This Week at ULC
Newsletter | October 20, 2021
SUBMIT YOUR 2021 INNOVATIONS TODAY
Submissions for ULC’s 2021 Innovations Initiative are rolling in and the November 1 deadline is fast approaching! If you haven’t already, please submit an Innovation (or several) to one of the 10 categories! Brainstorm with your teams now and talk about your best work in 2021 and share it with ULC! 

This year's Top Innovators will have the opportunity to:
  • Showcase their Innovation in a celebratory ULC member video
  • Receive a one-year subscription to Ingram's brand new iCurate® Coming Soon service
  • Plus, the 2021 Top Innovator in Anti-Racism, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion category will receive a complementary iCurate® inClusive Diversity Audit of their print collection 

The deadline to submit is November 1, so prepare your submissions now!
We give a special thanks to Ingram Content Group for supporting the 2021 ULC Innovations Celebration and providing ULC members with new and useful tools for the field. 
Thanks to Ingram, we are proud to announce two amazing benefits that will be extended to this year's Top Innovators! The 2021 Top Innovators in nine categories will receive a one-year subscription to Ingram's brand new iCurate® Coming Soon service, which provides hand-selected lists of pre-publication titles delivered on the first of every month and sized appropriately for each collection. The 2021 Top Innovator in the Anti-Racism, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion category will receive a complementary iCurate® inClusive Diversity Audit of their print collection, providing reporting on their collection along with lists of diverse titles for addition that are most popular in public libraries.
iCurate® Coming Soon
Easily Manage New, Forthcoming & Trending Titles

Remove the guesswork from new title selection with iCurate® Coming Soon, a cost-effective annual subscription that delivers hand-selected lists of prepublication titles monthly within ipage®. 
 
Going beyond bestsellers, Coming Soon lists are based on the English regular print collection and include debut authors, surprise celebrity authors, and unpredictable successes. Mix and match list sizes to meet collection, budget or selector needs.
iCurate® inClusive
Effortless, Effective Diversity Audit

Save staff time and tedious effort with iCurate® inClusive, a one-time diversity audit comparing your English regular print collection to the average public library to measure, track and improve the diversity of your collection.
 
Intentionally and aggressively diversify your collection with data-driven reports, charts and lists that compare your library holdings to inClusive’s public library customer average broken out by age, collection and diversity category within two weeks.
BUILDING EQUITY: AMPLIFY SUMMER LEARNING COHORT | APPLY TODAY
ULC is excited to announce the opening of the application period for Building Equity: Amplify Summer Learning, a new ULC initiative to support engaging learning opportunities for middle school youth in the summertime who have historically been excluded from STEM opportunities (e.g., based on race, income, gender, ability). Building on the success of ULC’s Partners for Middle School STEM initiative and the hard work of our first learning cohort libraries, the goal of Building Equity: Amplify Summer Learning is to position libraries as critical community anchors for learning, accelerate the public library’s role in summer and reinforce the library as a place in the community for equity and inclusion.

The application for Building Equity: Amplify Summer Learning is now open. All applications are due by Friday, November 5 at 11:59 p.m. ET. 

 
Funded in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and with the support of our partners, the National Summer Learning Association and the National Recreation and Park Association, ULC and its strategic partners will work with a learning cohort of up to 20-25 public libraries to design and implement quality STEM summer programming. All ULC members are encouraged to apply!

Questions? Review this month’s Information Session slides and our Cohort FAQ’s, and don't hesitate to reach out to ULC's Director of Strategic Initiatives Tandra Turner at tturner@urbanlibraries.org for help with your application.
MEMBER NEWS ROUNDUP
Hamilton Goes Fine Free
Hamilton Public Library

Hamilton Public Library is one of the latest ULC member library systems to join the Fine Free movement by eliminating fines for everyone. The library had previously eliminated fines and fees on materials for children and teens in 2020. "Fines had become a barrier for members of our community who did not have ways to easily recover their membership status," said HPL’s Collections and Program Development Director Lisa Radha Weaver.
Meet ULC's Newest Member
Dakota County Library

ULC is thrilled to welcome Minnesota’s Dakota County Library as the newest addition to our member community! With nine library locations, Dakota County Library has served the area since 1969 with a mission to cultivate community, creativity and learning.
Ensuring Equity in Local Business Partnerships
Cleveland Public Library

In an effort to develop equity in business partnerships, Cleveland Public Library has established a Supplier Diversity Council to ensure the library’s suppliers are diverse and representative of the community the library serves. “When you look at the population of Cleveland, our business partnerships should mirror that population.The Supplier Diversity Council is part of the bigger picture surrounding the library’s desire to be inclusive internally and externally across all layers,” said Dr. Sadie Winlock, chief equity, education & engagement officer at CPL.
CEO SPEAKER SERIES WITH DR. EVA SELHUB
This November, we invite ULC CEOs to attend a special three-part Speaker Series with Dr. Eva Selhub to discuss personal and professional stress and how to best understand and manage it. During the first presentation and discussion on November 4 at 4 p.m. ET, Reducing Stress and Optimizing Resilience, Dr. Selhub will share why it is crucial to create a strong foundation for reducing stress and provide actionable takeaways to create better balance and mindfulness in your lives.

Dr. Selhub will also join us for two additional ULC CEO calls on November 10 and 18, so please mark your calendars!
About Dr. Selhub: Dr. Selhub is an internationally recognized expert on resiliency and stress reduction. She specializes in helping individuals and organizations improve health, well-being, productivity and outcomes by creating a culture of resilience. Her energizing presentations merge science with spirit and mind with body. A board-certified physician, Dr. Selhub taught for 20 years as an instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
UPCOMING MEMBER EVENTS
ULC CEO Speaker Series with Dr. Eva Selhub
Virtual Discussion
November 4 | 4-5 p.m. ET
ULC Communications and Marketing Leaders
Member Group Call
November 17 | Noon-1 p.m. ET
FEATURED RESOURCES ON ULC'S MEMBER KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE
Develop a Blueprint to Meet the Needs of Your Community: Learn from the Digital Navigators
Urban Libraries Council

Programming Framework: Activate Something Great
Toronto Public Library

Common Sense Media
Kent District Library

LIBRARY JOURNAL SUMMIT | OCTOBER 21
Free Virtual Event
October 21

Join Library Journal on October 21 for a free, daylong virtual event to hear from public library leaders and staff who are reinventing their services and building on their best COVID-inspired innovations to better connect with and serve patrons and help their communities recover.

Several ULC members are presenting, including:

  • Beth Atwater, Fiction and DVD Collection Development Librarian, Johnson County Library
  • Wendy Bartlett, Collection Development Manager, Cuyahoga County Public Library
  • Nicholas A. Brown, Chief Operating Officer for Communication and Outreach, Prince George’s County Memorial Library System
  • Dominic Davis, Library Assistant, Madison Public Library
  • Suzi Perez, TechCentral Manager, Cleveland Public Library
  • Morgan Perry, Business Outreach Specialist, Mid-Continent Public Library
  • Jennie Pu, Director, Hoboken Public Library
NOW TRENDING ON SOCIAL
Hoboken Public Library

ULC member Hoboken Public Library is the latest library to sign our Statement on Race and Social Equity! Find out how 211 public libraries are actively working to foster a more just and inclusive world.
Questions?

Please contact Paul Negron, Interim Director of Communications: pnegron@urbanlibraries.org