PLA Blog

Another excellent free continuing education opportunity from WebJunction’s Rural In Focus Webinars series! These webinars are entirely free and online, so you can participate from the comfort of your desk, at home or at work.

A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Library Surveys
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
11:00 am PT/2:00 pm ET
“Surveys can be rich sources of information about your community’s needs and your library’s services and resources. When should you conduct a survey? What are the essential elements of an effective survey? How can you best evaluate your survey results? Colleen Eggett, Training Coordinator from the Utah State Library will be presenting and she has developed a Participant Guide as an option for those attending this session.”

If you’ve never attended a WebJunction webinar before, take a few moments to review the joining the webinar instructions in advance to make sure you’re all set up for the session. Also, feel free to post questions and comments here.

Many thanks to the Public Programs Office (PPO) listserv for sharing these wonderful funding opportunities!

Dollar General Youth Literacy Grants
“Provide funding to schools, public libraries and nonprofit organizations to help with the implementation or expansion of literacy programs for students who are below grade level or experiencing difficulty reading.” Application deadlines: October 5, 2007; February 5, 2008. NOTE: Dollar General also lists literacy grants for adults and families, with application periods beginning in January 2008.

Prime Time Family Reading Time
Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities (LEH), ALA Public Programs Office, & National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
“Based on illustrated children’s books, PRIME TIME is designed to help low-income, low-literate families bond around the act of reading and talking about books. It models and encourages family reading and discussion of humanities topics, and aids parents and children in selecting books and becoming active public library users.” Application Deadline: November 1, 2007.

Light the Way: Outreach to the Underserved Grant
Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) & Candlewick Press
“This one-time grant of $5000 will be presented in honor of Newbery Medalist and Geisel Honoree Kate DiCamillo to a library conducting exemplary outreach to underserved populations… Special population children may include those who have learning or physical differences, those who are speaking English as a second language, those who are in a non-traditional school environment, those who are in non-traditional family settings (such as teen parents, foster children, children in the juvenile justice system, and children in gay and lesbian families), and those tho need accommodation service to meet their needs.” Application deadline: December 3, 2007.

This webinar, presented live this afternoon by WebJunction, is free for all and requires no advance registration. You really can just show up.

Be sure to follow the instructions for making sure your computer is ready for the webinar, and arrive 10 minutes early.

In Focus Webinar: Joy of Computing with practical techniques for supporting public computing

Each month the Rural Library Sustainability Project presents an hour-long webinar related to the work of sustaining rural and small libraries. This month join us on August 23, 11:00 am PT/ 2:00 pm ET for You can do it! Practical techniques for supporting public computing. How are your peers meeting the challenges of providing access to public computers? Pooling resources, developing technology plans, and staff training are three things that can help. In this webinar, we will take a look at The Joy of Computing Cookbook for small and rural libraries at www.maintainitproject.org. Join a lively discussion around best practices that will include some of the libraries who contributed to the cookbook. Bring your success stories as well as your nightmares, and let’s find solutions together!

Also, the archive for the recently presented Core Competencies for Library Staff webinar is also available, complete with close captioning, and it’s definitely worth the watch. While you’re there, you should check out the WebJunction Core Competencies as a companion document to the webinar archive.

Hello. My name is Catherine Moffatt and I am a Public Services Librarian in the Reference Department at a public library in Southern Maryland. This is my first time blogging for PLA at an ALA event so here is goes.

Friday
I arrived at the ALA Annual Conference on Friday afternoon. After checking in, getting my badge holder, and bag of conference materials, I sat down and became acquainted with the materials and where all of my events were going to be located. As this was my first time going to events other than just visiting the exhibits, I decided that going to the Conference 101 sponsered by ALA NMRT at 4:00 pm that evening was a very good idea. I was glad I did. It was very informative and gave me much information that has been helpful as far as navigating not only the conference events, but also the materials given at check-in. From this I also noticed in my program guide that my alma mater, University of South Florida, had a booth at the exhibits and was going to be at the Library School Reunion Event on Sunday evening. One more fun activity to go to and to hopefully see some old professors and classmates. From there I went home, since I live locally, and got myself prepared for my exciting first full day.

Saturday
Saturday I arraived bright and early to the Convention Center at around 8:30 am. I had my rolling bag with me so I was all prepared for going through the exhibits. I moved my way over to the The Stacks area and waited for the exhibits to open up at 9 am. I wondered up and down each row looking through all the different booths of interesting products to buy, both personal and for libraries. Even after wandering around until 12:30 pm, I still hadn’t seen everything there was to see. So loaded down with my goodies, I went to my next program I wanted to attend during the conference. At 1:30 pm I attended the Electronic Databases: Training that Works presented by RUSA MARS/RSS over in one of the conference rooms at the Grand Hyatt. It was a very easy walk on such a beautiful day. At this program I saw Marty Onieal, Margaret Mohundro, and Michelle Y. Roubal each present ways that their library systems went about training their staff on different databases that their systems had available. I came out of there with many ideas to take back to my library to help with training our staff on the different databases that we have available. When it was completed I returned to The Stacks to try and look at the booths I didn’t manage to see before the program I attended. So all in all it has been a good conference so far and I am looking very forward to another full day on Sunday.

I received this via the Massachusetts Library Association listserv, and thought I’d share:

WGBH/Boston, a leading producer of quality children’s programming and award-winning resources for educators, is pleased to offer librarians a FREE Peep and the Big Wide World Event Kit. The kit has resources for organizing 3 different hands-on science events for preschoolers.

This free kit is available as part of the educational outreach linked to the WGBH-produced, EmmyR Award-winning series, Peep and the Big Wide World. The goal of the series and its outreach is to nurture young children’s interest in science play and discovery.

The kit includes informative Leader’s Guides that outline how to set-up and run the 3 separate events, which focus on the themes of Shadows, Structures, and Ramps. Related reproducible materials for families attending the events are also provided.

To get your free kit, contact by September 30th (one Event Kit is available per library branch while supplies last). You can also download components of the kit and other resources from the site.

For details on the television program, visit the PEEP and the Big Wide World site.

Check out the free webinar action via two programs on WebJunction this month. Click on the links below for more information and to register for these FREE continuing education events.

Second Circ: Using Web 2.0 Tools in Your Library
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM EST
This session is part of EqualAccess (a community partner of WebJunction), a professional development program that trains public librarians in how to address their community’s most pressing needs. “This webinar will introduce you to the world of online tools available–tools that make it easier than ever to share information, promote your programs, and mobilize support. We’ll start with the basics, and through visuals and real-time demos, you’ll learn the skills to bring your library marketing into the next generation. All are welcome and no prior experience is required!”

Tools for Planning: Action. Vision. Future. Planning.
March 29, 10:30 AM PDT/1:30 PM EDT
This session is a supplement to the Rural Library Sustainability Project workshops (I attended one myself, and it was super!), where the process of creating a public access computer action plan was introduced. “Attend this session to hear about some action plan success stories and discuss planning tools and resources that are being successfully used in the library world. Moderated by Brenda Hough, Technology Coordinator, Northeast Kansas Library System (NEKLS).” The planning skills and best practices presented are beneficial even if you haven’t attended a Rural Library Sustainability session!

While National Breast Cancer Awareness Month is just about wrapping up, it’s not the only cancer awareness month in the year. Lung Cancer Awareness Month and Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month are just around the corner in November, and many other cancers have months of observance throughout the year (check out the calendar from Cancer.gov).

Because anytime is a good time to educate about cancer and the usefulness of clinical trials, it’s good to know that the National Cancer Institute now offers a Cancer Clinical Trials Education Series (CTES) Kit for free to libraries. More information, care of an email I received from the Massachusetts Library Association listserv:

“The CTES is a collection of more than 20 multimedia resources to educate cancer patients, health care professionals, advocates, and the general public about cancer prevention and treatment clinical trials. The series includes materials in a variety of formats, including workbooks, videos, booklets, and brochures. Some of the materials are also in Spanish. Topics include “If you have Cancer…What you should know about Clinical Trials, “If you have Cancer and Have Medicare”, “Taking Part in Clinical Trials: What Cancer Patients need to Know” are just a few of the topics.

To order materials call 1-800-4-CANCER or go to www.cancer.gov/publications. If you have questions about the materials or how to use them, contact or by calling 301-594-8992.”

Teacher’s Hall Pass at the Origins International Game Expo 2006
June 29, 2006 - July 2, 2006
Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio
Games and gaming are big news lately. The Origins International Game Expo has been running since 1975, and “is one of the largest and longest-running game conventions in the world.” They’re offering what they call the “Teacher’s Hall Pass,” which include free admission to the expo and entrance to a special series of classes on how to use games in educational settings (like libraries). This is the first year the hall pass is available to librarians, and the Origins folks are “really looking forward to the interesting perspectives those two groups will bring to the discussions.” If you happen to take advantage of this opportunity, write to us and tell us about your experience.

SirsiDynix Institute: A Beginner’s Guide to Podcasting
* May 17, 2006 - Part A: A Consumers Guide
* May 24, 2006 - Part B: A Creator’s Guide
Curious about podcasting? Greg Schwartz, author of the Open Stacks blog and podcasts, podcasting librarian extraordinaire and the man behind the roving Carnival of Infosciences (another great free, online, professional resource), presents a two-part webinar series on what podcasting is, tools you should know about, and how to incorporate podcasts in your library services.

Free “FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman” Resource Kit
FETCH!, a new show premiering on PBS May 29 focused on kids 6-10 years old, is modeled on the reality TV show craze. Six teenage contenstants on the unscripted show go on challenge assignments “to test their determination, their daring, and their intellect.” Libraries can request a free FETCH! resources kit to create parallel programming at the library, including an activity guide, challenge sheet pack (available in English and Spanish), poster, and subscription to the email newsletter filled with news, activity tips, and web feature pointers. Email fetchnews[at]wgbh[dot]org to order your resource pack, and for more information.

Online Programming for All Libraries (OPAL)
OPAL offers a series of free, web-based programs that cover “book discussion programs, interviews, special events, library training, memoir writing workshops, and virtual tours of special digital library collections,” sponsored by various libraries. Upcoming events include a tour of eBay on Tuesday, May 16, project planning on Friday, May 19, and a book talk on the graphic novel Persepolis, which was recently made available in audio and braille formats for the Seatlle 2006 citywide book program. Check out their full schedule for more events and details.

Attend BookExpo America virtually via free podcasts
Conference runs May 19 - 21, 2006
Podcasts post the week of May 22, 2006
This tidbit was posted to the Beyond the Job blog, an excellent resource for information on continuing education in librarianship (especially free or low-cost opportunities). If you can’t make it to the BookExpo America conference this year, for the first time ever selected programming will be made available through podcasts. You can “pre-register” now to receive the podcasts by email, or you can subscribe to their iTunes or RSS feeds.

Know of a professional development or programming freebie you want to share? Write to us and let us know.

Funding for conferences can be tough to come by, so many librarians must limit their fun to a shoestring budget.

However, your options are not as limited as they may seem. If you’re looking for fabulously cheap fun, check out the Free stuff to do in Boston calendar. Tonight’s fancy highlight: free stargazing (including a nice little lecture, if you’re interested) at the Museum of Science. Check out the calendar for details and more free events.

Also, today’s the last day to visit the New England Historic Genealogical Society library, a short jaunt away from the convention center on Newbury Street (a great place to do *free*, festive window shopping). Show them your badge and let them know you’re a librarian, and feel free to take a look around their facility and their library collections, or take the guided tour at 3pm.

Check out Daily Candy’s Boston edition. Every Friday they feature a weekend guide, and you can browse previous posts for where to dine, drink, and shop.