It was a beautiful day in Bennett, CO, as Pam Sandlian Smith spoke about their newest library in the Rangeview Library District. The enthusiastic crowd awaited the opening of their new library as speeches were given recognizing those involved in the project. The 7,000 square foot building replaces the original branch that was opened in 1974 on the same site. Many sustainable building practices were used throughout the building including recycled beetle-killed pine for the ceiling and paneling, ground source heating and cooling, solatube natural light sourcing, and photovoltaic solar array. Also unique to this library, as highlighted in the 6/9/09 Denver Post article, “Adams County Libraries Shelving Dewey Decimal” is the elimination of the Dewey Decimal Classification system replaced by the use of word categories. Another fine example of a Colorado library with an eye to the future. Congratulations to all.
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About Shelley
Email: Walchak_S@cde.state.co.us
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Ten libraries are boosting their services to diverse populations by being the first participants in a new program sponsored by the Special Populations & Issues Committee of the Colorado State Library. The Community Conversations program capitalizes on the position that libraries hold in their communities as thriving and active locations where people mingle for education, entertainment and information.
To encourage libraries to mirror their communities’ composition and interests, the program supports the selected institutions with a $500 grant for library materials, mentorships, and technical advice.
Each of the libraries has designed a ‘Community Conversations’ project for 2009. The individual projects will engage an underserved or diverse community, create diversity awareness, or serve a particular customer group through an event or activity. Community leaders and partners will be involved, and the projects will foster dialogue and lifelong learning about cultural differences, as well as celebrate and encourage diversity.
The ten award winners include:
- Adams County School District 50, Clear Lake Middle School Library: Peace Banner International Night for students and families.
- Arapahoe Library District, Arapahoe County Detention Facility Library: Mental Health Connections, book talks and discussions.
- Auraria Library and Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library (Denver Public Library):First Editions & Sequels, exhibition of sculpture and discussions based on African-American women writers.
- Fort Collins Regional Library District, Harmony Library: Asian/Pacific American Outreach and Cultural Festival.
- Fort Morgan Public Library: Women to Women idea exchange and presentations.
- High Plains Library District (Greeley), Diverse Worlds Connect @your library, Somali outreach and cultural appreciation.
- Mesa County Public Library District (Grand Junction): Immigrant Outreach Film & Dialogue Series and community engagement presentations.
- Pueblo City-County Library District: Books à la Carte outreach to community sites.
- Rangeview Library District, Thornton Branch Library: New English Learners classes, conversations and events.
- University of Colorado (Boulder), Oliver Lester Math/Physics Library: Bilingual Education, panel presentation from the college, community and educators.
The Special Populations Committee leads a variety of statewide programs and projects to encourage quality library service to ethnic minority populations, persons with physical and mental disabilities, seniors, the under-served, and other groups. Community Conversations is supported by federal Library Services and Technology Act funding. For information, contact 303-866-6900, or visit www.cde.state.co.us/cdelib/librarydiversity.htm.
On Thursday I posted the link below on libnet:
“On Wednesday night, NBC had some great coverage for libraries during these times of increased use and decreased funding. You may have to copy and paste the url.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/28165432#28165432
After posting this a few folks at the State Library made these comments in response to seeing the news story.
” The one killer thing this [news story] does once again is promote the misconception that the library is “free.” The Fire Department doesn’t advertise themselves that way and their funding doesn’t get cut! I guess I was hoping that LRS and their ROI studies would have provoked more discussion about how we present ourselves, and the outdated idea that “free” from Benjamin Franklin ever meant “without cost”.
What do you think?
A week-long celebration of events took place during the first week of December to honor the opening of the new Durango Public Library. The photos were taken at the ribbon-cutting ceremony on December 1, and you can see the wonderful artwork, beautiful views, crowds of people, and notably, the leader of the project, Sherry Taber, the Director of the Library. Her team of volunteers worked years to attain their goal, and they should be proud of the results. Later in the week at the Gala, Gene Hainer from the Colorado State Library and Ross Callender from CLiC were there to join in the celebration.
Many libraries are not aware that the Colorado Talking Book Library (CTBL), based in Denver, and directed by Debbi MacLeod, offers a wide variety of services to those with disabilities. Debbi recently made a trip down to the Southwest corner of Colorado to inform libraries about the variety of materials and services they can obtain through CTBL. A mere sampling of these resources and services include more than 50,000 titles of recorded Braille and large-print books and magazines; podcasts – all sent postage-free mailing to your home or P.O. box or nursing home or hospital; free play-back machines; foreign language audio magazines in Spanish, French, and German; and music materials in Braille, digital Braille, large print and audio. Applications to receive this assistance are available from either your local library or you can go to www.myctbl.org The photo is of the Ruby Sisson Memorial Library in Pagosa Springs, where Debbi recently visited.
Colorado libraries have been the recipient of over $3000 of funding from Rotary International for Children’s books on Health, Conservation, and Education. This partnership was a collaboration between Rotary District 5470 former District Governor, Jan Williams, and the Colorado Library Consortium. Rotary Clubs donated up to $300 to support their local libraries and libraries agreed to put a Rotary bookmark in the new materials, create a display showcasing the books, and speak at the Rotary Club about libraries. The photo shows some of the books that Woodruff Memorial Library in La Junta received. Thanks, Rotarians!
CLiC was pleased to have given 4 scholarships to the Reference Renaissance Conference in Denver in early August. Here are some edited responses from the four attendees.
During the conference, and afterwards, my overall impression remained the same: one of hope and energy. Hope for the future of libraries and reference, and energy of both presenters and attendees. I came away with some great ideas, specifically the creation of a Staff Portal intranet (from the Reference Tracking session) and Library Facebook Fan Page (from the Facebook Outreach session), both of which we have already instituted. Our MPL Staff Portal is a place for the staff to communicate online about all library departments; we even have a place for personal “Happy Hour” conversations. The staff appreciates having one place to get all library information, and is currently learning how to navigate and engage on the site. We are all learning about Facebook, too, with our Library Fan Page – we got three fans in the first day of page creation! We found that it is also very easy to send event ‘invitations’, and are happy to have one more place to advertise our library programs and connect with our community.
Victoria A. Petersen
Technology Manager
Mancos Public Library
From Antiquity to Technology: A Renaissance of Libraries Today and Tomorrow
Beginning with an inspiring and thought-provoking Keynote speech by David Lewis to the theme of “rebirth” within reference and libraries, the Reference Renaissance conference, with over 500 attendees, proved to be one of the best conferences I’ve attended in the past 3 years. Filled with great optimism and acceptance of our fast-paced world, the sessions proved to introduce new concepts and the use of collaborative technologies in libraries today and of the future. As Colorado State Librarian Gene Hainer quoted, “There is nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so” [W. Shakespeare], moving forward in reference and library services is greatly influenced by our collective mind-set. Presenters urged the importance of positivism and optimism as we move forward in discovering library services in the 21st Century. As colleagues and professionals, we must be proactive about our libraries, information resources, and our users’ information needs. We must renew our commitment with ourselves, our careers, our libraries and colleagues, and ultimately our communities of information seekers. The future of libraries is exhilarating!
Sarah Myers, Library Director
Red Feather Lakes Community Library
As a result of attending the Reference Renaissance Conference, my staff and I have entered discussion of just what we want our reference service to look like, and how will we achieve that. We have begun planning a rearrangement of our print collection with format free, bookstore-style display and themed location in mind. We are poised to pilot chat reference through our Plinkit website. We will begin discussion of how we can better market our online reference resources to patrons, especially our youth. Of all the ideas I’d to pursue, I think the most critical things we will do involve education. Instead of just getting answers for people, as has been traditionally done, today’s information seekers usually want to know how they can find answers themselves. That doesn’t mean they want us to point to an area in the stacks, hand them a URL, or sign them up for computer time. It means that we take the time and opportunity to connect personally, seize the teachable moment, and assist them at their point of need to master the skills needed to become information literate. In the end, the ability to find and evaluate the information they find will serve them much better than a hundred single answers. Yes, I know, the more we teach the fewer tally marks we’ll have on our reference tracking sheets. It’s a small price to pay for meaningful, and hopefully transformational, service.
Sandy Messick, Director
Woodruff Memorial Library
The Reference Renaissance conference was a real eye-opener for someone like myself from a small public library district. The conference was quite large, with more participants than there are residents in my little town! Many were from large universities from around the USA, as well as some from other countries. The conference presenters were clearly focused on the needs of academic libraries, although smaller library needs were also addressed.
There was a stimulating array of speakers with computer backgrounds who were familiar with the technology that would propel reference into the twenty-first century. While some spoke about the need for face-to-face reference services (or should I say, side-by-side partnering reference services!), the majority were illustrating the multi-faceted ways of on-line and electronic contact that is preferred by the younger generation. The entire conference was committed to keeping the reference departments a vital and vibrant part of the libraries of our nation.
Edith Strate, Adult Services Librarian
Juniper Library
In support of National Library Week, April 13 to 19, 2008, ebrary®, a leading provider of e-content services and technology, today announced that it will provide librarians as well as students and faculty in library science and related programs with complimentary access to its Library Center for one year.
Subsidized by ebrary, the Library Center includes more than 85 full-text e-books covering topics such as digital library development, general collection development, and the history of libraries and librarianship, as well as illustrated guides from the Library of Congress. Contributing publishers include Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Idea Group, Inc., Greenwood Publishing Group, Library of Congress, and MIT Press.
To receive complimentary access, students, faculty, and librarians may register at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=iLchAc260S528_2botn4tcig_3d_3d.
“ebrary is dedicated to serving the needs of the library community, including the next generation of librarians,” said Christopher Warnock, CEO of ebrary. “We are pleased to participate in National Library Week by providing access to a selection of relevant e-books that we hope will provide additional knowledge that students, faculty, and librarians can use today as well as in the future.”
One part of the project is National Read Across America Day, an observance in the United States held this year on March 3rd, the birthday of Dr. Seuss. I was fortunate to be invited by Janet Oliver, Teacher Librarian, to a celebration at the Animas Valley Elementary School in Durango this year where the superintendent of schools, Mary Barter, the county manager, the new city manager, and several other Durango folks were involved. Who can
ever turn down reading a Dr. Seuss book to a child?CAL was great this year; in fact the one complaint I heard was that there were too many good sessions being offered at the same time! CLiC had a lot of fun at their booth practicing our French and speaking to folks from around the State. Winners for our Nancy Pearl prizes are Sue Keefer – Fort Lyon Correctional Center and Megan Ellis – Aurora Public Library. Valerie’s presentation on “How to Manage Your Boss” and Shelley’s “Time Management: The GTD Way” were both highly attended and well received. Lisa was the proud recipient of the CAL award for the Best Technology project for LEO, which she graciously shared with the CLiC staff and Quipu group. Ross celebrated a “special” birthday, calling on his good humor while colleagues made sure everyone at the conference knew to wish him Happy Birthday. Robin had her first exposure to working in the booth and enjoyed meeting so many new people. Kudos to the planning committee, headed by Jen Cotton and Jo Sarling who did a fabulous job, and especially to Kathleen Nolan, who is just amazing. Everyone enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday and safe travels.
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