Resources for Libraries Blog

Greetings!  It's time to apply for the 2013 Evy Nordley Minnesota Association of Library Friends (MALF) Best Project Award by a Friends Group. No Friends' project is too big or small -- awards have been given to large scale projects and small smartly-crafted projects. The Evy Nordley Award is given each year at the Minnesota Library Association conference.  This year, the award will be given during the 2013 MLA Conference in St. Cloud, October 10-11. The award recognizes Friends' projects whose impact is above and beyond the norm. The 2013 award includes a $1000 prize and recognition plaque to the winner. Runners-up receive $250 accompanied by a Certificate of Recognition. Applications are accepted during the spring and summer months. The winner is selected by a panel of judges. Click HERE for the 2013 press release, HERE for the 2013 award criteria, and HERE for the 2013 entry form.  Visit the MALF website HERE for questions.  Applications are due June 15, 2013.

Happy National Library Week!  This year's theme is Communities Matter @ Your Library and it's a perfect opportunity to write your legislators and let them know how important libraries are to you and about the positive differences libraries make in your community!  Libraries need your voice!  Click HERE to start sharing a personal story about how your public, school, academic or special library has made a positive impact.  Click HERE for PSA materials, sample press releases and more! 

Also, in honor of National Library Week Honorary Chair Person Caroline Kennedy’s new book, Poems to Learn by Heart, and the National Library Week theme, Communities Matter @ Your Library, the American Library Association is sponsoring a book spine poetry contest.  What’s a book spine poem?  It is a poem composed using the spines of books stacked on one another to create a free verse poem.  Click HERE for submission details - you have until April 20 to submit!  Happy Celebrating!

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is offering grants to 500 libraries and humanities organizations to develop public programming around a set of four NEH-funded films that explore the history of civil rights in America.

The Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle grant opportunity is open to museums and historical societies, state humanities councils, public, academic, and community college libraries, and nonprofit community organizations. Applications are available here and are due by May 1st, 2013.

Each participating site will receive a film set of four NEH-funded films and an award of up to $1,200 to support public programming exploring the themes of the Created Equal project. The documentary films featured in the set are:

The Abolitionists, on the anti-slavery movement of the 1830s;

Slavery By Another Name, which examines forced labor practices in America from Reconstruction to World War II;

The Loving Story, an account of the landmark 1967 Supreme Court decision Loving V. Virginia which overturned anti-miscegenation laws in the United States;

Freedom Riders, about the brave band of student activists who challenged segregation in the Deep South during the spring and summer of 1961.

The Created Equal film set was developed through a partnership of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History as part of NEH’s Bridging Cultures initiative.

Please contact the NEH with any questions about the project. Learn more about this and other NEH programs at the NEH website. 

Happy School Library Month to all of the school librarians and media specialists in the SELCO/SELS region!

School Library Month (SLM) is the American Association of School Librarians' (AASL) celebration of school librarians and their programs. Every April school librarians are encouraged to create activities to help their school and local community celebrate the essential role that strong school library programs play in a student's educational career.

This years theme is Communities matter @ your library®.  There are a number of resources available for you to celebrate this month at the AASL School Library Month website (linked above).  For our school library members, we've obtained web graphics from AASL that you can use on on your library's website.  If you are a SELCO online school library, a banner has been maximized for AquaBrowser; contact the SELCO Help Desk for assistance.

School Library Month is a great time to remind everyone in your school and community about the importance of school libraries. School libraries deliver and share essential resources, and provide access to technologies that improve both the quality of student learning and the quality of teacher instruction.

Excerpted from an AASL email sent on March 15, 2013.

School Library Month Video Contest Deadline Extended!

The deadline has been extended and entries must be submitted to SchoolTube.com by 11:59 P.M. CST on Tuesday, April 16th, 2013, to be eligible to win.

Contest Details:

What does community look like in your school? Is it learning together? Working toward a common goal? Building school spirit? How does your school library program promote community?

Students are encouraged to submit videos to the American Association of School Librarians detailing examples of how their school library connects to this year’s School Library Month theme “Communities matter @ your library.” Videos should visually illustrate how the school library program fosters a sense of community in their school. Contestants are urged to unleash their creativity and just have fun! Use humor, drama, music, or special effects to showcase your amazing school library. For a full list of contest rules, eligibility, and prizes visit www.ala.org/aasl/slm/video.

Mango Languages has developed a free tool for library staff interested in learning some Spanish phrases for use in the library.  Work with "Libby the Librarian" to help you learn Spanish to better serve your Spanish-speaking patrons.  Access to this specific course is open, so you can study with Libby even if you don't have a Mango subscription.  Libby's course covers basic greetings, getting a library card, and navigating the reference desk.  For more info, click HERE.

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) has partnered with the Carnegie Science Center: Girls Math & Science Partnership (GMSP) to inspire girls to see themselves in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers through gaming and online activities.  As part of the Can*TEEN Career Exploration initiative, the Carnegie Science Center has developed the Can*TEEN Trivia Wheel Library Interactive game, a new spin on the classic gaming style of multiple choice trivia questions. AASL, working with the Carnegie Science Center, and with support from the Motorola Foundation, will help distribute Can*TEEN Trivia Wheel Library Interactive toolkits to more than 2,500 school librarians serving children ages 10-14.

This offer is newly expanded to all states and any school librarian serving students ages 10-14.

School librarians who participate will receive a free kit for their school library and will be asked to complete a follow-up survey at the end of the school year. The survey will  evaluate how frequently the toolkit was checked out and how it was used in within the school. More information and the opt-in form can be found on the AASL website at www.ala.org/aasl/canTEEN.

More information on the Can*TEEN Career Exploration initiative, including clips from recent playtests, featuring two of the women who helped make the Can*TEEN Interactive can be found at www.canteengirl.org/library.

Think Small, an organization focused on advancing quality care and education of children in their crucial early years, has released its 2012 Report to the Community.  Click HERE to find out how Minnesota's leaders in early learning are preparing children for success in school and success in life.  If you'd like a printed report, please contact Dayna Adams at dadams@thinksmall.org.

Greetings!  Applications are now being accepted for the Books for Teens program sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA).  Books for Teens’ mission is to empower the nation’s at-risk teens to achieve more by providing them with free high quality, new, age-appropriate books. Funds raised through Books for Teens will be distributed to institutions in communities with a high level of poverty, where librarians and library workers will purchase and distribute new books, encourage teens to get library cards and provide teens with reading-focused events and activities.  Click HERE for the criteria, guidelines and downloadable application.  Questions?  Call 1-800-545-2433, ext. 4390.

Greetings!  An updated SELCO/SELS Member Library Map is now available!  This map shows membership as of July 2012.  Please click HERE to view the PDF and/or make copies for your location.  Thanks!

The Public Library Association (PLA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are pleased to partner and distribute samples of the FTC's new suite of materials on identity theft and identity protection.  You can download the information and order free copies for your library by clicking here.  There's an easy-to-copy brochure with tips for patrons, a booklet with step-by-step instructions on dealing with the crime of identity theft, and a brochure on child identity theft.  Everything produced is in the public domain, so please feel free to share it with patrons, colleagues, and the community.  Questions?  Email outreach@rtc.gov.

Greetings!  Washington Learning Systems is making available, at no cost, parent-child early literacy activities in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Somali, Burmese and Russian.  The development of these materials was supported in part by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, and by funding from Washington Learning Systems and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation through the Great Start, Great Parents program at Calhoun Intermediate School District in Battle Creek Michigan.  These materials include home and community activities for adults and young children (birth to five) that encourage early language and literacy development.  They are appropriate for children with disabilities as well as children who are developing typically.  Each of the activities includes an activity description, and hints for making the activity fun and developmentally appropriate.  An activity checklist helps parents and caregivers notice their children's skills, and also cues adults to examine and grow their own interactions with children.  The materials are made available by Angela Notari-Syverson and colleagues, and may be copied and distributed as long as they are not sold.

To download materials, please click HERE and click on the button that says "Literary Resources" on the home page.  You will need to create a log-on account using your email address and password.  For questions, please contact Mary Maddox at Washington Learning Systems: mmaddox@walearning.com.

Since 2003, the Tuesday of National Library Week has been set aside as National Library Workers Day (NWLD).  NWLD is a day for library staff, users, administrators and Friends groups to recognize the valuable contributions made by all library workers.  Take a moment and thank the library staff at your local library for all of their contributions.  For more information about National Library Workers Day, click here.

Happy School Library Month!

Started in 1985, School Library Month (SLM) is the American Association of School Librarians' (AASL) celebration of school librarians and their programs. Every April school librarians are encouraged to create activities to help their school and local community celebrate the essential role that strong school library programs play in a student's educational career.

This year's theme is You Belong @ Your Library.  Visit the SELCO Resources for Libraries page and click on the General Library Observances tab to access graphics, promotional materials, a webinar series, a podcast, and other useful information resources.  You can also visit the School Library Month page from ALA for more information.

National Library Week is just around the corner!  Visit the SELCO Resources for Libraries page here and click on the General Library Observances tab to gain access to multiple resources, including videos, promotional materials and press releases, and more!  We have also created an AquaBrowser banner for this year's celebration.  Click here to view the banner and others!  Please contact the SELCO Help Desk if you are interested in making a switch.  Happy celebrating!