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Kansas Will Have Public Library Accreditation Program

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

The State Library of Kansas and the regional library systems have been planning a Kansas Public Library Accreditation Project for some time. The State Library staff put together an Accreditation Task Force that is composed of library directors and system personnel from each area of the state.

The charge to the Task Force is: To develop a Public Library Accreditation Program that encourages the ongoing development of quality library service by creating tools for measuring customer-based library excellence. The State Library will use the accreditation guidelines to officially recognize Kansas libraries that offer excellent service.

On Wednesday, February 18, the Task Force met at the Maner Conference Center and made very good progress in shaping the program. State Librarian Christie Brandau hosted the meeting and Dr. Robert Grover did an excellent job of facilitating it. The task force selected categories and self-selected for subcommittees to develop measures for each category.

The accreditation measures will look very different from the Kansas standards that have been repeatedly revised since 1988. Libraries will not be categorized by the size of their service population. The standards will be designed from the point of view of the library user and in the voice of the library user. Instead of specifying a number of parking spaces that a public library will have, the standards will confirm that “I can find a parking space when I visit my library.” The ultimate goal of the project is to have user-focused public library standards for Kansas. These will be used to recognize excellence in Kansas public libraries.

The subcommittees will work on the standards in each category in March and April. The Kansas library community will respond to a draft of the program in early summer. Public libraries will be able to review the standards and apply for accreditation in early 2009.

The Task Force members are Fred Atchison, North Central System; Mickey Coalwell, Northeast System; Denise de Rochefort-Reynolds, Concordia; Sharon DuBois, Quinter; Jamie Kelley, Marysville; Royce Kitts, Tonganoxie; Laura Loveless, KCK; Ann O’Neill, SLIM; Chris Rippel, Central System; Cathy Reeves, Dodge City; George Seamon, Northwest System; Emily Sitz, Southwest System; Tom Taylor, South Central System; and Carol Wohlford, Andover.

If you have questions about this exciting new project, please call Shannon Roy at 785-296-2148.

Posted in Announcements, Library 2.0, Mar09, SLK Newsletter | No Comments »

Building a Nation of Readers at the Summer Institute

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

Building a Nation of Readers

Mirah Dow
School of Library and Information Management
Emporia State University

The 2009 Kansas Summer Institute for School Librarians will be on June 17-18. “Read the Signs: Pathways to Student Learning” will have daily sessions from 9:00 to 4:30 in the Kanza Room at the Emporia State University (ESU) Memorial Union. The registration of $100.00 includes lunch and breaks.

Reading is not a timeless, universal capacity. It is a specific intellectual skill that depends on many educational, cultural and economic factors. Reading a book requires active engagement and attention. When individuals learn to read, they connect what they are reading to what they already know and synthesize the information. Windows to the world are opened. When students master the “basics” including reading, they can expand their knowledge beyond their local community to become responsible and contributing global citizens.

To give our children and youth a fair shot to thrive in a global, information-age economy, today’s progressive libraries and teachers know they must partner with parents and community members to make certain everyone can read. It is this opportunity and challenge that the planning committee members decided to take up when they made “reading competency” the focus of the 2009 Kansas Summer Institute for School Librarians. Literacy and library experts and authors will share bold strategies and valuable resources. There will be two days of summer productivity, fun and door prizes. The committee and sponsors extend a special invitation to public and school librarians, reading specialists, Title I and At-Risk coordinators and teachers. Invite someone in your library, building or district. Register and start making your plans today.

→ Keynote Address: Judi Moreillon “Streamlining the Coteaching of Reading”
Judi is author of Collaborative Strategies for Teaching Reading Comprehension: Maximizing Your Impact (American Library Association) and author of Sing Down the Rain and Read to Me/Vamos a leer. In the national drive to improve test scores and build a nation of readers, the proven teamwork tools presented in Judi’s textbook and in the workshop will help educators accomplish these goals.

→ Featured Guest: Author Nancy Werlin
Nancy is National Book Award Finalist and Edgar Award Winner. She is the author of Impossible; The Rules of Survival; Double Helix; Black Mirror; Locked Inside; The Killer’s Cousin; and Are you Alone on Purpose. Nancy’s new novel, Impossible, is a School Library Journal Best Book of 2008, a Booklist Editor’s Choice for 2008, and a Kirkus Reviews Best YA book of 2008.

→ Featured Presenter: Sharon Coatney
Sharon is teacher-librarian, past president of the American Association of School Libraries, and Acquisitions Editor, School Library Media, Libraries Unlimited. Sharon will demonstrate the International Digital Children’s Library, the world’s largest collection of children’s literature on the Internet.

→ Evening Event
On Wednesday evening, 7-9:00 p.m., visit the historical showplace home of William Allen White, nationally known newspaperman and author. Beverley Olson Buller, Kansas teacher-librarian and author of From Emporia: The Story of William Allen White, will introduce you to “the sage of Emporia” and sign books. The house will be open for tours. Tour tickets are $3 each — available during the Institute. Buller’s book will be available for sale.

→ For Complete Information – Visit the Web
Visit the Institute website for complete details about time, location (map), featured presenters, onsite book sales, registration, Wednesday evening event, lodging, enrollment for graduate credit and the course syllabus, and sponsors. Any questions, please contact Mirah Dow, mdow@emporia.edu or Jackie Lakin, jlakin@ksde.org.

→ Institute Webpage
http://slim.emporia.edu/programs/summerinst.htm

→ SLIM’s School Library Media Professional Development Webpage
http://slim.emporia.edu/programs/professionaldevelopment/index.html

→ Sponsors
Kansas Department of Education; School of Library and information Management, Emporia State University; State Library of Kansas; and, Kansas Association of School Librarians.

Posted in Announcements, CE & Training, Children's services, Mar09, SLK Newsletter | No Comments »

New Philosophy of Administrative Training in 2009

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

Since the start of the 21st Century, library services have changed dramatically. So has library training. Librarians have a wide array of continuing education offerings in a wide variety of formats. Librarians often pursue training or continuing education without leaving their workstations, interacting with librarians from across the state or across the country. It is a richness undreamed of just a few years ago.

The State Library staff believe that evolving library training shouldn’t stop with more offerings or more convenience. It should change the whole nature of education for librarians.

The goal is to incorporate library development directly into continuing education so that library training programs visibly contribute to excellent library services.

The State Library staff is planning to design program packages that have a broad theme, which will be developed through ELMeR video workshops, Horizon Wimba presentations, active workshop websites and lively discussion groups on WebJunction Kansas.

The librarians participating in these packages will not be passive receptors of the instructors’ ideas. They will be commenting, expanding, disagreeing and starting new threads on related topics. Since talking is one of the things librarians do best, it should be a lively discussion every time.

The participants will also be using the ideas presented to choose and build projects that will either become an active part of the library’s services or will be eliminated because they don’t meet the needs of the library’s community.

The first of these integrated administrative training programs will be sponsored in the spring of 2009 and it will be called Collection Marketing and Merchandising. On Thursday, May 7, and again on Friday, May 8, Michele Leininger will present a one-day workshop on ELMeR called Connecting Communities and Collections: Building and Merchandising Collections People Want.

Michele was formerly the Continuing Education Consultant at the State Library of Iowa. She is now the Information Experience Director at the Pierce County Library in Tacoma, Washington.

: Michele Leininger

On Thursday, May 27, Thad Hartman, the Technical Services and Collection Development Supervisor at the Topeka and Shawnee County Library, will make a presentation on Horizon Wimba called Developing Collection Neighborhoods. Thad has a background in both circulation and reference. One of his current projects is to improve the marketing and organization of the fiction and nonfiction books at his library.

On Wedneday, June 24, Leah Krotz, Director of the Belleville Public Library, will make a presentation on Horizon Wimba called Dazzling Displays and Rave Reviews.

Leah has been the director of the Belleville Public Library for 18 years. She was very pleased when Belleville was recently named a Library Journal American Star Library. Leah is an experienced presenter who has worked on many Central Kansas System and statewide projects.

Participants may attend either or both of the Wimba presentations. The Wimba programs will be archived and available for viewing if there are conflicts with the synchronous events.

To conclude their participation in the Collection Marketing and Merchandising Administrative Training Package, the participants will create a library project on Collection Management, Marketing or Merchandising and share it with the rest of the class. Some of these will be showcased, with permission, on WebJunction Kansas or on the SLK News Blog.

The registration flyer for this program may be found at:

http://www.kslib.info/ce/libadmin-spg09.html

If you have questions or concerns about this program, please call Shannon Roy at 785-296-2148 or send email to shanroy@kslib.info.

Posted in Announcements, CE & Training, ELMeR, Lib. Admin. Certification, Mar09, SLK Newsletter, WebJunction | No Comments »

Trustees are Invited to Spring Statewide Training

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

The State Library of Kansas staff is pleased to continue the Statewide Training Program for Trustee Certification. As it was in 2008, the trustee certification training will be offered in two workshops in the spring and repeated at two workshops in the fall.

The spring workshops will be offered on Saturday, April 25, from 9:00 to 1:00 and on Saturday, June 6, from 9:00 to 1:00. The merrie month of May has been avoided at the request of the Kansas trustees. May is a lovely month, but not the time for Saturday workshops.

The April 25 program will cover Core Skill Two: Developing an Effective Board and Core Skill Five: Strategic Planning. It will be taught by Bonnie McKewon, the director of the Northwest Iowa Library Services. Bonnie has given many presentations to both librarians and trustees in her native Iowa and she is very interested in trustee development. Bonnie will be reprising her workshop on Saturday, October 3.

The April 25 workshop will be available at four video training sites in the Kansas ELMeR (Enhanced Library Meeting Rooms) Network. It will be available at Coffey County Library, Dodge City Public Library, Hays Public Library and Manhattan Public Library.

The June 6 program will cover Core Skill One: Working with the Library Administration, Core Skill Three: Developing Effective Support, and Core Skill Four: Assessing and Adopting Policy. Core Skill One will be presented by Kerry Storey of the Kansas Library Trustee Association Board and Core Skill Four will be presented by Caroline McKnight, the Chair of the Kansas Library Trustee Association Board. The members of the KLTA Board have been the State Library’s most active partners in designing and implementing the Trustee Certification Program and their help has been critical to the success of the project.

Core Skill Three will be presented by Jenifer Trimble, the Director of the Coffey County Library. Jenifer has a banking background, as well as her administrative experience at the Coffey County Library. She will bring a valuable perspective to the discussion on Core Skill Three: Developing Effective Support.

The June workshop will be available at four video training sites in the Kansas ELMeR (Enhanced Library Meeting Rooms) Network. It will be available at Coffey County Library, Dodge City Public Library, Manhattan Public Library and Newton Public Library.

The registration flyer may be found at:

http://www.kslib.info/ce/trustees-spg09.html

KLTA and the State Library have been delighted with the success of the program, which certified 104 trustees in less than eighteen months. If there are any questions or concerns about this program, please call Shannon Roy at 785-296-2148 or send email to shanroy@kslib.info.

Posted in Announcements, CE & Training, ELMeR, Mar09, SLK Newsletter, Trustee Cert. | No Comments »

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