One of the most important functions of our Library Development Bureau is outreach to the library community.  Library Development staff completed 35 site visits  between July-December 2006.  Reading the site visit reports is one of the things I enjoy most, as  I love to see the innovative ideas and programs New Jersey librarians have developed.

It occurred to me that you might be interested in seeing what a typical day or week is like for me.   I have said before that I would love to be able to attend each and every grand opening and library event held throughout our state,  but as you will see from my schedule, I am constantly promoting our libraries and services here in Trenton and elsewhere.

 Let’s start out with a quick video of a typical day at work:

A Day in the Life of the State Librarian

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiWYnKbKsYY]

Well, that was a pretty typical day.  Following is a “Week in the Life.”  This particular snapshot is a week in December 2006.

Monday Morning
I met Joan Bernstein, President of NJLA for the long drive up to Irvington to meet Assemblyman Stanley with Susan Kaplan of Library Development Bureau, Cheryl O’Connor from Infolink and Gian Hasija of Bloomfield Public Library. We discussed construction, the Knowledge Initiative and additional Network funding with the Assemblyman.
I was happy for the opportunity to catch up with Joan Bernstein on the phenomenal job she is doing as NJLA President. I spent the rest of the day working on the New Jersey State Library’s Strategic Plan revisions and reading the Learning Links proposal from the State Council for Adult Literacy Education Services to see if there was any place for libraries.

Tuesday
Tuesday morning I met with Rob Zangara, Head of Information Technology who updated me on the JerseyConnect technology system. I found out that we have had 100% “up time� since February. We drove to Bridgeton for a site visit to Cumberland County Library where we met with Nancy Forester and Myron Estelle. Cumberland County Library is about to start a million dollar renovation of the library which includes the addition of an elevator and installation of new technology hardware. We rushed back to Haddonfield by 3 to meet with Assemblyman Greenwald with Karen Hyman from SJRLC, Karen Avenick from NJLA, Joan Getaz of Camden County College Library and Susan Kaplan of the Library Development Bureau. We emphasized to the Assemblyman the positive results of his sponsoring of NJKI. He suggested that we be sure to let the Governor know that other states such as New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware are emulating our KI initiative, which was the first of its kind in the nation.

Wednesday
Wednesday morning started with a meeting with George LeBlanc of the Senate Majority staff. Michael Scheiring of TESC, Diane Koye of NJLS administration, and Susan Kaplan of LDB, also attended. Mike is pleased that everyone has been so positive about NJKI while the budget is still likely to be very tight. George suggested that we follow-up our work on construction, the library network and NJKI with visits to Senators Kenny and Doria. After lunch we had a meeting with administrative staff of the Economic Development Authority about NJKI. Again Susan Kaplan, Diane Koye, and Mike Scheiring attended. We talked about how to sustain the program in the long-term and we talked about other business services that libraries could offer businesses in the future. It was also suggested to us that we re-do the update on construction with a brochure emphasizing its connection to urban development and technology. I have referred that project back to Nancy Dowd and Tina Keresztury.

Thursday
Finally, some time in the office. The State Library Advisory Council meeting today was cancelled for lack of a quorum; however, names of three of the State’s movers and shakers are going through the SLAC nomination process. I met with managers individually to confirm their personal goals for the year. I checked in with the head of our staff meetings committee, then made travel plans to attend the COSLINE, the State Librarians of the Northeast, Conference with Peggy Cadigan. Peggy will announce the multi-state Futures conference to be held in May at the Borgata, and I have been asked to speak about NJKI. We found some materials Susan Kaplan needed for a PLA proposal on KI, and then Victoria Rosch and I reviewed the comments to be published in the Register on dedicated library tax. The draft regulation defines the appropriate uses of dedicated library tax funds. I distributed grant information to Kathi Peiffer for the listserv. Victoria and I spoke to several reporters on library issues. In the afternoon I met with the staff of NJLBH to announce that Faith Lundgren is the new director of NJLBH.

Friday
Another day in the office. Hurrah! I am really excited that today is Tina Keresztury’s first day back from leave. I spent the morning updating Tina on library construction extensions granted and the offer by the Secretary of State to introduce the new presentation on construction. We reviewed the nominations today for the Public Library Construction Advisory Board and confirmed the date we will meet with Senator Turner. I met with Jeff Kesper, Head of the Library Development Bureau, regarding upcoming meetings with Somerset County Library staff and others, and we reviewed our report for the NJLA Business meeting. We talked about next week’s three Regional Library Cooperative fall membership meetings. Then I worked with Peggy and Nancy on monthly reports and the online State Library newsletter. We also talked about Blake’s Blog. After some time reviewing personnel forms, I had an opportunity to co-host a holiday luncheon to thank our wonderful managers for the great job they have done this year. Returning in the afternoon, I reviewed site-visit reports from the Library Development Bureau staff who have visited local libraries. The Bureau is finishing up 35 site-visits before the end of 2006!

Now that you have an idea of my typical work week, I hope you will understand if I have to decline your next invitation, but you can be sure I am with you in spirit!

A fun game has been going around the blog world. If you are tagged you need to write down five things people probably don’t know about you and then tag 5 new bloggers. I have been tagged by Nancy Dowd, Director of the NJSL Marketing Department.

Here are five things you may not know about me:

1. I am addicted to my Treo. I even sneak peeks at it when I’m eating dinner out.
2. I am in the field of librarianship because I was robbed at gunpoint while teaching.
3. I got my first library job as an acting director when I predicted that a library director must be having twins and she found out later that day that I was right!
4. I am a very slow reader.
5. I always wished that I had had siblings.

And now I tag: Connie Paul, Karen Hyman, Mary Martin,Krista Wittenberg, Marianne Kranz

Yes, it’s true. According to U.S. News and World Report librarianship is one of the top career choices for 2007.

From the article:

Doctor. Lawyer. Business executive. Most people planning a career aim for professions they know the most about. But those aren’t always the best jobs. In its Best Careers 2007 guide, U.S. News has sifted through trends in the economy and the workplace and has identified 25 professions that will be in growing demand as baby boomers age, the Internet becomes ubiquitous, and Americans seek richer, simpler lives. All of the jobs offer a great mix of pay, status, and quality of life. Many are not surprising, such as engineer, pharmacist, and dentist.

But many others might be. Even though anybody can do a Google search, for instance, librarians will be needed more and more to help us navigate all that digital information.

Read the full report from U.S. News & World Report

Libri Foundation Grants

The Libri Foundation is currently accepting applications for its 2007 BOOKS FOR CHILDREN grants.

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 $3,000,000 worth of new children’s books to more than 2,300 libraries in 48 states, including Alaska and Hawaii.

In order to encourage and reward local support of libraries, The Libri Foundation will match any amount of money raised by your local sponsors from $50 to $350 on a 2-to-1 ratio. Thus, a library can receive up to $1,050 worth of new children’s books. After a library receives a grant, local sponsors (such as formal or informal Friends groups, civic or social organizations, local businesses, etc.) have four months, or longer if necessary, to raise their matching funds.

The librarian of each participating library selects the books her library will receive from a booklist provided by the Foundation. The 700-plus fiction and nonfiction titles on the booklist reflect the very best of children’s literature published primarily in the last three years. These titles, which are for children ages 12 and under, are award-winners or have received starred reviews in library, literary, or education journals. The booklist also includes a selection of classic children’s titles.

Libraries are qualified on an individual basis. In general, county libraries should serve a population under 16,000 and town libraries should serve a population under 10,000 (usually under 5,000). Libraries should be in a rural area, have a limited operating budget, and an active children’s department.

Please note: Rural is usually considered to be at least 30 miles from a city with a population over 40,000. Town libraries with total operating budgets over $150,000 and county libraries with total operating budgets over $350,000 are rarely given grants.

Applications are accepted from independent libraries as well as libraries which are part of a county, regional, or cooperative library system.

A school library may apply only if it also serves as the public library (i.e. it is open to the everyone in the community, has some summer hours, and there is no public library in town).

A branch library may apply if the community it is in meets the definition of rural. If the branch library receives its funding from its parent institution, then the parent institution’s total operating budget, not just the branch library’s total operating budget, must meet the budget guidelines.

Previous BOOKS FOR CHILDREN grant recipients are eligible to apply for another grant three years after the receipt of their last grant.
Libraries that do not fulfill all grant requirements, including the final report, may not apply for another grant.

Application deadlines for 2007 are: (postmarked by) January 15th, April 15th, and August 15th. Grants are awarded January 31st, April 30th, and August 31st.

Application guidelines and forms may be downloaded from the Foundation’s website at: http://www.librifoundation.org/.

For more information about The Libri Foundation or its Books for Children program, please contact Ms. Barbara J. McKillip, President, The Libri Foundation, PO Box 10246, Eugene, OR 97440. 541-747-9655 (phone); 541-747-4348 (fax); libri@librifoundation.org (email). Normal office hours are: Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Pacific Time.

Have you seen Microsoft’s virtual reference librarian?  Microsoft created Ms. Dewey to increase use of Microsoft’s “Live Search” feature.  After asking her a few questions, I came to the realization that she is entertaining, but not nearly as professional and accurate as New Jersey’s librarians.

Following is the Wikipedia entry:
Ms. Dewey is a viral marketing campaign by Microsoft. It also refers to the character of the same name, who is the campaign’s main subject. The Ms. Dewey website is an Adobe Flash-based experimental interface for Windows Live Search. The interface features a modern-looking cityscape as a backdrop with the character on the left side, while the search results appear on the right. Developed by MRM and EVB, Ms. Dewey appears to be an interactive search assistant who audibly comments on searched keywords in her own style and makes random actions when idle, including taking props from behind her desk. The responses actually consist of about 600 video clips recorded over a period of three days.[1]

Microsoft is not overtly marketing the website, and appears to be relying on media coverage to draw users in. Janina Gavankar plays the role of the Ms. Dewey character