Initiatives & Announcements | | |
Public Libraries Promoted Digital Equity for Juneteenth
On behalf of the CT Libraries and Partners for Digital Equity (CTLPDE), Aujahdai Ambrose, Digital Navigator at the East Hartford Public Library, was interviewed by NBC30 and Fox61, as well as the CT Latino News.
The CT State Library was also proud for DLD Director Dawn La Valle to share how CT public libraries were participating in Juneteenth events to promote digital equity as a civil rights issue on Fox 61 Morning News on Friday, June 17. Watch the segment.
Complementing the efforts of CT Libraries and Partners for Digital Equity (CTLPDE), around a dozen Connecticut public libraries participated in Juneteenth festivals and distributing materials to educate about the discrimination and inequity plaguing internet access.
CT Libraries & Partners is now turning its attention to planning for a full range of activities with partners for Digital Inclusion Week from October 3-7, 2022.
Join CTLPDE
| |
CT Library for the Blind
Outreach Request Form
Interested in learning more about the services and resources of the Connecticut State Library for the Blind (LBPH) and how they can benefit your library patrons? LBPH offers virtual and in-person outreach sessions for library staff. Sessions can be offered to individuals, departments, or the entire staff of a library.
To learn more or schedule an outreach session for your library, complete the LBPH Outreach Request form, now available on the LBPH website. LBPH staff will follow up with outreach form submissions within 1-2 business days to discuss your request.
| |
Ready for Summer Reading’s Read Beyond the Beaten Path?
We can help!
| |
|
Hot days, cool stuff! Borrow our nifty resources to expand your collections this summer. Do you want summer-themed large print titles? Or we can send sunny picture books to camp out at your library! We have puppets too, for storytimes, or to make your library look like it’s "Beyond the Beaten Path" - like this frog who hopped to Killingly Public Library and got comfortable at circulation, or our nearly life-sized teddy bear who is camping out at Woodbury Public Library!
Make an appointment to visit; reserve book sets, book props, themed kits, and more; and search our catalog – all by visiting Service Center Collections.
Join the summer reading conversation on social media with #CTSummerReading and #ReadBeyondTheBeatenPath.
| |
New CT Pages!
Watch the new CT Pages and meet Emily Jenkins, Children's Librarian at North Haven Memorial Library who shares with us the experience of creating NoodleMan with her colleague Joe DeFrancesco, Children’s LTA. While attending a fantastic Zoom program, Magic Square: Teaching the Virtual Grid presented by Jason Leinwand and Andrew Murdock during the CLA fall Children’s Librarian Workshop in October 2020, they learned that by bringing a fun character to virtual programs, attendees are more engaged. During the program they were told to quickly gather some basic program supplies to build a puppet. They grabbed a pool noodle, hair tufts, and pom poms. In just 15 minutes, and with great enthusiasm, “NoodleMan” was born.
CT Pages is a channel for sharing community engagement success stories by libraries with and for their communities. We partner with CT libraries to create and release short video conversations with the library staff who make things happen.
Do you have a creative program, service, activity, partnership, or project that you want to share with your library neighbors? We are always seeking submissions for consideration – Submit your idea!
| |
|
Professional Development & Continuing Education | | |
Basic Book Repair: Tools & Techniques
Friday, July 15 | 10 am-1 pm
Register
Note: This is an IN-PERSON workshop at the Middletown Library Service Center
Would you like to save money by getting more uses per book? Would you like to keep that out-of-print book in circulation to meet your library patron's needs? Would you like to quickly repair simple problems rather than purchasing a replacement? Many repairs that can extend the life of your library collection are fast and simple, and can be done with easy-to-obtain, inexpensive materials. This hands-on workshop is appropriate for a library staff member or volunteer who will be doing book repair. Emphasis will be on simple repairs for the everyday public or school library collection, rather than on archival or long-term preservation techniques.
| |
|
How to Complete the 2022 Public Library Annual Report
Thursday, July 21 | 2-3 pm
Register
Maria Bernier, State Data Coordinator, will provide an overview of the 2022 Public Library Annual Report: how to use the Excel form, changes to questions and form layout, what goes where, and some common mistakes and misconceptions. The 2022 Annual Report form will be released in mid-July and is due on November 1 by 4:00 pm.
| |
|
Principles of Great Flyer Design
Tuesday, July 26 | 9:30-11 am
Register
Making a great flyer is both a science and an art. Learn about the visual design principles that can help your flyers convey information efficiently and effectively. Discuss fonts and the ways they can work to enhance your flyers. After discussing design principles, participants will look at sample flyers and use their knowledge to improve them. Participants are asked to “bring” (digital copy on your laptop is fine) a flyer from their Library for group discussion and design brainstorming.
| |
|
Managing Your Library Data
Thursday, July 28 | 2-3 pm
Register
Wow your boards with your command of data!
In this webinar, learn from your peers at other libraries how they keep track of their statistics from month to month using spreadsheets in Excel and visualizations in Power BI. See some concrete examples in action that your library can follow in order to make the Annual Report easier as well as monthly reports to your board and other stakeholders.
Since we’re at the beginning of many libraries’ fiscal years and at the beginning of the state Annual Report period, this is a good time to set up your new data-keeping practices to make all your reports easier in the future.
Presenters:
- Emily Mills, Youth Services Librarian, Cromwell Belden Public Library
- Pasquale Festa, MSIS, Circulation Librarian, North Haven Memorial Library
- Kate Byroade (She/Her/Hers), Library Director, Cragin Memorial Library
| |
|
Advanced Book Repair: Hardcover Techniques
Friday, July 29 | 10 am-1 pm
Register
Note: This is an IN-PERSON workshop at the Middletown Library Service Center
Would you like to save money by getting more uses per book? Have you already done all the easy repairs and have a shelf left over of difficult broken spines on hardcover books? Do you have staff time to do repair work, rather than budget money to replace or rebind books? This workshop is appropriate for a library staff member or volunteer who has done basic book repair or taken a basic book repair workshop and is ready to try some advanced repair techniques. Emphasis will be on spine repairs for hardcover books, where professional rebinding is not an option due to brittle paper, or lack of access to a bindery or the funds to pay for rebinding. The purpose is on getting books back into circulation, rather than on archival or long-term preservation techniques, although conservation-friendly reversible repair techniques will be the focus.
| |
|
2022 Public Library Annual Report
The new deadline for submitting this report is November 1, 4:00 pm. The FY2022 report has new questions about children's programs and attendance for separate ages 0-5 and 6-11, as well as quick new questions about fines for overdue print materials, an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion plan, and whether your library is CIPA compliant. Some questions about curbside service, filtering on computers, and out-of-state interlibrary loans have been deleted.
Recordings of recent webinars about these changes are available on the Data playlist on DLD's YouTube channel, and you can also find the presentation slides and a full list of changes on our Annual Report LibGuide.
The 2022 state Annual Report form will be released in mid-July and will be due on November 1 by 4:00 pm.
Join Maria Bernier, State Data Coordinator, for "How to Complete the 2022 Public Library Annual Report" on any of the following dates:
This webinar is perfect for new directors, library staff who are new to collecting and entering data in the form, anyone who wants a refresher, or anyone with questions about the state Annual Report. Each webinar will be recorded and posted afterward to the Data playlist on DLD's YouTube channel.
| |
|
For access to fulfILLment, our interlibrary loan platform, join requestIT CT!
131 libraries in Connecticut already participate in the requestIT CT program!
The Connecticut State Library Division of Library Development works with Bibliomation and Equinox to provide access to the fulfILLment interlibrary loan platform for public, school, and academic libraries.
New enhancements are planned for this coming fiscal year including continuing the deployment of connectors to allow better communication between the fulfILLment platform and your library’s ILS.
The cost to participate in fulfILLment as part of the requestIT CT program is $350 per fiscal year and the term of use runs from July 1 - June 30 each year.
Please note that fulfILLment training is available for your library upon request.
Interested in participating? Contact Brad Bullis at bradley.bullis@ct.gov.
| |
The eGO CT Program – Free eBooks for Public Libraries and Schools!
The eGO CT Program is extending its reach to public libraries and school libraries. The Palace Project is aimed at public libraries, and we currently have 35 libraries that are live in the Palace app and a total of 166 libraries that are configured in the app.
If your library is interested in going live in the Palace Project app now, you can join upon request by contacting Brad Bullis at bradley.bullis@ct.gov. We will immediately provide access to all the amazing FREE content including over 14,500 items from the Connecticut State Library.
DLD is also working with Baker & Taylor to connect Follett Destiny schools here in Connecticut to eGO CT content purchased by the Connecticut State Library that is specifically selected for a K-12 audience as part of the eGO CT Community Share Program. To date, we have connected 10 schools with this content which includes items that support the school curriculum, summer reading titles and lots of options for leisure reading.
For about more information about this amazing opportunity or to sign up, please contact Brad Bullis at the Connecticut State Library Division of Library Development at bradley.bullis@ct.gov.
| |
Summer Reading with the Palace Project
Summer Reading is upon us! As we all know there are many ways to participate in summer reading, one of which is through ebooks and audiobooks. While your library may have a robust collection of digital materials, you can also access the CT State Library collection through the Palace app.
Palace is a new e-reading app as part of the CT State Library’s eGO CT program, a statewide library ebook platform, currently being rolled out to public libraries and their patrons. The CT State Library provides access to over 14,000 titles from multiple vendors, including the 2022 Summer Reading titles!
We encourage summer readers to read whatever book appeals to them, yet we know a little guidance can be helpful.
Explore the CT Department of Education’s Governor’s Summer Reading Challenge with 5 age-based summer reading lists. Many of these titles are available in the Palace app.
For individuals who qualify for services from the CT Library for the Blind, there are many Summer Reading titles available as Talking Books.
Some of our favorite titles:
-
Forest Baby by Laurie Elmquist
-
The Young Adventurer’s Guide to Almost Everything by Ben Hewitt
-
Alone by Megan E. Freeman
-
City of Orphans by Avi
-
Every Hidden Thing by Kenneth Oppel
The Palace Project is free to all CT public libraries. More books are always good! See if your library has been configured to access the Palace app.
| |
New Titles: Books on CD Collection
Welcoming some new titles into the Middletown Library Service Center’s books on CD collection. Find these titles and more in our catalog.
| |
New Professional Development Titles | |
Stay Connected! Join our Email Lists
Our many email discussion lists for the library community help you connect with your peers. Conntech has the greatest reach across the state, and both Goodnightmoon for children's services and Speak for YA services have lively discussions and professional interchange.
Scout the full list and subscription information.
| |
|
Middletown Library Service Center
Open by appointment only for the foreseeable future
Monday-Friday | 9 am-4 pm
MLSC will be closed Monday, July 4 in observance of Independence Day.
MLSC staff, whether in the office or telecommuting, are responding to voicemail and e-mail during business hours of 8 am to 4:30 pm, Monday to Friday, except for state holidays.
| | |
|
Connecticut State Library | Division of Library Development
Middletown Library Service Center
786 South Main Street | Middletown, CT 06457
(860) 704-2200 | libguides.ctstatelibrary.org/dld
|
| | | |
