LTLS - Quick Connections

LTLS Library Photos Wanted

Attention LTLS Member Libraries: LTLS would like to post photos of all member libraries on the LTLS Web site. We have photos of our public libraries, but have only a few photos of the academic, school, and special libraries in our system. Member library photos are currently posted on the following Web pages: http://www.lincolntrail.info/memberinfo.html and http://www.lincolntrail.info/ltlsmembers.html. In addition, we will begin adding them to individual library pages. Please email digital photos to kwilki@lincolntrail.info or send a photo to Karen Wilkinson at LTLS.

Please also take a few minutes to review your library’s directory page and submit any changes by using the form located at http://www.ltls.org/f_directoryupdate.html or emailing kwilki@lincolntrail.info. You can find your library’s page by going to http://www.lincolntrail.info/ltlsmembers.html.

Thank you very much for your cooperation!

Study Tour to Saudi Arabia Opportunity

Applications are available to participate in a fully funded ten-day study tour of Saudi Arabia sponsored by Aramco Services Company. The Educators to Saudi Arabia Program is a professional development opportunity open to full-time Social Studies Teachers and Library Media Specialists in grades 1-12. The program aims to cultivate a greater awareness and understanding of Saudi Arabia in U.S. schools and communities. The study tour examines Saudi education, culture, history and global relations through site visits, panel discussions and cultural activities in the cities of Dhahran, Riyadh and Jeddah from November 19 - December 3, 2007.

Interested individuals can download an application at: http://www.iie.org/aramco. For more information, visit the Institute of International Education website or send email to atsap@iie.org. The application deadline is June 25, 2007.

LSTA Grant Application Reminder

Remember when submitting an LSTA grant application that it is a requirement to send one copy of the application with original signatures. Please make it easy for the State Library to find the original application by signing the cover sheet with blue ink, stamping it "original”, or even putting a post-it-note on the original. If you have any questions, contact Karen Egan at kegan@ilsos.net.

2010 IREAD Theme Ideas Wanted

Ideas for the 2010 summer reading theme are now being accepted. A submission form is available at http://www.ila.org/pub/iread.htm, or ideas can be emailed to iread2010submissions@yahoo.com. There will also be a brainstorming session in October at the ILA Conference in Springfield. Ideas that are not eligible for 2010 are nature/camping/Lewis and Clark, superheroes, nautical/island, outer space, sports/games, and wild animals. Themes should be relevant to students in grades K-8 throughout the state. Questions can be emailed to the 2010 IREAD Chair Jason Stuhlmann at jstuhlmann@elmwoodparklibrary.org.

Illinois Community College Librarians Awarded Grants to Attend Illinois Immersion 2007

The Illinois Library Systems Directors Organization (ILSDO) and the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI) have announced six recipients of $300 matching grants to attend Illinois Immersion 2007, the ACRL Regional Information Literacy Immersion Institute, in July. The grants, funded by ILSDO, were available to Illinois community college librarians; recipients were selected by CARLI.

Illinois Immersion 2007, taught by a faculty of nationally recognized librarians, offers instruction librarians four-and-a-half days of intensive information literacy training and education.

The recipients, all community college librarians from Illinois Library System members, are:

Cynthia Letteri, McHenry County College, North Suburban Library System
Beth Mandrell, Rend Lake College, Shawnee Library System
Larissa Moebs, Illinois Central College, Alliance Library System
Tim Salm, Rock Valley College, Prairie Area Library System
Lucy Smith, Triton College, Metropolitan Library System
Randi Sutter, Heartland Community College, Alliance Library System

Stillman Taylor (1914-2007)

The State Library joins others in the Illinois library community in mourning the passing of Stillman Taylor, who served as the first director of the Great River Library System from 1967 until his retirement in 1980. Stillman was 92 and died in Quincy. Great River joined three other systems in a 1984 merger that resulted in the current Alliance Library System.

Seeking Host Libraries

Thinking Outside the Borders: Library Leadership in a World Community, a program offered by the Illinois State Library and Mortenson Center for International Library Programs, has a unique opportunity for Illinois librarians this fall. The Illinois Library Host Program will couple with Thinking Outside the Borders for the fourth international leadership institute October 3 - 5. The previous leadership institutes consisted of in-depth leadership training that took place over several days. This institute will have a different format than the others: one day of leadership training followed by a two-day visit by an international librarian to host libraries in Illinois.

If you are interested in participating in this venture as a host library and would like to receive information on the application process and selection criteria, please contact Bonnie Matheis at: 217-558-2065 or bmatheis@ilsos.net. The deadline for submissions is July 1, 2007.

USA.gov website

Take a look at the redesigned USA.gov site (used to be FirstGov). The design is a lot more professional, and things are organized in a logical fashion. Printing, e-mailing, and RSS feeds are a lot more prominent. Also, the most commonly used items are pushed to the front of the navigation through Quick Links in each category. Check it out at: http://www.usa.gov/

NEH Preservation and Access:Humanities Collections and Resources grants

Humanities Collections and Resources grants support projects that preserve and create intellectual access to such collections as books, journals, newspapers, manuscript and archival materials, maps, still and moving images, sound recordings, art, and objects of material culture. Humanities Collections and Resources grants are also awarded for the creation of reference works and research tools of major importance to the humanities. Any U.S. nonprofit organization is eligible, as are state and local governmental agencies and tribal governments. Grants are not awarded to individuals.

For more information visit the NEH web site. Deadline is July 17, 2007.