LTLS - Quick Connections

Illinois State Library Heritage Project

The Illinois State Library (ISL) was created more than 160 years ago to serve the needs of state government. As the official library for state government, we have come a long way since 1839, when the young Secretary of State, Stephen A. Douglas, saw to it that space was reserved next to his new office for a small, fledgling library.

Today, the State Library has become a computer-age doorway to worldwide information, providing patrons with an electronic bridge to the collections of universities, public, school and corporate libraries, and new information systems that will continue to develop into the 21st century and beyond.

Since 1839, people, societal dynamics, global issues and trends have contributed to the rich history and traditions of the Illinois State Library.

The Illinois State Library is now offering a grant opportunity for one successful applicant to compile a comprehensive history of the Illinois State Library. The successful applicant will propose the development of a website and printed resource that documents our history.

Appropriate materials might include: photos, video, audio, a descriptive timeline and summary of major ISL events. A listing of all State Librarians and State Library directors, perhaps video and audio interviews with those still living, with images and histories of all the buildings that have housed the Illinois State Library would be appropriate. Major programs that have been offered and how these have impacted libraries, government, and the citizens of Illinois would also be included.
To learn more and obtain an application, log on to
http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/library/what_we_do/pdfs/history_of_isl_grant.pdf

Workshop on Disaster Planning For Small Public Libraries

A workshop on Disaster Planning for Small Public Libraries will be presented on Monday, April 2, 2007, 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. at the Bloomington Public Library, 209 E. Olive, Bloomington, IL. Mary Moran, Midwest Freeze-Dry Ltd, and Dianne Harmon, Head of Circulation at Joliet Public Library, will conduct this inter-active workshop. The goal is to prepare participants to write a disaster plan for their library as required for the Per-Capita grant. There is a $10.00 per person charge to cover the cost of lunch and refreshments throughout the day. The workshop is paid for with LSTA funds and is sponsored by the Tri-county Directors of Small Public Libraries. To register, contact Evelyn Homan (Lexington Public Library) at 309-365-7801 or lexingtonl@yahoo.com.

Announcing the 2007 Rebecca Caudill Winner

Over 41,400 votes were cast for this year's 2007 Rebecca Caudill program.

The winner is: So B. It by Sarah Weeks
Second place: Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
3rd place: Hachiko Waits by Leslea Newman

Complete voting results will be posted on the Rebecca Caudill web site, http://www.rcyrba.org next week.
Remember to mail your nominations for the 2009 program before April 15.

New Weekly Survey!

Be sure to check out our new survey below, or on our home page.

You can also view results from previous weekly polls.

2007 Monarch Award: Illinois' K-3 Children's Choice Award

753 schools and libraries registered for the award and over 120,700 children voted for their favorite book. The Illinois School Library Media Association is pleased to announce the 2007 Monarch Award Winner:

Superdog: The Heart of a Hero by Caralyn Buehner, illustrated by Mark Buehner

Second Place:
I Ain't Gonna Paint No More by Karen Beaumont

Third Place:
Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Book? by Lauren Child

History of the Illinois State Library - Grant Offering

The Illinois State Library is offering a unique grant opportunity to compile a comprehensive history of the Illinois State Library.  The successful applicant will propose the development of a website and printed resource that documents our history.  Libraries and library agencies of all types, library systems and library consortia are eligible to apply.  Emailed Intent to Apply is due by May 15, 2007.  Full application is due by May 31, 2007.  Further information and application form are available from the ISL website.

Carnegie-Whitney Awards

The American Library Association Publishing Committee administers the Carnegie-Whitney Award grant program of up to $5000 for the preparation and publication of print or electronic reading lists, indexes, or other guides to library resources that promote reading or the use of library resources at any type of library.

For more information and proposal criteria, visit http://www.ala.org/ala/ourassociation/publishing/alapubawrds/carnegiewhitney.htm. Deadline: November 5, 2007

Quotable Facts About America's Libraries

The American Library Association has updated "Quotable Facts About America's Libraries", a handy pocket-sized fact sheet of interesting facts about libraries in the U.S.  It is packed with interesting facts about public, school and academic libraries and includes a state-by-state listing of per-pupil book expenditures for school libraries.  "Quotable Facts" is is a useful resource for telling the library story, and is available for download from the ALA website.

Here are a few interesting facts from "Quotable Facts":
- Research shows that the highest achieving students attend schools with good library media centers.
- 63% of adults in the U.S. have public library cards.

ALA Draft Principles for Digitized Content

In January of 2007, the Task Force on Digitization Policy of ALA's Office for Information Technology Policy introduced the draft Principles for Digitized Content. The goal of the Principles is to succinctly voice the primary policy areas that can guide libraries as they make decisions regarding digitization. The Task Force is soliciting comments from a broad spectrum of the ALA membership, its divisions, round tables and committees through a blog. To make the solicitation easy, each Principle can be commented separately at http://blogs.ala.org/digitizationprinciples.php. We invite you to read them and give us your ideas. The blog will be accepting your comments until May 1, 2007. We are asking Divisions and Round Tables to comment as units and to indicate such, but also welcome individuals to comment.

The goal, after a review and comment period, is a document that would be officially ALA policy. The Task Force plans to present this document for approval by ALA Council at the 2007 annual conference in Washington, D.C.

Printable copies of the principles document, a list of Task Force members,and other background documents are available at:
http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/contactwo/oitp/digtask.htm
http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/contactwo/oitp/digtask.htm