Grant Opportunity - Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy

The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy is pleased to announce our 2011 National Grant competition. The Foundation's grant-making program seeks to develop or expand projects designed to support the development of literacy skills for adult primary care givers and their children. A total of approximately $650,000 will be awarded.

In order to be considered eligible for a grant, an organization must meet the following criteria:
· The organization must have current nonprofit or public status and have been in existence for two or more years as of the date of the application
· The organization must have maintained fiscal accountability
· The organization must operate an instructional literacy program that has been in existence for at least 2 years and includes one or more of the following components: literacy for adults; parent education; pre-literacy or literacy instruction for children pre-k to grade 3; intergenerational literacy activities (Parent and Child Together Time [(PACT]).

Applications must be received by September 20, 2010. See the Foundation's website for complete details.

National Gaming Day 2010

Libraries can now register for National Gaming Day 2010, which will take place on Saturday, November 13! This year, North Star Games is donating a free copy of its game Wits & Wagers Family to the first 1,000 U.S. libraries that register, so hurry and fill out the form now! This new version removes the betting chips and includes questions that can be used in any library or school.

Registering will also get your location on the national map we'll be promoting to both the public and the press. Does your library plan to participate in the national Rock Band and/or Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournaments? Be sure to register so we can work with you ahead of time to get everything in place and tested.

Webinar - Job Information in Libraries and the Workforce System

Date: Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Time: 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Place: Online at http://evanced.info/webjunction/evanced/eventsignup.asp?ID=1661 Registration is required
Cost: Free!

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) invests in resources and services to support national and local workforce development needs. ETA staff will join us for a 90-minute webinar to provide an overview of the public workforce system and present the electronic tools most helpful to library staff who assist unemployed workers. Attendees will learn how to direct patrons to the right tools for their needs and to find local Workforce System partners. The presentation will also include an online tour of the O*NET System, CareerOneStop.org and America's Service Locator and including Occupational Crosswalks, job search/resume preparation and State Job Banks and Labor Market Information. Pre-registration is required; sign up using the link above.

Your Library By The Numbers

(from the Tame the Web blog)
Emily Lloyd writes:

"My coworker Marni came up with a great idea for one of our lobby bulletin boards: a display called “Eden Prairie Library by the Numbers.” Illustrated with photos taken in the branch, it includes stats like how many returns the library checks in every day (roughly 4000), how many storytimes we offer per week (8), how many items were checked out from our location last year (1,333,427), how many years the library has been part of the community (35), etc. The display was really popular with both patrons and staff–nice for patrons to see, in these strained economic times, exactly how much the library does in the community, and a good reminder to staff that we’re actually pretty amazing."

What a super way to visually show the value your library provides to your community. And pretty easy to put together, too! I'm sure most patrons have no idea just how many holds you fill or how many people use your public computers on a daily basis. Please share pictures if anyone does a similar display.

New in the Professional Collection

Reading Group Choices : Selections for Lively Book Discussions, 2010 ed.

Social Readers : Promoting Reading in the 21st Century
by Leslie B. Preddy

Designing Space for Children and Teens in Libraries and Public Places
by Sandra Feinberg and James R. Keller

Children's Services : Partnerships for Success
Edited by Betsy Diamant-Cohen

Readers' Advisory for Children and 'Tweens
By Penny Peck

Webinar - TechTrends from ALA 2010

Date: Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Time: 2:30 PM -4:00 PM
Place: Online
Cost: Free!

Join us for a look back at ALA Annual Conference from a library technology perspective. Our panel of experts will analyze and discuss what they learned and what trends stood out at the conference.

Register for this free webinar at https://ala.ilinc.com/perl/ilinc/lms/register.pl.

PLS Awards

Deadlines have been extended on the following awards. New deadline is July 16.

The Public Library Section of NYLA announces the following awards:

Best Practices Award
The Best Practices Award, given in even years, recognizes the use of web technologies to promote libraries and library services. The award includes $1,000 and a plaque for the library. Attendance at the 2010 NYLA Conference in Saratoga Springs is a requirement of acceptance.

PLS Building Awards
There are two awards of $1000 each ; one award will be given to a construction project in a community serving less than 20,000, one award will go to a project in a community serving over 20,000. The 2010 awards will be given for building renovation projects (not new construction.) All projects must have been completed by December 31, 2009 for consideration in the 2010 award cycle.

PLS Conference Scholarship Awards
NYLA/PLS is pleased to offer two Conference Scholarship awards to encourage public librarians now in the field, or students in library school, to participate in NYLA or PLS activities. Each award maximum is $1000.00, which includes full conference registration, travel or other conference related expenses and membership in NYLA and PLS if the winner is not already a member. Additionally, the winner will be asked to help with staffing at the PLS booth at the conference. The winner(s) is expected to attend the annual conference including the awards ceremony.

Continuing Education / Post MLS Grant for up to $250 toward the cost of participating in continuing education or post-MLS study (four awards per year -- deadlines are June 1, October 1, December 1, and February 1).

Please visit the PLS website at http://www.nyla.org/pls for more information and application instructions.

Mary Bobinski Innovative Public Library Director Award

The Mary Bobinski Innovative Public Library Director Award, established in 2010, comes with a $1,200 prize and is given to a public library director who during the past two years developed or implemented an innovative program leading to an increase in financial support and/or usage of their library by:
- Demonstrating the value and importance of their public library to community leaders and local government officials.
- Enhancing the image of the public library through an innovative public relations program publicizing the resources and services in multiple media formats.
- Developing new programs and services to attract users and non-users.

Evidence of success would include the following:
-Increase in library usage through such measures as circulation figures, attendance statistics, library cardholders, etc.
-Increase in financial support in the regular budget and/or in gifts and contributions from the community.

Nomination Form and supporting documentation must be submitted to the NYLA Office by August 30th.