Friday Grab Bag, February 8, 2019

Libraries Take Action:

Library Lobby Day:  Posted on behalf of  CAL Lobby Day Committee (Ray Coffey, Miranda Doran-Myers, Ellen Patterson, and Lauren Seegmiller)

The Colorado General Assembly will soon be finalizing the state budget. The CAL Legislative Committee needs your help in trying to secure more money for Colorado Libraries. Tell your legislators the stories of how your library impacts your community by participating in Library Lobby Day.

The CAL Legislative Committee’s core messaging for the 2019 session is “Libraries Build Community.” In addition to thanking legislators for current appropriation of $2.5M for State Grants to Libraries, they are asking for an increase of $2M to invest in educational materials and for continued support of the rights of individuals to conduct research and explore new ideas. Additional funding helps support free access to information, which in turn supports an informed citizenry and enriches our democracy.

They are promoting three ways to reach out to the Colorado General Assembly in Spring 2019:

• Meet with your legislator one-on-one during the week of March 11-15 (or when you can).
• Be visible at Library Lobby Day on the morning of Wednesday, March 13, 2019 at the State Capitol.
• Send written materials to be included along with other information about the impact state funding has on Colorado Libraries.

If you would like to participate in Lobby Day in any of the above ways, the CAL Legislative Committee is here to support you! If you’d like join them at the capitol, send a letter to your legislator, need additional information, or have any other questions, please email lseegmiller@denverlibrary.org.

Going Fine Free:

• Fine Free Basalt:  We are excited to announce the removal of late/overdue fines on all youth library card holders, and on all children’s and young adult library materials.  Late fines shouldn’t be a barrier to accessing the library, and now they no longer will be. To learn more, please visit our website at basaltlibrary.org/fine-free-basalt
• The Broomfield Library is Officially Fine-Free! What does that mean? All your favorite Library services with NO fines! Fine-Free libraries ultimately remove barriers to serving the community. They allow for more people to take advantage of library services,free up library staff time to serve the public better, and often results in FEWER overdue materials.Find out more from Library and Cultural Affairs Director,Abby Yellman HERE!
• Denver Public Library:  As of Jan. 1, we’ve eliminated fines for overdue materials in an attempt to reduce barriers for our most vulnerable customers. We’re even forgiving most customers’ overdue fines to get folks back in the doors and borrowing again. Read more about this change and what it means for you as a borrower.

Open Educational Resources: The Colorado Commission on Higher Education approved 20 proposals that will provide nearly $550,000 in funding for higher education Open Educational Resources (OER) projects throughout the state.“I applaud the work of the commission to bolster innovation and save our students money,” said Governor Jared Polis. “These grants will no doubt have a huge impact on the future of OER and inspire other higher education institutions in the state to follow suit with creative and impactful solutions.”  To learn more about this and related issues – click here.

Grant/ Assistance Funding Opportunities:

Grants Promote Innovative Pre-K-12 Projects:  Ezra Jack Keats Foundation: Mini-Grant Program – The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation offers Mini-Grants of up to $500 to public schools, public libraries, and public preschool and Head Start programs in the United States and its territories. The Foundation accepts proposals for creative, innovative projects that give teachers and librarians a unified, flexible way to meet Common Core goals as well as offer students a fun experience, a sense of achievement, and a source of pride. Ezra Jack Keats Mini-Grants have funded projects in all disciplines, at all grade levels, and of all sizes. Approximately 70 projects are funded each year. The application deadline is March 31, 2019. Visit the Foundation’s website to learn more about the application process.

CHNC New Content Support Program:  

The Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection (CHNC) is excited to announce that the 2019 program to support the addition of new historic news in the CHNC is now open for applications.  The Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection New Content Support Program for newspaper digitization is designed to help cultural heritage organizations across our state increase online access to historic community news through the CHNC.

Libraries Making News:

• Pine River Library:  Pine River Library faces uncertain future – Pine River Times
• Poudre River Library District:  Got a library card? Stream movies for free with Kanopy, a new Poudre library district service – Coloradoan
• Westminster Public Library:  Therapy dogs help kids learn to read at this Colorado library – 9News.co
• University of Colorado Boulder:  Libraries Receive Major Grant from Mellon Foundation – University of Colorado Press Release

• Boulder Public Library:  Boulder library officials tout tax district as possible solution to funding woes  – Boulder Daily Camera
• Colorado State Library:  Tompkins County Public Library Eliminates Late Fines – Cornell Daily Sun
• Colorado State Library:  Tompkins County Public Library eliminates fines on late items – Ithaca Journal

Learning for Everyone:

Colorado ILL Conference:  The keynote for the Colorado ILL Conference has been announced.  Kyle Courtney, Copyright Adviser for Harvard University,  is the keynote speaker for this year’s  50th CO Interlibrary Loan conference   , which will be held at the Westin in Westminster, CO April 25, 26th.  Courtney is a prolific writer and speaker on copyright and serves as the copyright and information policy adviser for HarvardX/edX.  He has also presented at the 2017 and 2018 UCCS Kraemer Library Copyright conference.

Courtney is founder of Copyright First Responders, a service that supports teaching, learning and scholarship through community engagement with copyright. In 2014 Courtney founded Fair Use Week which has become an international celebration observed by over 100 universities, libraries and other organizations.   He was named a National Academic Library Mover and Shaker by Library Journal in 2015.  Courtney currently teaches research sessions at Harvard Law School to first year students. He has a dual appointment at Northeastern teaching “Cyberlaw: Privacy, Ethics, and Digital Rights” ,  “Legal Research and Writing for LLM’s” and “Advanced Legal Writing Workshop” .   Courtney has a J.D. with distinction in Intellectual Property Law and an MSLIS.  You will find his writings in Politico, Slate, Library Journal, and other publications.  Courtney’s most recent publication is titled “MOOC’s and Libraries”, published by Rowman & Littlefield, Ltd.  His blog is at http://kylecourtney.com and you can follow him onTwitter @KyleKCourtney.

CAL Maker Division Workshop:  Save the date for the 2nd annual CAL Maker Division Workshop! This year’s workshop will be held at the Central Library (10 W. 14th Ave. Pkwy, Denver, 80204), and will be a full day of maker-related sessions. Stay tuned to the CAL website for registration details, coming soon.In order to have a fantastic workshop, the Division needs presenters who are willing to facilitate a 75 minute session on a topic related to making or makerspaces. If you have an idea for a possible session, please submit your session idea before February 24. If you’re thinking “Wow, that seems close to the CALCON submission deadline of March 1,” you’d be right. The Division is encouraging people to submit their ideas to the Conference as well as the Workshop, even if there are very few changes (if any) between the two. Any questions can be sent to me or to calmakerdivision@gmail.com.

CSL In Session:

• Tear Down This Wall: Find & Remove Barriers to Library Use:  February 20 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm – While your library is ADA compliant and welcomes all, there may be hidden barriers for some in your community that hinder them from using your library.  Join us for this interactive session to discuss how to find out who isn’t coming to your library and why, and talk through strategies for breaking down road blocks that some members of your community have to enable them to become more active library patrons.
• Helping Patrons with Legal Questions: Part 1 – Legal Research Basics:  February 21 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm – This first webinar in a series of three presented by the Colorado Association of Law Libraries and the Colorado State Library will address aspects of providing legal research services to patrons.  In this session, attendees will learn the following: what are the basic concepts involved in legal research; how to conduct a legal reference interview; and where to refer patrons in order to find forms and legal clinics.  This session will provide attendees with a basic overview of these concepts.  Sessions two and three will delve more into where to locate free legal research resources.

CLiC Spring Workshops:  The CLiC Spring Workshops are just around the corner and registration is open now.   The dates and locations for 2019 are: Grand Junction: March 21 & 22 @ Colorado Mesa University Fort Morgan: March 29 @ Fort Morgan High SchoolPueblo: April 15 & 16 @ CSU-Pueblo

• For more information and to register: http://bit.ly/2019SpringWorkshops
• Apply for a scholarship here: http://bit.ly/CLiCScholarship2019
• Questions?  Just ask at clichelp@clicweb.org

Interesting Info:

CLiC Vendor Discount Program:   CLiC’s 2019 Vendor Discount list has added TWO more companies!Check out the new additions at: www.clicweb.org/save-money/vendor-discounts

Louisville Public Library:  Louisville’s Great Horned Owl Cam:   http://www.louisvilleco.gov/residents/departments/parks-recreation-and-open-space/louisville-great-horned-owls

Weekly Vocabulary Word:

In homage to last weeks word which was the longest non medical word in the English language – we have this weeks word: sesquipedalian.  Sesquipedalian describes the tendency to use long words. If you possess this trait, you will enjoy trying to use this word in your next conversation.

Colorado Virtual Library Blog:

• Feeling the love? We have two CSL in Session webinars this month!
• Colorado Commission on Higher Education approves $550,000 in OER grant funding 

Colorado State Publications Blog:

• Starting a Charter School
• Time Machine Tuesday: The WPA in Colorado
• Colorado Downtown Streets