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Montana Library Network News

This newsletter serves a biweekly digest to consolidate and archive events and news from various library directed outreach from the Montana Library Network within the Montana State Library. This newsletter will go out on the first and third Tuesdays of each month. 

Hot Library Stuff Coming Thru!

Will you be at MLA? If so, stop by the State Library booth to see if we have stuff for you! Playaways, accessories, books, promotional materials - there's bound to be something for your library. At least stop by and say hello!

MSL sessions at the MLA / PNLA / MPLA Tri-conference!

Announcement from MLA regarding Booth Set-up times

There are specific times to set up your booth at MLA.

Set-up can begin Wednesday from 5:00 - 8:00 p.m.

If you can't set up a booth during that time you can start again Thursday morning between 7:00 and 8:30 a.m.

Tear-down can start Friday between 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. or at 7:30 p.m. If you choose to tear down your booth at 6:00 please have it done by 6:00 as there is a reception in the atrium area at that time. If you don't think you can complete your booth tear down by 6:00, you may do this at 7:30. 

MLA conference planners also ask that you do not use helium balloons. 

Hotspot Program Update!

The Montana State Library office was severely flooded in early July and is currently inaccessible as it is being restored, with an expected completion date of early 2023. The mailroom has been completely dismantled. As a result, our staff's ability to process, send, and receive items for the hot spot program will be somewhat impaired for the next several months. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we devise a new workflow for shipping and receiving items.

OCLC renewal update

The FY23 contract renewal has been signed. OCLC will issue invoices in the coming weeks

Book Club Central update

The State Library has a trial subscription to Springshare LibCal to test its capabilities for hosting a centralized book club kit sharing platform. Please contact Cara Orban if you would like to see a demo or try out the software yourself. corban@mt.gov

MLN Virtual Program Updates - Future Topics

For those of you who are interested in future MLN Virtual Programming, we are in process of getting topics and speakers lined up for the rest of 2022 and 2023! Here is what we have so far:

• August 22nd - Montana Ties to the Titanic, A Collection of Stories with ZoeAnn Stoltz from the Montana Historical Society
• Fibershed Montana - Topic and Date TBD, probably in early Spring 2023
• April 20th, Foraging for Mushrooms in Montana with Dr. Cathy Cripps from MSU

You can find updates and more information on the MLN Virtual Programming Webpage on the MSL Website.

Currently, I am looking for libraries to sign up to co-host the August 22nd event. Co-hosting libraries are expected to do the following:

• Share and publicize the event on social media, if your library has social media accounts. We will list your library page as a co-host of the Facebook event as well.
• You can host a viewing party at your library, where all of you join through one computer, or you can invite your patrons to join individually from the comfort of their homes. 
• Publicize the event using Poster Templates, with your library's logo on the materials
• Have at least one staff members from your library attend the event live.

Please email Amelea Kim at akim@mt.gov with any questions!

Montana Legislative Districting Update

The Montana Districting and Apportionment Commission will be reviewing and drawing maps that will assign Montanans to 100 House districts and 50 Senate districts. These maps will affect how people are represented in the Legislature from 2024 to 2034. To share information about this important process and why it matters to your patrons and communities, please see the Ready, set, MAP MT article from 6/7/22.

Public Library Standards - How to Fill Them Out

This year public library directors and their board chairs have been receiving the Standards forms through DocuSign  - thanks to those who have completed them already!.

For the remaining libraries here's a reminder on the process:

You will receive an email from Genevieve Lighthiser/DocuSign. Click on the link in the email to be taken to DocuSign. You will see a pdf form and will be asked to select yes, no, or automatic deferral for each standard. 

If your answers are only yes or automatic deferral, you will receive a second email from DocuSign after you finish the first step of providing your status on each standard and clicking “FINISH”. That second email will allow you to sign the Certification Statement on the last page. It will then go to the email of the board chair who will need to sign it through DocuSign. Once everyone has signed the document, you will receive a copy for your records.

If you need to request a deferral (different from the automatic deferrals already granted by the Library Commission due to the revised standards taking effect July 1): Please select no for any standard(s) that you do not meet. You will be able to explain why and share your plan for meeting that standard. The document will then go to Jennie Stapp, State Librarian, for review. She will respond. The system will then send you her responses for you to review. When you are ready, you can electronically sign the document through DocuSign. It will then be emailed to your board chair who will electronically sign it in the same way. You will then receive a copy for your records.

If you have an earlier email but click the link and get a "link expired" message don't panic - the system is set to automatically resend a new link.

Please verify your board chair's email address in ASPeN so the process can be completed. Or, contact your consultant with the information.

The deadline to complete the standards is July 25, 2022.

Montana Memory Project News

Content on the MMP continues to grow as we work with partners new and old. With over 72,000 items on the site, we are always looking for ways to help our users find what they are looking for. Recently, we launched a new initiative: research guides. We are planning to build a series of pages on important topics in Montana history. These pages will have a brief history of the topic as well as links to key collections on the MMP. These links will lead users to relevant materials from the many organizations we collaborate with. We believe these guides will be useful for historians, students, and anyone else who loves Montana history.

Our first guide covers homesteading in Montana. This guide will help people to find out more about the people who settled Montana - people such as Oscar Bergern and Jake Gauthun, seen below. We hope you will visit our Homesteading in Montana page!

Continuing Education News

Lifelong Learning News

Ready 2 Read Rendezvous 2022, Speaker Announcement Jenifer Strauss, a storyteller and narrative consultant from Michigan, will be one of our speakers for the Ready 2 Read Rendezvous in Lewistown, MT! You can read more about her and her workshop at the 2022 Ready 2 Read Rendezvous Website. Please feel free to reach out to Amelea Kim at akim@mt.gov with any questions, and excited to see you all in Lewistown in October!

Ready 2 Read Rendezvous 2022, Speaker Announcement Dr. Harriette Bailey, an early childhood and family engagement expert from Greensboro, North Carolina, will be joining us as our second speaker for the Ready 2 Read Rendezvous! Her bio and workshop description will be posted soon on the Ready 2 Read website, and the application for the Rendezvous will soon be released.

Storytelling Programs Available for October 2022

As Jenifer will be in Montana for the Ready 2 Read Rendezvous, if any libraries are interested in a scary story program, please feel free to reach out to Jenifer for more details! Please use the links below to learn more about available story programs:

• Urban Legends with Jenifer Strauss (for adults)
• Scary Stories and Spine-Tingling Tales (for all ages)

Contact Information: Jenifer Strauss, jenifer@storybetold.com, 269-838-8361

CSLP Feedback Survey Now Open! CSLP has created a survey so they can better assess the usefulness of the materials offered by the program on a national level to better serve you, the CSLP membership!  Link to the 2022 CSLP Feedback Survey Who should complete this survey? The audience for the survey is public library staff who played an active role in administering or running 2022 summer library programming. One person per library could fill it out, or multiple library staff from the same library could complete the sections of the survey most relevant to their work; e.g. children, teen, or adult programs. Please coordinate with your colleagues on who will fill it out, especially if you are in a multi-branch system. This does NOT need to be filled out by Directors. (Adult/YA/Children program overseers can complete their own portions.)  Even if you didn't use "Oceans of Possibilities" as your theme, we still invite you to complete the survey! There are questions that pertain to summer reading more generally that we would love your input on. Is this survey required? No, it is not required, but we would appreciate your input.  Every library that responds helps us get a more accurate picture of overall satisfaction with the program. I want to be prepared.  What info will I need to provide?   *   General feedback on using (or not) the 2022 program theme and materials;    *   Feedback and info about how/whether you tracked participation, as well as stats for participation and programming for children (ages 0-11), teens (12-18) and adults. You may skip any questions for which you don't have the answers.  When does the survey close? The survey is open from now until Friday, September 9, 2022.  How will this data be used? This data will go directly to CSLP and your state rep for review. CSLP will aggregate the data and use it to guide decision making, for both short tern and long term outcomes. Montana's data will be aggregated and put into a public report that will be made available.

Reimagining School Readiness Training Opportunity - November 2022 For those of you who work with young children and families, please consider attending the November 2022 Reimagining School Readiness training! You can find the application form below. Applications are due by August 15th, 2022. Reimagining School Readiness Training - Application Form This training is hosted by the Montana State Library, and is part of a large grant, led by the Bay Area Discovery Museum (BADM). You can read more about the project on the Montana State Library Reimagining School Readiness website. The training is a 2-part virtual workshop, with the first session on November 2nd, Wednesday from 1 - 3 pm, and the second session on November 9th, Wednesday from 1 - 3 pm. You must attend both sessions. Librarians are encouraged to share this training with community partners, particularly those who work with children.  This training is best suited for any Montana public librarian who works with families and young children, aged 0 - 8, or any Montana public librarians who are interested in working with this age group. In this training, learners will: Learn and understand the six key findings of school readiness research, and how that fits in with early childhood development environments and opportunities Experience four hands-on school readiness activities that can be used in library programming Brainstorm, discuss, and share ideas on how to implement the school readiness toolkit and ideas in their current library work, and in future programs As part of this training, learners should expect to: Participate: This will be a discussion-focused and experience-sharing training, so it is important that all attendees are actively participating. You are expected to set aside the time to attend and focus on this training completely.  Make Connections: This training will be a great way to connect with peers across Montana, and learn from each other. Apply Knowledge: Participants in this training will be expected to apply the knowledge they learn in their libraries and create a plan on how to do that. This plan will look different for each library, but each participant is expected to create one and implement it after the training. These trainings qualify for both MSL credit, and OPI credit. Certificates of attendance are also available upon request. If you have any questions, please contact Amelea Kim at akim@mt.gov.

YALSA Transforming Teen Services - Youth Development October 2022 Cohort Opportunity If you are someone who works regularly with teens at your library, please consider participating in the YALSA Transforming Teen Services – Youth Development Small Cohort! In the small cohort format, you will be doing a mixture of self-paced work, and online discussion using a set curriculum. For this small cohort, we will be using the YALSA Transforming Teen Services Youth Development curriculum, which is made up of FOUR modules. You will have one week to complete the materials for each module in the MSL Moodle space, and then we will have a one-hour online discussion session to talk things over. Here are the learning outcomes and details: Learning Outcomes: Librarians reflect on their own experiences as teens to help understand the experiences of teens today Librarians understand brain development and physical/mental changes in teens Librarians exchange ideas and knowledge with their peers about how to best serve teens across the state in libraries Dates: October 2022 (dates TBD, once participants are selected) MSL Credit Hours: At least 8 hours in Services to the Public (1 hour for self-paced learning for each module, 1 hour for online discussion for each module) Facilitators: Amelea Kim and Dusty Deans (Lincoln County Library in Libby) Link to Youth Development Cohort Application Form Please fill out the application by August 7th, 2022, and contact Amelea Kim at akim@mt.gov with any questions you have!

CSLP 2025 Slogan and 2026 Themes - Time to Vote! CSLP is starting the process of choosing the 2025 Slogan, and the 2025 Theme! CSLP members (which includes all Montana public libraries) are invited to assist with the process by participating in the following: Join in on listening sessions to share your thoughts on the slogan and theme ideas Tell your state rep (Amelea) which slogan/theme you support, so that she can vote for Montana's top picks at the Annual Meeting in August! Here are the listening sessions. You can attend one, or both, and they are free and open to all Montana public libraries to attend! Monday, August 15th from 1 - 2 pm MT Zoom link  Wednesday, August 17th, from 9 - 10 am MT Zoom link We want to give a huge thank you to the CSLP Theme & Slogan Review Committee for facilitating the year long process to create the future CSLP themes and slogans voting slate.  If you would like to join this committee – please contact one of the co-chairs Laura Kelly or Donna Throckmorton for more information or learn more about other CSLP Committees here [cslpreads.org].

Montana Library Resources

This section is a list of resources that may be of interest to the general Montana library audience. Feel free to contribute to this section of the newsletter by sending things to Amelea Kim at akim@mt.gov.

General Resources

• Marketing Resources for Libraries: The Super Library Marketing blog is a great resource for marketing and publicity ideas. Recently,  they did a post on how to share the cost-saving benefits of a public library. Particularly in light of the inflation increases that are happening around the country, this can be a great time to remind your patrons on how libraries can help them save money while still accessing great resources.
  • 5 Ideas for Promoting the Cost-Saving Benefits of Your Library
• Congrats to the Missoula Public Library for being named The Best Library in the World!
• Webjunction Learning Newsletter - Crossroads from 7/20/22

Summer Reading 

• CSLP Newsletter for July 2022

Children and Youth Services Resources

• 7/27/22 CYS Meet-Up Topic Recording: Teen Advisory Groups

Grant Opportunities

• Dementia Education Grants from the Montana Geriatric Education Center: The Montana Geriatric Education Center is offering awards up to $2,000 for approved community projects focused on dementia education. Libraries are encouraged to apply, an can use the funding to help provide dementia education to their community. 
  • Applications available on September 1st, 2022
  • Application website
  • For more information, email montana.gec@montana.edu
• National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM) Awards Available: If you are interested in providing health information services at your library, consider checking out NNLM's grant awards. These grants provide support for public libraries that assist with consumer health information, and are a great way to implement any health related ideas you might have. Check out the awards for Region 4, which Montana is located in.
  • NNLM Grant Awards

New Database Resource: HeritageQuest Genealogical Database

All public and tribal libraries have access to the HeritageQuest genealogical database through December 2022! Please contact Cara Orban (corban@mt.gov) to set up access for your patrons. This service is paid through American Rescue Plan Act funds in partnership with Missoula Public Library, who holds the contract.

Did You Know?

Want to know more about the new Libby app, ARPA E-Resources for libraries and Libby’s Extras? We have step-by-step guides in our knowledge base to help you with your OverDrive invoices and to get help and support from Overdrive.

Calendar of Events

July/August/September

Click on the image below to see the coming months and register for upcoming events.

Image of events calendar - linked to calendar of events

See all MSL topics on our News feed at https://msl.mt.gov/about/news