Archive for the 'Special Libraries' Category

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Protecting Cultural Collections – FREE Workshops

Register now for a FREE two-part workshop on Protecting Cultural Collections, available in both Fort Collins and Colorado Springs. Topics include disaster prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery.

Part 1: Prevention & Preparedness – 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

  • Ft. Collins: Wednesday, June 22, 2011 – Colorado State University, Morgan Library
  • Colorado Springs: Wednesday, June 29, 2011 – University of Colorado, Kraemer Family Library

Part 2: Response & Recovery – 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

  • Ft. Collins: Tuesday, July 26, 2011 – Colorado State University, Morgan Library
  • Colorado Springs: Thursday, July 28, 2011 – University of Colorado, Kraemer Family Library

Sponsored by: Western States & Territories Preservation Assistance Service (WESTPAS)
Instructor: Julie Page, Co-Coordinator, California Preservation Program and WESTPAS

Continue reading ‘Protecting Cultural Collections – FREE Workshops’

AIRS Announces 2011-12 Statewide Package

Posted on behalf of Linda Sturgeon, AIRS Chair—–
The AIRS Committee (Acquisition of Information Resources Statewide) has negotiated with OCLC and EBSCO to provide selected databases covering general, business and K-12 information at a special Colorado statewide rate.
For the coming fiscal year (July 1, 2011 – June 30, 2012), the statewide package of databases has been finalized. Details about the FY11-12 program are available on the AIRS web site. The AIRS Committee was able to keep pricing stable for FY2011-2012 even while many libraries with shrinking budgets were forced to drop out last year and may be dropping out during the coming year.

Online Twitter Directory for Libraries – Add Your Name!

The State Library has put together a Twitter directory for the Colorado library and education community, and we invite you to add your Twitter username to the list.

This directory is an online version of the content that was previously kept in an ever-growing spreadsheet, for those of you who remember it. Anyone on that spreadsheet has automatically been added to the new directory.

Please check out the directory and look for your Twitter username. If you don’t see it, you may add it by following the Submit an Account link at the top of the page. To edit or remove your information from this directory or to pass on any comments or suggestions, please email Michelle Gebhart. And don’t forget to search for colleagues; this new site makes it easy to search by username or category.Twitter-Icon

More resources on Twitter can be found on the Colorado State Library website, and for “newbies,” the Colorado Libraries 2.0 website offers a Twitter tutorial.

Shelly Drumm at ARSL/ABOS Conference

This was written by ARSL/ABOS conference scholarship winner Sandy Hackbarth (La Veta Public Library) about the State Library’s own Shelly Drumm!

“She started with a slide of a DU Business School ad: “The top 10 jobs of 2015 don’t exist today.”  Then, over the next hour, Shelly Drumm gave me a glimpse of  a future for public libraries, particularly small, remote public libraries, that I can actually believe in. This is a topic I’ve really been struggling  with -  I just haven’t been able to buy the idea that if La Veta’s library becomes the ‘center of the community’ then we will remain relevant to our citizens. And it’s pretty obvious that books and DVDs aren’t going to keep public libraries relevant much longer either.  So I worried that I’d lost the faith – I figured that 10 years from now the most important function of La Veta’s library would be hosting Yoga classes for 80 year olds.

Shelly’s ARSL 2010 Conference presentation – 21st Century Librarianship – stretched my imagination, giving me a look at what’s already possible and a hint of where that might lead for my library.  Continue reading ‘Shelly Drumm at ARSL/ABOS Conference’

Even more from ARSL/ABOS Scholarship Winners

We just received this blog post from Erica Rose, Head of Outreach Services at the newly renamed Clearview Library District (Windsor). She discuses not only the ARSL/ABOS conference, but also Clearview’s new Mobile branch.Clearview Mobile Library

Excerpted:

“I am passionate about Outreach work and the power that it holds for our libraries.  My work in Outreach has led me to believe that Library Outreach is our most powerful PR and our best and most efficient means of serving the masses. So with all of my enthusiasm for this work continually bubbling up, it was so uplifting to attend a gathering of people who share this love and passion for Outreach work.  I believe our success in Outreach work is dependent upon thinking outside of the box, looking for dynamic new approaches, and an unwavering ability to roll with the punches.  It refreshed my spirit to sit next to individuals that share these quirky personality traits with me and to partake in conversations that focus on ways that we can push through barriers and boundaries. Continue reading ‘Even more from ARSL/ABOS Scholarship Winners’

More from ARSL/ABOS Scholarship Winners

We couldn’t resist posting these rave reviews of the ARSL/ABOS conference from Nan Davenport, Wetmore Community Library:

“I came home from the ARLS-ABOS conference so motivated and excited and full of ideas from the many brilliant minds that I had the privilege to mingle with for three days!  Every class I went to was first rate.  The only complaint I had was that they were too short!  Shelly Drumm really opened my eyes to the huge impact technology has had and the vastly different way it is perceived by those who grew up with it and those of us who did not (I totally related to the monk being taught about the use of a book as opposed to the scroll!).  Pat Wagner’s and Vanessa Uribe’s presentations on dealing with people and providing excellent customer service made a real impact on me.  Excellent tools that can be used everywhere- home, work, and play!  Karol Sacca is an amazing presenter! I could have listened to her all day!  She must have been an absolutely remarkable teacher.  I can’t wait get my hands on some of the fascinating young adult books she shared with us!  I feel totally recharged and energized to touch my community more efficiently in the best job there is in the world – being a small town librarian!

ARSL-ABOS Conference Scholarship Winners

In August, the Colorado State Library welcomed applications for $250 scholarships to attend “Magic in the Mile High City”: the joint Association for Rural & Small Libraries (ARSL) and Association of Bookmobile and Outreach Services (ABOS) Conference in Denver, October 14-16. The scholarships were intended to cover the cost of registration for the 10 individuals chosen.

The winners were staff from the following libraries:

  • Conejos County Library District
  • Costilla County Public Library
  • Delta County Libraries
  • Lamar/Prowers County Bookmobile
  • La Veta Regional Library District
  • Park County Public Library
  • Pine River Public Library District
  • Red Feather Mountain Library District
  • Wetmore Community Library
  • Windsor-Severance Library District

One of the scholarship requirements was that each recipient write a brief blog about why their attendance at the ARSL-ABOS conference would significantly impact their library and community.  The blog entry might also contain information about a great session they attended, a meaningful networking opportunity, or anything else the attendee may have taken home with them.

Some blog excerpts:

“Attending the ARSL/ABOS joint conference in Denver for the first time afforded a number of experiences, but the primary impression was that of opportunity: the opportunity to meet a number of peers from far-flung geographies… and to find that their problems and successes were at times the same as ours and in other instances uniquely different. It was the opportunity to debate nuts-and-bolts issues such as handling tourist library usage in smaller, recreation-oriented rural towns. And, it provided the opportunity to listen to, and sometimes meet, fine speakers and leaders in the library world including Colorado’s own Pat Wagner and Jamie LaRue. “  -Creed Kidd, Red Feather Lakes Community Library

“I learned there are many ways to do outreach in your library, from doing job resume assistance to having a pot-luck centered around a culture your community has not yet experienced! It all makes a difference to them and you.  People don’t always know how to ask for help or admit they need it. If you have a caring staff that is trained to reach out and meet that needs of the community you serve, you are rich in friends and your community will be changed for the better.  We are leaders even when we don’t realize it.  We serve because we love what we do.  The patrons aren’t the only ones who walk away with a smile when we help them meet their need(s). “  -Sheri Eirhart, Lamar/Prowers County Bookmobile

Traveling Exhibit of Interest to Rural & Small Libraries

On behalf of Sonja Plummer-Morgan, Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library, Presque Isle, Maine:

The ALA Public Programs Office is pleased to announce three new traveling exhibits focusing on Jewish artists who have contributed to the culture of America and the world through their lives and work. Public, academic and special libraries, including museum libraries and Jewish community centers are invited to apply by January 24.

The exhibits were developed by Nextbook, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting Jewish literature, culture and ideas, and the ALA Public Programs Office, with funding from Nextbook.  The national exhibit tours have been made possible by grants from the Charles H. Revson Foundation, the David Berg Foundation and the Nash Family Foundation, with additional support from Tablet Magazine: A New Read on Jewish Life.

Libraries are invited to apply to host a traveling exhibition on one of three subjects: Continue reading ‘Traveling Exhibit of Interest to Rural & Small Libraries’

We Need Your Patron-Centered Tech Training Materials!

Hello Colorado Libraryland!

As mentioned a couple of weeks ago, the Next Generation Colorado Virtual Library will be in part a showcase and a repository of some of the amazing stuff you’re doing across Colorado. In order to highlight your greatness, we need to find out about and grab whatever it is you’re creating out there in libraryland. To that end, we’ll be asking you to send us your content periodically, so that we can tweak it, web-ify it, and present it to the world. The first module we’re tackling is technology training, and we want the best technology training material libraries in Colorado have to offer!

What We Want

We trust you know what your patrons need better than we do, so we plan to devise content areas once we take a look at what gets submitted. We have some ideas (see “More on ‘Content’” below!), Continue reading ‘We Need Your Patron-Centered Tech Training Materials!’

Not a User of the Colorado Virtual Library? You Will Be!

Or at least we hope you’ll give it a shot, once the dust settles.

When the Colorado Virtual Library (CVL) was launched over a decade ago, it was a new and exciting resource, unlike anything available in the Colorado library community at that time. But times have changed, and we regret to confess, the CVL hasn’t. The way that we use the internet and the kinds of tools available to us are changing at a breakneck pace, and the rate of change is only accelerating. It’s with all of this in mind that we’re approaching a complete redesign of the CVL.

Our Approach

While technical decisions are still in the works, we know we’ll be building an ever-changing collection of content modules (more on that in a minute!) around a central core of heavily-used library services such as AskColorado’s awesome 24/7 reference service, SWIFT interlibrary loan (soon with more patron-initiated functionality!), and access to valuable digital collections. Those content modules will be developed on an as-needed basis, allowing us to be more responsive to your needs and those of your patrons. Continue reading ‘Not a User of the Colorado Virtual Library? You Will Be!’