If I Could Travel in Time, I'd Visit....

Doodle 4 Google, a contest where students (open to all K-12 students in U.S. schools (including homeschoolers)  in the United States use their artistic talents to think big and redesign Google’s homepage logo for millions to see. 


This year ask students are asked to exercise their creative imaginations around the theme, "If I could travel in time, I'd visit…" One lucky student artist will see their artwork appear on the Google homepage and take home some cool prizes--and as a special bonus, the winning artwork will appear on a limited edition of Crayola's iconic 64 box!


What are the prizes for winners?

• The winning doodler’s artwork will be featured on the U.S. Google homepage for one day on May 18th, 2012.
• The National Winner will also get a $30,000 college scholarship to be used at the school of his or her choice, a trip to New York City for an event on May 17, 2012, a Chromebook, a Wacom digital design tablet, and a t-shirt printed with his or her doodle on it. We'll also award the winner's school a $50,000 grant towards the establishment of a computer lab or technology programming.
• Each of the other 4 National Finalists will win a $5,000 educational grant to be used at the school of their choice, a trip to New York City for an event on May 17, 2012, a Wacom digital design tablet and a t-shirt printed with their doodle on it.
• Each of the other 50 State Winners will win a trip to New York City for an event on May 17, 2012, a t-shirt printed with their doodle on it, and their doodle -- along with those of the National Finalists and Winner -- will be featured in a special exhibit at the New York Public Library.
• Each of the other 200 State Finalists will receive a certificate and see their artwork featured on the Doodle 4 Google contest website.

How to enter?  http://www.google.com/doodle4google/info.html

Building a 'Library Aware' Community: Making the Connection

Does your library need to build stronger community connections, but the thought of where to start leaves you feeling overwhelmed? Here is a webinar that will inspire you to kick-start the process. 

Four amazing librarians will share the philosophies that helped them integrate outreach into their library's DNA.

Thursday February 16th at 1pm.

This will also be available as a webcast archive if you can't attend on February 16th.

visit 
http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/tools/webcast/893129-388/building_a_libraryaware_community_making.html.csp

Ellsworth Elves and the Mystery Quilt

Your local library elves at the Ellsworth Public Library had a very fun holiday season, as shown by the photo.

We had a great time over Christmas with lots of holiday events. Now, to start out the new year, the library elves have scheduled many more fun, interesting and valuable programs.

As part of the Ellsworth Sesquicentennial Celebration, the library is inviting the public (individuals or groups) to help create a fabric mural to be displayed at the library throughout the summer. Each person or group who participates will create a panel commemorating a landmark or scene from the Ellsworth area, past or present. Anyone is welcome to participate. Visit the library for more information or give us a call.

The yearly Mystery Quilt will be in full swing with the first clue available as of Thursday, Jan. 19. Don’t know what a Mystery Quilt is?

Clues are given out each week on how to create a quilt step by step. The quilter doesn’t know what the completed project will look like until several clues have been given. It’s a lot of fun and there’s much anticipation.

At the end of the program, all those who took part meet for an evening of sharing where everyone shows their completed quilt (or as much as they have done!). There’s lots of oohs and aahs and refreshments, too. This program has grown over the years and many regulars at the library can’t wait to take part.

For more please read the Jan. 11  Pierce County Herald article.

Shelley Anderson is the Ellsworth Library Director.

Hey Book Lovers, Be a Bookgiver on World Book Night, April 23, 2012!

Do you love a book so much you want everyone to read it?

World Book Night launched in the UK in 2011 and saw passionate readers across that beautiful country, give 1 million books to light or non readers to spread the joy and love of reading. Reading changes lives and at the heart of World Book Night lies the simplest of ideas and acts - that of putting a book into another person’s hand and saying ‘this one’s amazing, you have to read it’.

Now, it's our time to join the cause.

World Book Night 2012 will be held on April 23 - in the US and the UK - and we’re looking for 50,000 volunteer book givers to hand out 20 copies each - for a total of 1 million free special World Book Night paperbacks!

In order to be a book giver you must be:

• Aged 16 or over and a resident of the United States
• Able to pick up 20 copies of your book from your local bookshop or library
• Committed to giving your books away on World Book Night to non or light readers

Givers will be chosen based on

• Where, to whom & why you want to give books away

For more information about the specially chosen World Book Night books click here

To read the terms and conditions of being a World Book Night giver click here

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

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