Category Archives: Communication

Advocacy, Communication, Public, Training

ALA, Harwood Institute announce 2017 Public Innovators Lab for Libraries community engagement training opportunity

The Harwood Institute

Contact:

Sarah Ostman
Communications Manager
ALA Public Programs Office
312-280-5061
sostman@ala.org

The American Library Association (ALA) and The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation have announced their fifth annual training opportunity to help libraries strengthen their role as agents of positive change in their communities.

The Public Innovators Lab for Libraries will be held Oct. 18 to 20, 2017, at the Loudermilk Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Librarians, community partners and stakeholders in libraries of all types — public, academic, school and specialty libraries — are encouraged to participate.

Through discussions, hands-on activities, and collaborations with like-minded library professionals, participants will learn to

  • tap libraries’ natural values to contribute to the greater good and bring their communities together;
  • surface people’s shared aspirations for their communities and help bring them to life;
  • convene and lead productive, insightful community conversations; and
  • become stewards of public knowledge.

Participants must register online by Friday, Oct. 13. The cost is $1,495 for the first person from an organization and $995 for each additional person. Team participation is encouraged.

For more information, visit www.ala.org/LTC/training.

Continue reading ALA, Harwood Institute announce 2017 Public Innovators Lab for Libraries community engagement training opportunity →

CMLE, Communication, Research

We really need you – for ten minutes!

The survey closes Monday,
so get in on this NOW!!!

Multilingual

We need your help! We are looking for information and experience from library people all across Minnesota – and that means you!

Below is the information about this survey; if you choose to take it, this will be given to you again on the first page.

Please take a few minutes to fill this out; and then please share it with absolutely everyone in your library, and any other library person in the state of Minnesota!

Two people will be randomly selected to each win a $30 gift card from Amazon, and everyone will be able to receive the results we find.

Thank you, in advance, for your help !!

 

Minnesota residents speak more than one hundred languages at home.

Libraries of all types are working to serve their community members, including people speaking all of these languages. Serving Emerging Bilingual community members can present some challenges to the traditional library services you are already providing, as well as bringing in new strategies and ideas for providing service to your community.

Who are Emerging Bilingual community members? They may, or may not, already be using your library. They speak languages other than English as their first language, and are learning English or speaking it fluently as a second language (or third, or fourth!).

We want to know how it is going for you! We are interested in the things that are great – successes you have had, good resources you have found, community groups you have connected with. And we want to know where you see opportunities for improvement – resources, funding, training, time, and anything else that is an obstacle to your library providing outstanding service to everyone, regardless of language. Continue reading We really need you – for ten minutes! →

Communication, Resources

The US Library of Congress Just Put 25 Million Records Online, Free of Charge

LOC Main Reading Room Highsmith

By David Nield, from Science Alert

“Knowledge is power, the old saying goes, but it isn’t much use if it’s hidden away – so we’re excited to learn that the US Library of Congress is making 25 million of its records available for free, for anyone to access online.

The bibliographic data sets, like digital library cards, cover music, books, maps, manuscripts, and more, and their publication online marks the biggest release of digital records in the Library’s history.

“The Library of Congress is our nation’s monument to knowledge and we need to make sure the doors are open wide for everyone, not just physically but digitally too,” says Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden.

“Unlocking the rich data in the Library’s online catalogue is a great step forward. I’m excited to see how people will put this information to use.”

Researchers and analysts will get most use out of the new records, but there’s plenty of potential for them to be used in apps and databases as well. The Library hosted a Hack-to-Learn workshop looking at how the data could be used. Continue reading The US Library of Congress Just Put 25 Million Records Online, Free of Charge →

Communication, Conference

RUSA Conference Preview Webinar 6/7 at 2 ET

Going to Chicago for ALA Annual? Attend our Conference Preview Webinar to hear about RUSA programs and events, get travel tips from locals, and get a sneak peak of the President’s program from David Lankes, author of the Atlas of New Librarianship and The New Librarianship Field Guide.

Date: Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Time: 2-3 p.m. ET (1 CT/12 MT/11 PT)

URL: https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=2013048&password=M.1F5D784D856F1A7B6D3621A8FB8270

Amber Prentiss

Chair, Membership Committee, Reference and User Services Association (RUSA)

Communication

Question: Charging stations or devices

Free EV charge station sign evinfraWe are passing on a question from a library person, and a few responses; if you have other ideas or experience, leave them in the comments!

“I was interested in exploring some options for charging stations/docks/lockers/pads/etc. for our library. Does anyone have any experience with offering this, and can give me some pointers or tips of what to avoid?” Continue reading Question: Charging stations or devices →