Channel Weekly, Vol. 13, No. 31, May 26, 2011

1. DPI offices closed on May 27 for furlough day
2. County reimbursement requests must be submitted by July 1
3. 2012 LSTA grant categories
4. Every Child Ready to Read® launches new website
5. Digital Literacy Initiative aims to help Americans build online skills
6. Website of the Week - Memorial Day
7. Calendar
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1. DPI OFFICES CLOSED ON MAY 27 FOR FURLOUGH DAY

As part of an effort to close the state's projected budget deficit, all state of Wisconsin agencies were required to develop plans to manage mandated employee furloughs. To accommodate this requirement, the Department of Public Instruction will close its Ashland, Eau Claire, Green Bay, Madison, Milwaukee, Racine, and Wausau offices to the public on Friday, May 27, 2011. Offices also will be closed for the Memorial Day holiday on Monday, May 30, 2011.

Messages received on May 27 will be returned as soon as possible after employees return to work. We appreciate your patience and understanding.


2. COUNTY REIMBURSEMENT REQUESTS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY JULY 1

Public libraries eligible to receive county reimbursement for library services under Wisconsin Statutes 43.12, are reminded that they should submit necessary information by July 1, 2011, for their 2012 reimbursement.

Wis. Stats. 43.12(2) states:
"By July 1 of each year, each public library lying in whole or in part in a county shall provide a statement to the county clerk of that county and to the county clerk of each adjacent county, other than a county with a population of at least 500,000, that reports the number of loans of material made by that library during the prior calendar year to residents of the county, or adjacent county, who are not residents of a municipality that maintains a public library under s. 43.52 or 43.53 and the total number of loans of material made by that library during the previous calendar year."

In some regions, the public library's regional library system may either submit the request on behalf of the member library, or may facilitate the request for reimbursement by compiling necessary information. In other regions, the public libraries directly submit their own requests to the county clerks. Information on county public library funding under both Act 150 and Act 420 is available on the Department of Public Instruction's website at http://pld.dpi.wi.gov/pld_act150.


3. 2012 LSTA GRANT CATEGORIES

There will be four (4) competitive categories for which libraries and library systems can submit applications in 2012 beginning in July and due in September 2011. These categories are: Accessibility, Literacy, Jobs Search and Support, and Library Director Orientation. Digitization-Local Resources will not be a competitive category in 2012. Several awarded digitization projects in 2011 will be implemented in 2012 by the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center (UWDCC) that could not be completed this year because of a staff shortage. The Library System Technology Projects and Delivery will be the non-competitive categories available for 2012 applications. E-content licensing is a category with substantial funds allocated for a WI statewide e-content project. The 2012 Information & Guidelines describing these and the Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning's categories will soon be ready for distribution and posted to the DPI website.


4. EVERY CHILD READY TO READ® LAUNCHES NEW WEBSITE

In anticipation of the release of the Every Child Ready to Read® @ your library® 2nd Edition Toolkit, the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) and the Public Library Association (PLA) have launched an updated and redesigned Every Child Ready to Read® (ECRR) website, http://www.everychildreadytoread.org.

The new website is easy to navigate and includes the research and rationale that led to the development of the 2nd Edition, product details, sales information and a link to an archived copy of the recent Every Child Ready to Read 2nd Edition Sneak Peek webinar.

The second edition of Every Child Ready to Read® @ your library® provides a new curriculum and materials to continue the effort of the original ECRR, supporting parents and caregivers with the early literacy development of their children, birth to age five.

The beliefs underlying the second edition of ECRR remain the same:

- Reading is an essential life skill.

- Learning to read begins at birth.

- Parents and caregivers are a child's first and best teachers.

- Lifelong literacy is a primary role of the public library; public libraries need to support parents and caregivers as they develop early literacy skills in children from birth to age five.

- Every Child Ready to Read is a parent education initiative that provides skills and strategies parents and caregivers can use to help children get ready to read.


5. DIGITAL LITERACY INITIATIVE AIMS TO HELP AMERICANS BUILD ONLINE SKILLS

The U.S. Department of Commerce has launched DigitalLiteracy.gov, a gateway to materials, research, online learning tools and more to help librarians and educators access and share materials to use when training learners of all ages on topics such as information literacy, computer skills, digital literacy and more. The Dept. of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) created the portal in partnership with nine federal agencies (including the Institute for Museum and Library Services) to provide librarians, teachers, workforce trainers and others a central location to share digital literacy content and practices. Individuals are welcome to visit the site to find resources, upload their own and/or connect with others who are offering training on these topics. Visit http://www.digitalliteracy.gov/ to access the resource.


6. WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

Memorial Day -- http://www.va.gov/opa/speceven/memday/ -- Memorial Day, observed annually on the last Monday of May, commemorates the men and women who died while in the military service. This page from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website provides links to information about the history and traditions associated with this observance.


7. CALENDAR

July 8, 2011 - Council on Library and Network Development meeting, Green Bay

September 9, 2011 - Council on Library and Network Development meeting, Madison

November 1-4, 2011 - Wisconsin Library Association annual conference, Milwaukee

November 11, 2011 - Council on Library and Network Development, Milwaukee

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To access previous issues of Channel Weekly, or to subscribe or unsubscribe,
go to: http://channel.dpi.wi.gov/chn_chweekly
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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: (608) 267-9207
For questions about this information, contact Roslyn Wise (608) 266-6439