President's Column

Making the Most of Your Advocates - May 2019

I have been a trustee for the Fortville-Vernon Township Library for ten years, but I have to admit, I’ve learned more about being a board member this year than the other nine years combined. Yes, one of the big differences: I now have more time since I retired from K-12 education nearly two years ago, but there were some resources I could have been utilizing all along. Read More

Featured Story: Blackout Poetry Collaboration

A “Blackout Poetry” event took place in the Edison Library of Thomas A. Edison Jr. Sr. High School in celebration of National Poetry Month. Twenty-six students from grades 6 to 12 attended the event during homeroom on April 18. Read More

Merom Public Library added to the National Register of Historic Places

The Merom branch of the Sullivan County Public library was recently added to the National Register of Historic Places. Read More

In foreign continent, library language lessons offer sense of stability

Kamila Fortes left her hometown of Sao Paulo, Brazil a year and a half ago.

Her husband, a financial manager, got a job at Faurecia in Columbus, about 5,000 miles away. Read More

Indiana Humanities awards 18 nonprofits with nearly $45,000 in grants

A total of 18 libraries, schools, museums and other nonprofit organizations from Gary to Osgood have received grants from Indiana Humanities this spring. Read More 

Honey Creek Middle School wins Battle of the Books

“Some of the best books I ever read were Young Hoosier books,” Honey Creek Middle School student Mason Schafer said. He served as a member of the HCMS team competing in the Vigo County School Corporation Battle of the Books which took place April 18 at Ivy Tech Community College. Read More

New Report Underscores The Evolving Role Of Law Librarians 

These days, law librarians are often considered their organizations’ technology gatekeepers. Read More

These Indianapolis schools are overhauling their libraries to encourage reading

When it comes to encouraging children to read, it sometimes helps to judge a book by its cover. Read More

Earl Park Library puts new spin on reading program

The Earl Park will offer a new version of the reading program this year while also making other improvements to the library. Read More

Blast off into Summer Reading with astronaut Leland Melvin

From the football field to the International Space Station, Melvin’s story is sure to inspire

Leland Melvin is more than an astronaut and former football player. This year’s summer reading kickoff speaker is a scientist, a photographer, an explorer, and an educator. He will tell his story on May 15 from the Lerner Theatre stage to more than 3,000 upper elementary students. Read More

The Studio MakerSpace opens at the Greenwood Public Library

They’re popping up everywhere these days, and now the Greenwood Library has one. Read More

Seeking Volunteers

INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM COMMITTEE: The Intellectual Freedom Committee informs, advises, advocates and educates ILF members on intellectual freedom issues. Meets on 2nd Mondays, 11amET, via Zoom. Seeking committee members.

SPECIAL AD HOC COMMITTEE (name TBD): On April 11, the ILF Board of Directors authorized the creation of an ad hoc committee to focus on the sustainability of public libraries. What legislative and administrative policies will enable modern public libraries to thrive in the future? ILF is seeking volunteers to serve on the ad hoc committee, which will meet regularly through 2020, with the objective to recommend policy proposals to the ILF Board, with input from the IPLA Advisory Board and the ILF Advocacy Committee.

Volunteer commitment requires:

MANY OPPORTUNITIES are available in Association Advisory Boards, Division Leadership Teams, Committees, and Special Projects. Interested in volunteering? Please complete this form and specify your interest.

AISLECamp

Monday, June 17

9 am - 4 pm

Ben Davis

Ninth Grade Center

Indianapolis

AISLECamp will consist of presentations in the morning, an AISLE meeting and networking during lunch and an afternoon that encourages participants to facilitate sessions about emerging or continuing topics. Professional Growth Points PGPs/LEUs will be provided.

Register today!

Youth Services Conference - Libraries: Rated E for Everyone

August 25-26, 2019

Renaissance North 

Carmel, IN

Monday Keynote speaker and popular author Zachariah O'Hora will head the two-day conference packed with quality content. We will offer sessions on homeschooling programs, coding, story times, immigrant families, Google training, intellectual freedom, management and more! We will also hold a Performers Showcase and an after-hours event on Sunday.

Register online - at an affordable rate of $180 for members. Hotel rate is $119 at the Renaissance Indianapolis North Hotel in Carmel. Hotel is linked from Youth Services Conference page.

ILF offers Virtual Exchanges, where members engage in dialogue with experts and with each other from the comfort of your home or work computer. Learn more and register below.

After registering, you will receive a link and call-in information so that you may join by computer or phone. We encourage members to use cameras (even your cell phone camera) so members get to know each other.

Note that most Virtual Exchanges are provided for members only.

Nominate

Your Peers!

Nominate a person, library or organization for an ILF Award.

Who demonstrates excellence in Indiana public, academic or school libraries ? Who goes out of their way to advance literacy, marketing, intellectual freedom or library advocacy?   Learn more  about eligibility, past winners or criteria. 

Help support the future of librarianship by helping outstanding teachers and library staff pursue the Master of Library and Information Science at IU or IUPUI or the AS through Ivy Tech. Help us promote ILF Scholarships.

Please consider nominating your peers or library! Deadline for nomination packets is June 30 . Awards are presented at our Annual Conference November 3.

YHBA & Rosie Winners Announced!

The results are in! This year, the Young Hoosier Book Awards received 54,177 votes. Picture Books received 45,666 votes, Intermediate received 6,652 votes and Middle Grades received 1,859 votes.

Picture Book Winner - This is My Book! by Mark Pett with 6,686 votes. 

Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea received 6,107 votes.

Madeline Finn and the Library Dog received 6,032 votes.

Intermediate Book Winner - Maxi's Secrets by Lynn Plourde with 591 votes. 

Mighty Jack received 507 votes. 

The Wild Robot received 498 votes.

Middle Grades Book Winner - Scythe by Neal Shusterman with 181 votes.

Projekt 1065 received 179 votes. 

A Night Divided received 165. 

The Eliot Rosewater Book Award received 4,906 total votes. The 2018-2019 Rosie winner is Sweet by Emmy Laybourne. Honor books are The Way I Use to Be by Amber Smith and Dear Nobody: The True Diary of Mary Rose by Gillian McCain and Legs McNeil. See resource page created by Robyn Young.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Members Only benefits

ILF Members have access to

* monthly reports from Bose Public Affairs

* discounts at conferences and events

* eligibility for certain awards, honors and scholarships

* serving in leadership within ILF-- Volunteer today

* certain voting rights (election of the ILF Board of Directors, etc.)

Forgot your login or password?    Contact the office   and we can tell you and/or reset. A member from a prior year? Please " renew . " By clicking "join," you might create a duplicate account.  NOTE: ILF Membership is on a calendar year.