Wisconsin Candidates for ALA Office Announced

The following Wisconsin librarians will be candidates for American Library Association leadership positions in elections that start today:

• Rhonda K. Puntney Gould is a candidate for ALA Councilor-At-Large, a position she currently holds. Rhonda is the youth services and special needs consultant at the Lakeshores Library System, Watertown, and a member of the WLA Board of Directors as the immediate past president.
• Francine D. Eppelsheimer seeks to be the ISS Representative to the AASL Board. She is Middle School Librarian/Library Department Chair PK-12, at the University School of Milwaukee.
• Megan Schliesman is a candidate for an ALSC Board Vacancy. Megan is a librarian at the Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) and currently serves as the WLA IFRT newsletter and web editor. 
• Allison G. Kaplan seeks a seat on the ALSC 2014 Sibert Committee. Allison is Faculty Associate at UW-Madison SLIS and currently serves on the WLA Board of Directors.
• K.T. Horning seeks a seat on the ALSC 2015 Wilder Committee. K.T. is director of the CCBC.
• Linda S. Vincent will run for ASCLA Designated Director, Special Populations Constituency. Linda is the director of the Talking Book and Braille Library in Milwaukee. She is the WAPL Chair-elect and a member of the WeLead Task Force.
• Kyung-Sun “Sunny” Kim is running for LRRT Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect. She is Associate Professor at UW-Madison SLIS.

Good luck to you all!

Register for National Library Legislative Day

Registration for the 2012 National Library Legislative Day (NLLD) is now open! To get started simply click here. On that page, you will also find information about making a hotel reservation at the official NLLD hotel. This year’s event will be held at the Liaison Hotel in Washington DC on April 23 and 24.

For 38 years, there has been an annual National Library Legislative Day in the nation’s capital. Each year, over 400 library supporters travel to DC where they receive training and briefings to prepare for meetings with their members of Congress. Many continue their advocacy activities when they return back home by building on the relationships they established at NLLD.

There is a funding opportunity available for NLLD. The White House Conference on Library and Information Services Taskforce (WHCLIST) and the ALA Washington Office are calling for nominations for the WHCLIST Award. Each year, the award is granted to a non-librarian participant in National Library Legislative Day (NLLD). The winner receives a stipend of $300 and two free nights at the NLLD hotel. Click here to apply.

WLA's state coordinator, Julie Schneider, arranges the meetings with legislators, communicates with the ALA Washington Office and serves as the contact person for each state delegation. To reach Julie, call (608) 263-5755 or email jschneider@library.wisc.edu.

ALA President Urges Signing White House Petition on School Libraries

The following is a letter from ALA President Molly Raphael.
Dear Colleagues,
I hope that by now you have heard about AASL President Carl Harvey’s White House Petition on School Libraries. 25,000 signatures are needed by February 4, 2012, in order for this petition to reach the desk of the President. We are more than halfway there, but time is running out!

In addition to signing the petition, please take these steps to ensure that this petition is a success:
1. Spread the word and see that at least ten of your friends or family members also sign;
2. Work with local educational groups, including the local PTA or PTO, and ask them to mount a signing campaign;
3. Work with other community groups and ask them to get involved.

School libraries are everyone’s issue. Cuts in staffing or elimination of school library programs in a specific community affect all libraries in that community, whether it’s the public library now tasked with serving a school curriculum, or higher education librarians teaching remedial information literacy skills. In order for any of us to succeed, we must be willing to work on these issues together to support our broader library eco-system. Please get involved and help create awareness about the need to ensure that every student has access to an effective school library program.

Please note that the petition is a two-step process. You have to create an account, and then return to the web page to sign. We’ve heard reports that it’s also temperamental: if you have trouble signing, please try working in a different browser, or try in off-peak hours. It might not be easy but please be persistent! Our school library programs, and the children we serve, are so worth it.

Let’s show the world that we can mobilize people to speak out for libraries. Anyone 13 or older can sign the petition. Help us make this an issue that commands attention. Thank you in advance for your efforts.

Sincerely,
Molly Raphael
2011 - 2012 ALA President

ALA Urges Public Libraries to Fill Out Internet Use Survey

CHICAGO - The American Library Association (ALA) is encouraging public libraries to participate in the 2011-2012 Public Library Funding and Technology Access Study online survey.


The survey provides an important opportunity for libraries to share information on computer and Internet resources and infrastructure, as well as funding, technology training and other uses of public libraries, such as providing public access technology centers in their communities. The current year’s online survey, available at http://www.plinternetsurvey.org, will be available through Nov. 11, 2011.


"The record-high response rate for last year’s survey clearly demonstrates that library leaders recognize the impact this study provides for their advocacy efforts,” said ALA Associate Executive Director Cathleen Bourdon. “The strength of the study rests on the level of participation. We encourage libraries to keep the momentum going to create the most current and complete snapshot of technology in U.S. public libraries.”
Recent study findings have been cited in hundreds of media outlets, including USA Today, The Washington Post, Fast Company, and The Huffington Post. Data has informed the National Broadband Plan and has been used in congressional and state-level testimony, as well as in comments to national agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission.


The study, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and ALA, continues work begun by John Carlo Bertot and Charles R. McClure in 1994. The survey is managed by the Information Policy & Access Center at the University of Maryland.


More information, including results from the 2010-2011 study, is available at http://www.ala.org/plinternetfunding. Related news, insights and free resources from the study are available on the study blog – Libraries Connect Communities – and Twitter feed (ala_ors).

Lac du Flambeau Libraries Awarded ALA Loleta D. Fyan Grant

Mary Mann and Terry O’Connor, in partnership with the Lac du Flambeau Public Library, have been awarded the 2011 Loleta D. Fyan Grant for a proposal entitled “Revitalizing Libraries in Indian Country: The Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe Research Center.” The project team proposed to create a research space located within the Lac du Flambeau Public Library that will provide the most extensive, diverse and up-to-date multimedia sources on local, regional and national Native American culture, both past and present. Read more on the Wisconsin Valley Library Service Digital Lites blog.

West Bend librarians and community activists to share their story at ALA Annual Conference

Librarians and community members who are fighting to keep library materials on the shelves in West Bend, Wis. will give a special panel presentation at this year’s American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in Chicago, on Monday, July 13.

State of America's Libraries

The value of America's libraries continued to grow in 2008, as people looked for cost-effective resources, according to ALA's State of America's Libraries report, released April 13, 2009. However, public library funding didn't keep pace with use. There are many other key findings in the report. The full text is available at http://www.ala.org/2009state.

Step up to the Plate!

Season four of the national "Step Up to the Plate @ your library" program is well underway. The program teams up baseball and libraries to promote the importance of information skills. The contest centers on a baseball trivia contest. People of all ages are invited to visit their libraries and answer a series of trivia questions that focus on multiculturalism in baseball and baseball around the world, developed by library staff at the Baseball Hall of Fame. Entries are due September 1, 2009. One grand prize winner will receive a trip to the Hall of Fame in October. There are also prizes for the four libraries that bring in the most contest entries. See the contest rules for more information.