• * Share with you the latest services and resources we can offer Colorado libraries
• * Hear how libraries have transformed your lives

CSL at CAL 2009 – Schedule (PDF)

Teams of grant reviewers, composed of librarians of all types from throughout Colorado, scrutinized every word within each proposal. For a library or library service organization to prepare a top-notch proposal is no small feat, and reviewers took their task just as seriously.

The breadth of proposals, both in terms of content and reach in Colorado, was impressive.  All grants awarded addressed the long-range goal “that Colorado’s residents will be able to access resources and services electronically through libraries to meet their information and learning needs.”

A list of 10 grants awarded for 2009-10 follows below. For more information about the LSTA grant submission and review process, your questions are welcomed by Jean Marie Heilig, LSTA Grant Coordinator (heilig_j@cde.state.co.us)

Grants awarded:

• McClave School—Improving Technology Integration and Student Writing Skills through Digital Scrapbooking, $3,923. This grant will provide training, instruction, equipment and inspiration necessary for students to create curriculum based digital scrapbooks and/or similar projects. Projects include local history writing for sixth-grade students; handbooks on internet safety for eighth-grade students; literary criticism handbooks and school history projects for tenth- and eleventh-grade students.

• Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy (CLEL)—Creating an Online Road to Reading, $23,500. In partnership with Rocky Mountain Public Broadcasting Services, CLEL will create online video clips that model songs, rhymes and finger plays appropriate for babies, toddlers and preschoolers. Each clip will include early literacy tips to increase understanding of child development and pre-literacy needs.

• Southern Peaks Public Library—San Luis Valley Libraries Technology Learning Project, $72,559. Nine public libraries are collaborating on this project to offer technology training, information literacy resources and improved access to technology in the San Luis valley. A part-time bilingual technology trainer will be hired to teach computer classes via new laptops and PC’s at each participating library.

• Pikes Peak Library District—Play and Learn, Colorado, $15,000. Every elementary student in Colorado studies state history to meet the Colorado model content standards, including over 8,000 fourth-graders in El Paso County. The Pikes Peak Library District will provide students with historical information to assist in their studies by developing an interactive, Web-based Colorado history game for fourth-grade students.

• Westminster Public Library—Online Access Expansion, $19,856. The Irving Street Community Library will offer computer usage classes (computers for absolute beginners, Internet skills, Microsoft Word, e-mail) and job search classes (creating e-mail accounts, applying for jobs online, creating resumes, searching for jobs online) to their adult and senior population. The existing Homework Help sessions will be enhanced by increasing the availability of computer stations to students from Westminster School District 50 who attend the successful after school program.

• Salida Regional Library—Mobile Computer Education Lab, $12,000. As a way of improving access to educational materials for its patrons, the library will purchase computers for a mobile community lab. The library will also purchase the Learning Express database that provides instructional tutorials in such areas as GED preparation, job skills and preparation for citizenship and civil service examinations. Computer class series will be designed to meet the needs of both current patrons and other community members who wish to learn how to use computers and access information electronically.

• High Plains Library District—Southeast Greeley Literacy Center, $20,000. The Literacy Center will serve as a connection to information, education and inspiration for people of all ages by providing computer services and enabling users to properly utilize the technology. Patrons will have access to read and return book racks and delivery of library materials placed on hold.

• Auraria Library—Latinos in Colorado: Research Sources and Research Strategies, $20,000. The project will digitize a collection of images representing the experiences of Latinos in Colorado. It will focus on identifying, describing, and hosting primary materials about the Latino experience. An instructional video will be produced on Colorado history research methods and materials which will guide users on how to research and use the collection and other resources.

• Adams State College, Nielsen Library— San Luis Valley Historic Digitization Project, $12,739. The Nielsen Library Archives houses rare books, manuscripts, sound recordings and thousands of photographs. These collections are used for their historical significance of the San Luis Valley. This project will digitize photographs from the collection and make them available to the Adams State College Community, residents of the San Luis Valley and those living outside of the valley.

• Automated Systems Colorado Consortium—The Power of Synergy in Action, $200,000. Funding will allow the migration of data from 43 separate member library systems (24 public, 15 schools, three academic, one special) into a single, open-source union catalog. This union catalog will provide the infrastructure for patron initiated interlibrary loan requests and enhance connections between Colorado libraries and improve services to almost 300,000 residents.

Join your fellow school librarians and learn about the COMPANION DOCUMENTS that correlate with the new school library “Standards for the 21st Century Learner.”

The attendees will participate in lively discussions and work in groups to develop a better understanding of the new standards documents mentioned above and how to implement them into lesson development and into their school library program.

For Public Library Youth Services Librarians:
Youth Services Workshops – in October – register now!

Annual workshops for public library youth services librarians to network and learn about the 2010 Statewide Summer Reading Program and other youth services in public libraries:

-2010 statewide summer reading programs, presented by Kathy Barco:
-“Make a Splash” (children) and “Make Waves” (teen)
-Lunch and networking
-After-school programming including “The After-School Network”
-Report on the LSTA Early Literacy (CLEL) Storytime grants
-Update on State Library youth services initiatives
-Summer Reading manuals

Contact Michelle Gebhart, 303-866-6894, for more information.

The keynote speaker for all three workshops is George Needham V.P of OCLC. Don’t miss this event, because George has some very thought-provoking ideas on how your library can be a transformational force in your community.

On top of that, there will be over 25 workshops to choose from.

Registration fee is $35/day with breakfast and lunch included!

Grand Junction
Greeley
Pueblo

The registration fee bumps up to $40/day two weeks before the event, so register early!

Complete a scholarship form and you may be selected to receive two days of registration – free!

• Multimedia production in libraries – videos, podcasts, etc.
• Literacy – engaging the larger community (One Book, etc.)
• The Library Online* – AskColorado, local archives online, 21 Plinkit websites
• Green Buildings
• Creation spaces, activities, collections
• Community Outreach
• Job support and economic development
• Gaming*
• Services to Special Populations*

* Indicates a topic in which the State Library is involved.

CLEL formed in January 2008 and have presented workshops, created a website, received a grant to expand to more Colorado libraries. These Colorado librarians share a passion for insuring that every child in Colorado has fun activities and pre-literacy experiences that develop the neurological pathways in the first three years of life. “Every Child Ready to Read” is the program used and advocated by CLEL to insure that all kids show up at Kindergarten ready to learn. CLEL is an advisory group to the Colorado State Library.

Library instruction is going video. Many academic libraries are creating online tutorials for students to learn research techniques. CSU, for example, has developed engaging Flash tutorials for various aspects of the research process.

Other literacy activities held annually: Salida – Poetry Festival, Steamboat Springs – Author Festival, and Manitou Springs – Writing Festival and Workshops.

Many libraries have purchased through the statewide vendor agreement, downloadable audio books for people in their communities. Now when you see people in rural Colorado with iPods, they might just be listening to a book.

The Denver Public Library is also providing workforce support, computer training, and other services for job seekers in Denver.

This year’s grants totaled nearly $257,000. All grants addressed a goal in the long-range plan to improve library services to Colorado students and adult learners that support educational achievement and lifelong learning.

Awards were made to:

• Academy School District 20, Summit Preschool and Middle School Programs, Library and Literacy Partnership Program, $7,300
  At-risk middle school students will serve as mentors to at-risk preschool students. They will meet biweekly to select books, read together and engage in questioning activities.

•  Adams State College, Nielsen Library, Mobile Learning Center and Laptop Loan Program, $18,400 
  The Nielsen Library program will improve access to technology in the San Luis Valley and help the underserved student population use resources at Adams State College. Training sessions will be offered at public schools, community centers, retirement centers and nursing facilities.
   
• Arapahoe Library District, Parent and Child Literacy Project, $9,462 
  This grant provides library services to the children of non-English speaking adults. The grant targets children aged three to 11 in the Sheridan branch and new Glendale branch.
   
• Boulder Valley Family Literacy Program, General Education Development (GED) at the Library: A Gateway to More, $18,012
  Free adult GED study classes will be offered in the Boulder and Lafayette public libraries
   
• Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy (CLEL), Enhancing Colorado Library Story Times: Early Literacy Skills and Messages, $17,922
  Early literacy and library story time practitioners will train library staff in 10 small to medium sized public libraries on the principles, skills and messages of the “Every Child Ready to Read” program developed by the Public Library Association.
   
• Colorado Springs School District 11, Penrose Elementary Library Media Center, Using Digital Media and Storytelling to Improve Literacy, $8,445
  Students will improve literacy skills through writing stories and scripts which they will then use to produce digital media projects.

• Denver Public Library, Central Branch, Technology Empowerment Program, $20,000
  Customers will have improved access to computers, computer training classes and individual assistance in a new technology training room.
   
• Douglas County Libraries Foundation, Book Start, $20,000
  Early literacy training will be available for child care providers in 48 child care facilities. Twenty-five volunteers will be trained and 1,200 children will receive close to 5,500 hours per week of literacy instruction.
   
• Estes Park Public Library Foundation, Estes Valley Partnership to Expand and Enrich Informal Education, $18,533
  Estes Park Public Library in partnership with various organizations will provide educational after school programs for children attending grades four through eight.
   
• Fort Collins Regional Library District, Book Express, $20,000
  The library district will partner with the Poudre School District to pilot a book by mail program. This program will target approximately 800 preschool through sixth grade children in rural areas of the library district.
   
• Fort Lewis College, John F. Reed Library, Fort Lewis College Research Commons, $14,350
  An electronic collection of original student work consisting of research papers, portfolios and creative works will be formed. The digital repository will serve as a publishing, research and learning instrument for students.  
   
• Johnson & Wales University, Connecting Information Literacy to Learning, $19,929 
  Students will have access to a larger computer lab where they will develop skills in obtaining, evaluating, and using information in an effective and socially responsible manner.
   
• Loveland Public Library, Loveland Kids Love to Read: Loveland Public Library Literacy Outreach, $16,581
  The Loveland Public Library in collaboration with the City of Loveland Housing Authority will provide 90 minute bimonthly literacy programs with groups of children ages three to 14 years of age in six low income complexes in Loveland. Their goal is to have 1,632 contacts with resident children. 
   
• Pikes Peak Library District, Ready Set Read! $16,374
  Staff training will be provided to assist parents, teachers, and tutors in the identification of appropriate reading level materials for students. All new and existing materials will be remarked and shelved according to reading level making them easier to locate.
   
• Pueblo County School District 70, Vineland Elementary School Media Center, The Missing Link-Linking Student Achievement with the Community Library, $1,517
  Students and their parents will have access to an upgraded and expanded Web based Accelerated Reader Program that will encourage and foster student achievement with the use of existing community library resources.
   
• State Library’s Special Populations & Issues Committee, Community Conversations, $30,000
  Ten to 12 local libraries will create programming that, via outreach to community leaders, partners, and diverse participants will foster dialogue and lifelong learning about cultural differences.

For more information regarding these grants, contact Jean Marie Heilig, LSTA Coordinator at 303-866-6731 or heilig_j@cde.state.co.us

A member of the community, originally from Australia, uses the library’s wireless network to videoconference with family members a world away, using Skype. I’d say this qualifies as a “library-without-walls service,” wouldn’t you? The story is worth reading in the Ski-High Daily News.

Hats off to the GCLD for continuing to serve its community in innovative ways!

While there, Sharon took several photos including these.

A Town Hall meeting is coming to your area soon.

State Librarian – Gene Hainer,  Martin Garnar of the Colorado Association of Libraries, and Valerie Horton  from the Colorado Library Consortium (CLiC) are eager to meet you.

They also want to share with you

*  How these organizations support the work of libraries
* The future of libraries in Colorado
* The future of the library profession

So grab a colleague, a friend, or a neighbor and head on over to one of the eleven Town Hall Meetings near you.

Refreshments will be served!

Please register in advance so we know how many cookies to bring.

If you have any questions, please contact Lisa Priebe at 303-422-1150 or lpriebe@clicweb.org.

Thanks, see you soon!

A listserv has been established as a first step in doing this and anyone may subscribe by visiting http://email.marmot.org/mailman/listinfo/rpll . With almost 40 subscribers already, spread from Granby to Delta and everywhere in between, I am excited about the potential for RPLL.

The next meeting of RPLL will be on July 30th in Glenwood Springs at a location TBD.
Stay tuned for further developments!!