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SELCO Librarian
Mollie Pherson, Regional Librarian
In June, the Cedar Rapids Public Library was completely destroyed due to massive flooding in the Cedar Valley. Not only was the library destroyed, but the majority of downtown businesses and homes. Although the town is slowly rebuilding, some people are still without homes and jobless. According to the Cedar Rapids Public Library Website, "the destruction at the 85,000 square foot library, which occupies a square block in the city's central business district, is believed to be the largest public library disaster in the U.S."
On June 20, 2008, I put a call out to all SELCO and SELS members and SELCO staff asking for donations, and the response was overwhelming. People around the region donated fiction, nonfiction, children's books, DVDs, etc. I don't know how many boxes I had stacked in my office labeled "CR FLOOD," but it was a lot! I was back in the Cedar Rapids area two weekends ago, and I helped sort each and every box and counted every item you donated to the library in need. Overall, the SELCO/SELS region donated just under 1,000 items!
It's a time for giving thanks, and I just wanted to let you know how much I am thankful for working in such a wonderful and giving region. You have truly helped out your neighbors to the South! Hats off to you all! Happy Thanksgiving!
Michael Scott, Assistant Director
On November 7th, I had the opportunity to visit the Kingsland Schools. The school district includes the cities of Wykoff and Spring Valley, Minnesota. I started the day at 6:30 AM at the Middle School in Wykoff. There I met Laura Gudmundson, the media specialist for the school district. Laura begins her day at 6 AM at the Kingsland Middle School, preparing for the school day, helping students check out library materials, and teaching computer course to middle school students. Students at the middle school are in grades 5th - 8th.
The middle school media center is a fairly large space with seating and public access computers for students as well as a collection of books and journals. Strengths of the collection include a strong historical fiction and "country" books (books about a particular country.) Laura stated that the country books can be difficult to find, especially about certain areas of the world. Accelerated Reader is used in the school district as well and these materials are clearly marked in the collection to be easily found. Kingsland Schools is not a SELCO Online Library but the media centers are on a shared ILS system, Destiny from Follett. Connected to the library is a computer lab where Laura teaches computer and techology courses, including courses in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint as well as keyboarding.
Later in the day, after visits to other libraries in Preston, I arrived at the Kingsland Elementary and High Schools in Spring Valley. The elementary school was added to the high school and opened in the fall of 2008. The media center is a shared space with the high school and elementary parts located at opposite ends of a large room. During my visit, the staff was preparing for a Scholastic Book Fair and were busy setting up displays of books and other materials. The high school portion of the media center had a large number of computers for students' use as well as a collection of fiction and nonfiction books. The elementary portion was still being assembled (waiting on shelving) but does have a storytime/reading area for students and a centrally located information desk. Oh, and for a bit of nostalgia, I even saw a collection of filmstrips, complete with CASSETTES for sound. Just to be fair, Laura has tried to get rid of the filmstrips but teachers still use them (plus, it is difficult to find them in another media format.)
I wanted to say a special thank you to Laura and her staff at Kingsland for welcoming me to their media centers. Laura is interested in finding out what other media specialists in the region are doing with regards to other teaching duties (besides being a media specialist) and sharing helpful tips with one another. You can certainly contact Laura directly (gudmundson.laura@kingsland.k12.mn.us) or feel free to send out information via the SELS_K12 email distribution list maintained at SELCO.
Ann B. Hutton, Executive Director
In honor of longtime library supporter, Evy Nordley, The Minnesota Association of Library Friends, recognizes "best" projects by Friends each year at the Library Friends & Advocates Day held during the annual Minnesota Library Association Conference. This year's top Evy Nordley Award for Best Project by Friends went to the Friends of the Rogers Public Library. Friends of the Detroit Lakes and the Wayzata Public Libraries received honorary recognition.
Senior Tech Day @ Rogers Library
The Friends of the Rogers Public Library sponsored Senior Tech Day offered an opportunity for seniors interested in technology to learn how it can be used for lifelong learning and family connectedness. The Friends partnered with Best Buy of Rogers to demo five items seniors are serious about using; MP3 players, digital cameras, cell phones, high definition TVs and laptops.
 | Judy Hanson, Friend of the Rogers Public Library, and Tim Hiller, Best Buy Business Library Professional, receiving the MALF 2008 Evy Nordley Award for Best Project by Friends. |
Used Cookbook Sale Hosted by Becker County Friends of the Library
The Friends raised funds for the Detroit Lakes Public Library and created a way for cookbook collectors to reduce the size of their personal collections by hosting a used cookbook sale. The Friends collected and sorted over 1,500 cookbooks, selling over 500 and raising nearly $1,000.
Picnic at Wayzata Library: Monarchs, Mariposa y Mexico
The third annual summer picnic in celebration of the Wayzata Children's Garden boasted over over 500 attendees of all ages. Monachs, Mariposa y Mexico included arts activities and educational exercises about butterflies all amid songs and dancing. The Wayzata Library has been selected as an official monarch butterfly way station. Monarchs summer in Wayzata then return to Mexico, which gives the picnic its theme.
Jonya Pacey, Help Desk Manager
This is the kind of experiment that can't be easily undone. So it's more like a change or a decision, I guess.
It involves FaceBook and something I heard at MLA. One of the sessions, about 23 Things on a Stick, contained a presentation by a Ramsey County librarian who joined FaceBook with six of her coworkers at other branches, as they could use this as a tool to communicate. The premise is to both build community and to tap into each other's knowledge when doing reference work and similar library tasks. Shortly after the presenter created her account, her family found and friended her - all 30 of them.
I found that a great story. I'm already a member of the MLA group on FaceBook, and used that to start friending the professional people I already know. I am exploring the friends' lists of library-involved people I already have friended, looking for those connections in the network. I had to think first about mixing my professional life with the rest of what I do, including the times I get whiney about working out, and decided that just about everything I do on FaceBook is mirrored on some other Web 2.0 venue. Anyone in the library community could have found my casual adventures in living via my blogs or my LiveJournal acccounts, or googled me, or looked for me on flick'r. And soon - LibraryThing.
During these few days, however, it has changed my update postings. Already, I am more thoughtful as to what I tell people; I don't know how long that will last but I believe I will never be unaware of the entirety of my audience. But I've always been aware of the real people on the other side of the screen. The experiment comes from fully embracing the opportunity to network and build community - that's the advertising, isn't it? That my network intermingles with other people's networks and as snippets of information are shared, usefulness happens. People find jobs, find new friends, find answers.
The next step is to move the intellectual nature of my network to face-to-face meetings, to tap into web-based friendliness and support in real time. But maybe that is organic and impossible to predict. I will find out. See you online!
Crossposted to my personal blogs.
Jeanne Steinbrink, SELCO-MLA Scholarship Recipient
Austin Public Library
The Eight Keys to Library Effectiveness: Consultant Sandra Nelson's message targeted what libraries will need to do to survive. While her message was not always what we wanted to hear (Phoenix Library sustained a 42% cut), it is what we needed to hear. Libraries will be making tough choices in the next few years on whether to cut costs or services. With touch economic times library use will increase while resources will decrease. Libraries need to take their focus away from what they think a library should be to focusing on user needs and wants. This means shifting resources to popular items instead of reference materials and difficult to use databases, by making data-based decisions by determining the greatest value for the dollar spent (cost per use).
Libraries are becoming America's living room and we need to draw new patrons in b y providing them with what they want, not what we think they need. We need to learn from the competition (Google, Netflix, Amazon). And we need to do this by providing excellent customer service--greeting people, anticipating their needs and not just sitting at the "desk" but having roaming librarians. Collaboration will be another key to survival by coordinating activities with groups such as the Park and Rec., daycare providers, and by enlisting the help and support of advocates.
I Can't Understand You! was presented by St. Thomas ESL teacher Karen Batdorf. She noted how Minnesota's population has changed in the past thirty years--with the influx of Vietnamese, Hmong, Russian, Somali and Hispanic. We face not only language barriers, but also cultural differences. Some of these people groups have only just recently developed a written language. While library staff struggle sometimes with trying to understand the limited English when serving these groups, Karen helped us to realize the struggle most of them have gone through to come to the United States as immigrants, refugees from war zones, or asylum seekers who have often been victims of violence or torture.
Instead of thinking, "Oh, no, I have to help this patron," think "I choose to help this patron because it may be their only positive interaction today." Empathy will help us overcome our annoyance and fear.
Lunch Speaker
We were treated again to Sandra Nelson in her presentation Everyone is Getting Crabbier! In tough economic times everyone is stressed by working harder with less time and resources.
People mirror behavior. We can choose how we will interact. When you know tough times are coming, plan ahead. Then instead of cutting across the board, you can decide what services are most important and work to provide them. To accomplish this constructively you must plan ahead and simplify by getting rid of the clutter (such as vertical files) and the things we do that have high cost but are of little value.
Final Thoughts
Thanks to SELCO for the scholarship to attend this excellent conference. The 2008 MLA conference was like a well-oiled machine, with each part working effectively for the whole. The organization behind the facilities, meals, conference speakers, and other peripherals caused each part to fit together perfectly. We can use this conference as an example for our libraries. Concentrate on what is important and do it with excellence.
Aimee Lake, SELCO Finance Manager
Day 3 of MLA was again an informative one for me. The first session was a presentation of Web Junction by Michael Porter, a Web Junction rep. Michael, aka Libraryman, definitely made it a fun session with his humor and enthusiasm. I had been familiar with Web Junction before, but I had never looked around the site much. It offers some very valuable resources in allowing librarians around the state to talk and share their experiences and ideas. The site also has an array of class offerings for librarians from library management and services to technology and how-to's on application software. By simply becoming a Web Junction Minnesota member, these courses are available free of charge.
The second session I attended was Minnesota Library Funding presented by Ken Behringer, Director of the Dakota County Library and Peg Werner, Director of the Viking Library System. As the SELCO Finance Manager, I am pretty much chin-deep in funding on a daily basis. However, that does not necessarily mean I've got the nitty gritty of Minnesota library funding down to a tee. There are several elements that go into the formulas for library funding and with economic and political shifts, those elements have the potential to change dramatically from year to year. Ken Behringer did an excellent job of presenting the background and detail on minimum level of local support and Maintenance of Effort. After his presentation, I definitely feel I have a much firmer grasp of these concepts. Peg Werner then presented state statute language change recommendations by the Minnesota Library Funding Committee. The recommendations address the following:
- The difficulty in handling double digit increases or decreases in ANTC in several subsequent years.
- When LGA/CPA are cut, library directors are placed in a bind because they cannot offer cuts to their departments as can other members of the local team.
- Capital expenses are too narrowly defined.
- The timeline for new or pilot projects is too short.
- There are times when funding bodies would like to contribute more to libraries or other library systems but cannot for "fear of being caught in MOE".
- State funding has not kept pace with county funding for regional public library systems.
Overall, I had a great experience at MLA. It was very worthwhile for me and I've brought home a lot to share with my community and apply to my SELCO responsibilities.
Aimee Lake, SELCO Finance Manager
Day 2 at MLA was a very full, information-filled day, but I think the most meaningful session for me was Everybody Get on the Bus presented by Jim Connor of the Trustee College.
Mr. Connor focused on the importance of all types of libraries working and advocating together as well as working closely with their communities for future sustainability. People do not demand library service as a part of their daily life and that is the challenge to librarians: to change that mentality. Libraries are perceived as a luxury, not a necessity, and Mr. Connor offered several points for libraries to work to change that perception:
- Change our approach to how we get funding: Don't just ask for it, earn it with service and program offerings, responding to patron needs and by getting involved in the community.
- Be more aware of the resources available in our system to assist our patrons. We should be aware of what's happening in the community and patron needs should be preempted.
- Libraries need to be convinced of their value before convincing others.
- Our most important asset is accessibility.
Michael Scott, Assistant Director
The final day of the 2008 Minnesota Library Association was a great way to cap off a successful conference. I started the morning by attending the Public Libraries Division Business Meeting at 7 AM (OK, admit that I was NOT there right at 7 AM!) PLD is the largest division within MLA and the group was busy discussing the need to improve its involvement in the organization. I'm all for members being involved in an organization to make it successful!
I attended two conference sessions on Friday: What Do College Students Learn in High School About Research? and Minnesota Library Funding - Issues, Solutions, Compromise. The session about college students was interesting to me as I went into the session thinking that there was definitely an opportunity for collaboration between academic librarians and their colleagues in school media centers and public libraries. I was not disappointed! A number of academic librarians were in attendance and added to the conversation about the need to improve bibliographic instruction and help students improve their research skills. The speaker, Kellian Clink from Minnesota State University, Mankato, had surveyed 12 "feeder" schools to the University and received responses from 6 schools. A few things she found in her work was that teaching about information skills was competing with teaching about technology skills and book budgets were stagnant at best. Certainly no surprises there! I think what I took away from this session was that there is certainly an opportunity for the different types of libraries--academic, public, and school-- to work together to ensure that students will be successful in developing good research skills.
The Minnesota library funding session was a very good session on a (possibly) dry subject: funding for libraries. A brief presentation on how funding is done in Minnesota for libraries helped me further understand the complex process for this to be accomplished and the need to review how it is done so that libraries can continue to receive the funding they need.
The conference ended with Sandra Nelson's keynote on Why is Everyone so Crabby?: How to Help People Evolve Your Organization into One of Excellence. Sandra did a good job at helping us all look at the stressors in our lives, how to deal with them and keep our perspective, and make our workplaces less stressful and more enjoyable places to work. Always a good reminder!
Overall, I did enjoy the conference and the sessions that I attended. I also learned that I have a backup career in case the library gig doesn't work out -- ice cream man!
Aurora Jacobsen, Information Services Librarian
The final day of the conference I attended the two morning sessions as well as the final luncheon keynote.
The first session I attended were a session on Web Junction. I had expected to hear Chystie Hill give the presentation, but she evidently fell too ill and was replaced with Michael Porter. I've heard Michael Porter speak before, and he lived up to his reputation. I love his self-effacing style and his lobbying for a "Minnesota Curling Librarians" Group on WebJunction. Most of the contents of the session were review for me, but it served as a reminder that I need to return to the site and to continue to be active.
The session afterwards, on funding, begain with a review of the funding laws in the state and ended with a discussion of Maintenance of Effort and the efforts of the library community to make the rules more flexible in the future.
The final session was another good reminder. "Everyone Is Getting Crabbier" was a session on how to minimize stress in our lives.
A good conference, all in all. Like all good conferences, I came home with some new passion to resume work but also physically exhausted.
Day 2 of the conference was the fullest day. I began at 8:00 am with a Legislative Update with the MLA lobbyist, Elaine Keefe, Mark Ranum of Plum Creek and Mike Bloomberg of Augsburg College. Keefe discussed the political and financial climate of the stateand Ranum discussed the MLA potical platform for MLA this year. Keefe's presentation was a sobering reminder of the tough budget year facing our state and a reminder that many programs will be cut.
I followed this session with a session on MILE, the MLA Institute for Leadership Excellence. The panel discussion featured a series of questions for past participants and mentors. The session gave a good overview of the experiences MILE provides and certainly seems like a valuable experience for its participants.
Following a lunch I was lucky enough to share with former Assistant Director Barbar Misselt, I attended "Creating a Jimmy Choo Staff Wiki on a Shoestring Budget" presented by Rochester Public Library's Brian Lind. He went into some depth about the process the library went through to arrive at their staff wiki. The steps Rochester Public Library followed were:
- Decided to migrate to a Wiki
- Formed a Wiki task force
- Divided up info by division
- Took six months to migrate all info
- Developed help tools
- Trained users
- Introduced Wiki to staff
Lind also discussed the types of wikis available, giving an overview of what to consider in wiki software as well as a good pro and con summary of 5 of the most recognized wiki software.
The final list Lind left the crowd with was the 8 commandments of Wiki implementation, which are as follows:
1. Make things findable without using the search box
2. Choose Navigation links wisely
3. Think about ALL users
4. Use specific language
5. One page – multiple links
6. Choose a realistic timeline to get going
7. Link to redundant information from your public website
8. Understand your Wiki won’t be perfect
Lind's presentation can be found in full here.
My final session of the day was "Everyone Get on the Bus" with Jim Connor. The session focused on how librarians needed to be advocates for libraries of all types. Interestingly enough, I couldn't help but comment on the similarity between some of his advice and the recent OCLC From Awareness to Funding report and I found that Connor has worked with OCLC on these funding issues. Some of the most thought provoking things Connor mentioned in the session:
- Talk library everywhere you go, everything you do.
- To convince your city council it’s important, you must convince yourself of the library's value and why the library is important to every one in your community. You must be ready to clearly explain the library's value at a moment's notice.
- Asking for money for your library is selfish but asking for money for libraries because they serve a need is different.
- The library's Board of Trustees should be its advocates. They should be taking the budget to the funding authority as a group.
All in all, it was a full day of valuable information.
Mollie Pherson, Regional Librarian
By the final day at the MLA Conference, my brain is so full of new information and I'm just exhausted!
This morning, I had breakfast with a few library friends I haven't seen since college. It's always fun to catch up with others in your field at these conferences!
I also attended a session on Minnesota Library Funding. I found this session particularly interesting because my new position deals with advocacy, and I want to make sure I'm aware of the past, present, and future history regarding funding for Minnesota's libraries. The panel of members from the Minnesota Library Funding Committee discussed recommended changes to the statutory language which was very interesting.
Next up--Sandra Nelson's Luncheon Keynote presentation titled "Why Everyone is So Crabby?: How to Help People Evolve Your Organization Into One of Excellence." I actually read one of her books while I was attending graduate school and really liked it--Managing for Results: Effective Resource Allocation for Public Libraries.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my time up in Bloomington! I learned lots of great things that I will be bringing back to my own work environment and I had the chance to mingle and put together faces with the names that I frequently see. Can't wait for MLA next year in St. Cloud!!
Jeanne M. Steinbrink, SELCO-MLA Scholarship Recipient
Austin Public Library
Morning Sessions
My first session early this morning was Harnessing Google to Accomplish Daily Tasks, presented by Kristen Mastel, Outreach and Instruction Librarian at the U of M. Kristen presented a quick review of tools available on Google, but she said you can find similar tools at Yahoo and other search engines. Basically, I am the office financial person at the Austin Public Library but wear many other hats, so I am always looking for ways to be more efficient and make better use of my time. One thing that tends to get squeezed out is taking time to find useful tools on the Internet, so attending library conferences is a good way for me to hear about practical tools without having to do the legwork.
Kristen's presentation briefly covered Google Docs, Google Custom Search Engine, iGoogle, Google Notebook, Google Sites, and Google Alert, plus several others. One tool that caught my attention was Google Docs, which is web-based word processing similar to Word. The plus side is that Google Docs lets you prepare a document and then allow others to access it directly to edit it, yet keeps track of all revisions. This is a nice alternative to preparing a Word document and sending it as an attachment, and chance losing track of the most recent edit. It seems like a great tool for collaborative ventures.
Another feature I liked was iGoogle, which matches up nicely with my "I hate shopping" attitude of "get me in, get me what I need, and get me out as soon as possible." I like to have a place for everything and everything in its place, so I can grab exactly what I need when I need it. (I think I fell under the "thorough" personality type in yesterday's session on Negativity in the Workplace.) The iGoogle feature is a handy dandy tool to help me in my quest for efficiency. You customize a personal homepage on iGoogle for one stop shopping: RSS feeds, bloglines notifier, to-do list, local weather, news--you name it. (At an earlier session they talked about Google Calendar--another tool I intend to pursue.)
Overall it was a fun way to see "what's out there" and still get my work done at the library.
Friends Sharing Ideas was the late morning session sponsored by MALF (Minnesota Association of Library Friends). I am a book addict--not only have I worked at the Austin library for over 20 years, but I feed my addiction outside of work by buying a book almost every other week. Needless to say I am also a member of the Friends of the Austin Public Library. So whenever there is an opportunity to hear other Friends talk about ideas to support libraries, I am there.
MALF co-presenters Joan Larson and Barbi Byers led the session. Joan started the presentation by asking what Minnesota Friends groups were doing that was new and exciting (besides book sales). I am less bashful than I used to be, so I offered to go first by talking (bragging actually) about our Friends of the Austin Public Library's book project. We published Austin Remembers in 2006 with stories from over 150 local authors ranging in age from 9 to 98 in celebration with Austin's sesquicentennial. This year through the efforts of our book editor, Joan Claire Graham, we collaborated with the Friends of that Albert Lea Public Library and garnered a 2008 Minnesota Sesquicentennial Legacy Grant to bring our book and Albert Lea's book Albert Lea Remembers to the stage in the fall as an original musical. What a hit!
Many other great ideas surfaced at this session: donating books and operating a library at a county jail, a "Love Your Library" fundraising campaign, adding a line to county tax statements with the option to donate to the Library Foundation, a bridal show fundraiser, chocolate events combined with silent auctions, "Come Read with me (at the public library)" where volunteers work weekly with young readers to improve their reading skills, library staff appreciation breakfast, "Antiques Roadshow" type events, renting library atriums and terraces for special non-library events, and working with local businesses to wrap Christmas presents were some of the ways Friends were helping libraries raise funds and community awareness. And then there were book sales, and book sales, and book sales. One innovative library saved the "better" books for a special Christmas sale complete with cider, goodies and music. Many libraries have a "friends-only" pre-sale book sale or book "coupon" specials with paid memberships. Overall this was a great brainstorming session.
Afternoon Sessions
I was on a "Friends of the Library" roll so I attended Communication Strategies for Friends of the Library led by Sally Lederer from MELSA and Margie Schuster, who oversees the Friends group in the Hennepin County. Sally discussed the basic communication strategy of Who? How? and What?
Decide "Who?" your audience is and find the best way to reach them. You may be trying to reach faithful library users, schools, your city/county elected officials, or legislators.
Once you target your audience, ask "How?" to best reach them. You won't reach them all in the same manner or with the same message. You will reach your library users in a different way than you will reach your legislators. Not everyone has e-mail, but some people depend on websites for their information. Search out the best option(s) for your target group.
Once you've decided on your audience and how to reach them, determine "What?" is your key message. Your message needs to be consistent with a specific goal in mind.
The bottom line is that libraries are essential and that the friends, library trustees, and library staff should be sending the same simple message. More members mean a stronger voice to persuade decision makers to continue funding libraries.
The final session was on The First Amendment @ Your Library. Jane Kirklen from the U of M discussed recent abuses of our right to freedom of speech, especially since 911 and the advent of the Patriot Act. She talked extensively on the sometimes inappropriate use of NSLs (National Security Letters) in obtaining information normally protected by data privacy laws.
Another recent trend is "Libel Terrorism." Since libel laws are stricter in other countries than in the United States, what is acceptable here under our First Amendment rights might be considered anti-government and a punishable offense in a foreign country.
In the United States speech on the Internet gets the same protection as other printed speech. This is not so in Internet Restricted Countries (IRCs) who limit their citizens' access to free speech on the Internet.
Jane says she is close to being a First Amendment absolutist in that, "The cure for speech that we detest is more speech." This encourages debate and discussion. If you're upset with something said or written, refute it. We have to be ready to respect the speech that we abhor as well as the speech we love in order to protect our First Amendment rights.
I was torn between attending this session and the session on Inspirational Fiction, however even I couldn't be in two places at once. But I overheard many wonderful comments following the Inspirational Fiction session, so I will have to check it out later on the MLA website.
