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DLD is proud to announce that the Institute of Museums and Library Services (IMLS) has awarded DLD a 2-year $285,000 extension of our nationally recognized Transformation for Libraries: The Futures School project! 

During the original grant period, the Transformation for Libraries project has focused on individuals and will ultimately result in the successful training of over 400 members of the library workforce; however, there continues to be a large demand from the field for additional training opportunities and to contextualize Strategic Foresight inside a more organizational perspective.

Based on feedback, observations, and assessments of activities over more than four years of Transformation for Libraries: The Futures School, the CT State Library, and its partner TFSX (formerly Kedge: The Futures School), are actively engaged in identifying potential states and library systems with which to grow this partnership, with a specific interest in targeting statewide and underserved library systems, as well as state libraries, consortia, and associations as upcoming cohorts.

Cohort dates and application information coming soon!

The Connecticut State Library is pleased to announce that it has received a supplemental award of $259,644 from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to continue to digitize historically significant Connecticut newspapers through the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) over the next two years. This grant brings the total award amount the State Library has received for the project to $1.5 million. The digital images will be included in the Library of Congress’ freely available newspaper site: Chronicling America.

Following the NDNP guidelines, the grant will allow Connecticut to add another 100,000 pages, digitized from microfilm of newspapers published in the state between 1690 and 1963. The CDNP Advisory Board will meet to select the newspapers to be scanned.

Please visit the Connecticut Digital Newspaper Project (CDNP) website for information on titles that have been digitized to date, as well as blogs, guides, and other resources. In addition, the Connecticut State Library’s Newspapers of Connecticut digital collection is also available online in the Connecticut Digital Archive. 

From Basic Library Education for staff, to Public Library Director 101, Becoming a Teaching Librarian, and Middle Manager and Supervisor training, we provide an array of professional development training opportunities for Public, Academic and School Librarians. Please visit our Pathways to Leadership LibGuide for information on current offerings. 

Both reports are optional this year (due October 6), but we’d love any information you’d like to share!

Planning Ahead for 2024 Summer Reading?

We know that preparing, planning, and implementing summer reading is practically a yearlong cycle - which is why we are thinking ahead!

If you are interested in getting access to the 2024 iREAD Resource Guide, fill out the MS Form. Only those who fill out the form will receive access.

Each library (including branches and departments) will be granted access to one guide to share amongst themselves.

The theme for 2024 is Read, Renew, Repeat, featuring environmental conservation. "Conservation as a movement focuses on protecting species from extinction, maintaining and restoring habitats, enhancing ecosystem services, and protecting biological diversity." Visit the iREAD website to learn more.

Annual Report Questions

The NEW questions that have been added to the Annual Report are:

• CT 2.35 NEW in 2023: For Summer 2023, did you run a summer library program for kids 0-5?
• CT 2.36 NEW in 2023: For Summer 2023, did you run a summer library program for kids 6-11?
• CT 2.37 NEW in 2023: For Summer 2023, did you run a summer library program for teens 12-18?
• CT 2.38 NEW in 2023: For Summer 2023, did you run a summer library program for adults?
• CT 2.39 NEW in 2023: For Summer 2023, did you run a summer library program for families?
• CT 2.40 NEW in 2023: For Summer 2023, did you partner with schools on your summer library planning?
• CT 2.41 NEW in 2023: For Summer 2023, did you partner with other local institutions on summer library planning?
• CT 2.42 NEW in 2023: For Summer 2023, did you use the iREADresource guide?

Azadeh (Azi) Jamalian, Founder and CEO of the GIANT Room will be doing a three-part professional learning workshop this Fall for CT library staff. [Save the dates: Sept. 26, 28 and Oct. 5, with time TBD]. Librarians will be brought together to receive training on ways to implement creative STEM-based family programs to energize community building, and to invite families to libraries to help them connect to their community in new ways.

One lucky library will also be selected to have an in-person, large-scale family workshop for their community facilitated by the GIANT Room on Saturday, Oct. 28. Five additional libraries will be selected and taught the necessary facilitation skills to first co-facilitate a program with the GIANT Room and then facilitate a second program on their own with GIANT support.

This is a great opportunity for interactive professional learning of strategies, planning and designing of community programs. The large-scale event will provide librarians the experience of observing GIANT methodology in action. The pilot phase will provide the additional five libraries with the support needed to plan, promote and run the workshops on their own. Monthly online meetings, resources, and support will be ongoing throughout the project.

Registration information coming soon!

To find those published plans, please visit the blog on the National Digital Inclusion Alliance website: Your Voice Matters: State Digital Equity Plans Seek Public Feedback.

Information can also be found on our Annual Report LibGuide page.

**Participation in this survey is critical for state and national data gathering on public libraries.**

UPCOMING WEBINARS

There will be a webinar this month on how to use the Excel report form, changes to questions and form layout, what goes where, and some common mistakes and misconceptions. This webinar will be especially useful for new directors and for library staff who are new to collecting and entering data in the form.

• Wednesday, September 6 | 1:00-2:00 pm

Each session will be recorded, with links posted afterward to the data playlist on DLD's YouTube channel.

OFFICE HOURS

There will also be two drop-in virtual office hours to answer any further questions you may have as you complete the report. Office hours will be held on:

• Thursday, September 28 | 1:00-3:00 pm
• Tuesday, October 3 | 10:00 am-12:00 pm

The firm DEADLINE for submission of the Annual Report is 4:00 pm on Wednesday, November 1, 2023. Public libraries are required by statute CGS Sec. 11-25 (a) to submit an Annual Report to receive borrowIT payments or other state appropriations. 

Please refer to our Library Statistics LibGuide for more information about the report and past years’ data.

The project overview and Q&A sections of the session will be recorded, but the participatory activity will not be recorded.

The deadline to apply for the Year Two cohort is Monday, September 18 at 4:00 pm.

Final additional information about BEBS and the application for the year two cohort on the BEBS Libguides page. 

The 2023 Annual Report form was released last month and is due on Wednesday, November 1 by 4:00 pm.

This workshop is perfect for new directors, library staff who are new to collecting and entering data in the form, and anyone who wants a refresher or anyone with questions about the state Annual Report.

The session will be recorded, with link posted afterward to the Data Playlist on DLD's YouTube channel.

Through an interactive online presentation, this training will introduce library staff to the research, practical implications, and resources offered in the toolkit, which is available in its entirety for free online.

Participants will understand key findings from current cognitive and developmental psychology research, reflect on the implications of those findings for their daily work, and gain practical ready-to-implement ideas for activities, as well as resources for staff trainings and for parents/caregivers.

You will benefit from this workshop if you work with children ages 0 to 8 and their families and would like to learn more about how to offer research-backed programming in your library.

Internal Connections and Managed Internal Broadband Services (MIBS): These two service types include eligible products, such as access points, routers, switches, hubs, and wiring.

Basic Maintenance of Internal Connections (BMIC): BMIC covers the repair and upkeep of eligible internal connections. Eligible repair and upkeep services include hardware, wiring, and cable maintenance, along with basic technical support and configuration changes.

Learn what a diversity audit is, why we should audit our collections, why the structure of the publishing industry may make it difficult to cultivate inclusivity, and most importantly, why it’s important to build collections that are diverse AND inclusive.

Who should come? This workshop is perfect for any library staff member who orders for their library collection.

After learning about design principles, participants will look at sample flyers and use their knowledge to improve them.

Participants are asked to “bring” a flyer from their Library (a digital copy on your laptop is fine) for group discussion and design brainstorming.  

In this three-hour, interactive workshop, learn the fundamentals of effective presentation skills. Find out how solid eye contact is an anchor, learn about posture and why gestures are essential and make your content come alive.

We'll also cover how to use your voice effectively, tips on crowd control, and how to regain the attention of a distracted audience. We'll practice Q&A skills and why this part of your presentation is a great opportunity for you to shine.

Interactive and fun, join us live at the CT State Library for a session that will help you stand out every time you talk! 

Early registration is required as you will receive approximately two hours of self-paced pre-work to be completed in advance of the workshop date.

**Note: Completing the pre-work and the workshop in full will provide you with a three-year Youth Mental Health First Aid Certification.

Why Youth Mental Health First Aid?

Youth Mental Health First Aid teaches you how to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges among children and adolescents ages 12-18.

• 1 IN 5 teens and young adults live with a mental health condition. (Source: National Alliance for Mental Illness)
• 50% of all mental illnesses begin by age 14, and 75% by the mid-20s. (Source: Archives of General Psychiatry)

What Mental Health First Aid Covers:

• Common signs and symptoms of mental health challenges in this age group, including anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD).
• Common signs and symptoms of substance use challenges.
• How to interact with a child or adolescent in crisis.
• How to connect the youth with help.
• Expanded content on trauma, substance use, self-care, and the impact of social media and bullying.

In this interactive class with law librarians Chris Roy (Connecticut Judicial Branch Law Libraries), Anne Rajotte (UConn Law Library), and Cheryl Halford (Connecticut Judicial Branch), you will gain confidence and insight by actively researching legal problems with partners or small groups using free legal resources on the Internet.

Along the way, you will get great tips from experienced law librarians that will get you on track to providing legal information and help you avoid giving legal advice.

There are no prerequisites for this session, but since this is a small group workshop, participants will need a computer with a camera and microphone so that they can research questions provided to them, share their results, and ask questions throughout the class.

Join Connecticut State Library consultant and trainer, Libby Post to explore the steps you can take to be prepared.

Visit our calendar

The eGO CT Program and the Palace App: Availability of Titles

Are your patrons often waiting for titles to become available on Overdrive? It’s not uncommon for titles to have as many as 191 patrons or more waiting in the hold queue for a title.

If you have patrons waiting for available titles, send them to the Palace app to see if the title is available from the Connecticut State Library collection.

The eGO CT program and the Palace app provide your patrons with another great free option. The collection provided by the Connecticut State Library now exceeds 28,000 items!

We continue to work on connecting with the few remaining libraries that are not yet fully configured in the Palace Project app. So far, 139 libraries have gone live in the app and 169 sites are configured. As of August 30^th, we are sharing content with over 2,700 patrons. 

New eAudio Titles Now Available in the Palace Project app!

Experiencing America is collection of adult and young adult nonfiction book discussion sets offering perspectives and voices that are intentionally human-centered explorations of identities and systems impacting contemporary America, the one we are all currently living with and within. 

From racial understandings and underrepresented identities to systems of power and socioeconomics to political structures and the justice system, we sought to include titles that integrated those with lived experience and those claiming individual and collective identities.

For more information about the Experiencing America discussion series, including available titles and how to reserve them, please visit our Experiencing America LibGuides.