Channel Weekly--Vol. 8, No. 3, September 15, 2005

September 15, 2005

Table of Contents

  1. State law now limits municipal and county property tax levies
  2. New DPI website available
  3. Grants available for public and school (K-12) libraries
  4. National Library Week grants
  5. PLA provides funding to public libraries for MLS scholarships
  6. Hurricane Katrina information on DPI homepage
  7. Website of the Week -- Homeschooling and Education Resources
  8. Calendar

1. STATE LAW NOW LIMITS MUNICIPAL AND COUNTY PROPERTY TAX LEVIES

The state budget signed into law as Act 25 includes property tax levy limits prohibiting municipalities and counties from increasing their total property tax levy by more than a specified percentage for each of the next two years. The law allows levies to increase by either two percent or the percentage change in the municipality's or county's equalized value due to net new construction, whichever is greater. The Department of Revenue (DOR) has posted 2004-2005 net new construction values for each Wisconsin municipality and county on its website at http://www.dor.state.wi.us/equ/levylmt.html.  These figures will be used to determine levy limits for next year.

Please note that the levy limits are based on the total municipal or county levy, not separately to the level of library funding provided by a municipality or county.  An individual department or service could receive a higher appropriation, as long as the total increase for the municipality or county does not exceed the total levy limit.

Amounts levied for debt service are generally exempt from the levy limits.  In addition, levies can be increased above the allowable limits if the amount is approved by referendum. The DOR has a FAQ page on the levy limits at http://www.dor.state.wi.us/faqs/slf/levy.html. 

2.  NEW DPI WEBSITE AVAILABLE

Last week the Department of Public Instruction announced its newly redesigned Website.  The site, including the pages of the Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning, now have navigation tools, a new look, and an underlying code that is compliant with ADA accessibility guidelines and W3C Web Standards.  Along with the design, there are new and shorter Web addresses. 

Over 4,500 HTML files were redesigned and links to over 6,000 files (e.g., HTML, Word, PDF) changed.  If your library was linking to specific Web pages within the DPI and DLTCL, some of those links will not now work in the new Website.  Below is a brief summary on this.  (See http://dpi.wi.gov/newwebsite.html for basic information on the site redesign.)

(1)  Old links to a specific DLTCL Team Website will be correctly redirected to the new site.  For example, a link to the old Public Library Development Team (PLD) site will be redirected to the new Team site.  

OLD:   http://dpi.wi.gov/pld/index.html

NEW:  http://dpi.wi.gov/pld/index.html

(2)  Old links to a specific *page* in a Team Website will be redirected to that respective Team's new site, not the specific page.  For example, a link to the old Public Library Development Team's LSTA page will be redirected to the new PLD Team site.

OLD:   http://dpi.wi.gov/pld/lsta.html

NEW:  http://dpi.wi.gov/pld/index.html

In instances like this, you will need to find the correct page by examining the Team's Website.  Every DLTCL Team site has a left menu bar that provides links to the Team's major programs.

IN ALL INSTANCES:  The division encourages you to update any personal bookmarks or links your library Website has from the old page locations to the new ones.  Note: Links to BadgerLink and WISCAT have not changed.  

We appreciate your cooperation and thank you for your understanding on this issue.  If you cannot locate a particular page on the Public Library Development Team site, please contact Bob Bocher at 608/266-2127 or robert.bocher@dpi.state.wi.us.  If you cannot locate pages from other Division teams, contact the person listed on the team sites.

3.  GRANTS AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC AND SCHOOL (K-12) LIBRARIES 

The American Library Association (ALA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) are currently accepting applications for the We the People Bookshelf on "Becoming American."  Part of the NEH's We the People initiative, the annual collection development grant project will award sets of 15 classic books for young readers, as well as up to four of these titles in Spanish, to 1,000 libraries across the country.

Libraries interested in receiving the collection are required to develop and host a program to introduce the collection and its theme of "Becoming American" to students and/or patrons. Guidelines and applications are available online at http://www.ala.org/wethepeople from September 6, 2005 - January 17, 2006.  Unlike past We The People Bookshelves, there will be no second deadline for "Becoming American." All applications are due by January 17, 2006. To access a list of titles, please visit http://www.ala.org/wethepeople.  We hope you'll take advantage of this opportunity to receive the "Becoming American" collection for your library!  With questions, please contact publicprograms@ala.org. 

4.  NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK GRANT

Libraries are invited to apply for a $5,000 Scholastic Library Publishing/National Library Week grant. This grant recognizes outstanding promotional or public awareness campaigns held during National Library Week (April 2 – 8, 2006). This year’s grant focuses on the 2006 theme “Change your world @ your library.” Deadline for applications is October 17, 2005. To download an application, go to http://www.ala.org/ala/pio/campaign/nlw/nlwgrant.htm

5. PLA PROVIDES FUNDING TO PUBLIC LIBRARIES FOR MLS SCHOLARSHIPS

The Public Library Association (PLA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), will award five public libraries with grants of $8,000 each to be distributed to staff for work toward obtaining a master's degree in library and information studies. The application deadline for this pilot program is December 1, 2005.

The scholarship terms require that $6,500 be used directly for payment of tuition at the undergraduate level, or at an ALA-accredited library school graduate level, for as many staff as the recipient library chooses, and $1,500 is to be used to support attendance for one or more of the selected scholarship recipients to attend PLA-sponsored continuing education.

Scholarships will be made on a competitive basis. Applications will be reviewed by the PLA Institutional Scholarship Jury. Applicants will be notified of their status by February 1, 2006. Bachelor or master level courses taken between February 2006 and March 2008 are eligible for tuition reimbursement under this program. For criteria and application information, please visit PLA's website at: http://www.pla.org/ala/pla/scholarshipapp.pdf.

6. HURRICANE KATRINA INFORMATION ON DPI HOMEPAGE

There is now a Hurricane Katrina information page on the DPI website.  The site can be accessed by clicking on the Hurricane Katrina button at the DPI homepage at http://dpi.wi.gov/index.html.  The department has developed this webpage to provide a topical listing of information sources for school districts, schools, educators and parents on serving students who have been displaced as a result of Hurricane Katrina.  Among many other items, it includes links to guidance memos from the department that have been developed and distributed to all school districts in the state over the past 10 days or so.

7.  WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

Homeschooling and Education Resources --  http://www.waterborolibrary.org/homeschool/  -- This site by the Waterboro, Maine, Public Library provides resources that are ranked within each topic; the first resource listed is the most useful and the last one is the least useful based on depth and breadth of content, quality of links, ease of use, organizational structure, and general appearance.

8. CALENDAR

September 15, 2005 - Resource Sharing Technology Vendor Demonstration, Madison

September 16, 2005 - Library Information Technology Advisory Committee meeting, Madison

September 19, 2005 – Interlibrary Loan work group, Madison

September 27, 2005 - Public Library System Certification and Continuing Education Consultants annual meeting, Madison

September 28, 2005 - Instructional Media & Technology Team Regional Workshops, Brookfield

September 29, 2005 – Instructional Media & Technology Team Regional Workshops, Wisconsin Dells

September 30, 2005 - Delivery Services Advisory Committee, Madison

October 3, 2005 – Instructional Media & Technology Team Regional Workshops, Rice Lake

October 5, 2005 – Instructional Media & Technology Team Regional Workshops, Neenah

October 6-9, 2005 – American Association of School Librarians Conference, Pittsburg, PA

October 7, 2005 – Fall ILL meeting for public library system and resource library ILL staff, Madison

October 14, 2005 - System Youth Services Liaisons annual meeting, Madison

October 18, 2005 – Fall reference meeting for public library system and resource libraries, Madison

October 25-28, 2005 - Wisconsin Library Association Annual Conference, La Crosse

November 11, 2005 – Council on Library and Network Development, TBA

November 29-30, 2005 - LSTA Advisory Committee meeting and public hearing, Madison

December 9, 2005 - Library and Information Technology Advisory Committee (LITAC), Madison

For more details about these and other meetings, see the WISDOM calendar at http://dpi.wi.gov/pld/wisdom.html and the BadgerLink and WISCAT training site at http://www.wiscat.lib.wi.us/pdf/Gates08282004.pdf.

For questions about this information, contact Roslyn M. Wise (608) 266-6439

Last updated on 4/4/2006 2:19:14 PM