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Future Dates & Training Opportunities

January 13, 2023 – 1 pm – State Library Survey Workday at Meade Public Library/Registration Link

January 16, 2023 – System Office Closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday

January 18, 2023 at 1:00 pm – Niche Academy’s “Leveling Up Your Book Displays” Webinar/Registration Link

January 20, 2023 at 10:00 am – Online System Board Meeting/Registration Link & Zoom Link

January 23, 2023 at 10 am – State Library Survey Workday at System Office/Registration Link

January 27, 2023 at 10 am – State Library Survey Workday at Scott County Library/Registration Link

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Consulting

By Richard Brookman

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Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday

On Monday, January 16, 2023, the System Office will be closed in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday. The office will open again Tuesday morning at 8:00 am.

January System Board Meeting

The January SWKLS Board Meeting is an Online Meeting scheduled for Friday, January 20, 2023. We will begin at 10:00 am.

To register for the board meeting you may do so through this registration link and the Zoom Link is available here.

Kansas History Month

Take time this month to set up a display for Kansas History Month. You can do passive and regular programming with your communities by providing: 1) coloring pages (copyright free); 2) trivia question sheet or trivia night with questions all related to Kansas or individuals from Kansas; 3) have a movie night in the library showing a movie based in Kansas or adapted from a Kansas author’s book, and/or 4) a painting class for your community with an artist doing a sunflower.

Level Up Your Book Displays Webinar

What can I do to spruce up my book displays? To get ideas Niche Academy is having a webinar on this topic entitled “Level Up Your Book Displays”. The presenter is Faithe Miller Lakowicz and is on Wednesday, January 18 at 2:00 pm ET (1:00 pm CT). The webinar is to assist with this because, “a well-crafted display captures patrons’ attention, sparks imagination, and sends subtle (or not-so-subtle) messages about your library’s values and institutional culture.”

Attendees will come away with:, “practical approaches for maximizing the impact of book and media displays, including low-cost ‘hacks’ for maximizing visual appeal; highlighting diversity, equity, and inclusion; honoring an institutional voice;…and ensuring that displays are accessible and compelling for a variety of patrons.”

If you are interested in “Leveling Up your Book Displays” you can register through this link.

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Cataloging, Collection Development, and ILL

By Sara Wilson

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Collection Development Inspiration

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Introducing Our Upcoming Workshop . . .

*Details and registration information to come!

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In literary news . . .

Bannerman Series Bought by AMC

John Maxim’s Bannerman books – a series of spy novels – may very soon end up as a TV show on AMC. The network purchased the rights to the series and announced their intentions, this week. Fans of the series will be pleased to know that the author will serve as consulting director on the project. If you haven’t purchased any of the Bannerman books, now is good time to stock up!

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In Case You Missed It . . .

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Future Dates & Training Opportunities

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Consulting

By Richard Brookman

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December Train UP! DEI Policy and Procedure

In this work shop Casandra Norin, Director of Seward County Community College Library, will provide information on what a library should consider when developing a Diversity/Inclusivity Policy and Procedure.

Join her Tuesday, December 6, at 2:00 pm CT through the System’s Zoom room to participate in this discussion. You can register through this link.

Zoom Link: https://kslib.zoom.us/j/92391825887

System Board Meeting December 16

The December System Board meeting will be held on Friday the 16 at 10:00 am CT. This meeting is an on-line meeting only. Please register for the meeting at this link. The Zoom link will be sent out next week with the agenda and it will also be in next week’s Weekly Wrap UP.

I Love My Kansas Library

Shelly O’Brien is coordinating the new Kansas Library Public Relations Campaign called “I Love My Kansas Library”. This campaign is to get the word out about how Kansas libraries uplift our communities. They want everyone from decision-makers, parents, and those who might not have been in a library for years to become aware of the positivity that libraries bring to their communities.

Part of this effort to spotlight Kansas libraries is the creation of the website for “I Love My Kansas Library”. The website just went live at the first of December and you can now visit it through this link.

Shelly is asking that each library share the word about the website. If you can place the link to the “I Love My Kansas Library” on your library’s website, mention the site through your Facebook account and other possible social media outlets it would be appreciated. They are also working on setting up “I Love My Kansas Library” social media accounts, with Instagram being the first created. They will send out more information as additional social media accounts are established.

The site is meant to be a place where you can share your stories about your library and how it interacts with the community. Shelly would enjoy placing your stories on the website by sending them to her through her email – sobrien@nekls.org

December Talks with Ted

The next Talks with Ted from Auto-Graphics is scheduled for Tuesday December 13 at 10:00 am CT. These sessions are made available for librarians to ask Ted questions about the VERSO ILS system. You can send in questions ahead of time to give Ted time to research an answer if needed. To submit a question you will need to do so with this form.

To register for this month’s Talks with Ted follow this link.

2022 Rural Library Network E-Summit

On the afternoons of December 7 and 8 an invitation has been sent out for librarians to attend the 2022 Rural Library Network E-Summit. “The Library Summit is a prominent event for practitioners addressing educational and health disparities and complements the work of other rural and small library organizations by driving resources to rural libraries.”

Some of the programs you will be able to chose from are: “A Parent Nation: Partnering with Families to Support Children’s Learning”; “Rural Libraries as Anchors”; “Seeking Funding Through Grants and other Sources” (two-parter); “From Advocacy to Activism”; and “Let’s Talk About Teens”. This is set up in a conference style so you will have to chose which sessions you want to attend.

If you are interested in attending the Summit you can get more information and register through this link.

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Cataloging, Collection Development, and ILL

By Sara Wilson

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In literary news, this week . . .

Bob Dylan is Making Waves

Bob Dylan’s new book The Philosophy of Modern Song, that debuted November 1st, has been making waves across news outlets, from a recent controversy when fans realized that the autographed, special edition copies they’d purchased were not, in fact, hand-signed by the author to the recent comparisons between Dylan’s book and Quentin Tarantino’s Cinema Speculation, which also debuted around the same time. If you have Bob Dylan’s latest book, now would be a great time to put it on display!

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Newly Cataloged Resources for You!

These are resources that SWKLS has had available to our member libraries, but we’ve recently cataloged them and want to remind you that they are available exclusively for SWKLS member libraries to checkout and demo! The are not available on ILL, so if you want to check them out, you’ll have to contact the SWKLS office. For more information, contact Steve Andrews by calling the office or emailing him at sandrews@swkls.org. Our checkout procedures for technology equipment can be found on our website. Coming soon: Checkout procedures for our newly minted SWKLS STEAM Collection.

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Technology

By: SWKLS Staff

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New Computers, coming and going

We’re working on new computers as they come in slowly creating a computer warehouse in our office and scheduling trips as quickly as we can, making our way down the list, and adjusting your inventories as we go along to reflect any changes!

If you’re not sure where you stand on Windows 11 compatible computers in your library you can check your inventory at the following link:
https://forms.swkls.org/inventory/index.php

E-Rate 2023-2024

Our E-rate consultant, Toby Sykes, has begun sending emails concerning the upcoming 2023-2024 E-rate cycle. As a reminder, I am copied on all of these emails so no need to forward anything from Toby to me. Please be sure to read these emails as some of our libraries will need to submit new Letters of Authorization for Toby to handle your filings. In a few cases your EPC portal primary administrator account may need to be updated with new Director information which will typically require contacting the EPC helpdesk. Instructions for all of this are contained within Toby’s email(s) if needed.

Toby usually sends out emails prior to the end of the year asking about any anticipated changes or purchases beforehand. The SWKLS tech team will begin reviewing Category One (Internet access) and Category Two (equipment) needs after the first of the year, and once we have a chance to review your library’s needs I’ll reach out to everyone.

Future Dates & Training Opportunities

The SWKLS Unity Project proposed calendar is available on the Wiki

This calendar will be edited as 2021 progresses, and it contains recommended tasks in each of the four “branches” of the SWKLS U.P. “tree”: ILL (SHAREit), ILS (VERSO), new directors, and technology. You may wish to check the calendar regularly to organize tasks such as checking brief bibs, new directors’ training, counting ILLs monthly, checking CAT Express activity, weeding, New Leaf pick-ups, etc. / Link

The Directors Forum is being rebranded to The Train U.P.! to coincide with the SWKLS Unity Project. The main feature will be Continuing Education presentation and then at the end of the session the SWKLS Departments will relay any news that needs to be mentioned.

Vaccine Links

Below are the two links to assist with COVID-19 Vaccine information. Find my vaccine is a webpage to assist with information on where within your area vaccines are being distributed. The KDHE’s YouTube channel is the second link for vaccine information. If you watch the session please remember to let Richard know so it can be updated in the Continuing Education files.

Find My Vaccine — https://www.kansasvaccine.gov/160/Find-My-Vaccine
KDHE’s meeting with House Children and Seniors link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlnnbevpgZk

Unemployment 1099-G forms

If you or a staff member receive a 1099-G form of unemployment funds being distributed to them you will want to give them this information. They can call the Department of Labor at 785-575- 1461. The number will be staffed during regular business hours from Monday through Friday 8 a.m. CST to 4 p.m. CST, extended hours Monday through Friday 4 p.m. CST to 8 p.m. CST and Saturday 8 a.m. CST to 2 p.m. CST.  

If you do not wish to keep calling the Department of Labor telephone number the site does have an “Unsworn Declaration of Payments not Received/Identity Theft” form that Tandy located last night, after the site became live again.  This form has an address that you can send the form directly.
Here is the link to the form:https://www.dol.ks.gov/docs/default-source/ui-benefits-forms/1099-g-forms/k-frd-100.pdf

How do I report fraud if I received a 1099-G form for a fraudulent claim in my name?
If you received a 1099-G form for a claim that you did not receive payment for due to identity theft, you can fill out a request on the KDOL Self-Service Portal under “1099 Protest/Dispute”, making sure to check the box for “I want to dispute my 1099” and upload an Unsworn Declaration to declare you did not receive the benefits that were stated on your 1099-G form issued from the Kansas Department of Labor.
You can also send a written dispute with your full name and last 4 digits of your social security number to the Kansas Department of Labor at the following address:
Fraudulent 1099 Inquiry
Kansas Department of Labor
401 SW Topeka Blvd.
Topeka, KS 66603-3182
Make sure to include the reason of identity theft in your written dispute and a copy of a completed Unsworn Declaration form.
Additionally, if you have not so already, go to www.dol.ks.gov/fraud to submit a report to our Fraud Investigation team. For more information on reporting fraud, see the Unemployment Fraud FAQ page.

Accreditation Standards

The new form is available on the System’s website it directors would like to start working on the accreditation application. The application is due October 31, 2021 (Accreditation Main Page on the System’s website).

After-Lunch Courses

Throughout 2021, the Kansas Regional Library Systems are offering four free continuing education workshops on Zoom, for a series we are calling “after-lunch course”. Registration announcements will be posted to Kan-Lib, and to the regional system’s website: systems.mykansaslibrary.org.
The registration for March’s online course, with Jamie LaRue, should be available on February 3rd.

ARSL Leadership Institute Applications Are Now Open!

Good afternoon, ARSL members!

We are excited to announce that applications for ARSL’s pilot leadership institute, Outstanding In Their Field, are officially open! We are looking for 30 outstanding people who are currently working in rural and small libraries to join us for this special professional development opportunity.

Applications will be accepted through February 24th, 2021.

Participants, a.k.a. “Outfielders,” will undertake 18 months of online and in-person interactive sessions.

It’s a BIG commitment, and rewarding! Participants will gain:

• skills and confidence as leaders
• a network of colleagues throughout the country
• experiences at two ARSL conferences

New Leaf Pick-up Locations in SWKLS

Before dropping off your weeded items to the locations below, please call the library’s director.

• April 14 & October 13: Dodge City Public Library, Haskell Township, and Ness City
• April 21 & October 20: Plains & Ashland

Contributions to the Weekly Wrap-up are from all SWKLS staff.

Future Dates & Training Opportunities

Dates relating to the SWKLS Unity Project are in orange…SWKLS U.P.!

December 31 & January 1 – Auto-Graphics will be closed. To contact AG for emergencies only use: emergencysupport@auto-graphics.com

January 1, 2021 – SWKLS Office will be closed.

January – 1st week: SWKLS U.P.! calendar will be distributed. Recordings of Auto-Grpahics Q&A Sessions 1-4 will become available on wiki.swkls.org.

January 5, 2021 – Directors Forum at 2:00 pm – Discuss the State Survey Report for new directors as part of the forum / Zoom Link – https://kslib.zoom.us/j/735791720

January 6, 2021 – Clean Up, Clean Out, Cling Onto – Email Session at 2:00 pm / Registration Link

January 6, 2021 – Rural Library Network Launch Registration

January 13, 2021 – Clean Up, Clean Out, Cling Onto – Desktop Session at 2:00 pm / Registration Link

January 12, 2021 AT 11AM – SWKLS U.P. : How to digitize your ILL tracking system / Registration Link

January 15, 2021 – Full Board Meeting (Online with Zoom) at 10:00 am / Registration Link

January 20, 2021 at 10AM – AG training for new directors #1: a general introduction.

January 20, 2021 – Clean Up, Clean Out, Cling Onto – Privacy Session at 2:00 pm / Registration Link

January 21, 2021 – Jody and Kelly hope to visit Scott County and Lane County Libraries.

January 26, 2021 at 10AM – AG training for new directors #2: VERSO

January 27, 2021 – Clean Up, Clean Out, Cling Onto – Methods Session at 2:00 pm / Registration Link

January 28, 2021 at 10AM – AG training for new directors #3: SHAREit (Rhonda Machlan from the State ILL Dept. will also be present.)

January 29, 2021 – Jody and Kelly hope to visit Stevens County and Haskell Township Libraries.

IRS issues standard mileage rates for 2021

Beginning January 1, 2021, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be, .56 cents per mile driven for business use, down 1.5 cents from the rate for 2020. Link to full IRS Statement

Kansas State Library 2019 Survey Report

The Kansas State Library has posted the 2019 Survey Report, link to 2019 Library Survey Report webpage, just in time for libraries to begin gathering information for the 2020 Library Survey Report after the new year.

In the month of January, we will have four sessions all at 2:00 pm. We will present tips and tricks on how to get yourself organized for 2021. If you attend all four sessions your name will be placed in a drawing. If you unable to attend the session and can carry out the task your name can still be placed in the drawing. Simply take a screenshot of the process and email it to jhattrup@swkls.org. Instructions will be added to SWKLS wiki soon after each session.

• January 6 – Clean-Up & Clean Out Emails
• January 13 – Clean-Up & Clean Out Desktop
• January 20 -Cling Onto – Privacy
  Perfect time of the year to review privacy settings and how to protect yourself.
• January 27 – Cling Onto – Methods
  Directors will discuss some methods they cling to throughout the year. We will have Holly Mathes (Grant County Library) a veteran director and Sara Koehn (Haskell County Library) a novice director as a presenter.

New Additions to the SWKLS StoryWalk Collection

Use this phrase as a subject search to view the entire collection: SWKLS StoryWalk Collection. To order a StoryWalk, use a blank ILL request on SHAREit.

Trouble adding new barcodes? Three cataloging quick tips:

When many VERSO users are cataloging simultaneously, searching for new barcodes can sometimes yield zero results. Three of our members reported this issue within the last week, which is an “indexing” problem on Auto-Graphics’s end. Here are three quick tips to solve this problem:

1. During times of high traffic, VERSO has time to fully add new information during slower periods. If you are having trouble searching for newly added barcodes, waiting overnight can often solve the problem. If, in the day after your cataloging activity, you are still unable to search for new barcodes, proceed with step two.
2. From the Staff Dashboard – CAT Admin – Edit Item – Enter the barcode to view the item record. Click Submit to force “re-indexing”. If steps one and two do not work, proceed to step three.
3. Compose a list of problematic barcodes and their titles to send to Kelly. She will forward the list to AG for further resolution.

Contributions to the Weekly Wrap-up are from all SWKLS staff.

On the calendar

No Directors Forum for the Month of December

November 26 & 27 – System Office Closed for Thanksgiving Holiday

December 2 – Target date for the State Library to complete transfer of all audiobook purchases to the Cloud Library.

December 4 – Full Board Meeting (Online with Zoom)

December 9 – Verso/Auto-Graphics Q & A Session.  Registration Link

December 11 – Richard, Jody, and Kelly will visit Seward Community College.

December 16 – Verso/Auto-Graphics Q & A Session.  Registration Link

December 24, 25, & 28 – System Office Closed for Christmas Holiday

January 5, 2021 – Directors Forum

January 15, 2021 – Full Board Meeting (Online with Zoom) at 10:00 am

KPERS:

 If you haven’t already, you should be receiving an e-mail from KPERS to verify your service quarters for the 2021 year. You must verify and submit service quarter info, even if you don’t make any changes. Submit to KPERS by November 20, 2020.

State Library of Kansas Digital Content (cloudLibrary):

Learn how to find audiobooks on cloudLibrary with this tutorial.

Download your RBdigital user data, including your current checkouts, holds, history, and wishlist, by following the instructions found in this tutorial. This process will download a file that you can use to manually recreate your holds and wishlist on your cloudLibrary account. Data cannot be imported into cloudLibrary from this file.

Since our current holds list will be completely purged with the transfer (from RB Digital), we have currently reduced the limit on holds to 1. Additionally, we’ve reduced the number of active checkouts from 10 down to 5 and will continue to gradually reduce this number as the transfer date approaches.

We’ve recently learned that any audiobooks that you have checked out on RBdigital at the time of the transfer will still be accessible through the RBdigital app and website until the loan period expires. However, you won’t be able to renew those loans or place holds on those titles on RBdigital after December 2.

Having received lots of feedback regarding the reduced loan periods, we’ve returned the length of checkouts on cloudLibrary to 3-week loan periods.

Summer (Reading) Library Program:

I have sent out a “form” for any libraries that are interested in doing the Reader Zone app again this year.  If you could get that back to me by December 2, 2020, then I can forward the information to Alice Smith at the State Library.

Kansas Reads to Pre-Schoolers

The month of November is Kansas Reads to Preschoolers month.  This program is set for the whole month so libraries can contact their local preschools to set up dates and times to read to the classes and/or hand out the selected book for this year which is Groovy Joe: Ice Cream and Dinosaurs written by Eric Litwin and art by Tom Lichtenheld.

Groovy Joe StoryWalkⓇ will soon be available for ILL.

Here is the link to the State Libraries webpage that contains PR content (poster, bookmarks, and Facebook Banner): https://kslib.info/1017/Kansas-Reads-to-Preschoolers

Legislative Day

Some discussion was done on how to structure Legislative Day.  It looks to become another online event and if it is how will KLA entice lawmakers to join in for an online session.

The Governmental Affairs Committee has started working on a position statement for the upcoming 2021 legislative session. One major point of focus will be broadband access and availability. 

Will you please consider sharing stories about broadband use? For example, just yesterday, a middle school in western Kansas had to quarantine the basketball team. Luckily the library had several circulating hotspots and was able to lend them to the students. Now those students will be able to continue school off site without skipping a beat. To me another awesome part of the story is the librarian was at the school teaching database use. 

That’s a great story that will carry a big impact with our legislators. I know you have great stories and request you share them. You can send your stories to me and I will collect them for the Governmental Affairs Committee. Just email me at gsanty@ckls.org. 

Thanks,

Gail

Gail Santy

Central Kansas Library System/Great Bend Public Library

Website being Redesigned/Updated:

If you visit the System’s website you will find that Jody has been working on redesigning and updating it for the office. If you haven’t seen it yet, please do and see the work she has done. It is looking nice.

End of Year Activities to Prepare for:

Before the end of the year library boards will need to make their annual GAAP resolution for the new year.

Get ready to prepare your W2’s and if you have an accountant do this for your library, get it scheduled with them before the accountant’s calendar fills up.

If you library board chooses to move funds from the 2020 budget to the 2021 budget it will need to be done at the December board meeting. If you are unsure of how this works or need wording for the motion contact the office and Richard explain how this works and work up a sample motion for your board.

Set your calendars up within Verso for 2021.

Set your budget line items for 2021 in QuickBooks if you haven’t already done so.

If your library has it’s staff use all of their vacation and sick leave within the current year you need to make sure your staff takes their time off before they loose those hours.

Courier Information

If you need to contact Caroline Handwork you will need to use her email chandwork@nekls.org.  She is in the process of getting a line in her home for a telephone.

Who to contact at SWKLS

If you are uncertain who at SWKLS to contact with specific questions, we have created a sheet to assist. Here is the link to the sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14f3yUesarAyedYG7ShSyta_2-8R_WfLwioQOVUfvF4E/edit?usp=sharing

Available trainings

Auto-Graphics Q & A Dates at 10AM: 12/9, and 12/16.  Registration links are above and are limited to 15 seats per session.  Everyone is welcome!  Any questions you have will be answered.