<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD><TITLE></TITLE>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.5848" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY><!-- Converted from text/plain format -->
<TABLE width="100%" bgColor=#caeeff border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD bgColor=#b3cbff>
<DIV align=center>
<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 8, August
2009</FONT></P></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><BR>
<TABLE width="100%" border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD borderColor=#cccccc bgColor=#cccccc>
<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
COMMITTEE LOOKS AT NEW STRATEGIES </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The outgoing chair of the State
Library Board, Yvonne Williams, appointed a committee of three Board members to
work with Library staff to develop new strategies to address the problem of
Oregonians without adequate public library services. In the latest data, for
2008, 19% of Oregon’s population has inadequate public library services. This
includes approximately 10% of Oregonians who have no public library services and
9% who have substandard services. The State Library has been tracking this
statistic for the past two decades as an <A
href="http://oregon.gov/DAS/OPB/obm.shtml">Oregon Benchmark</A>. As recently as
2007, the percentage of Oregonians with inadequate public library services had
been reduced to 13%. However, more recently there has been an increase in the
number. The new State Library Board chair, Sue Burkholder, will be joined by
Board members Sam Hall and Cliff Trow to examine the data, and the strategies
that have been used in the past to address the problem. In recent years the
Board has given grant funding to grassroots organizations like the Lane Library
League and the Linn Library League to plan and advocate for improved library
services, particularly to Oregonians without services. The results have been
mixed. New library districts have been formed in the Creswell area of Lane
County, in Wasco County, and in the Ontario area. However, there are still
significant numbers of Oregonians without service, particularly in the
mid-Willamette Valley. The committee hopes to report to the Board later in the
year on some new strategies that can be employed to try to extend public library
services to unserved and underserved populations in the state. According to 2007
data, Oregon is one of 23 states that have not established public library
service for all citizens. That year Oregon ranked 11th in the US in the
percentage of unserved population.<BR></FONT><BR></P>
<TABLE width="100%" bgColor=#cccccc border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD>
<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">NEW STATEWIDE DATABASE
PROVIDER IS GALE/CENGAGE LEARNING</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The State Library and Gale/Cengage
Learning have signed a five-year agreement (two year contract with an option for
three additional years) for a suite of 18 general periodicals and reference
database products. The contract with EBSCO will expire on August 31, 2009, and
all public, academic and school libraries will have access to the Gale databases
before that date. The procurement process began nearly a year ago and was led by
the Oregon Department of Administrative Services State Procurement Office.
Members of the Oregon library community participated in creating the RFP,
evaluating and scoring proposals, and conducting negotiations with the high
scoring vendor, Gale/Cengage Learning. The Statewide Database Licensing Advisory
Committee, led by Mary Finnegan of the Corvallis-Benton County Library, worked
with a team of reviewers from all types of libraries and made a recommendation
to the LSTA Advisory Council at their meeting in May. In June, the State Library
Board accepted that recommendation and the process moved ahead under the
guidance of the State Procurement Office until a contract was signed on July 31,
2009. Because the annual cost of the Gale databases is less than the amount of
LSTA funds budgeted for databases in 2009-10, the State Library staff will be
recommending to the LSTA Advisory Council and the State Library Board that the
entire cost of the statewide contract be paid using LSTA funds, eliminating the
need for library payments. State Library and Gale staff have begun transition
planning and will be in contact with libraries about next steps. The library
community can expect access to a transition website in early August, and
trainings will be offered throughout the state as soon as they can be scheduled.
For more information, please contact <A
href="mailto:marykay.dahlgreen@state.or.us">MaryKay Dahlgreen</A>, 503-378-5012.
</FONT><BR></P>
<P align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><BR>OSL IS PARTNER IN
SUCCESSFUL NEW LAURA BUSH GRANT APPLICATION</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The state libraries in Oregon,
California, Washington and Idaho, working with the Peninsula Library System in
California received a $170,025 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library
Services as part of the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program. The state
libraries will use the grant to undertake a project entitled “Western Regional
Fellowship: Public Libraries and Baby Boomers.” The project will train 100
public library staff from the three states to design and deliver improved
library services to older adults from the baby boom generation in their
communities. Fellows will learn from leaders in the field of aging, health,
lifelong learning, and civic engagement, applying their lessons to libraries.
Fellows will attend a 2 ½ day learning institute to be held in Portland in
October, 2010. Approximately 25 Oregon library staff will be selected as fellows
to participate in the program. Interested public librarians should watch for
further announcements in the months ahead.<BR></FONT></P>
<P align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">2009-2010 READY TO
READ APPLICATIONS DUE AUGUST 31</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Applications for the 2009-2010
Ready to Read Grant are due August 31, 2009. One hundred and twenty nine public
libraries are eligible to apply for the Ready to Read Grant this year. The list
of proposed Ready to Read Grants for 2009-2010 reflects the $720,101 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 second week in July. It is also available on the <A
href="http://oregon.gov/OSL/LD/youthsvcs/aboutready.shtml">State Library
website</A> to download, complete, and mail. Contact <A
href="mailto:katie.anderson@state.or.us">Katie Anderson</A>, 503-378-2528, for
more information.<BR><BR></FONT></P>
<P align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">2009 PUBLIC LIBRARY
STATISTICS COLLECTION OPENS<BR></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The 2009 Public Library Statistical
Report is available <A href="http://collect.btol.com/">here</A>. Note the new
login URL. Login information was mailed July 17. Contact <A
href="mailto:ann.reed@state.or.us">Ann Reed</A>, 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 <A
href="http://libdev.plinkit.org/faqs-for-state-statistical-reports">FAQ</A>.</FONT></P>
<P align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><BR></FONT><FONT
face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">LSTA WANTS YOU! SIGN UP TODAY TO BE A LSTA
GRANT PROJECT PEER EVALUATOR</FONT></P>
<P align=left><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">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 <A
href="http://www.oregon.gov/OSL/LD/lstapeer.shtml">LSTA peer evaluator page</A>
on the Library Development/Oregon State Library webpage for more information, or
contact <A href="mailto:ann.reed@state.or.us">Ann Reed</A>, (503) 378-5027 for
more details.</FONT></P>
<TABLE width="100%" bgColor=#cccccc border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD>
<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">OREGON PUBLIC
LIBRARIES STILL RANK HIGH IN NATIONAL RANKINGS</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">In June the Institute of Museum and
Library Services published the latest compilation of national public library
statistics for fiscal year 2007 on their <A
href="http://harvester.census.gov/imls/pubs/pls/pub_detail.asp?id=122">website</A>.
IMLS collects data from all 50 state library agencies and the District of
Columbia Public Library for the report. The report includes rankings of all 50
states and DC on a variety of public library statistics. Historically, Oregon
has ranked highly in a number of areas. The report for FY 2007 is no exception.
Oregon ranks second in circulation per capita, second only to Ohio. However, in
2007, Ohio’s lead over Oregon, which had been only 0.51 circulations per capita
in FY 2006, increased to 0.94. Oregon also continues to rank second in
interlibrary loans borrowed per capita, second to Wisconsin. Oregon moved up to
a 7th place ranking in local operating revenue per capita, from a 9th place
ranking in FY 2006, and also moved up two places to 9th in total operating
expenditures per capita. Oregon public libraries lag behind most other states in
reference transactions per capita (30th), operating revenue from state sources
(42nd) and public-use Internet computers per capita (36th). Oregon public
libraries are fairly average in terms of their staffing, ranking 25th in total
staffing per capita, and 18th in MLS librarians per capita.<BR><BR></FONT></P>
<P align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">LIBRARY SUPPORT STAFF
CERTIFICATION SET TO LAUNCH IN JANUARY</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The ALA Executive Board recently
approved plans for the Library Support Staff Certification Program. ALA will
begin accepting applications for candidacy in January, 2010. The Library Support
Staff Certification Program (LSSCP) addresses the need for a national
certification program to help the profession standardize expectations for
library support staff, and to help support staff master critical job
competencies. The program will also provide educators with guidance for training
curriculums and help employers articulate job requirements. The project is
funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the American Library
Association. It is a partnership between the American Library Association and
the Western Council of State Libraries. For more information go to the Library
Support Staff Certification Program <A
href="http://www.ala-apa.org/lsscp/">website</A>.<BR><BR></FONT></P>
<DIV align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">CURRY PUBLIC LIBRARY
TO HOST LINCOLN EXHIBIT </FONT></DIV>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The Curry Public Library in Gold
Beach is the only public library west of the Rockies to be chosen to host a
traveling exhibit, <I>Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War</I>. The
exhibit is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American
Library Association and the U.S. Constitution Center. The exhibit will open at
the Library in February, 2010. The Library also will be holding a lecture series
in February and March featuring Oregon historians. Library Director Corey Bard
recently traveled to Philadelphia to attend a planning workshop and to receive a
$2,500 grant in support of the project. According to an NEH announcement,
"<I>Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War</I> offers a fresh and
innovative perspective on Lincoln that focuses on his struggle to meet the
political and constitutional challenges of the Civil War.”<BR><BR></FONT></P>
<P align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">VISIT A GREAT PAST
LSTA PROJECT – OREGON INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY’S KLAMATH WATERS DIGITAL
LIBRARY</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The Klamath Waters Digital Library
is an outstanding past LSTA-funded project produced by the Oregon Institute of
Technology Library. The site documents many sides of the controversy that swirls
around the waters of the area. Representatives from all concerned parties were
on an advisory board to the project and contributed to its robust collection.
Project manager Kelly Peterson noted that in some cases, it was the first time
the parties had talked directly to each other. The local Bureau of Land
Management office made some rare documents accessible, including a vintage map.
The map turned out to be the only source to help searches locate a WWII plan
crash site. Visit their <A
href="http://klamathwaterlib.oit.edu/">website</A>.<BR><BR></FONT></P>
<TABLE width="100%" bgColor=#cccccc border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD>
<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"><I>In honor of Oregon’s
Sesquicentennial, I continue to devote my column to brief sketches of early
Oregon libraries. The beginnings of library service in 19th century Oregon is
interesting and deserves to be better known and appreciated by people who work
in libraries today.</I></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Last month I wrote about the first
subscription library in Oregon, one that struggled and disappeared after only a
decade. This month, by contrast, I want to write about the most successful
subscription library in Oregon, the Library Association of Portland. Here is an
account of the founding of the Library Association of Portland written by Mirpah
Blair, a librarian at the State Library, in 1926:</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">“The Library Association of
Portland was organized, in 1864, largely through the efforts of L. H. Wakefield.
Seeing the need of such an organization, Mr. Wakefield began a canvass for
subscriptions, and having secured $2,500 in a few days, a call was issued for a
meeting of the subscribers. … Dues were placed at $3 a quarter and there was an
initiation fee of $5 which was reduced to $2 in 1867 and abolished in
1869.”</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">In 1869, the Association found a
temporary home in rooms over a bank in downtown Portland, at First and Stark
Streets, and occupied this location for 24 years, rent free.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The fortunes of the Library
Association of Portland improved though at the end of the 19th century. In 1889
the Association was left a substantial bequest that enabled them to build their
first library building in 1893 at Stark and Broadway. Also in the 1890’s they
began to receive a number of large gifts and bequests of money and collections.
Finally in 1901, through the leadership of the Portland Women’s Club, working
with the Oregon Federation of Women’s Clubs, the first public library enabling
legislation was passed in the Oregon Legislature. This enabled what had been
private subscription library, open to only a few, to become tax-supported public
library, open to all, through a contract with the City of Portland in 1902.
</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">In 1903 the law was amended to
allow counties as well as cities to establish tax-supported public libraries,
but the law was written in such a way as to apply only to Multnomah County. In
that same year the Library Association of Portland contracted with Multnomah
County to operate their library as a free county library for everyone in
Multnomah County. This arrangement lasted through most of the 20th century,
until 1990, when it was decided that Multnomah County should operate, as well as
fund, the Multnomah County Library. On July 1, 1990, the Library Association of
Portland, having successfully operated a library for 126 years, graciously
handed it over to the County, where it has been well-supported ever since. – Jim
Scheppke<BR></FONT><BR></P>
<TABLE width="100%" bgColor=#cccccc border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD>
<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
href="mailto:libs-or-request@listsmart.osl.state.or.us">libs-or-request@listsmart.osl.state.or.us</A>,
or visit the website: <A
href="http://listsmart.osl.state.or.us/mailman/listinfo/libs-or/">http://listsmart.osl.state.or.us/mailman/listinfo/libs-or/.</A>
All materials may be reprinted or distributed
freely.</FONT></P><BR></BODY></HTML>