CE Updates:

• Webinars
• What's New at Lynda.com

LibraryLinkNJ is excited to announce that we will co-sponsor the MentorNJ Project in collaboration with the New Jersey State Library and the NJLA’s Professional Development Committee and Leadership & Education Subcommittee. The project, aimed at developing a mentor network services and programs, as well as a new guide to NJ libraries, has been equally funded by the New Jersey State Library and LibraryLinkNJ as a one-year pilot. This service will be a gateway to librarians and paraprofessionals new to the profession or the state. The MentorNJ team will recruit and train a mentor network, both virtual and in-person, available to librarians or paraprofessionals, which will build leadership capacity in the profession statewide, while promoting effective resource-sharing and successful collaborations in the New Jersey library community.

The project proposal was developed and submitted by the following 2014 Leadership Academy graduates:

• Lynnette Fucci, Monroe Township Public Library
• Irene Langlois, Maplewood Memorial Library
• Mi-Sun Lyu, Project Manager, LibraryLinkNJ
• Kimberly Paone, Matawan Aberdeen Public Library
• Nadine Sergejeff, Newark Public Library

Please find more information about the project, including the scope, timeline and team members, at the MentorNJ page on our website.

[ Logo from njmakersday.org ]

LibraryLinkNJ is proud to be a sponsoring partner of NJ Makers Day 2015! We are partnering with the Piscataway Public Library, the Gloucester County Library System and the Hillsdale Public Library. This single-day event is designed to celebrate, promote, and introduce many Garden State residents to maker culture, as well as to the values associated with making, tinkering and STEM-based learning.

The date for this event is Saturday, March 21, 2015, and the lead organizers encourage libraries of every size, staffing level, type and budget to become a registered participation site and participate in the day of programming and events. You don’t need to have a specific project in mind for the day right now: if you’re inclined to participate, register! As you prepare for the day, the NJ Makers Day committee will be available to provide support and assistance in your participation.

NJ Makers Day is designed to be a flexible, fun and educational experience for all here in our state. In announcing this initiative, we are inviting any and all libraries to join us in providing programs, discussions, speakers, maker faires, open play-and-create events and more! What you do and how you participate is totally up to you.

If you are unsure about making a commitment right now, the organizers encourage you to read the FAQ at the NJ Makers Day website for more in-depth information about site expectations and the project itself. If you have specific questions about the day, fill out the Contact form.

This fall and spring, LibraryLinkNJ is organizing three bus tours of library makerspaces around the state. We plan to promote, showcase, share, and demonstrate the work of some of the 15 libraries that won contract awards from our joint Makerspace project with the New Jersey State Library, and are opening registration to our first group of Magical Makerspace Voyagers!

The South Jersey Tour, on October 29, will include the Mount Laurel Library, the Mullica Hill Branch of the Gloucester County Library System, and the Atlantic City Free Public Library. (Registration closes on Friday, October 24.)

The Central Jersey Tour, on November 5, will take you to the East Brunswick Public Library, the Old Bridge Public Library, and the New Brunswick Free Public Library. (Registration closes on Friday, October 31.)

The Magical Makerspace Tour will be useful, practical, and fun. You can look forward to the following:

• Makerspace Real Talk: What’s worked well across the state? What snags have your colleagues run into & how have they addressed them?
• Don’t Reinvent the Wheel: Your colleagues have created policies, procedures, program ideas and documentation already. When you hear or see something you like, ask to repurpose it in your community!
• Networking: on the bus, at each library and over lunch, you’ll share ideas, tips and strategies with colleagues running makerspaces, maker programming & partnerships with other community organizations. This is a great chance to learn how you can do this at your library with your staff & budget.
• Convenience: you’re along for the ride & the learning! Get yourself to the designated library in your neck of the woods, and we’ll whisk you away in comfort on the Magical Makerspace Tourbus.

Visit the Magical Makerspace Tour Page for all the details and registration information!

Space is limited, so reserve your space today. Just $25 guarantees your spot.

BCCLS, the Bergen County Cooperative Library System, is celebrating their 35th anniversary serving the libraries of Bergen County with a series of events. Most recently, they held a breakfast for their Friends Group. Just look at all these happy, devoted and helpful library lovers!

The complete photo set of the celebration, with over 300 participants, is available at BCCLS’ Flickr.

A few of our discounts are expiring soon! There’s still time to subscribe to these products with steep savings:

• EBSCO Restoration Packages - through 10/31/14 Upgrade or expand your offerings from EBSCO to include products no longer provided for free from the NJ State Library. Receive 50-60% off list price. There are different packages for different library types - visit the Discounts page for details.
• Gale K-12 School Library Recovery Package - through 12/01/14 Schools receive 30-50% off two Gale Products: Kids InfoBits and National Geographic Kids.

Discount Renewal

The InfoBase Learning offer has been renewed through 12/31/14. Available to all LibraryLinkNJ members, the offer includes Facts on File, ebooks and streaming media products. The discount also applies to two of Library Journal’s Best Databases of 2013: Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center and Bloom’s Literature. Save up to 40%.

Have you had your eye on any databases or other products? They might be good candidates for a discount. Fill out the discount suggestion form to share your ideas.

Next month, join Heidi Schwab of Morristown and Morris Township Library as she posts about statewide ebook platforms - the options, requirements and how they are working out around the country.

Webinars

Beyond Storytime: Creative Ways to Support Early Literacy in the Children’s Department and The Home
Thursday, November 6, 2014 | 2-3:30 PM
Presented by Melissa Depper, Supervisor of the Early Literacy Specialists at the Arapahoe Library District, Colorado

Storytime is an excellent way to support children's developing early literacy skills, but not all children attend storytime! What can you do every day to help families read, write, sing, talk, and play together in the library and at home? And why should you?

In this program, we'll talk about how your existing youth services programs and services already support early literacy, then practice using an easy “remixing” tool to help you identify new strategies--targeted to your needs--to boost the early learning potential in your children's department.

Learning Objectives:
After attending this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Articulate rationales for expanding support for early literacy beyond storytime
• Identify the early literacy components of existing programs and services for children and their caregivers
• Use a "remixing" brainstorming strategy to identify new early learning opportunities in your library

Registration for this webinar is open through November 3. If you work with preschool children and their caregivers, please join us!

SAVE THE DATE!
Fresh Lit 2014 (With a Look Ahead to 2015)
Fresh Lit 2014 (with a look ahead to early 2015) with Roz Reisner is back!

Roz has agreed to reschedule this popular annual webinar for Wednesday, December 10 from 10-11:30 AM. If you registered for this webinar over the summer, you'll receive an email asking if you'd like us to hold your place. If you need to cancel, we will take care of that for you. Save the date and time - we’ll open registration at 9 AM on Monday, November 10.

Tracking popular genre authors is easy—the bestseller list is filled with thrillers, mysteries, fantasies, and paranormal novels—but what about all that great literary fiction, the mainstay of so many of our readers and “best” lists? Join Roz Reisner to learn about the best of the recent and forthcoming midlist literary fiction from the big publishing houses and the best small literary presses, so you’ll be able to suggest titles to your patrons. We’ll also share resources for keeping up with new titles.

Learning Objectives:
After participating in this webinar, you will be able to:

• Recommend current and forthcoming literary fiction to your Readers’ Advisory patrons;
• Identify and use print and online resources for staying abreast of new and upcoming titles.
• Learn which small presses are publishing interesting, award-winning, literary fiction.

This 90-minute webinar will include a 60-minute presentation and 30 minutes for Q&A, as well as an interactive portion about resources and keeping up with new and forthcoming titles.

Registration opens at 9 AM on Monday, November 10.

What's New at Lynda.com

One of the many wonderful things about Lynda.com is they are continuously adding new content, which makes it an especially great resource for keeping-up-to-date. Wearable Tech is a future trend that is already here. The first device using Google's Android Wear operating system is in the marketplace and lynda.com has “Up and Running with Android Wear” featuring the Samsung Gear Live smartwatch that puts many of the features Android users have come to expect (music, calendar, and apps) right on your wrist. Whether you have one, are thinking about getting one or are just plain curious, check out this course that provides a first-hand look at the Android Wear platform and the Samsung Gear Live's features and functionality. Interested, intrigued and maybe a bit concerned about the ethics of Google Glass? Check out this 20-minute introduction that will cover features, functions and the social ramifications.

Registration for LibraryLinkNJ’s 30 licenses opens on the second Tuesday of every month. Full details are available on our Lynda.com page.