Connecticut State Library
Willimantic and Middletown Library Service Centers
Technology Training and Professional Development
- In order to provide excellent service to their customers, library staff must continually update their skills. Librarians keep pace with rapidly changing technology and stay current with best practices in library services when they attend training at the Service Centers.
- Each Center operates a Technology Training Center and has meeting space for professional development workshops. These are the only technology labs whose primary purpose is library staff training.
- 839 library staff attended 73 library workshops in 2008. The cost saving to libraries, when compared to comparable community college training, is $54,535. Topics for these sessions included: webpage development, screencasting, online community outreach, and Microsoft Office application. Other library-specific training included early literacy best practice, serving teenagers in the library, services to older adults, serving multi-cultural communities and library space planning.
Early Literacy & Literacy Support Materials
- Materials from the service centers, support early literacy programs in public libraries and other preschool settings.
- Sets of board books for infant/toddler story hour, research-based early literacy program guides and an extensive picture book collection enable all libraries in Connecticut to offer programs that develop emergent literacy skills and educate parents.
- Book discussion sets, allow libraries and schools to offer book discussion programs, that enhance reading comprehension, develop a child’s ability to understand more sophisticated themes and encourage reading for pleasure.
Library Resources
- Last year the Service Centers provided resources to 331 public, school and academic libraries:
- 181 Public Libraries
- 127 School libraries
- 17 Academic Libraries
- 6 Special Libraries
- The Service Centers house approximately 150,000 items (80,000 in Willimantic & 70,000 in Middletown)
- In 2008 libraries borrowed 76,000 items valued at over $2.7 million.
- As library budgets are stressed, libraries will rely on these resources more than ever. As an example, the large print books enable libraries to satisfy this demand from older adults that they do not have the funds or space to satisfy on their own.
- Libraries have online access to the catalogs for both Service Centers
- Collections of library professional material from the centers are a cost effective way to provide librarians with the resources they need to manage their libraries.
Consultants
Offices for consulting staff are located in the service centers. Assistance is provided to libraries in the areas of:
- Public library construction, buildings and the Americans for Disability Act
- Library services to older adults, multi-language populations, children and young adults
- Long range planning and technology planning
- Support for public library trustees and library Friends groups
- Continuing Education
- Federal grant administration and monitoring
The service centers also provide space for:
- iCONN, the Connecticut statewide database program
Practical Considerations
- The Willimantic lease does not expire until January 2011 and there is no clause that allows the state to be released from this obligation. There are currently offices for 5 FT, 1PT staff in the building.
- MLSC is state owned and costs very little to operate. There are currently offices for 8 FT, 1PT staff in the building.
- No funding was included in the budget for shutting down operations at the facilities. WLSC houses approximately 80,000 items, MLSC, 70,000. Both have technology training labs for 16 and 12 students respectively.
- Support for the service centers are included in the federal maintenance of effort required for the annual grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services.
