In this issue

Calendar • OCLC Receives Library Marketing Grant • NWLS Board of Trustees Meeting • Useful URLs • Reflection

Calendar

November 11 NWLS Board of Trustees Meeting, 12:00 p.m.

November 23-24 NWLS Office Closed

December 5 Directors Meeting, 10:00 a.m., LCO

December 8 Directors Meeting, 10:00 a.m., Boulder Junction

2007 UW-Madison's School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS) Continuing Education Courses:

• January 22-March 31 Core Elements of Children’s Services (Online)
• January 22-April 7 Basic Public Library Management (Online)
• January 22-April 13 Basic Reference (Online)
• February 19-March 18 Basic Reference (Online)
• February 19-March 18 Topics in Library Management (Online)
• June 25-29 Public Library Administration (on-site), UW-Madison
• August 13-17 Cataloging (on-site), UW-Madison

For more information, contact Anna Palmer at 608.263.4452 or ahpalmer@wisc.edu.

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Current Events

OCLC Online Computer Library Center, the world’s largest library cooperative, has been awarded a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for development of a potential national marketing campaign to increase awareness of the value of libraries, and the need for support for libraries at local, state and national levels.

The $1.2 million grant will be used by OCLC to conduct research, develop strategies, create materials and test elements of a national marketing campaign to demonstrate the value of libraries, and the need to increase support for libraries to meet the changing needs and expectations of library users. The project will aim to create a national campaign that can form an umbrella for regional- and local-level programs. OCLC has selected Leo Burnett USA as the agency partner in the project.

Trends suggest that U.S. public libraries will find it difficult to adequately fund operations over the next 3–5 years, a period in which public libraries will come under increasing pressure to modernize programs, facilities and electronic infrastructure and offer more Internet-based services and electronic collections. At the same time, studies indicate that most people are unaware of all the types of information and services libraries make available to their patrons.

“Libraries must more effectively communicate their current services and value in this era of rising costs and increased competition,” said Cathy De Rosa, Vice President, OCLC Marketing and Library Services and principal contributor to Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources, a report issued in December 2005 based on Harris Poll findings. “Many libraries lack the resources, expertise and funding to build the library advocacy and marketing programs required to create an environment that can sustain and increase support. It is our goal to help libraries communicate their value to the communities they serve.”

The Perceptions report noted that U.S. residents do not have a current view of library services or technology offerings. Most residents hold a nostalgic view of libraries, associating libraries overwhelmingly with “books.” While 99 percent of libraries now provide free Internet access and most provide electronic collections and online services, many residents are unfamiliar with these services and do not see libraries as providing services that fit with their current lifestyles. “Libraries provide opportunities for education and advancement, especially for those in rural or otherwise underserved areas in this country, by providing access to books, information technology and training,” said Jill Nishi, manager of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s U.S. Libraries initiative. “This project will help us determine how best to encourage sustained funding for public libraries, so they can continue to provide quality services for generations to come.”

For more information, contact Bob Murphy at 614-761-5136 or murphyb@oclc.org.

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NWLS Board of Trustees Meeting: November 11, 2006

The next meeting of the NWLS Board of Trustees will be held at noon on November 11, 2006 at NWLS Headquarters in Ashland. Agenda items include:

• Call to order / Roll Call
• Guest Comments
• Minutes of the September 16, 2006 Board of Trustees Meeting
• Appointment of nominating committee for 2007 Officers
• September and October 2006 NWLS Expenditures
• October 31, 2006 Financial Statement and Budget Report
• November 2006 Budget Amendment
• Financial Procedures Handbook Update
• NWLS Personnel Handbook update
  • Worker's Compensation Policy
• Work Hours Policy
• Work at Home Policy
• Director's Report
• Other Business

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The History of Veteran’s Day
From Librarians' Internet Index

This U.S. Army website has a timeline about the history of Veteran’s Day, with topics that include the first Armistice Day in 1919 (which followed the “implementation of an armistice … between the Allies and Germany at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of November 1918”), the changing of the name of the holiday to Veteran’s Day in 1954, and how this holiday was designated by the federal government as the first Monday in October from 1971 to 1977.

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The wild gander leads his flock through the cool night,
Ya-honk! he says, and sounds it down to me like an invitation.
The pert may suppose it meaningless, but I listen closer,
I find its purpose and place up there toward the November sky.

-Walt Whitman

Contact us for subscription services to the NWLS Streams newsletter: newsletter@nwls.lib.wi.us

NWLS / 3200 East Lake Shore Drive / Ashland, Wisconsin 54806 / Telephone: 715.682.2365