From darci.hanning at state.or.us Wed Jan 2 13:31:39 2013 From: darci.hanning at state.or.us (Darci Hanning) Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2013 21:31:39 +0000 Subject: [PL-Directors] Edge Initiative: benchmark feedback needed In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Greetings everyone and Happy New Year! Below is a message about the Edge Initiative (a collaborative effort to create benchmarks for public access technology); this month they're asking for feedback regarding having sufficient devices and bandwidth to accommodate user demand. Please read below and also note the webinar that will be hosted about this topic. Your input matters so please take a few moments to answer the 2-question survey, thanks! Cheers, Darci ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Darci Hanning * Technology Development Consultant * Library Development Services Oregon State Library, 250 Winter St. NE, Salem, OR 97301 503-378-2527 darci.hanning at state.or.us Ask me about Plinkit! http://www.plinkit.org/ http://oregon.plinkit.org ________________________________ From: Sarah Washburn [Sarah at TECHSOUPGLOBAL.ORG] Subject: Edge Initiative: benchmark feedback needed Hi everyone, It?s that time again to share your thoughts and experiences. You?ve likely heard about the Edge Initiative, a collaborative effort to create benchmarks for public access technology, where benchmarks and resources combine to help libraries of all sizes drive investment and spark continuous improvement toward technology services. TechSoup is part of the effort, and we?re asking libraries to help us create resources that work for everyone. To do that, we need your thoughts on how the benchmarks might work in your library. Each month we?re posting a 2-question survey to capture your thoughts. It?s very important that libraries rural and small libraries have a big voice in this project. Please take a moment to let us know what you think about one benchmark: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HLMG9LC (And register to win a prize!) We?re also holding a webinar on the topic of this benchmark in January: Broadband Basics for Libraries January 15, 11:00 am PST Learn more and register: http://www.techsoupforlibraries.org/events/broadband-basics-for-public-libraries Thanks much for your thoughts, and happy holidays! -Sarah ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sarah Washburn Library Program Manager, TechSoup for Libraries 415-633-9428 Twitter: TechSoup4Libs --> sign up for the monthly library newsletter To change your subscription settings, including changing to a digest or to leave the list, please send an email to szach at amrms.com. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From darci.hanning at state.or.us Mon Jan 7 16:26:36 2013 From: darci.hanning at state.or.us (Darci Hanning) Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2013 00:26:36 +0000 Subject: [PL-Directors] Information to Share with Patrons: Go Direct Campaign, U.S. Department of Treasury - Social Security Checks Message-ID: Greetings everyone! My apologies if you receive this twice, forwarding on behalf of the U.S. Department of Treasury: The U.S. Department of the Treasury needs your library's help in getting out the word on changes to Federal Benefit Checks. Everyone who receives a paper check for Social Security or other federal benefit payments is required by law to switch to an electronic payment by March 1, 2013. This is your last chance to make one final push to help people comply with this law before time runs out. It's fast, free and easy for federal benefit check recipients to sign up for direct deposit or the Direct Express(r) Debit MasterCard(r) card by calling the U.S. Treasury Electronic Payment Solution Center at (800) 333-1795 Monday - Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST. Urge senior citizens, people with disabilities and other federal benefit check recipients to call now to avoid delays near the deadline. For direct deposit, they can also sign up online at www.GoDirect.org or by visiting their local bank or credit union. Get Involved - Spread the Word Do not miss this final opportunity to help the people you serve make the switch today. The Treasury Department's Go Direct(r) campaign offers free materials to make it easy for your library to help. Here's what you can do: * Display free Go Direct campaign and Direct Express(r) card materials in your lobby - order free materials through the Go Direct website at: http://godirect.org/partners/order-materials/ * Link to www.GoDirect.org from your website. * Share the Go Direct Public Service Announcement and educational videos and fliers to help people understand why electronic payments are safer than paper checks and how to keep their money safe. * Embed the Go Direct "Time Is Running Out" widget on your website. * Encourage the people you serve who currently get federal benefit checks to make the switch to electronic payments today. Inform People of their Options The U.S. Department of the Treasury recommends two electronic payments options: * Direct deposit. People with checking or savings accounts can sign up to get their money by direct deposit. Their federal benefit payment will go straight into their account on payment day each month. On time, every time. * Direct Express(r) card. Those who don't have a bank account or prefer a prepaid debit card should switch to the Direct Express(r) card. Money will be posted to the card account on payment day each month. There's no need to wait for the mail or to make a special trip to cash a check. Cardholders can make purchases and get cash back with purchases at no charge anywhere Debit MasterCard(r) is accepted. There are no sign-up fees, overdraft fees or monthly fees. Some fees for optional services may apply. For information on card fees and features, visit www.GoDirect.org. People who do not choose an electronic payment option by March 1, 2013, may be issued a Direct Express(r) card. Promote the Safety Benefits of Electronic Payments Electronic payments are safer than paper checks. In fact, people are 125 times more likely to have a problem with a paper check than with an electronic payment. Even though electronic payments are safer, it's important that people take steps to keep their money safe. Once people have made the switch, share these three tips recommended by the Treasury Department: * Be careful of anyone who calls, texts or emails asking for personal information. * Protect personal information. Do not give out your Social Security number or account information to anyone unless you are the one who has contacted them. * Watch your bank or credit union account or Direct Express(r) card account often to make sure that all account activity is yours. The Treasury Department's Go Direct(r) campaign provides free materials to help you share this important information in your library outlets. For more details or to order free materials, contact Michelle Kloempken, your campaign representative, at 312-988-2035, mkloempken at webershandwick.com OR visit http://www.godirect.org/partners/order-materials/. Cheers, Darci ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Darci Hanning * Technology Development Consultant * Library Development Services Oregon State Library, 250 Winter St. NE, Salem, OR 97301 503-378-2527 darci.hanning at state.or.us Ask me about Plinkit! http://www.plinkit.org/ http://oregon.plinkit.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From darci.hanning at state.or.us Tue Jan 15 10:07:23 2013 From: darci.hanning at state.or.us (Darci Hanning) Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:07:23 +0000 Subject: [PL-Directors] Grant Opportunity for Expert Library Advocacy Planning (from United for Libraries / ALA) Message-ID: Greetings! I wanted to pass along this grant opportunity in case you haven't seen it yet. For complete information, please see the press release here: http://www.ala.org/news/pr?id=12142 Citizens-Save-Libraries grant applications due to United for Libraries March 15 PHILADELPHIA - Applications for the Citizens-Save-Libraries grants from United for Libraries, made possible by a grant from the Neal-Schuman Foundation, are due March 15, 2013. The 20 grants will support advocacy at the local level for libraries with troubled budgets by sending expert advocates to library sites over the next two years. The expert advocates will help friends of the library groups, library directors and trustees develop individual blueprints for advocacy campaigns to restore, increase or save threatened library budgets. The first 10 libraries will be selected in April 2013 (the second 10 will be selected in April 2014). Among the criteria to apply is a willingness to "pay it forward" by sharing what is learned with others in their states through presentations at local conferences, articles written for the state library association journal and a willingness to answer questions and support other advocacy campaigns via digital media and Skype. Grant winners will receive a power guide - which will also be freely available to all library advocates on the United for Libraries website by Feb. 1- that will lay out a step-by-step blueprint for libraries to follow in generating advocacy campaigns. To apply for the grants, visit www.ala.org/united/grants_awards/neal-schuman. Cheers, Darci ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Darci Hanning * Technology Development Consultant * Library Development Services Oregon State Library, 250 Winter St. NE, Salem, OR 97301 503-378-2527 darci.hanning at state.or.us Ask me about Plinkit! http://www.plinkit.org/ http://oregon.plinkit.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From darci.hanning at state.or.us Thu Jan 17 14:53:06 2013 From: darci.hanning at state.or.us (Darci Hanning) Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2013 22:53:06 +0000 Subject: [PL-Directors] IMPORTANT: Erate update regarding SOEN contract Message-ID: Greetings everyone, If you're using E-rate discounts for your telecommunication services through the SOEN contract (managed by the Oregon Department of Administrative Services), please see the important message below. I'm not sure if any public libraries have gone this route but if you are, you'll want to follow the advice below. Cheers, Darci ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Darci Hanning * Technology Development Consultant * Library Development Services Oregon State Library, 250 Winter St. NE, Salem, OR 97301 503-378-2527 darci.hanning at state.or.us Ask me about Plinkit! http://www.plinkit.org/ http://oregon.plinkit.org From: erate-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us [mailto:erate-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] On Behalf Of Carson, Sabrina Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2013 2:14 PM To: (erate at listsmart.osl.state.or.us) Subject: [Erate] URGENT update regarding SOEN contract Importance: High At this time, the State of Oregon Department of Administrative Services has not yet determined whether the SOEN contract will be extended for another three years. They've indicated that they may not reach a final decision on this for a couple of months. At this time I strongly urge any district who has been using the SOEN contract to file a form 470 for those services on their own. This way, if the state does not extend the contract with Qwest/CenturyLink, you'll still have an opportunity to purchase the services from another vendor and obtain E-rate discounts. There are no special instructions for this, you would simply file a form 470 as you normally do and add a description of the services that you are currently receiving on the SOEN contract to Block 2 so the other vendors have the opportunity to bid on them. I would recommend that you file for these services under both the Internet Access and Telecom categories, just to be safe. If It is also perfectly OK to add the services to a form 470 that you may already be working on; it does not need to be on its own 470 by itself. As always, feel free to contact me if you have questions or concerns and I would be happy to assist you. Sabrina Carson e-Rate Coordinator Willamette Education Service District 2611 Pringle Rd SE Salem, OR 97302 P: 503.540.4495 F: 503.540.2962 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ann.reed at state.or.us Tue Jan 22 12:15:20 2013 From: ann.reed at state.or.us (Ann Reed) Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2013 20:15:20 +0000 Subject: [PL-Directors] FW: IMLS 2010 Public Library Survey Results Announced Message-ID: <810CC03BDFB8D94883767344C8B7EE2E37CD44D8@OSLEXCHANGE.osl.state.or.us.local> This announcement is made possible through all the hard work of Oregon's public libraries on their annual statistical surveys! [Description: IMLS logo] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 22, 2013 IMLS Press Contact 202-653-4799 Giuliana Bullard, gbullard at imls.gov Mamie Bittner, mbittner at imls.gov IMLS 2010 Public Library Survey Results Announced Libraries doing more with less - Local government taking larger funding role Washington, DC-Public libraries served 297.6 million people throughout the United States, a number that is equivalent to 96.4 percent of the total U.S. population, according to new research by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). In 2010, there were 8,951 public libraries in the 50 states and the District of Columbia with 17,078 public library branches and bookmobiles. IMLS today released the 2010 Public Libraries in the United States Survey, an analysis of the most comprehensive annual data collection of U.S. public library statistics. Nationally, public libraries have seen reductions in operating revenue, service hours, and staffing. Numbers for circulation, program attendance, and computer use continue to trend upward. This is the first federal statistical report on public libraries to go beyond a national level analysis to report on trends at the local, regional, and state levels. The report identifies indicators in three areas: services and operations, resources, and workforce. To provide a more complete picture of library service in the U.S., the report provides a snapshot for each state, describing characteristics of library service. "Public libraries in America continue as strong anchors for their communities, valued by the people they serve and striving to meet the changing needs of their service populations," said IMLS Director Susan Hildreth. "The survey reports decreasing levels of state and federal funding for public libraries, with local support providing a greater portion of funding than ever before." "Trends to watch," continued Hildreth, "include public libraries increasing the number of non-print materials in their collections; offering more access to computers and computer resources; providing more public programs; and diversifying collections, including increasing numbers of e-books." "Public libraries continue to be an essential service for the nation's children. The study finds that attendance at children's programs reached 60.50 million and circulation of children's materials increased 28.3 percent over the last ten years." Highlights from the Report Public Library Services and Operations * Public libraries offered 3.75 million programs to the public in FY 2010, which amounts to an average of at least one program a day for every library system in the country. The majority of these programs (61.5%) are designed for children. Attendance at programs has continued to rise, indicating an increased demand for these services. * Public libraries circulated 2.46 billion materials in FY 2010, the highest circulation in 10 years, representing a continued increasing trend. Circulation of children's materials has increased by 28.3 percent in the last 10 years and comprises over one-third of all materials circulated in public libraries. * The composition of public library collections has changed dramatically in recent years. While books in print continue to dominate the physical portion of the collection, making up 87.1 percent of the total in FY 2010, the share of non-print materials, including audio and video materials and electronic books, has increased. The number of e-books has tripled since FY 2003. In FY 2010, there were 18.50 million e-books available for circulation. * Public access computer use continued to be one of the fastest growing services in public libraries. In FY 2010, public libraries reported a computer use rate of more than one use for every five visits to the library. Public libraries have responded to demand by increasing access, doubling the number of public computers in the past 10 years. * Physical visits to libraries decreased 1.1 percent in 2010. (Note: the survey does not collect data on online visits or transactions of public libraries.) Physical visits remain strong with an overall 10-year increase of 32.7 percent from FY 2001-FY 2010. On average, Americans visited a public library 5.3 times per year, a ten-year increase of 21.7 percent. Public Library Resources * Public libraries had $11.3 billion in revenue in FY 2010, a decrease of 3.5 percent from FY 2009, after adjusting for inflation. Although local governments have generally been the largest source of revenue for public libraries, they have had to take on an even larger role as state support declined over 10 years. * Public libraries reported operating expenditures of $10.77 billion dollars in FY 2010, the first decrease since FY 2001. Although expenditures across all U.S. public libraries were $36.18 per capita, per-capita expenditures varied greatly by state, with spending as low as $15.99 and as high as $67.78. Public Library Workforce * The recession has had an impact on the public library workforce, which has decreased by 6,385 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff since FY 2008, a decrease of 3.9 percent. Staff-related expenditures were $7.21 billion, 67.0 percent of public library expenses in FY 2010. * Librarians made up one-third of all library staff. Although the majority of these librarians hold a Master's degree in Library Science from a program accredited by the American Library Association (ALA-MLS), only half of all libraries reported having a librarian with an ALA-MLS on staff. A copy of the FY 2010 Public Library Survey can be accessed online at:http://www.imls.gov/research/public_libraries_in_the_us_fy_2010_report.aspx . Researchers may also access the collected data online at: http://www.imls.gov/research/public_libraries_in_the_united_states_survey.a?spx . Link to blog post by IMLS Director Susan Hildreth. About the Institute of Museum and Library Services The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation's 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. Our mission is to inspire libraries and museums to advance innovation, lifelong learning, and cultural and civic engagement. Our grant making, policy development, and research help libraries and museums deliver valuable services that make it possible for communities and individuals to thrive. To learn more, visit http://www.imls.gov or follow @US_IMLS on Twitter. Ann Reed, Federal Programs Coordinator Oregon State Library Library Development Services 250 Winter St. Salem, OR 97301 ann.reed at state.or.us phone 503-378-5027 fax 503-378-6439 http://www.oregon.gov/OSL/LD/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.gif Type: image/gif Size: 5104 bytes Desc: image001.gif URL: