Winter Public Library Directors Meeting (Dec 5-7)

admin — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 14:36:54 -0500

See the schedule and agenda for this meeting

Watch Video of Meetings

Outreach Programs in Rural Communities: Simple Steps for Surprising Results

admin — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 10:42:44 -0500

The PEARL (Promoting and Enhancing the Advancement of Rural Libraries) Project has been successful in helping Texas rural librarians reach out to groups and organizations in their communities and to raise visibility of and appreciation for their libraries. Community outreach plans, designed to identify and fill a need in the community, are at the heart of this unique model. The process is supported by an actionable template which leads participants from community assessment, through strategic planning, to implementation, and concludes with evaluating outcomes. This webinar, co-sponsored with WebJunction and the Association for Rural & Small Libraries, will explore the outstanding results achieved by participants in the PEARL project and share how community outreach plans have led to unexpected outcomes and some surprising results.

Presented by: Barbara Blake, Outreach Coordinator for the PEARL Project, University of North Texas; and Louise W. Greene, Association for Rural and Small Libraries, Board Member, and PEARL Mentor.

MORE INFO AND REGISTRATOIN

Tech Tools with Tine: 1 Hour with Evernote

dlandrum — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 14:46:05 -0500

Please join us for a special series with technology trainer, Christine Walczyk, all about popular online tools. The series is meant to be short on talk about library context and higher concepts. It's really all about the tools themselves! Our aim is to demonstrate how to use one tool in each webinar in under 60 minutes with time for Q&A built in.

Accessibility Handbook: Making 508-Compliant Websites

dlandrum — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 14:49:00 -0500

Several audiences have difficulty using today's complex websites, including people with blindness, hearing loss, physical disabilities, and cognitive disorders. In this webcast, Katie Cunningham, author of the "Accessibility Handbook: Making 508 Compliant Websites" talks about the world of accessibility and assistive technologies.

We will discuss:

What it means to be accessible?
Who does it cover?
What tools can developers and designers use to make accessible websites?
Why should they worry about accessibility?

About Katie Cunningham

Katie Cunningham is a Python developer at Cox Media Group. She's a fervent advocate for Python, Open Source Software, and a web that's accessible for everyone. She's a frequent speaker at open source conferences such as PyCon and DjangoCon, speaking on beginners topics such as someone's first site in the cloud, and making 508 compliant websites.

She also helps organize PyLadies in the DC area, a program designed to increase diversity in the Python community. She has taught classes for the organization, bringing novices from instillation to writing their first app in 48 hours.

Katie is an active blogger at her website (http://therealkatie.net), covering issues such as Python, accessibility, and the trials and tribulations of working from home.

Katie lives in the DC area with her husband and two children.

Questions? Please send email to webcast@oreilly.com

Language and Literacy Workshop, Savannah

admin — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 16:17:19 -0400

10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Bright from the Start Partners with the Georgia Public Library Service and Rollins School of Language and Learning to present five free workshops. They are open to childcare staff, public library staff, and parents.

Session 1 - Let's Talk! Building Language Through Meaningful Conversations
This session will explore the TALK strategy as a means of supporting language development. Participants will:

Describe and demonstrate the TALK strategy to build language skills
TALK - Tune in, Ask open ended questions, Lift language, Keep it going

Session 2 - Let's Read! Building Language Through Repeated Interactive Story Reading
This session will explore the types of books appropriate for young learners and explore the READ Strategy to support literacy development. Participants will:

Define and demonstrate the READ Strategy
READ - Repeat, Engage and Enjoy, Ask open ended questions, Do more with the book
Define and demonstrate the concept of Pushing in and Pulling Out language
Describe differences between first, second and third reads PAT Push in (Action and Thoughts) then Pull Out.

For more details please see the Georgia Program for Infant and Toddler Care page

Library Support Staff Certification (LSSC) : An Introduction

admin — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 14:22:58 -0500

Free webinars from ALA's Library Support Staff Certification (LSSC) Program

The American Library Association-Allied Professional Association's Library Support Staff Certification (LSSC) Program will be offering two free webinars in December. Anyone interested in the programs are welcome to sign up by clicking the links below.

Dec. 10, 2 p.m. Central time - An Introduction to the LSSC Program

LSSC will offer an hour-long webinar on the program and how it works. The presentation will explain the value of this certification to Library Support Staff, employers and library users. You will also have the opportunity to have all of your questions answered by program staff members. This webinar is open to all interested candidates.

Register to attend An Introduction to the LSSC Program

Online Learning with Students, Staff, and Faculty with Disabilities: Knowing the Legal Landscape of Web Accessibility

dlandrum — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 14:53:21 -0500

Join Malcolm Brown, EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative director, and Veronica Diaz, ELI associate director, as they moderate this webinar with Cyndi Rowland. Institutions of higher education want to use the power of the Internet with faculty, staff, and students. Failing to create an architecture that can be accessed by those with disabilities can create a climate of discrimination. It is vital that those in higher education understand the legal landscape with respect to online accessibility. This session will describe current law and court cases and assist institutions that want to do the right thing and document it at the same time.

Learning Objectives

Understand U.S. laws that pertain to the accessibility of web content in higher education today
Identify other legal issues (e.g., state or international law) that may pertain to your institution
Understand the current legal climate and recent court cases regarding web accessibility in postsecondary education
Determine what you can do to put your institution on the best path and how you can document your good faith efforts during a transition to accessibility

Bozarthzone! Nuts and Bolts of Social Media

dlandrum — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 14:51:10 -0500

This session will cover basics of creating and sustaining community via social media tools. Rather than theory, participants will walk away with an understanding of how to implement and utilize these applications.
Briefly, we will look at several popular social media tools, such as blogs, wikis, Facebook and Twitter, then basics of using these tools for 1) Creating Community & Community Management; 2) Fostering Communities of Practice; 3) Knowledge Transfer and Management

Better Together: Tech Trainers Sharing Expertise

dlandrum — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 14:55:37 -0500

Virtually every library provides technology training in one form or another. How can we work together to share resources and ideas with one another?

Join our webinar on Tuesday, December 11 at 11 a.m. Pacific time to hear about existing resources that allow libraries and nonprofts to share their technology training expertise with one another.

From ABLE to WebJunction, hosts Brenda Hough and Stephanie Gerding will take you on a tour of a web places and virtual spaces that exist to make training better. Guests will be invited to share their favorite resources, too.

This webinar is part of a series of webinars exploring the Edge Initiative Benchmarks, specifically, Benchmark Nine.

Please contact webinars@techsoupglobal.org with accessibility requests 72 hours before the event.

Creating a Comprehensive and Engaging Volunteer Training Program

dlandrum — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 14:57:24 -0500

What do you volunteers need to know to be successful? This webinar will start with the basics and help you understand how to determine what information you should be sharing with your volunteers, and how that can be used to create a curriculum. We’ll then discuss how to present this information in a variety of ways using different delivery methods that appeal to adult learners. Assessing what your volunteers have learned, and creating ongoing training and professional development training for your volunteers will also be covered.

What You'll Learn:

What information should you share with new volunteers?
How can you turn regularly shared new volunteer info into a curriculum?
How is adult learning different from child learning?
How can you tell how much training new volunteers are absorbing?

Who Should Attend:

Nonprofit Volunteer Managers who are new to VolunteerMatch
Nonprofit Volunteer Managers who are new to the field

Library Support Staff Certification (LSSC) : Preparing a Portfolio

admin — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 14:25:00 -0500

Free webinars from ALA's Library Support Staff Certification (LSSC) Program

Dec. 11, 3 p.m. Central time - Preparing a Portfolio

Many LSSC candidates want to prepare portfolios to meet LSSC requirements. LSSC will offer an hour-long webinar explaining what the LSSC Program requires in a portfolio. The presentation will also give you the chance to see examples of successful submissions and learn how your portfolio will be evaluated. This webinar is open to all interested candidates.

Register to attend Preparing a Portfolio

Mobile Accessibility - The Status of Accessibility in Mobile Devices

dlandrum — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 14:59:03 -0500

David Dzumba, Chair of the Accessibility Working Group of the Mobile Manufacturer's Forum will take the lead in providing an insight into and perspective on the status of accessibility in mobile devices. David currently serves as the FCC Emergency Access Advisory Committee co-chair and is senior manager of Accessibility at Nokia. There will be captioning and the program will be archived.

ALA Webinar on Digital Literacy and Libraries

admin — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 14:10:44 -0500

How do librarians and educators keep up with the continual stream of new advancements? How do they motivate and support library staff in staying current?

To facilitate a national dialogue on digital literacy education, the American Library Association (ALA) will host the free webinar "Assessing Digital Literacy: Outcomes and Impact" on December 11, 2012 from 7:00-8:00p.m. EST.

The December webinar, which will be hosted by the ALA Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) and the ALA Digital Literacy Task Force, is a follow-up to the highly attended web-based forum that the ALA hosted in November.

Attendees will hear from participants who are exploring ways to measure the effectiveness of digital literacy programs. Speakers include:

Karen Hanson, federal program officer, National Telecommunications and Information Administration at the U.S. Department of Commerce
Julie Coiro, assistant professor, University of Rhode Island School of Education
Moderated by: Renee Hobbs, ALA Office for Information Technology Policy Fellow

To RSVP for the webinar (which will be streamed live at http://www.districtdispatch.org/digilit12/), email OITP Assistant Director Marijke Visser at alawash@alawash.org, using "Digital Literacy" in the subject line.

What Would Walt Do?: Quality Customer Service for Libraries

admin — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 10:45:21 -0500

Looking for some magic to improve customer service in your library? The Disney Institute on Quality Service has set high standards for creating a quality customer experience and their ideas can be applied at your library. Our panel of Colorado librarians attended the Disney Institute Quality Service preconference sponsored by ALA's LearnRT at the annual conference in Anaheim in 2012. Since then, they've been waving their magic wands to improve customer service in Colorado libraries and they'd like to share their discoveries with you. Learn how to define quality service, set a common purpose for all library staff, and better understand your customers. You'll walk away with ideas to make your library's customer service sparkle.

This WebJunction webinar is presented in collaboration with ALA's LearnRT. Did you attend the Disney Institute? Join this conversation and share your ideas and successes.

Presented by: Crystal Schimpf, Program Manager, Community Technology Network; Elena Rosenfeld, Associate Director of Public Service, High Plains Library District; and Suzanne McGowan, Branch Manager, Anythink Wright Farms.

MORE INFO AND REGISTRATION

Basic Graphic Design for Library Staff: Quick and Easy Solutions

dlandrum — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 15:04:31 -0500

Have you been asked to create your library’s flyers and feel all at sea?
Are the ones you have created being ignored?
Are you still finding grammar and spelling errors and leaving important things out?
Are you really seeing what your customers see?
Looking for quick and easy ways to improve your graphic design?

For the past 20 years personal computers have allowed us to create publications of all kinds easily without requiring a basic understanding of graphic design. While the results have sometimes been less than successful, there are some quick and simple solutions to making them more attractive and effective.

During this webinar, attendees will learn how use shapes, manipulate images, and work with text and fonts to enhance their basic desktop publishing efforts. We’ll also work together on redesigning examples of library signs to make each more customer friendly.

At the end of this one-hour webinar, participants will know:

The 3 basic elements of graphic design and how they work together.
The 7 pieces of information that should be on every library publication.
How to make publications readable and error free.
How to find and use type fonts effectively.
How to find, move and manipulate images.
The relationship between good graphic design and great customer service.

Let’s Talk About It: The National Model for Scholar-Led Reading and Discussion

dlandrum — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 15:00:29 -0500

For more than thirty years, hundreds of libraries across the country have engaged their communities by offering “Let’s Talk About It” reading and discussion programs. Find out how from an LTAI state-level coordinator and twenty-four-year veteran! Webinar attendees will be offered an overview of the model, tips for recruiting and working with a scholar, and access to an archive of ready-to-present program content on more than thirty themes. This session will also provide application information for an upcoming round of cash programming grants. Register online using the link below, or register via fax or mail (PDF).

Perfect Phrases for Fundraising

dlandrum — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 15:05:42 -0500

In this webinar, Dr. Beverly A. Browning, author of Perfect Phrases for Fundraising will discuss how to use THE RIGHT PHRASE FOR EVERY SITUATION . . . EVERY TIME. Using precise language in a fundraising campaign is an absolute must. The words you choose can make the difference between having your appeal read . . . or tossed. Learn how to craft a message that recipients will read and respond to. The author will share her time-saving tips, message-crafting strategies and ready-to-use phrases for getting results in any campaign.

Takeaways:

Telephone soliciting
YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter
One-on-one meetings
Board of director appeals
Organization website campaigns

Reaching Reluctant Readers

dlandrum — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 15:07:23 -0500

Reaching those who don’t have an interest in reading is a challenge for any librarian or library staff worker. Join Heather Gruenthal for a discussion on reaching reluctant readers. Heather will share her tips on introducing reader to books including reading displays, genre lists, gateway books, Just like Me books and programming with book hooks. Join us for this discussion!

Learning Outcomes

Participants will learn:

How to use passive advertising to reach reluctant readers

How to draw non-readers in through booktalking and book trailers

Fee

$29 for students

$39 for individual YALSA members

$49 for all other individuals

$195 for group registrations. YALSA’s group rate provides an institution with 10 individual logins.

Meet the Author: PYNK @ Southwest Branch Library, Atlanta

admin — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 08:35:46 -0500

2:00 PM-4:00 PM

Meet the Author PYNK. PYNK will discuss and sign her latest novel, POLITICS.ESCORTS.BLACKMAIL which follows the life of Madam Money Watts and explores the call-girl industry as it spills over into the world of politics in New York City.

Suggested Audiences: College, Adult, Elders

E-mail: comments@co.fulton.ga.us
Phone: 404-699-6363

Web Link: http://socialweb.net./Events/149395.lasso

Grand Opening of Northeast Clayton/Forest Park Library

admin — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 15:56:42 -0500

The Clayton County Board of Commissioners & The Clayton County Library Board of Trustees invite you to attend the

GRAND OPENING CEREMONY

For The New 16,000 Square Foot
NORTHEAST CLAYTON/FOREST PARK BRANCH LIBRARY

Sunday, December 16, 2012 at 3:00 p.m.

4812 WEST STREET, FOREST PARK (corner of West St. at North Ave., across from the back parking lot of the First Baptist Church of Forest Park)

E-Book Action: Inform and Inspire Your Community

dlandrum — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 15:09:27 -0500

How do you respond when patrons ask why there aren't more e-books at the library?

It's not an easy question. Turn your (and your patron's) frustration into action. Attend PLA's free, 90-minute webinar at noon Central on Tuesday, December 18 and learn about two creative e-book campaigns initiated by libraries, as well as a comprehensive communications template kit to help you develop your own! You'll find new strategies for reaching out to your community members not only to explain why libraries have limited e-book collections but also to enlist their help in improving e-book access.

More Information and Registration

GPLS Offices Closed, Dec. 24-25

admin — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 09:00:51 -0400

GPLS offices will be closed on December 24-25 for the Christmas Holiday.