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The New Director's Memo

YEAR OF ELECTION EDUCATION
A recent article in Library Journal (9/15/07) “Libraries and the Elections” reminds us that libraries CAN and SHOULD play an important role during the election season …

“ … LJ’s editor at large, John N. Berry III, often reaffirms that a cornerstone public library responsibility is to provide access to the materials necessary to ensure an informed electorate. In our democracy, we enjoy freedom of the press and freedom of speech, but we do not have an unbiased or steadily thoughtful [national] press. National candidates are coached to stay ‘on message,’ campaign managers practice negative tactics, and the resulting media coverage too often comes via outlets that reinforce preconceptions, not challenge them.

The din of repetitive sound bites on 24-hour ‘news’ channels, the faltering influence of daily newspapers, the diminished reach of serious journals, and the historically early volleys of the presidential campaign have convinced me that libraries must step up to maximize their impact on the election … While [libraries] can’t reshape popular media, [they] can offer a broader, more comprehensive look at the candidates’ positions and make these records available.” 

Following are a few suggestions:

• Set up displays including information in all media: books, newspapers, magazines, campaign materials.
• Include links to candidates and issue forums, blogs, web sites, and breaking election news on your library’s Web site.
• Gather, rotate and display/disseminate information that helps define the issues and how they affect different groups in your community, such as seniors, small business people, immigrants and teens.
• Get input from university scholars, chambers of commerce, political parties and special interest groups.
• Update information/displays often, and ensure that materials on all sides of issues are available.
• Be sure each candidate and proposal on the ballot that affects your municipality is studied, exposed and open for inspection and understanding.

So, along with LJ’’s challenge to its readers, I encourage all libraries in the system area to “make the time between now and November 2008 the ‘year of election education’ at your library … Put your vast array of skills to work and be rewarded because anyone who sets foot in your library or visits your web site will come away a better-informed voter.”     Marla Sepnafski

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IN THE SYSTEM

It’s Here!
DOWNLOADABLE MUSIC
As a result of WVLS’ membership in the Wisconsin Public Library Consortium (WPLC), area residents now have access to a FREE collection of 99 classical music titles downloadable from the Digital Download Service hosted by OverDrive at http://dbooks.wplc.info. A selection of popular music is likely to be available sometime soon. The loan period for downloadable music is seven days, the same as for books and videos. The total number of titles that may be checked out at any given time has been increased to six. Digital audio books and downloadable videos are also available at this site.

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Good News! WVLS TO OFFER SCHOLARSHIPS TO ATTEND 2008 PLA CONFERENCE Every other year public library staff, trustees and Friends from across the country – and across the globe – come together in the American Library Association’s largest conference devoted strictly to public librarianship. The Public Library Association (PLA) conferences have developed a reputation for excellence and each offers more than 100 top-quality continuation education programs from which to choose, several social events, and a bustling exhibit hall.

The next PLA conference will be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota from March 25-29, 2008 (http://www.placonference.org). Because this premier event is such an easy trek from central/northern Wisconsin, WVLS is providing scholarships to cover registration, travel, meal and lodging expenses for at least two public library staff members to attend this event. A person does not need to be an ALA member or a PLA member to be eligible! For eligibility requirements and an application form, contact Linda Orcutt at 715/261-7253 or lorcutt@wvls.lib.wi.us. Application deadline is January 24, 2008. This is a wonderful opportunity to see the latest and greatest in products and services for public libraries and all qualified public library staff members in the WVLS area are strongly encouraged to apply for a scholarship.

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YOUTH MATTERS

NEW MOON IS TEENS’ TOP CHOICE
More than 6,000 teen readers across the country chose New Moon, the second entry in the popular vampire romance series by Stephenie Meyer, as their favorite book in the annual Teens’ Top Ten (TTT) vote. Sponsored by ALA’s Young Adult Service Association (YALSA), TTT is a “teen choice” booklist, put together as part of YALSA’s Galley Project, which facilitates access to advance copies of young adult books to national teen book discussion groups. These groups evaluated books published between January 2006 and April 2007 and created a list of 25 nominations. Teen voters then cast ballots for their three favorites during Teen Read Week, October 14-20, culminating in the 2007 Teens’ Top Ten. 

Following are the winning titles:

1. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer (Hachette Book Group USA/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2006)
2. Just Listen by Sarah Dessen (Viking Children’s Books, 2006)
3. How to Ruin a Summer Vacation by Simone Elkeles (Flux, 2006)
4. Maximum Ride: School’s Out – Forever by James Patterson (Hachette Book Group USA/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2006)
5. Firegirl by Tony Abbott (Hachette Book Group USA/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2006)
6. All Hallows Eve (13 Stories) by Vivian Vande Velde (Harcourt, 2006)
7. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (Harcourt, 2006)
8. River Secrets by Shannon Hale (Bloomsbury, 2006)
9. Bad Kitty by Michele Jaffe (HarperCollins, 2006)
10. Road of the Dead by Kevin Brooks (Chicken House, 2006)

Final nominations for the 2008 Teens’ Top Ten vote will be posted in April 2008 at http://www.ala.org/teenstopten  (edited from ALA news release; 10/30/07)

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FALL FOR PHONOLOGICAL FUN!
Not only apples and pumpkins are plump this season but there is also an abundance of books, especially those emphasizing phonological awareness. What is phonological awareness you ask? Phonological awareness is one of the six early literacy skills (what children need to know about reading and writing before they actually read and write), and is defined as “The ability to hear and play with the smaller sounds in words and using the power of repetition, alliteration, rhyme and play on words in books to teach children language.”

Following is a sampling of titles from the bountiful harvest of books recently posted by Ann Crewdson on the ALSC Blog (http://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/?p=32):

Llama Llama Mad at Mama by Anna Dewdney
Llama Llama is forced to go to Shop-o-rama, put on sweaters, pick up groceries and decide on lunch until he realizes that he’s doing all of it with his mama.

Charlie and Lola’s Numbers by Lauren Child
Count to ten with Lola starting with one brother Charlie, through four moonsquirters and over ten elephants.

Baby Bear, Baby Bear What do you See? Written by Bill Martin Jr. and illustrated by Eric Carle.
Baby Bear searches for his mama, identifying all kinds of North American wildlife along the way.

Badger’s Fancy Meal by Keiko Kasza
Badger doesn’t care for the apples, worms and roots in his food storage so his fickle mealtime habit has him chasing the whole animal kingdom, which gets him his just desserts.

Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard
Bird wakes up grumpy, but the other animals convince him that there’s still fun to be had, even by mimicking being grumpy!

I Love Cats by Anne Mortimer
All kinds of cats, cats, cats – from big cats and prancing cats to weirdy cats and beardy cats.

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CONTINUING EDUCATION

Looking for ways to meet the library-service needs of Spanish speakers in your community?
Then ¡Hola! Project is for you!

¡Hola! Project
Hispanic Outreach Library Action Project

Minocqua Public Library, 415 Menominee Street, Minocqua, WI
Thursday, November 29; 9:30 am—4 pm

Using resources, case studies, web sites and action plans, you will gain useful tips and tools for reaching out to Spanish speakers near your library! Presented by: Jamie Matczak, CE Coordinator, Nicolet Federated Library System, and Barb Huntington, Youth and Special Services Consultant, DLTCL.

6.0 CE credits are available to workshop participants

To register, contact Beth Sillars, WVLS Special Needs Consultant at:
(715)261-7255, or sillars@wvls.lib.wi.us 
Questions about the workshop can be directed to Jamie Matczak:
(920) 448-4413, jmatczak@mail.nfls.lib.wi.us

Administered by the Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning with a Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation grant, the !HOLA! Project workshop is part of WebJunction's Spanish Language Outreach Program.

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ON COMMAND

NET NEUTRALITY UPDATE
At last month’s WLA Conference session, Net Neutrality and Internet Surveillance: An Update on Federal Actions and Activities, Bob Bocher provided an excellent update on net neutrality. Following is a general summary of that session.

There has been much talk about the concept of net neutrality, but do you really know what this term means? According to the Blandin Foundation, “Net neutrality ensures that all users can access the content or run the applications and devices of their choice. With net neutrality, the network’s only job is to move data – not choose which data to privilege with higher quality service.” The key is that there should be no network configuration, policy or practice, outside of end user control, that discriminates against certain content, services or applications. We do not want telecommunication companies controlling information access by having tiered pricing.

The term “neutrality” comes from the 1600’s in England. When the Crown granted a person permission to operate a waterway crossing business, it stipulated that the same service had to be provided to all with no discrimination. Thus, the term common carriage, upon which neutrality is based. 

U.S. code has very strong common carrier language for telecommunication service. All phone calls are connected regardless of location or content, however the Internet as an information service has very weak common carrier language.

In 2002, the FCC declared that cable Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are not subject to strong common carrier regulation because they provide information service. In 2005, the FCC deregulated broadband, thus removing common carrier language and providing no strong legal protection for maintaining a neutral Internet. Also in 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed that the FCC has the authority to regulate (or not) Internet access. That meant that there was no longer an open, neutral Internet. 

Net neutrality is generally supported by consumer organizations, organizations that support the First Amendment, content providers, and the library and education communities. These organizations point out that the end users lose control without neutrality, thus innovation is stifled. There are also concerns about telecom/cable providers controlling the underlying circuit, the actual Internet access itself and an increasing share of content.

Net neutrality is generally opposed by telecom/cable companies, Internet service providers, and organizations opposing government regulation. They say that they need a return on infrastructure investment, the market is a better mechanism to address the issue than government intervention, and there have not been any cases of abuse or discrimination.

What impact does net neutrality have on libraries? Libraries are access providers and content providers. Libraries do not have deep pockets, thus ISP selection could become very difficult. Libraries are very concerned with equity of access and the digital divide, as well as First Amendment issues. These sentiments were summarized in a September 2007 statement from ALA President Loriene Roy to the FCC:

“ALA implores the FCC to ensure that producers and consumers of information are
able to access and provide services on the Internet free from discriminatory practices.”

For more information about net neutrality, feel free to contact Linda Orcutt, WVLS Technology Consultant (715/261-7256; lorcutt@wvls.lib.wi.us) or Bob Bocher, DLTCL Technology Consultant (608/266-2127; robert.bocher@wisconsin.gov). A copy of Bob’s PowerPoint presentation is available at http://www.wla.lib.wi.us/conferences/2007/documents/Thurs_NSLtoCNLibraries1_Boucher.ppt

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ADD A GOOGLE MAP TO YOUR WEB SITE
SearchEngineWatch.com (http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/070821-111054) describes in three easy steps how you can get a snazzy Google Map to your library site without any special knowledge:

1. Pull up the Google map you want
2. Click on the “Link to this page” link
3. Copy and paste the resulting HTML into [your] site

(from South Central Library System’s Wicked Cool, 9/27/07; http://scls.typepad.com/wicked_cool/)

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INFO TO GO

SAFE HARBOR: POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR A SAFE LIBRARY 
Nine librarians from assorted libraries serving populations from a few thousand to well over a 100,000 in the Alliance Library System formed the Safe Harbor Taskforce to write Safe Harbor: Policies and Procedures for a Safe Library, a manual of policies, procedures, and even scripts in most cases, to help front line library staff manage a variety of problem behaviors. The manual may be purchased for $15 plus shipping and handling, or viewed and downloaded for printing at http://www.alliancelibrarysystem.com/safeharbor/
(Library Connection, newsletter of the Eastern Shores Library System; October 2007)

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New!
RURAL AND SMALL LIBRARIES ONLINE RESOURCES
The Association for Rural and Small Libraries has moved its resource collection onto the WebJunction site. Now libraries can access rural library-focused webinars, staff training, newsletters and community-building message boards online anytime. There is something here for everyone, so please check it out at http://webjunction.org/do/Navigation?category=498  Most sections contain great links to librarian-created content and best practices. A great place to start is at Rural Brainstorms where you can find notes about funding, training, advocacy taken by rural librarians at workshops and conferences across the country. (adapted from the Outagamie Waupaca Library System’s Carpe Hootem, 11/2/07; http://www.owlsweb.info/carpe/index.html)

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OPEN MEETINGS INFORMATION UPDATED
Wisconsin’s Open Meetings Law, enacted in 1976, attempts to promote openness in government and to provide Wisconsin citizens with an opportunity to observe and become more informed about their government’s operations.

As a public service, the Attorney General’s Office developed the handbook, Wisconsin Open Meetings Law; A Compliance Guide, which outlines the provisions of the open meetings law for members of the public and governmental officials. The Compliance Guide also includes appendices that list the cases, opinions, correspondence and statutes cited in the text and a sample open meetings law complaint form. For a PDF copy of the 2007 Compliance Guide, visit the Wisconsin Department of Justice Web site at http://www.doj.state.wi.us/AWP/2007OMCG-PRO/2007_OML_Compliance_Guide.pdf

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OCLC SCANS THE SOCIAL-NETWORK ENVIRONMENT
OCLC has issued the third in a series of research reports on online issues and trends that affect library use, services, and resources. Sharing, Privacy, and Trust in Our Networked World, released October 22nd, explores the use of social spaces online by more than 6,100 respondents, ages 14-84, in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom, and contrasts them with the views and usage of 382 U.S. library directors.

Like its major predecessors, Environmental Scan: Pattern Recognition (2003; http://www.oclc.org/reports/escan/default.htm) and Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources (2005; http://www.oclc.org/reports/2005perceptions.htm), this third report’s findings and conclusions offer public and academic librarians an opportunity for reflection, discussion, and a reassessment of their policies and services. Among the highlights relating to the general public and U.S. library directors:

• The Internet is familiar territory. Eighty-nine percent of respondents have been online for four years or more and nearly a quarter have been using the Internet for more than 10 years. U.S. library directors have been using the Internet longer on average than any other group surveyed. They are also using search engines more frequently than the general public.
• The Web community has migrated from using the Internet to building it – the Internet’s readers are rapidly becoming its authors.
• Web users read more.
• Cell phones are becoming social networking devices.
• More than a quarter of the general public and more than half of college students use social networking sites. Less than a quarter of U.S. library directors use social networking sites, and they are more likely to use them as a work activity rather than a social function.
• Online trust increases with usage. Over half of respondents surveyed feel their personal information on the Internet is kept as private, or more private, than it was two years ago. Respondents do not distinguish library Web sites as more private than commercial or social sites they are using. U.S. library directors rate online privacy more highly than the general public. They feel it is their professional responsibility to keep a user’s library information private.

Conclusion: Invite users to create content and establish new rules. A social library will not be created by mastering new technologies or implementing a list of social software features on our current sites. Open the library doors, invite mass participation by users and relax the rules of privacy. It will be messy. The rules of the new social Web are messy. The rules of the new social library will be equally messy. But mass participation and a little chaos often create the most exciting venues for collaboration, creativity, community building—and transformation. It is right on mission.

Copies of Sharing, Privacy and Trust in Our Networked World may be downloaded at no cost, or print copies may be purchased, at OCLC’s Web site http://www.oclc.org/reports/sharing/
(from Resourceshelf.com, 10/23/07; American Libraries Direct, 10/31/07; and OCLC Abstracts, 10/29/07)

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RECOMMENDED GENEALOGY RESOURCES
Lori Bessler, Microforms Librarian at the Wisconsin Historical Society, has compiled her favorite genealogical Web sites for those just beginning to research their family histories.

Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com): Census, birth, marriage and death records may be found here. Millions of names are added each week. (EDITOR’S NOTE: WVLS subscribes to two genealogical databases - Ancestry Library Edition and HeritageQuest. To view, go to http://wvls.lib.wi.us/Databases/ElectronicDatabase.html). 

Rootsweb (http://www.rootsweb.com): This site connects people so they can share their genealogical research.

Cyndi’s List (http://www.cyndislist.com): This site lists and indexes thousands of genealogy sites available on the web.

Wisconsin Historical Society (http://www.wisconsinhistory.com/): Provides access to many of the Historical Society’s collections as well as detailed research tips and wonderful explanations of genealogical research services.

Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (http://www.raogk.com/): A wonderful site that lists volunteers who will perform at least one genealogical research task per month in their area. A great way for researchers to connect!

Family Search ( http://www.familysearch.org): This site is an excellent source for family history and family tree records; a great place to start and it’s FREE!

Genealogy Blog ( ttp://www.genealogyblog.com): This blog is a great way to keep up with current genealogy news and resources.)

(edited from Support Lines, newsletter of the Support Staff Section of the WLA; September 2007) 

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FROM HITHER & YON

IMPROVE YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE SKILLS!
“Do unto others as they prefer to have done unto them, NOT the other way around” was one of the suggestions offered at the recent two-day customer service conference, Insights and Solutions for Customer Service, held in Madison. Consider this suggestion as well as the following comments taken from the Keynote address “The Power of Humor for Librarians or How Dincerella Slopped Her Dripper” by Bob Kann, and “Customer Service as if Your Library Depended on It” by Pat Wagner, to help raise your customer service potential:

• Humor helps reduce stress, improves attitude, and builds relationships.
• “Yes and…” attitude is important; NOT “Yes but…”
• Humor is powerful; lighten up; laughing at mistakes aids in problem solving.
• Give recognition for jobs well done so people do not feel underappreciated.
• Immerse yourself in the lives of the customers you serve.
• Consistency, empathy, and civility are the core principles of good customer service.
• Customer manipulation is a symptom of inconsistent behavior among staff.
• Best customer service people are "slightly sassy waitresses" with a life outside of work; they can maintain a better perspective on inappropriately behaving customers.
• Great internal customer service creates great external customer service.
• How we treat people is more important than anything else.
• We can have favorites but cannot show favoritism.
• Ask staff to list the most difficult policies to enforce; many are not actually library policies.
• Examine policies/rules; is a rule interfering with mission? If rule exceptions are made, keep logs at every desk and discuss at meetings, or keep a “no” log and discuss.
• Be aware of non-verbal communication—make sure it matches verbal communication;
  how we look may have an emotional impact on someone else.
• Remove judgment from behavior description/perception to lower emotionality — give others the benefit of the doubt; labeling others negatively makes us feel superior.
• We all have to believe in the social equality of all people — different cultures, experiences.

Three Steps to Negotiate With and Influence Customers:

1. Rapport — understand the other person’s world — listen and discuss; show empathy. Rapport is the most important thing we do; it always needs to be done first!
2. Information — understand the “big picture” — facts and evidence; be objective.
3. Action — understand choices — change and act; be accountable for consequences.

Customer Service in Libraries is Different from Customer Service in Business Because:

• Libraries serve everyone — we cannot pick and choose our customers.
• Libraries offer fair and consistent service to everyone — “safety for the stranger.”
• Libraries set limits on behavior and enforce rules, not just meet information needs.
• Libraries work with children and teens that are growing-up, not grown up —
  we are their coaches, teachers, role models.

-- Sharyn Heili, WVLS Wessler Scholar and librarian at Marathon County Public Library

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WEB SITES OF INTEREST (tourist traps on the information superhighway!)

2007 International and Military Mail - Holiday Mailing Dates
http://www.usps.com/supportingourtroops/welcome.htm
The United States Postal Service has created a chart of suggested mailing dates to ensure delivery of holiday cards and packages by December 25th to military APO/FPO addresses overseas and to international addresses. The link mentioned above will take you to the USPS’ Supporting Our Troops Welcome Page. Click on the “go” button for “Supporting Our Troops FAQs” and at the Frequently Asked Questions page, click on the link to the 2007 Holiday Mail Deadlines.
(edited from MailPro: News for Mailing Professionals; September/October 2007)

The Hissing Cockroach – Beyond the “Ick Factor” 
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Support/AdoptSpecies/AnimalInfo/HissRoach/
This fact sheet describes the Madagascar hissing cockroach, which “has been a staple in science classrooms for years and now is growing in popularity in the pet trade.” Discusses the biology behind the hissing sound, reasons why the hissing cockroaches (also known as the Madagascar hissing beetle) make good pets and classroom study animals, and related topics. 
(LII New This Week; October 10/25/07; Copyright 2007 by Librarians’ Index to the Internet, LII)

MRSA and the Workplace 
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/mrsa/
Can I get MRSA from someone at work? If I have MRSA, can I go to work? These questions and others are addressed in this new web resource by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to help employers and workers address workplace concerns associated with community-associated Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
(ResourceShelf; 11/1/07; http://www.resourceshelf.com/)

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS

NOVEMBER – National Family Caregivers Month – a time to recognize the millions of people who look after others. Reach out to this target audience and tell them how the library can help. They may not realize you have books on tape/CD, free movies to borrow, home delivery service, or accessible technologies. Tell them how they can access the library online without making a trip and highlight appropriate health collections, downloadable resources, web sites and databases. To learn more, look into the National Family Caregivers Association at http://www.thefamilycaregiver.org  (Marketing Library Services; September/October 2007)

November 12-18 – NATIONAL CHILDREN’S BOOK WEEK – for more information, visit the CBW web site at http://www.cbcbooks.org/cbw/celebrate

November 17 – WVLS Board of Trustees meeting – Marathon County Public Library – 9:30 a.m.

November 22 – HAPPY THANKSGIVING! To handle and prepare the holiday bird safely, visit the USDA Web site for the Let’s Talk Turkey – A Consumer Guide to Safely Roasting a Turkey fact sheet  http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Lets_Talk_Turkey/index.asp
The WVLS office is closed.

November 23 – The WVLS office is closed.

November 29 - ¡Hola! Project - Hispanic Outreach Library Action Project - a Gates Foundation funded training program - Minocqua Public Library - 9:30 am—4 pm – refer to the article in this issue of The Lamplighter for details. NOTE: This workshop will also be offered on January 22nd at Marathon County Public Library.

December 6 – WVLS V-Cat Council meeting – Antigo Public Library – 9:30 a.m.

December 15 – WVLS Executive Committee meeting – Marathon County Public Library – 9:30 a.m.

January 19 – WVLS Board of Trustees meeting – Marathon County Public Library – 9:30 a.m.

January 22 – LIBRARY LEGISLATIVE DAY – Inn on the Park, Madison – http://www.wla.lib.wi.us/legis/day/

March 25-29 – 12th National Public Library Association Conference, Minneapolis Convention Center. The PLA National Conference is the premier professional development event for public library staff, trustees, Friends, library vendors and others with an interest in public libraries. Bookmark http://www.placonference.org and check back often for updated information on registration, conference programming, special events, travel, and insider tips on everything Minneapolis has to offer. Also, if interested in attending this conference, contact Linda Orcutt (715/261-7253; lorcutt@wvls.lib.wi.us) for details about a WVLS scholarship to cover travel/registration costs to attend this event. 

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