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Member's Corner: December 2006

Member's Corner articles publish in the nsls.info weekly e-newsletter on the first Friday of each month. It is a place for libraries to share the successes of their library as well as the accomplishments of staff. Contact Christina Johnson to share your news.

Please note that many of the links provided are to sites outside the NSLS site and may only be available for a limited time.

On YouTube

A video clip from What's New in Libraries? is available on YouTube featuring Bill Pardue, virtual services librarian at Arlington Heights Memorial Library, demonstrating the library’s virtual reference capabilities. In the clip Pardue also describes e-mail and live chat reference, then shows an example of an instant-message reference transaction. Watch video clip.

National Library Legislative Day 2007 Student Contest Winner

The ALA Washington Office and the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) have pleased to announce that the winner of the National Library Legislative Day 2007 Student Contest is Danny Chapman of Lake Forest High School. "For his winning entry - entitled 'Check Out the Future' - Danny has won a free trip to the 33rd Annual National Library Legislative Day (NLLD), which will be held in Washington, DC, on May 1 and 2, 2007. He will be visiting his Members of Congress with the delegation from the Illinois Library Association....Danny was encouraged by both his art teacher and YALSA librarian, Kerry Flaherty." Read full press release on ALA's site.

Grab & Snap Photography Contest a Success: Paws and Tales

The Lake Villa District Library’s first Grab & Snap Photography Contest was a success! Thirty-six children ages five through 12 entered a total of 67 photographs depicting their pets (or stuffed animals) enjoying a good book. The contest was judged by three local art teachers, who had a difficult time picking the winners. View photos on LVDL's site.

Scholars in Residence Program

Sandra Norlin, Des Plaines Public Library, and Jan Hayes, NSLS, participated in the Chicago Public Library’s 2006 Charlotte Kim Scholars in Residence Program on November 8. The title of the program was Appreciative Inquiry: A Powerful Approach to Positive Change. Sandra and Jan participated in a panel discussion, “Reflections on Appreciative Inquiry.” Each had a breakout session in the afternoon. Sandra’s was “Leading Positive Change: One Library’s Experience” and Jan worked with Maureen Sullivan to present “Sustainable Change: The NSLS Experience.”

ALA's Emerging Leaders

Emerging Leaders 2007 will welcome and train 100 new librarians to get a jump-start in leadership. EL’07 kicks off with a day-long session during the 2007 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Seattle. Afterward, it will grow and develop online for six months, culminating at the 2007 Annual Conference in Washington, D. C. The following NSLS members were selected to participate:

• Anne Chernaik, College of Lake County
• Holly Jin, Skokie Public Library
• Qiana Johnson, Northwestern University

New Library in the Works

An intergovernmental agreement the Village and Library boards adopted paves the way for a larger Glenview Public Library to be built. The agreement formalizes the Village Board's July offer of $26.3 million to fund the project and authorizes the Library Board to move ahead with designing the facility to be built. Read more in the Fall 2006 edition of the library's newsletter.

Hennen's American Public Library Ratings (HAPLR)

Data for HAPLR was filed by over 9,000 libraries across the nation. One NSLS member library is listed below. View full report.

• Palatine Public Library District is listed as 10th in serving a population of 50,000-99,999
  

New Staff

Sharon Wiseman will join the Arlington Heights Memorial Library staff as Human Resources Director on December 1. With 20 years experience in the library field, Sharon most recently was the Director of Staff & Organizational Development at Chicago Public Library. Since Sharon is also an experienced trainer, facilitator and consultant, she will be a wonderful addition to the AHML staff. Sharon has been a keynote conference speaker at the Illinois Library Association, Public Library Association, and American Library Association. She earned a Master of Library Science degree from Indiana University, and a Master of Arts degree from Holy Names College in Oakland, CA.

Grants

Cook Memorial Public Library District will receive two grants to fund two great programs. Target will sponsor the library's Targeting Early Literacy program. The program will teach pre-reading skills to parents of at-risk preschoolers and fund materials for the Library's Active Learning Center. The library also received a grant for a Big Read program, made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts, in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest. With the grant, the Library will be able to expand on last spring’s successful One Book, One District project to celebrate two books: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Dave at Night by Gail Carson Levine. The Big Read will kick-off with a 1920's party on April 15, 2007.

Awards

Shelley Riskin, Pleasant Ridge School, was honored at the recent ISLMA conference with the prestigious Highsmith Award and the illustrious Polestar Award.

Below is a photo taken at the ISLMA conference. Left to right: Sarah Long, NSLS; Shelley Riskin, Pleasant Ridge School; and Sharon Ball, NSLS.