For her significant contributions to libraries through her knowledge of the American West and, especially, Wyoming and Yellowstone National Park, University of Wyoming Associate Librarian Tamsen Leigh Hert was awarded the Agnes Milstead Distinguished Librarianship Award.
Read here for more information on Tamsen’s award.
Photo courtesy of the University of Wyoming.
Libraries continue to transform lives, despite the challenges they faced in 2011. Patron demand for ebooks increased just as publishers decided to limit sales to libraries or increase the price dramatically. Budget cuts continued as the national economy struggles toward recovery from the Great Recession. The American Library Association continued to play a leading role in the battle for privacy and intellectual freedom. Read the Top Ten List of 2011′s most challenged books.
View the entire calendar here.
The Murderous Month of May: Hot Mysteries for Spring
Leveraging Technology to Support Early Literacy in the Library
Spotlight!on National Library of Medicine Resources
Mobilize your library with SirsiDynix BookMyne!
Celebrate Law at the Library 2012
WordPress for Library Websites
Database of the Month: Stat!Ref
Increasing Faculty Usage of Streaming Video
Wyoming’s History Day, sponsored by the American Heritage Center, had a little help from some librarians.
Brian Greene, Natalie Gorecki, Dennis Moser, Susan Simpson, Kelly Visnak, Karen Kitchens and Ellen Whitman were judges at History Day 2012. Several other Wyoming librarians were also judges, but were unavailable at the time of the photo.
Check out their website for more information on History Day.
Reading is Fundamental and the Library of Congress have teamed up with the Ad Council to create a great new ad campaign. It brings together people who share a love of reading to help them get books in the hands of kids who need it most. The movement recognizes the incredible effect books can have on a child’s imagination, sparking ambition, overcoming obstacles and inspiring curious minds.
LaVar Burton is even in the video! It’s like a flashback to Reading Rainbow.
Check out the great video! Book People Unite Video
Robin Levin, the School Librarian at Fort Washakie School, was one of ten Wyoming teachers to receive the 2012 Teacher Achievement Award today in Cheyenne. Levin is the first school librarian to receive this honor. For more information on this prestigious award, visit Arch Coal’s website. 
Pictured above: First Lady Carol Mead, Governor Matt Mead, Arch Coal CEO Steven Leer, Robin Levin, U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill at the 2012 Arch Coal Teacher Award presentation in Cheyenne.
Robin Levin is one of only 10 teachers statewide to receive a 2012 Arch Coal Teacher Achievement Award. The award will be presented by Steven F. Leer, Arch Coal chairman and chief executive officer, during a ceremony at South High School in Cheyenne Friday morning. Joining Leer at the ceremony will be Wyoming Governor Matt Mead, Wyoming’s Senior United States Senator Mike Enzi, U. S. Representative Cynthia M. Lummis, and Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill. This is the longest running, privately sponsored statewide teacher recognition program (12th year) in Wyoming.
Read more about Robin and the Arch Coal Award here.
Here’s an article we found from PopSci.com, looks like pretty amazing tech. What do you think about some traditional library jobs being handled by robots? I for one welcome our robot overlords. Enjoy!
Research libraries are facing an unexpected challenge: too many books. Despite digitization, bound collections continue to grow. Some libraries house their stacks offsite, which can create multi-day delays between request and retrieval. Last June, the Mansueto Library at the University of Chicago, which accumulates about 150,000 books every year, introduced a system of robotic stacks capable of holding 3.5 million volumes in one seventh the space required by conventional stacks. The trick: Librarians sort books by size and not by Dewey decimal system. Engineers from Dematic, a firm that builds automated parts and storage-retrieval systems for Boeing, Ford and IBM, designed a five-story underground storage area managed by five robotic cranes. Dematic has built 17 automated library systems worldwide, but the University of Chicago’s is the most complex. The company has three more libraries under construction.
The Equality State Book Festival is scheduled for Sept. 14th & 15 in Casper, Wyo.
For the two-day event, more than 15 authors and illustrators will share their talents, giving readings, leading craft talks, emceeing a poetry slam, visiting local schools, and participating on panels. This year’s group includes poets, novelists, memoirists, essayists, illustrators, and publishers.
CHICAGO – “Literacy for All: Adult Literacy @ your library,” a toolkit from the ALA Office for Literacy and Outreach Services (OLOS), is now available as a free print or digital edition.
Developed by the ALA Committee on Literacy and the Office for Literacy and Outreach Services, “Literacy for All” features tips and tools for assessing community adult literacy needs and tailoring a literacy plan to address those needs, as well as examples of successful and replicable library literacy plans and resources for serving adult new and non-readers. The toolkit is available as an eight-page print edition, an easily-navigableWeb edition or as a downloadable PDF file (797K).
OLOS provides a series of outreach advocacy toolkits, including “The Guide to Building Support for Your Tribal Library,” “How to Serve the World @ your library: Serving Non-English Speakers in U.S. Public Libraries,” “The Small but Powerful Guide to Winning Big Support for Your Rural Library” and “Keys to Engaging Older Adults @ your library.” AllOLOS outreach toolkits are developed by experts from the field and contain proven strategies and resources for librarians to enhance library services in their communities.
For more information on “Literacy for All: Adult Literacy @ your library” and other OLOStoolkits, including ordering instruction, please visit www.ala.org/olos.
Special thanks to the ALA Committee on Literacy: Juliet I. Machie (chair), Sandra Dobbins, Andrews, Barbara L. Flynn, Elizabeth Friese, Terri G. Kirk, Victoria Schwoebel, Amanda Louise Sharpe, Patricia H. Smith, Hilda K. Weisburg and Sarah E. McDaniel.
The mission of OLOS is to identify and promote library services that support equitable access to the knowledge and information stored in libraries. OLOS focuses attention on services that are inclusive of traditionally underserved populations and people generally discriminated against based on race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, language and social class. The Office ensures that training, information resources and technical assistance are available to help libraries and librarians develop effective strategies to grow programs and services for library users.
The ALA Committee on Literacy develops and recommends the Association’s policies related to the promotion of literacy, and develops and encourages the development of programs, educational opportunities, and other resources that assist librarians and libraries in promoting literacy. It also raises the awareness of literacy within the Association and works cooperatively with the Literacy Assembly, the Office for Literacy and Outreach Services and its Advisory Committee and other ALA units on efforts that have a literacy focus. It also develops and maintains partnerships with national literacy organizations.