Dr. Gus Friedrich will be stepping down from his position as dean of Rutgers SCILS after ten years.  During Dr. Friedrich’s tenure, the New Jersey State Library and Rutgers SCILS have enjoyed a renewed spirit of cooperation. 

During this time, the State Library and Rutgers SCILS have partnered in new and groundbreaking ventures.  The New Jersey State Library presented a very successful Diversity Conference in 2004, with SCILS faculty participating as presenters.  Rutgers SCILS also partnered with the New Jersey State Library, Thomas Edison State College, the Central Jersey Regional Library Cooperative, and the New Jersey Library Association and received two grants from the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program from IMLS, totaling more than $1.5 million, to recruit urban librarians.  As a direct result of this grant, eight students have received their M.L.I.S. degrees, ten students are currently enrolled in the M.L.I.S. degree program at Rutgers SCILS, and two students are enrolled in the Ph.D. program.  Dr. Friedrich’s encouragement of this grant program is helping to revitalize our urban libraries in New Jersey by providing new professionals eager to work in this environment.

These successes occurred because of Dr. Friedrich’s openness and spirit of cooperation, coupled with his strong support of libraries.

We wish Dr. Friedrich a retirement as long and successful as his career has been.

 Rutgers School of Communication, Information and Library Studies and the SCILS Alumni Association are hosting a party honoring Dr. Friedrich on April 24, 2008, from 5:00-7:00PM, Brower Commons Faculty Dining Room, 145 College Ave., New Brunswick, NJ.

Please RSVP by April 17, 2008, using this invitation: http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/images/events/friedrichpartyinvitation.pdf

Congratulations to three New Jersey librarians that have received national recognition!Connie Paul, executive director, CJRLC was named the 2008 co-recipient of the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA) Leadership and Professional Achievement Award presented by the ASCLA, a division of the American Library Association (ALA).

“A series of announcements from publishers across the globe in the last few weeks suggests that the long migration to the Internet has picked up pace, and that ahead of other books, magazines and even newspapers, the classic multivolume encyclopedia is well on its way to becoming the first casualty in the end of print.”

For the full article, see the New York Times, March 16, 2008

The Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association Scholarship will provide financial assistance to a student of Asian or Pacific background who is enrolled, or has been accepted into a master’s or doctoral degree program in library and/or information science at a library school accredited by the American Library Association (ALA). http://www.apalaweb.org/awards/scholarship.htm

Eligibility Criteria for the Award * Applicant must be attending or admitted into a master’s degree or doctoral program in library and/or information science at a library school accredited by ALA.

Watch clips and interviews celebrating Norma Blake’s selection as  LJ’s “Librarian of the Year” at the Library Journal site.  Click here to watch the video.

A dinner was held in Norma’s honor at Bookbinders in Philadelphia during ALA Midwinter and guests reiterated all the reasons Norma was selected.

The New Jersey State Library has been selected by the Gates Foundation for their 2008 Opportunity Online Grant program and will administer this grant in partnership with PALINET.

Opportunity Online grants are designed to help public libraries secure sustained local funding for computer replacements. 

For more information  http://www.palinet.org/media/OppOnline-Gates.pdf.

Both PALINET and NJSL staff will be in touch with public libraries in the near future with details for our state’s program.

The New Jersey State Library is proud to announce that Norma Blake has been named “Librarian of the Year” by Library Journal.

Below is an excerpt from the article written by John N. Berry III, in Library Journal.  For the complete article, click here.

“Librarians and officials in education and government all recount the leadership and creativity brought to library service in New Jersey by State Librarian Norma Blake. She has sparked proactive, collaborative initiatives that have taken libraries of all types “out of their comfort zone,” as she puts it, and into working partnerships and relationships with educational and corporate institutions as well as the state’s economic development and commercial players, from small businesses to the huge biotech industry.

Under Blake, the New Jersey State Library (NJSL) supports everyone in New Jersey with a new kind of library service while it works to put the state’s libraries into the trenches in the highly competitive battles to bring jobs and business to the Garden State. NJSL also helps workers in the state, including those in libraries, grow and develop their expertise and talents for a more demanding future.

Rarely has LJ been blitzed with as much impressive evidence of the contribution of one librarian to innovation that converts formerly skeptical citizens, politicians, and other public servants to the view that strong libraries are central to the future of their states. For that leadership and more, Norma Blake has been chosen LJ’s 2008 Librarian of the Year.”

Norma Blake will accept this prestigious award January 11, 2008, during the American Library Association’s Midwinter conference in Philadelphia, PA.

The Libri Foundation is currently accepting applications for its 2008 BOOKS FOR CHILDREN grants. The next deadline is Jan. 25th.The Libri Foundation is a nationwide non-profit organization which donates new, quality, hardcover children’s books to small, rural public libraries throughout the United States. Since October 1990, the Foundation has donated over $3,500,000 worth of new children?s books to more than 2,300 libraries in 48 states, including Alaska and Hawaii.

Deadline-January 31

WASHINGTON, DC-Nominations are now being accepted for the 2008 Coming Up Taller awards that recognize and reward outstanding after-school, out-of-school, and summer arts and humanities programs for underserved children and youth. The program, in its eleventh year, is sponsored by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

By honoring excellence in after-school, out-of-school, and summer arts and humanities programs, the Coming Up Taller awards promote a creative, engaged, skilled, and confident generation of young people. Eligible museums, libraries, performing arts organizations, universities, arts centers, community service organizations, schools, businesses, and eligible government entities are encouraged to participate. Recipients of a Coming Up Taller award receive $10,000 at a special ceremony in Washington, DC, an individualized plaque, and an expense-paid invitation to attend the annual Coming Up Taller Leadership Enhancement Conference.

Visit http://www.cominguptaller.org/downloads/2008CUTNominationApplication.pdf  for the nomination guidelines and application (PDF, 227KB).

At a previous Coming Up Taller awards ceremony, First Lady Laura Bush remarked, “…young people are discovering the humanities and the arts.They’re developing the life skills and the discipline that leads to success. They’re building the confidence to paint, dance, speak, and sing — and in every one of their communities, to walk taller.”

Institute of Museum and Library Services The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 122,000 libraries and 17,500 museums.The Institute’s mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas. The Institute works at the national level and in coordination with state and local organizations to sustain heritage, culture, and knowledge; enhance learning and innovation; and support professional development. For more information: www.imls.gov.

The New Jersey State Library is partnering with Barnes & Noble and the New Jersey Library Association to sponsor “Love Your Library” month in February 2008 to once again help fund the Statewide Summer Reading Program at all public libraries in New Jersey.

Barnes & Noble will donate a percentage of every sale from every customer who presents a book fair voucher at any Barnes and Noble store in New Jersey during the month of February. The funds raised from this month-long event will benefit the children and young adults who participate in the 2008 Summer Reading Program. The theme of the 2008 Summer Reading Program is “Catch the Reading Bug” for the children and “Metamorphosis” for the teens.  To participate in this program, a customer must use a voucher at the time of purchase. Vouchers will also be available to download from the New Jersey Library Association and the New Jersey State Library websites a little closer to the start of the event. 

In order to encourage as many public libraries to participate in this statewide event, Barnes & Noble has also generously agreed to give libraries the opportunity to win some incentives by participating in this event. These incentives include:  

1.        A $150 Gift Card  Libraries would be invited to do a display in their libraries promoting February as “Love Your Library” month in partnership with Barnes and Noble supporting the Statewide Summer Reading Program sponsored by the New Jersey State Library and New Jersey Library Association. These displays would be judged and the winning library will get a $150 B&N gift card.

2.         A $150 Barnes & Noble Gift Card for Libraries  Each Barnes & Noble store will distribute vouchers to a library in the town where they have a store. The library must put the name of their library on the vouchers.  At the end of the month a voucher will be drawn from all entries collected from all the stores in NJ and the winning library will receive a $150 Barnes and Noble gift card. The more vouchers that are given out from each library, the more chances that library has to win the gift card. Libraries not in a town where a Barnes and Noble store is located can download the vouchers from the NJLA or NJSL website! 

3.       Gift Basket and $25 Gift Card for Customers  Each voucher would also have an entry form on it for an individual to have the opportunity to win a prize. The winning customer would get a gift basket for “family night” that would consist of a game, DVD, popcorn, a book by David Carter called “Love Bugs” and a $25 B&N gift card. 

4.       Free Activity Sheets  Activity sheets will also be available for the kids along with the vouchers.  

Possible Outreach opportunity

Some stores will be looking to have their local library host a program during the month. We encourage you to accept the invitation if you receive a call from a community relations manager. This is a wonderful way to promote the program. Not only will you be able to showcase your library, you’ll also be able to remind your audience to use their voucher when they purchase materials. Of course, it would be great to remind them that every purchase with a voucher benefits all public libraries of
New Jersey.  You won’t be able to hand out vouchers in the stores during this month, but you can remind the people in your audience to ask for a voucher when they make a purchase, if they haven’t brought one with them. 

For more information, contact Sharon Rawlins, Youth Services Consultant, NJSL, srawlins@njstatelib.org or 609-278-2640 ext. 116.