System Spotlight

By Christopher Dressler

ITS ABOUT CONFERENCE TIME!

Conference Time is almost here. Please take a minute to fill out this attendance form so we can plan a meet-up. https://forms.gle/SQHpefoP6cS4Dy8t8

Future Dates & Training Opportunities

July 12, 2023, 1:00 pm CT – Niche Academy “Managing Difficult Conversations”, Registration Link

Sept 20 – 23, 2023 – ARSL Conference/Wichita, Hotel Booking/Conference Registration

Nov 1 – 3, 2023 – KLA Conference/Wichita

Consulting

By Richard Brookman

Congratulations to Sara and Casandra

Join me in congratulating Sara Koehn, Director of Haskell Township Library, and Casandra Norin, Director of Seward County Community College Library for being part of the Association for Rural & Small Libraries 2023 Conference. Sara is part of a panel on Thursday entitled, “United Against Book Bans: Ignite Support for First Amendment Rights in Rural Communities” on Thursday from 2:45 pm – 3:45 pm. Casandra is part of a two person panel entitled: “MARC 101 to 210: Your Key to Circulation” on Saturday from 8:30 am – 9:30 am.

We encourage members that are attending the ARSL conference this year to support our two Member Director’s on this National Stage. If you haven’t registered for ARSL yet you can do so at this link. To view the whole schedule for the conference you can do so at this link.

Kansas State Librarian Question

You will have received an email from Ray Walling, State Librarian, concerning State Aid. This question was on last year’s State Library Survey Report, however not many librarians answered the question. This is a second attempt by the State Librarian to gather this information.

The question is asking how much your library truly needs in State Aid to be of a better assistance in augmenting your yearly budget. This is part of Ray working on getting a number to utilize to visit with the State Legislatures on possibly raising the State Aid for public libraries. Please take the time to thoughtfully consider this question and respond back to Ray.

Ray, through the System office wants to thank everyone for doing this for him.

Possible CE opportunity in Cimarron City Library

Cimarron City Library is holding a two part training on “Uncommon Customer Service Process”, presented by Joe Coles Consulting Services.

Candi thought this could be of interest to your patrons or even your library staff.

The first part will be on Thursday July 20, from 8:30 am to 11:30 am, and the second part will be on September 14, from 8:30 am to 11:30 am, at the Cimarron City Library.

“Uncommon Customer Service builds “Trust!” Trust builds “Relationships!” Relationships is the key to it all! This is not being better than your competition; it is being the best you can be with your internal and external customers because it is the right thing. Controlling what you can control!

When you attend this training, you will walk away a better person in both your business and personal life. Your excitement will be contagious with your teammates and your family. Common sense strategies will be taught in an uncommon way from over 20 years of working with businesses and schools in leadership!“

The deadline to register for both classes is July 18, 2023. If you are interested in attending these classes please contact me at the System office and I will forward you the registration form to enroll. Cost is $50.00 per person ($40.00 per person per organization with 5 or more).

Cataloging, Collection Development, and ILL

By Sara Wilson

Collection Development Inspiration

Adult Fiction

Children’s & YA Fiction

New Resources for You

The Yak Sisters Thelma and Louise Save the Day StoryWalk

Written by Western Kansas native Brenda Dinges, the Yak Sisters Thelma and Louise Save the Day is a cute story about two yaks – Thelma and Louise – who save the day by calling 911 in an emergency.

Thank you, Haskell Township Library, for this generous donation to our StoryWalk collection! An eagle-eyed librarian has already scooped it up, but it should be back and ready to go out again mid-August. 🙂 If you would like to request this StoryWalk (or any StoryWalk) in the future, you may do so through SHAREit, calling the office, or emailing me at swilson@swkls.org.

In Literary News

The Beach Boys Pen a Beach Read

Surf music legends The Beach Boys have written an autobiography about their lives, aptly named The Beach Boys. The book will include copies of sheet music, photos, excerpts from friends and business associates, and more! The hardcover tome is set to be released in 2024. If you think this news will give your patrons “Good Vibrations,” click here to read more.

Recent Book Challenge Issues Making the News

Libraries are feeling the impact of book challenges across the country. Here are some recent news reports involving censorship, book challenges, and bans across the United States. (Special thanks to Sara Koehn, Director of Haskell Township Public Library and Sean Bird, Interim Dean of University Libraries at Washburn University for their contributions to this list!)

Montana State Library Withdraws from National Library Group Over President’s ‘Marxist Lesbian’ Comment

Kent [WA] School Librarian Rallies Against Rising Book Censorship Based on Race, Sexuality

Hearing to be Held in New Hanover County [N.C.] on Potential Ban of the Book ‘Stamped’

Prattville [AL] Library Challengers Recruiting People to Negatively Review Books

Nixa [MO] School Board to Revisit Removal of ‘Unpregnant’ Book

ALA OIF Blog 07.07.23: https://www.oif.ala.org/intellectual-freedom-news-07-07-2023/

First Amendment Coalition: https://firstamendmentcoalition.org/news-opinion/first-amendment-news/

Empowered by Reading (Unitedagainstbookbans): https://uniteagainstbookbans.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Empowered-by-Reading-final.pdf

PC Disease

As we near the end of my Cyber threat’s series, we explore why it is so necessary to install antivirus software on our computers. One of those reasons is to stop Trojans, worms, and viruses. These threats can wreak havoc on not just your computer, but can also affect other computers across your network. Let’s narrow do to just Trojans this week and I will write about the others in the coming weeks.

First, what is a Trojan? Just like the Trojan horse of Greek history, it is a type of malware that disguises itself as a normal file (or disguised as familiar file) to trick a user into downloading it in order to gain unauthorized access to a computer. These can look like the familiar Word document file to a software installer.

Secondly, why should you be careful not to download a Trojan. Getting one could grant unauthorize use of data on your computer. This include patron data, credit card information, usernames and passwords to websites, and bank account information. They could use this data to steal or falsify your identity to commit fraud, spam other users, or spread malware to other computers.

Thirdly, how are you protecting yourself from being a victim of a Trojan? Antivirus programs (like ESet Endpoint Antivirus), careful click practices (when opening emails or downloading programs), and using strong passwords that are changed on at regular interval. Using these tools and practices are essential in keeping you and your patrons’ information secure. One other thing that can help keep you more secure is using MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication). The final best practice for protecting the data important to you is to make sure your computer is being backed up regularly.

Lastly, if your computer seems to be misbehaving or behaving oddly from before, please do not hesitate to call the System office. It is better to catch these issues sooner rather than later. The longer the infection stays on your computer, the more difficult the recovery.

Always feel free to contact me for training requests, library cards, or technology issues at cdressler@swkls.org or (620)225-1231. – Christopher Dressler – 7/7/2023

Weekly Wrap-U.P.! July 14, 2023