System Spotlight
By Staff
Kearny County Library Celebrates 50 Years
From Director Tammy Dickey: You are invited to join us on Saturday, September 21, 2024, to help us celebrate 50 years in our building. We are proud to have been the heart of the community for this long. We will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and we will have refreshments, bounce houses, and giveaways. You can tour our library, courthouse and Budget shop. There will be lots of bake sale items.
Jetmore Public Library Hosts Virtual Reality Exhibit About Holocaust History
From Jetmore Library Director Jacque Sherrill: These are just a few of the over 50 community members – including students – who have taken in “The Journey Back” Virtual Reality Exhibit featuring harrowing, yet inspiring, tales of two Holocaust Survivors, and narrated by the Survivors, themselves.
Sara K. Presenting at ARSL
I would like to encourage SWKLS to recognize the awesome work that Sara K. has been doing. Last week she presented to a packed ballroom on human resources and what small libraries need to know at a session at the ARSL conference in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Future Dates & Training Opportunities (All Times in CST)
September 25th – 8 AM – 9 AM – What’s Up Wednesday: Adult Programming Made Easy | Webinar/Link
September 25th – 12 AM – 1 PM – Children’s Collections and Boosting Engagement: A Panel Presentation | Webinar/Link
September 25th – 12 PM – 1 PM – The Librarian’s Guide to Authors | Webinar/Link
September 26th – 10 AM – 11 AM – PowerPoint Pro: New Solutions to 6 Common Problems | Webinar/Link
September 26th – 27th – SWKLS Retreat | In-Person Event/Register Here
October 1st – 11 AM – 12 PM – SWKLS Cybersecurity Webinar Series: Password Security | Webinar/Register Here
October 2nd – 12 PM – 1 PM – Displays that Do More: Passive Programming with Book Displays | Webinar/Link
October 10th – 8 AM – 5 PM – School Library Journal Day of Dialogue | Free Virtual Conference/Register Here
Consulting
By Sara Wilson
Banned Books Week 2024
Banned Books Week is coming up, next week, and the theme for 2024 is “Freed Between the Lines.” For free downloads, display ideas, and more, see the ALA’s Banned & Challenged Books page. You can also get free downloads from BannedBooksWeek.org. Below, I’ve shared the free Censorship by the Numbers infographic and the Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2023 (both courtesy of the ALA).
Beetlejuice Classification Contest
Before we announce the winner, I want to take this moment to make a point to everyone that there were absolutely NO duplicates – meaning that not ONE single cataloger cataloged the book the same way! We always say that no two catalogers are alike and this exercise demonstrated that perfectly. Your library’s classification is a reflection of you/your cataloger’s reasoning, perspective, and unique world experience. This is why libraries and the way they classify information can be as different as a set of fingerprints.
Just for fun, here are all of the classifications we received for the Handbook for the Recently Deceased:
130.3 – Philosophy and Psychology > Parapsychology and Occultism > Paranormal Phenomena
143 – Philosophy and Psychology > Philosophical Systems > Institutionalism
155.242 – Philosophy and Psychology > Psychology > Developmental & Differential Psychology > Individual Psychology > Coping & Adaptation > Resilience
306.9 – Social Sciences > Social Sciences; Sociology & Anthropology > Culture & Institutions > Death
326.8 – Social Sciences > Political Science > Slavery and Emancipation > Emancipation
393 – Social Sciences > Customs, Etiquette, Folklore > Social Aspects of Death
LC Q B1-139 (DDC 576.893) – Natural Sciences and Mathematics > Life Sciences, Biology > Genetics and Evolution > Evolution > Life 1.0 > Astrobiology
613.6 – Technology > Medicine & Health > Personal Health & Safety > Personal Safety & Special Topics of Health
910.2020 – History and Geography > Geography and Travel > Miscellany; World Travel Guides > World Travel Guides
Miguel says that if you sent it to the office, he would put it under 302 – Social Sciences > Social Sciences; Sociology & Anthropology > Social Interaction. But, if it were me, I would put it under 133.86 – Philosophy & Psychology > Paraspsychology & Occultism > Specific Topics > Psychic Phenomena > Books From the Future.
And the winner is . . .
Charity White, Director of Coldwater-Wilmore Regional Library! Charity’s answer got the most votes in our office. She classificed it as 393. Her reasoning? “I almost added .9 = ‘Funeral Customs,’ but leaving it at ‘Social Aspects of Death’ seemed more appropriate, because it leaves it open to being on either side of the death experience (the one who went, or the ones left behind . . .).”
Congratulations, Charity!! Thank you to everyone who played – all of your answers were AWESOME & we had such a fun time going over them! 🙂 Keep an eye on the Wrap UP for your next chance to win a giveaway!
Retreat Reminder
Cataloging, Collection Development, and ILL
By Miguel Coca
Collection Development Inspiration
Adult Fiction
Children’s & YA Fiction
Getting Cloud Library Statistics
In the SWKLS Professional Collection
Burnout. You, like most American women, have probably experienced it. What’s expected of women and what it’s really like to exist as a woman in today’s world are two different things—and we exhaust ourselves trying to close the gap. Sisters Emily Nagoski, PhD, and Amelia Nagoski, DMA, are here to help end the all-too-familiar cycle of feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. They compassionately explain the obstacles and societal pressures we face—and how we can fight back.
You’ll learn
• what you can do to complete the biological stress cycle
• how to manage the “monitor” in your brain that regulates the emotion of frustration
• how the Bikini Industrial Complex makes it difficult for women to love their bodies—and how to defend yourself against it
• why rest, human connection, and befriending your inner critic are keys to recovering from and preventing burnout
Here is an accessible, step-by-step, easy to understand, and hands-on resource for any librarian who is interested in learning basic marketing tips to raise the profile of their library. While other books on library marketing are dense and assume that the library has a full-time marketing staff person, a publicist, a graphic designer, and a big fat budget., this book offers tips and tricks (often free) that any librarian can do to market the library. It will focus on the small changes to the services a library provides to raise its profile.
Library Marketing Basics is designed for beginners who are new to library marketing. Any librarian can market their library, but they must understand what true marketing is all about, and how to do it right.
In this guide, you’ll:
- Learn what true library marketing is, and what it’s not
- Plan a large scale marketing campaign / awareness campaign on a shoestring budget
- Learn how to market yourselves as librarians!
- Develop your own professional identity and brand
- Learn tips and tricks on obtaining buy-in from your colleagues and the entire organization, even if they are resistant!
- Learn how to develop relationships with stakeholders in order to raise the profile of your library
You’ll also find practical examples from the non-library /corporate sector on how to use currently existing marketing tools and apply them to your library. The book focuses on developing a “library” brand, in addition to creating an effective marketing plan, social media guidelines, identifying assessment tools, and providing best practices when developing signage, writing website vocabulary, and designing promotional materials.
Library Marketing Basics will show that you don’t need a big budget to market the library. You just need a small team of like-minded colleagues to brainstorm creative ways to raise awareness with your audience. Marketing is all about the valuable intangible and tangible aspects (of your library) and how you connect them with your users.
Technology
by Christopher Dressler
SAM.gov Scams are making the Rounds!
Looks like those SAM.gov scam emails are popping up again! Just a quick reminder: if you get an email about renewing your SAM.gov registration, it should always be free. If someone tries to charge you, it’s a scam. You can handle all your registrations, renewals, or updates directly on the official site: https://sam.gov/. Stay sharp and safe out there!
