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Updates from State Library Services

Webinar: Voting in 2020 Join us on Thursday, September 17, from 2:30 to 4 p.m., for a special webinar about how libraries can support voter turnout in the 2020 election. Featuring Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon as a guest speaker, this webinar will equip you to engage patrons in the 2020 voting process and provide an opportunity for you to get your questions about voting answered. Please register in advance for Voting in 2020. This webinar will be recorded. Please contact Hannah Buckland at 651-582-8792 for assistance with any questions.   Holistic Service in Uncertain Times What can libraries learn from social workers? Find out by attending a virtual workshop series in September on whole person librarianship. Led by Sara Zettervall, library trainer and co-author of the book Whole Person Librarianship: A Social Work Approach to Patron Services, and complemented by a first-day panel of local and national experts, we will: describe social work concepts such as person-in-environment, cultural humility, and reflective practice hear from a panel of practitioners about library-social work collaboration and potential community partners, before and during the pandemic apply social work concepts to your own work in a library setting Each series consists of two half-day (9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.) virtual meetings, with a day off in between for individual work and reflection: Urban and suburban libraries: Monday, Sept. 21, and Wednesday, Sept. 23Small and rural libraries: Tuesday, Sept. 22, and Thursday, Sept. 24 Register today to attend a Whole Person Librarianship workshop.  While the primary audience of this workshop is library staff, especially those who directly assist public patrons, social work students and faculty are also welcome to register. Please contact Leah Larson, 651-582-8604, for assistance with any questions.   Falling Out of Love With Screens As we head into fall, the days shorten and our screens glow ever brighter. Enter LiveMore ScreenLess, a Minnesota-based organization with a mission to advocate and promote digital well-being. This fall, LiveMore ScreenLess will present a series of webinars to equip librarians, especially those working with youth, with the knowledge and tools to encourage digital well-being. By participating in the series, you will gain an understanding of how technology overuse and misuse affects the mental, cognitive, social, emotional, physical, and well-being of young people. LiveMore ScreenLess will share resources, activities, and strategies to incorporate digital well-being into library programs for young people. The series kicks off on Thursday, September 24, from 1 to 2 p.m., with a webinar digging into the latest research on why we are tethered to our technology, especially our phones. Register for LiveMore ScreenLess Webinar Series – #1. We’ll send out the Zoom link when you register. Future webinars in the series will cover implementing and sustaining digital well-being at your library. If you have questions, please contact Ashley Bieber.   First Look at Help Me Connect Minnesota Help Me Connect is an online navigator under development that is designed to help pregnant individuals or families with young children (birth – 8 years old). This system will support local providers who work with young families to locate services in the community and make referrals. The navigator was developed based on community-level recommendations from a central work group, focus groups, early childhood provider interviews, and tribal consultation. The Help Me Connect (HMC) Planning Team from the Minnesota Departments of Education, Health, and Human Services invites you to learn about the history, development, and upcoming launch of the Help Me Connect navigator. Wednesday, September 9, 2020, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.Join the Help Me Connect webinar No advanced registration required; just click and join on the date/time listed. If you have any questions, please contact Shawn Holmes, Help Me Connect coordinator, at the Minnesota Department of Health.   Voter Resources for Libraries Libraries play an important role in supporting voter turnout in the 2020 election. Library staff can order nonpartisan voter and election-related materials at no cost directly from the Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State. Electronic versions of many resources are available on their website. Additionally, libraries looking to get the word out in local communications and through social media can use the customizable messages and downloadable resources available through the 2020 voter engagement toolkit. Please contact Hannah Buckland at 651-582-8792 for assistance with any questions.   Reach for the Stars Catalogue Looking for this year’s Reach for the Stars catalogue? The 2020-2021 edition is available to download for free as a full-color PDF or text-only version. Reach for the Stars lists more than 120 academic enrichment programs – from Academic Decathalon to Youth Eco Solutions – available to Minnesota students in grades K through 12. The catalogue is published yearly as a free public service by Synergy & Leadership Exchange and the Minnesota Academic League.   Plastics Put to the Test The REALM project has published the results of the third round of laboratory testing for COVID-19. In Test 3, they tested five plastic-based materials: a DVD, a storage bag, a hard plastic storage container, Plexiglass, and a talking book USB cassette. After five days of quarantine, three of the five items still had detectable levels of SARS-CoV-2; the virus was not detected on the storage bag or the DVD. The results suggest that, for these plastic-based materials, cleaning and disinfecting may be a quicker method of decontamination than quarantine. To view past webinars on Tests 1 and 2, and to watch for any future REALM project webinars, check the REALM project’s information hub.   Photo/Illustration Credits: mikito.raw, VisionPic, Mati Mango

About State Library Services State Library Services, a division of the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), partners with libraries to achieve equity and excellence in our collective work for Minnesotans. Division staff are consultants who help libraries plan, develop and implement high-quality services that address community needs. State Library Services administers federal grant, state aid, and state grant programs that benefit all types of libraries.