Leadership skills: become an effective facilitator with help of upcoming ASCLA webinar

CHICAGO–Managers and leaders from all types of libraries will benefit from the upcoming May 9 webinar “Being an Effective Facilitator” hosted by the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA), a division of ALA that cultivates leaders in librarianship with a wide variety of relevant webinars, workshops and online courses.

During this 90-minute online session, Brenda Hough will prepare you to run meetings and lead planning discussions with confidence in both face-to-face and online sessions! The effective facilitation skills that will be covered in this session are relevant to many professional situations including focus groups, staff meetings, brainstorming and learning sessions, and countless other group opportunities where a leader is needed to guide the conversation. Hough will also provide tips for improving participation and productivity, and cover important topics such as group dynamics, learning styles, and models for running meetings and group sessions.

“Being an Effective Facilitator” will be held Wednesday, May 9, 2012, at 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. Central (Chicago) Time using Blackboard Collaborate. Registered participants will receive a link to the recorded session to rewatch at their convenience. Individual registration fees start at $40 for ASCLA members. Groups wishing to participate in this session can register for a single login ($99), or pay just $38 per person for multiple logins (minimum 2 participants from the same library, library system or network. State libraries who are members of ASCLA receive significant savings, paying just $69 for a single login or $29 per person for multiple logins.

Register online now for these and other webinars. Registration will remain open until close-of-business on Monday, May 7, 2012. Group registration information is available at the ASCLA online learning page.. Questions about registration? Contact the ALA registration team at registration@ala.org or (800) 545-2433, option 5. To add ASCLA to your ALA membership, contact membership@ala.org.

ASCLA, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), is a diverse organization of librarians and support staff who work in academic and public libraries, state agencies, specialized libraries and cooperatives, as well as those who are self-employed. Our division’s work centers on member-driven interest groups that represent the diversity and important work of our engaged and active members. Not an ASCLA member, but interested in forming new interest groups, receiving discounted registration rates on ASCLApreconferences and online courses, and other important membership benefits? Join, renew or add ASCLA to your ALA membership at www.ala.org/membership.

Webinar registration ends today! “Programming for Detained and Incarcerated Youth”

Today (Tuesday) is the last day to sign up for Thursday’s ASCLA webinar, “Libraries for Detained and Incarcerated Youth 101: Programming for Detained and Incarcerated Youth”.

The webinar will be held Thursday, April 26, 2012, 12-1:30 p.m. CT. We will be recording the webinar, so if you can’t attend at this specific time, register and we’ll send you a link afterwards to rewatch it.

REGISTER NOW!

ABOUT THIS WEBINAR: Library environments for detained, pending placement, or incarcerated youth are different than the typical public or school library and library professionals serving them often find themselves in situations that are completely different than anything for which they are prepared. As part of a series of webinars focusing on the needs of these youth, this session will look at programming for detained and incarcerated youth. This session will be recorded and will be available to paid registrants to rewatch at their convenience!

Individual registration starts at $40 for ASCLA members.
We do offer group registration rates: $99 for a single login, and $38/person for multiple logins.
More information is at the ASCLA online learning page.

QUESTIONS? Contact the ALA Registration team at registration@ala.org or (800) 545-2433, option 5.

**Interested in library services to incarcerated youth and adults?**
ASCLA welcomes participation in its two interest groups:

ASCLA Library Services for Youth in Custody Interest Group
ASCLA Library Services to the Incarcerated and Detained Interest Group

As a member of these groups, you can engage with peers on a variety of activities and issues related to these areas of library service. Simply log into ALA Connect, access each group using the hyperlinks above, and click “Join” on the right side of the page to get on board!

ASCLA’s President’s Program features Duct Tape Marketing author John Jantsch

Dear ASCLA Members,

I am delighted to invite you to attend the 2012 ASCLA President’s Program in Anaheim at ALA’s Annual Conference. We have a fantastic speaker lined up for the program and a free gift for the first 200 people who attend.

Our speaker, John Jantsch, is the best-selling author of Duct Tape Marketing and The Referral Engine. John will be taking his theories and applying them specifically to libraries for this special presentation.  Don’t miss this opportunity to build a marketing strategy that will help your library realize its full marketing potential.

In celebration of the release of John’s newly revised and updated version of Duct Tape Marketing, *LibraryAware is donating books to the first 200 people to attend the program. John will sign the books after he speaks.

John Jantsch is currently involved in a number of marketing projects with Intuit, Microsoft, Sage Software, HP, AT&T and American Express. His very popular blog was chosen as a Forbes favorite for marketing and small business. His podcast, a top-ten marketing show on iTunes, was called a “must listen” by Fast Company.

In today’s marketing-savvy world, everyone wants to know the one thing they can do or the magic pill they can take that will make their marketing efforts successful. John gives sage and practical advice, and tips for how to uncover what works.

Please join me for this very informative and entertaining program in Ballroom B of the Anaheim Convention Center on Sunday, June 24, 2012, 10:30 a.m. -12 p.m. in Anaheim.

Sincerely,
Norma Blake, New Jersey State Librarian
ASCLA President, 2011-2012

Access more information about:
John Jantsch
Duct Tape Marketing
ALA Annual Conference registration

*LibraryAware is NoveList’s new marketing software designed to help libraries easily create, deliver and measure their promotional campaigns.

Registration for ASCLA’s online course “Improving Library Services for People with Disabilities” closes Thursday, April 19

Registration is open through close-of-business on Thursday, April 19, for “Improving Library Services for People with Disabilities”, an online course offered by the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA) that prepares your library and library staff to provide effective services to all users of the library.

Providing library services to people with disabilities is a role filled by all levels of library staff. From the part-time aide checking out library materials to the library director determining policies, staff skills and attitudes are crucial for a satisfactory library experience. During this course, participants will identify library users with disabilities at their library and the resources and assistive technologies available to assist them; examine changes in attitudes, laws and technologies that have impacted people with disabilities; and will be able to recommend changes in personal and organizational behaviors to improve services for people with disabilities at their library.

This course is truly designed for all library staff, including support staff, general professional staff, age-level or subject specialists, managers and administrators. The course will begin Monday, April 23 and finish on Friday, May 18. Two live online sessions using the FlashChat feature of Moodle, the online course management system, will take place on Thursday, May 3 and Thursday, May 17, from 3-4 pm CENTRAL/Chicago Time. Students complete the remainder of the weekly coursework at their own pace.

Interested participants can register online now, register via fax or mail, or learn more about the course at the ASCLA website. Registration fees start at $130 for ASCLA members. Discounted group registration rates for two or more registrants from the same library, library system or network are available—download the group registration form. Contact ALA’s Membership and Customer Service Team with any questions about registration for this course at registration@ala.org or (800) 545-2433, option 5.

“Improving Library Services for People with Disabilities” is taught by Kate Todd, who has worked as a children’s librarian for The New York Public Library and as emerging technologies librarian for Manhattanville College. At Manhattanville College, she taught “Technology for Special Education” in the graduate school of education. She has also taught several online courses for the Association of Library Services to Children (ALSC), including “Children with Disabilities in the Library”—this new ASCLA course is the general staff counterpart to that course.

ASCLA award for innovative universal access project shared by ‘Books for Dessert’ program and ‘Digital Access Project’

Read the official ALA press release.

This year’s ASCLA/KLAS/NOD Award, an annual honor presented by the Association for Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA), will be presented to two organizations that produced noteworthy services and programming for library users with disabilities: the Port Washington (N.Y.) Public Library for its “Books for Dessert” Program, and the Perkins Braille & Talking Book Library and the Boston Public Library Digital Access Project.

The award is supported by ASCLA, home to accessibility issues and advocacy within ALA, Keystone Library Automation Systems (KLAS) and the National Organization for Disabilities (NOD), with the $1000 prize donated by KLAS. The award recognizes an institution for an innovative and well-organized project that successfully developed or expanded services for people with disabilities and has made its total services more accessible through changing physical and/or attitudinal barriers. Faced with an overwhelming number of outstanding award applications for 2012, the committee chose two recipients for this year’s honor. Each winner will receive a citation and split the award money, receiving $500 each.

The Port Washington Public Library’s “Books for Dessert” program makes the riches of the public library accessible to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities by sharing the joy of reading in a relaxed, social and supportive environment. Launched as a pilot program in 2003 with initial funding support from New York State, “Books for Dessert” has expanded from one group with eight participants to three groups, two evening and one morning, with about 50 participants. Program participants range in age from their early-20s to mid-60s. The club gathers once a week between September and June to read aloud from books like “The Pearl” and “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” learn vocabulary and enjoy refreshments and good conversation. At the completion of the book, a video of the same title may be shown. The group compares the book and the video, stimulating discussion and reinforcing comprehension of the material. In addition to these educational benefits, library usage has increased among registered Book Club members, as well as their friends, housemates and the agency staff driving club members to the meetings.

The “Books for Dessert” program receives support from community partners, including Community Mainstreaming Associates, Inc. and the Association for the Help of Retarded Children (AHRC), an advisory board of parents, library staff, experts in the field and certified special education teachers to bring a reading and discussion experience to adults with ID/DD. High school students also support the teachers during each session by answering questions and helping participants follow along in the book while someone else is reading. The Advisory Board has created a manual that will allow other libraries to replicate this program—more information is available by accessing “Books for Dessert” at www.pwpl.org.

“The Port Washington Public Library’s ‘Books for Dessert’ program has championed the idea that literacy for individuals over the age of 21 with intellectual and developmental disabilities is important and achievable,” said ASCLA President Norma Blake. “’Books for Dessert’ is an outstanding example of local public library innovation and ingenuity, and the library is to be commended not only for developing this highly successful program, but also for developing a program guide to help other public libraries across the nation to replicate the program in their local communities.”

The “Digital Access Project” is a collaborative activity of the Perkins Braille & Talking Book Library (BTBL) and the Boston Public Library, with additional involvement from the Internet Archive of San Francisco. Through this joint initiative, patrons of the BTBL who are unable to read traditional printed text can quickly access print books available in the huge collection of the Boston Public Library within 24 hours. Access is made possible by the digital scanning of the print text in the scanning lab of the Internet Archive at the Boston Public Library, where a six-person staff uses semi-automated equipment to scan the requested book, page by page.

The file is subsequently converted into a copyright-protected DAISY (Digital Audio Information System) file that can only be accessed by eligible users of the NLSBPH (National Library Service for the Blind & Physically Handicapped) program network using a special digital key and authorized compatible digital players like the Victor Stream, the BookSense and the Bookport Plus. Within hours, the Internet Archive sends a Web link to Boston Public Library and it is forwarded back to Perkins indicating where the protected DAISY version of the book can be downloaded. Perkins staff download the book files from the provided link, and the Library then forwards the .zip file to the patron. The patron can then listen to it on their adaptive technology utilizing text-to-speech synthetic voice technology. In most cases, this process of converting a print book to an accessible DAISY file moves so efficiently that patrons receive access to the requested book within 24 hours.

“Using existing resources, the Perkins Braille & Talking Book Library and the Boston Public Library, along with the Internet Archive, are successfully demonstrating both the power of collaboration and the power of technology in making print library collections accessible to people with disabilities,” said Tom Blake, digital projects manager at the Boston Public Library.

“The technology used in this innovative project not only removes barriers to print access for patrons with disabilities, it delivers the final accessible product with great speed! This type of information integration is pivotal to our fast-paced society where ready access to information is vital for success in a 21st century world,” states Kim Charlson, director of the Perkins Braille & Talking Book Library.

This year’s awards will be presented at the ASCLA/COSLA Networking Party and Awards Reception, which will be held 5:30-7:30 p.m., Saturday, June 23, 2012 at one of the ALA Annual Conference hotels in Anaheim, Calif. All conference attendees are invited to this event, which will celebrate this year’s ASCLA award winners and also feature peer-to-peer networking activities. More information will be available at www.ala.org/asclain late spring.

 

Carole Rose wins ASCLA Campbell Award for notable contributions to library services for the blind and physically handicapped

Read the official ALA press release here.

Carole Rose, who recently retired as a librarian at the Indiana Talking Book and Braille Library, is the 2012 winner of the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies’ (ASCLA) 2012 Francis Joseph Campbell Award.

The award, which includes a citation and a medal, is presented to a person or institution that has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of library service for blind and physically handicapped people. ASCLA, Keystone Automated Systems (KLAS) and the Southern Conference of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped co-sponsor this award.

Rose was selected for her significant contributions over 46 years to the advancement of library service for blind and physically handicapped people throughout the state of Indiana, and also for her outstanding advocacy on behalf of the Indiana low vision community. The award also recognizes Rose’s dedicated leadership in creating Indiana Talking Book & Braille Library programs that embraced change and positively touched the lives of generations of Hoosiers with vision loss.

Rose also played a crucial role as editor (1978-2011) of both Indiana Insights, the Indiana Talking Book & Braille Library newsletter; and IN Touch, a newsletter dedicated to teachers and parents of students with disabilities. These publications have become the most valuable medium of communication for the Indiana Talking Book & Braille Library and were crucial to promoting and advocating the new digital player from the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLSBPH). The copious articles she has written for both in-house and other state and national low-vision communiqué have contributed to Indiana’s success in  moving over 80 percent of its Talking Books patrons from the old cassette player to the new digital player.

“Carole embodies many of the qualities and characteristics recognized by the ASCLA Francis Joseph Campbell Award,” said Norma Blake, ASCLA president. Her “contributions to the advancement of library service for blind and physically handicapped people” are unparalleled in Indiana history, according to her State Library colleagues.

Rose served as a librarian at the Indiana Talking Book and Braille Library from 1965 until her retirement in 2011. Since 1972, she coordinated the library’s summer reading program. She also served as coordinator for the Indiana Vision Expo, the largest low-vision tradeshow in the Midwest, from 2006-2011. She was a grant writer for two successful grants: $950,000 from the Ruth Lilly Philanthropic Foundation to support the recording of books and magazine articles with Indiana connections; and a $2,000 Choose Children grant from Alpha Xi Delta Foundation to expand the large print and Braille book collections.

Rose will receive her award at the ASCLA/COSLA Networking Party and Awards Reception, which will be held 5:30-7:30 p.m., Saturday, June 23, 2012 at one of the ALA Annual Conference hotels in Anaheim, Calif. All conference attendees are invited to this event, which will celebrate this year’s ASCLA award winners and also feature peer-to-peer networking activities. More information will be available at www.ala.org/ascla in late spring.

 

New Jersey State Library’s Moeller-Peiffer honored with Cathleen Bourdon Service Award for contributions to ASCLA

Read the official ALA press release here.

Kathleen Moeller-Peiffer, associate state librarian, New Jersey State Library, is the 2012 recipient of the Cathleen Bourdon Service Award, an annual achievement award given by the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA), a division of the American Library Association.

The award, which is named for former ASCLA Executive Director Cathleen Bourdon, is presented to an ASCLA personal member for exceptional service and sustained leadership to the division. This includes participation in activities that have enhanced the stature, reputation and overall strength of ASCLA and have also cultivated the division’s relationship with other appropriate organizations, institutions or government agencies.

As an ASCLA member, Moeller-Peiffer has worked tirelessly on programs and activities that inform and strengthen the professional contributions of ASCLA and its members in the community at large and within ALA. As a part of ASCLA’s Legislative Advocacy Committee and ALA’s Advocacy Coordinating Group, she has communicated with policy makers at all levels of government on the value and strength of libraries. Through her role on ALA’s E-rate Task Force she has conveyed to federal officials the concerns of libraries and schools on the discounted telecommunication rate program.

Moeller-Peiffer has also strengthened ASCLA as an organization through her service as chair of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Coordinators Group and chair of ASCLA’s State Library Agency Section (SLAS), and her membership on numerous committees, forums and programs. During her time as chair of ASCLA’s Membership Committee, she developed the Value Proposition Report that analyzed the benefits of ASCLA membership and developed proposals for promoting and expanding membership.

Moeller-Peiffer will receive her award at the ASCLA/COSLA Networking Party and Awards Reception, which will be held 5:30-7:30 p.m., Saturday, June 23, 2012 at one of the ALA Annual Conference hotels in Anaheim, Calif. All conference attendees are invited to this event, which will celebrate this year’s ASCLA award winners and also feature peer-to-peer networking activities. More information will be available at www.ala.org/ascla in late spring.

Washington State Library’s Laura Sherbo receives leadership award from ASCLA

Read the official ALA press release here.

Laura Sherbo, branch library services program manager at the Washington State Library, is the 2012 recipient of the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA) Leadership and Professional Achievement Award – an annual award presented to an ASCLA member who exemplifies leadership and achievement in consulting, library cooperation, networking, statewide service and programs and/or state library development.

According to her colleagues at the Washington State Library and leaders of institutional libraries in the State of Washington, Sherbo has accomplished miracles in the world of library services for incarcerated populations with her tenacity, her calm and focused negotiation and strategic communication skills.  Her leadership skills and her efforts to foster collaboration and engineer change have helped maintain a high level of service and staff performance even in the face of seemingly insurmountable changes. For two decades, the Institutional Services Division of the Washington State Library has endured budget cuts that laid off staff and closed branches. Despite these challenges, Sherbo inspired her team to re-prioritize library functions to meet the most critical needs of those institutionalized in correctional facilities, including uniformity of branch library procedures and an emphasis on collection development in parenting, substance abuse recovery, job training and employment.

During her tenure, Sherbo has also encouraged her staff to pursue training and projects that would benefit host institutions and library services. This encouragement has produced presentations at library conferences, visiting institutional services librarians, volunteering at host institutions for reading programs and historical preservation efforts, a library-sponsored book club and a pilot law library program. Under her leadership, Sherbo’s division team has achieved goals that exemplify the Library Bill of Rights, including privacy protection and access to interests, information from various viewpoints and enlightenment for all persons of the library community. For her successful efforts, she is well respected by the prison administrators and among the offender populations served by the libraries.

“Laura Sherbo has dedicated her professional career to ensuring that inmates of correctional centers and patients at two state hospitals receive the highest quality library services,” said ASCLA President Norma Blake. “Because of her inspirational leadership, libraries flourish in Washington’s major prisons.”

Sherbo earned her MLS from Western Michigan University. She worked as the head librarian at Logan Correctional Center, Lincoln, Ill. (1978-82) and subsequently as a librarian and branch manager at McNeil Island Corrections Center, McNeil Island, Wash. until 2002, when she took on her current role as branch library services program manager.

Sherbo will receive her award at the ASCLA/COSLA Networking Party and Awards Reception, which will be held 5:30-7:30 p.m., Saturday, June 23, 2012 at one of the ALAAnnual Conference hotels in Anaheim, Calif. All conference attendees are invited to this event, which will celebrate this year’s ASCLA award winners and also feature peer-to-peer networking activities. More information will be available at www.ala.org/ascla in late spring.

 

Kathleen Hegarty named 2012 winner of ASCLA Exceptional Service Award

Read the official press release from ALA here.

The Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA) will posthumously honor Kathleen Hegarty, Boston Public Library (retired), with the 2012 ASCLA Exceptional Service Award.

The ASCLA Exceptional Service Award is a citation presented to recognize exceptional service to patients, to the homebound, to people of all ages who live in group homes or residences and to inmates, as well as to recognize professional leadership, effective interpretation of programs, pioneering activity and significant research of experimental projects. Hegarty was notified of winning the award prior to her death on Jan. 28, 2012.Read her American Libraries Magazine obituary here.

Hegarty earned her MLS from Simmons College. She spent the duration of her library career at Boston Public Library, where she served as the coordinator of adult services (1962-74), staff officer for programs and public relations (1974-85) and the founder and director of the Access Center for People with Disabilities from 1985 until her retirement in 1999. An active member of ASCLA and LSSPS since 1985, Hegarty served as chair of many Division and Section committees and forums, as well as chair of the Task Force on Libraries Serving Special Populations Section (LSSPS) Bylaws, and was one of the founding committee members of the ASCLA Century Scholarship. She was most recently elected as ASCLA Secretary.

Hegarty left her mark on BPL and the library community with her innovative and groundbreaking services and programs. Making creative use of federal Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA) funds, she forged numerous new cutting-edge services for special populations during her tenure at Boston Public Library, including the “Homesmobile” library services to nursing homes and the homebound, which continues to operate to this day. She also served as director of the Boston Public Library’s NEHLearning Library, the first such learning library in the United States. For more than 30 years she coordinated special programs and services which included weekly educational programs for older adults.

“Kathleen’s pioneering efforts at the Boston Public Library and her dedication to improving services for older adults and persons with disabilities has insured continued leadership, professional growth and sustainability within the profession,” said Norma Blake, ASCLApresident. “She also worked tirelessly to enhance the stature, reputation and overall strength of ASCLA, and we are so grateful for her investment in our organization.”

Hegarty will be honored at the ASCLA/COSLA Networking Party and Awards Reception, which will be held 5:30-7:30 p.m., Saturday, June 23, 2012 at one of the ALA Annual Conference hotels in Anaheim, Calif. All conference attendees are invited to this event, which will celebrate this year’s ASCLA award winners and also feature peer-to-peer networking activities. More information will be available at www.ala.org/ascla in late spring.

 

Library consultants! Sign up now to offer free services as part of “Consultants Give Back” at ALA Annual Conference

The Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA) and the Public Library Association (PLA) are teaming up to offer “Consultants Give Back” at the 2012 ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, Calif.—an opportunity for libraries to receive free 30-minute consultation sessions from professional library consultants.

This event features consultants with expertise in a wide variety of topics like RFID, marketing and communications, executive searches, buildings and facilities, strategic planning and library trends, among many others. Participating consultants will be available during the “Consultants Give Back” office hours, 1:30-5:30 p.m. in room 203B of the Anaheim Convention Center on Sunday, June 24 or at other times throughout the conference. Registration is now open for consultants wishing to offer services as a part of this exciting event. Access the consultant registration form here.

For those seeking consulting services, a list of participating consultants and their availability will be available on the ASCLA website in early May, and will be promoted via the ASCLA blog, ASCLA Facebook page and ASCLA Twitter feed. Those interested in booking a session should contact the consultant of their choice no later than Monday, June 20, 2012.

Questions about the consultation sessions should be directed to Nancy Bolt at nancybolt@earthlink.net or Paula Singer pmsinger@singergrp.com. Consultants interested in engaging and networking with library consulting peers for the benefit of all independent library professionals should join ASCLA’s Library Consultants Interest Group.