News from March, 2009

March 9, 2009 -- Crime and the Courts: Is Justice in Jeopardy? will be the topic of the upcoming Coffee & Conversation on Saturday, March 21, 9:00-11:00 am at John Marshall High School.   Minnesota Chief Justice Eric Magneson has traveled the state offering his unique perspective on our justice system in crisis.  At this public forum, a panel of attorneys and judges will offer a local perspective on the increased case loads and decreased funding.

Coffee & Conversation is designed to bring individuals together to hear important public policy information affecting our communities and state, as well as give participants the opportunity to share their views in small group discussions.  Area legislators and local government officials will be available.

March 12, 2009 -- SELCO and SELS seek input as they begin preparing their budgets for FY 2010, which runs July 1, 2009 - June 30, 2010.  A budget planning survey has been created and was opened today to find out from our members how valuable SELCO and SELS services are to their library or media center, .  SELCO and SELS member library directors and media specialists, SELCO/SELS Board members, and SELS Advisory Committee Members received an email with a direct link to the survey and are strongly encouraged to access the survey through this emailed link.

New this year is the capability for other SELCO and SELS member library staff to give input into the budget planning process by clicking here to access the survey:  SELCO/SELS 2010 Budget Survey.  We encourage member library staff to fill out a survey and give us feedback.

Questions about this survey can be directed to Michael Scott, SELCO Assistant Director, via email or by calling 507-288-5513.  The budget planning survey will close on March 26, 2009.

March 17, 2009 -- As previously announced, a special March meeting of the SELCO Technology Users Group will be held at 9:30 on Tuesday, 03-24-2009.  This meeting will focus exclusively on the AquaBrowser project with an update on current progress and a chance to see the current development version of the catalog.  Want to see the future of the SELCO catalog and provide input while it's still developing?  Then come join us next Tuesday!
 In this post, please find a meeting agenda and instructions for attending the meeting remotely via the online meeting.  There are only 24 available online seats; due to high anticipated demand, we are making them available on a first come, first served basis.  If you wish to attend the meeting remotely, please send email to dlambright@selco.info with your name and Online Library.  We'll send out an email message if/when the 24 seats fill up.
See you next week!

Agenda
Online Meeting Instructions
Online Meeting Guidelines

March 17, 2009 -- Melissa Rethlefsen, Educational Technology Librarian at the Mayo Clinic Libraries in Rochester, was named one of Library Journal's Movers and Shakers for 2009.  Melissa was one of 51 individuals from the "Class of 2009" named to the group identified by LJwho are "shaping the future of libraries."  Melissa was nominated by one of her colleagues, Susan Mayer, patient education specialist at Mayo, who cited her "can-do attitude and extensive technical expertise."  Check out the LJ article here to find out more about Melissa's accomplishments.  Congratulations to Melissa!

March 19, 2009 -- There is still time for you to give SELCO and SELS your input about the value of their services to your library or media center as they begin preparing their budgets for FY 2010.  SELCO and SELS member library directors and media specialists, SELCO/SELS Board members, and SELS Advisory Committee Members received an email with a direct link to the survey and are strongly encouraged to access the survey through this emailed link.

New this year is the capability for other SELCO and SELS member library staff to give input into the budget planning process by clicking here to access the survey -- SELCO/SELS 2010 Budget Survey.    We encourage member library staff to fill out a survey and give us feedback.

Questions about this survey can be directed to Michael Scott, SELCO Assistant Director, via email or by calling 507-288-5513.  The budget planning survey will close on March 26, 2009.

March 20, 2009 -- The March 26th meeting materials for the Joint ILS Operations and Technology Policy Committee has been posted to the SELCO website.

March 23, 2009 -- Library staff, trustees and Friends of the Library will converge on the Minnesota State Capitol on Wednesday, March 25 for Library Legislative Day.  The annual event is co-sponsored by the Minnesota Library Association (MLA) and the Minnesota Educational Media Organization (MEMO) and provides library advocates with up-to-the-minute information on the status of library legislation and, most important, the opportunity to meet with legislators.

MLA/MEMO Library Legislative Platform - March 22, 2009  (PDF 140KB)

March 30, 2009 -- SELCO has a new interactive map that links to each legislator representing SELCO/SELS member libraries.  With a click of your mouse, connect to legislative websites, a list of libraries, and photos.  To view the SELCO Legislative Mashup bookmark the following link in your web browser.

http://tinyurl.com/semnlegislators

March 31, 2009 -- During Library Legislative Day on Marcy 25, the Minnesota House and Senate held hearings on proposed changes to the Library Maintenance of Effort (MOE) which move much needed reform closer to reality.  As part of mandate relief efforts in the House, Representative Morrie Lanning (09A) introduced HF1195 which includes a negotiated compromise on the library language.  Area Representatives Demmer (29A), Pelowski (31A) and Poppe (27B) are co-authors of this bill.  On the Senate side, Senator Skogen (10) introduced an amendment to his SF1636 and the new library MOE language mirrors the House version.

Please contact these legislators and thank them for their leadership on the issue of library MOE reform.  Make sure your local legislators know libraries support the flexibility these reforms will provide to local government.  More details on how this compromised was reached and the specifics of the legislative language are outlined on the SELCO Librarian.

March 31, 2009 -- SELCO has created a financial summary for each Senate district in the SELCO region.  These handouts were distributed to the region's Senators and Representatives during Library Legislative Day 2009.  To access your district's summary and other legislative resources, please visit our Advocacy page by clicking here.