Articles, Courses, Discussions, Groups Betha Gutsche 2005-11-11T17:35:39Z 2005-11-11T17:35:39Z

Now that the RLS project is really getting rolling, I'd like to meet all of you who will be participating in it. Since I can't visit all the small community libraries in the country (maybe when I retire?), I'm asking you to introduce yourselves and give me a glimpse of life at your library. I'll start. My name is Betha and I'm the Community Associate here at WebJunction. I get to meet-and-greet people from all over libraryland through the message boards --very cool! I'm the behind the scenes support for your project leaders, Jim and Michelle. I have a passion for small "heart of the community" libraries --maybe I'll get to work in one someday. In the meantime, I will be eagerly following the stories that you all have to tell. Who's next? :)

Betha Gutsche 2005-11-11T17:35:39Z Anne Podhradsky 2007-02-22T20:09:48Z 2007-02-22T20:09:48Z

* We will analyze and update our technology plan on a regular basis. *We will add an additional patron computer *We will add an additional staff computer *We will install a content protect program on all new patron computers *We will add deep freeze to all new patron computers. *We will establish a schedule for routine maintenance. *We will establish a checklist for routine maintenance. *We will develop a list of contacts for computers assistance.

Anne Podhradsky 2007-02-22T20:09:48Z NICK MOGA 2006-04-07T01:12:45Z 2006-04-07T01:12:45Z

Greetings! Nick Moga here. I'm the technology consultant for the Charles P. Jones Memorial Library in Covington, VA. I attended the Sustainability seminar today in Roanoke, Virginia. Great work by Kendra Morgan of the Library of VA. Our library is a single location with about 20PCs. 6 of them are the original Gates PCs upgraded to Windows 2000. We are in the process of replacing these PCs with a different Foundation application. I'll be setting up the new Windows XP PCs and looking for any support I can get on this board! happy reading!

NICK MOGA 2006-04-07T01:12:45Z Earlene Piercy 2006-06-28T21:23:34Z 2006-06-28T21:23:34Z

Hello, Everyone. I am so pumped about the Summer Reading Programs that we had at the Davis Public Library in Davis, OK ! I wanted to share what we did this year. Our programs began on June 5th with "Prof. B. Looney". The Prof. makes animals from balloons. He is very good at it, too. The children really like him and he always gets the children involved in his show. He is also a great advocate of the children using the library and makes that a part of his show. Our next show was "Riley, the Wonder Dog". Riley brought his trainer, Susan Pharris, with him to do his show. He also brought along two of his friends, Sassy and Trixie. These dogs are trick dogs but foremost they are service dogs. Susan entertained the children with showing what the dogs could do on command. Animals are always a welcome program for children. An Oklahoman by the name of John Hinkle from Puppet Alley in Jones, Ok. came and performed "The Tales of Brer' Rabbit" for the children. He used string puppets, hand puppets, and shadow puppets. He had built a set that resembled an old barn and it was fantastic. Several parents told me later that their children had gone home to do puppet shows of their own. Our program this past Monday was a favorite of everyone. Another Oklahoman by the name of Steve Crawford came and did a wonderful magic show for the children with live animals. He is so good with the children. He always tells the children how he got his start in magic at his local library. Needless to say, after his program the shelves are emptied of magic books. We also had a teen program this year. We did a "Creature Feature" one evening. We showed the teens the movie, "The Birds". It was well received and of course we had popcorn and sodas for the teens. You can NEVER go wrong when you tell teens you have food. Before I go, I guess I should tell you our state theme this year was "Paws, Claws, Scales and Tales". The meeting room was decorated with singing birds and bird cages with stuffed birds in them. Books galore were everywhere, too. I know this was long and I hope to hear from some other libraries about their Summer Reading Programs. Thanks, Earlene

Earlene Piercy 2006-06-28T21:23:34Z Jim Malzewski 2005-08-16T14:55:11Z 2005-08-16T14:55:11Z

Well, the staff for this first round of the RLS project is all in place. It looks like it's going to be a great round. We have eight states participating in Round One: Alabama, Alaska, Illinois, New Mexico, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Virginia, and West Virginia. This will be a great place to meet and introduce ourselves prior to us getting together next month in Santa Fe. I am really looking forward to working with all of you over the next several months, and I'm really excited about this project. The notion of getting out and focusing some attention on the small, rural library that so often gets neglected and feels alone is just so empowering. I know there are some great things going on out there, and it will be nice to have a national program to help capture some of those best practices, and bring them back to WebJunction where we can all benefit from them. I know many of us have been on conference calls together, but let's start using this space to get to know eachother a bit more. Please introduce yourself, trainers and coordinators, and let us know a bit more about your "hopes and dreams".

Jim Malzewski 2005-08-16T14:55:11Z Michelle Huber 2006-08-30T18:22:25Z 2006-08-30T18:22:25Z

Welcome Round 3 Trainers & Coordinators! Please let us know a little bit about yourselves and what is happening in your state! We are looking forward to seeing you soon in Seattle. :) Michelle

Michelle Huber 2006-08-30T18:22:25Z Tueredia McBride 2005-11-30T00:37:55Z 2005-11-30T00:37:55Z

Hello everyone, I'm the director of Lovington Public Library. We are a staff of 5.5 and do it all. Everyone is cross-trained except part-time staff. We maintain our computers with the help of our consortium technician, LPT One software manages our computer printouts and PC Reservation manages our computer log-ons. Our library is not quiet but we do have quiet areas. We do computer training on a as need basis and we do as much outreach as we can. My youth services librarian goes to all the schools, daycares, etc. and I usually hit the organizations, etc. One day I hope to have a hotspot in the library for our laptop users.

Tueredia McBride 2005-11-30T00:37:55Z Betha Gutsche 2005-11-30T01:23:20Z 2005-11-30T01:23:20Z

Welcome, incredibles! I just looked up the location of the Lovington Public Library in New Mexico and it looks like it totally fits the category of rural. You must have an "incredible" staff to take to cross-training and keep everything operational. As for the hotspot in your future, you might be interested to read this WJ member's story about [url http://webjunction.org/forums/click.jspa?searchID=-1&messageID=23544 ]Making the case for Wi-Fi to the Board[/url]. I love library stories with happy endings. :) I hope we'll hear more about the [url http://webjunction.org/forums/forum.jspa?forumID=193 ]outreach[/url] you do in your community. Thanks for being the first brave project participant to jump into this conversation. I'd give you a 5-star rating for that! *****

Betha Gutsche 2005-11-30T01:23:20Z Shae Tetterton 2006-01-24T18:52:09Z 2006-01-24T18:52:09Z

My name is Shae Tetterton and I'm the Director of Collection Management for the South Carolina State Library. I will be participating in the RLS project as a trainer in the upcoming February workshop. Before coming home to South Carolina I worked for an automation vendor as a Trainer and Project Manager. I'm eager to put some of that experience to work with this project. In addition, I'm originally from a small town in South Carolina so I'm thrilled to have the chance to help the rural libraries in my state. I will be attending the workshop with our Director of Library Development Services. She has a long history of working with the public libraries in this state so I can't wait to see what her and I can put together to improve the sustainability of our rural libraries.

Shae Tetterton 2006-01-24T18:52:09Z Susan White 2006-01-27T19:22:26Z 2006-01-27T19:22:26Z

My name is Susan White and I am the representative from Georgia that will be going to Seattle in one month. I have been in the library world for over 34 years - some in urban areas and some in rural. I began a new job in September 2005, but before that I was manager of a county library in northern Georgia (the mountain area). One library in a county of 28,000 that served a very diverse population. The mountain area of Georgia is rural so I am very interested in helping these libraries, as well as the very rural farmland of the southern part of the state. I am looking forward to meeting people from the other 14 states when we meet in Seattle in a month.

Susan White 2006-01-27T19:22:26Z Linda Braun 2006-01-29T22:49:05Z 2006-01-29T22:49:05Z

Hi, I'm Linda Braun. I am an independent educational technology consultant and work with schools, libraries, and other educational organizations to figure out the best ways to integrate technology into programs and services. For thie project I'm working with the state of MA to train and support rural libraries. Before going off on my own I worked in public and special libraries in the northeast and for a regional library system in MA.

Linda Braun 2006-01-29T22:49:05Z Betha Gutsche 2006-01-30T17:10:23Z 2006-01-30T17:10:23Z

Hello Shae and Susan and Linda. Welcome to the conversation! For those of you who will be coming to Seattle for the training institute, I'll get to greet you in person --always my preference. In the meantime, it's great to get to know something about each of you in this virtual meeting place. It sounds like we have a real power group to implement the RLS program in the coming months.

Betha Gutsche 2006-01-30T17:10:23Z Krista Griffiths 2006-01-30T20:03:21Z 2006-01-30T20:03:21Z

Hello I'm Krista Griffiths with the Utah State Library. I am new to the library field, receiving my MLS a year ago, and have been working for the Library Program for the Blind and Disabled. My other experiences, as graduate student, have been in government documents and photo archives. Here at the Utah State Library we are undergoing some changes and I have been given the opportunity to expand my horizons and take on this project for the state of Utah. I look forward to meeting all of you in February.

Krista Griffiths 2006-01-30T20:03:21Z Rebecca Van Der Meer 2006-01-31T16:34:33Z 2006-01-31T16:34:33Z

Welcome to all the new subscribers! I think that you will find using WebJunction a great place to discuss the sustainability project. Everyone is reallly helpful and have great ideas that they don't mind sharing. I recently ran across a book that I think can be of some help when your libraries start working on their projects. You all may already be aware of this particular book but thought I would pass it on anyway. Helping Business -- The Library's Role in Community Economic Debvelopment: A How To Do It Manual for Public Librarians. Bleiweis, Maxine. 1997. Neal-Schuman Publishers. $55. It is kind of expensive but I find it quite useful for what we plan to do. Good luck with your projects. Rebecca Van Der Meer Continuing Education Consultant West Virginia Library Commission

Rebecca Van Der Meer 2006-01-31T16:34:33Z Jim Malzewski 2006-02-01T21:57:17Z 2006-02-01T21:57:17Z

Great to hear from so many of you that are coming to the Institute at the end of February, and thanks Rebecca for your suggested resource. It will be nice to see how the two groups (round one trainers and round two trainers) mingle in this space. So many of our round one trainers have learned a ton already, and I'm excited to see the sharing of ideas, innovation, struggles, etc.

Jim Malzewski 2006-02-01T21:57:17Z Cassandra Osterloh 2006-02-06T16:38:33Z 2006-02-06T16:38:33Z

Hi! I'm Cassandra Osterloh, Continuing Education Coordinator at the New Mexico State Library and participant in the first round of training. I want to echo Rebecca's welcome and great words about WJ. I also would like to suggest another resource The Visible Librarian: Asserting Your Value with Marketing and Advoccacy by Judith Siess. I have purchased and sent this book to all my workshop attendees. Many have already commented on its helpfulness to them. I will be in Seattle at the end of February helping out with the 2nd round training. I'm really looking forward to meeting everyone. In the meantime, if you have any questions or want to chat, please feel free to contact me. ~ Cassandra

Cassandra Osterloh 2006-02-06T16:38:33Z Betha Gutsche 2006-02-06T17:16:16Z 2006-02-06T17:16:16Z

It is so great to have all these new names and voices chiming in here. Welcome to all! Cassandra, the book you recommend sounds so vital to the work we are all doing. I went right to my library catalog and put a hold on it. I'll give a 'book report' when I've read it. ;)

Betha Gutsche 2006-02-06T17:16:16Z Eric Trahan 2006-02-07T14:18:16Z 2006-02-07T14:18:16Z

Hello, My name is Eric Trahan, and I am the Director of the Canajoharie Library and Art Gallery in upstate New York. I know that many people around the country don't believe that any part of New York is rural, but we, along with many other areas of the state, are. We are in a village with a population of 2,200. Our library is a combined library and museum, with a well known art collection. We are in the middle of expanding our facility to serve as more of a community center. I was introduced to this forum through my participation in the New York version of the EqualAccess libraries program of the Libraries for the Future Foundation.

Eric Trahan 2006-02-07T14:18:16Z Clai Lasher-Sommers 2006-02-07T14:18:23Z 2006-02-07T14:18:23Z

Hello, Our names are vicki and Clai and we work at the North Chatham Free Library in North Chatham New York. Our library is small rural and as most lacking in money and resources. We are at the Necessary conference at the moment, and we keep hearing the same thing. So much work, to little money, network, network, raise money. We are wondering if anyone else has a different take on thinking about this. Is there a way for us to see that our cup is half full and that we just need to re think the traditional way of thinking of "work". Has anyone looked at reallocation of money, to help ease up staff to raise money. What is the ideas from others?

Clai Lasher-Sommers 2006-02-07T14:18:23Z Ellen Wood 2006-02-16T00:44:17Z 2006-02-16T00:44:17Z

Hi, I'm Ellen Wood from Maine, joining everyone in Seattle at the end of February as one of the trainers. I work at the State Library as the Web Coordinator and am a strong advocate for equal access to information, serving on the government web accessibility committee. Before my current job I was a teacher for 20 years in Upstate New York then moved to Maine, becoming involved with libraries. At one point I was the librarian at a small island community library and experienced many of the issues I see discussed in the forums-lack of money, time, how to advocate. Instead of a obtaining a library degree I went back to school a few years ago for another master; this time Teaching with Technology and specializing in Web Accessibility. During school online forums were the key way to communicate and we had many discussions on how to help future colleagues and students join in a topic...a topic I see discussed on WebJunction. Now if the spell check would just pick up the words I leave out because I think faster than type, my online comfort zone would be increased! I'm excited to meet everyone and appreciate the tips and suggestions from those of you in Round 1 as I read this topic and others connected to the Rural Sustainability project.

Ellen Wood 2006-02-16T00:44:17Z