January 12th, 2009 | Permalink | Comments Off
As part of the annual LSTA State Program Report, the Institute of Museum and Library Services requests each state to designate 3-6 exemplary projects. Four projects were selected as exemplary projects for fiscal year 2008. Criteria for selection includes furthering the goals of the LSTA Five-Year Plan, an ability to be replicated or serve as a model for other areas of the state, and the impact being made on the targeted population.
Selected projects were:
Clermont County Public Library for the Every Child Ready to Read at Your Library project. The CCPL was in a unique position to aid parents by instructing them on developing early literacy skills in their children and also to assist childcare providers in incorporating these skills into their classrooms. Staff are also aligning the Library’s storytimes (babytime, toddler, preschool, and all-age) to address early literacy skill building. Library staff are becoming more active with other community organizations that support children, including early literacy activities. This project dovetails with the governor’s initiatives and with the State Library’s “Ohio Ready to Read” initiative and illustrates how a library can customize the state initiative to meet the local need.
Cleveland Public Library for the KnowItNow 24×7 Virtual Reference Project. This was the first full year that the KnowItNow project was administered and coordinated by CPL. The transition in administration was accomplished seamlessly and the project continues to be highly successful. A statewide coordinator has been hired to coordinate all aspects of the service as well as promoting the service at the library level. A significant development occurred in the spring when OhioLINK became a permanent KnowItNow partner. Additionally, CPL continues to work with L-Net (the Oregon statewide virtual reference service) on the implementation of an open-source platform for virtual reference. (This platform was successfully implemented in FFY09).
Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County to initiate a digitization project at the library. The focus of the project was to provide greater access to print materials with local significance, beginning with the City Directories for Hamilton County for the years 1819 through 1940. The project began as a collaboration between PLCHC and the Cincinnati Museum Center but led to the development of other organizational partnerships. Material is being loaned to PLCHC and digitized, thus expanding access to other library and historical society’s materials. The PLCHC continues to make its equipment and expertise available to other libraries and institutions across the state.
Southwestern Ohio Consortium on Higher Education (SOCHE) to increase access to digitized textbooks for qualified students with disabilities. Institutional collaboration among the 13 SOCHE institutions participating in the project was the foundation of the project. SOCHE worked with OhioLINK who agreed to create a virtual library repository of electronic textbooks which will allow any disability provider to access textbooks already converted by participant institutions. Discussions are now underway between SOCHE, OhioLINK, and the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission to secure funding to expand the project statewide to include all Ohio postsecondary institutions with OhioLINK membership.
