Category Archives: Services

Research, Services

Future of Libraries Fellowship

The American Library Association’s Center for the Future of Libraries provides a fellowship for an individual or group interested in exploring the future of libraries.
The fellowship offers a stipend of $10,000 to advance new ideas and perspectives for the future of libraries through the creation of a public product – report, white paper, video, resource, tool – that will help library professionals envision the future of library collections, services, spaces, technologies, or partnerships.
Selected fellow(s) have access to the Center’s staff and Advisory Group to help advise and respond to their work as requested by the fellow(s).
Projects may build on existing work, research, or initiatives of the Association, its Offices, Divisions, and Round Tables, or explore new directions and interests.

Who Should Apply

The fellowship is available to individuals or groups in the library profession as well as those from other disciplines with a demonstrated interest in libraries and their futures.
This is an intentionally broad call for applicants. Faculty and researchers, practitioners, students, advocates, and allies are encouraged to apply. 
Individuals should be prepared to conduct and complete their project within six months of selection, managing the project with existing employment or any other work responsibilities.
The fellowship does not include a residency requirement. International colleagues are encouraged to apply.
The fellowship will be ideal for individuals with:
  • A passion for and commitment to the value of libraries and library professionals
  • A unique point of view or vision for the future of libraries or desire to provoke thought around the future of libraries
  • The skills and abilities to explore the future of libraries
  • Strong analytical, communication, and writing skills and an ability to independently manage a project and delivery timeline
The fellowship may be used to advance an individual’s existing work or research, but is not intended as support for the completion of a degree, thesis, or dissertation.

How to Apply

Interested individuals are invited to submit an application of no more than three pages outlining their project, making sure to:
  • Describe the proposed project and resulting report, white paper, resource, or other final product
  • Explain how the project would advance and support library professionals’ consideration of the future of libraries
  • Summarize any research, experience, or skills and abilities that qualify the individual for the proposed project
  • Connect the project to existing work, research, or initiatives happening within the American Library Association or the larger library profession
  • Provide a timeline for the project and their plan to complete the project in no more than six months
Additionally, individuals should submit a resume or curriculum vitae (including name and primary contact information) as part of the application.
Materials may be submitted as attachments and emailed to mfigueroa@ala.org.

How will applications be evaluated?

Applications will be evaluated by members of the Center’s Advisory Group.
The advisory group will evaluate applications based on:
  • The effective design of the project, including its uniqueness and the innovation in its approach to the future of libraries
  • The potential value, reach, and usefulness of the final product
  • The demonstrated knowledge, ability, and qualification for the individuals to complete and manage the project
The proposals from 2017 that received the highest scores tended to fall into three categories:
  • Projects that advanced innovation, design, or creativity among library professionals
  • Projects that explored the next stage or application of current library trends (makerspaces, open education resources, collective impact) in new and important directions
  • Projects that surveyed and documented potential library futures and communicated them in interesting ways to the public or new audiences
While this is a broad call for proposals, individuals are encouraged to think in terms of projects that will have an impact beyond a single library or circumstance. Those interested in discussing their proposals may contact Miguel Figueroa at mfigueroa@ala.org.

What is the timeline?

The availability of the next fellowship will be announced by March 2018 with a deadline of May 15, 2018.
Selected individual(s) will be notified and will work with the Center for the Future of Libraries to finalize a schedule of completion, not to extend beyond six months from the date of agreement.
Selected fellow(s) will receive a one-time stipend of $10,000 to support their work. Funds should not be used to provide overhead costs or administrative fees.
Resulting reports, white papers, resources, or other products will be made available through the Center for the Future of Libraries at the conclusion of the fellowship.
Fellow(s) will be invited to present on their project at the American Library Association’s Annual Conference or Midwinter Meeting, with support for their travel and participation provided by the Center for the Future of Libraries.
Books, Services

Minnesota Reads and Writes

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For writers interested in easy-to-use, free resources for publishing and sharing e-books, and for readers interested in reading e-books by local writers, your Minnesota libraries bring you MN Writes MN Reads.

Are you writing a book for Nanowrimo? Or, would you like to write something??

You can follow the directions on this website! Here are a few quick notes:

  • Upload your ebook using SELF-e for inclusion in Indie Minnesota, a statewide collection promoting local authors.
  • After a book is uploaded, it is reviewed to ensure that it is technically sound and does not infringe on copyrights.
  • This initial review takes a few days. After that, the book will appear in Indie Minnesota.
  • Fiction books in English will be reviewed by reviewers at Library Journal. The best reviewed books are included in a special curated collection, SELF-e Select, that is available to readers across the country.
  • The review process for SELF-e Select takes one to two months. Authors are notified by Library Journal/SELF-e if their book is selected for this collection.

Then: Whamoo! (It’s publishing term of art. Well – it should be!) You are not only a published author, but your book is available to library patrons across the state!

Share this with your patrons, and let’s see some great Minnesota books shared!

CMLE, Services

Episode 215 Library Impact and ROI

Water drop impact on a water-surface - (5)

(Tune in for a bonus episode Dec 7 on handling stress!)

Check our full information page for all our material!

This is our last episode of Season Two! It has been great talking about all these topics this season, and communicating with you. Thanks so much for downloading and listening – it means a lot to us. We are already starting to work on Season Three, which will start early in 2018. And in the meantime, you can go to our website, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, our social media, our online book groups. You can listen to all of our archive of podcast episodes from Seasons One and Two on our website (or your favorite app!). So we are not leaving you; we just have some different communication strategies to connect with you!

This week we are talking about the impact libraries have on their community, and ways to evaluate your Return on Investment (or ROI).

You know libraries are great. We know libraries are great. But, do your patrons know all about it? How about your Board? Your funders?

It is not enough to be able to say, “we are so neat!” and expect people to give you money and support. Instead, you need to be able to show, with specific data, how neat you are. Fortunately, this is amazingly easy to do! Any type of library and information science organization, including libraries of all types, archives, museums, and more, all will make big returns on the investments made in us. We just have to be able to show it, and then to loudly share that information with everyone else!

Want to listen to an episode?

  1. You can download an app, subscribe to “Linking Our Libraries” and all episodes will appear on your phone – it’s so easy!
    • Apps we like include Pocket Casts, iTunes, and Stitcher.
    • Download any of these, search for “Linking Our Libraries” and hit Subscribe.
    • If it is not readily available, just enter this RSS feed: http://libraries.blubrry.com/feed/podcast/.
  2. Or, you can stream an episode right now on your computer by going to our streaming page, by clicking here.

Whatever tool you use, we hope you enjoy it! Thanks for listening, and sharing ideas on libraries!

Want to talk with us about this topic? Do you, your staff, or your organization need training in this topic? Want to write a policy, or develop a program?  We are here for you!
Click here to get started!
Services, Training

Episode 214: Programming


Check out our full information page here!

Programming in libraries is the tool we use to connect our services with our community members. All libraries and archives do some level of programming, and for most of us doing more is better. But finding time to develop programs our community members want and need, advertising it to everyone, getting needed materials, doing the programming, and doing evaluation of the results is a lot to handle! To help us with this, we have Guest Host Angie Yanke, from Zimmerman Middle-High School.

We have talked about building connections across your community, and programming can be a tool you use to reach out to connect people with your materials and resources. This is something very individual to each library or archive or history center – everyone will have a different population needing to be reached.

Some jobs are all programming and outreach, all the time. Most public services library people will be doing some level of programming, in addition to their other work. So, how do you know what to do? If you are new to your job, or new to doing programming, or just want to spice up your programming offerings in your library, where do you start? We have a few tips!

Want to listen to an episode?

  1. You can download an app, subscribe to “Linking Our Libraries” and all episodes will appear on your phone – it’s so easy!
    • Apps we like include Pocket Casts, iTunes, and Stitcher.
    • Download any of these, search for “Linking Our Libraries” and hit Subscribe.
    • If it is not readily available, just enter this RSS feed: http://libraries.blubrry.com/feed/podcast/.
  2. Or, you can stream an episode right now on your computer by going to our streaming page, by clicking here.

Whatever tool you use, we hope you enjoy it! Thanks for listening, and sharing ideas on libraries!

Want to talk with us about this topic? Do you, your staff, or your organization need training in this topic? Want to write a policy, or develop a program?  We are here for you!
Click here to get started!
Services

Episode 213: Reference

1930's - ca. - Alma Custead, Librarian, and Staff

Check out our full information page for all the material we discuss here, and some bonus links! Check out our Books & Beverages Podcast book group for different genre discussions every week!

Reference work is what most people think of when they think about a library. Take a moment to picture it in your heads: do you see a smiling person behind the desk, maybe typing into the computer, maybe handing you a book?

That is certainly not wrong, and in addition to this type of service it also involves a lot of other work. Reference is increasingly moving away from sitting behind a desk and waiting for people to come to you with their lovely, well-thought out questions. Instead it now involves setting up a lot of material people can use on their own schedules, spending time training people in using online databases and other resources, and being present in many other locations.

Whether your work in Reference is helping advanced researchers finding material to help them win the next Nobel Prize, or if it involves the more mundane questions of “my teacher says I need to find an author born on my birthday” – it all matters to patrons. And of course, the most common Reference question has never changed: Where is the bathroom? As with so much we talk about on this podcast, there is a system to help you answer questions the best way possible!

Want to listen to an episode?

  1. You can download an app, subscribe to “Linking Our Libraries” and all episodes will appear on your phone – it’s so easy!
    • Apps we like include Pocket Casts, iTunes, and Stitcher.
    • Download any of these, search for “Linking Our Libraries” and hit Subscribe.
    • If it is not readily available, just enter this RSS feed: http://libraries.blubrry.com/feed/podcast/.
  2. Or, you can stream an episode right now on your computer by going to our streaming page, by clicking here.

Whatever tool you use, we hope you enjoy it! Thanks for listening, and sharing ideas on libraries!

Want to talk with us about this topic? Do you, your staff, or your organization need training in this topic? Want to write a policy, or develop a program?  We are here for you!
Click here to get started!