Stan Freeda's List: Library Trustees

Educators have long considered professional development to be their right-something they deserve as dedicated and hardworking individuals. But legislators and policymakers have recently begun to question that right. As education budgets grow tight, they look at what schools spend on professional development and want to know, Does the investment yield tangible payoffs or could that money be spent in better ways? Such questions make effective evaluation of professional development programs more important than ever.

Annoying coworkers top the list when it comes to workplace woes. You know who I’m talking about...there’s the guy one cubicle over who prefers to listen to his music as if he were actually at a concert, and two offices away sits your coworker who refuses to follow basic email etiquette.

The Free Library of Philadelphia will launch what it calls the first virtual library at a U.S. train station on April 2. Throughout National Library Month (April), commuters will be able to download books, music, and podcasts by scanning QR codes placed on 76 advertising boards on Philly’s Suburban Station platforms

One of the hottest sessions at the American Library Association’s most recent Midwinter meeting was “Dewey vs. Genre.” The Dewey Decimal System—that sacred cow of library organization—was trotted out in front of a packed room and subjected to intense scrutiny. But in the midst of Common Core (CC), among other pressing issues, is this debate really worth our time?

Checklist for Hiring a Library Director
Prepared by Mary Engels, Division of Library Development, Connecticut State Library

As library directors concerned with the future of the organizations to which they have devoted most of their professional lives, DSLRT established a committee of five library directors to prepare a guide for library boards to follow when it is time to hire a new director.

Series in Huffington Post.

This is part of our new ongoing series, Libraries in Crisis. To read more about the series, visit the Huffington Post.

Libraries are responding to the decline of print in a variety of creative ways, trying to remain relevant – especially to younger people – by embracing the new technology. Many, such as New York’s Queens Public Library, are reinventing themselves as centers for classes, job training, and simply hanging out.

Potential users of this tool include library administrators, library trustees, teen services librarians, and community members and job-seekers hoping to assess a library’s commitment to teen services. The tool is not intended to be an evaluation of an individual teen services librarian, but rather of an institution’s program; however, of necessity some things will apply specifically to teen services staff.

This APPR evaluation tool has also been crafted to align Charlotte Danielson’s Enhancing Professional Practice, the NYS School
Library Program Evaluation Rubric tool, and goals of the Common Core Standards to increase rigor, relevance, and college and career readiness. This tool
is aligned with NYS Teaching Standards as indicated in the left column. The terms Librarian, School Librarian (SL), School Library Media Specialist (SLMS),
and all refer to a NYS certified School Librarian.

All trustees oftrust funds, cemetery trustees, library trustees, as well as mayors,
selectmen, city/town managers, and/or any other interested state and/or municipal
officials, are invited to attend our TWENTY-SIXTH, Annual Seminars on Trust Fund
Administration and Statutory Filing Requirements to be given by the Department of the
Attorney General, Charitable Trusts Unit andthe Department of Revenue Administration,
Municipal Services Division, at the following times and places.

This handbook has been prepared by the Charitable Trusts Unit, Department of the
Attorney General, for use by trustees of trust funds, library trustees, cemetery trustees, as
well as selectmen, town managers and other interested municipal officials. The purpose
of the handbook is to provide a handy reference tool on a variety of issues, including the
investment of trust funds, reporting requirements, and New Hampshire cases pertaining
to specific municipal trustee issues.
For the past 25 years, the Charitable Trusts Unit has offered annual seminars and
workshops to town trustees and other interested officials on the topics covered in this
handbook. We hope that this handbook and the annual seminars help municipal trustees
throughout the State of New Hampshire in carrying out their duties and administering the
trusts which are under their supervision. If you need additional assistance, please feel
free to contact Assistant Director Terry Knowles. We would be very pleased to work
with you.

The New Hampshire Library Trustees Association educates library trustees to be knowledgeable and effective in order to serve, improve and promote New Hampshire public libraries, and advocates the right of free access to information for every person.

Founded on October 6, 1876 during the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, the American Library Association was created to provide leadership for the development, promotion, and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all. Our current strategic plan, ALA Ahead to 2010, calls for continued work in the areas of Advocacy and Value of the Profession, Education, Public Policy and Standards, Building the Profession, Membership and Organizational Excellence.

The New Hampshire Library Association welcomes librarians from libraries of all types and sizes in New Hampshire and surrounding areas.

Five Weeks to a Social Library is the first free, grassroots, completely online course devoted to teaching librarians about social software and how to use it in their libraries. It was developed to provide a free, comprehensive, and social online learning opportunity for librarians who do not otherwise have access to conferences or continuing education and who would benefit greatly from learning about social software. The course will be taught using a variety of social software tools so that the participants acquire experience using the tools while they are taking part in the class. It will make use of synchronous online communication, with one or two weekly Webcasts and many small group IM chat sessions made available to participants each week. By the end of the course, each student will develop a proposal for implementing a specific social software tool in their library.

This Trustee Essential covers:

Who is responsible for developing and approving library policies?
How do you develop good (and legal) policies?
Who carries out policies?

Policies guide the daily operation of the library and the decision-making of the library director and staff. Essentially, policies provide the framework for library operations and services. Carefully developed policies can help ensure high-quality library service that provides for community needs, wise use of library resources, and fair treatment of library staff and library users.

This page provides resources of value to Wisconsin public library board members (trustees), as well as tools that can be used to support trustee training and trustee continuing education. For many, many more resources for the Wisconsin public library community, visit the Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning's Public Library Development Team Home Page.

The Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends, and Foundations is a national network of enthusiastic library supporters who believe in the importance of libraries as the social and intellectual centers of communities and campuses. No one has a stronger voice for libraries than those who use them, raise money for them, and govern them. By uniting these voices, library supporters everywhere will become a real force to be reckoned with at the local, state, and national levels.