Author Available to Visit Your Library

From Holly Lunde, Plum City Public Library -
A friend of mine has recently written a book "The Missing Element" by John A. Betcher.  When I mentioned that our library would be interested in an author visit, he was all for it.  In fact he would like to get as much exposure for his book and said he would be willing to go to any interested libraries for author visits.  John tells me his summer schedule is pretty clear at this point so scheduling should not be a problem. 

AUTHOR CONTACT INFORMATION
John L. Betcher
1011 West Third Street
Red Wing, Minnesota 55066
Email: betcherjl@q.com
Telephone: 651.388.4570
Cell: 651.353.9003

Gardening with Rebecca Kolls

Saturday May 22

10:30 a.m.

Amery Area Public Library

225 Scholl Court

Amery, Wisconsin

Refreshments will be served.

Sponsored by a grant from the Otto Bremer Foundation.

For more information all the library 715-268-9340.

www.seasonsbyrebecca.com

Library Personnel:

Library Y has three part time staff members including the director. The library has recently hired a new director. One of the staff members served as interim director during the hiring process. Some library board members continue to discuss library business with the staff member and not the director.

Is this a problem? Yes. It undermines the lines of authority between the Library Board, Director and Staff. The Library Board hires the Library Director to manage the library. The Library Director in turn has the authority by statute to hire and supervise the staff. The Library Board would set the number of employees for the library while the Director would recruit and hire those individuals. Communication from staff to the board except in very unusual circumstances should occur via the director.

Based upon Trustee Essential #2 Who Runs the Library? & Trustee Essential #7 The Library Board and Library Personnel

For additional Trustee Resources visit the IFLS Trustee Web Page

WLA Scholarships

WLA members and prospective library school students are eligible to apply for the scholarships for library education and library continuing education sponsored by the Wisconsin Library Association Foundation. Six scholarships are funded by the WLA Foundation through generous charitable contributions. Applications are DUE JUNE 1, 2010 (a change from the previous September 15 due date). Details on the scholarships and copies of the application forms are available by following the links on the scholarship Web site at www.wla.lib.wi.us/scholarships/.

LIBRARY CONTINUING EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIPS

George Bauer Continuing Education Scholarship ($800)

Available to a person employed in a library in Wisconsin, or someone who works with library employees in those communities, to attend a conference or other continuing education program within or outside Wisconsin.

Gloria Hoegh Scholarship for Rural Librarians ($1,050)

Available to a person employed in a library in a Wisconsin community with a population of 5,000 or less, or someone who works with library employees in those communities, to attend a conference or other continuing education program within or outside Wisconsin.

LIBRARY EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIPS

Library Education Scholarship ($1,300)

Available to a current or permanent Wisconsin resident admitted to a master’s degree program in library and information science at a Wisconsin school as a part- or full-time student.

Diversity Scholarship ($1,000)

Available to a current or permanent Wisconsin resident admitted to a master’s degree program in library and information science at a Wisconsin school as a part- or full-time student and who is African-American, Latino/Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, of Native American/Alaskan Native descent, or physically challenged.

Sally Davis Scholarship ($1,250)

Available to a current or permanent Wisconsin resident admitted to the master’s degree program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison SLIS as a part- or full-time student.

Vida Cummins Stanton ($1,400)

Available to a current or permanent Wisconsin resident admitted to the master’s degree program at the UW-Milwaukee SOIS as a part- or full-time student pursuing a library media or youth services program.

Ruth Irene Garrett, best-selling author of Crossing Over: One Woman’s Escape from Amish Life, Born Amish and My Amish Heritage, makes a return engagement to the L. E. Phillips Memorial Public Library in Eau Claire on Thursday evening, April 29, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. She will speak about Amish life and her decision to leave it behind, as well as the recent publication of her children’s book, Ruthie Goes to Town: Stories of a Little Amish Girl. The free program will be presented in the Eau Claire Room on the library’s lower level. Books will be available for purchase.

Ms. Garrett will speak about her experiences growing up in the Amish farming community of Kalona, Iowa, and provide information about school, games, chores, foods, crafts and clothing. Her presentation also reflects on the expectations for girls and boys, and then for young women and young men, in Amish families, and on social roles, courtship and marriage, and the often wrenching decisions young men and women must make about going out into the world or staying in the Amish faith and way of life.

Ms. Garrett left the Amish faith and her family in 1996 and was ultimately excommunicated from the Amish church. Since that time, she has fully immersed herself in modern life. Her story represents a unique insight into the Amish, one far different than the publicly held notion that the Amish way of life is forever pristine and free from strife.

For information call 715-839-5004, or e-mail the library at librarian@eauclaire.lib.wi.us

Say Cheese Again!

The positive feedback received both statewide and nationally for the WLA Foundation's Wisconsin Libraries Say Cheese - A Day in Pictures 2009 event has encouraged the Foundation's Campaign Action Committee to plan a similar day in 2010. 

Mark Wednesday, November 17, 2010, on your calendars as the day to have your cameras ready and your "cheese" activities set to go. The committee is currently in the planning stages for this year's Day in Pictures for libraries across the state of Wisconsin and, as details become finalized, the committee will post the updated information once again at www.wisconsinlibraries.org/saycheese. Watch for new details and announcements to come. (Watch, too, for an upcoming article to be published in the ALA's American Libraries magazine about our state's 2009 Wisconsin Libraries Say Cheese event!)



We are announcing the 2010 Say Cheese program at this time for the benefit of those libraries needing advance notice for planning their fall activities schedule. 



Over 100 Wisconsin libraries of all types participated in the 2009 event, posting over 600 photos showcasing their activities, programs, patrons, services, and resources to the Say Cheese Flickr account for all the world to see. For those of you who did not participate in last year's event, we hope to see your photos this year and learn of the many creative ways that you were able to use this relatively simple, easy to implement, and cost-effective event to promote excitement and secure benefits for your library.