Goal: To ensure that member libraries have a mobile presence useful to, and used by, their customers. Linked to Goal Area 4 in LibraryLinkNJ’s Strategic Plan, “Library Innovation,” where member libraries of all types are implementing innovative ideas, services, and programs through their interaction with LibraryLinkNJ.

Objectives:

• To provide a selection of mobile options for multi-type libraries;
• To enable libraries to decide which option best suits their mobile service goals and needs;
• To facilitate implementing mobile service across the state quickly; and,
• To subsidize libraries’ implementation, marketing and/or evaluation costs.
  

Phase One - Vendor-Created Library Native Apps and/or Mobile Websites - launched Dec 2010

Results. LibraryLinkNJ awarded 23 contracts in mid-March. Subsidies requested of LibraryLinkNJ from the applicants totaled $84,869.63 which is 38% of the $225,000 available. Thirteen applicants included a local contribution (not required) which totaled $44,697.50. The total commitment for the project (LibraryLinkNJ subsidy plus local contribution) totaled $107,228.83. These 23 contracts in 16 of 21 counties include 13 municipal public libraries, 3 county public library systems with multiple branches, 4 academic libraries and 3 consortia with multiple public, academic and school members.

The LibraryLinkNJ FY12 contract list for the Mobile Pilot Project is as follows:

• Atlantic County Library System (Atlantic)
• BELS Consortium for School Libraries (Bergen, Essex, Hudson, and Passaic)
• Bernardsville Public Library (Somerset)
• Burlington County Library System (Burlington)
• Cape May County Library (Cape May)
• Drew University Library (Morris)
• East Brunswick Public Library (Middlesex)
• East Orange Public Library (Essex)
• Free Public Library of Berkeley Heights (Union)
• Haddon Heights Public Library (Camden)
• Highland Park Public Library (Middlesex)
• Libraries of Middlesex Automation Consortium (Middlesex, Monmouth, Somerset, and Union)
• LOGIN Consortium (Gloucester and Salem)
• Maplewood Memorial Library (Essex)
• Middletown Public Library (Monmouth)
• Mount Laurel Library (Burlington)
• New Jersey Institute of Technology, Robert W. Van Houten Library (Essex)
• Paterson Public Library (Passaic)
• Ramapo College Library (Bergen)
• Scotch Plains Public Library (Union)
• Vineland Public Library (Cumberland)
• Washington Township Public Library (Morris)
• William Paterson University, Cheng Library (Passaic)

The total number of libraries impacted by the FY12 Mobile Pilot Project is 129. This represents a population served of 2,105,389.

Seventeen contracts are to members who have no mobile presence as yet. Vendor selections from these applicants include: Boopsie (11); LibraryAnywhere (4); and Infor (2). Six contracts are to libraries which already have a mobile presence and are either expanding their presence with their vendor or expanding marketing/evaluation. We will share more as these projects evolve.

Evaluation: Special thanks to the Mobile Project Evaluation Task Force: Steve Garwood, Instructional Design and Technology Specialist, Rutgers School of Communication & Information; Mary K. Lewis, School Library Media Specialist, Union Township School District – LibraryLinkNJ Executive Board Liaison; Cheryl O’Connor, Executive Director, LibraryLinkNJ; and Joanne Roukens, Assistant Director, LibraryLinkNJ.

Phase Two of the New Jersey Libraries On-The-Go Project is launched with FREE hands-on workshops on the robust, open source publishing platform Drupal. Building your website in Drupal helps you:

• Publish, manage and organize a wide variety of content.
• Provide a dynamic and interactive user experience to your customers.
• Establish a powerful back-end content management system for a mobile website.

Choose to attend workshops at either the Bridgewater Branch of the Somerset County Library System or the Cherry Hill Library. All details -- dates, times, content & registration -- are available on our website, and did we mention that these training sessions are completely free? Register today! (Registration deadline extended to April 6.)

In February 2012, we surveyed members regarding their use of and satisfaction with the Delivery Service. 218 libraries -- 50% of those eligible for delivery -- participated in the survey.

Blue Bins: Extras Please
Approximately half of the members who responded to the survey indicated a need for more of the blue delivery bins the Cooperative purchased to replace the US Postal Service bins that had previously been used. We ordered an additional 1500 bins which will cover the immediate need and well into FY13. We anticipate taking delivery of the bins shortly and distributing them to requesting member libraries quickly thereafter.

Non-Delivery Tote Bin Discount Purchase
A majority of survey respondents said there was no need for a cooperative-wide discount offer of tote bins for use other than delivery, however we will revisit this after delivery needs are met.

Customer Satisfaction: A Very Positive Baseline
By every measure -- overall satisfaction, customer service, reliability of delivery and accuracy of materials sorting -- our members are pleased with the quality of the Delivery Service contracted to Velocity Express. There is always room for improvement, but the following satisfaction rates are a benchmark for the Board, the Delivery Services Task Force, and the membership.

Out of a possible high score of 10, the Delivery Service rated as follows:

• Overall satisfaction: 8.37
• Customer service & communication: 8.50
• Delivery reliability: 8.45
• Sorting accuracy: 8.18

Sample Comments from Survey Respondents

Praise:

• LibraryLinkNJ has been a wonderful asset when it comes to resolving any delivery issues. Thanks for your past help as well as any assistance in the future.
• We are very satisfied with our delivery. Any issues are immediately taken care of. Our man is terrific! Thank you for providing the service!!
• If we did not have this wonderful delivery service, my students would have so much less access to pleasure reading and research materials. Thanks!
• There were many, many comments of praise for the drivers -- their punctuality, professionalism, and positive attitudes were widely recognized.

Critiques:

• Delivery times from our same county takes 3-5 days. 1 week - 10 days is the norm.
• If a box is not quite full they sometimes take the few extra packages and jam it into the full boxes. Our dvd cases are constantly getting broken.
• There are occasional glitches -- more often it is because the item has been misaddressed -- but on the whole it is a reliable, satisfactory service. My one concern is with damage to materials because of the way that bins are piled atop each other and they inevitably fall off the dolly. Drivers only ever want to make one trip into the building. You can understand that but I've seen a lot of materials take a fall. Thank you!
• Our driver does not come some days and we have the feeling that he is holding things and coming when he has enough to make it worth his while. There have been times that we see a Library shipped something out almost immediately, but we will not receive it for 3 weeks.

This is just a selection of comments from the survey. The Board received the report at their March 22 meeting. We are using the comments and data with Velocity Express and the Delivery Services Task Force. Thanks to all respondents!

LibraryLinkNJ is pleased to announce that we are purchasing Lynda.com memberships for our members!

Lynda.com is a massive online training library. Using their thousands of videos, members will be able to practice -- self-paced and on-demand -- topics ranging from Excel and PowerPoint to Tumblr and CSS. Every month, we’ll open up registration for up to 20 people. Registrants will be able to use their Lynda.com login for three weeks to learn from established trainers on almost any technology topic you can think of.

Full details of this new program -- including starting date, registration schedule, and how to access the service -- will be available soon. You can preview what’s coming by going to Lynda.com and exploring the subject list, clicking on a course title and then clicking on any training video listed in blue. Watch for an announcement in the coming weeks!

PowerPoint for Lively & Interactive Storytimes
Discover how technology can enhance and rejuvenate your children’s programs, and bring them into the 21st century—the possibilities are only limited by your imagination.

In this session, you will practice effective ways to integrate multimedia and information literacy in PowerPoint to allow children to experience library programs like story-time, rhymes, booktalks, and book club discussions on a richer level, in addition to learning how to create a blog designed to inspire creativity in children.

Scratch: Simple Computer Programming & 21st Century Skills for Tweens
By developing technology-based programs for children as young as eight years old, librarians can help tweens develop lifelong skills to stay a step ahead in today's tech-savvy world.

In this workshop, you will use Scratch, a free software developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to enrich creativity, enhance problem solving skills, and build communication skills with your young patrons by developing animation, games, music videos and informative presentations.

Choose from three dates & locations to attend either or both of these modestly-priced workshops (just $25 each!):

• April 25 -- Morris County Library
• July 12 -- Carteret Free Public Library
• September 19 -- Ocean City Free Public Library
  
  
   

Seats are going fast for this special, two-part webinar on working with homeschooling families in your communities! Our presenter is Adrienne Furness, author of Helping Homeschoolers in the Library (ALA Editions, 2008), which was hailed by Booklist as “An excellent basic primer full of practical suggestions for working with homeschoolers.”

Dates & Times: April 4 & April 18 | 10-11:30 AM

Part 1: More than one million children are being homeschooled in the United States today, and homeschoolers are an active and growing part of most libraries' communities. This workshop will focus on how and why people homeschool, with specific focus on the laws and support systems that apply to homeschoolers in New Jersey.

Part 2: Homeschoolers are among libraries' heaviest users. This workshop focuses on how to create policies, programs, and collections that will serve homeschoolers' particular needs.

After attending these webinars, participants will be able to:

• Identify and define major homeschooling philosophies.
• Locate the laws that apply to homeschoolers in New Jersey.
• Articulate typical daily and yearly schedules homeschoolers use.
• Reach out to homeschooling families, individually and through homeschoolers' support systems.
• Develop policies and services that benefit homeschoolers as well as other families.
• Create low-cost, high-impact programming targeted to homeschooling families.
• Create collections for the widest possible use by homeschoolers.

Don’t delay, register today!

• Storytime...and Beyond! -- May 2 -- Registration Open Now!
  
  
• iPads in the Children’s Room: Everything You Need to Know to Launch an iPad Program in the Library -- May 10 -- Registration Open Now!
  
  
• Transliteracy 101 & 201 -- May 30 & June 13 -- Registration opens Monday, April 30!

Tuesday, May 22 -- one day, three locations!

• Passaic County College -- Wanaque Campus
• Rutgers Scholarly Communications Center -- New Brunswick
• Rowan University -- Glassboro

On The Agenda:
The Executive Board and Executive Director will post for Voting Representative review and action:

• A proposed FY13 slate of Executive Board members
• A proposed FY13 Service Plan
• A proposed FY13 budget

VOTING REPRESENTATIVES: Your vote is essential. If you were a voting representative in your former Regional Library Cooperative, you are a voting representative in LibraryLinkNJ, the New Jersey Library Cooperative. If you are unable to attend, we encourage you to designate a proxy. Registration and more information in early April.