Volume 5: March 5, 2009 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) CANCELLATION OF LIBRARY LEGISLATIVE DAY

2) FIND-IT! WASHINGTON & FIND-IT! CONSUMER WILL BE DISCONTINUED

3) RECOVERY SITE & STIMULUS LINKS FOR WASHINGTON STATE

4) GRANT CYCLE OPENS FOR WASHINGTON RURAL HERITAGE

5) HARD TIMES: BLOG AT THE WSL WEB SITE, DISCUSSION AT WEBJUNCTION

6) ASK-WA GOES ON THE ROAD (OR WANTS TO)

7) TARGET STORES OFFER LOCAL STORE GRANTS

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1) CANCELLATION OF LIBRARY LEGISLATIVE DAY

Due to a scheduling change in Olympia next week, the Washington Library Association (WLA) has cancelled Library Legislative Day on Friday, March 13.

The Legislature recently announced that there will be no floor meetings on Friday. This has all been precipitated by the fact that both the House and Senate leadership have been encouraging their members to go home and hold Town Hall meetings on March 14. This has resulted in scaling back Friday’s activities so the legislators can leave Olympia early. As a result, there will be very few legislators in town Friday afternoon. Unfortunately, there was very little advance notice given for this scheduling change.

Refunds will be issued as soon as possible for anyone who has registered for Library Legislative Day. Please allow 7-10 days for the $25 to be refunded. If you have any questions, please contact Kristin Crowe, Executive Director, 425-967-0739 or [email protected], or Jennifer Wiseman, Coordinator of Communications, 425-369-3221 or [email protected].

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2) FIND-IT! WASHINGTON & FIND-IT! CONSUMER WILL BE DISCONTINUED

Due to budget cut-backs WSL will be discontinuing the Find-It! Washington and Find-It! Consumer search services effective May 1, 2009. Our license from Google expires then and we will not be able to renew it.

We know that some of you depend on Find-It! for finding Washington State government information. We are very sorry that we have to do this, but the financial situation has made necessary many cuts we would not otherwise have contemplated.

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3) RECOVERY SITE & STIMULUS LINKS FOR WASHINGTON STATE

Governor Gregoire recently launched Washington’s recovery Web site, Recovery.wa.gov. According to the press release, the site is designed to help Washingtonians understand the recovery package and locate information that helps local governments find the right place to apply for funding. It also will serve as a one-stop location for accountability information so residents can see that the recovery money is being spent wisely.

For those wishing to follow the economic stimulus funding in Washington this is the site to monitor. Especially of interest is the web page entitled, “Do you have a project that could be eligible for federal funding,” www.recovery.wa.gov/programcontacts.asp. A table lists program name, description, contact, and estimated Washington share. Program names such as Community Development Block Grant, Community Service Employment for Older Americans, Dept of Commerce - Broadband Deployment Grant Program, K-12 School Modernization, Renovation and Repair, and School Improvement Programs may be of interest.

There is also a link to a list of federal agency recovery sites, www.recovery.gov/?q=content/agencies. This resource resides on the federal recovery site, www.recovery.gov, another site which stimulus-funding watchers should monitor.

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4) GRANT CYCLE OPENS FOR WASHINGTON RURAL HERITAGE

A new LSTA grant cycle is now open for the Washington Rural Heritage Project, www.washingtonruralheritage.org. The purpose of this grant cycle is to support small and rural libraries in the development of sustainable digitization programs for photographs and other historical materials. To date, more than 25 libraries and cultural institutions throughout Washington have contributed to the initiative.

Overall funding to support this grant cycle is $50,000, with a maximum award of $10,000 per application. It is anticipated that five (5) or more applicants may receive awards. Grant awardees will be required to submit at least one hundred (100) items to the Washington Rural Heritage collection at the State Library by the end of the grant cycle (August 13, 2010).

Application deadline: Postmarked or received by April 24, 2009. View eligibility guidelines, FAQs, and download a grant application at www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/grants. For more information, contact Evan Robb, Project Manager – Washington Rural Heritage, 360-704-5228, [email protected] or Jeff Martin, Grants Program, 360-704-5248, [email protected].

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5) HARD TIMES: BLOG AT THE WSL WEB SITE, DISCUSSION AT WEBJUNCTION

The Washington State Library is aware that these trying times are putting special pressures on libraries and their customers, and we are thinking about ways to help. We will start by gathering resources and sites on job finding, resume writing, and many other aspects of the situation, including ideas from other state libraries. We are posting entries on a special section on our new blog, aimed specifically at Hard Times, and we invite you to visit and to add your own comments. See blogs.sos.wa.gov/libdev/index.php/category/hard-times/.

We have also set up a resource portal and discussion space on WebJunction to assist libraries. See wa.webjunction.org/691/. You can participate without joining WebJunction, but joining, (and taking classes!), is free for Washington library people (funded by WSL). To join, go to wa.webjunction.org/home. For more information, contact Ahniwa Ferrari, [email protected] or Jennifer Fenton, [email protected], toll free 1-866-538-4996.

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6) ASK-WA GOES ON THE ROAD (OR WANTS TO)

Are you interested in providing an online reference service to your patrons, but you’re not sure how to do it or what to use? Are you curious what all the noise is about virtual reference? Ahniwa Ferrari, coordinator for Ask-WA, the statewide virtual reference cooperative, wants to visit your library and talk about reference. Whether you would like to join the statewide cooperative, or find out what sort of local options might work in your library, Ahniwa is happy to come visit and help you in any way he can.

For a preview of virtual reference services, you can also check out the archive for this month’s First Tuesdays program, which covers the changing world of reference services and encourages libraries to bring their service out into their communities. The archive is vi ewable at www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/tuesday.

If you’re interested in talking to Ahniwa or scheduling a visit to your library, please send him an email at [email protected] or call at 360-570-5587.

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7) TARGET STORES OFFER LOCAL STORE GRANTS

The Target Local Store Grants support nonprofit organizations in the communities where the company's stores are located. Arts grants support programs that bring the arts to schools or make it affordable for families to participate in cultural experiences. Early Childhood Reading grants support programs that foster a love of reading and encourage children, from birth through age nine, to read together with their families.

Grants generally range between $1,000 and $3,000. Applications will be accepted between March 1 and May 31, 2009 at www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/target. Grant award notifications are made by September 30, 2009.

Target also offers Field Trip grants – 7,400 grants so far to educators in all 50 states, but the 2008-2009 field trip grant cycle is closed. Keep this opportunity in mind for the future.