Future Dates & Training Opportunities

---

System Spotlight

By SWKLS Staff

---

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

FROM PLAINS COMMUNITY LIBRARY

---

Consulting

By Richard Brookman

Daylight Savings Time

Just a quick reminder for everyone about Daylight Savings Time. Sunday, November 6, Daylight Savings Time Ends. So remember to set your clocks back 1 hour!

Election Day and Veterans Day Activities

This next week has two events you can spotlight, by making displays or joining in with your community on local programs.

The first event, November 8, is Election Day. Make displays of past Presidents/Governors and/or National/State Legislators using books, Blu-rays or pictures. Honor the past and encourage voters to make their voices heard. For those that are not able to vote, provide instructions/pamphlets on how they can register to vote for the next election.

Next is Veterans Day on November 11. If your library has multiple display areas you can have the Election Day display and a Veterans display in the other display area. Your communities will also host events for Veterans day. To show your support you could look into who is providing the program and see if their is anything your library could do to assist them. They might have it covered for this year, but they could put you down as a helper for next year.

Family Creative Learning Workshop

November 10, 2022, PLIX is teaming up with Ricarose Roque and Celeste Moreno of Creative Communities group at University of Colorado Boulder. The workshop will discuss how you can host your own Family Creative Learning Facilitated Workshop and is free to all who would like to attend.

‘The program this group has developed is a workshop series that engages children and their families to learn together—as designers and inventors—through the use of creative technologies. These workshops are designed to build on families’ relationships and cultural backgrounds and to strengthen their social support and expertise around computing.’

If this sounds interesting to consider for your library you can register through this site.

Early Literacy Symposium

The 2023 Early Literacy Symposium is set for April 14, 2023, at the Shawnee-Topeka County Public Library. Registration opens January 11, 2023, however the System Consultant Representatives encourage anyone interested to register as early as possible, because the sets are limited and they have sold out in the past. There is a $20.00 registration fee.

“This engaging session will bring together early childhood educators and library and museum professionals who work with families of children aged birth through Kindergarten and their families. 

Through a combination of professional instruction and group interaction, we will explore three key topics:

• Engineering and Empathy – helping young children explore STEM concepts
• Mind in the Making – promoting and practicing executive function life skills
• Family Engagement – best practices, given a pandemic

Sponsored by North Central Kansas Libraries System and Northeast Kansas Library System. Contact Sandy Wilkerson (swilkerson@nckls.org) or Anna Foote (afoote@nekls.org).”       

For additional information you can visit their website here.

---

---

---

Cataloging, Collection Development, and ILL

By Sara Wilson

---

---

In literary news, this week . . .

Penguin Random House/Simon & Schuster Merger Blocked by Court

From Andrew Albanese at Publisher’s Weekly: ” [. . .] The order comes a little over two months since the conclusion of a blockbuster trial that captivated the publishing industry, and nearly two years since Penguin Random House parent Bertelsmann announced its proposed acquisition of Viacom CBS subsidiary Simon & Schuster for a hefty $2.175 billion.

On November 2, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice announced its suit to block the deal, with U.S. attorney general Merrick Garland saying the deal, if consummated, would give Penguin Random House ‘unprecedented control over this important industry.'”

Here is a link to the rest of the article: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/90798-court-blocks-penguin-random-house-s-s-merger.html

---

Training and Education

From the State Library of Kansas: “Join PBS Books, WETA, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and ALA to learn about THE U.S. AND THE HOLOCAUST, a film by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick & Sarah Botstein and free educational resources available to engage in this important topic.” THE US AND THE HOLOCAUST Resources Webinar for Libraries (Programming Librarian). This webinar is available November 8!

---

Technology

As many of you are aware, Microsoft has released the new Windows 11 operating system for general availability. Bernardo and I have examined the hardware requirements for the current computer inventories of our members and have added an extra column to your online inventory view that denotes whether a given computer can be upgraded to Windows 11. (see: https://forms.swkls.org/inventory/)

Overall, 63% of the current computer inventories that SWKLS manages are not compatible with Windows 11. Microsoft will end support for the Windows 10 operating system version on October 14th 2025, which gives roughly three years to make appropriate upgrades or replacements.

The first thing we will need to do is ensure that each of our member libraries obtain a single (1) Windows 11 volume license so that the SWKLS I.T. department can legally re-image / reload your Windows 11 computers as they are purchased or as they need servicing. As a reminder, new computer purchases are shipped to the SWKLS office so that they can be re-imaged with the correct settings and applications before being physically deployed at your library. This process (re-imaging) requires that the member library owns at least one volume license key for the operating system version being used. The current price for a single (1) Windows 11 license is currently $55.82. We can add this onto your next new computer order.

In regards to getting across the finish line with the Windows 10 end of support in 2025 and transition to Windows 11, there are a few different options.

The first option is purchasing / replacing non-compatible computers. New computers are already shipping with windows 11 from the manufacturers and SWKLS is ready to support them. New orders will be for computers that run Windows 11.

The second option is taking advantage of a free upgrade for compatible computers. Microsoft is offering a free upgrade to Windows 11 through Windows update for computers that meet the new minimum hardware requirements. This is similar to the free upgrade option that Microsoft provided Windows 7 users when they released Windows 10 back in 2015. Eligible computers can be determined by using the inventory page (see: https://forms.swkls.org/inventory/).

The third option is to look at your actual need for patron / staff computers and determine if some could be eliminated. With the decrease in computer usage as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by uncertainty of a rebound in usage afterwards, many of our member libraries elected to decrease their patron computer count afterwards as the demand had not returned. The caveat here is to be sure you are within accreditation guidelines for computer count (see: https://wiki.swkls.org/index.php?title=Accreditation_Computer_Requirements)

As next year will be an accreditation application year which also entails an updated technology plan, I wanted to give you this information ahead of time. I know three years seems a long way off, but I also know that time flies when we are having fun!

---