A Message from the State Librarian |
|
As students across the state are starting school or returning to classes in August, most are beginning the academic year online. When reaching out to your patrons virtually, this is an excellent time to spotlight the variety of resources available in the statewide database package for parents who are helping students with their learning at home as well as for adult learners. Arizonans can explore thousands of online articles and images from popular magazines, scholarly journals, current newspapers and other reference works.
The fifteen county libraries collaborate with the State Library to offer these authoritative resources through Arizona’s public and tribal libraries, with support also provided by federal funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act.
Just as many Arizona libraries provide online collections and resources in addition to the statewide package, the State Library’s Digital Arizona Library includes additional resources from our collections. These may be accessed by all Arizonans.
For library staff looking to learn and share new best practices in library services that are continuing to evolve as a result of the pandemic, you’ll find links to many online opportunities in the articles below. We hope you’ll take advantage of them!
Thank you for all you are doing to serve your communities in these challenging times.
Stay safe and well,
Holly Henley
State Librarian
|
|
Resources & Opportunities |
|
There's Still Time!
CARES Supplemental Funding Opportunity
Applications Due August 7
|
|
The State Library received $657,394 in CARES Act funding from IMLS to help “prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, including to expand digital network access, purchase internet accessible devices, and provide technical support services.”
State Library staff developed three funding opportunities to support Arizona residents through their libraries: CARES Express, CARES Expanded and CARES Supplemental. Visit https://azlibrary.gov/libdev/funding to learn more about the first two phases.
CARES Supplemental, the third phrase, focuses on library partnerships with museums and workforce development organizations. Libraries of all types are invited to apply for grants of up to $10,000 to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.
- Building on the role of museums and libraries as trusted spaces to strengthen community connections and healing through exhibitions, programs, and events.
- Developing short- or medium-term solutions relating to gaps in digital infrastructure such as broadband, local network solutions, and/or providing access to devices or training.
- Designing and delivering formal and informal digital learning resources to support individual and community response and recovery efforts.
- Creating, preserving, or delivering digital content that improves or expands access to materials and collections during and after the pandemic.
- Developing tools and technologies that provide for the protection of community assets and enable people of all backgrounds and abilities to discover and use museum and library collections and resources.
- Advancing shared systems, networks, and open-source technologies to enhance access, optimize adoption and use, and sustain the management of digital assets.
- Leveraging new digital learning resources and new media communications tools to foster audience engagement, learning, and conversation within broader social networks.
Applications are due August 7, 2020. Apply online today. The Notice of Funding Opportunity, which includes guidelines and an application worksheet, is available here.
|
|
|
|
Reading Arizona Resources
|
|
Are you looking for additional e-content to offer your patrons? Reading Arizona can help!
WEBSITES: We’ve provided resources to help you and your patrons understand what Reading Arizona has to offer. You can put the following video, print, and link on your website near our logo or in your description of additional eResources:
-
15-second ad for Reading Arizona: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=A135FQuOwN4
-
Brief description of Reading Arizona: Reading Arizona is a selection of nonfiction and fiction eBooks and eAudiobooks for all ages interested in the people, places, and history of Arizona.
-
Link to our Reading Arizona landing page: Learn how to create a free Reading Arizona account and see the latest news at ReadingArizona.org!
MARC RECORDS: Make Reading Arizona titles easily visible to your patrons as they explore your collections by importing MARC records for our perpetual access titles into your catalog. E-mail Kori Tueller at ktueller@azlibrary.gov and specify whether you need MARC-8 or UTF encoded MARC records for your ILS.
|
|
Arizona Libraries Reimagine
Summer Reading - August Spotlight
|
|
Show Low Public Library kicked off their Reimagined Summer Reading with a “drive-by” celebration. Library staff set up a tent by their drive-through book drop and handed out summer reading bags and popsicles. This was a huge success with many families driving through and saying hello to Ms. Heather!
They are holding a few in-person summer reading activities, but limiting them to 8 participants. Held outside on a large covered patio, the tables are spread out for social distancing and registration is required. Take and make kits with everything they need to make the activity at home are also available.
The library will be handing out NASA @ My Library make and take activities bags. Each month a new space related theme is introduced. July was “Milky Way,” August is “Stars,” and September will be “Planets.”
Halfway through their summer reading program, they will hold an online event entitled “Fablehaven Dance Party.” This is an invitation-only event for those who have reached a certain number of points on READsquared. Those who rise to the challenge will receive a Zoom invite and can join library staff as they dance to some popular Disney songs!
The Show Low Public Library staff are sad that they couldn’t hold their normal summer reading program, but have learned to be creative in how they are reaching out to their patrons. The library staff want to make sure that reading continues and have seen their circulation numbers holding steady. They have over 200 participants signed up for summer reading and have every reason to think that the Show Low community will finish a Reimagined Summer Reading strong!
|
|
Virtual FRANK Talks Programs |
|
The humanities are an important way to connect people to one another, not just for now, but in the future that we make together! Arizona Humanities will soon launch virtual FRANK Talks and Arizona Speaks presentations. Scheduling for FRANK Talks just opened on Monday, August 3.
What's the Same
- Applications for virtual programs will continue to be submitted at the Grants and Programs dashboard on the Arizona Humanities website.
- Libraries are responsible for marketing, scheduling the program with the Presenter or Facilitator, and for overseeing audience participation during the program.
- Programs will be one hour in length.
What's New
- Host site will fully participate in the digital program from start to finish.
- Programs will consist of a pre-recorded presentation, followed by a live discussion session with the Presenter/Facilitator.
- To ensure a safe space and to protect against disruption participants must pre-register for programs via an event sign-up link.
-
FRANK Talk participation will have a registration limit to foster quality community conversation.
-
AZ Speaks presentations have no participation limits and can accommodate up to 500 participants per program.
- All hosts must participate in a brief webinar training. The recording can be found here.
To learn more and to browse the available speakers and topics, go to azhumanities.org. If you have questions please contact Arizona Humanities via email or phone (602)257-0335.
Additional contacts:
|
|
Arizona City Directories Available on the Arizona Memory Project |
|
Filled with early phone numbers and addresses of residents as well as business advertisements and street listings, city directories provide a glimpse of what life was like in the big cities, hamlets, and boomtowns of Arizona. These city directories are some of the most used physical materials from the State of Arizona Research Library’s holdings and are now available online for free on the Arizona Memory Project.
This collection may be useful to share with patrons who need the resources but have been unable to access them due to library closures. City directory research can fulfill important purposes such as obtaining a Certificate of Occupancy on a building or structure. Directories are also frequently used for genealogical research.
Researchers using the City Directories of Arizona collection will be able to browse directories from the 1880s to the early 1960s and view using any digital device at http://go.azsos.gov/azcitydirectories.
For additional cities and years available from our print collection, library patrons are encouraged to contact us via LibAnswers with their needs.
|
|
AzLA Service Award Nominations |
|
Every year AzLA recognizes library professionals from across the state. Do you know someone who has shown outstanding leadership? Someone setting a standard in teacher librarianship? Please consider nominating them for an AzLA Service Award. Maybe it is even you who has a great career idea or has implemented a great initiative. Then nominate yourself.
These awards are for people who have stood out among their peers. Chances are you know someone in your own library who is deserving of a service award. The association depends on its membership to identify worthy candidates, so please consider nominating a colleague today for one of the awards listed at https://www.azla.org/page/ServiceAwards.
Nominations for an AzLA Service Award include the 2020 Nomination Form found on the AzLA website together with a minimum of two (2) additional letters of support. Deadline to submit is September 12, 2020.
|
|
Professional Development News |
|
Certificate in Early Childhood Literacy
Application due by August 15, 2020
|
|
Would you like the opportunity to learn from some of the leading early literacy experts? Now is your chance to build early literacy skills while learning online from instructors such as Saroj Ghoting, Claudia Haines, Katie Scherrer and Lynn Baker.
Requirements:
- Employed by a publicly funded library
- Completion of all coursework by August 31, 2021
- Upon completion of coursework complete a brief online survey
Selection criteria:
-
Complete online application by August 15, 2020
-
Email endorsement from Supervisor sent to dthrockmorton@azlibrary.gov by August 15, 2020
- Current library role includes work with early literacy education for children 0-5 years of age
- Experience in conducting youth programming
- Commitment to complete 6 courses
- Desire to share gained knowledge with colleagues and co-workers
The following classes will be offered:
- Foundations of Early Literacy
- Technology, Literacy, and Young Children
- Family Service Partnership/Outreach Programs
- Programming for Children with Special Needs
- Supercharging Your Storytime
- ****Participant choice****
|
|
ARSL 2020 Conference Registration |
|
Registration is open for the Association for Rural and Small Libraries 2020 Conference SOAR with Libraries: Sharing Our Amazing Resources. The conference will be held virtually from September 28 through October 2. Conference rates are $50 for ARSL Members or $65 for Non-Members.
Whether you serve 1,000 people or 50,000, this conference is rich with ideas and resources. Register now!
|
|
Niche Academy for
Arizona Library Staff
The Academy for Arizona Library Staff at Niche Academy has over 300 webinars and tutorials specifically for library staff. The Academy is organized by topic but the amount of training located there can be overwhelming. Here are some trainings that may be of interest:
Leading with Emotional Intelligence: This webinar explores the five most important traits you can develop to help you navigate uncertainty and to help library leaders use emotional intelligence to manage through economic crisis.
Preparing for an Uncertain Future: Reversing Our Assumptions: This highly-interactive webinar, which is designed to include ideas from the participants, will explore ways you use an “Assumption Reversal” approach to respond to what you are currently facing and what you can do to prepare yourself for a rapidly-changing work and personal environment.
|
|
Live Webinars on
Wednesday Mornings
|
|
Set aside Wednesday mornings for professional development! Every Wednesday morning, PCI webinars produces a live webinar specifically designed for library staff. A subscription purchased by the Arizona State Library allows Arizona library staff access to both the online and archived webinars.
To access the live webinars, follow the link below and register for the webinar. A link will be sent to you with log-in instructions. If you have missed any of the live webinars, they are all accessed on the Academy for Arizona Library Staff on Niche Academy.
Here are the upcoming live webinars, which are all on Wednesdays at 9:30 am Mountain Standard Time:
|
|
Upcoming WebJunction Webinars |
|
WebJunction hosts free live webinars that are open to all. Each session covers a high-interest library topic presented by real-world practitioners and experts. Webjunction is hosting one live webinar in August, and they have hundreds of archived webinars that are extremely informative.
The live webinar for August is:
Opportunity often hides behind adversity. As libraries look to a future of post-pandemic challenges, from looming budget cuts to increasingly urgent community needs, David Lankes, in The "New Normal" Agenda for Librarianship, encourages us to consider framing the positive opportunities, rather than loss, in the changes that lie ahead. If we are intentional, we can use these circumstances to grow our organizations and to address the digital access disparities in small and rural communities.
Webjunction also offers courses on many different topics relevant to libraries. Two topics that we get many requests for training are Customer Service and Collection Development. Here are some archived trainings on those topics that you may have missed:
Every day, public libraries open their doors to people facing ongoing life challenges, such as poverty, mental health symptoms, substance abuse, or domestic violence. The library may be the only protective place they can turn to, the only place that can counter the debilitating negative factors that govern their lives. Join this webinar to explore the ways the library functions as a "protective factor" and to understand how the library, staff, and patrons exist within a community-wide context of safety.
No one enjoys having to deal with an angry patron, but with proper preparation, and by developing the specific set of skills required, you can minimize conflict, defuse patron anger and identify the underlying issues so that you can help find the best solution. This course is designed to help you improve your skills in dealing effectively with angry customers. It outlines a two-step method for responding to anger, by teaching the staff member to first deal with the patron's feelings, then deal with the person's problem. It includes practice with realistic patron encounters.
This course, aimed at library staff new to cataloging, provides an introduction to the purpose, importance and varieties catalogs. It also provides the learner with a basic orientation to standard cataloging activities.
Mention collection development and most librarians think of the selection of new materials for the library. Weeding - removing library materials from your collection - is an often forgotten, yet integral part of collection development. In this course you will first discover why that is true, and then learn the techniques of weeding, develop policies and avoid common pitfalls.
|
|
Upcoming InfoPeople Courses |
|
Infopeople offers a variety of webinars and self-paced online courses on topics of high interest for library staff. Webinars are free, and the Arizona State Library has purchased a block of registrations for the online courses. Arizona library staff may register for courses by sending an email to Ann Marie Creegan with the following information:
- The course name and dates
- Registrant’s name
- Registrant’s email
- Library name
- Library address
- Library phone number
Here are the upcoming Infopeople courses
Through a variety of readings and other resources, assignments and optional activities, online discussion forums, and guided field practice, this six-week online course provides: best practices, tips and techniques, and the opportunity to put them into immediate action meeting your community's interests in reading and media discovery. It’s likely that interests and media format preferences have been affected by the COVID19 pandemic and we will address alternative approaches to helping community members find leisure media and reading in spite of library service changes. In addition to becoming familiar with a variety of published tools that support excellent advisory work, you will develop your own customized aids and become ready to collaborate with other agencies in your community, and beyond.
When: August 25-October 5, 2020
Through assignments, online meetings, discussions and readings, participants will learn the importance of bilingual early literacy practices that supports a child’s home language and creates a welcoming environment for the families. For participants that are not fully bilingual, the course will cover how to create a bilingual storytime with a partner that is bilingual.
When: August 25-September 7, 2020
During the course, you will have weekly readings, do practical assignments, and participate in discussions to share ideas and experiences. In Weeks 3 and 4, we will schedule two optional online meetings. These meetings are a great way to connect, ask questions, and explore the course material in a friendly, informal environment. Those who cannot participate in person will be able to listen to the archived recording of the meetings.
When: September 22-October 19, 2020
This four-week online course will provide an overview of library cataloging and classification and prepare you to do copy cataloging. Through reading materials, online forums, and individual exercises, you will gain knowledge of basic cataloging rules and tools, commonly used controlled vocabularies, the Dewey Decimal Classification system, and MARC21 format. Applying this knowledge, you will be able to decode MARC bibliographic records and perform basic copy cataloging.
When: September 29-October 26, 2020
This presentation will equip library staff to gather user-friendly information from reliable and nonpartisan sources in order to offer an invaluable, evolving online voting guide tailor-made for their communities.
When: August 11, 2020 at 12:00pm
Nationwide about 40% of children under 5, and closer to 80% of those under 2 are cared for by informal providers, often referred to as family, friend and neighbor (FFN) caregivers. Join us to learn more about a unique library service model, Stay & Play, specifically designed to support these informal childcare providers with information, resources and community connections.
When: August 12, 2020 at 12:00pm
|
|
More Online Learning Opportunities |
|
Hopefully, in-person training will resume soon! Meanwhile, there are many opportunities for online learning. Below are just a few.
YALSA Webinars
The Arizona State Library has a subscription for Arizona library staff to participate in the YALSA webinars. The August YALSA webinar is School Librarians and School Counselors: Computing Together. This webinar will be a discussion about promoting careers in computers and coding. Discover ways that you can create collaborative connections to support equity in computer science and technology for all students.
Register for this webinar on the YALSA website.
When: August 13, 2020 at 11:00 am.
Libraries Build Pathways to Wellbeing
Margo Gustina, Southern Tier Library System
Through mixed methods research, the Rural Library Service & Social Wellbeing project found that a) public libraries are a component of social wellbeing outcomes in rural communities, and b) there are ways libraries provide service that influence outcomes. In this webinar you’ll hear about the design and outcomes of our research, the Evidence-Based No Rules Tools under development, and how qualitative data coding made it all possible. This free webinar is part of the RIPL webinar series.
Webinars from around the Country
NCompass Live is the Nebraska Library Commision’s weekly webinar series covering a variety of library topics and activities. It is free and open for anyone to view. Registration for these webinars can be found here or explore archives of past webinars.
The Texas State Library and Archives Commission also offers many free webinars that are open to anyone in the library field. Registration for upcoming webinars can be found here. Links to archived webinars can be found here.
The Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM) offers training for librarians on health topics. The list of upcoming trainings can be found at their website.
Every month, the Wyoming State Library compiles a training calendar that lists all of the free webinars and trainings offered for the month. The list can be found on their website.
Booklist offers free webinars on a variety of topics, offering immediate tips, tools, resources, and new ideas for collection development and readers’-advisory work. The list of upcoming webinars can be found on their website.
AASL, the American Association for School Librarians, offers free webinars specific to teacher librarians in their Learning Library.
Here are some other places that free webinars can be found. These are not specific to libraries but offer useful information:
-
Grantspace,a service of the Foundation Center, offers information and resources that are specifically designed to meet the needs of grantseekers. Many free webinars can be found at Grantspace on the topic of grant writing.
-
ICMA and GOV LOOP offer free webinars that are specific to leadership in government agencies.
-
TechSoup offers free nonprofit webinars on everything from social media, to marketing and outreach, to technology planning.
|
|
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 Services, Archives and Records
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
