[Libs-Or] Letter to Libraries Online - April 2010

[April Baker]

Letter To Libraries Online
An Electronic Newsletter from the Oregon State Library.......Volume 20, Issue 4, April 2010

 
Library Board News

STATE LIBRARY BOARD MEETS IN YONCALLA
The April 23rd State Library Board meeting will be held at the Yoncalla Branch of the Douglas County Library on April 23rd, beginning at 1:30. The Board will hear recommendations from the Library Services and Technology Act Advisory Council about the use of LSTA funds in 2010 and 2011. Included will be recommendations to license more statewide database resources for libraries and to use LSTA funds to extend services to Oregonians without public library services. Before their meeting the State Library Board will tour the historic Applegate House. The tour and lunch will be hosted by noted Oregon author Shannon Applegate, who is the newest member of the State Library Board. There will be an Open Forum at the Board meeting at approximately 3:00 p.m. Anyone may address the Board at the Open Forum on any topic.

FORMER STATE LIBARY BOARD MEMBER NAMED HONORARY LIFE MEMBER OF OLA
At the Oregon Library Association annual business meeting and banquet on March 24th, Myrna Yvonne Williams, who retired from the State Library Board last year, was named an Honorary Life Member of OLA. This is the highest award that OLA confers on Oregonians who have made a contribution of outstanding and lasting importance to Oregon libraries. In presenting the award, State Librarian Jim Scheppke noted that Williams, along with her aunt, Lois Sayles, was a trailblazer for librarians of color in the state. She was the first African-American librarian to work at a community college in Oregon, with a career at Portland Community College lasting from 1964 until her retirement in 1997. In addition, Williams served on the first Multnomah County Library Advisory Board after the library transitioned from being operated by the Library Association of Portland in 1990. In 2001 Williams was appointed to the first of two terms as a trustee of the Oregon State Library. She was chair of the Board in 2009 when the Library faced the potential of severe budget cuts due to the recession. Yvonne used her long friendship with Ways and Means Committee Co-Chair Senator Margaret Carter to advocate successfully for the Library's programs and avoid serious budget cuts. Williams retired from the State Library Board in June, 2009.
State Library News

LIBRARY SERVICES AND TECHNOLOGY ACT BRIEF PROPOSALS DUE APRIL 16
Devising a digitization project? Planning an outreach project? The LSTA competitive grant program may be for you. Take a look at the grant guidelines through the LSTA Competitive Grant Program page. A brief three page proposal is due April 16, so apply now. For more information on Oregon's LSTA program, see the Oregon's LSTA Program page. Check out the proposals from past years, as there may be a project you wish to replicate. We welcome calls to talk over grant ideas. Contact Ann Reed, (503) 378-5027.

2008-2009 READY TO READ ANNUAL REPORT NOW AVAILABLE
The 2008-2009 Ready to Read Annual Report, 2008 -2009 Outstanding Projects, and 2009-2010 Project Descriptions are now on the Ready to Read webpage. The Ready to Read Annual Report is an analysis of the Ready to Read Final Reports submitted to the State Library every December. The State Library has established four metrics that measure the effectiveness of the Ready to Read Grant Program. The metrics provide longitudinal data on public library youth services and public library usage statistics. This data allows public libraries to see how their efforts impact library services to children in Oregon, and serves as a tool for setting local youth service goals. 

2008-2009 OUTSTANDING READY TO READ GRANT PROJECTS AWARDED
Each year the State Library staff recognizes several public libraries for their outstanding Ready to Read Grant projects. The criteria for this recognition are: the library adheres to the original intent of the Ready to Read Grant, focuses on one or more of the three Ready to Read Grant best practices, promotes partnerships both in and out of the library, and creates a project that is replicable in other libraries, or enhances current library services. Libraries recognized for their Outstanding Ready to Read projects in 2008-2009 are: Astoria Public Library, Umatilla County Special Library District, Forest Grove City Library, and Brownsville Community Library. The Ready to Read Grant webpage provides more information about these outstanding projects.

TALKING BOOKS PROVIDES ACCESSIBLE VOTER'S GUIDE 
This spring, the League of Women Voters Nonpartisan Voter's Guide is available in large print and CD thanks to a partnership between the Secretary of State, Talking Book and Braille Services, and the League of Women Voters. To order a copy of the Voter's Guide for a print-disabled paton, just contact Talking Books at 800-452-0292. If the individual is already receiving Talking Books, they may already be on the list to get the Voter's Guide. This guide is available to anyone needing the Voter's Guide in an alternate format in accordance with the Help America Vote Act. 
Other Library News

FUJIAN LIBRARIANS VISIT OREGON IN APRIL
Three librarians from Oregon's sister province of Fujian, China, will visit Oregon in April as part of the Horner Library Staff Exchange Project this year. The librarians are Mr. Sheng Chen and Ms. Hui Wang from the Fujian Provincial Library and Ms. Xiaohui Chen from the Xiamen University Library. They will arrive in Portland on April 3rd and spend three weeks visiting libraries and meeting with colleagues in the Portland area, Salem, Corvallis, Eugene and Tillamook. They will also make a three day visit to Seattle to tour libraries there. The purpose of the staff exchange is to share professional knowledge to advance library services in both countries. In October, Brandon Barnett (Multnomah County Library), Nancy Hoover (Marylhurst University Library) and Amy Lee (Fort Vancouver Regional Library) will spend three weeks in Fujian. The Horner Library Staff Exchange is funded primarily by the State Library through a grant to the International Relations Roundtable of the Oregon Library Association.
FIRST-EVER NATIONAL STUDY: MILLIONS OF PEOPLE RELY ON LIBRARY COMPUTERS FOR EMPLOYMENT, HEALTH, AND EDUCATION
Nearly one-third of Americans age 14 or older - roughly 77 million people - used a public library computer or wireless network to access the Internet in the past year, according to a national report released at the PLA Conference in Portland. In 2009, as the nation struggled through a recession, people relied on library technology to find work, apply for college, secure government benefits, learn about critical medical treatments, and connect with their communities. The report is based on the first, large-scale study of who uses public computers and Internet access in public libraries, the ways library patrons use this free technology service, why they use it, and how it affects their lives. It was conducted by the University of Washington Information School and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The report's findings are based on nearly 50,000 surveys - including 3,176 from a national telephone survey and 44,881 web survey responses - from patrons of more than 400 public libraries across the country.

NEW REPORT SHOWS THAT 4% OF OREGONIANS ARE WITHOUT PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICES
A new report for fiscal year 2008-09 shows that nearly 151,000 Oregonians did not have free public library services last year, equivalent to about 4% of the state population. This figure is down significantly from recent years because the State Library, at the urging of library directors from the Chemeketa Regional Library Services, decided to remove rural residents of CCRLS (comprising Marion Co., Polk Co., most of Yamhill Co. and a small portion of Linn Co.) from the ranks of the unserved. All residents of CCRLS pay a small tax for library service. This entitles children using a CCRLS card to check out as many books as other children served by CCRLS libraries, but adults are limited to only one check-out at a time. The directors persuaded the State Library that it was more accurate to count these rural CCRLS residents as being "served" than being "unserved." The 151,000 "unserved" Oregonians reside in 10 counties. Lane County has the highest number of "unserved' by far (77,382), followed by Linn County (25,068), Clatsop County (16,520) and Columbia County (13,965). The remaining six counties have smaller pockets of unserved population. The State Library Board is considering a plan to extend services to these Oregonians by providing demonstration grants to neighboring libraries and possibly providing a website that informs "unserved" Oregonians of the services that are available to them for free (e.g., L-net) or by paying a non-resident fee to a neighboring library.

LSL GRANT APPLICATIONS DUE APRIL 20TH
The 2010 Improving Literacy through School Libraries (LSL) federal grant competition is now open, and applications are due no later than 4:30 pm, Eastern time, on April 20th. Awarded money may be used for school library media centers on books, technology, professional development, and expanded access (like weekend hours) with the goal of improving student reading achievement. There are two eligibility requirements to keep in mind. First, only local education agencies (LEA) may apply, the most common form being a school district. That means schools cannot apply individually. Second, at least 20% of students within the LEA must be from families with incomes below the poverty line. Determining data for this year's competition comes from the 2008 census. Click on Oregon for a chart indicating which districts qualify. Click here for the official application site and helpful information about the electronic application process. If your district qualifies, please consider alerting the grant writers in your district office to this opportunity. For more information, contact Jennifer Maurer, 503-378-5011.

DESPITE FLAT BUDGETS, STATE LIBRARY AGENCIES INVEST IN TECHNOLOGY SERVICES
Despite the lack of real growth in their budgets in recent years, state library agencies are working strategically to assist library professionals and local libraries to meet patrons' needs, according to State Library Agency Service Trends: 1999-2008, a new research brief by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Over the past 10 years, for example, national real dollar expenditures on statewide database licensing more than doubled, reaching a total of $65.8 million in 2008. 
P.S. (From the State Librarian)

As I write this I am looking forward to a meeting of the Western Council of State Libraries that will take place at the Central Library immediately before the Public Library Association Conference. I am anxious to host about 20 state librarians at Central because it's one of my favorite library buildings anywhere. 

Central is not the most beautiful public library, or the most architecturally interesting, and it certainly isn't the largest. What I like about Central is that it embodies the notion of sustainability in a number of ways. 

The mantra of sustainability, that I am sure you have heard by now, is "reduce, reuse, and recycle." That's Central. It's a 1913 library that was extensively remodeled in the mid 90's. You could say it was "reused." Many large cities in the US in the past few decades have chosen not to reuse their main libraries. It seems to me that many of the new main libraries I visit are oversized and usually not as beautiful or well-designed as the buildings that preceded them (I would say this, for example, about the Harold Washington Library in Chicago).

Of course if anyone had proposed to abandon the Central Library in Portland library users would have rebelled. There may not be a library anywhere that is as well-loved.

Another thing that makes the Central Library an exemplar of sustainability is the eco-roof it got in 2008. Live plants now cover the entire roof, saving energy, reducing rainwater runoff and even extending the life of the roof.

The State Library is not the exemplar of sustainability that the Central Library is, but we try to do our best. We recently received our EarthWISE certification from Marion County, indicating our adoption of sustainable business practices. We monitor our energy use (gas and electricity) and try to save what we can. It's hard with a 1939 building, but last year we achieved 0% increase from our use in the year 2000. We try to do the little things, like turning off lights and lowering blinds when you leave a room, powering off everything at night, even turning off your monitor when you are away for lunch. We have a Resource Conservation Committee that is always looking for ways to save and recycle.

When you think about it, libraries have always been about sustainability. Our business is to reduce the unnecessary duplication of paper-based resources and to reuse those resources instead. The book Seven Wonders for a Cool Planet by Eric Sorensen has a whole chapter devoted to libraries and how the use of libraries helps prevent climate change. Sorensen says the average library prevents 250 tons of greenhouse gases from being released each year through paper that is not consumed.

And someone at Multnomah County Library recently made the point that libraries are the first place that children can learn the values of sustainability and community by borrowing books, caring for them, and returning them to share with others. A wonderful thought! - Jim Scheppke
Contacts at the Oregon State Library


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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