You don't have to be a Drupal expert to participate. I have only dabbled with it myself, but Bobbi Slossar will be there to share with us all that she knows. All that is necessary is that you have some knowledge of web design and that you are interested in learning about content management systems. If you happen to have taken Bobbi's CMS class at the State Library, that would be a plus.

Please let me know if you plan on attending.

Amy Thurber

President, NHLA

athurber@canaanlibrary.org

Description for Program brochure:  Maybe you’ve heard about blogging and the blogosphere but have yet to get informed about them. That’s okay. This program will cover the basics and more, including different types of blogging software and services, what to include in an effective blog entry, how to subscribe to blogs, and much more.  Steve Butzel              

Making Interlibrary Loan Management a Breeze

Description for Program brochure:  Are you tired of keeping track of all those forms and pieces of paper and paper clips that come with managing your interlibrary loan requests? Well have I got a solution for you. Come to this session and see an intuitive, easy to use database that makes ILL management a dream. No more handwriting van slips! No more handwriting customer requests! It’s all taken care of in one neat program that you will learn to use in less than 60 minutes. On top of that, you’ll be able to signup to receive a customized version of the database just for your library. And it’s all FREE! So what are you waiting for? Recommended for all library staff involved in ILL in any way, including library directors.   Steve Butzel    

Genealogy in New Hampshire: Major Research Centers

This program will briefly describe what is available at the major libraries and records repositories in the state.  We will discuss the N.H. Historical Society, N.H. State Library, N.H. Division of Vital Records, county courthouses, American-Canadian Genealogical Society and N.H. State Archives Bill Copeley 

Women of Granite: 25 New Hampshire Women You Should Know

The Write Sisters, seven writers who have published more than 100 children's books, came together to fill the need in NH libraries and schools for biographical information on NH women.  (Remember the frustrating hunt for information to fill those annual 4^th grade requests?)  Several members of The Write Sisters will be on hand to tell us what they learned as they researched Women of Granite: 25 New Hampshire Women You Should Know. The 25 profiles range from the well-known Jeanne Shaheen, to the virtually unknown Caroline Garner Bartlett. There will be time for questions, and, the Write Sisters invite suggestions of subjects for future books! The Write Sisters are Janet Buell, Kathleen Deady, Muriel Dubois, Diane Mayr, Andrea (Andy) Murphy, Barbara Turner, and Sally Wilkins.  Copies of Women of Granite will be available for purchase and signing.

YA Program Fair

Explore a collection of popular teen programs.  Young Adult Librarian from around the state will be displaying programs that really work!  You will leave with program descriptions including a list of supplies, cost, directions and contacts.  YALS members

Looking Good on a Budget: Principles of Design for the Artistically Challenged

With the advent of powerful, freely available graphics and desktop publishing program, librarians now have the means to create attractive, readable, and consistently good-looking publications.  Whether on a web page or a town-wide mailing, the way your message is presented is often as crucial as the message itself.  This seminar will focus on basic elements of design, including typography, layout, and white space , appropriate use of clip art, and how to license inexpensive , professional images from the new “micro stock” agencies.  We will present several before-and-after makeovers using free software such as Open Office Draw and Scribus.  Each attendee will receive a CD with all the software featured during the seminar.

Great Stone Face Tea

Enjoy tea and cookies while listening to the book talks for next year’s GSF list.  The 2008 winner will be announced at the tea.

The Open Content Alliance

As part of the Boston Library Consortium, in the fall of 2007 the University of New Hampshire Library began participating in the Open Content Alliance (OCA), a mass digitization project intended to make scanned library materials freely accessible to the world.  In this session hear about the ambitious goals of the OCA project and one library’s experience with the massive collaborative effort required to make it successful Eleta Exline               

How to Start a Parent/Young Adult Book Discussion Group & How to Keep It Going

The presenters will share ideas for starting a successful book discussion group for middle school students and other young adults and their parents.  They will share title suggestions, (and ones to avoid, dos, and don’ts, and the ups and downs of how they kept their group going for ten years.

Lisa Houde, Sharon Taylor, Mary Coombs

High Performance Buildings:  Why Go Green?

Design and retrofitting ideas for high performance libraries.  Tips on planning, addressing and selling to the public.

Directors Roundtable

Participants will provide fodder for discussion.

Cataloging Weird Stuff

Nonprint cataloging and cataloging “kit”s and realia often present formidable challenges,  One of RDA’s charms is the implicit permission to “adjust” your cataloging to cover the wildest items in your collection.  Plan to learn new techniques and share ideas.  Linda Kepner

Children’s Programming Poster Session

Need some fresh ideas?  Children’s librarians from round the state will set up displays, showcasing successful programs they’ve offered at their libraries.  They will be on hand to answer questions and provide you with handouts and how-to’s.

Mentoring: A leadership Development Method

Review research of mentoring for leadership development and participate in some activities to determine your readiness to be a mentor and be mentored.  You’ll also hear about a research project examining leadership within a mentoring program.  Irene M.H. Herold

Description for Program brochure: Whether your library generates just a few hundred dollars a year, or tens of thousands of dollars, from fees, fines, copying charges and other miscellaneous transactions, effective internal controls over thehandling of these funds is essential.  This session will address the importance of establishing and documenting proper procedures tosafeguard these types of library assets.

Children’s Programs for little or no money

No excuses.  These presenters will offer small libraries an array of ideas for programs that cost little or no money Rick Agran, New Hampshire Humanities Council, Concord; NH Duncan McDougall, Executive Director, CLIF (children’s Literacy Foundation), Hanover, NH;Olga Morrill, Children’s Librarian, Conway Public Library, Conway, NH; Kathy Tracy, Children’s Librarian, Tracy Memorial Library, New London, NH

New Children’s Books

Description for Program brochure: This session will provide a lively overview of some terrific new children's literature.  Both recently published and forthcoming titles will be highlighted.  The session will include new books from all genres, as well as a range of reading levels, especially preschool to grade eight.  See - and hear - the latest books by your favorite authors; discover new talent.  Create a personal list for your summer reading.  Find "the" book to recommend to a particular young reader.  This will be an enjoyable and informative presentation!  A complete booklist is provided  

Speaker's name:      Christopher Rose

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Description for Program brochure:   Many of us run book clubs at our libraries or are part of discussion groups in our communities -- The meetings are often good, but sometimes the books are bad and the conversation just gets ugly.  Join us as we share some of our most successful reading group choices and some that we wish we had never suggested. We would also love to hear from you; so be prepared to share a war story or two!                Becky and Michael Herrmann              

Open Source at Your Library

Description for Program brochure:  Curious about Open Source Software, but not sure what it means for you? In this presentation you’ll learn what “open source” means and how the concept relates to conventional software. We’ll discuss some of the open source applications that are making an impact in libraries today, including Evergreen, Koha and DSpace. Most importantly, we’ll talk about some of the issues to keep in mind if you’re thinking of taking the plunge yourself, including: “Free Beer vs. Free Kittens”, Staffing impacts, and Communities and Sustainability.  Ed Sperr

Core Collections: Accessing and Circulating Video Games at the Library

Description for Program brochure:

The average age of the gamer is 33 and rising, 81% of teens play games online, and 25% of people over 50 are playing. How is your library supporting the needs of gamers in your community? Digital and circulating collections may be a place to start!

By the end of this session, participants will:

• Discuss key questions to ask in creating a video game collection development policy
• Discover online and print selection materials and resources for digital and physical video game collections
• Identify criteria for selecting video games with high replayability
• Hear “booktalks” for video games that are ideal for stater collections
• Learn about model circulating video game collections in libraries in the United States

Speaker's name: Beth Gallaway            

Get Your Game On!  Video Game Programs at the Library

Discover the logistics of game programs at your library for children and teens, including models such as Runescape club, Dance Dance Revolution tournaments, and more! By the end of this session, participants will: Learn to advocate for gaming programs in libraries; Discover best practices in gaming programs from libraries in the US  -- Beth Gallaway           

Confessions of A Weekend Chick

Stephanie Piro, syndicated cartoonist, author, illustrator and part-time librarian will present the power-point presentation “Confessions of a Weekend Chick”, an amusing, and sometimes downright hilarious view of her career and what it takes to try and make it in the highly competitive, crazy world of cartooning with lots of samples (if she can figure out how to work the laptop and projector) and plenty of time for Q & A (please ask!).

Roundtable for Small (and Smaller) Libraries

This is an opportunity for librarians in small libraries to share their problems and solutions.  Participants will make a “laundry list” and discuss common issues.  If necessary, the group will subdivide into “small” and “smaller” libraries.

The Path to Automation     

This program is for librarians working in a library that is not currently automated. The presentation will cover the steps to take when preparing for a future automation project, and the factors to consider when planning for automation.  Bobbi Lee Slossar               

Creating a Digital Library with Open Source Software

This program provides an overview of creating a digital library using WordPress, a free piece of open source software.            Bobbi Lee Slossar

Programs for libraries with small populations and no money

The program will explain how small libraries, serving populations of under 3,000, bring programs to the communities they serve.  They will also speak about they have recruited audiences to their programs which has helped market their library and garner community support.  Marie McAndrew-Taylor

Book Discussion with Katherine Towler    Book    Evening Ferry

A book discussion run much the same way we do them in our libraries with the author reading from the book and answering questions about the book and the author.

If I Knew Then What I Know Now

A panel of experienced professional librarians will answer questions on career building.  The panelists will discuss their current positions and the paths taken in their careers.  Less experienced librarians will be ready to ask questions to help them and other librarians gather insight to blaze their own trails.  Questions will also be solicited from those in the audience and connections will be made for continued mentoring from these and other experienced professionals.

Create a Successful Retreat

Ever wanted to have a retreat day for your coop or library organization and didn’t know where to begin? Come join us as we walk you through the process we used to have a successful retreat for our consortium. We brainstormed, shared professional development ideas and set our goals for the upcoming year.  Our model can be adapted to fit your individual group and its needs.

What We Learned at PLA: Minneapolis Moments and Library Trends

A structured discussion, led by NH librarians who attended the Minneapolis sessions, which will aim to recap the conference, identify its major themes, solicit feedback, and pass out copies of worthwhile handouts. Our goal is to share information with those unable to attend PLA, or with those who went but didn’t get to see everything.

WebJunction New Hampshire & You

Description for Program brochure:   What exactly is WebJunction NH?  And how can it help ME?  Tom Ladd, the NH State Library Education Coordinator & WebJunction NH Team Lead, will take you on a guided tour of the various resources, tools, and educational opportunities available to you through the NHSL’s partnership in the WebJunction project – “where minds meet”.  Thomas A. Ladd

It’s a Whole New World: Finding and Using Maps and Other Geospatial Information

GPS (global positioning systems) are now available on cell phones and in cars; paper maps are being scanned and placed online; Google Earth provides views of the earth with a few clicks of a mouse that once were only available to professionals.  These are a few of the recent developments in digital maps and geospatial data.  This session will sample some of the resources available online and cover a few basic cartographic principles that are important to consider in evaluating and using geospatial information. Thelma B. Thompson                  

Metadata made simple

Metadata schemes come in a dizzying array of shapes, sizes, formats, and purposes, from the refreshingly simple, to the incomprehensibly complex, and each with its own acronym.  This diversity can at first make metadata cataloging seem overwhelming and foreign, but in practice is can be quite simple and surprisingly familiar.  In this session we will review basic metadata concepts, overview common schemes, discuss how new schemes relate to standard library cataloging practices, and how they are used to foster collaboration, sharing, and long-term collection management. Eleta Exline    

Adults Read During the Summer, Too!

Description for Program brochure:  Attend a panel discussion about successful adult summer reading programs that have been created by libraries of differing sizes.  Hear stories, see examples of programs and ask questions that will help you plan your Adult Summer Reading program for 2008.

G’Day for Reading, NH Summer Reading Program

The NH Summer Reading Program Kick-off and a whole lot more!  

Join us as Steve Blunt and Joseph Carringer get us in the spririt for 

G'Day for Reading by performing tunes from the Land Down Under.  

In addition, Deb Hoadley will demonstrate the summer reading wiki 

and other SRP committee members will share theme-related crafts and program ideas.  

Spice Up Your Storytime

Looking for some fresh storytime ideas? In this workshop, panelists will give examples of some of their most successful storytime programs, including books, songs, fingerplays and more! Participants are encouraged to bring questions and their own suggestions as plenty of time will be allowed for discussion.         Kelly Finemore

NH Teen Book Awards

Discover how your library can celebrate the reading voice of adolescents. The Isinglass Teen Read Award recognizes titles nominated and voted on by 7^th and 8^th graders throughout the state. Similarly, The Flume: Teen Reader’s Choice Award distinguishes current titles nominated and voted on by students in grades 9-12. Librarians will discuss how to involve your teens, where to find promotional materials, as well as the nominees for 2009. You will leave with a teen approved suggested reading list.

Teen Summer Reading Programs

Learn from two Young Adult Librarians how to organize, promote, and execute a teen summer reading program on a budget.           Jenn Jasinski

And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell

The Chocolate War by Rober Cormier

Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes

The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

TTYL by Lauren Myracle

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

It's Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

 Quite a few familiar titles, with a few additions. If you want to report a challenge to the Office for Intellectual Freedom at ALA call 8005452433, x4223.

Here is what I have on the agenda so far: (1) Update on Bylaws and Section Committee Structure (or lack thereof), (2) Content Management System group update, (3) Selecting roundtable topics for calendar year 2009, (4) Maybe creating a process and a schedule for electing officers, (5) Setting a time for our next meeting, (6) News and notes from members.

I'd also like to make this offer to the group: At the start of our Tuesday meeting, would anyone like to give a brief 5-15 minute presentation on a project, area of research, or organizational struggle that you and/or your library is working on? If so, that would be great. I kind of like the idea of having one member giving a brief presentation at each meeting.

Hope to see you there,
Steve Butzel

Note: Conference has a focus for Early Childhood as well as one for the deaf community, interpreters will be signing.

Keynote: Laura Simms - Laura will explore the power of narrative to heal and transform us all. Telling her own inspiring family story about her son, Ishmael Beah (author of A Long Way Gone, Memoirs of a Child Soldier), Laura will help us understand the process of reciprocal listening and how it empowers our youth to strengthen their lives. Also choice of 2 workshops  + storytelling session featuring the day's speakers.  Reasonable price and student discount.

Workshops: 

Laura Simms:  Making Fairy Tales with Children: Finding the Hidden Story 

K. R. Glickman and Tony Toledo:  Unseen Borders: Stories in Sign and Voice 

Norah Dooley :  Story Bridges: Story, Community, and Cross-Cultural Communication 

Motoko : Bodystories: Mime and Movement for Storytellers 

K. R. Glickman : Signing Your Life Away! Sharing Your Story the Deaf Way 

John Porcino: the Magic of Storytelling to Preschoolers 

Tony Toledo: Learning How to Tell a Story 

$90 covers all of the day's events.    $45.00 for students.   

event website:  www.keene.edu/events/storytelling  

contact: phone: 413 398 4484    email:  mary.maysharkstavely@gmail.com

As of March 9:

• The NHLA website had been visited 3,725 times in the past 30 days.
• Our blog has 47 email subscribers, 11 Bloglines subscribers, 25 Google Reader subscribers, 5 NetVibes subscribers

Top 10 webpages (excluding the home page) based on the number of hits within the last 4 weeks, (see bar graph below as well.) Congratulations to the READS-TO-GO folks for having the #1 page.

There was a presidential candidate's forum as well as an executive board candidate's forum.  All ALA members vote for the president, but only councilors vote for the executive board.  Two of the three candidates for whom I voted were elected.

There were two information session that I attended: one for the council, executive board, and membership; the other for the ALA-APA (Allied Professionals Association).  Both of those sessions include the reading of reports from the president, treasurer, and various committee heads.  Additionally, there are three council sessions where action is taken.  Members are allowed to attend those sessions, but only councilors may speak and vote.

Of the actions discussed, the most memorable were providing accessible workstations at conferences (which passed) and a graduated dues study (which was referred to committee.)  At each conference, there are a number of political and social issues discussed.  In Philly, there was discussion on the crisis in Kenya and the confiscation of Iraqi documents. 

Also, I attended two council forums and one chapter councilors forum at which actions are debated and strategies devised for the full discussion at council sessions.

I managed to spend about ten minutes at the mammoth vendors' hall, but not being much of a shopper, it was too overwhelming for me.  My meeting schedule did not permit me to attend any of the conference programs.

ALA Annual will be in Anaheim at the end of June.

Respectfully submitted,

Rob Sargent

A newly revised mission statement has gone to our vice-president to see what Parliamentary procedures address its adoption.

The Program Committee is offering roundtables at three locations March 25-27. The topic is “Overdues: Due You or Don’t You?” and will look at fines, collection procedures and policies. The Local Government Center has reserved October 27 for the fall READS meeting.

Thanks to some extra time and effort on Steve Butzel’s part the READS-to-Go page on the website is updated to include the kits that are catalogued, as well as live links to OPACs where the kits are housed. If the library that owns a particular kit does not have an online catalog, the site still lists a phone number to call. The kits can be searched by title, author or genre. Other web page responsibilities have been taken over by Jon Kinnaman at Nichols Library, who posts meeting minutes, reports and other items.

The Nominating Committee is on schedule with its activities. Claudia Mayer has visited one co-op and would like other READS members to go to the co-ops to tell about READS activities and committees.

READS is on schedule for NHLA spring conference activities, with new inventory of READS pens and other items on the way. Workshop presenters have been notified of the time slots for their presentations.

At the April READS meeting, brainstorming for a READS brochure will begin.

Another possible topic I am considering for one of the three main sessions is a debate and discussion on the general topic of whether or not annual professional development requirements should exist for librarians. Should librarians need to earn a certain number of continuing education credits in order to maintain a certain status or licensure? How could such a system be designed and who should be involved? Should allowances be made for librarians from smaller libraries and/or those with potentially smaller professional development budgets? Do other states have continuing education requirements and systems?

As for a third session topic, I am still looking for more good ideas, so please feel free to forward me your ideas and suggestions. One idea that was suggested recently that I think sounds good is a panel discussion on literacy programs at libraries. How to start a program, what resources to use, what community organizations to partner with, etc.

Please feel free to submit comments to this blog entry or contact me directly. 

- Steve Butzel