System Spotlight
By Christopher Dressler
Dudley Township Logo Contest
Calling all graphic designers!
The Dudley Township Public Library is looking for a logo.
Please submit your design to Suzie Boschman at director@dudleytownshiplibrary.org by July 14. The winner will receive $25 in Satanta Bucks and recognition at the library.
SUMMER READING KICKOFF!
Scott Co.
“We are having a “Tiggerific” time at the Library!! Kicked off programming today with 211 in for programming.”
Kearny Co.
“Summer Reading!”
Grant Co.
“What a fantastic start to summer reading! We kicked things off with an ice cream social and got creative painting rocks. It was a blast and I’m excited for what’s to come.”
Future Dates & Training Opportunities
June 13, 2023, 1:30 pm – State Library of Kansas with Wulf Roby Webinar, Registration
June 15, 2023, 1:30 pm – After-Lunch Course Intellectual Freedom: Privacy, Registration
June 16, 2023, 10:00 am – System Board Meeting (Online Only), Registration/Zoom Link
June 19, 2023 – System Office Closed/Juneteenth
Sept 20 – 23, 2023 – ARSL Conference/Wichita, Hotel Booking
Consulting
By Richard Brookman
2023 ARSL Conference
The 2023 Association of Small and Rural Library Conference is September 20 – 23. For those that haven’t been before, it will be in Wichita this year. The theme for the conference is
Early Bird Registration will begin June 13, next Tuesday. Hotel Registration can be done know and can be booked through this link. Here is a time table from ARSL’s website:
Registration Timeline
June 13, 2023 | Early Bird Registration opens; Virtual Registration opens
July 18, 2023 | Early Bird Registration closes
September 6, 2023 | Advance Registration for in-person attendance & preconference workshops closes
September 20-23, 2023 | On-Site Registration for in-person attendance & preconference workshops available
September 23, 2023 | Virtual Registration closes
2023 Conference Rates
ARSL Member Rates
Base Conference Attendance
Early Bird – $290
Regular – $375
Preconference Workshops**
3-Hour Workshops – $55
4-Hour Workshops – $70
Virtual Attendance
$55
Student, Advocate & Retiree Rates*
Base Conference Attendance
Early Bird – $245
Regular – $285
Preconference Workshops**
3-Hour Workshops – $55
4-Hour Workshops – $70
Virtual Attendance
$30
Nonmember Rates
Base Conference Attendance
Early Bird – $380
Regular – $450
Preconference Workshops**
3-Hour Workshops – $80
4-Hour Workshops – $95
Virtual Attendance
$80
*Must be a Student, Advocate, or Retiree member of ARSL to receive this pricing.
**Preconference Workshop fees are charged in addition to Base Conference Registration and are available for in-person conference attendees only.
Image provided by Pixabay.com contributor Mariakray
June System Board Meeting
The next System Board meeting is on June 16, 2023. This meeting will be an online meeting only through Zoom. It will begin at 10:00 am. If you haven’t registered yet please do so through this Registration Link. The primary business will be the review of the audit that Kennedy and McKee prepared for the System. The Zoom Link for the meeting is provided above in the Weekly Wrap UP Calendar.
Image provided by Pixabay.com contributor Khena22
Office Closure for Juneteenth
On Monday, June 19, 2023, the System Office will be closed in observance of the National Holiday Juneteenth. We will be back in the office during regular office hours on Tuesday, June 20, 2023.
State Library of Kansas Webinar
The June Sunflower State Libraries program will be next Tuesday, June 13, 1:30 – 2:00 PM CT. The presenter will be Wulf Roby of the State Library of Kansas. He will discuss the State Library’s services, facilities, and more.
“Please join us for this thirty minute conversation over Zoom–you can register to attend below. I will send a link to the recording to all who register.”
If you are interested you can register through this link.
June After-Lunch Course Reminder
Just a quick reminder that next Thursday, June 15, at 1:30 pm CT, will be the next After-Lunch Course entitled Intellectual Freedom: Privacy presented by Trina Magi. If you are interested you can register through this link.
Cataloging, Collection Development, and ILL
By Sara Wilson
Collection Development Inspiration
Adult Fiction
Children’s & YA Fiction
In Literary News
Kansas City Author Wins 2023 Hefner Heitz Kansas Book Award in Fiction
The 2023 Hefner Heitz Kansas Book Award in Fiction was bestowed upon Catherine Browder by Washburn University for her book, Resurrection City: Stories from the Disaster Zone. The book is a collection of short stories inspired by the author’s vacation to Japan in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami of 2011. To read more about the book and the award, click here.
Recent Book Challenge Issues Making the News
Libraries are feeling the impact of book challenges across the country. Here are some recent news reports involving book challenges and bans across the United States. (Special thanks to Sara Koehn, Director of Haskell Township Public Library and Sean Bird, Interim Dean of University Libraries at Washburn University for their contributions to this list!)
Biden Administration to Appoint Anti-Book Ban Coordinator As Part Of New LGBTQ Protections
Utah School District That Banned Bible Considers Removing Book of Mormon
Amanda Gorman Denounces Book Bans: ‘It encroaches on our freedom’
Arkansas Librarians Sue to Block New Law That Could Jail Them Over Explicit Books
Miami Education Advocates Host Event to Protest ‘Irrationality and Vagueness’ of Book Bans
ALA OIF Blog 06.02.23: https://www.oif.ala.org/intellectual-freedom-news-06-02-2023/
First Amendment Coalition: https://firstamendmentcoalition.org/news-opinion/first-amendment-news/
Empowered by Reading (Unitedagainstbookbans): https://uniteagainstbookbans.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Empowered-by-Reading-final.pdf
For Catalogers: OCLC Transition to Record Manager
As you may remember, OCLC will be transitioning our copy-cataloging interface from Cat Express to Record Manager. Each library that now uses Cat Express will receive an individual URL and login information from OCLC to access Record Manager. If you have not received this information yet, you can contact OCLC’s Support team by clicking here and scrolling down to United States to view their contact information.
I am working to get things set up & create training materials for Record Manager. In the meantime, if you have received login information from OCLC, please feel free to look around and familiarize yourself with the new interface. You cannot upload records, yet – that’s a conversation that we have yet to have with AG. OCLC is not doing away with Cat Express until April, so we have some time to adjust to the new system, but the goal is to have everyone fully transitioned before next spring.
Cat Express Renewal
If you missed the email I sent out to the Director’s list earlier this week, please read through the following very important information and respond as soon as possible. THANK YOU to everyone who has responded so far!!
The time has come for us to renew our Cat Express subscription with OCLC. If your library would like to reduce or increase the number of units that you have available for cataloging, please reply to this email no later than Wednesday, June 14 with your request. We are sharing units, so please be mindful if you haven’t used very many of your units, and don’t foresee that changing in the future, some libraries who would like to increase could make use of the units you’re not using.
Here is this month’s Cat Express Usage report. I’ve highlighted the number of units your library has used for the year as well as the number of units you requested last year. Some of you have gone slightly over while others have not used the amount requested. Please take these calculations into consideration when making your request. If you did not have units last year, but would like to have some this year, please also let me know so that we can make adjustments.
If I do not hear back from you by June 14, you may wind up with the same amount of units or less than you had last year (depending on usage) as I have a deadline with which to renew our services with OCLC, so please make sure that you make your wishes known as we want everyone to have the amount of cataloging units that best suit their library’s needs.
If you have questions, please let me know. Otherwise, I look forward to hearing back from you between now and June 14. Thank you!! 🙂
In Case You Missed It
For All VERSO Users
From Rae Schneider, VERSO Product Manager:
Are you curious about upcoming VERSO features and enhancements?
At this month’s Versed in VERSO, Cheryl Slinkard, Chief Operations Officer at Auto-Graphics, will be presenting a quarterly product update.
Please join us Tuesday, June 13, at 11:00AM Eastern / 8:00AM Pacific. The first 15 minutes of Versed in VERSO will be a product update followed by the regular Q&A session.
If you have a question, please ask it here: https://forms.office.com/r/Ge7ux3rmHC
To register for the next Versed in VERSO, please do so here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/rt/1165596002130880779
For ILLers
New Titles on Book Discussion Set List
From State of Kansas Resource Sharing Librarian Nicole Hansen:
McPherson PL has added several new titles to their book discussion kit list. You can find the list at https://kslib.info/448/Book-Discussion-Group-Sets and as always, please refer to the Library Information tab on the spreadsheet for each library’s lending information and policies.
Thanks!
Sharing About SHAREit
From SHAREit Product Manager Deborah Hensler:
The next Sharing about SHAREit will be a basic, or refresher, training webinar. When library staff register for the Sharing about SHAREit webinars, 1 or 2 people will usually ask for this. At the end of Wednesday’s session, we did a poll to gauge interest and it was overwhelming in favor so next time will be an overview of the ILL process with time to answer some questions. Please forward the following information to your libraries.
Please register for “Sharing about SHAREit #17 – ILL Basic Training” on Wednesday, June 28, 2023 1:00 pm-2:30 pm at:
https://attendee.gototraining.com/r/8622451980272948481
In this Q&A, we’ll start with answering the question: Can we have a basic ILL training? In order to do a basic training and have time to answer questions, this Sharing about SHAREit is scheduled for 90 minutes rather than the usual 60 minutes.
After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the training.
Brought to you by GoTo Training®
Online Training Made Easy™
GoTo, Inc. | 333 Summer Street | Boston, MA 02210
Thank you.
Technology
by Christopher Dressler
Email Safety!
Email has become an integral part of our daily lives, facilitating communication, business transactions, and personal interactions. However, this widespread use of email also makes it a prime target for cybercriminals. Safeguarding your email accounts and practicing email safety is essential to protect your personal information, prevent unauthorized access, and maintain online security. In this article, we will explore important tips and best practices to ensure email safety in an increasingly interconnected world.
- Strong Passwords: Creating strong, unique passwords is the first line of defense against email breaches. Avoid using easily guessable passwords or reusing passwords across multiple accounts. Instead, opt for a combination of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols to create a robust password.
- Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): Enable two-factor authentication whenever possible. 2FA adds an extra layer of security by requiring a second form of verification, such as a unique code sent to your mobile device, in addition to your password. This significantly reduces the chances of unauthorized access even if your password is compromised.
- Be Wary of Phishing Attempts: Phishing emails are a common tactic employed by cybercriminals to trick users into revealing sensitive information or downloading malicious attachments. Be cautious when opening email attachments or clicking on links, especially if they come from unfamiliar or suspicious sources. Look for red flags such as misspellings, grammatical errors, or unexpected requests for personal information.
- Keep Software Updated:Regularly update your email client, whether it’s a desktop application or a web-based service. Software updates often contain important security patches that address vulnerabilities and protect against emerging threats.
- Be Cautious with Personal Information: Exercise caution when sharing personal information via email. Avoid sending sensitive data such as social security numbers, credit card details, or login credentials through email unless you are using an encrypted and secure email service.
- Regularly Monitor and Review: Frequently review your email account activity and settings. Regularly monitor your inbox for suspicious or unrecognized emails, and promptly report any unusual activity to your email service provider. Periodically review and update your email security settings to ensure they align with your preferences.
- Educate Yourself: Stay informed about current email scams and techniques used by cybercriminals. Familiarize yourself with common phishing tactics, such as spear-phishing or CEO fraud, to recognize and avoid falling victim to these schemes.
Email safety is paramount in today’s digital landscape. By following these tips and best practices, you can significantly enhance the security of your email accounts and protect your personal information from falling into the wrong hands. Remember, practicing good email safety habits is an ongoing effort, and staying informed about emerging threats is crucial to maintaining the confidentiality, integrity, and privacy of your digital communications.
Always feel free to contact me for training requests, library cards, or technology issues at cdressler@swkls.org or (620)225-1231. – Christopher Dressler – 6/9/2023