Future Dates & Training Opportunities
All times are in Central Standard Time (CST).
June 14, 2021 at 2:00 pm – American Recovery Plan Act Kansas Grant Overview Workshop/Zoom Link
June 18, 2021 at 10:00 am – Online only Full Board Meeting/Registration Link – Board Meeting Zoom Link
June 21 – July 9, 2021 – System CARES Grant Registration Time Period
June 21 – July 29, 2021 – American Rescue Plan Act Registration Time Period / Information Page
June 21 – September 16, 2021 – American Library Association Libraries Transforming Communities / Information Page
June 23 – 29, 2021 – American Library Association Virtual Annual Conference/Registration Link *President Obama is the closing speaker.*
June 29, 2021 – Emergency Connectivity Fund Application Open
July 1, 2021 – SWKLS CatExpress renewal year begins with new amounts for every library. (See below for details.)
July 5, 2021 – SWKLS office will be closed.
September 1 at Haskell Township Library – Very Merry VERSO Launch 
September 24 at Gray County Fairgrounds – Tech Day+ 2021
October 27-29, 2021 – Kansas Library Association Conference (Wichita) / Information Page
Consulting
2022 System Plan & Director Certification
I wanted to relay here what I relayed at the Full Board Meeting Friday. The 2022 System Plan has been approved and I have been certified as the director of the System by the State Library of Kansas Advisory Board meeting on June 11, 2021.
Full System Board Meeting & ARPA/ECF Grant Discussion
If you were unable to attend last Friday’s Full Board Meeting and the American Rescue Plan Act & Emergency Connectivity Fund discussion afterwards here is the link to our Wiki to view the videos: Full Board Meeting Video / ARPA & ECF Discussion
Libraries Transforming Communities focus on Small & Rural Libraries
American Library Association has opened applications for the next round of grant funding in their Libraries Transforming Communities Grant. The filling time period is June 21 – September 16, 2021. Information on the grant can be found at this webpage. Some of the funding has supported in libraries have been: media literacy; COVID-19 safety; and Unemployment.
CARES System Requests
The System Office will start ordering for the public libraries that have submitted their CARES request forms, that have been approved, on Monday. Remember there is still time to put in a request. Public libraries have until July 9 to do so.
Major Continuing Education Grant
With conference season starting up don’t forget that the System still has the Major Continuing Education Grants for 2021. If you are interested in applying for one of the Major Continuing Education Grants please feel free to do so at this link.
Tumble Books is Coming Back
Jeff Hixon, of the State Library, let the System directors know that the State is in negotiations to place Tumble Books back on the State’s Website of Online Resources. He wanted us to inform our members that this version will be the teachers version and encourage us to let your local school district teachers know that they will be able to use it in the classes. Once all the details are worked out the State Library will set up workshops for training.
Costume Update
All costumes have arrived at the office. We are in the process of cleaning them after shipping with a lent roller. Also after they costumes have been in boxes for so long we are leaving them out so they can start reforming to the shape they are meant to be in.
We already have some libraries that have reserved certain costumes. If you are interested in reserving a costume for Richard or a local staff member to dress up in please email or call Tandy or Richard.
Cataloging, Collection Development, and ILL
CatExpress Update
Each SWKLS member has an updated number of units to use in CatExpress, and our system will save $1,360 this year. (Thank you to Lori Juhlin at DCPL for making this possible!) We have a document for your reference on the Wiki. It is very important to keep track of your units, otherwise the system will be charged $2.73 for each overage. / Link
A message was sent out to all our catalogers via the SWKLS cat listserv. If you did not receive this message and would like to be added to the cataloging listserv, email Kelly.
Experiencing Problems with Cover Art?
SWKLS has an annual subscription with Baker & Taylor for the use of its cover art service called Content Café. Cover art images belonging to popular titles and well known authors should appear automatically when a new record is added to the catalog (SWiftnet). (Cover art for rare or self-published titles often needs to be added manually.) While performing original cataloging, I have noticed that Content Café does not work properly. I have written a help desk ticket with B&T, and additional system feedback would be greatly appreciated. If you are experiencing a problem or delay with the automatic addition of cover art, please let me know! Email the ISBN or title/author to Kelly, and it will be forwarded to B&T. Thank you!
Technology
ALERT! Receipt Printers
We contacted Star Micronics and they have confirmed an issue with the latest Windows 10 update and their thermal receipt printers. Their development team is working on a fix and we will monitor for the announcement of it’s release. In the mean time, many of our member library receipt printers will not function properly. The affected models are primarily USB connected TSP113 and TSP143 units, but we have had calls on other models such as the networked TSP143’s. As soon as a fix is available, we’ll work on getting everyone printing again.
SWKLS Office Telephone System
The SWKLS office telephone system upgrade is nearly complete! We have requested that our phone numbers be moved (ported) from our current provider into our new system. This may cause those numbers to be temporarily unavailable for a brief period at some point during the next few weeks. Our fallback numbers will be active beginning today and will remain active indefinitely. If you have an issue contacting us via our regular telephone number(s), please use one of the fallback telephone numbers:
1-620-646-9440
1-888-310-9096
System Spotlight
System Spotlight
If you would like to highlight your library, we’d like to hear from you. Whether it’s about your activities, programs or anything else that is going on that you’re proud of we can hold a spotlight on your library here in the Weekly Wrap UP if you email Jody at jhattrup@swkls.org
