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The Middletown Library Service Center

will be closed on Friday, November 11

in observance of Veterans Day.

The Middletown Library Service Center

will be closed on Thursday, November 24 in observance of Thanksgiving.

Each calendar year, All CT Reads uses a rotating community committee structure to select 4 book titles – one main and three shortlist – for three age groups: children (ages 8-12), teens (ages 13-18), and adults.

All CT Reads is in partnership with the CT Library Consortium and the CT Association of School Librarians. All CT Reads is supported by a generous grant from EBSCO Information Services to the Connecticut Heritage Foundation. 

E-Rate News

If your library relies on reminders from the E-Rate state coordinator for libraries at the CT State Library, be sure that the right staff person is signed up for and following the alerts on CSL-Fiber listserve. 

If you are not sure that the right person is receiving E-Rate reminders from the state coordinator via this listserve, please contact christine.gauvreau@ct.gov to confirm.  

Come celebrate!

Norwalk Public Library, Indie and Local Author Celebration

Friday, November 4 & Saturday, November 5 | 10:00 am- 5:00 pm

Learn more

CT Pages is a channel for sharing community engagement success stories by libraries with and for their communities. We partner with CT libraries to create and release short video conversations with the library staff who make things happen.

Do you have a creative program, service, activity, partnership, or project that you want to share with your library neighbors? We are always seeking submissions for consideration – Submit your idea!

Note: This workshop is open to library staff in Connecticut only.

Videos can be useful ways to market books, book groups, and Library collections. Go beyond the basics in this book trailer class for those who have some experience with either book trailers or WeVideo.com environment. During the class, we’ll cover image, video, and audio effects that you can use to make a trailer as simple or as sophisticated as your time and interest allows.

Since this is a small group class, participants will need a computer with a camera and microphone so they can share thoughts and ask questions throughout the class. Prerequisite: Beginner Book Trailers with WeVideo or equivalent experience. 

This workshop covers how to present assessments and self-directed online learning to students and reviews the Northstar curricula with participants as learners. The topics covered include guiding learners through assessments, proctoring review, explaining the student dashboard to learners, how to use Northstar self-directed Online Learning from a learner perspective, and an example of using the instructor led curricula remotely.

Our approach to weeding is that it isn't the irresponsible disposal of the library's property, but rather a part of good public service to borrowers in terms of maintaining the best possible collection for the community.

The workshop will cover:

• The purpose of weeding
• Criteria for weeding decisions
• The mechanics of weeding
• Developing a weeding policy
• Resources for disposal of weeded material

This workshop will be recorded, with the recording and slides posted afterward to https://libguides.ctstatelibrary.org/dld/professional/workshopnotes

Who should come? Everyone who works in library services as well as board members and other community stakeholders.

Presented by the CT State Library Division of Library Development and

The Futures School

The CT State Library Division of Library Development in partnership with The Futures School, will host a virtual gathering highlighting library alumnus from Transformation for Libraries: The Futures School to discuss perspectives, learnings, and the future of foresight in libraries. Panelists will share their experiences and discuss how they are implementing foresight within the library for planning, partnerships and beyond.

Together, we will engage in conversation on how to build foresight as a core competency for the library profession in collaboration with our national library partners including the Institute of Museum and Library Services, American Library Association, and others as well as library schools.

After The Futures School will be co-hosted by Nicole Baker-Rosa, Head of Human Design and Development at The Futures School and Dawn La Valle, Director of the CT State Library Division of Library Development.

Opening keynote remarks from Yvette Montero Salvatico, Co-Founder and Managing Director, The Futures School.

Our panelists include:

• Duncan Smith, Founder of NoveList and EBSCO's Chief Strategist for Public Libraries
• Susan Banks, MLIS, Deputy Secretary & State Librarian, Office of Commonwealth Libraries, Pennsylvania Department of Education
• Christina Steffy, Library Director, Alvernia University
• Kendra Davey, Literacy Initiatives Program Manager, Pima County Public Library
• Reneé Bibby, Visual Marketing Manager, Pima County Public Library

Funding categories, the application process, grant application evaluation, timeline, grant contract, starting and managing the project, state requirements, and advice will be covered.

Attendance at a construction grant information session is a requirement for all applicants.

Who should come? Anyone considering a library renovation or construction project, including library directors/administrators, library board chair and members, municipal leaders, procurement officers, and building committee members.

Get inspired to begin using augmented reality to transform lessons into interactive learning playgrounds. This session will be of interest to teachers, librarians, and district leaders. Immersive technology is available for all grade levels and subjects.

This 3-hour workshop is appropriate for copy catalogers, new catalogers and anyone wanting a brief review of current cataloging rules (AACR2 and RDA). The workshop is not intended to address practices of any specific library system or network.

By the end of this class, you will:

• Have an understanding of the theoretical concepts behind cataloging
• Have an understanding of the practice aspects of cataloging
• Have an introduction to MARC and RDA and have the resources to further explore on your own

The Westport Library completed a major renovation and expansion of its building in 2019 to make the library a community destination for multiple intellectual and social activities. Improvements include the new flexible Forum for programs and major events (up to 500 people), an expansion of conference rooms, centralization of collections, flexible service points, state-of-the-art media studios, larger makerspace, staff work rooms in more efficient locations, new quiet areas and collaborative areas for all ages, much better use of technology throughout the building, and more. The $20.8 million project was funded in part by a grant from the CT State Library.

In this site visit, hear from Executive Director Bill Harmer and library staff about their experiences with the renovation, the lessons they learned along the way, and how they are adjusting to their new spaces. The panel discussion will be followed by a tour of the renovated spaces.

Who should come? Anyone considering a library renovation or construction project, including library directors/administrators, library board members, and building committee members.

From Chromebooks to mobile devices to VR headsets, this session will address simple and effective ways to bring virtual reality to your curriculum. 

All sessions will be recorded and shared after the event, so even if you can’t attend the whole day live, you can benefit from the content shared!

Take a look at our 2021 lineup and recorded sessions.

The final 2022 program will be coming soon. 

Brought to you by the Connecticut State Library, the Massachusetts Library System, the Maine State Library, the New Hampshire State Library, the Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services, and the Vermont Department of Libraries.

Visit our calendar

DLD is excited to offer library staff access for this next year to two new series of webinars through the CT State Library Niche Academy:

Library 2.0 

This past year we provided access to the suite of Security/Safety webinars from Dr. Steve Albrecht to library directors. This year beginning mid-September 2022 we have opened up access to all CT library staff to these webinars through our Niche Academy platform. In addition to security and safety, there are also topics on communications, stress and burnout, coaching skills, customer service, and others.

To access these, visit the CT State Library Niche Academy and select Library 2.0 Academy from the list of tutorial categories to view the offerings.

PCI (People Connect Institute) Webinars

Starting October 1st, Andrew Sanderbeck’s PCI Webinars will provide CT library staff with approximately 48 live webinars (4 per month) as well as access to archived webinar programs through the PCI Webinars channel in Niche Academy, similar to Library 2.0 access above.

CT State Library Niche Academy

This is a reminder that we continue to offer hundreds of self-paced tutorials and special webinars for all CT library staff through the CT State Library Niche Academy.

Check out these new ones: Being Inclusive when celebrating your library’s history; Building resilience with bibliotherapy; Low morale in libraries: a survey of experiences.

For questions on any of these three services, please contact Gail Hurley at Gail.Hurley@ct.gov or (860) 704-2223.