[Libs-Or] LTLO April 2006
Arturo Guillen
arturo at webhost.osl.state.or.us
Mon Apr 3 07:13:59 PDT 2006
Letter To Libraries Online
An Electronic Newsletter of the
Oregon State Library
Volume 16, Issue 4 April 2006
*************************************************
LIBRARY BOARD NEWS
State Library Board Considers Changes to Ready to
Read Grant Program
New Plan for the Horner Library Staff Exchange
STATE LIBRARY NEWS
Letters About Literature Winners Honored
OTHER LIBRARY NEWS
The Libri Foundation 2006 Books for Children Grants
Baker County Library Sends Retired Bookmobile to
Louisiana
2007 Beverly Cleary Award Contest
PS. (FROM THE STATE LIBRARIAN)
LIBRARY BOARD NEWS
====================
STATE LIBRARY BOARD CONSIDERS CHANGES TO
READY TO READ GRANT PROGRAM
At their meeting on April 5th in Salem, the State Library Board will
deliberate on a proposal to Governor Kulongoski to change the Ready to
Read Grant program in 2007. The Board will consider a recommendation
from a Board subcommittee to focus the program on early literacy
programs and summer reading programs. This follows a proposal made to
the Board in December by the Early Literacy Initiative, a statewide
planning effort led by the Multnomah County Library. The subcommittee
recommendation also includes seeking a funding increase to provide
every public library with $1 per child per year with a minimum grant
amount of $1,000 for every library each year. If the Board approves
the proposal, it will be forwarded to Governor Kulongoski for his
consideration. If the Governor decides to support the proposal, he
will introduce a bill in the 2007 Legislature to make the needed
changes to state law governing the program, and his budget proposal
will include the funding increase.
Anyone is invited to comment on the proposal which has been sent to all
public library directors in the state. An “open forum” will be held at
2:00 on April 5th in Room 202 at the State Library for anyone to
address the Board. Comments will also be accepted in writing up until
the time of the Board’s deliberation on April 5th.
NEW PLAN FOR THE HORNER LIBRARY STAFF EXCHANGE
Another item on the State Library Board’s April 5th agenda concerns the
Horner Library Staff Exchange. Since 1998 Oregon libraries have been
exchanging staff with libraries in Oregon’s sister province, Fujian, in
China. Four Oregon librarians from four different libraries and eight
Fujian librarians have participated. A new plan has been developed at
the suggestion of Mr. Zhang Yi-xian, the Director of the Fujian
Provincial Library. The plan involves more collaboration between the
State Library and the International Relations Roundtable of OLA. Under
the new plan, exchanges would be carried out in 2007 and 2010. In each
year, three librarians from Oregon would spend three weeks in Fujian
and four librarians from Fujian would spend three weeks in Oregon. The
group of Oregon librarians would include a Chinese speaker, and the
group from Fujian would include an English speaker. The IRRT would
select the Oregon librarians to make the trip through an application
process. There would be a $500 participation fee for each Oregon
participant. If the plan is approved by the State Library Board, the
IRRT will be accepting applications later this year. For more
information, contact Jim Scheppke at the State Library, or Carolee
Hirsch, the Chair of the IRRT, at the Eugene Public Library.
STATE LIBRARY NEWS
===========================
LETTERS ABOUT LITERATURE WINNERS HONORED
Students from across the state of Oregon will be honored at a
celebration at the Oregon State Library on Monday April 3rd at 4:00pm
for their winning entries in the 2006 Letters About Literature contest.
Oregon winners include: Level I First Place: Aubrey Means, Portland;
Level I Runner Up: Mason Flores, Grants Pass; Level I Honorable
Mention: Hannah Burke, Wilsonville; Meagan Gliebe, Gresham; Olivia
Hinnerfeld, Portland. Level II First Place: Jessie Karlovich, Ashland;
Level II Runner Up: Lucien Broeckel, Corbett. Level II Honorable
Mention Emily Brevan, Phoenix; Elise Chow, Ashland; Emily Fuller,
Grants Pass; Emily Harvey, Corvallis; Clemmie von Radies, Ashland.
Level III First Place: Nick Engelfried, Hillsboro; Level II Runner Up:
Rose Engelfried, Hillsboro; Level III Honorable Mention: Maya Lim,
McMinnville; Jesus Vazquez, Woodburn. Also honored will be the
seventy-nine semi-finalists from around the state. Letters About
Literature is sponsored nationally by the Center for the Book in the
Library of Congress with Target Stores. In Oregon, Letters About
Literature is sponsored by the Oregon Center for the Book, OEMA, OLA
Children's Services Division and Young Adult Network.
OTHER LIBRARY NEWS
====================
THE LIBRI FOUNDATION 2006 BOOKS FOR CHILDREN GRANTS
The Libri Foundation is a nationwide non-profit organization, which
donates new, quality, hardcover children's books to small, rural public
libraries throughout the United States. The Libri Foundation will
match money raised by your local sponsors from $50 to $350 on a 2-to-1
ratio. Thus, a library can receive up to $1,050 worth of new
children's books. After a library receives a grant, local sponsors
have four months, or longer if necessary, to raise the matching funds.
The librarian of each participating library selects the books their
library will receive from a booklist provided by the Foundation.
Previous BOOKS FOR CHILDREN grant recipients are eligible to apply for
another grant three years after the receipt of their last grant.
Libraries who did not fulfill all grant requirements, including the
final report, may not apply for another grant. Application deadlines
for 2006 are: (postmarked by) April 15th, July 15th, and December
15th. Grants are awarded April 30th, August 31st, and January 31st.
Application guidelines and forms may be found at the Foundation's
website: www.librifoundation.org. For more information about The Libri
Foundation or its Books for Children program, please contact Ms.
Barbara J. McKillip, President, The Libri Foundation, PO Box 10246,
Eugene, OR 97440; 541-747-9696 (phone); 541-747-4348 (fax);
libri at librifoundation.org (email). Office hours are: Monday-Friday,
10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Pacific Time.
BAKER COUNTY LIBRARY SENDS RETIRED
BOOKMOBILE TO LOUISIANA
The Cameron Parish Public Library was devastated by Hurricane Rita last
September, but help is on the way in the form of a bookmobile from the
Baker County Library. Four of the five Cameron County branches were
destroyed. Only one 1,000 square foot branch survived. But soon the
old Baker County bookmobile will be stationed at Johnson Bayou, the
site of one of the devastated branches. Cherrie Carlson-Conklin, a
veteran library staff member, has led a successful community effort to
stock the bookmobile with a fresh selection of books, DVDs and CDs, and
has raised funds to contribute to library rebuilding efforts. Library
Director Aletha Bonebrake commented that the 1968 Gerstenslager had to
be retired because it was no longer safe to traverse the mountains of
Baker County, but it should be fine to travel on the coastal plains of
Louisiana. It will be transported on a flatbed truck the 2,200 miles
to Cameron County, leaving in mid-April. Aletha says tax-deductible
donations to the "Books To Bayous" project are still being accepted.
Contact Cherrie at cconk at my180.net to make a donation.
2007 BEVERLY CLEARY AWARD CONTEST The nominees for the 2007 Beverly
Cleary Award Contest have been announced by the Oregon Educational
Media Association. The purpose of this award is to encourage reading
by highlighting good quality literature (fiction and nonfiction)
written on the second - third grade reading level, taking into account
text, format and the illustrations of the books. This elementary
contest will encourage books that students may not otherwise find on
their own and are not necessarily the popular best sellers. Bronco
Charlie and the Pony Express by Marlene Targ Brill relates how, in
1861, a boy named Charlie Miller became the youngest rider for the Pony
Express, a mail service that linked the East and West coasts of the
United States. (1-57505-587-2) The SOS File by Betsy Cromer Byars
tells about Mr. Magro's class who submit stories for the SOS file about
their biggest emergencies, and then they read them aloud for extra
credit. (0-8050-6888-0) Owen Foote, Mighty Scientist by Stephanie
Greene. Third grade best friends, Owen and Joseph, struggle to come up
with a great science fair project that they will both enjoy doing, then
something goes wrong and they have to change their plans two days
before the fair. (0-618-43016-4) Birthday Pony by Jessie Haas. Grandma
Aggie tries to help her granddaughter Jane and the independent pony,
Popcorn, who were born on the same day, become riding partners.
(0-06-057360-0) Say What? By Margaret Peterson Haddix. When their
parents begin saying the wrong thing every time six-year old Sukey and
her older brothers misbehave, the children discover that it is a plot
and fight back with their own wrong phrases. (0-689-86255-5) Ruby Lu,
Brave and True by Lenore Look. Almost-eight year old Ruby Lu spends
time with her baby brother, goes to Chinese school, performs magic
tricks learns to drive, and has adventures with both old and new
friends. (0-689-84907-9) Down Girl and Sit by Lucy A. Nolan recounts
the adventures of a rambunctious dog who thinks her name is Down Girl
and her next door neighbor, Sit, as they try to keep the world safe
from dangerous squirrels, the paper boy, and a frightening creature
named Here Kitty Kitty. (0-7614-5184-6) Secret Identity Shredderman by
Wendelin van Draanen. Fifth-grader Nolan Byrd, tired of being called
names by the class bully, has a secret identity Shredderman! (0-
440-41912-3)
PS. (FROM THE STATE LIBRARIAN)
==============================
On Saturday, February 25th, there was a celebration in Creswell. I was
there to speak, along with Bill Sullivan from the State Library Board
and the Lane Library League. My colleague Mary Kay Dahlgreen drove
down from Corvallis and many librarians from Lane County libraries were
there.
Ostensibly we were there to celebrate the ribbon cutting on a wonderful
new public library facility in Creswell, but in reality we were there
to celebrate much more.
We were there to celebrate the Lane Library District, which is the
first new public library to be established in Lane County in many
decades. Technically, I suppose, the library districts in Florence and
Veneta are fairly new, but they both succeeded public libraries that
had already been in existence before.
There is also a sense in which the Lane Library District is not really
new, because it succeeded a volunteer library that, amazingly, had been
in existence for 78 years. For a short time this library was a branch
of the Lane County Library that unfortunately died back in the 1980's
when a serial levy was not renewed by the voters. But the Lane Library
District remains the first public library established under Oregon
statutes in the town’s history. That was certainly something to
celebrate.
Another thing to celebrate was the fact that the Lane Library District
serves over 7,300 citizens of Lane County who have not previously been
served by a public library, except for the short time that the county
library was in existence. Lane County still has about 80,000 citizens
that are not served by a public library, most of them just outside of
Eugene and Springfield, but the Lane Library District has made a
significant reduction in the number of "unserved" citizens in Lane
County.
The new library building is yet another reason to celebrate. It's a
beauty! Eugene architect Ray Nagao did an outstanding job of
converting a former hardware store into a bright and inviting space
that will be a real draw in the community. All of the money for the
$250,000 conversion project was raised by generous local donors and
statewide foundations like the Meyer Memorial Trust and the Ford Family
Foundation.
And how did this all come about? It started with two community
volunteers, Bill and Verlean McCoy. Verlean was the volunteer
librarian at the volunteer Creswell Library, but she and Bill knew a
volunteer library was not good enough for Creswell. They, with a
number of others, worked with the Lane Library League to get a library
district measure on the November 2, 2004 ballot. Then they all worked
hard to sell a conservative rural community on the idea of raising
taxes by 59 cents per $1,000 to fund the library. The vote was so
close that it took until November 19th for the 19 vote victory to be
certified.
Now Creswell has a library with four times the space of their old
library, an adequate and stable budget, a new professional library
director, Judy Anderson, even a professional children's librarian, Su
Akeda. And it all came about because Bill and Verlean McCoy and others
in Creswell would not be satisfied in what had been the status quo for
78 years. And that's really something to celebrate. -- Jim Scheppke
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,
503-378-2464 or e-mail robin.d.speer at state.or.us
LETTER TO LIBRARIES ONLINE is available free of charge and is available
only in electronic form on the publications page at the Oregon State
Library's Homepage: http://www.oregon.gov/OSL. Opinions expressed in
the articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the
Oregon State Library. News items or articles should be sent to the
email address: robin.d.speer at state.or.us, or mailed to LTLO, Oregon
State Library, 250 Winter Street NE, Salem, OR 97301-3950.
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