System Spotlight
By Christopher Dressler
Duck, Duck…. Duck!
We purchased 500 little yellow ducks and 500 books. We attached a note to the ducks and threw them from our float during the County Fair Parade. Anyone getting a duck could bring it back to the library and get a children’s Scholastic book. We had two options of books.
By Millie Dearden
Tech Day+ August 25th, 2023
Tech Day+ is almost here. If you are interested in attending this event, please RSVP here.
Future Dates & Training Opportunities
August 2, 2023 10:00 am – Niche Academy “Understanding Intellectual Freedom and Censorship”, Registration Link
September 8, 2023, 10:00 am – RNR & Budget Hearing, Full Board Meeting,
Sept 20 – 23, 2023 – ARSL Conference/Wichita, Hotel Booking/Conference Registration
Nov 1 – 3, 2023 – KLA Conference/Wichita
Consulting
By Richard Brookman
Image provided by Pixabay.com Contributor Peggy_Marco
Next Meeting September 8
The next SWKLS Board Meeting will be on September 8, 2023. It will be held at the Dodge City Public Library. We will start the day at 10:00 am CT with the RNR Hearing, then move into the Budget Hearing, and finally the regular System Meeting.
The RNR Hearing does take a bit of time since we have to do a roll call vote. We will send out registration the first of August.
Understanding Intellectual Freedom and Censorship through Niche Academy
Here in the System we have had a few other libraries become involved in the book banning discussion. So this topic might hit your library eventually. Niche Academy is providing a webinar entitled “Understanding Intellectual Freedom and Censorship” will be held on August 2, 2023 at 10:00 pm CT.
“Join Emily Knox for this webinar on intellectual freedom and censorship. Emily will provide an overview of one of the core values of librarianship, intellectual freedom, including the history of the right to access information, the right to freedom of expression, and how censorship intersects with these values.”
If you are interested in this webinar you can register through this link.
Cataloging, Collection Development, and ILL
By Sara Wilson
Collection Development Inspiration
Adult Fiction
Children’s & YA Fiction
New Resources for You!
New Professional Collection Title:
Lead with Collaboration by Allyson Apsey & Jessica Gomez
In the age of time-strapped teachers, shifting standards, and distance learning, how can educational leaders ensure that every staff meeting absolutely could not have been an email? Jessica Gomez and Allyson Apsey set the agenda for planning—and leading—meetings that are purposeful, impactful, and inspiring.
Lead with Collaboration serves as a meeting guidebook for educators who understand that leadership is a collective endeavor. Staff centered and outcome oriented, these carefully curated strategies are designed to serve the needs of any team in any situation. So, whether you’re helping new hires to build confidence, or you’re navigating a crisis with a group of veteran teachers, Lead with Collaboration can offer you the tools you need to make every meeting an opportunity for connection.
- This book was requested to be added to our Professional Collection and is currently checked out. If you have suggestions that you would like to add to our Professional Collection, please call the office or email me at swilson@swkls.org.
In Literary News
Matthew McConaughey Debuts Children’s Book
Actor Matthew McConaughey has written a children’s book, entitled Just Because. According to the author, it’s a book about life lessons meant to empower children and teach them about human interaction. The book will be released on September 9th and is available for pre-order. To learn more about this upcoming title and to access a pre-order link, click here.
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!)
‘Arthur’ Children’s Book Faces Potential Florida Ban Over Claim it ‘Damaged Souls’
Library Board, Director at Odds Over Book Weeding Policy; Special Meeting Friday Afternoon
Some Library Books Banned for Those Under 18 in Montgomery County [Texas]
Book Bans Across the Nation Prompt Nahant [MA] Library Policy Update
Austin’s BookPeople Sues Texas Over New Law Restricting School Library Books
ALA OIF Blog 07.21.23: https://www.oif.ala.org/intellectual-freedom-news-07-21-2023/
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
For All VERSO Users
VERSO Update Today at 9 PM CST/8:00 PM MT
From VERSO Product Manager Julie Cavender:
Hello VERSO Users,
We will be doing a VERSO release on Thursday, July 27, 2023, beginning a little after 7:00pm Pacific (10:00pm Eastern). Downtime is usually about 15 minutes but may be longer if issues come up.
IMPROVED
Improvement to the “Search Alert” process for users to save searches for notification of new material added to the library.
A-G enhanced how users can create, save, and schedule search alerts in VERSO. From the Search Results screen, the “Create Alert” button will display.
Logged-in users with an email address in their Patron Account will be able to create and save a search alert.
Users will briefly see a notification that their search alert was added as well as a link to “Manage” their alerts.
Search Alerts are accessible in Your Account > Search Alerts.
On the Search Alerts page, users can view their saved search alerts. Additionally, users can:
- Select which day of the week to receive email updates for new material matching their saved search.
- Add new Alert. This will bring the user to the Advanced Search screen.
- Re-run the saved search.
- Delete the saved search and discontinue email alerts for that search.
July’s Versed in VERSO Recording Now Available
From VERSO Product Manager Rae Schneider:
Greetings VERSO Users,
The recording and PowerPoint from the July 2023 Versed in VERSO session have been posted.
We covered the following questions/topics in the July webinar.
- What reports can I use for “weeding”?
- How to delete items in a batch for weeding.
- Is there are way to block specific patron groups from placing an item on reserve?
They are available both in VERSO (Support > VERSO) and in the Auto-Graphics Portal.
Register For Versed in VERSO Coming Up 08/08
From VERSO Product Manager Rae Schneider:
Dear VERSO Users,
The next Versed in VERSO will take place on August 8, 2023, at 11:00 AM Eastern / 8:00 AM Pacific.
Please register via this link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3281654514090628190
If you have a question or topic you’d like covered, submit it via this form: https://forms.office.com/r/C8amFqJRiq
As we get closer to the date, we will send out a tentative agenda of topics we will cover.
For ILLers
Sharing About SHAREit Recording Delayed
From SHAREit Product Manager Deborah Hensler:
The recording and slides from “Sharing about SHAREit #17/#17.2 – ILL Basic Training” will not be posted until the week of August 7.
We Still Need Your Videos!
Thank you to everyone who has sent videos for our 1-minute video request for Tech Day! 🙂 We have 4 videos out of a desired 30 (and they are so fun, creative, and all-around awesome!) So, 26 to go! I’m extending the due date for this project to August 15th to give you a little more time so we can hopefully meet our goal! 😉
This is a friendly reminder that we need your help! We are hard at work preparing for the 15th annual Tech Day+ coming up in August. I am working on a special project and to make it GREAT, I need to ask you a small favor.
If possible, between now and August 15th, I would like you, directors, or any staff member from your library to record a single, 1-minute video (the time is very important; it needs to be a minute long) where you introduce one programming idea.
We just need a single idea for a library program. It doesn’t have to be fancy, Pinterest-quality, never-seen-this-before creative or even something you’ve attempted, yourself. We just need one programming idea. Whether that’s a program that you’ve done, one that you’ve been to, one that you’ve seen online or somewhere else, or even one that you’ve thought of but haven’t tried, yet. One idea in one minute.
I’m asking you early so that we can get as many videos as possible, with a goal of 30. Do you have more than one staff member who would like to do a video? Send it! What kind of video? One that you record on your phone is fine! 🙂 Also, no one has to appear in the video. Get creative with it! You can add music, you can do an all-text slideshow if you want – however you want to do it is up to you.
Thank you for considering it . . . I look forward to seeing what you come up with! 🙂 Please send all videos to my email address. I will send out reminders between now and 8/15!! Have fun & I can’t wait to hear all of your amazing ideas. 🙂
Technology
by Christopher Dressler
Being Security Conscious!
The last article in my Cyber-Threat series help you become more aware of the cyberthreats in the “inter-web wilderness”, it’s time to start thinking about how to protect ourselves from becoming a victim of cybercrime. It’s time to arm yourselves with the knowledge of some “weapons” of protection against those cyber-threats.
We want to ensure that everyone feels comfortable and safe, so some of the tools mentioned here might not be suitable for everyone’s specific network environment. Some of these tools are specifically designed for system administrators or network engineers. So, if you would like more details about a specific tool please reach out to us at the office.
Our main goal is to raise awareness about data security and equip you with knowledge, rather than overwhelming you with exhaustive details. We simply want to inform you about the existence of these tools. If any of these piques your interest or you’d like to learn more, we encourage you to reach out to our office. We’re more than happy to assist you!
Here is a list of “weapons” that I will be speaking about over the next few weeks.
- Password Habit – Strength, Algorithms, best practices, Complexity
- Password Managers – KeePass
- Multifactor Authentication
- Updates – Not just for the OS
- Click awareness
- Cyber Hygiene
- Access Control
- PC Maintenance
- Incident response – Data Breach
- Disaster Recover – Data recovery, Backups
- Un/Authorized Software – Crypto-Mining, Packet sniffers, More…
- More…
Always feel free to contact me for training requests, library cards, or technology issues at cdressler@swkls.org or (620)225-1231. – Christopher Dressler – 7/28/2023