November 2017 Edition

Here's what you'll find in this newsletter:
  • A Message from the State Librarian
  • New LSTA Grant Categories
  • Cultural Competency Training
  • Testing and Education Reference Center
  • Promoting Healthy Communities
  • What's New for FRANK Talks
  • DAZL's Arizona Government Portal
  • Reading Arizona Update
  • Upstart Innovation Award
  • November CE Events
  • New Infopeople Courses
Thank you to the Arizona Library Association for an excellent conference last month! It was great to see many of you in Mesa and hear about the outstanding work you are doing in serving Arizonans. The State Library was pleased to sponsor the opening keynote speaker Hildy Gottlieb who challenged us to “Change the Questions, Change the World”.

The conference was an opportunity for us to engage in learning in person, but we know that for many staff, travel is difficult, so both the State Library and AzLA provide opportunities to learn from your desk. Below is information about Infopeople courses and WebJunction webinars. The State Library pays for seats in Infopeople courses which you may use to participate free of charge. We also, along with other state libraries, help support WebJunction so that they can provide their webinars to you at no cost.   Federal LSTA funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services help us to provide these services to Arizona library staff.

AzLA also provides online learning opportunities, and we encourage you to save the date for one that is being planned for the spring. The AzLA Professional Development Committee will host AzLA's first-ever Virtual Conference, "Behind the Counter", on Thursday, April 05, 2018 from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm via WebEx. The free Virtual Conference will be open to all interested attendees but intends to focus on professional development for front-line and paraprofessional library staff. All presentations will be recorded and posted to the AzLA YouTube channel after the Virtual Conference. If you would like to present ,fill out the form linked here by November 30, 2017 to be considered for inclusion in the Conference's programming. The Professional Development Committee will notify all accepted applicants by December 20, 2017. 
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The Arizona State Library has just released the LSTA Grant Guidelines, which have some exciting new updates. Arizona has a new LSTA Five-Year Plan for 2018-2022, which means the categories for the LSTA grants are all new this year to reflect the areas of focus in the five-year plan. The LSTA Grant Categories for 2018 are: Information Access, Informal Education, Inclusive Communities, and Institutional Improvements.

Three mini-grant categories are available this year as well. Mini-grants are smaller awards with a fixed dollar amount to fund specific, predetermined types of programming, and a shorter application and evaluation process for applying libraries. The three mini-grant categories available this year are: Collection and Programming (CAP) Grants, Community Reads grants, and STEAM in your Library Grants.

LSTA Grant Applications are due March 9, 2018. If you are interested in applying for an LSTA grant, check out an LSTA workshop or webinar in January to learn about best practices and what reviewers will be looking for in the LSTA grant applications.

For more information on the LSTA Grant Guidelines, contact Jaime Ball.
Libraries are increasingly embracing people from a multitude of different cultural, ethnic, and linguistic groups from around the world. Other professionals such as foreign service workers, medical professionals, military personnel, and cross-cultural change agents have long relied on cultural competency training to prepare them for effective service.

In this Cultural Competency workshop , participants will learn the basics of cross-cultural competency—understanding cultural differences, how culture shock may affect immigrants, different communication styles (including cultural differences in body language), tips for cross-linguistic communication, and understanding the role of values in cultural difference. Participants will leave with a deep understanding of their own core values.

Learning outcomes:
  • Participants will gain an overview of cultural competency skills.
  • Participants will practice cross-cultural & cross-linguistic skills.
  • Participants will complete a self-assessment of core values in 12 key areas that inform cultural worldview.
  • Participants will also participate in facilitated discussions on how their own and others’ values may lead them to behave differently in similar situations.

This workshop will help participants understand their own cultural lens. It will also prepare them to more effectively serve those from other cultural and linguistic backgrounds and better understand potential conflicts with co-workers from different cultural backgrounds.
Do you have customers submitting college applications and preparing to enter higher education in the coming year? As students prepare to advance their education, many are facing the stress of financing their education.

The Testing and Education Resource Center can help make paying for college easier with their scholarship search tool, for undergraduate and graduate students. No matter who you are, there's money to help you pay for college. With this search, students can find private awards and grants to help cut college costs. Students simply create a free profile, answer questions about themselves and their activities to narrow down the scholarships to the ones that match their qualifications or use a keyword search. For each award, there will be a description of the award, the monetary value, eligibility and application requirements, deadlines, and contact information for the award.

The Testing and Education Resource Center also includes materials on prepping for exams, career advice, and information for international students.
The Public Library Association (PLA) and National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM) are thrilled to announce Promoting Healthy Communities, a new nationwide initiative that will increase public library workers’ health knowledge and skills related to reliable health information resources, as well as support programs related to health and wellness. Throughout the nine-month initiative, PLA and NNLM will:

  • Assess health information needs among public librarians in order to improve existing educational opportunities and develop new ones designed to meet the unique needs of public libraries.
  • Share free resources, information about successful library programs, and professional development opportunities by holding training programs and webinars, publishing articles and podcasts.
  • Unveil a new website (coming in early 2018) for public librarians that gives them easy access to training, tools and resources for consumer health information, health literacy programming and more.

Public library workers are invited to apply for a $500 stipend to attend "Stand Up for Health: Health and Wellness Services for Your Community," a preconference workshop held at the Public Library Association (PLA) 2018 Conference in Philadelphia.

The one-day preconference (Tuesday, March 20) will review core competencies of providing health and wellness services; coach participants through understanding their communities’ needs; and explore how to create fun and informative health-related programming for different age groups and special populations. Participants will learn about core reference and other materials, tips for helping library users evaluate health materials, and an action plan to put your new expertise to work.
This past fiscal year, 52 FRANK Talks were held in Arizona libraries, involving 840 participants. Participants reported being pleasantly surprised that they were encouraged to share opinions and discuss the topics in-depth during the library-hosted FRANK Talks. They expressed their satisfaction with the scholars' ability to guide a facilitated discussion where everyone was welcome to express opinions.
 
Furthermore library staff expressed the following, “It brought a diverse group of patrons together for a civil conversation about a tough topic.” “People coming together to discuss race in a safe space with one another.” “We really enjoy the open, diverse, and civil conversation that takes place during the event.” “Enjoyed the diverse opinions and the safe environment to express them.”
 
We already have 21 scheduled for the current cycle.  Libraries can schedule FRANK Talks here.
 
Here are some of the topics libraries are selecting:
 
  • Educational equity in Arizona: Is This Racist? Racial Literacy and Social Media 
  • Immigrants and the American Dream: We the People Today and Tomorrow 
  • Securing the Borders and Stopping Terrorism: A Constitutional Framework 
  • Educational equity in Arizona: A radical idea, or a necessary goal? 
  • "Fake News”: The Impact of Fake News in the Real World 
  • Parenting & Conversations on Reproductive Health
  • Is This Racist? Racial Literacy and Social Media
  • Weaponized Narrative: Information Warfare as the New Battlespace
Finding Arizona-specific legal information, as well as information about Arizona state government can be a challenge. The State of Arizona Research Library has a number of online suggestions to help.

The Digital Arizona Library's Arizona Government Portal has a wealth of uploaded and searchable resources to explore. Here you can find Executive Orders from the Governor, opinions issued by the Arizona Attorney General, Arizona Legislative history and more.

If you're just getting started with your research, there's even a Guide to Arizona Legislative History to help you get started.

And if you can't find what you're looking for online, you can always contact the Arizona Research Library at 602-926-3870 or submit your question online.
The Digital Arizona Library is excited to announce a platform change for Reading Arizona. Coming soon, select Reading Arizona titles will migrate to Baker & Taylor’s Axis360 platform, and hundreds of additional popular Arizona related titles will be added to the collection.

Patrons will access the collection by logging in with their public library cards, although we hope to implement geolocation in the future. State of Arizona Research Library (STARL) staff will work with B&T and the public libraries to ensure a smooth transition and authentication process for patrons.

In the meantime, libraries with Reading Arizona MARC records currently in their catalogs should remove those title records because the URLs will no longer be active. Updated MARC records will be supplied when they become available for libraries who request them. If you have any questions, please feel free to submit a question via this form .
The Upstart Innovation Award, sponsored by Upstart, a Demco company, (formerly the Highsmith Library Innovation Award) recognizes a public library's innovative and creative service program to the community. Any innovative, cutting-edge program, activity or service will be considered. Has your library developed a dynamic solution to a problem? Have you been able to reach a special population through a unique program? Has your special marketing campaign brought dramatic, measurable results? If so, you're eligible to apply. The winner of this award will receive a check in the amount of $2,000 and a plaque.
November Library Services Continuing Education Events
November 15, 9:00 AM-4:00 PM, ASU Hayden Library Room 133
New Infopeople Courses
November 7-December 4, 2017
November 7-December 4, 2017
November 7-December 4, 2017
November 14-December 4, 2017
November 28, 2017-January 2, 2018
December 5, 2017-January 8, 2018
December 5, 2017-January 8, 2018

Library Development has purchased a selection of registrations for online courses offered by the California State Library's Infopeople. These courses are available to Arizona library staff on a first-come, first-served basis. You will be expected to complete your course and fill out a short evaluation form before enrolling in another.

To learn more about any of these courses, visit the  Infopeople website. Before registering, you will need to email Dale Savage, to receive a coupon code. Please use your work email and include your name, email and phone number, and your library's name, library type, address and phone number and the course you wish to enroll in.
Continuing Education Webinars
The link below provides access to free CE webinars for professional development.

Webinars listed on Webjunction are all free and available for anyone to access.
Library Services is part of the Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records, a division of the Secretary of State. The branches of Library Services include Library Development, the State of Arizona Research Library, the Arizona Talking Book Library, and E-Rate. Library Services programs and activities are supported in part with federal funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Holly Henley
State Librarian and Director of Library Service
Contact
Library Services