Nominations for the statewide Mr./Ms. Math and Mr./Ms. Science Awards are also due soon – on April 4, 2008. This program will recognize high achieving students in math and science, much in the way that athletics are recognized annually with the Mr. and Miss Basketball Awards. Teachers may nominate students for Mr./Ms. Math or Science, or students may apply for the honor themselves.    

Hoosier Rising Star Award: http://www.in.gov/lg/2864.htm
Nomination Form: http://www.in.gov/lg/files/HoosierRisingStarAward_nomination_form.pdf
Mr./Miss Math or Mr./Miss Science: https://secure.in.gov/apps/mathscienceawards/

MONEY IN YOUR POCKET

Times are tough these days, but recent news from the Governor’s office and the IRS may buoy flagging spirits.   Governor Mitch Daniels signed HEA 1001, the property tax relief bill, into law earlier this week.  Highlights of the new law, including the limits on property tax and changes in assessment procedures, can be found on the Governor’s website.  You can also listen to an audio file of the signing ceremony conducted on March 19.

Governor’s Property Tax Relief Bill Overview: http://www.in.gov/gov/files/Property_Tax_Summary.pdf <
Governor’s news conference audio file: http://www.in.gov/gov/files/Audio/031908_HEA1001_signing_ceremony.mp3

The IRS is sending out informational letters regarding the Economic Stimulus package payments that are expected to start going out in early May.  Please note that some people who ordinarily do not have to file a tax return may be eligible for this payment, and will need to file a return by April 15 to receive the payment.  Check out the IRS website for more information about who is eligible to receive a payment. 

The news release contains information about payment scams that are already circulating as well as information about Free File, a free tax filing program in collaboration with certified tax preparers for tax filers under a certain income cap.  The IRS has also posted an interactive Economic Stimulus Payment Calculator to help tax files determine the amount they can expect to receive and a payment schedule.

IRS Economic Stimulus Payment information: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=177937,00.html
Payment Schedule: http://www.irs.gov/irs/article/0,,id=180250,00.html

by Katharine Springer & Jesse Lewis

WILLIAMSPORT-WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP PUBLIC LIBRARY FIRE
By Faye Terry (fterry@statelib.lib.in.us)

Around 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, October 8, the Williamsport-Washington Township Public Library (WWTPL) caught on fire due to arson. The library, which was just built in 2002, was destroyed. An article published in The Commercial-News (Danville, IL) on October 13 reports that plans are already underway to find a temporary location for the library, and that Library Director Chris Brown plans to begin rebuilding as soon as possible (http://www.commercial-news.com/local/local_story_286213350.html). Many people in the library community have contacted the Indiana State Library’s Library Development Office asking what they can do to help. Virtually the entire collection is gone, and Indiana libraries will be asked to help supplement the collection once a temporary site for WWTPL is decided upon.

In the meantime, monetary donations may be sent to The Williamsport-Washington Township Public Library Fund, Main Source Bank, 120 North Monroe Street, P.O. Box 201, Williamsport, IN 47993. Watch the INCOLSA-L and INPUBLIB listservs for announcements about the timeline for donating materials and lists of what will be needed. To support WWTPL during this trying time, the Indiana State Library has already provided laptop computers, a printer, T1 line funding for one year, and the balance of the Gates Foundation 50/50 grant so that a server or additional computers may be purchased. We look forward to working together with Indiana libraries and WWTPL staff in the months to come to ensure that the vibrant and essential public library services the community of Williamsport has enjoyed in the past are re-established. A photo gallery of the fire and the damage done has been updated today on The Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN) Web site and can be accessed at a href=”http://www.jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/tngallery?Avis=BY&Dato=20061009&Kategori=NWES&Lopenr=610090801&Ref=PH”>http://www.jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/tngallery?Avis=BY&Dato=20061009&Kategori=NEWS&Lopenr=610090801&Ref=PH.

For more information about the Library, please visit us in downtown Indianapolis or online at www.statelib.lib.in.us.

VOLUNTEERS—CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT ‘EM!

Shrinking budgets and expectations of “doing more with less” make it increasingly difficult for library staff to continue offering all the services of the past. Many libraries are relying on volunteers to fill this gap. The Indiana State Library currently has three remarkable volunteers on its staff.

Julie Reid assists Elizabeth Wilkinson in the Indiana Division’s Manuscripts Section. Julie participated in an internship program in the Manuscripts Section earlier this year, and decided to volunteer in her spare time to hone her skills and learn more about archival collections. Julie performs multiple tasks, including cataloging photographs, processing small collections and writing corresponding finding aids, encapsulating maps, and making book boxes.

Peggy Jentkins has volunteered at the Library since August, 2004. She accurately types names, ages, and death dates for the Indianapolis Commercial Database. Genealogical researchers will find this database extremely useful because it provides more current information than the Marion County Death Index.

Connie Cornish aids the Indiana Talking Books and Braille Division. She has helped with mass mailings, stamping Braille alphabet cards, and putting informational inserts in new patron mailings. Connie also volunteers at the Charles E. Bosma Rehabilitation Center, which offers training in independent living skills.

The Library would like to publicly thank these three individuals for the outstanding services they provide to the people of the State of Indiana.

THE INDIANA STATE LIBRARY WANTS YOU!

There are many reasons for volunteering at a library. It’s a wonderful way to update skills, provide a public service, gain a reference for future employment, and an opportunity to work with some spectacular people. If you are interested in volunteering at the Library, please see http://www.statelib.lib.in.us/www/isl/whoweare/volunteer.html for more information.

START YOUR OWN LIBRARY VOLUNTEER PROGRAM

If you think it would be advantageous to have volunteers but find the task of starting a volunteer program daunting, check out Preston F. Driggers’ book, Managing Library Volunteers: A Practical Toolkit (American Library Association, 2002). Driggers offers useful advice on various aspects of running a volunteer program, such as legal issues, recruitment, interviewing and selection, training and program evaluation.

With the approaching holidays, it might be difficult to find the time to read a book. Volunteers: We Couldn’t Do It Without Them (distributed by ALA Video/Library Video Network, 1997) is a 25-minute video-recording that provides guidelines for implementing a successful volunteer program in any library.

Both of these items are available from the Library through interlibrary loan.

For more information about the Library, please visit us in downtown Indianapolis or online at www.statelib.lib.in.us.

Janet Buckley
jbuckley@statelib.lib.in.us

1) Last week, the ISL was thrilled to welcome an enthusiastic group of volunteers from Rolls Royce.  On a mission to give back to Indy, the Rolls-Royce Intern/Co-op program devoted a day to participating in community service projects all around Indianapolis.  Our new friends from Rolls Royce spent their time with us boxing up materials and transporting them to their new home on another floor.  (Now here’s where I must confess that some of these materials had not been dusted in quite some time and that this may not have been the cleanest volunteer assignment of the day.)  Ron Rose, the ISL facilities manager, estimates that the volunteers saved our staff a week’s worth of work.  Ron said, “We appreciate the energy of these volunteers and their interest in the state library.  Come back anytime!”

2) Marcia Smith-Woodard of the ISL Library Development Office has graduated from Class XVII of the Leadership Training and Development for Diversity Series, a program of United Way of Central Indiana.  The program identifies and develops emerging leaders from racial minority groups and prepares them to serve as decision makers in community organizations.  This local initiative allows the United Way of Central Indiana’s family of agencies and other community nonprofit organizations to recruit qualified, board-ready minority volunteers to serve on boards and committees.  Marcia has chosen to serve on the Literacy Plus Board, providing literacy programs to help homeless adults build basic skills, knowledge and independence.  Marcia’s participation in the program was supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the ISL.

We thank Rolls-Royce for their contribution to the state library and we thank Marcia for her contribution to the Literacy Plus Board.  Their efforts make our community a better place to work and live.

For more information about the ISL, please visit us in downtown Indy or online at www.statelib.lib.in.us