From Sandy Dixon at the State Library...

To say thank you for completing the PLOW Follow-Up Survey, we promised that a library would be selected to receive a visit from State Library Consultant Marie Harms. During the visit, Marie will provide one-on-one help with that library's PLOW Web site.

The winner is Vicki Vroegh, Eddyville Public Library. Congratulations, Vicki!

And thanks to the 111 of you who completed the PLOW Follow-Up Survey. I am using the results right now as I write the report we will submit to the Gates Foundation in December.

Big news in continuing education: the Iowa Small Library Association (ISLA) along with Northwest, Southwest, and Central LSAs, are organizing a totally online conference slated for January 16th. “Connection, Collaboration, Community: The Iowa Small Libraries Online Conference (ISLOC)” is in the dead of winter and you don’t even have to leave town!

Thanks to the State Library, you'll have access to virtual classrooms called Wimba Rooms. With help (producing) also from Southeast LSA, the weather will be out of the equation and will enable everyone to meet in cozy, virtual classrooms instead. From the comfort of home or office, participants will log into various Wimba rooms to join one session or several. Here’s a preview of the sessions being planned:

AM Keynote Speaker: Michael Stephens of Tame the Web
PM Keynote Speaker: Pat Wagner of Pattern Research in Colorado
Concurrent Sessions:
¨ Cool Tools, Widgets, and Gadgets
¨ Collaborating with Colleagues on the Web
¨ The Interactive Library: Promoting Service Online
¨ Trustees 2.0—An Evening Session for Boards

Also on tap: a virtual exhibit hall, a gaming session over the lunch hour, and a virtual lounge where you can network with your colleagues across the state. Oh sure, you’ll need some stuff—like high speed Internet, a microphone, speakers, and such. Most importantly, you’ll need to run a set-up wizard to make sure your computer has the right components to best experience this new format. NWILS will provide set-up instructions in separate emails, so stay tuned for that.

There’s no requirement that you sit glued to your computer all day long. Choose the topics that most interest you and log into those. If you’re only able to listen to the 2 keynote speakers, that will be great. If you’re only able to join over the lunch hour—or only available for the evening trustees session—that’s great too.

An online course on serving Spanish speaking patrons from The Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies is available for a fee beginning in April. For more information visit: http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2007/november2007/spanish07.htm.

PLA Scholarship and Stipend Winners announced!

The Board of Trustees of Southeastern Library Services is pleased to announce the following recipients of full and partial scholarships to attend the PLA Conference in Minneapolis March 26-29.

Full scholarships were awarded to Debbie Stanton, Youth Services Librarian at Kalona Public Library and Suzann Holland, Director at Oskaloosa Public Library. Stipends were awarded to Janette McMahon, Director at West Liberty Public Library and Sarah Clendening, Director at Ft. Madison Public Library. Congratulations!

If you’d like to travel to the PLA Conference in style while on a budget, consider taking one of the charter buses sponsored by SLS with East Central, Northeast and North Central LSAs. You can register through the CE catalog at http://www.statelibraryofiowa.org/cgi-bin/cecat/.

Free Books for Libraries!

Who: Public and school (K-12) libraries in the U.S. and its territories. A single application can be submitted on behalf of multiple libraries within a library system, school district, or community. Individual branch or school libraries are also encouraged to apply.

What: A collection of classic books for young readers to be given to 3,000 libraries across the country. All books will be related to the theme Created Equal. Some will focus on the life and writings of Abraham Lincoln, whose 200th birthday will be celebrated during the 2008-2009 programming period. Also included will be a special "History in a Box" resource kit on Lincoln, produced by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

When: September 10, 2007-January 25, 2008

Where: www.ala.org/wethepeople or www.wethepeople.gov/bookshelf

For programming ideas and other tips on submitting an application, visit www.ala.org/wethepeople. With questions, contact the ALA Public Programs Office at (312) 280-5045 or publicprograms@ala.org.

The We the People Bookshelf is presented by the National Endowment for the Humanities in cooperation with the American Library Association.

YALSA announces Teen Book Week theme for 2008

Teens voted and the results are in…the Teen Book Week theme will be:

http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2007/november2007/bite07.htm

Send Your Staff to Library School

...with PLA’s Grown Your Own Program, PLA will award nine public libraries with a lump sum of $8,000 each to be distributed to as many of their employees as they choose for the purpose of working toward obtaining an MLS. For information on the program and qualifications, visit http://plablog.org/2007/11/grow-your-own-librarians.html.

Jobs In Southeast

Southeastern Library Services is seeking an individual who excels at details and customer service. This position manages the office without regular direct supervision, handles accounting and payroll using QuickBooks, uses the Internet, databases, email, spreadsheet, and word processing programs on a daily basis, works directly with library staff, trustees and volunteers, and oversees various projects that cover a 15 county area in southeastern Iowa. Travel is not required. Associate's degree in related field preferred. A combination of education and experience or directly related experience may be substituted for the completed Associate's degree.

Position is 40 hours per week, with a hiring range of $11.63 to $13.63 per hour. Southeastern Library Services offers paid vacation/sick leave/holidays, paid single medical and dental coverage and participation in the State retirement program IPERS. To apply, please email a cover letter and resume to kkietzman@sls.lib.ia.us by December 5, 2007. US Mail submissions may be sent Attn: Kim Kietzman, 2435 Kimberly Road Suite 210N, Bettendorf, IA 52722. No phone calls or in-person submissions, please.

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City of Bettendorf
Bettendorf Public Library
Young Adult Librarian – Information Librarian Open Position

The Bettendorf Public Library is looking for an innovative and energetic librarian passionate about providing outstanding service to teens. This position includes 28 hours/week in Youth Services Department and 12 hours per week in the Information Services Department.

Responsibilities include:

- Performing all aspects of young adult library service from collection development to outreach and including programming
- Answering reference questions and readers’ advisory requests for children, teens and adults
- Instructing patrons in the use of Library Resources
- Selecting music for teens and adults
- Recruiting and training teen volunteers
- Assisting with Children’s Programming when needed

Requirements are:

- Master’s in Library Science from an ALA accredited school with 2-4 years of progressively more responsible work in a public library setting
- Professional experience in a young adult library setting is preferred
- Working knowledge of Microsoft Office products, webpage construction and social networking sites, internet and library databases


This is a full time position with the Bettendorf Public Library in the City of Bettendorf. Hours include some nights and alternate weekends. Starting salary is $19.3911 per hour ($40,333.48 annually). Interested applicants can pick up applications at the following location:

City Hall
1609 State Street
Bettendorf, IA 52722

Applicants may also print an application off the website at http://www.bettendorf.org/.

Applicants must include a completed application and resume for this position. Deadline for applications is Friday, December 7, 2007 at 5:00 p.m. All applications must be returned to Bettendorf City Hall.

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, is releasing the Amazon Kindle, an electronic device that he hopes will leapfrog over previous attempts at e-readers and become the turning point in a transformation toward Book 2.0. Read about it at:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/70983/page/1

...and even watch a video of a reviewer using the device!

In observance of Thanksgiving, the office will be closed Thursday, November 22nd and Friday, November 23rd. We will resume normal business hours Monday, November 26th. If you need assistance in the meantime, please feel free to contact the office cell phone or send an email to kkietzman@sls.lib.ia.us or awright@sls.lib.ia.us.

Have a safe and happy holiday!

Professional Book of the Week

Title: Information Literacy Assessment: Standards-Based Tools and Assignments
Author: Teresa Y. Neely

Summary:
This book is for anyone involved in instructing students, especially high school and up, on how to use information resources. Based on the Association for College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Five Standards, the programs and assignments cover everything from “one shot” instruction sessions to multi-session courses. The examples are drawn from a pool of best practices from 27 institutions located in the U.S., Canada, and Australia.

For all of you who host gaming events at your library, or are exploring the possibility, I stumbled across an interesting listserv in my blog reading this morning: LibGaming. Discussions have included whether or not it’s legal to include Nintendo characters on promotional material, Wii games, Guitar Hero, collection development of games for lending and much more. Eli Neiberger, who spoke at ILA in October, is an active member of the group. You can access and/or join the group by going to: http://groups.google.com/group/LibGaming. Even better, their archives are open to the public, so you don’t have to be a member to just read.

College class at your mousetip!

The University of California – Berkeley is providing videos of classes and events through YouTube. This great resource for tons of interesting and informative topics is available at http://www.youtube.com/ucberkeley.

Check out Kalona Public Library's new blog!

http://www.engagedpatrons.org/Blogs.cfm?SiteID=4653&BlogID=134

Professional Book of the Week

Title: ¡Bienvenidos! ¡Welcome! A Handy Resource Guide for Marketing Your Library to Latinos
Author: Susannah Mississippi Byrd

Summary:
The population of Latino communities is growing all across the United States. The community has many of the same information needs as the Anglo community, but go about acquiring the information in different ways, most often due to language barriers. This slim volume covers a lot of ground in providing an overview of Latino communities, developing a responsive collection, programming and library services, outreach and publicity, accessibility, and the Spanish language marketplace. This is an especially helpful title for those working on developing relationships with their resident Latino community.

From Mary Wegner, State Librarian:

With a heavy heart, I must inform you that our friend and colleague Beth Marie Quanbeck died unexpectedly Monday morning, November 12. Services will be held at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, November 18 at Faith Lutheran Church outside Monticello, MN. Directions are available at http://www.lutheran-faith.org/. Beth Marie is survived by her parents and two sisters in Minnesota, and a brother in Chicago. Condolences may be sent to her sister and brother-in-law, Pastor Jim and Louise Tetlie, 520 W. Third St., Monticello, MN 55362.

I know that Beth Marie's family will appreciate our thoughts and prayers, and I hope we can find an opportunity to share with them how much we all loved working with her and how many lives she touched through her work with Iowa libraries.

Beth Marie accepted the position of library consultant at the State Library on April 2, 2007. Before that, she was employed by the Central Iowa Library Service Area as assistant administrator, a position she had held since 1994. Prior to this position she was the director of Library Development for South Dakota State Library. Beth Marie had a master's degree in information media from St. Cloud State University. Beth Marie had extensive experience consulting with small, rural public libraries and was well known for her helpful, smiling personality and wonderful sense of humor. She was one of the stars of the 2007 Town Meeting skit playing the role of Wilhemina.

We will post further information as we receive it.

The Burlington Public Library is seeking a Public Services Manager. This is an administrative position responsible for planning, developing, organizing, and supervising the Public Services area of the library, including but not limited to reference, circulation, readers advisory, homebound delivery, interlibrary loan, personnel management, programming, materials selection, space allocation, public service, and public relations. The candidate must have a Masters degree in Library science, ALA accredited, three years experience in library work, and ability to obtain and maintain State Library of Iowa accreditation at Level Six. See www.visitburlingtoniowa.com for more information about our community. Complete job description is available at http://www.burlington.lib.ia.us/employment.htm. An application is available online or by calling 319.753.1647.

Resumes may be e-mailed to the Director at rfrevert@burlington.lib.ia.us or sent via U.S. mail to: Ms. Rhonda J. Frevert, Director, Burlington Public Library, 210 Court Street, Burlington IA 52601 on or before Monday, November 12, 2007. Letters of recommendation must be sent by U.S. mail to the same address. EOE/AA