SELCO News

The State Librarian, Suzanne Miller, presented a mid-project report to the State of Minnesota and the Minnesota Legislature on the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Funding for Regional Public Library Systems.  In addition to the printed report, the Cultural and Outdoor Resources Finance Division in the Minnesota House of Representatives, chaired by Representative Mary Murphy (06B) with Ranking Minority Member, Representative Greg Davids (31B) took testimony on March 15.

Four plays were commissioned for the Minnesota's Greatest Generation Project. Each playwright used primary source documents as inspiration.  The Minnesota Historical Society (MHS) will provide scripts of the plays to the libraries. The library acts as producer, casting local actors or teens. Plays were written to be performed in small spaces with minimal or no props and can easily adapt to any library or stage setting.  Copies of the four MGG - Library scripts are available on SELCO's Library Legacy MGG webpage.

SELCO is offering a new course in cataloging non-print materials.  Topics will include videorecordings, sound recordings, and electronic resources.  The class is scheduled for April 7, 9:30 am - 12:00 pm.  You can register in our training site.

Due to illness with one of the Gold Cross Courier drivers, Route 1 (Brady's route) will be delayed today by as much as two hours.  The route has just now been picked up by a substitute drive.  We apologize for this inconvenience.

Earlier this week, the SELCO Legacy Review Committee allocated a total of $11,611 for 4 Library Legacy projects. Congratulations to this month's grant recipients - remember, the next grant round deadline is March 25!

Libraries are being invited to participate in the first-ever Minnesota Idea Open Challenge, an exciting new community problem-solving initiative.  The Minnesota Idea Open is a collaborative initiative led by Minnesota Community Foundation and its partners.  The goal of the Idea Open is to bring together as many Minnesotans as possible to think about a central problem in order to move communities forward towards solving it.  The Idea Open will leverage Minnesota's long history of civic engagement and encourage grassroots problem-solving through statewide challenges.  The first challenge will kick off on March 18, 2010.  For challenge and participation information, please visit the Minnesota Open Idea website by clicking here .

Online Catalog is the first of a series of websites we're creating for each of our Basic and Value-Added services.  Here, you will find information specifically about the online catalog, including news, frequently asked questions, tips for use, and a way to submit your ideas for improving the software.  By creating these pages, we hope to allow Online Library staff access to information on the services they are interested in without requiring them to wade through a lot of information they are not interested in.

Check it out!

The Lonsdale Public Library opened its doors to the public on Tuesday, March 2, 2010.  For more information on their Go Live! Day, click here to see the story on the SELCO Librarian blog .

SELCO and SELS seek input as they begin preparing their budgets for FY 2011, which runs July 1, 2010 - June 30, 2011.  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.

Other SELCO and SELS member library staff can provide their input into the budget planning process by clicking here to access the survey:  SELCO/SELS Services FY 2011 Budget Planning 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 15, 2010.

The Minnesota Historical Society (MHS), in partnership with the Council of Regional Public Library System Administrators (CRPLSA), is proud to release the Minnesota's Greatest Generation in the Libraries Catalog .   With much anticipation, the catalog is the graphic presentation of the start of a beautiful partnership that will bring quality programs to libraries and communities - large and small - throughout Minnesota.  The offerings include music, theater, speakers, workshops, intergenerational programming materials and support for communities electing a “do-it-yourself” approach.

CRPLSA - MHS project coordinators, Ginny Brodeen and Maren Levad, will serve as the point of contact and booking agents for Regional Library Systems and local libraries interested in scheduling just one or several programs described in the MGG in the Library Catalog.  The Regional Library Systems will distribute the Catalog to area libraries and encourage library staff and coordinating volunteers to start booking.  The kits (described on page 9) are being assembled and should arrive at the Regional Library offices by early April.

For more information contact:

Abbey Thompson - SELCO Project Librarian

Ginny Brodeen   - CRPLSA - MHS Library Coordinator

Maren Levad   - MHS Library Partnership Coordinator

Did you miss the SELCO/SELS Executive Committee Meeting last night and want to know what happened?  The meeting recap with Ann Hutton is available and the meeting video are both available via SELCOtv.  Check them out!

SELCO would like to congratulate the Winona Public Library and Saint Mary's University of Minnesota on their completion of SELCO's first Legacy-funded event via the Art & Culture Live/Community Collaboration program. A Hobbit-nista Gathering took place on February 6, 2010, to celebrate the visiting Theatre Sans Fil from Montreal, Canada. The event included such highlights as a dramatic reading from "The Hobbit" and a children's art contest.
Congratulations to Winona Public Library and Saint Mary's University of Minnesota on their successful community collaboration event!

Just a quick reminder that the next round of Art & Culture Live/Community Collaboration grant applications are due on Sunday, February 28.

Please note that all supporting application materials, including required signatures and letters of support from partner organizations, are due concurrently. All materials must be submitted in a single package, delivered or postmarked by the required monthly due date. This includes supporting documentation for online applications, including the signature page, required certifications and all partner letters. Letters of support must be included in the application package and will not be accepted if sent separately under different cover.

Last week, the SELCO Legacy Review Committee allocated a total of $66,083 for 18 Library Legacy projects. A wide variety of proposals were funded, including author talks, music and dance performances, theatre workshops and more!

SELCO is accepting applications for the next round of applications from libraries and partner organizations seeking Arts and Cultural Heritage Library Legacy funding.  The next deadline is February 28.

This project was funded in part or in whole with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008 which dedicated funding to preserve Minnesota's arts and cultural heritage.

As readers feverishly delve into this year's finalists for the Minnesota Book Award (MNBA), requests are mounting for these popular titles.  To help relieve stress on local collections and meet the public demand, SELCO purchased copies of each of the finalists.  Selected by a team of readers, the 32 titles represent the best Minnesota books of 2009 in eight categories:

• Children’s Literature
• General Nonfiction
• Genre Fiction
• Memoir & Creative Nonfiction
• Minnesota
• Novel & Short Story
• Poetry
• Young People’s Literature

Once again, one title will receive The Readers’ Choice Award based completely on votes by readers.  The award and online balloting is sponsored by the Pioneer Press and TwinCities.com. Log on at [www.twincities.com]

Minnesota Book Award finalists will be announced at an awards gala on Saturday, April 17 hosted by The Friends of the St. Paul Public Library .   Read up on the best Minnesota books and vote for your favorite!
   

After a long series of outages on Sunday and Monday (02-21 and 02-22), SELCO's Pharos service is back up.  Aside from a brief, network-related issue on Monday night, service was restored around 4:30 on Monday.  We stopped posting regular updates to the website and in email late in the day Monday, as different libraries were experiencing different levels of service and one-size-fits-all messages were no longer useful.  Instead, we resorted to phone calls to individual libraries.

The source of the problem was discovered and reported early in the day:  corruption in the SQL database Pharos uses to store settings and data.  Said corruption was scattered throughout the data and went back several days, which is why initial attempts to restore from backup worked only to fail again within 30 minutes.

Online Libraries that were closed on Monday will need to restart their SignUp server today before resuming operations.

Thank you for your patience yesterday.

2:49 PM--After a short period of operation, Pharos has gone down again.  We have resorted to contacting libraries directly, one at a time, trying to figure out what is bringing things down.  Untill things are resolved, we will be using this one-on-one communication rather than posting further to the website.

1:37 PM--Pharos is back up, hopefully for good.  Please restart your SignUp server one more time and everything should be back to normal.  We apologize for this lengthy and frustrating outage.

12:21 PM--We have just learned that our Pharos problems are not yet resolved.  It sounds like it worked for about 10 minutes and stopped again.  We are again looking at the database Pharos uses to store its settings.  More information will be posted to the website and in email shortly.

11:46 AM--Pharos is back up.  Each Pharos library will need to restart its SignUp server before resuming use.

Thank you for your patience.  We apologize for this problem.

10:02 AM--The problem with Pharos appears to be corruption in its SQL database.  We are restoring from backup.

9:19 AM--Pharos appears to be down again.  We believe the problem is related to yesterday's issue and have once again contacted the vendor for assistance.  Further information will be posted here and in email as it becomes available.

7:55 AM -- We were able to work with our Pharos support representative this morning and have been able to fix the issue with Pharos.  Sites may need to reboot their Pharos SignUp servers this morning in order to get their Pharos working properly.  If you have any further problems today, please contact the SELCO Help Desk.  We appreciate your patience in this matter and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, thank you.

03:02 PM -- Earlier this afternoon we had problems with the Pharos system.  After much effort to resolve the issue we were unsuccessful.  We will be contacting our Pharos support representative first thing in the morning.  We appreciate your patience in this matter and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.  We will be sending out more information as it becomes available.

SELCO has two employment opportunities to serve southeastern Minnesota libraries and just released a new online job application form.  Applications for Web Development Technician and Delivery & ILL Assistant 2 from outside candidates will only be accepted via the online form.  Details about both positions and the online application, as well as links to various the forms needed to move forward with our search are on SELCO's Job Postings webpage .  The new process is designed to treat all outside candidates equally.   

SELCO awarded eight scholarships to defray the costs of attending the Library Technology Conference at Macalester College.  This annual event offers keynote presentations by noted speakers and highlights many technologies.  Sessions are focused on affecting how users interact with libraries and how libraries are using technology to create new and better ways to manage resources.  The conference is geared toward all types of libraries and includes a wide range of topics for staff of varying skill levels. 
Scholarship recipients have agreed to blog their experiences at the 2010 Library Technology Conference. Follow their learning activities, March 17-28, 2010 on the SELCO Librarian .  The attendees include:

• Jane Carlson, Austin Public Schools
• Ingvild Herfindahl, Kasson Public Library
• Eliza Mitchell, Lanesboro Public Library
• Laura Schulte, Mabel-Canton Public Schools
• Kathy Rush, Northfield Public Library
• Thuan Nguyen, Rochester Public Library
• Pat Johnson, Stewartville Public Library
• Renita Irvin, Stewartville Public Schools

Also attending the annual Library Technology Conference at Macalester College will be SELCO/SELS Board members, Don Regelman, President, and Leslie Redinger.

In observance of President's Day, the SELCO office will be closed on Monday, February 15. Automation Support will be available that day from 8:00 am - 5:00 pm via the Help Desk number.  If you have an automation problem, please dial (1-866)529-4469 or (507)529-4469 to contact our on-call staff.

There will be no delivery service on Monday.  A normal Monday delivery will take place on Tuesday.

08:34 AM -- The system outage at SELCO has been resolved and all systems are functioning normally.  We're still working out the details, but it appears that a problem with a domain controller caused our internal DNS server to become unavailable.  Thus servers like Horizon, web, and email were functional and in no danger of data loss but could not communicate with the outside world.

I apologize for this problem.

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

08:24 AM -- SELCO is experiencing a major system outage this morning affecting all of our core services including Horizon, email, our website, and Pharos.  We are making progress resolving this issue and, since you are reading this, have restored email and the SELCO website.  Further updates will be send out via email to Directors and Automation Contacts, News items on the SELCO website, and the message on the voicemail inbox of the SELCO Help Desk. Thank you for your patience this morning.  Further updates will be sent out as appropriate. 

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

Due to extreme winter road conditions, the Legacy Review Committee meeting that was scheduled for Tuesday, February 9, 2010 @ 1:00 pm has now been postponed to 1:00 pm next Tuesday, February 16. 

Due to the increasingly poor road conditions, Route 1 (Brady's route) will not finish today.  We apologize for any inconvenience.

The SELCO Advisory Committee meeting that was scheduled for Tuesday, February 9, 2010 @ 9:30 AM has now been postponed to Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 9:30 AM.  Meeting materials will be updated to reflect the change in date.

Please, stay safe and warm and maybe take the opportunity to read one of those books, view one of those DVDs, or listen to one of those CDs from your collection!

SELCO is planning to participate in the 2nd Annual Handheld Librarian Conference on February 17-18, 2010.  Like last year, SELCO will take care of the group registration fee and participants will be able to attend multiple sessions throughout the day here at the SELCO building.  This conference, sponsored by Alliance Library System and LearningTimes, will include keynote speakers, collections of available resources, discussion boards, and access to the recording of all live events for one year after the conference.  More people than ever are using mobile devices for a wide variety of purposes including communication, internet access, text messaging, and entertainment.  SELCO will provide lunch and refreshments both days.  To attend the conference at SELCO, one or both days, please register by clicking here .  Please note any dietary needs when registering.

9:22 AM -- The iPac server is back up and all functionality, including Requests, has been restored.

Thank you for your patience.

8:51 AM -- We are having an issue with the iPac server and are working to bring it back up.  Until that time, Requests functions will be unavailable in the online catalog and the Horizon staff client.  Furthermore, My Account information will not be available in the online catalog.

We apologize for this issue and will post updates here as they become available.

We have made a significant improvement to the way the new catalog handles requests.  See the latest blog post at SELCO Librarian for details!

Two thumbs up for the Rushford Public Library being the first library in the state to complete the 2009 Public Library Annual Report!  For the SECOND year in a row!  Congrats!

February 4, 2010  9:30AM  --  The iPac server is operational again, and we have restored the ability to place requests, both in Horizon, and on the AquaBrowser catalog.

Thank you again for your patience!

February 4, 2010  9:00AM  --  The iPac server is down this morning, and this is affecing the ability to place requests, both in Horizon, and on the AquaBrowser catalog. 

We are working on the issue, and will update as soon as the issue is resolved.

Talk is Cheap. Advocate. Advocate. Advocate!

Library staff, trustees and Friends of the Library are invited to the 2010 Library Legislative Day on Wednesday, February 24. The day provides library advocates with up-to-the-minute information on the status of library legislation, the opportunity to meet with legislators and time to share good news about libraries.  With the projected state deficit, the timing is critical for advocates to support local units of government and education leaders in an effort to sustain continued funding for libraries.

Library Legislative Day is sponsored by the Minnesota Library Association and the Minnesota Educational Media Organization .  Legislative Day planners will offer two briefings --- an evening briefing prior to Legislative Day to accommodate those coming from outstate or with early morning legislative appointments, as well as a morning briefing to kick off Legislative Day activities.  The registration cost is $20 person.  MLA is also offering discount parking for an additional $5.  Registration is required.

MLA/MEMO Legislative Day Evening Briefing, Tuesday, February 23, 2010
5:00--6:00 PM Registration
6:00--7:00 PM  Evening briefing at the Best Western Kelly Inn .  Hors d’oeuvres will be served.
   
MLA/MEMO Legislative Day, Wednesday, February 24, 2010

8:30 AM--1:00 PM  Registration
9:00--10:00 AM  Briefing at the State Office Building , Room 400 South. Morning coffee will be served.

MLA/MEMO Library Legislative Platform (updated 1-6-2010)

Orders for the Winter 2010 Cooperative PC Purchase have been collected and processed.  Fifteen Online Libraries ordered a total of:

We have placed orders with various vendors for these items and will begin installations as they arrive.

The list is in!  The 22nd Annual Minnesota Book Award Finalists were announced on Saturday, January 30, 2010.  Check out the list by clicking here .  Happy reading!

Based on feedback from our first two months of funding grants via the Art & Culture Live and Community Collaboration programs, SELCO revised the application form, instructions, and other supporting materials for the start of the February funding cycle. If you or your organization has been working on a funding application to submit on or after January 31, please make sure you are working on the correct version! Newest versions are available via the "Applications" tab of the Art & Culture Live! and Community Collaboration page.

Be on the lookout for our next announcement of funded Library Legacy grant initiatives coming mid-February!

The Northfield Public Library will begin celebrating its 100th Anniversary in the Carnegie library building on Saturday, January 30, 2010.  The first Carnegie Library Centennial Concert will take place at 7 p.m.  Performing is the Carleton Chinese Music Ensemble with Director Gao Hong.  Everyone is welcome and free coffee and cake will be served.  To read more about this historical event and the library, please click here .

January 29, 2010, 11:39 A.M.

AquaBrowser staff have completed their work, and we have tested the SELCO catalog here. It is again available for you and your patrons. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.

January 29, 2010, 7:55 AM

The SELCO catalog is down.  We have been working with AquaBrowser staff to bring it back up since about 7:15 AM this morning.  The nightly import is running, which should correct the problem.  We expect this process to take about 2 hours from now.  Further information will be posted here and emailed to Online Library Directors and Automation Contacts as it becomes available.

We apologize for this delay.

The American Library Association (ALA)announced the top books, videos, and audiobooks for children and young adults last week at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Boston.  Some of the awards include the Randolph Caldecott Medal, the John Newbery Medal, and the Coretta Scott King Author and Illustrator Book Awards.  To see the full list of winners, click here .  

The SELCO/SELS Board of Directors approved the list of responsibilities for the new Legacy Review Committtee.  The Committee's primary role will be to award Arts and Cultural Heritage Library Legacy funding assigned to SELCO by the Minnesota Legislature.

It’s time for Public Library Annual Reports! Please click here to access this year's report documents.  These documents serve as helpful resources when filling out the 2009 Public Library Annual Report.  The 2009 report has been launched early and is available to fill out today.  The final submission date is April 1, 2010.  If you have any questions about the annual report, please contact Mollie Pherson at mpherson@selco.info.

Friday, January 22, 2010, 3:07pm-- The issue has been resolved and the SELCO catalog is back up. Thank you.

Fiday, January 22, 2010, 2:53pm-- We are aware that the SELCO Catalog is down and we are working with Aquabrowser to restore it as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience.

Are you interested in attending the upcoming Library Technology Conference at Macalester College ?  Take a few minutes to fill out SELCO's Continuing Education Scholarship form and apply for a scholarship!  This conference provides an opportunity for librarians and library staff to come together to discuss the technologies that are affecting library service, to see examples of what libraries are doing with technology, and to allow participants to learn specific skills or knowledge that they can take back and adapt for use within their own library.  The application deadline for those interested in being considered for a scholarship is Wednesday, February 3, 2010.  For more information about the conference, click here .  To complete SELCO's online scholarship form, please click here .
 

The Office of the Secretary of State has recently produced a new Precinct Caucuses brochure .  This brochure explains what a precinct caucus is, what attendees at a caucus do, when the caucuses are and contact numbers for the major political parties.  Packets of 50 are available to libraries free of charge on a a first-come, first-serve basis.  Interested libraries should contact by sending email  Office of the Secretary of State or calling 651-201-1324.

The Arts and Cultural Heritage Funding (ACHF) Planning Committee released its final report to the Minnesota Legislature today, January 15, 2009.  The ACHF Committee was formed by the Minnesota Historical Society, the Minnesota State Arts Board, and the Minnesota Humanities Center and was comprised of 13 representatives of interested communities and organizations indentified in the law to receive ACHF funds.

As a framework for the next 25 years, the Committee recommends that  "ACHF programming must be rooted in principles that guarantee the greatest positive impact with as many Minnesotans as possible and lead to the kind of social, cultural and economic development outlined in this vision."

Looking to the more immediate future of the next 10 years, the ACHF Committee states that it is "crucial that the ACHF have a defined set of measurable goals that can be evaluated periodically to ensure the program is on track and effective."  The Committee then goes on to recommend that the goals and outcomes receive regular review including biennial reports to the Legislature.

A joint press release from the three sponsoring organizations offers a brief overview.

SELCO’s new Legacy Review Committee approved $10,193 for the first six projects requesting Library Legacy money.    The projects range from author presentations in Blooming Prairie to a Kenyan musical and storytelling performance in Rochester.

• Blooming Prairie Public Library with the Blooming Prairie Public Schools - - $550
• Buckham Memorial Library – Faribault - - $1,100
• Rochester Public Library - - $5,700
• St. Mary’s University with the Winona Public Library - - $1,268
• Wabasha Public Library with the RJAC (River Junction Arts Council) - - $1,575

SELCO is accepting applications for the second round of applications from libraries and partner organizations seeking Arts and Cultural Heritage Library Legacy funding.  Eligible categories include Art and Culture Live! and Community Collaborations . Submit a request for financial support to bring a writer, artist or performer to your community using the quick and easy online application .  Applications will be accepted each month, from now until May 2010 on the 30th or last day of the month.  The next deadline is January 30.   Additional information about SELCO sponsorships is available on SELCO Legacy website including instructions , the online evaluation form , and additional information about valid project outcomes .

This project was funded in part or in whole with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008 which dedicated funding to preserve Minnesota's arts and cultural heritage.

In observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the SELCO office will be closed on Monday, January 18.  Automation Support will be available that day from 8:00 am - 5:00 pm via the Help Desk number.  If you have an automation problem, please dial (1-866)529-4469 or (507)529-4469 to contact our on-call staff. 

There will be no delivery service on Monday and the normal Monday delivery will take place on Tuesday.

Plainview-Elgin-Millville schools have created International Traveling Trunks they will loan free of charge to schools, libraries and educational organizations in southeastern Minnesota.  The trunks are full of hands-on cultural information for kids in grades k-12 and provide a great opportunity for students to see authentic materials from around the globe.  The trunks include clothing, jewelry, videos, books, common household items, music, games & much more.  PEM schools have 14 trunks available for booking.  To reserve an International Traveling Trunk or for more information, please contact Deb Algadi at 507-534-3128, ext. 427.

Greetings!  The new SELCO Online Catalog is up and running!  The new catalog with the AquaBrowser Library interface was launched this afternoon.  AquaBrowser uses new search tools and functions that connect to our current ILS and our databases to pull out information for patron searches.  Library patrons are able to narrow down search results using a wide range of criteria, including format, subject and series.  Patrons are also able to rate and tag titles using built-in social networking.  Check out the new Online Catalog by clicking here !

Coffee & Conversation, sponsored by Citizens League Rochester , will host a legislative preview on Tuesday, January 19, 2010, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. at the RCTC Heinz Center, Room HA 102, in Rochester.  “Dialogue with your Delegation” attendees will hear from Rochester area legislators and have an opportunity to ask questions, as well as offer comments about the challenges facing the Minnesota Legislature as it reconvenes in February. 

In light of the concerns of the lead content in small children’s toys and in our efforts to keep patrons safe, SELCO has posted safety statements from Folkmanis and Lakeshore Learning Materials on the Storytime Kit page.  These are the companies we purchased the majority of our Storytime Kit toys from.  These statements have also been printed and added to the appropriate Storytime Kits for patron knowledge.  To view the Folkmanis Statement of Toy Safety, please click here .  To view the safety letter from the President of Lakeshore Learning Materials, please click here .  For more information about the SELCO Storytime Kits, please click here .

SELCO will launch the new Online Catalog with the AquaBrowser Library interface next Tuesday (1-12) afternoon.  A flyer has been created to promote the new catalog.  To access the PDF version of the flyer for printing, please click here .  Generic text has also been created for use on websites and other promotional materials.  Please click here to view this text .  The URL, catalog.selco.info, will go live tomorrow (1-7) afternoon.

Information on the January 12, 2010 SELCO Technology Users Group meeting has been posted on the Users Group page .

The new SELCO Online Catalog, powered by AquaBrowser, is the star of the meeting, but we will also see a demonstration of an all-in-one copier/printer/scanner designed to save space in the public area of your library.  Light refreshments will be provided and, as always, those who are interested will go out for lunch after the meeting. Hope to see you next Tuesday!

The order form for the Winter 2010 Cooperative PC Purchase has been released and emailed to Online Library Directors and Automation Contacts.  The deadline for orders is Friday, January 29, with SELCO placing orders in the first week of February.  Equipment installations will be carried out as orders arrive.

Monday Jan 4, 2010 12:55pm-  We have encountered an issue with our Citrix server farm that is preventing users from establishing a new connection reliably.  To fix this, it requires us to reboot the Citrix gateway server.  This will unfortunately disconnect all active sessions. 

We will be rebooting the Gateway at 1:00 pm to resolve this issue.  Please refrain from attempting to connect until 1:15 to give enough time for the Gateway to start up properly.

Sorry for the inconvenience, and thank you for your patience.

Get ready to Make a Splash at your library by attending the 2010 Summer Reading Program Kick-off at SELCO on Thursday, February 11, 9:30-11:30!  Cooperative Summer Library Program Manual Editor Patti Sinclair will be presenting book recommendations, demonstrating activities, and will get you enthused for summer reading!  The 2010 children's theme is Make a Splash -- READ!  To sign up, please visit the SELCO training page by clicking here .  To see the event flyer, please click here .  Hope to see you there!

In observance of New Year's Day, the SELCO office will be closed on Friday, January 1.  There will be no Automation Support on New Year's Day.  Automation Support for New Year's Eve will be available until 5:00 pm.

There will be NO delivery service on Friday.  Delivery will resume on Monday, January 4.

The Minnesota Historical Society, the Minnesota State Arts Board, and the Minnesota Humanities Center have been enthusiastically soliciting information from around the state for a 25-year framework and a 10-year Arts and Cultural Heritage plan.  A draft was released on December 21, 2009 and public comments are encouraged.
This work is in response to a legislative requisite in the first Legacy Amendment appropriations bill requiring that "...programs and organizations funded through the arts and cultural heritage fund shall conduct a collaborative project to develop...a ten-year plan and a 25-year framework for use of the funding that includes goals and measurable outcomes and includes a vision for Minnesotans of what arts, history, and cultural heritage will look like in 25 years." 

Today, December 30, marks the first deadline for libraries and partner organizations to request Arts and Cultural Heritage Library Legacy funding with SELCO sponsorship.  Eligible categories include Art and Culture Live! and Community Collaborations .  Submit your idea for a writer, artist or performer using the quick and easy online application .  Applications will be accepted each month, December 2009 through May 2010 on the 30th of the month.  Additional information about SELCO sponsorships is available on SELCO Legacy website including instructions , the online evaluation form , and additional information about valid project outcomes .

This project was funded in part or in whole with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008 which dedicated funding to preserve Minnesota's arts and cultural heritage.

In observance of New Year's Day, the SELCO office will be closed on Friday, January 1.  There will be no Automation Support on New Year's Day.  Automation Support for New Year's Eve will be available until 5:00 pm on Thursday.

There will be NO delivery service on Friday.  Delivery will resume on Monday, January 4.

Greetings!  The Poetic Strokes poetry contest has been revived!  SELCO encourages residents who are 16 years of age or older and who live in the eleven-county SELCO region to submit original poetry to be considered for the Poetic Strokes regional anthology.  For submission guidelines, please click here .  Send poetry submissions between January 1, 2010 and February 15, 2010 to:

Poetry Submission
SELCO
Attn: Mollie Pherson
2600 19th Street NW
Rochester, MN  55901
mpherson@selco.info

After the February 15 deadline, a qualified panel will review all entries and make the final selections for the anthology.

Spread the word to co-workers, family, and friends! 

Questions?  Contact Mollie via email at mpherson@selco.info or via phone at 1-800-992-5061 or 507-288-5513.

This project was funded in part or in whole with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008 which dedicated funding to preserve Minnesota's arts and cultural heritage. 

Great news from SELCO Headquarters!  As a region, we have collectively created 1,000,000 bibliographic records in the SELCO catalog!  SELCO Project Librarian Tyler Irvin entered the millionth record yesterday.  The item?  Dreams Under Fire - A Documentary About Gangs, a 50-minute video owned by SELS member, Parenting Resource Center . 

The Introduction to the new Online Catalog class this morning (12-30-09) has been cancelled due to low registration.  SELCO is offering other training opportunities to explore the new catalog.  Please check out our training page for more information. 

Greetings!  SELCO is happy to announce the addition of the Amazon Kindle and the Barnes and Noble Nook to our E-Book Reader Techie Toybox.  The kit also includes the Sony E-Book Reader.  To book this kit, please send a request to SELCO at booking@selco.info.  The email must include the title of the kit, the date needed and a requested due date.  Check out our other available Techie Toyboxes by clicking here.

Monday Dec. 28th - 9:52 AM

The problem with some thin clients in the region not connecting, has been resolved. Thanks for your patience. Please call the SELCO Helpdesk if you are still encountering issues.

12-23-2009, 9:24 AM

We are having some problems this morning with thin clients being able to connect to Citrix.  So far Citrix connections through the Automation Portal seem to be working fine.  We are working to resolve this issue and will send more information out as it becomes available.

The Wednesday morning, December 22 Introduction to the new Online Catalog class has been cancelled due to low (1) registration.  SELCO is offering other training opportunities to explore the new catalog.  Please check out our training page for more information.