1. TEACH Wisconsin to increase library bandwidth
2. Summer reading program will feature state park passes
3. Culver's joins National Library Week
4. WebJunction announces trustee resources
5. Storytubes contest announced
6. Website of the Week - YourDictionary
7. Calendar
1. TEACH WISCONSIN TO INCREASE LIBRARY BANDWIDTH
About 96% of Wisconsin's public libraries have a telecommunication circuit heavily subsidized by the state's TEACH Wisconsin (Technology for Educational Achievement in Wisconsin) program. This circuit is used for Internet access and to carry transactions for 88% of the state's public libraries that are on shared integrated library systems. With increasing Internet use, many libraries in the state have reached the capacity of their TEACH circuit, but until recently TEACH had no more funding to increase the bandwidth (size) of the circuit. Fortunately, language in the 2007-09 state budget gave the TEACH program added budget authority. As a result, over the past several months TEACH has worked closely with the DLTCL and library system network staff to increase the bandwidth to 128 libraries. Furthermore, last week TEACH notified the Department of Public Instruction that in April it will increase the bandwidth for 150 additional libraries so that every library in the state will have a minimum 1.5Mbps circuit. These additional libraries are generally in smaller communities in more rural areas of the state. The total number of libraries (278) getting bandwidth increases represents 72% of the state's public libraries. Most libraries will get their additional bandwidth paid for by the TEACH program. These increases in bandwidth had been requested by State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster.
2. SUMMER READING PROGRAM WILL FEATURE STATE PARK PASSES
The Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning is collaborating with the Bureau of State Parks and Recreation at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to provide free state park day passes this summer, as part of the Summer Library Program. The children's theme for the Summer Library Program in 2008 is "Catch the Reading Bug." This nature theme is a good match to the state parks' new initiative called, "Step Outside." This state park initiative is part of a national effort to encourage children to get outside and be active. Together, the state parks and public libraries will encourage children to explore the outdoors and enjoy nature.
The day passes will be good for one free car admission to any one of fifty-eight state parks, forests, or recreational areas in Wisconsin. The child redeeming the pass must be in the car and each child may only redeem one pass this summer. Children may ask for a free Junior Ranger or Wisconsin Explorer activity book when they redeem their pass.
Public libraries throughout Wisconsin will begin registering children and teens for the annual Summer Library Program as the school year ends. The summer program encourages recreational reading during the break from school and the state parks passes encourage participants to reach their reading goals. Research has identified reading for pleasure, self-selection of books, and having fun while reading to be extremely important for literacy. Children's summer recreational reading helps children maintain and improve their reading skills over the summer.
Wisconsin is a member of the 46-state Collaborative Summer Library Program (CSLP) which makes high quality support items related to the theme available to public libraries at low cost. The CSLP companion teen theme for 2008, "Metamorphosis@Your Library," focuses on transformations of all kinds. The Summer Library Program encourages children to read a certain number of pages, books, or minutes over a period of time. Many libraries offer bookmarks, stickers, or other items, in addition to the DNR park passes.
More information about the Summer Library Program is available at http://www.dpi.wi.gov/pld/slp.html.
3. WEBJUNCTION ANNOUNCES TRUSTEE RESOURCES
WebJunction has announced a new series of guest blog posts focusing on "Trustee Tips'n Topics" with three experienced trustees who are active members of WebJunction.
Upcoming posts will tackle such trustee-centric issues as Board Candidates and Orientation, Metrics, ROI (Return on Investment), and more. You can follow the series via RSS or by watching the BlogJunction Trustees category: http://blog.webjunctionworks.org/index.php/category/trustees/.
This week's post by Ellen Miller, co-author of "The Library Board Strategic Guide," (Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2007), includes a link to Wisconsin's "Trustee Essentials."
The series augments the resources in the Friends and Trustees area of WebJunction:
http://webjunction.org/do/Navigation?category=14341, as well as the Trustee Discussion area.
4. CULVER'S JOINS NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK
In celebration of National Library Week, held April 13-19, participating Culver's restaurants and the Wisconsin Library Association Foundation are teaming up once again to kick-off the "Join the Circle of Knowledge" drawing campaign. This is the twelfth straight year local Culver's restaurants in Wisconsin have sponsored this event, which encourages children to read and celebrates their favorite book characters.
During this time, children ages 11 and under can enter by picking up drawing sheets from their local Youth Services Librarian at more than 336 participating Wisconsin libraries beginning April 1. Children are encouraged to draw characters from a book that they would like to meet. When children return their coloring sheets to participating libraries they will receive a "Be Our Guest" coupon for a free single scoop of frozen custard from participating Culver's. They will also be entered into a random drawing to win additional prizes from Culver's, including a kickball and miniature camping lantern. Drawings will be displayed at participating libraries and/or a Culver's restaurant throughout the month of April.
"Books expose children to worlds both real and imaginary," stated Lea Culver, the chains co-founder. "In today's electronic society, we want to take every opportunity to encourage a child to read and explore their imagination. The National Library Week provides all of us with an important reminder of the positive role a story plays in shaping young minds and developing reading and language skills."
5. STORYTUBES CONTEST ANNOUNCED
Students in grades 1-6 are invited to enter the Storytubes 2008 National Contest, an online contest for kids to submit videos of themselves book-talking a favorite book. Kids who are national winners each get $500 worth of books and the public or school library they designate gets $1,000 worth of books! More information, including printable flyers in black and white or color and printable posters, is available at the contest website, http://www.storytubes.info. Also, help us spread the word by putting the link to the contest on any appropriate home page or blog and emailing the link to other lists or to anyone you think might want to know about this event. For more information contact Faith Brautigam, Director of Youth Services, Gail Borden Public Library District, Elgin, Illinois at (847) 429-5970 or by email at fbrautigam@gailborden.info.
6. WEBSITE OF THE WEEK
YourDictionary -- http://www.yourdictionary.com/ -- YourDictionary is a free online English dictionary and much more. The free dictionary search gives you definitions, thesaurus entries, spelling, pronunciation, and etymology results for your word. Alternatively, you can browse the dictionary alphabetically or by related terms to find meanings and synonyms. In addition, YourDictionary provides resources to help you find the best dictionary and translation sites for French, Spanish, Italian, German and hundreds of other languages. (Website reference courtesy of refdesk.com.)
7. CALENDAR
April 3, 2008 - HOLA! Project workshop, Winding Rivers, La Crosse
April 6-8, 2008 - Wisconsin Educational Media and Technology Association spring conference, Milwaukee
April 9-10, 2008 - Library Services and Technology Act Advisory Committee meeting, Madison
April 16, 2008 - HOLA! Project workshop, Milwaukee and Waukesha, Milwaukee
April 16, 2008 - HOLA! Project workshop, Eastern Shores and Manitowoc-Calumet, Manitowoc
April 16-18, 2008 - Wisconsin Association of Academic Librarians annual conference, Manitowoc
April 24, 2008 - HOLA! Project workshop, Arrowhead, Janesville
April 30-May 2, 2008 - Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries annual conference, Stevens Point
May 5-6, 2008 - COLAND Statewide Library Strategic Visioning Summit, Green Lake
May 15, 2008 - Leadership Conference on Adolescent Literacy for Public Librarians, Madison
May 19, 2008 - Library Information Technology Advisory Committee meeting, Madison
June 26-July 2, 2008 - American Library Association annual conference, Anaheim, California
June 29-July 2, 2008 - 2008 National Educational Computing Conference, San Antonio, Texas
October 10, 2008 - Library Information Technology Advisory Committee meeting, 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://dpi.wi.gov/rll/wiscat/training.html.
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For information about Channel Weekly or to submit article ideas, please contact:
Roslyn Wise, Editor, at (608) 266-6439
For questions about this information, contact Roslyn M. Wise (608) 266-6439
Last updated on 4/1/2008 11:11:37 AM
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