Channel Weekly, Vol. 12, No. 31, May 13, 2010

1. The Reference and Loan Library has a new name
2. 2011 LSTA Competitive and Non-Competitive grant categories
3. 2010 Wisconsin Public Library Directory now available
4. Oconto Falls Community Library's historic preservation highlighted by ALA
5. "LZ Lambeau: Welcoming Home Wisconsin's Vietnam Veterans" tribute in Green Bay May 21-23
6. Department of Education offers $10M for planning grants
7. Website of the Week -- US Dept. of Veterans Affairs: Nationwide Gravesite Locator
8. Calendar
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1. THE REFERENCE AND LOAN LIBRARY HAS A NEW NAME

The Reference and Loan Library is changing its name with the launch of a new website describing its services. The new name is Resources for Libraries and Lifelong Learning or RL&LL for short. Over the last decade, the emphasis on use of technology to provide online statewide resources and services has required a larger portion of staff time and resources. At the same time, the budget for acquisitions has decreased substantially and collection development has centered on core areas. The name change reflects the overall shift in priorities and services.

The new website is being launched on May 17, 2010. The home page will feature the primary online resources currently available. These resources are available to all Wisconsin library staff and users and can be accessed by residents from any computer with web access. Primary online resources include AskAway, BadgerLink, WISCAT and Wisconsin Government Documents. The website will provide guidance on finding information and seeking help in using online resources and identifying core materials in the print and audiovisual collections.

The Reference and Loan Library has traditionally offered many services to library staff in relation to its programs and will continue to do so. On the Resources for Libraries and Lifelong Learning website, these services can be accessed by clicking on the "Services for Libraries and State Agencies" button. Library and state government agency staff can find an abundance of information on working with RL&LL staff on programs such as BadgerLink full text databases, delivery services, digitization of library materials, the Wisconsin Document Depository Program and Digital Archives, interlibrary loan services, reference services, WISCAT union and virtual catalogs and the interlibrary loan management system, and the Wisconsin metadata and state government thesaurus projects.

RL&LL also manages websites for two contract organizations, the Child Care Information Center and the Wisconsin Talking Book and Braille Library. These two websites can be found through the new RL&LL website.

RL&LL staff invites you to try out the new website and we hope you like our new look. The new website will be found at the same URL as the old one: http://rl3.dpi.wi.gov. If there is other information you wish had been provided, please contact Sally Drew at sally.drew@dpi.wi.gov or by phone at 608-224-6161.


2. 2011 LSTA COMPETITIVE AND NON-COMPETITIVE GRANT CATEGORIES

The Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Information and Guidelines for Wisconsin 2011 will be issued within the next few weeks with details about eligible applicants and appropriate uses of funds. If you are interested in the possibility of applying for a federal grant, below is a listing of selective competitive and non-competitive categories. Dollar amounts are preliminary and may be revised on the basis of the total dollars available, applications submitted, and other factors, before final awards are made. * Indicates new LSTA categories.

LSTA 2011 Competitive Grant Categories

Accessibility - $125,000 Funds will be awarded to public library systems to assist their member libraries and branches with purchasing and installing the technology and other adaptive equipment needed to increase accessibility for people of all ages who have mobility, vision, and/or hearing disabilities, and to provide member librarians with the training to use the equipment effectively.

Literacy - $100,000 will be awarded to promote and demonstrate the role of public libraries in improving literacy and reading skills for people having difficulty using libraries because of their educational, cultural, or socioeconomic background.

Enhancing Use of Technology in Libraries and Library Systems* - $100,000 Funds may be used for new/upgraded hardware and software modules (including more software licenses) that (1) offer substantially new or enhanced features and that (2) benefit or enhance services to patrons.

Digitization of Local Resources - $30,000 will be awarded to allow public libraries to digitize resources that may be of unique or local interest and make them available on the web to all citizens of the state.

Digitization Large Libraries - $25,000 will be awarded to large public libraries (population 100,000 or more) to digitize historical resources that may be unique or of state or local interest.

Job Search and Support - $192,067 Successful applicants will use the funding to serve people who are unemployed, underemployed, and/or seeking to improve their job skills. The intent of this funding is to facilitate and encourage libraries to collaborate with local, regional, and state agencies that are already working to help the targeted population.

Multi-type Collaboration - $15,000 Applicants must demonstrate collaborative multi-type library project in a community or region to enhance local/regional library services for library patrons. Projects must result in opportunities for local/regional residents to access previously unavailable resources.

LSTA 2011 Non-Competitive Grant Categories

Delivery - $90,000 will be awarded to help support the statewide delivery service backbone structure and to support delivery service to the libraries in the very northern part of the state.

Broadband Upgrade Grants* - $15,500 Financial assistance for libraries obtaining fiber for high speed Internet access through the state's federal broadband grant. This assistance would provide extra wiring or other infrastructure improvements needed to install the broadband connections.

Joining Shared Integrated Library Systems* - $70,000 Funds will assist public library systems in adding libraries to existing shared systems.

Learning Express Library License*- $103,750 Funds support a statewide license for Learning Express Library, an online source of test preparation materials for students and adults. The amount covers a license for 1/1/2011 to 6/30/2011.

Library System Technology Projects - $350,000 will be awarded to systems on a formula basis for technology projects based on the needs of the systems and member libraries. The formula takes into account system area and population.

School Media Staffing Activities - $35,000 will be awarded to have follow-up meetings and activities after the summit being held in 2010 to address the ongoing issues related to staffing school library media centers with certified teacher librarians/library media specialists in the state of Wisconsin.

Statewide Library Access Project - $15,000 Non-competitive category The purpose of this category is to support planning and initial implementation of a "statewide library access" program involving all types of libraries across the state.


3. 2010 WISCONSIN PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTORY NOW AVAILABLE

The 2010 Wisconsin Public Library Directory is available in PDF and Excel formats in record time, thanks to the conscientious and efficient work of John DeBacher and Jamie McCanless of the Public Library Development Team.

Print copies of the Wisconsin Public Library Directory are no longer produced and distributed, but a printable PDF version is available. The PDF version (http://pld.dpi.wi.gov/sites/default/files/imce/pld/pdf/wipldir.pdf) contains a single combined "Directory of Public Libraries and Their Branches" listed by city, followed by an alphabetical "Name Index." The document also includes system and resource library directory information. An Excel-formatted workbook file is also available containing a spreadsheet by community of all 385 public libraries and another of the state's 17 library systems. This Excel file is useful as a merge source for mailing labels or form letters.

Beginning this year, public library identification numbers reflect those used to report Wisconsin's library statistics at the national level. To cross-reference new IDs to libraries' previous identifiers, refer to "ID" and "Old ID" columns of the WI Public Libraries sheet in the http://pld.dpi.wi.gov/sites/default/files/imce/pld/xls/wipldir.xls Excel workbook.

Public library statistics covering the year 2010 will be released as soon as editing is complete in separate files, along with year-by-year file sets from 1996 onward, available to view or download from links at http://pld.dpi.wi.gov/pld_dm-lib-stat.


4. OCONTO FALLS COMMUNITY LIBRARY'S HISTORIC PRESERVATION HIGHLIGHTED BY ALA

This week marks the American Library Association's first annual "Preservation Week @ your library," highlighting what libraries and patrons can do, individually and together, to preserve personal and shared collections. Recognizing the critical role libraries play in preservation, the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS), a division of ALA, developed Preservation Week as the first national awareness campaign targeting collection preservation awareness for the general public.

Among the stories of how libraries across the country and around the globe are working to preserve the local history and heritage of their communities was that of Oconto Falls. The Oconto Falls Community Library in Wisconsin presented "Local history @ your library" to area Cub Scouts. The library director, Joan Denis, showed historical photos of the Oconto River, the local waterfalls and discussed the role the river and the logging industry played in the town's development.

For more information about the "Preservation Week @ your library" go to
http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/news/ala/your-history-your-library.


5. "LZ LAMBEAU: WELCOMING HOME WISCONSIN'S VIETNAM VETERANS" TRIBUTE IN GREEN BAY MAY 21-23

In what is expected to be among the largest gatherings of Vietnam and Vietnam-era veterans in U.S. history, some 30,000 veterans from Wisconsin and around the country will convene to be honored for their service and sacrifice for our country at LZ LambeauTM: Welcoming Home Wisconsin's Vietnam Veterans, a special weekend of activities in Green Bay, Wisconsin from May 21-23.

The highlight of the weekend will be a keynote ceremony inside Green Bay's legendary Lambeau Field Saturday evening, May 22. Named for the landing zones that military service members were deployed to during Vietnam, LZ Lambeau was developed by a partnership of Wisconsin Public Television (WPT), The Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs, the Wisconsin Historical Society, and many veterans organizations, and will feature educational initiatives, oral presentations, museum exhibits, a portrait display, and other community engagement activities. Including the families and friends of attending veterans, the event is expected to draw approximately 100,000 people over three days.

WPT is also creating an epic three-hour documentary, Wisconsin Vietnam War Stories, airing in May 2010. The film features Vietnam veterans from Wisconsin who share, for the first time, emotionally powerful accounts of their experiences during the war. Archival video, historical photography and maps evoke the stark imagery of the war alongside the veterans' stories.

More on LZ Lambeau is at http://www.lzlambeau.org.


6. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION OFFERS $10M FOR PLANNING GRANTS

The U.S. Department of Education has $10 million for planning grants for the Promise Neighborhoods program as part of the Fund for the Improvement of Education. These planning grants for $400,000 to $500,000 each are for the planning purpose of what will be a program to improve significantly the education and development outcomes of children in distressed communities.

This is a heads up for school, community college and public librarians to reach out now to eligible entities which could be non-profit organizations or institutions of higher learning who might be applying because they operate a school; partner with a school or Local Education Agency; currently provide a solution to cradle-through-college-to-career in a distressed neighborhood or represent a neighborhood being proposed for service.

U.S. Department of Education:
Promise Neighborhoods application:
http://www2.ed.gov/programs/promiseneighborhoods/index.html
Deadline for Notice of Intent to Apply: May 21, 2010
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: June 25, 2010


7. WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

US Dept. of Veterans Affairs: Nationwide Gravesite Locator -- http://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/ -- Search for burial locations of U.S. veterans and their family members in VA National Cemeteries, state veterans cemeteries, various other military and Department of Interior cemeteries, and for veterans buried in private cemeteries when the grave is marked with a government grave marker. The site also provides a link to a site for information about service members buried in overseas cemeteries. (Website reference courtesy of refdesk.com)


8. CALENDAR

May 14, 2010 - Council on Library and Network Development (COLAND) meeting, Milwaukee

May 17, 2010 - Delivery Services Advisory Committee (DSAC) meeting, Madison

June 24-29, 2010 - American Library Association conference, Washington, D.C.

June 17, 2010 - Library Information Technology Advisory Committee meeting, Madison

July 9, 2010 - Council on Library and Network Development (COLAND) meeting, Wausau

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Roslyn M. Wise
Editor, Channel Weekly
Department of Public Instruction
Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning
PO Box 7841
Madison, WI 53707-7841
Phone: (608) 266-6439
FAX: (609) 267-9207
For questions about this information, contact Roslyn Wise (608) 266-6439