[Libs-Or] Letter to Libraries Online

[Salli Lutz]

Letter To Libraries Online
An Electronic Newsletter from the Oregon State Library.......Volume 19, Issue 8, August 2008

Library Board News


STATE LIBRARY BOARD HAS NEW OFFICERS
On July 1st M. Yvonne Williams of Portland took over from Doug Henrichs of Milton-Freewater as Chair of the State Library Board of Trustees. Williams will serve a one-year term as Chair. Henrichs has been Chair of the Board for the past two years. Williams has served on the State Library Board since 2001 when she was appointed to the Board by Governor John Kitzhaber. Williams is a retired librarian who served two terms on the Board of the Multnomah County Library. Another new officer is Sue Burkholder of Eugene who was elected as Vice-Chair of the Board for 2008-09. Burkholder has served on the Board since 2005 when she was appointed by Governor Ted Kulongoski. She is also a retired librarian and recently served on a citizens committee in Ashland that is planning for the future of their library branch. She recently relocated from Ashland to Eugene. Doug Henrichs will continue to serve on the Board Executive Committee as Past-Chair. 

STATE LIBRARY BOARD SUBMITS BUDGET REQUEST TO THE GOVERNOR
On August 1st the State Library's Agency Request Budget for the 2009-11 biennium was submitted for consideration by Governor Kulongoski. The $17.6 million budget would fund all of the current programs of the State Library with allowance for inflation. In addition, the Agency Request Budget proposes four possible enhancements to the budget. These enhancements, or "policy packages" include funding 2.5 FTE in the Library Development Services division with state funds instead of federal LSTA funds, in order to comply with new interpretations of federal law from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. This would free up over $400,000 in LSTA funds that could be used to increase LSTA-funded grants and services for local libraries. Other policy packages would add two new staff to the Government Research Services staff to provide better citizen access to information on the Oregon.gov state portal, and a new student worker position to assist with fund development in Talking Book and Braille Services. Another policy package would double funding for the Ready to Read Grant Program to enable more Head Start programs in Oregon to be served by their local public libraries. The Governor will consider the Board's budget request in putting together his own budget proposal in the fall that will go to the Legislative Assembly next January.
State Library News


2008-2009 READY TO READ APPLICATIONS DUE AUGUST 31
Applications for the 2008-2009 Ready to Read Grant are due August 31, 2008. One hundred and twenty eight public libraries are eligible to apply for the Ready to Read Grant this year. The list of proposed Ready to Read Grants for 2008-2009 reflects the $753,524 annual budget passed by the Oregon Legislative Assembly and signed by Governor Kulongoski. The application was mailed to library directors and children's librarians the first week in July. It is also available on the State Library website to download, complete, and mail. Contact Katie Anderson, 503-378-2528, it you need more information or have any questions.

2008 FOCUS ON CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS INSTITUTE IN SEPTEMBER
The biennial Focus on Children and Young Adults Institute will take place September 14-17, 2008, at the Menucha Retreat Center. The Focus Institute is an opportunity for public library staff who do not have a Masters degree in Library and Information Science to obtain professional development in library youth services. Training topics that will be covered at the 2008 Focus Institute include: child brain development, early literacy storytimes, children's programming, reference for children and teens, readers' advisory for children and teens, teen services, and booktalks. Rosalie Karalekas will be our special guest presenter this year. Rosalie will present a three hour session on the integral connection between music and early literacy, and provide some wonderful ideas on integrating music into storytimes. For details and registrations information please visit the State Library website. 

2008 PUBLIC LIBRARY STATISTICS COLLECTION IS OPEN
The 2008 Public Library Statistical Report is now open on Bibliostat. Login information was mailed July 9. Contact Ann Reed or 503-378-5027 if you have not received the mailing with your login information. Please call or email Ann for help, or check out the FAQ. 

LSTA WANTS YOU! SIGN UP TODAY TO BE A LSTA GRANT PROJECT PEER EVALUATOR

TRAVEL to other libraries! NETWORK with professional colleagues! LEARN about innovations in library service! Peer evaluators provide a thorough, objective assessment report of the results of LSTA grant projects funded by the State Library. See the LSTA peer evaluator page on the Library Development/Oregon State Library webpage for more information, or contact Ann Reed at (503) 378-5027 for more details.

Other Library News


BILL AND MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION PROVIDES OPPORTUNITY ONLINE GRANTS TO OREGON LIBRARIES

The Oregon State Library estimates that the new Opportunity Online Grant Program announced by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on July 15th will increase the capacity of Oregon's public libraries to meet the growing demand for public access computers by about 20% over the next two years. The new Opportunity Online Grant Program will provide 57 Oregon libraries with 604 computers over two years. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will invest nearly $1 million and Oregon libraries will need to need to provide nearly $600,000 in matching funds. Matching funds can come from any local funding source. The libraries were selected by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as libraries that serve high concentrations of people in poverty and libraries that are at risk of having outdated computer technology. The State Library is working with the Bibliographic Center for Research in Aurora, Colorado which is administering the Opportunity Online Grant Program for several states in the West.

READING FOR HEALTHY FAMILIES BUILDS COMMUNITIES OF LEARNING
The Oregon State Library and Oregon Commission of Children and Families received grants from the Paul G. Allen Foundation and Oregon Community Foundation to provide statewide early literacy training to all children's library staff and Healthy Start family support workers. The goals of the Reading for Healthy Families grant are 1) to train all children's library staff and Healthy Start family support workers in Every Child Ready to Read @ your libraryR, 2) for trained children's library staff and Healthy Start family support workers to conduct Every Child Ready to Read @ your libraryR workshops for parents/caregivers, 3) for children's library staff and Healthy Start family support workers to develop a local network for sharing resources and providing early literacy services to families in their community, and 4) to develop a cadre of 12 Every Child Ready to Read @ your libraryR Master Trainers who will be available to provider future training in Oregon on a contractual basis. The grant project is well underway; the first training for children's library staff and Healthy Start family support workers is planned for this Fall. Public library staff should watch for more information.

VALLEY LIBRARY AWARDS PRIZES FOR STUDENT VIDEOS
An innovative project at the Valley Library at OSU has created two new videos to orient students to the library in a way that is fun and engaging. The Library sponsored a contest and offered cash prizes for the best videos. Ben Taucher won the top prize of $500 for "Tommy's Trip to the Library" and Amy Dennis and Mary Needham took home a $100 runner-up prize. The winning video is featured on the Library website in time for new students arriving on campus for the fall term. The contest was made possible by the Robert Lundeen Faculty Development Grant which funds innovative projects developed by library faculty. Hannah Rempel, Margaret Mellinger, Paula McMillen and Loretta Rielly were the recipients of the grant that funded the video project.

P.S. (From the State Librarian)


Sometimes I lament the fact that in Oregon we no longer refer to public libraries as being "free." In the days of the Public Library Movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a "free" public library usually referred to a private, subscription library (usually serving just the well-to-do) that became supported by taxes, and thereby became freely available to all. 
Oregon no longer has any libraries with 'free' as part of their name, but this is not true in the rest of the country. Using the library finder tool on the website of the National Center for Education Statistics, I recently was able to determine that there are still 596 public libraries in the U.S. that have 'free' as part of their name. That's about one out of every 15 public libraries in the U.S. New York state has a large portion of all the "free" libraries (206) and New Jersey has a lot too (123). Other states with lots of "free" libraries are Massachusetts (62), Pennsylvania (46), Vermont (34), and New Hampshire (32, including my favorite: the Frost Free Library). Not all the "free" libraries are in the East. California has 12 and even Montana has two.
In the earliest reports of Oregon public libraries to the State Library I have run across three "free" libraries. In 1909 the library that had been operated by the Ashland Library Association since 1891 became the Ashland Free Public Library, operated and funded by the City of Ashland. In the report to the State Library for the year 1909, the librarian joyously notes that the library was "made free" on March 1, 1909. Back in those days the library in Sumpter was known as the Sumpter Free Public Library, and the first library in Bend was known as the Bend Free Public Library. 
Over time "free" libraries seem to have fallen out of fashion in Oregon and other states. When Oregon public library laws had a major overhaul in the 1975 session of the Legislature, most of the language about "free" libraries that had survived many decades was taken out. I'm sure they thought they were modernizing the language by doing this.
For me the word 'free' is a much better way to say "tax supported," and it coveys a positive image of a healthy community that is pulling together to fund the services that really make indispensable contributions to the quality of life for everyone. Maybe a "Jackson County Free Public Library" would not have lost two heart-breaking levy elections and would still be the best county library in Southern Oregon. Maybe a "Josephine County Free Public Library" would not be struggling to raise enough money through private "memberships" to reopen their libraries that have been closed for over a year now. 
I'd look forward to the day when these counties and other communities in Oregon that are struggling to fund their libraries could once again celebrate the idea of a library "made free." - Jim Scheppke
Contacts at the Oregon State Library

Technical Assistance: 503-932-1004.

Library Development: 503-378-2525, MaryKay Dahlgreen, Mary Mayberry, Darci Hanning, Ann Reed, Patty Sorensen, Katie Anderson.

Talking Book and Braille Services: 503-378-5389, Susan Westin.

Government Research and Electronic Services: 503-378-5030, Robert Hulshof-Schmidt.

State Librarian: 503-378-4367, Jim Scheppke.

LTLO Editor: 503-378-2464, Salli Lutz.
Letter to Libraries Online is published monthly by the Oregon State Library. Editorial office: LTLO, Oregon State Library, 250 Winter St. NE, Salem, Oregon 97301-3950, 503-378-2464, editor: Salli Lutz.
Letter to Libraries Online is available free of charge and is available only in electronic form on the publications page at the Oregon State Library's homepage: http://www.oregon.gov/OSL. Opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Oregon State Library. News items or articles should be sent to Robin Speer, or mailed to LTLO, Oregon State Library, 250 Winter St. NE, Salem, Oregon 97301-3950.
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Salli Lutz
Administrative Services Coordinator
Oregon State Library
503-378-2464
lutz_salli at state.or.us 



Salli Lutz
Administrative Services Coordinator
Oregon State Library
503-378-2464
lutz_salli at state.or.us 
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