Barbie Turns 60

Here’s a milestone of a different sort—in March, the Barbie Doll celebrated her 60^th birthday!  Counted among the most popular toys of all time, Barbie was created by Ruth Handler, who owned the toy company Mattel with her husband Elliot. Ruth Handler was inspired by the paper dolls her daughter Barbara played with.  The Barbie Doll would go on to become the toy that made Mattel world famous.

Barbie’s iconic figure, pony tail, makeup, and trendy wardrobe were immediately seen as a unique spin-off from traditional dolls.  By 1960, Ken came on the scene and by 1961, Barbie and Ken were living large in their Dream House, with a convertible in their driveway.  In her lifespan, Barbie has represented countless occupations and races, depicted as a surgeon, astronaut, athlete, and politician.  Today, there are 58 million Barbies sold every year. 

While not connected to “all things space” surrounding this summer’s theme, Barbie at 60 is still a great programming idea for all ages.  Milford Public Library can attest to this: Milford hosted a Barbie Birthday Party last month, complete with live music, birthday cake, and a Barbie photo booth.  The library acquired over 60 prizes donated by Mattel.  .  Prizes were given for the youngest and oldes real life Barbie look-alikes. Contact Milford PL for more about their program. 

Barbie at 60 is also a great idea for display cases and bulletin boards.  And for added inspiration, visit Mattel’s website for a fun trip down memory lane! 

Barbie @ Mattel 

Connect, Create, Contribute

Since 1963, May has been designated as “Older Americans Month.”  Originally titled “Senior Citizens Month” by President Kennedy, it was President Carter’s administration that re-named it Older Americans Month in 1980.

The 2019 theme is “Connect, Create, Contribute,” which encourages older adults to

• Connect with friends, family, and services that support participation.
• Create by engaging in activities that promote learning, health, and personal enrichment
• Contribute time, talent, and life experience to benefit others

The purpose of Older Americans Month is to acknowledge the vitality, aspirations, and contributions of older citizens, in particular those who defended our country.  Every President since JFK has issued a formal proclamation in May asking that the entire nation pay tribute in some way to older persons in their communities.  Making Older Americans Month a perfect occasion for library book displays, bulletin boards, and programming. 

The Administration on Aging, along with the Administration for Community Living are major sponsors of Older Americans Month.  From their websites you can find logos and posters to help with your local promotions, along with activities and resources to use in local programming.  Learn more about Older Americans Month and share your plans with each other on LIBRARY TALK!

Older Americans Month

Applications Due May 31

Iowa public libraries are urged to apply for technology grants through the State Library.  This available grant money comes from our federal funding.  Because these grants are earmarked for technology upgrades, eligible libraries must have completed an Edge Assessment and developed an Edge Action Plan.  The application deadline is May 31 at 11:30PM.

Group applications are especially desirable; for instance a county library association could submit a group request, in which case the grant could provide up to $10,000.00 for each library in the group.  However, this means that all the libraries in the group application needs to have completed an Edge Assessment / Action Plan.

Qualifying Purchases and Reimbursements

All grant purchases must relate to improving one or more specific Edge recommendation from the library’s Edge Action Plan.  Hardware such as desktop computers, laptops, tablets, monitors, printers, software, servers or routers, assistive equipment, presentation and multimedia hardware, and accessories related to the items to be purchased are all allowable. Libraries can also use grant funds for network assessment and broadband connectivity upgrades. Ongoing subscriptions, warranties, licenses and month-to-month Internet fees are not allowed. Equipment that connects to the Internet may be subject to compliance with the Children’s Internet Protection Act.

These grants will be handled as reimbursements, meaning that qualifying libraries will need to purchase items with local funding, then be reimbursed through the grant. All purchases must be made by September 30, 2019. All invoices, receipts, bills of sale, etc. must be dated prior to September 30 and be paid by the library. Proof of purchase and payment is required for reimbursement.

Scoring and Awards

Funding will be awarded based on how the project (a) helps the library implement an Edge Action Plan recommendation (b) the impact the project will have to improve the lives of Iowa citizens (c)  the economic need expressed and (d) the clarity of the project description. A team composed of State Library staff will review and score each proposal. Libraries will be notified and grant awards will be announced on June 15, 2019.

Learn More

The State Library has already presented one informational webinar on April 18, with another one scheduled for this Friday May 3 (9:00-10:00AM)  This is a good chance to hear more about this important grant opportunity, with time for Q&A.  Because this is an informational webinar, CE credit is not awarded. Find full details, including an informational video, links to May 3^rd webinar, and the actual application form by clicking below.  Good Luck!

Technology Grant Application

     Enrich Iowa Letters of Agreement Due

Tomorrow—April 30—is the deadline to submit your Enrich Iowa Letter of Agreement.  Find the agreement and instructions here 

Enrich Iowa Letter of Agreement

     Webinars This Week

On Wednesday May 1, watch a webinar to learn more about Credo Reference, one of the resources that came bundled with the GALE suite of products (1:30-2:00PM)   

And on Friday May 3, watch an informational webinar about the Technology Grants.  This webinar runs from  9:00-10:00AM, a good chance to hear more about this important grant opportunity, with time for Q&A.