[Libs-Or] LTLO February 2004
Arturo J. Guillen
arturo at sparkie.osl.state.or.us
Fri Jan 30 04:42:28 PST 2004
Letter To Libraries Online
An Electronic Newsletter of the
Oregon State Library
Volume 14, Issue 2 February 2004
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LIBRARY BOARD NEWS
State Library Board Meets on February 20th
LIBRARY DEVELOPMENT NEWS
Library Benchmark Sees Drop in 2003
Save the Date for the 2004 Focus on Children and
Young Adults Institute
Oregon Connections to the ALA Award Winners
Announced at the ALA Midwinter Conference
Library Services and Technology Act Guidelines Out
For FF&2005 Grant Cycle
Preliminary Public Library Statistics on the Web
Oregon Helps Update
E-Rate Application Deadline
Oregon Statewide Database Licensing Program Update
OTHER LIBRARY NEWS
TBABS Transitions to New Automation System
Librarian Joins Government Research and
Electronic Services Team
FUND DEVELOPMENT NEWS
What Are Your Fundraising Training Needs?
PS. (FROM THE STATE LIBRARIAN)
STATE LIBRARY CONTACT INFORMATION
LIBRARY BOARD NEWS
====================
STATE LIBRARY BOARD MEETS ON FEBRUARY 20TH
The State Library Board of Trustees will meet on February 20, 2004, at
the State Library in Salem. The Board will consider a request for
unprogrammed LSTA funds from the Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission to
undertake a grant project in 2004. The project would involve selecting
the 100 greatest Oregon books and developing an exhibit to coincide
with the State Library Centennial in 2005. This idea for the project
was conceived by the State Library Board's Centennial Planning
Committee and the OCHC was invited to partner with the Library on this
project. A traveling exhibit of the 100 greatest books will also be
developed to travel to libraries throughout Oregon after 2005. The
Board will also hear a report on Oregon Benchmark #38 that measures the
percentage of Oregonians who have adequate public library service.
Data recently submitted by public libraries was used to assess the
Benchmark for 2003. The meeting will begin at 9:30 in the Second Floor
Conference Room.
LIBRARY DEVELOPMENT NEWS
===========================
LIBRARY BENCHMARK SEES DROP IN 2003
How well are Oregonians served by public libraries?
Not as well as we might like. The State Library assesses annually how
well Oregon public libraries are meeting "minimum service criteria,"
and the extent to which every Oregonian is served by a public library.
We do this as part of the Oregon Benchmarks process. The Oregon
Benchmarks are the state's long term goals for improving our state. The
percentage of Oregonians served by an adequate public library dropped
2% from 2002. This was primarily due to four additional libraries
making the list of libraries not meeting minimum service criteria.
Given the fiscal situation of 2003 this is not surprising, but it is
still disappointing. Our goal for 2010 is 99% of Oregonians served by
an adequate public library. As of 2003 we are at 85%.
established and makes basic services available to citizens within its
tax-supporting service area without charge; (2) The library is open a
minimum of 20 hours per week; (3) Staff consists of one paid staff
person per 4,000 persons in service area or 0.5 FTE, which ever is
greater and populations over 10,000 must have a full-time paid
professional librarian (with a Master of Library Science degree); (4)
Collection is 5,000 books or one volume per capita, which ever is
greater; (5) Children's programming is provided.
As of 2003, approximately 9.3% of the total population of Oregon reside
in areas where they are not taxed to support public library service.
Another 6% of Oregonians have service from a library not meeting the
minimum service criteria. For more information see the latest Oregon
Benchmarks Report posted on the Library Development website:
http://www.osl.state.or.us/home/libdev/index.html.
SAVE THE DATE FOR THE 2004 FOCUS
ON CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS INSTITUTE
Every two years the Oregon State Library presents a three-day Institute
designed to provide a foundation of knowledge in the principles and
practices of service to library service to children and young adults.
Registration is limited and the target audience is staff responsible
for youth services from small public libraries, who have no graduate
level education in librarianship. We're particularly interested in
participants from libraries who offer limited library services to youth
and who will increase those services after attendance at the Institute.
Tentative dates for the 2004 Institute are September 12- 15th at
Namaste Retreat Center in Wilsonville. Please watch for more
information or contact MaryKay Dahlgreen, marykay.dahlgreen at state.or.us
503-378-2112, ext. 239.
OREGON CONNECTIONS TO THE ALA AWARD WINNERS
ANNOUNCED AT THE ALA MIDWINTER CONFERENCE
Beloved Oregon author Ursula K. LeGuin is the recipient of the Margaret
A. Edwards Award honoring her lifetime contribution to young adult
readers. The award is administered by YALSA and sponsored by School
Library Journal.
Cuba 15 by Portland author, Nancy Osa, was one of two Pura Belpre
Author Award Honor Books. The Belpre Awards are administered by ALSC
and REFORMA.
Ruth Allen of the Multnomah County Library was a member of the 2004
Michael L. Printz Award Committee and Nell Colburn, Multnomah County
Library, and MaryKay Dahlgreen, Oregon State Library, were members of
the 2004 Caldecott Medal. Martha Keough Flotten of Portland was a
member of the Mildred L. Batchelder Award Committee.
LIBRARY SERVICES AND TECHNOLOGY ACT GUIDELINES OUT FOR
FFY2005 GRANT CYCLE
Got a great idea for a community literacy program? Outreach? Continuing
education? Use of technology? Perhaps the Library Services and
Technology Act (LSTA) grant program is for you! The application packet
for FY2005 grant proposals has been mailed out and is also available on
the web through: http://www.osl.state.or.us/home/libdev/lsta.htm. The
LSTA program uses a two-step grant process. Short proposals are due
April 16. The LSTA Advisory Council will invite some applicants to
develop the proposal further in a grant application that will be due
August 13, 2004. Ideas need to support the Oregon Library Services and
Technology Act Five-Year State Plan 2003-2008, available at
http://www.osl.state.or.us/home/libdev/lsta.htm. We welcome calls to
talk over grant ideas, or find out about similar grants that may have
been made in previous years. Contact Ann Reed at (503) 378-2112 x.254.
PRELIMINARY PUBLIC LIBRARY STATISTICS ON THE WEB
The preliminary public library statistics are on the Web in
downloadable Excel 2000 format at:
http://www.osl.state.or.us/home/libdev/publibstats.html. If you need a
customized spreadsheet, or have a data correction to report, please
contact Val Vogt at val.t.vogt at state.or.us, 503-378-2112, ext. 222.
OREGON HELPS UPDATE
Oregon Helps (http://www.oregonhelps.org), the Web based calculator
that was designed to help Oregon citizens identify social services and
other support for which they might be eligible, recently broadened its
scope in the area of senior services (http://www.oregonhelps.org/go).
Many libraries have linked Oregon Helps from their Web page as a
resource for their patrons. Currently over 2,000 citizens a month who
in need complete the Oregon Helps interview process, making use of the
resources and support they find there. If it's your first visit to the
site, try the tutorial (in English, Spanish, Russian, and Vietnamese)!
Oregon Helps has recently received recognition for its innovation and
service. In 2003 a panel of experts in the area of government
technology innovation awarded Oregon Helps a Gracie
(http://www.oregonhelps.org/awards). Most past winners have been
federal programs, so it is thrilling that this small state/county
program competed and emerged a winner.
In 2003 Oregon Helps also won the Pegasus Award for its public service
announcement. This competition was created to recognize educational and
governmental video content creators.
Finally, Oregon Helps has been selected by an international jury as a
finalist for the 2004 Stockholm Challenge in the category of
E-government. The Stockholm Challenge began in 1993 and is considered
one of the premier international awards for municipal information
technology. This year, the Stockholm Challenge received over 900
entries from 107 countries www.challenge.stockholm.se/about_right.asp.
Oregon Helps is one of 24 finalists from 16 countries. Seven finalists
are from the US
http://www.challenge.stockholm.se/finalists.asp?Ar=2003&key=39KV85332
Winners for all categories will be announced May 13, 2004 at the Awards
ceremony at Stockholm City Hall. Contact Pam Horan for more
information, pam.horan at state.or.us, 503-378-2112, ext. 224.
E-RATE APPLICATION DEADLINE
The deadline for Form 471, the Services Ordered and Certification Form,
is February 4, 2004 at 11:59 p.m. EST. Public Libraries that file
applications after that time likely will not receive E-rate discount in
Funding Year 2004. Form 471 is the actual request for funding and is
used to calculate the discount percentage to which the applicant is
entitled.. The Form 471 also lists the individual funding requests,
which must be separated by service category and service provider. In
general, the E-rate discount is based on the percent of the local
school district population eligible for the National School Lunch
Program. For details about the program see the Schools and Libraries
Division (SLD) Web page at http://www.sl.universalservice.org/. Contact
Pam Horan for more information, pam.horan at state.or.us, 503-378-2112,
ext. 224.
OREGON STATEWIDE DATABASE LICENSING PROGRAM UPDATE
The Statewide Database Licensing Program Advisory Committee (SDLAC) and
the State Library (OSL) have continued to work on the transition of
statewide database administration to OSL. In addition, they have
developed a Request for Proposal (RFP) that will result in a new
contract for a full text general periodicals database. The RFP is
scheduled to be issued in February.
For details about the program, including a list of Advisory Committee
members and meeting minutes, see the Statewide Database Licensing
Program Web page
http://www.osl.state.or.us/home/libdev/osdlp/index.html.
Although there have been a number of training opportunities for both
EBSCO products and the Oregonian recently, the State Library plans to
arrange additional training sessions focused toward libraries that are
new subscribers. Watch for announcements. Contact Pam Horan for more
information, pam.horan at state.or.us, 503-378-2112, ext. 224.
OTHER LIBRARY NEWS
====================
TBABS TRANSITIONS TO NEW AUTOMATION SYSTEM
To an avid reader, what could be worse than two weeks without access to
books? Well, for a librarian, the challenges of migrating data to a
new automation system and the accompanying trials vie for top honor.
After two years of planning, bidding, and preparation, the new KLAS
automation system will be installed at Talking Book & Braille Services
(TBABS) in early February. OSL and public library staff who assist
TBABS participants or their family members will have a greatly improved
web access to help patrons browse the catalog and order books,
http://www.osl.state.or.us/home/tbabs/. Funds for the automation system
came entirely from private donations.
Please note that TBABS will not ship any books February 2-6, 2004, and
only a limited number during the week of February 9, 2004, while staff
learns the new procedures. Regular service should resume on February
17, though the system will likely need fine tuning for several weeks.
While TBABS is notifying its participants in advance and encouraging
them to stock up on books, public library staff may field additional
calls from TBABS participants who are eager to check out books. As
always, TBABS staff can provide brochures, applications, and even a
speaker to train staff on the program. For information, contact
Carolynn Avery, 503-378-4243 x 269 or Carolynn.m.Avery at state.or.us.
LIBRARIAN JOINS GOVERNMENT RESEARCH AND ELECTRONIC
SERVICES TEAM
Alice Stewart is joining the GRES team this month. She will fill our
current librarian vacancy and bring the research team back up to full
FTE strength in this important customer service area.
Alice joins our staff as a seasoned research librarian. She brings a
strong commitment to customer service as well as relevant skills and
knowledge acquired from her previous position as Urban Librarian for
the Johnson County Library in Kansas. In this position Alice developed
and provided extensive research support and information services to
local government and social services agencies located in the county. It
would have been difficult for us to find a better fit for this
position. Welcome Alice!
FUND DEVELOPMENT NEWS
========================
WHAT ARE YOUR FUNDRAISING TRAINING NEEDS?
Does your group need to learn how to run a capital campaign, recruit
board members, create a case statement, or make a personal ask for a
contribution? Raising private funds is easier if your volunteers
understand the most effective methods.
A small LSTA planning grant will help identify fund development
training needs by gathering information from library staff and
volunteers across Oregon. This winter and spring OSL will be
organizing regional meetings or teleconferences and distributing
surveys to learn your needs and preferences. Survey results will be
used to establish appropriate fund development training, with the goal
of creating a cohesive statewide fund development network. Be sure that
your voice is heard. To be included in the survey contact her at
503-378-2112 x 264 or Kathryn.Thomas at state.or.us.
PS. (FROM THE STATE LIBRARIAN)
==============================
From the preliminary Oregon public library statistics for 2002-03 that
we posted to our website last month, it appears that public library
circulation continues to soar. This, in spite of the funding
difficulties that a number of public libraries are struggling with. For
the first time, per capita circulation from all Oregon public libraries
surpassed 14. When I started work at the State Library in 1986, the
number was less than half of that. The new number will probably
continue to put us in second place in circulation per capita in the
U.S., but we are gaining on the leader, Ohio.
A number of factors seem to be accounting for the increase. All the
great new library buildings are certainly a major factor. Another
factor might be that it is much easier to renew a book than it used to
be, and a renewal counts as another circulation. For example, I can go
to my CCRLS catalog on the Web, check one little box, and renew all the
books that can be renewed -- a pretty convenient thing to do when your
books are all due and you can't get to the library to return them. The
downside of this is that books probably are staying out longer and
libraries need more copies to satisfy the demand.
Public librarians tell me that the growing popularity of libraries as a
place to get audiovisual materials is a big factor in driving
circulation to higher and higher levels. AV collections have improved
dramatically in most libraries in recent years, and the public has
discovered that the library is a great place for music CDs, videos,
DVDs and audiobooks.
The popularity of audiobooks may be growing faster than any other
format in public libraries. The audiobook industry as a whole is
poised for a real takeoff in the next few years. I was fortunate to be
at a meeting last May in which the President of the Audiobook
Publishers Association, Eileen Hutton, made a presentation. She told
us that the biggest news in her industry is that by 2005 all new cars
will have CD players capable of playing MP3 CDs. In addition, her
industry has developed a new MP3 standard, so that in a year or so you
can expect to see all audiobooks on MP3 CDs, which have the capacity to
hold an entire unabridged audiobook. The audiobook industry is very
much geared toward commuters. Hutton said that 97 million Americans
drive alone to work everyday, and that in 2001, commuters were stuck in
traffic an average of 62 hours per year, hence the huge popularity of
audiobooks with commuters.
Hutton predicted that when all cars come equipped to easily play
audiobooks, their popularity will accelerate and many more titles will
be made available. She believes that for most popular titles, it will
be the norm for unabridged audiobooks to be published at the same time
as the hardback is released. She predicted that abridged audiobooks
will become less popular, and more of a niche market, only for the
bestsellers. As unabridged audiobooks become more of a mass market
item, and as the production costs decrease with the use of the MP3
format, prices should come down.
For the longer term, Hutton saw the market shifting away from CDs to
downloadable audiobooks, already available from companies like
Audible.com, but still a fairly small market. When cars have built-in
iPod-like devices, perhaps with wi-fi capability to make it easy to
download, look for this shift to occur.
Public libraries should be prepared to see even more growth in the
popularity of audiobooks, and should be budgeting to replace their
aging cassette and multi-CD collections with MP3 audiobooks in the next
several years. For many more library users, listening to books will
become more popular than reading them. -- Jim Scheppke
===============================================================
STATE LIBRARY CONTACT INFORMATION
Technical Support 503-378-4246
MaryKay Dahlgreen
marykay.dahlgreen at state.or.us 503-378-2112, ext. 239
Denise Davis
denise.davis at state.or.us 503-378-2112, ext. 225
Pam Horan
pam.horan at state.or.us 503-378-2112, ext. 224
Ernest Perez
ernest.r.perez at state.or.us 503-378-4243, ext. 257
Ann Reed
ann.reed at state.or.us 503-378-2112, ext. 254
Jim Scheppke
jim.b.scheppke at state.or.us 503-378-4367
Robin Speer
robin.d.speer at state.or.us 503-378-4243, ext. 221
Kathy Thomas
kathryn.thomas at state.or.us 503-378-2112, ext. 264
Val Vogt
val.t.vogt at state.or.us 503-378-2112, ext. 222
OSL's home page
http://www.osl.state.or.us/home/
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LETTER TO LIBRARIES ONLINE (ISSN 1059-3195) is published monthly by the Oregon
State Library. Editorial offices: LTLO, Oregon State Library, 250 Winter Street NE, Salem,
OR 97301-3950. Editor: Robin Speer, 503-378-4243, ext. 221 or e-mail
robin.d.speer at state.or.us
LETTER TO LIBRARIES ONLINE is available free of charge and is available only in
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the authors and not necessarily those of the Oregon State Library. News items or
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