STATE LIBRARY BOARD PLANS FOR THE FUTURE
On December 13, 2007, the State Library Board will meet in Salem to begin to look ahead to the 2009-2011 biennium and to consider what the Library would like to try to accomplish. The Board’s biennial retreat will kick off a planning process that will culminate in the Library’s budget request to Governor Kulongoski next June. The Board will be looking at the Library’s long term goals and will consider ideas to improve services to the Library’s customers. Some of the issues the Board will consider include how to roll out the new digital talking book program in a way that satisfies the demand for the new technology, how to sustain the statewide database licensing program and other LSTA-funded programs given the potential for reductions in federal funding for libraries, and how to improve the ability of Oregonians to obtain information using the Oregon.gov web portal. The Board retreat will take place in Room 103 of the Library from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on December 13th.
BOARD TO RECONSIDER LSTA GRANT AWARDS
At their business meeting on December
14th, the State Library Board will consider three LSTA grant awards that were
not recommended by the Library Services and Technology Act Advisory Council
when the Board last met in October. Since September, when the LSTA Advisory
Council developed their recommendations, the estimated amount of LSTA funds
available for grant awards has increased by about $100,000 and could go higher
pending action in the Congress to approve LSTA funding for FFY 2008. In light
of that the Board decided to reconsider funding projects proposed by the Deschutes
Public Library, Portland State University, and Oregon State University when
they meet in December 14th. The Board will also hear an appeal of a staff decision
concerning the 2008 Ready to Read Grant to Malheur County Library. Other agenda
items include appointments to State Advisory Councils. An open forum will be
held at 10:30 a.m. Anyone may address the Board at the open forum on any topic.
The meeting will be held in Room 103 of the State Library beginning at 9:30
a.m.
STATE LIBRARY TO HOST OREGON NEWSPAPER DIGITIZATION SUMMIT
The State Library is collaborating with the University of Oregon Libraries to convene the Oregon Newspaper Digitization Summit meeting on December 3rd. Key stakeholders have been invited to lay the groundwork for bringing Oregon’s history, as recorded in newsprint and preserved through microfilm, into the reach of all Oregon citizens through conversion to digital form. Community newspapers of Oregon are one of the most important repositories of the state’s history. Preservation has been assured through microfilming accomplished by the Oregon Newspaper Project at the University of Oregon, but access to these resources will be limited until they can be made available in electronic form through the Internet. Attending the meeting will be representatives of major academic research libraries, the Oregon Heritage Commission, and the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. Attendees will be briefed on the Oregon Newspaper Project and will look at best practices for statewide newspaper digitization that have been pioneered in Colorado and Utah.
READY TO READ GRANTS COMING THIS MONTH
The Ready to Read Grants will be mailed to public library directors by the end of December. Included in this mailing will be a list of libraries receiving grants this year and descriptions of the projects they plan to implement with their Ready to Read Grant in 2008. HB 2116, introduced by Governor Kulongoski on behalf of the State Library Board, will focus the grant program on early literacy services and summer reading programs, as well as providing for minimum grants of $1,000 for small libraries. The Governor's budget, adopted by the Legislature, also increased funding for the program by 25% to $1 per child per year. The project descriptions that will be mailed to directors show that these improvements in funding are going to have a big impact on the ability of libraries to better serve children in their communities.
ENHANCED ECLIPS SERVICE ADDS NEW SOURCES
The Government Research and Electronic
Services team of the Oregon State Library is pleased to announce the addition
of two news sources to its eClips product. Willamette Week and the East
Oregonian will be joining the current line-up which includes the Portland
Oregonian, Salem Statesman Journal, Eugene Register-Guard, and Medford
Mail Tribune. eClips provides an overview of news relating to Oregon state
government. Hundreds of state employees get current headlines and web links
delivered conveniently to their desktops Monday thru Friday. This timesaving
service allows patrons to quickly scan and access news stories from around the
state as it pertains to their agency work. A special thanks to OSL board chair,
Doug Hendrichs, for initiating talks with the East Oregonian news editor
regarding open access to online articles.
TRANSPORTATION SAFETY PUBLICATIONS AVAILABLE FROM ODOT
The Oregon Department of Transportation's Transportation Safety Division offers a variety of publications free of charge. Items available include Oregon's transportation safety action plan for youth, brochures about fitting bicycle helmets propertly or adjusting infant seats, posters encouraging seatbelt use, and a brochure explaining Oregon's crosswalk law. Several publications are available in more than one language, including Spanish and Russian. To order Transportation Safety publications, visit their web site.
SMALL LIBRARY GRANT OPPORTUNITY: THE HOLA PROJECT
Helping Oregon Libraries Achieve (The HOLA Project) is a grant opportunity for Oregon library employees who serve populations of 10,000 or less to attend the Oregon Library Association (OLA) conference in 2008 will ALL expenses paid. OLA received a gift from a very generous anonymous donor to provide grants for 10 different libraries to send an employee to the conference, with ALL expenses paid. The grant includes:
LIBRARY AND HEAD START COLLABORATION OPPORTUNITIES
The American Library Association (ALA) announced in November that the U.S. House and Senate have approved a conference report for The Improving Head Start Act, and that the President is expected to sign the report. This report calls for Head Starts to collaborate with other public or private local entities that also provide early childhood education and development services for young children when they apply for federal funding.
What does this mean to your library? When the Improving Head Start Act goes into effect, Head Starts in your community will be looking for local entities, like your library, to partner with so they qualify for federal funding. The U.S. House and Senate conference report specifies that Head Starts should partner with… “local entities, such as a public or school library, for
For more information visit the ALA
website.
APPLY IN FEBRUARY FOR THE BIG READ 2008
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), announces the fourth deadline for the Big Read program. The purpose of the Big Read is to revitalize the role of literature in American popular culture. Grants ranging from $5,000 - $20,000 are available to encourage local communities to inspire reading through the Big Read program. This will be the only application deadline in 2008. Big Read grants require the participation of a library as a lead applicant or a partner. Organizations selected to participate in the Big Read will receive a grant, financial support to attend a national orientation meeting, educational and promotional materials for broad distribution, an organizer's guide for developing and managing Big Read activities, guidance on working with local media, inclusion of the organization and its activities on the Big Read Web site, and the prestige of participating in a highly visible national initiative. The Request for Proposals can be downloaded at www.NEABigRead.org. The proposal deadline is February 12, 2008. Questions should be directed to Arts Midwest at 612/341-0755 or TheBigRead@artsmidwest.org.
Looking back on my reading life in 2007, I’d call it the year of reading seriously. There is so much bad stuff happening in the world that we need to try and understand. Here are some books I would recommend to you to aid in your understanding.
The Long Emergency: Surviving
the Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century by James Howard Kunstler
(Grove Press, 2006).
Kunstler is an engaging writer who presents what I hope is the worst case scenario.
Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities
and the Durable Future by Bill McKibben (Times Books, 2007).
This book is a good antidote to Kunstler’s book – more hopeful and
constructive about what needs to be done to prevent the worst case scenario.
Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education,
Religion, and the Battle for American’s Soul by Edward Humes (HarperColins,
2007).
An inside look at the 2004 trial that pitted parents in Dover, Pennsylvania,
against a school board determined to teach intelligent design.
Dark Side of the Moon: The Magnificent
Madness of the American Lunar Quest by Gerard DeGroot (New York University
Press, 2007).
DeGroot makes a convincing case that the space race, far from being a great
achievement, was a colossal waste of money that produced little of value (yes,
Tang, Velcro, and Teflon were actually invented in the 50’s).
Field Notes from a Catastrophe:
Man, Nature, and Climate Change by Elizabeth Kolbert (Bloomsbury, 2006).
I swear I didn’t look for books with ‘catastrophe’ in the title.
If you want to read a sober and interesting book about global warming, this
is it.
Peeling the Onion by Gunter
Grass (Harcourt, 2007).
How the great German novelist survived the catastrophe of Nazi Germany.
Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster
Capitalism by Naomi Klein (Metropolitan Books, 2007).
Read this fascinating book to gain a new understanding of world economic history
in the past four decades.
Overblown: How Politicians and
the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We Believe
Them by John Mueller (Free Press, 2006).
If you read only one book on this list, read this one. I also highly recommend
Mueller's earlier book, The Remnants of War (Cornell, 2004).
Dishwasher: One Man’s Quest
to Wash Dishes in All 50 States by Pete Jordan (HarperCollins, 2007).
Okay, I had to get some relief from gloom and doom, didn’t I? This book
filled the bill.
Happy holidays everyone! – Jim
Scheppke
Technical Assistance: 503-932-1004.
Library Development: 503-378-2525, MaryKay
Dahlgreen, Val Vogt, Darci
Hanning, Ann Reed, Patty
Sorensen, Katie Anderson.
Talking Book and Braille Services: 503-378-5389, Susan
Westin, Marcia Martin.
Government Research and Electronic Services: 503-378-5030, Robert
Hulshof-Schmidt.
State Librarian: 503-378-4367, Jim
Scheppke.
LTLO Editor: 503-378-2464, Robin
Speer.
Letter to Libraries Online is published monthly by the Oregon State Library. Editorial office: LTLO, Oregon State Library, 250 Winter St. NE, Salem, Oregon 97301-3950, 503-378-2464, editor: Robin Speer.
Letter to Libraries Online is available free of charge and is available only in electronic form on the publications page at the Oregon State Library's homepage: http://www.oregon.gov/OSL. Opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Oregon State Library. News items or articles should be sent to Robin Speer, or mailed to LTLO, Oregon State Library, 250 Winter St. NE, Salem, Oregon 97301-3950.
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