STATE LIBRARY BOARD CONSIDERS LSTA GRANT AWARDS
At their meeting on October 19th
in Salem, the State Library Board of Trustees will consider the recommendations
of the Library Services and Technology Act Advisory Council. Included in the
recommendations will be whether to award LSTA grants in 2008 to sixteen applicants
for grant funds. The applications total $844,515 and were submitted by libraries,
large and small, from throughout the state. The Board will also hold a public
hearing on needed changes to the administrative
rules for the Ready to Read Grant program. House Bill 2116, which passed
the Legislature earlier this year and was signed by Governor Kulongoski, targets
the grant program on early literacy and summer reading. Revisions are needed
to make the rules consistent with the new law. A public hearing on the rule
changes is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. The meeting will take place in Room 102
at the state library beginning at 9:30 a.m. Written testimony on the rule changes
will also be accepted.
ANCESTRY.COM NOW AVAILABLE AT THE STATE LIBRARY
The Oregon State Library now provides the database, Ancestry.com, for public use in the second floor Reference Room. Volunteers from the Willamette Valley Genealogical Society are available to assist patrons who are researching family histories. The WVGS provide a valuable service by providing genealogy volunteers during public hours. They also purchase genealogy periodicals, reference materials and have over 500 CDs in their collection, all available for researchers to use at the State Library. The State Library is open the 2nd Saturday of the month, from 10 – 4, for genealogy research. For more information, visit the WVGS website.
REFER QUESTIONS TO OSL VIA L-NET
The State Library participates in L-net, the virtual reference service provided by Oregon libraries. In addition to staffing two shifts each week, OSL also serves as a referral library for questions relating to Oregon history, Oregon laws, state government issues or state and federal documents. Reference requests can be sent through the L-net email form. Use the pull-down menu to select "State Library of Oregon."
STATE LIBRARY PRESENTS FALL LECTURE SERIES
The Oregon State Library Fall Lecture
Series kickoff occurs September 13 with Chautauqua scholar, Tom Nash presenting
True Stories and Other Fictions in Northwest Oral History. The lecture
series is now in its third season and continues to grow in popularity. The lectures
are held in the State Library at the lunch hour and draw between 55-70 attendees.
Both state employees and the public are invited. The library has two additional
lectures planned: Bob Hamm, Mapping the West on October 17 and Linda
Tamura, Japanese American WWII veterans from Hood River on November 14.
Additional information on these lectures will be posted on the State
Employee Information Center web page after Labor Day.
TSPC UPDATES SCHOOL LIBRARY LICENSURE REQUIREMENTS
For the past year the Oregon Association of School Libraries has been working with TSPC (Teachers Standards and Practices Commission) to update the language and requirements in the Library Media Certification for School Librarians. The process included guidance from TSPC and meetings with key representatives from schools, universities with school library programs, and the school library consultant at the State Library. The representative group drafted a document of possible licensure language that included more updated language and job requirements including information literacy, technology, and collaborative teaching. TSPC worked with these suggestions to draft the new licensure requirements. The draft revision then went through two public hearings and was officially adopted on August 1, 2007. The TSPC reference number is 584-065-0110 Knowledge, Skills and Abilities for Library Media Endorsement. OASL should be congratulated for their vision and persistence to continually improve School Library programs in Oregon. For more information contact Patty Sorensen, 503-378-5011.
SAVE THESE DATES: BCR ANNOUNCES 2007-2008 FREE WEBCAST SERIES
The following College of DuPage webcasts are being made available free of charge to staff from Oregon libraries through a statewide membership to BCR, paid for by the Oregon State Library with LSTA funds:
October 26, 2007: Finding the Trends
That Matter: Get Your Environmental Scan On
February 8, 2008: People Watching With a Purpose: Meeting Needs Before They
Need It
March 14, 2008: Library Trends
April 11, 2008: Trends, Fads or Folly: Spotting the Library Trends That Really
Matter
May 9, 2008 (TENTATIVE DATE): The Future Library
All webcasts will begin at 9:00a PT. Online registration is free and will be made available before the end of the month. Webcasts will once again be made available live via the web and satellite downlink, available via the web up to 60 days after the initial date, for purchase (DVD or VHS), and via ILL (on DVD) from OSL.
Keep an out for further announcements through LTLO, the libs-or mailing and at Library Development's web site for BCR training opportunities.
These webcasts are staff development opportunities in the best sense of the term! They give staff a solid framework for problem-solving in today's complex library environment and they are cost-effective ways for staff to stay current and informed on libraries' use of technology. You and your staff can maximize these opportunities by bringing a group of interested staff together to watch; organize discussions about the impact of the shows' content on your library; call, fax, or email questions to the panelists during the program - it's interactive! and follow up with a discussion on what next steps your library can take.
OREGON READS 2009
Oregon Reads 2009 will be the first
statewide community reads program in Oregon. As part of Oregon’s sesquicentennial
commemoration, Oregon Reads will celebrate the diversity of people and experiences
that make our state special. Every participating library will receive free copies
of Stubborn Twig: Three Generations in the Life of a Japanese American Family
by Lauren Kessler, a poster, and bookmarks. Libraries will also have access
to the website to download activity ideas, book club discussion guides, additional
reading lists, and more. At minimum, all your library has to do to participate
is make Stubborn Twig available for your patrons to check out, hang the
poster in your library, and put out the bookmarks for patrons to take. Currently,
84 out of 130 libraries have committed to participating in Oregon Reads 2009.
If your library has not committed yet, please do so by filling out this
survey.
An article in the August 9th Oregonian was a real eye-opener. The headline: “State’s Face is Changing — Fast.” The article reported on a new U.S. Census bureau report on the growth of Latino and other non-White populations in Oregon and across the country.
The White population is now in the minority in one in 10 counties nationwide, primarily due to growth in the Latino population.
The most startling fact reported in the article about Oregon is that 94% of the net population growth in Multnomah County since 2000 consists of Latinos. The article also reported that the Latino population in Washington County grew by 36% since 2000, and that Marion County’s Latino population now exceeds 20% of county residents.
Many of these new Oregonians are children. The national study reports that Latino children already represent 21.4% of the early childhood population in the U.S., more than all other minority children combined, and that over the next four decades the number of Latino children under 5 in the U.S. will increase by 146%.
These facts represent a major challenge to public libraries to adapt their services to address rapidly changing demographics in their communities. They also suggest a great opportunity to have our public libraries help Latino children become successful in school.
Katie Anderson shared another article with me last month that indicates that public libraries could do a tremendous service to their communities by providing Latino families with young children with books, training and encouragement to help their children develop into proficient readers.
The Harvard Family Research Project reported on a groundbreaking study of nearly 11,000 children born in 2001. The study found that there were no differences in cognitive and motor competencies between Latino children and their White peers after nine months of age, when socio-economic differences were taken into account. Why then do many studies show a large gap in school readiness when these children reach kindergarten?
The difference is in parenting behaviors
— Latino families are less likely to read books and share stories with
their children than parents from other ethnic backgrounds. The recommendation,
based on this research, is to “target and increase the frequency of book
reading and storytelling, as well as other related language and literacy activities,
in Latino families in order to keep Latino children developmentally on par with
their white peers after nine months of age.” Sounds like a high priority
for Oregon public libraries to me. — 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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