Support

ADVOCACY

Libraries have had two major news events this month that have resulted in a lot of attention. The first is attached to this message. Mary Dempsey, the Chicago Public Library Commissioner, wrote probably the best response to why libraries are needed that I have ever read. I urge you to read it and send it on to your Board and Friends groups. (And on a side note, Ms. Dempsey says that Chicago Public Library employees must take 24 days of unpaid leave and furlough days now.)

The second happened a few days ago. I hope everyone has had an opportunity to view the YouTube video of the Old Spice Guy supporting libraries.

LOW VISION AIDS

Do you have patrons that have difficulty reading normal print? Personally, I can't read the print in standard phone books anymore. There are many products in the library marketplace that can help your patrons that have low vision or are sometimes known as partially sighted. There are several eye disorders that lead to low vision such as macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, cataracts, glaucoma, detached retinas and retinitis pigmentosa.

ONLINE SURVEYS

I know that many of you receive feedback from your patrons at the circulation desk or just talking to them on the floor. That can be a great way to find out how a program is doing or what people think of the library/staff. However if you would like a little more focused feedback, you might want to consider formally surveying your customers. There are several ways to do it, and I know many of you do paper surveys. If you are interested in doing an online survey, here are a few tips:

MATH AND SCIENCE IN LIBRARIES

Since many of the AALS libraries will be participating in some form of a math/science literacy project next year - in either the Mother Goose Asks Why program for toddlers and/or the STEM project for elementary school students, this might be a good time to review other options for math and science programs in libraries or in our region.

The S.M.A.R.T. Family Literacy Project from Galveston's Rosenberg Library offers children in schools, shelters and literacy fairs lots of reading opportunities (using karaoke microphones), free books and hands-on science and math activities all in a party atmosphere. You can find out more at www.smartfamilyliteracy.org.

NEW AND IMPROVED GOOGLE DOCS

You have probably heard of the Google productivity suite, better known as Google Docs. You can reach Google Docs at the main page of www.google.doc then look for the "More" section at the top of the page and you'll find "Documents" listed under it. In case you don't know much about Docs and wonder what all the fuss is about - this is a FREE ( free for personal use - business use is $50 per seat) set of office applications that allow you access to create spreadsheets, drawings, text documents and presentation templates much like Publisher. Your documents are stored in a Google account that can be private or collaborative with others of your choosing. You even get 1GB of free storage. (I've been working on a project with other coordinators and using Google Docs for a joint spreadsheet and the text document which is very much like Word and have really enjoyed the collaborative nature instead of using separate e-mails that seem to confuse everyone).

UPCOMING LIBRARY CONFERENCES

ALA is meeting next week (http://www.ala.org/ala/conferencesevents/upcoming/annual/index.cfm) - June 24-20 in Washington, D.C. and here are some other library conferences that you may not be aware of:

The Library Management Institute ( http://www.kiesermanconsulting.com/library_management_institute) will be held July 12-13 at Arcadia University near Philadelphia, PA. I've never attended this, but Willie Braudaway went and highly endorses it. This conference focuses on library management and administration. You can view the program here http://kiesermanconsulting.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/LMI_2010_brochure.16570310.doc. Registration fees are only $179.00 and that includes several meals.

OFFICE 2010 GOES ON SALE TODAY 6-15-2010

Office 2010 is available for purchase today. It consists of the familiar Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook and a somewhat new product for some of us - OneNote. PC World has favorably reviewed Office 2010 and you can read the review here http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/195800/article.html. The review details the Office components individually and gives you a clear picture of what each upgrade from Office 2007 consists of:

PURCHASING TECHNOLOGY

After researching the Office 2010 release today, I thought I'd also take a look at the DIR site. Admittedly, the DIR site is not one of my top ten sites, but it does have over 750 co-op purchasing contracts and that give you buying leverage. Many of you are veterans of the DIR site, but we do have some new directors who may not know about this, so here is a short introduction.

LIBRARY MERCHANDISING

One of the most popular trends in libraries today is merchandising. Visual merchandising is everything a patron sees when entering and moving around in your library. Some librarians compare merchandising to turning libraries into bookstores and others see it as a "give people what they want" approach to layout and displays.

COLLECTION ANALYSIS

Collection analysis is a process of evaluating your collection for subject balance; items to weed or purchase; and basically getting a statistical "picture" of your materials. It is not difficult to do the basic calculations; you can get the stats from your ILS' circulation module and simply plug them into the formulas below or the inserted spreadsheet. The more advanced calculations are complex. I've inserted an Excel file from Ft. Worth Public Library on their collection analysis formulas for your convenience. (We're trying to get Kathryn King from Ft. Worth to do a workshop for us so she can explain these formulas more fully.)