Category Archives: News
Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF)
The FCC’s Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) is a new, one-time $7.17 billion program included as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. It will help K-12 schools and public libraries provide the tools and services their communities need for remote learning during the COVID-19 emergency period. ECF will help provide relief to millions of students, school staff, and library patrons and will help close the Homework Gap for students who currently lack necessary Internet access or the devices they need to connect to classrooms.
For eligible schools and libraries, the ECF Program will cover reasonable costs of laptop and tablet computers; Wi-Fi hotspots; modems; routers; and broadband connectivity purchases for off-campus use by students, school staff, and library patrons. The initial 45-day application window will be open from June 29, 2021 – August 13, 2021.
Presenter: Christa Porter, Library Development Director, Nebraska Library Commission.
2021 Golden Sower Winners Announced
Picture Book
Winner: Crash, Splash, or Moo! by Bob Shea
Honor: This Is a Taco! by Andrew Cangelose, illus. by Josh Shipley
We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins
Chapter Book
Winner: Strongheart: Wonder Dog of the Silver Screen by Candace Fleming, illus. by Eric Rohmann
Honor: Bob by Wendy Mass & Rebecca Stead, illus. by Nicholas Gannon
Max and the Midknights by Lincoln Peirce
Golden Sower Novel
Winner: Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Honor: Time Bomb by Joelle Charbonneau
Dry by Neal Shusterman & Jarrod Shusterman
Thank you to all of the 59,662 students who read the Golden Sower Award nominees this year and voted for their favorite book. We would also like to express our thanks to all of the teachers, media specialists and librarians who promoted the books in their schools and libraries. You help make the program a success!
Kathy Schultz
Chair, Golden Sower Award Committee
Book Repair on a Budget
Below is a link to the “Book Repair on a Budget” workshop that was held on Monday, April 19. During the workshop, I highlighted Kapco book repair products. Here is a link to their webpage. If you want to participate in the group order for book repair tools and supplies, please contact Kay in the System office by Friday, May 14, 2021. The supplies are already priced very competitively, but I will be contacting them to request a discount when I know the quantities we will be purchasing. Please expect to spend the website price and if I can get things for a little less that will be a bonus.
“Book Repair on a Budget” — https://youtu.be/t2iqRcD5T-I
Using YA Literature to Inspire Teen Girls Interests in STEM
Do you find it difficult to include teens in your STEM or STEAM programs? Is it especially hard to find things that interest teenage girls? Join Dr. Melissa Cast-Brede as she shows you how to use YA Literature to inspire interest for all things STEM related in teens using literature!
Thursday, May 6, 2021
11am – 12pm
1 CE Credit
Registration Link: https://forms.gle/GmzQxXoNBWZ99WNA7
Central Community College Summer and Fall Classes for LIS
Do You Need A Disclaimer?
A question that has been coming up frequently now that libraries are opening to the public is whether or not there should be a disclaimer stating that the library is not responsible should a visitor or patron become ill with COVID-19. Recently, the Western New York Library Resources Council asked an attorney that exact question. Go to this website to see the answer.
Nebraska 1K Reading Challenge
Reader Zone website.
In this difficult year, librarians learned about using technology to do a wide variety of tasks. One example is using Reader Zone to keep track of Summer Reading Goals instead of collecting that information on paper reading logs. Some found it difficult to manage. Others liked the way it was set up. Some patrons struggled to record their minutes and others loved using the app. Just like any other bit of new technology, Reader Zone takes some time to master.
Reader Zone has given us the chance to collect some pretty amazing statistics. As of the end of July, Nebraska readers have read 244,781 pages; plus 11,206 chapters; plus 19,085 books; plus 1,553,361 minutes!! Readers have also completed more than 2,500 literary activities. Reader Zone allows each library to designate what type of goal their patrons should work towards (i.e. pages, chapters, books, or minutes read). So, it is not just about the minutes…there is a LOT of reading going on!
Now we have another great opportunity and all you need to do is advertise it. The Nebraska Library Commission, the Nebraska Regional Library Systems, and Reader Zone are joining forces to offer the Nebraska 1K Reading Challenge for all ages. Every Nebraskan that reads 1,000 minutes in August and records it in Reader Zone will receive an exclusive vinyl sticker and be entered into a drawing for a new waterproof, 32 GB Kindle Paperwhite. Two Kindles will be given away to Challenge Winners and their libraries will also receive a matching Kindle.
Click on this link, print the poster of your choice, and put it up in your library. It features the five-digit code (NEB1K) that will get your patrons started on the challenge. The first time a person logs in with this code, he or she will be asked for an address. That is so we can mail the sticker to everyone that completes the challenge and the Kindles to the drawing winners. I will be able to sort the data and provide each library with the number of their patrons that participate (and win!).
Please help promote this terrific program to keep Nebraskans of all ages reading through the month of August!
This project is supported in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the Nebraska Library Commission.
Two Important Websites to Review
Strong libraries are essential to the recovery of communities devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. To help guide communities, library workers, and library supporters along the path to recovery, on July 15 ALA launched a curated, online repository of tools, guides, and resources. The ALA COVID-19 Recovery website includes everything from the latest information on safely reopening libraries to funding opportunities available on the local, state, and federal level. It will be updated often and replace the existing COVID-19 Response page that has served the community through the pandemic thus far. The online resource center is arranged into four sections: Advocacy and Policy; Education; Data and Research; and Guidance Content and Protocol.
This site provides interactive context to assess the risk that one or more individuals infected with COVID-19 are present in an event of various sizes. The model is simple, intentionally so, and provided some context for the rationale to halt large gatherings in early-mid March and newly relevant context for considering when and how to re-open. Precisely because of under-testing and the risk of exposure and infection, these risk calculations provide further support for the ongoing need for social distancing and protective measures. Such precautions are still needed even in small events, given the large number of circulating cases.
Chande, A.T., Gussler, W., Harris, M., Lee, S., Rishishwar, L., Hilley, T., Jordan, I.K., Andris, C.M., and Weitz, J.S. ‘Interactive COVID-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool’, URL http://covid19risk.biosci.gatech.edu/
Weitz, J.S., Harris, M., Chande, A.T., Gussler, J.W., Rishishwar, L. and Jordan, I.K. (2020) Online COVID-19 Dashboard Calculates How Risky Reopenings and Gatherings Can Be. Sci Am. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/online-covid-19-dashboard-calculates-how-risky-reopenings-and-gatherings-can-be/
YouTube Channel
The Central Plains Library System has a new means of communication. We have a YouTube Channel! This will allow us to post videos of our CPLS Board Meetings and to offer a way for all of our librarians to participate in continuing education for the Public Librarian Certification Program. In the future, we will also be producing videos with instructions for STEAM activities that you can choose to offer as virtual programming on your social media platforms.
Here is a link to our first video on our channel: https://youtu.be/CECSH-gRsqA. It is the System’s first virtual Annual Meeting. Be sure to watch the tours of two attractions in St. Paul after the meeting.
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