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The State Library of Kansas Announces the Addition of Mango Languages

Thursday, July 19th, 2012

The State Library of Kansas is pleased to announce that beginning August 1st, it will offer the Mango Languages online language-learning system to the state of Kansas.

Learning a new language with Mango Languages is made available to all Kansas library patrons, at no charge, by the State Library of Kansas and offers a fast and convenient solution for our state’s increasing language-learning needs. Each lesson combines real life situations and audio from native speakers with simple, clear instructions. The courses are presented with an appreciation for cultural nuance and real-world application that integrates components of vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar and culture. Users learn actual conversation, breaking down complex linguistic elements within an audio-visual framework that draws important connections and builds on information they have already learned.

Mango will be available in two versions per language selected. One is Mango Complete, a 100-lesson course that is designed to provide a deep understanding of a language and its culture. The second is Mango Basic, which teaches everyday greetings, goodbyes and helpful phrases in a short period of time and is designed to appeal to a beginner in a new language. There are more than 40 foreign language courses available and 16 English as a Second Language (ESL) courses.

“We are thrilled to add Mango Languages to our new list of databases launching August 1st.” said State Librarian Jo Budler. “Kansans want to learn a second language for business, travel, or just because they think it would be interesting. No matter the reason, Mango makes learning a language fun and we hope the state takes full advantage of one of our newest investments towards enhancing Kansas.”

For a full list of all the databases included in the packages the State Library will offer statewide as of August 1, 2012, visit http://www.kslib.info/librarians/databases-fy2013.html.

Founded in 2007, Mango Languages is recognized as a leading provider of online language learning services to libraries, government agencies, corporations and the general public. Designed by a team of linguists, teachers, software developers, human interface specialists, writers, voice talents and designers, the company’s award-winning language learning system has drawn acclaim from prominent national and international reference groups, educational resources, Web organizations and travel guides. For more information, visit www.mangolanguages.com.

Posted in Librarians & libraries, Press releases, Schools | No Comments »

Last webinar on “Library as Community Center” was great fun

Monday, June 4th, 2012

On May 24, Marcia Allen of Manhattan and Diana Weaver of Basehor presented a program called “Collections and the Community.” The premise was that library users need to have multiple opportunities to encounter materials in the library’s collections, in all formats. Leaving the items on the shelves and the readers in the town will never help the library become the beloved center of the library’s service community.

Marcy seemed to be enjoying herself as she described ways to bring content and people together, through showcasing, displays, websites, booklists, reviews, staff picks, programs, simple friendliness and a facility made as welcoming as possible. Marcy pointed that the librarians need to learn about the community residents, and that the up-to-date needs of all ages need to be thoughtfully considered.

Marcy ended her PowerPoint with several slides of library users and library staff enjoying themselves immensely, lively illustrations from a library that has become a community center in a vital and growing Flint Hills community.

Diana and her staff at Basehor Community Library had been concentrating some attention on E-books, which Diana described as a moving target.

E-books are a relatively new format that is fascinating, but not yet familiar to many library users. Diana’s advice was fairly simple: Pay attention to them. A Digital Readers Group in Basehor learned to look at them, play with them, evaluate their usability, offer classes on them, advertise their content. But while it is important to publicize their richness, librarians should also share information on the problems of E-book publishing, for this is a media that is still finding a place in the world, and people need to understand the environment as it develops. One of Diana’s important points is that no one is an expert and no one should be trying to be – it will only slow things down. The ideas for E-book development in Basehor could be easily replicated in libraries of all sizes.

Diana ended her presentation with some very thoughtful questions about the future of books. Librarians and library users will be discussing those issues over wine and lattes and cups of tea for years to come.

This program was recorded and the archive link is available at:

https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/jwsdetect/playback.jnlp?psid=2012-05-24.0821.M.D937329E3556F1E6EDB23EC01926EB.vcr&sid=2011591

The two PowerPoints will be permanently available on the “The Library as Community Center” webpage on WebJunction Kansas, which can be reached at:

http://www.webjunction.org/content/webjunction/partners/kansas/ks-training/lib-community-ctr.html

 

Posted in CE & Training, Librarians & libraries | No Comments »

New ALA report on digital content / ebooks

Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012

Today, the American Library Association (ALA) released “E-content: The Digital Dialogue,” a new report examining fair and reasonable access to digital content through our nation’s libraries. I ask that you to share the release in key venues in the larger community (public libraries, community members, etc.).

Here’s is the ALA press release: http://www.ala.org/news/pr?id=10543.

Alan Inouye, Ph.D.
Director, Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP)
American Library Association
1615 New Hampshire Avenue NW
First Floor
Washington, DC 20009
202-628-8410

Posted in Kansas EZ Library, Librarians & libraries, Tech services | No Comments »

“Collections and the Community” will be on May 24, from 10:00 to 12:00

Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012

This spring, the State Library staff has been hosting a series of online training programs called “The Library as Community Center.” It has proved to be a big topic, one that can hold a lot of ideas. We have talked about conversations and welcome and special projects and social media and involving the library in community planning. For the final program of the series, we will turn our attention to involving the community in library collection development. Collection development is growing in all directions and could fuel a dozen workshops. The one on Thursday will be in two parts.

Marcia Allen, of the Manhattan Public Library, will present “Partnering with the Community: Building Collections in Your Library.” This program will explore ways in which librarians can work with the community to build collections. Marcy will look at sources for demographic information, at features which pull library customers to the website, and at marketing tools that librarians can utilize. She will also discuss ways to showcase library collections and to solicit customer input. We will also talk about library programming and ways to make the customers feel that the library is an inviting  destination.

In the second hour Diana Weaver, of the Basehor Community Library, will discuss ways for libraries of all sizes to serve patrons in the digital environment. Her presentation is called “Aiming for a Moving Target: E-books in Libraries.” At Basehor, they have created a community focus group to help map a plan. The group auditioned several devices and scored them according to ease of use and the reading experience. The focus group also suggested ways the library could meet the needs of library users with this new technology. Diana will share what they learned in Basehor and what they have done, including classes, purchasing content and circulating devices. There will also be some thoughtful discussion on what e-books mean to libraries today and in the future.

“Collections and the Community” will be on Thursday, May 24, from 10:00 to 12:00. You may come into the Collaborate room after 9:30, if you want to do an audio check. The link to access this workshop is:

https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?password=M.0B55F1B97C18B66D0BCA8276BE5440&sid=2011591

The workshop will be archived and the recording link sent after the long holiday weekend.

 

 

 

 

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“Engaging the Library in Community Planning” was Third in Community Center Series

Friday, May 11th, 2012

The third program in the “Library as Community Center” training series that the State Library is sponsoring this spring was “Engaging the Library in Community Planning.” It was presented by Eric Gustafson, the Director of the Derby Public Library and former director of the Morrill Library in Hiawatha, on Tuesday, May 8.

Eric drew on his experiences in both these Kansas cities since they were different communities and had different human resources. One of his major messages is that a library director should not define the community’s leadership narrowly, but should network widely and get to know as many people as possible. It isn’t possible to predict who will become a major library supporter or who will understand that the library is an important community center in the information age.

Some librarians are lucky enough to have a very positive relationship  with city officials, while others have officials who aren’t that interested in the library. To some extent, library administrators will have to invite themselves to the community planning tables, using patience and impeccable courtesy.

In the real world, people support other people when they know them and like them and see them support the community’s common goals. A library staff that is active in community affairs can be the best possible partner to effective library planning. A library staff that supports community initiatives is more likely to gain effective library support.

Eric also emphasized that outgoing friendliness must be balanced with professional style and personal discretion. The library’s major priorities should be presented in clear, succinct messages that emphasize the benefits to the community.

A variety of community groups were mentioned in the presentation including government leaders, business owners, educators, local media, major community clubs, foundation directors, and marketing specialists.

The participants had time for a lively discussion that emphasized that many different styles could be effective in library and community planning and that all the major library players would need to be involved for long-term success.

This program was recorded and the archive link is available at:

https://sas.elluminate.com/mr.jnlp?suid=M.5BFF090D9673F03213B4AFD67675CD&sid=2011591

The first two programs in the series were presented in March. “The Conversation Business” was held on March 21, and “Going Social to get Local” was taught by the Lawrence Social Media Team on March 28. “The Library as Community Center” theme could have wandered over many topics, but these programs have had a strong unifying theme – communication! Conversation, dialogue, learning, teaching, welcome, friendship, social media, community networking, and skillful marketing will all be part of creating a community center that contributes to a high quality of life in the library’s service community.

Reading, listening, and viewing all take place as the library user engages with the outside world. Please consider attending “Collections and the Community” on Thursday, May 24 from 10:00 – 12:00. This final program in the series will be taught by Marcia Allen of Manhattan Public Library and Diana Weaver of Basehor Community Library. The Collaborate link for this program will be sent on Monday, May 21 and again on the evening of Wednesday, May 23.

Please send email to Shannon.Roy@library.ks.gov if you have any questions.

Posted in Announcements, CE & Training, Librarians & libraries | No Comments »

Third Workforce Recovery Program will be on “Partnering with Business.”

Thursday, April 26th, 2012

On April 17, the State Library sponsored the first Workforce Recovery program. “Helping Job Seekers” was very lively, and the archive link was posted to the listservs. Many of the resources are permanently available on the WebJunction Kansas Workforce Recovery Page.

The second webinar was held on Thursday, April 26. Shana Ashwood did a wonderful job of stepping through the many resources that the Learning Express Job and Career Accelerator offers to career developers and Job seekers. This program emphasized the JCA features for organizing a job search, the information on occupations, the best ways to locate desirable jobs, and the skills for getting hired. It added another layer of excellent resources to those covered in the April 17 program.

The third and final program in the Workforce Recovery series is based on work done for the national Project Compass program, but the emphasis will be somewhat different from the programs on helping job seekers. It is called “Partnering with Business”

An increasing number of economists believe that successful small businesses will be a major driver of the long-term economic recovery. Successful collaborations with local business communities has been a growing field among urban librarians. Thanks to the growth of online resources, it is gaining ground in suburban and rural communities.

This workshop will be divided into three parts. The first will be a discussion of the importance of partnering with community business and how to address the barriers that have kept this from happening.

The second part will include a look at the online resources available through WebJunction Kansas and a review of the strategic plan recommended in WebJunction’s “Pathway for Small Business.” The resources covered here will be permanently available on the WebJunction Kansas Workforce Recovery Page.

The third part will be a review of the resources available through the Gale Business Databases. It will be taught by the Cengage trainer assigned to Kansas, Dinah Ramirez.

The Collaborate link to join this session is:

https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?password=M.8BDC1A6BED0478A957BC84A0E61281&sid=2011591

You may come in after 9:30 to check your equipment.

This information will be posted to SLK News and available under the CE and Training Category. If you have questions or concerns about this program, please send email to Shannon.Roy@library.ks.gov   or call 785-296-2148.

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“Going Social to Get Local” Was Very Successful

Thursday, March 29th, 2012

The second program in the “Library as Community Center” series was taught by three members of the Lawrence Public Library Social Media Team. Susan Brown is the Marketing Director, Jennifer Cook is a Children’s Librarian and Rachel Smalter Hall is the Adult Programs Librarian. This program was on Wednesday, March 28, from 10:00 to 12:00.

They shared a lot of information about using social media and presented many appealing ideas. But they also emphasized that using social media successfully takes planning, time, teamwork and effective ongoing management. It is better to develop it slowly than to try to do everything at once. Susan recommended a book called “Doing Social Media So it Matters: A Librarian’s Guide” by Laura Solomon, saying it was extremely helpful to librarians wanting to develop this field.

The benefits to a library match the investment. Using social media allows the library to inform and engage the community, to respond to customers, to promote services, programs and collections. It helps community residents become aware of the library as an information hub, an essential destination and a community center. It helps the librarians build mutually beneficial relationships all over the community.

Jennifer shared many ideas on using Facebook effectively to share information about the library and encourage feedback from customers. Rachel shared ways to use Twitter effectively. Then she talked about using it to build relationships with community residents who will become library supporters.

One of the things that impressed the workshop participants was the use of humor and playfulness in the ways that the Lawrence library uses social media to interact with community residents. The playfulness elicits response from the community in a way that simply sharing information would not. But this communication must still be honest, respectful, appreciative and appropriate. It is not wise to post anything on social media that could not be said at a service desk.

Even if they understood the benefits in partnerships, publicity, advocacy, and support, many librarians have considered that developing social media is a lot of work that must be done by already busy librarians. The Lawrence social media team did not deny this. They emphasized the need for a team effort. But they taught that playfulness could be considered an important professional tool, which is a nice idea. And they did succeed in demonstrating that social media could be a great deal of fun.

The workshop slides will be placed on the new “Library as Community Center” WebJunction Page. Information about this program will also be stored there with the archive link.

Posted in CE & Training, Librarians & libraries, Marketing, Networking | No Comments »

“The Conversation Business” was the First Program in “The Library as Community Center”

Thursday, March 22nd, 2012

“The Conversation Business.” was held on Wednesday, March 21 from 2:00 to 4:00. The presenters were Brenda Hough and Heather Braum, both of the Northeast System, and Shannon Roy from the State Library of Kansas.

Brenda Hough shared some ideas from The Atlas of New Librarianship by R. David Lankes. Lankes says that “Libraries are in the knowledge business; therefore libraries are in the conversation business. New librarians approach their work as facilitators of conversation. Be it in practice, policies, programs and/or tools, participatory librarians seek to enrich, capture, store and disseminate the conversations of their communities.” He encourages librarians to view their libraries as “workshops of the mind” with conversation as the catalyst for knowledge. The popularity of digital media in a rapidly changing world is sparking new possibilities for libraries and requiring librarians to re-think the roles their libraries will play in the community.

Heather Braum shared stories from around the state about lifelong learning activities that will play an increasingly important role in the future of libraries. These included classes, programs, demonstrations, discussion groups, special interest clubs, 6 by 6 activities, and other ways in which Kansas libraries are enriching life and knowledge in their communities.

Shannon Roy shared ideas from around the State on how Kansas libraries are making their facilities more welcoming and their websites more interactive and rewarding.

All three presenters were delighted with the ideas and stories shared by the participants in the workshop. “The Conversation Business” may be a fairly new term, but Kansas librarians are in the business as they welcome their library users and interact with them in so many ways.

 

Posted in CE & Training, Librarians & libraries, Library 2.0 | No Comments »

Going Social to get Local: Engaging Your Community via Social Media”

Thursday, March 22nd, 2012

Please mark your calendars for the second program in the online series called “The Library as Community Center.”  On WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28 FROM 10:00 – 12:00, Lawrence librarians will present “Going Social to get Local: Engaging Your Community via Social Media”

The Collaborate link to join this program is at:

https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?password=M.83E31149484BF286F5EAA954895393&sid=2011591

You may come in after 9:30 if you would like to check your equipment.

The program will be archived, but plan to enjoy the live session if you can.

Members of Lawrence Public Library’s social media team will offer an overview of how they have developed a strong social media presence and engaged their community.  As coordinator of the library’s social media efforts, marketing director Susan Brown will offer a broad overview of how the library got started in social media, what their policies and strategies are, and some lessons learned along the way.  She’ll also offer some bold answers to frequently asked questions about social media, particularly aimed at those who are just getting started and trying to build a case for the importance of social media.

Jennifer Cook, children’s librarian and leader of the Facebook group, will offer an inside look at just what LPL posts on FB and why.  She’ll talk about how she recruits members to the team, identifies their interests, and organizes their efforts.  Jennifer will also talk about developing content for Facebook and measuring success.  Attendees will be sure to enjoy her Hall of Fame/Hall of Shame FB posts as well as her Extreme Makeover: FB Edition, where she reviews an unsuccessful post and shows how it could be made better.

 

Rachel Smalter Hall, adult programs librarian and Twitter team leader, will talk about how the library has developed a strong following on Twitter and how it sustains and engages its audience there.  Rachel will provide an in-depth look an not just what LPL says on Twitter, but why they say it.  Attendees will learn about the power of hashtags, cool tools like Hoostuite, and the ways that LPL tweeters have blurred personal and professional lines to achieve an authentic social voice – #pbrbookclub, anyone?

Finally, the trio will talk about what’s next for the library’s social media endeavors and offer some practical wisdom for you – whether your library is just dipping your toes in the social media waters or is a seasoned social media machine.  These librarians have worked hard to make their library’s social media platforms fun, engaging, and interactive – so bring a fun attitude and lots of questions so that this webinar can be that way, too!

 

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Program called “The Conversation Business” has been Moved to March 21

Monday, March 12th, 2012

Please mark your calendar, if at all possible, for the first webinar in our new series “The Library as Community Center.” “The Conversation Business” is going to be “conversing” about fascinating library trends.  However, it has been necessary to change the date from March 13 to WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21. It is still from 2:00 to 4:00, but please make a note of the new date.

Brenda Hough and Heather Braum, both of the Northeast System, describe the first webinar this way:

“Have you ever had a neighbor or relative ask, “Why will we need the library when everything is digital?” Do you have a good answer for this question? Join this session for an opportunity to talk to others about the future of libraries and the importance of conversation. This talk is inspired by ideas from The Atlas of New Librarianship, a book by KLA Conference keynote speaker R. David Lankes. In the book, Lankes encourages us to view libraries as “workshops of the mind,” with conversation as the catalyst for knowledge. The popularity of digital media in our rapidly changing world is sparking new possibilities for libraries and requires us to better articulate the roles we already play.

Libraries are so much more than storehouses for print materials! Hear stories from libraries around the state of Kansas, featuring examples of the lifelong learning activities  that can play an increasingly important role in the future of libraries. There will also be discussion about Kansas libraries that are developing the welcoming environments in the buildings and on the websites that will truly make them the community centers of our future.”

The Collaborate link to join this program is:

https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?password=M.02F1614803C0CAF3815AAAB74EC78A&sid=2011591

You are welcome to enter the room after 1:30 to check your equipment. Please call Shannon Roy at 785-296-2148 if you need assistance.

The other programs in the “Library as Community Center” series will also be very thought-provoking and solidly useful. There will be articles on each of these programs as the webinar date approaches. But, in brief, they are:

Going Social to Get Local: Engaging Your Community via Social Media
Susan Brown, Rachel Smalter Hall, and Jennifer Cook, Lawrence Public Library
Wednesday, March 28, 10:00 – 12:00
The Lawrence librarians will build on the central idea that constant conversation and shared information need to take place between the library and the community.These librarians have worked hard to build the social community that supports the Lawrence Public Library.

Engaging the Library in Community Planning
Eric Gustafson, Derby Public Library
Tuesday, May 8, 10:00 – 12:00
Eric will draw on experiences in both Hiawatha and Derby for a presentation on being involved with community planning. It not only makes the library more visible, but wins respect for the library as an important agency, vitally involved with community issues.

Collections and the Community
Marcia Allen, Manhattan Public Library and Diana Weaver, Basehor Community Library
Thursday, May 24, 10:00 – 12:00
Marcia will talk about interacting with the community while collections are being developed. Diana will talk about helping community residents become comfortable with ebooks and familiar with what they have to offer.

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