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<H1><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A name=Top></A>Letter To
Libraries Online</FONT></H1>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">An Electronic Newsletter from
the Oregon State Library.......Volume 19, Issue 4, April
2009</FONT></P></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><BR>
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<DIV align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><B><A
name=Board></A>Library Board News</B></FONT></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">STATE LIBRARY BOARD
HEARS REQUEST FROM OLA</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">OLA President Mary Ginnane is
asking the State Library Board for support for OLA’s new strategic planning
process, Vision 2020. The Board will take up the request at their meeting on
April 20th at the State Library in Salem. The $10,000 in planning funds
requested by OLA would match $5,000 already appropriated by OLA for the new
planning process led by Teresa Landers of Corvallis. The Board contributed to
earlier planning efforts that produced the Vision 2000 and Vision 2010 plans.
The Board will also hear recommendations from the Talking Book and Braille
Services Advisory Council to spend interest from the TBABS Endowment Fund to
help jumpstart the digital talking book program later this year. The Library of
Congress will provide the new players, but a very limited number of new digital
books. The major cost for TBABS will be to purchase the blank cartridges that
TBABS will use to make copies of books from the NLS database of digital talking
books. In other business, the Board will look at a revision to the Library’s
budget reduction plans requested by the Legislative Fiscal Office. They will
also hear a briefing on the 2008 Quality Education Model School Libraries
Report. An Open Forum will be held at 2 p.m. where anyone may address the Board
on any topic.</FONT></P>
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<DIV align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><B><A
name=OSLNews></A>State Library News</B></FONT></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">LIBRARY SERVICES AND
TECHNOLOGY ACT GUIDELINES AVAILABLE FOR FFY2010 GRANT CYCLE</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Devising a digitization project?
Opening an outreach project? The LSTA competitive grant program may be for you.
Take a look at the grant guidelines through the <A
href="http://oregon.gov/OSL/LD/LSTAcomp.shtml">LSTA Competitive Grant
Program</A> page. A brief three page proposal is due April 10, so apply now. For
more information on Oregon’s LSTA program, see the <A
href="http://www.oregon.gov/OSL/LD/lsta.shtml">Oregon’s LSTA Program</A> page.
Feel free to check out the proposals from past years, as there may be a project
you wish to replicate! We welcome calls to talk over grant ideas, or find out
about similar grants that may have been made in previous years. Contact <A
href="mailto:ann.reed@state.or.us">Ann Reed</A> at (503) 378-5027.</FONT></P>
<P align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">OREGON 150 BOOKS IN
ACCESSIBLE FORMATS</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Talking Book and Braille Services
has more than 60 of the State Library's <A
href="http://www.oregon.gov/osl/or150.shtml">Oregon 150 sesquicentennial book
list </A>available in accessible formats. These formats include 4-track
cassette, digital download, and Braille. For more information on the titles
available and how to check them out, visit the <A
href="http://www.tbabs.org/OSL/TBABS/oregon_reads.shtml">TBABS Sesquicentennial
website</A>. These books are ready for checkout to registered individual and
institutional accounts. Most titles are available for immediate check out, but
some will require a short wait as they are ordered from other regional talking
book libraries. Call TBABS at 503-378-5389 or 800-452-0292 for more
information.</FONT></P>
<P align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">2008 QEM & SCHOOL
LIBRARIES REPORT AVAILABLE</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The 2008 Quality Education Model
(QEM) final report is now posted on the <A
href="http://www.oregon.gov/OSL/LD/school/index.shtml#QEM_School_Library_Report">School
Library Services</A> section of the State Library web page. At the request of
the School Library Consultant, a contact at the Oregon Department of Education
creates a school library staffing and materials expenditures report which is
generated from data that school districts submit to the state annually. The
Consultant compares this information to the staffing and materials expenditures
standards set by the Quality Education Commission to determine which schools had
libraries that met QEM. For the 2006-07 school year, 46 of 1,263 schools, or
3.64%, met those standards. That is a drop of 15 schools from last year’s
results. Beaverton, Neah-Kah-Nie, and Woodburn school districts had a high
proportion of their school libraries that met QEM. Hopefully this information,
when presented with research that shows the positive impact school librarians
make on student learning, will help interested parties make a case for strong
school library programs in their districts. For a list of schools that met QEM,
see Appendix A in the report. Contact <A
href="mailto:jennifer.maurer@state.or.us">Jennifer Maurer</A> or call
503-378-5011 for more information.<BR></FONT></P>
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<DIV align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><B><A
name=OtherNews></A>Other Library News</B></FONT></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">CENTRAL LIBRARY NAMED
PORTLAND’S FAVORITE BUILDING</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">To honor Oregon’s sesquicentennial,
the Bosco-Milligan Foundation conducted a poll to determine the <A
href="http://www.visitahc.org/content/150-favorite-portland-buildings">150 Most
Favorite Buildings</A> in Portland. Getting the most votes, not surprisingly,
was the Central Library, a building beloved by generations of Portlanders since
it was built in 1913. The Georgian-style building was designed by A.E. Doyle who
also designed the second most favorite building, the old U.S. Bank Building,
built in 1916. In the early 1990s the Central Library saw extensive renovations
and improvements to bring it up to the standards of a modern library. In the
past it has been reported that the Central Library gets more annual foot traffic
than any other building in the state, including the Rose Garden.</FONT></P>
<P align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">OREGON POET HONORED BY
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS</FONT></P>
<P align=left><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Mary Szybist, an
assistant professor of English at Lewis and Clark College, was selected by U.S.
Poet Laureate Kay Ryan to receive a Witter Bynner Fellowship from the Library of
Congress. Szybist was only one of two poets selected for the honor nationwide.
She will receive a $10,000 fellowship, and she gave a reading at the Library of
Congress in February. She plans to give another reading this fall at Lewis and
Clark College that will be sponsored by the Center for the Book at the Library
of Congress and the Oregon Center of the Book at the State Library. Szybist is
the author of <I>Granted</I> (2003) which was a finalist for the National Book
Critics Circle award.</FONT></P>
<P align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">NORTHWEST CENTRAL IS
NEW AND IMPROVED</FONT></P>
<P align=left><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Thanks to an LSTA grant
from the Oregon State Library, <A href="http://nwcentral.org/">Northwest
Central</A> has been given a brand new look by the professionals at Insite Web
Publishing. When you visit Northwest Central you’ll find lots of ways to learn.
Click the Events tab to find online and in-person trainings, conferences, and
meetings. The Resources tab is your gateway to tutorials, presentations,
handouts, web links and more. Try out the Speakers tab to find a local expert to
invite to your library. Click the Join Now button to become a member of this
community of learners. Post your events to the calendar and share your ideas and
learning tools. Handouts and presentations from the 2009 Oregon Library
Association Conference will be posted to Northwest Central to prevent printout
waste. Type “OLA 2009” into the search box or browse the topic categories to see
conference presentations. This community-driven continuing education website
serves Oregon, Washington and beyond. It’s currently supported by Portland
Community College Library. Questions or comments can be sent to <A
href="mailto:admin@nwcentral.org">admin@nwcentral.org</A> or the <A
href="http://nwcentral.org/?q=node/21">Northwest Central Advisory Group
member</A> nearest you.</FONT></P>
<P align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">FREE HEALTH REFERENCE
TRAINING </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">"An Ounce of Prevention: Health
Reference Basics" will be broadcast on April 16 from 9:00 am – 10:30 am. This
webcast is part of the Soaring to Excellence 2009 – Back to Basics training
series. Staff from Oregon libraries may participate in this webcast at no
charge. This training series is a staff development opportunity in the best
sense of the term. It gives staff a solid framework for problem-solving in
today's complex library environment and they are cost-effective ways for staff
to stay current and informed on libraries' use of technology. You and your staff
can maximize these opportunities by bringing a group of interested staff
together to watch; organize discussions about the impact of the shows' content
on your library; call, fax, or email questions to the panelists during the
program—it’s interactive! And, follow up with a discussion on what next steps
your library can take. For more information go to <A
href="http://bcr.org/training/partners/teleconferences/index.html">BCR.</A></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">These webcasts are made available
through the Bibliographic Center for Research (BCR) and the College of DuPage.
BCR membership for all Oregon libraries is paid for through the Oregon State
Library with LSTA funds. DVDs of this webcast and previous webcasts are
available via ILL from the <A
href="http://catalog.willamette.edu/search/X?SEARCH=soaring%2Bto%2Bexcellence&SORT=D&searchscope=2">Oregon
State Library</A>.</FONT><BR></P>
<P align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">PENDLETON PUBLIC
LIBRARY RECEIVES NATIONAL GRANT</FONT></P>
<P align=left><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The International
City/County Management Association announced grant awards of $500,000 to nine
cities, towns, and counties to support new projects developed by local
governments that utilize public libraries to address critical local needs and
provide services that strengthen their communities. The Public Library
Innovation Grants are funded through ICMA’s partnership with the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation. The Pendleton Public Library Wired for Safety project
will ride the crest of increased teen energy in the library and throughout the
community. Using a mix of technology (a city-wide wireless network and other
enhancements) and expanded services (programs for teens and community safety
involvement programs), the project will partner the strength and security of
local law enforcement with the empowering culture of the public library to
create an environment for accessing information that is comfortable and
welcoming for a diverse demographic mix of citizens. The project will pool both
human and financial resources from the City of Pendleton police department,
public library, facilities department, and additional grant funds to achieve the
goals of the project.</FONT><BR><BR></P>
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<DIV align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A
name=PS></A><B>P.S. (From the State
Librarian)</B></FONT></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The book world saw its own version
of March Madness last month as the two e-book giants, Amazon and Sony, went head
to head. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Amazon took an early lead in the
contest by announcing the Kindle 2, a great improvement over the original Kindle
e-book reader. Not only does it have a much better design, but it can read to
you with what I find to be a very listenable synthesized voice (check out Jeff
Bezos’ <A href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgxSR72TWrY">demo)</A>. It also
keeps your place in the book or newspaper or magazine so you can combine reading
and listening, something car commuters will appreciate, I’m sure. Amazon already
led Sony in the number of books available in its e-book store (240,000 versus
less than 100,000), but that was about to change.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">In basketball, when you’re behind,
it sometimes helps to bring in a big man. Think Shaq or the Trail Blazers’ Greg
Oden. On March 18th, Sony brought in a big man. Google. Sony announced a deal
with Google that would make about a half million pre-1923 public domain books
that Google has digitized available for free from the Sony Reader store. With
that announcement their inventory instantly became twice as big as
Amazon’s.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Never mind that most of these
public domain books will be unappealing to the average reader. Sony is hoping
that consumers will opt for their Reader over the Kindle based on the size of
their inventory and the availability of free books.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">And this might just be the first
manifestation of an ongoing business relationship between Google and Sony that
could eventually bring hundreds of thousands of in-copyright but out-of-print
books to the Sony store, as Google implements the settlement it reached with two
publishers associations last fall. The settlement allows Google to sell access
to these more recent books, so long as it shares the proceeds with publishers
and authors. These books, collectively, have much greater sales potential than
the public domain books. They won’t be free.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">And where does this leave
libraries? Well the irony, of course, is that the 500,000 public domain titles
that Google is making available to Sony (for an undisclosed price) came from the
academic research libraries that partnered with Google several years ago. So
will the next batch of in-copyright books, if Sony manages to get them as well.
And for now, libraries are left on the outside looking in. Both the Amazon
Kindle and the Sony Reader are proprietary devices that have little practical
application in libraries, given their cost of ownership and restrictions on
their use. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Maybe it’s time that libraries band
together and develop an affordable e-book reader that we can begin to build our
own post-Gutenberg business around. And while we are at it, we can quit giving
away our assets, and possibly our future, to giant corporations. – Jim
Scheppke</FONT><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><BR></FONT></P>
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<DIV align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><B><A
name=Contacts></A>Contacts at the Oregon State
Library</B></FONT></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Technical Assistance:
503-932-1004.<BR><BR>Library Development: 503-378-2525, <A
href="mailto:marykay.dahlgreen@state.or.us">MaryKay Dahlgreen</A>, <A
href="mailto:jennifer.maurer@state.or.us">Jennifer Maurer</A>, <A
href="mailto:darci.hanning@state.or.us">Darci Hanning</A>, <A
href="mailto:ann.reed@state.or.us">Ann Reed</A>, <A
href="mailto:mary.l.mayberry@state.or.us">Mary Mayberry</A>, <A
href="mailto:katie.anderson@state.or.us">Katie Anderson</A>.<BR><BR>Talking Book
and Braille Services: 503-378-5389, <A
href="mailto:susan.b.westin@state.or.us">Susan Westin</A>.<BR><BR>Government
Research and Electronic Services: 503-378-5030, <A
href="mailto:robert.hulshof-schmidt@state.or.us">Robert
Hulshof-Schmidt</A>.<BR><BR>State Librarian: 503-378-4367, <A
href="mailto:jim.b.scheppke@state.or.us">Jim Scheppke</A>.<BR><BR>LTLO Editor:
503-378-2464, <A href="mailto:april.m.baker@state.or.us">April
Baker</A>.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><I>Letter to Libraries Online</I>
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: <A href="mailto:april.m.baker@state.or.us">April Baker</A></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><I>Letter to Libraries Online</I>
is available free of charge and is available only in electronic form on the
publications page at the Oregon State Library's homepage: <A
href="http://www.oregon.gov/OSL">http://www.oregon.gov/OSL</A>. 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 <A
href="mailto:april.m.baker@state.or.us">April Baker</A>, or mailed to LTLO,
Oregon State Library, 250 Winter St. NE, Salem, Oregon 97301-3950.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">To unsubscribe from libs-or, either
send an 'unsubscribe' message to <A
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or visit the website: <A
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All materials may be reprinted or distributed freely.</FONT></P><BR><BR>
<P><FONT size=2>April Baker<BR>Administrative Services Coordinator<BR>Oregon
State Library<BR>250 Winter St. NE<BR>Salem, OR 97301-3950<BR>Phone:
503.378.2464<BR>Fax: 503.585.8059</FONT> </P></BODY></HTML>