1. School districts to share $32.5 million in school library aids
2. LSTA Advisory Committee meeting held in DeForest
3. ALA's Office for Literacy and Outreach Services offers free toolkit
4. ALA offers free Advocacy Strategy webinar
5. Website of the Week -- Exploratorium
6. Calendar
=================================================

1. SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO SHARE $32.5 MILLION IN SCHOOL LIBRARY AIDS

On Tuesday, May 17, the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands presented a check for $32.5 million to State Superintendent Tony Evers for school library aids. The check represents interest earned on loans made by BCPL to local units of governments or schools for improvements or purchases Public school districts throughout the state will share these funds from the Common School Fund, the only state aid specifically designated for the purchase of materials for school libraries.

The Common School Fund was established as part of Wisconsin's Constitution in 1848, managed by the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands. The Commissioners are Secretary of State Doug Lafollette, State Treasurer Kurt Schuller, and Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen serve as a constitutional requirement of their jobs. This year's check for $32.5 million is the fourth largest check made to DPI for school library aids, equating to about $26 per student statewide. The three highest amounts were $35.3 million in 2009, $35 million in 2008, and $33.6 million in 2011.

The list of Common School Fund allocations by school district can be found in the full news release at /sites/default/files/imce/eis/pdf/dpinr2012_56.pdf.


2. LSTA ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING HELD IN DEFOREST

A two-day LSTA Advisory Committee meeting was held in DeForest on April 17-18, 2012. There are five new members on the committee serving three- year terms: Cherilyn Stewart, Director, Manitowoc Public Library; Krista Ross, Director, Southwest Library System; Gerri Moeller, Automation Manager, Outagamie Waupaca Library System; Mary Driscoll, Outreach Librarian, Dane County Library Service; and Linda Stobbe, Office Manager, Northern Waters Library Service.

The public hearing included testimony in support of the following LSTA categories: assistance for small libraries to join regional shared integrated automation systems; statewide delivery services; public library system technology grants; and continued e-content support.

Based on potential funds available and evaluation results of the Five Year LSTA plan of 2008-2012, the Division for Libraries and Technology staff presented preliminary grant categories for 2013 with corresponding requests for funding. During the second day of the LSTA meeting the committee recommended that the following categories be continued and supported at the proposed funding levels: Delivery services, Digitization-Local Resources, Library Improvement/Technology, Public Library System Technology, Resources for Libraries and Lifelong Learning (both Statewide Technology and WISCAT), Statewide Library Improvement, continued funding for the Learning Express database, and LSTA Administration.

The federal agency that distributes the funding for LSTA for states (IMLS) requested that the Statewide Library Improvement category be proposed as a separate project from the Youth and Special Services Librarian. Communications and Planning, a category that supports the Assistant State Superintendent's participation in national and statewide meetings, was increased to provide funds to support the work of a task force to consider updates to a study done in 2006 of public library systems' integrated library system (ILS) expenses, and consider options such as linking or combining existing ILSs, or implement a statewide integrated library system. The task force would also review how those changes would be incorporated into or supplant current inter-library loan processes and management.

The committee endorsed $200,000 in digital-content licensing support (ebooks and downloadable audio) to encourage continued public library collaborative investment in the statewide public library digital buying pool. School libraries received funding to investigate e-book collaborative purchasing to serve K-12 students.

Public libraries and public library systems' competitive grant categories will include Literacy initiatives and Accessibility grants. In addition, a new category called Digital Creation Technologies will be available to develop and improve library resources and services promoting digital creativity and learning by designating and cultivating digital creation spaces in public libraries. Projects will need to address both space and services needs and emphasize learning, community, technology, and access. Projects may involve other organizations, institutions, or employment support agencies that promote digital learning in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the project. Guidelines and grant scenarios for this new category will be included in the LSTA Information and Guidelines 2013 to be issued in late May 2012.

Funds were allocated for a new "Youth Services Leadership Institute" to provide professional development and networking for librarians who serve infants, children, and teens in small to medium-size public libraries. The Institute will target librarians who have no graduate level education in librarianship and/or work in rural library communities. The Institute will be limited to 25 participants in order to facilitate an effective, intimate, and focused Institute experience to help foster future networking and professional participation, online and in-person. E-Learning opportunities were also funded to encourage staff continuing education efforts.

New and ongoing grant categories recommended by the LSTA advisory committee must be approved through the State Superintendent's office before grant applications can be solicited by the Division for Libraries and Technology. As the grant cycle progresses, information on categories and the application process will be posted to http://pld.dpi.wi.gov/pld_lsta.


3. ALA'S OFFICE FOR LITERACY AND OUTREACH SERVICES OFFERS FREE TOOLKIT

"Literacy for All: Adult Literacy @ your library," a toolkit from the American Library Association (ALA) Office for Literacy and Outreach Services (OLOS), is now available as a free print or digital edition.

Developed by the ALA Committee on Literacy and the Office for Literacy and Outreach Services, "Literacy for All" features tips and tools for assessing community adult literacy needs and tailoring a literacy plan to address those needs, as well as examples of successful and replicable library literacy plans and resources for serving adult new and non-readers. The toolkit is available as an eight-page print edition, an easily-navigable Web edition (shortened link: http://goo.gl/ro4WQ) or as a downloadable PDF file (797K), http://goo.gl/2F8Z8.

The OLOS provides a series of outreach advocacy toolkits, including "The Guide to Building Support for Your Tribal Library," "How to Serve the World @ your library: Serving Non-English Speakers in U.S. Public Libraries," "The Small but Powerful Guide to Winning Big Support for Your Rural Library" and "Keys to Engaging Older Adults @ your library." For more information on "Literacy for All: Adult Literacy @ your library" and other OLOS toolkits, including ordering instruction, please visit http://www.ala.org/olos.

The ALA Committee on Literacy develops and recommends the Association's policies related to the promotion of literacy, and develops and encourages the development of programs, educational opportunities, and other resources that assist librarians and libraries in promoting literacy. It also raises the awareness of literacy within the Association and works cooperatively with the Literacy Assembly, the Office for Literacy and Outreach Services and its Advisory Committee and other ALA units on efforts that have a literacy focus. It also develops and maintains partnerships with national literacy organizations.


4. ALA OFFERS FREE ADVOCACY STRATEGY WEBINAR

"Rallying Your Community: Mobilizing the Grassroots" will be the topic of a free webinar sponsored by the American Library Association's Committee on Library Advocacy from 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. CDT on Wednesday, May 2.

The webinar will demonstrate how two community organizations, the Sustainable Library Citizens Coalition of Indianapolis-Marion County (Ind.) Public Library and Urban Librarians Unite of New York City, have used their voices to impact library funding.

Marci Merola, director of the ALA Office for Library Advocacy, will moderate the webinar and demonstrate practical applications of resources from the ALA Office for Library Advocacy.

Registration is required. Visit https://ala.ilinc.com/register/thvbchx to register.


5. WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

Exploratorium -- http://www.exploratorium.edu/explore/ -- This free website from The Exploratorium in San Francisco, California, features over 25,000 pages of content with links to tools and experiences that help visitors become active explorers through a collection of interactive links and activities for all ages.


6. CALENDAR

April 23-24, 2012 - American Library Association National Library Legislative Day, Washington, DC

April 25, 2012 - Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA) spring meeting, Washington, DC

May 4, 2012 - Special Needs Consultants annual meeting, DeForest

May 9-11, 2012 - Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries annual conference, Stevens Point

May 18, 2012 - Council on Library and Network Development (COLAND) meeting, Whitewater

October 23-26, 2012 - Wisconsin Library Association (WLA) annual conference, La Crosse

==================================================
To access previous issues of Channel Weekly, or to subscribe or unsubscribe,
go to: http://channel.dpi.wi.gov/chn_chweekly
==========================================================================


Roslyn M. Wise
Editor, Channel Weekly
Department of Public Instruction
Division for Libraries and Technology
PO Box 7841
Madison, WI 53707-7841
Phone: (608) 266-6439
FAX: (608) 267-9207