System Spotlight
By SWKLS Staff
Pictures From Our Travels
We didn’t travel far from home, this week. Okay, we didn’t travel from home at all. 🙂 We just went down the street and popped in on our friends at our local public library right here in Dodge City. Watch out – we might pop in on you, next! 🙂
Dodge City Public Library Displays
Dodge City Public Library has some creative displays that highlight resources that meet the needs of their diverse community as well as local organizations and public health issues. Way to customize for and engage your community, DCPL!
Kansas Heritage Center Displays
The Kansas Heritage Center brings together history and pop culture with their fun displays! If you’ve ever wondered about the house that inspired our state song, “Home on the Range,” you can see their Home on the Range display and read all about it and see the photos. Of course, they have historical literature on display, as well. This looks great! Well done, Kansas Heritage Center!
Future Dates & Training Opportunities
March 24, 2023, 10:00 am – System Board Meeting at Grant County Library, Ulysses (Hybrid)/Registration Link & Zoom Link
March 28 & 30, 2023, 1:30 pm – Online Grant Writing Course through K-State/Registration Link
March 30, 2023, 1:30 pm – After-Lunch Course “Universal Design for Libraries”/Registration Link
March 31, 2023, 10:00 am – Summer (Reading) Program Workshop, at Finney County Public Library, Garden City/Registration Link
Consulting
By Richard Brookman
March 24 System Board Meeting Zoom Link
As of this time we still do not have a quorum for the March 24, System board meeting, at Grant County Library in Ulysses. If you haven’t registered please do so at this link. We have extended the deadline to register to Tuesday, March 21, at Noon. The System office needs you to register so we know who will be in-person and staying for lunch. This will allow Tandy to turn in the number staying for lunch for the caterer.
Summer Library (Reading) Workshop
The Summer Library (Reading) Workshop is fast approaching. It will be at the Finney County Public Library on March 31, with registration for the day at 9:30 am and the workshop starting at 10:00 am. If you are interested in attending and haven’t signed up yet there is still time to register. Follow this link to register so we can get a count for the lunch order.
First After-Lunch Course for 2023
March 30, at 1:30 pm, the first After-Lunch Course for 2023, will be “Universal Design for Libraries” presented by Carli Spina. Carli Spina is an Associate Professor and Head of Research and Instructional Services at the Fashion Institute of Technology.
“Making libraries accessible and inclusive can be a challenge. Fortunately, the principles of Universal Design offer guidance on how to create libraries that are usable and welcoming for all patrons. This presentation will introduce the principles of Universal Design, explain how this concept contrasts with accessibility, and offer concrete advice on how to apply these principles at your library. These examples will provide advice for those looking for low-budget, high-impact changes that can improve accessibility and those who are planning for large-scale renovation projects.”
If you are interested in attending you can register at this link.
2023 Round of On-Line Grant Writing Workshops through K-State
This year’s round of Grant Writing workshops has been scheduled and registration is open. There is a fee of $60.00 for the course. The course is online so you would not have to travel. The first course is March 28 & 30, 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm each day.
“This Grant Writing Basics course consists of two (3-hour) online live sessions with many additional resources. Time for interaction with other participants is an important aspect of the class; even experienced grant writers pick up tips and are reenergized after consulting with peers. The course is suited for people who have never written a grant (50% of our audience), as well as those who have a lot of experience and want to take a fresh look at their current practices. This online course is adapted from a highly rated face-to-face training with proven results.
Participants are encouraged to bring their grants or grant ideas to share. The format of the class allows a writer to formulate their grant ideas into a grant proposal, if they are ready.
Classes are recorded for later reference or classes missed.
You will learn:
- Sources of data for community needs
- Where to find grants
- Elements of a great grant proposal
- Practicing the grant elements: Problem, Outcome, Activity, Evaluation, Budget”
For more information you can contact Nancy Daniels at nkdaniels@ksu.edu.
If you are interested here is the registration link for the March Course.
Cataloging, Collection Development, and ILL
By Sara Wilson
Collection Development Inspiration
Adult Fiction
Children’s & YA Fiction
New Resources for You!
StoryWalk®s
These new StoryWalk®s are now available! Happy Within and It’s Skeleton Time are both bilingual books (English/Spanish) and 21 Cousins is English with some Spanish words introduced.
STEAM Collection
These new robots are now available for check-out! If you would like to demo one, first check our VERSO (typing “SWKLS STEAM Collection” into the QuickSearch bar to see if one is available), then call our office or email Sara and we’ll arrange a day/time to drop it off at your library for 30 days!
In Literary News
Over 1K Simon & Schuster Manuscripts Stolen
A former employee of Simon & Schuster has stolen over 1000 manuscripts by impersonating publishers and agents over email. He pled guilty in a New York court to wire fraud and will be sentenced April 5th. Why and how did he steal the manuscripts and which authors were affected? Click here for more information.
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 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!)
Florida Will Review Social Studies Textbooks for ‘Prohibited Topics’ (Flordia)
Experts Say Attacks on Free Speech are Rising Across the U.S. (From PBS)
Davis School District Bans Nobel Prize-winning Book ‘The Bluest Eye’ from all Libraries (Utah)
Metro Detroit Prosecutor, Librarian Clash Over LGBTQ+ Novel (Michigan)
ALA OIF Blog 3.3.23: https://www.oif.ala.org/intellectual-freedom-news-03-10-2023/
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
Tomorrow (3/18) is Global Recycling Day!
“Out with the old, in with the new,” I always say! In the spirit of Global Recycling Day, maybe it’s time to spring clean your collection. Do you have several books that need recycled, but you’re not sure where to start? Do you need an extra pair of hands? You can call or email me here at the office and I will gladly help you to evaluate your collection and get a weeding project underway.
For those titles you’d like to hold on to, but that need some reinvigoration, come to #TrendyLibrarian on May 5th to hear System Director Richard Brookman talk about breathing new life into your collection. He’s got ideas about cover art, pop culture, and displays that are sure to get those pages turning again. Hope to see you there!
In Case You Missed It
For All VERSO Users: VERSO Update
There was an update to VERSO, this week, on Wednesday. Click here to see the release notes for details.
From VERSO Product Manager Rae Schneider:
Important information about Google Analytics – If your library uses Google Analytics to track VERSO page views, you will need to switch your account to use the new Google Analytics 4 (G4) tag. With this release, VERSO will be switching to the new G4 tracking method which is replacing the old UA tracking method. Google is discontinuing the UA tracking method in July 2023, and old UA tags will no longer work in VERSO as of March 15, 2023. For more information visit: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9744165#zippy=%2Cin-this-article
For ILLers: SHAREit Update
There was an update to SHAREit, this week, on Wednesday. Click here to see the release notes for details.
Technology
by Christopher Dressler
Tech Clinics/Business Working Day
Last week we had Tech Clinics/Business Working day at the SWKLS office and I think it was a good success. Bernardo introduced and demonstrated to our attendees the different types of 3D printers that we have here at the office. The first is and Ender 3 and prints with PLA. It does a great job and is one of the better printers I have seen.
The second is a ToyBox. This small printer is easy to use, and it doesn’t take up too much space. The media it uses is PLA and the company calls it “Food”. Our official taste tester here at the office gave it a thumbs down for taste and texture.
Thirdly, we have a resin printer. This printer uses a liquid media and using UV light produces a rigid plastic object. Quality of these prints are slightly better than the Ender 3.
A couple of other demonstrations we did were the Osmo kits. These fun and family friendly games are geared for children 4 to 10. These game help children learn to read, count, and be creative with art. Compatible with Fire Tablet and iPad. We then demonstrated our Snap Circuits. These fun educational toys are used to make simple electronic circuits that help children understand electric connectivity.
Some of the other sessions we had included Quickbooks How-To and Excel for intermediate users.
Thats all I have for this week. We hope to see you at the next Tech Clinics/Business Workday.
As always, if you have specific needs for a video or an in-person training, please feel free to reach out via phone or email.