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July 2003 |
Former WVLS Director Passes Away
Dorothea Krause, the first director of the Wisconsin Valley Library Service, passed away last week in California. She was 94.
A native of Antigo, Krause attended Lawrence College and completed her work in library science at the University of Wisconsin. She worked at the West Allis Library and was director of the Blue Island city library prior to coming to Wausau. In 1943, Krause became the director of the Wausau City Library, and stayed in that position for 21 years. In 1965, Krause stepped down to take over the library's technical processes and acquisitions. "I wanted to be back with people and books," Krause said. Krause retired from the library in 1974.
The development of WVLS was brought about largely because of her efforts "The idea was to offer the services of a large library to small libraries with limited services," Krause said. Wausau and the Wisconsin Valley were set up as a pilot project for the service in 1960. Studies conducted in 1960 and 1961 supported the concept of regional services, and the Wisconsin Regional Reference Service was established the following June.
Another accomplishment during her watch was the huge expansion of the Wausau City Library.
Active in professional library groups, Krause served as board member, vice-president, and president of the Wisconsin Library Association. She also served several terms as president of the Wisconsin Valley Librarian's Association, and was a founding member of the Marathon County Historical Society.
During her 30-year tenure in Wausau, Krause lived by the motto, "If the library did not do it, who would?" She was named "Wisconsin's Librarian of the Year" in 1957, the second person to receive this award.
The WVLS Collection Development Committee convened on June 17th at the Marathon County Public Library to revise the 2002-2003 WVLS Collection Development Plan and review current collection development activities. Following are the Committee’s recommendations:
At their July meeting, the WVLS Board of Trustees approved the 2003-2004 WVLS Collection Development Plan and the Committee’s recommendations.
Members of the board-appointed WVLS Collection Development Committee include: Jan Baer (Rhinelander), Mary Dunn (Tomahawk), Gary Gisselman (Wausau), Polly Gropen (Medford), Marla Sepnafski (WVLS), Beth Sillars (WVLS), Alice Sturzl (Laona), and Nancy Ward (Antigo).
On Monday, June 23rd, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its 6-3 ruling to uphold the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA). The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced guidelines in dealing with the Supreme Court’s recent decision. The FCC’s current suspension of implementing filtering requirements will remain in effect until the decision becomes effective, no earlier than July 18th, 2003, or until the FCC acts, whichever comes first. As administrator of E-rate funds, the FCC has suspended enforcement of CIPA since the U.S. District Court earlier found CIPA unconstitutional. The Institute of Museum and Library Services, administrator of Library Services and Technology Act grants, is also affected by the ruling. It will provide guidance to DLTCL by August 1st. (Library Hotline, 7/7/03)
"A law that prohibits reading without official consent, like a law that prohibits speaking without official consent, constitutes a dramatic departure from our national heritage and constitutional tradition." --Justice Stevens, in his dissent to the CIPA ruling
"...that the restrictions on adult Internet access have no justification in the object of protecting children. Children could be restricted to blocked terminals, leaving other unblocked terminals in areas restricted to adults and screened from casual glances. And...the statute could simply have provided for unblocking at adult request, with no questions asked. The statute could...have protected children without blocking access for adults or subjecting adults to anything more than minimal inconvenience...Instead, the government's funding conditions engage in overkill to a degree illustrated by their refusal to trust even a library's staff with an unblocked terminal, one to which the adult public itself has no access." --Justice Souter in his dissent to the CIPA ruling
* The American Library Association has announced a CIPA Q&A site www.ala.org/cipa whereby questions posed by the library community may be answered, and a plain-language analysis of the Supreme Court decision is posted.
* The Supreme Court decision on CIPA has many libraries wondering how decisions about filtering impact their budgets, their public computers, and their computer usage policies. The July 2003 issue of Crossroads includes a number of timely, CIPA-related resources that address these issues. Crossroads is a free publication produced by OCLC and its partners, and is distributed monthly in an electronic format with quarterly print compilations. Subscribe online at http://WebJunction.org
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In this column in the May ’03 issue of the Lamplighter, I touched on some issues/questions that occasionally pop up for library personnel and library trustees. At the same time, the May/June 2003 Rural Library Services Newsletter ran an article by David Miller (Board member of the State Library of Ohio) on attendance at board meetings. Mr. Miller said,
David asks, “Did you want:
He suggests that “If any of these reasons are why you agreed to serve, please resign. You’ve already got what you wanted when you agreed to serve. You can now list on your obituary or resume that you were on the library board." He goes on to point out that if you joined the board for the following reasons, you should re-evaluate your priorities and find ways to attend more meetings…
If you have a standing time conflict with your board meeting, ask your fellow board members if the meeting time can be changed. If not, resign and offer to serve in other capacities.
“For some boards, if a board member misses four or more monthly meetings in a year, he or she is removed from the board. (Note: In Wisconsin, board members are appointed by the chief municipal officer so library boards do not have the authority to summarily dismiss a board member. In those cases, many boards just notify the appointing authority of the attendance record of the trustee and suggest that the board member be replaced.) Most boards are very understanding if the trustee has a serious illness that prevents attendance at meetings. If that’s not the case, the question becomes: How long should your fellow board members be forced to pick up the slack caused by their peer’s spotty attendance record?
Hopefully the expectations of trustees attending meetings were made clear at the time you were first asked to join the board. Some years are more demanding on trustees’ time than others - years when a board has to hire a new director, or when tight budgets require several special meetings to deal with the issue.
Possibly the saddest thing about a trustee who seldom attends meetings is that there usually are two or three library supporters who would love to be an active member of the board…if only a vacancy would occur.”
--Heather Eldred
Kids Select Their Favorites!
Golden
Archer Nominations
The nominations for the 2003-2004 Golden Archer Award (Wisconsin school children select the winners) are below. Wisconsin public libraries should be sure to have copies in their collections in anticipation of thousands of kids pursuing the same titles in the upcoming year.
PRIMARY LEVEL
INTERMEDIATE LEVEL
MIDDLE/JUNIOR HIGH LEVEL
For more information about the Golden Archer
Awards, go to: www.wemaonline.org/cm.archer.cfm
(Rob Reid's Heart of a Child, 7/3/03)
Preview of ALA’s New Great Website Choices
Rob Reid, Youth & Special Needs Consultant in Indianhead, is on the ALA Great Web Site Selection Committee. He gave Wisconsin librarians a preview of the new sites that will be added this year to the ALA web page.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
Collections Online: http://collectionsonline.lacma.org/
Little House Books: http://www.littlehousebooks.com/
Family TLC: http://www.familytlc.net/
The Learning Page: http://lcweb2.doc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/
The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books: http://alexia.lis.uiuc.edu/puboff/bccb/
Action Without Borders: http://idealist.org/kt
Kids Health: http://kidshealth.org/index_noflash.html
Kids Hub: http://kidshub.org/
Little Clickers: http://www.littleclickers.com/
Preteen Planet: http://www.preteenplanet.com/
Reading Planet: http://www.rifreadingplanet.org/rif/?pg=0-111-631
Ed Heads Simple Machines: http://www.edheads.org/activities/simple-machines/
PBS It’s My Life: http://pbskids.org/itsmylife/
Kids Go Wild: http://wcs.org/7490/kidsgowild/
NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/
The Food Timeline: http://www.gti.net/mocolib1/kid/food.html
Discover Design Discuss: http://www.3d-i.org/home.jsp
Office of Naval Research: http://www.onr.navy.mil/focus
Based on research conducted since 1958, Search Institute has identified 40 developmental assets that all young people need to grow up to be healthy, principled and caring adults. The more assets a young person has developed, the more likely they are to make positive choices. Conversely, the fewer assets a young person has developed, the more likely they are to become involved in risk-taking behaviors. It has been found nationwide that most students have fewer than half of these 40 assets.
The complete list of assets as well as tips for focusing on each one is too long to include in its entirety here, but may be requested from Beth Sillars at the WVLS office (715/261-7255); or Debi McGregor, Community Initiatives Coordinator (715/848-2927). Following is the featured asset for July:
ASSET# 30: RESPONSIBILITY
Kids who have this asset take personal
responsibility for their actions and decisions.
Responsibility is best taught by example - model responsibility in your daily life. When you make a commitment, follow through. Don't make excuses when you do something you shouldn't have done, or when you don't do something you should have. Understand that teaching responsibility takes time and it isn't usually learned in one lesson. Give young people chores to do and consequences of not doing them. Then, avoid nagging and let the natural consequences occur with little or no fanfare. For example, if they forget to put dirty clothes in the laundry, they will run out of clean clothes to wear. If they leave their homework on the kitchen table, they will get a lower grade. If chores are not completed on time, they will miss the movie with friends. Let them experience the consequences of their actions when they are young and the consequences are small. Recognize responsible behavior and affirm it in front of others. Most important - be a good role model!
WLA Conference Funding Available
The WLA Membership Committee is pleased to partner with Embury, Ltd., of DeForest, Wisconsin, to provide funding for the annual Embury Grant. The $250 grant will be awarded to a member of the Association to help defray the costs to attend the WLA annual fall confer-ence. This grant is available to anyone meeting the following requirements:
The deadline for receipt of all application materials is September 30th. The award recipient will be notified no later than ten working days after the deadline. More information is available at http://www.wla.lib.wi.us/committees/membership/emburygrant.html
Library Professional Development Titles Available on netLibrary
These titles may be read online at www.netlibrary.com
(Whirlpools, Newsletter of Winding
Rivers Library System, May/June 2003)
****Be sure to tell us if you know of someone who should be added to or deleted from the Lamplighter mailing list.
E-mail the info to: msepnafs@wvls.lib.wi.us
OCLC Forecast- Library Environment Changing
In February 2003, OCLC’s Library and Information Center presented a report to the OCLC Members Council looking at five-year information format trends. Although the facts gathered were not surprising, taken collectively, they paint a picture of the changing environment facing libraries:
Print is not going away in the next decade,
but the con-version of massive amounts of established content and book content
into electronic formats is growing. And that growth means that libraries must
accommodate a broad range of resources that differ dramatically in access and in
format.
(edited from Smart Libraries, 6/03)
McInternet Combos?
“Hello and welcome to McDonald’s.
Would you like to try our Big Mac and e-mail combos?”
Spooky? Hey, it could happen very soon at a Mickey D’s near you. The fast food chain will be launching wireless Internet connections in 75 San Francisco Bay Area restaurants. (By the time you read this, many of those restaurants will already be “live.”)
Service is set to start at $4.95 for two hours of service (computers or handheld devices not included!) McDonald’s may also begin promotional offers, like free service with purchase of certain products.
It’s like having a Playland for adults!
(Wausau Daily Herald, 7/22/03)
New RAM Promises Faster Access
Both Motorola and Altis Semiconductor (a venture
of IBM and Infineon Technologies) are working to develop magnetoresistive random
access memory (MRAM) chips to replace current RAM technology. Because RAM is
volatile, data must be transferred between it and the computer’s hard drive
every time the machine is turned on or off. MRAM works by polarizing magnetic
layers, rather than with electrical charges, making it a potentially effective
non-volatile, high-speed memory. The result, say researchers, could be computers
that simply turn on or off rather than go through lengthy boot-up or boot-down
procedures. Motorola expects to start shipping MRAM chips by the end of this
year. The company expects MRAM cell phones and PDAs to be available around the
middle of next year. Elke Eckstein, CEO of Altis Semiconductor, said her company’s
goal is to “be the first company to bring MRAM to market.”
(Wired News, 7/9/03; http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,59559,00.html
as seen in Arrowhead Library System's Monday Memo, 7/14/03)
American Online (AOL) has announced that it has
begun to phase out Netscape, which it bought in 1998 but which has been losing
market shares ever since. Netscape was one of the first browsers in the
mid-1990s and enjoyed a strong following for many years. In part, due to
pressure from Microsoft, which now controls 96% of the browser market with
Internet Explorer, Netscape’s popularity has steadily dwindled. When AOL took
over Netscape, it migrated the core code to a new project called Mozilla, which
will continue development with the help of many engineers from the Netscape
division. AOL said it will preserve the Netscape brand and support existing
versions, though it will not offer any new releases.
(BBC, 7/17/03, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3074031.stm
as seen in the Monday Memo, 7/21/03)
We are conducting a program this summer that has turned out to be wildly popular in our area. It’s called the Million Page Challenge. We are one of six small to medium-sized public libraries in our county. All of us are participating in the challenge.
The Million Page Challenge is a take-off on similar programs in schools where classes challenge each other to see which class can read the most pages. We decided to challenge ourselves to see if the people in our county could read 1,000,000 pages over the summer. This program does not replace the summer reading programs, but is run concurrently with them.
Readers do not have to sign up for the challenge. They can read both library materials and non-library materials. They can read magazines, books, whatever, just as long as the material has pages that can be counted. Each item is recorded on a slip of paper that we designed for this purpose. The slips are turned in to the library, and each library totals the number of pages on the slips each week. My library then gathers the numbers and adds them up. We advertise this info weekly. Even people who aren’t readers are fascinated by what’s going on and comment on the challenge.
So far, since June 1, we have read over 1,200,000
pages. We obviously underestimated! However, people are very excited about this
and want to keep reading. We have had requests to keep going to see how many
pages we could read by the end of the year. We will definitely do this again
next summer. --Charr Skirvin,
Plainfield-Guilford Twp. Public Library
(PUBPRGMS listserv, 7/17/03)
The Beauregard Parish Library is offering a new program for seniors. The first Friday of each month, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., seniors are invited to the main branch of the library. “The Senior Coffee Club” for those 50 and older will meet for coffee, food, fun, door prizes and lots more.
Each meeting will be advertised in the local newspaper. Themes of interest to seniors will be presented each month. For example, March’s theme found area seniors taking a stroll down memory lane with the topic “Old High School Yearbooks.”
The seniors were urged to bring their yearbooks to share, compare the dress, hairstyles, activities, who married whom, and so many more fun things of bygone days.
Coffee was provided by Common Grounds, door prizes by Curious Cargo, Stage and other “friends of the library.” Area merchants helped to make these senior programs a success. (Libraries Southwest [LA], Spring 2003, as seen in Library Administrator’s Digest, 5/03)
The Library Visits the Farmer’s Market
Madison Public Library had an information table at the downtown Farmer’s Market earlier this month. Shoppers were provided the opportunity to stop by, say hello, and sign up for a drawing to win a wonderful basket of complimentary books.
On July 30th, folks in the Madison area are
invited to visit the Madison Public Library between 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. for a
glass of lemonade. This will give patrons the opportunity to meet library staff
and check out the newest collection of library materials.
(What’s New @ Madison Public Library, 7/17/03)
Ballparks of Baseball: The Fields of Major League
Baseball http://www.ballparksofbaseball.com/
Watermelon.org
http://watermelon.org/
AddAll.com
http://www.addall.com
Rating America's Nursing Homes
http://content.gannettonline.com/gns/nursinghomes/index.htmlLearn 2 Type http://learn2type.com
When it comes to computers, being able to type fast is the second most important
thing - the first is having a fast connection. Learn 2 Type guarantees to
improve your touch-typing skills. Take the typing test to find out what level
you are at, then sign up for a variety of free exercises designed to improve
your skills.
(Newsnotes, Kenosha County Library System, Spring/Summer 2003)
Mouse Traps! (favorite web sites of area library staff)
-Submitted by Kris Adams Wendt, Rhinelander District Library
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Gross Pay = $1,222.02 |
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August 3 - National Kids Day www.kidsday.net/
August 7 - WVLS V-Cat Council meeting - T. B. Scott Library, Merrill - 9:30.
August 7-8 - "In the System: Consulting in a Systems Environment" - The Pyle Center, Madison - $166 - 1.2 CEUs - http://www.slis.wisc.edu/academic/ces/system.html
August 12 - "Book and AV Repair" - a WVLS workshop - Marathon County Public Library 9:30-3:30
August 14 - WVLS Executive Committee meeting - Marathon County Public Library - 9:30.
August 21 - WVLS Library Advisory Committee meeting - Antigo Public Library - 9:30.
September - NATIONAL LIBRARY CARD SIGN-UP MONTH
NATIONAL HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH, http://latino.sscnet.ucla.edu/heritage/hhhispan.htm
September 7 - Grandparents Day, http://www.grandparents-day.com
September 9, 16, 23, 30 - "New Children's Books Too Good to Miss" - CCBC, Madison - 5:30-7:30 - $53 - .8 CEUs - http://www.slis.wisc.edu/academic/ces/newchild.html
September 10 - "Early Learning Initiatives" & "YA Programming/Readers Advisory" - a WVLS workshop - Marathon County Public Library
September 15-November 30 - "Organization of Information" - a WisLine Web course - Tuesdays, 10:00-11:30 a.m. - anywhere that you can use a computer connected to the Internet AND a telephone - $495 - 3 CEUs - http://www.slis.wisc.edu/academic/ces/orgofinfo.html
September 15-December 15 - "Readers' Advisory in the Library: Connecting Books with People" - online course when it fits your schedule, anywhere you can use a computer connected to the Internet - $389 - 3 CEUs - http://www.slis.wisc.edu/academic/ces/rra.html
September 20 - WVLS Board of Trustees meeting - Marathon County Public Library - 9:30.
September 20-27 - BANNED BOOKS WEEK http://www.ala.org/bbooks/
September 24-28 - Enjoy the "BIG APPLE" this fall with the WLA Foundation's 3rd annual tour of New York City - for information, contact Rebecca Roepke at 414/769-2246 or rebecca.roepke@mcfls.org
October 10 - "Telling the Library Story: Advocacy and Publicity" - a WVLS workshop - Rhinelander District Library - details forthcoming.
October 11 - "A Fairy Tale Ball" - sponsored by the Marathon County Public Library Foundation - Marathon County Public Library.
October 19-25 - Teen Read Week - SLAMMIN' @ Your Library - celebrates the popularity of poetry with teen readers www.ala.org/teenread/
October 28-31 - "Libraries @ the Heart" - 2003 WLA Conference - Milwaukee - for details, visit http://www.wla.lib.wi.us/conferences/2003/index.htm
November 1-7 - Librarians' Trip to Washington DC - a field trip for librarians and friends - for more information, visit http://www.slis.wisc.edu/academic/ces/dctrip.html or contact Debra Shapiro at dsshapiro@wisc.edu
Book and AV
Repair
a WVLS "hands-on" seminar
Tuesday, August 12, 2003
9:30 - 3:30 p.m.
Marathon County Public Library Wausau Room
300 First Street, Wausau
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Guest Speaker will be Brian Shea, Account Specialist at Demco, Inc.
Participants are asked to bring 2
discarded hardcover books
and a videocassette, scissors, and tiny Phillips screwdriver.
Book repair kits will be provided
compliments of Wisconsin Valley Library Service.
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AGENDA
9:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. Registration and Refreshments
10:00 a.m. - Noon BOOK REPAIR A discussion and demonstration of economical and practical methods of repairing hard- and soft-bound books.
Noon - 1:15 p.m. Lunch on your own
1:15 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. VIDEO/CD/DVD REPAIR Learn basic videotape repairs and care for VCRs, and protective measures to extend the life of CD-ROMs and DVDs. This session will include a demonstration of a machine that restores scratched CDs and DVDs.
If you need accommodations to attend the meeting, please contact the WVLS office.
To register for BOOK & AV REPAIR, contact Marla Sepnafski
by Tuesday, August 5, 2003.Phone: 715/261-7252 Fax: 715/261-7259 Email: msepnafs@wvls.lib.wi.us
Mail: WVLS, 300 First Street, Wausau, WI 54403
This month's Featured Kit
957P Feathered Friends Kit
For
more information visit the
WVLS AV & Programming Materials Page
ATTENTION: WESSLER SCHOLARSHIPS are available to cover some/all costs associated with attendance at reference and/or interlibrary loan continuing education events. If interested in becoming a Wessler Scholar, contact the WVLS office (715/261-7250) for more information. The application form and more information are available at http://wvls.lib.wi.us/About/wessler.htm
a
newsletter of the Wisconsin
Valley Library Service
300 N. First
Street / Wausau, WI 54403
| EDITOR: Marla Sepnafski Phone: 715/261-7252 FAX: 715/261-7259 |
Contributions are welcome!
News items should be submitted by the first of the month.
The Lamplighter is published monthly alternating between paper and electronic
issues.
WVLS serves Clark, Forest, Langlade, Lincoln, Marathon, Oneida, and Taylor counties.
