2012 FLA Award Nominations Opportunity

Recognize your library, staff and library supporters:

Nominate them for a FLA Award

Nominations are due February 1, 2012

Does your library get the recognition that you and your staff so richly deserve? Why don’t you nominate a program, service or person for one or more of the Florida Library Association’s (FLA) Awards? Let local, state and national leaders know about the difference your library makes in people’s lives.

Application: http://www.flalib.org/awards.php. You do need to be a Florida Library Association member to submit a nomination, but you may nominate non-members.

FLA has a variety of awards you could win. Awards honoring individuals include the:

• Outstanding Citizen Library Award
• Friends, Foundations and Boards Outstanding Member Award
• Librarian of the Year Award

Other awards recognize special programs and services and include the:

• Exemplary Learning Design Award
• Library Innovation Award
• Library Web Site Award
• Libraries Mean Business Award
• Library of the Year

Visit the Florida Library Association website to see a complete list of the awards as well as last year’s winners.

The deadline for nominations is February 1, 2012.

For more information about these awards contact Sandy Newell at Sandy.Newell@DOS.MyFlorida.com or 850.245.6624. Sandy chairs the FLA Awards Committee and is the public library administration consultant with the Office of Community Development in the Division of Library and Information Services

Handheld Librarian VI Online Conference February 1-2, 2012

Join the Handheld Librarian conference once again for what will be an intense online professional development opportunity for librarians who love technology!

Mobile solutions for libraries that work!

The 6th Handheld Librarian conference is a place where interested librarians bring their tools and strategies to the learning scene. The conference will feature professional development for librarians by librarians. This is the grass-roots nature of this highly successful program. Handheld Librarian VI will build on the success of prior conferences in which an array of presenters share their experiences and insights on topics addressing themes such as e-books, location-based social networking, lending devices, reference and mobile technologies impacting society. You can see the quality of the content by looking through past archives. Their exciting one day conference, February 1, will feature presentations from your peers, along with two keynotes from respected thought leaders in the library world.

Michael Stephens, Assistant Professor in the School of Library and Information Science at San Jose State University, will address the conference in the morning. His research focuses on use of emerging technologies in libraries and technology learning programs. He currently writes the monthly column “Office Hours” in Library Journal exploring issues, ideas and emerging trends in library and information science education. Stephens has spoken about emerging technologies, innovation, and libraries to audiences in over 26 states and in five countries, including a 2009 speaking/research tour of Australia.

The afternoon keynote features Stephen Abram. Stephen has over 30 years in libraries as a practicing librarian and in the information industry. He has visited hundreds of libraries in many different countries and is uniquely positioned to spark ideas and insights. Stephen is currently Vice President, Strategic Partnerships and Markets at Gale Cengage in Toronto, Canada. He has been Vice President Innovation for SirsiDynix and the Chief Strategist for the SirsiDynix Institute, VP of Corporate Development for Micromedia ProQuest, and Publisher Electronic Information for Thompson

New* Post-Conference Skill Builders Workshops – Two additional opportunities!

New this year, a post conference experience focused on giving participants explicit hands on skills through extended workshops. For a nominal fee, participants can register for the following two-hour synchronous workshops on February 2. More information can be found at http://www.handheldlibrarian.org/.

·      Broad mobile development, including jQuery

·      Empowering your E-readers; teaching your readers to access content

Each workshop will not only provide a conceptual framework, but will ask the participants to try their hands at either developing or implementing specific strategies. After the workshop, audience members will be provided with additional ongoing tutorials and access to the experts for mentoring.

Snapshot Day November 2, 2011

Florida Library Snapshot Day- Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Is your library ready?

Help us spread the word and ask your colleagues to participate!

Talk to your co-workers, supervisors, and friends about this initiative and get them motivated!
Be sure to register online!

All the information you need is available on the Florida Library Snapshot Day website.

• Print the Snapshot Day Data Collection Worksheet to use at the library public service desks to easily capture the day's activities.
• Use the Data Collection Tally Form to gather results from multiple worksheets.
• Find downloadable photo permission forms and comment forms.

Remember, you can pick ANY DAY to participate between October 30 and November 5. Statistics, photos and comments should be submitted by November 16.

Use the results to your Library’s advantage! Check out these 16 Easy Ways to Make Snapshot Success Work for Your Library!

Still have questions? The Florida Library Snapshot Day Committee is here to help you, so please contact us if you need any assistance.

The Florida Library Association and the Florida Department of State’s Division of Library and Information Services are organizing this event as part of a broader public relations campaign organized by the American Library Association.

Julia Haslett Documentary & Discussion: Simone Weil

The Daniel A. Cannon Library at St. Leo University will host the documentary film by Hulia Haslett, "An Encounter with Simone Weil" on September 19 at 7pm at the Student Center.

Read more about Weil, political activist and advocate for the poor and disenfranchised, at
http://www.saintleo.edu/News-and-Information-Center/Events/2011/09/19/Julia-Haslett-Documentary-and-Discussion

For questions about the film showing, contact carol.moon@saintleo.edu or 352-588-8261.

Snapshot Day is Almost Here - Has Your Library Registered?

Florida Library Snapshot Day is Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Our goal is to top the statistics from last year, so we are calling on ALL types of libraries to participate - large, small, school, academic, special, public, and private - to participate.

Registration is simple – complete our online registration form.

All the information you need will be available on the Florida Library Snapshot Day website in October:

• The Snapshot Day Data Collection Worksheet that can be printed and kept at your public service desks to make it easy to capture the day's activities.
• Downloadable Photo Permission Forms and Comment Forms.
• Easy instructions for uploading your photos to Flickr.

If you're unable to participate on Nov. 2, you can select another day between October 30 and November 5 and still be part of the Snapshot Day project. Statistics, photos and comments should be submitted by November 16^th.

Help us spread the word and ask your colleagues to participate!

Still have questions? The FLA Public Relations Committee is here to help you, so please contact us if you need any assistance.

FLA Snapshot Day is sponsored by the Florida Library Association and the Florida Department of State’s Division of Library and Information Services.

Our view: Summer reading boosts learning year round

Our View: Summer Reading Boosts Learning Year Round
St. Augustine.com

We now know one of the secrets why many St. Johns County youth do so well on Florida's Comprehensive Assessment Tests. They know how to read well and that means they are reading all the time, not just in the classroom. Kudos to parents and teachers for that extra effort during the school year.

We also believe that many of those good readers participate in the annual summer reading programs sponsored by St. Johns County Public Library System, too.

This week, the library system launched its summer reading programs. They are free and it's not too late to sign up. And as an incentive for participation, prizes will be awarded too. Adults can get in on the fun with their own reading contest.

So we suggest to parents that they shut down those computer games for a few hours and take their children to the neighborhood think tank, the local library. There their children can get their reading logs and tips on good reads for the summer. When a child is read to each day or reads a book each day, they get to check off that day on the reading log. If they attend a summer library program, that counts too. Then at the end of the week, they show their log at the library and get a prize. The kids and teen contests end Aug. 6.

As we said, the library system hasn't forgotten us adults. For the second year, the county is offering a summer reading contest for adults 18 and over.

"Novel destinations" is its name. To enter the contest, each reader has to write a review of each book read. The more books someone reads the more entries in the contest to win a $140 Visa gift card. Branches will also offer their own prizes, too. Who doesn't enjoy a contest? And if the reader is OK with it, their review will be published by the library system. Who doesn't fancy themselves as a published book reviewer?

The book review forms are available at the library and online. The deadline for entries is midnight, Aug. 5.

You have to have a library card to participate but those are easy to get. Just bring identification that you live in St. Johns County to the library and the library cards are issues free to adults and children. Books of all kinds including books for e-readers are available through the library system.

Readers are always leaders.

Reading for fun and prizes

The main library website is www.sjcpls.org. Information is also available there for Novel Destinations, the adult summer reading contest.

For kids zone and summer reading information, click on www.sjcls.org/content/kids-zone.

Virtual Job Shadowing has begunq

The FLA Virtual Job Shadowing project has begun. On day 1 (April 11) three people shared 51 Tweets about their workday in a Florida library. Each weekday between April 11-22, two or three more library staff members will share their days.

Follow the FLA Virtual Job Shadowing using Twitter tag #libjobshadowFF

Follow the FLA Virtual Job Shadowing on Twitter
http://twitter.com/libjobshadowFL

Follow the FLA Virutal Job Shadowing on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/FLAVirtualJobShadowing
(Twitter link listings are time delayed)