The new Center will operate from the Reaching Across Illinois Library System building in Burr Ridge.  Staff at the Illinois Talking Book Outreach Center can be reached via email at: info@illinoistalkingbooks.org. Patrons can also contact staff and reader advisors via phone: 800-426-0709. The new Illinois Talking Book Outreach Center will serve the entire state outside the city of Chicago. City of Chicago patrons will continue to use the Chicago Public Library Talking Book Center.

There will be a new user friendly website, illinoistalkingbooks.org, to offer more connections to databases, related service providers, various help links, book lists, and news items. Patrons will continue to receive materials as they do now, and will still be able to interact with reader advisors.

This WebJunction webinar is presented in collaboration with ALA’s LearnRT. Did you attend the Disney Institute? Join this conversation and share your ideas and successes.

Presented by: Crystal Schimpf, Trainer, Colorado State Library; Elena Rosenfeld, Associate Director of Public Service, High Plains Library District; and Suzanne McGowan, Branch Manager, Anythink Wright Farms.

Thursday, December 12, 2012 ♦ 12 pm CST ♦ 60 min ♦ Cost $0
REGISTER>>

ISL consultants Karen Egan and Gwen Harrison will shortly begin organizing a conference planning committee. Contact Karen at kegan@ilsos.net, 217-782-7749 or Gwen at gharrison@ilsos.net, 217-785-7334 if you are interested in taking part in the planning committee.

Please take a moment to complete a short survey to offer your suggestions on possible conference topics and speakers. Log on to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/otfl-2013. The deadline to complete the survey is January 11.

One simple change in library hours can have an unexpected impact on a large number of library patrons: Unemployment Insurance (UI) customers. In this webinar, we will be joined by an Unemployment Insurance Specialist from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, who will explain out how the service works. In addition, Alice Neve, Public Service Manager at St. Paul Public Library, will describe how your library can support UI customers. Using her library as an example, she will describe how to collaborate with local UI offices, analyze challenges and implement solutions throughout your library system. This session is the first in a series brought to you in collaboration with the Jobs and Small Business Task Force of MELSA, serving the eight public library systems of the Twin Cities metro region of Minnesota.

To register for this free webinar visit L2.

Enroll in and complete all five courses to acquire the tools to apply to almost any customer situation, or choose from the set those courses that focus on the specific areas you want to work on. And, for the month of December, all 5 courses in the set are on sale for 25% off their normal price. The discount applies to both individual and institutional purchasers. Remember that, once enrolled, you have a whole year to complete the courses.

Library staff can handle difficult patrons, resolve issues or problems quickly and efficiently and retain customer loyalty throughout. Join presenters Paul Signorelli, writer, trainer, and consultant with a strong focus on workplace learning and performance, and Maurice Coleman, Technical Trainer at Harford County Public Library, for this one hour webinar providing expert resources for working with a patron using common sense practices and techniques for bringing that customer back into the fold.

Visit L2 for registration details.

mySkills, myFuture: A New Tool for Job Seekers

As part of the ongoing collaboration between IMLS and the Employment & Training Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL/ETA), WebJunction is hosting this ETA presentation on the new job-seeking tool, mySkills, myFuture. Coming in September, this free online tool will enable job seekers to increase their career mobility and economic prospects.

Specifically, the self-paced tool will help previously employed to (1) use their previous experience to identify occupations that they might be qualified for; (2) identify the skills s/he needs to acquire to qualify for a specific job; (3) identify education or training institutions where these skills can be obtained; and (4) provide links to relevant job opportunities in national and state job banks. Libraries will want to add mySkills, myFuture to their resources to help job-seeking patrons in their community.

To register for this relevant and vital workshop visit L2.

 We invite you to explore all of these resources and to contribute news and information from your library to the section. For Twitter users, the hashtag #libs4jobs will pull your tweets into the Workforce Resources page.

What do patrons think are the important factors in the success of your library? Funded by an LSTA grant, the Researching Communities to Prepare for the Future study interviewed over 140 residents in 15 communities across Illinois, to discover what communities want from their libraries in the future. In this What’s New @ WJIL you can learn from the results, read the Community reports and train your staff on the top 6 factors for a successful public library.

Contents: Resources | Courses and Learning | Community | What could I do with…? | What’s New RSS Feed

“What’s New” RSS Feed

Want the latest “What’s New @ WJIL” to come to you? Add the RSS feed to your blog reader.
[http://webjunctionworks.org/il/blog/index.php/category/new-wj-il/feed/]

Resources

Researching Communities to Prepare for the Future: Final Report

• The focus of this study was to find competencies which would help public libraries to be successful. This was accomplished by compiling a list of 25 important service competencies in four general categories (See Appendix A). Partner libraries were recruited (See Appendix B) from around the state, and researchers went to their communities and talked to people. The Q Method was used to ask community members to rank the competencies and emerged with three important groups of library users as well as competencies generally important to them all.
• Path: [Library Management » Customer Service & Interpersonal Skills » Researching Communities to Prepare for the Future (IL)]

Community Reports for Participating Libraries

• Completed Community Reports in PDF format for Arlington Heights, Barcley Warrensburg, Bartlett, Belleville, Bloomington, Edwardsville, Effingham, Galesburg, Mason City, Nokomis, Palatine, Pinkneyville, Rochester, Salem.
• Path: [Library Management » Customer Service & Interpersonal Skills » Researching Communities to Prepare for the Future (IL)]

Preliminary Q Data Report Researching Communities Project

• A short overview of the results from the Researching Communities. The report includes the three patron groups that developed from the survey results.
• Path: [Library Management » Customer Service & Interpersonal Skills » Researching Communities to Prepare for the Future (IL)]

Competency Cards

• In easy to print card format, these are the 25 competencies used in the Researching Communities project. They can be printed at your desk on standard business card paper.
• Path: [Library Management » Customer Service & Interpersonal Skills » Researching Communities to Prepare for the Future (IL)]

Courses and Learning

Following the completion of the study training was developed by researchers to assist other libraries with the development of the top 6 identified characteristics of a successful library. Each training module consists of an archived online session and accompanying ppt.

1. Library Staff who are Friendly and Knowledgeable

• During the study we learned that patrons and residents want a friendly, knowledgeable library staff. This training course provides ways for staff to refamiliarize themselves with building job skills, handling conflict and presenting a positive attitude. Directors and supervisors might want to use this course to guide discussion during staff development training..

2. Ease of Finding Information

• Patrons want the independence of locating and using library material on their own. This training course provides ways for staff to relook at the library to see how the library highlights its services,  Directors and supervisors might want to use this course to guide discussion during staff development training.

3. Library as a Safe Place for Kids and Teens

• Patron safety, especially for children and young adults, was an expressed concern during the study interviews. This training course provides ways for staff to familiarize themselves with both physical and cyber safety, additionally disaster planning is reviewed. Directors and supervisors might want to use this course to guide discussion during staff development training.

4. Cultural Programs and Exhibits

• Patrons want their library to be at the cultural center of the community with programs and exhibits. This training course encourages staff develop programs highlighting the cultural diversity of the community and region. Directors and supervisors might want to use this course to guide discussion during staff development training.

5. Handicapped Accessible

• Patrons of all ages are concerned their library does not offer services and programs for impaired patrons. Often, the interviewed resident didn’t know the services the library was already offering. This training course provides ways for staff to refamiliarize themselves with serving impaired patrons, and promoting the library’s services. Directors and supervisors might want to use this course to guide discussion during staff development training.

6. Web 2.0

• Residents looks to their library to be experts in all things, but especially technology. Web 2.0 was not originally a competency, but quickly became a topic in the study interviews. This training course provides ways for staff to become familiar with various technologies being used by patrons and libraries. Directors and supervisors might want to use this course to guide discussion during staff development training.

Community

Community Report Template

• Use this template for creating your own community report based on the structure and analysis of the Researching Communities project.

Discussion

• Share your thoughts and ideas about the research and training by clicking on the  Discussion tabs on each page.

What Could I do with…Researching Communities to Prepare for the Future

The research from Researching Communities to Prepare for the Future allows Illinois public libraries to determine future library services and focuses. This is the first known library study to use the Q-Method, a research technique to study the viewpoint of participants.

Prepare your library staff for the future by utilizing the training developed as a part of this research. Take the time during staff meetings to view the archived online sessions, or ask your staff to view the training on their own and then discuss as a part of a staff development day.