North Texas 23

Over 300 participants and 23 "mentors" are involved in North Texas 23, an online Web 2.0/Library 2.0 learning experience designed specifically for library personnel in the 20-county area which makes up TLA District 7 as well as the NTLP service area.

We're pleased with the number of people involved in this first-time NTLP project, but we're especially excited by the fact that all four types of libraries are represented among both the mentors, a.k.a. the Leadership Team, and the participants. Although North Texas 23 is based on a concept which has been around for years and was inspired by a similar project done by the Central Texas Library System last year, it may be the first three-month online learning project which involves personnel from all types of libraries, throughout a Texas State Library System/TLA District, networking with, mentoring and learning from one-another. We hope this leads to many other projects involving cooperation among all types of libraries within this 20-county area.

North Texas 23 began May 7 at TechNet 2009 when TCU Science Librarian and North Texas 23 Coordinator Jeff Bond provided a session which described the project and encouraged attendees to participate and/or develop similar projects for their own groups of colleagues. Registration continued through June 1 and was open additionally to all TechNet 2009 attendees and to anyone who was registered and paid for CYC 2009, the third annual Children and Youth Conference for North Texas Libraries.

As registrations arrived, Jeff assigned participants to individual members of the leadership team so that every participant in this project has someone assigned to encourage, help, provide input and/or additional information to and, generally, mentor them through the tasks. Those people are also tracking the progress of people in their clusters. Participants who complete all 23 things by September 1, 2009, will receive certificates of acheivement; those who finish by August 15, 2009, will also qualify for a chance at prizes.

Many of the participants will receive their certificates and/or meet other participants during CYC 2009. At that conference, Jeff will present a session in which he reviews the project and discusses lessons learned so that others who wish to provide similar projects for their own groups may benefit from experiences of North Texas 23.