[Libs-Or] Letter to Libraries Online - May 2009

[April Baker]

Letter To Libraries Online
An Electronic Newsletter from the Oregon State Library.......Volume 19, Issue 5, May 2009
Library Board News

GOVERNOR APPOINTS SHANNON APPLEGATE TO STATE LIBRARY BOARD

Governor Kulongoski has appointed Shannon Applegate of Yoncalla to serve a four year term on the State Library Board of Trustees, beginning in July. The appointment will need to be confirmed by the Oregon Senate. Applegate is the author of two acclaimed books, Skookum: An Oregon Pioneer Family's History and Lore (1988), and Living Among Headstones: Life in a Country Cemetery (2005). In 2007 she received the Governor's Arts Award from Governor Kulongoski. She is a direct descendant of Charles Applegate whose brothers helped blaze the Applegate Trail in 1846. She lives outside of Yoncalla on her family's original donation land claim. Applegate has been a strong library supporter and has presented many readings and programs in libraries around the state. 

STATE LIBRARY BOARD SUPPORTS OLA VISION 2020
The State Library Board approved a $10,000 grant of Library Services and Technology Act funds to the Oregon Library Association to assist with their Vision 2020 strategic planning process. The request was made by OLA President Mary Ginnane and Vision 2010 Chair Teresa Landers. The grant will be matched by a $5,000 contribution from OLA to fund a Delphi process that will gather ideas from about 120 librarians throughout the state. The results from this process will be used by the Vision 2020 Committee at their planning retreat later this year. OLA hopes to complete Vision 2020 by early next year. In other business, the Board approved the Library's plan for a 30% General Fund budget reduction in the 2009-11 biennium. The reduction would cut just over $1 million from the Library's budget. The plan includes some savings from a staff position in Talking Book and Braille Services, but the bulk of the reduction comes from cutting funding for the Ready to Read Grant Program from $1 per child per year to 37¢ per child per year. The Legislature will consider the plan, along with similar plans from other agencies in May. The Board also approved the use of interest from the Talking Book and Braille Services Endowment Fund to purchase supplies and equipment that will be necessary to jump-start the transition to digital talking books later this year. The Library of Congress will supply the new digital players, but only about 5,000 digital talking books. The interest funds will allow TBABS to purchase blank digital book cartridges in bulk for downloading and copying additional books for the new collection.

LIBRARY BILLS PASS OUT OF COMMITTEE
At press time two bills that deal with library services have passed out of committee and are headed on in the Legislative process. The end of April was the deadline for bills to pass out of the initial committee to which they were assigned at the start of the session. SB 2586 passed out of the House Education Committee on April 27th. The bill would make school libraries eligible for an existing grant program at the Oregon Department of Education and require all school districts to plan for a strong school library program. The bill is sponsored by Representative Peter Buckley of Ashland and has 22 co-sponsors in the House and Senate. It has been endorsed by the Oregon Association of School Libraries, the Oregon Library Association and the State Library Board. Another bill, SB 849 would fund the NEWSLINE program for the blind with funds from the Residential Service Protection Fund at the Oregon Public Utility Commission in the 2009-11 biennium. The bill was sponsored by Senator Alan Bates with support from the State Library Board, the Oregon Commission for the Blind and the National Federation of the Blind of Oregon. The NEWSLINE allows Oregonians registered with Talking Book and Braille Services to access three major Oregon daily newspapers and hundreds of other newspapers and magazines using a toll free phone connection and text-to-speech technology. Newspapers and magazines can also be downloaded to portable adaptive audio and Braille devices. The service was started three years ago and has been supported exclusively by donations. If SB 849 passes, funding for the program would be provided on a more sustainable basis. The NEWSLINE receives funding from public utility commissions in ten other states.

State Library News

OREGON TEENS RECEIVE NATIONAL HONOR AWARDS AT STATE LIBRARY
Erikka Potts and Y Thein Hoang, both from Portland, have received national honor awards in the 2009 Letters About Literature reading and writing contest. This year 1,137 students from Oregon entered the contest and there were almost 54,000 entries across the country. A panel of national judges selected 6 winners and 12 honor awards from these entries. Each national honor award recipient received a $100 Target GiftCard and was able to select a library to receive a $1,000 grant from Target Stores. Erikka selected Parkrose Middle School library to receive the $1,000 grant. Y selected St. Mary Academy's school library to receive the $1,000 grant. These school libraries may use grant funds to purchase new library materials, provide educational programming such as writing workshops, or improve library services for students.
Letters About Literature is a reading promotion program of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, presented in partnership with Target Stores. To enter, young readers write a personal letter to an author explaining how his or her work changed their view of the world or themselves. The contest encourages students to explore his or her personal response to a book, then express that response through writing. Please visit Letters About Literature to read the 2009 winning letters. Local co-sponsors are the Oregon Center for the Book at the State Library, Oregon Library Association Children's Services Division and Young Adult Network, Oregon Association of School Libraries, and Oregon Reading Association. 

PUBLIC LIBRARIANS ARE CONNECTING MORE OREGONIANS WITH TALKING BOOKS
Lately, Talking Book and Braille Services (TBABS) has been noticing that an increasing number of librarians are certifying patron applications and we couldn't be more pleased. Helping your blind, low vision, and physically handicapped patrons sign up for Talking Books is just as easy as ever! Lots of librarians around the state are already familiar with giving out applications to eligible patrons. But don't forget that you can help your patron fill out the application and even provide the certifying signature on the back page. Talking Book and Braille Services has always been a free service that provides audio books and players to print-disabled Oregonians. Later this year we will begin to offer the new digital talking books and digital players, a real breakthrough in talking book technology. 
To view the TBABS registrations criteria and print applications on-demand, visit the registration page online. For posters, brochures, and pre-printed applications materials, contact Elke Bruton at 503-378-5455. 

P.S. (From the State Librarian)

Gary Hamel is one of my favorite writers on management. Years ago he co-authored, Competing for the Future, which still has a lot to say to librarians. Now he writes a blog for the Wall Street Journal, and in a recent post he suggests the best way to think the about the Millennial generation (people born between about 1982 and 2001), and about what we need to do to create organizations in which they can thrive. 
Hamel says we should think of them as Generation F.
It's the Facebook generation, many of whom have grown up on the Web. Hamel says they will thrive in organizations that mirror the values and behaviors common on social networks. And they will be stifled and unproductive in organizations that follow classic bureaucratic 20th century management practices. 
As the father of three Generation F children, I can relate to what Hamel is saying. It's amazing to see how the Web is such a large part of my kid's lives, and how their wiring is different from mine because of it.
Hamel has compiled a list of "12 work-relevant characteristics of online life" that today's managers need to acknowledge and adapt to in managing Generation F employees. Here's a sample:
"All ideas compete on an equal footing. On the Web, every idea has the chance to gain a following-or not, and no one has the power to kill off a subversive idea or squelch an embarrassing debate.
Hierarchies are natural, not prescribed. In any Web forum there are some individuals who command more respect and attention than others-and have more influence as a consequence. On the Web, authority trickles up, not down.
Leaders serve rather than preside. On the Web, every leader is a servant leader; no one has the power to command or sanction. 
Tasks are chosen, not assigned. The Web is an opt-in economy. Everyone is an independent contractor, and everyone scratches their own itch.
Intrinsic rewards matter most. The Web is a testament to the power of intrinsic rewards. Money's great, but so is recognition and the joy of accomplishment."
Go here to see the whole list. Then think about what aspects of the organizational culture in your library need to be changed to optimize the talents and values of Generation F. - Jim Scheppke


Contacts at the Oregon State Library

Technical Assistance: 503-932-1004.

Library Development: 503-378-2525, MaryKay Dahlgreen, Mary Mayberry, Darci Hanning, Ann Reed, Jennifer Maurer, Katie Anderson.

Talking Book and Braille Services: 503-378-5389, Susan Westin.

Government Research and Electronic Services: 503-378-5030, Robert Hulshof-Schmidt.

State Librarian: 503-378-4367, Jim Scheppke.

LTLO Editor: 503-378-2464, April Baker
Letter to Libraries Online is published monthly by the Oregon State Library. Editorial office: LTLO, Oregon State Library, 250 Winter St. NE, Salem, Oregon 97301-3950, 503-378-2464, editor: April Baker
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 April Baker, or mailed to LTLO, Oregon State Library, 250 Winter St. NE, Salem, Oregon 97301-3950.
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