[Libs-Or] Connections: Your Link to the State Library of Oregon (May 2024)

Fri May 31 09:46:20 PDT 2024

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[Connections: your link to the state library of Oregon newsletter header]
Volume 35, Issue 2 - May 2024
In This Issue:

  *   Triple the Fun State Library of Oregon booth at OLA conference
  *   LSTA Grant Awards
  *   New to the Catalog: Cheese War: Conflict and Courage in Tillamook County, Oregon
  *   Oregon Center For the Book Selects 2024 Titles
  *   This Old Library: Can You Hear Me Now?
  *   Welcome Elke Bruton, Our New Division Manager!
  *   2024 Oregon Women of Achievement Awards
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Triple the Fun
By Monica McCord, Communications Analyst, Operations
[Group of People talking at conference booth]
This year at the Oregon Library Association Conference in Salem, the State Library of Oregon (SLO) took on a triple booth for the first time. With extra planning and coordination, this larger booth proved to be a success. We had more staff and space at the booth than in previous years, allowing us to make more connections and serve more conference attendees at any given time. A big shout-out to all the staff at SLO who made this possible.
[Button Maker at conference]
[State Librarian in front of rainbow back drop]
[Two people talking at conference]
[Man and Woman in front of rainbow backdrop]
[Group of people sitting at the conference]
[Mostly empty State Library booth at conference]
LSTA Grant Awards
By Tamara Ottum, LSTA and Grants Coordinator, Library Support and Development
Libraries and institutions across Oregon are receiving over $820,000 from the State Library of Oregon thanks to the federally-funded Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Program<https://www.oregon.gov/Library/libraries/Pages/LSTA.aspx>, administered on the national level by the Institute of Museum and Library Services' Grants to States Program.

  *   17 organizations are receiving funds through the competitive grants program<https://libguides.osl.state.or.us/lstagrants/competitive>. Projects include makerspaces, large library software migrations, digital heritage projects, academic tutoring for underserved communities, and more.
  *   19 libraries are hiring teen interns,<https://libguides.osl.state.or.us/lstagrants/teeninterns> who will develop and lead a connected learning project <https://clalliance.org/about-connected-learning/>  that matches their interests and abilities.
  *   9 libraries will enhance connectivity and implement digital inclusion programs and services in their community.
  *   6 statewide programs continue to have LSTA support: Libros for Oregon<https://www.librosfororegon.org/>, Oregon Battle of the Books<https://www.oregonbattleofthebooks.org/> (OBOB), Oregon Digital Library Consortium<https://library2go.overdrive.com/> (ODLC), Oregon School Library Information System<https://oslis.org/>(OSLIS), Overdue: Weeding Out Oppression in Libraries<https://www.buzzsprout.com/1948067> podcast, and the Sage Library System<https://sagelib.org/> courier.

A complete list of grant recipients can be found on our Grant Awards<https://libguides.osl.state.or.us/lstagrants/awards> page.
New to the Catalog: Cheese War: Conflict and Courage in Tillamook County, Oregon
By Max H. Robinson, Administrative Specialist and Recording Studio Coordinator, Oregon Talking Book and Braille Library 
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The Oregon Talking Book and Braille Library’s recording studio is back at it with another edition of “New to the Catalog.” This time, we are excited to share our newly narrated edition of Cheese War: Conflict and Courage in Tillamook County, Oregon, written by Marilyn Milne and Linda Kirk and printed by Oregon State University Press in 2022.

If you’ve ever pondered the bucolic beginnings that would eventually lead Tillamook to national success for having some of the best cheese and dairy in the country, this exciting story gives the inside scoop on a favorite local dairy, Tillamook Creamery!  

Written and extensively researched by two daughters of the Cheese War, this book details the little-known Oregon history and fascinating story of the tense local conflict and fraught, years-long legal battle between the head of the Tillamook County Creamery Association, Beale Dixon, and the sisters’ own father, George Milne, a well-respected farmer and board president of the Tillamook Cheese Association cooperative.  

The Talking Books audio book of Cheese War is narrated by studio volunteer Jennifer M. Imai, and the final run time is just under seven hours. The book is currently available to qualified users of the Oregon Talking Book and Braille Library. 
Oregon Center For the Book
Selects 2024 Titles
By Max H. Robinson, Administrative Specialist and Recording Studio Coordinator, Oregon Talking Book and Braille Library 
We at the State Library of Oregon are the first Talking Books library to be selected as a Center for the Book affiliate! Center for the Book is a Library of Congress program promoting reading, libraries, and literacy. As the Oregon Center for the Book<https://libguides.osl.state.or.us/oregoncenterforthebook/home>, we select two titles each year for a nationwide list<https://www.loc.gov/programs/center-for-the-book/great-reads-from-great-places/>, “Great Reads from Great Places.” These Oregon-authored reads reflect our diverse, multigenerational readers, and we’re excited to share them here!
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Laolao’s Dumplings by Dane Liu (Children’s Selection) 

Millie loves to help Laolao cook, especially her favorite dish. Dumplings! They gather fresh ingredients from Chinatown. Chives from Auntie Lim, shrimp from Uncle Lee, and juicy, fragrant lychees that make their days together so sweet. As the seasons change, Laolao feels more and more tired, too tired to make dumplings. But can Millie make them without Laolao? And will her dumplings come out delicious, and make Laolao happy, too?  

Full of humor, heart, and wholly original illustrations, this story is a timeless celebration of family, food, community, and the different ways we share love. There's also a recipe for Liu family shrimp dumplings at the end! 
Invisible Son by Kim Johnson (Teen Selection)  

Andre Jackson is determined to reclaim his identity. But returning from juvie doesn’t feel like coming home. His Portland, Oregon, neighborhood is rapidly gentrifying, and COVID-19 shuts down school before he can return. And Andre’s suspicions about his arrest for a crime he didn’t commit even taint his friendships. It’s as if his whole life has been erased.  

The one thing Andre is counting on is his relationship with the Whitaker kids, especially his longtime crush, Sierra. But Sierra’s brother Eric is missing, and the facts don’t add up. If Andre can find Eric, he just might uncover the truth about his own arrest. But in a world where power is held by a few and Andre is nearly invisible, searching for the truth is a dangerous game.  

Critically acclaimed author Kim Johnson delivers another social justice thriller that shines a light on being young and Black in America.

(Book descriptions are from the publishers’ websites.)

This Old Library: Can You Hear Me Now?
By Jey Wann, Oregon Documents and Acquisitions Coordinator, Government Information and Library Services

The State Library’s stacks are challenging to navigate (especially for new staff and volunteers) and pose communication struggles staff has been trying to solve for decades. Because of the physical layout and the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, it is difficult to know who is in the stacks and for staff in the stacks to know what is going on in the rest of the building.
Communicating in the stacks seems to have been an issue since the State Library Building opened in 1939. Taped to the wall on Tier 1 are “Instructions for Operating Dial-A-Talk,” an intercom system that allowed staff to communicate between offices and the stacks. We contacted former staff who may have used the intercoms, and they reported that it was possible to at least let someone in the stacks know you needed them but didn’t have more details. The devices were referred to as “squawk boxes,” a descriptive nickname telling us it was difficult to have an actual conversation.

Landline phones were installed in the stacks, as the next solution. They were more reliable and sometimes used to call other staff to verify an item's call number or other information. Trying to reach someone working in the stacks via phone presented its own problems. Occasionally, staff would call one of the stacks phones to get in touch with someone they thought was working on a specific tier. But, with only one phone per tier, the chances of a staff member in the stacks both hearing the phone ring and being able to get to it in time were slim. Then there were the wrong numbers. Arlene Weible (Library Consultant and Federal Regional Depository Coordinator) has spent a good deal of time in the stacks working with federal documents. “I remember one project where I kept getting interrupted by the phone ringing,” she says. “As I recall, it was someone I had trouble convincing they had the wrong number!”

Communication can be difficult even when two people are on the same tier. Joel Henderson (Donor Relations and Volunteer Coordinator) began his State Library career as a student worker. He listened to music while shelving. “I would always crank the volume so high I couldn’t hear anything else. Other people could echo-locate me because I often sang along when I thought I was alone, but I couldn’t hear them coming,” he said. “I’d get pretty startled whenever someone all of a sudden appeared right next to me, which was especially perilous if I happened to be up on one of the shelving ladders in the basement.”

Not knowing someone else is in the stacks with you creates its own problems. Currently, the stacks have motion-detector lights, but for years the lights were controlled by manual on-off switches. It’s rarely obvious that there is someone else in the stacks (unless, like Joel, they are singing). Staff conscientiously turned off the lights when they left the stacks to save electricity but didn’t always remember to see if there was anyone else on the tier first. Shouting “Lights out!” or “Is there anyone on this tier?” helped, but it was still possible to surprise a fellow staff member by suddenly plunging them into darkness. Again, that was particularly problematic for anyone on a ladder on Tier 1.

The difficulty in communication makes the stacks appealing at times. As Arlene Weible commented, the stacks can be “… a place to get away from communication with colleagues when it becomes overwhelming.”

So while we have updated and added technology over the years for safety and to better communicate with each other, we also recognize the beauty in the solace of the stacks.
Welcome Elke Bruton, Our New
Division Manager! 
By Wren Kominos, Web Services Librarian, Government Information and Library Services
The Government Information and Library Services division is thrilled to welcome Elke Bruton as the new Program Manager. Elke comes to the division with a wealth of in-agency experience, having previously served as the Program Manager of the Oregon Talking Book and Braille Library. Before taking on management of the Talking Books, Elke served as that division's Public Services Librarian. Moving into her next chapter in Government Services, Elke shares that she is “fascinated by the important resources this team provides for the people who serve the people of Oregon,” and “looks forward to working with such a great group of people.” 

Outside of work, having recently retired from singing lead in a funk band, Elke now spends most of her free time relaxing, reading, chasing her two Scottish Terriers, and trying not to think about work.  

Elke’s reputation for supporting her team and leading by example precedes her, and we are excited to have her leading our team into its next phase. Welcome, Elke! 

2024 Oregon Women of
Achievement Awards 
By Natalie Brant, Reference Coordinator, Government Information and Library Services

On March 8th, coinciding with International Women's Day, I had the privilege as the liaison librarian for the Oregon Advocacy Commissions Office of attending the Oregon Women of Achievement Awards<https://www.oregon.gov/oac/ocfw/pages/women-of-achievement-awards.aspx> in Salem. 

This year's awards went to Sarah Koski<https://honors.uoregon.edu/news/2023/02/Sarah-Koski>, Solome Mekbib<https://www.uws.edu/profiles/solome-mekbib/>, and Liani Reeves<https://www.millernash.com/professionals/liani-j-reeves>. All three of these women are doing amazing work across the state to lift up those around them.

The honor, created by the Oregon Commission for Women<https://www.oregon.gov/oac/ocfw/pages/index.aspx>, began in 1985 when the award was given to Vera Katz. She was the first woman to serve as Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives and was the 49th mayor of Portland. 

Other past recipients include Ursula K. Le Guin, Barbara Roberts, Reverend Mary Overstreet, Cheryl Strayed, and many more groundbreaking Oregon women. Current and past recipients are an inspiration to all Oregonians.

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Library Support & Development Services Manager
Buzzy Nielsen<mailto:buzzy.nielsen at slo.oregon.gov>, 971-375-3486

Talking Book & Braille Library Manager
Jen Robinson<mailto:jen.robinson at slo.oregon.gov?subject=&body=>, 503-378-5391

Government Information & Library Services Manager
Elke Bruton<mailto:elke.bruton at slo.oregon.gov>, 971-375-3509

Chief Operating Officer
Susan Westin<mailto:susan.westin at slo.oregon.gov>, 503-378-5435

State Librarian
Wendy Cornelisen<mailto:wendy.cornelisen at slo.oregon.gov>, 503-378-4367
Mission
The State Library of Oregon cultivates, preserves, and delivers library and information services to foster lifelong learning and community engagement.
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