All posts by Susan

Libraries and Veterans National Forum



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From the Texas State Library and Archives Commission

The Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is sponsoring a Libraries and Veterans National Forum next June.

Fifty library workers from a variety of library types and from around the country will be selected to attend the symposium, with travel and accommodations covered courtesy of the IMLS grant. The Forum is scheduled for June 8-9, 2020 in College Station, Texas.

The Libraries and Veterans National Forum is intended to move forward the conversation about veteran and military-affiliated patrons in libraries.

To that end, we particularly encourage library workers who are actively engaged in working with these communities to apply to attend.  We also want to extend a specific invitation to library workers from traditionally underrepresented groups and those who work with underrepresented groups within the veteran and military communities to apply to attend.

To indicate interest in attending and for more information, visit veterans.libguides.com/home. The Call for Interest in Attending form will close on December 15, 2019, and selected participants will be notified in January 2020.

If you have any questions, contact Sarah LaMire, Chair of the Veterans Caucus at slemire@library.tamu.edu.

Webinar CANCELLED: Women’s Suffrage in Wyoming



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From the December 11, 1869, Wyoming Weekly Leader.

This webinar has been cancelled. We are working to reschedule it and will announce a new time and date when it becomes available.

Join Wyoming State Library Database Instruction Librarian Chris Van Burgh from 2:15-3:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 5, for a free webinar, “Women’s Suffrage in Wyoming.” Explore resources available to you on this topic from the Wyoming State Library

Register for this free webinar to attend. We’ll also add it to our webinars index page afterward.

Marci Mock Has Passed Away



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It is with great sadness that we share the news that Marci Ann Mock passed away on Saturday, November 30, 2019 at the age of 54. Marci, a former WYLD President, worked for over 28 years for the Sheridan County Public Library System in a variety of roles including Circulation Services Manager and Collection Development Manager. She was very active in helping with the Friends Auction each year for over 25 years.

Marci was an intelligent, creative, artistic, and funny person. Outside of work, she was an avid painter and recently began metal work through welding classes. She fought a hard battle after being diagnosed with a brain tumor in early August. Marci will be greatly missed by the Wyoming library community.

Grant Opportunities



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Libraries Build Business
DEADLINE: December 13, 2019
The American Library Association (ALA), with the support of Google.org, is launching an initiative to identify and scale successful entrepreneurship programs in public libraries and create learning resources for any library to support entrepreneurs in its community. Selected libraries will comprise a cohort of approximately 10-14 libraries with established entrepreneurship models that provide direct service to people from underrepresented groups and/or low-income backgrounds. ALA anticipates individual awards to range from $50,000 to $150,000.

Libraries and Veterans National Forum
DEADLINE: December 15, 2019
The Libraries and Veterans National Forum is a two-day symposium to discuss strategies for supporting library patrons and library workers who are veteran or military-affiliated. Fifty library workers from a variety of library types and from around the country will be selected to attend the symposium, with travel and accommodations covered. The Forum is scheduled for June 8-9, 2020 in College Station, Texas. Selected participants will be notified in January 2020.

American Heritage Center Teaching and Research Grants
DEADLINE: January 15, 2020
This grant program offers an opportunity to pursue projects such as independent or collaborative research projects, course development, and symposia that use American Heritage Center’s resource material as the basis of the project/course/symposia. Grants are available to University of Wyoming and Wyoming community college students, faculty, academic professionals, and staff.

ecoTech™ Grants
DEADLINE: January 15, 2020
Grants of up to $2,500 will be awarded in support of innovative programs that engage children in inquiry-based STEM-related projects, leverage technology, and/or use nature-based design to address environmental problems in local communities.

Caplan Foundation for Early Childhood Grants
DEADLINE: January 31, 2020
The Caplan Foundation for Early Childhood is an incubator of promising research and development projects that appear likely to improve the welfare of young children, from infancy through 7 years, in the United States. Welfare is broadly defined to include physical and mental health, safety, nutrition, education, play, familial support, acculturation, societal integration and childcare. Grants are only made if a successful project outcome will likely be of significant interest to other professionals, within the grantee’s field of endeavor, and would have a direct benefit and potential national application.

Penguin Random House Library Award for Innovation
DEADLINE: February 4, 2020
This award recognizes U.S. libraries and librarians who create lasting innovative community service programs that successfully inspire and connect with new readers. One $10,000 cash award given annually to a library in the U.S. In addition, four runner-up awards consisting of $1,000 in Penguin Random House books. If a suitable candidate is not found, the award will not be presented that year.

Snapdragon Book Foundation Grants
DEADLINE: February 16, 2020
Grants typically ranging from $2,500 to $10,000 are given to U.S. school libraries serving children, in grades Pre-K through 12.. Funds may be used for books that will be used repeatedly by school-aged children, processing or cataloging fees from book vendors, reference materials for use by students, and magazine or newspaper subscriptions.

Lola Homsher Research Grants
DEADLINE: February 28, 2020
Need financial assistance to help finalize your history project?  The Wyoming State Historical Society, a non-profit membership driven educational organization, offers cash grants to people involved in research activities based on various aspects of the state’s history.  The grants, ranging from $100.00 up to $1500.00 are awarded based on applications submitted to the Society’s Lola Homsher Endowment Fund Committee.

Bank of the West’s Charitable Investments Program
DEADLINE: Ongoing
Bank of the West supports nonprofit organizations dedicated to improving the quality of life, particularly of low- and moderate-income individuals and communities. Grants are awarded for education and job training as well as for community and economic development.

Distribution to Underserved Communities Library Program
DEADLINE: Ongoing
The D.U.C. Library Program has thousands of free art books available for distribution to public and school libraries in underserved communities. Participating libraries may order books from the D.U.C. catalog once annually. Branch libraries may participate independently or through their main library. All items received from the D.U.C. must be cataloged in the library’s holdings and made available to all patrons.

News in Brief



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ALA Seeks Applicants for National Policy Corps
The American Library Association (ALA) invites library advocates to apply online to join the ALA Policy Corps before December 11. The Corps’ goals include developing policy experts available to the library community, ALA and the Public Policy and Advocacy Office, creating longevity in expertise and engagement in early to mid-career library and information professionals, and positively impacting national public policy in areas key to ALA’s strategic goals. Deadline to apply is December 11.

AASL Publishes Open Educational Resources (OER) Toolkit
The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) has released a new toolkit to help position school librarians in efforts to create and curate open educational resources (OER) that will extend their role as leaders within their schools. The OER Toolkit is freely available for download at www.ala.org/aasl/toolkits. The toolkit was developed to help school librarians who are grappling with how to translate the OER movement to K–12 educational settings.

Newly Digitized Veterans History Project Collection Showcasing Veteran Artists
Researchers, veterans and their families now have access to “Veterans and the Arts,” an online “Experiencing War” website feature highlighting the stories of veterans who pursued the arts during their post-military lives. This new feature includes nine digitized collections from the Library of Congress Veterans History Project (VHP) archive, each of which holds the first-person narrative of a veteran who used artistic endeavors — such as music, creative writing, sculpture, ceramic arts and even the culinary arts — to assist in the transition to civilian life after serving.

New Report: Public Libraries: A Community’s Connection for Career Services
Local public libraries serve an important role in the national workforce development system. Public libraries offer a range of career services, including résumé and cover letter support, job application assistance, interview preparation, training, and referrals to American Job Centers/other support services. A recent study from the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development chronicles the extent to which public libraries across the United States are providing these career services.

Research Confirms Value of School Librarians
The New York State Library has released a new Informational Brief, Roles of the School Librarian: Empowering Student Learning and Success. This compilation of research studies shows that the school librarian’s contributions are consistently shown to be of positive value to students, teachers, and the wider school community.

Share Your Censorship Story with the Office for Intellectual Freedom
The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) encourages library workers to report censorship incidents and challenges to library or school materials and services that occurred in 2019 using an online form by December 31, 2019. Every submitted report provides crucial information that helps the office raise awareness and respond to censorship threats by creating resources for libraries. OIF is seeking information on challenges and removals of books, online resources, displays and DVDs. It is also seeking information on canceled or challenged programs, and the vandalizing of library materials. All personal and institutional information submitted through the online form is kept confidential.

Love Letters for Computers
Love Letters for Computers is a free, 10-part YouTube series intended for primary school educators, covering the basics of computer science with accompanying classroom materials. The videos cover things like hardware, I/O systems, networks, machine learning, as well as diversity & equity. The website includes 28 classroom worksheets, a teacher journal with prompts to reflect upon learning, and other resources to support professional development.

Free Online Programs on the Presidency Begin January 16
The National Archives and Presidential Libraries, National Park Service, Internet2 community, and cultural and historic organizations nationwide are offering the annual Presidential Primary Sources Project, a series of free, standards-aligned, 45-minute interactive videoconferencing programs aimed at students in grades 4-12. The series will run from January through March 2020. In addition to the interactive video component, each program will also be live-streamed and recorded for on-demand viewing. Free registration is now open.

Featured in GoWYLD: Women’s Suffrage



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Wyoming was first in the nation to pass unconditional legislation guaranteeing women their inherent right to vote. Let’s celebrate!

Learn more and find resources to celebrate women’s suffrage with your patrons.

Libraries should have received their mini-marketing kit by email for this month’s feature. If you would like to be either added to or removed from our monthly email list for the mini-marketing kits, contact Susan Mark at susan.mark@wyo.gov or (307) 777-5915.

 

Free Continuing Education Events for the Week of December 2



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Free, online, continuing education events for the week of December 2 from the Wyoming State Library Training Calendar. Descriptions are below. You can subscribe and view the events in your calendar software, or you can find all the events at library.wyo.gov/services/training/calendar.

All times MST

Tuesday, Dec 3 (11-12 pm)
Start Your 2020 Grant Strategy Off Right! (CharityHowTo)
Participating in “Start Your 2020 Grant Seeking Off Right!” will provide you with a strong understanding of your success in 2019 and how to set goals for 2020 that will help expand your grant seeking strategy and revenue.  We will also discuss how to increase the engagement of your colleagues in being part of the grant planning process to further increase your success.

Tuesday, Dec 3 (12-1 pm)
YA-Y! The Latest Reads for Teens (Booklist)
There’s no better time than winter to curl up with a gripping read. And with upcoming YA releases like the ones covered in this free, hour-long webinar, teen readers—and YA lovers of all ages—will want to do nothing else. Join representatives from Bloomsbury Publishing, Disney Book Group, Inkyard Press, Tor Teen, and Blink, and jump-start YA collection development, winter and spring purchases, and, of course, that ever-expanding TBR pile.

Tuesday, Dec 3 (12-1 pm)
Social Media and Volunteer Engagement (VolunteerMatch)
Volunteer engagement is changing. This webinar will offer an introduction to including social media in your volunteer recruitment and retention plans. You’ll see examples of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube pages, as well as blogs that other nonprofits have successfully used to draw attention to their organizations and volunteer opportunities. You’ll also learn about the social media tools available as part of your VolunteerMatch account that can help you promote your volunteer opportunity on other social networking sites.

Tuesday, Dec 3 (12-1 pm)
Getting Ready for an Audit: Everything You Need to Know (TechSoup)
We are very excited to have Gregg Bossen, a CPA specializing in auditing nonprofits and president of QuickBooks Made Easy for Nonprofits, present this one-of-a-kind and highly requested webinar! Gregg’s firm audits over 30 nonprofits a year!

Tuesday, Dec 3 (12-1 pm)
How to Set Achievable Goals (GovLoop)
You know that feeling when you finally hit a target that you set for yourself? It’s amazing, right? However, that sense of accomplishment is only possible if you set achievable goals in the first place. Join NextGen and GovLoop online to learn how you can set and prioritize your goals for 2020. You’ll also hear from experts about how to stay focused on working toward your goals.

Tuesday, Dec 3 (3-4 pm)
Fulfilling Students’ Potential Through Engaging Literacy Practices (edWeb)
This edWebinar will shed light on how to immerse K-12 learners in engaging literacy experiences to fulfill their potential as readers and writers in the 21st Century. Literacy directly impacts the success of a student throughout their educational career. A direct correlation can be seen between failing an English class and not completing high school. This is why it’s imperative that students get the support they need to improve reading skills and begin to close the achievement gap.

Wednesday, Dec 4 (9-10 am)
Libraries and the LGBT+ Experience (Nebraska Library Commission)
Learn how your library can be more welcoming through the experiences of the Olean Public and Cuba Circulating Libraries. These organizations are creating a more welcoming environment for the LGBTQIA community with programs, resources, and staff training.

Wednesday, Dec 4 (10-11 am)
Libraries and Homeless Patrons (Ryan Dowd)
Join us for this introductory training on how to effectively (and compassionately) ​manage problematic behavior ​from troubled patrons. Presented by Ryan Dowd, author of the American Library Association book, The Librarian’s Guide to Homelessness.

Wednesday, Dec 4 (10:30-11:30 am)
Behavior Management in Storytime (State Library of North Carolina)
Managing and redirecting behavior during storytime can be challenging. There can be confusion over when and how to step in and redirect, when to seek assistance, and how to avoid these challenges in the first place.  In this interactive webinar program, Jill Burket Ragase will give you a variety of tools that you will be able to use to: Structure storytime for behavioral success; Set and communicate age appropriate behavior expectations for children and their caregiver(s); Diffuse challenging situations; and Employ techniques to regain focus without losing the fun.

Wednesday, Dec 4 (11-12 pm)
Giving Tuesday is Over, Now What? (Network for Good)
Did you have an epic Giving Tuesday? Blushing over all those new donors that joined your list? Hey, you invested a lot of hard work to get them in the door. Now how will you make them stay? Join us to learn how to maintain and upgrade your new donors and finish end of year fundraising strong.

Wednesday, Dec 4 (12-1 pm)
Introduction to Proposal Writing (GrantSpace)
Are you new to proposal writing or want a quick refresher? If so, you don’t want to miss one of our most popular classes! This class will provide you with an overview of how to write a standard project proposal to a foundation.

Thursday, Dec 5 (10-11 am)
Astronaut Health: Health Information Resources to Support Science Education (National Network of Libraries of Medicine)
The overall goal of this course is to help participants find science resources, lesson plans, and programs through a unique and fun subject. Public and school librarians can support science educators and students by fostering science literacy and health literacy programs. Organizations that assist libraries with integrating science into their programs will be discussed. These efforts are creating value to the science education community. Such support can open the door to professional partnerships with educators.

Thursday, Dec 5 (10-11 am)
LinkedIn at the Library (Utah State Library)
LinkedIn is not just for job seekers. It has had rapid growth in recent years and offers more options than before. In addition to research and staying on top of trends this webinar will help librarians help their patrons find job opportunities.

Thursday, Dec 5 (12-12:45 pm)
Defense Department Statistical Resources (Federal Depository Library Program)
Gain enhanced knowledge about Defense Department statistical resources including the Defense Manpower Data Center, the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense (Comptroller), DOD’s Director of Operational Test and Evaluation and Defense Security Cooperation Agency.

Thursday, Dec 5 (12-1 pm)
Fostering Creative Community Connections (Public Library Association)
In this webinar, participants will hear how pilot libraries are leveraging the dispensers to strengthen and develop new local programming and connections with library and/or community partner programs and services, as well as creating new interest in literacy and literature through innovative access to a growing collection of more than 100,000 short stories.

Thursday, Dec 5 (12-1 pm)
What Makes a Modern Digital Government? (GovLoop)
Join us online Thursday, Dec. 5 from 2-3 p.m. ET/11 a.m.-noon PT to learn how agencies can accelerate their modernization efforts from legacy and manual processes to modern and digital ones.

Thursday, Dec 5 (12-1:30 pm)
Insurance – How to Manage Your Organization’s Risk (Connecting to Collections Care)
This webinar will cover how and why insurance will help you to manage risks to your institution and the types of insurance and risk strategies appropriate for museums and other cultural institutions with collections. We will look at all the points you should consider when contemplating insurance including coverage for your buildings, collections, your volunteers, your visitors, and third parties (vendors, contractors, event renters, etc.). And, you will learn how to talk to your insurance broker so that you get appropriate insurance for your institution.

Thursday, Dec 5 (12:30-1:30 pm)
Events in a Digital Age: How to Maximize Offline Events in an Online World (Firespring)
Events like galas, walks and auctions are critical to the fundraising (and friend-raising) strategies for most nonprofits. Want your next one to be a hit? Give it digital legs. With the vast number of online tools available, you can streamline everything from event registration to email marketing to social media, ensuring you capture your audience right where they are: online. Join us to learn how to plan your next event with digital in mind from day one.

Thursday, Dec 5 (1-2 pm)
Doing the Work Externally and Internally: Race, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (WebJunction)
This webinar highlights the work of Richland Library staff as they work, both externally and internally, to improve dialogue and understanding on topics of race, equity, diversity and inclusion.

Thursday, Dec 5 (1-2 pm)
Writing Boxes: Library programming that will inspire writing and support literacy and family engagement (Infopeople)
Library staff that serve children understand one of their core missions is to support reading. But what about writing? In this how-to webinar, presenter Lisa Von Drasek will describe Writing Boxes, an “instant’’ program template that requires very little prep, is easily replicable, inexpensive, works across age groupings, and supports increased literacy and community engagement.

Thursday, Dec 5 (2:15-3 pm)
Women’s Suffrage in Wyoming (Wyoming State Library)
Join us for a review of resources as they relate to suffrage in Wyoming.
Webinar ID: 809-046-443

Thursday, Dec 5 (3-4 pm)
Celebrate the Best Books of 2019! (Follett)
Follett’s very own librarians share their ALA predictions, trending topics and not-to-miss lists as well as sneak peeks on books they’re excited about for 2020 and more.

Free Library Continuing Education Events for December



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site logoThe December 2019 Wyoming State Library training calendar is now available with 56 webinars and four recordings to watch “At Your Leisure.” Every training opportunity on this list is free and offered online. Topics include advocacy, planning, careers, children and teens, collection development, communication, databases, managing change, fundraising, legal, management, outreach and partnerships, programming, readers’ advisory, reference, school libraries, technology, training and instruction, and volunteers.

View, download, or subscribe to the calendar at library.wyo.gov/services/training/calendar.

New Books at the WSL



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The latest additions to our professional library science collection are available to you through WYLDCAT. Questions, comments, or suggestions for purchase may be directed to Library Development Manager Brian Greene at brian.greene@wyo.gov or (307) 777-6339.

The theory and craft of digital preservation
Owens, Trevor
Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018.

The complete guide to RFPs for libraries
Santa Barbara, California : Libraries Unlimited, an imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC, [2018]

Library Funding Depends on Census



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A new analysis released November 18 reveals that more than $1 billion in federal funding for libraries will be allocated to states based on the 2020 Census. Published by Professor Andrew Reamer of the George Washington Institute of Public Policy at George Washington University, the study pinpoints the financial impact the census will have on libraries.

ALA President Wanda Brown said, “This study demonstrates why a complete count in the 2020 Census is so important to libraries. A fair, inclusive and complete count in the 2020 Census means that libraries in each state will receive their fair share of federal funding.”

The population count in the decennial census determines the level of funding allotted to each state through the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). The legislation’s Grants to States program provides federal funding to state library agencies to support libraries in their state. The program is one of more than 300 federal programs that allocates funding to local communities based on data derives from the Census.

In fiscal year 2019, Congress provided more than $160 million for LSTA Grants to States. Thus, if Congress provides level or increased funding each year over the next decade, the results of the 2020 Census will determine the allocation of more than $1 billion in funding for libraries.

For information on the impact of federal funds in Wyoming libraries, click here.

The American Library Association (ALA) has been preparing libraries for the impact the decennial census will have on local library resources and staff and is encouraging libraries to partner with community organizations to achieve an accurate count. ALA will hold a free webinar, “Library Programs and Partnerships in the 2020 Census,”on December 16, 2019, at 12:00 p.m. MST.

For more information on ALA efforts to support a fair, inclusive and complete count in the 2020 Census, visit www.ala.org/census. Along with ALA’s Libraries’ Guide to the 2020 Census, the site includes links to webinars and tip sheets on specific topics related to libraries’ role in the census, such as outreach to historically undercounted groups and partnering with state and local Complete Count Committees.

To connect on social media, follow @ALALibrary, #CountOnLibraries, #2020Census.