1. Wisconsin Statutes Chapter 43 updated
2. LSTA Advisory Committee meeting and public hearing scheduled
3. Applications for 2014 LSTA-funded projects
4. Time to kick-off Speak Up 2013 | Tell Us About Your Digital Life
5. BadgerLink Resource of the Week: LearningExpress Library
6. Website of the Week: Open Library
7. Calendar
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1. WISCONSIN STATUTES CHAPTER 43 UPDATED
Chapter 43 of the Wisconsin Statutes has been updated and certified by the Legislative Reference Bureau, to include recent changes included in the biennial budget. Chapter 43: Libraries covers, among other things, public library establishment and administration; duties of the Department of Public Instruction and the Division for Libraries and Technology related to libraries; public librarian certification; public library system establishment, operation, and funding; county planning and funding for library services; and certification of the payments from the Common School Fund. The only significant change is the new method under which a municipality in a joint library is exempt from its county library tax, in s. 43.64 (2)(c).
The full text of Chapter 43 can be found, in PDF format, here:
http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/43.pdf.
2. LSTA ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING AND PUBLIC HEARING SCHEDULED
Wisconsin's Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Advisory Committee will meet in DeForest on Wednesday November 6, 2013, at the Comfort Inn & Suites, 5025 County Highway V, DeForest, WI 53532, to discuss grant proposals and make award recommendations for LSTA projects to take place in 2014. As a part of the meeting, there will be a public hearing beginning at 10:00 a.m. on November 6 for interested persons to make suggestions on the LSTA program for 2015. Final guidelines for the 2015 LSTA program will be developed in April 2014.
If you are unable to attend the public hearing, written comments may be submitted by letter, fax, or e-mail to Terrie Howe, P.O. Box 7841, Madison, WI 53707-7841; fax number (608) 267-9207; email address: Teresa.howe@dpi.wi.gov. Testimony must arrive by 4:00 p.m., Tuesday, November 5, 2013 for inclusion in the hearing.
3. APPLICATIONS FOR 2014 LSTA-FUNDED PROJECTS
Public libraries and public library systems submitted seventy-eight (78) applications in nine (9) different categories for Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) projects to occur in 2014. The applications requested funds for a variety of projects. Outside reviewers (librarians and other subject experts from around the state) evaluate the applications submitted in the competitive grant categories over the next few weeks. The projects and grant rankings will be reviewed by the LSTA Advisory Committee at its meeting on November 6, 2013. State Superintendent Tony Evers will announce the grant awards by the end of December, or later if the federal budget has not been finalized.
The preliminary dollars budgeted for each grant category, the dollars requested in the applications, and the number of applications received, are below.
Competitive categories
Accessibility (8), budgeted $75,000, requested $76,552
Digitization of Library Historical Material (10), budgeted $25,000, requested $39,442
Digital Creations in Public Libraries (6), budgeted $100,000, requested $81,761
Early Literacy (13), budgeted $75,000, requested $138,839
Literacy (4), budgeted $75,000, requested $52,152
Non-Competitive Categories:
Delivery (2), $90,000
Public Library System Technology (17), $350,000
E-content Licensing (17), $150,000
Merging Public Library Systems (1), $4,000
The total amount budgeted for the category projects was $940,000; the total requested was $982,746.
4. TIME TO KICK-OFF SPEAK UP 2013/TELL US ABOUT YOUR DIGITAL LIFE
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and Project Tomorrow invite all Wisconsin schools to participate in the 11th annual Speak Up National Research Project. The Speak Up National Research Project collects and reports on the authentic, unfiltered views and opinions of K-12 students, parents, and educators on critical 21st century education and technology issues. Since 2003, over 3 million K-12 education stakeholders have participated in the annual online surveys.
Data findings are shared each year with federal, state, and local policymakers to inform education programs, policies, and funding. Results will be available for participating schools and districts in February 2014. Speak Up is facilitated by Project Tomorrow® (www.tomorrow.org), a national education nonprofit organization.
New this year, Wisconsin has its own SpeakUp site: http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/Wisconsin.html. Everything you need to participate in Speak Up 2013|Tell Us About Your Digital Life is there. Wisconsin's student password is su_wi – this statewide password will work in addition to any district or school assigned password. Surveys are open for input now through December 20, 2013. Surveys are available for K-12 students, educators, and parents to share their ideas on using technology for learning.
The top 5 reasons to participate in Speak Up 2013:
- Gain a better understanding of your district's technology needs;
- Learn about your teachers' aspirations for using technology more effectively – and what is holding them back;
- Find ways to use new technology tools to improve school to home communications;
- Make more informed funding decisions;
- Ensure that parents have a voice in national, state, and local decisions about education.
5. BADGERLINK RESOURCE OF THE WEEK
Have questions about using Excel? Check out BadgerLink's LearningExpress Library! Access popular software tutorials by going to BadgerLink (www.BadgerLInk.net), clicking on Multimedia (http://www.badgerlink.net/multimedia), and selecting LearningExpress Library. Once you have reached the LearningExpress Library homepage, click on Popular Software Tutorials on the left hand side of the page and begin learning.
6. Website of the Week
Open Library -- http://openlibrary.org – This site, an initiative of the Internet Archive, states that its goal is to create one web page for every book ever published. To date, over 20 million records have been gathered.
7. CALENDAR
October 22-25, 2013 – Wisconsin Library Association (WLA) annual conference, Green Bay
November 6, 2013 – Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Advisory Committee meeting, DeForest
November 8, 2013 – Council on Library and Network Development (COLAND) meeting, Minocqua
January 10, 2014 – Council on Library and Network Development (COLAND) meeting, web conference
January 24-28, 2014 – American Library Association (ALA) Mid-Winter Meeting, Philadelphia, PA
May 7-9, 2014 – Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries (WAPL) annual conference, Sheboygan
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To access previous issues of Channel Weekly, or to subscribe or unsubscribe,
go to: http://channel.dpi.wi.gov/
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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