NTLP's 2012 Library Supporters Conference

"I told you you should have planned to be here," is the way an attendee of NTLP's 2011 Library Supporters Conference told us s/he would describe the event to her colleagues. And now ...
It's BACK by POPULAR DEMAND from Library Supporters and staff who work with them ... thanks to the Center for Community Cooperation & Texas Book Consignments: The 4th annual NTLP Conference for Library Supporters!!!
Bittersweet Challenges, New Opportunities & Half-Full Glasses is set for Saturday, May 5, 2012 (Cinco de Mayo!) at the Center for Community Cooperation (2900 Live Oak Street, Dallas 75204). Sign-in and refreshments open at 9:30 a.m., and the conference runs from 10 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.
Registration fees vary from $50 to $125 per person, with discounts for NTLP Partner libraries as well as advance registration. Training sessions, time for networking with peers, lunch and refreshments are all included.
The event is designed for all library supporters: board members (governing as well as advisory), Friends, foundation members, volunteers, "simply" passionate library users, and library staff who work with supporters. For more information, visit the conference website.
Here are some of the other responses NTLP received from 2011 conference participants:

• This was my first such conference and I found all of it very informative and helpful.
• Absolutely another great event!!!
• I brought back many ideas to present to my friends group with the thought that we can do a few of them.
• Again, wonderful conference - well worth my time!
• I thought it was a well organized, informative and entertaining conference. This was my first time to attend the conference so I was quite pleased.
• Our group learned and enjoyed the day very much. We would attend another meeting of the same kind.
• Absolutely awesome experience. Benefitted from information/knowledge received as well as having a really great time. Always nice to see and share with library constituents.
• Very worthwhile conference. Great information. Knowledgeable speakers.
• This was my first experience. I feel certain that I will return. Enjoyed the day.
• I thought the conference was well organized.
• Please have this as often as possible.

December opportunities for NTRLS members

Don't miss these opportunities for NTRLS member libraries!

Do you have a literacy program at your library, or do you want to start one? We are still seeking partners for next year's grant application to support the Libraries for Literacy program. Please submit your partnership application by December 15. Details of the program and the partnership application are at http://ntrls2.org/default.asp?action=article&ID=393.

The UNT Health Science Center will come to your library to offer a workshop for your patrons on locating authoritative health information on the Internet. Workshops will take place in March / April 2011. If you are interested, please let Adam Wright know by December 31 so that you can be worked into the schedule.

Adam Wright is available to speak to local clubs and organizations to promote your library in the community. Contact Lynn Gritta at the NTRLS System Office for information.

Registration is now open for the 2011 North Texas Conference for Library Supporters. Visit the CE Portal on NTRLS.org to register.

Don't forget to sign up for online continuing education courses through LE@D. For more information see http://www.ntrls2.org/default.asp?action=article&ID=333 .

This month the NTRLS website features library services to the homebound. Follow the NTRLS Homebound Project Blog for updates about our pilot projects.

To keep up with news from North Texas Library Partners, sign up for the NTLP-Announce email list or the NTLP-CE email list. Find information at the NTRLS.org website,

Follow North Texas Library Partners on Facebook or Twitter

TechNet 2008 Conference in review

Last week NTRLS coordinated the first-ever North Texas Regional TechNet Conference for library staff members and supporters.

Keynote speaker Barbara Galik, Executive Director of Cullom-Davis Library at Bradley University in Peoria (IL), opened the event with a presentation about Second Life. Of the 20 separate sessions presented during the rest of the day, each participant had time to attend four. One participant commented that deciding which sessions to attend was especially hard since almost every topic each time-period related "either to my work or my interests or both!" Participants also spent time visiting with exhibitors, meeting kindred spirits from other types of libraries and generally expanding their tech-networks.

Exhibitors represented companies from coast to coast (CA to NY) and even from another country! Having Canadian company Insignia Software as an exhibitor and keynote session sponsor prompted staff to refer to the event as "our international conference." We welcomed to the exhibit hall some companies which had never before participated in a library-oriented conference plus several companies which are a core part - and constant supporters - of the library world.

Many positive comments have been received, both in writing and in person, and we've not only welcomed constructive criticism but produced plenty of our own. Several people have let us know already that they're looking forward to next year's conference and wish some of their friends and colleagues had attended this one with them.

The good news is that there WILL be a TechNet 2009 and, thanks to everyone's participation, patience, praise and critiquing, we'll be able to improve and build on the success of TechNet 2008.

By the way... if you work with children or youth in a library setting, you may want to register soon for the next North Texas Regional conference: CYC 2008, the second annual Children and Youth Librarians conference for North Texas library staff and supporters. For information about attending and/or exhibiting at that conference, visit http://www.cyc2008.com/ .

Putting a Value on Your Library at Budget Time

At a time when many city and county librarians are defending budget proposals for the coming fiscal year, a rare opportunity is sitting on our doorstep yet about to be missed!

Next week, Joanne Roukens, Executive Director of the Highlands
Regional Library Cooperative (HRLC) in Denville, NJ, will present an NTRLS workshop entitled Valuing Libraries: Demonstrating the Contributions Libraries Make to Their Communities. Having seen the handouts and PowerPoint content, I'm concerned about how many library administrators, Board Members and Friends could probably use the information during this time of budgets yet have NOT signed up.

The all-day workshop will be offered Wednesday, August 1 in Decatur and Friday, August 3 at NTRLS Headquarters, 6320 Southwest Blvd. in Fort Worth.

Participants will:
• Learn to define what is valuable to customers and stakeholders
• Be able to identify and quantify their library’s value
• Learn tools and skills necessary to demonstrate library impact in writing and presenting.

All NTRLS workshops are available to interested parties at no cost. Please feel free to invite your Friends group, board members and volunteers.

To register online, go to http://www.ntrls.org/ and click on the Continuing Education button on the right.

UPDATE Regarding Professional Education for Small Community Librarians (PESCL) Program

We just received this information from Library Management Consultant Dawn Vogler at TSLAC and wanted to be sure to pass it on right away.

TSLAC met with the folks from TWU and TLA last night about this grant. Questions have been coming in that I wasn't able to answer specifically. So, here are a few answers:

Applicants do need a Bachelor's degree to apply!

Preference will be given to those that have completed the SLM program. However, you won't necessarily be penalized if you have one course missing if you have intention of completing it in the future. There is some flexibility here. I did let Dr. Martin and Dr. Jeng know that we had a weather issue last December in Amarillo and though we had a make-up date, there are still some out there missing a few hours. They indicated that this would not be a problem.

Those interested in applying need to take a standardized test. There are some options here, so it's not just the GRE:
GRE, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT or Miller's Analogy Test (MAT) scores are accepted.
I hadn't heard of the MAT, so here is more information in the link below. Some may find this test of analytical skills more palatable than the GRE where more math is involved: http://harcourtassessment.com/haiweb/Cultures/en-US/Harcourt/Community/PostSecondary/Products/MAT/mathome.htm

There is NO minimum score required for graduate admission to TWU. They cannot advertise this fact, but said I could pass the word on. I know many of you feared taking the GRE, but this will not be a large factor in admissions.

They prefer 5 or more years of library experience - it does not have to be at the Director level and they will take some volunteer positions into account.
If you started an MLS program at another university, you will not be discounted from this program if you meet the qualifications. You don't necessarily have to reveal that you started a program if you only have a semester in. However, those that are further into another program, can only transfer up to 6 graduate hours to TWU.

Applicants will be notified in December 2007 of acceptance into the cohort. Application deadline is October 15, 2007.

They are expecting a high level of dedication to this program for the entire 2 years, plus participation at TLA through 2010. Though some attrition is expected due to family emergencies and life changes, they are looking for people who are going to stay the course with this program. So, you might want to emphasize how you are going to juggle such a program with your work duties in your letter of intent. Will your city be kind enough to give you work time to complete the program? If so, what a bonus, tell them so in the application! If you've participated in TLA, also let them know.

You need broadband access to complete the online program.

Applicants will first be accepted into the program like any other applicant to TWU's SLIS program. Once you pass that hurdle, you will then be passed on to Dr. Martin and Dr. Jeng (and possibly an advisory board they are assembling now), for further consideration. Phone interviews may be conducted.

Drs. Martin and Jeng are aiming for an in-person orientation over the MLK holiday weekend for those accepted.

Should you have more specific questions, see the website and the contacts here: http://www.twu.edu/cope/slis/pelsc.htm
I'm very excited about this opportunity and wish you all the best of luck! If you aren't one of the first 30, there may be another opportunity like this in the future.

Thanks, Dawn
Dawn Vogler
Library Management Consultant
Texas State Library & Archives Commission PO Box 12927 Austin, TX 78711-2927
(512) 936-4449 phone
(512) 463-8800 fax

LE@D courses approved for Western Council certificate program

NOTE: LE@D Courses are available without cost to staff and supporters of NTRLS member libraries through NTRLS. For a complete list, go to http://www.ntrls2.org/default.asp?action=article&ID=159 .

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Library Education @ Desktop (LE@D) is now an approved provider for the Western Council certificate program. Twenty-two western states (including Texas) are members of the Western Council of State Libraries.

The certificate is for library practitioners, defined as library directors or managers without a masters of library and information science (MLS). The certificate requires that the practitioner has completed 240 contact hours in different competency areas and has library experience. LE@D courses are being linked to certificate core competencies and listed with the number of contact hours and continuing education units, so tracking the certificate will be easy.

For more information about the certificate program, go to http://certificate.westernco.org/applinfo.html
For more information about LE@D's totally online courses, go to www.leadonline.info

Professional Education for Small Community Librarians

Please note that the partners in this project are TWU SLIS, TLA and TSLAC, not individual systems. For more information contact Dr. Robert S. Martin or Dr. Ling Hwey Jeng at 940/ 898-2602.

PRESS RELEASE

TWU School of Library and Information Studies receives nearly $730,000 for Professional Education for Librarians in Small Communities (PELSC) project
6/21/07

DENTON - The Texas Woman's University School of Library and Information Studies has received a grant of $691,323 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and a second grant of $38,400 from Tocker Foundation to implement its Professional Education for Librarians in Small Communities
(PELSC) project.

TWU, the Texas Library Association and the Texas State Library and Archives Commission will provide a matching amount of $442,074 in both cash and in-kind services for the project.

The PELSC project offers an online degree program that will enable library workers currently serving in small and rural communities throughout Texas to earn a master's degree in library science. The project will provide full support for tuition, fees and travel stipends. Participants will form a cohort and be assisted throughout their study by mentors who are professional librarians in public libraries in Texas.

"We are extremely excited about the PELSC project," said Dr. Robert Martin, the Lillian Bradshaw Professor of Library Science at TWU and the principal investigator of the project. "This truly leverages the potential for online learning at the advanced degree level, and builds on what the State Library has already accomplished with its Small Library Management Training Program."

The Small Library Management Training Program (SLMTP), administered by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, provides management skills to non-MLS library staff of small community libraries in Texas. Eligible applicants for the PELSC project must have completed the SLMTP or be on schedule to complete it by the first semester of their study. Participants in the PELSC project will be required to attend an orientation event at the beginning of their program, and are expected to receive their degree in two calendar years.

More than three-quarters of the public libraries in Texas serve communities with populations of fewer than 25,000. Few of these libraries are managed by a professional librarian - one having earned a master's degree from a program accredited by the American Library Association.

"This program will result in a significant improvement of the management of libraries serving small communities," said Dr. Ling Hwey Jeng, director of TWU's School of Library and Information Studies and co-principal investigator of the project. "That means better library services for people living in small communities, and more effective use of public resources in those communities."

The grant period begins July 1, 2007 and continues through June 30, 2010.

For more information on the PELSC project at TWU, contact Dr. Robert S.
Martin or Dr. Ling Hwey Jeng at (940) 898-2602.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation's 122,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The Institute's mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas.

The purpose of the Tocker Foundation is to distribute funds principally for the support, encouragement and assistance to small rural libraries in Texas.

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Texas Open Government Publications

How recent is your copy of the Public Information Act Handbook or the Open Meetings Act Handbook? Unless it's the 2006 version, it's not recent enough. You can order free publications of those, plus related training resources in CD and DVD formats, as well as several other Open Government publications from the Office of the Attorney General of Texas. An order form for items available free (while supplies last) in print, CD or DVD version, go to
http://www.oag.state.tx.us/newspubs/publications.shtml
Use that form, also, to order free (while supplies last) child support brochures and publications about senior concerns, consumer protection, sexual assault prevention and crime victims services.

All of those publications and recordings - as well as lots of useful information - are available, also, from the AG's website http://www.oag.state.tx.us/index.shtml

For more information about Open Government training materials, go to http://www.oag.state.tx.us/opinopen/og_training.shtml