In This Issue
President's Corner ~ RILA Mentorship Program ~ Intellectual Freedom Committee ~ RILA Awards ~ 2020 RARI Book ~ NEFA Grants ~ Library Freedom Institute ~ Roving Roger ~ Summer Reading ~ News from RILINK ~ Librarian’s Guide to Homelessness ~
News from RI Libraries
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As we begin 2020, I’m very pleased to introduce a brand new service for RILA members: our very first Mentorship program. This structured program is geared for library staff at all levels, especially new and mid-career employees who are looking for career guidance and support. I know many of you who can share lessons learned from your years of library experience and impart noble nuggets of wisdom. Won’t you be a mentor for someone else? Now is your chance. See the announcement below for all the details. A special thanks to our mentorship committee for their hard work, and especially to Dorothy Swain, Director of the Greenville Public Library, and Kieran Ayton, Associate Professor at Rhode Island College, for spearheading this effort.
Wishing you all a happy & healthy New Year!
Julie Holden, RILA President
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RILA Launches Mentorship Program!
Did you know that January is
National Mentoring Month
? Mentoring is a wonderful opportunity to make a difference in the life of another person and to gain new insights into our rich profession. You can also give and receive guidance and take your career to the next level.
RILA is officially launching its new Mentorship Program this year, and we would love your participation. Please join our program today to develop lasting professional relationships with others in the field.
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The IFC Wants You!
The RILA Intellectual Freedom Committee (IFC) seeks new members to help lead the committee into this new decade.
The IFC is RILA’s voice advocating for freedom of thought and expression as outlined in the
Library Bill of Rights
.
With a new committee cohort, we plan to bring awareness to issues such as censorship, privacy, Internet filtering, the First Amendment, and more by planning events and programs open to the library community and beyond. The IFC will continue to present programs at the RILA Annual Conference and endorse Banned Books Week.
If you feel you can be an advocate for the Library Bill of Rights and are willing to help spread the word about these issues, click the button below to fill out a short recruitment form.
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Call for RILA 2020 Award Nominations
Do you know people working in libraries or supporting libraries who should receive recognition for the great things they are doing? Well, here is your chance to do just that!
Please consider nominating a deserving colleague or library ally for dedicated service or a special achievement. Awards will be presented at RILA's annual business meeting at the RILA Conference in May. The RILA Executive Board will determine award recipients based on letters of recommendation, which are due by Tuesday, March 31, 2020.
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Rhode Island Center for the Book Announces 2020
Reading Across Rhode Island
Title
Reading Across Rhode Island
, Rhode Island’s One Book, One State community read program, kicks off its 18th year by encouraging everyone to read
Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore
by
Elizabeth Rush
with this year’s Honorary Chairs Janet Coit, Director, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, and Mark Searles, NBC 10 Chief Meteorologist.
Reading Across Rhode Island
is a program of the Rhode Island Center for the Book, made possible through a vibrant collaboration of librarians, teachers, book group leaders, and readers from across the state.
Click the button below to learn more about this book, the author, and events surrounding this year's selection.
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Grant Opportunities through the New England Foundation for the Arts
Looking for funds to support your next art program or performance?
The New England Foundation for the Arts offers over 15 grants to artists and organizations to support the creation and presentation of their work.
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Library Freedom Institute Applications Now Open
Applications are open now for Library Freedom Institute (LFI). LFI teaches librarians the necessary skills to thrive as privacy advocates, from educating community members to influencing public policy.
LFI is free and requires a commitment of 5 hours per week (including 1-2 hours in real time). It is taught mostly online, with one in-person weekend session.
The application deadline is February 10, 2020, with the next cohort beginning in March 2020.
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Host Roving Roger (Williams!) in Your Library
Secretary of State Nellie M. Gorbea is pleased to offer
Roving Roger,
a free exhibit for Rhode Island libraries.
Roving Roger
features a 7-foot-tall, polychromed statue of Roger Williams accompanied by interpretive panels. To date, the exhibit has visited 10 libraries around the state and has been popular with staff and patrons alike. He’s been to Coventry, Cranston, Cross Mills, East Greenwich, Pawtucket, Tiverton, West Warwick, Westerly, Woonsocket, and the Redwood Library in Newport.
We’d like to send him to your library in 2020/2021!
Transportation to and from libraries will be managed by the Department of State, visits are typically about 8 weeks, and there is no cost to host the exhibit. Please contact
Lane Sparkman
, Associate Director of Education and Public Programs, if you would like to have
Roving Roger
come to your library!
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Winter Got You Down?
Beat the winter blues by imagining what your summer programming would look like!
Summer reading isn't just for kids and teens. Many libraries around the state offer summer reading programs for adults as well
, like Lincoln Public Library (whose 2019 adult summer reading prizes are shown here)
. This year's theme is "Imagine Your Story." OLIS has a wealth of tools and materials available to help you create a high-quality summer reading program for adults. Click below and imagine what you might come up with for your patrons.
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RILINK School Library Consortium Begins Strategic Plan, Creates Buzz with Springshare
The Rhode Island Library Information Network for Kids (RILINK), the state’s consortium of K-12 school libraries, has reached an unprecedented level of growth in the 22 years since it was first founded. Now with 205 member libraries, Executive Director Dorothy Frechette decided the consortium was overdue to develop a 5-year strategic plan. Work on the planning process has begun in earnest.
One benefit of RILINK membership is access to Springshare’s LibGuides CMS to build library websites. The RILINK Schools collection of Libguides sites was recently featured as a client story in Springshare Buzz.
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“Pennies in the Cup:” Embracing Empathy While Serving Marginalized Patrons -- Ryan Dowd Presents “The Librarian’s Guide to Homelessness”
An enthralled crowd of mostly public librarians from all over the state attended a day-long Office of Library and Information Services (OLIS) training, “The Librarian’s Guide to Homelessness,” at the Central branch of Cranston Public Library on December 11, 2019. Presenter Ryan Dowd is the Executive Director of the second largest homeless shelter in Illinois and is well-known both nationally and abroad for his expertise on the topic.
Dowd, who toured the U.S. with filmmaker Emilio Estevez to promote “The Public,” the 2018 movie about the intersection of library services and marginalized patrons, brought plenty of experience, compassion, and humor to his presentation.
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News from the Rhode Island Library Community
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Providence Public Library and the Rhode Island Historical Society Awarded Funding for Historic Newspaper Digitization Project
The Providence Public Library (PPL) and Rhode Island Historical Society (RIHS) are excited to announce the award of $250,000 in federal funding that will support an ongoing partnership to complete an extensive digitization project of Rhode Island’s historic newspapers. The funds are being awarded as part of the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP), a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Library of Congress, to create a national digital resource of historically significant newspapers published between 1690 and 1963 from all the states and U.S. territories available through the Library of Congress. This is the first time that Rhode Island has participated in the program.
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Cranston Public Library Hires Tayla Cardillo as the New Oak Lawn Branch Librarian
Cranston Public Library is pleased to welcome Tayla Cardillo as the new Oak Lawn Branch Librarian.
Tayla received a Master's of Library and Information Science from the University of Rhode Island and was most recently the Teen Librarian at the Coventry Public Library. She is also on the RI Teen Book Award Committee.
Tayla began in her new position on December 16th.
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Woonsocket Harris Public Library Builds Partnerships to Serve the Homeschool Community
Woonsocket's homeschool community has noticeably grown over the past several years. As more families came to the Woonsocket Harris Public Library during school hours, Library staff realized there was a need for programming.
In March 2019, the homeschool outreach coordinator, Solitaire Frisby, and Chris Goldstein, the Children’s Librarian, met with Sarah Carr, Assistant Director at the Museum of Work and Culture. What started in May as a small, one-time program developed into a well-attended, free, bimonthly educational program for all ages. This partnership is ideal in meeting the specific needs of Woonsocket residents, as many are challenged with a lack of finances and/or transportation. Melissa Robb, of ENRICHri, reached out and helped invite homeschoolers beyond the Woonsocket area. The program had visitors from Worcester, Cumberland, Pawtucket, and other communities.
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The Rhode Island Library Association
is a professional organization that serves its members through career development, education, advocacy, networking partnerships, and legislative action.
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The RILA Bulletin is produced by the RILA Communications Committee. The RILA Communications Committee is responsible for publicizing and supporting Rhode Island Library Association activities using a variety of communication tools. Responsibilities include publishing the RILA Bulletin, managing social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, and exploring other media as needed.
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