CE Updates:

• On-Site, On-Demand Staff Development Program
• Lynda.com

Staying In Touch with Social Media: Tumblr

The New Jersey State Library and LibraryLinkNJ are very pleased to launch the recently completed Statewide Strategic Plan for the Future of Libraries in New Jersey. The Plan has been placed on the Mind Map where all the supporting documentation and other details can be found. For a direct connect to the Mind Map go to http://www.mindmeister.com/237766551/llnj-strategic-planning-process or click here.

This effort represents the culmination of a year’s work in New Jersey with widespread input from multi-type libraries, library associations and stakeholders through committees, virtual task forces, conference call groups, in-person community engagement sessions, e-mails and our Maverick & Boutique facilitators. The plan offers a myriad of projects suitable for local, regional or statewide adaptation by all types of libraries and sets the stage for ongoing conversations across the New Jersey Library Network.

Next steps include:

• Podcast on July 30 with State Librarian Mary Chute and LibraryLinkNJ Executive Director Cheryl O’Connor.
• Joint meeting in early September with members from the Statewide Strategic Planning Committee, Library Network Review Board, LSTA Advisory Council, and LibraryLinkNJ Executive Board for discussion of project priorities moving forward.
• Development of an online sharing site for libraries to submit reports on local project development and implementation

To be continued...

Mary Chute, State Librarian            Cheryl O’Connor, LibraryLinkNJ

Following our June Membership Meeting, the Executive Board welcomed three newly-elected members:

• Judith Everitt (Hillsborough High School Library)
• Margaret Shapiro (Lay Representative - Demarest Public Library Trustee)
• Joe Toth (Richard E. Bjork Library, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey)

Warm congratulations to our colleagues who were elected to LibraryLinkNJ Executive Board officer positions at the July 18th Board reorganization meeting:

• President: Jane Crocker (Gloucester County Community College, Sewell)
• Vice President: Marian Bauman (Neptune Public Library)
• Secretary: Margaret Shapiro (Demarest Public Library Trustee)
• Treasurer: Ruth Bogan (PALS Plus)
• Assistant Treasurer: Kimberly Paone (Matawan-Aberdeen Public Library)

Board President Jane Crocker shares, “I am honored to have been elected to this position and look forward to working with the wonderful and competent LibraryLinkNJ staff and Board members. A number of new initiatives are in place, so I anticipate exciting changes for all of our libraries in the coming year. Thank you all for your support.”

The Executive Board page on our website provides a complete list of Board members, as well as contact information for each of them.

At their July 18 meeting, the Executive Board determined the timeframe and subsidy level of NJ Library Makerspaces: the Leading Edge, our partnership project with the New Jersey State Library. We developed this project in immediate response to high interest that emerged during the statewide strategic planning process. Several libraries have asked about the forthcoming project, so here are some details.

LibraryLinkNJ and New Jersey State Library Goal:
Expand New Jersey library horizons with services models that transcend traditional roles.

Sample measures:
Five to ten library entities of varying sizes and types will develop and launch maker space initiatives within the contract period.

Applicant will partner with a local institution(s), organization(s) and/or business(es). Highly encouraged but not required.

Timeframe

Funding:
$100,000 ($50,000 each from LibraryLinkNJ & the New Jersey State Library)

Subsidy Model:

• Public Libraries - contract awards ranging from $3,750 to $12,500 on a population served basis
• Academic and Medical/Hospital Libraries - contract awards ranging from $3,750 to $12,500 on an FTE basis
• Public School Districts - $5,000 (pilot within district)
• Private Schools - $3,750

IMPORTANT REMINDER: Eligible libraries may apply for both the Mobile Services Project launched June 3 and the Maker Space Initiative!

New Offers

• Alexander Street Press: through September 30, 2013
  Discounts on two streaming music collections designed for public libraries: 15% off Music Online: Listening OR 10% off Music Online: Premium. Both collections contain hundreds of thousands of tracks from many musical genres.
• EBSCO Restoration Offers: expiration dates vary
  Several discounts are available to help libraries acquire EBSCO databases no longer included in the NJ State Library’s Statewide Database Package. The Full Restoration and Partial Restoration offers are for public libraries; the K-12 Restoration Offer is for K-12 school libraries.
• ReferenceUSA’s OneSource: through July 31, 2013
  40% off for public and academic libraries. While libraries will continue to receive ReferenceUSA through the New Jersey State Library as part of the Statewide Database Package, OneSource is no longer included.

Mid-Year Renewals
Several LibraryLinkNJ discount offers were up for renewal on July 1, 2013. The following discounts have been renewed:

• Alexander Street Press: through June 30, 2014 Publishers of digital collections in the humanities and social sciences, specializing in streaming audio and video. New streaming music products specifically for public libraries are available (see above under New Offers).
• LexisNexis: through June 30, 2014
  LexisNexis Express for public libraries is offered at a discount.
• Proquest: through June 30, 2014
  Multiple products available at a discount.
• Rosen Digital: through December 31, 2013
  Teen Health & Wellness, Digital Literacy, Financial Literacy, Cybersmarts and Teen Cybersmarts. Financial Literacy and Digital Literacy are both recent Choice magazine “recommended” products for academic libraries.
• Tell Me More: through June 30, 2014
  Language learning software.
• Plymouth Rocket (EventKeeper and related products) and Britannica are in the process of being renewed.

Discount Updates

• LearningExpress Library: New Version 3.0 will be available in October. Access a trial by contacting the vendor.
• Mosio for Libraries: Text a Librarian is now Mosio for Libraries, as their service includes chat and email reference management, as well as texting. Mosio had been experimenting with per-login pricing, but has now established new pricing tiers, including a low-cost single-login plan - great for smaller libraries. They also have a new Facebook app and now have free 14-day Mosio trials.

In June, Executive Director Cheryl O’Connor and Program Coordinator/Social Media Manager Sophie Brookover both attended ALA’s Annual Conference in Chicago. Some highlights from the conference:

• Sophie’s MVP (Most Valuable Program): This is a toss-up between the Tumblarian 101 Conversation Starter and the ASCLA President’s Program with Michael Margolis: Storytelling Mojo: Creating the 21st Century Library Narrative. Tumblarian 101 was a lively-verging-on-raucous and practical introduction to Tumblr as a community-building tool. (For more details, see my piece all about Tumblr, below.) Storytelling Mojo was all about reframing libraries’ stories so that they resonate powerfully and positively with current and future patrons, funders, staff and other stakeholders. Michael Margolis’ message was as practical as it was inspiring, and fits in beautifully with many of the themes that emerged from the Statewide Strategic Planning Process. Handouts, slides and useful resources from both sessions are available at the links embedded above.
• Sophie’s MMM (Most Memorable Moment): hands-down, it has to be watching the room fill up and up and up for my Conversation Starter with Liz Burns and Kelly Jensen, New Adult Fiction: What Is It and Is It Really Happening? An audience of over 120 people came to hear us talk about this new-ish publishing phenomenon of books aimed specifically at the 18-30 demographic, which presently is driven by self-published contemporary romance titles. The conversation was lively and thoughtful, and we’re planning to submit this topic to upcoming PLA and maybe even NJLA conferences! If you’re curious, check out this Storify archive of the conversation on Twitter (you don’t need to have a Twitter account to read it).
• Cheryl’s MVP: ASCLA’s preconference Discovery to Delivery: Rethinking Resource Sharing was incredibly useful. Although delivery models nationwide vary considerably, we can benefit from other states’ experiences experimenting with tech tracking and new delivery cost analyses. Nothing is more beneficial to the psyche than networking and sharing delivery tales, trials, and triumphs with Physical Delivery Interest Group colleagues in states such as Massachusetts, New York, Michigan, Minnesota and Colorado. When not attending sessions, my usual ALA pattern is to haunt the exhibits, meeting with current and potential vendors in relation to our Discount Service.

Updated for FY14: On-Site, On-Demand Staff Development Program

We have added new consultants -- John LeMasney of LeMasney Design and Pham Condello, Teen Coordinator for the Ocean County Library -- and eight (!) new programs to this popular program, which subsidizes 75% the cost of a staff development workshop for your library. We now offer 23 high-appeal, high-quality workshops, but if you don’t see what your staff needs most, let us know! Our consultants will work with you to develop the just-right learning experience for you and your staff.

Workshop topics include Technology Skills, Diversity, Leadership, Team Building & Customer Service, Advocacy & Communication Skills, and Personal Development. Our budget for the On-Site, On-Demand program is limited, so book early for the program you want! Need a list of programs to share with your colleagues? Here you go!

Lynda.com

Yes, lots of software training of the finest kind, but if you’re itching to unleash your creative mojo and want some inspiration, then lynda.com can help. Their Creative Inspirations documentaries follow creative individuals and companies that are leaders, entrepreneurs, inventors, experts, or pioneers in their fields. Watch DEVO frontman Mark Mothersbaugh discuss his art. Meet Mothersbaugh at home at Mutato Muzika, his studio on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, where he and his fellow spuds (Mutato combines mutant and potato) create some of film and television's most compelling music. Enjoy watching humorist Ze Frank explain audience participation in the age of digital media. For millions of followers and fans who know him through his experiments in online interactivity, social media, and audience participation, this installment reveals the man himself as he explains his unique point of view, his thought processes, and what spurs him on.

These are just two examples of what’s available -- explore more and be inspired! This massive online training source is available free to all members of LibraryLinkNJ. Details on the program and our monthly open registration procedure can be found on our website.

This month, as part of our series highlighting LibraryLinkNJ’s social media channels, we’re going to talk a little bit about Tumblr.

What is Tumblr? Libraryland’s leading Tumblr user, Kate Tkacik (pronounced TACH-ick) calls it the best baby Wordpress and Twitter never knew they had. Like Wordpress, Tumblr is a blogging platform. Like Twitter, sharing content -- via reblogging and the use of tags (think keywords) -- is a key way to engage in conversation and get your voice heard widely.

We participate in the Tumblr subculture called Tumblarians (Tumblr + librarians = Tumblarians), and post a mix of content including library news, updates about the publishing world, photo sets and videos of library programs, quotes and more. Tumblr is lively and very visual, making great use of both static images and animated GIFs, and differs from Facebook and Twitter in that its use of searchable keyword-style hashtags can keep good content circulating long after you post it.

For example, in April, we shared this image and tagged it with #librarians. Other Tumblr users who search the #librarians tag have found it, liked it and reblogged it -- over 1500 times since April. On Tumblr, this image has had a much longer life than it would have had on our Facebook Page or as a tweet.

LibraryLinkNJ’s Tumblr is our least New Jersey-specific social media channel. The point of maintaining a presence here is to model its use, and to engage in the conversations taking place among the lively and growing community of Tumblarians. It's the blogging platform of choice for an increasing number of our colleagues, and often, issues that are aired eventually on Facebook or Twitter crop up first on Tumblr.

Interested in learning more about Tumblr? Useful resources:

• Kate Tkacik’s list of Tumblarians and Tumblarian 101: A Starter Kit, from LJ’s Tumblr
• The Library Is Open: A Look at Librarians and Tumblr, published in June in Library Journal
• Everyday I’m Tumblin’: Strengthening Your Library’s Community Through Tumblr, a Prezi developed by Know Your Meme’s Librarian Amanda Brennan