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Image of the Montana State Library Logo
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.
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The State Library now has a subscription to Foundation Directory Online! Our license is limited to MSL staff, but we are happy to help you research grant makers and funding opportunities. Please open a ticket under Department: Statewide Projects and Category: Other and describe your grant-seeking needs as fully as you can. If you are looking for grant preparation assistance, you may also describe this in the ticket and MSL staff may be able to connect you with someone who can help.
If your library subscribes to OCLC through the Montana State Library, next week you will be asked to respond to a brief questionnaire about how you are using (or not using!) OCLC applications. The purpose of this questionnaire is to help us have a better understanding of the value of our OCLC contract and whether we need to request changes to that contract to increase the value of your subscription. Thank you for your participation in this study!
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Public Libraries Survey FY 2023
Collection for fiscal year 2023 will open Monday, October 2, 2023 and close Thursday, November 30, 2023. The Public Libraries Survey is important because it provides information that policymakers and practitioners can use to make informed decisions about the support and strategic management of libraries. It is also required under Administrative Rule 10.102.1155 and the Public Library Standards to receive State Aid. You can read more about the Public Libraries Survey on the Montana State Library website.
New this year, libraries will report their data using the software Counting Opinions LibPAS. Training for this new product will be provided via recorded web tutorials and printable guides (coming soon!). The state data coordinator, Rebekah Kamp, will host a session on LibPAS and the Public Libraries Survey via the MSL Learn Webinar Series on August 31 at 10:00am and at the 2023 Fall Workshop in Great Falls on September 19 at 10:30am. The data coordinator also will host drop-in office hours to address director questions on the following dates:
If the above times do not work for your schedule, please contact Rebekah Kamp at rkamp@mt.gov to make an appointment.
Survey Changes
The FY 2023 survey eliminates questions related to COVID-19. The Montana State Library will request information regarding buildings, salaries, and broadband. This information will help MSL and its Network Advisory Council better understand opportunities for supporting libraries in Montana. Please see the Survey Instrument: Worksheet for a complete list of questions and Survey Instrument: Data Element Definitions for complete descriptions.
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Montana History Portal staff will be out and about around the state quite a bit in September, and we'd love to meet with you in person! We can chat with you about our mission, new collections you're considering uploading, or just general tips and advice about how to use the site. We will be presenting at most of the following events and hope to see you there!
Montana State Genealogy Conference
- Bozeman, September 21-23
- Jennifer Birnel
2023 Montana History Conference
- Helena, September 28-30
- Dave Colamaria
General Federation of Women’s Clubs of Montana Fall Meeting
- Butte, September 29-30
- Jennifer Birnel
Adventure lab in Kalispell
We are excited to announce the launch of our 7th Adventure Lab tour, in Kalispell. Adventure Lab is a free mobile app that enables people to take a self-guided tour. In our case, we are building our tours around historic photos of an area. This allows users to compare the way a location looked in the past to how it does today. Each Adventure Lab has 10 locations in a short walking area, which makes it a nice combination of exploring history and a bit of exercise. You can see the full list of our Adventure Labs here.
We also build a companion digital exhibit on the Montana History Portal website for each Adventure Lab, and embed Google Street View to allow you to virtually "visit" the location.
We hope you will check out our Kalispell digital exhibit here, and if you are in the neighborhood, get out and give it a walk!
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Consulting and CE Office Hours
Check out the ASPeN Event Calendar to find the MSL Consulting and CE Office Hours events, twice each month. We're ready to hear from you and answer any questions you might have, so come by and say hi! These aren't recorded and there is no CE credit; this is a chance to visit - we'll be around for the full hour but you can drop in and leave whenever you like.
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2023 Summer Reading Reflection Webinar: Today, 9/20
Join us today, 9/20 at 2:30 pm for the 2023 Summer Reading Reflection webinar to share feedback on what went well, what was challenging, and what support you would like to see in the future! Anyone who does summer reading is welcome to attend - plus you can get some updates on the 2024 program!
Registration Event Page on ASPeN
MLN Virtual Programs for September, October, and November
The MLN Virtual Programming Series is starting back up in September, and we are looking for library co-hosts to help share out the event information and/or host a watch party! Please contact Amelea Kim at akim@mt.gov if your library is interested in co-hosting any of the virtual programs below. As a reminder, co-hosting involves the following:
- Sharing the event with your community through posters, bookmarks, social media, and other outreach channels. Attendees join individually using their own devices at home
- Helping patrons troubleshoot Zoom registration questions, and/or connect them directly with Amelea
- Optional: Hosting a watch party at your library.
Bison Archaeology in Glacier National Park with Kyle Langley
Hauntings of Montana with Ellen Baumler
Logic and Magic with Jon Turk
There are publicity templates for bookmarks, social media posts, and flyers that you are welcome to use. Please contact Amelea Kim at akim@mt.gov for more information!
The Collaborative Summer Library Program (CSLP) will host the 3rd annual CSLP Summer Symposium. This half day virtual offering is for public library staff to connect, learn, and collaborate as we plan for summer library programming around the upcoming theme of Adventure Begins at your Library. Scheduled for Thursday, December 07, 2023, speakers and topics will be announced soon.
To view the archived recordings from previous Summer Symposiums, go to the CSLP Summer Symposium webpage.
Medicaid and Healthy Montana Kids Eligibility Review Changes: Please Share with your Community!
As of February 1, 2023, states were allowed to restart Medicaid and Healthy Montana Kids eligibility reviews. According to some estimates, nationwide, up to 15 million people could lose their current Medicaid or Healthy Montana Kids coverage through the eligibility renewal process that is happening now.
It's important for people with Medicaid or Healthy Montana Kids to take action to stay covered. To do that, they will need to:
- Update their contact information since their addresses may have changed since they first enrolled.
- Watch their mail for communications from Montana Medicaid or Healthy Montana Kids, open it up, and read it for next steps.
- If they receive a renewal form, they should fill it out and return it right away to avoid losing coverage.
Many people are unaware that the renewal process is occurring, since they have not had to complete a renewal in quite some time, or possibly ever, if they were enrolled in the last three years. We want to avoid people being disenrolled simply because they were unaware and fail to return necessary paperwork to keep their coverage. The worst-case scenario is if a person finds out they are no longer enrolled when they are seeking health care or picking up their prescriptions.
It’s also important to note that children may still be eligible for Medicaid or Healthy Montana Kids, even if their parents are no longer eligible. We want parents to respond and return any paperwork on behalf of their children to keep that coverage.
Examples of materials you can use can be found at the Medicaid: Unwinding and Returning to Regular Operations webpage, and we’ve attached a few examples as well. Some resources are available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.
If you are interested in having materials at your library to post or for the public to pick up, please email Helen Collins with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services at helen.collins@cms.hhs.gov who can assist you with your request.
Thank you for raising awareness and assisting your patrons and community on this important issue!
Free Caregiving Programs from AARP Montana – Looking for Library Hosts!
If your library is interested in providing support to caregivers to your community, AARP is looking to provide free caregiving programs across the state! LaDawn Whiteside is a Caregiving Consultant with AARP Montana and would love to give a presentation at your library on a variety of caregiving topics. Here are the details:
- 90-minute time slot preferred, for presentation and questions,
- No request or requirement for AARP membership,
- Can do in-person or virtual,
- Free training for library staff and community,
- Libraries provide meeting space and technology required,
- Available topics:
- Preparing to Care
- Caregivers in the Workplace
- Caregiver Support Groups
- Long Distance Caregiving
If you are interested in this, please reach out to Amelea Kim at akim@mt.gov, and I can connect you with LaDawn to chat over scheduling and options!
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Lifelong Learning Data Dashboard
If you are interested in a data overview of Lifelong Learning programs, please visit the FY23 Lifelong Learning Data Dashboard!
You can also see the Data Dashboards for all of MSL's Services and Programs.
The Montana Library Spotlight is an opportunity for us to highlight and celebrate the awesome things that Montana libraries are doing!
Today’s highlight comes from Yvonne Redding, directory of the Rosebud County Library.
Murder at the Library – Whodunit Murder Mystery Dinner at the Rosebud County Library!
Please describe your library project:
Our library hosted a murder mystery event in January 2023 featuring our local middle and high school students as actors during the event. The event was titled “The Anne Cleeves Murder Mystery Pack”, and we organized a full evening program, complete with a lasagna dinner! The event was scheduled for 6 pm, but the public started showing up over an hour beforehand. There was so much excitement! Everyone who came got a delicious meal, and the students did a wonderful job acting out the murder mystery. They gave an amazing performance. Afterwards, many of the attendees came up to me with compliments on everything – the performance, the food, the student involvement - and they asked for us to do more events like it in the future.
Local high school students performing as their murder mystery characters
Abigail Morris as Nina Backworth
How did this project start?
I started planning this program after I learned about the free resources available through the Reading Agency last fall. As I was browsing through their website, I found the "Ann Cleeves Murder Mystery Pack" which included a script and instructions on how to host the event. As I needed actors to play the different murder mystery parts, I decided to reach out to our local high school drama club sponsor, Andrew Buck. Originally, we did not plan on serving food, but one of our library patrons (Mr. Buck’s mother, no less!) suggested serving dinner to make it a Murder Mystery Dinner, and we thought that was a great idea! The students did such a wonderful job – they showed up well-rehearsed, dressed, and ready, and they put on a great performance. We were so happy with how everything turned out!
Brody Kennedy as Lennie Thomas
What positive outcomes have you seen from this project?
The students got to see a large portion of the community supporting the drama club. Forsyth is more known for being a big sports town, so it was nice seeing the drama kids being embraced like that. The whole community benefited by having a different kind of activity to attend in town, and we got so many positive comments about the event, and they wanted more programs like this in the future.
What are you hoping to accomplish in the future?
We are hoping to do another program like this in the future, especially since this first one was such a success. I am hoping to find more volunteers to assist, and luckily, many people have.
Jacob Fay as Godfrey Rickard
Karissa Fraker as Joanna Tobin
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Thank you Yvonne and the Rosebud County Library for sharing this wonderful program!
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MSL Learn Webinar series!
Join us on the second and last Tuesday of each month for timely topics and the wildly popular “Tiny Tech Trainings!”
Visit the ASPeN event calendar to see the lineup of topics and speakers! Registration is open for all sessions.
Each 30-minute session will start at 10:00 a.m. Recordings will be available in the MSL YouTube channel.
On-Demand Learning for Libraries
Visit the MSL Continuing Education webpage to find out about continuing education opportunities.
WebJunction Webinars:
MSL sponsors access to WebJunction for Montana librarians. Stay in the know and build your skills through the webinars and courses offered through this service. All WebJunction webinars are recorded and available for free in the Course Catalog.
New MSL YouTube Channel Content
Visit the new MSL YouTube Channel to access meeting recordings, webinars, and training from across all MSL Programs.
Please subscribe!
You can still access content created prior to July 2022 in Vimeo. All new recordings and content will be posted to the MSL YouTube Channel.
Is your ASPeN account up to date?
Updated contact information in ASPeN helps with event registration, claiming credits and completing certification!
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There is so much happening in September!
Click on the image below to see the coming months and register for upcoming events.
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Librarians, board members and state employees can sign up for a Montana State Library card! This card will give you access to all kinds of professional development materials through Montana Agency Libraries on Overdrive and in the Libby app. Apply for yours today!
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See all MSL topics on our News feed at https://msl.mt.gov/about/news
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