[Libs-Or] LTLO August 2011

[Jessica Rondema]

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[OSL Building]
Letter to Libraries Online

An Electronic Newsletter from the Oregon State Library

Volume 21, Issue 8, August 2011


Contents:
Library Board News<http://www.oregon.gov/OSL/LTLO/LTLOAug2011/August2011LTLO.html#Board>
State Library News<http://www.oregon.gov/OSL/LTLO/LTLOAug2011/August2011LTLO.html#OSLNews>
Other Library News<http://www.oregon.gov/OSL/LTLO/LTLOAug2011/August2011LTLO.html#OtherNews>
P.S. (From the State Librarian) <http://www.oregon.gov/OSL/LTLO/LTLOAug2011/August2011LTLO.html#PS>
Contacts at the State Library<http://www.oregon.gov/OSL/LTLO/LTLOAug2011/August2011LTLO.html#Contacts>


Library Board News


Screening Panel Chosen for Recruitment of New State Librarian

[Librarian]On June 17th, the State Library Board of Trustees met to determine how to select the members for the State Librarian Screening Panel. This panel will be present for the initial interviews and will identify the final candidates in the recruitment. The Board decided to solicit nominations from the advisory groups that support the library staff and Board. On July 18th, the Board's Executive Committee met to make the final membership selection for the screening panel. The members of the State Librarian Screening Panel are the following: State Library Board of Trustees members Sam Hall, serving as chair, Sue Burkholder, and Aletha Bonebrake; State Library staff member Arlene Weible, Government Documents and Technical Services Librarian; Oregon Library Association member Janet Webster, Head Librarian at the Oregon State University's Guin Library at the Hatfield Marine Science Center; Government Research Services Advisory Council member Perrin Damon, Oregon Youth Authority; and Talking Book and Braille Services Advisory Council member Marcia Mee, Care Oregon. The facilitators for the screening panel process are Twyla Lawson, DAS Executive Recruiter and Diane Ballard, Human Resources Manager at the Oregon State Library. The screening panel will have its initial meeting in August.

2011 Legislative Assembly Mostly Uneventful for Libraries

[State Capitol]The Oregon Library Association hoped for help from the Legislature to find a solution to declining school libraries. The State Library hoped for permanent funding for the NEWSLINE audio newspaper service. Neither of these hopes were realized as the 2011 Legislative Assembly ended on schedule at the end of June. Here is the wrap-up of library-related bills from the session:

SB 5521 - State library appropriations bill for 2011-13 cut the Library's budget by 7% but did not eliminate programs or filled positions; the Ready to Read Grant program was cut by 3%.

SB 111 - A State Library-backed bill to use funds from the Public Utility Commission to fund the NEWLINE audio news service died in the Way and Means Committee.

HB 2649 - OLA's bill to create an interim task force on school libraries failed to advance after a hearing in the House Education Committee.

HB 5056 - One of two bills affecting county law libraries that passed; continues to provide funding at 7.4 million for 2011-13 and requires the Judicial Department to collect data on county law libraries.

HB 2367 - Provides more flexibility for counties to contract for county law library services.

SB 560 - Weakens requirements for school district continuous improvement plans, thus negating some of the gains made in the 2009 session with HB 2586 that required planning for "strong school library services"; passed and signed by the Governor.

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State Library News


TBABS Breaks Records

[TBABS Logo]Talking Book and Braille Services has had a record breaking year all around. During the fiscal year ending June 2011, TBABS circulated 420,539 books. This breaks the previous record set in 2005 by nearly 33,000 books. One of the main factors that helped TBABS break this circulation record is that 1,227 new patrons were added in the last fiscal year. This is the highest level of new patrons added in recent history and is due to the popularity of the new digital talking books and our active outreach model. Since July 1, 2009, Elke Bruton, TBABS' Public Services Librarian, has logged over 8,600 miles in visits, lectures, discussions, conferences, and resource fairs around the State. Besides contributing to overall circulation statistics, the collaborative work by the staff of Talking Books has put the agency's registration above the mark of 5,100 active patrons and has helped TBABS achieve an overall customer satisfaction rating ("excellent" or "good" service) of 97.8%.

Gale Adds U.S. History in Context & GREENR to Statewide Database Contract

As part of signing a three year renewal, Gale is adding two new databases to our statewide contract at no additional cost. U.S. History in Context and GREENR are available to all Oregon libraries as of August 1st. According to Gale, U.S. History in Context provides "a complete overview" of United States history "that covers the most-studied events, issues, and current information." Check the product page<http://www.gale.cengage.com/InContext/hist_us.htm> and title list<http://www.gale.cengage.com/title_lists/> for details about features and sources. Global Reference on the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources is an interdisciplinary and relatively new web portal "that offers authoritative content on the development of emerging green technologies and discusses issues on the environment, sustainability, and more." Visit GREENR's product page<http://www.gale.cengage.com/greenr/> and title list<http://www.gale.cengage.com/title_lists/> for content and source highlights and to learn about the advisory board and blog. You will find the links and icons to add to your library's database page on the Gale support sites for Oregon academic<http://www.galesupport.com/oregonacad/> and public and tribal<http://www.galesupport.com/oregon> libraries. A Gale trainer will offer a 1-hour webinar to introduce Oregon users to these new databases on August 18th at 9:30 am or 2:00 pm and August 23rd at 11:00 am or 4:30 pm (Pacific time). Watch the listservs for more details. Questions? Contact MaryKay Dahlgreen<mailto:marykay.dahlgreen at state.or.us> or Jennifer Maurer<mailto:jennifer.maurer at state.or.us> in Library Development at the State Library.

Join Us for a Hike Through the Upcoming Public Library Statistical Report

Join Ann Reed on August 17 for a start-to-finish walkthrough of the Oregon Public Library Statistical Report. Get your questions answered and be confident in interpreting signposts on the way. Come to the Chemeketa Cooperative Regional Library Service headquarters (on the Chemeketa Community College campus), Building 9, room 112 from 10-12, August 17. If you can't make it, contact Ann Reed for a one-on-one walkthrough.

Gale Powersearch and InfoTrac Products Have New Look and Features

[GALE Logo]On August 1st, Gale upgraded all customers to the new interface for PowerSearch and the InfoTrac products, but Oregon libraries were transitioned<http://listsmart.osl.state.or.us/pipermail/libs-or/2011-July/010675.html> in early July. These are a few of the many new features or changes: content types for search results now display in a column on the left instead of in tabs across the top, search assist now includes Did You Mean? functionality, and Read Speaker can read non-English documents. But first, what is PowerSearch? Basically, it is a platform that allows you to search multiple Gale products simultaneously. InfoTrac products use the same interface as PowerSearch and include Academic OneFile, Educator's Reference Complete, General OneFile, Health Reference Center Academic, Informé, InfoTrac Junior, InfoTrac Newsstand, InfoTrac Student, Popular Magazines, and more. Easily refresh your product knowledge by exploring the enhancement overview,<http://www.gale.cengage.com/powersearch/enhanced/index.htm?grid=powersearch> viewing short tutorials<http://www.gale.cengage.com/guidedtour/>, or participating in a webinar<http://www.gale.cengage.com/webinar/>. Recall that national webinars are free, but you must register ahead of time and should be mindful of time zone differences. So far, PowerSearch webinars are scheduled for August 8th, 16th, 24th, and 30th. If you have database access or performance problems as a result of the migration, please email<http://www.oregon.gov/OSL/LTLO/LTLOAug2011/gale.consortium.installs@cengage.com> Gale customer support or call them at (800) 877-4253 (press 4).

2011-2012 Ready to Read Applications due August 31

Applications for the 2011-2012 Ready to Read Grant are due August 31, 2011. One hundred and twenty nine public libraries are eligible to apply for the Ready to Read Grant this year. The list of proposed Ready to Read Grants for 2011-2012 reflects the $605,667 annual budget passed by the Oregon Legislative Assembly and signed by Governor Kitzhaber. The application was mailed to library directors and children's librarians the last week in June. It is also available on the State Library website<http://oregon.gov/OSL/LD/youthsvcs/aboutready.shtml> to download, complete, and mail. Contact Katie Anderson<mailto:katie.anderson at state.or.us>, 503-378-2528, if you need more information or have any questions.

OSL Staffs Legislative Library During Session

[Golden Man]Oregon State Library staff was asked to supply reference services and staff the legislative library at the Oregon State Legislature during the 2011 session. This turned out to be a highly successful partnership with OSL staff fielding nearly 1,200 reference questions. Staff performed an analysis of library materials as well as an initial review of historical files compiled by the late Cecil Edwards, Senate Historian. In response to an ongoing need for a means to track and provide access to mandated reports requested by the Legislature, staff created a blog, Reports to the Legislature<http://library.state.or.us/blogs/ReportsToLegislature/wordpress/>. As a result of this partnership, OSL staff developed a clearer sense of the Legislative process. Legislative staff, lobbyists and the general public benefited from onsite access to librarians. We hope to staff the library once again during the 2013 Legislative session.

Community-Wide READS Programs and TBABS

Now that the 2011 Community-wide READS events are winding down, it's probably time to start planning for 2012. Talking Book and Braille Services wants to be sure that you are aware of exactly how we can help you serve all of the patrons in your service area with books for your programs. When it comes time to plan your Community-wide READS program, please contact us at Talking Books. We will do our best to make sure that we have your selected title on hand. Then, we will send letters to all of our patrons in YOUR community, notifying them of your program and directing them to your library's website and contact information. We will then compile a list of those who want to participate and we will make sure that each one of them has a copy of your chosen book in time for the event. In order to do this, we must have your help. Please contact Elke Bruton at 503-378-5455 as soon as you've chosen a title for your READS program. Sometimes books are not yet published in our talking book format, but we can expedite their arrival if we have good reasons and enough notice.

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Other Library News


Hood River County Library District Reopens Early

[HoodRiverLogo]The new Hood River County Library District celebrated its reopening on July 1st, exactly one year after the library closed following the failure of the first of two library district elections. The second try, last November, was successful. Hundreds turned out for the reopening celebration on the steps of the main library in Hood River. Library district board chair Sara Duckwall Snyder addressed the crowd and described how the new district board was able to reopen all three branches of the library in July, despite the fact that tax revenues from the new library district won't be levied for the first time until this fall. A major fundraising effort netted $200,000 to enable the district to hire a new library director, Buzzy Nielsen, and a number of part-time staff. The main library in Hood River will be open 25 hours per week. Branches in Cascade Locks and Parkdale will be open 14 hours per week. Contributors to the fundraising campaign included the Friends of the Hood River County Library, the Hood River County Library Foundation, the Meyer Memorial Trust, the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation, the Oregon Community Foundation, and the Wichita Falls Area Community Foundation.

Multnomah County Library Completes System-Wide RFID Installation

In April, Multnomah County Library completed the implementation of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology at all 19 neighborhood libraries, an effort that is already changing the way patrons use the library and saving taxpayer money. With the new checkout stations and speedier processing of library materials, library staff can handle rapidly increasing workloads with fewer injuries. In the last decade, library checkouts and renewals have nearly doubled and holds have more than tripled, while staffing levels have remained approximately the same. Items with RFID tags require as much as 80 percent less handling than items with a barcode and a magnetic strip. About 80 percent of all checkouts from the library are now handled by the patron, up from 19 percent in 2009. About 31,000 items a day are checked out from the library. A citizen-led advisory committee recommended the implementation of RFID in 2009, citing a number of benefits to taxpayers, patrons and staff. The total project cost just under $3 million. Volunteers augmented the efforts of library staff to affix RFID tags to items in the library's collection. More than 60 volunteers donated some 1,100 hours to the project, the equivalent of about six months of full-time work.

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P.S. (From the State Librarian)



[Jim Scheppke]I was so impressed by my visit to the new East Bend Branch of the Deschutes Public Library in June. It is the first branch library in Bend. I'm reminded that when I came to Oregon 25 years ago, only two cities in the state had branch libraries, Portland and Salem. The growth of our state in the past quarter century has resulted in branch libraries now in Bend, Beaverton, Eugene and Klamath Falls. Even Cedar Mill in unincorporated Washington County now has a very successful branch.

The thinking about branch libraries has changed, I believe, in recent years. The trend across the country 25 years ago was to try to build large free-standing "regional libraries," maybe 15,000 up to even 25,000 square feet, to serve a fairly large geographical area. Sometimes these were designed to replace smaller neighborhood branches. The Midland Branch Library in Portland is a good example of the thinking back then.

Today, I think the trend may be to go back to smaller, lower cost libraries that are accessible to walkers, bikers and mass transit. It used to be that reuse of an existing commercial building was considered inferior to a new free-standing branch. I don't think that's the case anymore. There are a lot of advantages, particularly cost advantages, in converting an existing commercial space that may already be a destination on a busy commercial street.

I very much like the new Kenton Branch in Portland that seems to me in line with the new thinking about branch libraries. It's in a converted retail space in the heart of the Kenton neighborhood - small, friendly, accessible and less expensive to operate.

The new East Bend Branch is like that too. It's an 8,000 square foot library in a small retail center on a busy commercial street, close to a Costco. It's well designed so that the whole space can be seen from the circulation desk. The interior design is bright, lively and inviting. Ample, creative exterior signage calls attention to the library, even from the street. Since it opened in March the use of the library has soared. These are people who don't have lots of reasons to travel many miles by car, on frequently congested streets, to downtown Bend where the main library is located.

I hope that the East Bend Branch and the Kenton Branch and other similar new branch libraries can serve models for Oregon public libraries in the future. As Oregon is likely to continue to grow, we may need more of these lower cost branches in Salem, Eugene, Corvallis and elsewhere. - Jim Scheppke

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Contacts


Oregon State Library

Library Development: 503-378-2525, MaryKay Dahlgreen<mailto:marykay.dahlgreen at state.or.us>, Ferol Weyand<mailto:FerolWeyand at oslmail.osl.state.or.us>, Darci Hanning<mailto:darci.hanning at state.or.us>, Ann Reed<mailto:ann.reed at state.or.us>, Jennifer Maurer<mailto:jennifer.maurer at state.or.us>, Katie Anderson<mailto:katie.anderson at state.or.us>.

Talking Book and Braille Services: 503-378-5389, Susan Westin<mailto:susan.b.westin at state.or.us>.[OSL Logo]

Government Research Services: 503-378-5030, Robert Hulshof-Schmidt<mailto:robert.hulshof-schmidt at state.or.us>.

State Librarian: 503-378-4367, Jim Scheppke<mailto:jim.b.scheppke at state.or.us>.

LTLO Editor: 503-378-2464, Jessica Rondema<mailto:jessica.rondema at state.or.us>.

Letter to Libraries Online is published monthly by the Oregon State Library. It is available free of charge and is published only in electronic form on the publications page on the Oregon State Library's homepage: http://www.oregon.gov/OSL.

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