckin met to discuss coordinating publicity for the “Big Read” program the ISL is taking part in later this year in which Springfield area libraries will read Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451.
• Dee Ann Powless, Laura Large and Raymond Collins received training on how to use the Westlaw online research service.
• Mary Downing and Jeanne Urbanek conducted a public library per capita grant workshop for DuPage Library System.
• Neil Kelley attended the Prairie Area Library System board meeting.
• Ron Winner attended the Shawnee Library System board meeting and an Illinois School Library Media Association Leadership Conference in East Peoria.
• Alyce Scott, Debra Aggertt and Bill Echelbarger took part in 10@10, a new ISL web cast for librarians. Debra also conducted an online cataloging workshop.
• Lynne Bierma conducted training for an Alliance Library System employee on WorldCat resource sharing.

E-RATE NEWS
The most common 486 letter, is Form 486 Notification Letter, which is sent to any applicant whose Form 486 has been certified, processed, and accepted by the SLD. Corresponding letters are sent to all associated service providers. It is important that both the applicant and the service providers know that a Form 486 has been filed and accepted because the SLD will not process any invoices against those FRNs until this occurs.

Unfortunately, not every Form 486 is immediately accepted as filed. On a random basis, a small percentage of Form 486s are selected for technology plan reviews. The SLD will check to determine if the technology plan was created before the associated Form 470(s) was filed, and if the plan was approved before services for that funding year began. Assuming that the services involved are for other than “basic telephone services” (which do not require a technology plan), the SLD will reject the Form 486 if the applicant fails the technology plan review. In this case, the applicant will receive a Form 486 Rejection Letter.

Alternatively, if the applicant realizes that there is a problem with its application, technology plan, or other aspects of its Form 486, it may agree to cancel the Form 486. In this case, the SLD will issue a Form 486 Cancellation Letter to the applicant with corresponding letters to the associated service providers.

In the case of either a Form 486 rejection or cancellation, the applicant may be able to correct the original problem, for example by getting a technology plan belatedly approved and re-filing the Form 486, or by filing a Form 486 only for basic telephone services. A late filed Form 486 and/or a late approval of a technology plan will generally result in a reduction of funding.

(E-Rate Central News for the Week. July 14, 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 Aquinas Literacy Center in Chicago.

Aquinas Literacy Center (ALC) serves Chicago’s the McKinley Park community. Last year, ALC’s Executive Director taught a class in how to learn English in response to a request from mothers at a nearby Pre-K program. After several classes, the mothers began to visit ALC to study independently on the computers. A few months later, the class dissolved and many of the mothers transferred to one-on-one tutoring at ALC. They gained the confidence to leave their familiar environment and were ready to work one-on-one with a tutor. Such successes are celebrated every day at ALC. From obtaining a library card to obtaining a new job, the staff, volunteer tutors and students enjoy celebrating special achievements.

For the past few years, when ALC is closed during the months of June, July and August, summer tutoring takes place at the McKinley Park Library. Last summer, 36 pairs participated in summer tutoring. To attract more of the students from ALC to continue their studies in the summer, ALC and the McKinley Park Library designed a special summer program. While mothers are studying with a tutor, their children attend a story hour that includes an art activity. The children’s librarian from McKinley Park Library reads several stories and demonstrates some movement activities for the first 45 minutes. For the remainder of the class, an art teacher, who was a former tutor at ALC, provides art activities based on one of the books that the children’s librarian had read. At the end of the class, the children go home with their art project and the featured book of the week. The mothers who were able to continue during the summer made wonderful advances in English.

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

GOVDOCINFO
We’re only a few weeks away from the Illinois State Fair in Springfield, and you can find out all you need to know about the event at the Illinois Department of Agriculture’s website. The State Library will have our usual booth in Secretary of State Jesse White’s tent.

CULTURAL AWARENESS: DIVERSITY IN ACTION
This month the ISL Diversity Program is celebrating “Americana.” Americana refers to artifacts and culture of the United States pertaining to history as a result of the expansion toward the West in the United States. Americana is evident in a collection of sound recordings and transcription discs of European and American music performed by wind bands of America available at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The collection contains sound recordings and films, manuscript music, concert programs, newspaper clippings and photographs. Of special interest is the music of legendary conductor John Phillip Sousa. Sousa reflects the diversity of America’s musical contributors. He was born to a Spanish father and Bavarian mother. Visit the archives and Search Americana, Records and Manuscripts.

ILLINOIS DIGITAL ARCHIVES
Illinois is well known for its outstanding fishing sites. This undated photo shows two fishermen and the massive catfish they reeled in. The picture comes from the collection of the Arthur Public Library.

ILLINOIS INVENTOR OF THE WEEK
Mary C. Shafer of Elgin is this week’s Illinois Inventor of the Week. On November 1, 1892, Shafer was granted Design Patent Number 21,951, for “Design for a Badge,” featuring an outstretched eagle with a globe on its back. The Illinois State Library Patent & Trademark Depository Library is available to assist you with your patent and trademark questions. Contact us at (217) 782-5659.

The ISL Patent and Trademark Library has prepared a new index of Sangamon County inventors from 1838 to 1900.

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

• August 5-7-Synergy, Pere Marquette Lodge, Grafton
• August 7-Project Next Generation picnic, ISL
• August 8-17-ISL at the Illinois State Fair
• August 26-Illinois State Library Advisory Committee meeting, ISL
• September 23-26–Illinois Library Association annual conference, Chicago
• October 2-3-Reaching Forward South Conference, Springfield
• October 7-ILLINET Network Advisory Council meeting, ISL
• October 30-System Presidents and Directors meeting, ISL
• December 4-ISL Electronic Resource Exposition (E-R-XPO), Schaumburg Township District Library

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.