TO: Library Staff
FROM: State Library Services
DATE: January 6, 2014
SUBJECT: Transitions and Initiatives
State Library Services Update
As 2014 gets underway, I’m delighted to share with you some of the changes you can expect to see at State Library Services over the next couple of months. Our overarching interest is in making sure that State Library Services is able to provide responsive services that help libraries in Minnesota respond to community needs. These initial steps are in response to conversations we have had with the library and education community and a great new beginning for State Library Services.
Transitions
A primary goal for State Library Services is to ensure that our staffing and activities are aligned with the goals and priorities of the Minnesota Department of Education. To that end, new staff roles and responsibilities have been assigned.
Jackie Blagsvedt, LSTA Coordinator, will be transitioning to become our Youth Literacy Program Specialist. While she will continue to have a primary role in administering our LSTA funds, she will also work to bolster the capacity of State Library Services to support initiatives related to early learning, academic achievement for K-12 learners and high quality youth services in public libraries and school library media centers.
Jennifer Verbrugge will be joining State Library Services on January 22 as our new Library Partnership and Program Coordinator, working with the Legacy appropriation and LSTA statewide initiatives. Jen will also focus on building internal and external partnerships focused on services to adults. Jen comes to State Library Services from Dakota County Library, where she has served as the Youth Programming Coordinator since 2010. She received her MLIS from the University of Wisconsin- Madison in 1999. Jen is well-placed to make a terrific contribution to libraries in Minnesota and I’m delighted that she’s chosen State Library Services as the place to make that happen.
Effective immediately and in anticipation of Bruce Pomerantz’s February 3 retirement, please contact Jennifer Nelson for questions related to Public Library Statistics or the Public Library Accessibility and Improvement Grant program. A review of Bruce’s position is underway.
Initiatives
Decisions related to e-books are at the top of many people’s to-do list this year. To help ensure that Minnesota’s libraries have access to the latest information and a breadth of knowledge, State Library Services has convened a small planning group to develop a series of educational events leading to an E-Book Summit for Minnesota libraries. The E-Book Summit and its educational events will engage all types of libraries – academic, school and public – in assessing where e-books and e-content fit in Minnesota. More to come on this exciting effort.
State Library Services is pleased to announce a new statewide initiative grant to the St. Paul Public Library. The grant is designed to help libraries become more engaged in workforce skill building by encouraging library partnerships with literacy organizations through the North Star Digital Literacy assessment project.
A partnership with the Minnesota Department of Commerce is providing regular opportunities for libraries to offer a range of programming related to financial literacy, energy conservation and more. The Department is also helping keep libraries aware of the impact of the Affordable Care Act in Minnesota with regular updates.
Looking ahead, we will be streamlining and updating the Public Library Accessibility and Improvement grant program in the coming months. We are starting now to update the program description, applications, instructions and more so that clear and concise information about the program is readily available.
For more information about State Library Services, to share your thoughts or to sign up for this listserv, please contact Jennifer Nelson at Jennifer.r.nelson@state.mn.us or 651-582-8791.
TO: Minnesota Libraries
FROM: State Library Services
DATE: January 8, 2014
SUBJECT: Grant Announcement
Public Library Accessibility and Improvement Grants Awarded
State Library Services is pleased to announce the Round Two 2013 Public Library Accessibility and Improvement grant awardees. With $608,700 in funds available, five completed applications totaling more $1.1 million in requests were received by State Library Services. The two applications receiving top average scores by an independent review committee were approved for funding by Minnesota Department of Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius.
Anoka County will receive a grant of $150,000 toward the renovation of the Northtown branch in Blaine. The project will improve the accessibility of the building with an improved entrance, adapt the children’s area and other building spaces. Robert D. Thistle, Anoka County Library Board President noted that “the Library Board is pleased to receive this grant … the funds will allow us to make the service desk, restrooms and book returns accessible to all.”
The city of Ely will receive a grant of $458,699 toward building a new accessible library building. The current library, housed in Ely’s Community Center, has outgrown its space and is not accessible to people with mobility impairments. The new building will bring the library into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility guidelines. Rachel Heinrich, director of the Ely Public Library, noted that the grant will help “this ‘end of the road’ community to improve library service to the area residents without a significant tax increase by bridging the gap between cost savings gained by the new building and the payments on the building’s construction.”
The Public Library Accessibility and Improvement Grant program is a one-to-one matching construction grant program intended to support the renovation and construction of public libraries, with a special interest in ensuring accessibility for people with disabilities. The program is funded biennially by an appropriation from the Minnesota Legislature.
For more information or to sign up for this listserv, please contact Jennifer Nelson at 651-582-8791 or jennifer.r.nelson@state.mn.us.
It is with great pleasure that I share this recent announcement about the appointment of our MN state librarian.
On December 23, 2013, Kevin McHenry, MDE Assistant Commissioner wrote….
After a four month process of reviewing the needs of State Library Services, I’m pleased to announce that Jennifer R. Nelson has accepted the position of State Librarian / Director of State Library Services on a permanent basis. Jen has demonstrated commendable leadership since taking on the role of interim director, and quickly rose to the top of the candidate list when the position was posted. As interim director she has articulated and led an outcome-driven alignment of the division’s activities with Minnesota Department of Education priorities and initiated a number of new processes for redefining State Library Services’ vision, goals and strategic activities to assure transparency and accountability. She brings an expertise in administration, project management and a deep knowledge of libraries to her new role.
With more than 25 years working in libraries, Jen is committed to ensuring that Minnesota libraries are well supported by State Library Services and the Minnesota Department of Education. From her early days as an assistant in a university archives to her role in moving forward technology programming for teens at the Minneapolis Public Library and throughout the United States, she has developed an innovative approach to helping libraries serve their communities that resonates with changing environments. She holds a Masters in Library and Information Studies and a Masters in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Jen is the author of Technology and Literacy: 21st century library programming for children and teens (ALA Editions, 2012) and is an adjunct faculty at St. Catherine’s University teaching a class in grant and proposal writing for public libraries. Jen can be reached directly at 651-582-8791 or Jennifer.r.nelson@state.mn.us
Jen brings a unique blend of talent to the position of State Librarian that has shined brightly during her time at MDE. She not only has great knowledge regarding the intricacies of Libraries throughout Minnesota and challenges they are facing, but she has the ability to communicate clearly, quickly and fairly with our partners and constituents. I am excited about the direction of State Library Services under Jen’s leadership. Please join me in congratulating Jen.
Image by Tax Credits Money. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.
FROM: State Library Services
DATE: December 4, 2013
SUBJECT: 12 Libraries Awarded LSTA Competitive Grants in 2013
2013 LSTA Competitive Grants Awarded
State Library Services is pleased to announce the 2013 LSTA Competitive Grant projects. A total of 15 grant proposals were submitted; 12 received complete or partial funding The projects demonstrate the wonderful variety of ways in which public and school libraries across the state are working to ensure that access to state-of-the-art resources and technology, responsive services that address community needs, and opportunities for lifelong learning are available to Minnesotans.
2013 Grantees and Projects
Austin Public Library – $9,600 “Creative Aging in the Mower County Libraries” Creative Aging in the Mower County Libraries will provide increased local access to lifelong-learning experiential resources for older adults. The Austin Public Library, in partnership with the Austin Area Commission for the Arts, will offer free professionally-taught creative aging classes to active older adults using techniques developed and taught by the National Center for Creative Aging and ArtSage Minnesota. Participants will engage in a powerful creative and healing process of self-expression as a means to pursuing lifelong learning goals, feeling mentally better, increasing community engagement, and remaining more independent and living more meaningful lives.
Brooklyn Center Schools – $54,786.95 “Brooklyn Center Reading for the 21st Century” Brooklyn Center Reading for the 21st Century will support Brooklyn Center Secondary in procuring its first library of digital texts (up-to-date fiction, non-fiction, audio-books, and textbooks) and an integrated digital library management system to allow students to check out digital texts from the media center. Staff will implement a school-wide “close reading” strategy to promote critical reading in all subject areas that will make use of the digital texts. The digital collection will consist of high-interest and curriculum-relevant materials designed to increase readership in Brooklyn Center Secondary’s urban learners and improve the ability for staff to differentiate instruction. Access to digital materials will also improve the reading experience for students with disabilities, as the digital format is innately more accessible. This project will help Brooklyn Center Secondary students to graduate with the strengths to read critically and adapt in a global, digital community.
The Friends of the St. Paul Public Library – $11,000 “Minnesota Book Awards Support to Librarians Statewide” Minnesota Book Awards Support to Librarians Statewide will build capacity of the librarians in the state and awareness of Minnesota’s rich writing environs in their respective communities. This project will provide opportunities for librarians to serve as judges and facilitators for the competitive category judging sessions, book artist programming and exhibits, as well as funds for libraries around the state to hold programming with Minnesota Book Awards finalists and winners.
Hennepin County Library – $12,000 “iPads and Pre-Readers, a Together Project” IPads and Pre-Readers, a Together Project will offer families and caregivers access to literacy-rich opportunities to interact with their young children using technology. Through this project, patrons will build increased awareness of early literacy skills and the ways in which carefully-selected apps, explored together, can help build those skills. With increased access to tablet technology, patrons will identify the library as a resource for selecting developmentally-appropriate mobile applications. Hennepin County Library (HCL) staff will become more comfortable and confident when working with patrons using tablet technology, when talking about use of technology with children and be more capable when relating the use of technology to early literacy skill building.
Oak View Elementary School, District 279 – $76,313 “Digital Learning at Oak View” Digital Learning for Oak View’s goal is to provide increased access to digital literacy resources at school for all students and at home for low-income families to increase students’ reading proficiency and understanding of 21st century digital literacy skills. We seek to do this by providing access to quality digital resources that provide for reinforcement, practice and increased engagement with the Common Core English Language Arts standards. Adding mobile devices will give Oak View approximately a 1 to 5 student to device ratio and dramatically increase student’s access to digital literacy resources.
Perpich Center for the Arts – $17,900 “Literacy Equity: Engaging Resourceful Community Knowledge” Literacy Equity: Engaging Resourceful Community Knowledge will build and reinforce partnerships between school media centers and local community libraries so that both are better able to engage partnerships and resources in response to the emerging needs of their communities and provide targeted outreach to under-served populations. In this professional development project, participants will develop literacies related to improving water quality and building a cross-cultural school community around a particular community need. Participants will learn strategies for identifying and partnering with organizations, individuals and families to build collective literacy about the changing quality of our shared watersheds, and to better understand and share the cultural assets of the school and local communities.
Plum Creek Library System – $86,768 “Murray County School Libraries Addition to the PCLS Catalog”
This project will enable the Murray County Schools in Slayton and Fulda to join the regional library catalog operated by Plum Creek Library System (PCLS). Joining the PCLS catalog will allow four school library collections in the two school districts to be shared within the schools, by the general community with the local public libraries on the same catalog, throughout the region with 25 public and 8 school libraries, and through the MN MnLINK network. The PCLS catalog connection and delivery service will also open up the world of local, regional, and statewide resources to the library users at the school buildings.
Southeastern Libraries Cooperating (SELCO) – $49,200 “Collective Learning Online Training Hub (CLOTH)”
The Collective Learning Online Training Hub (CLOTH) project will allow SELCO to consolidate a variety of training methods, documents, and tools in an online environment. An online learning environment will ensure that quality training sessions on the various products and services offered by SELCO to its member libraries are readily accessible. This is expected to increase the quality of services provided by librarians to patrons, particularly those in small, rural libraries or school media centers.
Southeast Library System (SELS) – $49,850 “eBooks for Southeastern Minnesota Schools” eBooks in Southeastern Minnesota Schools will bring together a group of school librarians, administrators, curriculum specialists, and SELCO staff to undertake a comprehensive study to determine the need for eBooks in schools from the 11 counties that make up SELCO and SELS. The data from this study will be used as the basis for developing a shared eBook offering for the region.
St. Paul Public Library – $26,237 “Advancing At Risk Youth Toward Working Professionals”
Saint Paul Public Library (SPPL), working with Saint Paul Parks and Recreation (Parks), will create a system of badges to certify work readiness for Youth Job Corps (YJC) Workers hired by the two city departments. The “gamification” of skills acquisition will enhance the experience for the young people while providing them with credentials they will need in the broader work environment. Parks and SPPL will pilot badging with YJC workers in their two departments with the intention of providing replicable curriculum for other YJC employers throughout the state. Badges granted will include but not be limited to: writing a resume; job applications and interviews; showing up ready to work; time management; financial management; and digital literacy. Together, they will culminate in a Work Readiness Mastery Badge which will be recognized by SPPL and Parks as a strong recommendation for jobs and advanced training in the two departments.
St. Paul Public Library – $12,500 “Community Connectors: Services for Underserved English Speaking Urban Populations”
The project will improve digital literacy for adults experiencing barriers of homelessness, poverty, unemployment and/or underemployment and basic literacy for children who experience racism and racial barriers as Black Americans. The Mobile WorkPlace in the Saint Paul Public Library will partner with organizations to offer computer classes that will teach basic computer skills in order to transition adults in becoming productive member of society. World Language Storytimes, which ensure limited English proficiency children to develop literacy skills, will expand to include Black American story times. Activities will include engaging an individual of Black American heritage to present story times who will help to develop early literacy skills in the targeted culture.
Yinghua Academy – $48,925 “Skills for Success: Digital and Information Literacy for Middle School Learners” Skills for Success will improve information and literacy skills for middle school (5th-8th grade) students by enhancing the Yinghua Academy school library collection and expanding services for learning and access to information and educational resources. Students will interact with information and communication technology, developing information and digital literacy skills while also improving 21st century skills in learning and working. Improvements to the school media center, in conjunction with program activities and collaboration with subject area teachers and middle school curricula, will develop student facility with digital literacy skills and encourage ongoing information literacy well beyond middle school.
Please note the following job opportunity at State Library Services and feel free to pass this information along as it makes sense. Deadline for applications is December 4, 2013.
State Library Services Recruiting Library Program and Partnership Coordinator
State Library Services is now accepting applications to fill a new position, Library Development Specialist – Library Program and Partnership Coordinator. Based in Roseville, this is a great professional employment opportunity for librarians interested in working in a leadership role in the state. Primary position responsibilities include developing and maintaining internal and external partnerships and collaborative activities that improve the capacity of Minnesota’s libraries to provide responsive and high quality services to adult patrons. The position will also administer state Arts and Cultural Heritage allocation for regional public libraries and federal LSTA statewide initiative funds.
We are looking for candidates with a background in library services, program management, budgeting, and grants management who have excellent communication skills. Applications will be accepted on the State Jobs website through December 4, 2013.
TO: Library Staff