IFLS Fast Facts

Here are some Fast Facts on Indianhead Federated Library System (compiled from 2010 data)

•  The Indianhead Federated Library System (IFLS) has 53 public library members that serve a population of 460,759 people.
• Over 50% of the residents are registered library users. They visited an area library over 2.6 million times in 2010.
• Over 1.8 million books, magazine, sound recordings and videos are owned by IFLS public libraries.
• Over 5.5 million items were circulated by IFLS libraries in 2010. Over 1/3 of these circulations were children’s materials. Over the past 5 years circulation has increased by over 17%.
• Library programs designed for children were attended by over 120,000 people. Children’s events included preschool and afterschool programs as well as summer reading programs. Programs for adults included computer training, author visits, book discussions, financial literacy, and nature talks.
• Over 550,000 users accessed an Internet computer. They used computers for such things as searching for a job; filing unemployment; networking with individuals; reading emails; researching a question; or finding a local attraction. Nearly all IFLS libraries offer wireless Internet access as well as access to electronic books and downloadable audio and video files.
• Interlibrary loan traffic to and from other libraries reached new heights at over 2 million items, an increase of over 2270% since 2000.
• The average support per capita in the IFLS area is $33.09 or about 9 cents per day for public library operations.
• Patrons have access to a variety of databases such as:
• Ancestry Library Edition ­
• Hobbies and Crafts 
• Small Engine Repair 
• Home Improvement 
• NoveList Plus

 see them all at www.more.lib.wi.us/screens/research.html

Webinar: Public Libraries as Financial Literacy Providers

Tuesday, December13th
1:00-2:00 CT

Join CFS Affiliate, Kristin Eschenfelder as she presents her research which examined the activities public libraries use to increase the financial literacy of their service populations. This will include an overview of an analysis of the finance-related hyperlinks contained on a sample of Wisconsin public library websites, findings of interviews with librarians about their perceptions of the challenges of offering financial-literacy based information and services while also summarizing the results of on-site and remote examinations of the physical collections at each library site where interviews were conducted. Discussants Billy Hensley of NEFE and Ken Hall of Fond Du Lac, WI Public Library will offer their in-the-field expertise.

To register for the free webinar, go to 

https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07e5ecnv5x4b1f564d&oseq=

FREE Library Grants Center

Salem Press launches FREE Library Grants Center Salem Press has launched The Library Grants Center, http://salempress.com/store/grants/grants.htm,  a free, online directory of grants for libraries. Developed and edited by Mirela Roncevic for Salem Press, the grants tool empowers librarians to locate library grant funding sources on the national, state, regional and local levels (US sources). The center is free, requires no login or authentication, and will be updated on a regular basis. It also contains a how-to area with a tutorial, FAQ, and lists of resources. 


 According to the Salem press release, the web site focuses on grants available to all types of libraries and from a range of sources—public and private— including professional organizations, large corporations, and family foundations. “Everyone’s aware of the financial pressures on libraries. They are enormous and growing,” said Peter Tobey, Salem Press’s Director of Sales & Marketing. “So we were motivated to try to relieve some of that pressure by developing self-help tools for librarians. The Library Grant Center is that tool.” 


The Library Grants Center consists of three distinct sections: 

• National Library Grants features a sophisticated search tool that lets grant seekers perform simple keyword searches or narrow their search options. A range of browsing options is also provided, including browsing by grant category, purpose, and deadline. 
• State Library Grants is a state-by-state guide that points librarians to grant information specific to their state and to the foundations in their area that support libraries. 
• Library Grants How-To provides in-depth information on the grant applications process, complete with extensive lists of resources for further research and pointing to grant writing tools available online at no cost. 

“We hope librarians will help us add to the Center so that, as a community, we can keep it up-to-date and growing,” added Tobey. “We are committed to keeping it current and useful.”


According to Roncevic, “the proliferation of social media outlets has inundated the library and publishing industry with relentless dialog. While dialog is important, we shouldn’t forget the tools. The more free tools we build and share, the more we grow our community’s footprint. The bigger that footprint, the greater the benefit for all involved. The Library Grants Center is a free tool that addresses the needs of librarians looking for funding but also a practical reminder to publishers and vendors that their support still matters a great deal.”


http://salempress.com/store/grants/grants.htm

Food For Fines Artwork

Lisa Ludwig, Library Director at Colfax Public Library wanted to share this awesome artwork that Mrs. Stephanie Ulcej's 5th grade class created for the library.  

The whole month of November, the Colfax Public Library is doing a "food for fines" program and Lisa asked Mrs. Ulcej if her 5th grade class would create a fun and colorful poster.  They went all out and created this 3D poster!  

Celebrating 15 Years

Durand Community Library recently celebrated 15 years of being a combination public/high school library. Congratulations!


Here is the combination staff around the 15^th Anniversary cake.   Left to right: Kris Sauve, school district librarian, Linda Weisenbeck, high school library aide, Patti Blount, public director, and Avonelle Lamphere, library assistant/children’s librarian.

(right) Public library director Patti Blount with author Marsha Qualey who came to the Durand Library as part of the Chippewa Valley Book Festival.  She talked to the classes in the junior and senior high school about writing.

PREP To Get Hired!

PREP to Get Hired is a four part educational series that gives tips and advice to job seekers that will improve their chances of having their resume come to the top of the pile, of having them be one of the people called for a phone interview, and of having them be in the top 5 who get invited in for an in-person interview.  The information provided will also help participants improve the impression they make in the interview so they can become the best candidate for the job.

Topics covered will include resume writing, interviewing tips, and how to find job openings.  But what’s unique is that we’ll be giving them from the perspective of someone who does the hiring at a company – what is it that HR professionals need to see from you, read from you,  or hear you say that will first get you noticed, then invited in for an interview, and then hopefully offered the job.

The program will also be teaching participants ways to make contacts with people that can lead to job opportunities that will never be found on a website search.

The sessions will run on Tuesday, November 15; Tuesday, November 22; Wednesday, November 30; and Tuesday, December 6.  Session times are 5:30 pm- 7:00 pm. They are open to the public, but the intended audience is people who have already held professional positions in their life and find themselves either out of work or needing to make a change.  It can often happen that a person with professional experience in a certain type of job can’t find any work of that type – but our sessions will help them identify the skills and knowledge they have that can be transferred into other types of jobs where there might be openings.

To register, click here http://chippewavalley.shrm.org/forms/registration-prep-get-hired-program

Sponsored by Chippewa Valley Society for Human Resource Management and Workforce Resource located in the Eau Claire Job Center.

The Library Radio Network

Did you know there is a new Library Radio Network sponsored by Library Management Today? You can listen to podcasts online at kiesermanmedia.podbean.com :

Welcome to a podcast station of fascinating interviews, news you can use, and compelling feature stories, all focusing on America's libraries. Our talented team of audio journalists brings you up-to-the minute information on library leaders and the libraries they manage in a convenient downloadable MP3 format. Stay tuned for frequent new updates to our network.

Letters About Literature

Young readers write to an author describing how that author’s work somehow changed the reader’s view of the world or himself/herself. Readers respond to the book they’ve read by exploring the personal relationship between themselves, the author and the book’s characters or themes. Visit the website for specifics on entering, last years winners and even some fancy envelope art that carried the entries. http://www.lettersaboutliterature.org/home

Writing Prompt Ideas for November

• 11/5   Book Lover's Day - Share your favorite books relating to the work your nonprofit does. 
• 11/11   Veteran's Day -  Highlight volunteers, staff or clients who have served. 
• 11/15   America Recycles Day -  Share how your organization recycles. For a twist, try "recycling" old content that got a good response. 
• 11/17  Great American Smokeout -  Encourage your readers to put out their cigarettes for the day -- or encourage them to break some other bad habit related to your work. 
• 11/24  Thanksgiving (U.S.). Thanks supporters, clients, and volunteers. Email messages of gratitude around Thanksgiving are a great way to kick off a series of fundraising emails in November and December.

from Kiva Miller at www.nonprofitmarketingguide.com

Find Basic Computer Skills Help Here

Do you ever wish you had a way to refer people to places where they could get help with their basic computer skills? Take a look at a new resource--we are hoping it is a comprehensive look at the offerings for classes, labs, and one-on-one training for basic computer skills, arranged by county. We'll be rolling out this site to other service providers (Job Centers and Literacy Councils, to start with). It is easy to update, so if you have suggestions for additions, please let Leah know! http://techskillshelp.iflsweb.org

Boyceville Public Library Launched New Site

The Boyceville Public Library recently launched it's brand new website that is light and fun and full of great information.  The new site, as many of the new sites created for IFLS libraries, is easy to update and maintain by the librarians themselves.  So, take a peek and see what you think.

www.boycevillelibrary.org

Three Simple Marketing Rules All Libraries Should Live By...

1. Market the service, not the content.Telling people about content puts the onus on them to think about how they can integrate that content into their lives; many people simply don’t have time to analyse what we’re offering in that way. We should be making it explicit how we can help them so they need no imagination to understand it – and that comes from marketing services. To paraphrase the awesome Sara Batts, Content is, Services do. Doing is more useful to people than being, so when you have a very limited time in which to appeal to people with limited attention span, market to them what you can do.
   
2. No one cares about the how!Can’t stress this enough: libraries are seemingly process focused, but the the rest of the world is focused on results. When marketing a service we should concentrate on what people aspire to, not the tools which will get them there. A classic example is databases: we say things like “we subscribe to X databases which you can access via the library catalogue” or, even worse, we name them individually. We market the features; what people want to know about is the benefits. Like Mary Ellen Bates says, the way to market databases is to say ‘we provide you with information Google cannot find’.
3. Market what THEY value, but continue to do what WE value.
   The SLA’s Alignment Project unearthed some fascinating truths about what we as libraries and librarians think are important, and what our patrons and potential patrons think are important. There are marked differences, I’d urge you to read about it for yourselves. (To sum up, users put the emphasis on value-driven attributes, we put it on functional attributes. This is, essentially, points 1 and 2 above, mixed together.) But the key thing is this – it doesn’t mean the stuff we value isn’t important, it just means that it isn’t as valued AS highly by other people. So we continue to DO all the important stuff we value, we just concentrate the marketing on promoting the stuff THEY value.
   .

You don’t need to be a genius to do this stuff, or to have huge marketing budgets, or even loads of time. It’s just a case of reconfiguring our existing efforts to acknowledge some simple rules.

Any that you’d add?

- thewikiman blog

Traveling Exhibit Opportunity for Public Libraries

Ten public libraries will be selected to host an interactive exhibition called Discover Earth: A Century of Change. Maybe it will be your library!  Deadline to apply is coming up quickly.  Visit http://ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/ppo/programming/discoverearth/index.cfm for more information.

Hudson Area Library Mobile Website!

The first IFLS mobile site is here! Check out Hudson's site on your mobile device!  It's clean and simple and gets you what you need in a hurry.  More of these mobile library sites will be making their debuts in the future.


 m.hudsonpubliclibrary.org

Connect With Your Kids @ Your Library

Connect with your kids@ your library, ALA’s new campaign that encourages parents to spend more quality time with their children at their library, is offering the popular family guides and bookmarks to libraries. There is a limited supply available. You can also download the bookmarks to print yourself.

The New MORE Online Catalog is Here!

Have you visited the brand new MORE Online Catalog yet?  Pretty spiffy and very functional.  Check it out at more.lib.wi.us

Share Your Story!

We are excited to announce our new web page, Share Your Story,  for collecting stories from library users.  These stories will be added into an IFLS database and used to in press releases, website content, and local, regional and statewide advocacy. Our member libraries will have access to the stories gathered from their library patrons to use for their own advocacy.  Check it out and share YOUR story.


http://speakup.iflsweb.org/shareyourstory.php

'Wisconsin Authors & Illustrators Speak' Grants

Applications are now being accepted for the Wisconsin Authors and Illustrators Speak grant program of the Wisconsin Center for the Book.
Communities can celebrate and explore the literature of Wisconsin authors and illustrators through a grant from the Wisconsin Center for the Book. The grant policies stipulate that organizations and groups receive the award but funding goes directly to the author or illustrator. The Wisconsin Center for the Book will award up to four grants of $300 each.

• The event must be free of admission charges.
• The honorarium will be paid directly to the speaker.

This program is made possible through the cooperation of Woodland Pattern Book Center and generosity of donors.
Applications can be found at: http://wisconsincenterforthebook.wordpress.com/

Cumberland Library Invites You to Their Thank You Party April 10th

Thomas St. Angelo Public Library in Cumberland cordially invites you to attend their Thank You Party on Sunday April 10th from 1:30 - 3:30pm.  

Thank you to all the donors who supported the creation of our beautiful building and to all the patrons who turned the bricks and mortar into a vibrant and growing community center.

Come see the beautiful new painting in the children's area and chat with the artist, Jeff Hile.

Workshop: Autism 101 and Adapting Programs and Services for People on the Autism Spectrum

Sign up for this workshop by Friday April 1st!  Send name, email address and library of each person participating to registration@ifls.lib.wi.us . Many many children, families and adults are affected by autism. Learn the basics to help you problem solve and provide better service.
http://docs.iflsweb.org/pr/Autism_flyer.pdf

Summer VISTA Positions Available for Placement in Public Libraries

The Department of Public Instruction is excited to announce the availability of a second summer VISTA grant for communities across Wisconsin. This grant will be administered in partnership with UW-Extension and the US Department of Agriculture.

Basically, this grant will allow us to sponsor 20-30 summer VISTAs across the state to serve your site (at NO cost) for 8 weeks to work on the following types of issues:

*       Benefit (i.e. foodshare) outreach, screening and application assistance
*       Farmers market and community garden development
*       Facilitate community nutrition education workshops
*       Improve the participation rates and efficacy of Summer Food Programs
*       Assist in the collection and distribution of food at area food banks

The focus must be on hunger, but if there are other activities that you feel might relate, please let me know. We are open to placing VISTAs at schools, non profits, libraries, or other community based organizations.

At this time we are trying to get a sense of how many sites might be interested in having summer volunteers to do this kind of work. Please let me know if you would be interested and how many members you feel you could support.

Once more information is sent to us from our State Office we can get a host site application and other information out to you. But letting me know of your interest will hold a spot (or spots) for you.

Summer VISTAs, in return for serving your site full time for 8 weeks, will receive a monthly living allowance of $891/month in urban areas and $858 in rural areas. They will also receive an education award of $1,174.


Contact: Betsy Prueter
Project Coordinator
VISTA Family-School-Community Partnerships AmeriCorps Every Student a 
Graduate Community Learning and Partnerships Team Department of Public Instruction
125 S. Webster Street
P.O. Box 7841
Madison, WI  53707
608-267-7290
608-267-2296 (fax)
betsy.prueter@dpi.wi.gov

Leave the libraries alone. You don't understand their value.

Best-selling author Philip Pullman spoke to a packed meeting on 20 January 2011, called to defend Oxfordshire libraries. He gave this inspirational speech. This is a repost from falseeconomy.org.uk/blog.


Read the full speech at http://falseeconomy.org.uk/blog/save-oxfordshire-libraries-speech-philip-pullman

Rural Libraries Deal With Huge User Increase Despite Stagnant Budgets

Library directors in Bloomer and Colfax tell us they've seen lots of growth, particularly in their computer usage, in just the last two years. Watch the video clip from WEAU-TV Eau Claire. http://www.weau.com/home/headlines/Rural_libraries_deal_with_huge_user_increase_despite_stagnant_budgets_113314979.html

Start the Conversation

Library Funding isn't a given.  Make a positive change in your community.   Visit this link to Geek the Library to see ideas for Who You Can Talk To,  What You Can Say, and What You Can Do today.